Chapter 18
Ali’s POV:
It had been a whirlwind week since the World Cup finals. We had a rally in L.A. the day after we arrived back from Vancouver, and then another one in New York City two days later, both of which were amazing. After that, Ashlyn and I came back to D.C. to a rousing welcome home from our Washington Spirit teammates and fans. I can’t describe the feeling this past week of being part of a team that was welcomed home like heroes. It was the icing on the top of the cake, just one more delightful reaffirmation that all of our hard work had paid off. This weekend is the first bit of time that we’ve had to ourselves. It’s back to Spirit practice on Monday, but right now, it’s just me and her. Some quality time with my stud.
“That was wonderful", I said as I looked at Ashlyn. "Thank you”. Ashlyn had taken me to Bourbon Steak in D.C., which is one of my favorite restaurants. Now we were walking arm-in-arm near the national monument. We were on a real date, me and the woman I love. I looked over at her and smiled. She looked amazing in her white shirt, grey vest and dark purple tie. I had bought her a new grey fedora, and she was wearing that as well. She had finally told me why she had gotten rid of the one she used to have, the one I had loved so much, and when she did, I had immediately started crying. But now, now that we are together and going to be forever, I had told her how much I loved it when she wore fedoras, and I bought her a new one. I smiled as I looked at her in it. She looked over, smiled back at me and then gave me a quick kiss on the lips.
“You’re welcome, baby”, she said. “I’m glad you enjoyed it.” We walked a bit further, and as we neared the monument, we could see people in wedding garb taking pictures. “Looks like a wedding party”, she said.
I laughed softly and then asked her, “Remind you of anything?”
“Absolutely”, she said. “We were in Grant Park, in Chicago, near Buckingham Fountain. There was that wedding party playing in the fountain pool.”
I laughed at the memory. “Yeah… and I was trying to pretend as best I could that we were on a real date.” I squeezed her arm lightly.
She smiled at me and then said, “Me too.”
I nuzzled into her as we walked and then said, “Last time, when we were walking, I was imagining what it would be like if you had stopped us, turned me to face you, pulled me close, and kissed me.”
We walked for a couple more steps and then she stopped. “Like this?” she asked. She turned to face me and pulled me close. I could feel her breath on me. Then she leaned in and planted the gentlest kiss on my lips. We stayed there for a moment, and then she pulled back and smiled.
“Yeah, like that.” I gazed into her eyes and sighed. We held each other for a moment longer and then we continued walking arm-in-arm. We walked for a bit more and then took a seat on some stairs near the monument.
“Are you warm enough, princess?” she asked as we sat down.
“Yeah, thanks”, I said and smiled in appreciation. It was a warm D.C. summer night, and I remembered how, on our ‘date’ in Chicago, she had draped her jacked over me when I had been cold. I smiled at that memory and sat down, and she sat on the step below me. “You sat above me last time,” I said.
“Huh?”
“Last time, when we were in Chicago, on our ‘date’, we stopped and sat on some steps, and you sat on the step above me.”
She smiled at me. “How do you remember that, baby?”
I smiled back shyly. “I know, it’s such a small detail, but I remember every part of that night. I remember us sitting there and you holding me from behind. And I remember that the stars were out that night.”
She smiled at me again, then looked up into the sky. “The stars are out tonight, too, baby. Look at all of them”, she said, looking around.
I looked up. She was right. Stars were everywhere. “Babe, I have to tell you something”, I began as I looked around the sky. “When we were in Chicago, sitting there on those steps, I remember looking up and wishing upon a star, the brightest star I saw”, I said, as I continued to look up and around. “We had been talking about having a wedding – well, a fake wedding,” I started to look down back towards her, “and I wished tha-“ I stopped mid-sentence, and my mouth dropped open.
Ashlyn was down on one knee. In her hand was a small box. In the box was a ring. I let out a small gasp. “Ash…w-w-wha…”
“Hi”, she whispered, looking up at me.
“Hi”, I managed to breath out.
She took a deep breath, exhaled, and then began. “I-I-I really don’t know where to begin”, she said. “I mean, looking back on things, I should have done this a long time ago. But, that’s the past, and we’re here now.” She looked down, and then looked back up, and when she did, I saw a tear form in her eye.
“Oh my God”, I squeaked out. Tears were starting to form in my eyes as well.
“Ali Krieger, you are the most amazing, beautiful, kind, passionate, and wonderful woman in the world. I fell in love with you the first time I set eyes on you, and…well…over the last ten years my love for you has only grown stronger.” The tears started to flow in earnest, tears of joy running down my face. She had tears running down her face now as well, and they were flowing down onto her smile below, the smile that lit up my world. “I know I said that I wanted to take things slow, but the truth is, I want it all now. Like you had said. I want us now. I love you, princess. I love you, and I want us to be together forever.”
“Babe”, I whispered. I couldn’t believe that this was happening right now. I had fantasized about this moment so many times, but now that it was actually happening, it was like a million times better than I could have ever imagined.
She took a deep breath and then looked me in the eyes. “Alexandra Blaire Krieger”, she said. “Will you marry me?”
I gasped out a little cry hearing those words and then said, “Yes…Yes, I will marry you!” At that, she exhaled and let out a cry of joy herself. She removed the ring from the box, then gently took my hand and slid the ring on my finger. I stared at it in awe for a moment, turning my hand, watching the diamond catch the light from a lamp nearby and the stars overhead. Then I looked at her and wrapped my arms around her neck. I felt her arms go around my wait and pull me in tight. I touched my forehead to hers for a moment, both of us crying tears of joy, and then I meshed my lips against hers, and I lost myself in this amazing moment. We stayed like that for I don’t know how long, and then I became aware of what sounded like clapping and cheering. I broke the kiss and looked around. The wedding party that had been taking pictures were clapping and cheering. I stared back for a second, and then a smile broke across my face and I looked at Ashlyn. She was smiling too, pure joy on her face, and then she looked back at me. We gazed at each other for a moment and then returned to our engagement kiss, the applause and cheers from the wedding party filling the nighttime air around us.