All right Y'all, seriously now. I WILL start updating more often. Two weeks max. I am so sorry.

In this chapter, we have some beautiful SWITZERLAND hijinx! This one has lots of humor, but also, as always, loooove. Love love love. Best thing ever, says the romance writer. This is certainly a season of, well, calm before the storm for Adam and Lacey.

Enjoy, my loves!

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Little Did I Know - Julia Michaels

Switzerland, Lacey decided, was the perfect European destination. Of course, it had also been her only visit to Europe thus far, but she could hardly imagine a place more beautiful and with a soul so old.

The family's hotel was as elegant as she'd envisioned and was situated along the waterfront. She and Adam had a room to themselves, as did each of the couples. Grandpa Greg, of course, stayed alone.

"Won't he feel lonely?" Lacey inquired of Adam as he sat on the bed, looking on while she rubbed lotion mixed with vetiver into her skin.

"He enjoys being in a room by himself. He always says he's been alone so long by now that he'd prefer it 'cause he's set in his ways. Don't worry about him, I promise he's okay. By the way, that really stinks."

"No it doesn't! It's just a very distinctive smell." Lacey blotted the excess off with her towel.

"A distinctive smell that stinks, then."

She threw the vetiver-scented towel at him.

As it happened, Grandpa Greg proved to be the most stalwart of all of them when it came to jet lag. He was waiting for everyone else the very first morning at the dining room breakfast table, reading an English version of the paper. When, little by little, each family member dropped into a chair looking like a zombie, he greeted them with his usual cheer.

"Grandpa Greg, wait." Travis visibly cringed as his grandfather attempted conversation. "Sound hurts. Light hurts. Coffee even hurts."

"Ah, work in international advertising for forty years," Grandpa Greg chuckled. "You learn to ignore it after a while."

"How did you?" Lacey inquired sleepily. She and Adam had gotten to sleep quickly enough the night before, but then woke up around 2am as alert as if it were ten in the morning. Then it was nothing but foreign TV and crankiness. Adam, if fluent in Spanish, didn't know a word of German.

"The secret, Lacey, is to push past it. When you can't sleep, lie there anyway. When you think you can't get out of bed in the morning, get up anyway. Don't take naps and don't go to bed early. Keep to a strict schedule." He winked as he took up a forkful of rosti, a potato dish that looked like hash browns cooked into a pancake.

"Dad, in your day the Pan Am stewardesses also wore cute little matching dresses with hats, and the aisles were carpeted and two miles wide." Yvette was resting her chin in her hand tiredly.

"That they were. There were lounges you could play cards in, too. What a time."

Lacey suspected that a lot of what Grandpa Greg shared about himself were things his family already knew, but it was new information to her and Candace, and they thoroughly enjoyed his stories about life in a bygone era. He and Molly, Yvette's deceased mom, hadn't been as fortuitous as Phil's parents had been and had come by their own money by using Greg's college education to their advantage. He had only been able to go to school due to his own father, a fisherman, having saved his entire life to send him there. And even at that, he'd had to wait until after World War II was over to go. Greg had been abroad fighting along with just about everyone else.

"You mentioned you had two sisters, Mr. Landon," Candace interrupted the older man's story about college life in the 1940's as they all sat in front of the parlor fireplace that evening after sightseeing all day in Zurich. "Did your dad save up to send them to college, too?"

Lacey caught the way Travis seemed to tense up immediately, sitting up and making the "cut" motion behind Candace's back so frantically it looked like he was karate chopping himself in the neck. But either Grandpa Greg hadn't seen or was ignoring Travis because he didn't miss a beat in replying, "Very good question. Women going to college was a newer idea to most people who weren't from wealthy families back then, and to my dad–you have to understand, his was a different time–it was more important that I get an education than for them to. His biggest hope for them was that they'd find college educated husbands to support them."

In answer, Candace merely nodded, her expression still pleasant. But Lacey didn't lose her curiosity about what exactly Travis was worried about.

"Candace is really into women's rights," Adam informed her when she asked about the situation later. "I think Travis was afraid Grandpa Greg may say something stupid in front of her, but he forgets Grandpa's not an idiot. He doesn't have any problem with things being different now than they were when he was young."

The pestilence of jet lag was still alive and well that second night in the hotel, but Lacey took the old man's advice this time and forced herself to stay in bed. This time she did fall back to sleep, and woke up a fraction less tired the next morning. After having spent the previous day touring "old Zurich" with all of its old churches and cobblestone streets, they headed next to Bern for yet more cobblestone and the beautiful fountains that were scattered all over the city. Lacey made sure to have Adam take a handful of pictures for her of the town's old astronomic clock that had been built in the 15th century, the Zytglogge. The face was intricately carved, and it even had mechanical figures that came out at every hour and put on a shower for passersby to watch.

What was so convenient about Switzerland–even if it felt strange–was that it was small enough to cross all at once in a record amount of time. The family's accommodations in Zurich meant they could take the train every day to a different city, all of which were just a little over an hour away, and by the end of the week they should get around to see almost the entire nation. It must seem odd to people here how vast an expanse the U.S. was.

