Elizabeth reached for her bookmark as soon as she heard the now-familiar sound of Henry's keys in their front door.
It had been almost three months since she and Henry had moved in together, and in that time, he had more than calmed any lingering hesitations she might have been having about it. If anything, spending practically all of her time with Henry had only reinforced what she already knew, which was that he was her absolute favorite person. He was sweet, funny, remarkably intelligent and down-to-earth. He could get a little hot-headed when he was passionate about something, but passion was okay with her. It was a plus, even. He had a lot of heart; Elizabeth liked that the most. In truth, Elizabeth felt more at home with Henry than she had with anyone since she was fifteen. It was a little scary, but she continued to tell herself that it was a good kind of scary. The kind of scary that could mean something bigger than her. She hoped, anyway.
"Hi," Henry said with a smile as he stepped inside their home that sent a little flock of butterflies taking flight in her stomach.
"Hey," she greeted him, smiling wider as she stood to meet him. Henry was holding a white box in his hands, and Elizabeth peered at it curiously.
"Is that for me?" she asked as she shut the door behind him and followed him into their little kitchen. He placed the box on the counter and then leaned casually against it, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Maybe," he replied with a shrug of his shoulders. Elizabeth, one hand on her hip, fixed him with a look.
"Yeah, it is," he admitted under the gaze of her warm blue eyes.
"Why?" she inquired, and he smiled.
"Because...a certain number of months ago, you agreed to go out on a date with me," he replied. Elizabeth scoffed at him, hoping to hide the warm feeling his words gave her.
"You're giving me month anniversary presents?" she asked, and Henry chuckled.
"Why don't you look and see what's in the box before you complain, yeah?" he suggested, and Elizabeth rolled her eyes good-naturedly.
She opened the lid of the box, and found herself unable to hide her smile as she viewed its contents. An array of pastries were placed delicately inside; chocolate eclair, cannoli, macarons, croissants, and what looked like a square of baklava wrapped up neatly in the corner. Henry was watching her, looking both amused and proud of himself as she stared at the inside of the box.
"Well?" Henry prompted.
"Marry me," Elizabeth said off-handedly as she reached inside the box, going for a croissant that, as she discovered, was equipped with a chocolate creme filling she hadn't been expecting. She seemed to realize what she'd just said and looked up at him, a little worried about his response. Her mind was already going into overdrive. However, when she looked up, it was to find Henry smiling broadly at her. He pushed off the kitchen counter and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
"Maybe I will," he remarked as he reached for one of the pastries. Elizabeth paused, smiling slightly down at her chocolate croissant. His words echoed in her mind, and she found that they didn't incite panic at all. To have a guy who knew her well enough to bring her pastries instead of flowers, who took her off-handed comments and turned them into playful banter that didn't make her feel afraid...it all felt right, in a way that nothing had for a long time. She'd made that remark without thinking, but now, as she watched him hold over the counter to bite into a tiny pink macaron, she couldn't help but think that maybe she wasn't too far off the mark after all.
"Hey, watch it," she laughed, shoving him playfully.
"What?" he asked.
"Nobody told you that you could have those," she said.
"Oh yeah?" he replied, and slowly, he began to reach for her croissant. Elizabeth laughed as she backed away.
"No!" she exclaimed. "Not my croissant!"
Henry gave up the slow approach and began to chase her around the cramped little apartment. Their laughter rang out in the space, and filled it with life. It didn't take him long to catch her, pulling her to his chest with an arm around her waist as she laughed. He leaned forward and pulled a bite of her croissant with his teeth. She protested, but it was punctuated with her uncontrollable giggling. As Elizabeth turned in his arms in an attempt to keep her food from him, Henry McCord couldn't help but think that he might have just found the one.
Little did he know, she was thinking the same thing.
Henry hesitated, standing before the closed door with his hands shaking. He curled his fingers around the small velvet box in his pocket, which he knew held the heirloom engagement ring his mother had given him to give to Elizabeth. She'd tried to give it to Shane when he proposed to his wife, but Shane hadn't really wanted it, and that had been okay with their mother. She'd always somehow imagined it going to Henry, and when she met Elizabeth, she had known. Whereas her husband and oldest child Maureen hadn't been fond of Henry's girlfriend, his mother had loved her from day one. So when Henry had come to her to tell her that he was thinking of proposing to Elizabeth, she'd been glad she had the ring to give him.
He hesitated, not sure he was quite ready to knock. It seemed a little ridiculous, really. Elizabeth was not exactly a traditional kind of woman, so when she'd casually mentioned early on in their courtship that she loved the idea that her future husband might clear it with her brother first, he'd admittedly been surprised. He'd asked her why, of course, and true to form, she'd had a very reasonable explanation. Henry wasn't sure why he was so nervous; he'd met Will twice more since their first meeting in the spring, and they had a good rapport. Yet, even to the Marine, that door looked incredibly daunting.
He took a moment, drawing in a deep breath, and knocked. Will opened the door, grinning easily at Henry.
"Henry," he greeted him, reaching out to shake his hand. "What's up?"
"Hey, Will," Henry replied. "I just have something I wanted to discuss with you. Mind if I come in?"
"Yeah, sure," Will agreed, and soon after Henry was facing Will in the little living room of his apartment, trying desperately not to think about the ring he'd been carrying around for two days.
"So what's up, Henry?" Will asked.
"Well," Henry began, clearing his throat. "Will, I'm going to cut right to the chase. I'm here because I'm planning to ask Elizabeth to marry me."
There was silence, and then Will leaned forward from his place in a chair.
"Why on earth would anyone ask my permission to marry my sister?" he asked, and Henry had to choke back laughter.
"I thought the same thing," he admitted. "But Elizabeth told me when we first started dating that she would like for whomever married her to have asked you first. She told me that, um, after your parents died, she always felt like it was just the two of you, and how much that meant to her. She said that you were the most important person in her life, and that she would want you to be a part of it all."
Will shook his head slightly.
"Well, I guess my big sister does have a heart," he joked, and Henry smiled in response. Will grinned at him.
"So, you got a ring?" he asked, and Henry nodded, reaching into his pocket to pull out the blue box. He pulled it open and held it out to Will, who whistled at the sight.
"Very tasteful, McCord," he said approvingly, and Henry laughed as he snapped it shut and stored it safely back in his pocket.
"It was my mother's," he admitted.
"Nice touch; Elizabeth is a sucker for sentimentality," Will said. "She's got a hard exterior, but really she's all goop in the center."
Henry laughed at Will's assessment of his sister, watching as Will leaned back.
"Well, I still say it's not my place to give anyone away, especially not my sister," he began, "but for whatever it's worth, I think if anybody deserves her, it's probably you."
Henry couldn't help but smile at him.
"Thanks, Will," he said.
"Alright," Will laughed. "I think you've got a proposal to get to. Give Elizabeth my best, yeah?"
"I will," Henry replied as he stood to shake hands with his hopefully future brother-in-law. Henry set out and waited until he was in the stairwell to pause and reflect on his good fortune.
"Yes," he whispered to himself as he pumped his fist.
He didn't know why he'd been so nervous in the first place.