Something Happy Happened, Part III

{Continued from Part I and Part II…}

I’m pretty sure you can tell by the name of my blog that I love dessert.

Like, would-rather-not-have-anything-else-but-dessert kind of love. I always have room for dessert; I don’t care how full I am. Ironically, the night we were at the Girl & the Goat, I didn’t want dessert… for the first time… in MY LIFE.

We originally decided on 9 plates, but sadly, when it was time for the 9th plate (pig face with a fried egg), we were so stuffed that we cancelled the order (we were sad). I was ready for bed, but ManFriend took me by surprise by saying he wanted dessert. This… never happens.  Was this the same ManFriend I’ve known all these years – the guy who never wants dessert? Or was I not myself that night – the girl who ALWAYS wants dessert? For a split second, I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone. After going back and forth for a few minutes (he coerced me by saying, we have to try something while we were there), I ‘gave in’ and ordered the caramel bread cake with berries.

After a few minutes, the dessert arrived on a solid oak wooden platter, and the server set it directly in front of me. I looked down at the platter and remarked, “Oh look, they wrote something on it!”

It took me a about a split second to realize what they had written…

“Oh my God,” I whispered.

Stunned, I looked up to see ManFriend at my side, on one knee, with a little black box in his hand. The restaurant suddenly got quiet – the music was down and the people weren’t talking. I burst out in tears – I couldn’t stop.

6 years of love came through my eyes. ManFriend started to laugh.

He said, “Moose (my nickname), you know I’m not very good at this. Will you be my wife?”

I continued to cry harder. I couldn’t see anything as he handed me the unopened black box. (can you tell we’re rookies?) I opened the box to see my ring. After a minute, he said, “Well does that mean yes?” I hadn’t answered him yet! I said “Yes, of course!” And jumped up to hug him – still crying – to the sound of loud cheers. I turned around to see the entire restaurant giving us a standing ovation – the bartender we talked to when we first got there (he knew), the hostess who sat us (she knew), our server (she knew), the chefs, servers and runners (they knew) and everyone dining that night (they figured it out). I couldn’t contain myself – this spectacular dinner was just topped by a even more spectacular dessert (which we didn’t touch, by the way).

Out came the champagne and cell phones – ManFriend called his mom (who was in on it the whole time) and I called my mom and dad. It was approximately 12:30 a.m (which was 1:30 a.m. where our parents live), and they all woke up to hear the news. They were all elated, as were we.

After I stopped shaking and crying, I asked ManFriend for the details.

He bought the ring 2 months ago (after we had gone ring shopping several times over the years, we found this ring and he could tell that was the one), told all of our friends, asked both my parents for permission (I’m extremely close to them), and hid the ring in the guest room inside a ski boot. He had called the restaurant several times to talk to the hostess and the pastry chef to confirm everything was planned. He also tried to get Stephanie Izard to bring the platter out as a bigger surprise, but she was opening a new restaurant that week and wasn’t there. His plan was executed perfectly – exactly the way he envisioned.

Even now, I can’t believe I didn’t know he was going to do it that night. I will admit, I did think he might propose to me in Chicago, just not that night for some reason. I was completely caught off-guard, because not once did he seem nervous or different. Either he’s a great actor, or he was really ready. And so was I.

The End.

“…and they lived happily every after…”