35. Marry me?

SANTI'S POV

We arrived at the house before seven because even though the only ones who knew I'm going to ask Jessica to marry me were the kids, Carla and Sofía, I'm excited and want it to be a surprise for her family as well, apart from Sofia of course.

Once we got home, I saw Carla's car and one I didn't know whose it is, so I guess they were at home. I grabbed the shopping bags and entered the house. "Jess, we're home." I announced from the door of the house, "In the living room."

That voice isn't Jessica's nor Sofía's or Carla's, so I headed there to see who's in the house, and I'm surprised to see the girls on the couch looking at us. "Santiago, we haven't seen each other in a while. I'm glad to see you're okay, not like the last time we saw each other." Jesy said with a big smile on her face "Jessica?" I asked, confused to see her at home. "Do you know anyone other Jessica other than me or your future wife?" She asked raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms.

"What are you taking about?" I asked, a little confused. "Sometimes you have to stop being so loud, Nelson" Leigh-Anne murmured. "Whatever you say, at least this time it wasn't Perrie who said it." She pointed out, "Hey, don't mess with me, I didn't do anything this time." protested the named "That's why we're impressed, dear."

"Don't start, and you can leave Perrie alone, this time she didn't even do anything." Jade defended her friend. "As always defending Perrie, I don't know why I'm surprised, honestly." Jesy said denying "Because apparently Jade is the only one who cares about you messing with me." Perrie protested with a pout. "I worry too." Leigh-Anne protested this time.

"Laughing with her." The girl pointed out, "It's just funny, especially how you react." the brunette defended herself. "I'm glad to see you enjoy watching our mother mess with me, thank you Lee-Lee."

"Where is Jessica?" I asked, looking in all directions. "In the bathroom, you should probably go see if she's okay, because she's been locked up there for a while." Jade informed and I nodded, putting the groceries down next to me. "Can you put the groceries away Carla?" I asked, "You like to boss around, right Santi?"

"You won't die for once you do something." I said "That's true, you are too lazy." Sofía pointed out, laughing. "You too, Sofi?" She asked, pretending to be hurt. "I'm just telling you the truth, now let's go put the shopping in if you want to have breakfast here tomorrow." reported this "Of course I want to do it. Let's go guys while Santi goes to see Jess."

"We'll accompany you; so, you tell us who these cute guys are." With that the eight of them left and I headed upstairs to go see what's going on Jess. I was going to knock on the bathroom door, but I see it ajar, and I was going to make sure when I heard her talking in the room and she seemed to be arguing with someone.

"I don't care exactly what that girl says about me Monica, I didn't do anything. There are security cameras that will ensure that... She wasn't alone and everything she says is a lie... Look, I don't care, if it is necessary to go to trial, we'll go, take care of finding the best lawyers and that's it... I don't care if they cost a fortune and hire private investigators, now I must know what that girl is hiding... I'm calm, I just want to end this as soon as possible, I want them to leave me alone... It's okay, and did you look at the record company thing?... I don't care about that; I want to know the other thing we talked about... Seriously?... Thank you, I owe you one... Don't worry, I'll take care of... By tomorrow afternoon if you can... Thank you, you deserve extra pay for all this... I'm going to do it and I don't care what you tell me... We'll talk, call me anything ...Bye."

At that moment I decided to enter the room, and Jess didn't notice, she must have been deep in her thoughts not to notice, or she's deaf again. There's something about the argument she was having recently that something told me it had to do with Alison. When I reached her, I put my hands on her hips and although she's scared at first, then lay down on my chest. "Is everything okay honey?" I asked softly. "It could be better." She murmured, "What were you talking about before?"

"You heard the conversation, didn't you?" she asked, laughing softly. "I didn't mean to listen, but I couldn't help it, you sounded angry." I responded, "I am, the only thing I did was talk to her, I didn't do anything to she claims I did." She protested, annoyed. "I'm not understanding anything. What are you talking about?"

"It could be the moment you left with the kids I went to the record company where you worked to talk to her and tell her a couple of things, I swear I didn't threaten her or anything she said…" Jess began, and I couldn't help but frown. "Did you go to the record company without anyone?" I asked, worried. "No, Jackson, Carla and Sofia were there, but she says I threatened her when I only talked to her."

