January

Casey nervously entered the jewelry store with one hand clutching her latte and the other hand in her coat pocket. It was a cold, early January morning and the snow was lightly falling outside. It was Casey's day off and most people would have chosen to stay home on a day like this, but Casey had something planned. She had woken up next to her girlfriend just a few hours earlier. Even though Alex had to be at her office earlier than she had expected, she had still managed to spend an extra five minutes here and there cuddling with Casey in her bed. As Alex showered, Casey got up, put some clothes on, and started making breakfast for her girlfriend. Alex had a long day ahead of her and Casey wanted to make sure she ate right instead of taking the usual piece of fruit and cup of coffee to go.

When Alex was finished eating, she grabbed her coat and her briefcase and prepared to leave. Alex had expected a quick goodbye kiss, but Casey refused to let her go and that single kiss turned into another five minutes of kissing each other.

"I love you," Alex said as she had one hand on the doorknob and prepared to exit her apartment.

"I love you, too," Casey told her and gave her one last goodbye kiss.

"Be here when I get back," Alex insisted. "That'll give me something to look forward to."

"I'll give you something else to look forward to," Casey said and winked at Alex.

Alex just smiled at her and left. There was something about the smile on Alex's face that let Casey know she'd be thinking about her all day.

As soon as Alex had left, Casey did the dishes and searched for something to wear from the section of the closet that Alex had designated for her. She grabbed a pair of jeans and a sweater and started rummaging for some underwear in the drawer that had become hers a few months ago. Casey quickly showered and, in less than an hour, she was out the door.

When she entered the jewelry store, she began wondering what had possessed her to take this step. Last night, her intentions were to buy Alex a promise ring, but now she felt as if that wasn't good enough. Seeing Alex in the morning made her change her mind. Even though she spent the night at Alex's apartment at least 3 times each week, she began wondering what it would be like to spend every night with Alex and wake up next to her each morning. That was when Casey knew Alex was more than a woman she would buy a promise ring for; she was the woman worthy of an engagement ring. It had been nearly a year since her first date with Alex and, as co-dependent as that sounded, Casey felt as if that year was the happiest of her life. Not only did Alex excite her, she understood her, which is something that not many people could do.

Casey looked at the rings on display, but none of them appealed to her. They were either too gaudy or too plain. Both of those were not adjectives that could be used to describe Alex. Alex was classy and Casey wanted to find a ring that suited her.

The saleswoman began helping Casey after seeing how lost she looked. The woman asked what Casey was looking for and all she could tell her was that she was looking for something classy for her girlfriend, the woman she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. Casey tried to maintain her composure, but she couldn't help but smile every time she was given the opportunity to talk about Alex. When the saleswoman asked how the two of them had met, Casey decided to tell the short version of the story and omit the part about meeting for the first time when Alex was still in witness protection. She felt an instant attraction to Alex even though there was tension between them. They didn't see each other again for another four years and that's the story that they tell acquaintances and other people who aren't close friends or family. It was another cold day in January and Casey was reading in the park while Alex was jogging. Not wanting to be rude, Alex stopped and said hello to her. As Alex sat down on the bench next to her, Casey couldn't help but notice how form-fitting Alex's jogging attire was or how beautiful she looked even though she wasn't wearing make-up and her hair was in a messy ponytail. They made small talk for awhile before Alex said she had to finish her jog. That's when Casey became bold and said she wanted to see her again. Alex asked her when and Casey just used the one-word response "now." Alex couldn't resist so she told Casey she'd meet her at a coffee shop after she showered and changed her clothes. They were only apart for an hour, but that felt like an eternity for Casey now that she had seen Alex in a different light. They had went out for coffee and going out for coffee turned into going out to dinner and then going out to dinner turned into going out for a movie and then drinks after the movie. They didn't arrive at their respective apartments until after four in the morning and they did the same thing a week later when they both had another day off. It had become a weekly tradition of theirs for about four months until Alex got the nerve to ask Casey to spend the night. That's when their kisses and "petting" turned into intense lovemaking. Casey left out that last part when speaking to the saleswoman, but she hoped she had still gotten her point across about how much Alex meant to her.

After hearing her story, the saleswoman led Casey over to a section of rings that were more Alex's style. She nearly gasped when she saw a princess cut diamond on a small gold band. The diamond was two carats and a little bigger than what she had in mind, but she kept picturing how beautiful it would look on Alex's finger. She may have been getting ahead of herself, but she also imagined adding two smaller diamonds on either side when they approached their ten-year anniversary.

"This is the one," she told the saleswoman. It was unlike her to do so, but Casey felt herself start to cry as she was holding the ring. There was still one month until she planned on proposing to Alex, but she still had so much planning to do in that month. She had to find the perfect way to propose to her. It had to be romantic. It had to be creative. It had to be worthy of the woman she loved.

Casey charged the ring to her credit card and the saleswoman told her that she would be able to pick up Alex's ring in a little over a week She was relieved she wasn't able to take it home that day. Otherwise, she'd be tempted to propose to Alex right away. Casey left the jewelry store feeling more anxious and excited than she had ever felt in her whole life.