Christmas morning found the couple cuddling on their bed in comfortable silence looking at the reflection of the incoming sunlight on their rings; Ben couldn't believe how much his life had changed. Two years ago he was mourning the loss of the future he envisioned with Mal, sure his relationship wasn't officially over then, but the boy knew that they were not going to go back to what they were. A year ago Ben was in Boston determined to get Mal back in his life; he was sure there was no way he would be able to find someone that meant as much as she did to him.
Now a year a later he was laying next to Mal wearing a ring that represented a future together, and he couldn't remember being happier in his life. Last night was surreal, at first, Ben thought Mal was upset after spending Christmas Eve with Billy and his family the girl seemed distant, but after they made their way home things change. One moment Mal was nervously opening the puzzle box, she had given him at the beginning of the year, and the next Ben was trying to understand the meaning behind the two rings that laid in the box. It took him a couple of seconds, that felt like hours to Mal, to notice the little note that was next to the rings. Shakily he went to open it and even though the rings sent an unmistakable message Ben was still shocked when he read it.
"I love you, Ben. Will you marry me?"
The boy turned to see Mal that was now looking expectantly at him biting her lower lip. Instinctively he leaned and captured her lips trying to steady his heart, however, the moment Ben felt Mal back away from him he stop. When they broke apart, he realized that she was expecting an answer to the note, which seemed insane for him, there was no way he wouldn't say yes. Mal was about to asked Ben what he thought about the rings when the boy took one out of the box and turned to her, taking one of her hands he put the ring on her finger declaring his love for her. One kiss turned to two, and soon enough the couple was showing each other how much they meant for the other, they were finally going to be together for the rest of their lives.
Hours later Ben found himself staring at the sleeping silhouette of Mal wondering when exactly she had purchased the rings. They weren't officially together when she gave the box to him all those months ago; they were starting to talk openly again. Did she know that he wouldn't be able to open it? What would have happened if he was able to open the box the moment she gave it to him? Million of questions invaded his mind, and he felt himself wishing that the girl would wake up so he could start asking her some. As on cue, Mal began to stir a little, and suddenly she opened one of her eyes, and a sleepy smile came to her lips. She stretched and raised herself enough to give Ben a quick peck on his lips and then go back to close her eyes making the boy wondered if Mal was going back to sleep.
"So, what are you thinking of?" Her voice was sleepily and even though her eyes were close Ben knew that she could feel him staring at her.
Ben couldn't stop himself, and all the questions that populated his mind came out at once and to his shocked Mal didn't seem to surprise at all by his interrogation. Lazily the girl opened her eyes and turned so she was facing him completely and her smile got bigger making his heart beat faster, at that moment Ben knew that he didn't care about the answers the only thing that matter was that they were going to be together from now on. Still, he kept silent and saw Mal sit up next to him, again he felt the urged to lean and kiss her and he did so knowing full well that he might be losing his chance to hear the story about the rings.
Later that day Mal finally got to say how the rings got into the box. After their last conversation, while she was in DC for the holidays, Mal started to think about all the things she would like to say to Ben. That's how she ended up writing a long letter full of personal details about how much he had meant to her and how she hoped they could have a future together. In there Mal didn't hold back anything her heart was completely open to him, from detailing how she felt when she saw him in the lobby before they even met, also mentioning how destroyed she felt when the elevator open, and she saw him with Lindsey to how she hoped they would be together forever and everything in between. Mal had never put herself in a situation that made her feel so vulnerable, but at the same time, she felt secure about every single thing she wrote. However, as days passed by she found herself getting increasingly nervous about giving him the letter. On the day Mal decided to visit the spy museum to get Ben a souvenir the girl found herself going into a little shop and looking around. The second she saw the Chinese puzzle box she couldn't stop staring at it, there was something about it that called her name. When the woman that was in charge came to her and showed the girl how to open it while telling her how she used to exchange secret messages with her sister when they were younger using one like that, Mal knew she found the answer to her problem.
Without stopping to think about it for even a minute, Mal bought the box and walked out of the store feeling sure about the next step for her. The day before she went back to NY the girl managed to get the letter into the box. When she gave it to Ben, and the boy asked her how to open it, she panicked and told him that he would do it eventually. As time passed and their relationship grew she found herself putting some unnecessary distant between her and Ben, part for her wished he would open the box and knew what was in her heart without the need for her to say it aloud. However, when the boy was there for her after the horrible conversation, she had with her mom after the fundraising Mal decided that the letter wasn't necessary anymore.
