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it was mia’s 23rd birthday. a birthday not so special as her 21st, but no less eventful. this time she did not have to dance with every eligible bachelor in genovia. this time she spent most of the night making the rounds and talking with the people and when she did dance, she got to dance with her boyfriend– nicholas devereaux. every time he spun her around the dance floor it reminded her of their first dance two years prior in that very same room.
the night, however, was pretty different from when they first met. for starters, mia did not have the pressure of becoming a queen or having to meet parliament member after parliament member. it was replaced with the much more familiar pressure of being queen and talking to parliament members she knew.
mia and nicholas twirled around the dance floor as gracefully as they could with mia’s two left feet– dancing with nicholas had seemed to cure her clumsiness, although not completely. her dress was a baby blue that matched his eyes perfectly. blue had very slowly crept into her wardrobe the closer she got to him. it had become her favorite color and she was almost always wearing some shade of pale blue.
now, having been together for two years, every dress mia wore to a ball or a gala was the same blue as nicholas’ eyes.
the two of them slowed as the orchestra began to play a new song. nicholas pulled her closer.
“i can’t believe that we met in this very spot only two years ago,” he said, only loud enough for mia to hear. “i feel like i’ve known you my whole life.”
mia smiled. “i’m still very sorry for stepping on your foot.” nicholas rolled his eyes, but grinned– she had said the same thing at her 22nd birthday party. “one thing that i am eternally grateful for is that i no longer have to bump into you to get a dance with you. i can just walk up and ask you. great perk, if you ask me.”
“oh yes, i agree with you on that,” he replied.
they continued to spin around the floor, although at a much slower pace than they had before. they talked about their upcoming events, how pretty mia was (nicholas had kept bringing that topic up), and andrew and elissa’s wedding that was only a few weeks away.
eventually, they made their way to talking about the party, of course. “i wonder if they’ll actually let me eat something now. i swear i haven’t had a full meal since breakfast–” mia’s complaint was cut off by nicholas.
“will you marry me?”
she paused for a moment, glancing around to see if anybody had heard that. from what it looked like, nicholas’ question was only loud enough for her to hear. she looked back at her boyfriend. “what?”
“will you, mia thermopolis, marry me?” he asked again as if it was just a normal, everyday question. as the song came to an end, mia took his hand and, as discreetly as possible, led nicholas out of the room towards the throne room.
“mia, if you don’t want to answer right now or if you aren’t ready for that, its fi–”
“yes.”
he stopped talking.
“yes, of course, i want to marry you, nick. why wouldn’t i?” she took both of his hands in hers. then, after remembering that they both had silk gloves on, promptly took them off, dropping them somewhere on the floor, and took his hands again. “you just caught me very off guard.”
nicholas gave her hands a squeeze. “all part of the charm, mia,” he smiled, a very charming smile if mia did say so herself. “i don’t have a ring, but…” he dropped to one knee. “mia– amelia mignonette thermopolis renaldi, queen of genovia–”
“maybe i should think about this engagement first–”
he sighed and laughed through his words. “will you do me the honor of accepting my hand in marriage?”
mia looked up and placed a finger on her chin, pretending to be considering the offer. “hmm… y’know i might have to think on that for a moment…” she pondered for a second before nicholas picked her up and she started squealing from laughter.
she rested her hands on his shoulders and he set her down on the floor again. “yes, nicholas devereaux i will accept your hand in marriage. but i hope you know that the people of genovia will be expecting a ring.”
“oh yeah?” nicholas wrapped his arms around her waist. “and by ‘the people of genovia’ do you maybe mean mia thermopolis?” shaking her head in playful annoyance, mia leaned in closer to him. he grinned. “sorry, i meant her majesty, amelia mignonette thermopolis renaldi, queen of…”
mia cut him off with a kiss. this silenced him for the moment until she pulled away a few seconds later.
“of genovia,” he finished.
she shook her head again. “actually i think it would be her majesty, amelia mignonette thermopolis devereaux renaldi.”
“i don’t think you’re supposed to take my last name, your majesty.” nicholas swung their hands back and forth ever so slightly.
“well, that’s too bad. nicholas renaldi doesn’t sound very good. besides, if i can change a marriage law, i think genovia can stand me taking my husband's last name.”
nicholas hummed. “i think nicholas renaldi sounds perfectly fine.”
mia leaned her forehead against his. “how about we both take each others last name? nicholas devereaux-renaldi and amelia mignonette thermopolis devereaux-renaldi.”
“and while we’re at it, can we shorten that name of yours? i lose my breath just saying it.”
“you’re the one who insists on saying my full name constantly!”
“yes, and it would be so much easier if it was shortened!”
mia cut him off with another kiss. this time she didn’t pull away after a few seconds. instead, she practically melted into him. she was engaged. for real this time. and she had a feeling that the warmth that was buzzing in her chest wasn’t going to go away any time soon.