Chapter One #2
“Okay. Well. Yeah.” Auralia looked down.
This wasn’t the direction she’d meant for this conversation to go.
“I’m twenty-five. And here is probably the only place where our age difference makes a difference.
I’m not convinced that I’ll ever get married.
It’s not something I’ve aspired to do. I can call you my fiancé in my head and in private to show that I am dedicated to a life of loving you.
That doesn’t translate to me making governmentally official vows.
I just don’t think that fits with who I am. ”
“Auralia,” Creed reached up and cupped her cheeks in his palms, “no one’s dragging you down the aisle. That doesn’t mean we can’t tell our friends and families that we’re going to give it our best go at a solid, supportive relationship.”
“And if it doesn’t turn out well, we’ll just be damned uncomfortable at the family gathering from now until forever.”
“That sounds like what you said last year. I’d have hoped you would have evolved past ‘if it doesn’t turn out well.
’ Since then, what I’ve heard you say is that this relationship hits the sweet spots.
That if you were to design a relationship and describe it to the Heavens, then this was the one you wanted most, which is music to my ears—to my heart. ”
“It’s true. It’s good. A little salt, a little sweet, meaty conversations.”
“You must be hungry,” Cree laughed.
Auralia tried on a coquettish curl at the corners of her lips. “Always around you.”
Creed didn’t take the bait. “I have faith in you when you’re far from me.
And I have joy in you when you’re with me.
I like that you’re headstrong and free-spirited.
I like that you go after what you believe is good and right.
I think you’ve put those qualities to work in making us an 'us'. I think loving you is one of the great miracles of my lifetime.”
Auralia leaned forward until they were forehead to forehead and rested there, breathing deeply into her lungs and holding it as long as she could, as if releasing the breath would blow out the magic that she wanted to keep lit.
“Imagine for a moment all of our different family members who have gotten married. They love each other for the season they’re supposed to love, then their lives take a turn, and they divorce.
When they married, it was always a possibility that they would disappoint their families.
Same with us. You and I both know that all they’d ever want is for us to have a—”
Auralia frowned. “Happily ever after.”
“We can’t promise each other that, and we can’t promise our families that.”
“So we take a page from D-Day and Gator’s love story,” Auralia said, feeling some of the tension ease, and she sat up to find his gaze on her, “and we simply love for now. Just for today.”
Creed put his hands on her thighs. “Today, Auralia Rochambeau, I will love you the whole day through.”
“Thank you, and today, Honoré Duchamp, I will love you the same.”
“Here’s the plan: Before work revs up, we grab hold of Gator, take him aside, tell him that we connected in a new way at his wedding.”
Auralia nodded. “Blame it on him for casting enchantments.”
Creed cocked his head to the side. “Does someone need to take the blame for us?”
“No.” Auralia could see how that would have sounded hurtful. She sighed. “I’m nervous. I don’t want Gator to feel betrayed.”
“By us having a relationship or by our keeping it to ourselves.”
“The second one. But I’ll tell him why, explain that we needed time to see how things went without any hopes or expectations.”
Creed chuckled low and deep. “Your mamma.”
“Oh, Lord, Mamma. She is going to be beside herself with joy.” Auralia lifted a finger. “I can’t hurt my mamma. I won’t. So you dammed well better live up to my expectations.”
Creed kissed her long and slow, then tipped her head to look deeply into Auralia’s eyes. “The only way you could hurt your mamma is to do something you didn’t want to do or do it with a person you didn’t want to do it with. Poor in pocket is fine as long as you’re—”
“Rich in heart.” Auralia lifted herself, swinging her leg back around, dismounting from Creed’s lap. “You’re right.”
“But just so you know,” Creed tugged her down until they were chest to chest and her head tucked into the crook of his neck. “I plan to exceed your expectations for the rest of my life,” Creed said with a seriousness that wasn’t part of his sunny nature.
Rou came to nestle with them.
“What if I prefer you go away?” She laced her fingers with his. “Maybe I’ll be done with you?”
“Since you’re precious to me, I’d just have to go away and lick my wounds.
” He chuckled as he dropped a kiss into her hair.
“I mean, our families are tight, so I’d be at the same places when we’re gathering for celebrations and times of grief.
But that doesn’t mean I don’t have the fortitude to keep my distance.
” He laced their fingers and brought the back of her hand to his lips.
“I’m safe. You’re safe around me. Listen, Auralia,” He shifted until she tipped her chin up to look at him.
“I know that relationships past have been casting shadows over us, from your side and mine. But I will never put your safety second. If we’re together or we’re not, you’re safe.
I live up to my word. It’s how I got my name from the jump.
It's who I am, who I’ve been, who I plan to be.
Our telling Gator this morning doesn’t change anything about us.
I will stand beside you until you say things aren’t what you want.
You are one of my life’s greatest gifts,” he reiterated the sentiment, “and I will treat you as precious always.”
“What if I’m broken like a china plate?” she pouted as she batted her eyes at him, so Creed would know she was teasing—mostly teasing.
“Depends. Is it me you want to help glue you back together, or would you rather I step away and let someone else handle it? I swear to you, you’re safe.” His dark brown eyes had a palpable intensity.
“Not if you’re the one who dropped me in the first place,” she whispered.
“Never, Auralia. Lean on me. Trust me. I will never willingly harm you. That’s my oath. I swear it on my life. I’d die before I hurt you or allowed you to be hurt.”
Those were actual tears in his eyes. Shit.
This was so real, so huge, that the emotions filling her body pressed outward. These were vows deeper than anything said on an altar. These weren’t performative. They were rooted in his soul.
His words were home. The warm humidity bathed over her skin. She closed her eyes and breathed them in, felt them enter her bloodstream and circulate through her body.
Creed didn’t ask what he’d get in return. He never asked her for anything other than to give him a chance to love her.
A frown tugged at the corners of her mouth, and the playfulness fell away.
She slipped lower into his arms, letting her head rest on his chest, where she could hear the steady thrum of his heart.
Auralia would always think of this bed as the altar where they exchanged their true vows. “It feels like we just jumped over the broom,” she whispered.
Creed lifted her chin, and she found his face lit with joy, but the kiss that followed felt like they were tempting fate.