A CONTRACT ENGAGEMENT

“Oh, Julian” Nina said, her eyes filled with tears. “I love you too. I never stopped. I always will”

Julian smiled and wiped a tear that had fallen with his finger. “Don’t cry, honey” he said, “You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that. And it makes what I’m going to say next so much easier”

Nina laughed and wiped her cheek with her palm. “Oh…. There’s more?” she asked.

He nodded. “Hell yeah” he replied, then his hand moved to stomach and he cupped it. “You remember when I found out about the baby and I asked you to move in with me?” he asked.

“Yes,” she replied softly.

“At first I didn’t like that you said no, it pissed me off in fact, but I realized that it was a crappy thing to say. We are having a baby, Red. You, me and that tiny human growing inside of you. And we love each other, so if we are going to do this, I want us to do it right, so… ”

He took a step back and reached into his pocket. When his hand came back out, there was a little box in it, and Nina didn’t need him to open it before she knew what was inside. Her mouth formed a little ‘O’ as Julian got down on one knee and opened the box.

“Nina, I love you….” he said, “And I want to spend the rest of my life with you by my side. I want to continue to show you just how much you mean to me. I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy, just the way you make me happy. Please, Red, will you marry me?”

The tears were falling again. And she made no effort to stop them from falling.

“You were carrying that in your pocket the whole time when we were out. That’s why you were acting so strange” she said.

Julian nodded. “Yeah. I wanted to do this there but the moment didn’t feel….. What?…. We are going off topic here. You haven’t answered my question”

“Oh I’m sorry” Nina said, now she was laughing and crying at the same time. “Of course I will marry you, Julian. I will”

She watched as he removed the ring from the box and slipped it into her finger. Then he stood and she was in his arms, holding onto each other tightly, not wanting to be apart anymore.

“Let’s go inside. It’s getting cold out here” Julian said.

Nina simply nodded and followed him inside. He sat on the couch and settled her on his lap. They held one another in crushing arms, her damp cheek against his rougher one.

“Loving hurts sometimes,” she told him, wincing and shifting so her breasts weren’t totally mashed.

“It does.” He settled her sideways on his lap, touching one chaste kiss to her mouth before tilting his forehead against her brow. “But we will get through. You humble me, you know that?”

“That’s not what I want to do.” She replied.

“I know. That’s why you do.” he said. The revenant luminosity in his eyes was so bright, it brought tears to her own again. “I’m in awe of you. Of your bravery and astonishing capacity to love. I need your love, Red. I need you in my life. It’s terrifying to me how badly I need you”

“I know…. because I feel the same way too. I do love you so much.” She replied.

“I’m right here. And I won’t walk away from you again. Does it help to know, though, that pushing you away taught me how badly I need you?”

“I thought I was just an awful person to be around. I know I acted badly sometimes, even when I knew I shouldn’t, but I just couldn’t help it.”

“You’re not awful.” He frowned a scold. “You were going through a lot then. I should have tried to understand.”© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

“I’m fine right now,” she said with a suggestive lean into him and a sweep of flirty lashes, brushing a finger on his chest.

Julian got the message.

“Are you?” He asked playfully. He kissed the corner of her damp eye.

She chuckled and kissed his throat as he carried her to his bedroom and to his bed.

When he set her upon it, he did so with veneration.

Tenderness and gratitude and love enveloped her as they kissed and caressed, slowly undressing each other. They moved without hurry, impassioned, but letting each moment stretch out. Giving each strand of trust time to anchor and bind and thicken between them. With each kiss and caress, belief in each other seeped into the marrow of their bones.

When they were naked and united, she cupped the sides of his head in her hands. The unguarded emotion in his gaze transfixed her.

“I guess I didn’t just come down here to get a job” she realized with awe. “Somehow I was searching for my soulmate too.”

“You found him. He’s never letting you go again.” he said.

They began to move, celebrating the force that had pulled the two of them into a single space and made them, finally and for all time, one.