Elizabeth

26: Forever Mine

Elizabeth

I wait for Romeo at seven. He's still not back, so I sit in the living room in a beautiful dress. It's got colorful flowers flowing around the skirt. The neckline is low. My hair is up in a messy bun, and I have butterfly earrings in.

I watch Dominic as he watches a few minutes of Bluey.

Alina makes dinner for Dominic.

The door opens and I see Romeo walk in with a rush. "I'm so sorry I'm late, baby," he says. I stand up and look at him.

"It's ok," is all I say. He comes to kiss me quickly.

"Let me go change. I'll be quick." He rushes upstairs, so I wait for five more minutes.

In five minutes, he walks me outside to one of his cars. He opens the door for me, and when he sits in the driver's seat, he lets out a breath. "Are you ok?" I ask him and grab his hand.

"I'm fine," he says. He starts driving.

The drive is silent. He holds my hand with one of his while he uses the other to drive. I look out the window at the stars. I feel his thumb graze my hand back and forth. Back and forth.

...

We arrive at a restaurant. "Ah. Good evening, Mr. Bianchi. Right this way," he says. We are the only ones in the restaurant. Soft music is playing.

"Where is everyone?" I laugh.

"It's closed," he says. "Open to just you and I." When we walk to the very back, it's decorated with flowers and dimly lit lights. I gasp as I look at it. It's absolutely stunning in every way.

Romeo pulls the seat out for me. When I've sat down, he sits down across from me.

"I want to have another child," I say to him. He looks up from the menu with a little smirk.

"Another child," he chuckles. "You know what that involves?"

"What?" I tease.

"Sex. A lot of it."

"Romeo!" I don't expect him to actually say it out loud. He shrugs his shoulders and sips on his drink.

"You said it first, baby. You said it first."

"I'm serious, Romeo. I want another child." He looks at me, grabs my hands, and kisses them.

"Ok," he whispers. "We can work on that."

"Really?!" I gasp. He chuckles again and nods.

"Now. What do you want to eat?" I look at the menu. There's a lot of stuff to choose from, so when I get overwhelmed, he chooses for me.

When the food arrives, we eat in comfortable silence. "Elizabeth," he says. I look at him. He's just watching me. "Follow me."

"Where are we going?" He extends his hand to me. I walk with him to the balcony of the restaurant. He covers my eyes for a minute. "Romeo," I warn.

"Trust me," he chuckles. When we are outside, he uncovers my eyes. There are tiny candles on the floor and railings.

"What is this?" I giggle. I turn to him. He's kneeling on one knee with a ring in his hand.

"When someone has fallen in love with another person, they get married and have children. We already had a child," he chuckles. "But I want to get married."

"You want to get married," I repeat.

"I want to marry you, Elizabeth. I love you. I want to see you walk down that aisle and marry me. I want to marry you and grow old with you."

"Are you serious?!" I ask in such excitement.

"I'm serious." I jump up and down and jump in his arms when he stands. "Will you marry me, Elizabeth?"

"Yes!" I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him. He grabs my hand so that he can put the ring on my finger.

"It's my mother's ring," he whispers in my ear. "She told me that if I were going to propose to you, then it must be with her ring."

"I love you," I say and kiss him. He chuckles as he holds me a little tighter than before. "When can we get married?!" He laughs.

"Whenever you want, baby. I know Mami wants to help with that."

"She knows?" I gasp.

"Baby, the ring," he reminds me. I laugh.

"Oh yeah."

...

Romeo opens the door for me. inside, everyone is waiting for me. Alina rushes up to me first. "I said yes," I laugh. Everyone cheers.

"Oh! We can plan the wedding! It will be beautiful!"

"Congrats, Elizabeth," Elijah says. I go up to hug him.

"Thank you," I say through tears. "Thank you all so much."

"I think it's time for some drinks and music," Evan suggests. He leads us to the balcony and turns on some music. "To the couple who can't seem to separate no matter what," he chuckles.

"To Romeo and Elizabeth!" Alina squeals as she holds up her drink.

"To my children," Elijah says.

"To my fiancé," I say and kiss him.

"To my Elizabeth."

-Everest-