Okay I know I left you off at a very evil spot so I'm not going to hold you up any further. Though I could if I wanted to, but you wouldn't read it anyhow. You care more about the story. So to it.

Quick summary: Nigel gets Sydney's response. That's good enough of a summary. To the story. Note: the date here is my parents anniversary.

She stood there, silent, surprised, and totally shocked. She had almost pushed him away, and here he was, asking her to merry him! This time she had the words and knew how to say them. "I can't think of anything better than being Mrs. Nigel Baily. Of course I'll marry you." He stood up and kissed her with everything in him. She returned the kiss and when they broke she looked down at the 2kt. diamond ring on her finger. "I can't wait to get back and tell everyone!" she screamed. "We need to start planning."

"Yeah, but let's just go home and make up for the way we've acted." he proposed leading her out to the cemetery.

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It was late when they arrived home, so Nigel invited Sydney to stay. He offered her one of his t-shirts to wear, and they both curled up and fell asleep.

The next morning, everyone was happy to see that the two had returned. No one asked any questions. "When are we going to tell everyone?" Nigel asked.

"Let's tell our closest friends and family first." she replied running her finger over her beautiful engagement ring. Since no one know that they were back, all of their classes were taking care of. So they had all day to do what they wanted. They waited for Karen to come in, and when she did, she welcomed both back with open arms.

"Karen, sit down." Sydney informed her. "We have some good news. We don't know what rumors you've heard, but forget them." Sydney raised her hand to show off her ring. "We're getting married." She screamed laughing and smiling. "Nigel asked me to marry him!"

Speechless, Karen didn't know what to say. "Oh..my...God! Sydney! Nigel! I can't believe it! This is wonderful!" She hugged each of them tightly, then moved by Sydney to look at her ring. "Look at that rock! That must have costed a fortune! It's beautiful! You guys...I'm so happy for you." She smiled. "When's the big day?"

"We haven't set anything yet, but we want it to b soon." Nigel informed her, kissing Sydney on the lips.

"Who all knows?" Karen asked still engrossed with the ring.

"Well...me and Syd, and you." Nigel answered. "I'm the first you've told!? That's...that's so sweet of you." She started crying and Sydney joined in.

"Karen, you've been so much a part of us. Will you be my maid of honor?" Sydney asked hugging her friend.

"It...would be an honor, Sydney." she said through her tears. "You two, you don't have to be here today so you guys go home and start making plans and phone calls. I won't tell anyone." she commanded walking our. "By the way, Nigel, where did you go?"

"England." he said as they walked out arm in arm.

They decided to go back to Sydney's apartment. They spent the rest of the morning and afternoon making plans and setting a date.

"Hello, Mom, it's Sydney. Guess what..." she expressed excitedly. "I'm getting married!" She could her hear her mom crying in the background.

"Who is he, dear?" her mom softly asked.

"Nigel. Nigel asked me to marry him, Mom."

"It's about time. I thought he'd never ask." she commented not knowing he had been listening on the other phone.

"Hi Mrs. Fox. I know I waited awhile to ask, but U finally know what I want." Nigel said looking into Sydney's eyes.

"Nigel? I'm sorry. I hope I didn't offend you."

"No. Of course not."

"Syd, have you called your father yet?"

"No. I wanted to tell you first."

"Okay. What day is it?"

"We were thinking July fifth. Does that sound okay?"

"That sounds fine, dear. I'll be down early. In about two weeks."

"Okay. We'll see you then. I love you, Mom."

"I love you, too. Both of you!" The rest of the evening was spent calling and having invitations made to send to everyone. That night as they got ready for bed, they discussed more of their plans.

"Where are we going to have the service?" Nigel asked presuming she didn't want it in a church.

"I don't know." she said rubbing his shoulders. "I know you want to have it in a church, but...I don't know how I feel about that."

"It's okay, Syd." He looked up stroking her cheek. "I don't care if we got married in a train station. I'm marrying the woman I love. We can have it any where you want." He took her in his arms and held her tight. Nothing more was said and soon both were asleep.

The next day was Saturday, so both sleep in. When Nigel finally got up, he looked at his wife to be, smiled and decided to make breakfast. It was almost two o'clock when Sydney woke up. She could smell the bacon frying in the skillet. She got up and joined him in the kitchen.

