"Ma!" August whines, "Can you please talk some sense into this stubborn man you call your husband?" He begs plopping on the couch beside my mom and dropping his head on her shoulder.
"August, it's a eleven o'clock." She sighs.
"Exactly." Dad pushes his head off of Mama's shoulder, and August dramatically falls to the other side of the couch. "Go to bed."
"I won't until you give me your blessing." He stubbornly crosses his arms.
"Guess you'll be awake for most of your life. I wonder how Delani would feel when her boyfriend goes insane from the lack of sleep, guess we'll find out." My dad shrugs, unsympathetically.
August wore a wounded look.
For the last fifteen minutes he's been trying to get my dad's blessing to marry Delani, to which for the last fifteen minutes my dad has refused, and throughout this whole reaction Delani went to her room to sleep.
August was rejecting my dad's refusal.
I was sitting on the kitchen counter watching Carter as he moved around the kitchen putting away the cake and putting dishes in the sink.
"You don't have to clean up, you know." I chime watching him move from one place to another.
"I know. I enjoy cleaning."
"You would make a good housewife, have i told you that?"
He chuckles as he washes his hands, "No you have not." He dries his hands glancing towards me.
"Would you like to be a housewife?" I lean slightly forward as he makes his way to me. The sleeves of one of my Spider-Man hoodies rolled up above his elbows.
"Would I be your housewife?" He raises his brow as amusement costs his face. He hooks his hands to hold the underside of my knees as he spreads them apart taking his place in between them.
"You wouldn't be anybody else's." I shrug, "Frankly, I don't think anyone would be able to handle your demanding attitude."
He leans in closer and as his body seems invade my personal space a sense of comfort was accompanied with him.
"I only know what I want." He shrugs innocently with his hands rubbing up and down from my hips to my waist in a soothing pace that could make me fall asleep.
"And what is it that you want?" I ask, my fingers twiddling with the drawstring on my oversized hoodie he's wearing.
"Come take a drive with me." He demands softly his breath brushing across my cheek.
"Is that what you want?" I raise a brow.
He nods firmly answering lowly, "That's what I want."
"Take a drive in what car?"
His hands slip under my thighs as picks me and my legs clamp to his hips as my hands hold onto his shoulders. "I made a call."
"How many connections do you have?" He gently sets me back on the ground.
His hands doesn't stray from my body even when I'm standing on my own two feet, they move from the back of my thigh, over the swell of my ass, and settling themselves my lower back.
His touch.
His touch.
His touch.
It was like too many watts surging through a lightbulb causing the bulb to burn brighter and brighter immiting warmth with anticipation, waiting for it to explode.
"I do not know." He answers.
"Let's go." I grab his hand walking out the kitchen. He follows.
Walking into the living room August was still arguing with my dad who seemed unbothered resting his head on Mama's shoulder as she sips the wine in her glass while fighting to keep her eyes closed.
"I will marry Venus!" August declared.
"Okay." Dad nods, "I'll even build you a rocket ship to send you to the damn planet. Hell, I'll even print the wedding certificate."
"You know that's not what I meant." He glares before glancing to my mom, "Ma, a little help?"
"I love you, August, but it's late. Talk to me in morning when I'm aware of what this conversation is about."
I lead Carter to the front door, "We're going for a drive. We'll be back." I grab a house key from the bowl sitting on the small table next to the front door.
"It's late. Don't be out long." Mama orders lazily as she sets down her glass and stands up from the couch with a yawn. "I'm going to bed."
"Okay." I open the front door.
"Yes, ma'am."
I let Carter exit first so I can close the door and lock it. When I turn to catch up with him I see the sleek black car he's walking towards.
"Where—How did this get here?" I follow him to the passenger seat as he unlocks the car and opens the door for me.
He kisses my cheek kindly gesturing for me to get in, "I told you I made a call." He close the door before going to the driver side and getting in.
My fingers brushes against the dashboard. The interior was leather and everything was cleaned, smelled fresh, and seemed brand new.
"Where to?" He inserts the keys and starts the ignition.
"An ice cream shop just two streets down. It was one of my favorite places when I lived here. I can give you the directions." I said buckling my seatbelt.
"Ice cream? We just had cake."
"Ice cream and cake. It's one of the best duos, trust me I'mma dessert expert." I said cheesing.
A second pats where his eyes seem to have scan over my face before a small smile nudges on his, "Okay."
He presses a button and a mechanical sound resounds from over our heads as the roof of the car slowly pulls back.
"It's a convertible?!"
He laughs quietly at my excitement as he nods, "Yes."
I cool my gawking expression as I gaze at the stars and moon above standing out from the dark sky. The star wink down on us with a few planes flying over that could be mistaken for the celestial bodies. The midnight breeze dances around us refreshingly reminding me of the beach in California at night, but smelt less of cool saltwater and more warm and earthy.
I turn on the radio and Carter takes off.
My curls flies behind me like a storm of shadows as my hand hangs out the car feeling the wind slip through my fingers, and I would almost describe it as soft. It's a feeling that's similar to holding your hand still under a faucet of calm running water. The wind is gentle when you relax.
I tell Carter the directions to the ice cream shop while a smile seems permanent on my face as silently admire the man next to me.
When he parks the car in the ice cream lot Carter gets out the car first before coming around and opening the door for me. I kiss his forehead as a thank you.
"Know what flavor your gonna get?" I swing our connected hands together as we walk to the clear double doors with a bright neon sign that says "open".
