DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything. This disclaimer applies to all chapters.

Note: The proposal idea is courtesy of my friend Tom, who proposed to his wife in a similar fashion. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Sandy and Kirsten did spend the holidays together. Although Christmas was a bit awkward, Mrs. Nichol tried her best to make the holiday enjoyable for all by starting all the conversations and changing the subject quickly when it looked like it was headed into dangerous territory. The biggest relief of all was that Caleb listened to his wife's request that he not ask whether or not Sandy proposed yet.

Celebrating Chanukah with Sophie was also a bit awkward. Kirsten still felt weird about the last conversation she had with Sophie, which was where she found out that Sandy had angrily left. Kirsten was scared that Sophie would ask her embarrassing questions or bring up how much money Kirsten's family had, and Sophie was nervous about how to act around this girl whom she felt she had nothing in common with.

Nonetheless Sandy and Kirsten had made it through the holidays with their families. While in New York City, Sandy was Kirsten's tour guide since she had never been to New York City.

On the night of December 30th, Sandy led Kirsten back to Times Square, where they had been a few times already. After arriving in front of the big screen tv there, he checked his watch. 6:55. A few minutes early. He made some small talk about how nice it was to be in Manhattan again, especially to be there with her. He checked his watch again. 2 minutes to go. Suddenly he realized that Kirsten still had her gloves on, since it was after all, about 30 degrees. "Kirsten…take off your gloves!" He said it a little too anxiously.

"Why its cold!" she responded defensively, looking at him like he was crazy.

As he responded, "I'll warm your hands," he grabbed her hands and pulled the gloves off of them. Bringing her hands together, he rubbed his hands over hers and then breathed hot air onto them. Almost forgetting why he was doing this in the first place, he suddenly dropped her hands and checked the time. It was time. He quickly reached into his jacket pocket to make sure he felt the small, velvet box inside and looked up at the giant tv screen that is displayed at Times Square. He took a deep breath and began, "Hey Kirsten, look up at the tv screen…"

Kirsten looked up to find the following message displayed on the screen in a heart:

Kirsten, will you marry me? Sandy

She froze, rereading the message a few times. Did it really say what she thought it did? By the time she turned around to face Sandy, he was down on one knee with the small, velvet box opened up in his hand. In it was a beautiful, princess cut diamond ring on a platinum band.

Kirsten's mouth dropped and her eyes grew wide, filling up with water. Her mouth began to quiver, which eventually spread throughout her whole body. "Sandy…" she said surprised and confused, trembling with emotion.

"Kirsten Nichol…will you marry me?" Sandy asked seriously, while showing a small smile and puppy dog looking eyes, still a little skeptical of what Kirsten would say.

"Yes…yes…of course!" she yelled excitedly through the tears.

He quickly put the ring on her left finger and stood up, bringing his lips to hers as she reached her arms around him and pulled him closer as they kissed. After kissing they reached their arms around one another in a tight hug.

"I love you," Kirsten said as she sniffled.

"I love you too."

After they broke apart, Kirsten excitedly blurted out random thoughts, "Sandy! I'm speechless! Sandy I think I'm dreaming things because I think you just proposed to me in Times Square on the big screen! I can't believe this! Sandy would you pinch my cheek to make sure I'm not dreaming?"

"No, but I'll kiss it." He leaned in and kissed her cheek, then took his hand and wiped the tears that had fallen onto her cheeks.

"Oh Sandy…this is the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"Me too."

Sandy told her that they had to get going because he made restaurant reservations for 7:30. They started walking hand in hand down the street, grinning wildly.

"So Sandy…you have to tell me how you pulled this one off. I want to know all the details. Proposing to me on the big screen? Truly the most romantic thing you've ever done. I don't think there's anything more romantic than that."

"Well…let's just say that when I did the internship here last summer I was already thinking about proposing to you and I had the idea in my head. I talked to one of my bosses about it and he told me that he could arrange for it to happen. Do you know how badly I wanted to tell you? It was so hard keeping everything a secret. Oh, and by the way, the boss who helped me with it took pictures from his office across the street so we'll have a picture of when the screen asked you to marry me."

Kirsten stopped them from walking and gave Sandy another hug. She was thrilled. It was the perfect night.

"More good news…"

"What can be better than this?" she asked.

"Well…your mom and I kept in touch ever since Thanksgiving and a few weeks ago your dad actually okayed the proposal and wedding."

"He did?"

"Yeah, your mom has been talking to him about it ever since Thanksgiving and finally he agreed."

"Really?"

"Yeah. My mom is okay with everything too. So there you go…our families are okay with everything. And by the way, everyone knows that I was proposing like this today. I asked everyone what they thought of it and they all agreed it was perfect."

"Everyone knows?"

"Yup."

"Sandy…you know…you didn't have to do all of this. You know that I said yes right along. You didn't have to get my dad's okay, go through all this trouble. You know…ask me in front of about a thousand people if I wanted to marry you."

"Yes I did. I had to talk to our parents because when our parents become grandparents I don't want to hear any bickering amongst the families when our child is present. And I had to propose this way because I wanted you to be surprised and I wanted to have everyone know how much I love you."

"And this ring…its way too expensive Sandy, really. How were you able to afford this?"

"No it's not too expensive and don't you worry about how I afforded it. You deserve the best."

"You are too sweet."

And with that, they headed into the restaurant.

During that winter break, Sandy and Kirsten decided on a wedding date of October 18, 1986, which was the exact date they met two years before. They began planning everything early so that when school started at the end of January they would have a little less stress.

