“If I can ever convince you to let me take care of you, so you can just volunteer there like I do, she’ll never stop thanking either of us.” I pull Rhea down onto my lap on the floor and kiss her deeply. “Just let me shower you with love and money already, damn it.”
This is a disagreement we’ve been having for the last few weeks. I say she should let me support her fully and then she can volunteer at the shelter and Winnie will be able to hire an additional person. She says she wants to pull her own weight while also working a job that she loves. She refuses to acknowledge the fact that it’s money I donate that pays her salary, anyway, so it’s not like she’d be taking anything extra from me.
My woman is nothing if not independent. And stubborn. She’s definitely stubborn, too.
“We’ve been over this, Aiden. You already bought the new houses. And paid the movers. And bought all the new furniture. I’m not letting you take care of everything. Even letting you do all of that was more than I’m comfortable with. End of discussion.” Rhea scrambles off my lap and stands up. “Now what’s for dinner? I’m starving.”
I push aside the box I’ve been emptying and get to my feet. “About that,” I say. “Come with me. I want to show you something.” I take her hand and pull her along behind me.
“Where are we going?” She asks as she jogs to keep up. “And what’s the hurry?”
Without answering, I help her on with her coat and put mine on as well. I lead her outside and take her down to the dock.
After seeing Denise and Ryder’s house at the lake, we realized it was the perfect place for us too, and let our realtor know to focus her efforts here. Nothing was available, and no properties at all with a lot as big as Ryder’s, so we went ahead and made tentative cash offers to all the property owners with one stipulation. We would only buy a property if we could also buy the one beside it because we have plans to tear down one house and live in the other until we decide whether to rebuild from the ground up. Within a week, we had three sets of neighbours offering properties and we were able to take our pick. Now, only two weeks after we made the original offer, we’ve moved in to our space and we’re about to spend our first night here.
I couldn’t think of a better night than this for what I have planned. If I can just make it through without throwing up, everything should work out fine.
I called Winnie earlier and asked her to keep Rhea late so that I would have time to set up my surprise. And so that the lighting would be right. It’s nearly winter now, and with the earlier sunset, the sky is settling into twilight.
“What are those lights?” She asks when we get to the dock. I came out here earlier and set up twinkle lights all along the railings at the end of the dock. “What are you up to?” She eyes me suspiciously.
“You’ll see.”
I pull her along to the end of the large dock and up the stairs to the deck on the second level, where a small table for two is waiting for us. Rhea sits in the chair I pull out for her, with the cutest confused look on her face, as she looks at the table full of food and the lights wrapped around the railings surrounding us. Music plays softly through bluetooth speakers attached to the railings, a playlist of romantic songs that I’ve been agonizing over since I came up with this plan.
“Our first date at Marcus ended so badly that I thought I would recreate it here. Marcus was kind enough to make this all up for us and have one of his kitchen staff deliver it.”
I pour us each a glass of champagne.
“This is amazing, Aiden. For someone who has never done this boyfriend thing, you are surprisingly good at it.”
“You make it easy,” I say, passing her a glass. “Before you, I had no intention of ever trying to be good at it. I had no intention of ever doing it, period. Meeting you changed my life.”
“Yes, well,” she says and then takes a sip of her champagne. “I am pretty amazing and wonderful.”
I chuckle. “You are more than amazing and wonderful, Rhea. You are everything.” I take a deep breath and try to calm myself. Nervous energy has me wanting to bounce around, but I need this to be special. “Something happened to me the day I found you there on the sidewalk, sad and crying. Ever since that moment, I haven’t been able to get you out of my head.”
Rhea laughs. “That’s probably because you saved me from being assless that day. It would have been bad if you’d left me sitting there and I had to chew off my ass to escape from being frozen to the ground.”
“That’s true. You assless would be a crime. I love your ass.” I lean forward and kiss her before sliding off my chair and get down on one knee. “And I love you.”
Rhea’s mouth opens in shock. “Oh my god, Aiden. What is happening right now?”
“I love you, even though I thought I would never get to love anyone. I love you, even though I thought no one could ever love me back. You showed me that avoiding love wasn’t necessary. You taught me I am not my father, and that I will never be my father. You are the smartest, kindest, funniest, and most beautiful woman I’ve ever known.” I reach up and wipe a tear from Rhea’s face. “I know this is fast, but I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life. Rhea, will you marry me? Will you make a family with me?” I pull the ring from my pocket and hold it out to her, my heart beating so hard it feels like it’s going to jump out of my chest.
“You want to have a family? With me?” Rhea whispers.
“Yes, love. I want to have a family with you. You showed me that a family is something I can have. And I only want to have one with you.”
“Oh my god, Aiden. This is amazing!” She jumps out of her chair, leaving me kneeling in front of it while she paces around the deck. “We’re going to have a family. I can’t believe this. How many kids should we have? Can we have foster kids too? I was a foster kid and I think you and I would be great foster parents. Wouldn’t that be amazing? Foster kid to foster parent? We could foster to adopt, even.” She stops and looks over at me. I’m still kneeling, still holding the ring out, still waiting for an answer.
“So… is that a yes?” I ask with a grin on my face.
“Oh shit!” She yells and runs back to me, tackling me to the floor and snatching the ring from my hand. “YES! Of course, yes. I love you, Aiden. I’m so happy we found each other.”
“I love you, Rhea. Now kiss me.” I pull her down until our lips meet. “Thank you for changing my life.”
Rhea slips the slim platinum band with three small rose-cut diamonds onto her finger before lowering her face to mine. “Thank you for having such a nice ass.” She kisses me quickly and jumps up. “Now let’s eat this food. I’m still starving.”