It was on their third full day in Switzerland, on their visit to Lucerne, that the first truly funny thing happened–Phil boarded the wrong train. The bad part was that nobody, including Yvette who'd had her face in a book during the journey, even realized it until they reached Lucerne and noticed that someone seemed to be missing.

"Oh my God, Phil!" Yvette clapped her hands over her mouth, eyes wide. "Where is he?! Travis, give me your phone."

And this was, Lacey now understood, why Adam thought every adult should have a cell phone and one day would. Things like this could happen, and if you didn't have a way to communicate, then what?

Phil, it turned out, had traveled all the way back to Bern, and was pretty indignant about it.

"I explained to the woman at the counter that I was using my pass for LucERNE. She evidently thought I said 'BERN," Lacey could hear Phil emphasize the two city names through the phone all the way from where she stood.

Yvonne responded patiently. "Sweetie, Zurich is a German speaking city. They know English, too, but–"

"I told her in German!"

After they hung up, Yvette shook her head and rolled her eyes. "I know the man. He said 'Bern.' He just doesn't want to admit he was wrong."

So, in the hour and a half it was going to take Phil to get from Bern to Lucerne, the decision was made for the rest of them to split up and shop the Christmas Market which they had previously done in the evening in both Bern and Zurich. Apparently every December in Switzerland's cities, the main streets were lined with tent after tent of vendors selling the most unique handmade items. It truthfully felt a little over-hyped to Lacey, who thought it to be just a trumped up craft show or farmer's market. The magic of the Christmas Market to her was the lights and various decor that could only be truly appreciated at night. Well, and the hot chocolate, which she sipped on now as she made her way down a row, studying handmade kitchen utensils.

"Hey, I–"

Lacey squealed as she jumped, nearly spilling her scalding hot chocolate, and swatted Adam who had come up beside her. "You scared me!"

"Sorry!" He chuckled. "I wasn't trying to, I was just going to ask if we might take a break from the family tomorrow night and go off on our own for a bit."

Lacey thought. "Tomorrow's Christmas Eve. Don't we need to stick around and do…I don't know, family stuff?"

"Well, our biggest family thing is White Christmas, and that's tonight, so…"

"Oh. Did you bring the DVD player? Wait though." She peered at him curiously. "How will that work? You said plug-ins here are different from the plug-ins back home."

"They are but we have a universal adapter we bring with us," Adam explained quickly. "Anyway, I really want to give you your present early. I mean, not that Christmas Eve is that much earlier than Christmas morning I guess, but basically, it's important to me that we be alone."

"Okay, fine by me." Lacey leaned up and kissed him quickly on the chin. "So what will we do, just skip out and go to our room? We can dig into that box of marzipan teddy bears I'm supposed to be saving for the twins. Although you know the comments that'll be flying if we go back to the room and leave everybody else behind."

"No, well I mean…" Adam gently took her arm and led her over to the side, out of the way of a bundled up couple with two obedient Saint Bernards nearly as tall as she was. "I want the night to be special." He looked at her earnestly. "So I'd rather not just go up to our room if possible. I guess I should think this out a little better, but…" he trailed off, looking around as if the answer to what he was asking himself could be found in thin air.

"Okay, well, we'll figure it out. Why don't we think about it today and tomorrow, and then tomorrow night we'll go for it," she smiled reassuringly at him. Whatever this gift was he had for her must be something he'd put his whole heart into, which was nothing new for Adam. But he certainly didn't need to be stressed out about it.

"Also," he began again, seriously, "I'd rather eat a bowl of Stella's food than even just half a marzipan teddy bear."

Lacey shook her head slowly in disbelief. "You have no idea how much you're missing out on."

Not long after, Phil finally arrived in Lucerne, considerably calmed down from his and Yvette's earlier phone conversation.

"Honey, it's really no sweat," Yvette patted his back. "You got some extra time to relax, didn't you? And we got to look around the Christmas market here, which I know isn't your thing."

"Yeah," Phil conceded. "I suppose that's true. But I still don't know how that woman misheard me–"

"-Okay!" Yvette cut in, putting on a big smile. "Let's look at our agenda." She consulted a small clipboard from her purse.

Lucerne was a lively town, if not quite as big as the other two the family had explored. The first thing they did was take a frigid boat tour through a small section of the Alps, which towered above them, beautiful and majestic against the blue sky. Adam had the opportunity to take a fair share of pictures as they floated along and listened to the guide discuss Lucerne history in his broken English. But Lacey was too distracted by her own shivering to pay much attention to it. The cold was miserable. Who had thought that a boat tour at Christmas in Switzerland was a good idea?

Afterward, sufficiently thawed, they had the chance to walk around and explore the chapels and many statues of the city. At one point, Lacey glanced over and saw that Phil had stopped in front of a pool of water that lapped gently against a monument carved out of rock, and was studying it intently. Feeling rather bad for how Phil's serious and sometimes volatile demeanor was often picked on by the rest of the family, Lacey found herself drifting over to his side and examining the monument herself. It was that of a dying lion resting against a shield, discarded axes and spears scattered about as though dropped after a hard battle. Upon closer examination she realized that the lion was actually impaled on one of the spears. The poignancy of the scene caused goosebumps to prickle her skin.

