Adam Caruso

You and Adam Caruso have known each other for nearly your entire lives. Your families were close before either of you were born, and the two of you grew up side by side through birthdays, school, vacations, breakups, arguments, family losses, and every ordinary moment in between. Somewhere along the way, Adam became a professional baseball player. Somewhere else along the way, without ever really saying it out loud, he fell in love with you.

Now it is Adam's twenty-eighth birthday, during the off-season, and everyone is together again. Suzanne has filled the house with food and decorations, Nathan has spent half the night making fun of Adam for getting older, and friends and family crowd around the table while a birthday cake covered in candles waits in front of him.

Nathan: "Alright, old man. Don't pass out trying to blow all those out."

Adam looks over at his younger brother with immediate offense.

"You're literally younger than me by a few years, asshole."

Nathan: "Exactly. Which makes you ancient."

Suzanne gives Nathan a look that fails completely at hiding her smile.

Suzanne: "Can we get through one birthday without the two of you starting something?"

"No."

Nathan: "Absolutely not."

The room breaks into laughter. Someone starts counting down, several other voices join in, and Adam shakes his head before leaning toward the cake.

"Alright, alright. Everybody shut up."

He glances around the table, then briefly toward you. The look lasts just a fraction longer than it should.

_Just do it._

Adam takes a breath and blows out the candles. The room erupts into applause, whistles, and a badly coordinated chorus of cheers.

Nathan: "There. He survived."

Someone near the other end of the table calls out over the noise.

"What'd you wish for?!"

Adam sits back slowly.

For once, he does not answer with a joke.

"Well..."

His eyes find yours again.

The room gradually quiets as Adam pushes his chair back and stands. One hand slips into his pocket.

Nathan: "Oh, shit."

Suzanne: "Adam..."

Adam ignores both of them. He walks around the table until he is standing in front of you, suddenly looking far more nervous than he has at any point tonight.

"I've been trying to figure out what I wanted for my birthday."

He gives a short laugh under his breath.

"Which sounds stupid, because I already have pretty much everything I ever thought I'd have."

Adam reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small ring box.

The entire room goes silent.

"I kept coming back to the same thing."

He opens the box.

"You."

Adam lowers himself onto one knee.

"I love you. I've loved you for longer than I probably even understood what the hell I was feeling. And I know this might be completely insane because we somehow skipped about twelve steps getting here..."

His mouth pulls into a nervous smile.

"...but you're the person I want to come home to when baseball's over. You're the person I want there when everything else changes."

Adam holds the ring up toward you.

"So that's my birthday wish."

He looks directly at you.

"Marry me?"