I woke on Christmas day with Casey cuddled in my bed, in my arms. I had never been so content in my life. I looked at the clock and saw that it was ten am. Yeah, I've never been one to wake up early on Christmas day. Mom and dad believe that Christmas is too commercialized and even though we do celebrate it, it's never been a huge deal. I never experienced waking up early on Christmas morning as a little kid and running to find a ton of presents under the tree. Actually, we never really even had a typical Christmas tree. Our Christmas tree is up year round. You see, my parents couldn't even fathom cutting down a tree every year to have for Christmas. So they went out and bought a ficus tree that sits permanently in our living room. During spring, summer and fall it's just an ordinary tree inside the house. But mom decorates it as the Christmas tree in the winter.

I noticed there were several presents under the tree last night and that was rather odd for me. Usually I get two or three presents for Christmas and it's enough for me, I don't mind. Except when one of the presents is socks or underwear. My mom would give me one or the other every single year until I finally stood up to her when I was a sophomore in high school and broke the news to her that they weren't cool presents. She got the hint, I haven't gotten socks or underwear for Christmas since. On the other hand I wouldn't doubt if some of the presents under the tree were fake. I wouldn't put it past my mom to wrap up a few empty boxes just to liven up the Christmas spirit because Casey was there this year.

I kissed Casey on the top of the head figuring it was about time the two of us got up. She slowly stretched and moved her head up to look at me.

"Merry Christmas," I said with a smile.

"Merry Christmas," she replied smiling back at me.

We dove towards each other at the same time and began to kiss. After a couple of minutes I had to push her away from me and give her a knowing look that sex in my parent's house probably wasn't such a great idea. At least not now. Maybe if mom and dad leave and we have the house to ourselves but certainly not now.

"So what did you get me for Christmas?" she asked lying her head back down on my chest.

"I'm not going to tell you," I replied. "You'll open it soon enough."

"I can't wait," she replied.

"Why don't you go upstairs so I can get your present ready," I said giving her a squeeze.

"You haven't wrapped it yet?" she asked sitting up on the edge of the bed.

"Again, none of your business," I replied.

"Fine," she said as she walked over to her bag.

I watched her pull a wrapped present out of her bag and took it upstairs with her. I assumed it was whatever she had gotten for me and she wanted to put it under the tree. I smiled as I got out of bed and went over to my bag. I dug deep in the bottom of and pulled out two things: the wrapped present I already had for her and the ring. I stood there and contemplated for a while as to what I was going to do. The conversation with my mom last night did help me come to the conclusion that it wasn't too crazy to ask her to marry me. But mom has always been the hopeless romantic type. Where do you think I get it? I honestly would feel a lot more comfortable running the idea with some other people first. One person in particular came to mind. So I picked up my phone and dialed the number.

"Hey Cap, Merry Christmas," Rusty answered the phone.

"Merry Christmas to you too Spitter," I replied. "How are things at the Cartwright house?"

"Everything is going well here," he replied. "But we sure missed Casey this morning when we were opening presents. Have you guys opened yours yet?"

"Actually that's kind of why I'm calling Spitter," I said. "We haven't opened them yet and I'm torn between two presents I have for your sister."

"I'm not sure if I can help you much Cap," said Rusty. "Ashleigh would be more of an expert on Casey's taste in presents."

"I actually need your opinion more than your expertise."

"OK," said Rusty. "I'm listening."

I thought about just coming right out and asking Rusty if it would be a good idea or not to ask Casey to marry me but I knew I had to soften the blow a little bit more than that. So I started small, just to kind of test the waters.

"What do you think about me lavaliering her," I said.

"I thought you were never going to lavalier a girl after what happened with Casey freshman year and all the rest of the KT curses," Rusty replied. "I always expected you to just go right to pinning Casey if anything."

Well, this was actually starting off pretty well. It was the reaction I expected out of Rusty though. He was always trying to remind me of things I said to him in the past like I had forgotten all about them.

"OK, so then I'll pin her instead," I said as sort of a half statement, half question hoping Rusty would comment on it.

"That's cool Cap, you do whatever you want," he replied. "But I'm surprised you're even talking like this. You guys have only been dating again for like a month."

OK, so maybe Rusty wasn't cheering for me as much as I thought he had in the beginning of our conversation.

"So you think it's too soon?" I asked. "Because the last thing I want is our family and friends to freak out because I'm moving too fast."

"You two have been dancing around each other for years Cap. I don't think much can surprise us anymore when it comes to the two of you."

"OK, try this one on for size," I said. "I'm thinking about asking your sister to marry me."

Then Rusty was speechless. He didn't say anything for a long while. I finally had to break the silence.

"Well, what's your reaction to that?" I asked.

"I think it's too soon for that Cap," he replied. "I think Casey would freak out."

"What if I told you I'm pretty sure she won't," I replied.

"Then everyone else will freak out," he responded.

I sighed loudly into the phone.

"Cap, you asked for my opinion, so I'm giving it to you. I think it's too soon. There's no reason to rush into this."

"Always the voice of reason Spitter," I replied trying not to sound too disappointed. "I appreciate your honesty."

"You're welcome Cap. I hope I didn't crush you too much," he replied.

"No worries," I replied.

"Well have a good rest of the day Cap," said Rusty. "Have Casey call us later."

"I will. Thanks again Russ."

"Anytime," he replied. "Goodbye."

"Bye."

After my conversation with Rusty I completely chickened out about giving Casey the ring back as a Christmas present. So I promptly put it back into the bottom of my bag and grabbed the original present I had gotten her. I fixed my hair to look at least a little presentable in the mirror and headed upstairs. I found Casey sitting at the kitchen table drinking some coffee with my mom.

"Good morning honey," said my mom standing up and giving me a hug. "How did you sleep last night?"

