It has now been six months since Caden and Lilly started dating, and he's finally ready to tell her how he feels....

   As Caden plops on the couch next to his brother, a joyful smile spreads across his face. "It feels so good to have you back, big brother. I missed you like crazy! It hasn't quite felt the same since you've been away."

   His brother hugs him. "Yeah, I've missed you too, little bro.... What have you been up to? Did you make any friends while I was gone?"

   Caden immediately thinks about Lilly and starts smiling. "Yeah, although...she's kinda...more than a friend."

   His brother gasps, "Ooh, has my little brother got a girlfriend?"

   Caden smiles. "Yeah. I can't wait for you to meet her. She's truly amazing. She's caring, kind, and incredibly sweet. She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen, and her smile..." Caden sighs. "Her smile can light up even the darkest of days."

His brother smiles. "Wow, little brother. It sounds like you've met someone special."

   Caden lights up as he thinks even more about Lilly. "That's because I have, and I've fallen in love with her. I literally can't imagine my life without her." He sighs, "Jake, she's the girl I want to marry."

   Jake chuckles, "Woah there, little brother. You're a little bit too young to be thinking about marriage."

   Caden lightly punches his brother's arm. "Jake, I'm serious. I know I'm too young to marry her, but I love her, ok?" He stares off into space, thinking about her. "I've been in love with her ever since the day I first saw her." He snaps back to reality. "So what do I do?! It's not like I can propose to her. We're too young for that!"

   Jake smiles and places his arm around his brother's neck. "Well, little brother, I think you should tell her how you feel."

Caden panics, "How?! How do I tell her I love her and I can't live without her? How do I tell her I want to be with her for the rest of my life?" Before Jake can answer him, he exclaims, "I know! I can get her a promise ring." He smiles just thinking about her reaction. "She would love that." Caden questions, "Jake, do you think that's a good idea?"

Jake chuckles, "I think that's a great idea, little brother.... So when are you going to give it to her?"

Caden nervously rubs the back of his neck. "Well, uhh... I don't know. I have to go find a ring first."

Jake stands up. "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go find one."

Caden chuckles, "Alright, let's go."

They throw their coats on and hop in the car. Jake pulls out of the driveway. "So, tell me more about this special girl. What's her name? What's she like?"

Caden smiles. "Her name's Lilly and she's, well...absolutely incredible."

Jake teases, "OK, little brother, stop gushing over there and tell me how you met her."

Caden sticks his tongue out at Jake, then proceeds to tell him about how he met the love of his life. "Well, it's kind of a long story...." He tells him everything, including everything the toxics and Caleb did.

Jake pulls up to the mall and parks. "Wow, little brother. That's some story. I'm glad you two met. It sounds like you really helped each other."

"Yeah." Caden smiles. "That's because we did."

   Jake smiles, leans over, and hugs his brother. "Well, I'm glad she was there for you when I couldn't be. I can't wait to meet her and thank her in person." He pulls away. "Now, let's go get her a ring. It sounds like she more than deserves it."

   Caden smiles. "Jake, Lilly Andrews deserves the world!"

   Jake chuckles, "Well, we can't afford that, so let's go get her a ring instead."

   Caden laughs and they hop out of the car. 

   Caden lets out a deep sigh. "Jake, I have no idea what I'm looking for."

Jake chuckles, "You'll know it when you see it, little brother."

All of a sudden, Caden comes across a beautiful silver ring with an icy blue heart in the center of the band. He gasps, "This. This is the one." He looks over at his brother. "Hey, Jake? Do you think I can get this engraved?" he asks, holding up the ring.

"Yeah. I saw a place where you can do that over there," says Jake, pointing to a desk across the store.

Caden walks over to the desk. "Excuse me, sir?"

The man looks up. "Yes, young man? What can I help you with?"

   "Umm, I'd like to get this ring engraved, please," says Caden, holding out the ring.

The man picks up the ring and looks at it. "Sure thing, son. What would you like it to say?"

Caden thinks for a moment, "Hmm, what should it say? Anything for you? No, that wouldn't really make sense. I promise to do anything for you? No, that's not it. Come on, Caden. Think. Hmm...." He begins to have a flashback and it hits him. "That's it! Our pinky promise!" He finally answers the man. "Please engrave it, I promise to always be with you."

