I loved the way her eyes lit up and her nose scrunched together when she tapped on the glass window, attempting to play with the puppies in the kennels. After a half an hour spent searching through nine different kennels, Callie had narrowed her options down to about...nine.
Don't get me wrong, I loved seeing her happy, I really, truly did and if this was something I would need to be okay with to make her happy, I would be. I stood behind and let her make her choice. She spent about ten minutes at every window, asking me a question but never waiting for me to answer as she moved onto the next one. My hands found my way into the pockets of my jeans and I fiddled with the ring that I had put back into my pocket for safe keeping. There was no doubt in my mind that Callie and I would be married, it was just a matter of when.
When I was accepted into the academy, I thought it was the right move. It would give her the sense of security that she needed but then I remembered that deep down, as much as it pained me to say, Callie didn't really need anything. Even when we were kids she was always self sufficient and although she wanted security back then, she didn't need it. She certainly didn't need me, but I was glad that she stayed with me anyway. We got lucky, I think. We found each other and I wanted to finalize that in a way but Callie was the type that didn't want that. I needed to be okay with that.
After an hour, I began to grow impatient. "Callie, honey, you have to decide at some point." I let out a small chuckle and the two employees behind the counter rolled their eyes at me.
She smiled as she turned on her heals and pointed at one of the lower kennels. "I want her." Inside, there was a black and white 2 year old Siberian Husky with bright blue eyes. "She's perfect." She said as she walked out of the pet store, leaving me to do the rest.

"What are we going to name her?" I asked as I unhooked the leash and threw the car keys on the kitchen counter.

"Daisy, of course." She shrugged nonchalantly and walked into the bathroom, starting the shower. I walked in as she was stepping in. "I hate when you do that you know." She pretended to be mad, but she laughed as she threw her head under the water.

I leaned against our sink and watched her tentatively. It amazed me how much had changed over six years. This was so unlike the Callie I had first met. I loved that she opened up to me a bit more everyday.

"So, why Daisy?"

"It was my dogs name when I was younger." She turned the water off and stepped out of the shower. Slowly, she made her way to me and wrapped her arms around my neck. I quickly picked her up and she wrapped her legs around my waist. In that moment, I didn't care that she had nothing wrapped around her or that I was getting drenched in the water falling from her hair, all I cared about was her. I turned around and sat her on the edge of the sink. She put her head into my neck and mumbled incoherent words.

I pulled her away and held her head in my hands. She seemed to lean into me as I asked, "What was that?"

"I said I'm worried about you starting at the academy." She buried her head back into mine and I sighed. Silently, I picked her up and carried out of the bathroom and into our bedroom. I laid her down on the bed and crawled over her, staring into her eyes.

"If you don't want me to go, I won't go."

"No, no that's not it at all." She looked nervous as she aggressively shook her head at my accusation. "Not at all." She repeated.

"Then what is it, Callie?"

"I've just been thinking a lot lately about what happens if something goes wrong." Callie shifted underneath me. I rolled onto my side so I was able to lay beside her and take her hand into mine.

"Nothing is going to go wrong Callie, I promise."

"Don't promise something you know you can't keep, Brandon but that's still not what I meant."

"Then what do you mean Callie?" She avoided eye contact with so I climbed back on top of her. "Hey, talk to me."

"I want to marry you."

I replayed the words in my mind a dozen times before I finally let them make sense. "You what?"

"I said I want to marry you. I don't want you to go to the academy and join the force and not be married to me. I want to be your wife. I need to be you wife."

"Callie, you don't need to be my wife if you don't want to be."

"Brandon, I don't think you're listening to me, I want to be your wife." She took my face in her hands and kissed me three times. She is perfect.

I took the ring out of my pocket and opened the box. "Callie, will you marry me?"

"Yes."

I had seen Callie cry many times before but this was the type that didn't break my heart like the others did. I let my lips fall onto hers and Daisy barked outside of our door...