I have to say that I cannot take FULL credit for the last half of this chapter. My lovely wife threw the idea out there last summer (yes, this was planned that long ago), while we were driving 19hrs to Indiana from Fort Francis, Ontario. Obviously it didn't take her 19hrs to explain to me her thoughts but she deserves the credit and I give credit where credit is due. Yup, she's a romantic one! I just gave the idea a visual life!

You all will enjoy this, trust me.

70 - All I Ever Needed Was You

Ashley's PoV

"What possessed you to do this?" Aiden huffed, unloading the back of his truck with my favourite piece of cargo.

"Lucas." I shrugged and she squawked.

"So not fair! Plus you know this is the best idea ever!" The smaller blonde adjusted her beanie cap and took another sip of her hot chocolate.

"You know my sister's gonna chew you out," Glen manoeuvred himself so he could help Aiden unload the 'cargo'. "You're leaving her alone with adults on New Years Eve."

"Relax, this will more than make up for it." Aiden groaned when the heavy item was placed down on the snowy ground. "Gotta say, I think I missed out on that whole 'romantic' Davies gene."

"Whatever," I smiled softly, "didn't you surprise Kyla with a trip to Maui?"

"True." His cocky manly smirk was back in place. "But I didn't do anything like this, Ash."

"Nah, I can't take the credit for this part." I smiled and nudged Lucas. "She was the brains behind the more technical operation."

"Just like her mom." Glen winked.

"Take a break guys, I have to figure out the lighting." I rubbed my hands together, the cold finally breaking through my excited yet nervous exterior. "Do you think I'm going overboard with the candles?" I asked Lucas, as she stared out towards the destination place where I'd make my move.

"Overboard with candles? You've been in our house right? Mom has candles everywhere. She gets in a bad mood when her little ones in the bathrooms run out of wick to burn." She grey eyes rolled slightly, but smirked.

"Oh God the time isn't slowing down." I whispered, noticing that I had less than an hour to set up the ice candles before sundown. "Here, go play with fire but no burning yourself." I tossed Lucas a lighter and sent her off to light the candles.

"Are you ready?" Aiden teased and threw his bulky arm around me. "Relax a little will you?"

"Yeah," Glen cracked his neck before grabbing the other side of the heavy item, "you know her answer already. Has she said no before?"

It took longer than I expected but over an hour and a half later, everything was set up perfectly. Lucas was in the truck warming up while I threw a blanket over the large item and then taking a picture with my camera. I just wanted everything to be perfect.

"So what are you going to tell Spencer when we get back?" Glen asked, watching the road as he drove.

"They were out of ice cream?" I raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "I'll tell her the truth. We went for a ride."

"That's half the truth." Lucas pointed out. "But she'll buy it and leave it at that."

"You know your mother pretty well, don't you?" I teased the blonde and she just smiled.

"I know that she's going to say yes." Lucas shrugged. "She loves you Momma, she doesn't ever want to let you go."

"Good," I wrapped an arm around her and she snuggled into me, "because I kinda don't want to let her go again either."

"What happened between you two anyway?" Glen asked, his gaze drifting towards Aiden, who was telling him to shut up

"It's okay Aid," I patted his shoulder from where he was sitting; on the passenger side. "I was scared and ran away."

"What were you scared of?" Lucas asked quietly.

"Not being enough for your mom. Maybe screwing it up or not being able to handle the distance between us when she went away for school." I said somewhat guiltily.

"But if the distance kept you away, didn't it hurt more to walk away for good?" The small blonde raised her eyebrows to her hairline and then frowned in confusion.

"It did." I admitted. "I thought I was doing the right thing."

We finally pulled up to the Carlin house and piled out of the truck. Glen wished me luck and winked, walking ahead quickly with Aiden.

"Do you really think she's going to be that mad?" I asked Lucas quietly.

"Ashley Avery!" Spencer yelled from the door and tapped her foot impatiently. "Where have you been?"

"Sorry, we went for a ride." I shrugged, approaching her. Lucas ran inside the house and I closed the door behind me, welcoming the warm air hitting my face.

"You went for a ride? You were gone for two hours! You said you were just going to pick up some ice cream and something at Aiden's place." Her clear cobalt eyes shined and I could tell she wasn't that upset.

Maybe deep down a part of her knew I was up to something good.

"How can I make it up to you?" I whispered, slowly unbuttoning my jacket and watched as her eyes drop towards my chest.

"Not fair, you're totally using those against me." Spencer murmured quietly, her fingers aching to touch the skin exposing my cleavage. I expected her to pout and growl, but I didn't expect to find myself hard against the wall beside the closet, with my lips infused to Spencer's.

