"Declan Rice... will you marry me?"
At that, he finally opens his eyes, looking at me as if I've grown another head.
"Are you serious?" he asks while sitting on the bed.
"I've never been more serious in my entire life. I even have a ring" I say as I show him the ring I just made with a piece of paper I found on my desk. He just laughs when he sees it, looking from it to me, expecting me to laugh or say it's all a joke.
"You are serious" he finally says.
"I am."
He stays silent for a few seconds, but they feel like hours.
"Yes. I will marry you" he finally says as he offers me his hand, waiting for me to put the ring on his finger. "I can't believe you just asked me to marry you, with a paper ring, while we are completely naked" he says once I'm finished.
"I'm full of surprises... fiancé" I say as I lean forward to kiss him.
"I think that's my new favorite word" he says, laughing.
"Should we celebrate... fiancé?" I say as I move to be on top of him again.
"I think we should" he says.
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When we make it downstairs, everyone is still having breakfast. James included.
"James!" I say when I see him. "I wasn't expecting you to be moving so soon."
"I still need to be carried, I can't go too far without help. But the doctor said I'll recover" he explains.
"Glad to hear you're feeling better" Declan says.
"My lord" James replies, bowing his head.
"Is there anything you would like to share with us?" Mason says while pointing at our hands. I hadn't noticed we had come downstairs holding them.
"We don't hate each other anymore" Declan says.
"That much I had suspected" Mason replies. "Anything else?"
"Do I tell them?" Declan asks me.
"Yes, Dec. Tell us" Mason says, annoyance on his voice.
"Alright, alright, no need to get mad. But one has to think for a moment how to say to his second family that he is getting married" he says with a shrug.
Once those words leave his mouth, chaos starts. There are screams, cheers, hugs and food everywhere. Happiness.
"And the ring? How is the ring?" one of Mason's sisters asks me.
"Actually... There isn't a ring" I say. "At least not a proper one."
"How so?" Lady Mount asks.
"She is the one who asked me to marry her" Declan says. Everyone falls silent. Even the kids stop running around like crazy. Finally, Lady Mount speaks.
"You have to tells us all the details!" she says with excitement as she leads to me to sit at the table.
"Maybe don't share all the details" Declan says to my ear. "You know which ones".
We spend the rest of the day celebrating the good news, the idea of having a double wedding being thrown around more than once. Lady Mount also suggests that we should write to our parents, or to Declan's at least. Who knows the state my father is after I left and he didn't get the wedding he wanted. At dinner, James asks Declan and I to talk in private.
"While your parents and your mother were planning everything, they knew you would fix things, and that's why they gave you their blessing before you left" he says, looking at me "And also that's why they entrusted me with this." He has a little box on his hand. A ring box. "For you, my lord."
When Declan takes opens it, it shows the most beautiful ring I have ever seen.
"It belonged to the first woman from your family that became a Lady Rice" he tells me. "Its last owner was your grandmother's sister, so it seemed fitting that you also got to wear it. You aren't receiving it the usual way, but you two aren't a usual couple."
"May I?" Declan says, taking the ring out of the box and holding my hand. I nod, tears coming to my eyes.
"To the future Lord and Lady Rice!" Mason says when walk back into the dinning room, raising his glass. Everyone else joins him, cheers filling the room. I've never felt happier.
YOU ARE READING
Little Poppy
Romance♚ Period drama ♚ Summary: "My family and the Rice's have been enemies since forever, and it all started because a Rice ancestor married the woman my ancestor was supposed to marry. The thing is though, that over the years, some members of both fami...
