Jeanie deserved to be happy, so Chad was doing what he felt was for the best. He could sacrifice his art as long as it was to help his love achieve her dreams. It was also his selfish desire to marry the girl of his dreams before she was done with med-school. Even though he wanted the whole nine yards, he would wait to discuss this after he proposed.
By the end of the day, both Jeanie and Chad had news to share with the other on the decisions that they had made.
"Welcome home, Jeanie!" Chad greeted his mate as she returned from what looked like another exhausting day at work.
Jeanie smiled at her mate and flopped down on their bed in their room. This was the only private space they had in the house, besides Chad's studio, but looking around at it now, it felt so empty. Chad had been working on packing the things they would take with them when they moved and there was a lot of stuff he was getting rid of that wouldn't fit in their tiny apartment. Even though the apartment they were moving into was so much smaller than this room, it was at least affordable between the two of them, it would afford them a little more relaxation than they could do here.
Although they could be alone in this room, they didn't feel like they could really be themselves here, since it was weird being a mated couple in another's territory. Even though Chad's parents were gems and really awesome people, they just couldn't relax here with their pheromones everywhere. Adult alphas left the nest for a reason when they came of age, it was to avoid territory disputes. Chad's grandfather was an alpha that was never home, so his pheromones were only faintly about the house, despite this being his home.
"Rough day, Angel?" Chad asked as he set about trying to soothe his tired mate.
"And then some!" Jeanie worked a retail gig and it was so exhausting dealing with problematic customers day-in and day-out. She was also booked with little to no time to rest between shifts half the time and her boss was a real jackass. But the pay was higher than anywhere else she could get right now, so she put up with it. She regaled Chad with her day before she got down the news she wanted to share about her decision.
"So, I quit my job today. I told my boss that I was done putting up with his wishy-washy bullshit and that I wasn't going to pander to his awful schedules anymore. I've decided that for the remainder of the summer I will try my hand at a full-time job and see if I can't make more money for my schooling expenses. If I don't have enough by the end of summer, I'll take out a loan. However, the downside is if I take out a loan, that will put me in debt and that will become your burden after I graduate med-school and we get married. I'm trying to avoid that as much as possible, Chad."
Listening to Jeanie's decision made Chad glad that he had listed his figures today. He pulled up his bank statements and then handed his phone to his mate.
Jeanie took her mate's phone and looked at what he wanted to show her. She gawked at the amount. "Did you rob a bank?!" She squeaked in astonishment.
"No!" Chad laughed. "I sold all of my garage kit figures today. There was no room in the apartment for them anyway, so it was better than tossing them like I've had to do with a lot of my useless art."
"WHAT?! You love your figures, Chad! How could you sell them?!"
"They are nothing if it means I can't support your dream, my lovely angel! You have a magnificent dream that deserves more than me holding onto useless figures that would just gather dust and sit around our apartment. If I can use the funds I made from selling them to support us for the next few years, then it was well worth it. I don't want to see you burn yourself out before you even start med-school! I couldn't watch you look so dispirited day after day as you fell further from what makes you happy!" Chad said passionately.
After much discussion and finally paying for all the materials that she needed for med-school, Jeannette was as prepared as she could ever be. So, when the fall term started up and the first day of school commenced for her, she was feeling a lot better. It had also helped that she and Chad had spent the entire summer together in each other's company, loving one another. Their little apartment was one of the lucky few that were being designed with alpha and omega occupants in mind for habitation. So, they had an entire soundproofed apartment to themselves, small as it may be.
Chad had a plan in mind for a proposal for his gal, but he needed a little time to pull it off. As soon as he had been assured of the legitimacy of the purchase of his figures, he tentatively sold some of his physical medium art as well. He wasn't sure if they would sell, but they had and they had sold for more than he expected them to. It wasn't spectacular, but it was just a few simple paintings of the day in the life of an artist that he had done over the summer he graduated high school. With the extra funds in his pocket, the first thing he did was make sure that he invested a portion of the money for his and Jeanie's future. Then he had finally been able to buy the ring he wanted for Jeanie and even though he couldn't get the diamonds he wanted in it; he was grateful that he could at least get the Swiss blue topaz as the center focus gemstone.
With the ring finally in his pocket, he headed to the florist next. He was going with as cliche and cheesy as possible. Jeanie loved cheesy and cliche things, so he was hoping that would extend to a proposal as well. Picking the song was easy, it was their favorite song, so he queued it up to play as he walked over to the new building where the newly established med-school was. No longer were you forced to attend the State University to go to a medical school, now you could get your medical profession education right alongside your normal education and degrees at the local university. He timed it so that he was kneeling right outside the building with the flowers he had and his finger ready to hit play on the music just as Jeanie walked out.
Hitting play as soon as he saw his love, their song playing at top volume,
As the song ended, she took the flowers and smelled them with that radiant smile still affixed to her face. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring box and opened it. Presenting her with the ring, he asked, "Jeannette Matthews, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" He made it sound so cliche which brought forth a giggle and sparkle in her eyes.
Jeanie could hardly believe her eyes. Chad, her sweet, handsome, and goofy mate, was proposing to her in the most cliche and cheesiest manner. She loved every second of his over-the-top display of love. The sheer thought he put into this had to have been rehearsed for a long time. She didn't care that they had drawn a crowd. She was enjoying the show too much to really pay attention to anyone other than her mate. She could feel his love and giddiness emanating from him and it made her giggle as he presented her with the most gorgeous ring she had ever seen. It was perfect in every way as it sparkled in the evening light. The ribbons intertwining around the rose gold heart reminded her of their days in ballet and it was the sweetest thing to her that he would honor some of their favorite memories together.