“Thanks, Mum.”
“Everyone is waiting outside. Come out when you’re ready. I love you.”
“Love you, Mum.”
Changing into a new shirt, slacks, nice shoes, I looked in the mirror and liked what I saw, at least, before putting the small box in my pocket. Picking up the flowers and teddy, I took a deep breath and walked towards the sliding door and outside. Everyone invited had arrived. All my family. All her family. Megan and Caroline. My best friends. All her friends. Our friends. Cindy was busy chatting away when everything fell silent.
Seeing the flowers and teddy, she smiled as I handed them to her, leaning down to kiss her. “I love you, sweetheart.”
“I love you too. What are these for?”
“Because, in addition my children, you are the absolute light of my life. But, there is one other thing. Hand those off to someone.” Alexa smiled at me, taking the flowers and teddy as I gently grasped Cindy’s hands in mine. “You know my life has been better since the day I met you, right?” She nodded, smiling at me. “And every day since we met has been better and better. I’ve been waiting for that love we have to fade, but it hasn’t. I think I love you more today than I did the day we confessed how we felt. And I know I’m probably going to love you even more in a decade than I do today.”
“I waited over twenty years of my life to find you,” she whispered.
“What I’ve known since that first week, sweetheart, is that I can’t imagine my life without you. And I can only hope you feel the same way about me.” As soon as I started to get down on one knee, she covered her mouth and stared to cry as I took the box from my pocket, opening it to show her the ring. “Searched long and hard for the perfect ring before taking your advice to heart. I just picked the one to match your own beauty. Cindy, I was a broken, miserable man when I met you. You helped me smile again. You helped me live again. And I’m hoping you might like the idea of living together for another fifty or so years as man and wife. Will you marry me?”
“God yes. Absolutely. Yes! Yes! Yes!”
Grinning like an idiot, I slid the ring onto the finger before she was on her knees, eager to kiss me. Wrapping my arms around her, I held her tightly as we made out, feeling tears drop down my cheeks as I kissed her. When we finally came up for air, she started to giggle as I wiped her cheeks, feeling her do the same to me. “I love you so much,” I whispered.
“Mrs Cindy Pritchard. I love the sound of that,” she whispered back.
A cleared throat from my father broke the spell, both of us looking around to see a sea of smiling faces and more than one woman needing to dry their own cheeks. Rising to my feet, I helped Cindy to hers as she turned around, leaning back against me before she held up her hand. “We’re engaged!” she exclaimed.
I let her go as she was soon enveloped by all her friends, including my ex-wife, and both sets of parents. Mike and Chris walked over to shake my hand, telling me it was about damned time. “I wasn’t going to wait until after Christmas,” I said, “Couldn’t wait that long.”
My father and brother book shook my hand. Mum, despite her diminutive stature, wrapped Cindy and myself in a hug. Stephanie hugged her sister for a long time before doing the same to me. There was no missing how happy she was, though I knew difficult conversations loomed on the horizon. All her friends, though they were now our friends, couldn’t stop smiling.
Hugging Alexa was difficult, aware of how she felt about me too. She spent a long time just holding me, aware that she was utterly delighted for her friend but her own feelings were deep. “You’re our best friends. We both love you to bits, Alexa,” I assured her.
“Really?”
“Really. You obviously know what she’s planned, and you’re still a regular visitor. Still need a ten-inch injection from time to time.” Lifting her chin from my shoulder, I met her eyes, “But it’s not just that. We just love having you around with us.”
“Thank you, Mark.”
I received hugs from all our friends, aware they loved and adored Cindy, and they all loved me just as much.
Dad and my brother handled the barbecue though Mum and my sister, Laura and Stephanie had prepared plenty of dishes in addition to the plethora of meat about to be delivered. All the children were in the pool, having the proposal before escaping the heat. I didn’t miss the fact Greg and Emily could barely stand being a foot apart at best. It was rather cute to see young love blossoming.
“So I assume you’ve been planning a wedding in that mind of yours,” Mike suggested as we sat down to eat.
I groaned. Just like him. Cindy giggled, leaning into my side. “Would anyone believe me if I said I’ve never searched for a wedding dress?” She looked around and received her answer. “I have ideas, Mike. Mark and I will obviously need to discuss things.”
“I’ll help,” Megan offered, “I have experience.”
“Megan, you’ll be more than that. I’m hoping you’ll be part of the ceremony.”
