My Own Hero

Preparations

-JENSEN'S POV-

With the case wrapped up and my daughter safely in my custody, my thoughts were quickly occupied with another matter that had been weighing heavily in the back of my mind for a while. I had arranged for the girls to take Scarlett out the day after the party so I could set everything up with the help of Jared, Misha, and Josh. Once they all heard what I was planning, they were eager to pitch in and help in any way they could. So, as soon as Gen, Vicki and Kenzie had dragged Scarlett out the door, we set to work. I needed everything to be perfect.

Jared and Misha gathered supplies while Josh and I started setting things up. It took several hours, but we had everything in place by 2 in the afternoon. The girls were still out stalling for time. Knowing them, they would be dragging Scarlett from store to store in the mall giving her a complete makeover. And knowing Scarlett, she was probably protesting every minute of it. Once everything was in place, I went on one last errand with JJ.

I wanted to include her on some part of the plan, since it would be effecting her too. When we reached the store and JJ saw all the sparkly rings, her eyes lit up in excitement.

"Scarlett gonna be my Mommy?"

"Yeah, Birdie, Scarlett's going to be your Mommy," I nodded. "Wanna help Daddy pick her a ring?"

JJ took the job very seriously, studying and giving her honest opinion of all the rings we looked at. While I was looking in one of the cases, she let go of my hand and skipped off to look elsewhere.

"JJ?" I asked, looking around to try and find where she went.

Panic started to fill my chest until I saw the young toddler with a worker, looking at more rings.

"JJ, you have to stay close to Daddy," I scolded her when I walked over.

"That one," JJ declared, pointing.

I followed her gaze to the ring that the worker had taken out of the case and my jaw dropped. It was perfect.

"I think you're right, J Bird," I smiled down at my daughter.

She grinned smugly at my words, obviously proud of herself for finding the perfect ring for Scarlett. After getting the correct size, we left the store. The ring box felt heavy in my pocket with the weight of anticipation for what I was planning. We drove back to the house to finish getting ready for the evening. JJ would be staying home with everyone else while I took Scarlett out to dinner.

"So, how'd it go?" Jared immediately asked when we came through the door.

"Really well. JJ has good taste," I grinned.

"Scarlett's going to be my Mommy," JJ announced excitedly.

"Yes, she is. But that's a secret, okay, JJ? We can't tell Scarlett."

"Okay!"

"Come on, JJ. Let's go play while Daddy finishes getting ready," Jared said, holding a hand out to her.

Once they had disappeared to go play with the other kids, I let out a deep breath.

"Nervous?"

I turned to see my father smiling at me, his eyes twinkling.

"Yeah," I admitted, nodding my head. "Part of me keeps thinking something is going to happen and things won't go according to plan and everything will be ruined."

"It's okay to feel nervous, son. That's just part of being human. But you've got to remember that she loves you more than anything. I'm sure you could ask her with nothing but a piece of string here in the living room and she would still say yes. It'll be fine."

"I've been dreaming of this moment for nearly two years, Pop. I just want it to be perfect."

"And it will be," he assured me. "No matter what happens, it will be perfect because it's with her. She'll think it's perfect, and that's all that matters."

"Thanks, Pop."

About half an hour later, the girls arrived back at the house with several bags of stuff. Scarlett looked great. The girls had taken her to get pampered, and she had her nails and makeup professionally done. She had also gotten her hair cut and styled so it hung in loose curls around her shoulders.

"Hey, beautiful," I greeted her.

"Hi," she smiled, giving me a kiss.

If possible, the ring box had grown even heavier in my pocket the second she came through the door.

"Alright, come on. We've got to finish," Gen interrupted.

Scarlett rolled her eyes, giving me an apologetic look as they dragged her up the stairs. I chuckled to myself, knowing they meant well, even if Scarlett was being driven insane by the attention. She wasn't usually one to spoil herself like the girls were doing.

"You should get ready, too," Pop said once they had vanished.

Nodding my head, I headed upstairs to change and get ready. The girls were in Kenzie's room, so I was free to use Scarlett and my room for my own preparations. After showering and shaving, I got dressed in a tux. The ring box sat on the bed waiting to be transferred to the pocket in the tuxedo. My heart was thundering in my chest as I thought about what I was going to do. A thousand different 'what if' scenarios were going through my head of things that could go wrong, from our dinner reservations falling through, to forgetting the ring, to (the worst one) Scarlett rejecting me when I finally popped the question. 

I knew that that possibility was ridiculous. Scarlett would never willingly reject me. We had been through so much together, and this was the next logical step. A knock sounded at the door as I was finishing tying my bowtie.

"Yeah?"

The door opened and in walked Jared with Misha on his heels.

"How you feeling, man?" Jared asked.

"Honestly?"

"Of course," Misha said.

"I'm terrified. I've been waiting for this forever, and now that it's finally happening..." I shook my head.

"Hey, breathe," Jared commanded. "Everything will be fine."

"He's right," Misha added. "She loves you, Jensen. She'd be a fool to reject you now."

"But she could reject me," I pointed out.

"No. She couldn't."

"How do you know?"

"Because we've seen how you guys are together compared to apart, and based off of that alone, this is exactly what needs to happen right now. Besides, if you don't do it, we'll have to do it for you," Misha informed me, and Jared nodded in agreement.

"You guys are the best."

"We know."