George - Chapter Twenty One: I Promise You

Some NSFW pics

This chapter, like many before it, was inspired by a specific song. I've provided it here for you to enjoy while you read.   Long chapter, lots of pictures. . .It's what I do. Lol!

Thanks so much for reading!

****George****

As we stood watching the different sizes and colors of luggage travel along the belt at the baggage claim, I couldn’t help but feel slightly worried about ours. The sooner I had it back in my possession and able to check its contents, the better. When I had originally planned out this week, I hadn’t taken into account how I would get the most important item there without her knowing. I couldn’t keep it in a pocket or carry on thanks to airport screening which left me with only one option, putting it in the luggage.

Everything about getting it there had been stressful; as we packed I had placed it in the suitcase after I was sure that she had packed everything, and of course, she immediately had gone to open the bag again to place something else in it. I thought back to that moment and how I had held my breath and prayed that she wouldn’t open that one section. Once she had finally zipped the bag back up and left the bedroom I had let out a sigh of relief. The worry over her finding it in the bag had now been replaced with fear of the luggage being lost on our way there.

So there I stood, at the baggage claim in Paradise Island, praying the next bag that came around the curve happened to be ours. I intently stared at each bag and startled when a hand touched my arm.

“You know, they say a watched kettle never boils. . .” She joked and I jerked my head to look at her and she jumped a little. “Are you always so stressed about finding your luggage?” She joked again. If she had only known the item that I had placed in there, she wouldn’t have joked about it. 

I tried to smile. “It’s just that we’ve seen some of these bags before and I’m starting to wonder why it’s taking so long for ours. . .Trev already has his.” I looked over at Trev. His bag had been one of the first to come down the line and he had moved off to the side to get out of other people’s way. 

“Hmmm. . .well, I don’t think we’re going to have to wait much longer. . .” I turned to quickly look at her and she pointed down the way at our bag. I impatiently waited for it to come slowly down the belt to where we stood and snatched it up the first moment I could reach for it. We walked over to where Trev had moved to and I couldn’t believe my luck when Steph whispered to me that she needed to use the restroom. I waited until she had gone inside before I made a mad dash to open the suitcase.

“You know, I really wish you could see yourself right now. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this frazzled.” Trev laughed.

“I just need to know it’s here.” I said as I finally opened the section I had put it in.

“I had an idea when we were on the plane, that you just could have given it to me and I could have gotten it through security and then handed it to you when she wasn’t looking. . .”

I stopped for a second to look up at him. “That would have been great, if we had thought of that before.” I sarcastically replied and stuck my hand in the unzipped section. I quickly felt the little box and pulled it out triumphantly. 

I smiled up at Trev and he smiled for a second before looking over my shoulder. “She’s coming back.”

I quickly placed the ring box in my carry on and zipped it up. 

“What in the world?” She said as she looked at the mess I had made of our clothes in the suitcase.

“Oh. . .I thought I had forgotten something and I didn’t want to wait till we got to the house.” I looked at Trev and he nodded.

“He was very worried about it.” He said with a mischievous grin.

“What could have been so important that you couldn’t wait?”

I panicked for a moment; I hadn’t thought that far ahead in my lie. I started to feel my hands sweat and I quickly scanned the contents of the suitcase to find something that would give me an answer.

“Oh, it was his razor.” I heard Trev say and I looked at him. “I then reminded him that they sell those here.” Trev pretended to joke and Steph giggled.

“Nothing in that suitcase is worth stressing over that much.” She tried to reason. “Everything in it is replaceable.” She smiled at me and placed her hand on my arm.

I smiled at her and nodded before kneeling back down to close the suitcase. She started to walk ahead of us and I glanced at Trev mouthing ‘Thank you.’

He grinned and nodded as we kept walking out the doors to grab a water taxi. We were meeting everyone else at the vacation home that we had all agreed upon. Will and Emily had been able to tell everyone about it and take pictures, and after seeing them, we had all been excited about seeing it in person. Charlotte and Ethan had decided to continue their honeymoon there and Mom had flown in the day before making Trev, Steph and I the last to arrive.

As the boat pulled up to the island, the three of us couldn’t help but stare out the windows and agree that the pictures hadn’t done justice in showing how amazing the house actually looked.  The taxi pulled up to the shore and we soon heard excited voices coming from the house as we unloaded our luggage.

“They’re here!” I heard Charlotte yell and barely had a chance to turn around before she hugged me.

“You’d think it had been several months since we’d seen each other instead of a week.” I kidded with her and she pulled back and playfully smacked my arm.

“Next time I’ll just ignore you.” She joked and turned her attention to Trev and Steph.

Ethan, Will, Emily and Brooke soon followed and we all greeted each other. Mom brought up the rear and had a gigantic smile on her face as she asked with a little too much implication. “Did everyone and everything make it here alright?” 

I briefly gave her a warning look before smiling and answering. “Yes, we made it fine.” And I left it at that. I knew what a huge risk I had taken telling everyone that I was proposing during this trip, but I hadn’t seen any other alternative. I needed help keeping Steph occupied for part of the time to make sure everything was in place and ready, and that required letting everyone in on the secret.

Ethan and Will helped Trev and me carry the bags in as the girls walked ahead of us and as we entered the front door, and just like the outside, the sight inside blew us away. Most of the first level was completely open, except for the two bedrooms on that level. An intimate sitting area sat to the right of the front door and could seat four very comfortably. At one end of the house, even more people could sit in another larger sitting area, and on the opposite end of the house, sat the kitchen and dining area that looked just as airy and bright as the seating areas. What topped it off was that every window whether from the front or back had a spectacular ocean view. 

“I’m sure the three of you want to get settled.” Mom offered. “We did already pick rooms, but I think you’ll be happy with yours.” The others smiled and nodded as she continued to explain. “One of the rooms down here has a crib. . .”

“Of course that needed to go to Will, Emily, and Brooke.” Trev said.

Mom nodded. “And the other room down here is a little girlie and smaller than some of the others. I figured you wouldn’t want that Trev, so I’m staying in that room.” He nodded and thanked her before she continued. “Upstairs are two larger rooms and one smaller. Charlotte and Ethan took one of the larger rooms; we figured George and Steph could have the other larger one and Trev the smaller.”

“As long as there’s a view of the ocean, I don’t care.” Trev admitted and Steph and I agreed. We talked for a couple more minutes before making our way upstairs and first coming upon Trev’s room. He seemed more than happy with it and Steph and I continued on our way to our room. After I opened the door, we both stood just inside the doorway with our mouths hanging open in disbelief. 

“I could stand here the rest of the week and just look out at the ocean.” Steph said after several moments of stunned silence.

“Mmmhmm.” I agreed.

“And the size of the room. . .” She said as we both slowly took our eyes off the view to look around.

“Huge.” I added just as stunned as her.

She whirled around and smiled at me in a teasing way. “What?” I wondered.

“In the last hour I’ve seen you flustered and speechless. . .”

“I wasn’t flustered.” I lied and she chuckled as she squinted her eyes at me to let me know she didn’t believe me. “We should unpack.” I said trying to change the subject. I started to get some of my things out of the suitcase to place in the dresser, making sure to not open my carry on bag, but was forced to stop when she stepped between me and the dresser.

“You’re up to something. . .” She said as she studied me.

“No I’m not. I just want to get unpacked and head downstairs so we can spend time with everyone.” I told a half-truth but I wasn’t about to admit that she had guessed correctly.

