A romantic surprise

The week had gone by in a flash. The last day of Jenny's visit had already come and everyone fell in love with her. Including Jason. With each passing day, each silly joke and every minute they spent together, Jason caught himself falling in love more and more. Bringing Jenny into his life was the first good thing his mother had done for him in a long time. She was right, this girl was perfect for him. He was certain she was the one. So yesterday he caught himself thinking, why wait any longer? He started thinking about how and when he would propose to Jenny. For him it could not be any sooner, but he knew this was a romantic surprise he could not mess up. Therefore careful planning was essential. he wanted to propose with something he had picked out based on her preferences and with her in mind. Though he had gotten to know a lot about Jenny in these past few days, it was impossible to know all details and a engagement ring was something that unfortunately fell under the category details. So he was trying to figure out what kind of ring she would like based on what he did know about her. The more he thought about it, the more frustrated he got. I mean, he knew she wasn't materialistic, but every girl wanted a grand proposal with a beautiful ring right?

Should he buy her a new ring, or should he use the family heirloom. The heirloom had been in the family for at least three generations. It was a princess cut diamond ring in a platinum gold band. It had belonged to his great grandmother and till now everyone who had used that ring to propose had been successful. He liked those odds very much. But on the other hand, she might want something unique and not something that had been used for many proposals before hers. He knew his problem could be solved by asking her mother for advise, but he did not want anyone knowing about the proposal before the actual person involved. After racking his brain all through the night, he finally thought of a perfect plan. His birthday was in a month from now, so instead of Jenny giving him a birthday present, he would ask her to be his wife. He could even hide the ring in the cake topper. He would pretend that it fell and broke and as he would pick it up, he would be on one knee and he would ask her to marry him. That way she could start moving to England in her spring break. It was flawless. How could she deny his birthday wish, he snickered as he was lost in thought.

- back to the present -

Jason and Jenny were in her room and as she was packing, they were planning their next visit. They agreed that this time Jason would be visiting them in the Netherlands. This way Jenny could show him around the town she grew up in and he could even meet her friends. In between they would talk on the phone or send each other messages. Jenny's flight wasn't until late that night, so after packing they decided to go on a walk by the lake. Jenny had fallen in love with that lake. It was so peaceful. It was so beautiful. One would not believe that it was in someone's front yard. As sat down on the freshly mowed grass, they were deep in conversation. Jenny was in the middle of telling Jason a funny story about her and her friends during one of their classes. She was talking about the silly teacher of arts and crafts who had physically blocked the exit of the classroom, because of a piece of fabric that was lying on the floor and she was determined to find the "culprit". Even after one of her friends had offered to pick up the fabric and put it back in it's place, the teacher was adamant that no one was to leave as long as the one who had "committed the crime" did not confess him- or herself!. As Jenny was telling this story, she made sure she was enacting the voices of the important characters. This had always been Jenny's specialty. This and witty come backs. Soon both could not hold in their laughs and they were rolling on the grass. While Jenny tried to continue her story in between laughs and gasps for air, Jason could not help but stare at this silly girl. Her eyes had turned to half their size, her face had lit up and she was showing the small dimples in her cheeks. Before he knew it, he subconsciously got on one knee and took out the ring he had been carrying since yesterday. He opened the box gently and asked, "Dear Jenny I know we haven't know each other for very long, but I can already tell that you are the one for me. If you feel the same way, I would like to ask you to make me the happiest man alive and marry me."