"The Dying Lion of Lucerne," Phil mused.

"What does it mean?" Lacey inquired, studying the intricacies of the sculpting.

"Back in the eighteenth century, the French palace was stormed by revolutionaries. It was guarded at the time by well-trained Swiss troops who fought the best they could to protect the royal family. But they lost a lot of men that day defending France's royalty, even though France wasn't their home country. This sculpture represents that loss. I've always wanted to see it in person."

Lacey examined the lion once again, wondering why the sad story touched Phil so deeply. Adam's dad was one of the biggest anomalies she had ever encountered. But she was glad she had come over and given him someone to talk to about his thoughts.

"It's beautiful in a mournful kind of way," she finally commented.

Soon they moved on to catch up with the rest of the family to continue exploring Lucerne. Most of what they had done so far, Lacey realized, was tour old streets and buildings. But somehow it was far more interesting than what she would have imagined. The U.S. being such a new country, it was fascinated to be in a place as old as Europe was. There were churches they passed that were more than four centuries old, and the richness of their history was tangible, floating thick in the very air.

But by the evening, Lacey was exhausted. They had done more walking than she'd done in months–maybe even since she'd trained with Adam–and it was all she could do not to fall asleep during White Christmas. On top of that, the raclette she'd eaten at dinner was not agreeing with her very well. So it was much to her chagrin that, after White Christmas was over, Travis and Grandpa Greg (in whose room they had all piled into) requested to watch Home Alone 2 next. Adam seemed just as keen, but even though Lacey didn't want to be a spoilsport, she felt like she might need to go lie down–as well as hit the bathroom as quickly as possible. So, after telling him she was tired, giving him a quick kiss and saying her goodnights to the family, she rushed up to their room. It took three trips to the bathroom before she began to feel slightly better, though she wished she had some air freshener handy. She sincerely hoped Adam would be a while coming in. Just as she settled into bed with her book, thinking how she should really call her family, there was a knock on the door.

Oh great. Who could that be?

She pushed the blankets off to the side and stood to go look out the peephole, spotting Candace. The girl stood holding two steaming mugs. Lacey wasn't much in the mood for company at the moment, but she didn't want to be rude, so she unchained the lock and opened the door slightly.

"Candace, hi." She plastered on a smile.

"Hi," Candace returned the greeting pleasantly. "I'm glad I caught you before bed. Care to have some peppermint tea? It's really relaxing."

Lacey couldn't help but appreciate this girl's steady generosity and opened the door a little wider, hoping the room smelled fresh again. "Sure, come in. Thank you."

Candace, also in her pj's,, accepted the invitation to sit on the small sectional tucked in the right hand corner of the room next to the enormous picture window.

"Gosh, it'll be great to have something hot to drink after being so cold all day. That boat ride was awesome, but I couldn't feel my face for hours after." Lacey chuckled, taking the mug Candace offered in both hands, sipping on the tea. The mint was flavorful and fresh.

"Yes, a hot drink before bed is especially good," Candace smiled, sipping from her own mug. "Forgive me for prying, but I'd like to know how you met Adam."

Lacey, a little disarmed by Candace's plain way of conversing, took a moment to process the request. Should she go back to the beginning, to the maroon scarf? Or to the Eden Hall party? Deciding she felt comfortable enough with Candace to tell her the whole thing, she did. It took a good half hour, but Candace was attentive all the way through.

"That's a beautiful story," her new friend commented earnestly at the end. "And to think, that twelve year old boy is now your best friend and your greatest love. Who would have ever thought?"

Lacey smiled, enjoying the fact that Candace was apparently a huge romantic. "Well, tell me about you. If you don't mind me saying so, you and Travis make…an interesting match."

Candace tilted her head back and laughed. "Do we ever. I met him at a coffee shop, actually. Not very original sounding, but as it happens, I work at one on the side. I just finished veterinarian school and was throwing every extra penny I could make at my student loans. Of course it helps that I do enjoy the ambiance of coffee shops. Anyway, Travis came in extra cheerful, which is odd to see early in the morning for us, and he was just so friendly and funny. But he kept coming in on a regular basis, and one day he asked me out." She shrugged. "And the longer I know him, the more I love him. Yes, he's obnoxious and outspoken at times, but there's just something there that I'm drawn to. Travis doesn't pull any punches, and he doesn't try to be someone he isn't."

Lacey had to nod. It was all true. "I'm glad you came along with him on this trip. His last girlfriend, who we went to San Francisco with last year, was… wow, where do I start? Rude, fake, and even had a pretty mean attitude about him. Yet he was so loyal to her. It was pretty hard to watch."

Candace nodded. "Travis isn't everyone's cup of tea, and he needs to work on his presentation a bit. We've talked some about it, and he's aware he's a little rough around the edges. But he's loving, and he's loyal. Plus, I've kind of fallen in love with his family. Yvette's been very warm to me."

"She has been to me too," Lacey agreed.

