The Captains

The next morning, Jon and I woke up to a light snow falling over Chicago. It was Christmas Eve and both families would be spending the day together, doing things around the city. Jon and I got out of bed, ate breakfast, and got ready before heading out. We the few blocks to the hotels our families were staying at, and then took two cabs down to the Shedd Aquarium. Jared was in a fish and dinosaur phase and when he was told there was an aquarium where Aunt Chelly lives, it was mandatory that we go. When both cabs arrived, everyone piled out and got out of the cold and inside as quickly as possible. Jon paid for everyone's ticket, which earned him a jab to the ribs from me, and we got to walking around. Jon kept his beanie on while inside, trying to not get recognized so he could enjoy this time with his family without being interrupted every five minutes. I held onto Jon's hand as we walked around to all of the exhibits, and the two of us talked with each other about what we were seeing. He'd make jokes and would imitate a few of the fish that had pretty weird looking faces. When we were watching the dolphin shows or reading something about a fish, he'd rub the back of my hand or gently squeeze it. If someone from our family would look over at us together and I'd catch them, I'd smile to myself or even blush a little. Jon and I were absolutely in love, and everyone around us could see it. After the aquarium, we all decided to brave the weather and walk to Water Tower to go see all the shops with their Christmas decor and to just check out the stores. We spent the rest of our afternoon exploring all the floors of the enormous mall. Jared almost lost it when we walked past the Lego store. We spent quite some time in there because my brother told Jared he could only pick out one set to have. Right after David told him that, I whispered to Benni to have him stay clear of the Star Wars section of the store because Jon and I already had that covered. While they were shopping, Jon's parents went to browse a few stores and Jon and I did the same. We passed by a jewelry store, and Jon took my hand a pulled me inside. We walked around and looked at all the cases filled with earrings, bracelets, and necklaces. Then, we came to one with engagement rings. Every setting, stone, and cut you could ever think of. A lady came over to us and asked if we were looking for anything particular. I looked over at Jon and he gestured to me, telling me to answer.
"I like the halo shape, kinda like the Great Gatsby ring." I said.
"Ah yes." she said. She guided us down a few feet to a case with more rings and asked if I wanted to try any on.
"Eh, why not." Jon answered for me.
"Size?" she asked.
"Eight." The lady pulled out a few, and I slid one onto my right hand ring finger and held it up for Jon to look at. He nodded, but then slid the ring off and out it on my left hand.
"That's better." he said. Now that I was positive of what Jon was getting at, my heart started beating a millions times a second. I tried on a few more and was scanning over them again when I saw it. It was in the top corner of the case and was the ring I've been dreaming of my entire life. The band had diamonds all around it and a princess cut stone with diamond cushioning surrounding it. I asked if she could pull that one out, and she did. Unfortunately, she only had it in a size 4 and 6. I was a little sad, but maybe we'd find it in an eight at another store. I tried on a few more after that, but nothing compared to the other one. "Go see how much longer the others will be, I need to get my watch taken up and I'll meet you guys out there in a few minutes." Jon said. I thanked the lady again and then walked back over to the group. Everyone else was already done shopping and was waiting on Jon and I.
"Find anything?" Jon's mom asked with a wink.
"I saw a few things, but we were just looking around." I said
Jon's POV
I didn't really need my watch taken up, but I needed Chelsea gone so I could talk to the woman about the ring. I'm pretty sure Chels knew what I was doing, the way her face flushed when I moved the first one to her left hand was priceless. I was also glad this was one of those days when she wasn't wearing Sidney's ring, it probably would've made her feel more reluctant to try any on.
"Can you like order this one in or get it sized to an eight?" I asked, pointing to the one they didn't have in Chels' size. I knew that was the one, she looked at it differently and talked differently about it than the others, and her face lit up as soon as she saw it.
"Yes, it'll be about 4 months though, that particular designer makes each ring by hand and we can't get it any faster than that. Is that okay?" she said. Four months was a while, but I knew this was Chelsea's ring, and 4 months would be nothing compared to the rest of our lives that we'll be spending together.
"That's great." I said, smiling. She pulled out a few forms for me to fill out for the ring. I also ordered it with etching in the band that would have the roman numerals for 19 inside the band. I gave her my first deposit for the ring and stuck my copy of the form inside my jacket pocket and left the store, found the group and returned to Chelsea's side.
Chelsea's POV
After we were done at the mall, we went to a quiet restaurant in Greektown for dinner. The conversation at first was light, but there was one question on everyone's mind: what were Jon and I doing in the jewelry store. No one really wanted to ask though in case it wasn't about an engagement ring, just browsing through the jewelry store. My dad was smart though, and went around the jewelry store part.
"So, uh, you two have been dating for a while now. A little over two years right?" my dad asked. Jon and I both nodded, and under the table I felt Jon's hand rest on top of my leg.
"And you'd say this is a pretty serious relationship?" Jon's mom chimed in. We both agreed again.
"Have either of you been thinking about marriage any?" Jon's dad asked. Jon and I looked at each other, and then back to our families.
"The conversation's come up before." Jon said with a small laugh and another glance down at me.