"Just fine," I replied taking a seat next to Casey.

"Do you want some coffee?" she asked.

"No, I'm fine," I replied. "When are we going to open presents?"

"Right now I guess," said my mom heading into the living room to the tree.

Casey and I quickly followed her and sat on the couch by the tree. Dad was already in his favorite recliner chair reading the newspaper.

"Morning son," he said.

"Morning dad," I replied.

The opening of the presents went rather quickly because I was correct that a lot of the presents under the tree were indeed fake. My mom thought it was such a great idea but I was somewhat embarrassed she would do that just because Casey was coming. Mom and dad got me a couple new necklaces, a few DVDs and socks. Yeah, I wasn't so happy to open that but I really did need new socks so I guess I couldn't be too mad at my mom. Mom and dad actually got Casey a body wash gift set which I thought was really nice of them. Casey was pretty shocked when she got a present from them and was very thankful for it. I gave Casey her present and watched her closely as she opened it. It was a medium size box and I could tell she was a little surprised to get it. Maybe she was expecting a smaller box with some sort of jewelry in it. But she was excited when she opened it to see the new IPod Touch I had gotten her. Her other IPod broke a couple of weeks ago so I figured it would be a good present for her. She thanked me and wrapped her arms around me tightly. She then got her present for me underneath the tree and handed it to me. I playfully shook it to see if I could guess what it was but she scolded me for doing so. I slowly opened it to reveal several different items. There first was a new long sleeved shirt on the top. Casey told me that she thought I would like it because it was nice enough to wear for a special occasion but comfortable enough for my taste. Then there was the new Call of Duty Modern Warfare game I had asked for which will probably be the highlight of the frat house once school resumes. Then on the very bottom was a photo album. I took it out and began flipping through it. It was in chronological order with the pictures in the front of the album being from when we first started dating freshman year and then going on from there. I could tell she put a lot of time into the album because there was quotes and stickers all over the pages with the pictures. The very last page was the most recent picture of us. It was taken right after Songfest. I thought Casey looked so beautiful that day with her hair up in a ponytail with a few strands hanging in her face. The best part of the picture was the fact that I wasn't even looking at the camera. She had a huge smile on her face with her arm wrapped around me but my head was turned and looking at her. I had this cheesy smile on my face like I was the happiest guy in the world. I read the quote above the picture she had written: There are two kinds of sparks, the one that goes off with a hitch like a match but it burns quickly. The other is the kind that needs time, but when the flame strikes, it's eternal. I seriously almost had a tear form in my eye when I read the quote. It couldn't have been more perfect to describe our relationship. And I couldn't agree with it more. I really feel our flame is eternal this time around and I knew she felt the same.

"I hope you like it," I heard her say breaking me from my thoughts.

"I love it," I replied. "This is probably the most thoughtful present anyone has ever given me."

"Do you mind if I take a look at it?" my mom asked.

"Go right ahead," I said standing up and handing her the book.

As I walked back to the couch I took Casey's hand and pulled her up to a standing position. I then wrapped my arms tightly around her waist and pulled her in for an amazing kiss. I could feel her fighting me just a little bit because I'm sure she was embarrassed we were kissing in front of my parents. But I didn't care. I wasn't afraid to kiss the love of my life in front of anyone.

"Thank you for my wonderful presents," I said backing away from her.

"You're welcome," she replied. "And thank you for my new IPod. I really needed it."

"I know you did," I said with a smile. "That's why I got it for you."

She smiled back at me as she returned to sit on the couch.

"This is so cute Casey," said my mom as she flipped thought the book. "You did a great job on it."

"Thanks," Casey replied blushing just a little bit.

When mom was finished looking at the album we all cleaned up the wrapping paper and headed into the kitchen to have something to eat. Casey excused herself to go and take a shower after we ate and I found myself sitting at the kitchen table again with my mom.

"Thanks for my presents mom," I said looking at her. "Even the socks. I honestly really needed them."

"I figured you did," she replied. "I haven't gotten them for you in a while and lord knows you would never buy them on your own so I figured I would take a chance and get them."

"Momma always knows best," I said smiling at her.

There was a brief silence between us.

"That was a very nice scrapbook Casey made for you Cap," my mom finally said. "I could tell she spent a lot of time on it."

"Yeah, it was really nice," I replied. "Something I'll cherish for a long time."

"I can tell she really loves you Cap. Just by the way she made that book."

"You could?" I asked.

"Yes, and that's why I think you should still ask her to marry you," my mom said.

I was a little shocked at her remark. I know she gave me her blessing with whatever I decided after our last talk but she wasn't really clear with one way or the other.

"I thought it was a good idea," I replied. "But I talked to her brother earlier this morning and he told me it was probably a bad idea given we've only been dating for like a month."

"See that's always been an issue with you Cappie. You always look for other people's opinions rather than relying completely on your own thoughts."

"I act on my own thoughts," I said defending myself.

"Sweetheart, if it was completely up to you would you have asked Casey to marry you this morning or would you have given her the IPod?

I thought about her question for a second before I answered.

"I would have asked her to marry me," I replied with a sigh.

"Well then you have your answer," my mom replied. "Just listen to your heart honey. It's never steered you wrong before."

With that said mom stood up, kissed me on the cheek and then headed to her room to get changed and ready for the day. I sat at the kitchen table for several minutes contemplating what she had said. I hated to admit it but she was right. Things couldn't have gone any better once I listened to my heart and told Casey I wanted to be with her. The same with telling her that I loved her. So it was then I decided that I was going to stop thinking with my head all the time when it came to Casey. Things just seem to work out better when I listen to my heart and I was bound and determined to do just that.

A/N: I think there is only two more chapters to go in the story. As always, any reviews appreciated! Thanks for reading :0)