The Night I'd Always Remember

I hadn’t heard from Sam in a couple hours, which I thought was strange but maybe he just was busy? Today was our two year anniversary but he hadn’t said anything about it all day. Did he forget? Frowning, I pulled into a parking spot and parked my car. I got out of work early today, so I would have time to shop for a present for him. I stepped out of the car, grabbed the bags, and rushed inside to get away from the cold January air. 

My cold fingers had a hard time getting the key inside the lock correctly, but I finally pushed the door open and quickly squeezed inside the door with all my bags. I locked the door behind me and turned to face the apartment letting out a little gasp. Our apartment was lit up with at least a hundred little candles, soft music was playing in the background, and there were rose petals on the floor. Sam set a pan down on the table and smiled, “Happy anniversary Bea. You didn’t think I’d forget our special day did you?”

A grin lit up my face and I sprung into his arms in a tight embrace. “Happy anniversary.” I replied, my voice muffled by his shoulder. We kissed before pulling away and I looked around again. The apartment appeared to be glowing, and there was a delicious smell that was floating around the air. “I made dinner.” Sam echoed my thoughts. You could almost feel the love in the air bouncing off the walls.

“You cooked for little old me?” I teased putting my hand over my heart. He rolled his eyes with a smile on his lips and pulled out my chair for me. I kissed him on the cheek before sitting on the chair and he pushed me in. I saw baked salmon, potatoes, and broccoli with a bottle of wine all displayed on the table. “This looks so good baby,” I set my hand on his squeezing it gently. 

Sam served both of us and we chatted about our day at work, and how this old lady was flirting with Sam at the grocery store. My heart was so happy, I don’t think I had stopped smiling all night. “Do you remember how we met?” I asked him, taking a drink out of my wine glass. 

“Yeah, you used to stalk me at the mall.” He answered back with a smirk on his face.

“Sam!” I smacked his arm, playfully, “That is so not true. You added me on Facebook and then didn’t message me or say anything so I HAD to text you first.”

“I thought you had a boyfriend or something,” He laughed, “I was being respectful.”

I rolled my eyes smiling, “If I had a boyfriend why would I come see you at your job so often? I thought it was pretty obvious I was interested.”

“See you were stalking me.” Sam squeezed my leg, a mischievous grin was on his face. I shook my head at him smiling, “I wouldn’t call it stalking, I would call it going to the mall to get cheese fries almost every other day, and just happening to see you there.” 

We laughed and continued to talk about our favorite memories from the early days in our relationship. I got up and started to clear the table and Sam turned his chair around watching me put the rest of dinner away. Two years with him and I still couldn’t  get over how he looked at me. It was a mix of admiration, love, longing, and something a little dangerous maybe. It still gave me butterflies. Sam knew he had been caught looking at me so he coughed and motioned towards the bags I had left by the door, “What are in those?”

“Oh, I almost forgot!” I set the dishes in the sink and went over to grab the bags. I sat in the chair next to Sam and handed him the bags. He opened the first one and it was a scrapbook of us that I made. We looked through the scrapbook together smiling at all our pictures and memories that were stored in the book. He kissed my head and reached for the other bag and took the shoe box out of it, “Bea, I’ve wanted these for so long!”

I smiled taking in his excitement, “I know that’s why I got them for you silly.”

He looked over at me and grabbed my face, kissing me softly. I will never get tired of kissing this man. He pulled away and set his forehead on mine, “I love you.”

“And I love you Sam.” 

“Okay time for your present!” He said excitedly, pulling me to stand up. “Close your eyes.”

I nodded and closed my eyes. I couldn’t help the big smile that was growing across my face. There were some shuffling and some noises and then it got quiet. “Don't open your eyes yet, just listen to me. Bea I love you so much. You have made me a better person and made my life so amazing. I can’t imagine my life without you. I don’t ever want to lose you. You’re my world and I can’t begin to tell you how much I love you. Bea will you marry me?”

I opened my eyes and my jaw dropped. Sam was on his knee with a gorgeous ring and my eyes quickly flooded with tears, “Oh my gosh baby yes!” Sam slid the ring on my finger and stood up quickly spinning me around. I pressed my lips to his, kissing him passionately. I had dreamed of this moment since our first date. I couldn’t believe this was happening. I looked up at him and his smile was just as big as mine, “I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” and we swayed to the soft music that was still playing for a while, just enjoying each other’s company. That night was one of the happiest nights of my life. 

I remembered the whole night vividly and smiled putting a picture of Sam and I on our wedding night up on our fireplace. We had been married a year now and we couldn’t be happier. Since then we got our first house together and he still makes me happy everyday. I felt his arms wrap around my hips and his chin on my shoulder. “What are you thinking about?” He asked me, placing a kiss on my head.

“About the night you asked me to marry you.” I replied, turning around to face him. I wrapped my arms around the back of his neck and admired him. I leaned up and kissed my now husband. This was happiness.