It's Better to Burn Out than Fade Away-Kurt Cobain

Chapter 161

Ethan and I walked over to the cake and we waited for the photographer to record us and take pictures. 

Ethan grabbed the knife and set it on top of the cake. I put my hands on top of his and put pressure as the knife dove into the cake. We cut a piece for him and a piece for me, then both took a handful of the cake and gently slapped it onto each other's faces. I shoved my fingers into his mouth to put some cake in there and accidentally caused him to gag. 

"Shit!" I quickly removed my fingers. 

He chuckled, his eyes growing teary. "You're a crazy woman, Ruby."

"Correction. I'm your crazy woman."

"Oh my," He dipped me and gave me a kiss. 

We grabbed our plates full of cake and sat back down at our table. We grabbed our napkins and cleaned each other off. 

"God, Ruby, I'm in love with you," He told me. "I love you so much, Ruby. I love you."

I kissed him hard. "You are the love of my life, Ethan."

Everything in that moment was pure bliss. It felt unreal and magical all at once. I was married again, but this time was my last time getting married. I knew it from the moment that I told Ethan that I loved him. 

It was a couple weeks after he had told me that he loved me. I had taken Lorelai and Melissa to his house to go swimming during the summer. Ethan played with Melissa in the pool almost the whole time and then even offered to play with Lorelai. She, of course, said no. But she did get into the pool with us. I put my hair up into a bun because I didn't want to get chlorine in my hair. Ethan put Melissa's floatie back on her and let Lorelai hang out with her. He sat down next to me and asked me why I wasn't hanging out with everyone. I explained to him that I didn't want to get my hair wet. He picked me up-as if I weighed one pound-and threatened to throw me into the pool. Lorelai and Melissa cheered him on while I protested. Ethan took me onto the diving board and I knew that there was no going back. He jumped into the air and threw me while he jumped in, too. My hair ended up getting wet, but I didn't really care. 

After the pool, we were all exhausted, so we ordered pizza and turned on a movie. Lorelai and Melissa both fell asleep on the couch, so Ethan and I took them up to our guest bedroom and put them down to sleep. Then we went into his bedroom and I looked at him for a long time, realizing all that he had done for our family (not just for me) and how much he loved us all. He was getting some clothes for me to wear as pajamas and then I shouted to him that I loved him. He stopped what he was doing and slowly looked up at me, so I slowly repeated it again. He told me that he loved me, too, and we just laid in each other's arms for a while enjoying the moment. 

"What are you thinking about?" Ethan asked me. 

"Oh, just thinking about the first time I told you that I loved you."

He smiled and I knew that he was thinking about it, too. "That was a wonderful day. We should go swimming after this."

"Ethan, you're an actual idiot. It is December 13. I'm actually cold right now."

He took off his blazer immediately after I said that and draped it around my shoulders, rubbing my arms right after. 

"Is that better?" He asked me. 

I was speechless. This man was so helpful towards me and just so selfless. He always thought about other people before he thought about himself. He wasn't one of those pretentious actors who were really entitled and let fame get the best of themselves. He was better than that. 

"It's time for the bride and groom to share their first dance," Dave spoke into the microphone. 

Ethan and I both looked at each other with the same expression planted onto our faces. We both had wide eyes, but we were smiling.