Guys…Alex Riley went and got himself fired, and I've written a scene with him in it getting into some trouble! And this whole Ryback situation…it's like I'm writing the future or something! :P Those chapters will be coming up in a bit…but some more things have to happen first :) Enjoy!

December 31, 2015

Eleanor loved having her birthday on New Year's Eve because she never had to plan anything. Of course, when she was younger, it was her mother that did the planning – picking a date between Christmas and New Year's Eve to host a party for Eleanor and all her school friends – but by the time she was at least fourteen, Eleanor's friends had taken it upon themselves to plan a stellar New Year's Eve/Birthday bash for her. Nobody ever forgot it, which was nice, and having it on New Year's Eve meant there was always an excuse for an amazing party.

Eleanor didn't know much about what Margot had planned for tonight – only that it was going to be at the Desjardins house – but she was excited nonetheless. She couldn't even get anything out of Rami, and he usually relented and told her everything. Margot had taken her to a beautiful brunch earlier in the day and then to a spa for some festive manicures and pedicures. Margot was conscious not to keep Eleanor away from Rami for too long – this was, of course, his first birthday with her – but Margot knew Rami had some important business to attend to, so she wanted to give him plenty of time.

This birthday was particularly special because Eleanor was turning 30. Her twenties were finally over and done with. She was now 30 – the same age Catherine was when she gave birth to Eleanor. The same age her grandmother, Louise Desjardins was when she had Charles – almost an old maid in those times, but Louise had always been a trailblazer. The same age her great-grandmother, Alexandrine, had her fourth child. Despite all her female ancestors already having been married for years and having their children at her age, she was perfectly content with where she was in her life with Rami. Above all, there was intense amount of love between them; a love she had never felt for anyone else before. As long as she was with Rami in any capacity – as his girlfriend, common-law, married – she would be happy. Everything else was secondary.

XXXXXXXXXX

Rami had woken up with Eleanor in his arms, but it wasn't long before she had to leave him in bed to get ready for her brunch with and spa date with Margot. He knew about the happenings so he was fine with it, so long as he was able to spend the rest of the day with her. Besides, during that time, he had important…business to do, and he needed to mentally prepare himself for his talk with Charles and Catherine.

He approached them in Charles' office, where he knew they would be, because Charles was chartering his private jet to take Rami and Eleanor to the Winter Classic hockey game in Boston between the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins. It was going to be a surprise gift, but Rami already knew about it because he had to give Charles his passport information. Charles smiled as Rami stood in the doorway, inviting him in. "I've just finished all the details for the jet. Have you ever been on one before?"

"No sir, but Eleanor tells me it's quite the experience," Rami smiled.

Catherine smiled, "You're in for quite a treat, Rami. Quite a treat."

"I bet I will be," Rami nodded his head. He paused before taking a deep breath, looking between Charles and Catherine quickly. "Mr and Mrs Desjardins -"

"Charles and Catherine, please Rami," Catherine held up her hand. "You've been with us long enough now. No need for the formalities."

"Charles, Catherine…I'd like to show you something…and…and talk to you about something," Rami stuttered out, going into his back pocket to grab the ring box.

"What is it, Rami?" Catherine asked.

Rami placed the box, still closed, on Charles' desk. "I'm planning to propose to Eleanor, and I would like to have both your blessing in asking her to be my wife."

"Oh, Rami!" Catherine exclaimed, bringing her hands up to her mouth.

Charles stayed silent, deciding instead to pick up the box and examine the ring. "Catherine, he's chosen the diamond from Louise's ring," he said, showing the box to Catherine. She took the box to examine the ring too. Charles looked back at Rami. "A wise choice, that stone. One of the prettier in our collection."

"Thank you sir."

"She's going to absolutely love this rose gold band," Catherine mentioned. "She adores rose gold."

"That band is actually my grandmother's band. From Syria," Rami informed them. Catherine became emotional and placed her hand on Charles' shoulder, muttering 'How lovely, how sweet' as she continued to look at the ring. "I'm sure Jean-Philippe told you about me using the stone from your collection, and I fully intend to pay you for the val -"

"Rami, don't be ridiculous," Charles waved him off. "The stone is staying in the family. This ring is absolutely beautiful."

"Thank you, sir."

"Rami, sit, please," Charles motioned to the chair in front of him, watching as Rami sat down. "Don't be nervous Rami. There's nothing to be worried about."

"You have our full blessing, Rami," Catherine said. "We're very happy for you."

Rami let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Catherine."

Charles cleared his throat. "I can't think of anyone else better for my daughter," he said, smiling at Rami. "You're a good man. You'll treat her well."

"I promise I will, Charles."

"I have no doubt about that, Rami," Charles said. "And I'm sure Eleanor's told you…you know, Rami, there's a lot of tradition in this family. I hope you understand that."