The two of them continued to sip tea and chat over the next hour before Candace finally got up, yawning. "I'd better go to bed. But thank you. For the conversation and the companionship."

Lacey smiled warmly. "And thank you for the tea." She returned Candace's empty mug to her before she left. It had been a really nice time, and suddenly she missed Kristy and wanted to call home. She knew she would need to pay the Bankses back for the long-distance charges, but she wouldn't talk for long. Picking up the phone, she first dialed home. It would be around five o'clock there, and she knew everyone would be home.

"Hi there, Lass! We've been pinin' after ye!," Stuart's cheerful voice greeted after Lacey said hello.

"Hey, Stuart! I miss you, too," Lacey beamed. It was so good to talk to family when you were far away, even if you were having a good time. She talked first to Stuart, then to her mom, then to the twins who each picked up a phone so she could talk to them at the same time. Or rather, listen to them try to talk over one other. She tried to keep the call short, even though it was hard to hang up. Once she did, she quickly called Kristy.

"Lacey, hi!" Kristy gushed. "Tell me everything about Switzerland."

Lacey repeated everything for Kristy that she had for her family, and she could hear the longing in Kristy's voice as she said, "Oh my gosh, that sounds like the most magical place ever. Get me a souvenir! Even if I have to pay you for it!"

Lacey laughed. "You know I'm going to get you a souvenir. At no cost to you."

It was just as she was hanging up the phone that Adam came back to the room, yawning. "That was a great time. I wish you'd have stayed."

"I've actually had fun being back here. Candace came by and brought me some peppermint tea. Wasn't that sweet?"

For the rest of the night, Lacey noticed that Adam seemed preoccupied, and she wondered why. Maybe he was thinking about hockey and going back to school. Either way, she decided to just go with it and let him have his thoughts. If he needed to talk to her, he would. As long as he still let her nestle into his arms at night and shower him with kisses when she wanted, she was happy.

/*/*/

Adam was indeed preoccupied. He was trying his absolute hardest to think of a good plan for presenting Lacey with the promise ring. He wanted to take her some place romantic and beautiful, but not so much so that it would outdo a proposal later on. This ring, after all, was just for now.

He actually faked her out when he told her he was going to stay and watch Home Alone 2 with Grandpa Greg and Travis. Instead he sneaked down to the ornate hotel vestibule, trying to search for some travel brochures. Finally he located them in a discreet corner, no doubt placed in such a way as to not disturb the elegant aesthetic of the hotel with a bunch of paper flyers. He sifted through them, trying his best to find a venue that would suit. Finally he gave up and decided to do something he never enjoyed doing–going up to a complete stranger and asking a question.

"Hello," he greeted the stuffy-looking concierge at the desk, hoping the man spoke English. Even though most Swiss people did, he would be unlucky enough to pick the one who didn't.

But the man replied in perfect English, "Good evening, Sir. How might I be of help?"

Sir. It felt odd to be called that.

"Um…I was wondering what a good place would be for…like, a nice date. It doesn't even have to be in Zurich, just…somewhere. It's for…um, not quite a proposal, but close." Adam realized he was stammering and felt self-conscious.

"Ah, yes," the man replied and grinned. "Zurich is wonderful for romance. Here are some places you must consider."

Adam leaned on the counter as he listened to the man talk, finally asking for a pen and paper so he could write some notes, which he did diligently. After some fifteen minutes, he thanked the man politely and crammed the folded paper into his pocket so Lacey wouldn't see it. He had some planning ahead of him.

The next day, he had great trouble focusing on their tour of Basel. Basel was a bigger city than what they had visited so far, and that was a bit of a change. He did find the unconventional sculptures here by Jean Tinguely to be quite interesting, but for the most part, Adam felt done with touring. Lacey enjoyed the history and art, as did everyone else, and it wasn't that he didn't, he just wanted to move onto the next thing–presenting her with the ring he'd meticulously picked out and had been holding onto for a couple of months now. It remained on his mind all day long: where to do it, how to do it…would it be romantic enough? He needed to set the perfect mood.

After seeing the sights in Basel and having coffee and hot chocolate in an ornate cafe, the family prepared to head back to Zurich. It was a shorter train ride between the two cities than it was the others, and Adam was grateful, because he was ready to whisk Lacey away as soon as they could get back to the hotel.

"What's on your mind, Adam?"

He was pulled out of his reverie on the train when Grandpa Greg spoke, glancing over from his newspaper.

"Oh, I…nothing. Just thinking about Christmas."

"Do you have something nice for your young lady?"

Adam hadn't planned on breaking the news beforehand to anyone other than his parents, who already knew because of the expense of the ring. But he couldn't contain his smile as he turned conspiratorially to his grandpa, revealing to him in hushed tones what he intended to do.

"You do realize that's half an engagement, don't you, Son?"

Adam sighed. "Yeah, I do. Mom's reminded me of that plenty of times. But I want Lacey to know that I want her in my future, and I feel like I'm ready to make a bold gesture." He didn't like people questioning him, which was why he definitely wouldn't tell Travis about it. His love for Lacey was real, and this was going to happen, despite any and all naysayers.

