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Farkle browsed through the array of rings in the jewelry store. He's been thinking about his future for a while, which included his relationship with the lovely Riley Matthews. Every time he considered what their future was together, he concluded that they should get married. He's been in love with her for roughly eleven years and dating her for three of those years. The only problem was that, well, they were only eighteen. It was a bit young to get married, but Farkle still couldn't get the idea out of his head. He loved Riley and wanted to be with her forever. He felt that he was ready.
But what about Riley? Did she think she was ready? Farkle wanted to ask her how she felt about marriage right now but didn't want to spoil the fact that he was planning on proposing. He knew she definitely wanted to get married at some point, just not when.
"Are looking for rings for a special someone?" a worker asked, taking Farkle out of his thoughts.
Farkle hesitated before answering, "Um, I was just looking. I've been thinking about proposing to my girlfriend, but I'm still not sure yet."
The employee nodded and offered to show him some elegant (and expensive) engagement rings, which he agreed to. As Farkle walked around the store, he became more and more sure of his feelings for Riley, if it was possible for him to be any more sure. If only he could know if Riley was ready without tipping her off. He raised his head as a brilliant idea came to him.
It was honestly kind of stupid of him not to think of this sooner. All he had to do was ask Maya to slip the subject of marriage into a conversation with Riley, then he would know if Riley was ready and she would have no clue of his plans.
Farkle quickly left the mall to go see Maya. He was certain that she would be glad to help him.
"MARRIAGE? Are you crazy?" Maya all but shouted. She moved her hands sporadically as she talked. "We're technically still teenagers. I know you guys think you're the next Cory and Topanga, but—"
"Maya," Farkle interrupted in a calm tone. "I know, but I've thought a lot about it. I just need to make sure Riley feels the same."
She thought about it for a moment and sighed. Well, she wasn't their mom, no matter how many times she felt like she was. "Ok, fine. I'll ask her."
"Thank you. You're the best," He said as he gave her a hug.
"I know." Maya grinned. "Are you planning on asking her parents for permission?"
Farkle stared at her. "Of course I'm going to. They would kill me if they found out I proposed to their eighteen-year-old daughter without at least asking them first."
"True," she agreed. Maya crawled through her room's fire escape and knocked on the window belonging to Riley. She waited for a few seconds before peering inside. Riley was listening to her headphones and moving around in a way that Maya assumed was supposed to be dancing.
"Oh, baby, baby. Merry Christmas!" Riley sang along to the song not-so-quietly.
Maya shook her head, then knocked harder on the window, this time catching Riley's attention. The window was opened, allowing Maya to finally crawl into Riley's room. "Christmas music, really? It's spring."
"Did you come here to judge me?" Riley questioned as she paused the music.
"No, but I thought while I'm here I might as well," she shrugged her shoulders. "I actually wanted to ask you something very important that's been on my mind lately."
Riley sat on her bed and Maya joined her. "What is it?"
"Well, it's about Farkle. Do you think you're ready to, ya know, marry him?"
"Am I ready to marry Farkle?" Riley repeated. "Why would you be thinking about that?
Maya tilted her head. "Uh, you know me. I'm always thinking of random things. Have you ever thought about getting bangs?"
"Yes, I have. To answer your earlier question, I think I am."
"What do you mean you think you are?"
"I feel ready and I love Farkle, but I'm worried that we shouldn't get married right now. What if we fall out of love like so many couples do?"
Maya searched for a simple answer to Riley's problem, but there was none. "Well, if you think about it, there's a lot of couples that get married on a whim and focus more on their wedding than their future. There are a lot of couples that think of marriage as something they can just get out of if they're unhappy, so what's the point of making sure you're absolutely ready? Besides, other couples aren't you and Farkle. If there was a 99% divorce rate, you guys would be in the 1% along with my parents and your parents. You and Farkle truly love each other. You always have."
"I think you're right. Thank you for that."
