by Ford, Mia
“I’ve never been happier than I am with you, Celia.” I smiled at his words and looked into his face. “This life, this house… it’s my dream that I didn’t know I had. Everything has changed so much, and I want to see what is going to happen during the day. I am looking forward to Brin having her baby. I can’t wait to host our first Christmas Eve this year. There’s so much to look forward to now.”
“I know. There will be a kid here visiting us and playing on the beach. We’re having a baby shower in two weeks. Everything is happening so quickly.” I felt drowsy thinking about all of it.
“It seems like my sister and I are good at going out of order. That being said, I waited to do this until we were in our own place.” I stared at Remy as he moved his hands into his shorts. “I want you to be mine forever, Celia. I want to wake up with you and go to sleep with you every night. I want to have a family with you and watch them grow up together the way we did. I want it all.” I looked at his hand and saw the shimmer of a diamond in the lights. “Will you marry me?”
“Remy, yes. There’s nothing I’d rather do.” I kissed him, knocking the ring to the floor with my enthusiasm. We kissed hungrily, rolling to the floor as I laughed.
We made love by that tree, under the lights. I looked around to see our house and our furniture surrounding me as Remy got up to look for the ring. When he brought it to me, I took a closer look and started to cry. It was my mom’s ring, and I watched as he slid it on my finger. “How did you get this?” I asked as he smiled at me.
“She gave it to my mother when she decided to move. Mom cleaned it up when I knew I was planning this and swears that your mom knew I’d be the one putting it on your finger.” I kissed him softly, and he pressed his mouth to mine.
“I think she did.” I agreed as he pushed me to the soft rug again. We made love again, and I stared down at him as I rode him, seeing the sparkle of my mom’s engagement ring on my finger.
We hosted the baby shower the weekend before Christmas and I met more of their family. They congratulated us on our engagement and hugged me, telling me they remembered me what I was a kid. I helped Melinda set up the food and start the games, laughing as the twenty women tried so hard to win the prizes. Brin was glowing as she opened the gifts for her daughter, crying several times.
They were living in a small house nearby now. It wasn’t on the beach but close enough to all of us. It had three bedrooms and a larger living room than the apartment. The nursery was well on the way to being finished and she got so many more things to decorate for May’s arrival. We helped her, and Ryan take everything over after the party and I helped her get the clothes ready to wash and put away.
Brin was getting big, but she looked amazing. She was happy and healthy, falling more in love with Ryan every day. He proposed to her the day she gave birth, shortly after May was born.
We all cried, and she planned the wedding to be on her parents’ beach with just a few family and friends in the Spring. Our wedding was going to be on our beach in a year next Spring, so I could plan. I loved Remy and knew he’d be mine forever. I loved focusing on the baby and planning Brin’s wedding with her. We’d dreamed of it for years and planned on being in each other’s ceremonies so that required separate planning.
Brin wore a cream-colored dress that flowed around her body as she walked down the aisle. May was safely tucked into her grandma’s arms as they said their vows and then passed around to everyone as the new husband and wife celebrated. I danced with Remy and gazed into his eyes as he smiled down at me. “I can’t wait for this to be us,” I murmured as he leaned down to kiss me.
“Soon,” Remy assured me as a faster song began playing. He kept moving slow, and I pressed against him, needing the closeness. The reception was held at his parents’ house and was both indoors and outdoors. The food and music were inside, and the bar was located outside, and it was perfect. We celebrated late into the night and Remy drove us home since he barely drank. We walked to our bedroom, and he unzipped my pale pink dress, letting it fall to the floor as I shivered.
I felt his lips on my neck and his hand sliding down my stomach. I’d been needy for him all night and when he stroked my clit, I moaned softly. “I’ve been waiting to touch you all day,” Remy told me as I felt liquid heat rush between my thighs. “Fuck, you’re drenched for me.” He pushed me to the bed and slipped a finger inside of me, making me rock back against him. I felt him wrap his hands around my hips and his mouth on me, licking and sucking as I pressed my face into the bed. He brought me to a hard release and then I heard his zipper. He dropped his slacks and was behind me in an instant, sliding inside of me. I rocked against him and we fucked hard, needing each other. I came first, and he followed, dropping beside me on the bed.
Epilogue - Remy
Six months later
I stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom, straightening my tie. Celia swore that it brought out my eyes and I added the cuff links to my crisp, white shirt. Ryan was getting dressed in the guest room while the girls were at my parents’ house. I was marrying my first crush today after being apart for some important years. We went through things together and lived separate lives, but we were together now.
I made sure my hair was styled and stepped into the living room, looking around at the reception details. There were pink flowers that matched her bouquet placed around the house and a friend was playing the music for us. There was food in the kitchen that the caterers were preparing, and I had twenty minutes before I went downstairs and waited for my bride.
I made sure everything was in place before walking down the steps. The aisle was merely flower petals, and we were lucky with the wind today. They were still there. I walked down to stand by the preacher and smiled at him as we made small talk. I was shaking at the thought of this, something I wanted for so long.
