Dave and Alex spent the next day in Western North Carolina with her brother, Nathan, and his family. They made arrangements to extend the gravesite care agreement they had with the local funeral home for their mother's grave to their father's as well, then Alex took Dave to a few of her favorite spots. The one that he enjoyed the most was a beautiful drive up one of the local mountains to a gorgeous waterfall. The next day, Thursday, they drove back to Nathan's home.
Dave could tell that Alex was feeling down and a bit agitated that day but he wasn't sure if it was from dealing with her father's loss, or the time in her hometown. That evening, they sat on the back deck, he with a beer and her with a glass of wine, watching Nathan and the boys play basketball on the small court they had built into their backyard. Dave was holding Alex's hand, and began stroking his thumb along hers to catch her attention. "Tell me what you're thinking about right now."
She sighed as she continued to watch the game. "I only have you one more day, then you're leaving."
He squeezed her hand. "You only have me here one more day. Then I'm heading home, and I'll be there waiting. You'll be joining me there soon enough."
She shook her head. "No, not soon enough."
He pulled her hand up and placed a kiss on her knuckles. "I'll miss you too."
"Nathan and I are going to make a plan tomorrow for finalizing details of Dad's estate. Then I'll know when to set my return flight for. I'll feel better when the ticket is in my hand."
Later that night, Alex helped Danielle clean up the kitchen while Dave sat on the back porch with Nathan drinking another beer.
The next afternoon, his last in America—for now—Dave snuck up to his guest room for a few minutes before the family had a late lunch. When he came back down everyone was just sitting down at the table. As he sat down next to Alex, the phone in his pocket began to ring. "Excuse me a moment," he said to those around the table, then pulled it out and started the video call. "Hey guys, how's it going?"
"Dad!" came several voices at once.
"Hold on, let me turn the camera around on this thing." He tapped a button and his children could now see those around the table. "There's Alex—"
"Hi Alex!" the same voices yelled.
She smiled. "Hiya kiddos!"
"And you remember talking before on here with Nathan and Danielle and their boys, Jeremy and Kyle." He held the camera with one hand and began fumbling in his pocket. "If this all goes well, I'm hoping they'll get to come visit us in about six months or so."
Alex's look of confusion went between Dave and Nathan, as Dave handed the phone to Nathan. "You don't mind holding that do you, Nate?" Nathan took the phone with a grin and Dave pulled his chair away from the table, taking a small box from his pocket and cleared his throat as he knelt down next to Alex. Her eyes grew wide and her hand went over her mouth as he took a deep breath. "I wasn't sure what the right time, or place, would be for this. But I thought here, with your family, in your home country, might be right. Alexandra Stanton, I love you more than words can ever begin to explain, but here goes—you came into my life and gave me a second chance at love when I didn't think I needed or wanted it. But once I knew you, I knew I couldn't ever live without you in my life. We've been brought together on this planet, two people who have known and lost love, I believe, to bring love and happiness to each other once again—and I hope—for the rest of our lives. So here I am, with my kids in tow—" He nodded back towards the phone. "—who by the way threatened me if I didn't get this done soon. Alexandra Stanton, will you marry me?"
Alex practically fell out of the seat getting to Dave. She fell to her knees, arms wrapped around his neck, and crushed her lips against his in a kiss. The cheers from the phone were echoed by the ones around the table. When she broke the kiss, he grinned. "Is that a yes?"
She grinned back and nodded fervently, whispering, "Yes, yes, yes," before kissing him again, then moving her head beside his, crushing him in a tighter embrace, her eyes squeezed closed as tears rolled down her cheeks.
He whispered into her ear, "You haven't even see the ring yet…"
She chuckled and sat back up in her chair, wiping her eyes. He lifted the ring up for her to see. There were small purple jewels surrounding a slightly larger, but modest, diamond in the center. "It's beautiful," she whispered as she gasped.
"There are 9 jewels in all, 3 light purple ones on top are for John, Lainey, and Blake—always a part of your heart—" He paused a moment for it to sink in before continuing, "the others are for Evie, Ewan, Paul, Lucy, Tanya, Sam—and well I was hoping the diamond might represent us—our love." He grinned, and she let him slip the ring onto her left hand. It fit perfectly.
"That's amazing!" Danielle exclaimed from across the table.
"Alex, Alex!" They heard coming from the phone and Nathan smiled, hoping no one would notice his red, tear rimmed eyes, as he handed it over to her and she reversed the camera so they could see her. "Alex, we love you!"
"Oh, kiddos! I love you too! Every one of you!" She wiped at her tears again and smiled. "I'll see you very soon, I promise. Your Dad will be back to you tomorrow!"
"Bye Alex!" They all waved, and Tanya ended the call from their end, and in Scotland, at the Tiler house, a celebratory dance party was happening, with even Anna and Robin taking part.
Dave got up from where he still knelt on the floor and pulled his chair over to sit.
"Okay, who all was in on this?" Alex said as she looked around the table and slowly four American hands went up in the air. She shook her head in disbelief before they all began laughing together. "How long have you known?"
"I found out last night, when Dave politely asked me for permission." Her big brother then smirked, "Seems I held your fate in my hands, sis. Lucky you I was feeling generous."
They all began laughing again, and as Dave rested one arm on the back of Alex's chair, he added through his own laughter, "To be clear, if you had protested, I probably would have just waited till she made it back to Scotland and asked her anyway."
"It never would have gotten that far," Danielle smiled. "I would have never let him say no. In my defense, I just found out a while ago when Nathan finally told me what was going on."
"And us, too!" Jeremy defended he and his brother.
Nathan smiled and raised his glass of ice water. "Not exactly proper drink for a toast but it will have to do. To Alex and Dave, may you have all the love and happiness you both so greatly deserve."
"Cheers." Danielle added as their glasses clinked together in the center of the table.
Kyle grinned and raised his glass in the air. "And to vacation in Scotland! Do we get to wear kilts to the wedding?"
Dave couldn't help the loud laugh that escaped again before he answered, "That will have to be discussed later, but I'll see what I can do, boys." He winked towards the two boys and they both grinned.