Chapter Thirty-Six
Rick did as he was asked by Kate when it came to the Yankees versus Red Sox game that he went to with the kids. Rick even took it as far as inviting Stephen to sit with him and the kids, which Stephen graciously accepted. Of course, all the news outlets did a sports segment on the whole thing of "The Two Best Selling Authors Burying the Hatchet at the Baseball Field". It wasn't long before Kate saw the news coverage of the game and she let Rick know that she knew.
While everyone was off doing their own thing once they came back from the game that day. Now the whole family knew that Reece was going to propose to Audrey. Secrets were never kept for long in the Castle family in most instances. The only exceptions had been when Nicholas Javier had proposed to Lily and when Jack proposed to Alexis. Then of course there was the time when Rick took Kate off guard years prior and proposed at their swings in one of city parks.
Reece had it all planned when it came to how he was going to propose to Audrey. He was going to take Audrey to all their firsts in New York before they ended up at the place where they had their first anniversary as a couple.
It would be at that place where Reece was going to propose. Many hours later; Reece and Audrey were in a cab heading to the Strawberry Fields and the John Lennon Memorial. Reece could see that his window to propose to Audrey was quickly fading away when Audrey started to fall asleep on him as they made their way to their destination. Little did Audrey know but her family and Reece's were all waiting in the distance for their cue to join them.
"Audrey, being with you over the past two years have been the best two years of my life. And I wouldn't trade anything for it nor would I have it any other way. You are my world, my everything. As you have said countless time over the past two years; I love you to the moon and back. Audrey; will you marry me?" Reece asked.
Audrey was completely stunned and a bit chilly as the hot summer day in May slowly turned into a cool summer night.
"Will you marry me?" Reece asked again since he could tell that Audrey was stunned.
"Of course; Reece, I would be honored to marry you."
Once they heard Audrey answered; both families converged on the newly engaged couple. Congratulations were doled out just as they had been at the last proposal and the two that preceded that one.
Audrey's family welcomed Reece to their family once again and the Castles did the same with Audrey.
At one point; Jake turned to his future sister in law.
"Welcome to the family, sis. I've been waiting for a new sister for some time now. The older models aren't what they use to be." Jake playfully teased at the tail end of his statement.
When Jake had proposed to Grace; Reece had pretty much said the same thing to Grace. The Castle kids were known to bust each other's chops every so often and anyone who got involved with one of the Castle kids picked up on the sibling comradery instantly when the quartet were around each other.
"Getting a bit tired of us, huh?" Alexis commented.
"Finding us boring; little brother?" Lily chimed in.
Reece shrugged as everyone then decided to celebrate Reece and Audrey's engagement at Zabar's over some cocktails.