The actual proposal was something I had planned for months in advance. It was New Year's Eve and we were spending the weekend with my parents before we had to go back to Pennsylvania. Haley was out with some friends, but Spud and Trixie had managed to both stop by (having heard my plan in advance). Spud had brought along his girlfriend, and later wife, Stacy. At the time she didn't know I was a dragon, though Spud had gently broken to her the magic world's existence. Because of this I figured she wouldn't be too concerned if I suddenly changed. I decided to mess around a bit with the former head cheerleader and "better than you" girl from middle school-even if she was a lot less haughty now. When she went to the kitchen to grab a new batch of appetizers from the oven I snuck up behind her and silently transformed.

"Hey Stacy." I said, waiting for her to turn around, stifling a laugh.

She turned around to face me, but instead of seeing the 5'9 spiky haired best friend of her boyfriend she saw a 6'8 bright red dragon. She screamed for a second, nearly dropping the appetizers, before she caught her breath. Spud came racing in, followed by Mom and Dad. At that point I was doubled over, laughing.

"Jake, come on! You know she doesn't know you're a dragon!" Spud scolded me. "Come on, change back, man."

"Fine, I just wanted to see her reaction. It's been long enough for her to know." I shifted back into human form. "Sorry, I just wanted to see the look on your face-kinda payback for all the times you made fun of me in middle school."

Stacy was silent for a second before she laughed, explaining it was okay. "Honestly, it makes way more sense than any of those lame excuses you ever used. Sorry again about being a bit of a bitch."

"All is forgiven, believe me, you could've been a lot worse."

Rose rolled her eyes. My pranks were one of my many endearing qualities, though she would never admit that.

As everyone clustered around the TV to countdown to the ball drop in Times Square I pulled the small black box out of my pocket and waited next to the couch where Rose sat. As we all counted down to one I waited. Three…two…one… I knelt down and pulled open the box, as I had practiced nearly a dozen times to make sure I could do it correctly.

"Rose Dillion, will you make me the happiest man alive and do me the honor of marrying me? I love you more than any other person in existence (present company excluded), and all I want is to spend the rest of my life with you."

She smiled as she started tearing up, her eyes sparkling as she replied, "Yes, yes, yes!"

I beamed as I took the ring out of the box and slid it on her finger (boy I hoped I had gotten the right size). It fit perfectly. Trixie couldn't help but scream excitedly, Spud congratulated me with a fist bump and Dad lifted me a half foot in the air as he picked me up in a bear hug, Mom followed with a kiss and her approval.

I decided to call Haley and then Grandpa to share the news. Haley was out with some friends from school at a party, but after the third try she finally picked up. After an initial annoyance at the interruption of her evening she congratulated us and said she couldn't wait for the wedding-and that she'd better be a bridesmaid. We agreed. When I tried to call Grandpa the call went to voicemail-not surprising since he never carried his cell phone with him. I called Fu and asked him if Grandpa was with him. He wasn't. Fu had spent the evening with Veronica and a few other ladies in the magical world. Last he'd seen Grandpa was at home watching the ball drop on TV. After we told him the news he started to congratulate us-only to be cut short by a giddy cry from someone in the background that she had lost her drink in the hot tub. I hung up at that point, not wanting to know too much about Fu's romantic life.

I couldn't wait to share the news, so I decided to fly Rose over to Grandpa's. When we got there the door was locked, so I knocked and called up that we were there. After a few tries I decided to use the spare key he'd given me to let myself in. When I got in everything looked normal, and I heard the TV from the back room. I announced our presence as I pushed aside the curtain. Grandpa was laying on the couch, asleep, the blue light from the television reflecting off his face. I motioned for Rose to be quiet and walked over behind him toward the light switch on the wall.

Finally having the opportunity to one up Grandpa was something I had long wished for. Due to his trained reflexes and senses he rarely presented an opportunity to be challenged, and often made it clear that I still had much more training ahead of me when I tried. I snuck up behind him and was about to flick the lights on when he told me to stop it without even opening his eyes.

"Young one, you should know better than to try to sneak in on me."

I rolled my eyes. I should have known better. He opened his eyes and shuffled over to the television, turning it off. I turned the lights on and he greeted Rose and I, "So, what are you two doing over here this late? I thought you were spending New Years with your parents."

"We were." I replied.

"Then why are you breaking into Grandpa's shop at 1:13 instead of waiting until tomorrow to visit like a normal person?" This is when he saw the glint of light off of Rose's ring.

"Congratulations. It took you long enough, Jake." He smiled as he shuffled into the kitchen to make some tea.

"How'd you figure it out?" Rose asked.

"The ring on your finger. I may not be as keen as I once was, but I'd have to be blind not to notice that."

"We really can't surprise you, can we?"

"No. You can't." He smirked as he began to pour us water for our tea.

He congratulated us on the engagement further and wished us much luck, seeming proud, but also a bit sad. I knew he missed my grandmother. She had died shortly after my mom was born and it broke his heart. Even with all the magic in the world at his disposal he couldn't stop the tumor.