457

Angel

I had watched Thea and Louisa as they made their way to the garden. A smile clouded my face, knowing what was to come in a few days.

I was very grateful to Louisa for accepting me to be her son-in-law.

Dad had pulled me to the side earlier today, questioning me about proposing to Thea. Apparently, Louisa was so excited that she shared the news with him immediately we got back from our dinner date. The end result was that Scott was jealous I didn't tell him first.

Well, at that moment, Louisa's approval was the most important thing.

Now, it was time to tell my brothers about the good news. It had been an excruciating time waiting for this. The patience I had was something I never thought was in me because, for the longest time, I had wanted to make Thea my wife.

I was in my room, in front of my laptop and on FaceTime with Knight and Caspian. They were in my office. I had told them not to be where the ladies were when we did the call.

The expression on their faces was that of curiosity and a bit of worry, but when we started talking, I got them to ease up, letting them know it wasn't something to worry about.

"There's something I need to show you guys," I said, feeling my cheeks full of smiles.

"You look so excited about it," Caspian said, folding his arms across his chest.

"Did we kill Sparrow again?"

That was very unexpected from Knight, and we all burst into laughter.

"Come on guys," I said amidst my laughter. That was dark humor to me.

"Alright, what?" Knight asked, and they both seemed more interested in what I had to say. "Caspian has something he'd like to share as well," Knight said, and I became curious.

"Oh... Really?" I said, squinting.

"You go ahead. Mine is way too special," Caspian said. The glimmer in his eyes had been evident from the start of the call, but it was more pronounced now. I thought for a second what could get him so excited. Was Camila pregnant again?

I shook my head, not okay with the possibility. Casimir was just seven months old, and Caspian shouldn't put her through that just yet when she had a difficult delivery with Casimir.

"I doubt that," I said, having that thought at the back of my mind. There was no way what he had to say was more exciting than me proposing to Thea and Louisa giving her approval. "You should go ahead. I think mine is way more special."

"You two are not bantering right now?" Knight said and scoffed. He looked tired of the both of us already.

"Fine. Since I started it, I should go ahead," I said, surrendering just because my mouth became more itchy to speak. I brought out the box that contained Thea's engagement ring and placed it in front of the table before the laptop, and they came closer to their screen, looking closely at the box.

"Is that what I think it is?" Caspian asked, looking horrified and excited at the same time. I didn't know how he pulled off both expressions at the same time.

"No way!" Knight muttered, feeling amused. He had stared at Caspian as if knowing something I didn't know, then he looked at me.

"Is that an engagement ring?" Caspian asked, and I nodded.

"It is. I'm going to propose to Thea," I said, beaming with a smile despite their reaction that was both exciting and made me curious.

Knight folded his arms across his chest. His lips formed an O' as he passed stares from Caspian to me again. He got all excited and pulled Caspian by the neck.

"So I'm going to be the only bachelor in a few months' time," he said, and his words registered immediately. My eyes widened in surprise as I looked at Caspian, yet I wanted clarification.

"What do you mean?" I asked, and Knight looked at Caspian, giving him a sign to speak. Everything clicked, and I understood what was going on.

"No, that can't be," I said, the same look of horror filling my gaze, yet I was excited. Caspian shrugged, and I understood his mixed reaction in an instant.

"It can..." Caspian said and pulled out his own box, showing me the ring.

"What?" I said in disbelief, and a chuckle left my throat. This was way too exciting than horrifying. Caspian smiled widely as well.

He really took me off guard. I had not expected it.

"I can't wait," he explained before I could ask any further questions. "I know Casimir is just seven months, but damn it! It feels like if I have to wake up another day without making Camila my wife, I'd go nuts," he said, and I could relate to how he felt exactly.

"The ladies will be in awe. I think this is the best thing right now. Making their weddings so close to each other," Knight said, and we both nodded in agreement.

"Congratulations, Caspian," I said before he could beat me to it. "Camila will be the best bride," I said and shrugged, my lips twitching at my next sentence. "Well, after Thea." We all burst into another round of laughter.

"Can't believe we get to be with the love of our lives after everything," Caspian said once the laughter died down. "It's been a long way coming, Angel. I'm proud of you for winning your girl back. Congratulations." He said, causing my smile to grow wider.

"So what's it going to be? Whose wedding comes first?" Knight asked, trailing his eyes from Caspian to me.

"Obviously mine," Caspian said. There was a pause. Knight and I wanted explanations. If he believed his wedding should come first, then there had to be a reason which I could compromise too.

"Camila would want her best friend to be her maid of honor, and Cassandra wouldn't forgive either of them if she isn't Thea's maid of honor," he explained, and what he said was very reasonable.

We all agreed to his point.

"You're right on that one," I said.

"How do you plan to propose, Angel?" Knight asked, shifting the focus back to me. "Does Thea's mum know about it?"

"Yes, I took her on a date and asked for her daughter's hand in marriage," I said, and they looked at me, curiosity filling their gaze. I knew they wanted to know what Louisa's answer was. "It was a yes." They let out relieved sighs, and their faces lit up with excitement once again.

"I guess your monthly gifts were not in vain," Caspian said, and I thought of how bad everything would have gone if Louisa had not accepted me to be her son-in-law.

"What about you, Caspian? How do you intend to propose to Camila?" I asked, curious as well. "I have my plans all settled out," I said, and a sly smile twitched at my lips. "Camila is going to be jealous once she sees what I did for Thea," I said teasingly.

Caspian frowned and showed me his fist, warning me.

"Easy there, Caspian," I teased. "If only you were patient," I said, clucking my tongue.

"It's not a competition, guys," Knight said, assuming the role of a middleman between Caspian and me.

"Of course, it is," Caspian and I said at the same time.

"At least we said so," I said, sneering at Caspian.

"I'm dead meat. How do I handle the both of you?" Knight said, looking exhausted already.

"You haven't even started, Knight," Caspian said, tapping his shoulder. He looked at me to back him up, and I nodded.

"You haven't seen anything yet," I said, and we laughed at him.

"Who says I can't handle it?" he said, challenging us, and we both raised our hands, surrendering to him.

"So Angel, between Knight and me, who will be your best man?" Caspian asked, but before I could utter a word, Knight spoke first.

"It's an easy one guessing who is Angel's best man. Me...." Knight said, smiling proudly, while Caspian scoffed.

"You wish."

"I'm his best friend, come on."

"You both are, Knight," I corrected.

"You know I am, Angel," Knight said in a low voice, like Caspian wouldn't hear him. I shook my head, refusing to acknowledge that, and he hissed. He turned to Caspian and said, "Same as you, Caspian. You'd choose me over Angel, right?" he asked.

"It was never in my plans."

Whoa....

Caspian's answer was brutally honest, and Knight's face contorted into a frown briefly. "I was going to ask Angel to be my best man," he said, a satisfied look on his face.

"What?" Knight said, disappointed.

"Think about it, Knight. Thea will be Camila's maid of honour. It's only reasonable that Angel is my best man," Caspian explained.

"Damn it!" Knight cursed. He probably thought he was going to have the privilege of both. "At least I get to do one," he said, resigning to the fact.

I chuckled, watching their little banter. Silence fell for some seconds before Caspian spoke again.

"I'll need you guys to help me out with planning my proposal," Caspian said.

"I'm all in, Caspian," I said, getting excited about it already. "I'm taking Thea away for mine, so I'll give you my time."

"Thanks, man," he said, and Knight showed his support as well.