Chapter Thirty-Five

His confusion turned into a smile and the smile turned into laughter. It didn't fit the moment, but it was perfectly understandable that he let go off the tension like that. She didn't dare to laugh, let alone smile until she finally heard his reply.

"You are one hell of a woman and I don't want to spend the rest of my life with anyone else but you."

"I love you," she kissed him and was happy about his reaction, she almost overlooked the fact that he didn't exactly answer her question, "Wait, does this mean you still want to marry me?" she interrupted the kiss, not because she had doubts anymore, but she wanted to hear the words from his mouth.

He almost chuckled again and looked at her for a short while, then stood up.

"Just a minute," he said and entered the house.

She could only think of one reason for him to do this, to leave her alone like that in such a moment and she was proven right when he appeared again with one arm behind his back. He kneeled down in front of her and opened the little box in his hand.

"Will you marry me, Diane Lockhart?" he popped the question as it was supposed to be done and she almost felt tears in her eyes as he looked at her, "And before you reply, let me warn you that 'yes' is the only acceptable answer," he joked again and even though she appreciated his attempt to ease the pressure, she managed to suppress the urge to chuckle, because she wanted him to know how important this moment was in her life.

"Yes," she answered right from her heart and kissed him right away. Then he put the obviously carefully chosen ring on her finger and sat down next to her.

"I hope you like it, but in case you don't we can still…"

"It's perfect," she cut in and her reply just widened the smile on his face.

"And just so you know you are not allowed to change your mind about this once again," he said playfully.

She knew he would probably never stop teasing her about this and she felt it justified of course, but that was more than enough for one night.

"Just shut up, will you?" she chuckled and kissed him, gently stroking his face with her hand that carried the wonderful piece of jewelry.

"I love you," he ventured to talk again, only to be shut up once more by her eager lips.

This night had to be celebrated in the right way, not that there had been even a slight chance that either of them would ever have forgotten about it.

o-o-o

Diane was sitting at Will's desk as he arrived at work Monday morning. She wanted to tell him the news as soon as possible, to share her happiness with him. They'd already told Katherine the previous day and she couldn't have been happier for them. They had even managed to make up for those hugs from days earlier and needless to say her friend had already started planning the big event for them.

"Have you brought some cookies for me again?" Will looked confused when he spotted her, he even forgot to say good morning.

"Good morning," she smiled at him, "No, I just have something to tell you."

"I take it it's good news."

"Yes, I'm engaged," she said without any further delay and Will's surprise was visible.

"You what?"

"I know it's hard to believe."

"Well after the incident with the house I really shouldn't be surprised."

"I still blame that garden," she chuckled.

"And I blame Kurt, that guy obviously knows what he's doing," he smiled at her, sharing her happiness and she really appreciated his words.

"He is…special," she couldn't think of a better word to describe her fiancé at that moment.

"So I guess this means you're going on a honeymoon soon.," he placed his briefcase on the table and Diane stood up.

"Who said that?"

"Well, I thought it was implied."

"We haven't even set a date yet," she smiled when she finally understood where his question was coming from, "You just can't wait to have the firm all to yourself, can you?" she asked playfully.

"Well, it's not my problem that you've changed your mind about marriage. I thought we were on the same page with this," he teased, obviously having fun with the situation.

"There will come the day when you get hooked too and I'll be here to tell you I told you so," she returned the gesture and stepped next to him.

"Congratulations," he changed to a serious tone for a few seconds.

"Thank you."

"I hope I get an invitation to the wedding."

"It depends on how you behave until then."

"I'll try to be a good boy, I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"We'll see."

She took a step towards to door when he interrupted the silence.

"You still owe me some self-made cookies."

"Do I?" she asked, turning her head backwards.

"You'll have a hell of a lot more time to bake once you become a housewife," he chuckled and she burst out in laughter.

"Dream on, little boy," she heard herself say as she walked out of his office and both of their laughter echoed through the empty corridors.