John thought the most dangerous part of his proposal would be jumping off the roof with a custom parachute. He was wrong. The real danger came when he looked down, spotted his girlfriend in the shadows, and realized he was descending into the middle of a deep betrayal.
I really thought I was about to give Natasha the kind of proposal people talk about for years.
It felt like it was going to be one of those wild, over-the-top stories that our future kids would roll their eyes at while secretly loving.
I could already hear myself telling it at every cookout for the rest of my life.
“Yeah, your dad was stupid enough to jump off a roof just to ask your mom to marry him.”
I had known for months that I wanted to marry Natasha. We had been together for three years.
We lived together. We had talked about marriage in that vague, smiling way couples do when they are both trying not to seem too eager.
One night, while we were doing dishes, she had leaned her shoulder into mine and said, “Just so you know, I don’t want some boring proposal.”
I laughed. “That sounds like a threat.”
“It is,” she said. “If you ever ask me in sweatpants while I’m half asleep, I’m saying no.”
Natasha loved spectacle. She loved stories. She loved holidays, parties, themed drinks, matching outfits, all of it. And the Fourth of July was her favorite day of the year.
She had been planning this party for weeks. She wanted fairy lights on the balcony, red, white, and blue desserts, music, fireworks, the whole thing.
Best of all, her family was coming. My sister Wandia and her husband Will were coming too.
That part mattered to me.
Getting both our families in one place was almost impossible. Someone was always working or traveling.
So when Natasha said, “Everyone’s actually coming this year,” something lit up in my brain.
I already had the ring. It had been hidden for two weeks in a toolbox Natasha had never once touched in her life.
I had been carrying around this nervous excitement that made me feel like I had caffeine in my bones. All I needed was a moment worthy of her.
And because I am apparently not normal, I decided a parachute proposal from the roof of our house was romantic.
To be fair, I had experience. I have always been into extreme sports. Skydiving, climbing, and base jumps when I was younger and dumber.
The rest… continues on the next page.
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