So while Ben was in Japan Mal took Luke's key and got into the apartment searching for the box. Her idea was to change the entire letter for a little paper that asked the boy to marry her, however when she opened one of his drawers Mal couldn't be happier. In there she saw the ring Ben used to wear when she met him, and an idea came to her.
The ring size was going to be the wrong one because he used to wear it in his thumb, so Mal had no clue what size he used on his ring finger, but the idea of going the extra mile and not only asked him to marry her but buying the rings was to perfect to passed it . With that in mind, Mal searched online for the perfect ring and doing some research for the most common size for rings on boys she ordered what she hoped were going to be their weddings bands. When she managed to put the rings back in the box weeks after Ben came back, the waiting game began. Sometimes Mal wondered if the boy was even trying to open the box or if he had completely forgotten about it.
After Ben found out about Lonnie's "betrayal" and they managed to fix things between them Mal started to think that maybe she should empty the box and let things continued to flow like they were doing now. Sure, if he had found the rings before that conversation, she would have told him about what she knew the moment he saw them, and hope for the best. Now that everything was in the open Mal enjoyed how things started to move forward at an accelerated speed and decided that maybe the rings would not be the right choice, for now; however, when they move in together, she didn't see the box and Mal wonder if maybe Ben had tossed it. Part of her wanted to ask him about it and take the opportunity to take the rings out, but then she decided that it would be too risky.
The night when they were at Billy's house, she looked at husband and wife and smiled thinking how it was evident how much they love each other. Tony started telling her stories of his parents and how embarrassing their lovey-dovey attitude was when they were in public. At that moment Mal caught Ben looking at her and the boy smile at her like he had done a thousand times, but at the same time, Tony told her how much they reminded him of his parents when he first so them at Ben's office.
It was then that the girl knew that she needed to go back to the apartment and look for the box. Mal wanted to ask Ben to marry her, and if he didn't have the box, she would ask him without the rings, all the thoughts that filled her mind over the last couple of months of reasons behind not go looking for the box or even mention it was dumb. The real reason she hadn't go looking for the was was that she was afraid to rock the boat and do something that would possibly change how good things were going between them. Now Mal was done being afraid to tell him just how much she wanted a future with him, so after they said their goodbyes to everyone she started going over what she wanted to say completely lost in her thoughts and paying little to no attention to what was happening.
When they finally made into the apartment, Mal went straight into the bathroom trying to calm herself down, thoughts of horrible scenarios where Ben didn't want to marry her started to take over her mind. After a few deep breaths, she saw her reflection on the mirror smiling back at her, Ben's scent was surrounding her as if the boy was there standing over her encouraging her to take the next step. With one last deep breath, the girl went outside and saw Ben standing there, so she asked him about the box and soon enough the last thing secret she kept from him was in the open.
Ben stayed quiet the entire time Mal share her story with him, part of him wondered if the girl had disposed of the letter, but he decided that having the rings was enough for him. The boy kissed his fiance, and once again told her how happy he was about her decision to take the next step. Ben also confided in her that his only regret was that pick wasn't the one that took that step, either way, the important thing was that now they needed to plan a wedding. Mal laughed when Ben started to search for the name a wedding planner he heard mention in one of the magazine articles they did in June of that year while asking the girl if she had any preference for a theme for the wedding.
Suddenly Ben stopped what he was doing and turned to Mal almost dropping his laptop int he process. "An engagement ring! You need an engagement ring. I can't believe I'm so dense that didn't even think about it before. We need to go look for one."
Ben was about to stand up when Mal pulled him down and told the boy that it was Christmas day and the chances for a jewelry store to be open were very little. "Can we just stay in and open our presents?"
In the midst of celebrating that they were engaged, they had forgotten to open their presents and have a decent breakfast. Reluctantly Ben agree and Mal smile brightly telling him that they needed to get into their PJ's so they could start preparing breakfast. A couple of days before Mal bought a waffle maker in the shape of mickey mouse and she was excited to finally being able to use it. Ben sat on the counter helping her with the waffle batter and then went on to prepared fresh orange juice for them to have. Every now and then he would stop what he was doing to kiss Mal and tell her how much he loved her making the girl smile.
They decided to eat while they exchange presents and soon enough they were sitting on the floor opening the gifts there friends and family sent them. Ben began with one from Jay and Lonnie and smiled at a picture of the couple, Azis and him when they were younger in a frame that had written friendship all over it. When he turned it around, he noticed an envelope that was glued to the back, after he opened it Ben saw a ticket to Paris for March, and a note that explained that they all were planning to go to France to spent Aziz's birthday with him. Mal knew about the ticket, Jay told her a couple of days before leaving for Boston and asked the girl if she was ok with them invited only Ben. "We want to do something just the four of us so like we used to do it when we were younger."
