When I sent Luke out to grab a few things before his siblings came over for Christmas in a few days, I didn't expect him to come home with a gingerbread house kit and only half of the groceries I sent him to get. According to him, he got distracted when looking for the reindeer themed sprinkles I wanted so the kids could decorate sugar cookies. When he came back with the box containing the gingerbread house in hand, I presumed he thought the house would be better for the kids, but I was wrong.

He got it for us.

"Hey, hunny," I attract his attention, taking a bag of white icing into my hand. He hums back a response, currently focused on gluing the piece of red and green candy onto the house's side with the other bag of frosting. "You do realize that this is an activity for kids, right?" I question him, "And we're fully-grown adults?"

Looking over at me, Luke smiles. "The age requirement was three-plus, so I thought we were old enough," He jokes, smirking as he continues decorating. He's so goofy sometimes.

"Yeah, I don't think you meet the age requirement mentally," I joke back, laughing as I feel one of the tiny candies Luke was using collide with my cheek. "Don't be mad!" I shout, watching him grin as he continues staring over at me from his seat.

"I'm not mad," He tells me, his voice all of a sudden softer as he sits back in his chair with the same smile. Sighing happily, Luke crosses his arms together against his chest as his eyes flash between me and the ongoing gingerbread house on the dining table in between us. "I'm actually quite... relieved."

"Relieved?" I ask him, now piping the gingerbread roof with frosting. "Such an odd word to use, but please, enlighten me on why you used the term."

With another smile, Luke gently laughs before doing as I say. "When I was younger, every Christmas, my aunt Janet made all of us kids sit down and decorate a gingerbread house she had baked herself," Luke explains, "Usually, Nell and I would take up one side while Steve did the front, Shirl got the back, and Theo got the other side,"

"We always had fun," He added on, sighing afterward. "Soon, all of us got older, and it soon turned into me, Nell, Theo, and Shirl decorating the gingerbread house while Steve went out to be with a girl for Christmas. Then, it was just like this pattern followed all of my siblings,"

Pausing, Luke frowns. "Soon, Shirl wasn't home for Christmas, then Theo, and then..." Swallowing, he closes his eyes and shakes his head. At this point, I put down the piping bag as I'm now finished with the roof of the gingerbread house and all of my focus is now placed on Luke and his words. "Then I wasn't home, and I was out of the house on Christmas, fucking up as usual."

"But you don't mess up like you used to now, right?" I question him before he can launch himself into a world sadness. Leaning over the table with a smile, I take his hands in mine before kissing each one. "You have fought so hard to not only make up for your mistakes, but to be where you are, Luke, and all that matters is now and the future," I remind him, watching as the smile slowly returns to his face. "Never forget I love you, we all love you."

Nodding, Luke takes a moment to process my words before nodding and bringing our hands up to his lips. "I love you too," He tells me, pressing a kiss to each of my hands as I had done with his moments ago. "Thank you for decorating this house with me," He tells me as I stand from my chair to walk over to his side and plop down in his lap. At this, he smiles and holds me tight before continuing. "it's just, I saw it and all I could think about was being a kid and doing it all over again."

"I had fun doing it with you," I assure him, leaning close to kiss his forehead as his hands fiddle with my oversized sweater. "You know I'd do anything for you."

"Anything?" He asks, leaning back to face me with a raised eyebrow. Staring down at his coy smile makes me squint my eyes at him as the corner of my lip quirks up. I know he's trying to be flirty, but he ends up just looking like a curious puppy.

"What do you want?" I ask him, gaining a laugh in return. The pleasant noise makes me grin, loving the fact that he's genuinely happy.

"There's a grocery bag somewhere in the kitchen with a tube of white sparkle icing gel," He informs me, "Do you think you could grab it for me so I can finish the snow? Please?"

After a few seconds of melodramatic silence, I dramatically throw myself out of Luke's lap before stomping toward the kitchen. "Fine!" I yell, smirking as Luke continues laughing behind me, still in his seat.

While in the kitchen, I search through every grocery bag, and somehow, I don't find the decorating gel anywhere. The closest thing I find is a jar of white sanding sprinkles that I asked Luke to get. Other than that, I don't see any other decorating item.

"Babe, I don't see the sparkle gel anywhere," I tell him, walking out of the kitchen as I stare down at the plastic jar of sprinkles in my hands. "All I found was the sprink..." My words are cut off a I look up from the sanding sugar and to the gingerbread house resting in the middle of the dining table.

Instead of the plain brown roof that Luke was supposed to decorate, I find it to have the words written out in frosting, "Will you marry me?" The only unusual thing is the 'O' in 'you' is replaced by a dazzling ring that's slightly embedded in the icing.

Standing beside the table is Luke, his arms behind his back as he bites his lip and lightly bounces on his toes, awaiting my answer. Awestruck, I move a hand up to my agape mouth while tears make their way to my eyes, crying out of happiness and complete shock. I don't waste another second of standing as I run to Luke and practically lunge at him, wrapping my arms around his neck as his wrap around my midsection, holding me tighter than ever before.

"Yes," I mutter in his ear, holding my hand to his head as he leans down a bit to embrace me. "A thousand times, yes," I continue on, my voice growing hoarser with each word that passes through my lips.

Pulling back in the hug, Luke reveals his face to be covered in happy tears as well while a grin takes over his mouth. "Oh, thank you," He practically exclaims, moving his hands to the sides of my face as he pulls me in for a kiss. After a few seconds, he pulls away and reaches over to take the ring off of the gingerbread house, the bottom part covered in white icing.

At the sight, Luke and I both lightly laugh before I take the ring from him and swipe the frosting off. "How'd you know I always wanted a frosting covered ring?" I quip, Luke taking the ring from my hand and sliding it onto my ring finger with ease. The main jewel is a diamond, but the two around it are our birthstones, nearly causing my heart to explode.

At my comment, Luke laughs before shaking his head and kissing me once again. "How in the hell did I get so lucky?" He asks, resting his forehead against mine as he encases my left hand in his, a new addition to one of the fingers pressing against his palm.

"I should be asking the same thing," I tell him, leaning in for another kiss as my eyes flash back to the gingerbread house once more. I think the gingerbread house is going to become a tradition for us too, and this time, it'll stay forever.