We kissed passionately for a few minutes before she pulled back, her face flushed and chest heaving slightly. "You can't leave me alone again. I was getting antsy. Sam and Carmen have been making out wildly and I was starting to find it hot."

"Ew Spence, Sam's like a sister!" I laughed but she was serious.

"Listen Davies, I'm horny and since you didn't put out this morning, it's your fault that I was starting to find them hot." Spencer furrowed her eyebrow.

"My fault?" I hissed. "I did put out, thank you. Twice in fact!"

"Yea but then you mentioned having sex all day and now your naked body arching off the bed is stuck in my head on constant playback." Spencer brushed her lips across my cheek.

"I'm sorry. I won't mention 'all day' sex again." I stifled a giggle at her pouting lips. "Spence, baby, tomorrow I asked your parents if they'd look after the girls until dinner time. They agreed. We can start the New Year in bed."

"Really?" Spencer grinned. "All day?"

"All day." I whispered huskily, my fingertips traveling up her neck before tangling them in her long golden hair.

"Won't we get interrupted?" She asked.

"We'll be in the one bedroom suite at The Fairmont Royal York in the city." I licked my lips and eyed her up curiously.

"The Fairmont Royal York? Isn't that place kind of sort of expensive?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Not for you." I whispered again her lips. "Now do you forgive me for being gone two hours?" I teased just as she was about to deepen the kiss.

"Starting too." Spencer smiled and sighed, pulling away from me. "I guess we should stop making out in the hallway like two horny teenagers and see what our daughters are up too, eh?"

I crinkled my nose in a smile, agreeing.

--

Spencer's PoV

I wasn't impressed. What other excuse would Ashley come up with to sneak out of the house. A house full of guests and family. A house that was about to ring in the New Year and my girlfriend was nowhere to be found.

"Spence, where's Luc?" Paula came up to me, slightly concerned. "I'm making homemade eggnog and she's usually the first one to drink the first batch to herself."

"I saw her sneak out with Momma," Dylan nibbled on a cookie, her eyes drooping slightly.

"Dyl, did you want me to tuck you in?" I asked, running my fingers through her hair.

"No, I want to say 'Happy New Year' with everyone." She gave me a smile and I nodded.

"Sure, she tells me we're staying in the penthouse suite tomorrow and she takes off." I grumbled, slightly miffed that I hadn't seen Ashley for more than four hours on a day that everyone seemed to be reuniting.

"Penthouse suite?" Alex raised an eyebrow from the bar and I smirked. "She's always going overboard."

"Yeah well, that's Ashley for you." I sat down on the barstool and looked over at her solemn face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Alex smiled and waved me off slightly. "I'm just thinking."

"You've been doing that a lot lately." I nudged her shoulder with my own. "Where's Tracey?"

"Playing air hockey with the guys in the basement." She smiled softly. "I figured Carmen would be down there too but no, she's sucking face with Samantha."

"I detect jealousy?" I raised an eyebrow and she shrugged. "Alex, leave Sam alone okay?"

"What?" She frowned at me, mixing her drinking slightly. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means give it a break for a bit. You're driving yourself crazy over something that shouldn't even be opened again. You have your fiancée back home for a couple of days, focus on her." I squeezed her arm. "I know a part you never let Sam go, but another part of you knows that it was for the best. In the mean time, the part of you that is downstairs whipping ass and taking names, should get your attention," I glanced at Sam and Carmen, whispering to each other with smiles, "not her."

Alex slid off her barstool and silently made her way down to the basement. I glanced at the clock. 11:37pm.

"Ashley." I whimpered, wondering where she could be this late on New Years Eve, with an eleven year old nonetheless.

"Spence, Ashley's calling you." Glen handed me my cell phone.

"Ash? Where are you? Are you okay?" I felt the anger leave me and fill me with worry.

"I'm fine baby, but I need you to come get us." Ashley sounded off – like she was nervous or something.

"What happened?" I panicked slightly. "Is Luc okay?"

"We're both fine. We came here to get some fresh air, she wanted to talk. Now the car won't start." Her voice sounded calmer and that had me relax a bit too.

"Where are you?" I was already grabbing my winter coat and finding a set of spare keys. I happened to have found Alex's jeep keys and held them tightly in my grasp.

After Ashley told me where she was, I yelled that I'd be back and left quickly.

Dylan didn't even bother asking to tag along, which I found a little odd. Then again, it was nice to see her getting along with the other kids and a little more comfortable around adults she barely knew. However, she had no reason to fear her own family.

Pulling down the small road, I squinted at the scene before me.

"What in the world..." I stepped out of the vehicle and slowly made my way down the path that led me to The Pond.