"I was thinking rocky road." His hand slips from mine as he opens the door for me.
"Have you had it before?"
He shakes his interlocking our fingers, "No. I usually get chocolate but I want to try something new."
I don't know why something small as him trying something new made me smile. I was excited for him.
"Is it weird I'm kinda proud of you?" I rest my head against his arm.
He shakes his head smiling, "Not at all. This is a very monumental experience that I will remember forever. Trying a new flavor of ice cream with someone who is dear to me."
"How many flavors have you had?"
"Vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, and Neapolitan."
"I don't think Neapolitan really counts." I break it to him.
He sighs, the smiles still there, "I know. I wanted to seem experienced in front of a dessert expert such as yourself." His shoulders drop slightly.
"Consider me impress. I didn't even think you had chocolate or strawberry."
We move up in the line and I tell him what I want before he orders. As Carter talks to the employee small, clear toy dispensers catch my attention. I search my pockets for fifty cents and when I feel the coins in my hand I sneak away to the gashapon machine.
There were a few options of gun balls, skittles, M&M's, and small gadgets and toys in small containers. I insert my fifty cents into the coin slot before turning the handle until I hear a clank from the machine, and out falls a small roundish container.
It had something in it but I couldn't tell what until I opened it to reveal a clear, tannish plastic ring with a black, fake diamond on it.
Carter comes back with the ice cream in hand and I slip the ring into my pocket,
"I was not sure if you wanted a cup or a waffle cone so I you a cup with a waffle cone on top." He said handing me my cookie dough ice cream.
Unable to wait I took a bite, chewing the frozen chocolate chips, "We can find a deserted space and watch the stars."
"Sounds like a plan."
•••••••
We found a place. One I've never seen or been before. It was field near a small ranch and cows sleeping, wondering, or whatever cows do at one in the morning miles away.
We're eating the the rest of our ice cream in the back seat of the convertible. The top down, Carters legs stretched as much as they could in the back of the cramp space with my in his lap.
He was beautiful. The waning gibbous shining down and it's as if his warm skin soaked in the pastel moonlight. His hair was tousled from having the wind combed through it, and it looked so soft. He seemed at peace with his head tilted back, towards the sky, his elbow propped up as his twirls my curls between his fingers. I could feel his calm heartbeat from his chest to my back, it was almost quiet.
When I finish the last bite of my waffle cone I set the trash aside and reach me hand down to search inside my pocket for the toy ring.
"What's your middle name?" I open the small capsule that holds the ring and I take out the cheap jewelry and slide it on the finger between the middle and the pinky of his left hand.
"Morgan."
Carter Morgan Moretti.
"I love it. I don't think I would have ever guessed Morgan."
I feel his free hand slip under my shirt and his arm falls over my waist underneath. "My mother was persistent on the name since my father chose my first. He thought it was a girl's name, but she did not care. She liked the name so they kept it."
"Well, Carter Morgan Morreti, would you do me the honors of marrying me?" I propose softly, laying kiss on the back of his hand.
"Would I be the housewife or the husband?" A grin tilts his lips as I feel shapes being drawn on my skin under his fingertips
"The househusband?"
I feel his chest rumble against my back as he chuckles quietly, "Of course, girasole. I will happily be your househusband with you as my wife."
At the nickname my heart flutters while my belly twist and turn with a happiness he only seems to bring me.
"So it's official. We're married." I announce leaning my head back on his shoulder.
"Just like that." I felt his whisper caress the column of my neck, like a breeze that causes goosebumps to rise.
It was the kiss after the whisper that failed to simmer blush on my cheeks. His soft, delicate lips pressed against my hot skin and a shiver went down my spine.
Another kiss climbing higher to my jaw, "How lucky am I to have a wife as darling as you?"
A smile abuses my red cheeks, "As lucky as I am to have a househusband with such a beautiful soul, cariño."
He shakes his head as his hand travels "But it is wretched compared to yours."
"Don't say that!" I demand. "Our first impressions were not ideal but I've gotten to know you, and that alone taught me you have a kind soul." I argue.
"You see the good in many things, il mio girasole." He stated as an observation.
"I see the good in you, always will, nothing can change that. Not even you." I finalized pressing a quick kiss to his lips and his hand slips from under my shirt to the back of my neck.
His hand cups the back of my, crashing my lips back on to his. I inhale sharply at the fast action, tense before my body melts into his like a flame melting wax.
His lips were burning me with their scalding touch as they move against mine, his tongue delving between my stunned lips. He was stealing my breath and taking it for his own, and I was letting him.
My brain was practically spinning. I just wanted to be close to him as much as I could. I wanted to feel every pulse and rhythm of the blood pumping through every one of his veins, for our hearts to beat so closely they become synchronized. I wanted it to be just us.
I situate myself to straddle his lap and I just hug him, wrapping my arms around his neck as I burry my face in the crook of it and his arms enclose around me tightly, pressing our bodies closer together.
I close my eyes as I feel words he left on the tip of my tongue that made me realize how in deep I was with this man.
Every morning he reminds me to take my prescription, he's never less than gentle with me, he's so outspoken with his feelings, and the little things he does that make my heart fall out of rhythm. When he opens my water bottles for me even though I perfectly capable, or how he never fails to make me feel comfortable.
My heart was racing and I squeeze him tighter.
"We are married now, Ivy. Now you really can't get rid of me."
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••
<3 💍