Date #87: A Family Matter

Gru was just outside the girls' door, nearly ready to tuck them in for bed. He'd hesitated, however, having some big news to share with them.

Well, in actuality, he was more or less going to ask for their approval of something—something big. Taking a deep breath, he entered their room.

The girls were in their pajamas, though not yet in their beds, as to be expected.

"Teeth brushed? Clothes out for school tomorrow?" Gru asked them as they meandered to their respective beds. The two younger girls confirmed happily, and Agnes climbing up to bed while Edith jumped into hers.

Margo was the only one to give a non-verbal response, having nodded as she texted, catching Gru's attention immediately.

"Who could you possibly be talking to this late at night?" He asked, baffled by how much she used her phone in the evening.

"You Skype Lucy at night, why can't I be texting my friend?" Margo retorted, crossing her arms in a playfully manner.

Gru paused for a moment, unaware of how Margo knew that they did that. He shrugged it off. "That is different."

"How is it different?"

"Because we are adults."

"So?"

"So?! So we can do whatever we want! You, on the other hand, are under my house rules, and I make the rules for your benefit—in fact, I don't need to explain myself to you."

Margo laughed at how flustered he was getting, the irony of it all being that she was texting Lucy about a date she was going on a few nights after this. Despite her amusement, Margo noticed how odd Gru was acting; he looked a little on edge. "Are you Ok?"

Gru was about to continue when he realized how uncool he was behaving. He took another deep breath and looked at the girls in turn as he began the small speech he'd been preparing for what seemed like weeks.

"Now girls, I have something very important I want to ask you. This is a serious matter, and I need you to think very hard and tell me the truth about what you think."

"Then tell us already!" Edith said, gaining a light glare from her now nervous looking father.

"How would you feel…" Gru began, his heart beating a little faster. If he couldn't even tell his girls without getting nervous, how was he supposed to pull off actually proposing? "…if I asked Lucy to marry me?"

"Are you kidding?" Margo said, closing her phone and putting it aside. "Do it!"

"We've been waiting forever for you to propose! I thought you'd never ask!" Edith said, nearly falling out of bed.

Agnes just squealed and jumped down from bed to hug Gru's leg. He picked her up into his arms and looked into her eyes. His confidence had been immediately boosted by the children's reactions. "I take it you would really like that?"

Her response was to bounce up and down in excitement. "When are you going to ask her?"

"I was hoping to ask her tomorrow." He said.

Smiles all around, he tucked Agnes into bed. Kissing her forehead, he moved on to tuck Edith in.

"Thank you girls. I wasn't going to propose if you hadn't approved." He said before kissing Edith.

"Why not? You're the grown up who gets to do whatever they want." Margo said, more as a joke than anything else.

Gru hesitated, looking down at his eldest daughter before he took her glasses and set them beside her bed. "I guess we can't always do what we want. This family is made up of all of us, and asking Lucy to be my wife is…" he straightened up and looked at all his girls to continue, "…asking her to be your mother."

He looked back at Margo, knowing that her feelings on the matter would be more complicated than with her younger sisters. He sighed, leaning in a kissing Margo's forehead. Just before leaving any of their bedsides, he had one more thing to say.

"I love you, girls. Sleep tight."

-The next night—

Lucy was surprised that Gru had reserved them dinner reservations to somewhere so fancy. Their usual dates were much less extravagant, not that she was complaining. She'd found it sweet of him to be this spontaneous. After they'd eaten, they had gone on a walk, the moonlight just bright enough to light their way.

Gru was getting nervous, but refused to show it, which was why he hadn't proposed at the restaurant. He wanted to be alone with her; close to her. They'd been walking arm in arm for quite some time now, talking a little, but mostly just enjoying the other's company. They did that sometimes, when words really didn't need to fill in the silence; when all they needed to feel connected was by just being close to each other.

He eventually couldn't take the waiting; the words he wanted to say pounding a rhythm in his head. He had to set his plans in motion before the night ended, which seemed to be rapidly approaching.

"Lucy." He said as he stopped walking, lightly stopping her as her. She looked at him attentively, waiting for what he had to say, the serious tone in his voice having hinted at the importance of what he was about to say.

Before he could go down on one knee, he found it impossible not to want to kiss her. So he did, wrapping his arms loosely around her waist as their lips met, feeling Lucy's hands reach up to rest on his shoulders. They stood like that for a long moment, and all Gru could think about was how well they fit together.

He was the one to end the kiss. He stared into Lucy's eyes, the woman looking just as love struck as he did.

"Gru, what's gotten into you?" Lucy said, obviously happy, but biting her lip anyway, the way she did when she was slightly uncertain about something.

Gru just looked down and released her from his embrace, leaving Lucy baffled only for a moment before he got down on one knee. He looked up to see her response, which was, oddly enough, speechlessness.

"Lucy Wilde," He began. He'd prepared a whole speech for this very moment, going on about their first meeting and whatnot, but looking at her now, there was only one thing he wanted to say.

"I love you." He said finally, taking a small box from his coat pocket and opening it up to show her the ring. "Will you marry me?"

Lucy's eyes were wide, tears forming quickly. She hadn't expected this moment to come tonight. She hadn't expected this moment to be such a surprise. She hadn't expected to look down at Gru and be so overwhelmed that all she wanted to do was tackle him down to the ground and tell him just how much she wanted to marry him.

And so she did.

"Yes, yes, yes!" She nearly shouted, both of them lying in the grass. Lucy was between crying and laughing, and before Gru could do anything about it, she kissed him hard and full on the lips. Neither cared that they were in plain sight, they only cared about this moment.

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