by Katy Kaylee
I took a while picking out a ring, though. Something that was simple and classic, timeless, sophisticated but not ostentatious. I had a feeling that Veronica would hate it if I got her something with a huge rock on it. She had told me about how friends would show up with these huge diamonds on their fingers showing them off, and showing off in turn how rich their fiancé was.
Veronica didn’t care about that. Maybe she had, in high school, but not now. I knew that for a fact. She would want something that she could wear with any outfit, something that she would be proud to pass onto future generations.
I ended up selecting a ring with small diamonds in a row embedded in it. It would sparkle and catch the light, add a bit of flair, but it wouldn’t overwhelm or become gauche. And it would, I figured, go with just about anything she wore.
Once I had the ring taken care of, I headed over to her house. I knew that Veronica wanted to take care of things. That wasn’t what this was about. This was about showing her that no matter what happened, I would be there. I was up for anything. I would do whatever it took to make it work. We were the priority. The two of us together. No matter how this all worked out.
She wasn’t home when I got there, so I waited. Luckily only about half an hour. She looked stunning when she got out of her car. Veronica had clearly dressed to the nines today, her pale pink fit n’ flare dress and the kitten heels more conventional ‘Southern belle’ than I had seen from her in my entire time of knowing her as adults.
When she showed me inside, I saw no reason to wait or hesitate any further. I got down on one knee and pulled out the ring box.
Veronica dropped her small clutch purse in shock. I almost laughed, but nerves got in the way. I hoped that she would say yes, but… this whole time she had been trying to take things slowly. Most men didn’t propose until they knew that their girlfriend would definitely say yes. It was the how and when that was supposed to be a surprise for the proposal, not the act of proposing itself. It was supposed to be something that you and your partner talked about and understood, a step that you knew you were both ready to take.
I didn’t know that about Veronica. I hoped, but I didn’t know. And I was fully prepared for her to say that she wasn’t ready, that she needed more time, that she needed to wait. No matter what she said, though, she would know that I loved her and was ready to make that official, known to the world. I wanted us to be together for the rest of our lives. That was what this was about. That was why this was important.
Thank God I’d practiced my speech, because I would’ve completely blanked out otherwise. “Roni.”
She smiled at me, a helpless, giddy kind of smile, and clapped a hand over her mouth. I thought I could see the beginnings of tears in her eyes.
“I’ll be honest with you… I’ve loved you since we were in high school. All this time, I had tried to get over you, and I’d failed. And I’m not exactly one to believe in fate and destiny and all that, but I also believe that when you know, you know. And I knew you. I knew you were the only one for me.
“You don’t have to say yes. You don’t have to set a date. We don’t have to move in together or anything. We can take it as slow as you want. But this is my promise to you. This is my offer to you - to let me love you and worship you for the rest of our lives. I’m not asking for you to belong to me in any way. I’m asking for a partnership. And if you wanted to join me in that, I would spend the rest of my life making sure that you knew that you were beloved, and valued, and adored.” I took a deep breath. “I don’t want to limit your freedom. Not in any way. I just want to be allowed to dedicate myself to you the way I’ve always wanted.”
“But…” Veronica looked like she was struggling not to cry. “Your… your job?”
“Who cares about the job?” I replied. “You matter to me. You and our child. You were the reason that I worked so hard to get to where I am, you’re my priority, you always have been. I can find something else. I’ll always find a new path, so long as you’re with me.”
Veronica’s hand trembled as she held it out, and my heart soared. “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes.”
32
Veronica
I could hardly breathe as I listened to Ted pouring his heart out to me. I couldn’t believe it. I mean, I could in a way because Ted had always been certain about this, certain about us, in a way that I had been scared to be.
But a part of me still couldn’t quite believe that Ted, that anyone, would drop everything in their life for me. That they would throw all the rest of it away, so long as they got to be with me. I could feel my eyes welling up with tears and I had to blink rapidly to keep my vision from blurring. I didn’t want to miss a second of this. I wanted Ted’s face in this moment etched in my mind forever.
I had no idea what I did to deserve this wonderful man. The love in his eyes was shining out like beacons and my knees felt weak. I could only hope that he saw that same love shining out of me, towards him, because I might not have been sure if I deserved his love, but I knew that I wanted it. I wanted it, and I loved him, and it was overwhelming me to the point that I could barely even speak.
“Yes,” I managed, when the time came. “Yes.”
Being the wife to someone, anyone else, it might have felt like I was belonging to someone again. But being with Ted… that was just being myself. With someone standing next to me. It was having someone to cheer me on and support me while I did whatever it was that I needed to do. And I wanted to be with him, and have that support, and support Ted in return.
He grinned, and I thought perhaps I saw tears in his eyes as well, and then he was sliding the ring onto my finger - and it fit, of course it did, and I laughed a little hysterically. It was a beautiful ring, perfect, exactly the kind that I would have picked out for myself.