Mal was happy to see that they were trying to reconnect and assured Jay that she was okay with Ben traveling without her, she even saw the opportunity to asked Evie to visit her when the boy came back. Ben looked at her and showed her the ticket with a huge smile on his face. "This is amazing! We finally get to go back to Europe Mal."
After Mal explained that she was not going on the trip, Ben's expression change and the boy put the ticket down and move on to the next gift without saying anything. When Mal mention how much fun he was going to have with his friends Ben shook his head. "I'm not going, Mal. I'm already going away for a month because of work, and I'm not going to come back here for a week just to go away again."
He started to open a gift from his mom, but Mal took it away forcing the boy to look at her. She began to tell him how important it was for his friends that he go on the trip they all plan together. "Is just a couple of weeks Ben, and sure you are going away for work, but this is not work these are your friends."
"I don't want to leave you. We just got engaged, and I want to start planning our wedding because I can't wait to be your husband. Honestly, I would marry you today if I could, but I know that girls usually have a dream wedding and I want to give you whatever type of ceremony you want." Mal smiled and kissed the boy that kept proving her decision was the right one.
"Ben. I want you to go, and I don't want an elaborated wedding, a small ceremony with our closest friends and family no more than 20 people. Evie needs to be here though so when you go to Paris, you can bring them with you, and we can get married in April." Mal finished the sentence looking a little sheepishly at her fiance, and Ben started nodding with a massive smile on his face.
The presents and the food were left behind once again when Ben picked Mal up and made his way to their room so he could show her how much he loved her idea. The rest of the day was spent there ignoring calls from their loved ones, but none of them thought too much of the couple not answering because they were enjoing their first Christmas together. The next morning Ben was the first to wake up and was about to call his parents, but then he stopped himself, not sure how to share the news of his engagement.
Once again he found himself staring at Mal willing the girl to wake up so they could talk about it. It took almost half an hour for the girl to wake up and by then Ben was already in the kitchen making them breakfast. Mal walked into the kitchen smiling at the boy the looked busy at work, and her stomach decided to announce her presence, making Ben turned and chuckled. He took a couple of steps towards her to kiss her good morning and told her that toast and juice were already ready if she wanted to start while he finished with the eggs.
Mal decided to jump on the counter near the stove so she could start eating without leaving Ben alone in there. When she asked him how he slept the boy turned and gave her a look that made her blush while telling her that he had the best sleep of his life. The boy finished cooking the eggs and put them on a plate for her to eat and then leaned on the opposite counter, taking a deep breath he told her about his doubts. "I wanted to call my parents back earlier, but then I didn't know how to tell them about the engagement. Now don't get me wrong I want everyone to know but are we telling people or do you want to wait until we get your ring to tell them? I'm ok with telling them that you asked me, but if you want we can say that I asked you. I know I'm probably overthinking this, but I just wanted us to be on the same page."
The girl stayed silent for a long time biting on a toast and Ben hope that he hadn't made a mistake by telling her everything that he was thinking. "I think we should be honest. I was the one that asked you, and we should say that. Maybe we can tell them about our plans to get married in April so they can separate that month? I know we should give people more of date, but we still don't know that."
Ben nodded. "Yeah, I think to give them a couple of months to sort everything on their end would help and maybe they can tell us if they have a favorite day so that we can see that everyone can be here."
The couple agreed on that and continued to eat their breakfast at their forgotten tree opening the gifts from their friends. After that, Mal went on to take a shower while Ben called his parents. Belle was mad at him because he didn't answer their calls from the day before so after apologizing for what seemed an eternity Ben was able to share his happy news with his parents. Both of them looked shocked, but the first to voice her concerned about how quickly the couple had decided to get married was Belle. "Ben you guys haven't been together for a year and before you say you were together before that time, you broke up. I think you are jumping into these and you need to slow things down."
Ben was quiet the entire time her mom talk and then asked his dad if he agreed with what Belle said. Reluctantly Adam told him that he knew how much he loves Mal and he was sure that they were confident about their feelings but to go ahead and get married so quickly was not the right thing to do, they needed to know more about each other. Ben nodded and thanked his parents for their concerned but also made it clear that he was going to marry her even if they didn't think he was ready for it. "I'll understand if you guys don't want to to talk about it, anymore. So, I'm leaving in two weeks for a month for some magazine thing, but I'll call you before that. I love you guys, take care."