“Fine, we’ll put our stuff away, but don’t think you’ve fooled me. You’re up to something and I will figure it out.” She challenged and I couldn’t help but smirk. 

“Even if I was, there would be no way that you could get anything out of me. Master of Surprises. . .remember?” 

She traveled several steps and took the clothes that I had planned to put away out of my hands and placed them on the bed. I stood there watching her, my turn at that point to wonder what she was up to and I continued wondering as she turned her attention once again to me. She moved closer until we stood inches apart and as she looked up at me I could feel her warm breath on my face. “Oh. . .I think if I really wanted to, I could find out. . .” She seductively suggested and my arms pulled her even closer.

“I’d like to see you try.” I challenged thinking that she would try but instead a smile that went from ear to ear spread across her lips. “What?” I once again found myself asking.

“Oh, nothing. Only that you basically admitted that you're hiding something.” 

I started to argue with her but realized that it wouldn't do any good, between my speechlessness and our exchange I had slipped up. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.” I joked with her and kissed her before she could respond.

“I’m heading downstairs. Meet you down there.” Trev’s voice carried from the hallway and through our door. I stopped kissing Steph and used Trev’s announcement as a distraction.

“We really should unpack.” I said and she let out a small chuckle.

“Fine, but don’t think I’ve admitted defeat.” She warned and quickly kissed me on the cheek before letting go of me and started to unpack her things. It didn’t take us long to finish and before we made our way out of the room and downstairs, I stored the ever important bag off to one side of the dresser.

We found everyone in the large seating area and we soon started talking about our plans for the next week.

“Maybe we should all make a list of things we each want to do and then we can figure out when to do everything.” Emily suggested. We each took turns giving our opinion and eventually our list included swimming in the pool, visiting the beach, having a bonfire on the beach, family game night, going into town and visiting Will and Emily’s house, and having a girl’s day out and a guy’s day out. It seemed like we had figured out our activities when Mom spoke up.

“What about having a nice family dinner where we all dress up?” Mom wondered and everyone directed their attention to her.

“I think that would be a great idea!” Charlotte enthusiastically agreed. “What would we cook?”

“We could always have something brought in, or go out to eat.” Will added.

“Nice dinner, no cooking. . .count me in.” Trev smiled and I then took the opportunity to add my two cents.

“Maybe we should do that in the next couple of nights; might be a nice way to kick off the vacation.” I offered and everyone seemed to catch on to what I was suggesting. Before we had all arrived at the house, we had agreed on a way to talk about the proposal without Steph realizing. Mom had come up with the idea that we could use the cover of a family dinner as a way to do that. 

“Why don’t we have the guy’s/girl’s day in two days and then that night have the family dinner. . .?” Ethan wondered and briefly made eye contact  with me.

I nodded and so did everyone else, including Steph and I had to stop myself from continuing to look at her, knowing that if I did I would smile way too much. 

We decided to spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing by the pool and swimming. I got in more than one splash fight with Steph and we stepped away from everyone at one point to enjoy the ocean view on our own. Eventually people started to get hungry and Mom and Steph offered to make dinner. Once dinner was ready, everyone rushed from different area of the house to the dinning table.

Will became the first to interrupt the silence of people enjoying their food. “Which one of you cooked the salmon?” He inquired. 

“That would be Steph.” Mom offered and I proudly smiled as I looked over at Steph.

“It’s delicious!” Emily added. Everyone agreed and Steph quietly thanked them. “Have you ever thought about a career with food?” She continued. I noticed Steph ever so slightly stiffen and I started trying to think of a way to change the subject.

“You could easily make a living doing something where you provided food to people.” Charlotte voiced her opinion.

“I. . .don’t think that’s something I could do.” Steph tried to reason with them and I hoped it would stop any conversation about Steph and working with food.

“Do you not think you’re good enough? That you’re cooking ability is lacking? Because I think we all would agree that’s not the case.” Emily voiced and everyone agreed by nodding or vocalizing. I slowly moved a hand under the table and gently squeezed Steph’s hand.

“I. . .” Steph started and then took a moment to think about her response. As much as I wanted to help her, I didn’t want to answer for her; instead I sat there silently praying that somehow the topic would quickly pass to another. The sound of Steph laughing caught me off gaurd. “How am I supposed to answer that?” She looked around at everyone. “If I say that I think I’m a good enough cook then I sound completely conceited; if I don’t then I sound like I’m fishing for compliments.” Everyone chuckled but I knew that Steph had used her sarcastic personality to hide feeling uncomfortable. 

“Good point.” Charlotte chuckled. “What would be your concern then?”

Steph took a big breath and then exhaled heavily. “I. . .just don’t think it’s something that I would want to do on my own.” I slightly nodded and made short eye contact with each person to try to let them know to drop the subject but Charlotte was in her own little world. I watched as she pursed her lips as she thought and then as her expression slowly changed. 

Her eyes got huge and she looked at Ethan. “That’s it!!” Ethan looked at Charlotte and without saying a word they smiled at each other in understanding.

“What’s it?” Trev wondered.

“Ethan's been thinking about branching out, possibly selling the club.”

“What does that have to do with Steph cooking food?” Will wondered and although I didn't know where the conversation was leading, I knew one thing, I could sense Steph getting more and more tense.

“Ethan’s got experience running a business, sometimes even organizing some events. Steph is an amazing cook and is good at decorating. . .Why not go in together and start a catering business?” I held my breath as I waited for Steph’s response, still holding her hand underneath the table. 

“I personally think it’s a great idea.” Ethan added. “We know each other, have worked together, and like Charlotte said, I’ve been thinking about doing other things.”

“What made you decide to do that; to want to sell the club?” Trev wondered.

Ethan shrugged. “Even though I’ve enjoyed building the club from the beginning of its conception to now. . .” He looked again at Charlotte and smiled. “That fit my life at that point but things have changed. The hours are long, I work late, and one of the reasons I enjoyed the job so much was it gave me the opportunity to see a beautiful, blonde woman; and she doesn’t work there anymore.” Ethan reached over to hold Charlotte’s hand and they smiled at each other before he looked once again at Steph. “So I’ve been thinking and looking, trying to determine if anything else that would interest me enough to sell my half of the club; and I have to say, starting a catering/party business with someone I know. . .just might be enough to tempt me.”

Steph had stared at her plate as people talked around her until Ethan’s last admission. She slowly lifted her head and met Ethan’s eyes. “You would really consider it?” She asked in skeptical whisper.

His expression became very serious and he nodded. “Yes.” There were several moments of silence before he continued. “It’s not something we have to figure out before dinner’s over.” He joked and smiled at her, and I saw a small smile forming on her lips. “But maybe it’s something we should both think on.”

I looked back at Steph and she slowly nodding. The conversation then turned to Ethan and Charlotte’s honeymoon and I let out a small sigh of relief. Steph squeezed my hand and slightly curled her lips up before continuing to eat. The rest of the dinner conversations were light and after cleaning up the dishes we all gathered in the larger sitting area for a game of charades where it was guys verses girls. Everyone had fun and at times it got very competitive, but at the conclusion of the game the guys admit defeat. Steph seemed to relax somewhat after the dinner conversation but I could tell that at times she seemed distracted.

After more socializing, everyone started to show signs of feeling tired. Some yawns escaped, a couple of eyes drooped, and at one point we caught Mom falling asleep in her chair. We all concluded that it was time to go to bed and get some rest before our big day at the beach. As we walked up the stairs, we said goodnight to Trev and then Charlotte and Ethan before Steph and I entered our room and started getting ready for bed.  

