Third Time’s a Charm: 3 Short Stories

Chris

Chris

Ten Rules for Marrying Everly Dean

1. Remind her every day, multiple times, that you love her.

2. Do your best to give her reasons to love you back.

3. Be okay with letting the cats sleep on the bed.

4. Always have cake, brownies, or cookies close by.

5. Hold her hand when there are too many people around.

6. Hold her hand just because it’s there and you love touching her.

7. Don’t be fooled by the word “fine.” If she uses it, she’s not fine.

8. There’s not much that can’t be expressed in a text with a GIF.

9. Understand that popcorn and cereal can absolutely count as dinner.

10. Be Chris Jansen. He’s the only one who could love her the way he does.

Most people weren’t afraid to wish their girlfriend a happy birthday. Of course, no one else was dating Everly Dean—thank God the nightmare of watching her date others was over—who hated birthdays with a passion that rivaled the Yankees’ disdain for the Red Sox. Even knowing she’d rather forget about today than have any attention foisted upon her, Chris had a plan, and he was determined to see it through.

If everything went well, they’d be feeding each other cake and wearing a lot less than they would be (hopefully) down the road if she said “yes” and they decided to feed each other cake in front of their families and closest friends. If it didn’t go well… he couldn’t think like that.

He’d loved Everly from the moment he met her, or pretty close after. If she didn’t see all the reasons they should get married, he’d write her another damn list. And if today didn’t change her mind on birthdays, then next year he’d pretend it was just another day while being incredibly grateful that Everly Dean was born. And that she loved him back.