"You have changed my life so much. You gave me a family I never thought I'd have." I take her free hand in mine. "I love you. I love the life we're building. I want to keep building it together. And to make you mine forever."
A tear spills down her cheek. "Garrett..."
"So," I squeeze her hand, surprising myself with how steady my voice is, "will you marry me?"
The studio is dead silent. Twenty people holding their breath, waiting.
Cyn looks at the ring, then at me, a smile breaking through her tears. "Yes," she says, and then louder, "Yes. Of course, yes."
The class erupts in applause and cheers. Someone in the back whistles. The instructor is wiping away tears of her own.
I take the ring from the box with shaking fingers and slide it onto Cyn's finger. It fits perfectly, the emerald glinting against her skin. We both stare at it for a moment, this symbol of promise.
"It matches your eyes," I say stupidly, overwhelmed by the reality that she said yes, that this amazing woman wants to be my wife.
She laughs, the sound choked with emotion, and then she's in my arms, her face pressed against my neck. "I love you," she whispers, just for me despite our audience. "I love you so much."
People are on their feet now, gathering around us with congratulations and exclamations over the ring. Cyn is radiant, glowing with happiness.
"How long have you been planning this?" she asks when we finally have a moment of relative privacy, the class dispersing.
"I’ve spent months trying to figure out how I wanted to do it," I admit. "I wanted it to be special."
"It was perfect." She cups my face in her hands, the ring cool against my cheek. "Absolutely perfect."
Later, walking hand in hand to the car, she can't stop looking at the emerald on her finger. "How did you know?" she asks. "That I'd prefer this to a diamond?"
"You mentioned it once. Said diamonds were overrated."
She stops in the middle of the sidewalk, staring at me in shock. "That was forever ago. Before Carter. Before we even moved in together."
I shrug. "I listen when you talk."
Her eyes fill with tears again. "Garrett Hughes," she says softly, "you are the most unexpected, wonderful thing that's ever happened to me. You and Carter both."
I pull her close, right there on the street, not caring who sees.
We drive home in a bubble of happiness, making plans, dreaming out loud. A small wedding, we agree. Soon. No point in waiting when we're already living as a family.
After parking, I cut the engine but make no move to get out. Cyn looks at me questioningly.
"What is it?"
"I just..." I take her hand, the one with the ring, marveling at how right it looks there. "I never thought I'd have this, you know? The partner, the baby, the whole package."
Her fingers brush against mine, and I feel the electric current that's run between us from the first day, that I know will run between us for the rest of our lives.
"Let's go get our son," she says, glowing with happiness. "I want to tell him his dad finally made an honest woman of his mom."
"He can't understand you," I jokingly remind her as we head inside.
She grins. "Doesn't matter. He's part of this. Part of us."
And she's right, of course. The three of us—soon to be officially, legally, permanently connected—we're a team. The best team I've ever been part of.
I follow her inside, my future wife, the mother of my son, thinking that for all the wins I've had on the ice, nothing compares to this victory: finding the one person who makes every part of life better, who challenges me, supports me, lovesme exactly as I am, and somehow, miraculously, wants a forever with me too.
