Chapter Text
It almost never happens, but both Tanner and Veronica are at the Naturals’ house today⎼⎼which is important for what Celine’s going to do. She finds them in the office and knocks on the doorframe.
Veronica looks up first. “What’s up?” she asks. She looks a little surprised to see Celine, which is fair. Celine joined the program late enough that she’s never been all that close with Tanner or Veronica⎼⎼not in the way the other Naturals are.
Celine bites her lip. “I wanted to ask you something,” she admits.
Veronica sets her pen down and leans forward slightly. “Is it about Sloane?” she asks knowingly. Her expression clouds for a second. “You’re not in a fight or something, are you?”
“Yes, it’s about Sloane,” Celine replies. “And no.”
“If they were fighting, you probably would have heard about it from Sloane already,” Tanner points out.
He isn’t wrong. Sloane goes to Veronica for basically everything, including relationship advice. It’s sort of ironic, given that Veronica ended up divorcing her husband for a period of time⎼⎼but it also makes sense, given that Sloane doesn’t have another mother figure in her life. Her biological mother died, and her stepmother probably doesn’t even know she exists, so naturally she would go to Veronica to fill that role.
Veronica shrugs. “Good point. So what’s going on?”
Celine twists her hands together. It’s one of Sloane’s nervous habits; the one Celine picked up unconsciously from spending so much time around Sloane. “I’ve been thinking,” she says carefully. “I’m really serious about Sloane.”
Veronica nods slowly. She’s a profiler, she has to be picking up at least a little bit on what Celine’s trying to ask. That, however, doesn’t mean Celine can’t just come out and say it.
“And you two are sort of like her unofficial parents,” Celine continues. Veronica and Tanner trade glances at that. “So, I, um, wanted to ask for your permission to… propose to her?”
Veronica instantly jumps to her feet, surprising Celine⎼⎼although not surprising her quite as much as when Veronica crosses the room and wraps her arms around Celine.
“You might want to give her an answer first,” Tanner teases.
Veronica pulls back and rests her hands on Celine’s shoulders. Her eyes are watery. “Yes,” she says softly. “Of course it’s okay.” She sniffles a little. “You make her so happy, you know,” she goes on. “When you two started dating… I’d never seen her that cheerful before.” Veronica’s grip tightens a little, gently squeezing Celine’s shoulders. “She deserves that. You both deserve that.”
Celine nods, emotion crowding her throat. “Thank you,” she whispers.
“Just treat her right,” Tanner chimes in. He shrugs. “Given how things have gone so far, I’m not really worried, but I guess that’s somewhat of a required thing to say.”
Veronica rolls her eyes. “There’s no required thing to say.”
Tanner ignores her and looks directly at Celine. “You have our permission,” he tells her.
Celine finds Michael next. He’s in his room, reading⎼⎼it looks like a Jane Austen novel, which isn’t surprising in the slightest. Celine has been teasing him about his reading habits for years. “What happened?” Michael asks, studying Celine’s face. “You look like you’re on cloud nine.”
Celine fully enters the room and shuts the door behind her, just in case Sloane happens to walk down the hallway or something. “I’m going to propose,” she says. “To Sloane.”
Michael drops the book. His eyes widen in excitement. “Oh my God, that’s amazing,” he replies. “I’m⎼⎼God. I’m so happy for you.”
“Don’t tell Sloane,” Celine warns.
“Oh, don’t worry, CeCe. I am not going to spoil your surprise,” Michael promises. “That’s so⎼⎼oh my God. That’s so great.” He shakes his head in astonishment. “Does anyone else know?”
“Veronica and Tanner,” Celine replies promptly.
“You told them before me?” Michael asks, pretending to be offended.
Celine rolls her eyes. “Yes, because I was asking them for permission. Sloane’s like their daughter. I figured it made sense to ask.”
“Very sensible of you,” Michael says solemnly. He rubs his hands together. “So, how are you going about this?”
“I don’t know yet,” Celine admits. She thinks for a few seconds. “Probably something private. Sloane hates it when all the attention is on her.”
“Very true,” Michael agrees. He pauses before suggesting, “You could do it in the basement.”
“The basement?” Celine repeats.
Michael nods enthusiastically. “She’s down there ninety percent of the time, it’s private, and that’s where you two started dating. Triple threat.”
Celine thinks about it for a few seconds. “Okay, you’re making a good point,” she finally agrees.
Michael smirks. “I do have good ideas.”
“Sometimes.”
“All the time.”
“That’s definitely not true.”
Michael snorts. “Hey, speaking of lying, you could get Lia in on this.”
Celine arches her eyebrows. “How so?”
Michael shrugs. “She’s basically our fashion connoisseur. She could get information from Sloane about jewelry without it being weird, get it to you, and then, voila.” Michael gestures to absolutely nothing. “You can get a ring.” He grins. “Maybe I should start a career in planning proposals. That was a genius idea.”
“Follow your dreams,” Celine deadpans.
“Maybe I will,” Michael replies confidently. He pauses for a second before looking at Celine. A genuine smile is spreading across his face. “I seriously am happy for you,” he says quietly. “You both deserve this. And I’m claiming the role of third wheel for life.”
Celine snorts. Her eyes are watering. “I wouldn’t expect anything less from you.”
“Are you saying I’m predictable?” Michael says, feigning offense. His eyes are watering, too. “I’m wounded.”
“Clearly.”
Michael studies Celine’s face. “You’re a little nervous,” he interprets. “I think that’s normal, but, hey, everything’s going to work out. I’m very confident about that.” He pauses. “We’re going to make this perfect,” he promises. “And to do that, we will go inform Lia of her mission.”
Lia proves to be harder to find than Michael was, but eventually they catch her coming into the house from the garage. “Where have you been?” Michael asks, then corrects himself. “Never mind. I don’t want to know. We have a mission for you.”
“Is it a good mission or a bad mission?” Lia asks, arching her eyebrows suspiciously.
“Good.”
“Boring.”
“It is not boring,” Michael counters. “It’s a very important and necessary mission.”
“Technically,” Lia shoots back, “that doesn’t mean it’s not boring.”
Michael looks at Celine, who shrugs. “She has a point.”
Michael rolls his eyes. “You’re no help.” He nudges her, a silent invitation to tell Lia what’s going on.
Celine takes a deep breath. “I’m going to propose to Sloane.”
“And we need your help!” Michael declares.
Lia blinks. “Wow. First, congratulations. You make her happy, which is great. Second, why do you need my help?”
“I’m so glad you asked,” Michael says immediately. “You need to find our her opinions on rings. And⎼⎼wait, are there different ring sizes?”
Lia and Celine both nod.
“And that too,” Michael decides. “That might be important.”
Lia tosses her hair over her shoulder. “Well, I’m in,” she finally says. “Don’t worry, I will get this information out of our friendly neighborhood genius⎼⎼and she will be none the wiser.” Lia winks. “I’m very good at what I do.”