“Wait a minute, Brooke. You haven’t given me five gold rings,” Sam pointed out as she shifted Julie from one hip to the other as the toddler looked down to Sam’s belly.

“Yes, I did.” Brooke answered, matter-of-factly.

Sam thought about it and shook her head in the negative. “No… no you haven’t. Count them down for me. The first one was the gold key ring, right?”

Brooke nodded her head as she wrapped a hand around Sam’s shoulder. “Yep. There was the gold key ring. The roses had a gold ribbon tied around them. There was a gold ring around the one Christmas can of Hershey’s syrup… on the lid…”

“You’re counting that, huh?” Sam asked as Julie began to wiggle out of her arms. Sam placed the child on the floor while Julie continued to play and talk to Sam’s stomach. “Okay, what else?” Sam asked as she absent-mindedly ran a hand through Julie’s hair.

“The gold elastic thingy around the candles.” Brooke started to look nervous as Julie began pulling on her sleeve to get her attention.

“Now, that’s really stretching it a bit, don’t you think, Brooke?” Terri chuckled.

“No, of course not. Okay, Chase… you can finish your toast now.” Brooke pleaded with her eyes as she leaned over to see what Julie wanted.

Sam watched, still slightly confused as Brooke listened to Julie’s whisper and then placed her ear against Sam’s stomach. “Brooke… that’s only four. What’s number five?”

“Ahh forget it, Sam. It’s probably stupid anyway.” C.C. interrupted Sam’s interrogation and cleared her throat. “To the hope that rings true to all that have love in their hearts. May the last year be only a promise of what’s to come. Happy New Year.” C.C. raised her glass to toast everyone as the familiar salutation was said in return.

Sam looked down to her lover and to Julie who were now whispering and giggling. “What’re you two conspiring about now?”

“Nuffin, Sam. Aunt Bwooke had ta ask da baby sumfin and she said ‘yes’.”

Sam smiled at Julie as Brooke stood back up. “Oh, yeah?” Sam looked up into Brooke’s eyes. “And what am I in this conspiracy?”

Brooke grinned. “You… are the topic of our conversation.” Brooke replied as C.C. walked over to toast her sister and former roommate.

Sam noticed C.C. and reached for her glass, sitting on the end table. “Happy New Year, C.C.”

“Happy New Year… Sis,” C.C. answered as she grinned and winked at Sam.

Sam smiled and absent-mindedly brought the glass to her lips as she started to take a drink of the bubbly liquid. Hearing a strange noise, Sam pulled the glass from her lips and stared into it. “Julie, did you drop one of your play rings down in here?” Sam looked at the sparkling piece of jewelry sinking to the bottom of her glass.

“No… Aunt Bwooke did. Da baby said it was okay.” Julie answered innocently.

Sam looked over to Brooke who seemed to be sweating by this point. “Brooke, that’s not funny. I could have swallowed that.”

Brooke’s eyes grew to twice their normal size as she grabbed her lover’s glass. “Well, I’m glad you didn’t.” Brooke reached in and grabbed the 1.32-carat diamond ring, wiping it off carefully on her shirt before holding it up for Sam to see. “It probably would have hurt if you swallowed this.”

Sam looked back and forth between the ring and Brooke. “That’s not a play ring, is it?”

Brooke closed her eyes and shook her head, slightly. “No, it’s not a play ring.” There was a moment of silence before a well-tuned snippet of a song came floating off of Brooke’s lips as she waited for some kind of reaction from Sam. “Five Gold Rings…”

“I… ah… what… ah… Brooke, I don’t understand,” Sam managed to stutter out as she searched Brooke’s face for answers.

Everyone began to gather around the two when Brooke got down on one knee in front of Sam. She reached up and nervously took Sam’s hand in hers. “Sam… I uhm…” Her heart was racing and her mouth began to go dry. Brooke closed her eyes and took in a deep breath before continuing to do what had haunted her thoughts and dreams for weeks now. “I can’t imagine being without you for even a day. The more time we spend together, the more I love you…”

Sam’s eyes began to water as Brooke started to sing softly to her.

“Will you be there beside me if the world falls apart? And will all of our moments remain in your heart? Will you be there to guide me all the way through? I wonder will you… Walk by my side and follow my dreams? And bear with my pride as strong as it seems? Will you be there tomorrow? Will you be there beside me as time goes on by and be there to hold me whenever I cry? Will you be there to guide me all the way through? I wonder will you… Walk by my side and follow my dreams? And bear with my pride as strong as it seems? Will you be there tomorrow?”

