"Zed, you know I couldn't love you more if you were my own brother, but you're driving me nuts!" Eliza said
"Hey this is a big deal!" He replied indignantly
"Bigger than having a kid? Because you're more nervous about this than when you were telling me about little Zed junior." Eliza replied.
"Don't call him that." Zed said flatly
"Well, what am I supposed to call him? He's going to be here in a little over three months and You guys still haven't got a name chosen, so until then, I'm going him 'Zed Junior' as incinative. " she replied with a smirk.
Zed chose not to reply, he merely narrowed his eyes at her.
"So are you gonna help me or not?" He said
She blew out a sigh.
"Yes, Zed, I will help you with planning this thing... but not with the execution, that's gonna have to be all you."
"Deal!" He replied.
"Okay, let's get started then." She said.
Addison was finishing up the last of her homeschool work, although she missed the social aspect of school, she liked the academic experience of home schooling, she could finally go at her own pace and because of this, was going to graduate a semester early.
The sound of the doorbell brought her out of her thoughts.
"I wonder who that could be?" She said as she hauled herself up off the couch, a feat that, thanks to their son, was getting increasingly difficult. At a little over six months along, she was definitely feeling pregnant now.
She opened the door to find Eliza waiting on the other side of it.
"Hey!" She said as her face melted into a kind smile
"Come on. " Eliza simply said as she hooked her arm in Addison's and escorted her to her jeep.
"Wait ... what's going on? Where's Zed? Oh no did something happen to him?" She said as panic began to rise within her.
"Just trust me." Eliza said as she made sure she was settled in the passenger seat before getting in.
Addison's confusion only deepened when they pulled up to the old warehouse where back in the days of segregation, they would hold their illegal zombie mashes.
"Come on." Eliza said as she took her by the arm once more
Addison attempted once more to ask just what in the hell was going on, but Eliza would only merely reply with "you'll see ".
Finally they came to a stop in front of the doorway where the light garden was.
Eliza motioned for her to enter and she did
There stood Zed, at the entrance to the garden.
"Hey." He said, looking visibly nervous as he pulled at the collar of his shirt.
"Hey, yourself. What's this all about?" She asked
"You'll see." He said as he offered his hand to her
"Where are we going?" She asked as she took it
"For a walk in the park." He replied
She laughed at the nostalgia of it
"You were from the perfect paradise, and I was living on the darker side." He sang to her
"But I had a feeling, if you got to know me." She sang in reply.
He twirled her around
"Right from the start, you caught my eye, and something inside me came to life." He continued, grinning at her as he pulled her close and they began to dance
"Now I've got a feeling, now you really know me." She sang in reply
"Someday, we knew this would be ordinary. " they both sang to one another
"Someday, we knew we'd be something extraordinary. " she sang
"You and me side by side, out in the broad daylight. " he echoed her
"They laughed but we said, we'd be someday." They both sang to each other as he sank to one knee in front of her
"I brought you here because this is where I knew I was a goner, where I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that you had my heart wrapped around your finger. This is the place where I told myself that one day... I would marry you." He said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small red velvet box.
He opened it to reveal a beautiful white gold engagement ring, but instead of a diamond, a beautiful shard of moonstone glittered from the center.
"Yes." She said without hesitation
"Addy, will you ... wait ... what?" He stuttered
"Yes! " she repeated, louder this time, her voice bouncing off the vast walls of the light garden.
He leapt up and pulled her into a searing kiss
"This is so perfect. " she said, tears streaming down her face as he slipped the ring on her finger.
"Come on, let's go home." He said as be wrapped his arm around her shoulders as she snuggled in close to his side.
"Wow, Addy, it's beautiful!" Bree squealed as she inspected the ring as they sat at a booth in Mazy's, waiting for their pizzas
"The moonstone was actually our idea." Willa said
"Yeah, we didn't think a regular old diamond would do since you can like ... Totally make those whenever you want." Wynter said.
"Thank you so much, I love it." Addison said
"You should've seen Zed when he came to ask us!" Willa laughed
"Seen me do what?" Zed's voice came from behind them as he walked up with Wyatt and Bonzo
"Oh man ... It smells AMAZING in here!" Wyatt said as Zed slid in next to Addison and put his arm around her shoulders, Wyatt slid into the booth next to Eliza, who suddenly looked uncharacteristically flustered. Bonzo climbed over the back of the booth and plopped into the space beside Bree.
"Ah! More friends I see! What can I get you?" Mazy said
"This our first time here, what's good?" Wyatt asked
"Everything." Zed and Bonzo said in unison.
"Pretty much any pizza you like she can make happen." Addison explained.
"He'll have what we're having." Willa said
"Another meat lovers coming right up!" She said
"I however, want to hear more about how nervous Zed was." Addison said as she smirked at him
"You should've seen him, the dude was sweating bullets." Wyatt said with a laugh.
"Yeah he has this crazy notion that you weren't going to say yes or whatever." Eliza added
"What?" Addison said disbelievingly as she pinned him with a look
"Hey that's not it at all! I was nervous because I didn't want to mess it up! I mean that's something were gonna remember forever! Something were gonnatell our kid about one day, I wanted it to be perfect!" He said
"And it was." Addison said as she cupped his cheek and turned his face to meet hers and they got lost in each other's eyes.
"You two are just so cute! I can't stand it! " Bree squealed
"Yeah, you two really are the perfect couple ... So annoying." Eliza said dryly
"I think it's awesome that they've found their mate, not everyone can say that." Wyatt said, his voice tinged with sadness.
"Our species takes choosing a mate very seriously, and once we do, it's for life." Willa explained as she noticed Addison's quizzical look.
"Don't worry, brother, you will find your mate. You have plenty of time." Willa said as she put a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm... not sure about that. " he replied as his eyes darted briefly in Eliza's direction.
The small action was missed by everyone ... except Addison. A small smile crossed her face as she studied them. Which in turn didn't go unnoticed by Zed.
"What are you smiling about?" He whispered into her ear.
"I'll tell you later." She replied.