I decided to not bring up the dinner conversation, figuring if she wanted to talk about it she would bring it up, and instead got my clothes ready for the next day. As I continued to set them out, she sat on the edge of the bed, biting her bottom lip deep in thought. She stayed like that for several minutes before standing up and moving toward the dresser in a daze to start getting out her clothes.  I forced myself to find something to do while I waited for her to bring it up, finally deciding to grab a book to look at, and made my way over to the sofa to sit down. Right as I arrived at the sofa, I noticed her walk over to the bed and drop her swimsuit on the coverlet.

“Are we going to talk about the elephant in the room?” She suddenly asked with a sigh.

I placed the book on the couch and turned around to look at her. “I didn’t want to push you to talk about it. I figured if you wanted to, you’d bring it up.” I gently admitted and she slowly nodded as she looked at the ground. The wheels were turning in her head and for a moment, I had no idea what she was thinking. But as she slowly lifted her head back up and looked into my eyes, I knew;  I saw a longing in them that I hadn’t seen before.

“You want to do it, don’t you?” I asked her almost in a whisper.

She took several seconds to answer, taking a deep breath before she eventually nodded. I wanted to dive right in and help her, but I had begun to realize that while I immediately dove in after having made a decision, Steph needed more time and needed to really think things through, even after she had made up her mind.

“I don’t know how.” She confessed and looked completely confused.

The last thing I wanted to happen was this conversation to go the same as the last time when we had gotten in an argument.  I took a moment so I could word my question carefully in hopes that she wouldn’t get upset. “What are your reservations about it?” I slightly held my breath as I waited for her answer.

“There’s just so much to think about.” She looked completely overwhelmed.

“Such as. . .” I tried to coax her.

She scrunched her face as she thought. “Like where would we base it? Would we run it out of our homes or rent or even buy a place to run it out of” She blurted out quickly.

“What do you think?” I knew she wasn’t specifically asking me for my opinion, but instead wanted to talk through her thoughts and fears.

She thought for a moment. “I think that would be something that he and I would have to discuss, but I think that initially, if we did this, we might want to start out of our homes, since we wouldn’t be sure at first about the amount of business we would be getting. I can’t imagine having large enough events to warrant getting a place. . .”

I nodded. “There’s also the fact that Ethan has done some events through the club already. If his name was attached to it, you might have more business from the start.” I cautiously added.

She raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t think about that. . .Then there’s how the business would actually run. Would it be 50/50? Would we strictly be a hired out provider or would we actually help people plan events and provide the services for them?”

“What would you want to do?”

“I wouldn’t mind either way. Maybe Ethan would have more of a preference.” She thought for a moment before continuing. “As for how things would be split. . .I guess that would depend on money. . .”

And once again, we were back to the subject that had led to our argument several weeks prior. I had come to the conclusion then that unless she asked I wasn’t going to offer to help financially. I had told her that I would do anything to help her realize her dream of starting a catering business and I had hoped that she would eventually decide to make her dream a reality, whether or not it was with my help. The silence in the room at that point was enough to almost drive me crazy and with her face turned slightly away from me, I couldn’t read her expression. She closed her eyes as she inhaled and then exhaled loudly before slowly turned her head. Her eyes flew open and she studied my face for a moment.

“I couldn’t get a loan for that much money. . at least not right now.” She quietly admitted. I stood perfectly still, holding my breath; afraid that if I moved or made a sound that it would cause her to change her mind about talking about it.  She took a step closer and again searched my face. “Would you really just give me the money. . .?” She wondered in disbelief.

“In a heartbeat.” I said with no hesitation while taking a step towards her.  

                 

“What if it failed?”

“It won’t.” I assuredly said.

“How can you be so sure?” She pleaded.

I took another step towards her. “Because I believe in you.” I seriously admitted.

She quickly looked down at the floor again and closed her eyes. She remained that way for what felt like an eternity. Eventually a small smile started to form on her lips and she slowly looked back at me and I felt my heart skip a beat as I saw only love emanating from them. She took a small step towards me. “Do you have any idea how incredible you are?” She wondered and her question completely surprised me.

“What. . .why. . .” I couldn’t even form a question.

“No one has ever believed in me like you do. . .How can you so easily do that?”

“The same way you do it for me. There have been many times when I’ve doubted myself but you believed in me.”

“Sometimes you just need a little reminder of how amazing you are.” She warmly smiled at me.

I nodded and took several steps toward her until we were right in front of each other and I cupped her face in my hands. “As do you.” I whispered.  I lost track of time as we stood looking lovingly and completely in each other’s eyes, the only sound being that of the waves coming from the open windows.

It wasn’t until I felt the uncontrollable urge to kiss her that it felt like time started moving again. As one of my hands moved to her back and pulled her closer, I leaned down and gently brushed my lips over hers and felt her shudder.

“Are you cold?” I worried. “We can close the windows. . .”

She chuckled. “I think we both know why that happened, and it’s not because I’m cold.” She teasingly looked at me.

“I just wanted to make sure.” I admitted.

“Always making sure I’m okay. . .” She reached up and stroked my cheek with the back of her hand.

“Are you okay?” I was stunned that it had been so easy for her to just then talk about what had happened at dinner and worried that she was still nervous or upset about it.

She nodded. “I’m. . .not upset; just trying to wrap my head around it all. And I know you want to help.” She acknowledged and I grinned. “Thank you for being patient with me.”

“I told you before that it’s your dream and your decision; I’ll do as much or as little as you want.”

“I know.” She said as she placed her head on my chest and hugged me. “I love you.” 

“I love you too.” I breathed into her hair. We stood in that one spot for a long time, silently holding each other as we looked out the widows at the moonlit ocean and enjoyed being in each other’s arms.

As I felt myself waking up the next morning, I reached over for Steph like I did every other morning but felt an indent in the bed where she was supposed to be. I quickly opened my eyes and looked at the empty space next to me and then at the clock. She normally didn't wake up that early and I started to wonder where she could have gone. I sat up in bed when the door opened and she tried to sneak back in.

“What have you been up to?” I wondered and then noticed that she had already gotten ready and dressed. “And why are you already dressed? Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“Someone’s full of questions this morning.” She joked and then got an all too familiar playful look. “I’ll make you a deal; I’ll answer your questions if you answer mine.”

“And what question would that be?” I smirked as I asked her, knowing fully well what she was about to ask. 

She pulled me up off the bed and pressed her body against mine. “What are you up to?” She huskily whispered.

I let out a low chuckle. “Resorting to bribery and seducing. . .someone’s getting desperate.”  I smiled broadly and she playfully smacked my chest.  I leaned down and kissed the tip of her nose. “Nice try.” I kissed her and then walked over to the couch where I had placed my robe and clothes.

“What are you doing?” She questioned.

“I’ll tell you if you answer my questions.” She shook her head and laughed.

“We’re going to the beach!” She excitedly exclaimed. “I woke up about an hour ago and immediately thought about how today is the first time I'm going to sit on a beach and I felt so excited, I couldn’t go back to sleep. I thought about waking you up but you looked so peaceful sleeping, so I quietly got up and got ready.”

“Hmmm. . .that’s too bad.” I pretended to act sad.

“Why?”

I shrugged. “Now I have to get ready all by myself. . .” I teased and then sighed acting sad. “If you need me, I’ll be in the shower. . .alone. . .”

She grabbed a pillow and tossed it at me, laughing as she scolded me. “You have no shame, do you?”

“Nope.” I grinned widely and walked out the door and into the bathroom.

