"I think i'm scared. I know I don't normally do scared or whatever but right now I think I might just lose my mind." Sam nodded as his sister spoke. He didn't understand why something so good could make Casey scared. He thought she might be nervous but never scared. Casey seemed too strong for that, yet right now she seemed as fragile to him as an unhatched penguin egg.
"I wasn't scared when I asked Paige to marry me. I was nervous though. Maybe you could say the types of penguins like I do. Adelie, Chinstrap, Emperor, Gentoo. Adelie, Chinstrap, Emperor, Gentoo. Adelie, Chinstr-"
"No that's okay Sam i'll be okay. Thank you for the pep talk though. I've umm I've gotta go I can see Iz walking over here and our flight is boarding soon. I'll see you when we land, love you bye."
Casey stood up and shoved her phone in her pocket. They picked up their bags off the ground and made their way towards their gate. Izzie grabbed Casey's hand and kissed her on the cheek as they walked. When they found their seats Izzie laid her head on her girlfriend's shoulder Casey calmed down a bit. It had only taken 20 minutes of security checks and 15 rounds of the antarctic penguins Sam loves so much while Izzie held her hand and told her about all of the plans she had made with Elsa for the week.
Casey still could not believe that her mom was best friends with her girlfriend. How had that happened so suddenly? Whatever it was Casey was eternally grateful for how happy it made Izzie and how helpful her parents had been with Iz's siblings. Leaving them behind in Connecticut had been hard but knowing that the Gardeners were going to be taking care of them had eased Izzie's mind. Now the two of them visit at least twice a year for holidays like Christmas and the Summer which Casey doesn't normally get to enjoy because of her olympic chasing schedule. This year was different however with a two month break in Casey's schedule and Izzies' impending coaching job in Connecticut. They were planning to stay for longer than anyone at home knew.
Five and a half hours later Casey shook Izzie awake from her sleeping position on her shoulder to tell her that they were about to land. Everything out the window looked so different than in LA and the familiar terrain of their home town brought tears to Casey's eyes. She wanted to spend the rest of her life here with Izzie. She hadn't ever been more sure of anything. Casey realized that she wasn't scared anymore, but instead excitement filled her and she couldn't wait for tonight.
"Newton are you okay? You seem really distracted and your eyes are all glossy. Wait baby are you crying? What's going on?"
"I don't think I ever wanna leave here again. Like what if we just live here forever, just you and me in a house that's our own with kids and maybe a dog I don't know. We have the money to buy that house down the street from my parents, and it isn't too far from your siblings. It would be perfect." Izzie giggled and wrapped her arms around Casey's shoulders.
"Let's do it. We can even be the preppy parents who send their kids to Clayton with our stacks of cash."
"Oh you know it. Our kids are gonna be so preppy they'll probably get kicked out for being massive clumsy adorable dorks."
"Yeah but they'll be our massive clumsy adorable dorks." Casey smiled. "Elsa is going to be soooo happy to see us once she processes the heart attack we're about to give her."
Casey pulled the car into the driveway and made sure to park where they couldn't see them from the window.
"Okay babe to pull this off we've got to be quick and quiet. Sam and Paige are waiting for us at the backdoor to the sunroom. Once we're in we have to be super speedy so Elsa doesn't see us hiding. Then Sa-" Izzie cut her off.
"Babe I know what to do. Then Sam calls for Elsa and you grab her as she comes down the stairs and I hug her causing her to probably cry because we're a day early. Did I get it right?"
Casey laughed and opened her door as quietly as possible. Izzie too climbed out of the car closing her door quietly and crouching down to walk around the front bumper. "Hey Newt I feel really creepy sneaking around your parents house like this."
"Babe shhhhh. Just hurry up, we're running out of time."
The pair tiptoed around the side of the house to the backdoor on the sun porch. When she saw them Paige opened the door and herded them inside hiding them behind the door to the rest of the house.
"I am sooo excited you guys are here Elsa is going to freak out! Now, Sam is upstairs with her showing her his newest portfolios so we need to hurry. She's already seen most of them so it might not be much longer before they come back down. I warn you Magic might bark when he sees you he isn't very fond of strangers."
"Wait Paige who's Magic?" Casey asked as Izzie pulled her inside.
"He's our new dog silly, Sam named him after that gay penguin you guys love so much. Now keep quiet and get into position."
Izzie went first sliding across the floor to hide behind the curved part of the stairs while Casey hid behind the corner into the kitchen. Paige signaled asking if they were ready and then she called for Elsa from the kitchen.
"Elsa, can you come here for a second? I have a question about a pie recipe I've been meaning to try recently."
Izzie held her breath while listening to Elsa take the staircase step by step with Sam in tow. Once she reached the bottom and turned to walk into the kitchen Izzie started to slowly inch forward. As soon as Elsa stepped into the kitchen Casey grabbed her from the front and Izzie from behind hugging her tightly.
"SURPRISE!" They all shouted in unison as Elsa immediately began to cry. "Oh you're early! This is the best surprise I've ever received, my babies all back in one place." She turned to her right to pull Izzie into her arms with Casey. "How did you get in without me hearing the door? I put an electronic bell on it that sends me notifications when Casey turned 17."
Casey pulled back from the hug with a confused look on her face. "I'm going to pretend that you didn't just say that crazy lady. Paige let us in the backdoor. Her and Sam were in on it."
