*22nd December 1988, final day of the holiday and Becky's birthday*

I'm awoken by a series of soft kisses on my neck, my cheeks, and my lips.

"Wake up, sleepyhead. It's your birthday! Twenty-four years old!" Michael whispers in excitement.

I keep my eyes closed.

"Let a pregnant woman sleep on her birthday!" I protest, turning on my side.

Michael uses the same thing I did on his birthday.

"Am I gonna have to tickle you?" he asks cheekily.

I'm done. I don't wanna be tickled.

"Alright, I'm up," I say.

I drag my head away from the pillow, feeling deprived of comfort. I lean my head on Michael's chest, as he's already sitting up on the bed.

"Wow, it was easier to get you up than I thought," he says.

I force a smile.

"Yeah, it appears it was," I say. "Ugh, 24 years old. I'm feeling ancient. But at least I'm still in my early 20s. You're in the 30s!"

Michael scowls, or, at least, attempts to. He ends up smiling.

"You don't need to keep saying that!" he cries with a laugh.

He gets me up and allows me to get changed. We sit back on the bed after.

"I'm guessing you would like your present now?" Michael asks. I nod.

"I'd love it, Michael," I smile.

He hands me a box. It's medium sized, and quite light. I unwrap the present.

"A necklace? Oh, Michael! It's beautiful!" I smile, admiring the necklace.

It's gold, with a few purple stones in a heart shape in the middle. Purple, our lucky colour.

"Turn it over," Michael tells me.

I turn it over, and my heart melts.

"I'll never let you part,
For you're always in my heart."

"They're beautiful words," I say.

"I picked them myself. It was personalised, I chose what to write on the back. I thought that sounded pretty," Michael explains. I smile.

"I love it, Michael. Thank you," I say.

"Wait, open it," he instructs. I open it.

There's a picture of me and Michael in one side, and the baby scan in the other.

"Oh, Michael!" I smile, falling into his arms for a hug.

Michael wraps his arms around me.

"I'm glad you like it, baby. And, I'm taking you out later. All I'm saying is that it's gonna be a night to remember," he says.

What could that mean?

I brush the subject off and Michael goes to grab his coat.

"Right, I'm gonna go out and do something real quick, you get some sleep. You're gonna need it ready to be wide awake for tonight. When I get back, I won't wake you up. I'll sleep by you. I don't wanna disturb you. Just rest up, and I'll wake you back up about an hour before we're ready to go," he explains.

"Where are you going?" I ask.

"Just got a little business to attend to," he replies.

He walks back to the bed, which I'm still sitting in. He bends down and kisses my lips.

"I want you to be ready for tonight. It's gonna be so special, for my birthday girl. I'll see you later. I love you," Michael tells me.

"I love you," I reply.

Then, he's off out the door. Looks like I better get some sleep.

I wanna be ready for whatever goes on tonight.

*4:30pm*

I'm awoken by Michael.

"Time already?" I ask. Michael nods.

"Sure is. I'm sorry that you've wasted half of your day sleeping. I just want you to be ready for the night we're gonna have. It's gonna be way better than any night you've ever had in your life," he says.

Hmm, I'm a little excited.

I let myself wake up properly and brush my teeth. I forgot to this morning.

I come back into the bedroom and meet Michael.

"We're gonna go in about an hour," he tells me.

*5:55pm*

"Let's go," Michael smiles, taking my hand and leading me out the door.

We leave the hotel and walk down the streets of Paris. It's always more beautiful at night.

The lights come on, and the Eiffel Tower illuminates and everything. The lights are actually already on right now.

"Remember I've still gotta win something, like I promised," Michael says. I nod.

"I wouldn't be that sure that you will," I chuckle.

We get to a street, with a lot of lights and beautiful flowers covering the shops and buildings.

It's a beautiful street. I've never seen it before.

"This is our first location," Michael says.

We're at a restaurant. This time, it's called 'Le Chateaubriand'. Sounds rather posh.

We enter, and are seated straight away. We're in a little cozy corner. I love it. Nice and quiet, gentle and romantic. This is what a birthday should be like.

"You wanna have spaghetti and meatballs again?" Michael asks.

"Yeah, that sounds great," I reply.

"I know exactly how to pronounce it now," Michael chuckles.

"Good. I can't wait to hear your sexy French speaking again," I mutter with a wink.

Michael takes my hand.

"When it comes to the language of love, I'm practically Spanish," Michael says seductively.

Hmm, sounds good.

"Can you speak Spanish?" I ask, to see his reaction.

"Of course I can!" Michael says.

"Go on, then. Say something Spanish," I say. Michael freezes.

"Uh.. me encanta.. you?" he says unsurely.

"Yeah, you really know how to speak Spanish," I say.

I know he was trying to say 'I love you,' but he couldn't even get it right, ha..

"I think you were looking for 'Te amo'," I say. Michael blushes.

"Yeah, well, at least I know that one word for love is 'encanta'," he says in his defence.

