The Proposal One Shot
It had only been around three years or so since Colden Brooks, an American book publishing company, had opened up their second branch in the UK.
You lived in the area, and had always loved books, so you applied for a job within the company and just as it turned out, you became the chief editor's assistant.
The chief editor had transferred from the main store in New York, after having gotten the promotion to come to the branch in the UK.
His name was Andrew Paxton and he was the best boss you'd had in a long time.
It had taken him a couple of months to get used to actually having to run the branch, considering the main bosses were back in the States.
Once he got the hang of it, however, it seemed as if he had been doing it for years.
After a few more months, you had been surprised when Andrew asked you if you wanted to go out to lunch with him – but not as colleagues.
Of course, you accepted, because he was an attractive guy along with being incredibly kind and understanding whenever anything was wrong.
Fast forward the next couple of years or so and you and Andrew were engaged, living together and about to have a baby.
The office was beyond excited, and it was a blessing that everyone in the office were all so close.
With everything that had been going on, you still hadn't met Andrew's family.
However, it was his Mum's birthday so he was fying home to Alaska and of course you were going with him – you weren't far enough along in your pregnancy to stop you from flying.
"Oh gosh, it's so bad that I'm only just going to be meeting them all," you confessed to Andrew as you were sat next to him on the plane.
Andrew chuckled slightly but shook his head. "No, it's not Love, it's understandable."
"Understandable?"
He placed his hand on your thigh reassuringly. "Love, they know about you. They knew about you when you were my assistant, let alone when I started dating you, or when I proposed or when we found out about the baby."
You sighed. "I'm just worried. What if they don't like me?"
"They will."
You nodded in acknowledgement, before realising that the plane was about to land in Sitka.
As the two of you climbed down from the plane, you saw two women waving some welcome home signs and Andrew laughed at them.
"I'm guessing they're for you?"
Andrew turned to you with a smile on his face. "Us actually."
He kept his arm around your waist as you both walked over to his Mum and Grandma.
"Hi Mom," Andrew greeted her, pulling her into a hug and then hugging his Grandma afterwards.
His Mum looked at you with a large smile on her face. "You must be Y/N."
You smiled at her in response. "It's so great to finally meet you Mrs Paxton."
She shook her head as she pulled you into a hug. "Oh, don't be silly, we're family, call me Grace."
"Love, this is Gammy," Andrew introduced his Grandma to you.
She smiled and pulled you into a hug. "I'm Annie, but you can call me Gammy if you'd like."
You and Andrew grabbed the rest of your bags once they had been taken out of the plane, and then headed down to the docks to get the boat to Andrew's house.
As the boat approached the house, you couldn't help but be in awe of how lovely it was – Andrew had shown you pictures of course, but that didn't compare to actually seeing it.
Grace and Annie helped you both get your bags out of the boat and take them up to the house.
Once you were inside, Andrew's Dad appeared running after their dog who you were fussing considering you loved dogs.
"Ah, you must be Andrew's assistant from England."
You looked up and saw a neutral expression on his face.
Andrew sighed as he put the bags down, before coming to stand by your side. "She's also my fiancé Dad."
He shook his head, giving Andrew a pointed look. "No, she is the reason you decided to leave your family back here. I mean New York was one thing, but England? Really?"
You soon realised that Andrew's Dad was quite disapproving of you, which hurt to say the least.
Despite wanting to actually introduce yourself to Andrew's Dad, you didn't want to stand there and be looked at disapprovingly.
You made the decision to leave the house and go and sit at the end of the walkway where you got off the boat.
When you heard footsteps behind you, you turned around to see Grace approaching you.
She sat down next to you before she placed an arm around your shoulder.
"Don't pay any mind to my husband."
"I was just so worried about coming here. I didn't want Andrew to have to choose between here and England, if he wanted to move out here then he could but I just don't know if I could follow him."
Grace sighed, hugging you close to her. "You may have just met me Y/N, but I feel as if I have known you for the past three years," she told you in a soft tone. "Andrew has never stopped talking about you, even before you two were together. He's always been showing us photos, sending us updates – he wants to marry you."
"I know he does. But his Dad clearly doesn't feel the same way as you do."
"Joe has always held a grudge against Andrew, ever since Andrew told him that he didn't want the family business out here and he left for New York," Grace explained.
You nodded in acknowledgement but watched as Grace stood up.
She offered you her hand. "Come back in, you may want to hear what Andrew is saying to his Dad."
You followed Grace back into the house and entered into Andrew yelling at his Dad.
"How dare you say that to her! I love her, you know I do, so don't you dare try to belittle her by saying she is just my assistant!"
Andrew turned to you once he heard the door open, quickly coming to wrap you up in his arms.
"I am so sorry," he whispered into your hair.
"Can we just go upstairs please?"
Andrew pulled away from you slightly to look down at you, realising that you looked as if you were going to cry
He nodded, taking your hand but glaring at his Dad in warning before the both of you walked upstairs to the room that Gammy had put your things into.
You sat down on the bed, dropping your head into your hands.
"I told you they wouldn't like me."
Andrew shook his head, sitting down next to you.
"No, my Dad has it in for me and decided to take it out on you."
"It's clear he doesn't like me. He blames me for you living in England," you told him matter-of-factly. "Maybe you should rethink, it isn't too late to get the job in New York back. Someone else could transfer to our branch."
Before you had a chance to say anything else, Andrew leant forward and kissed you gently.
He moved his hand to rest on your small baby bump, and his other hand held yours whilst he rubbed his finger over your engagement ring.
"My life, our life, is in England. And if my Dad doesn't want to deal with that, then that's on him."
~*~
Written by Hannah.
Requested by