The Secret Marriage

Chapter 5

The sun had fully set by now along the deep dark and snowy horizon of the Dark Cacao kingdom, the blizzard was getting stronger and louder by the minute and all of the villagers had been asleep for a while by now.
The five however were in the Dark Cacao Kingdoms kitchen room, drinking redberry juice from the cellars and chomping down on some small portions of Hot Jelly Stew and Tart Jam Pies from the pantries. They were laughing away at stories from each other's kingdoms, gossiping too about random things and topics just like what they did back in the Academy, many many years ago.

…

More than a while had passed and only an hour until midnight by now.
Pure Vanilla, Dark Cacao and White Lily had had only a few small drinks, whilst Golden Cheese and Hollyberry had drunk well over a bottle in various kinds of liquor, Hollyberry seemed to be able to handle it all much better than Cheese though. "Hehe- remember- remember that one time when you and White Lily-! HaHA!-- STOLE- that book or something.. and then got caught or whatever..." Golden Cheese said, her words coming out quick and slurred with her voice giddy and loud from the copious amounts of liquor she had drunk.
"Aaaand that's enough for you." Hollyberry said, leaning over to her and taking the glass and almost empty redberry bottle out of Golden Cheeses hands, heading towards the cellar to put the bottle back.

"Don't worry Holly, allow me." Dark Cacao offered quietly, putting his hands out and letting Hollyberry hand the bottle and glass to him.
He then headed down to the cellar while Hollyberry walked back to the others--continuing to drink her juice and chat with her friends.

"Oh! I almost forgot to ask, how is your son Royal Berry doing?" White Lily asked, gesturing her fork in the direction of Hollyberry while she chewed on her Tart.
"Oh he's doin' well! I'm letting him run the kingdom for me while I'm here, to give him some experience y'know," She explained.
"Royal Berry is almost an adult in a couple of months and he asked anyway, I assume he suggested it to gain some experience in the subject, he's been investing a lot of his time on the history of the Hollyberry Kingdom. Sigh… I'm sure he'll make a fine king one day." Hollyberry proudly, wiping a small tear away out of the corner of her eye.

"I'm sure he will be a fine king one day Holly." Pure Vanilla said in an encouraging tone, offering her a handkerchief as she took it and wiped her eyes. "I'm just so proud of him!" She said again, blowing her nose with the handkerchief while small tears of joy continuously fell from her eyes. Small giggles from Lily and Vanilla also escaped their mouths, seeing Hollyberry so emotional and teary was rare.

Dark Cacao then soon walked back into the room from the cellar, sitting beside Pure Vanilla as he took another small sip of his beverage, seeing Vanilla and Lily trying to comfort Hollyberry.
"What did I miss?" He whispered into Lillys' ear quietly, rather confused.
"Oh, Hollyberry was just talking about her son, apparently he's running the kingdom while she's here." She explained, Cacao humming in agreement as he glanced over at Pure Vanilla comforting Hollyberry, also noticing that Golden Cheese was fast asleep by his side, using his shoulder as a pillow while drool fell down onto her chin.

Once her flowing tears of joy had eased, Hollyberry gently gave the handkerchief back to Vanilla.
"Oh my apologies everyone for getting so emotional, it's probably all the wine and juice I've had.. I just couldn't be any more proud to be the mother of such a true-hearted son!" Hollyberry spoke joyfully, wiping the last tear from her cheek.
"Don't be sorry Hollyberry, you're an astonishing Queen ruling a fine kingdom along with a devoted and loyal son, you should be very proud of yourself." Cacao said to Holly reassuringly, tears welling up in her eyes again at his words as she broke down once again, Pure Vanilla still trying to comfort her even though he had no experience in her situation, clueless, but still trying.

…

An hour had passed again, Golden Cheese and Hollyberry had gone to share a spare room, just in case Golden woke up and needed Hollyberry to help her regurgitate everything she had drunk. White Lily had her own room at the end of the corridor where Cacao's chambers were located.
Vanilla was also sharing rooms with Cacao to keep things simple, it was late at night anyways and having to set up a whole other room felt like just too big of a feat for him at this hour.

Vanilla was in Cacao's ensuite--unpacking his toiletries into a spare drawer while placing some of his robes and nightgowns beside the sink on the counter.
"Hollyberry and Golden Cheese were a bit of a handful tonight, don't you think?" Pure Vanilla chuckled softly, walking out of the bathroom once he had finished putting his things in the drawer--placing his waffle cone hat aside, heading over to sit beside him in front of the fireplace. "I guess so." Cacao responded, chuckling softly too, scooching up to Vanilla as he did the same--leaning his head against Cacao as he used his shoulder as a pillow.

They just peacefully sat together and stared at the fire, Cacao glancing over at Vanilla as he noticed the ring on his left hand, seeing the detailing and the patterns on it--it was his wedding ring.
"You're wearing your wedding ring..?" He pointed out, softly picking up Vanillas hand and examining it closely, him humming in agreement as a soft smile grew on his face. "I have on the necklace you gave me too," Undoing his outer robes and placing them aside with his hat, Pure Vanilla showed the necklace Cacao gave him as well, "They bring me much comfort, not to mention the necklace is just simply gorgeous anyways--I don't why anyone wouldn't wear it."

Cacao chuckled softly at Vanilla's wording, taking off his coat to show the ring attached to a necklace as well.
"I wear it for comfort too, but usually only around this necklace.. to keep it safe y'know."

…

A while passed, the clock nearing midnight as Cacao and Vanilla continued to stare at the fire and cuddle.

The quietness along with the clicking of the fire gave Vanilla time to be with his own thoughts. Only random things really came to mind--situations throughout the day, conversations he had, different types of work he did in the morning, getting to the Dark Cacao kingdom, seeing his friends, drinking with his friends, Hollyberry talking about her son.

Her son.

A son.

A child.

An heir.

Premier Custard Cream's words came into his mind once again--the inevitability of him needing to produce an heir was creeping up on him sooner than he thought.

Pure Vanilla knew he wasn't getting any younger.

He loved the thought of raising a child with Dark Cacao--one day maybe at least, but the pressure of needing to have one instead of just wanting to raise one felt overwhelming.
Another thought came to him--one he had been thinking of for more than just a while, his nervousness made him feel hesitant to ask, especially considering his opinion on the subject. What about Cacao think, what would Cacao say to him if he knew he wondered about this thought for so long?--

"Vanilla,"
Cacao's voice startled him, making him flinch and look up at him.
He realised he had been dissociating this entire time. "Is everything alright, you've been completely silent for a while now. Is something on your mind?" Cacao asked Vanilla, brushing small loose hair out of his face and around his ear. He knew the motion brought his lover comfort.

Pure Vanilla was hesitant for a second, but after a few moments he shifted his position, kneeling beside Dark Cacao as he held his jawline with one hand and rested the other on his shoulder, beginning to kiss him softly as he rested his eyes--it took Cacao by surprise, Vanilla never usually made the first move. He didn't mind the kissing though, if anything he loved every ounce of affection he got from Vanilla--shutting his eyes and holding onto him, Cacao kissed back softly, only going as slow and gentle as him.

…

A few moments later, both lovers pulled away to catch their breath. Their half lidded and slightly worn out gaze made them both rather flustered, as if two teenagers just had their first kiss.
A slightly awkward silence of catching their breaths later, Vanilla finally had the confidence to ask--he didn't know whether it was the kissing that made him say it, or the influence of alcohol still in his system, he figured it would be the best time to ask-- at least in his opinion.

"...make love to me."