The Sky and the Stars - Tom and Sarah Kazansky

-21-

1990

Three years. Three years and she and Tom were still going strong. And, for the most part, Sarah was surviving the worry. 

It was around the time of Sarah's birthday, her thirty-fourth. Pete and Charlie were in town and they met up to celebrate.

"I'm excited," Pete told her. 

"For what?"

He merely shrugged.  "Nothing."

"Pete-"

"I know, I know: I'm a little shit."

"Yes, you are."

"But you still love me." He flashed a toothy grin, making her laugh. 

Tom - now Commander Kazansky - was unfortunately away on duty over her actual birthday, but promised to be back as soon as possible. She and her parents had a nice little family celebration in the meantime. 

True to his word, he showed up - mid-afternoon the day after.

She threw herself into his arms before he could even enter the house.  

"Happy birthday, sweetheart!" He swung her around and kissed her. 

"You're here! How did you get here so soon?"

"I worked some of that magic." He winked.  "Now yes, I'm here, so come on, let's celebrate!"

He seemed exhausted from his travels, but he was determined to celebrate now that they were together. He'd already made a dinner reservation for them. 

"Gift time!" while they were waiting for their dinner to arrive, he produced a wrapped package.

"Oh Tom - you being here is gift enough."

"Maybe so, but I saw this and I couldn't not get it for you."

Unwrapping it, she found a long, thin wooden box. Opening the lid, she found a shining, slender telescope on a bed of velvet. 

"It's a pocket telescope. Now you can always have one with you - one thing you've taught me is that you never know when you're going to be out and about and suddenly, there's a great place for stargazing."

"Oh Tom - it's amazing, I love it. Thank you so much!" She leaned across the table to embrace him - which was of course the moment the waiter returned with their dinner. 

Following coffee and dessert, they took a stroll through the park, going back to that stargazing spot there. Only this time, they snuggled up on the bench together. 

Sarah withdrew her new telescope.

"How's it work?"

"Great! Here, look-" She held it out to him so he could look through too. 

"So beautiful."

"So romantic." She nudged him

"Yes, that too. In fact, it  actually couldn't be more perfect-" He was moving away from her and off the bench - she was just about to ask what he was doing when his actions stopped her: he was kneeling and reaching into his pocket.

From which he produced a box, and from which that he produced a ring.

Pete's words from the other day came back to her:  "I'm excited," and his resistance to telling her exactly what it was he was excited for, as she was sure he had been sworn to absolute secrecy, but in a very Pete fashion had bent those rules by alluding to it with her. 

Now it all made sense. 

"Sarah, with the stars here as my witness, I wanted to ask you a very important question-" He gazed up at her through those beautiful blues.  

"Yes!" the word burst from her. 

His brow furrowed comically. "I haven't asked yet."

"Right, sorry." She sat back and waited, fighting a beaming smile and feeling tears tickling her eyes. 

He stared right into her eyes.  "Doctor Sarah Coleman - will you be my date to prom?"

There was a beat of shocked silence before she snorted with laughter through her oncoming tears. "I think we're both a little beyond prom, Tom."

"Maybe just a bit." He cleared his throat.  "I don't want you to worry, but I know you worry about me regardless, so will you continue to worry about me, not as my girlfriend, but as my fiancée and eventually my wife?" 

The tears were falling freely now. "Oh God yes!" 

His own smile grew.  "I asked your parents-"

"You did?"

"I did. It only seemed right. They're thrilled, as is Mama and my sisters."

"Oh my God, Tom, I love you so much!" With that she threw herself forward off the bench and into his arms. 

"I love you so much too, Sweetheart." He took her hand and slipped the ring onto her finger. 

"Should we go tell your parents the good news," he asked once they paused their smooching to catch their breath. 

"Yes! But let's have some fun with it..." Now she had a mischievous flicker in her eye.

They rehearsed everything at length on the drive home until they  could - almost - do it without laughing. 

"How was your evening?" Rosa and Roger, of course, were waiting up for them, and rushed to greet them as soon as they set foot in the house. 

"Oh it was lovely!" Sarah told them. "Tom sure knows how to show his girlfriend a good time!"

"Girlfriend?" They eyed her empty finger.

"Yes, I'm Tom's girlfriend, aren't I?" she linked her arm through his.

"You sure are," he agreed.

"Well yes, of course you are..."

Sarah did her best to stifle a burst of laughter, biting her lip to the point of drawing blood.  "And look what he gave me-" Her parents grew excited, which fell away once they saw the pocket telescope.

"Oh, well, isn't that nice. Very thoughtful..." Again, not what they had been expecting.

"We used it tonight for stargazing - it was so romantic."

"Sarah, we haven't even told them the best part yet." Tom delivered his line perfectly.

"Hmm? Oh yes - the surprise dessert!" Again, Roger and Rosa's flicker of excitement was dashed away just as quick.

"Okay," she finally relented. "I think we've tortured you enough. The whole evening was wonderful, but there was certainly one highlight-" She held up her hand and Tom produced the ring box, slipping the ring back onto her finger - and she wasn't planning on taking it off again. 

Her parents' reactions were priceless.

"Oh!"

"Mazel Tov to you!"

"You're getting married."

"Yeah." Sarah leaned into him.  "Yeah, we are. We're getting married."

(So I don't know how long it takes for one to rise through the ranks in the navy but I imagine a lot of it is based on performance and we all know Tom is good at his job! Plus, he's got to be Commander of the Pacific Fleet, Four-Star Admiral Kazansky by the end of this story so keep going, Tom!

Next up is the wedding! ;) See you then and there!

As always, Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :))