“Oliver! The food is disgusting!” Sebastian called from the kitchen as I rested on the couch, entirely jetlagged.
After a beautiful ceremony and reception for Lauren and Enzo, followed by two more days in Italy, showing Sebastian around and finding new places I had never been as he simply loved exploring, we reached Denver, both of us exhausted from not only the travel but the constant intimacy as we seemed to be equally deprived and making up for lost time.
“We didn’t clean out the fridge before we left, baby. I didn’t expect it to spoil in five days. Leave it I’ll do it in a bit,” I called back, turning the football game I was watching down.
“I am already here doing it,” he sighed and I heard a trash bag open.
He’s so stubborn.
Getting to my feet, I made my way over and immediately picked up Sebastian, taking the bag from him after setting him onto the counter.
“Babe!” he huffed and I slowly kissed him, “okay okay. Merci, mon amour.”
“You’re very welcome. I’ll throw it out and send it down the chute. What do ya need to get done tonight?”
“Emails. So many emails before we go into the office tomorrow.”
I groaned softly, starting to clean out the fridge, “me too. Runnin’ two massive branches of the same company is a bitch.”
“Why not sell one to Serenity?” he kicked his legs and I froze, staring at the yogurt I was holding, “you have never considered it, have you?”
“No,” I whispered, dropping the yogurt into the bag, “no I hadn’t.”
“You could. Sell the New York branch to your sister, have her make Garett the CSO and I could be yours here. If you wanted. Or you could hire someone else. It is simply a thought.”
“But why would I do that? I can’t run everythin’ without Nita.”
“But you would be less stressed and I hate seeing you stressed, Miel.”
“I… don’t know. It… sorry. I’m havin’ negative thoughts.”
“Explain.”
“You’re makin’ me think that you’re tryin’ to come between my siblings and me. But I trust you and know that that ain’t why. I hope.”
“Oliver I would… I would never do anything like that.”
“I hope not.”
“Babe. Please. Have faith in me.”
“I’m tryin’. I think we need to have another talk about the future.”
“Mhm. Go ahead.”
“I love you, Bas. But I want ya to know that if we get married, before we do actually, I need you to sign a prenup.”
“What is that?”
“An agreement that if for whatever reason we were to divorce you would get nothin’ from me other than a monthly payment of 10 thousand dollars and a house I would buy for you in your name. You wouldn’t get any of Parallel, any of the houses I already own, or cars, or anythin’ like that. If we have children and we divorce, we share custody 50/50. There would be no takin’ me to court to force them to take my kids from me. Essentially, in the horrific idea that we did end things, you wouldn’t get anythin’.”
“Oliver, if we get married it is for life. That is what the church teaches.”
“But it ain’t reality, Bas,” I closed the fridge, dropping the bag on the ground, “my grandpa Layne is divorced from a woman he promised to spend the rest of his days with after my uncle Tyler was born stillborn. I believe in true love, Sebastian and I know I have that with you. But you have already threatened to leave me once because I couldn’t tell you I love you as quickly as ya wanted all due to my confusion. What if you leave over somethin’ stupid? I won’t keep lettin’ you back in. I can’t emotionally do that. I want to plan our life,” I rubbed his thighs softly, “but I need ya to understand that with me it’s everythin’ or nothin’. You're 23, baby. There’s a big world out there full of people who would worship the fuckin’ ground you walk on. I already do. Do ya really want to settle down already? To talk about gettin’ married, havin’ babies? Movin’ to Montana soon. I want to know that you truly want this life with me. I need to know that. Because if you say yes, then everythin’ kicks into high gear for our relationship. I have been waitin’ 9 years for you. Were you waitin’ for someone like me too?”
“I have waited my entire life to be loved by a man like you, Oliver,” he cradled my cheek and I softly kissed his palm, “why are you so scared that I will leave?”
“Skylar ruined me. I was goin’ to ask him to marry me the day I caught him in bed with someone else. I had the engagement ring sittin’ in the nightstand right next to the bed. I made a firm promise to myself that day. The next person I was in a relationship with would be the one I married. That means bein’ with you was me deciding that I wanted to marry ya. But if there is even a chance your feelings toward me could change in a few years I can’t do this and I want to give you that out. We can end things right here. Never forget that we love each other but I want you to have your freedom if you need that from me. If you can’t handle how intense everythin’ has been.”
“We are soulmates,” he shook his head, “there is no one on this planet that I will ever love more than you. Well no that is not true. Our children. Did you hear what I said? Our children, Oliver. Not mine. Ours. You, me, and two beautiful… three beautiful babies. I forgot Aldo. He is our son. We already have one child together, silly. A loud german shepherd. I love you, Oliver,” he gently cradled my face, wiping a tear away from my cheek with his thumb, “do not be so scared. This is what I want. Loving you for the rest of my life. No matter what happens, if we fight or argue and go to bed angry, I will always be there to wake you with a smile on my face. The only thing I will never forgive is infidelity or abuse. If you hurt me out of anger or sleep with someone else then I will leave.”
“It’s the same for me.”
“Then stop worrying,” he smiled gently, “you and me.”
“You and me,” I whispered, softly kissing him, “baby?”
“Oui, mon amour.”
“I still have to have you sign the prenup.”
“Mhm. I know. And I happily will when we get married. Because I will never leave so there is no need to worry on my end that if we divorce I will have nothing. I will always have the most important thing in the world right at my side. You.”
“We are so fuckin’ cheesy,” I laughed, picking him up and carrying him to the bedroom.
“The kitchen is still gross!”