I roll my eyes and the waiter comes our way.

"We are ready to order, Oui?" she says. Michael smiles sweetly.

"Oui. Spaghetti et boulettes de viande, merci," Michael says in his French voice again.

Seriously. Damn. Sexy!

"Oui, Oui," the waiter says, before walking off.

"I just love that," I say, referring to his French speaking.

"And I just love you," Michael replies.

"This is the best birthday ever," I say.

Michael places his arm around me.

"It'll get better tonight," he says with a wink.

About 15 minutes later, the food comes. Again, the presentation is phenomenal. Big words again, Becky. Phenomenal.

"Here's to us and your best birthday ever," Michael raises his glass.

I tap his glass with mine and repeat his words. "Here's to us and my best birthday ever."

We finish eating, and Michael takes me out of the restaurant. We go for a little walk.

"Michael, I want to say how happy I am for what you've done for me today," I say.

"That's ok. You gave me a child for my birthday," he chuckles.

"No, seriously. I'm really grateful, Michael. You treat me like a princess," I say, squeezing his hand tighter.

"You're no princess," he says, looking into my eyes. "You're a queen."

Aww, he's so sweet!

"And you're my King," I say with a smile.

Michael stops walking and stands opposite me.

"Well, lookie at where we are," Michael says, pointing behind us.

I turn around to see the Eiffel Tower. It looks really beautiful, the lights are shining so bright, the little fireflies are flying round it, and there are a lot of pretty flowers draped on and around it.

It's like they knew it was my birthday, so they made it extra special.

"The Eiffel Tower," I smile. Michael drags me to the lift.

"C'mon, we're going up there," he says.

"That would be wonderful. That would make my birthday perfect," I say.

We get higher and higher, until we reach the top.

Again, when we're up there, we're alone again. Why? Don't people wanna go up there or something?

"I love being alone up here," I say.

Michael wraps his arm around me, as we look out at Paris from the top of the tower.

"I know. It's magical," Michael says. I nod in agreement.

"And romantic. And, I'm not scared of the heights anymore. I realised, when I'm with you, I don't need to be scared. Y'know, when I'm with you, you take away my fears. I don't know if it's your eyes, or your smile, or just you, but you take every bad thing away, and you never fail to make me happy. That's why I love you. You make me happy. You make my life complete," I say.

Michael takes my hand and stands opposite me.

"I want you to make my life complete," he says.

"I don't already?" I ask. Michael chuckles.

"I didn't mean you don't make me happy. You make me happier than anyone I've ever met in my life.. What I mean is.." he stops to fiddle with his pockets. "I want you to literally make my life complete."

A few fireflies flutter around us, and some soft music starts to play. Michael looks into my eyes, the lights from the tower reflecting and making a beautiful glow in his eyes.

"Becky, ever since I met you, you've done nothing but make me happy. You've made me laugh, made me cry, given me good times, been with me through everything. Baby, I don't think you realise what you've done for me. I'm not saying this because it's your birthday. I mean, I should say this all the time, but I don't. But I hope this makes up for it," he says.

He looks so serious.

"And.. I wanna say thank you for doing everything, everything you've done, it's been for me. You've given me a reason to live, a reason to wake up with a smile on my face every morning. I'd stay awake just to hear you breathing. I'd stay awake, just to watch your chest move up and down as you inhaled and exhaled. I'd stay awake just to see your beautiful face, looking peaceful and calm. No matter what, you're beautiful. You put yourself down a lot, but I can't see how you could. You're perfect!
You're absolutely perfect! Never forget that, ok?"

I'm smiling like crazy here, just from his beautiful words.

"So, based on everything I've said," he says, taking a box from his pocket. "I wanna be your King forever, and I want you to be my Queen."

He opens the box to reveal a ring, and he bends down on one knee in front of me.

"I've been wanting to ask you this since the day I met you.." he starts.

My heart is beating like lightning. The music gets louder and the lights get brighter, and the magic gets more magic, as Michael asks;

"Will you marry me?"

I clasp my hands over my mouth. My dream has come true. Michael has proposed to me, in the Eiffel Tower, on my birthday! I can only say one word;

"Yes!"

Michael leaps up and hugs me tightly.

"I love you!" he cries, kissing my lips passionately.

Ok, so this is the best kiss we've ever had. This is the best night of my life. The kiss is magical, wonderful, incredible..

We break the kiss and Michael takes the ring from the box and places it gently on my finger.

It's got purple gems in it, just like the necklace.

"Your necklace and ring match," Michael says.

"I know. And I love them," I say.

"Good. So it looks like I did win something," he says with a wink.

I smile. I understand what he meant now.

"I won you," Michael says, before hugging me tightly.

"This is the best birthday ever," I say.

Michael smiles and looks into my eyes.

"So now it's official," he starts.

He looks happier than I've ever seen him before.

"You're gonna be Mrs Jackson. You're gonna be my wife."