Watching the fountain of tears falling down Sam’s cheeks, Brooke began to speak to her again. “I don’t care what people think or what they say. All I know is that I need to have you in my life, like I need air to breathe. I want to do right by you and I’ve tried to in everyway I could possibly think of. So, I’ve asked Aunt Sandy and your father for permission and well… I kind of asked Chastity too…” Brooke added with a shy grin.

Sam continued to stare into Brooke’s eyes as she felt her heart beat pick up speed, barely able to choke out, “You have… what?”

“I asked Chastity if it would be alright if I asked her mom to marry me…” Brooke took a breath in and pressed on. “Sam, she said ‘yes’.”

The blonde was speechless. Sam was afraid her ears were deceiving her until Brooke spoke again.

“Sam… will you marry me?” Brooke held the ring poised, ready to slide it onto Sam’s finger, as she gazed into green eyes for an answer.

Feeling the love in the words as they reverberated in her ears, Sam couldn’t help but close her eyes to savor the most precious moment of her life. She opened her eyes and looked down at the gold band as Brooke hesitantly waited to slide it onto her finger. Slowly, the lump in her throat eased, although she was still tongue-tied for words. Sam didn’t trust herself to speak, so she nodded at Brooke as the tears continued to roll down her flushed cheeks. Lifting her eyes to Brooke’s, she found her voice. “You bet your twelve days of Christmas, I will.”

Without looking down, Sam could feel the ring slip into place on her finger as dazzling blue eyes stared lovingly at her. Sam reached out and wrapped her arms around Brooke, pulling the crying woman in close to her heart. “Yes, Brooke… yes,” Sam whispered as she leaned over far enough to kiss Brooke on top of her dark head.

Brooke stood up and applause erupted throughout the room when she melted into a kiss with the blonde. “I love you, Sam.” Brooke whispered, breaking their kiss just long enough to whisper those words.

“I love you, Brooke. Thank you. It’s the best present ever.”

Brooke pulled away far enough to wipe the tears from Sam’s tear-stained cheeks. “No, Darlin… you are.”

Sam looked down to the ring on her finger, seeing the round diamond sticking out in the center surrounded by two smaller diamonds on each of its two sides. Filled with love, Sam looked back up into Brooke’s eyes. “We both are.”

Sam continued looking at the ring for the majority of the drive home. When she wasn’t in awe of the gem on her finger, she was in awe of the woman beside her.

Watching Sam closely as they came to a stop at a traffic light, Brooke reached over for her hand. Before Brooke could even register what she was doing, she had brought Sam’s hand up to her lips and kissed the back of it tenderly.

“I guess I’ll have to be more careful with who I let kiss my hand now,” Sam commented as she winked at Brooke. “I still can’t believe you did that.”

Brooke let her eyes gaze over to Sam. “Why?”

“Why? I could name a dozen reasons why, Brooke. You haven’t even known me that long…”

Brooke cut her off before she could finish. “Sam, you wouldn’t even believe me if I told you when I bought it.” The light turned green and Brooke put the Sequoia in motion once again towards home.

“You’re not going to tell me it was after that first movie, are you?” Sam teased her lover and smiled when she noticed that Brooke made no attempt to release her hand.

“I bought it the last night Peter and I were in New Jersey… the night before I came home.”

Sam was quiet for a moment as she considered the time that Brooke spoke of. “But… I… we… we hadn’t even made love yet.”

“Sam, I didn’t need to make love with you to know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Loving you is the most wonderful feeling… everything else is just icing on the cake, so to speak.”

“Or the chocolate syrup on the dessert,” Sam added her own analogy as she shot a rakish grin in Brooke’s direction.

“Yeah, Baby. Something like that.” Brooke winked over at Sam as she turned off the main road and started down the long stretch to their home.

“Well… that does take a load off my mind,” Sam commented.

Brooke furrowed her brow in confusion. “Load off? Why?”

“Well, it means that sex isn’t what this whole relationship is about, that’s all.” Sam glanced at her lover, hoping that she was enjoying the tease.

“Of course it’s not, Sam. I wasn’t always the sex-crazed monster you share a bed with now.” Brooke couldn’t help but tease the younger woman. “That was your doing, Darlin.” Brooke slowed down enough to be able to reach over and plant a kiss on Sam’s cheek. She felt her hand squeezed in response by the blonde.

“You know what? I’ve been thinking…” Brooke broke the comfortable silence that had settled between them. “You still have another week before you start at Brownstone. Why don’t we go somewhere for a few days?” Brooke glanced over at Sam to gauge her reaction to the suggestion.