Chapter 5:

Engagement

Snow. It was December 26th in New York City and it was snowing. Cindy Neutron couldn't help but give a girlish giggle of delight as she looked out the window of her Upper East Side penthouse. The rest of Jimmy's family, including Jimmy himself, were still fast asleep. She had been up for about an hour, and was perched on their windowsill, thoroughly enjoying the view. The fact that it was snowing on the anniversary of the day Jimmy proposed to her just made her first Christmas as both a New Yorker and a married woman all that more wonderful.

"It doesn't feel like Christmas," Cindy commented as they sat on Jimmy's front porch.

The man beside her chuckled. "What? 60 degrees and sunny isn't your ideal Christmas weather?"

Cindy laughed. "No. I hate that about Los Angeles as well. I want snow!" Growing up, she had loved listening to her father tell her stories about growing up in Northern Michigan, and the few times they had visited she had been enchanted by the snow that blanketed the region. Every day leading up to Christmas she had wished for it to snow in the tiny Texas town, just once, but the only time that had ever come true was in the middle of summer, curtsy of the local town genius. And while it had been wonderful and a break from the usual dry heat of summer, it simply wasn't the same.

"Well, you could always move to New York City with me. You can have all the snow you want. Along with winter walks and of course skating at Rockefeller Center…"

The blonde giggled. "That does sound heavenly. But it would take an awfully big event to get me to move." The sudden blast of her cellphone caused her to miss the calculating look on Jimmy's face.

They walked hand in hand through the park later that evening. Jimmy was unusually quiet and right as Cindy was about to say something, a speckle caught her eye. She watched it float gently in front of her before landing on the ground, but convinced that she was seeing things, she didn't mention it. But soon there were many more little speckles floating in front of her and as she leaned in to take a closer look she gasped. "It's snowing!" She let go of Jimmy's hand in order to catch a few flakes on her fingertips. "Jimmy! Jimmy, look!"

A chuckle. "I know."

She was mesmerized as she played with the falling flakes, rambling on in disbelief about the probability of snow in Texas in December and how it was yet so warm and- Suddenly her entire thought train screeched to a halt as Jimmy's comment finally clicked. Snow. Texas. Her one Christmas wish. "What you do?!" She screeched.

"One of my latest inventions. It allows me to change the weather to whatever I please for any area in 50 mile radius."

"I thought the mayor banned you from messing with the weather after you created a second ice age."

"Irrelevant. Mayor Quasar retired years ago and surely we can all agree that- Hey!" He shouted as a snowball hit him upside the head. He quickly made a snowball of his own to retaliate but found that Cindy was nowhere in sight.

She laughed to herself as she skipped down the cobblestone path. While Jimmy had always been the better inventor, she still prided herself on the fact that she could outrun him any day of the week. She paused to look behind her, listening to the footsteps that were sure to come. She grew slightly alarmed when they didn't come, she was about to return to him when she was suddenly grabbed from behind and tackled into the snow. "Neutron! Let me go!" She squealed in between bouts of giggles as the genius kept her pinned beneath him.

He shook his head, laughing. "I don't think so. Perhaps I should go toss you into a snow bank as revenge for that snowball. Don't you think?" Her response was more laughter. He loved the sound of it and between her snow-covered hair and bright pink cheeks and nose from the snow and running, she had never looked more appealing. Allowing his heart to overrule his head for once, he leaned down and kissed her deeply.

At first she froze, unable to quite comprehend that Jimmy Neutron was kissing her, but she quickly shoved that all aside and kissed him back just as deeply. When they both pulled away for some much needed air, Jimmy rolled off Cindy and brushed some snow out of his hair. She looked at him, cheeks flushed and slightly unsure what to say or do.

He caught her looking at him and blurted what he had been thinking all day. "Marry me."

She had to have misheard him. There's no way he would just propose, right? "What?"

"Marry me." He repeated, more confident in himself. "Move to New York with me. Be my wife."