They were relieved when school ended so they could solely focus on the wedding. Coincidentally, just as Sandy and Kirsten were getting ready to mature into a married couple, they also matured individually in the work place. During that summer Sandy was promoted to a legal assistant and got much higher salary and also got better benefits. After spending 2-and-a-half years in the restaurant industry, Kirsten left when she was offered a job at an art gallery. She couldn't be happier to be working in a place she loved and not having to live off tips.

September was now approaching. All of the wedding details were in place. Sandy and Kirsten had decided to get married in Berkeley without question. Their moms were a bit surprised that neither Newport Beach nor New York City fit into the choices. After Sandy and Kirsten lectured them about how this wedding was going to be about what they wanted, the moms quickly kept quiet not wanting to start an argument.

The wedding ceremony would be a small, outdoor, interfaith wedding that would feature 5 bridesmaids and 5 groomsmen. Kirsten's friend Lisa from Berkeley had the honors of maid of honor while Sandy's friend from volunteering at Berkeley held the honor of best man. The rest of the bridal party consisted of their siblings, family, and friends.

The flowers featured would be sunflowers, Kirsten's favorite flower. The wedding guests would receive a yellow candle that smelled like a sunflower and a pack of matches that said

"Sandy & Kirsten Cohen-October 18th, 1986"

September came and went with Sandy and Kirsten counting down the days till they would become "Mr. And Mrs. Sanford Cohen".

Finally, it was two days before the wedding…the day of the wedding rehearsal. Sandy and Kirsten were cuddling with one another when they were interrupted by the arrival of Kirsten's mom.

"Sorry to interrupt you two…I just wanted to come talk to you guys before the rehearsal starts. Are you excited?"

"Extremely."

"Very. Can't wait till Saturday," Kirsten said happily.

"Kirsten…not to put a damper on the moment but…your father is not going to make it to the rehearsal tonight. The meeting got delayed till tomorrow morning and he'll be catching a flight right after the meeting. He'll take a connecting flight from Los Angeles to get here real early Saturday morning. I'm sorry honey." Mrs. Nichol gave her daughter a hug.

"Oh, its okay mom." Truthfully, Kirsten was relieved she wouldn't have to face her father at the rehearsal.

"Now back to you two…so Sandy…getting any cold feet?"

"Not at all Mrs. Nichol."

"You know you could call me by my first name. I'm okay with that."

"Thanks."

"Oh Sandy, I'm so happy for you and Kirsten. Come give me a hug." Sandy and Mrs. Nichol happily hugged.

After she left, Sandy said, "Kir…are you okay? I mean with your dad not being here and stuff."

"Fine. Doesn't bother me at all."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

The wedding rehearsal went smoothly. Sandy and Kirsten spent the next day getting ready for the wedding. Sandy went out for drinks with his buddies while Kirsten's family and friends had a girls' night in the hotel room.

The next morning Kirsten woke up with the biggest grin imaginable on her face. She looked at her engagement ring and ran her hand over it. She thought back to meeting Sandy two years ago on this very day. She remembered everything they did together within the last two years…their first date at the holiday party…moving in together…visiting their families together…sharing their joys and sorrows of the day with each other…she thought about how lucky she was to find Sandy. She was interrupted by a knock on the door. Mrs. Nichol was coming for Kirsten to start getting ready for the wedding.

Sandy was awaken from a sweet dream about Kirsten by his best man. Eventually all of the groomsmen made their way into Sandy's hotel room where they started talking to him about the big day. "So you ready?" one of them asked.

"Couldn't be more ready. I'm ready right now. Bring Kirsten in here now. I tell you guys, I've been ready for a long time."

"Yeah…we could kind of tell after you decided to give up drinking beer with us on Friday nights," another groomsmen said.

"Sorry about that guys. I promise we'll have a drinking night someday."

"You say that now!" they all joked.

"Oh, by the way, this was left for you by your bride to be," Sandy's best man said, handing him the gift bag. "We'll give you a few minutes."

Sandy opened up the bag to find the tan sweater Kirsten had given him when he went to New York for holiday break after they had just started dating. Inside the bag was a note that read, "Sandy-Remember this sweater? It's the one I wore when we first kissed and then I gave it to you when you went to New York during break. I gave it to you then so you wouldn't forget me, and now I give it to you to you on our wedding day so you'll have it as a remembrance of the wonderful memories we have of the last two years together. Looking forward to the future as your wife. I love you. Love, Kirsten (Cohen in a few hours)."

Sandy was brought to tears. Kirsten could do that to him by writing something so beautiful and giving him something so memorable.

Kirsten sat on the bed while her bridesmaids adjusted her hair and makeup. After they finished, Lisa handed Kirsten a gift bag that she was from Sandy. Kirsten told everyone to give her a few minutes, as she wanted to open Sandy's gift privately. She anxiously opened the bag to find her favorite kind of coffee with a box of cookies. The note inside read: "Kirsten-Two years ago today we went to the café on campus to take a study break. This is what you ordered. I gave you this because our first study break led us to a wonderful, memorable two years together and I hope that this coffee and cookies lead us into a wonderful, memorable marriage. I love you Kirsten, you mean the world to me. I can't wait to see you today, looking beautiful as usual. Love, Sandy."

Kirsten started crying. She was interrupted by knocking on the door. Her mother and bridesmaids were all anxious to talk to Kirsten and make sure her hair and makeup looked perfect one last time before the ceremony. Kirsten opened the door and let them in.

TBC