Our Aquarium

52 ~Wesley

3 years later...

"La da di, la di da, la de do..."

The bulge in my pants tightens my jeans as I look at the most beautiful woman I've ever set eyes on. Mmm.

She climbs out the pool, the red and white intwined rose moving with her thigh as she walks. Then her eyes land on me and the air leaves my lungs. After five years she still manages to wind me.

"What are you singing about, Westie?" She questions bending over to throw some fish into the pool for Venus.

Two years ago we got a new dolphin and shortly after we got another. Venus and Mars. Venus is a baby girl and Mars is an adult female. They bonded well. Mars treats Venus like her own calf. It's cute.

Suddenly my beautiful woman is in front of me, wrapping her arms around my neck and pulling me close. "What's got you so happy mister?"

"Ms. Eliana Layne, I love you more than anything in this world. A few years ago I had the pleasure of meeting you and just my luck I met you again. You make me so happy even if you can annoy me sometimes when you do that adorable coy thing that aggravates me because then I just want to love you and I can't because you always do it at inconvenient times."

She laughs and steps closer, standing on her tippy toes and holding me close. I wrap my arms around her and kiss the side of her neck.

"Eliana I've asked you once a month in many different locations. It's been three years which means I've asked you to marry me almost 36 times. It's that time of the month where I ask you again."

I pull back and start to go down on my knee when she stops me. A little pain hits my chest. I thought this would be the one.

"Mr. Cross—"

"Don't call me that."

She giggles and cups my face between her fingers. "Yes."

"Yes what?" What were we even talking about?

Her smile grows. "I'll marry you. I love you. I want to be your wife and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

What?

"Wes?"

She'll marry me.

I have no idea why this is stunning me. For so long I've waited for the answer to be "yes" instead of "I need more time". I even started to loose hope for a minute, but now she's saying yes and I have no idea what to say to her.

"Wes?"

"Yes?"

Her hand slides into my pocket and she pulls out the black box before passing it to me. "Are you going to put the ring on my finger?"

Then it finally registers. She said yes. I pull her into my arms, placing a firm kiss to her beautiful lips. I'm so happy that I barely get the ring out of the box and on her finger before kissing her again.

"I love you!"

She laughs and looks down at the ring on her finger. "I thought we agreed you were going to get a less expensive one."

"I love you," I repeat, to distract her from the fact that I did not get a different ring.

"Wes..."

I look down at the ring on her finger. "I want to see you in the ring I've chosen. Even if it's from a mile away. I want to see it sparkle in the light with every little action that you do. I want this ring on your finger." She looks at me with those heartbreaking watery eyes. "You don't like it."

Her voice cracks as she speaks. "I love it."

She's seen it over 20 times and she's still emotional. I love her.

She said yes.

I kept my promise to ask her once a month and after 36 of them she's finally said yes. The past three years has been wonderful with their occasional ups and downs. After her lease ran out Eliana moved in with me.

Now everything is perfect.

The aquarium is doing amazing now that we've earned the title as top five best marine hospital and research facility on the west coast. With the new outreach we've gotten many new donations and volunteers.

And to make things better Eliana finally said yes.

Two weeks later we got married in my parents backyard, filled with my family and our friends. She didn't want to wait to plan a really big wedding and neither did I. I just wanted her and now I have her.
Every time I think back to our first meeting, I can't help but be thankful to Zeke for putting a discount on me. Then again, I believe she would've been mine eventually. She was made perfect for me and I'll give her everything. Eliana Cross. I love it.

"What are you thinking about, Westie?"

"I love you," I whisper pulling her closer and pulling the covers tighter over us.

"I love you too," she laughs turning her back to me and settling close. "Now go to sleep. We have a big day tomorrow."

By big day she means a meeting with our sponsors, which I guess it big. But I don't think any day will be bigger than when she said i do. Well maybe the day we have our first child.

I kiss her along her spine and massage her waist until she's asleep and I soon follow. Boy am I lucky. My beautiful wife.