Her response was out of her mouth before she could even think it through. "Yes." It was all he needed to hear before he crushed her to him and kissed her again.

He kissed the back of her neck. "Ready?"

'No.' "Yes." He winked at her as his hand on her back steered her out the Neutron's back door and into the backyard.

The snow had all melted just in time (conveniently) for Mrs. Neutron's yearly family together. What had started off as just both sides of the family had quickly warped into a get together that included their closest friends as well. Cindy went to take a seat next to Libby and Mrs. Folfax while Jimmy went to whisper something to his mother. Mrs. Neutron nodded and Jimmy cleared his throat. "Excuse me, I have something to say." The entire backyard went silent as forty pairs of eyes looked at him expectantly. He cleared his throat again. "I would like to inform everyone that I have asked Cindy to be my wife." He locked gazes with her. "And she has accepted."

Her view of her fiancé was suddenly blocked by Judy Neutron hugging her tightly and welcoming her into the family. Libby grabbed her next and started to gush about wedding plans. Somewhere to her left, Elkie was squealing with delight and Sheen was grumbling to Carl about having to wear a tux again. Jimmy's aunts promised to take her under their wing and inform her of all the Neutron family traditions. Her head was spinning as she tried to keep up with it all and a familiar bout of nausea and light-headiness began to overwhelm her, much like the first time she had prosecuted a court case. Luckily, her plight did not go unnoticed as Jimmy elbowed his way to her side and physically blocked her with his body, "Alright! Alright! Leave the woman alone!"

Shaking his head, he led her to the front of the house and sat her down on the porch before disappearing into the house. Moments later he reappeared with a mug of tea which he handed to her. He paused to sit beside her and let her clear her mind. After a few moments he asked, "Do you want to tell your parents?"

She took a sip of the Earl Gray tea, eyeing the empty pink house across the street. She collected her thoughts by swirling the beverage around in the mug for a moment more before shaking her head. "They haven't cared about anything I do so far. Besides, they'll read about it in People soon enough."

He smirked. Silence. Then, "Do you have to go back to LA tomorrow?"

"You know the answer to that." More silence. "Jimmy, I can't leave loose ends. That's not me. I need to give notice, pack-"

"I can have people do that for you." She tossed him a look and he sighed. "I know. I just can't bear to be apart from you again."

She set the mug down beside her and slipped herself into his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head against his chest. "It's not forever this time. Just temporary." Raising her head to catch his look of contempt, she laughed. "I promise. I love you."

He sighed again and kissed her temple. "I love you to. But I will be calling you every day."

"I'm looking forward to it."

A groan from the bed pulled her out of her reminiscing. Her husband blindly felt the bed for his other half, and not being able to find her sleepily called out, "Cindy?"

"Right here." She responded as she untangled herself from the window to stand by his edge of the bed. "It's snowing!"

Jimmy yawned. "That's great dearest, really, but I can guarantee that it will still be snowing this afternoon, and you can enjoy it then. Now how about getting back in bed?"

"James Issac Neutron, have you forgotten what day it is?"

"Tuesday?"

"Very funny."

"Boxing Day?"

"Not in the United States."

Knowing what she was going for, he merely chuckled. He allowed himself to experience the sudden blast of cold by reaching his arm out from underneath the comforter to grab her arm and pull her back into their California King. Wrapping the blanket around the both of them, he settled her against him before responding, "The anniversary of the day I asked the most beautiful woman in the world to marry me?"

She shook her head as she ran her hand along his chest. "Nice save."

He simply laughed before kissing her and pulling her deeper beneath the blankets. Cindy still loved the snow, but she had to admit that spending her day in bed with her husband while it swirled outside was just as good.

A/N: Thanks to my sister and my best friend for reviewing this! Also thanks for all the reviews, follows, and alerts! You guys are the best! Also, have a request for an upcoming chapter? Let me know!