After a quick shower I walked back into the bedroom and noticed that Steph wasn’t there. Figuring she had gone downstairs, I placed some additional items in our beach bag and headed there. Most everyone had made their way downstairs by that point and as I walked towards the front door to place our bag near it, I caught Steph’s eye and we both smirked as we saw each other. I casually walked into the kitchen where she was and wrapped my arms around her. 

“So, how was your shower?” She whispered into my ear.

I snickered as I turned my mouth to her ear. “Very lonely.” I admitted loud enough for only her to hear.

She laughed which caused people to look at us. “Can we get breakfast without having to endure the love fest?” Trev joked. As if to add salt to the wound, Ethan and Charlotte came down the stairs and proceeded to walk into the kitchen arm and arm looking at each other with adoring eyes. “Oh my God. . .I’m surrounded.” Trev laughed while he grabbed his cereal bowl and rushed out of the kitchen to escape.

Everyone eventually made their way to the table to eat breakfast and we talked through the plans for the day. We were all going to the beach as soon as everyone was ready and we planned to stay there until past lunch. Will and Emily had cautioned that they might leave before everyone else if they thought Brooke was getting too hot or was too cranky. I couldn’t imagine that since she seemed to be a pretty easy going baby. She had only cried a couple of times so far and only because she was hungry or needed a diaper change.  After the beach, we planned to make a brief stop at Will and Emily’s house, since most of us hadn’t seen it, and then return to the beach house to take it easy the rest of the day.

We finished eating our breakfast and started gathering all of our things. Emily and Will realized that they forgot something and she turned to the person closest to her to ask them to hold Brooke while they ran back into the house. The person happened to be Steph and as I watched her hold Brooke, I felt a pull on my heart and couldn’t help but smile at the sight. She caught me watching her and she blushed before looking back down at Brooke. Emily and Will quickly returned and we all piled into a water taxi for a nice, short ride to the beach.  

Once arriving, we each claimed a spot on the sand and I spread out a blanket for Steph and I. 

“So, since it’s your first time at the beach, you should pick what we do first.” I said as I stood up.

A huge smile crept across her lips and she looked towards the water and pointed. “I’ve always wanted to build a sand castle.”

“Building sand castles it is.” I said and grabbed the buckets and her hand. We walked to where the wet sand was and sat down to start building our castle.

“So. . .what do we do?”

“You fill the bucket with damp sand, but not too wet, it won’t stay in the shape if it’s too wet.” I filled up my bucket with damp sand. “Then you level it with a shovel, or your hand.” I demonstrated again. 

“And then you quickly turn it over and then slowly lift the bucket up.” I showed her the technique and she nodded.

“Looks simple enough.” She stated and I agreed. We each started to fill our buckets with sand but mine filled slower, a result of watching and admiring her. She filled her bucket, leveled the top, and then quickly turned it over. As she lifted the bucket slowly, she bit down on her bottom lip and wrinkled her nose until the bucket completely lifted from the sand and a gigantic smile spread across her face as she looked at me. “I did it!” She exclaimed as she pointed to her pile of sand. 

During moments like that I was overcome by the love I felt for her; the times when I would watch her and witness her excitement or enjoyment. Her whole face would light up and her eyes would sparkle even more than normal and I would suddenly feel the breath knocked out of me by her beauty. I smiled at her as I scooted closer and kissed her.

“What was that for?” She wondered after we stopped.

“For being you.” I honestly replied and she blushed. We continued to build our castle until she deemed it perfect and then she glanced over at the water. 

“Is Trev snorkeling?” She pointed to Trev in the water and I nodded. “Can we do that? Do you know how?”

“I do. It’s not hard. Is that what you want to do next?” She enthusiastically nodded and I smiled as I stood up and then helped her to her feet. We walked over to the small building where people could rent snorkeling equipment and after helping Steph put on her gear and putting mine on, we got in the water and soon we were both snorkeling. We saw some interesting coral formations and beautiful fish and at one point I pointed to an eel that swam close by and Steph grabbed on to my arm. It eventually swam away and she relaxed again as we continued to explore. 

We finished snorkeling and decided to walk along the beach. We walked hand in hand, talking about various things; about how you could see everything in the beautiful, clear water; how wonderful it felt to spend some relaxing time together after the crazy prior months. . .at one point we stopped to admire some of the houses that we could see on another island. I pointed out an unusual tree on one of the properties when a splash of water hitting me on my side startled me. I slowly looked toward where the water had come from and Steph stood a little ways away with a playful look in her eyes.

“Did you just splash me?” I asked in fake horror. She responded by bending over and splashing me again. “Big mistake.” I warned her and started my own water assault. We splashed back and forth for several minutes, both doing a decent job of getting the other wet, but eventually her assaults started to weaken and once she realized that she was losing the  battle, she tried to run away. I quickly chased after her and she  smiled and screamed as she tried to get away, occasionally trying to splash water at me to slow me down. Her efforts didn't save her though, and it didn’t take long for me to catch her. I tickled her until tears streamed down her cheeks and she fell onto the sand, gasping for breath. “UNCLE!!!” She cried.

“Do you admit that starting a water fight with me was a big mistake?” I asked.

“YES!!!”

“Are you willing to admit that I’m the master and ultimate champion of water battles?” I joked as I kept tickling her.

“YES!!!”

I tickled her sides one last time and then sat back as I watched her try to catch her breath. As her breathing became normal again she let out a loud, happy sigh and smiled at me. “You about wore me out.” She joked.

“That’ll teach you to start battles that you can’t win.” She stuck her tongue out causing me to laugh. As we sat there watching people around us, I slowly became aware of the fact that I was getting hot from sitting in the sun and not being in the water.  “Do you want to go back in the water?” I asked and she turned her head from looking over at the rest of the family. “I’m starting to get hot.” I admitted.

“Why don’t we go relax under the umbrella? Did you pack the books and magazines we laid out last night?”

I nodded and helped her up. We walked back to our blanket and Steph retrieved a cooking magazine from the bag while I grabbed one of the books. She immediately lay down and started flipping through the magazine, folding down pages that had recipes that interested her. I smiled and thought about relaxing and reading but instead found myself watching the rest of the family. All of us had spread our blankets out close to each other. A couple of feet away, Will and Emily sat on their blanket. Will was of course getting ready to type away on his laptop and I couldn’t help but wonder at how he wasn’t stressed about sand getting into it. It seemed to be the furthest thing from his mind though; instead he concentrated on the screen as his fingers rapidly hit keys. Emily read a book but looked up every once in a while to where Mom stood and smiled.

I followed where Emily’s eyes focused and started watching Mom. She stood underneath her umbrella while holding Brooke, pointing at various things around the beach and talking to Brooke who looked up at Mom. She seemed pretty aware for only being three months old. I sat there for a while watching her with Brooke and my mind began to wander and I wondered if that something she did with the four of us when we were smaller. I smiled as I thought about older family pictures of Mom and Dad with the four of us as toddlers and almost chuckled at the thought. The fact that both of them had kept their sanity through those years seemed a miracle; at least people who didn’t know them very well probably thought that. But having grown up watching both of them and their relationship, their love and devotion to each other had been obvious  and our family helped them get through what undoubtedly felt like stressful times.  

