Rose POV
Hurry up! You're going to miss all the fun. I hit send and smirked, waiting for Scorp to reply in a mild panic about whatever fun he thought he was missing. And sure enough, just as I reached up to tape the crepe paper stream to the wall my phone dinged.
Fun? What fun? We'll be there in five! Haha. Good, so I could save the rest of the streamers and balloons for him to hang and go finish frosting the cake. I shoved the phone into the back pocket of my jeans and walked into the kitchen. Charlotte had turned one the previous Wednesday and we were having a huge Weasley party at Mum's today for her, complete with the newest addition to the family, Sophie Anne, Teddy and Toire's little girl. Since she'd just arrived a month ago, and this was her first family outing, the mothers were beside themselves, although most of us had already met her.
I had just tied the yellow polka dot apron on over my cobalt blue sleeveless wrap tunic when Scorp walked through the back door into the kitchen and set Lottie down before unloading his armful of party supplies on the table. Charlotte immediately plopped down and began tugging at her sandals. "Oo'," she demanded. She hadn't quite gotten the F in off yet. Mum walked in and heard her and unbuckled the straps before attempting to give her a hug. "Momma!" Lottie yelled, and wriggled free before scooting over to me on her bum. I set down the tube of icing and lifted her up.
"What do you think of your cake?" I asked her. Scorpius had left the party planning mostly up to me, and he'd loved my idea of making the theme the same as her nursery. I thought it would be a good way of keeping her parents close, so the carrot cake was shaped like a giant bee hive, complete with marzipan bees. I may have gone a little overboard, but I loved baking and she'd only turn one once, so why not?
"Eeeh, eeh!" Lottie leaned towards it, opening and closing her little fists.
"I think she likes it!" Mum laughed, before starting in on the carrots she was determined to carve into daisy shapes.
"Wow." Scorpius stared at the cake in utter shock, for once totally speechless. I grinned. "So, is watching you ice the cake the fun we were missing?" he asked once he found his voice again, eyebrows knit in confusion.
"Oh, no." I smiled angelically at him. "Your fun is in the dinning room." He wandered in, and when he saw the mess I'd left, pulled out his wand. "We do it the Muggle way!" I shouted gaily, "More fun that way. It's a tradition." Here my grin turned a little bit wicked as I settled Lottie in the high chair Mum now kept for her and tucked her pink smocked party dress in around her.
"Ugh! I've been tricked." Scorpius moaned.
"Love you!"
"Yeah…love you too."…and then, after several minutes…"Were you serious about the wand thing?"
"Rose?" Scorpius said eight hours later as he wandered into the kitchen where I was cleaning up.
"Yeah?" I set the washcloth to work on the dishes and charmed the drying towel before turning around. He still had his dark wash jeans on, but his white tee-shirt was now covered by a dark blue button down. "Where are you going?" I asked, surprised.
He smirked. "I've got a surprise for you. And your Mum offered to watch Lottie for the night."
"A dressy surprise?" I asked, glancing down at the icing smudges now decorating my tunic. Charlotte had loved her cake, but she had also reached for me one too many times for my clothes to not become a casualty of her big day.
"Er…" Scorp glanced sheepishly at me, eyes flickering towards the icing.
I laughed. "I'll be down in five." I said as I headed up the back stairs for my room, where I shucked off my jeans and messy shirt and pulled a slightly above-knee length sleeveless chiffon dress with a tiny flower pattern and a cinched waist. I snatched my purse and a black cropped blazer as I stuffed my feet into leather sandals and bolted for the door.
Scorpius was sitting in the living room with Mum, who was already settled in reading to Lottie. His mouth dropped open a little when he saw me, and I grinned. As he got up and walked towards the front door Lottie popped her head over the back of the couch to watch him go. "Dada! Momma!" she called. I walked over and picked her up, and she snuggled in. Scorpius leaned in and kissed her forehead. "Goodnight darling." He said, and Mum jumped up.
"Hold on. Let me take a picture!" she called, madly rummaging through the mess of toys, pillows and blankets on the floor. "Aha!" she held it up victoriously, and motioned for us to back up into the hall. Scorpius wrapped his arms around both of us.
"Smile for Nana 'Moine." Scorp told Lottie, pointing towards Mum. Her face lit up when she spotted Mum again, but she snuggled deeper into my arms as she came closer. The camera clicked, and then the flash went off. Lottie giggled and rubbed her eyes, before throwing her arms around my neck and giving me a slobbery kiss. Scorpius let us go, and I started disentangling Lottie.