Glancing at Megan, she had lowered her head, clearly overcome with the thought. Another example of why I loved Cindy so damned much. Caroline wrapped an arm around her shoulder, kissing her cheek. “Thank you, Cindy,” Megan whispered.
“Um, what about walking down the aisle?” my brother asked.
Cindy smiled. “My mother and sister will do that together. They’ve supported me through everything. If anyone was going to do that, it’s them.”
“I feel like letting our father know and then telling him he’s not invited,” Stephanie added, “Though I doubt he’d attend. Probably consider it a gay wedding and he’d prove to be a massive bellend.”
“He’s not invited,” Cindy muttered, immediately taking her hand in mine, aware that even after all this time, it would still hurt.
Stephanie kissed her sister on the cheek. “Sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
Cindy kissed her back. “Don’t worry. I just don’t want to think about him today.”
Lunch turned into drinks around the table, though as the heat continued to pick up in the afternoon, most of us ended up heading to the pool. The glances from my father and brother at the likes of Alexa, as they did have a noticeable bulge in their bikini bottoms, amused most of us, and though I didn’t go into detail about my sex life, I was fairly sure they knew I’d had sex with all our friends. And I’m sure they figured it out once Cindy and Alexa were practically hanging off me. I’d never been fitter myself, even my sister giving me more than one compliment in regards to my physique.
“I’m finding it difficult not getting a beast of an erection,” Alexa whispered into my ear.
“You’re not the only one,” Cindy giggled, “And I think most of our friends have tucked themselves as best they can and doing everything possible not to think about sex or him.”
“Wouldn’t mind seeing a whole bunch of naked women,” I said.
“I’ll show you some of the other selfies I’ve taken recently,” Alexa murmured into my ear, “Want to see me stroking my thick ten-inch cock until it explodes?”
“God yes,” I whispered.
“I’ll invite you all over one night and we can all just stroke off and cum on him,” Cindy suggested, “Though I love watching you masturbate, Alexa.”
“I know, sweetie. You’re just too damned adorable when you’re doing it. Does she put on shows for you, Mark?”
“My phone is full of photos I’ve taken, Alexa. She’s my little model sometimes.”
“And they’re only ever for him,” Cindy added, cuddling into me, “I love posing for him.”
As the excitement faded, it was no surprise that some did end up heading off home. It was unusual for my brother to hug me, but he was genuinely pleased for me. My sister hugged me for even longer. Given that I was the oldest and she was the youngest, I know she still worshipped me in her own little way. Megan was nothing but pleased for me, spending a long time hugging her before she left. Greg was far too distracted by Emily to be all that worried about the engagement, while Natalie was ever so excited, particularly when Cindy sat her down and explained some of her ideas for our wedding.
Cindy told me Stephanie would be joining us, and I assumed we might be discussing certain things. Smiling to myself, I’d already made up my mind but thought we would have talked about it later, but back home would be perfect. Then she added our friends would be coming around later. I did wonder if that meant for things other than just a celebration of our engagement, but I’d wait and see regarding that.
After we both received hugs from the parents, ensuring Laura was away in the taxi we’d ordered for her before leaving, I drove Cindy and Stephanie back to our apartment. I changed immediately upon arriving as Cindy put her flowers into a vase while almost refusing to let go of the little teddy bear. It would go alongside the others I’d bought for her.
Pouring them a glass of wine each, I stuck to something non-alcoholic as I sat between them on the couch, Cindy snuggling into me as always. Resting a hand on Stephanie’s thigh, I announced, “We need to talk, Steph.” She looked at me with a smile as I met her eyes. “Yes,” I said simply before adding, “Cindy and I want a child, so yes to your offer. And I know you want a child, so yes to that too. We’ll figure out how it’ll all work, but simply put, if you’re willing to do that for us, then I’ll father a child with you too. Now that I’ve proposed, it felt like the right time to agree to certain other things.”
She burst into tears, hugging me tightly, and I realised in that moment how much the second thing meant to her. Adjusting my body, Cindy could hug us both at the same time, no surprise she was crying with her sister. “Any more announcements today?” Cindy asked, giggling away.
“I’ve got nothing. I was going to talk to you before the end of the day, Steph. I’ve given it some thought. Cindy and I would love a child. And while I’m more than willing to help you with your own, the only proviso I have to that is we don’t just leap into it. I don’t want to get personal but…”
“I can’t find a good man,” she whispered against my chest, “There are plenty of single mothers out there, Mark. I can cope by myself. If I need help…”