Perish: Book Three (bxb) ✔️

34. Hi, Kaya.

August Luna
One month later.

"I need you to hear me out. All the way through. Every single one of you will wait until I'm done speaking before you shout your opinions at me. Can you do that?"

My family blinked in perfect union. Almost. Either way, it was kind of creepy. 

Hell, if I thought I was nervous about telling my parents I was dating Kayax secretly, it was nothing compared to now. Especially considering I was sitting in front of my entire family with this proposal of an idea that I had. Because I thought way too much about something Kayax said. And I was pretty sure this was crazy, and I was positive they were going to think it was insane.

However, it wasn't up to them, but I wanted their input. Not their permission. Their input would be greatly valued. I had to find out if I was going to look like a horse's ass or not. They would not be afraid to tell me, either.

I cleared my throat, everyone still staring. At least they knew how to follow directions for once. "Okay, like I said, if you interrupt me or if chaos erupts. I'm walking out of that door. Remember, I am here for your input. That's it."

They all stayed quiet.

Yeah, we'd see about that.

Damn it, I was nervous. "Okay, now, Kayax has told everyone here how he's not an Adler because he's not. But he also told me how disgusting he feels about having the last name. This was back when we were on, like... day three of dating." I ran a hand through my hair, blowing out a breath. "Okay, so, uh... I wanted to offer him ours. Ah, ah!" I saw Papa about to jump up, and he was already halfway up, but he slowly sat back down. "Now, I know some of you are Pierce, but you're all Luna in spirit, and we're all Pierce in spirit. But my last name is Luna, so that's the name he'd get. 

"Kayax can't change his last name unless he... gets married. Hey! No! Sit..." I narrowed my eyes at Papa again, who snapped his teeth at me. "Now, I was going to offer to him that we... in the legal sense, are married, but it doesn't have to mean he's tied down to the commitment. Here's the thing, even if we don't work out by some off chance. Super slim chance--not even visible. But even if we don't, I want him to have the last name. He deserves freedom. If he decided he didn't want to be with me anymore, I wouldn't change my opinion on that. He's been through enough, and he's thriving. I want to give him this. We wouldn't need to have a wedding now, and it could be just on paper. We don't have to say we're married... off paper. Legal, tax purposes, yes. But in person, we don't need to wear rings or whatever.

"It would be just us signing the document so he can have some freedom. I'll get a prenuptial agreement for both of us, just in case. Not that I think he's going to take me for all I have, but so it makes the process easier. Plus, then he'd really be a Luna, and I mean, I think that would make him happy, right? We can have a real wedding later down the line. This would be a piece of paper for the time being." I pursed my lips as I stared at my family--they were biting their tongues. "Okay, I'm calling on people. So, be patient and wait your turn."

God, yeah, okay. I knew this was crazy, but I just wanted him to be free. If he didn't want this, or if he didn't want this right now, I'd accept that and move on. I just didn't know how to approach this situation with him. I mean, we comfortably talked about marriage, and we'd been dating for over ten months now.

And living with him had been the best dream I could ever live in. Did we bicker? Yes, but he always crawled into bed and cuddled up to my side. And it was my favorite part of the day. Plus, I loved watching him walk around the house in the morning, barely operating until he had his cup of coffee.