Over the next several days, JC showed Laura around LA, the places that meant the most to him.  He took her through the studio he was currently working in.  They spent a lot of time outside, hiking and exploring the countryside nearby.  The weather was perfect.  They also spent quite a bit of time at JC’s home on the beach.  Many nights Laura and JC fixed supper together before eating outside on his balcony.  She finally got to taste the great steak he said he could grill.  After eating, they would walk or sit on the beach as the sun set, enjoying each other’s company. 

One night, halfway through their time together, they were walking along the beach.  The weather was perfect.  Occasionally Laura would bend to pick up a shell that JC would place in his pocket. 

Laura noticed that JC was unusually quiet this evening, but attributed it to their busy day.  She liked the fact that they didn’t have to spend every moment talking.  They knew each other so well, they could communicate with a look or simply just enjoy each others company in the quiet. 

He tugged her hand to turn them back around to head back to his house.  The sun was almost ready to sink into the ocean as they started up the stairs to his balcony.  JC was leading the way.  Laura didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary as she kept looking back toward the sunset, until she took the final step onto the balcony.  She gasped in shock. 

The balcony had been transformed from their supper table into a gorgeous, magical, candle lit land.  There were hundreds of flickering candles intermixed with large bouquets of tulips, roses, and hydrangeas; all of Laura’s favorite flowers.  In the background, romantic music was playing through the speakers.  Covering the floor were more rose petals, creating a wonderful aroma filtering through the air. 

Laura’s feet felt like they were stuck to the floor.  JC placed a gentle hand on the small of her back and guided her toward the bench in the middle of the balcony.  He helped her into her seat as he knelt down on one knee in front of her.  He kept her hands tightly clasped in his own as he took a deep breath and looked deeply into her eyes. 

“Laura, the day that I met you was the best day of my life.  You took me in and cared for me without caring who I was.  That was so refreshing to me, not many people could look at me and see the man that I am inside.  You did that with just one look.  The time we have spent together over the last several months has been the most amazing time ever.  When we are apart, I don’t feel whole.  You are the breath in my lungs; the music in my heart.  Without you, I am nothing.  I love you Laura, with my whole heart and soul and being.  I want to grow old with you and see you grow as you nurture our children in your body.  There is no one else in the world that I want to share my days and nights with, be the mother of my children, and fall deeper in love with you all the rest of my life.  Laura, will you marry me?”

By the time he finished, both of them had tears in their eyes.  Laura choked out an emphatic “Yes!” as they reached for each other and shared their first kiss as an engaged couple.  If Laura could have crawled into JC’s chest, she would have as neither felt they could get close enough. 

At last they pulled back as their lungs were screaming for air, both breathing deeply, foreheads touching. 

JC laughed in complete and utter joy as he pulled out a velvet box.  Laura held out her left hand as he placed the simple gold and diamond band on the hand that signified that she was now his. 

“I love you so much, JC!  I will never take this ring off.  You are my knight in shining armor, my hero, and my true love.  You are the other half of me and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life as your wife.”

They stayed up the rest of the night, talking, laughing, and dancing in each others arms to the romantic music that never stopped playing.  They reveled in the others company as they celebrated finding their soul mate.