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"A jigsaw puzzle?"
Her gaze shifts between the excited grin on his face and the box he has in his hands. The way he wiggles his almost absent eyebrows is comical.
"A 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle?"
He nods vigorously and she wonders if his head is attached to his body with a spring.
"Alexandra Elizabeth Kingston, will you solve a jigsaw puzzle with me?"
He is on one knee, holding the box in her direction, and is grinning like a small excited child. A sigh escapes her lips. He sits down on the floor, cross legged, and tugs at her hand until she flops down next to him, crossing her legs to sit comfortably.
"I guess that’s what I get for dating a 5 year old."
She teases, but he refuses to take the bait, as he pulls her closer until she is almost in his lap. “A 12 year old, and shush, this is going to be fun! You are not going to regret this.”
He empties the contents of the box on the floor, and together they go over the picture the pieces are supposed to make. He picks up a corner piece, beginning to set up the grounds when she stops him.
"If we are going to do this, we need to do it right."
In and out of the kitchen in a flash, Alex returns with some snacks and drinks for both of them, and Matt’s smile widens into a face splitting grin.
"I knew you’d come around."
"If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em and all that, darling."
—x—
"Not that one. No. Look at the pattern, love."
Alex rolls her eyes, exasperated, when Matt takes the piece from her hand, waving it in front of her face and emphasising on the pattern cut into the piece. They have been trying to solve the puzzle for the good part of the day, but without any success. Granted, its been fun trying to reach for the pieces around each other. They have even had a tickle war (or several). But now she is getting tired.
Casting a look around, she looks at the few hundred pieces still lying about. “Matt, darling, may be we should leave jigsaw puzzles for the”, she picks up the box, looking over the lid, “12 year olds it says on the cover?”
He pouts at that. “Please, love. Only a little bit is left. Please!”
His eyes are almost pleading. It is difficult to refuse him anything at any given time, but with this look- its nearly impossible.
"You are not going to regret this. Please, love. For me."
There goes his trump card. The idiot.
"Fine", Alex sighs, giving in, and picks up another piece.
Beaming at her, Matt dumps at least a hundred pieces in her lap, and her eyes widen. “What the hell, Matt?”
"Just a few hundred more", he pecks her cheek softly as she stares at the pieces in her lap.
As if to emphasise his point, Matt takes her hand and moves it to put one of the pieces she had next to the pieces he had already joined.
"See", he grins at her, their hands still joined, "we hold each other’s missing pieces. We just need to put them together."
She looks at him thoughtfully. There is something about the way he said those words that nags at the back of her mind.
Grinning, he taps her nose lightly. The action is so sudden, that she blinks, startled, and giggles softly. His excitement renewed, he pulls Alex in his lap, both of them together completing the puzzle.
"Wooh. Finally its done."
Alex grins once the puzzle is done, but Matt remains silent.
"Darling?" she turns to look at him and finds him smiling at her. His eyes shining, his expression is the picture of love. "Wha-?"
He shakes his head, and simply points towards the floor where there freshly completed puzzle lies.
Tears spring to her eyes as she spots the words in the corner of the picture made by the puzzle, and she turns to Matt.
"Oh my god. Matt? This- you can’t-"
Smiling, Matt pulls out a blue velvet covered box from his pocket.
"Marry me, Alex."