Grandpa Greg apparently sensed his determination, because he simply smiled. "Okay then, I trust you. You're the responsible one, you know."

"Well, I try to be." Next, Adam wanted desperately to ask Grandpa Greg if he had any recommendations regarding the little details: what to say, how to stand, how to pull out the box. But he knew that would be out of his grandpa's league. The man only knew firsthand about proposals, and this wasn't quite that. Yet, at the same time, it sort of was. Was what he planned going to be enough?

Okay, stop. Just do it, he chided himself for all the overthinking.

When they returned to the hotel that evening, Adam promptly pulled out a nice outfit: khakis with a navy sweater he had recently bought at Lord & Taylor, a long-sleeve white shirt to wear underneath–it was going to be bitterly cold–and his sharp new Doc Martens. He was ready for this. While Lacey got dressed, he gingerly reached inside the bag he'd carried with him on the plane. Unwilling to risk it getting lost, Adam had kept the ring tucked safely inside a bag he knew he could keep with him. And now, he slipped the nicely wrapped box into his pocket. His mom had graciously wrapped it for him, foregoing a bow because it would likely just get crushed inside luggage. So the simple sparkly red yarn she had tied around it would have to do.

"Okay, I'm ready!" Lacey emerged wearing a crushed velvet dark green dress with thick tights. He hoped she wouldn't freeze, but she proceeded to put on her heavy coat, cap and gloves. She then went back over to the closet for something else as Adam donned his coat. When he turned back around, he stopped.

Now wrapped around Lacey's neck was his old maroon scarf. He recognized it instantly, remembered how Grandma Molly had presented it to him at one of her last Christmases. He recalled how disappointed he had been as a ten-year-old to unwrap a scarf. He'd been counting on something a lot more exciting, but Grandma Molly had labored over this, so to make her happy, he wore it–until the day he'd taken it off to give to a frightened looking girl whose fingertips were covered in blood. Now that Lacey had put it on, the memory of giving it to her was a little fresher. He recalled those hooded brown eyes as though it was yesterday.

"I thought I'd bring it with me. I wondered if you'd recognize it." Lacey smiled.

"I do," he replied, coming over slowly and reaching out to touch it. "My Grandma Molly made it for me. I don't know if I ever told you that." He felt her gaze on him as he studied it for another minute, thinking how perfect it was that Lacey was wearing the scarf tonight. Hopefully she would remember every bit of this evening for a long time.

First, dinner. The pair of them took the tram to a place called Kronenhalle. Adam's heart beat wildly as he sat close to her on the short trip across town. He needed to calm down. This was just a normal date, only with a big finale at the end. But he was nowhere near that part yet, so he should just enjoy the journey.

The tram let them off a block away from the restaurant Adam had decided on last night, and he and Lacey, freezing cold, held tightly to one another as they walked. One block seemed to take three hours. It was a relief when they finally stepped inside the door of the upscale dining establishment, numb and hungry.

"Guten abend, Sir und Ma'am, haben sie heute abend eine reservierung bei uns?" Adam was immediately greeted by a striking gray-haired woman wearing shoulder pads that gave her a severe look. He hesitated and Lacey peered over at him, a slight look of amusement in her eyes.

"Do you know English?" he finally inquired shyly.

"Yes, I do," the woman replied, unsmiling. "Do you have a reservation with us this evening?"

Oh God. A reservation. What on earth had he been thinking? Of course he'd need a reservation to come to a place like this. His upbringing had taught him that. Feeling his face grow hot, Adam responded in what he hoped was a confident tone. "No, I don't. I'm sorry. I didn't know I needed one." More like he just hadn't thought about it, but that excuse would surely work.

Only it didn't.

"I'm sorry, Sir, but we only seat those who have reserved their tables. It's Christmas Eve, and we're quite busy." The woman's brisk response was flat and no-nonsense.

This was not going so hot, but Adam simply nodded. "Yes, I understand. Thank you."

He led Lacey back out into the cold, feeling like a complete idiot and wondering where to go next. "I'm really sorry about that," he rubbed the back of his neck. "For some reason I didn't even think about reservations."

Lacey stared at him. "What's going on? You've been preoccupied all day, and you forgot to reserve a table at a nice restaurant. This is all just so unlike you. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm not mad about the restaurant, I just think something's on your mind and I want to know what it is."

Adam felt put on the spot and not sure what to say or do, so he sighed. He'd wanted to treat her to a nice place to eat. He then wanted to explore Old Town with her, walking underneath the thousands of criss-crossing Christmas lights. Then he wanted to take her to the place he picked out to give her the ring. But the restaurant fell through and he wasn't sure where to go to find another one that would be nice enough and open on Christmas Eve. It was so bitterly cold out here that she surely wouldn't want to walk, even through Old Town. So maybe he should just…

"Do you really want to know?" he finally asked.

"Yes, I do," Lacey replied, a concerned look further hooding her chocolate drop eyes.

