I Promise Forever

Ramon

"This beach is so beautiful Ramon!" exclaims Celestia as we walk up to the house on the sand.

If only she knew that the real beauty here was her. Only her.

As she looks around, I gesture for Wyatt to come to the door. He looks at me confused but walks to me anyway. I hand him over the key and tilt my head towards the door.

"Open it. There's something for you inside."

"Sir, you've given me everything and more, there's no need."

"It's not an item, well the first part isn't. Just go inside." I smile.

He takes a breath and unlocks the door.

"Surprise!"

"Hi, daddy!" screams Luna as she runs to her father's feet.

Wyatt looks at me shocked.

"How did you-"

"You thought this wonderful man would forget about your birthday?"

"Aurora, my love is that you?"

"Yeah, baby, I'm here too," she says as she emerges from the kitchen with Evelyn in hand.

He rushes over to her and kisses her tenderly. Aurora looks at me as Wyatt takes the baby out of her hands and she mouths a thank you. I nod at her and before I turn to find Celestia, her arms wrap around me.

"That was very sweet of you," she whispers behind me.

"His wife told me that he hadn't celebrated his birthday in years and she wanted to do something special for him this year, so I brought them here."

"He'll remember this birthday forever." she smiles as she waves at Aurora who is now coming towards us.

"Thank you, Ramon, he's so happy. I can never thank you enough."

"It's no problem Aurora, where's Mateo by the way?"

"Oh!" shouts Celestia.

We all turn to see Mateo holding a small crab in his hands. He was smiling, showing his missing tooth.

"There you are, Matty. Look at you, you're all dirty with sand."

Aurora moves around us and picks up Mateo.

"Hi, Mr.Osy!

"Hi, buddy." I smile as I give him a high five.

"So this is the amazing Mateo, I've heard about." smiles Celestia as she waves at him.

"I am amazing, I am!" he squeals and laughs. He holds his hands out to her and Aurora hands him over.

"What's your name?"

"I'm Celestia,"

"Are you princess Celestia from My Little Pony?" he says as his eyes go wide.

"No, she's way better than me. I don't have any wings, see?"

As we all go inside and Aurora taps my arm.

"Is she it?"

"What do you mean?" I question her as I watch Celestia play with Mateo.

"Is she the one, I mean. Let's not forget you had a reputation with women, everyone saw you both on the front page. And I haven't seen you with anyone new. She's your secretary right?"

"Yeah, she is."

"And does she live with you now?"

"Yes,"

"And she knows about your sexual lifestyle,"

"I-"

"I'm not dumb Ramon, I have eyes. I can see the faint cuff marks on her wrists."

"Yeah, she's into it."

"Then what are you waiting for? When you asked me to set up the back of the house for you, I knew that you were head over heels."

"What do you mean by that?"

"You're clearly in love with the girl."

I take a deep breath and look at her.

"I am. But I don't know how to bring it up to her."

"Just tell her. There's never a perfect time Ramon. But all I'm going to say is that when you say it, make sure you mean it."

"I will," I reply just as Celestia comes up to us.

"You ready to leave princess?"

"You're a princess?!" brightens Luna as she comes in with Wyatt. "Mom I wanna be a princess too!"

"You are a princess sweetie, you're my princess."

"Where are we going?" asks Celestia.

"Next door."

"Next door?"

"Yep," I say as I take her hand.

"Bye-bye CC!" shouts Mateo.

"Bye, sweetie!"

"You must be hungry," I say once we get outside.

"A little yeah."

"Sorry, I just wanted to give Wyatt his gift first.

"It's all good. I enjoyed my time with the kids."

I take her into the other beach house next door and bring her out to the back. Aurora had placed lanterns everywhere and the small table was adorned with flowers.

"Wow, this is so pretty."

I pull out her chair and she sits down.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," I reply. "Don't move I'll be right back,"

She nods and I go back inside to find aurora bringing in the food just in time.

"Thank you again for this."

"Anytime Ramon, remember what I said earlier."

"I know, I'm thinking about it."

"Good, I'll talk to you later," she says as she walks out.

I grab the food tray from the counter and go back outside with it.

"Ooh, what are we having?"

"Omelets, french toast, Belgian waffles, and sandwiches," I reply as I set the long tray on the table and sit down.

"You're going to spoil me rotten Ramon,"

"That's my plan." I chuckle, picking up a waffle with my fork as we continue to talk about anything and everything. Life and death, past and future.

__________

"Thank you again for this Ramon, I loved everything."

"Oh, we aren't done yet," I say as I smile and loop my arms around her. "We're going dancing."

"Dancing?" she laughs. "Since when do you dance?"

"Since I've started dating you, princess."

"Well then, I guess we're going dancing." she smiles.

