After the waitress came back and took their orders, Spencer had excused herself and after a minute of silence between Ashley and Arthur, she took a breath and started talking. “Arthur, there’s something I want to run by you.”

                “Sure Ashley, is something wrong?” Arthur had a sincerely worried look on his face now.

                “No Arthur, nothing’s wrong. Everything’s fine. I’ve just… been thinking. I want to marry your daughter.”

                Arthur just looked at her for a moment. After a moment to process this request, he put a broad smile on his face and said, “Ashley, no one loves my daughter more than you do. I… we would all love for you to be a part of our family.” He got up briskly and gave her the biggest bear hug she had ever received.

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                Spencer got to the bathroom and looked at her reflection. She pulled the box out of her pocket and opened it, looking down at the beautiful ring she bought for Ashley. “It’ll be fine. She loves you. She always has, and she always will.” She put a smile on and just looked at herself for a minute. Replacing the ring in her pocket, she ran a nervous hand through her hair and left the room. Slowly making her way back to the table, she regained her composure and sat back down at the table taking Ashley’s hand.

                “So Dad, how’s work going?” Spencer tried to start up a conversation because there wasn’t much talking going on when she returned.

                “It’s going well, I just finished an adoption and the family is very happy together.”

                “That’s great.” The table was quiet for a few minutes, Arthur just looking at the two of them, Ashley and Spencer both waiting for the perfect moment. “I’m glad I have you both here… There’s something I wanted to talk to you both about.”

                “Really?” Ashley asked. She looked at Arthur to see if he knew what she was talking about. He had his eyebrows raised in surprise. ‘I’ll take that as a no…’ “I want to talk to you about something too. You first,” she added with a smile.

                “Okay,” Spencer said taking in a deep breath. With glimmering eyes, Spencer looked from her father to Ashley and grabbed both hands into her own. “Ashley,” she said, “you know how I feel about you, how I’ve always felt about you. I love you more than anything in the world, and I’m lucky enough o have found someone who feels the same way about me.” Spencer paused to take a deep breath and Ashley took that moment to fish the ring out of her bad.