We're Getting Hitched!

During the first summer after COVID, Natalie was working at Colton's where she met a friend of Thomas's - Hannah. Hannah and Natalie managed to become friends and she later introduced the two of them to each other. They were both so nervous to hang out together that they consistently invited Hannah out, resulting in the three of them meeting up almost every other night. Here ends the part in their history where Thomas and Natalie agree... Ask Natalie what happened next, and she'll tell you this story: One night, Natalie drove the three of them down to the riverfront where they sat, listened to music, and talked. Natalie, of course, wouldn't stop talking, so she hadn't realized when Thomas and Hannah had gone silent. Thomas had been messaging Hannah, telling her how much he wanted to kiss her, but he wasn't sure if Natalie felt the same. Hannah privately messaged Natalie to tell her this, along with a warning so she could look away if they did kiss. Natalie responded, "Look at the bridge," and when she finally did, Thomas and Natalie shared their first kiss. Ask Thomas what happened, and he'll tell you this story: It was the first time Natalie was going to meet all of his friends, and one of the first times she'd see him in person, and she brought her sister along. They got called back to the house by their parents for dinner, but Thomas promised he'd wait around town for Natalie to get done. Not that her parents knew why, but Natalie inhaled her food and practically ran back out the door so he wouldn't have to wait for long, all while Thomas was INSERT HIS POV. At the end of the day, to say goodbye, Natalie got a running start and jumped into Thomas's arms for a hug, accidentally knocking his hat off. She picked it up, he told her she looked beautiful. She asked if his heart was beating as hard as hers was, he just smiled and replied probably. Then they shared their first kiss. Thus ends the debate: which story was really their first kiss? They still don't know, but the rest is mostly agreed on. He finally asked her to be his girlfriend while hanging out at Lion's Lake on October 22, 2020. Their first date was spent stargazing out in Labadie Bottoms. After 3 months, they discovered they had the same taste in music and both loved to sing. After 6 months, Thomas discovered how much of a clean freak Natalie was and finally let her clean his truck (blue-collar men leave such messes!). By their 1st anniversary, they were exchanging "I love you's" and agreed that if they didn't get married one day, it would be the worst breakup either one would ever go through - luckily we're at the former! By a year and a half, they were living in an apartment together and got a dog a couple of months after that. At three years Natalie was practically begging Thomas to tell her his timeline to propose. At four years she warned him that if he didn't propose by their five year anniversary, she was going to take him out to dinner once a month and propose to him publicly... he'd just have to deal with the consequences of that. Now if you know Thomas, he wanted to do this traditionally and by the book... The first time he asked her father for permission was at Thanksgiving in 2024. Then again in January of 2025, then again in June of that same year! And finally on July 25, 2025 he got down on one knee in Bennett Spring State Park and made her the happiest girl in the world.