Belle wasn't ready to back down and continue to tell Ben that he needed to think what he was doing, but the boy ended the call. It didn't shock him to hear his mom talk like that but the fact that Adam agreed with her messed with his head a little, but he knew that they were just trying to protect him. The door of the bathroom open and Mal walk out looking relax and happy, Ben smiled at her and he hoped that his parents could understand how neither of them was rushing into anything. Mal asked him about his call and Ben share what happened with her, they promise each other that they were not going to have any secrets between them, he could see the girl demeanor change, but he assured her that he was sure of what they have and eventually his parents would understand.
"So how about I take a shower, change and then we can go look for your ring? I have some styles in mind, but I think you should pick it." Mal forced a smile on her faces and nodded, the boy noticed that and went on to hug her while assuring her that everything was fine with them. "In the future, you can totally bring this up when my mom tries to give you advice on how to handle our relationship, so she stopped it?"
Mal nodded and let go of the boy telling him that she was going to call Zohu and Cora to share the news with them. Ben took his time in the shower trying to calm his heart down; he wished things were different, but he was going to make his best effort to be there for Mal. When he finally came out of the bathroom, he heard Mal's laughter coming from the living room, and he felt himself relax. Ben cleared his throat announcing his presence, and the girl motioned him to sit next to her in front of her iPad. In the screen, he saw Cora, Zohu, and Daniela. The couple congratulated him on the engagement and Daniela started making noises trying to get his attention, Ben was sure that the little girl was going to start talking any moment now which made him smile.
The four of them joke around for a while and said goodbye after the couple promised to be in NY for their wedding. After that Mal called Mulan and Shang and together with Ben she told them about their engagement, once again the news was received with joy and promised to be there on April or whenever the couple decided to get married. "Should we just call everyone together now?"
Several hours were spent online talking to their friends, and Evie started to plan Mal's dress. At one point of the conversation, she stopped and told Mal that they need to have a private discussion for more details because she wanted the dress to be a surprise for Ben. Mal agreed knowing that there was no chance she was going to convinced Evie to change her mind about anything wardrobe related. When they finally made their way out of the apartment Mal notice Ben putting his ring on, and pouting at how it was a little big for him. Mal smiled and told the boy that they could have it re-size in the same place they were going to buy their ring, so he didn't need to worry about it getting lost.
"Ok, but I hope they can manage to do that before I have to leave. I want to take it with me, and "we" are not buying your ring Mal. I'm buying your ring." The girl rolled her eyes at her fiance and told him to put the ring in his pocket before he lost it and made her way out of the apartment. It dunted on them that they needed to talk to Stella and her husband about their engagement so they stop on their door and soon enough they were being greeted by the couple.
It took them two hours to finally say goodbye to them and be on their way to the jewelry store. "Can we stop and grab something to eat before? Is almost four and I'm starving we haven't eaten anything after breakfast." Just as the girl said that rain began to poor over the city and clouds made the day night for a moment.
Reluctantly Ben agree to go back into the building and make something to eat while waiting for the storm to pass. Sadly, the rain didn't stop until several hours later, so they didn't make their way in search of the ring that day either. The next morning found Mal waking up alone and going to search for Ben, it was 8 am, and she wondered when exactly did the boy wake up. When she made her way to the living room, she saw him sitting on the couch looking at his computer with great intensity.
"What are you watching? Is there a new video game you wanted Santa to bring you, but now you are just buying it for yourself? You go and teach that Jolly dude that nobody puts coal in your stocking no matter how naughty you are." Mal joked, and Ben turned and smiled at her shaking his head at her lame joke, he then asked her to sit next to him. On his screen several engagement rings can be seen in a pro an con list that had everything, from clarity to the stone to delivery estimates, the only thing missing was the cost of the rings.
Mal was shocked at the amount of information the excel display, she turned towards Ben, and the boy looked back at the screen. "I just want the ring to be perfect. Can we look for it after breakfast? I would say now, but I know you are probably hungry."
The way he said made the girl feel bad for not putting the same amount of effort she put on buying their rings on helping Ben picked hers. The boy was just trying to give her a token of his love, and even though she didn't need it, Mal understood then how important it was for him to do it. "How about we get ready, then make something to eat and then go out. Tiffany's opens at ten, so we have time."
The smile that appeared on his face made her heart sing, the boy nodded and told her that he was going to shower first so she could have more time to relax in a bath while he prepared their breakfast.
Notes: So here they are again..glad to see that there are still people reading this. Thank you for that. What do you guys think of Bal cuteness?