"Then come on." He took her hand and they made their way back to the tram stop, thankfully not having to wait long before one came by to pick them up. When asked where he was traveling to, or at least surmising that's what the driver was asking in German, he answered, "Muhlsteg Bridge." He figured it would probably give nothing away to Lacey. The driver nodded, and they were off. Adam fidgeted, running his thumbs roughly across his nails. Lacey took his hand, obviously concerned. He didn't want to worry her, he just wanted this part, at least, to go right.

The driver reached Muhlsteg Bridge and slowed to a stop. Lacey, still holding Adam's hand, stepped off the tram first, but paused when they reached the foot of the bridge. It was well-lit by moonlight, and, to Adam's delight, Christmas lights were strung over the rails. And it was private, at least at the moment.

"Okay. Um…let's walk for a minute," Adam directed, his eyes darting over the fenced areas on either side of the foot bridge. Lacey humored him and walked along beside him, looking around. Adam knew she must be wondering what on earth was appealing about this bridge. It looked pretty ordinary, and Adam was beginning to wonder if he'd made another mistake when he saw, on the right side, just what the concierge at the hotel had told him about:

Lots and lots of locks of all shapes, sizes, and colors. Some with engravings on them, some not.

Lacey gasped. "Oh gosh, how cool is this!" She let go of his hand to go over and read the various locks. "'Brenda and Colin, together forever'. They had this made, Adam." She studied the locks a moment more. "So this is a place couples come to specifically do this?" She beamed, then turned to him. "You got us a lock! That's my present, isn't it?"

"Not exactly. I mean, I did, but that isn't the main thing." He returned her smile, feeling confidence return to him. "Let's go a little farther, shall we?"

"Okay." She shrugged, and as they walked, continuously paused to read more of the locks and point out various things about them.

"This was done in Paris first," he informed her. "Then Zurich kind of stole the idea. Or so I've been told."

After a few moments they stood at the very center of the bridge, looking down over the Limmat River.

"I'm not going to be ready to go home," Lacey commented, watching the gentle ripples of the water beneath them. "This place is like, out of a fairytale book. The mountains, the villages, the quaint buildings, all the old stuff…gosh. To be able to travel all over Europe, you know? Well, I guess you do," she chuckled. "You've been to a lot of places over here."

"Guess so," he replied, taking a deep breath. Now was the time. "Lacey…" he attempted to draw her attention back to him.

"Yeah?" She turned to study him.

"Um…" he swallowed. "I have you something, and…after you look at it, I want to tell you what it is and why I'm giving it to you."

She blinked. "Sure."

He took the box out of his pocket where it had remained secure and realized his hands were shaking. He fumbled to try to turn it right side up, but in the process, dropped it. Praise be, he didn't drop it down into the water. That would have been incredibly tragic.

"Sorry." He bent to pick it up, trying again. He reached out to hand it to her, and she took it gingerly, staring at it a moment.

"Y-you can open it. Not to rush you, I just mean, whenever…"

Lacey turned her eyes up to him and gave him a smile that he knew meant "Calm down, I've got this." Slowly, she began to tear off the wrapping paper and bow. Adam hoped she didn't notice him cringing. He always took his paper off gifts carefully so it wouldn't rip. But did it really matter right now?

She slowed down a bit as she reached the box, likely noting its shape. Then she opened it to reveal a velvet box inside. He heard her breath quicken as she set the outer box absently on the rail of the bridge, staring down. Finally, she pried open the velvet enclosure and gasped.

It was a long time before she said anything, and Adam felt this was a good time to explain the ring and what it meant.

"It's a promise ring," he began. "It means–"

"I know." A slow smile was lighting her lips as she didn't take her eyes from the ring. "I know what a promise ring is."

Her smile caused Adam to let out a big, shaky breath of relief. "Lacey," the words began to spill from his lips, "I love you. And I want to be with you f–" he paused, hoping the word wouldn't scare her or make her uneasy. "-forever."

Lacey kept her eyes trained on his.

"I know I've got a lot I want to do after college, with the NHL and all, if I make it, but… you're who I want to come home to at the end of it all. I fully intend to ask you for your hand one day, just, this isn't quite the time yet, so…I did this instead. Will you, I mean do you want to, be–?"

But Lacey placed a gentle finger over his lips, stopping him. He stared at her wordlessly, still feeling the question burn in his chest. All he could hear for the longest time was the water lapping gently against the bridge's supports and the sound of a far-off boat that blew its foghorn.

Please say yes. Oh God, Lacey, I need you to.

"Adam, yes. A thousand times yes. I want to be that person you come home to, and trust me, I'll be there. Because you have absolutely no idea how much I love you." Lacey's voice broke at the end of the sentence, and in the moonlight, he could see her eyes pool with tears. "I think maybe I always have. Since…" she seemed unable to finish the thought, but reached up and fingered the maroon scarf.

Adam finally managed to let out a light laugh. "I was so afraid you would be freaked out, or you would…I don't know, be scared off."

"Mm mm," Lacey vocalized her disagreement as she stared once again down at the ring. "You're going to have to try harder than this to scare me off." She held it out. "Would you like to put it on me?"

"Yes," he answered quickly, taking the box back and pulling the glistening ring from its cradle of stiff white cloth. Stuffing the box back in his pocket, he took the ring, tugging her glove off, and began to slide it on her ring finger. But he paused. "Do you want it here…?"