That’s what I had been searching for the last several years but hadn’t realized until recently that I had been; I had thought that what I longed for was our family coming back together. It wasn’t until after I had met Steph that I had realized that not only had I longed for our family to be whole again, I had also been searching for what Mom and Dad had together but had pretty much given up on finding. Steph had pulled that dream out from somewhere deep inside of me. Because of her, my dreams had become a reality. Her belief in me helped give me the boost in confidence I needed to finally step out and help people with their grief. Her love had helped me realize that I too could have the loving, unselfish, dedicated, trusting, nurturing, and complete love that Mom and Dad had; and the overwhelming love and gratitude that I felt from her helping me, desperately made me want to help her with her dreams.

I looked down at her as she laid there next to me still enjoying looking through her magazine. She lazily kicked her legs as she skimmed the words and glanced at the pictures.  The wind lightly blew and tossed her rich brown hair and I lost track of time staring her. A sudden urge to be close to her overtook me and I laid down next to her and I propped up on one arm while the other moved towards her and my hand started to caress her back.

She turned her head and looked at me, smiling and searching my face. Her brows furrowed as a concerned expression swept across hers. “Are you okay?” 

I beamed at her as I bent my head down to kiss her cheek. “I’m perfect.” I admitted and she smiled up at me as she scooted closer and nuzzled into my side, continuing to read.

I continued to stroke her back as I looked once again at the family. Charlotte and Ethan had been snorkeling but had stopped to sit on their blanket.  In all the scenarios that I had envisioned about reconnecting with Charlotte, I had never dreamed of her being so happy. I had hoped that we would eventually find out that she was okay and that somehow there wouldn’t be much tension; but the happiness I had imagined her having wasn’t anything as close to the happiness she had, and Ethan deserved the credit. He provided for Charlotte what Steph did for me and what Dad and Mom had provided for each other; the person that completed them. It was uncanny that the three of us, Will, Charlotte, and myself seemed to have found our soul mates. Before meeting Steph I never would have admitted to believing in such a thing as soul mates, but I couldn’t think of other words for it. The three of us had found the person that had seemed to be missing from our lives; the person that had freed our souls to be their true selves, the souls that we had been afraid to reveal to others before they entered our lives.

I lastly looked over at Trev and wondered if he would ever find his “soul mate.” He seemed so dead set on being a bachelor forever, but so much had changed with him lately that there was no telling what would happen down the road. At the present, he seemed content to be off by himself and dive into his recovery and his career, even at that moment sitting under an umbrella looking at what looked to be a playbook. Whatever the future held for Trev, I felt immensely grateful that at that moment appeared to be in a good place and had a purpose in his life.

I contently sighed as I looked back down at Steph and lowered my head down to lay down next to her. I kept one hand on her back as I closed my eyes and enjoyed the sensation of the light breeze blowing over me. I couldn’t remember the last time I had been that relaxed. It wasn’t until Steph shook me awake that I realized that I had fallen asleep and I barely opened my eyes to peek at her.

“Wake up, sleepyhead.” She coaxed. “The others are getting up to get lunch ready.” At the mention of food I sat straight up and she laughed at me. “Of course the mention of eating food would wake you up.” She teased and I agreed with her as we both stood up and walked over to the tables to help with the food.  We had brought hamburgers and hotdogs and while the girls got the rest of the food ready, the guys cooked the meat on the grills that sat near the picnic tables. By the time we sat down to eat, my stomach let out a loud grumble.

As we ate, the conversation revolved around the beautiful weather and the gorgeous beach and continued as we cleaned up.

“Do you come here often?” Steph asked Will and Emily.

They smiled at each other. “This is actually the beach where we met so it’s pretty special to us. We come here on our anniversary but it’s also the beach we prefer to come to just to relax and have fun.”

Steph looked confused for a minute as she thought about what Will had just said. “The two of you met during a family vacation, right? You mentioned it at Christmas. . .?”

Emily nodded. “That’s right. Just over there. . .” She turned to point at an umbrella that someone else occupied. “. . .I walked up to him and asked if I could share an umbrella with him.”

Will laughed. “The same spot that Dad later tried to convince me that you flirted with me.”

“You should have listened to him.” Emily teased him and then kissed him on the cheek.

“So all of you have been to this beach before?” Steph asked looking around. We all nodded except for Ethan. “Obviously I haven’t.” He joked.

“Yup, we came to this beach several times on our last family vacation. And you weren’t the only one that Dad had a conversation with on this beach, Willie.” Trev looked over at him as he continued. “I had one of those famous talks with him as well.”

“So did I.” Charlotte admitted and they then all turned to look at me.

“I did as well.”

Mom started to chuckle. “He tended to do that. Once he had a talk with one of you, he made it a mission to have one with all of you.” She scanned all of our faces and  her lips curved upwards. “I think that he would be happy that we came back here and are trying to make some happy memories. Although for me, this place will always be a happy place.”

“Why’s that?” Ethan wondered.

“Because this is where we had our wedding and honeymoon. I even found out I was pregnant with Trev and Will here. Although, at the time I didn’t think I  would have twins. . .” She looked at Trev and Will. “And I sure didn’t think it would be repeated a little over a year later.” She looked at Charlotte and me and then looked up at the sky. “This place will always be a happy place for me.” She looked once again at all of us. “I hope after this trip that when all of you think of this place, there will be happy memories associated with it; not the pain that has seemed to cast a cloud over it for all these years.” She sadly smiled. “I’m going for a walk.” She announced and headed towards the water.

After several minutes of silence Steph looked at me. “Is she okay?” 

I nodded. “It’s just like she said, this place has a lot of memories associated with it. Good ones, but I’ve noticed her breaking away from the family several times to have some alone moments.”

“I had forgotten that she and Dad had gotten married and honeymooned here.” Trev admitted. “I mean, I knew, but for some reason didn’t think about it in relation to this trip.” 

Charlotte nodded. “You would think it would be the hardest for her to come back here but she seems to almost be happy.”

“Maybe she feels connected to Dad from being here.” Will offered.

“I think that may be part of it.” I said. “I know that in the short time we’ve been here that I’ve felt that way several times.” They all nodded.  Once Mom rejoined us, we packed up and headed to Will and Emily’s house. We didn’t stay there long, just long enough to get a quick tour, and then we headed back to the beach house. Once there, everyone headed to their bedrooms to change clothes.

Steph and I had finished changing ours and took a moment to stand at the windows to look out at the ocean.
 

“Did you have a good time at the beach?” I asked her as I wrapped my arms around her.

She enthusiastically nodded. “I did.” She quickly turned around to face me . “Thank you.” She smiled as she caressed one of my cheeks.

“What for?”

She shrugged. “For making my first trip to the beach so much fun.” A huge grin spread across her face. “I think we just about did everything that can be done on the beach.”

“Just about.” I said and then kissed her.

She broke away suddenly and looked deep into my eyes. “There’s that look.” She said.

“What look?”

“That look that you get when you’re up to something.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I lied and couldn’t help but smile.

“See. I’m going to either get you to tell me or I’m going to figure it out.” She challenged.

“When are you going to learn that you are never going to figure out my surprises?”

“When are you going to learn that I’ll never give up?”

I laughed and pulled her closer. “I think I’ve finally met my match when it comes to stubbornness.” I teased her. “And competitiveness.”

She laughed as she looked up at me. “Is it wrong that I now want to be more stubborn than you?” She joked.

“Just goes to prove my point.” I chuckled. “But, like I said before, even if there was something for you to ‘figure out,’ you wouldn’t be able to.”

She playfully narrowed her eyes. “We’ll see. . .”

After the morning spent at the beach, we were all happy to spend the afternoon relaxing at the beach house. I knew at some point I needed to talk to the guys so we could be on the same page about the next day. In the morning, we were splitting up; the guys going off on their own and the girls going off to do fun things. 