"Your eggs and bacon are the only things other than an alarm clock that can wake me up." she teased coiling herself around him.

"I'm sorry." he said kissing her head. "How did you sleep?"

"Better." she said moving to the refrigerator to pour some orange juice. "I was thinking...now that were going to be married, we can't have two apartments."

"I hadn't thought of that." He laughed as he laid their plates down. "That's kind of important now isn't it. Here..." he said getting up and bringing back the paper. "Let's look to see what's for sale."

They spent the next hour and a half looking through the paper, highlighting ads, and making phone calls to different owners. One ad looked particularly pleasing. A small house just on the outskirts of town. They set a time with the previous owner, and headed that way.

When they reached the quaint house, Sydney fell in love with it at first sight. White siding, sky blue trim on the shutters, two stories, a porch running all the way around the entire property. Nigel knew how much she wanted this house. He was already starting to imagine playing in the yard with Sydney and the kids. Or just the two of them swinging together on the porch swing. He knew not to get his hopes up, but something told him they may be home.

They walked up to the door, knocked, and a nice lady in her forties answered. She had bright red hair, warm blue eyes, a sweet smile, and a very perky personality. When she spoke greeting them, her voice carried an accent rich in a southern dialect.

"Come in, come in!" The husky woman cried taking them into the house. "Well, you must be Mr. Baily and Miss Fox. My name is Gloria Hammond. It's so nice to meet you. My husband's at work other wise he would be here." "Yes. We can understand that." Sydney commented.

"I'm Sydney and this is Nigel."

"Hello." he said shaking her hand. "This is a beautiful house, Mrs. Hammond."

"Thank you. Call me Gloria, please." She smiled so sweet. "Well, I guess you would like to see the house."

"That would be wonderful." Sydney could barely contain her excitement.

Gloria spent the next hour showing Nigel and Sydney around the house. When they had finished inside, Gloria led them outside to drink their lemonade. Nigel had been wondering the whole time they had went through the house and finally asked, "Gloria, this is a wonderful house, if I can, may I ask why you're selling?"

"Well, Nigel, it's not because we don't love this house; we do, but for many years my husband has wanted to build us a house. Last spring he finally built it. So we're moving out there." she answered him proudly. "If I may be so bold to ask, why are the two of you looking to buy?"

"Well, Gloria, Nigel just asked me to marry him, and we both live in different apartments. So you see the problem." Sydney informed with a smile on her face.

"Oh! That's so sweet!" Gloria yelled. "How long have you two known each other?"

"For about six years." Nigel answered. "We've worked together for about six years now."

"Where do you all work?" she asked.

"We're both professors at Trinity College." Syd answered.

"Professors of what?" she asked becoming more interested in the young couple.

"Ancient history." they said in unison.

About this time Nigel decided to change the subject hoping to learn more about the house. "Gloria, how much are you asking for the house?"

"Well, we wanted to make it a reasonable price. We were thinking around $26,995."

"Wow! That's a great price!" Sydney exclaimed.

"How much would a deposit be? And how long will it take for paperwork?" Nigel asked.

"Well, we wanted to make it as fast as we could. So we have the paperwork ready." Nigel waited a minute before saying, "Okay, we need to go back home, get our papers together, and come back with the deposit tomorrow."

"Are you saying we can get the house?" Sydney asked excited beyond compare.

"Yes. We're getting the house." Nigel reported as Sydney hugged him tightly. "Okay. So we'll see you tomorrow, Gloria."

"Great! My husband, Bill, will be home tomorrow. He'll love to meet you. By the way when's the wedding?"

"July fifth." they announced together. Gloria took their glasses and led them back through the house. Gloria and Sydney hugged , then Nigel and Sydney got in the car and drove back to Syd's apartment.

The next day they went back to the house, met Gloria's husband, signed the papers, paid the deposit, and were set. They called a moving company and arranged everything. The rest of that week was spent moving items from both of their apartments, deciding what they wanted to keep and give up. They had decided to spend and agreed that they were not going to spend a night in the house 'til they were married.

Chapter 7 coming it will be the last thanks for reading!!