Lacey hesitated for a moment, biting her lip as she stared at the partially placed ring. "Actually, I think I'd like to wear it on my right ring finger. So people don't ask questions about something hard to explain, but it has significance to us. And one day, I'm going to wear another ring here," she wiggled her left ring finger, giving him a sly smile.

Adam then changed fingers when she offered her right hand. His hands still trembled slightly as he slid it on her finger. This felt so right, but also scary. Because, he realized, he was putting that much more of his heart on the line. He was committing even more of himself to this girl he was crazy over. What if she ever decided…?

No, he wasn't going there. Not now. After he slid the ring onto Lacey's finger and she burst out in a fit of happy giggling, he picked up her tiny frame easily and twirled her around, not caring how cliche the action was. Lacey continued to laugh with excitement, and when he set her back down, she grabbed him around the waist. Adam leaned down, his lips brushing against hers tenderly. Embracing tightly, he and Lacey perpetuated the eager, but gentle, kiss. Her lips were cold and tasted of night air, and he savored every bit of it.

He nearly forgot to present her with the lock he was keeping in his coat pocket, which he'd picked out and had engraved earlier in the day at an opportune time. He'd reappeared during their fresco tour by claiming to have gotten lost on his way to the bathroom. It was antique burnished gold sporting a small distressed silver tag that read simply, in delicate inscription, "Adam Loves Lacey. 1998-Forever." The letters were small, so she had to hold it close to her face to read under the closest lantern. Adam's 'long' message required it. They found a vacant chain on the fence upon which to close it, which he had to do with quite a bit of force. The cold made the metal stubborn. He then took a picture with a disposable camera he'd purchased especially for this occasion. Lacey would probably want something to remember the lock by, as it was uncertain if they would ever return to see it. Next, he took a picture of her, sporting a sassy pose, big smile, and upheld right hand. Lastly, he accommodated a goofy request from her that they stand together and hold the camera backwards in an attempt to capture them both in the frame, smiling. Who knew how that one would turn out. A disposable camera was a far cry from his nice expensive contraption, but it had been far more practical tonight.

All the way back to the tram stop, Lacey continually pulled her glove off and stared at the glimmering aquamarine. Every time she did so, she turned to look up at him, smiling. "So this was why you were so preoccupied."

Adam rolled his eyes. "I was, but my original plan kind of tanked. Sorry about that."

"It was perfect, Adam. I don't care about the restaurant. Hey, let's order some room service back at the hotel. Then we can watch foreign TV and try to guess what people are saying. What do you think?" Lacey's eyes crinkled at the corners with mirth.

"Sounds fine with me." Adam grinned. Because the fact was, all he wanted was to be with her. Foreign TV, bad TV, no TV. He really didn't care. He just wanted Lacey in his arms for the rest of the night.

/*/*/

Lacey wanted to call somebody. Kristy. Her mom, even. Somebody who might share in her excitement over her new state of officially "promised" to Adam. Of course, that probably wouldn't at all be her mom.

Kristy, then. But she'd already made one phone call on the Banks's bill, and she didn't want to do it again, so she just sat on her elation as best she could, though had Adam take countless pictures when they got back to the room, this time with his good camera.

"How many angles can a ring be shown from?" But he smiled as he jested, readying his camera for yet another shot of her resting it on top of her other hand.

When the next morning came, the sparkle drew Candace's eye immediately at breakfast. She studied Lacey and beamed. Yvette gave her a knowing smile as well when she and Phil entered their room's living space sleepily on Christmas morning, and Lacey figured she must have already known about the ring.

The gift swap was as interesting as it had been the year before. Phil got a set of pj's from Yvette that had golf balls all over it, Yvette received a fancy heel file from Travis ("You're always complaining about your dry heels!"), and a book from Candace.

"You might want to open that privately, actually," Candace interjected quickly as Yvette pulled away the paper. But it was too late. Everyone could plainly see it was a book on Kama Sutra.

Yvette stared at the cover in shock, mouth opened, taking a little while to produce words. Finally, "Oh…!"

Phil choked mildly on his coffee and set it down on the end table, clearing his throat and busying himself with sorting and arranging the other gifts. Grandpa Greg looked like he forgot where he was for a minute, then politely glanced away, red faced. Adam did much the same, and Travis turned to Candace, throwing an arm up as they whispered quietly in a contentious fashion.

"I'm sorry, I just…think so many ancient Indian and Middle Eastern practices are relevant today," Candace turned back to Yvette and defended, looking embarrassed. "I really didn't realize that was the package you were opening…"

"No no, that's just fine!" Yvette smiled forgivingly. "Thank you, I'm sure it will be…educational. Don't you think so, Honey?"

But Phil clearly pretended he hadn't heard her. Adam's face, likewise, was red.

"Okay!" Yvette clapped her hands together. "Adam, your turn."