   The man nods. "Sure thing. I'll have it done in a few minutes." He then takes the ring into his office.

   While waiting for the ring, Caden walks over to his brother. "The man is working on the ring right now. He said it should be ready in just a few minutes, so if you want to go ahead and head back to the car, you can. I'll be out in a few minutes."

   Jake nods. "Alright. I'll be getting the car warm for you."

   "Sounds good," says Caden before walking back over to the man's desk.

Caden fastens his seatbelt and pulls out the ring to show it to his brother. "What do you think, Jake? Do you think she'll like it?"

Jake smiles. "Little brother, from what you've told me about her, I think she's going to love it."

Caden smiles and puts the ring back in his pocket. "Good. Now I just gotta figure out when and how to give it to her."

Jake asks, "Well, Christmas is in a few days. Why don't you give it to her as a Christmas present?"

Caden exclaims, "That's a great idea, Jake! She'd love that. Plus, she loves Christmas." Then he begins to think again. "Ok. Now I have the when to give it to her, but I have to figure out the how. Any ideas, Jake?"

Jake nods. "Maybe...."

They continue to talk all the way home and come up with a plan that Lilly is sure to love.

   The next day, Lilly wakes up to the sound of someone texting her. She rolls over, picks up her phone, looks at it, and smiles. It's a message from Caden. "Good morning, Princess." He places a pink heart after Princess, causing Lilly to blush. "I hope you slept well last night. Anyway, I have a surprise for you. Meet me downstairs in fifteen minutes." He ends the message with a winky face emoji.

Lilly smiles and messages back, "Good morning, Prince Charming." She places a red heart after Prince Charming. "I slept pretty good. I hope you did too. A surprise? Ooh, what is it?"

   Caden replies, "You'll have to come downstairs to find out," and ends the message with a smiley face emoji.

   Lilly replies, "OK," and ends the message with a blushing smiley face emoji.

   Caden sends his final message. "See you in a few minutes, Princess." He ends the message with a smiley face emoji. Lilly lies there for a couple of seconds just smiling at Caden's message.

   Finally, she rolls out of bed, rushes over to her closet, and pulls out a pair of jeans, which have a red rose embroidered on them. Then she snatches up a pair of tennis shoes along with a green tunic that has Christmas decorations all over it. Once she's dressed, she dashes into the bathroom and fixes her hair and makeup. Then she runs downstairs to find a Christmas card on the dining room table. On the front of the card is a bunch of gingerbread men. Lilly picks it up and smiles.

   The card reads, "Good morning, Princess. I have a big weekend planned for us. It begins when you come outside. I hope you like it. Love, your Prince Charming"

   Lilly giggles, "Aww, Caden. What do you have up your sleeve now?"

   She skips outside and Caden greets her with a hug and a kiss on the forehead. "Good morning, Princess. You look beautiful."

   Lilly smiles. "Thanks."

   He nods and asks, "So are you ready for your first surprise?"

   Lilly smiles. "Yep."

   Caden smiles. "Great. Hop in and let's go." They hop in the car and before driving off, Caden asks, "So, do you want to listen to some music? I made another playlist for you."

   Lilly smiles. "Of course, and thanks, Caden."

   He smiles back at her. "Anything for you." He turns on the Christmas playlist he made for her and they sing all the way to their first destination.

   A couple of minutes pass by and they pull up to a diner. Lilly looks over at Caden. "What are we doing here?"

Caden smiles. "This is your first surprise."

They hop out of the car, walk in, and sit down. The waitress greets them, "Good morning. What can I get for you two?"

Caden replies, "Good morning. We would like to get two mugs of your famous Christmas cocoa and two Christmas specials, please."

The waitress writes down the order. "Coming right up." Then she walks into the kitchen.

Caden smiles at Lilly. "Wait until you try the hot cocoa. You're going to love it."

Lilly smiles. "It sure sounds good. What's the Christmas special?"

Caden smiles. "You'll see. You're going to love that too."

Lilly giggles, "You're just not going to tell me anything, are you?"

Caden smirks. "Nope, because then it wouldn't be a surprise."

   Lilly smiles and tries to think of a conversation. Finally, she says, "I can't believe Christmas is just in a few days. I kind of feel bad because I've been so busy that I still haven't gotten you a gift."