"I do, sir."

"I know you're not Catholic but you'll be getting married at Notre Dame Basilica. Our family has been getting married there since it was built," Charles explained. Rami nodded his head. "The venue reception doesn't matter, that can be where you like, but Notre Dame Basilica will be the marriage takes place."

"I understand. I want to honour whatever traditions your family has," Rami said.

"Oh, Charles!" Catherine lightly slapped the shoulder of her husband. "Don't start with all this talk yet! He hasn't even proposed!" she scolded him, then looking at Rami. "You worry about your proposal, Rami. Charles is getting a bit too far ahead of himself here. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

Rami chuckled as Charles shrugged his shoulders comedically. "Are you sure? I -"

"Positive," Catherine smiled. "You worry about the proposal, and how to hide that ring so Eleanor doesn't find it."

Rami nodded his head. "Alright then. Thank you Charles, thank you Catherine," he said, standing up to hug them.

"We'll have to meet your parents and family soon, Rami. We'll organize something once everything happens," Catherine said as she hugged him.

Charles gave him a strong hug. "Welcome to the family, Rami. I couldn't ask for a better son in law."

XXXXXXXXXX

When Eleanor returned home, she and Rami escaped to her room to have some down time. After some talking and more pestering from Eleanor to get Rami to spill on the details of the party, Eleanor informed Rami that she wanted to take a nap so she would be fully awake long after midnight, and not grumpy like she usually is.

"A nap? Are you serious right now?" Rami asked.

Eleanor giggled. "I'm 30 and already napping. I'm an old woman. You're in love with a senior citizen."

Rami shook his head playfully. "Between you napping and Ben accusing me of dressing like a grandpa, we don't stand a chance."

"You do dress like a grandpa," Eleanor said, pushing her feet under the covers.

Rami looked taken aback for a second, rolling his eyes at her response dramatically. "Oh, well thanks."

"Anytime."

There was a moment of silence. "A sexy grandpa, at least?"

Eleanor burst out laughing. "I think that's an oxymoron."

"Don't knock grandpas. Pierce Brosnan is a grandpa, and he's sexy," Rami informed her.

Eleanor giggled as she draped her arm over Rami. "Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?" she asked.

"Like you even need to ask," Rami said, cuddling into her, a content smile on her face.

It didn't take very long for Eleanor to fall asleep. For all the sleep she missed during the busy times of the year for WWE and NXT, she was definitely making up for it during this Christmas Break. After spending a decent amount of time catching up on social media on his phone, he decided to leave Eleanor alone in her room to spread out across the bed. He made his way to the second floor den, complete with a TV, and turned on the news. With the holidays happening and his recent return to the ring, he felt like he wasn't in tune with everything that was happening in the world like he was when he was injured. Granted, he had a hell of a lot more time to read the newspaper, websites, or Tweets, but he still felt he needed to be informed, despite his hectic schedule.

The usual stuff was being said on screen – some scandal in Quebec politics, news about the Montreal Canadiens, something Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that got him international praise – and then Rami heard an all-too familiar name.

"It looks like the Desjardins family is at it again, donating a huge sum of money to charitable Montreal initiatives," the woman's voice said out loud. "Recently, we have learned that Eleanor Desjardins, daughter of Charles Desjardins, has made a $30 million dollar donation ahead of her 30th birthday being celebrated today. The lucky initiative? The recently established "Montrealers Supporting Syrians" organization, which helps newly settled refugees in the Montreal area. The donation is excellent news for the organization, which was created just months ago by volunteers in the Montreal area looking to help the refugees settle into their new life in Montreal. What makes the donation more interesting is…"

Rami couldn't believe what he was hearing. Eleanor had made this donation to a cause so close to home for him, without telling him…for her birthday? He jumped off the couch and ran to her room, almost bursting through the door in his haste.

"El…Eleanor," he shook her gently, wanting to wake her but not startle her.

Her eyes opened slowly as she moaned at being woken up. When she saw it was Rami, her face brightened up a little bit. "Hey babe."

"Did you donate $30 million dollars to Montrealers Supporting Syrians?" he got right to the point.

Eleanor furrowed her eyebrows as she perched herself up on her elbow. "How did you find out?"

"I just heard it on the news."

She sighed, rubbing her forehead with her palm and sinking back down into the bed. "It was supposed to be a surprise for you," she said, touching his face with her hand.

He grabbed her hand with his own. "For me?"

"I put it in both of our names," she revealed.

"You what?"

"The donation is technically from Eleanor Desjardins and Rami Sebai. Did they not mention that?" she asked.

"To be honest, I ran here in the middle of the report."

"I know how much this cause means to you so I wanted to include you. I hope you don't mind that I did that," she explained.