"No, no wait. I want to take a picture!" he said, fishing in his pocket for his phone. So I stopped and cuddled my head closer to her. He tapped at the screen for a second, then said "Got it."
"Night baby. Go see Nana." Lottie wasn't thrilled, but she went anyway after Scorp took her and whispered something in her ear. I waved goodbye to her and she grinned.
"'ing! 'ing, Dada!" she called as he opened the door. He blanched, and I looked askance at him.
"What's she saying? I don't think I've heard that one yet."
"Oh, new word." He said nonchalantly, "We'll figure it out." He assured me, then took my hand and apperated.
"Ugh. Was that really necessary? I asked, then shrieked as he tied something over my eyes. "What are you up to?" I demanded.
"A surprise. And it won't be a surprise if you can see where we're going."
I would have complained if it wasn't so sweet, but it was, so I just wrapped my arms around him and walked along, grateful my sandals were not high-heeled. After a few minutes a gust of cold, garlic scented air hit me as a door creaked open in front of me and we walked in.
"Mr. Malfoy, glad to see you," an unfamiliar male voice greeted my boyfriend. "The…table you requested is ready."
"Come on. Don't look so scared, all the women are glaring at me." Scorpius told me as he guided me around what I could only assume was tables. I pasted a huge smile on and tipped my face up towards his.
"Better?" I asked through clenched teeth. He snorted, and tightened his grip on my waist, nudging me to my right.
"Oh, perfect, sweetie." He said sarcastically, and let me go. I clutched harder, and he laughed. "If you want the blindfold off you're going to need to let go so I can help you sit down."
"Fine." I sulked, then allowed him to guide me to my chair.
"I'll send someone right away to get your drink orders." And with that it was suddenly very, very quite. Scorpius reached around and took off the blindfold. It was blue silk ombre.
We were outside again, on a deck that was overlooking a lake and shaded by trees. We were screened from the main dining room by a weeping willow, which was covered in fairy lights like the rest of the trees. Some kind of soft jazz music was playing from somewhere I couldn't pinpoint.
I glanced back over at Scorp, who was folding the scarf up neatly and smiling at my gaping jaw. "This is…amazing." I was wondering if their deck was always like this or if maybe my boyfriend had something to do with the current ambiance.
As if he could hear my thoughts he smirked, and held out the square of fabric to me. "For you."
I immediately unfolded it and put it around my neck.
"You weren't joking about a surprise." I said, as I craned around at our surroundings again.
"No," he said simply as the waiter came back.
"That was really good. Thank you." I said as we finished the last of the chocolate cheesecake.
"You're welcome." He said, eyes warm. "Let's go for a walk around the lake before we head back."
I checked my watch. It was getting late, and I was worried about Lottie. "What about Lottie's bedtime?" I asked.
"If she's asleep when we get back your Mum said we could spend the night." He said, lacing our fingers together and wandering down the path around the water.
The crickets were singing, and somewhere an owl was hooting. We were about halfway around the lake when Scorpius pulled away.
"Rose?" he said, stopping.
"Yes?" I said, confused.
"I've realized something, and I need to tell you."
"Okay."
"I love you." Where is he going with this? "You're smart and caring and beautiful. If Aphrodite could have picked a mother for her baby, I know she would have chosen you." Here he kneeled. "Rose, I want to wake up next to you every morning for the rest of my life. I want to catch you if you ever fall, I never want you to wake up scared and alone after a nightmare again." He starts digging in his pant pocket, and all I can think is Lottie. 'ing. Ring. Oh my God. "Rose, I want to raise Charlotte with you. I want you to have my babies. I can't imagine sharing my life with anyone but you." He popped open a black box and lifted the square princess cut diamond ring towards me "Marry me?"
I stared at it in disbelief. He rose and cradled my face in one hand, staring into my eyes.
"Yes." He beamed and leaned in, kissing me gently but quickly before reaching for me hand. Scorpius slowly slid the simple white gold band up my finger and then laced our fingers together once again in the air between us. I wiggled finger and watched the diamond twinkle in the muted light.
"Lottie knew." I stated, looking at him curiously.
He smiled sheepishly. "Yeah. She was there when I was ring shopping. She kinda helped, and I may have told her who it was for. I didn't think she'd be able to say anything. Apparently the sales women said "ring" one too many times."
I laughed. "And then she almost proposed for you!"
"Yeah. Remind me to not underestimate her again. Ever."
"Cause I'll be there for all of it."
"Sweetie, you'll be there forever."
"Forever and ever," I agreed.