   Caden grabs Lilly's hands and smiles. "Don't feel bad, Lilly. You don't have to get me anything. I've got you and you're all I need."

   Lilly blushes. "Aww, Caden. You're so sweet, but of course, I'm going to get you something. What kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn't?"

   Caden smiles. "A perfect one. You're that no matter what."

   Lilly blushes. "Aww, Caden."

   A couple of minutes later, the waitress walks up and sets down two plates of gingerbread pancakes with bacon, along with a pitcher of syrup. Then she places two large mugs of hot cocoa with whipped cream, sprinkles, and a candy cane in front of them. "OK, we have two Christmas specials and two mugs of our famous Christmas cocoa. Anything else I can get for you, darlings?"

   They both shake their heads and reply, "No, ma'am. We're good right now."

   The waitress smiles. "Ok. Let me know if y'all need anything."

   They both reply, "Ok. Thank you, ma'am."

   After the waitress walks away, Lilly says the prayer and they dig in. "Wow! This is incredible!" exclaims Lilly.

   Caden snickers, "I told you that you would love it."

   Lilly smiles. "I really do. Thanks, Caden."

   He smiles. "Anything for you, Lil."

   "Well, that was delicious," says Lilly as she fastens her seatbelt.

   Caden smiles. "I'm glad you enjoyed it.... Oh. I forgot to tell you something."

   "What is it, Caden?"

   "My brother's home."

   Lilly gasps, "Really, Caden?"

   Caden smiles. "Yeah, he got back home a couple of days ago. That's why I didn't hang out with you. Sorry about that by the way. I was just excited to have my brother back."

   Lilly smiles. "That's ok, Caden. I understand. I'm glad he's back home with you. I can't wait to meet him."

   "Well, I was going to ask you if you wanted to meet him now?"

   "Of course. Let's go."

   "Ok. Well, to my house I guess," laughs Caden.

   Caden walks inside. "Jake, there's someone I would like you to meet." Lilly walks in. "Jake, this is Lilly, my wonderful girlfriend. Lilly, this is Jake, my annoying older brother."

   Lilly looks at Jake and smiles. He's the spitting image of Caden: short brown hair, misty blue eyes, and a wonderful smile.

   Jake shakes her hand. "It's nice to finally meet you, Lilly. Caden has told me so much about you."

   Lilly smiles. "It's nice to finally meet you too. Caden has told me a lot about you as well. Oh, and by the way, welcome home."

   Jake smiles. "Thank you. It's good to finally be home." 

   "I bet. Six months is a long time to be away from family."

   "Yeah, I missed this ole pain in the butt," says Jake, throwing his arm around Caden.

   A few minutes later, Emmy comes flying downstairs. "Hey, Lilly. Hey, Caden. Hey, Jake. How would y'all like to have a Christmas movie marathon with me?"

   Lilly smiles. "That sounds like a great idea, Emmy."

   Jake, Caden, and Lilly sit down on the couch. "What movie do you want to start with?"

    Emmy sits down in front of them. "Hmm...what about Elf?"

   Lilly smiles. "Sounds good to me. I love that movie. What about you guys?"

   Jake and Caden nod. "Yep. That's fine."

   Emmy turns the movie on and they end up watching Christmas movies all day. Before they know it, it's time for Lilly to go home.

   Lilly stands up. "I better be getting home now. I enjoyed watching all the movies with y'all."

   Emmy, Jake, and Caden reply, "Yeah, we did too."

   Emmy hugs Lilly. "Bye, Lilly. See you later."

   Lilly hugs her back. "Bye, Emmy. See you later." Lilly shakes Jake's hand. "Bye, Jake. It was nice meeting you."

   Jake smiles. "Bye, Lilly. It was nice meeting you too."

   Caden walks Lilly over to the door and helps her with her coat. "Bye. See y'all in a little bit."

   Jake and Emmy wave. "Bye."

   Once Lilly and Caden are in the car, Lilly says, "Your brother's pretty nice."

   Caden smiles. "Yeah. I'm so glad he's back."

   "How long is he back for?" asks Lilly as she fastens her seatbelt.

   Caden fastens his seatbelt and replies, "I don't know. I guess until they call him back in."

   "Oh, ok. I hope that's not for a while."