"Mr. and Mrs. Matthews, I bet you two are wondering why I wanted to see you and not your daughter," Farkle started. He cleared his throat to buy him at least a few seconds. "I have been thinking a lot about my relationship with Riley, and I've decided that I want to propose to her."
Cory got up from his seat. "No! You're too young. Tell him, Topanga."
"Well," Topanga said in a much calmer tone than her husband used.
"Are you actually considering giving him your blessing to propose?"
Topanga replied, "Yes, I am. I don't believe age matters. There are eighteen-year-olds that get married and stay together forever, and there are forty-year-olds that get married and almost immediately divorce."
Silence filled the room and Farkle took this as his chance to speak again. "I love your daughter. I'm prepared to spend the rest of my life with her, to have a family with her, to take care of her. I know marriage isn't something to be taken lightly. It's a serious thing."
"And you promise to always stick with her, even if things are tough?" Cory asked, much less hostile than earlier.
"I do."
Cory and Topanga gave each other looks of uncertainty. Surprisingly, Cory was the first one to give his blessing. "Ok, Farkle. I give you permission to propose. I have known you long enough to know that you are a wonderful and kind young man and that you will give my daughter the love that she deserves."
Topanga put her hand on top of Cory's. "I also give you my blessing. You seem to be pretty sure of your decision to marry Riley. I doubt you would propose to Riley without seriously considering it first."
"Thank you." He got up to wrap his arms around his potential future parents-in-law.
"You're welcome, and please, don't take my reluctance personally," Cory told him.
"I won't. I know you're just protecting your daughter and making sure she gets married only when she's ready. I would do the same for my kid."
Cory held his finger up. "Your kid that you're having in no less than ten years."
"When are you planning on proposing?" Topanga asked.
"It's a surprise,” Farkle responded with a cheeky smile.
The last kid was given his diploma, meaning graduation was over. All of the students sat in their seats. Each student had his hand on his cap, ready to throw it into the air. Farkle's breathing was heavier than normal as he watched everyone stand up. He held onto Riley's wrist to prevent her from standing up as he took a pre-opened ring box out of his pocket. She gasped before he proposed, "Will you marry me?"
From the audience, their families were watching the surprise proposal. Amy had tears in her eyes as she hugged her husband who was looking over at Cory in shock. "Did you know he was going to do that?"
"Yes, but I thought he was going to be a little more original."
"I think that was the point," Topanga responded. She and the rest of the Hunter-Matthews-Minkus clan got up from their seats to congratulate Riley and Farkle.
"Oh, did you say yes?" Amy questioned Riley.
The girl showed her grandmother her ring. "I did!"
Amy squeezed Alan's hand as she turned to him. "You know what this means?"
"What?"
"Great-grandchildren soon!"
Farkle laughed and kissed his finacèe. "We're not allowed to have a kid until we're twenty-eight."
Amy lightly slapped Cory (who most certainly created that rule) on the wrist lightly. "Don't you want me to be able to see my great-grandbabies before I get too old?"
"Ok, fine, no less than nine years."
"Eight."
"Deal."
Farkle and Riley sat together at the small graduation afterparty that their families held. They were discussing wedding plans as Riley indulged in a few too many sweets.
Riley wiped chocolate off her lip with a napkin, "I was thinking, what if we just had a small wedding and used most of the money your parents are giving us to get an apartment and for savings?"
"I love that idea, but my parents aren't gonna like that much. They really want all of their children to have big, fancy weddings," Farkle responded.
"Well, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter if it's a big or small wedding. It doesn't matter if it's just us, a bunch of people we don't know, or only our closest friends and family. What matters is us and that we love each other," Riley told him. They shared a kiss.
"Agreed."
Amy walked up to them. "I just wanted to say that if you have a girl in eight years, I personally think Amy would be a wonderful name for her."
"Noted," Riley said with a smile. She snaked her arm around her fiance and dreamed of what was to come.