I promise to honor, cherish and protect.

She realized he liked her the way she liked him that day when there was a raging storm and she lost the last bus – her college was near his house, so, she went there, drenched and shivering, crying her heart out, lost. When she got there, his mother directed her to his bedroom, and when she entered she broke down crying, it had been such an awful day. He hugged her and soothed her and she felt protected, laying down with her head in his lap. When she looked up, her eyes still blotched from crying, she noticed he didn’t have his prosthetics on. And she saw, for the first time, the raw panic in his eyes when he noticed where she had been looking at.

He realized she cared for him as much as he cared for her the day she came into his bedroom, drenched, having lost the last bus home, desperate for some human warmth. All he had seen was the girl he loved crying and hurting so much, and he had done what his heart had told him to – he had soothed her, rubbing her head while she rested there in his lap, marveling with the simple fact he was touching her. And suddenly, she looked at him and he noticed he had been sitting there without his prosthetics and she was seeing him for what he really was, without those little deceivers masking the true extent of the difference between him and the rest of them.

When she saw the panic in his eyes, she acted on instinct and kissed him, placing her small hands on the back of his neck.

When she kissed him he acted on instinct and kissed her back, holding her head with his stumps.

Eventually, they broke apart, panting. Looking into each other’s eyes, they whispered at the same time “I love you”. She blushed, he smiled. 

Three years later, when they finished university, they started living together. She learned all the hardships he had to get through daily and learned how to help him. He found out she had always been looked down by her family and started working on rebuilding her self-confidence.

He knew for sure she was the love of his life when he saw her walking down the aisle, her bare white shoulders contrasting with her black hair, her grey eyes bright with happiness as she walked in his direction with a white dress and a flower bouquet in hand.

She knew for sure he was the man she wanted to spend her life with when she entered the church and saw him at the altar, his eyes bright with laugh and his dimples reminding her why she loved him so much, his blond hair combed nicely for the first time.

She recognized he didn’t care in the slightest she was shy, recognized he didn’t think of her as boring when he carefully placed the simple ring they had chosen as a wedding band in her finger, the hooks’ metal cold against her skin, saying “ I promise to love you, to laugh with you, to hold you when you cry. I promise to be always with you, to help you stand when you need, and support you from the sidelines when you don’t. I promise to spend every day with you, to be there when you are sick and to be there when you are happy. With this ring I promise to honor, cherish and protect.”

He recognized his lack of hands didn’t faze her, recognized he had never been that different to her when she took the strand of gold where his ring was, placed it on his neck as if it was a necklace and said “With this ring I promise to be with you in all the moments that truly matter, to help you succeed no matter what, to laugh and cry by your side. I promise to be me and to help you be you, to be there whenever you need me to, no matter what or why. I promise to love you.”

She felt truly loved when he whispered “I will never take it out”.

He felt truly loved when she blurted “It will be with me forever”.

As time passed, he saw her become a famous writer, with tons of books sold, discovering the Universe inside people.

As time passed she saw him become a famous engineer, working for NASA , discovering the Universe outside the Galaxy.

He was with her the day her first daughter was born. They named her Raquel, after his mother, Rachel.

She was with him the first time he held their first son, named William, after her brother, Guilherme.

They were together when she learned how he functioned at home without his prosthetics, when he learned how she had awful nightmares that kept her awake for hours.

She encouraged him to get a driver’s license, even though his mother said it was too dangerous.

He supported her when she decided to move back to Portugal, even though her parents disapproved.

They became one when they were both 90 years old, and fell asleep together at home, never to wake up again.

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AN: first of all, I'd like to thank you for reading my story. Please, leave a comment, any comment, it would mean the world to me.

Then, I apologize for any grammar and/or spelling mistakes that may have occurred since English is not my first language

And last, the title of this story, a phrase that is later repeated in the middle of the story ("I promise to honor, cherish and protect") is not mine. It belongs to Anne Bishop and it can be read throughout her books "The Black Jewels Series". 

Ramalhinho