   Caden nods. "Yeah, me too.... So do you want to get back to your Christmas playlist?"

   Lilly smiles. "Yeah, let's get back to our Christmas playlist." Caden smiles and turns it on. They sing Christmas carols all the way to Lilly's house.

   Once they arrive, Caden hops out and walks Lilly up to the door. He wraps his arms around her and kisses her. "Goodnight, Princess. Sweet dreams. I'll see you tomorrow."

   Lilly wraps her arms around him and kisses him back. "Goodnight, my Prince Charming. Sweet dreams. See you tomorrow."

   Caden walks back to his car and drives off as Lilly waves goodbye to him.

The next day, Lilly wakes up to Caden texting her. "Good morning, Princess." He places a pink heart after Princess, causing Lilly to blush. "I hope you slept well last night. Anyway, breakfast will be ready in a few minutes. See you then." He ends the message with a smiley face emoji.

Lilly smiles and replies, "Good morning, Prince Charming." She places a red heart after Prince Charming. "I slept pretty good. I hope you did too. Aww, you made breakfast?"

Caden texts back, "Yep, and I hope you like it."

Lilly replies, "I most likely will." She ends the message with a smiley face then rolls out of bed and gets ready. She slips on a Christmas tunic along with a pair of jeans and a pair of tennis shoes. Once she does her hair and makeup, she runs downstairs to find Caden serving plates of French toast to her family.

After he sets the last plate down, he walks over to her, hugs her, and whispers, "Good morning, Princess."

Lilly hugs him and whispers back, Good morning, Prince Charming."

Mike says the prayer then they dig in.

After they eat, Mrs. Andrews and Mike clean up the kitchen. While they're in the kitchen, Caden gives Lilly another Christmas card. However, this one is different from the other one. Instead of a bunch of gingerbread on the front of it, there's a bunch of Christmas cookies and gingerbread houses. Lilly smiles at Caden. "Well, I think I know what we're doing today."

Caden smirks. "Well, read the card and find out for sure."

Lilly giggles and begins to read the card to herself, "Hey, Princess. I hope you enjoyed breakfast. My dad taught me how to make it. French toast was his specialty. Anyway, tis the season for baking. I hope you're ready for a very...interesting day. Love, your Prince Charming."

Lilly smiles. "I knew it. We are baking today."

Caden smiles. "Yeah, but it's not going to be just us. Your mom, your brother, Jake, and Emmy are going to be joining us. I hope that's ok. I just didn't want to leave out our families."

Lilly nods. "Yeah, of course, that's ok, Caden. I agree. I didn't want to leave out our families either, especially this close to Christmas."

Caden smiles. "Good. Oh, and Jake and Emmy should be here soon."

A few minutes later, there's a knock at the door. "That's probably them now," says Caden as he rushes to the door. He opens the door and greets them. "Hey. Come on in. Everyone's already in the kitchen."

While Caden introduces Jake to Mrs. Andrews and Mike, Emmy runs over and greets Lilly with a hug. "Hey, Lilly."

Lilly hugs Emmy. "Hi, Emmy. Are you ready to start baking?"

Emmy smiles. "Heck yeah. I was born ready."

They bake Christmas cookies half the day. Then, they build their own personal mini gingerbread houses before calling it a day and going home.

Before Jake, Emmy, and Caden head home, Emmy takes one final look at everyone's gingerbread houses. She exclaims, "Wow! These all look so beautiful!"

Lilly smiles. "Yeah, they are beautiful. Although, I can't wait to eat mine."

Emmy giggles, "Me too."

Caden interrupts, "Well, I hate to be a party pooper, but we should probably start heading home."

Lilly semi-frowns. "Ok. I'll get y'all's cookies and walk y'all out." Lilly grabs a big bag of cookies that they made earlier and walks them outside.

Jake and Emmy say goodbye, grab Caden's stuff for him, and then hop in the car. Once Lilly and Caden are finally alone, they say their goodbyes. They wrap their arms around each other for a few seconds, then Caden kisses her. "Goodnight, Princess. Sweet dreams."

Lilly smiles and kisses him back. "Goodnight, Prince Charming. Sweet dreams."

Caden hops in the car and drives off as Lilly waves goodbye.

The next day, Lilly is awakened by a text from Caden. She picks up her phone and smiles.

