I love you

We packed up, chatted some more and went to bed before heading to the dock in the morning.   The day was rather cloudy. I doubted that it was worth sailing in such weather, but they reassured me: everything would be fine, don't piss off. The only problem is that our main character is not equipment, she is a woman, not a dishwasher. I was also very worried about Lance. He's been kind of pale all day. In the morning he was a little nauseous and has a slight fever, but nothing serious. I recommended he stay home, but the family decided otherwise. There are about twenty people gathered. We've been waiting an hour for the Richmond remnants to show up. Why are they always late? Lance pulled me out of my thoughts, snuggling up to me.   “Hey, Lance, what's up?” I put my arm around his shoulder.   “I got a bad feeling. Like something terrible is gonna happen tonight.”   “Don't worry. I'll always be here for you.”   “You know you can't always be there for me.”   “I know, but I'll try to be there for you when things get tough.”   “I…” Lance didn't get a chance to finish before his parents showed up.   We quickly split up, pretending we were just talking.   “Ah, we'll finally have a proper vacation. Thank you to our knights, almost all of them," Ms. Richmond looked at Lance reproachfully, he shrank back a little and tears came to his eyes, "for saving us all.”   “Yes.” Said Mr. Richmond. “Wait, do you see any other knights here besides Macy, Aaron, Axl and Clay? Those four have all done well.”   “Uh, sorry. I must have imagined it.”   They're pretending their son doesn't exist? Why? What did he ever do to them? I thought about it for about two minutes before I heard "All aboard."   Finally.   The Richmonds went first, followed by Macy, Aaron, Axl, and me, Lance, and my dad. We've all been issued one key each. That's a total of four passenger suites? Really? We got the outermost one by the entrance/exit. I put the key in the keyhole, turned it, and opened the door. We were struck by the simplicity of this room. There was a dilapidated cot in the far right corner, a single dim light bulb hanging from the ceiling that didn't really illuminate the room. In the far left corner was a small closet. On the right wall hung a slightly broken mirror. The room itself was small, about ten square meters, if not less.   “Am I the only one wondering whose stateroom this is? I thought the Richmonds were luxurious." said my father, entering the room.   - This is my stateroom," said Lance, sitting down in the corner. "If we're traveling as a family, I always sleep here.”   I lay down on the cot. It's very hard.   “How do you sleep here? Compared to this, the floor is softer.”   “That's the thing, I have to sleep on the floor to get any sleep.” My boyfriend sat down next to me.   “We'll fix it.” Dad said and snapped his fingers.   The whole stateroom was transformed. It was lighter, which made it seem larger. The cot turned into a soft double bed, the lamp became a beautiful chandelier, a small table with three chairs appeared in the corner where Lance had just sat, the mirror became whole, and a curtain appeared on the door to the balcony.   “That's better.” Father came over to us. “You'll be comfortable now.”   “Where will you sleep?”   “I can sleep on the floor. I don't care.” Suddenly his phone rang. “Hello. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Okay. I'll be right there. All right. Guys need help. I'm gonna go. The soundproofing's good, so you can have fun.” He pecked us on the forehead. “I'll see you tonight.” He left the stateroom.   “Why is your father so nice to me?”   “You're almost like a son to him. I hope we'll have a big, strong family soon.” I leaned on the headboard. “Come here.”   Lance climbed onto my lap, snuggled into my shoulder, and cried. I hugged him and, stroking his back with soothing strokes, said:   “Cry, cry. Let your emotions out.”   After about twenty minutes, the guy started to calm down. Only sobs could be heard.   “Babe, can I tell you something?”   “Uh-huh.” He mumbled.   “I'm always going to say that now. You want to cry, cry. You want to get depressed, go. Don't hold yourself back. But give yourself a time limit. Like a week. Cry, die, suffer, turn into a scarecrow. After a week, get up, wipe your face and move on. Remember, self-inflicted tears are the most poisonous tears. They kill more than betrayal or treachery.”   He raised his weeping eyes to me.   “If I'm going to cry, die, suffer, and become a scarecrow, it'll be with you." Lance said softly.   I kissed his forehead, his nose, his lips.   “I love you." I whispered, pulling away.   “I love you too.”   We talked for another hour or so and fell asleep.   I woke up to a gentle nudge on my shoulder.   “Clay, Lance, wake up.” I hear my dad's voice.   “Let me sleep another hour.” Lance mumbles sleepily.   “Wake up, sleepyheads. You don't want to miss dinner too, do you?” We jumped up quickly, but we got tangled in the blanket and fell off the bed onto my father, who, under our weight, couldn't keep up. There is an awkward silence, but five seconds later, loud laughter lights up the cabin. Dad wrapped his arms around us, pulling us close to him. This went on for a long time, until Macy walks into the room.   “Am I interrupting?” She asks with a with a smile.   "You are" I said, getting up and helping Lance and my dad up.   “I tried." Macy said, still smiling, "Come on, we're going to miss dinner.”   We went to the stairs to the lower deck, where the restaurant was, I realized.   “Clay, I want to warn you that we're going to have seven people at our table for dinner.”   “Okay.”   My companions ran ahead, and I ended up walking to the restaurant alone. As I walked down the stairs, I didn't notice the slightly different atmosphere until ....   “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!” Shouted my friends.   I was a little taken aback because I wasn't expecting such a turn.   “Clay, man, what are you doing?” Aaron asked. Let's go to the table.   “Oh, I'm sorry, it's just kind of sudden. I don't remember telling any of you when my birthday was.”   “I told them." said Dad. "They wanted to do something special for you, and I wanted to celebrate your birthday for once and make up for all the years I've missed.”   They all hugged me and we walked to the table. I looked around. There was a stage and DJ equipment against the far wall. One of my favorite band's songs was playing from the speakers. And, as I realized, the bands would also be performing live, judging by the sheet I saw on the door next to the stage. I shift my gaze to the people. Lance's parents are gone, and there's one person missing from our table.   “Lance, where's the other one? I thought you said there were gonna be seven of us.”   “He's probably late.”   A waiter comes up to me and hands me a piece of paper that says:   "This is for you from the latecomer.” I unfolded the paper and read what was written:   “Hi, Dad. Sorry I'm late. I'll be there in nine months.”   I can't believe it. I turn to Lance and as if reading my mind, he nods. I hug him and I can't help but let out a happy tear. He hugs back.   “How long have you been pregnant?”   “Fourth week started today.”   “You don't know how happy I am.”   “I'm happy, too.”   “Congratulations, new parents.” Said the father, hugging us.   “Thank you.” We said with glee.   When we let go of each other, I nodded to my father and Aaron. The three of us got up, left the table, and headed for the stage. Wow, I didn't think I'd make up my mind so fast. Checked my pocket. I think it's still there. I was given a microphone, my dad stood at the side of the stage, and Aaron sat at the DJ table. Okay. Focus. You're not laying down. Okay. Breathe in, breathe out. I nodded in readiness. Aaron took the record and put it on. Some light romantic music started playing and I started talking:   “It's time for a very decisive step.” I got down on one knee and moved closer to Lance. “We started arguing all the time, before we even started talking, but the memories are beautiful. When you're with me, my heart beats stronger, when you're far away, it's like a part of my body has been cut off. You're my greatest treasure.” I took out a blue box and opened it. I pulled out a blue box. My hands were shaking, so I just couldn't hold the box and it fell to the floor. I heard Lance laugh softly, and then I felt him gently take my hands in his. I looked up and saw the fire of love in his eyes. “Lance Richmond, will you marry me?   “Yes! Yes, I will!” I took the ring out of the box and put it on his ring finger.” God, Clay, you didn't have to buy such an expensive ring.”   “It's the best one for you.”   “Where'd you get all that money?”   “I made a little, Macy helped a little." I took his hand. "You know, it doesn't really matter where I got the money, though. We're a family and that's what matters.” We kiss passionately to the applause of our friends. They've been waiting a long time for this.   We're back at the table.   “So. When's the wedding?” Macy asked, sitting down at the table.   “In a couple weeks, I guess. If it doesn't work out, after the baby's born." said Lance, doing the same.   “He's right.” I put my arms around my husband-to-be's waist.   “Sea breeze, blue sky, blue sea and blue comrades is all I could dream of.” Said Aaron, to which everyone laughed. “To you.” He raised his glass.   “To you.” The rest of the group cheered.   An hour, an hour, two hours, three hours.   “Well, Clay, time to open presents.” Macy's impatient as usual.   “All right, all right. I was gonna open them tomorrow morning, but if you insist.” We approached the gift table “Clay, I gotta go. Open it without me.” Lance said.   “Where are you going?” I asked.   “I'm a little tired. I'm going to rest.”   “You want me to walk you out?   “No. I can handle it.”   “Okay. Just be careful.”   “Don't worry.” Lance left, and I started unwrapping the presents.   They were all small, but one was heavy for its size. There were several books in it: "How to be parents?", "How to raise a child right?", "How to build bridges, not walls?" and "Family Life". And a note of well wishes from my dad.   The second box from Macy's had some not-so-decent stuff in it...   “Macy!” I shouted.   “What? You should try it sometime. You don't have much of a sex life as it is.”   I just rolled my eyes and set the box aside.   The third one from Aaron had some baby stuff in it.   The fourth and final box had toys.   “You knew we were having a baby?”   “Yes. Lance told us everything. We started preparing for the party two weeks ago. We had it all planned. All we had to do was get on that boat. Lance helped us a lot, and then somehow, he got his parents to let us go with them. And that was it. It was easier than I thought it would be.”   While we were talking, I noticed my dad running off somewhere, but I didn't follow him. Maybe he forgot something.   After about five minutes, we started to leave. The music had died down, the lights were out, everything was slowly getting ready for bed.   While chatting with my friends and thanking them for such a wonderful holiday, I almost missed my father with bandages in his hands.   “Guys, I gotta run. I'll see you tomorrow.”   “Okay. Have a good night.” Said Macy, coming into the room.   “See you tomorrow, man.”   “Good night." Axl wished good night and continued talking to Aaron.   I run into the stateroom and see Lance sitting on the bed wrapped in a blanket and my dad wrapping bandages around his hands.   “What happened?”   “I try to figure it out myself. He won't tell me anything.”   “Lance, please tell me what happened. Please.” I begged, but he was silent, sobbing and shuddering. “Lance, say something!” Tears came to my eyes. “How can I protect you if I don't know what to protect you from?!”   “Do you really want to know what happened?” I nodded. “Okay. I'll tell you.”