Adam picked up the first of his gifts, which was the one Lacey had bought for him. She was pretty confident he would appreciate it, even if it was woefully inadequate given what he'd presented her with last night. But he would know she'd had no idea the standard would be so high this year. Lacey clasped her hands in front of her as he unwrapped the box, hoping the additional surprise she had planned for him would be a welcome distraction after Candace's last awkward gift. He opened the large box, finding a small envelope inside. He took it out, keeping the box wedged between his knees, turning to smirk and shake his head at Lacey's mischief. She smiled back innocently. He had no idea just how far her mischief reached, until he opened the envelope.

And just like that, his hands were covered in the Christmas-colored glitter that burst from the envelope and floated down into the box. He blinked rapidly, glancing down at his p.j' shirt, which now sported tiny specks from the fanfare.

Lacey covered her mouth to keep from breaking out in a loud laugh at her little prank, and Adam just sat for a moment, staring at his hands in surprise before he turned to Lacey and wrinkled his adorable, lightly-freckled nose, elbow bumping her firmly. "Are you serious?! I'll be washing my hands for weeks!" For good measure, he reached over and smeared a little across her upper lip.

"No you won't. I brought a good scrubbing brush." Lacey finally released her suppressed giggles, wiping at her lip. Just as she'd hoped, everyone was laughing.

"Hey, that was brilliant," Travis guffawed.

Adam mockingly glared over at him. "Okay then! Now, if I can even see it, let me look at what I actually got." He broke into a chuckle. "Gee, thanks Lacey."

"My pleasure." She could feel the mirth light up her face.

Emptying the rest of the glitter into the box and brushing as much as he could off his hands as he shook his head, Adam reached gingerly back into the envelope and pulled out a slip of paper by the corner. He read it silently before announcing excitedly, "Tickets to Arsenic and Old Lace. They're performing it on stage in St. Paul. No way! How did you know about this before me?" He beamed at Lacey.

"Stuart found it in the paper," she shrugged. "And I remembered how much you liked it, and how funny it was when you made me watch the movie. So there are two tickets. I'm going with you. It's January third, so you won't be gone back to school yet."

He turned his smile on her again. "Thanks, Babe." He leaned in to give her a quick kiss on the lips. "And now I forgive you for the glitter disaster."

Lacey sighed happily. Another awesome Christmas for the books.

After they flew home two days later and a week wiser about Swiss culture, Lacey had the foresight to keep her right hand mostly hidden until her mom had picked her up from the airport and brought her home.

Then she took her hand out from behind her back and let the ring flash freely.

Halen gasped from where she reclined on the sofa, already enjoying her marzipan teddy bears. "What is that?! Oh my gosh, he got you a ring?!" She hopped up off the sofa, letting the marzipan box drop, and came over to look more closely at Lacey's hand. "It's so, so beautiful!"

Ariel joined them, and out of the corner of her eye, Lacey noticed her mom with her arms crossed standing by, watching the enthusiasm.

Stuart, however, was nonplussed. "Come show us noo, Lass!"

Lacey approached the two of them, hesitantly holding out her hand.

"Ahhh! Tis an aquamarine, aye?"

"It is," Lacey broke out into a sunny smile. "It's…a promise ring." She turned her eyes to her mom's face hesitantly. "Not that it'll get more serious any time soon, just…it's a promise that I'll wait for him. And I will."

"Lovely, lovely!" Stuart smiled back at her, offering Lacey's hand over to her mom.

Her mom studied the ring hard, then looked back at Lacey. "So it's a promise ring?"

"Yes," Lacey tried to keep her voice confident. She wasn't prepared to hear any of her mom's protests and cynicism about her relationship.

Her mom just continued to study the ring quietly for a considerable amount of time. But Lacey had a feeling her mom wasn't really looking as hard at the ring as she was trying to process her thoughts and feelings. "Well," she finally let Lacey's hand go. "Congratulations. He's a good one for you."

Lacey didn't realize until that moment how much she had craved her mom's approval for so long. Not about the little things like how she looked at homecoming or how well she'd picked up cooking. But about who she was and where she was headed. It felt so, so good to hear her now at least approve of who she had chosen to spend forever with.

Kristy, likewise, congratulated Lacey and appeared truly happy for her, even though Lacey wondered if she was still missing Les Averman. He had, after all, been her first love. She felt more than a little guilty that her friend's relationship hadn't aged as well as hers had.

Lacey was excited about her classes for the new semester, and was stoked about the fact that it was her last before she would be enrolling at University of Minnesota to finish up her degree. Social work was, indeed, a field she felt well suited to be in. She had a best friend, a job she loved more than anything, a supportive family, and a boyfriend she knew she would commit to much more with her down the road. Bring on the NHL. Bring on the bad rheumatoid arthritis flares, the panic attacks, and the family drama. She was ready. In the words of the astute philosophers of Timbuk 3 from the 80's, "The future's so bright I gotta wear shades."

Why had she ever feared it so much?

The ball dropped at midnight on New Year's as it always did, and life went on as surely as it ever had. It was a new millennium. And it was going to be a good one. The Y2K scare turned out to be for nothing. Everything kept moving, the sun kept shining, and the moon kept rising after she bedded down in the West.

And Lacey's family was eating beans and crackers for quite awhile.