Ryan was going to be walking his bride down the aisle to stand by Celia just as they always planned. Celia had looked beautiful at Brin’s wedding in her flowing dress and wild curls that she finally learned to love. The entire night, I was thinking of our own day and thanking the universe that we came back into each other’s lives.
Here it was.
I heard music start and stood up straight. Ryan walked Brin down the aisle and I smiled at them as she glanced at me with a teary gaze. She was already crying just like both girls had at her wedding. I gave her a reassuring look despite the fact that I was shaking all over again. I looked at my mom in the front row of the casual white chairs and she blew me a kiss as I tried to smile confidently. My father was walking Celia down the aisle since they’d always been close. There was no other option, and I heard the music change as I looked up at the house. Celia was there in her ivory lace dress that was clinging to her perfect curves and flowing around her legs. The top was just two thin straps, and she looked stunning as Dad kissed her cheek and said something to her.
They started walking towards me and I felt my heart begin to pound in my chest. I never thought I’d be here with any woman. I never thought I’d be with Celia again and now that I was, I would never let her go. I noticed movement in the rows of guests, but my eyes were locked with hers. Her eyes were big and stood out with the makeup that she wore along with a lipstick that matched the pink flowers of our wedding. They were wrapped around her head over the loose curls that bounced over her shoulders. She looked beautiful, and I shuffled on my feet as she smiled, revealing the tears in her eyes.
Today was bittersweet for her. She was thrilled to be getting married but missing her parents greatly. Wearing her mother’s engagement ring and soon the wedding band that went with it comforted her as well as her dad’s wedding ring on a long chain around her neck. I told her that they’d be here watching us with smiles on their faces and she cried in our bed. I assured her that they saw everything that she was doing. I believed that since they were such a close family, at least before her father died.
My father stopped in front of me and we smiled at each other. H
e kissed Celia’s cheek again, and I reached out for her hand as she thanked him for this. Celia stepped up to stand beside me and we smiled dreamily at each other for a moment before the preacher cleared his throat after chuckling to himself. Celia joined in as she gazed forward, and I shook my head at her. We kept the ceremony short and somewhat generic apart from writing our own vows. Nothing that was written down already would ever be enough for my bride.
I felt in my pocket for the card with the notes jotted down on mine and then Celia’s. She made me swear on my life that I wouldn’t read them but didn’t want to shove the card down her dress and have to fish it out. She had a good point, and I agreed, taking the folded card, and sticking it right into my pocket when Brin brought it to me. She warned me as well and I rolled my eyes, telling her I’d know soon enough what it said.
The preacher introduced us and thanked the guests for being here on our special day. He said a few more things before he looked at me, asking if I was ready. I nodded, licking my lips as I fumbled in my pocket again, pulling out my unfolded card and staring at the words blankly for a long moment. They seemed so right when I wrote them, and I knew that they still were. My nerves were just in overdrive right now.
“Celia, there was a time when I never thought I’d see this day. I never wanted to settle down with anyone but you, now that I look back. We were like family and best friends growing up. We were with each other constantly and I took that for granted, feeling the loss when we weren’t so lucky anymore. There was a part of me that always thought about you because you were in my heart.” She smiled at me and I pressed my lips together. “I went through a hard time a few years ago, as many of you know. I had all kinds of people around to comfort me and guide me through it, but it was Celia that I wanted to talk to. It was Celia that made me feel better if only calmer. We didn’t even need to talk, but she helped me by being there for me.” I had no plans in telling this crowd just how she did help me. “When I saw her again a year ago, I was stunned at how much she affected me. I tried to push that feeling away and force my need from my heart, telling myself that we were friends. I tried to tell myself that we were only supposed to be friends. I knew in a short amount of time that wasn’t the case and we started something new. There had always been something between us, but I wasn’t losing my chance this time.” I stared into her eyes as tears slid down her cheeks, taken aback by her beauty. “I love you, Celia. I have always loved you and I will be forever grateful that we met again and had this chance. I will spend that much time proving how much you mean to me.”
My voice faded as I stared at Celia and heard a sniffle in the crowd. It had to me Mom, and I smirked at Celia as she laughed. The preacher guided me through the process of slipping the diamond band on her left hand and I swore in front of friends and family that I would take Celia to be my wife.
He looked at Celia and she dabbed at her eyes. She stared at Brin and handed her the flowers while I reached into my pocket for her vows. I handed them to her, and she licked her lips as she unfolded the card and peered at it for a second. Her voice was shaking when she began, and I stroked her cheek with my thumb.
