To Caress My Day

Hearing the terror in Twig’s voice had Seth backing off from the pain in his heart that felt like a hand’s death grip on his organ. Not wanting to flip her birthday week into a spectacle of drama because she wasn’t ready to marry him and shoulder the baggage that would come with being his wife, Seth selflessly smiled away his rough going and got to assuring her he was alright. “I’m fine, Tahliah. Perfectly fine. I understand where you’re coming from and appreciate your honesty.” Wishing to abort the subject, he reminded them both of their finite time here on Coco Prives Island. “Tomorrow is our last day here, you know?”

Curbed from their austere conversation to that tragic closure, Twigs made a pouty face and lamented in grief. “God, I know! I seriously hate it thinking about it!”

Laughing at her immature whine, Seth inquired compassionately. “Are you gonna miss it here?”

“Are you kidding me? I wanna buy this whole island for myself and be buried right under this resort!” Twigs told him, envisioning how her funeral services would go with a casket being lowered into a hole in the middle of the floor in the resort somewhere. “That’s how much I love this place!”

“How about this? If we ever get married I’ll buy you an even better island and construct you the most perfect getaway home of your dreams.” Seth vowed to her while getting up to replenish both of their flute glasses. Because he remarked on the tender subject of marriage again, he kept his eyes on everything that wasn’t her face. “Hell, I’ll go even further and set up a whole village on the island if you want to invite all your loved ones to live with us.”

Clamping a hand over her mouth, Twigs squelched her boisterous laughter at such an outlandish idea that didn’t seem so outlandish the longer she ruminated on it. “You’d do that for me? Hmm…then what can I do for you in exchange for doing such a kindness for me?”

“You’re not expected to do a damn thing to repay me. You agreeing to marry me will make it even for me. That’s all I’d ever want from you.” Seth answered, sitting back down in his seat after handing her her drink to sip on his own. “At least, I’d imagine that to be so if we ever got married.”

“That’s so sweet, baby.” Twigs murmured dreamily as she admired him from across the elongated dining table topped with their depleted dinner plates. Her mind went straight away to envisioning them owning this very island that they now momentarily resided on for her birthday week. The resort would be their getaway from the brunt of fame and the judgmental intrusive media. They’d be married, and she’d have that remembrance as a gold band on her ring finger for the whole world to see that she was now Mrs. MacFarlane. Her fantasy was utterly beautiful and overpowered her with so much emotion that she couldn’t assimilate what it was for a moment until realization finally struck and ignited her big pixie brown eyes up.

It was fulfillment that Twigs felt. That was the emotion. She felt completely whole from her own imagination.

Perhaps Twig’s greatest dreams had nothing to do with becoming a musician on stage dancing to her own music, or touring the world serenading to a crowd of devout followers.

Maybe the one thing Twig’s always wanted was to become THIS man’s wife one day.

Twigs had no idea when her everlasting goals had adjusted, but there was no denying that they had. She wanted to marry Seth, and be Mrs. MacFarlane. Except…the interfering publicity that was his life, and all those paparazzi that followed him around every time he stepped out his front door…she didn’t want that. It was a packaged deal she didn’t want to have in her own life. Twigs wanted Seth MacFarlane. All the fame and riches could be flushed down the toilet for all she cared.

But wealth and fame was Seth MacFarlane.

He was renowned in the world of film stars.

Wealth and fame went hand in hand with him.

To be with him would have to come with accepting the negatives that came with him.

Until Twigs learned how to accept the dark world that came with fame, she’d never get that chance to have her dream come true, to walk down the aisle and marry the man she loved. Who knew how long that would take, but Twigs was obstinate to get to work on her jitters straight away before she risked losing Seth to someone else that was more than ready to accept him in a heartbeat and all the good and bad that came with him.

“Is something wrong Tahliah?” Seth inquired, cutting straight through her worries and rousing her back to the present with him. He could see by the brightening of her eyes that she returned from whatever bleak place she’d been.

“Huh? Oh, sorry, I…I don’t know what you mean.” Twigs blurted, dubious of what to say. If he’d been speaking, she didn’t catch a word he said. She was so deeply engrossed in her own predicament to have noticed anything else going on around her at the time.

“You weren’t smiling anymore.” Seth pointed out, gesturing with a wave of his finger to his mouth. “Did something happen? Did I say something wrong to upset you?”

Twigs smiled then and shook her head as she picked up her own flute to take a sip from it. “No, baby, you didn’t say anything wrong. I’m fine. It’s nothing.”

“Are you sure? That didn’t look like nothing to me.” Seth pursued, his brows furrowing together with abiding concern.

“I swear on this gorgeous island that it’s nothing.” Twigs swore, flashing him a reliable smile as her once dismal eyes glowed at the sight of him across the table. With a fanciful sigh, she told him exactly how she felt in that moment looking upon him. “I love you, husband.”

“I love you too, wife.” Seth grinned back, utterly redirected from whatever troubled her before. Hearing her call him her husband gave him a feeling he’d never felt before. It made him feel stronger, like a superhero. If he didn’t have a sturdy restraint on his sanity he’d probably race outside to prove it to her by attempting to punch a boulder in half with one perfectly aimed punch, and earn a broken hand as a result. The notion was absolutely absurd and hilarious when he played it out in his head. It also made him wonder if he would have been stupid enough to do it if they had met years ago when he was a young. Probably. This love he felt for her was too intense for a young man to handle with a clear mind.

“I mean it, Seth. I mean it when I say I love you. As in deeply in love with you.” Twigs tried to emphasize, needing him to understand at least a quarter of it if not the whole thing. It was a powerful feeling, at times intimidating like possessing a big button that had the power to implode the world if activated.

Sensing his emotions being charged, Seth closed the large gap between them by rising from his chair to sit in the one beside her. Only then was he able to reach out a hand and lay it over hers. “I know you do, Tahliah. I can feel through the ground trembling from the force of it beneath my feet. But you gotta be careful loving me the way you do, Pixie. If you love me any harder, it just might cost us our lives. The ground could open up underneath us and swallow us whole.”

Bursting out laughing, Twigs ripped her hand from his to smack him on the arm for making a joke at such a romantic moment like this. Seth laughed along too as he tucked the velvet ring box further into his pocket from whence it came. Tonight wasn’t the night for a proposal. Perhaps another time.

After dinner was cleared, Seth received a call from work and excused himself to the office to take it. Not wishing to be alone tonight, Twigs tagged along to lounge on the couch in wait. She watched him at his desk as she positioned herself in a comfortable position. From where he was typing away at his desk, Seth would occasionally lean over to check on his awaiting ‘wife’ from behind the monitor. After the thousandth time, he caught her dozing quietly on the couch. He lingered then, smiling to himself as he marveled at the sleeping form of his woman.

Seth’s hand gravitate back to his pocket where his fingers dipped inside to finger the velvet ring box hidden within. A minute later he was extracting the box from its hiding spot. Glancing back at Twigs to make sure she was asleep, Seth popped open the ring box to stare down at the expensive engagement ring he had selected from a jewelry store in Connecticut during Thanksgiving. The light from his desk lamp made the diamonds twinkle, earning a smile from him as he gazed at his sleeping ‘wife’ .

Tonight might not have been the perfect time to propose to her, but one day it will be, and when that day comes he’ll be marrying the woman of his dreams. Seth couldn’t wait for that day to come.