Epilogue I
Sebastian
“Do you have a moment?” My voice is stronger, more confident than I feel. There are few things that make me nervous, but talking to Tom about Lizzy is one of them. While he’s warmed up to me the past year, I know he has his hang-ups.
Tom narrows his eyes at me, then sighs. “Come on, boy. I knew this was coming.”
He leads us to their backyard. This weekend we’re attending family dinner at both houses since Betty has a bingo night tomorrow that she can’t miss. My parents were understanding even though they enjoy the Coleman’s presence at our dinners.
“Let’s hear it,” Tom says flatly while somehow looking down upon me while being shorter than I am.
Inhaling slowly, I let out a long, controlled breath and call up the speech I’ve memorized.
“After being in love with Lizzy for so long, after finally having her, nothing could pull me away. She’s my reason for waking each morning.
Watching her wake, pulling her into me, having her in my arms when I wake…
erm,” I hesitate and redirect when Tom’s eyes narrow at me.
Talking about waking with Lizzy and touching her to her paternal figure is probably not the best idea.
“Every day, Lizzy makes me a better man. She makes me want to be everything she could ever need, a friend, lov…erm, protector, and hopefully, husband. More than anything, I want to wed her. Together, we’ll start a family, something I know Lizzy wants.”
Tom’s looking at me with a bored expression, which I should have expected. He’s making this hard for me as he does everything. Straightening my spine, I continue on.
“As Lizzy’s husband, I’d care for her and our family. I’ll never leave her side. She’ll never know pain or struggle. She’ll be safe–”
“You better keep her safe. I don’t want anything from your criminal activities to affect our girl,” Tom growls. It’s the first time he’s acknowledged the Syndicate, but I’ve always suspected he knew.
I nod to him. “I swear on everything I am, that she will never be affected by it. She’s aware of my family’s trade and accepts me as is. If I ever thought she was at risk, I’d leave the Syndicate. She’s more important than any of it. I’d choose her over everything without hesitation or regret.”
He makes a gesture with his hands, hurrying me, clearly ready to return to our women. So, I get to the point.
“I know this is the twenty-first century, and women don’t need their father’s permission to marry, but I want to make sure we’re on good terms before I propose to her. Lizzy would be upset if you didn’t approve of me. This is me asking for your blessing.”
As I bare my soul to the man, he scrutinizes me. Every word is inspected and mulled over. I let him take his time, appreciating how seriously he’s taking this. And, after what feels like an eternity, he offers me his hand.
“As long as Lizzy is happy, then I don’t have a problem,” is all he says as we shake hands, then he turns on his heels and marches inside. I’m left with approval wrapped in a thinly veiled threat, but it’s enough for me.
…
Lizzy prances into the living room, a grin on her face. “You’re so losing tonight!”
She has no idea how wrong she is. Unless she rejects me. That’s the only way I’ll lose. “Same rules apply. No looking at the boxes. Whoever finishes their two-hundred-piece puzzle first wins. We each pick the other’s puzzle.”
She holds out her hand, and I shake it, sealing our rules.
Then, she runs upstairs to grab the puzzle she selected, and I retrieve the puzzle I had specially made for tonight.
I put all the pieces in the bottom box so she doesn’t know what the cover picture is, and she returns with a mystery puzzle for me.
We trade, then start our countdown. When we get to zero, we rush to start, her separating her edge pieces from the rest while I color coordinate mine. We’ve debated the effectiveness of both methods, neither of us willing to concede to the other.
I spend more time watching her in my peripheral vision than I do solving my puzzle.
After a few minutes, I know it’s the one of penguins in the Arctic, one I’ve done several times.
If I set my mind to it, I could easily finish before her, but I need her to finish first tonight. She’s going to be excited from the win.
“Bash, is this a new puzzle? That feels like cheating!” she chastises me but never stops digging through her pieces.
I chuckle at her annoyance. “Maybe. But I think you’ll like it.”
She growls mock frustration but doubles down. As she continues building the big picture, she starts frowning. I look over and see that the trees at the zoo are already put together, and I know she recognizes them.
When she glances at my puzzle, she stares at me speculatively, wondering why it’s not further completed. I can’t exactly tell her I can’t focus on my puzzle over the pounding in my chest, so I avoid her gaze.
When she gets to the figures standing in the middle of the zoo, she gasps. “Bash, what is this?”
“Finish the puzzle,” I demand in a husky voice.
She nods, working even quicker now. My puzzle is completely abandoned. Hers almost completely put together. By now, the photo is coming together. The man, me, gazing lovingly at the woman, her, in front of the swan lake at the zoo. It’s a great picture of us, both grinning at each other.
With curiosity in her eyes, she looks at me as she places the last piece in its place. I move to where I’m kneeling in front of her and dig into my pocket, retrieving the small black box. Her eyes start welling with tears as her hand covers her mouth.
“Angel, I haven’t said anything yet,” I tell her through a chuckle.
She sniffs and urges me to start. “I’m listening.”
“My Lizzy, there aren’t words to describe how in love I am with you. For seven years, you’ve been the center of my universe. My gravitational force doesn’t stem from the mass of the Earth, but from you. I’m anchored to you.”
She sniffles an adorable sound as she gazes lovingly upon me. My chest expands with a deep breath as I work through my nerves. Statistically, the probability of her rejecting my proposal is astronomically low, but, for once, the math doesn’t settle me.
“Just as so many of our favorite animals have mates for life, you are mine. My perfect match. Just as I am yours. Please, angel, do me the honor of marrying me. Please, let me be your husband. It’s all I’ve wanted for almost a decade.”
I slowly open the box that contains an emerald ring on a platinum band. I’ve spent years designing it for her, even when there was no hope of a future with her. Being able to give it to her means more than she’ll ever know.
“Lizzy Lewis, will you marry me?”
Before the words are out of my mouth, she’s attacking me, throwing herself into my arms with such force that we tumble to the ground. Having her situated on top of me has heat reaching my groin.
“Yes! Yes, I’ll marry you!”
She covers me with kisses, drowning me in her love. I pull back just enough to extract the ring from the box and slip it on her finger. She gasps when she sees it, bringing it closer to her to inspect it.
“Bash, it’s beautiful,” she swoons.
“I designed it for you,” I tell her, proud of myself with the way she stares at it.
She presses another kiss to my lips then trails her mouth down my neck, exploring all my exposed skin. My breathing comes in pants at the contact. My hips jerk up of their own accord, and hers meet mine, grinding against me.
When she tugs my shirt off, I pick her up and carry us to the couch. My angel isn’t going to be fucked into the ground where she could get rug burn when there’s a couch right here. As soon as her back hits the cushion, she’s undressing.
Taking my cue, I do the same. My pants barely clear my ankles before she’s wrapping her small hand around my engorged cock and lining me with her entrance. Knowing exactly what she likes, I slowly push it, letting my fiancée’s heat envelop me.
As we rock together, making love on the couch where we first kissed, a sense of euphoria fills me. Not in a physical sense of arousal, but in my soul.
I’ve never felt bliss like this. As though every piece of my life has fallen into place and now the picture of a happy future is revealed.
All thanks to the angel who saved a lizard all those years ago.