"So why do you need lawyers?" I asked, a little calmer she hadn't gone alone. "Because according to her, I almost killed her supposed child, which isn't true." Jessica reported "She said what?" I asked, anger beginning to wash over me. "What you heard, and since she can't keep her mouth shut, she told it to the press."

"And she got us into trouble again…" I muttered "I'll take care of it myself… I just want her to leave me alone, I didn't do anything to make her take it out on me." My girlfriend said in a tired tone "I will help you with what I can, now I need you to relax." I asked, relaxing too. "How can I relax, that girl wants to end my life." She noted, "I think it's better for us to stay home today."

"Why?" She asked with a frown again. "You need to be calm and rest, there are a lot of things you went through today." I informed "And we're supposed to postpone our date?" She asked, this time turning to look at me. "The date can wait, the only thing I care about is you're okay, nothing more." I assured, "Don't postpone the date just because today was a crazy day, I'm fine and I really want to go out with you."

"Are you sure you want to? I have no problem with going out another day." I assured, "I'm very sure." She stated, "Then if it's what you want, we'll do it." I responded with a big smile on my face "Thank you." We kissed, but in no time, Carla, Sofía, Jesy, Perrie, Jade and Leigh-Anne arrive and end up kicking me out of the room saying that they had to help Jessica get dressed for our date and they wanted it to be a surprise, so I ended up going to the room where I theoretically slept, but rarely used it.

It didn't take me that long to change and as soon as I finished, I went down to find the kids watching TV, so I sat next to them waiting for Jessica. "I have the feeling it will take a while to her to get down." Madison murmured. "Why do you say?"

"Because they are practically preparing her as if she were going to get married today." Miky responded, "I hope it's soon." I muttered to myself, "That will depend on you." The first one pointed out, "Hey Santi, I have a question." Miky said suddenly "Which one?"

"If you already had a ring to ask her to marry you, why buy another one?" He asked curiously. "One is to ask her to marry me, and another is for a promise." I responded, "Promise of what?" They both asked curiously. "That I will always love her and do everything in my power and more to make her happy."

"You love her, right?" The boy said with a smile on his face. "With all my soul." I responded, with a big smile on my face. "At least I can stay calm." He murmured, "With what?" I asked curiously. "What Miky means is he can be sure you love Jessica, and you won't do anything to her, that's what he means."

"Of course, I'm not going to do anything to him, it would be stupid to do her the slightest harm, because at the end of the day it will end up affecting me. And I hate something happens to her, I would do everything in my power to prevent it." I assured, "I'm glad to hear that." Miky said with a smile on his face "Jessica is right, shorty. You're too overprotective." I responded, laughing "I care about her, that's all. Besides, do you expect me to trust anyone after what happened with Lucas?

"He didn't do anything to Jess, she knew how to defend herself." Madison replied, rolling her eyes. "And if it wasn't for Eric finding out, he'd still be bothering her and all the shit she's doing." pointed out "Who is Lucas?" I asked, "Jessica's co-worker."

"And what happened with him? What did he do to Jessica?" I asked, a little annoyed by what they were implying. "He didn't do anything. We're lucky Jessica has character and gets angry quickly, because otherwise that stupid guy would have raped her like it was nothing." Miky assured "He did what?" I asked, starting to get angry. "You shouldn't have told that, Miky." Madison murmured, denying, "At some point he would have to find out, better he finds out now than later."

"At least tell me he's in jail." I asked "Eric reported him and convinced Jessica to testify. Luckily for everyone, he's locked up." He responded, nodding "Well Santi, in a minute you will have your fiancée with you." Jesy said, joining us. "Thank you, Jesy." I thanked, putting what they had told me out of my mind. "My pleasure, Jade is putting the finishing touches on the makeup."

"Did she let you do her makeup?" Miky asked in a surprised tone, which led me to understand she still didn't care about the makeup. "It took a while to convince her, but yeah. But don't worry dwarfs, its practically nothing. Now you better tell me what I have seen on the news isn't true." Jessy asked.

"The fact that?" I asked, frowning. "Come on, it's everywhere." She said, rolling her eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about, Jessica." I responded, because at this moment I really don't have the slightest idea what she could be talking about "Stop calling me Jessica!!!! You know I hate it." Jessica's friend protested, "I'm sorry, but I really don't know what you're talking about, Jesy."