More than twelve dozen ice candles were lit, surrounding the shorelines and the middle of the frozen water. I noticed a figure skating flawlessly across the ice and another figure sitting at, what appeared to be a Baby Grand Piano. Soft music notes filled the air and I shook my head in shock and disbelief.

I approached the pond and stopped when Ashley's gorgeous brown eyes caught mine in the midst of the candles glow. She was wearing my old Rebels jersey that I gave her for graduation. "Car wouldn't start?" Was the only thing that came out of my mouth.

Lucas' soft laugh could be heard from beside me and I turned to look at her. She was playing the piano, flawlessly. "What the heck did you two scheme?"

"You like?" Ashley skated up to me, stopping just short of my winter shoes.

"Ash," I finally breathed her name like it was the first time I was saying it, "I love."

I didn't know what was going on, but when snow started to fall gently around us, I felt like my life was about to change.

"I just wanted to apologize for making you upset today with my disappearing acts," Ashley whispered softly, her eyes shining with such softness, they melted my heart, "please forgive me."

I could only nod, no longer able to find my voice.

"I had this dream once," she began to skate around me in slow circles, "I met this beautiful blonde in high school. She simply took my breath away and I knew from the moment I looked into her deep blue eyes that I was a goner. She taught me a lot about love and life."

I could hear a familiar string of notes come from the piano where Lucas continued to play.

"Then my dream turned into a nightmare. I ended up walking away from the greatest thing in my life without so much as a second thought." Ashley stopped in front of me again, her hands gently grabbing mine. "I'm not going to make that mistake again Spencer. I'm not going to be that girl who could break your heart so easily."

"Ash-" I started to say her name but she stopped with a soft brief kiss. She was slightly taller than me with the skates on, I found it adorable.

"I've never stopped loving you Spencer. I never fell out of love with you and there wasn't a day that went by without me thinking about you. I want you with me forever. I want us to be a family; you, me and our girls. I want so many things in the world but all I ever needed was you." Her brown eyes gazed lovingly at me, her words echoing my note I left her so many years ago with the jersey I left for her. "Spencer Dylan Carlin, you're it for me, you're the one. Will you marry me?"

I gasped, watching her drop down towards the ice and that was when I saw it; a perfect simple white-gold ring embedded with a single diamond sitting on the cold ice between us. Her thin fingers picked it up and she blinked slowly at me, her bottom lip tucked between her teeth.

"I took a chance at the location and the way I was going to ask you because I didn't want to stir up any bad feelings. I realize just how bad I hurt you that day and I can't take it back-"

"Yes." I whispered, my feet moving to step closer to her, our hips touching. "None of that matters Ash," I swallowed, my eyes glancing to her lips briefly before looking back into her eyes, "what matters is where we go from here. Yes."

"Yes?" She released air that she seemed to have been holding, a smile breaking out on her beautiful face. "Yes, you will marry me?"

"Yes, I will marry you." I nodded and her fingers shakily slipped the finger on my left ring finger before scooping me up in a hug. We both fell as she slipped with the skates on and laughed. "I love you."

"Oh God baby I love you too." Ashley breathed, her lips finding mine in a slow dance, moving along with the music that still filled the air.

"How did you pull this off?" I asked, resting my forehead against hers. "It must've taken you a long time."

"That's why I had my partner in crime tag along." Ashley glanced over to Lucas, who was staring at us with wide eyes and a huge smile. Ashley jerked her head for our daughter to join us in the middle of the ice.

Lucas skidded across the ice and landed beside us, her arms wrapping around my neck tightly. "Thank you," she whispered.

"For?" I pulled back and could see her smiling brightly.

"Keeping your promise, you said that Dylan was a keeper and now we can have her and Momma forever." Lucas looked between me and Ashley before kissing us both on the cheek and taking off back towards the piano.

"Look at you, all Romeo and shit." I nudged her and grabbed her hand, pulling her up steadily on her skates.

Ashley grinned shyly. "I was hoping it wouldn't scare you off, you know, considering..."

"It didn't, trust me. This is one of the most romantic things you've pulled off." I smirked and grabbed her by the collar of the jersey, crushing her body against mine. "And I plan on showing you thankful I am all day tomorrow." I whispered against her cool skin.

Ashley bit back a moan and nodded. "Speaking of which," she dipped her head again and kissed me, her fingers tangling in my hair, "Happy New Year baby."

I glanced at my watch and realized it just struck midnight.

She really was perfect.

Happy New Years baby.

--

Next time in Points Underneath:

"Nana, guess what?" I bent over and whispered in her ear.

"Mmm." She mumbled, her eyes closed.

"Our parents are getting married."

"What?!" Nana sat up, clutching at her head, swearing quietly. "No way, not again! I will not have them keep this a secret from us again."