Moments

**Ethan**

Murilo's wedding day was quite eventful, with everyone helping to make everything as perfect as possible. But when the scheduled time came for the bride to enter through the church's central aisle, something seemed to have gone out of control, and Virginia didn't show up.

"Where is she?" Murilo asked for the tenth time.

"Relax, cousin," Aquiles tried to calm him down. "It's normal for brides to be late for the wedding ceremony."

"She wouldn't give up now, would she?" Murilo tried to convince himself, constantly looking towards the church entrance.

"We hope not," Joshua tried to lighten the mood at the altar.

Seeing Murilo in that nervous state, waiting for Virginia to enter, made me worried and anxious as well. I couldn't help but look at Mariana all the time, wondering if she loved me enough to accept marrying me and come to her ceremony.

But... I hadn't proposed to Mariana yet, and that made me even more nervous because she must be thinking that I didn't have serious intentions with her, which is completely absurd.

I looked at Murilo, now pacing back and forth, and decided I couldn't wait any longer to make my proposal. So I walked over to where my girlfriend was, on the other side of the altar, with the other bridesmaids, and took her by the wrist, pulling her towards the church sacristy.

"Where are you taking me, Ethan?" Mariana asked, both scared and smiling. "The ceremony is about to start."

"We need to talk," I replied.

I continued walking, and Mariana followed, clearly confused about what I was doing.

"We can talk later, then," she suggested. "After the party..."

"I can't wait any longer."

We arrived in the room behind the altar, and although some people looked at us questioningly as we made our way there, no one stopped us, and the room was empty. Even though I didn't mind speaking in front of others, I figured Mariana would prefer privacy.

"What happened?" Mariana seemed a bit apprehensive now. "You're so nervous. I've never seen you like this, not even when I caught you with Bruna's snake."

"Don't remind me of that woman," I pleaded, trying to calm down. "Right now, all that matters is you and me."

"What's going on then?"

This was the moment to propose to her. No engagement ring.

"Do you love me?"

That wasn't what I had intended to ask, but only then did I realize that Mariana had never told me about her feelings, which made me truly anxious now.

Mariana's laughter upon hearing my question caught me completely off guard, and I felt deeply offended.

"No!?" she asked, horrified.

"Don't be silly, Ethan," she said, shattering my heart. "I love you very much. I would never be with someone I don't love, and I've never loved anyone before you."

It was Mariana's turn to hold me tightly in her embrace, and then, delicately holding my face in her hands, she kissed me. But it wasn't a kiss full of passion and lust, like ours usually were.

It was a kiss filled with tenderness and love, making me feel secure in her feelings.

"I... - a kiss - love... - another kiss - you."

I pulled her closer into my arms, too happy to do anything else.

"So, will you marry me?" I finally asked.

"Marry?"

"Yes, marry," I repeated, smiling at the surprise on Mariana's face. "And keep your promise. I want our three babies."

I had even thought that Mariana's answer would be a loud and resounding "NO," and my heart skipped a beat from the anxiety of waiting for her response, which came after a few agonizing seconds.

"I accept the marriage," she said playfully.

"The children, no?" I asked, feeling both happy and sad.

"The children, too."

She was teasing me, and we both laughed together as Mariana threw herself into my arms, making me the happiest man in the world.

Mariana

There was no wedding that afternoon because Virginia went into labor earlier than expected, which led us to go from the church straight to the hospital where she was giving birth.

Ethan seemed worried that something could go wrong with us as well because while Angela was in charge of the wedding preparations, he convinced me to take a trip to Las Vegas. Only when we were there did I understand the real reason for his insistence?

He wanted to take advantage of the ease of getting married in the city.

We got married, without anyone knowing, and we arrived in São Paulo already married. The ceremony prepared by Ethan's mother was just a formality.

"We need to go on a honeymoon trip," Ethan suggested a few days after we returned from the United States.

"I thought the days we spent in Vegas served as our honeymoon."

"Not at all!" Ethan protested. "Let's go somewhere surrounded by beaches. What do you say?" he suggested, his tone filled with mischief.

"I didn't know you liked the beach that much," I joked.

We were watching a movie, and the main couple happened to be making love on a paradise beach. I could perfectly understand Ethan's sudden desire for such a place.

"I even know where we're going to travel."

That wasn't just a teasing remark. A week later, we traveled to the Northeast and visited a paradise called Maracajaú in Rio Grande do Norte, with its coral reefs. Ethan wasn't playing around.

"How did you find out about this place?" I asked as we sipped coconut water under the shade of a large veranda in a rustic-style cottage, equipped with all the comforts of a big city.

"I've been researching places for us to explore together," he explained. "And this is just the first of many paradises I have in mind for us."

I discovered that my husband was a romantic, and he went above and beyond to please me. I never imagined I could be this happy until Ethan came into my life.