b o n u s: n e w y e a r s e v e

"Have you seen a tall man, light brown hair, green eyes, ye tall?" I shouted, going on my tiptoes to try and demonstrate my husband's height. The random stranger looked at me as if I had grown my brain outside of my body and shook his head. "Nevermind," I sighed.

"What?!" They shouted back.

I shook my head and yelled, "Nothing!" They gave me one last weird look before they scattered away, probably off to tell their friends about the weird girl that tried to talk to them.

Me. That weird girl would be me.

I shrugged and started looking around again, trying to locate Ace who had left me standing with my best friend over half an hour ago to get us both drinks, even though I didn't really want one. And after Lilli started making out with Ryder, a funky combination those two were together, I know, I got curious as to the whereabouts of my husband.

I went into the foreign kitchen of a stranger's home, where most of the alcohol was placed but he wasn't there. I had knocked on bathroom doors and had been met with a few very awkward first greetings, but no Ace. I wasn't exactly worried about anything in particular, I was just lonely and now, thanks to him leaving me, bored.

My best friend was my favorite person to be around, when she wasn't making out with my husband's best friend. And it seemed like that was all that they did this winter since they came home for Christmas.

Imagine going over to your best friend's family home to welcome her back, only to find her half naked with the man you had seen throw up an entire box worth of pizza rolls, on top of her. I had shrieked, literally; but not in disgust or anger, with happiness.

I had been trying to get those two together since the summer before we left for college. Lilli had claimed that she didn't want to start anything right before moving across the country to New York and Ryder had told Ace that he didn't want a "strings attached" relationship. Now, over five years later, my plan was finally in the works.

They claimed that they were only friends with no strings type of deal, but that was complete bologna. Lilli Chen and Ryder Park were going to be together by the time Lilli went back home in New York in mid January. I would make sure of it.

But in order for that to happen, I needed to give the two of them alone time, to get to know each other again. That meant, I was alone on New Years Eve, looking through a large crowd for my disappearing act of a husband, ten minutes before the metaphorical ball dropped and all the kissing started.

I was not going to miss out on the chance to kiss Ace, even if I had done just that every single day for the past year and a half. I had this entire plan for the night; leave Lilli and Ryder alone so they could do what all new couples did, participate in an extensive amount of PDA: check.

And then go off somewhere quiet with my husband and kiss him at midnight and then tell him some news that would rock the start of the new year.

I was beginning to get frustrated when I realized I had been going in circles for almost twenty minutes, trying to find Ace. I took a seat on a couch and watched as people danced and drank and kissed their dates, or strangers. I checked my phone to see if I had missed any calls or texts, nada.

Where the fuck was my husband?

I made my way back over to Lilli and Ryder and waited until they pulled their mouths away from each others. "Are you okay Ro?" Lilli asked me, out of breath and lipstick smeared across her check, and Ryder's.

"I can't find Ace. I've been looking for over twenty minutes. He told me he was getting us drinks almost an hour ago," I frowned, trying not to cry of frustration.

Ryder squinted and me and shook his head. "What are you talking about? He told me he was gonna go get some fresh air and sit by the lake?"

"You're kidding..." I deadpanned, glancing over at Lilli, who shrugged. "Ugh, I can't believe I married that," I groaned, already walking away from the two of them to go down the lake. We were at some lake house Ryder's friend owned and we had all been invited to stay the weekend.

Of course he would be down by the lake, of all the places I looked, he was in the one place I didn't think to look. Typical Ace Carter move.

I stormed my way down to the lake, which wasn't far from the house at all. I could still hear the party raging inside. By the time I saw him, everyone in the house was counting down from 10. But I couldn't care less at that moment because all I wanted to do was yell at my husband for making me worried and angry, two emotions I hadn't felt until 20 seconds before this.

He saw me coming toward me and he smiled, standing up from the side of the lake and met me in the middle. "Ace James Carter you have no idea how angry I am at-"

Everyone screamed, "Happy New Year!"

And Ace took my face in his hands and kissed me.

I melted into his touch and kissed him back, obviously. I smiled into the kiss and ran my hands through his hair, as I often did when he kissed me like that. When we finally pulled away from each other, Ace smoothed his hands down my hair, which had most likely been messed up from his hands in the first place.

"So, what's your new year's resolution?" I asked, coming back to my plan.

He stared at me and smiled sweetly, "keeping my wife happy."

I rolled my eyes, "kiss ass."

"Can I change my resolution to that?"

"No."

He snapped, "dang it."

I giggled and reached down, grabbing his hands in mine, hoping he would ask me the same question as I had asked him. He got the hint. "What about you, sweetheart? What's your goal for the new year?"

"To push out a baby," I answered quietly, watching as his face went from confused to complete shock.

His eyes widened considerably and his mouth hung open awkwardly. "What are you saying? What baby?"

I pointed down at my flat stomach. "This one."

"No way," he sounded in disbelief. "When did that happen?"

I raised an eyebrow. "You know what you did," I answered, my voice going up an octave.

He smirked. "Yeah." Then he glanced down at my belly and knelt down on the ground. He turned me by my hips, so he could see my stomach from a side view. He ran his hand over my shirt covered belly and smiled. "There's a baby in there?"

"There is," I nodded. "By this time next year, we'll have a baby in our arms."

"Holy shit! Best New Years party ever!" Ace stood up and kissed me on the lips once again, warming me from the inside, out.

Things I am after writing this bonus chapter: soft.

Thank you guys for sticking with this story and Mel and Ace! This chapter is a thank you for getting me to over 80,000 views! Y'all are amazing!

I will put out another bonus chapter at 100k!

Update 2/16/19: ^lol I didn't do that. But hey, if you do want another one, comment here and let me know what you'd like to see.