"They did a really good job too, thanks guys." Izzie said as she released Elsa and Highfived Sam. " We've really missed you guys. Oh! Sam how's Edison doing in your new house?"
Casey rolled her eyes as Sam went into a five minute speech about how his turtle was essentially exactly the same as before. "In conclusion I think he is really enjoying his new surroundings. In fact according to my study he is doing better than when we lived with Zahid."
Casey snorted. "That's because you kept him in that closet thing that you used to draw in."
"It wasn't a closet, it was a drawing nook and he likes watching me draw, I proved it in my study."
Once Casey and Izzie brought all of their things inside the house they left to go visit her siblings before dinner. The three of them were permanently with her grandma in a bigger house that her and Casey had helped them afford. When they arrived her brother Thomas who was now 17 stepped outside and enveloped Izzie in a hug. Over her shoulder he smiled at Casey as his younger siblings ran into her arms. Maddie, now 13 years old and Sale who had just turned 7 wrapped Casey up almost knocking her over. "I missed you guys a lot. How have you been? You're so much bigger now."
Maddie scoffed. "Case I haven't grown an inch since you last saw us like 3 months ago."
"Oh come on that can't be true. You look at least an inch taller. If it were a miniature inch. Like a centimeter."
Izzie laughed as she pulled Maddie and Sale away. "Don't listen to her. She's jet lagged and being sentimental which is very strange."
"Oh okay wow thanks Iz, I guess I'll just have to prove my normalcy by kicking your butts in Mario Kart. My switch is in my bag and this time I have enough joycons for us all to play, so now you can all lose together."
"First one to the house gets to play as baby Mario!" Thomas cried as he turned and took off like a rocket towards the door.
"Wow that's dirty Thomas! For your information i play as baby Luigi now he's better anyway!" Casey yelled as she chased after the boy.
Three Mario Kart rounds later and Izzie had royally destroyed them all every single round. They said their goodbyes to the three kids and to Izzie's grandma before leaving. Now Casey was singing along to the radio as she drove them back in the direction of her childhood home. Izzie got so caught up in watching her urethral looking girlfriend sing that she hadn't even noticed that they had completely passed the Gardners home until they were in the parking lot at the Clayton Prep track. "Um Newton? I thought you weren't going to run this week."
Casey smiled as she got out of the car. "I wasn't, but then I thought how fun it would be to take a few laps at the track that I love so much." Casey jogged to Izzie's side of the car and opened her door. "May I have this lap dear princess?"
Izzie giggled as she accepted and walked with Casey onto the track. All of a sudden a familiar song started to play from the loud speakers. "Casey, why is Yoko Ono playing from the loud speakers?"
"Well this is the song we danced to at the party before regionals. Yes that party sucked but that doesn't change the fact that this is our song and I love it. Now I have what might sound like an outrageous question, so will you forehead promise me that you won't laugh at me when I ask it?" Izzie nodded as she leaned in and pressed her forehead against Casey's.
"I forehead promise that I won't laugh at your outrageous question."
"Okay good." Casey took a step back and slowly went down to the ground with her hand pulling a box out of her pocket. "Isabel Stewart, I have loved you since the first day we met even though you were kind of a jerk for a while. I will love you for the rest of my life and that is why I want to ask you if you will love me for the rest of yours. This is the exact spot where we first kissed, and that was the exact moment I knew I loved you. Izzie, will you marry me?"
Izzies' breath hitched in her throat as tears cascaded down her cheeks." Yes. Of course yes I love you so much Newton."
Casey laughed through her own tears as she slipped the ring on Izzie's finger and stood to kiss her. "I love you soooo much. Like more than anything else. You're everything."
Izzie pressed her forehead against Casey's as they stood holding each other. People began to clap and the noise rose all around them. Izzie looked to the bleachers and saw Casey's entire family including Zahid who had grown into an unlikely ally. Standing with them were Izzies siblings and her grandma all proudly smiling with tears in the corners of their eyes.
"Case, this is amazing! I love you so much it's unreal." Casey pulled Izzie into her chest and whispered in her ear.
"The will you marry me wasn't my only outrageous question you know. I have one more." Izzie giggled.
"Oh yeah Newton bring it on."
"Okay well can this be our song for our first dance? I know it's unconventional and a bit strange but I feel like it's the soundtrack to us ya know?" Izzie was silent for a moment and Casey panicked. "It doesn't have to be this it can be something slow or something mo-"
"No. It has to be this. This song is us, but first I have one condition.." Casey's eyes looked up at her new fiancé questioningly. "We have to dance the exact way we did at the party but you have to kiss me this time."
"Deal cause that was a really hot dance."
They stood holding each other while they processed what just happened. Slowly Casey's parents and Izzies' siblings flooded out of the stands with Coach Crowley. (Who Izzie was certain appeared out of thin air.) The song started over and they all started dancing around the pair. Casey and Izzie swayed together for a moment before breaking apart. "What do you say we race to see who gets to have Sam as their best person." Casey whispered.
"Oh your on, but if I win Elsa has to be yours." They both took off running as fast as she could with their family cheering them on. Feeling as if time had stopped and the world was turning ever so slowly revolving around their love. Together they couldn't be stopped because their love was purer than the most supreme slurpee you could ever find. Oh and because Casey doesn't allow for anything to stop her from getting the girl. ;)