“It’ll be there in a few minutes. I want to show ya somethin’.”
“Oh? Okay,” he nodded as I set him on the bed, grabbing my tablet and laying down, “what?”
“Come here,” I held my arm out and he cuddled into my side, “what do ya think of this?”
“It’s… massive,” he whispered.
“Mhm.”
“But old fashioned it needs updates,” he started moving through pictures, “oh look at the river!”
“This could be our new home,” I whispered, “our permanent home. 4 bedrooms, three bathrooms, three living rooms, a dining room and kitchen with a beautiful view of the five acres we’d own behind it on the river. Huge windows for natural light, tons of places for Aldo to run and our future kids. We can build a gate if we need to keep them safe. Everything is wood and we can repaint if we hate it. Um what else,” I swiped through a few more photos, “oh there’s a massive garage for our vehicles. I think I’ll sell the car here to Silas and just keep my truck in Montana. Brand new appliances, cabinets, and an island in the kitchen perfect for cookin’ because we both love doin’ that. A massive walk in pantry with a built in desk but I don’t know what we’d use that for. Um… we’d have no neighbors which I would love because I hate livin’ around this many people. Double walk in closet in the master bedroom so we can each have our own, a jacuzzi tub in the bathroom, and a huge waterfall shower. Plenty of room for our bed and a nice television with the same beautiful view of our river. There’s two beautiful patios for us to enjoy when it’s sunny, a huge wrap around porch we can get planter boxes for our somethin’. Tons of outdoor space to build stuff for our future babies. Like a playground or somethin’ like that. I can pay for it outright. I’d rather do that anyway. No mortgage. I want to change the exterior paint I ain’t like that it’s firetruck red but we can do whatever ya want to the interior and exterior. I love this house and I think it’s perfect for us. What do… what do ya think?”
“Well I hate this wall,” he snorted at a bright emerald green hallway, “it would be better yellow. But other than that,” he took the tablet and set it on the nightstand before straddling me, “it’s perfect. Exactly what I was picturing.”
“So you’re sayin’ that I should buy it for us?”
“Oui,” he kissed my nose and I laughed softly, “yes. Absolutely.”
“Alright. I’ll call realtor then. Um… Sebastian?”
“What is it?”
“What if I sold all of Parallel to Serenity?” I whispered and he looked at me confused, “sold Parallel, the camp I own, my houses and vehicles everywhere. I already did the math. 210 million dollars. That’s what I would get if I sold everything. I’d still own this buildin’ and the one in New York. I make 6 million a year from that not countin’ repairs. We would never have to work another day in many lives actually. Still travel, buy what we want, have money and time for our kids. Have a beautiful weddin’. But I would be there for all of ya. Without ya havin’ to stress about raisin’ them with a father who is so busy he ain’t fully there.”
“Is… that what you would want?”
“Yes.”
“Then I support it.”
“Good,” I smiled, grabbing a massive file from inside the nightstand and handing it to him, “because I already did it. Nita and I talked during the weddin’. We agreed it was for the best. I never wanted this. To run a huge company, have so much shit. I wanted a simple life. A simple career that a lot of people laughed at but I knew it would make me happier.”
“What… in the world…” he whispered, opening the file, “Oliver this is more than you said!”
“I’ve been sellin’ off houses for months. Before we met. I didn’t want ‘em anymore. Ya came into my life at a strange point for me baby. Ya came in right as I was gettin’ ready to start minimizing my entire world. I already found a new job in Bozeman. Please… don’t laugh at me when I tell ya.”
“I would never laugh. What is it?”
“Professor. At the University of Montana. Teachin’ business administration at the masters level. Since I owned a Fortune 500, they think I can help teach well.”
“Baby, why would I ever laugh at that! It’s incredible! Oh I am so proud of you,” he cradled my face and deeply kissed me, “it’s perfect. It means you will be home with me. Less stressed. I love this. I love it. Why?”
“For myself. Then for you. For us. I can’t be a good partner if I ain’t mentally here when ya need me. Ownin’ Parallel meant constantly thinkin’ about what needed to be done. I’ll have the break between semesters home with ya, we can travel. Everythin’ we wanted to do. But we will be happier. Or I will be. Just gotta make sure we keep the bills below 350 thousand a month.”
“Dear lord that is so much,” he laughed, hugging me, “I love you, Oliver. I am so proud. Professor Hope.”
“I hate it already. But thank ya, baby.”
“You are going to have young, doe eyed college students staring at you. Wondering how to get closer to Monsieur Hope.”
“Then I’ll tell ‘em that I have the most beautiful man waitin’ at home for me and ain’t nothin’ gonna get in the way of that.”
Sebastian giggled and cuddled down on top of me, “I can guess that you have already bought the house, oui?”
“No. Because I wanted you to be on board with it,” I gently rubbed his back with my fingertips, “I never wanted to pick without ya.”
“It’s perfect. Call the realtor. Buy our home. I want to start picking out paint and furniture. Oh I am so excited,” he wiggled happily and I laughed, “why are you laughing at me?”
“I’m not. I’m laughin’ at myself. Because for a moment, I thought ya were usin’ me for my money. But I see it for real now. That ya never wanted anything but me from our relationship. That I can make all these changes and you support me. I was already makin’ ‘em before ya joined my life. It’s just so nice to know that I will always have ya. It makes me feel so much peace. I love you, Sebastian. I always will. Never leave me. Okay?”
“Oh I swear baby. I will never go anywhere.”
“I truly believe ya now.”
“Good.”
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