{Characters in picture: Sela Ward as Audrey Havens & Christopher Waltz as Andrew Havens}

{Song in video: OneRepublic ft. Seeb - Rich Love}

It was the day of Vince's family gathering, and I was feeling a little uneasy, but then again, they couldn't have been any worse than Rebecca.

Right after I ate lunch, I heard my cell phone buzzing. I looked at it, noticing it's my dad calling me. I sighed, preparing for another lecture. "Hello?" I said, picking up the phone.

"Hello, Anastasia," my dad said into the phone. "Why didn't you tell me you and Vince are back together?"

"Because when we broke up, you accused me of cheating on Vince, and saying I tarnished the family's name." I rolled my eyes. "You're lucky I even picked up the phone."

I heard my dad sigh on the other end of the phone. "I'm sorry about saying those things to you. I shouldn't have believed a rumor rather than my daughter telling me the truth."

"So why did you call me?"

"Because your mother and I were invited to Vince's family gathering this evening. I was hoping you would call us sometime within the past few weeks of us knowing, but I never got a call."

I sighed in frustration. "Do I have to explain myself again as to why I didn't call?"

There was a pause. "I get it. Well, I look forward to seeing you, Vince, and his parents."

"Me too." We hung up the phone.

I felt even more uneasy. I knew it wasn't Vince's fault because I didn't even mention to him what my dad had said when we were broken up because of the false rumor. I just didn't want my parents to say weird and uncomfortable things like they did when Vince had met them.

As I was walking in the living room, Chelsea unlocked the door to come into the apartment. "You okay, Stace?" She asked as she walked in. "You look a little down."

"I guess so, my dad just called," I said, shrugging. "Apparently Vince invited my parents too."

Chelsea's mouth dropped open. "Why would he do that?"

I shrugged. "I'm not sure. Maybe he wants his parents to meet mine?"

"Does he know what your dad said to you?"

I shook my head. "No, I haven't told him about any of that. We had a great few weeks since we got back together. I don't want to bring up anything negative."

"I'm sure it'll go very well. You and Vince are back together, and everything is going great. Even if things with his parents or your parents don't go well, the main thing is that you two have each other."

"Yeah, that's the main thing." I nodded. "So how was your second date with Sanjay?"

"It was great." She grinned. "He's such a sweet and shy guy, but also really smart."

"Different from the other guys you dated." I smiled.

"Definitely."

"Well, I'm going to get going to Vince's place. I'll see you later." I got my purse, then headed out the door.

"Bye!" Chelsea exclaimed, waving as I smiled, then shut the door.

I took a taxi to go to Vince's loft.

As I got out to go up to his loft, I felt even more and more nervous. I took a deep breath, sighed, then rang the doorbell.

A few seconds later, Vince opened the door, grinning. "Hey, Stacey. Come on in," he greeted me, giving me a quick peck on the lips.

"Hey," I greeted back as I walked inside the loft.

"Stacey, this is my parents, Andrew Havens, and Audrey Havens." He introduced me to his parents, who smiled, and shook my hand.

Andrew had gray hair with blue eyes, and dressed in a gray suit. Audrey had brunette medium length hair, and was wearing a mid-length dress.

"Hey, nice to meet you," I greeted his parents.

"Hello, Stacey," his parents greeted back.

"We heard a lot about you," Audrey said, grinning. Vince gave his mom a look, and she laughed. "A lot of good things."

"I would hope it would be good things," I said, laughing along with her.

Just then, there was a doorbell ring. Vince and I went over to the door to open it, and I saw my parents and Liz standing by the door. I felt slight relief when I saw Liz with them.

"Hello, come in," Vince said, smiling at them.

"Hello," the three of them greeted Vince and I as they walked inside.

"I didn't know you would be here," I said happily to Liz.

"Yeah, I was invited," Liz said, smiling. "I'm so glad you two are back together."

"Me too." I told her the brief summary of how we got back together.

