“Surprise?” she said weakly.
I just stood there, completely speechless.
“Her name is Bowie,” Lily continued nervously. “Well, I named her that, but you can totally change it if you want. The breeder said she’s really gentle and perfect for beginners. Rosie helped me research everything. We’ve been planning this for weeks.”
That’s when it all clicked into place. The sneaking around. The lies. The mysterious phone calls and pet store charges.
Lily wasn’t cheating on me. She was trying to overcome her biggest fear to surprise me with the one thing I’d always wanted but never thought I could have.
She handed me a tiny envelope with a little bow on it.
Inside it was a note that read, “Happy early birthday. Meet Bowie the Boa. P.S. – Yes, you can name her something cooler if you want.”
All the panic, doubt, and anxiety from the last 48 hours just evaporated right then and there.
And in that moment, with her standing there, beside a literal snake in a tank, I realized something important. This woman had faced her worst fear for me. This is the woman I want beside me forever.
So, I pulled out the ring box from my jacket pocket. Yep, I still had it from yesterday’s shopping trip.
I dropped to one knee right there in our spare bedroom and said, “If you can love me and my snake, will you marry me?”
She blinked. Then laughed. Then cried.
And then, she said the words I’d been waiting to hear.
“Yes,” she nodded with tears in her eyes. “Of course, yes.”
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I proposed to the bravest woman I know. The one who faced her greatest fear just to make me happy.
If that’s not love, I don’t know what is.