I cornered Mom in the kitchen and mentioned that I needed to talk to the guys without it being obvious. As suspicious as Steph had become that something was going on, I knew that if she saw the guys all talking or going off by ourselves, it would be a dead giveaway.  Mom smiled and told me not to worry about it, she would think of a way to distract Steph. About a half hour after I had asked for Mom’s help, she and the girls walked into the sitting area and mentioned that they had decided to go to the market to buy food for dinner.  The second I saw them get into the water taxi, we gathered in the larger sitting area.

“So is everything still a go for tomorrow?” Will asked as we all sat down.

“Yeah. I won’t need a ton of help but if you guys can help me for maybe an hour, I’ll be good to go.”

“The whole splitting up and having a guys and girls day is going to work out perfectly. She’ll think you’re with us all day and won’t know any better.” Trev chuckled.

“It really does provide the perfect cover. You still have the ring, don’t you?” I asked him slightly worried.

“Yup. It’s in the dresser drawer that you saw me put it in.” Trev admitted.

“What made you decide to do that?” Ethan asked.       

  

“I knew that if I stressed out about her finding it in my bag that she would pick up on me worrying about something so I asked Trev if I could hide it in his room.”

“Whenever you need it, just grab it from the dresser.” 

I nodded. “Thanks for keeping it safe.”

He grinned mischievously. “I’m always willing to help deceive unsuspecting people.” We all chuckled.

“So would it be okay if after we left here tomorrow, that we go to the spot and you help me start to set up? Then you can go do whatever it is you want to do and I can stay there finishing up.”

They all looked at each other and nodded. “Sounds good. Are you sure you don’t want us to stick around and help?”

“No; thanks for the offer though. What are you going to do tomorrow? I’m sure Steph’s going to ask and if I don’t have an answer it’ll look suspicious.”

“I had mentioned scuba diving, Trev said something about windsurfing, and Ethan expressed an interest in riding jet skis.” Will revealed.

“Sounds good. I’ll throw in snorkeling for my suggestion in case the conversation comes up and I’m not around.”

Ethan snickered. “You really do think of everything, don’t you?”

“All part of being the Master of Surprises.” I joked and then let out a heavy sigh. “I’ve just got to keep it from her for a little over twenty four hours now. But there’s no way I could have kept it from her for any longer than that. She’s too perceptive for that. She already knows something’s up.”

“Do you think she knows what?” Trev wondered.

I thought for a moment before shaking my head. “No. . .I don’t think she knows exactly what it is. I think once we get to the point where it’s revealed that things aren’t what they seem with the family dinner and then we go off by ourselves. . .I think that it would be one of the scenarios that runs through her head."

“Charlotte knew.” Ethan interjected. “Not beforehand but once she saw the dinner and the candles, she knew what was going on. It’s almost like women have this built in ability to sense it.”

Will nodded. “Same thing with Emily, even though we hadn’t dated very long and we weren’t living together like you and Steph. . .” He looked at Ethan. “. . .and you and Charlotte.”

“As long as I can keep it from her until dinnertime tomorrow, I’ll be happy.”

****Steph****

Our second morning at the beach house started like most mornings. I slowly became aware of my surroundings and felt an arm wrapped around my waist. As George usually started to wake up, he would move closer until our bodies touched and would drape one of his arms around me. I never knew if it was his movement that usually caused me to start waking up, or if I just gradually woke up sometime after he did, whatever the case, most mornings I woke up to him holding me.

I loved this time of day, when both of us had just started to wake up and lightly dozed; both enjoying the peaceful moment of being together. This particular morning though, the sound of the waves outside added to the peacefulness and as I lay there listening to the waves and George’s light snoring, I smiled as I thought about how lucky I was. I hoped that a day never went by that I took the loving, caring, sensitive, and thoughtful man lying next to me for granted.

I felt ashamed to admit that before his accident several weeks before, I had almost done just that; taken for granted that he always went out of his way to be there for me, supporting me, and I hadn't wanted to really acknowledge what we had together.  The depth of emotions I had felt that day when I had no idea what had happened to him at first scared me. The full gravity of my feelings for him hit me as I stood outside the hospital and imagined the worst.. I realized that even without opening up completely, I had gotten to a point where I couldn’t live without him, I needed him like every living being needed air. It was a powerful feeling and whenever I had though back on it, I could feel  the breath knocked out of me just as it had been the moment I first realized the full extent of my love for him.

I felt his arm tighten even more around my waist as he pulled me even closer. “How long have you been awake?” He asked and then kissed my shoulder.

“I’m not sure.” I admitted. “I’ve been enjoying the sound of the waves and you snoring.”

“I do not snore.” He tried to argue.

“You can deny it as much as you want, but it’s still true. . .you snore. But only a little.” I said as I rolled over to face him. He pretended to act hurt and I kissed him on his cheek. “Does that make it better?” I asked with a pouting face.

He thought for a moment and then shrugged. “A little.” His eyes almost instantaneously changed from playful and light to intense and full of desire. He pulled my body into his and huskily whispered. “I know a way that you can make it completely better.” His lips crashed into mine, taking the breath away from me from the suddenness of it. As I got over the initial surprise, I started intertwining my legs with his and he suddenly stopped kissing me. 

“As much as I want to stay in this bed with you, we need to get ready. The guys are expecting to leave in about an hour and if we keep this up I’ll be late and I’ll never hear the end of it.”

It was my turn to act hurt. “Only if you promise to make it up to me later.”

“I most definitely will.” He said completely serious and as much as I looked forward to it, I also wondered why he had responded the way he had. Before I could ask him he rushed out of the bed and put on a pair of shorts. His sudden change in behavior made me wonder if he was up to something.

“So. . .what exactly are you guys doing today?” I asked, hoping that he would slip up somewhere and accidentally reveal something to me. I knew I had a slim chance of learning his plans but figured it couldn't hurt to try.

“I’m not sure. Trev mentioned something about windsurfing which I haven’t done since our last trip. Ethan wants to ride jet skis, Will mentioned scuba diving, and I talked about snorkeling. Whatever we do, it sounds like the beach and water is involved.” As if to prove his point he opened up a drawer and pulled out one of his swim trunks. It sounded all legit and there hadn’t been any hesitation when he answered. For all I knew, whatever he had up his sleeve and had kept from me could have been that day or later, but from how he was acting it seemed like it was probably going to come later.

Although, he was good at hiding things and since he acted like everything was normal, maybe he meant to throw me off and whatever he had planned was right around the corner. . .I was completely confused and I knew I should just let it go but it killed me that he was so stinking good at surprising me. I kept telling myself that I just needed to stop obsessing over it.  Every time he had ever sprung a surprise on me it had been amazing; I made the decision to stop wondering about what he was up to and tried to enjoy our time there. I got out of bed and put my robe on before starting to get my clothes together.

“What about you girls? Anything special planned today?” He stopped getting his things together and looked at me. 

“Charlotte mentioned shopping.”

“What a shock!” He joked and I laughed. “I would wonder about her being sick if she didn’t want to go shopping. I’m sure Ethan’s a little relieved that he doesn’t have to participate in another shopping excursion.”

I nodded. “Your mom mentioned us having a nice lunch on the deck, I think she hoped that we would all get in a little girl talk. I wouldn’t be surprised if we ended up relaxing by the pool or maybe we’ll even snorkel. But Charlotte is determined to get the shopping done first thing.”