The text reads: Good morning, Princess. I hope you slept well. Oh, and Merry Christmas Eve." He ends the message with a smiley face emoji.

Lilly smiles and replies, "Good morning, Prince Charming. I did. I hope you slept well too and Merry Christmas Eve." She ends the message with a blushing smiley face emoji. Then she tumbles out of bed and slips on a red and green tunic that has a bunch of snowmen all over it along with a pair of jeans and tennis shoes. Then she dashes into the bathroom and does her hair and makeup. Now that she's ready to start the day, she runs downstairs to find a plate of Christmas-shaped pancakes and a glass of milk. Beside that, is another Christmas card. This one has snowflakes all over it with the words, "Let it snow" written in big glittery icy blue letters. Lilly picks it up and smiles.

The card reads: Good morning, Princess. I hope you're enjoying your breakfast right now. I can't wait to see you in a little bit. Today is going to be so much fun. When you finish eating, bundle up because it's cold out here, and Mike will bring you here. Love, your Prince Charming."

After Lilly and Mike finish their pancakes, they clean up the kitchen. When they finish that, they put on their gloves, coats, and scarves, then head out to the car.

A few minutes later, they arrive at a huge snow-covered hill. Caden meets them at the bottom. "Hey. Jake and Emmy are already at the top waiting."

Mike nods. "Ok. I'm going to go ahead and walk up there. See you two in a minute."

Lilly nods. "Ok." Then she throws her arms around Caden and kisses him. "Good morning, Prince Charming."

Caden wraps his arms around Lilly and kisses her back. "Good morning, Princess. Are you ready for a snow day?"

Lilly smiles. "Definitely."

Then they run up the hill and spend the whole day sledding, building snowmen, and having snowball fights.

As they're packing up their sleds, Lilly says to Caden, "Well, I had a blast today."

Caden smiles. "I did too."

"I can't wait to go home and open presents with everyone tonight," says Lilly, closing the trunk of Mike's car.

Caden smiles. "Yeah, me too. Oh, and we're supposed to be at your house by 6:30 tonight, right?"

Lilly smiles. "Yep."

Caden kisses her forehead and begins to walk away. "Ok. See you then."

Everyone comes in at 6:30 and begins handing out gifts to each other. Before they know it, there are only two gifts left. One is from Lilly to Caden and the other is from Caden to Lilly. Caden decides to open his first. He tears off the wrapping paper and opens the box to reveal a brand-new watch. Caden hugs Lilly. "Thank you so much, Lilly. I love it."

Lilly smiles. "You're welcome, Caden. I'm glad you like it."

Caden gives Lilly her gift. "It's your turn now."

Lilly smiles at Caden then she rips off the wrapping paper to reveal a beautiful pair of ice skates. They're icy blue with light teal and white snowflakes all over them. Lilly exclaims, "Wow, Caden! These are beautiful!" She hugs him. "Thank u so much! I love them."

   Caden smiles. "I'm glad you like them. What do you say we all go to the ice rink and you can test them out?"

   Lilly looks at her mom and dad. "Can we?"

   They both smile. "Yes. Just give us time to put our coats on."

   Lilly smiles. "Yes." She rushes over to the front door and throws on her coat, gloves, and scarf. Then both families bundle up and drive to the ice rink.

   When they arrive, Lilly slips on her brand-new skates and Caden tries to help her on the ice. Lilly has never skated before, but she's always wanted to try.

   She starts out very wobbly and shaky. Caden holds her hands, keeping her steady. "Hey, Lil, look at me." Lilly looks up at him with fear in her eyes. He tries to calm her. "Calm down. I got you. Ok? I promise I'm not going to let you fall. Now just breathe."

   Lilly tries to calm down and listen to Caden, but she's still scared she's going to fall. As she begins to feel unsteady, thinking she's going to fall, her grip tightens on Caden's hands, hoping to keep her on her feet. She begins to panic and looks down, disappointed in herself. "Caden, I can't do it. I'm sorry. I'm just too clumsy."

   Caden continues to hold her hands. "No. Look at me, Princess." Lilly looks up at him once more and Caden continues to encourage her. "You are not too clumsy. You can do this, ok? Now, look into my eyes. Forget about everything else. It's just me and you. Don't think about your balance or anything. Just look into my eyes and let your feet gently glide across the ice. Ok? You can do it, Princess. I believe in you."

