“You really want to marry me?” she sounds totally stunned. “I can’t believe that you want to marry me…”
“Of course, I want to marry you.” I take her hand in mine, waiting for the moment that I can slide the diamond on to her finger and claim her as mine forever. “I would love nothing more than to be yours.”
“I want to be yours as well,” she chokes out. “I would love to be your wife.”
It feels great as I get the ring on to her and she stares at it with sheer joy. The lights twinkle and glitter off of her, making her look even more beautiful than normal. She is my fiancée now, the woman who I will be with forever, and that makes me over the moon with joy. Once the ring is on her finger, I climb up right and bring my lips to hers, kissing her with all the deep love I feel deep within me.
We haven’t had the easiest start in our relationship, we went through terrible things to get to where we are, but it’s all been worth it. To have this woman in my arms, to know that she is going to stay with me, to know that me and Amelia are going to get our family together at long last.
“I love you,” I whisper against her mouth. “I love you so much, Latesha Aston.”
“Soon to be Latesha Ward, if you intend to marry me fast,” she teases. “I love you too.”
As soon as the others see what’s happening and they assume that I have had the much anticipated at long last, they burst out from the house cheering to envelop us in a tight hug. Mom screams the loudest, she is the happiest out of everyone, and that only makes me cheer as well. Amelia hugs Latesha once more and I listen to her ask if that means she will be able to call her ‘Mommy’. That’s not something that I have mentioned at all, so it’s clearly come from a desire within her. That’s really special. She really does want Latesha to be hers as well.
“You can call me whatever you want to.” Latesha kisses her on top of the head. “Love you, Amelia.”
Just before we all head inside to eat the dinner that my mother and Tracey have cooked to celebrate this moment, which thankfully all went to plan or that could have been a real disaster, I grab Latesha and Amelia and hold them in my arms, relishing the sense of family that comes from this moment.
“This is perfect,” I tell them both with a watery smile. “I couldn’t be happier. This is the happy ever after that I didn’t even know I needed. I love you both so much.”
Latesha parts her lips to answer me, but Amelia gets in there first. “Don’t cry if you’re happy then, Daddy!”
With that, the romance of the moment is gone, and we are all in fits of giggles once more. But that’s okay, because I love laughing and being friendly with Latesha just as much as I adore loving her. Our friendship, our easy-going connection, it’s what makes us that much more special. We get on in every single way, we love one another equally, I have finally found the perfect woman for me, and now I’m going to marry her. After that, we may have children, extend our little family even more, anything could happen, and I can’t wait for all of it.