Valentina drove me and Carlos to ADEGA, for my 24th birthday. It was 6 PM and a man called Matteo Díaz ghosted my messages for the whole day. He behaved strangely since we returned from Iceland a week ago. Pretty nervous and absent around.

My prediction was, that DAI planned something he won't tell. I was crushed today. Not seeing him text at 0. Strange enough of him, not letting me sleep over.

"I'm so confused. What did I do, to make him ignore me? On my fucking birthday too..."
"He's a dick babe.", Carlos answered.
Valentina slapped his hand.
"I believe he has his reasons and the night is still young."

Maybe I was right and he lost interest after spending two years with me.
"How about we have a little walk at the beach to clear our minds?", she suggested.
"Great. I have a call to make, but I guess Val is a better counselor than I am. My only advice is to beat his ass up."

"Maybe a walk and deep talk are what I need right now.", I agreed and waited for Valentina to find a parking lot. The street lanterns and stairs to the shore prevented pitch-black darkness.
While we straddled in silence to the stairs, she suddenly pulled me back.

"Lara, I lied.", my heart stopped beating.
"About what?"
She extracted a blindfold out of her coat pocket.
„We'll have a candlelight dinner together at the beach."

I smiled, hugging her.
"Val, I was supposed to fall in love with your brother, not you."
She giggled.
"It's okay honey, put this on for me."
I tied the blindfold around my eyes and took her hand, letting her guide me down the stairs. Unexpectedly she withdrew her hand from mine as we reached the sand. Right before I wanted to untie my blindfold, someone else pulled me inside of their chest, wrapping their arms around me.

Fuck.

"You have nerves to-"
"Shhh, Cariña, I know I messed up. I'm sorry. Happy Birthday by the way."

Matteo led me to our table, which I couldn't feel as we stopped. But a new material beneath my shoes. I felt so angry and couldn't imagine a reason for not congratulating me.
He took my blindfold off and my eyes fell to the ground.

Rose petals. Arranged as a heart, which surrounded us.

I looked at him again.
"What on earth?"
His gaze softened and nervousness flickered inside of them.

"Call me a dick but I ignored your messages on purpose. I gaslighted you into believing, I forgot your birthday. I didn't. Do you know why? You're the woman I love from the bottom of my heart. The woman who made me a better human. The woman who was there for me, even when she didn't notice me around. The woman who crushed my view on relationships. The first and only woman for me, whose beauty is indescribable."

His voice was wobbly, which was strange. Matteo was someone, who always stood his tone firm. I wiped some tears daring to wander over my cheek.
"I love you, Mat."

He didn't respond to that and continued.
"I don't even know where to start, you're my missing half. Without you, my life isn't complete. I want you to be the woman, I share children with once the time is right. I want to continue seeing you every morning I wake up, not just for two years. To answer your sentence, I love you so unbelievably much and I'm sorry for being so closed up sometimes, even though you're the woman I'd kill for and tell everything to. That's why I'm going to prove my love to you."

Before I could say anything and not able to hold my tears and questions back, he did something that made my heart drop deeper than it ever did.

He dropped to his knee and pulled a little box out of his pocket, opening it.
"Lara Sequiera, may I be your husband?"

I was shocked, not getting a grip on what just happened. Millions of feelings at once overwhelmed me. He proposed. Matteo Díaz, the man I've been with for two and a half years just proposed to me. Euphoria predominantly took over me, followed by nervousness. Without a single concern or hesitation, I stumbled:

"Yes! Yes, I do want you to be my husband! Please. I mean YES, a hundred times!"

I stretched my shaking hand towards him. He placed a gentle kiss on the back of my hand and removed the sparkling diamond ring from the cushioned material. Matteo slid the ring onto my finger. I wrapped my arms around his neck. He swept me off my feet, kissing me sincerely and rotating us. Faint whispers and murmurs somewhere near us, barely noticeable due to the wave's largeness.

I stumbled backward and he pulled me back to him placing a kiss on my forehead.
"Turn around."
Behind us were hundreds of people watching, many faces I recognized.
One after the other came congratulating me.

Carlos was the first one to freak out and embrace me. "GIRL AHHHH WHAT THE FUCKKKKK? YOU'LL BE A WIFEY AHHHHH!"

I cried and laughed at the same time. "Yes, I will!"
My Mãe joined us and kissed my cheek: "I'm so unbelievably proud of you. Matteo will be a great husband. He reminds me of your father with his caring nature. Gabriel is as much proud of you as we are."

My beloved father. I hope every day I'm making him proud. And for Gabriel, that he accepts Matteo after always urging me to never fall in love with someone who doesn't treat women softly.

Matteo was surrounded by Ren, Leon, and Joseph, who were strangulating him. "HELL YEAH, EVEN MATTEO IS ENGAGED NOW!", Leon shouted.
"You've already planned the marriage?", Joseph investigated.
"If yes, when?!", Ren added.

Mat shook them off with a grin. "C'mon now, I'm already overwhelmed by the situation. No need to push me."

For the rest of the evening, we chatted with every guest, already bombarded with questions regarding the wedding. I'd preferred answering every single one with "I don't know, I just got proposed to."
Even worse was Amanda, asking us when we'd have children.

I was ready to walk down the aisle in a white dress, but not to carry out a baby for 9 months.

Matteo Díaz, the first man to ever make me like marriage and find interest in being a wife. Without doubting, he's definitely going to hold his word and lay the world beneath my feet.