We walk hand in hand in silence on the edge of the beach to the lights that were now bright and reflecting on the ocean waves. We spot Wyatt and Aurora swinging gently side to side, and the kids were playing in the sand.

"Their family is so lovely," whispers Celestia.

"I know,"

"Celestia! How was your lunch?" says Aurora as she looks at us.

"It was wonderful, I just loved your decorations!"

"Why thank you," she smiles as she lays her head on her husband's chest.

"Oh! May I hold her?" asks Celestia as she points to Evelyn sitting on the sand.

"Sure, If she'll let you." Aurora laughs. "She's so clingy to me and doesn't like anyone."

"She's so cute, I'm gonna try anyway."

Celestia walks over to the kids and sits down on the sand with them, fanning out her dress. Evelyn pats her tiny hands on the sand in front of her sister as they build a small lopsided sandcastle. I continue to watch as Celestia picks up a smooth seashell and holds out her hand to Evelyn. She looks at the seashell and moves into a standing position. Evelyn looks at the shell, then back at Celestia. To our surprise, she takes a few wobbly steps closer to her. When she's in reach, Celestia picks her up gently and places her in her lap, dangling the shell and smiling at Evelyn who was now laughing.

"She must be good with kids," says Aurora as she and Wyatt come up to me.

"I think I just fell in love all over again," I whispered.

"I know," she says. "You look absolutely whipped."

__________

"We're gonna head in you two, we have to get these kids to bed. Have a great rest of your night" Aurora says.

"Alright, goodnight Aurora, night Wyatt!"

"Night."

Luna and Mateo run to Celestia once more and hug her. She gives them a squeeze and runs her hands through their hair as she smiles at them.

"Night night, Princess CC," mutters Mateo.

"Goodnight cuties," Celestia replies as she lets go of them.

They run back to their parents and as she watches them leave I take her hand and spin her around to face me. She collides with my chest and I smile at her.

"It seems that I haven't been getting much attention, but now I have you all to myself."

"Sorry, I can't help it. Children are so precious," she replies.

"It was fine, I loved watching you play with them. It suits you."

"Whatever do you mean by that?" she questions as I spin her around again as we dance on the sand.

"I mean that you're just good with children, you'd be a great mother too."

She softly smiles. "Thank you, I don't know though, I do love playing with them, and I have imagined having my own someday but-"

"But?"

"I don't think I could handle carrying one for nine months. I can't even handle my period cramps."

"I think you'll be fine. You're a strong woman, and very determined with a drive like none other."

"You're too sweet Ramon," she blushes as she ducks her head to the side.

"I have something for you."

"Another gift? Babe quit spoiling me, you're not gonna like the outcome of it." she laughs.

"This gift is a special gift."

"What is it?"

"Now, it wouldn't be a gift if I told you, would it?"

"I suppose not,"

I take her hand and we walk to the porch of the beach house. I take the box from the table next to the door and sit next to her on the stairs.

"Before I give this to you, I just wanted you to know that over the past few weeks I've grown to like you even more than I did before. If you say no to the question I'm going to ask you once you open this, I will be fine." I say as I hand her the box.

Lies. All lies. There is no way in hell I'd be fine if she said no. I'd be so damn heartbroken. I don't even know what I'd do. My heart beats faster as she slowly opens the box. Her mouth becomes slightly ajar as she looks at the item in front of her. She looks up at me and I sigh.

"It's a collar. Not just any collar. Celestia, I want to claim you as mine. You don't know how much I adore you. I can't stand the thought of anyone taking you away from me. You're precious to me. When that dreadful fucker of a man took you away from me, I was ready to go to hell and back to make sure you were back in my arms again. I-." I take a deep breath and close my eyes. "I love you, Celestia, I'm in love with you. I love the way you tease me, I love the way you look at me every day, I love our late-night conversations, I love every. Single. Thing. About you."

I swallow the lump in my throat and open my eyes. Celestia looked at me fondly with tears in the corner of her eyes.

"It's fine if you don't love me back I don't know what I was thinking-"

"But I do." she smiles as she pulls me close and kisses me. "I do love you, Ramon."

"Really?"

"Yes really, I didn't want to admit it to myself, but you make me whole. You're the reason why I want to wake up every day smiling. I love you."

"God, you don't know how long I've been wanting to hear that from you."

"This isn't a promise ring," I say as I take the collar out of the box and put it around her neck. "But think of it as one, because I promise you that I will never let anyone break us apart. Ever."

I pull her closer and kiss her passionately.

As we kiss underneath the stars and the bright lights of the lanterns, I can't help but smile. Celestia was mine and no one else's. Mine to hold, mine to comfort, mine to love, mine to fuck. All mine.