"The stupid one who goes around saying Jessica threatened her and she almost murdered her child." Jesy responded "Ah, that." I said, caring little what that girl says. "And you say it so calmly? Aren't you worried about what they say about your fiancée or is it true?" She asked, surprised by my reaction, I guess, "Neither of us, she made it up." I informed "And what's that history about her carrying your child? He also made it up?"

"Obviously she made it up, I wouldn't be with someone other than Jessica." I assured, "Thank goodness, I thought I would have to swallow my pride and accept your new girlfriend." She said relieved, "You won't have to do that in your life, it's something I'll save you from doing." I responded, laughing, "And you don't know how much I appreciate it."

"We're already here." It is at that moment I notice the stairs, and before I can see Jessica, I see how all the others go down, but the moment I see her, I can't take my eyes off her. If she's already beautiful, now I had no words to describe Jessica. My heart is beating fast, and, in the background, I could hear them laughing, I must assume it's because of the face she must have at that moment, but I didn't give a shit to be honest, at this moment what I cared about most was the person I could soon call her my fiancée.

"We can go?" Jess asked with a big smile on her face. "I think we killed your boyfriend." Jesy laughed. "Don't say something stupid, Jessica, please." She protested, "Sorry for being the comedian of the group." She said rolling her eyes. "Don't start arguing, I think it's better we leave before they start looking for us."

"I don't want to leave; I haven't seen Leone for a long time, and I want to spend time with her. I want her to remember us and tell us everything." Jesy protested "And you can't stay? Jessica can meet tomorrow afternoon; she owes me an afternoon of shopping. Do you want to go?" my best friend asked, turning in my girlfriend's direction. "I don't care, but why do I get the feeling everyone knows something I don't?"

"Because it's so, now go enjoy your date. "See you tomorrow and you will tell us all the details." Jesy said excitedly. "If I knew what details you were talking about, I would tell you right now." Jess responded, "You can't give them to us now, and don't worry about the kids, they'll stay with me. We're going to have a great time, right guys?"

"Of course." Micky said, "You don't need to stay with them Carla…" Jess started to protest, but she denied and before she could say anything, Jesy beat her to it "Of course it's necessary, besides, I want to meet these guys you brought with you from the United States."

"There's room at home, if you want to stay." Carla reported "I like that idea. Now, you better go." Perrie said with a big smile on her face and with that, they practically kicked us out of the house without letting us say anything else. We stayed at the door for a couple of seconds, but I ended up taking her hand and leading her towards the car.

"Where are we going?" Jess asked curiously. "Surprise." I said, with a big smile on my face. "I hate surprises." She protested with a pout, and I couldn't help but laugh. "Wow, looks like that hasn't changed." I said "Well no, I hate them. Can you not tell me?" She insisted "I could by proxy, but since I want it to be a surprise, I'm not going to tell you."

"Right now, I hate you." She murmured with the pout still on her face. "I know you love me, just as much as I do." I looked at her for a couple of seconds, but they were enough to see the big smile she had on her face, which made mine appear like hers. After this morning's talk I'm sure of Jessica's love for me and I wanted to show it to her in some way. Maybe it's a little hasty considering we've only been together for a couple of weeks, at least for the last four years, but I couldn't wait any longer, I want to be able to call Jessica my wife, and to achieve that, the only way was to ask her to marry me.

A while later, we arrive at the open field where we would be alone. I didn't want anyone to interrupt our evening. I got out of the car and go to Jessica's side to open the door for her, but like most of the time, I'm late.

"Is this the same field where we said how we felt about each other?" Jess asked looking around "I thought you didn't remember" I said confused, but with a smile on my face, glad she remembered "I didn't remember until we got here. It's a nice touch you made our date here." My girlfriend answered with a big smile "So you like it?" I asked, "I love it, can we have dinner?" I'm hungry."

"Whatever you want." We started walking towards the table and once we got there, I moved the chair away from her and pushed it in a little so she isn't so far from the table. "Hey Santi, I have to ask you a question." She said seriously "Which one?" I asked curiously "Have we ever talked about having children?"