"Mind? Eleanor…I…I - " he couldn't form a coherent thought, knowing his name was attached to a 30 million dollar donation in Montreal.

"We've been doing it since we were born. My brother and I had to pick a charity every year that we wanted to donate our age in millions of dollars to. It's no big deal," she said.

"But you put in all the money."

Eleanor's face scrunched up slightly, as if what Rami said was absurd. "That doesn't matter. Your heart is in it just as much as mine is, probably even more. You deserve to get the recognition."

Rami was speechless. "Eleanor…I…" he didn't know what to say, a tear rolling down his cheek. He thought about all the families the donation would be helping and couldn't help but get emotional.

"Happy New Year," she smiled. "Wanna come back in with me?"

Rami didn't hesitate to crawl in. He lay face-to-face with her and pulled her flush against his body, giving her a passionate kiss, one full of love and gratitude. She felt his tears on her cheek and pulled away, wiping his tears with her thumbs. "I love you, Rami," she whispered against his lips.

"I love you more than anything. I more than love you. I don't even have the words for it," he mumbled, his voice cracking.

XXXXXXXXXX

Margot was shaping up to be the next Catherine Desjardins in terms of throwing a great party. She had invited Eleanor's friends she still kept in touch with from high school, her university friends, close cousins, and even Rami's friends who were able to make it. An entire spread had been laid out for everyone to eat, and the TV was on showing the countdown. Her family had surprised her earlier in the night with their gift, which she was over the moon about – so much so she had already packed before all the guests arrived. Rami had surprised her with a gold dangling bar pendant necklace with the words 'to the moon and back' in Arabic hand stamped on it. She was already wearing it, and every time she played with it between her fingers, Rami got butterflies in his stomach.

When there was only about five minutes to go until the beginning of the New Year, Rami felt a pair of hands snake around his waist and squeeze him. Automatically knowing it was Eleanor, he wrapped his arm around her as she shimmied her way over so she was in front of him, her arms moving to wrap around his shoulders and his arms wrapped around her waist. She had been drinking most of the night and was in a very joyful mood – Rami was lucky she was a happy drunk.

"How you doin'?" she asked, mimicking Enzo Amore's famous line.

Rami smiled at her and giggled. "I'm doing good, how you doin'?" he asked, giving her a quick kiss. "Are you having fun?"

"So much fun," she smiled, kissing him again. "I can't believe Margot invited your friends! She thought of everything! Caitlin and Daniel are here! I caught up with her and she is just so lovely," Eleanor rambled. "And Marie-Julie and Patrice! They're doing a destination wedding in Mexico. Isn't that amazing?!"

"It is."

Eleanor looked at him with a smile on her face, as he looked at her with a smile on his. For a moment they were in their own little world, admiring one another. Rami admiring Eleanor's euphoric drunken state; Eleanor admiring Rami for putting up with her drunkenness. "I love you so much," she said. "You know that right?"

"I love you too."

"This isn't drunk Eleanor talking," she said. "I'm being serious."

"I know you are," Rami said, running his thumb along her jawline.

"I don't think I'm ever going to take this necklace off," Eleanor said, playing with the dangling bar again. "You think of everything. You're perfect."

"I'm far from perfect."

"But you are," she said, wanting to make a point. "You got me this nice necklace, and you love me for me and not because of my family and their money. I can get moody and irritated because of work and you still want to cuddle with me every night."

Rami smiled. "I know. It's because you make my life better just being in it."

"And you say things like that," she mused. "How can I ever compare?"

Rami gripped his arms tighter around her, bringing her closer to him. "I don't want you ever comparing yourself, okay?" he said, hearing someone yell 'One more minute!' in the background. "Never, ever compare yourself. This isn't a competition. I feel your love for me every day," he said.

Eleanor stood on her toes to kiss him. "I can't believe I get to call you mine," she said against his lips.

"The feeling's mutual, darling."

30!...29!...28!...

Eleanor looked past Rami for a brief moment, seeing everybody start to convene near the TV to watch the final countdown. The last 30 seconds of 2015 ticked on the screen. Rami noticed her looking and looked over his shoulder at everyone. He grabbed her hand and led her to the crowd, where they stood amongst everybody, screaming the countdown numbers. At least four people had bottles of champagne ready to pop. At the ten-second mark, Eleanor felt Rami's arm snake across her waist.

7!...6!...5!...

"Here's to another 100 years with you," Eleanor smiled.

4!...3!...

"And another 100 after that," Rami smiled.

2!...1!...

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!" everybody yelled in unison. Couples bent down to share their New Year's kiss. Friends and relatives hugged each other. Pops were heard from the opening of the champagne bottles, and Eleanor and Rami were sprayed with champagne mid-kiss. Rami couldn't think of a better way to start the New Year.