Epilogue #3
Victoria felt something crack, the careful control she'd been maintaining finally giving way.
"I've been trying to propose," she said.
"To Sasha?" asked Ambrose.
"No, to Fromage," hissed Victoria. "Yes, to Sasha. I've been trying to propose for two days and everything keeps going wrong."
The silence lasted approximately half a second.
Then the entire table erupted.
"Oh my God!" Sophie shrieked. "I knew it! I knew you were being weird!"
"Finally!" Lady Charlotte's hands flew to her chest.
"About bloody time," Cathy said.
Archie was grinning. "Good man. Er, woman. Good woman."
"When were you planning to do it?" Ambrose asked.
"I was planning to do it two days ago! And then yesterday!
And then this morning!" Victoria could hear her voice rising, but couldn't seem to stop it.
"But first it rained, and then the flowers got eaten by a calf, and then Pani Kaminska redesigned the library, no offense, and then Sophie had a bovine medical emergency… "
"Fromage had colic!"
"…and I had this perfect plan, and it was supposed to be romantic and beautiful and everything was supposed to go right for once, and instead it's been a complete disaster!"
"Kochanie," Pani Kaminska said sympathetically, reaching across to pat Victoria's hand. She said something in Polish that sounded kind.
"She says all proposals are disasters," Lukas translated. "It's part of their charm."
"I don't want charm, I want perfection!"
"Well, that's your first problem," Grandmother Alexandra observed dryly. "Perfection is tedious. Sasha would hate it."
Victoria slumped back in her chair, feeling suddenly exhausted. "I just wanted it to be special."
"It will be special," Lady Charlotte said firmly. "Because you'll be asking the woman you love to marry you. That's special enough."
"Your mother's right," Sir Archibald said, which was rare enough that everyone turned to look at him. "Proposed to your mother in a garden. Meant to do it at sunset. Did it at noon because I couldn't wait anymore. Still said yes."
"That's actually quite romantic, Papa," Sophie said.
"Wasn't meant to be romantic. Just meant to be honest."
"When were you planning to do it?" Archie asked. "The proposal, I mean."
"Yesterday!"
"Right then." Archie stood up, suddenly decisive. "Let’s get started then."
"What?"
"We can help." He looked around the table. "Can't we? Family effort."
"Absolutely," Lady Charlotte said. "What do you need, darling?"
Victoria stared at them all. "You want to help me propose?"
"Obviously," Sophie said. "This is the most exciting thing that's happened all week. Well, except for Fromage learning to bow, but this is a close second."
"I can provide flowers," Lukas offered. "Real ones this time. From the greenhouse. I'll keep them away from livestock. I’ll light a bonfire in the garden so you’ll have magical lighting."
"I’ll take care of the snow," Ambrose said.
"Wait, snow?" asked Victoria.
"Just leave it to me." He winked suggestively.
"And Fromage can be the ring-bearer," Sophie put in.
Victoria felt something warm and overwhelming rising in her chest. "You'd all do that? Help me?"
"Of course we would," Lady Charlotte said softly. "You're family. And Sasha's family too. We want this to be perfect for you."
"Well," Grandmother Alexandra said, setting down her teacup with a decisive click. "Not perfect. Perfect is boring. But memorable. That we can certainly manage."
The door opened and Sasha appeared, hair still damp from the shower, wearing one of Victoria's jumpers. "Sorry I'm late. What did I miss?"
Everyone immediately fell silent, turning to look at Victoria with varying expressions of conspiracy.
"Nothing," Victoria said, her voice only slightly strangled. "Just discussing… Christmas plans."
"Right." Sasha looked suspicious. "Why does everyone look guilty?"
"We always look guilty," Ambrose said. "It's the Sullivan family default expression."
Sasha didn't look convinced, but she sat down next to Victoria, stealing a piece of toast. "You alright? You look stressed."
"I'm fine. Everything's fine."
Under the table, Sophie kicked her. When Victoria glared at her, Sophie just grinned.
The plan was afoot.
EVENING CAME TOO quickly.
Victoria stood on the terrace, watching the sun sink toward the horizon and trying very hard not to throw up from nerves.
Everything was in place. Lukas had built a bonfire in the garden, perhaps slightly larger than necessary, but the flames cast a warm glow across the lawn. The terrace had been cleared of mud and debris. Fresh roses from the greenhouse lined the stone balustrade, their scent heavy in the cold air.
Ambrose was positioned somewhere in the gazebo with his mysterious snow plan.
Sophie had Fromage groomed and ready, a small box attached to her collar with a ribbon.
Archie and Cathy were stationed by the French doors as witnesses.