"In fact, we talk about it a lot." I informed with a smile on my face "So?" Jess asks "So what?" I questioned confused "What do you think?" She clarified, "I haven't changed my mind, in fact, I think I like the idea more than I did a long time ago." I said sincerely "Really? How so?" My girlfriend asked with curiosity shining in her eyes "I don't know, the only thing I know is I would like to have children with you. Did you change your mind?"

"And what idea did I had before?" she questioned "You wanted to have them." I responded, shrugging my shoulders. "Then I guess I didn't change my mind." She responded "Really?" I asked "Seriously, I like the idea of having children with you. I'm sure they will turn out very cute and handsome like their father." Jessica responded with a big smile on her face. "I hope they come out more like you than me."

"Well, let them both come out." She said with a big smile on her face. "That would be beautiful." At that moment I got up to grab the plates of food to start eating. I put one in front of her and then grabbed water to serve us. "I have to tell you something, Santi." She said after a few minutes in silence, "What?" I asked curiously, "I'm pregnant."

With those words I stared at her dumbfounded. Is this really happening? We're going to have a child? At this moment I'm the happiest man there could be on this planet. I got up to hug her, but I ended up picking her up and spinning around with her in my arms. After a couple of laps, I put her on the ground and kiss her like there's no tomorrow until we must separate to get some air, but even so, we keep our foreheads pressed together and our hands intertwined.

"You have made me the happiest man there can be in this universe, Jess." I said, laughing, "I had to tell you." she responded with a big smile on her face "When did you know?" I asked curiously. "This afternoon the doctor called me to tell me." She informed and I frowned. "But they didn't give you that test."

"No, but the blood test was how they discovered it." she revealed "And how much time are you?" I asked. "A couple of weeks." She responded and I couldn't help but laugh "WE WILL BE PARENTS!!!!" I exclaimed, happy and excited to be able to have this experience with Jess. "Yes, and you are going to be the best father our child could have."

"That's what I will be. I love you so much, Jess." I murmured, but with a big smile on my face. "Me to you." She said, "I also have to tell you something, well, rather ask you." I reported "What?" My girlfriend asked curiously. "I had to think about it when we finished dinner, but I think this is a better time." I said, "What for?"

"Listen Jess, you're my best friend for as long as I can remember, and I always loved you so much. You were with me always, and you didn't leave me aside even though the popular people wanted you to join them, you were always with me, and you prevented them from messing with me millions of times. I don't know when I realized what I felt for you was more than a friendship, I just know one day I wanted Amy and a second later I wanted you. It didn't take me long to realize I loved you more than anything in the world, but it took me a long time to tell you because I was convinced you wouldn't want me back and with that, you would walk away from me. One day I decided I had to get that out of me, and I told you, I was prepared to lose you, but you gave me the best surprise by telling me you loved me too and you said we should be a couple. From that day on I didn't do anything other than love you more. Then happened that in Los Ángeles and I felt lost, I'm not going to lie to you at some point I tried to end all the pain I had, but it didn't work, I guess it was because at some point we would meet again, and that's how it was. That's one of my favourite's days next to you, the day we became friends in kindergarten and the day we officially became boyfriend and girlfriend. I clearly adore all the moments we spent together, but these are the ones that will always remain in my memory."

I got down on one knee and took out the two boxes, leaving them in sight of her, and from her face, I know at any moment she's going to start crying, I just hope they are from joy. I took the first ring out of the box and held her hand so I could put it on her. "This ring is to promise you I'll do everything in my power to make you happy, to promise you that you can count on me whenever you need me, that I will be there for anything, in good times and bad, to promise you I will love you, both you and our child, and in order for them to do something to you, they will have to go over my corpse and all kinds of promises I can make to you, and this other one is to ask you if you would do me the honour of marrying me, because I love you more than anything in this world Jessica Leone, and if the lack of your memories didn't separate us, nothing can."

Tears were streaming down her face, so I got up and wiped them away. As soon as he hugs me, I don't hesitate to return it. We stay like for a couple of minutes until I pull her away to see if she's still crying. "So, what do you say darling, will you marry me?" I asked and she nodded "You know I do."

And this was the best day of my life by far. I loved every day I had spent with Jessica, but I'm happy, happy to know we're going to have a child and happy because I would spend the rest of my life with the woman I love more than anyone.