“Sounds like a full day. I have no idea what time we’ll be back. The nice family dinner Mom wanted to have is tonight so we’ll be back in time for that.” He added.

I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around him. “I hope you have fun today. I’m glad that you guys get to hang out. It’s been a long time since you, Trev, and Will got to do anything together, isn’t it?”

“I honestly can’t remember the last time. . .” He thought hard for several moments before shaking his head and giving up. “It’ll be nice to hang out with Ethan too. It’ll give him and Will a chance to get to know each other better.” He smiled down at me as his hand caressed my arm. “You have fun today, too. I know it will be hard since I’m not around, but try to make the best of it.” He joked and I guffawed.

“I will definitely miss you, and I will try my hardest to make it through the day without you. . .although I’m sure I’ll fail miserably.” I teased him.

He pulled me closer and again looked completely serious. “I’ll be thinking about you all day.” His lips gently kissed mine sending a shiver up and down my spine. He slowly pulled away and smiled lovingly at me. “We’ll have to make sure to do something special later tonight by ourselves to make up for not seeing each other most of the day.” 

“I’d settle for a romantic walk along the beach.” I suggested.

“I think that can be arranged.” He said before kissing me and causing butterflies to fly around in my stomach. I sighed contently as I looked up at him and he smiled at me. “Hold that thought until later.” He whispered and I wished for it to be the evening so we could be alone.

****George****
 

“Are you nervous?” Ethan asked me as he grabbed a chair.

“Not right now; although with trying to get everything ready I haven’t had much time to dwell on it. Can you help me, Trev?” He walked over to the table and helped me pick it up. “Right here is good.” I informed him and we set it down. Ethan placed one chair at the table and then Will placed the other

“I don’t remember ever being as nervous as when I asked Charlotte.” Ethan admitted.

“Did you think she might say no?” Will wondered.

“No, I mean. . .there might been moments in the days leading up to it that I doubted for a split second but it wasn’t from having actual doubts; more so from realizing that I would soon be doing something that was life changing, even though it’s something that I wanted.”

“I didn't know what Emily would say. Since we had only been on five dates, I wasn’t entirely sure what would happen. I had visions before asking her where her eyes would get huge and she would back away repulsed and then run away screaming. Sometimes she would take the ring and throw it in the ocean. Thank goodness that wasn’t what happened!”

“I remember Dad mentioning that he felt nervous asking Mom, even though they had known each other and dated forever. I think it’s pretty much normal. . .although I can’t speak from personal experience.” Trev added with a smirk.

“Maybe you will someday. . .” Will hinted.

Trev shrugged his shoulders and smiled. “I can’t thank you enough, Will for scouting the island for a spot. This is perfect.” I said as I looked at the view.

“It was fun! I kind of felt like a spy on some secret mission.” He grinned.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it!” I laughed and looked around. “That’s all I really need help with.” I said and then looked at the three of them.

“Are you sure you don’t want any more help?” Trev offered.

“No; I’m good. You guys go on. Thanks for helping me.”

After saying goodbyes, they climbed aboard a water taxi and went off to do some of their beach activities. I looked around at all of the items scattered along the beach and started thinking about how I wanted to place things. Most of the planning leading up to that point I had needed Will and Emily’s help with since I couldn’t physically be on the island. I had told Will what I wanted to do and he and Emily had given me phone numbers for local businesses that could help. All the items I looked at; the table, chairs, and tableware had been delivered to that spot on the island earlier in the morning. I had been fortunate that I had been able to see every item online that had been delivered. I wanted to achieve a specific look and it would have been very hard to make that a reality without being able to see them beforehand. 

I picked up the table cloth first and spread it over the table, making sure it was centered and smoothed out any wrinkles. The business that I had rented from had asked if I wanted them to set it up, but I had declined. I wanted to do as much as possible myself, not because I didn’t trust anyone to do it right, but because I wanted this to come from me. Satisfied with how the table cloth looked, I walked back to the collection of objects to decide what I wanted to place next. I continued walking back and forth, retrieving items, placing them, sometimes adjusting them, but by noon I had gotten everything ready that I could. The catering company that I had contacted would bringing the food closer to dinner.

Trev, Will, and Ethan weren’t due back to pick me up for another half hour and I decided to find a spot near the water to sit and relax until they arrived. As I looked out at the ocean, I started daydreaming about dinner that night. I had been daydreaming about it for weeks, but being at the actual proposal spot  added even more excitement to my imaginings and it really hit me that after tonight, hoping that nothing unforeseen happened, Steph and I would be planning our wedding. That thought caused a huge grin to spread on my face. I sat there continuing to daydream until Will, Ethan, and Trev came back. I had finished early enough to join them in their last activity which I hoped would help relax me a little before that night. I joined them on the taxi and as it pulled away from the island, I glanced one last time at the spot, smiling as I thought once again about the events that would take place there later.

We returned home after windsurfing and everyone went their separate ways to get ready for dinner. “Do you know what we’re having tonight? I don’t remember your Mom mentioning it.” Steph asked as I walked through the bedroom door. I had finished getting ready and had walked back in to check on how much longer she needed to get ready.

“She hasn’t shared with me what she’s planning on having tonight. Maybe she wants it to be a surprise.” It took every ounce of self-control to stop the Cheshire cat grin that wanted to appear on my face from forming. We had less than a half an hour until the surprises started and I didn’t want to give anything away before then. “How long until you think you’ll be ready?”

She kept looking at the dresses she had brought as she responded. “Maybe twenty minutes. . .I’m trying to figure out what to wear.”

“I’ll go see if Mom needs help with anything.” I mentioned as I walked to the door. “Oh!” I exclaimed before opening it. “If you want some input, my favorite is the purple one. . .” I flashed her a smile before walking out of the room and down the stairs.

“Is she almost ready?” Mom asked as I walked into the kitchen. 

I nodded. “She’s getting dressed now.”

“Are you nervous yet?” Charlotte asked.

“It’s a combination of nerves and excitement. At the moment I’m just happy that she hasn’t figured out what’s about to happen.”

I looked around at all of them and they all had the same gigantic smiles on their faces. “You have the ring, don’t you?” Trev all of a sudden worried.

I nodded. “I got it a little while ago.”

“Well, we’ll get going. We’ll be gone for several hours. It takes a little while to get to the restaurant and then we were going to stop and pick up the celebration cake before heading back.” Mom mentioned as everyone got their things together. She walked up to me and gave me a hug, which somewhat caught me off guard and I started to feel tears in my eyes. I had gained control of my emotions by the time we pulled apart and she smiled at me before walking over to the front door where everyone else had waited. They waved goodbye and walked out the door right as Steph walked down the stairs.

I was determined to remember every detail of this night and as she walked down the stairs my eyes took in every inch of her and every movement. She had decided to wear the purple dress that I had mentioned being my favorite and her beauty literally took my breath away.  As she stepped onto the floor she looked around and her smiling face turned to a confused one. “Where is everyone?”

I walked over to where she had frozen. “You look absolutely stunning” I said before kissing her hand and then looked deep into her eyes.

She smiled again but still looked completely confused. “Thank you, but why is no one down here?”

I smiled as I placed her hand around my arm. “They went out to eat at a restaurant.” I quietly revealed as I gently led her to the back door.

“Are we meeting them there?”

I held the door open for her and after walking out I placed her hand back on my arm and started leading her away from the house. “No. I had something else in mind.”

Her eyes lit up and she looked like an excited child on Christmas morning. “You sneak! This is what you’ve been up to!”

I chuckled. “Yup.”