"Well, don't keep us waiting any longer. Not getting any younger over here." Jon's mother said with a laugh. The rest of the table joined in, and the marriage topic moved out. It almost seemed like my dad and Jon's parents teamed up with one another about the marriage topic. I think they're both pushing for it and are wanting it to happen soon. Jon kept his hand on my leg for the rest of dinner, and when our food came and he needed both hands, I felt bare. His presence gave me warmth and a sense of protection. After we left the restaurant, we walked our families back to their hotels and then decided to just walk around downtown for a while. Everything was lively and the streets weren't too crowded. Our arms were interlocked and the snow that was falling this morning was still coming down, and it created the perfect mood. All of the lights and decorations lit up the city and made everything look amazing. I'd never seen a more perfect Christmas eve, and being with Jon made it all the better. We were on Michigan and had made it back near Watertower and were approaching the Hancock Tower.
"Wanna go up?" Jon asked as we stared up at it from below.
"Why not." I said. He smiled down at me and we walked to the entrance. The line just for tickets was ridiculously long, and I got a little discouraged. Jon was doing something on his phone, and I was continuing to lose hope as more and more people joined the line.
"Here, got 'em." Jon said, holding at his phone for me to see. He had purchased two fast pass tickets online, and was now leading me to the escalators. We rode down them, and waited in the shorter line for about 15 minutes. We crowded into the elevator with about 12 other strangers, none of which recognized Jon.
"Tourists." Jon mumbled when we got off. I laughed and unzipped my jacket and hung it awkwardly over my arm.
"Want me to carry it?" he asked me.
"Nah, its fine." I said. We walked around and found a spot that wasn't crowded near the southwest corner. Jon stood behind me and wrapped his arms around my midsection and we watched the city. The rows of streets that went on and on were mesmerizing and it brought me peace thinking about all of the families together at that moment in their houses, together for Christmas, kids not able to sleep because of the excitement of what Santa would bring them, and the parents getting to see the excitement on their faces, and the joy that would come from their children in the morning. It made me think about kids too, and how I'd always said I didn't want them, but lately I'd been feeling a little differently about them. I'd almost feel a bit of jealousy when I went over to Cassie's house, and seeing the way that her and Patrick look at her with such love and that they wouldn't ever let anything hurt her. I didn't talk to Jon about it though, because if I changed my mind about it again, I wouldn't want him to be upset. The two of us left the tower when someone announced the last elevators would be going down soon. We opted to take a cab back to our apartment, the snow had picked up and we were tired of walking. In the taxi, I rested up against Jon and he pulled me close to him.
When we got back to our apartment, Jon worked on getting a fire going while I changed into pajamas. We turned on all of the Christmas lights we had hung, and turned the regular lights off. Those lights with the fire created the perfect lighting and a perfect Christmas feel. Jon and I set out a few pillows and blankets and laid by the fire together. He had one arm draped around my waist and the other propping his head up. I was on my back and looking up at him while we talked.
"What kind of wedding do you want" Jon asked blatantly. The question threw me off a little, and I wasn't sure how to respond.
"You know if you're going to propose soon, you're not doing a good job of making it a surprise." I said with the same blatant tone.
"It's a good thing I'm not then." he said with a smirk. Part of me felt some relief with his response. I want to marry Jon one day, but I don't think the timing is right.
"Well, 'Mister-I'm-Going-To-Tease-My-Girlfriend-With-Marriage-', I don't really know what I want. I'd love a huge winter wedding, but with your schedule, it might be a little hard to wed on days that aren't holidays. But, I wouldn't mind a small summer wedding either, with just our close family and friends. Just depends on the timing I guess. What do you want?" I said
"Whatever you want." he said, leaning down and kissing me. The two of us kept talking about anything and everything for a while longer before going to bed. Our families would be over early and it was going to be a long day.
The next morning, I was woken up way too early to the vibration of my phone. Jon was woken up by it too, because he groaned into the crook of my neck when I tried rolling out of his arms. I was able to get out of his grip and answer my phone, but then returned to the warmth and comfort of him.
"AUNT CHELLY CAN WE COME OVER NOW?" was what I was greeted by. I also wasn't prepared for the volume. I held the phone away from my ear and checked the time: 7:00 a.m.
"You can come over in 30 minutes. Tell daddy that" I said groggily.
"OKAY. DID SANTA COME?" Jared yelled back at me.
"I haven't gotten up to look yet, but I'm sure he did." I answered. Benni and David told Jared Santa would be coming to my house, and had mailed us the gifts from Santa a few days before they flew in.
"OKAY BYE AUNT CHELLY." the line went dead and I set my phone down, mumbling something about not ever having children. Jon was looking down at me with a small smirk, then kissed my temple.
"Merry Christmas Chels." he said. We got up and made ourselves presentable for our families. I sent our parents texts saying to head over soon before getting out Jared's presents from Santa. The gifts from/for everyone else has been set out a few days ago but Jon had moved Jared's presents into the closet just in case Jared wandered in there while he was over. I brought it into the living room and Jon and I arranged the gifts then waited for everyone else to arrive. When they did, everything went great. We all exchanged our gifts and watched Jared freak out over all of his stuff. I made two cans of cinnamon rolls for breakfast and to hold us over until lunch was ready. As soon as we were done eating, a few of us moved to the kitchen to get started on the huge meal we were having. I was glad to have all the help; it would have taken me three times as long to get everything made.