Her mouth dropped open in surprise. "Wow, that's great it all worked out."

I nodded, and we all sat down on Vince's couches to talk for a bit before the food was ready.

When the food was already, we went over to the kitchen to get our food.

We all put rotisserie chicken, yellow rice, and salad on our plates. When we went to sit down on the long fancy table, I noticed Vince nervously swishing around his champagne. It was unlike him to seem this nervous, but I didn't really blame him since it was the first time I was meeting his parents.

"So Stacey, how did you win over Vince?" Audrey asked me. "It's hard to win him over, that's why I'm asking." She laughed, then took a bite of yellow rice.

I glanced at Vince, and laughed. "I'm not really sure. At first, he pretty much hated me," I responded.

Vince almost choked on his food. "I didn't hate you," he said. "Why would you think that?"

"Because you were really stern with me at work, and always got mad at me." I continued laughing. "It was kind of my fault though."

"Vince, how could you get mad at this beautiful young lady?" Andrew said to him, looking shocked. "She seems like a lovely lady."

There was an uncomfortable silence for about ten seconds until Vince spoke up. "I was always annoyed at Stacey because when I was first around her. She was always messing things up or when she tried to make things better, she made it even worse. Somehow, I got attracted to her. I also realized that those annoyances did not annoy me anymore, and I actually love that about her."

My mouth dropped open. "Really?"

"Yes." He smiled as he grabbed my hand, and squeezed it for a second.

My parents were now talking to Vince's parents, then there was another doorbell ring. I got up from the chair, but Vince said, "It's okay, Stacey, I'll get it."

I sat back down, continuing to eat my food and talking to both of the parents.

Vince came back a few minutes later, and I asked, "Who was at the door?"

"It was Dante," Vince answered as he sat back down. "Just a quick business thing."

"Okay." I nodded, resuming to eat and drink.

I glanced over at Vince, still noticing him hardly eating, and swishing around his champagne glass.

I noticed Liz also caught on to this because we made eye contact, looking confused. "Is he okay?" She mouthed to me, discreetly pointing to Vince.

I shrugged, wincing. "I don't know," I mouthed. I turned to Vince, quietly asking, "Are you okay?"

He cleared his throat, then replied, "Yes."

I blinked, still feeling confused since I could tell he wasn't. "Okay, just making sure." I gave him a half-smile.

After we were done eating and drinking, we put the dishes in the dishwasher, and then sat on Vince's couches in the living room.

Andrew turned to me. "So Stacey, what do you like doing outside of work?" He asked.

Everyone in the room was silent, and lookes over at me. "I hang out with my friends, exploring, and sometimes bake," I replied. I definitely wasn't going to tell them about clubbing or making alcoholic drinks, even though I didn't go clubbing as much as I used to.

"I heard you're close friends with Jesenia."

"Yes, I am." I nodded. "I knew her before Vince, and I never knew they were cousins."

Vince cleared his throat, which he was doing fairly often today. "At one point, she thought Jesenia and I were dating," he said, chuckling a little.

"Is that true?" Audrey asked, laughing as she turned to me.

"Yes," I said sheepishly, laughing at myself. "I admit I was a bit jealous."

Vince chuckled, glanced at the window, and then said, "Since it's the perfect weather, why don't we go outside?"

I glanced at the window, noticing the sky was a beautiful mix of different colors such as pink, yellow, and orange. The sun didn't fully set yet, but it looked especially beautiful this particular evening. It was also the perfect temperature, not too hot, and not too cold. "Let's go," I said, smiling at him.

All of us walked toward the back of the house, and went in Vince's backyard. There were string lights hanging up on some trees and plants, above the patio.

I looked over at Vince, who had one of his hands in his right pocket. He stood right in front of me, gazing into my eyes as he took out a small red ring box. I gasped in delight as he got down on one of his knees, saying, "Stacey Marks, I'm in love with you, and I want to spend of my life with you. Will you marry me?"

I put my hand over my mouth, then I kept nodding my head, grinning. "Yes," I said, putting my hand down, then kissing him. He put on the gold and silver wedding ring on my finger.

Both of our parents and Liz had their mouths open in shock, in a happy way of course. They began talking simultaneously in joy as they hugged us.

After they congratulated us, I glanced behind me, noticing Dante videotaping the proposal. "You knew this was going to happen?" I asked, grinning.

Dante nodded his head, smiling. "Yes," he answered.

"I asked him earlier today if he wanted to record this, and he said yes," Vince added. "I also thought doing this in front of family would be fantastic."

"It was," My mom exclaimed, smiling as she was wiping a tear off of her eye.

I hugged her again, practically squeezing her.

Then, I went back to Vince, saying, "I was wondering why you seemed nervous. Normally, you are not like that." I laughed, wrapping my arm around his arm.

"Vince, do know where Rebecca is? I've been trying to call her, but she's not picking up," Audrey said to Vince.

"Rebecca, Todd, and Mallory flew over to California for a week. Mallory was doing a model photoshoot," Vince replied. "They were supposed to come back earlier today, but they had a delay. They may be on their way back now."

"That's a great opportunity for Mallory." She smiled.

Dante gathered us to take pictures. Half of the pictures were all of us, and the other half was Vince and I.

Dante showed the pictures to us, and we all agreed they looked fantastic.

"It looks great! I'm going to have them printed," Audrey said, grinning. "And definitely have them at your wedding!"

My mom turned to her, nodding her head in agreement. "I agree," she said.

My dad took me by the side. "Anastasia, I'm very proud of you," he said, smiling. "Vince is a very nice and great man for you."

"Thanks, dad," I said, smiling. "Vince is the best and only man I'll marry."

"You and Vince are so great together," Liz said as she came over to us.

"Thanks, Liz."

The sun officially set, and we went back inside Vince's loft on the couch.

Both of our parents were already discussing the wedding. "We'll have to come up with some ideas," Vince said.

"Definitely," I said, nodding as I took a sip of champagne.

"But right now, we're celebrating." He grinned, pulling me closer to him.

"You almost made me spill my drink." I laughed. "Luckily, I put it down on the table right on time."

"Sorry." He chuckled.

"For once, I'm not the klutz." I teased.

"That's true."

We talked to both of our parents, Liz, and Dante for a bit longer, but then they eventually left.

"I can't wait to get married to you," I said to Vince, laying my head on his shoulder.

"I can't wait either," Vince whispered in my ear, kissing my forehead.

We watched a few reruns of "Friends" in his living room until I had to get back home. Vince and I rode in his car since he offered to take me back home.

When we arrived to my apartment complex, I said, "I'll see you at work." I grinned.

"See you then, my fiancee" Vince said, then kissed me.

Just hearing the word "fiancee" alone made me feel so happy.

I kissed him back, then went into my apartment. As soon as I got inside, I blurted out, "Chels, guess what!"

"You got us tickets to see Maroon 5?" Chelsea guessed as she walked out of her room. Maroon 5 was her favorite band.

"No." I shook my head, still grinning. I showed her my engagement ring on my finger.

She stared at it in shock, gasping. "You're getting married?"

"Yes." I nodded.

"How did it go? When did it happen?"

"It was in his backyard with a beautiful sunset in the background. He said he's in love with me, and wants to spend of rest of his life with me, then proposed."

"That's so romantic!" She grinned, giving me a hug. "Congrats."

"Thanks."

"We need to do dress shopping pronto."

"Of course. It's going to be so fun." I put my purse in my room, then went back in the living room. "You know, if someone were to tell me a year ago that I would end up getting engaged to Vincent Havens, then I would think they were crazy."

"He's the one. I personally think unexpected love is the best kind of love."

"Me too."

At that, I went into my room, happy that I would soon be Stacey Havens. This day still seemed almost surreal, in a good way of course.