“And as for… ” He started, but I put my hand over his mouth.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “It’s all taken care of.”
Ted slowly stood up, still holding onto my hand. I dropped my other hand away from his mouth. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that I… that I went to Preston, and I handled it. I reminded him of how our society works, and the connections that I have.” A triumphant grin spread over my face. “And what will happen to him if he crosses me.”
Ted wrapped his arm around my waist, kissing me. “You brave genius,” he murmured against my lips. Then he paused. “I know you wanted to take things slow, so if you’re just saying yes because you’re overwhelmed or something - ”
I kissed him back. “You ridiculous man,” I teased. “Take me to bed.”
Ted swooped his arm underneath my legs, picking me up bridal-style and carrying me right up to my bedroom. He had never been in here, and I could sense him taking it all in as he walked over and deposited me onto the bed.
“It’s beautiful in here,” he murmured. “Like you.”
I took his face in my hands and kissed him. “The things you say,” I replied in a whisper. I still couldn’t quite believe that he loved me this much. That he had truly been willing to give up everything for me. It was beyond anything that I could have hoped for or even comprehended. Even in high school when we were last together, I didn’t think that he would go this far, love me this much.
And yet, he did. He really did.
I lost track of where our bodies were as we rolled, over and over, me on top and then Ted, until Ted flipped me over and took me from behind but this time… this time I was spread out on the bed, and his entire body was pressed against mine, every inch. Soon I would be too large and couldn’t lie on my stomach like this, and I reveled in it, reveled in the feeling of him pressed against me, covering me, just like his love did.
“In me,” I gasped. “In me, please, Ted…”
And he did, oh God, he did, he fucked into me, so slowly that I wanted to scream in need for him, and I gave myself over to him in every way.
33
Ted
I held Veronica in my a
rms as I slid my cock into her, feeling her clench around me, drawing me in deeper. “Yes,” she gasped. “Like that, Ted, please…”
As if I could have ever denied her anything.
She felt good, so, so good, as she always did but even more so now - now that I knew she was truly mine. I could never let her go, I could never let her out of my life. Even if she had said no to my proposal, I would have still been with her. Any way that she wanted me. I was hers.
We were completely pressed together like this, my legs keeping hers spread, my hands wrapped around her to massage and pinch at her breasts, those perfect breasts that made my mouth water. I nipped at her shoulder as she cried out, my cock fucking her wide, and I couldn’t get in hard thrusts this way but it didn’t matter… these slow, shallow ones were perfect.
Veronica kept crying out my name, and I grunted hers in return. It felt like nothing else in the world existed except for her. It was so intense, like I was encasing myself in electricity, and I could barely get my breath in. I managed to slide my hand down between her body and the bed, rubbing at her clit, over and over until she came, and then came again, until she was whimpering and begging me, saying it was too much, please, Ted - only then did I let myself give over and come. Only then did I let myself fall.
We lay there, breathing heavily, and I rolled over so that I wouldn’t crush her. But I pulled her with me, kept her back pressed to my chest. I really did never want to let her go. I never wanted to leave this bed. I just wanted her forever in my arms.
I held her close, my hand sliding over her stomach… her stomach where our child was growing. “I never stopped loving you,” I repeated.
“And you must have tried so hard,” Veronica said, and she didn’t sound teasing or condescending. She sounded like she ached for me. “After what I did to you. I’m sorry, Ted, I really am. I should have fought for us, instead of letting my parents dictate my life, but I fought this time. I knew I had to do that.”
“You were brave,” I promised her. “You were braver than I expected, braver than you had to be, and I’m proud of you.”
Veronica gave me an embarrassed smile, her cheeks flushing. “I realized… that the only thing I couldn’t bear to lose was you. And I feel like that’s something you’ve known all along and I’m only just realizing it and I’m playing catchup.”
“No. No, you had to go through your own things and I had to go through mine and, after your last husband I can’t blame you for being unsure, even with someone that you cared about before.” I reached across and took her hand, where the ring gleamed on her finger. “I actually didn’t think you’d say yes. I thought… I wanted to propose to you so that you knew how serious I was. But I didn’t think you’d want to get married right now. Not after last time and everything you had to go through.”
“Last time wasn’t my choice,” Veronica replied. She squeezed my hand and brought it up to her lips, kissing my knuckles. “I was doing what I thought I had to do. What my parents basically… bullied me into doing. I want to take a chance on you because this is my own choice. Not anyone else’s. This is for me, this is what makes me happy.” Her smile grew. “You make me happy. You always have.”
I kissed her, feeling helpless, caught in the spell of her, but I never wanted to break free. “I love you.”
“I love you,” Veronica repeated, as easy as breathing, and I felt something in my chest loosen. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
“And I with you.” I knew, this time, that this was forever. Nothing and no one would ever separate us again.
Epilogue: Veronica
I never expected to be walking down the aisle again.
