Chapter 3
Friday morning...
Emma lazily got out of bed. Thankfully David was covering the morning shift. She stood up running her fingers through her tangled hair. She walked into the bathroom and saw the post it note on the mirror. She took it down. She laughed as the note read, "Good morning beautiful. I love you."
Neal could really be romantic when he wanted to be. She loved the little things he did for her making her grateful that she chose him. He was truly the love of her life.
Emma took a shower and got dressed. She took her phone off the end table and called Neal.
"Hey," Neal greeted.
"Hey," she replied. "I got your note. It was sweet." She could imagine the grin forming on Neal's face.
"So you liked it?" he teased.
She rolled her eyes. "Of course I did. Anyway, I'll talk to you later."
"Alright. See you later Emma."
"See you later," she said hanging up the phone. She walked to the closet looking for a pair of shoes. She noticed something out of the ordinary. She creased her eyebrows in confusion as she made out the box.
"What in the world is this?" she wondered aloud. She gasped as she opened it and saw the ring. She stood up taking the ring out. She set the box down on the bed.
Neal got her a ring. An engagement ring. Her heart was beating fast. They hadn't talked about marriage but she knew whenever the time came she would say yes. She let out a shaky breath as she examined it. It was a simple clear cut diamond ring.
She slipped the ring on and it fit perfectly. She couldn't contain her surprise and joy. Then the realization it her that Neal was probably waiting for the right moment to propose. The gesture would have been nice but she didn't really need it.
"You're going to be Mrs. Neal Cassidy," she said. "Emma Cassidy," she repeated to get used to the idea.
Meanwhile, Robin walked into Gold's shop looking for Neal. Neal was behind the counter polishing an item. His head snapped up at the sound of footsteps approaching.
"Hey man," Neal said. "You seem like you could use a break."
Robin chuckled. "After we dropped off Henry and Roland, Snow came over and now she and Regina are admiring all the baby clothes they bought the other day."
Neal smiled. "It couldn't have been that bad." Robin arched his eyebrow causing Neal to laugh harder.
"Just be glad Emma wasn't there," Neal continued. Robin rolled his eyes.
"Anyway, how are things going?"
"Trying to keep everything under wraps is proving difficult but it's coming along," Robin replied. "I take it everything is good on your end."
"Good. I'll get it to you tomorrow morning." Robin said his goodbye and left the shop.
Neal went to the apartment during his lunch break. He opened the door and saw Emma in the kitchen. When she turned around she had a huge smile on her face. She approached him and kissed him with everything she had in her.
"What did I do to deserve that?" he asked. "Not that I'm complaining." She chuckled.
"I can't believe you were actually going to do it. I know we haven't talked about this but I'm so happy. And I know I probably ruined the surprise and I'm sorry. I was just too excited," she said.
"Um, what are we talking about?" he asked confused. She apparently thought he was joking because she merely shook her head and kissed him quickly.
"Nice try Neal. You can stop being coy," she said. He let out a nervous laugh.
"Emma, I really have no idea what you're talking about," he said. She rolled her eyes mockingly and held up her hand.
"This," she said pointing to the ring. She turned her back to him and he paled. How in the world did she find it?
"You found the ring," he said trying to keep his voice even. "When?"
"Earlier this morning. I was looking for some shoes when I came across it," she answered facing him again. She waited for a moment to speak again. "Are you mad I ruined the surprise?"
"Mad…no. Just um, shocked," he answered. He was mentally cursing himself. Emma nodded her head.
"Well, I love it and I love you. I can't wait for us to get married. First, we have to break the news to Henry," she stated.
"Emma, there's something I need to tell you," he said. She had a look in her eyes and he felt guilty. He couldn't crush her.
"We'll tell Henry after school," Neal said. Emma grabbed her jacket and gun before kissing Neal one more time.
"See you later," she said. Neal nodded. As soon as she left Neal started panicking. He had no idea what he was going to do.
That night, all he heard was how happy he and Emma were going to be from Henry. He couldn't contain his excitement and he wanted to tell Snow and David. Neal managed to convince him otherwise. He said he and Emma wanted to tell their parents in person. He figured that would give him enough time to gently break the news to Emma.
However, things would not go to plan. Henry called Regina and told her the news. She laughed a bit at Henry's enthusiasm. A part of her was a little jealous because she thought Robin would have proposed. She hung up the phone and leaned against the headboard.
"Henry?" Robin questioned.
"You'll never guess what Henry just told me. Neal proposed to Emma but technically we're not supposed to know," Regina explained.
Robin tilted his head to the side. "Really?" He guessed Neal got caught up his engagement plans and decided to take the leap of faith for himself.
"Good for them," he said. "Soon it will be us," he thought.