“Why are we walking from the back of the house though? If we’re going to eat, shouldn’t we be going out the front and taking a water taxi somewhere?” She had just finished asking her questions when we arrived at the beach. She stopped as soon as she saw the table and chairs and I heard her take in a quick breath. She stood there for a moment in complete shock as she looked at the sight in front of us. I watched her as she looked from the rose petals scattered around the table and chairs and made her way up to the table itself and the candelabra, flowers, and champagne. “George. . .” She whispered my name as she slowly turned to look at me and swallowed hard before continuing. “It’s beautiful.” She breathlessly said.

I smiled and led her to the table and pulled out a chair for her to sit in. As she sat down she looked out at the ocean with a look of disbelief still on her face. I walked over to my chair and sat down watching her face as different emotions flashed across it. I could still see the disbelief, but I also noticed looks of astonishment, elation, and confusion. She eventually looked over at me and once again started with the questions.

“What were you really doing today?” She asked as a smile slowly crept onto her lips. 

“I may have been setting this up.” I admitted.

“I didn’t even know a beach existed this close to the house. . .when did you have time to discover it?” 

“I didn’t. When Will and Emily looked at the house they noticed the beach and told me about it.”

Her eyes got huge with disbelief. “You’ve been planning this dinner for that long. . .”

I smiled at her and slowly nodded. I again noticed her swallow hard and she bit down on her bottom lip. “Do you want some champagne?” I asked her and she nodded again. I poured us each a glass and returned the bottle to the bucket of ice.

“Good evening.” The sound of the deep voice caught Steph by surprise and she jumped in her seat.

“My name is Ricardo and I’ll be serving you tonight. Is everything to your satisfaction, Mr. Davila?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Very good. There’s a bell on the table, whenever you require anything or are ready for the next course, please ring it. Are you ready for the first course?” He looked at both Steph and I.

I glanced at her and she nodded even though she looked confused. “I believe we are.” I declared.

“Very good. I will return shortly.” Steph and I both watched as he walked toward the trees and then disappeared from sight.

“He about made me jump out of my chair!” She laughed. 

“He does seem to be sneaky.” I joked.

“So how many courses are we having tonight?” 

“Four; a soup course, then salad, then the main entrée, and lastly, dessert.”

She nodded as she picked up her napkin and then smoothed it on her lap. I did the same and then reached for my glass of champagne. “How about a toast?” I offered. She smiled and reached for her glass and then raised an eyebrow as she waited for me to continue.

I raised my glass and looked deep into her eyes. “To the most amazing, loving, thoughtful, gorgeous woman who takes my breath away every time I look at or am near her.” I clinked my glass on hers as her cheeks blushed.

Ricardo returned with our soup and as we ate, we talked about our days and continued to enjoy the incredible view. I found that as the salad was placed in front of me that I wasn’t all that hungry. The excitement I felt had curbed any hunger I may have had. We were in the process of eating the main entrée when Steph noticed my lack of appetite.

“Are you already full?” She asked after taking a bite of the lobster.

“I’m much more interested in watching you than in eating right now.” I admitted.

She looked down at her plate and pushed the lobster around. She eventually smirked as she looked at me. “You realize that if you keep saying things like that and surprising me like this that you’re going to spoil me.” 

I leaned closer to her. “I’ve only begun to spoil you.”

“Is that a promise?” She teasingly asked.

I smiled at her. “I’ll add it to my list of promises I’ve made to you.” I looked at her plate and then back at her. “Are you done with your lobster?” She nodded and I rang the bell. Ricardo quickly appeared and as he after took our plates away she responded.

“A list?” She thought for a moment as she took a sip of champagne and a smirk appeared on her lips. “What’s on your list so far?” She asked as she placed her glass back down on the table.

“Well. . .” I pretended to think hard about it. “We both promised that we would eat breakfast together every morning.” She smiled and nodded. “I seem to recall promising to call you when I leave work every day.” 

“I do recall that.” She admitted as her smile got bigger.

“I just now promised to spoil you. . .” Before I could continue, Ricardo returned with the dessert and quickly departed.

She looked down at the dessert and shook her head. “Apple pie?” She once again smirked.

“You did mention that you liked it. . .And I couldn’t resist since your face lights up like sunshine when you talk about it.”

She laughed and just like I had stated, her face lit up like sunshine. She picked up her fork and took a bite of her pie and I thought about how we had just been talking about promises. For weeks I had thought about what I would say when I proposed, never really deciding on anything since I didn’t want it to be rehearsed. I had hoped that our dinner conversation would present the perfect moment and with the talk of promises, it had done that.

“Are there any more promises you’d like me to add to my list?” I asked.

“Hmmm. . .” She thought for a moment as she continued to eat her pie. “I feel bad that you have a list and I don’t.”

“What would you promise?”

Her eyes twinkled as she spoke. “I promise to serve you breakfast in bed on your birthdays.”

“I like that promise!” I admitted. “My turn. . .” I thought for a moment. “I promise that I will never drink milk out of the carton.”

She let out a loud laugh before adding to our list of promises. “I promise to trust you from now on when it comes to surprises.”

“A very wise decision on your part” I joked. I tried to think of something else and soon thought of something. “I promise to clean the litter box. I know it isn’t your favorite thing to do.”

“That’s very nice of you. I love the cats but not their box.” She declared. “Maybe we should write all these down. That way if I ever catch you drinking out of the milk carton I can refer to your promise on the list.” She half joked and then added another one; this time a little more serious. “I promise that each day I will kiss you good morning and good night.” 

I nodded and quickly responded. “I promise to never go to bed angry.”

Her expression grew serious before replying. “I promise to always listen to you, even when I’m angry.”

I leaned forward and reached for her hand. “I promise to be there for you when life gets crazy and times are hard.”  I felt my heart start beating faster as our promises became more and more serious.

“I promise to remind you how incredible you are.” She whispered.

I squeezed her hand as I reached into my pocket with my other hand. “I promise. . .to love you for the rest of my life.” There were tears in her eyes as I finished and as I got down on my knee there were also tears in mine. “I love you Stephanie Hathaway, and I promise you, that I will spend the rest of my life spoiling you, being there for you, loving you. . .” I opened the ring box and looked back into her eyes. “Will you marry me?” 

I was stunned when she put her napkin on the table and then also got down on her knees and placed one of her hands on my face. The tears were falling down her cheeks as she whispered her response. “I promise you, George Davila, that I too will love you for the rest of my life.” She brushed the tears away that were now falling from my eyes. “Yes, I will marry you.”

I pulled the ring out of the box and placed it on her finger and then quickly stood up, pulling her up with me. My lips claimed hers and we completely lost ourselves as we stood on the moonlit beach, kissing and inhaling each other. We eventually parted, needing to catch our breath and stared into each other’s eyes. “I love you.” I whispered as I continued to look and get lost in hers.

“I love you too.” She whispered back and then kissed me, once again taking my breath away. When it ended, I looked down at her and grinned.  

“I believe I owe you a romantic walk on the beach.” 

She laughed and shook her head. “You planned this whole dinner and a proposal. . .you don’t owe me anything.” She tried to convince me.

I took her hand and placed it around my arm. “A promise, is a promise.” She smiled as we started walking. “Plus, we can enjoy the view as we start planning our wedding.” I grinned as we began our romantic walk on the beach, dreaming and planning our future, together.

Credits:

Beach House: Villa Marinee by autaki (redecorated by me)

Notes:

If you'd like to see more of the beach house, click here to go to my Tumblr site where I've posted more pictures of it.