50 Shades of Drake 5 and 6

Chapter Eleven

    Mr. Richards opened the bedroom door with an expression of confusion on his face. The confusion cleared when he saw Aubrey standing in the hall. "Is something wrong?"

    Aubrey shook his head. "No. I was just...hoping to speak to you."

    Mr. Richards made a point of checking his watch. "It can't wait until the morning?"

    If I wait until the morning, your daughter might change her mind about being ready to wear the ring I bought for her, Aubrey thought. But that wasn't how he wanted to announce that he'd proposed to Destiny. How else could he express the sense of urgency he felt? How else could he get Destiny's father to understand that it was best for them to have this conversation tonight - right now - instead of waiting until tomorrow? And an even better question: why did Aubrey feel so strongly that Destiny might change her mind about marrying him? He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess...I guess it could wait," he muttered disappointedly.

    Mr. Richards narrowed his eyes at Aubrey.

    "Honey?" Mrs. Richards called from further inside of the room. "Are you coming to bed?"

    Mr. Richards continued staring at Aubrey, then looked down at his t-shirt and pajama pants. "Well..." He raised his eyes to meet Aubrey's. "I guess going out for a walk couldn't hurt. Get these legs moving around a little bit."

    "I don't want to intrude," Aubrey said, and he hated the eagerness he could hear in his voice. That eagerness gave him away.

    "Don't worry about it, son," Mr. Richards said, clapping him on the upper arm. He turned and called over his shoulder, "I'm going for a walk with Aubrey, honey."

    "This late?"

    "I'll be back as soon as I can," he promised. And with those words, the two men were off.

    Aubrey led him down the hall and they both descended the stairs in silence. He tried to sort out his thoughts, sort out what he wanted to say. He hadn't even had a chance to think about it. All of a sudden, he felt a ball of nervousness drop into the pit of his stomach. As he led Mr. Richards through his house and outside of the patio doors, it struck him just how quiet his house was without his boys ripping and running through it.

    The waterfall over his pool had been turned off for the night, but that didn't stop the sounds of running water from filling the night.

    "Thank you for agreeing to speak with me," Aubrey said, leading Destiny's father towards the pool, then walking alongside it.

    "It sounded like it was important," Mr. Richards said, sliding his hands in the pockets of his pajama pants.

    "It is."

    Silence fell upon them. Then Mr. Richards asked, "Well, are you going to come out with it? Or keep me in suspense?"

    "I've really enjoyed having you and your wife here," Aubrey said.

    "Did you really bring me down here to tell me that you like having us here?" Mr. Richards asked with a hoisted eyebrow.

    Aubrey couldn't get out the words. It was crazy, really. Throughout the different stages of his career, he'd always excelled at speaking. Expressing himself. And now, he felt something he hadn't felt in ages: intimidation. He cleared his throat and came to a stop at one end of his pool, where a circular lounge oasis was located. Instead of diving into the conversation headfirst, he chose to ease himself in, one toe at a time. "At this point, I think it's probably clear to you that I have very strong feelings for your daughter."

    A smile teased Mr. Richards's lips. "Strong feelings, eh?"

    Aubrey ducked his head down and stared into the water.

    "Is that what this conversation is?"

    "I'm just...letting you know how I feel about her," Aubrey said softly. "She's very important to me. Very special to me."

    "I'm glad to hear that," Mr. Richards said.

    Aubrey took a deep breath.

    "Do you..."

    Aubrey closed his eyes.

    "I mean, not to put any pressure on you, but do you...are you..."

    Aubrey's eyes opened. For a brief moment, he thought he wouldn't be able to say the words. He was speaking about feelings that he'd denied back when he first became involved with Destiny. To his surprise, the words came a lot easier than he expected. "I love her. I'm in love with her. Yes."

    Mr. Richards nodded and smiled. "That's good to hear." When the younger, anxious man didn't respond right away, he added, "So what else is on your mind?"

    "Destiny is...unlike any other woman I've ever known," Aubrey explained. "We are at a point in our relationship where I can't imagine life without her. I always want to have her in my life."

    "You two seem pretty inseparable," Mr. Richards said, his smile widening.

    You're not going to make this easy for me, are you? Aubrey thought, smiling back at the older man. You're going to make me come out with it? "I brought you out here, and I wanted to talk to you, because I asked Destiny to marry me. She said yes. But...I would like to ask for your blessing."

    Mr. Richards turned to face him. He gave Aubrey a once-over. "You're nervous."

    "As hell. Yes."

    Mr. Richards chuckled. "Afraid that my answer will be 'No.' Good. You really do love her, then."

    "The last time I spent time with your family, a relative had concerns about the age difference between Destiny and me."

    "You are grown. Destiny is grown. I am not quite as cynical as my sister-in-law. When it comes to a man wanting to marry my daughter, my main concerns are whether or not he truly loves her. Whether or not he's man enough to step up and make sure she's taken care of. Whether or not he's a kind and decent man who deserves the love of my daughter. That's what I care about. From what I've seen, you seem to love Destiny a great deal. And I see the way she looks at you. She's head over heels for you. The whole time we've been here, you two have been inseparable. I'm happy to see that. I'm happy to see that despite having gone through severely traumatic experiences, there is someone who can make my daughter smile. Make her feel safe."

    "Her safety...her happiness is my number one priority," Aubrey stated.

    "I've pretty much given you my blessing, and you still look nervous." Mr. Richards squinted at him. "You weren't just nervous to speak to me. There's something else, something worrying you."

    They climbed the stairs beside the deactivated waterfall and moved towards the railing overlooking the pool. Aubrey rested his elbows on the railing and leaned forward. "You're very easy to talk to. When it comes to speaking about the relationship I have with your daughter, it's hard for me to determine what is considered oversharing."

    "Don't bring up any cat abuse, and we'll be just fine," Mr. Richards said with a stern look.