“Remington. It is so hard to describe my feelings for you. You’ve been in my life for as long as I can remember: as a brother figure, a best friend when I was hurting and too scared to talk about it, and for the longest time as my crush. I always thought of you that way but never thought that it would ever mean anything. We were there for each other through our hardest times and I’ll never forget that.” The look in her eyes told me that she was thinking of our first night together but not describing it as I did. “I thought about you when I was off at college all the time. When you talked to Brin each week, I wanted to ask for the phone just to hear your voice. I wanted to know how you were and to tell you that I missed you. When we both came back to San Diego at the same time, I knew that my feelings were still there. I tried to ignore them, much like you. It just wasn’t going to work for either of us.” She covered my hand with her own. “Being with you over the last several months has been incredible. You’ve supported me through so much and helped me make some great choices. I have fallen in love with you in more ways than I could ever count, and I will spend my life showing you how much I love you. I will remind you every day that you saved me. You make my life complete.”
She slipped my ring onto my finger as she took me as her husband and we stared at each other, waiting for the next words. When the preacher announced us and told me that I could kiss my bride, I cupped her face in my hands and claimed her as mine. I meant to keep it chaste, but something exploded between us and I felt her hands on my waist. We kept going at it until whistles and cheers filled the air, making me pull away and stare at her. “I love you.” I whispered before kissing her again.
“I love you.” We turned to face our guests with our hands joined and Brin handed Celia her flowers as we headed back to the house. She lifted the bouquet into the air and laughed the entire way, allowing me to pull her up the stairs for another long kiss. We were breathless as we parted, and I stared into her eyes. “You’re my wife,” I breathed as she blinked tears away.
“You’re my husband,” Celia told me before kissing me again.
The reception was a similar setup to Ryan and Brin’s. We had a bar outside on the large deck and a makeshift dance floor inside. Catered food lined the counters with plates and silverware, featuring a gorgeous cake on a round table against the wall. Everything was perfect, and we walked inside once pictures were taken.
Everyone cheered, and we started mingling immediately. The crowd was just forty people that we knew and loved, and we hugged every one of them. People started piling their plates with food and sitting down at the tables set around the room as well as outside and the music started.
Brin and Celia went to the dance floor, dancing silly moves to the songs as they laughed together. Celia was being held by everyone there that could get their hands on her, being taken into the crowd to dance a few times. Ryan took her at one point and Brin walked over to slip her arms around him and her daughter, making Celia and my mom cry again.
I danced with my family and some of the guests while Celia had a special dance with my father. She slow danced with me every song she could, being corny with Brin the other times. I loved watching her smile and have fun on a day that I knew that she was hurting. I felt proud that I made her feel that way.
Mom pulled me to the dance floor and smiled at me as we swayed to the song. “I’m proud of you, honey.” I smiled down at her as she took a deep breath. “You have grown up to be such a wonderful man and the way you love that girl makes my heart melt. I know for myself and her parents that you are going to cherish her and protect her. You always have.”
“I think I have, Mom. I just took too long to know it.” I admitted as she shook her head at me.
“Life happens for a reason, Remy. This was meant to be this way even with the hard parts of the journey.” She nodded at me and I felt emotion building in my throat.
We partied long through the night and it was after one when I secured the doors. Celia was waiting for me on the stairs and I pulled her to me for a kiss as she giggled. She’d had enough wine to be buzzed tonight, but we were both riding a natural high already. I took her hand and led her upstairs to our room, watching her as she noticed the flowers set around the room. There were pink cream ones to match the colors of the wedding, and I had them everywhere that Ryan could put them before he left for the night. The only light was the soft amber blow of our salt lamps, turned high enough so I could see the smile on her face. ‘It’s beautiful.”
“Not as much as you are,” I said as she shook her head and wrapped her arms around my neck.
Epilogue - Celia
I felt dizzy when he kissed me in our room, surrounded by the scent of the flowers filling the room. Remy included all my favorites, and it made me love him that much more. He pulled me against him and I tightened my arms around his neck, lost in this man.<
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He kissed me senseless before pulling away and moving down my neck as I moaned. I’d wanted this all night and even last night when I stayed with Brin and May at her parents’ house. I reached for his tie to loosen it and he stepped back, allowing me to do so. I pulled it off and started to drop it before I smiled, tossing it on the bed.
He growled and kissed me again, lifting me to carry me to the bed. I dropped to my knees and unbuttoned his shirt as he stared down at me hungrily. I slipped it over his shoulders, still breathless at the sight of his chiseled body. I couldn’t believe that this man was mine for the rest of my life.
Remy wasted no time unzipping my dress in the back, telling me how gorgeous I looked today as he slipped it to the ground. I was wearing cream lace boy shorts underneath and no bra and I shivered as his eyes raked over me hungrily. “Jesus fucking Christ.” He murmured before kissing me again. He stripped off his slacks before lowering me down, hovering over me as we kissed deeply. He moved between my thighs, kissing my mouth and down my neck to my hard nipples. Remy kissed them before drawing them first between his lips, then his teeth. I raked my hands through his hair and moaned as he kept teasing me with his skilled mouth.
I felt my thighs heat up, slick with arousal as he pressed against me. I raised my hips and groaned as I got a hint of the friction that I was looking for. He groaned and kissed down my stomach, pulling away as I reached for him. He kissed down my skin, slipping the underwear off before he tossed them aside.