Pani Kaminska sat on a garden bench, beaming with excitement even though she probably didn't understand half of what was happening.
Sir Archibald and Lady Charlotte watched from the drawing room windows, her mother's hands clasped together like she was watching a wedding already.
It was perfect. Too perfect. Victoria's heart was in her mouth.
"You'll be fine," Lukas said quietly, appearing at her elbow. "She loves you. That's all that matters."
"What if I forget what to say?"
"Then say something else. She won't care."
"What if…"
"Victoria. Breathe."
She breathed.
"Good, now let me go get a fork to start turning that fire over. Good luck."
"You don’t want to watch?" Victoria asked.
Lukas laughed. "I’m not sure I want the world watching when I ask Ambrose, so I’ll give you some privacy."
Victoria’s mouth dropped open. "You’re going to ask Ambrose…"
Lukas grinned at her. "Waiting for Valentine’s day," he said, tapping the side of his nose, then he went off toward an outhouse.
The French doors opened and Lady Alexandra emerged, Sasha beside her looking confused and absolutely beautiful in the evening light.
"I don't understand why we're having drinks outside," Sasha was saying. "It's freezing."
"Fresh air is good for digestion," Grandmother Alexandra said serenely. "And Victoria wanted to show you something."
Sasha's eyes found Victoria across the terrace, and her expression shifted from confusion to something softer. "Did you arrange all this?"
"Maybe." Victoria's voice came out steadier than she felt. "Can you come here for a moment?"
Sasha crossed the terrace, and Victoria took her arm, gently guiding her down the stairs into the gardens, into the warm light of the fire. She was suddenly aware of everyone watching, her entire family, holding their breath, waiting.
No pressure.
"So," Sasha said, stopping in front of her. "What's all this about?"
Victoria opened her mouth to begin her carefully prepared speech.
The bonfire chose that moment to surge, flames leaping dramatically higher as a log shifted. The resulting burst of light and heat was both impressive and vaguely threatening.
"Christ," Archie muttered from his position by the door. "Did Lukas use petrol?"
"It's atmospheric!" Cathy hissed back.
Sasha glanced at the bonfire, then back at Victoria. "That's quite a fire."
"It's fine. Everything's fine." Victoria took Sasha's hands, tried to focus. "I wanted to ask you something."
"I'm listening."
"We've been together for two years now. Well, two and a half if you count the summer when we were both pretending we weren't completely gone on each other—"
Sasha laughed. "I wasn't pretending anything."
"You…" Victoria stopped herself. "Not the point. The point is, you've made me happier than I ever thought possible. You've made our flat a home, you've made me laugh, you've made me realize that perfection isn't about having everything planned out, it's about—"
A violent sneeze interrupted her.
Then another.
Then what sounded like six more in rapid succession.
Victoria turned to see Cathy bent as double as her stomach would allow, sneezing with the kind of violence that suggested her body was trying to expel her internal organs. Archie was patting her back uselessly while she wheezed between fits.
"The roses!" Cathy managed between sneezes. "I'm—allergic—to Christmas roses!"
"Since when?" Archie demanded.
"Since—always! You never—pay attention!"
"I pay attention all the time!"
"Not— now!"
"Should we move the roses?" Archie asked, looking panicked.
"Don't move anything!" Victoria said desperately. "Cathy, can you just… go inside?"
"I'm—fine!"
She was clearly not fine.
Victoria turned back to Sasha, who was trying very hard not to laugh. "Sorry. Where was I?"
"Something about perfection."
"Right. Perfection. So what I'm trying to say is…"
"Now!" Sophie's voice rang out from somewhere near the stables.
Fromage trotted into view, and Victoria had to admit, Sophie had outdone herself. The calf wore a wreath of winter greenery around her neck, and the small ring box dangled from her collar on a red ribbon. She looked, against all odds, genuinely adorable.
"Oh my God," Sasha breathed. "Is that… is Fromage wearing a ring box?"
"Yes. Sophie thought it would be cute."
"It's very cute."
Fromage, apparently pleased with the attention, did her bowing trick, the head-dip that Sophie had been so proud of. Several people applauded.
This was actually working. Despite everything, this was actually working.
Victoria was just opening her mouth to continue when something white began falling from above.
Snow.
Ambrose's mysterious snow plan was apparently paper snowflakes, hundreds of them, drifting down from where he stood on the gazebo roof. They caught the firelight as they fell, spinning and dancing in the evening air.
It was, for exactly three seconds, absolutely magical.
Neither Victoria nor Sasha could take their eyes off the beauty of the white flakes in the flickering firelight.
"Ogień!" Pani Kaminska shrieked, leaping up from her bench. "OGIE?! OGIE?!"