When I had married Chad, I had been convinced that we’d stay together forever. That he was my one and done. I hadn’t been in love with him the way I’d been in love with Ted, and part of me had known it - had known that I deserved to be more in love with my husband than I was, but I had also been denying it, and lying to myself.
When I’d first gotten married, it had been all about pomp and circumstance. I’d had a designer dress, it had been at this prestigious venue, the whole thing had been catered by a famous chef - the works. It had been all about the event, about ending up on page six. The actual meaning of it all was lost.
I hadn’t minded all that much at the time. I’d thought that was what was important: showing off for everyone. Affirming my status. Being the society princess. The bells and whistles had also helped to distract me from how I was being railroaded by my family. My mother chose practically everything for the wedding, not me. I’d been worried about the expense of it all, even as my parents had scoffed and said that nothing was too much.
Now, though, now this was all about the marriage. The wedding. Ted and I were keeping it simple and we wanted it that way. This wasn’t about the food, or who the DJ was, or if we’d picked just the right venue for everyone to take pictures at. It was about having close friends and family together while we made a promise to one another - a promise to be by each other’s side.
Actually, we had almost no one with us.
It was a year after Ted and I had gotten engaged. In that time, I’d done a lot of work to revamp my life, and that included getting rid of the people in it who didn’t truly support me. My parents and I had already been estranged after I’d divorced Chad, but they had also made some overtures indicating they were ready to forgive me if I was going to marry someone else just as old money, just as prominent.
We never meant for you to be unhappy, they’d kept saying, but to them, appearances meant more than whatever things were like at home. I’d seen it growing up of course. How many times had Father ignored the insane amounts of wine that Mother would drink? Or how many times had Mother put up with Father ignoring her? I was certain that they hadn’t had sex since I was in my early teens. But God forbid they get divorced, because of the scandal.
If I had married Preston, I think they might have forgiven me. But Ted, despite being well-off and successful, had no interest in society the way that Preston did. And for me to marry the man they had once forced me to reject, no matter how high up in society that man might have gotten - it was a clear slap to the face.
Other people had fallen away from my life. People who realized that I was no longer interested in being one of their society belles. I didn’t spend all of my life going from this party to that, the way I had when I’d been Chad’s wife. It wasn’t even anything personal, not really. I just didn’t want to spend my life getting dolled up and going to a party to make idle chitchat. I wanted to actually do things.
But to some people, that was just another sign that I didn’t fit in anymore. Another sign that I was no longer ‘one of them’.
Luckily for me, I didn’t care if they left. The important people stayed.
Ted had kept reminding me that we didn’t have to rush the wedding. “We can do it today, or a year from now, or never,” he kept telling me. “All I care about is that you’re in my life.”
I wanted this, though. Now that I knew what I wanted I wasn’t going to wait for it. I was going to seize my happiness.
Our very small wedding party consisted of Layla, David, our officiant, and one adorable little flower girl.
Well, perhaps calling her a ‘flower girl’ was a bit of a stretch since she was only five months old, but she looked adorable in her little dress and wrist corsage. Annie. Our baby daughter.
There was a big tradition in a lot of families to name a child after someone else in the family, but neither Ted nor I felt like naming our child after one of our parents. And I’d always loved the name Annie, ever since I had seen the musical as a kid. Layla was holding her for us, looking pretty radiant herself.
Part of why our wedding had taken a year was that we wanted to focus on moving in together and preparing for Annie. Part of it was that we didn’t want to rush. And part of it had been that I was helping Layla through her own divorce. It hadn’t been easy. It had been messy and p
ainful at times. But now she was out, and she looked so much happier for it.
I couldn’t help but notice that David seemed to take a great liking to her, the few times we had them meet. We had asked them to Annie’s christening, and had invited them both over to our house several times for a barbeque. David was, as Ted had often told me, convinced that he could never fall in love again, but I had hope that Layla, with her sweet nature, could perhaps persuade him to take a chance. And God knew she needed and deserved someone as steady and protective as David.
A girl could dream, right?
As I walked down the aisle, my smile grew until I couldn’t have stopped it for anything. We might be doing this in the backyard of Ted’s summer house - our summer house now, both of ours - and I knew my mother would be fainting at the idea of my getting married in what’s technically someone’s backyard no matter that the backyard is the beach - but I didn’t care. All I cared about was the man standing at the end of the aisle, next to the officiant.
Annie didn’t seem to be quite sure what was going on, and I couldn’t blame her, but she was smiling at me as I walked down. She was a happy and joyful baby, full of energy, and always making me laugh. Motherhood was definitely easier with someone else to help, instead of doing it all on my own, and I appreciated that Layla and David were so eager to fill in the role of godparents and help out as well. But even if I’d been alone, I knew I would’ve enjoyed every moment with Annie. She was perfectly imperfect, my darling girl, the baby that I had looked forward to for so long. Motherhood, after all of my fear, ended up living up to my expectations and then some.
