Something About You – Part 22 by ShellyLynn

Republisher’s Note: More than one surprise is planned for Michelle’s birthday part.

Michelle walked lethargically down the hallway to her last class of the day. She’d barely been able to get herself out of bed and going this morning, instead, she found herself seriously considering skipping all of her scheduled classes. She simply didn’t feel up to another monotonous day of lectures and note taking.

The weeks of planning the gala had taken a serious toll on both her body and her studies. She was forced to stay up all the previous night to study for her Biology test, a class that she had erroneously neglected for the duration of her weeks of planning.

At the present time, the information she had reviewed so thoroughly the night before was swirling around chaotically in her head and she wasn’t sure she could get a grasp on any particular piece of it. At that moment in time, she wasn’t any more knowledgeable about the structure of DNA than she was about astrophysics or mechanical engineering. “This is not going to be a pleasant experience,” she thought to herself with an exaggerated sigh, “more like a root canal.”

The bright spot in her day was that her family was throwing her a birthday party that evening and she and Danny were going to use the opportunity to tell them about their relationship. Although she was nervous about each of their reactions, there was no doubt in her mind that it was the right thing to do. Danny was the man she wanted the man she’d been falling in love with since the moment they met. She would make them understand that he is what she needs to make her life complete, and give them the opportunity to see what a wonderful man he is. She’s sure that once they get to know him and see how happy he makes her, they’ll come around and learn to love him as well.

She arrives at the test, and silently thanks God when the professor informs the class that due to time conflicts in his schedule, the test will be multiple choice instead of the usual essay style exam. She takes out her pencil and begins, carefully reading each question and darkening the circle on her answer sheet with her number two pencil.

When she has answered the final question, she slips her bag over her shoulder and turns her papers into the front of the classroom, exiting through the door in the front corner of the large room. As she turns to make her way to the front door of the building, she feels a hand on her shoulder from behind. “Hey,” she smiled graciously, “I’m glad that’s over.”

“Yeah me, too,” her friend Haley responded as they began to walk down the hall. “But you have much more important things to be thinking about today.”

“What do you mean?” Michelle asked.

“I mean, like what you’re going to wear when you get engaged,” she answered. When Michelle merely gazed at her in confusion, she tried to clarify her statement. “I heard what’s going on tonight. That gorgeous man of yours is going to propose and make you’re relationship official,” she smiled secretively. “I can’t wait to see it. I’m sure it’s going to be so romantic.”

Michelle smiled, maybe this was going to be her most wonderful birthday yet.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Danny came home from his classes and set his books down on the counter, looking at the invitation Michelle had given him one more time.

You are cordially invited to a
Birthday Party for Michelle Bauer
at the Springfield Country Club
920 Westerland Rd.
7:00 p.m.

He was planning on taking her somewhere special to celebrate her birthday, just the two of them, but she seemed so excited about the party that he didn’t want to be a downer, so he agreed to come and celebrate with her family and friends. After all, he could still give her the gift he had planned, he would just have to change the way he was planning on presenting it.

He checked in on Mikey and then took a shower before going into his bedroom to get ready. Carefully choosing something to wear, he set his clothes and Mikey’s out on the bed to get ready.

“I know that we haven’t known each other for very long, and that we didn’t even tell your family until tonight that we’ve been dating, but I love you Michelle, and I want you to be my wife. Will you marry me and be Mrs. Danny Santos forever?”

“Ugh,” He said, pulling his black v-neck sweater over his head. “That’s terrible Santos. Come on.”

He looked in the mirror, straightening his back and trying again, “Michelle Bauer, you mean the world to me. In the short time that we’ve known each other, you’ve captured my heart and made me feel things I never thought I would find. I love you, Michelle, and I want to spend the rest of my life showing you how much. Will you marry me and make me the happiest man alive?”

His shoulders sagged and he ran a hand through his damp curls in frustration. “I can’t believe I’m making this is so difficult.”

He walked over the nightstand by his bed and picked up the small black box, opening it to reveal a delicate, beautiful diamond ring. Closing his eyes, he said, “Abuela, you always told me that when I found the right women, my heart would know it instinctively and I would give her this ring to show my eternal love. You were right and I’ve found her and fallen in love. I know that if you were still here, you would love her, too.”

He opened his dark eyes and once again trained them on the ring in his hands. It had been passed down through the Santos family for generations through the first-born male. After his mother passed away, his grandmother reclaimed the ring and held it until she passed it along to him, not long before her death. It was one of the few tangible reminders he had left of his family, and he wanted more than anything to share it with Michelle and continue the tradition by proposing with it and building his own family.

“Danny?” he heard from the doorway, bringing him back to the task at hand, getting ready for the party.

Mikey walked into the bedroom in a little pair of Scooby-Doo boxer shorts. “What does semee-camel mean?”

“What?” Danny asked, completely confused by his nephew’s innocent question.

“’Ichelle said that it was semee-camel,” the little boy reiterated, slightly frustrated by his uncle’s seeming ignorance.

“Oh,” Danny laughed slightly, but tried not to embarrass the child. “You mean dress semi-casual.”

“I guess,” he says, seeming somewhat upset that she wasn’t really talking about there being animals at the party.

“It just tells you what kind of clothes you should wear. Here,” he said, extending an outfit he’d laid across his bed. “Wear these.”

“I hafta wear church clothes? I thought it was a party,” Mikey whined, sticking his lip out in a pout. “I don’t want to wear those.”

“You have to,” Danny told him, looking down at the khaki pants and little navy blue polo shirt. “It’s not the kind of party you wear jeans to.”

“I no wanna go then,” Mikey said defiantly, sitting down on the bedroom floor.

“Michelle asked you to come and I’m sure she would be very disappointed if you weren’t there. Do you want to make her cry?” Danny asked, watching the boy’s expression change.

“No,” he said reluctantly. “That wouldn’t be nice.”

“No, it wouldn’t,” Danny sighed in relief as Mikey stood up and took the clothes into his hands. “Let’s get dressed and go. Tonight is a very big night, we don’t want to be late.”

Tags: Danny Santos, GL, Guiding Light, Manny Fanfic, Manny fanfiction, Michelle Bauer, Something About You