"I really don't want to go Ivey, you know I don't feel good." Carrie protested, slumping deeper into the couch as she tried to get comfortable.
"Come on Carrie, please? Just for an hour or two. You need to get out of the house." Ivey sighed. She had to get Carrie out of the house so Mike's surprise could play out.
"Ivey, I really don't feel good. I can hardly get off the couch. My ankles are swollen and my back is killing me. I'm nauseous, my head hurts, the Braxton Hicks contractions have started, and I just really don't want to go out. I'm sorry." Carrie laid her head back against the end of the couch and put her hand over her now eight month pregnant belly.
"Alright, alright I won't make you. I hope you feel better, call me if you need anything, I love you!" Ivey finally gave up on getting her out. Mike would just have to figure out something else.
"Love you too, bye." Carrie hung up, closing her eyes shut in hopes it would make the pain go away.
Being eight months pregnant was really taking a toll on her and she didn't know how she was ever going to survive the last few weeks.
"Hey, Mike asked me to pick Maddy up from school for him so I'm going to take her to get ice cream or something for a while so you can get a little rest. Okay?" Carrie read the text she'd just received from Ivey.
"Yeah, sounds good. Just bring her back whenever. Thanks!" Carrie replied.
She laid back down with a sigh of relief knowing Maddy wouldn't be home for a while. She pulled the blanket up over her body and fell asleep.
An hour and a half later, she woke up to her phone ringing.
"Hello?" She mumbled, still half asleep.
"Hey I need you to come over here, I tripped down the stairs and I'm pretty sure I broke my foot. Can you come take me to the hospital?" She heard Mike's panicked voice on the other line.
"Oh my gosh, yeah I'm coming. Are you okay? Can you get up?" Carrie fretted, getting off the couch and grabbing her keys.
"No, I'm at the foot of the stairs. The bone is sticking out."
"Oh geez, okay I'm getting in the car now. I'll be there in ten." Carrie hung up the phone and sped out of the driveway.
When she arrived, it looked like all the lights in his house were off which was odd.
She walked in to see a dark living room with candles lining a walkway through the living room and out the back door.
Confused, she picked up the envelope on the ground in front of the door that said Carrie on it.
"Sorry I had to lie to you, Ivey couldn't get you out of the house so I had to change the plans and do this here. Anyways, follow the candles and look at the pictures along the way. -Mike" Carrie read.
What in the world was going on? She thought.
She walked through the living room and picked up each picture along the way.
The first one was their first picture together freshman year after a hockey game. Following that were multiple pictures of them throughout their high school years. Post hockey games, homecomings, proms, date nights, etc. It was all their favorite pictures that Carrie hadn't seen in so long.
As she walked through the kitchen, the pictures became recent. They were all the pictures they'd taken in the last eight months together.
She smiled, clutching the stack of pictures to her chest as she walked outside. She had no idea what was going on or what to expect when she stepped outside.
The walkway of candles continued and formed a circle in the middle of the yard. Mike stood in the center with a beaming smile.
"What's going on?" Carrie gasped in awe at how beautiful it was.
Mike held his hand out, motioning for her to come closer to him. She walked through the grass to him and took his hand.
"What is this?" She was still confused as she looked around at how beautiful his backyard looked in the dark covered in candles.
When she turned her focus back to him, she saw that he had gotten down on one knee and she couldn't help but gasp.
"Oh my gosh." Her hand immediately covered her mouth in shock.
"Carrie Marie, ever since I first laid eyes on you almost twenty years ago, I've been head over heels for you. You were the best thing that ever happened to me that rainy day in September nineteen years ago. You made those four years of high school the best years of my life. I never should have let you walk out that door fourteen years ago. I should have fought harder for you, I shouldn't have let you go that easy. I never believed in second chances until the day I ran into you at the grocery store. Instantly, all those feelings came rushing back and I couldn't believe you were standing in front of me again. I honestly still can't grasp the fact that we're back together. This is our second chance, this is the life we were meant to have twenty years ago. I know it's only been eight months, but I just couldn't wait any longer. I want to spend the rest of my life with you Carrie. I'm not going to mess this up again. I want to be there for you until the day you die. I want to be the father your children didn't get to have. I love Maddy to pieces and the sweet girl in your belly already has me wrapped around her little finger. I want to show them how a man should treat a woman and be there to walk them down the isle when they get married. I want to be there for all of you, because I love you more than anything in this world. So Carrie Marie Underwood, will you marry me?"
Carrie had tears streaming down her face and onto the ground. She clutched her hand to her mouth and nodded multiple times.
"Yes, yes, a million times yes." She managed to say through the many tears rolling down her face as Mike slid the ring onto her finger. "Yes"
She was in so much shock she couldn't pull her hand away from over her mouth nor stop the tears from flowing out.
"I can't believe this, yes." She gasped, nodding her head.
Mike carefully took her hand and brought it down from her face, taking both her hands in his. He wiped the tears away with his thumb.
"Don't cry." He smiled, giggling lightly.
"I'm sorry." She squeaked. "I'm just so happy. I can't believe this."
Mike cupped her cheeks and kissed her softly. "I love you so much Carrie."
Carrie opened her mouth to answer, but froze, feeling a sharp pain shoot through her body and water drip down her legs.
"Mike." She gasped, freezing as fear covered her face. "I think my water just broke."