   Lilly does as she's told and in no time, she's skating. She smiles. "I'm doing it, Caden! I'm skating!"

   Caden smiles. "I told you that you could do it. You just had to believe that you could."

   Lilly smiles. "Yeah. Thanks for teaching me, Caden."

   Caden smiles. "Of course. Anything for you, Princess."

   Caden takes Lilly by the hand. "Hey, are you ready for your final surprise?"

   Lilly giggles, "What do you mean?"

   Caden smiles. "You'll see. Come on." He helps her off the ice and she sits down on a bench. "Wait here," he says before running off.

   A few minutes later, he returns with two cups of hot chocolate. Lilly gladly accepts the nice warm beverage. "Thanks, Caden."

   He smiles. "That's not all. Here." He gives her a candy cane straw. "I know you like yours better with peppermint."

   Lilly smiles. "You know me so well."

   They walk around looking at Christmas lights as they sip their hot chocolate. All of a sudden, they walk up to a horse-drawn sleigh. Caden hops into the sleigh and holds his hand out to Lilly to help her up. "Here. Take my hand." Lilly smiles and grabs his hand. Caden pulls her into the sleigh. Once they're seated, the sleigh starts down the street. Caden holds Lilly's hand. "How's this for a surprise?"

   Lilly grins. "This is...magical, Caden. I love this, but what about my mom and dad? Won't they be looking for me?"

   Caden shakes his head. "No, I made sure all of this was okay with them first."

   Lilly smiles. "Really, Caden? Thank you."

   Caden smiles. "Of course. Besides, it wouldn't have been right to just steal you away without permission, especially not on Christmas Eve."

   As the sleigh continues to take them down the street filled with bright and beautiful Christmas lights, Lilly becomes cold so Caden reaches beside himself to grab a blanket, when he feels something in his pocket and remembers his big plan. He takes the blanket and covers both Lilly and himself with it. Then he says to Lilly. "Oh yeah, I forgot. There's one more present I have for you to open."

   Lilly looks at him curiously. "What do you mean?"

   Caden reaches into his pocket and pulls out a tiny box with a red bow on top of it. He gives it to Lilly and smiles. "This one."

   Lilly smiles. "Caden, you shouldn't have. You've given me so much already."

Caden smiles. "Yes, and you deserve so much more."

Lilly blushes. "Aww, Caden."

"Open it."

"Ok." She unwraps the present and opens the box to reveal the beautiful promise ring he bought her just a few days ago. Her jaw drops.

Before she can say anything, Caden takes the ring and turns towards her. "I love you, Lilly Andrews and I promise to always be there for you whenever you need me. I promise to never leave you. Lilly, ever since that first day I met you, six months ago, I've been crazy about you. I can't imagine my life without you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. You're the girl I want to marry. And I know we're too young to get married now, but I promise you as soon as we're old enough, I will marry you. That is...if you want to marry me?"

   Lilly lights up and happy tears begin to sting her eyes. "Wow, Caden. I...I don't know what to say. This is incredible. I love you too, and of course, I want to marry you when we're old enough."

   Caden smiles and slides the ring on her finger. "Perfect."

   Lilly gasps, "Wow, Caden. It's gorgeous." She kisses him. "I love it."

   Caden returns the favor. "I'm so glad you do. Oh. Did you notice the inscription on it?"

   She shakes her head. "No, I didn't." She takes it off and reads it, "I promise to always be with you." She smiles. "Oh, Caden. Our pinky promise. It's perfect."

Caden smiles. "Anything for you, Lil." He wraps his arm around her and they enjoy the rest of their ride, completely overjoyed.

After their sleigh ride, Caden brings Lilly back to her family. Both Caden's family and Lilly's family head to their cars to allow Caden and Lilly to say goodnight.

They hug and share a short but sweet kiss then Caden says, "Well, goodnight, Princess. Sweet dreams and Merry Christmas Eve."

She smiles. "Goodnight, Prince Charming. Sweet dreams and Merry Christmas Eve."

Then they walk away to their cars. Lilly hops in and her mom asks, "Well, sweetie, did you have a good time?"

Lilly smiles as she reflects back on her perfect night with Caden. "Mama, I had a magical time."