We ate around 2 in the afternoon, and the day was great. It was the best Christmas I'd had in a while and I was ready for the new year.

2014 was a blur, the Olympics, the playoffs, the summer, all of it. Jon and I spent the summer going all over, we went to Pittsburgh some, Winnipeg some, Jon's lake, back and forth to Chicago, everywhere. I saw Sidney quite a bit too. We caught up and I really enjoyed the time I got to spend with him.

The season came out of nowhere, and before I knew it things were back in full swing. Games almost every other day and traveling almost twice a week. Sometimes it was hard and Jon would get irritable, but we always made it work.

*Christmas 2014*
Jon and I were getting ready for the Sharp's annual Christmas party a few days before Christmas. I was in our closet looking for my black wedge booties, and I couldn't find them. I was reaching up on the shelf above the racks for clothes feeling for them. My hand felt something, but I wasn't sure what it was. I definitely wasn't my shoes, but I pulled it down. It was a small, square black box. My heart started beating, and without thinking I opened the box. Inside was a ring, and one I recognized, the one that the jewelry store didn't have in my size but I loved. A split second after I saw it, I screamed and dropped the ring, stepping back. I heard running and then Jon appeared in the door of the closet.
"Babe, what's wrong?" he said, taking in the scene in front of him. The box was on its side, and I had my hand over my mouth. My breath was shaky and I wasn't sure what to do. Jon smirked then picked up the ring.
"You found it he said," looking down at it. I couldn't respond.
"I've had it since we got back from Sochi." he said, taking it out of the box.
"I was waiting for a good time to ask, and I thought it was going to be at the family skate before the Winter Classic, but you beat me to it." he said with a laugh. He stepped closer to me, looked me in the eyes, then slowly dropped down to one knee, and took my left hand, never breaking eye contact. The tears started pricking my eyes and falling.
"Chelsea Elaine Adams, you are the best thing to ever happen to me. The first day we met was literally life changing and I'm the luckiest man in the world to have found you. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you. Chelsea, will you marry me?"
"Yes, Jon, yes." I said, barely able to get it out. Jon smiled and then slid the ring onto my finger. He stood up and then picked me up, kissing me. When he set me down, I buried my face into his chest while he kept his arms around me. I was the happiest person in the world.
"I can't believe you just did that." I said, my breath still not even. Jon laughed and we stayed there for a few minutes, looking at the ring and kissing.
"Here, look at this," he said, sliding the ring off. On the inside of the band were the roman numerals XIX, 19. I smiled and a few more tears fell.
"I love you Jon." I said
"I love you too Chels." he said, kissing the top of my head.

I put the ring back on and we found my shoes, then left for the party. Naturally, the new piece of jewelry was asked about and we were congratulated over and over again and I explained how it happened over and over again. I didn't care though, because each time I looked at it and told the story, I got reminded that it happened, that Jon and I were getting married. Jon got a lot of pats on the backs and a little bit of teasing from the guys. I also asked Cassie to be my matron of honor and a few of the other girls to be bridesmaids. The night was amazing, but I couldn't wait to get back home with Jon. I didn't think I could be anymore in love with him until that night.

Notes

Finally caught up!!! I'm so sorry it took so long, but I hope you all like it!!