wave after wave 🌊 [rini au]

settle down ; 39

Nini was 21 and Ricky was 23 when they had decided that they were going to get married. It had been three years since they were dating and the couple felt like it was the right time to settle down together. Of course, their three years weren't all rainbows and unicorns, they'd disagreed about many things: when Ricky should go back to Oahu and if Nini should go with him, whether he should move in with the Roberts so that he could save on rental; these were the more significant ones. As two young and attractive people on an island in abundance of tourists, it was not uncommon that both were hit on by others countless times, each situation garnering varying degrees of jealousy from their significant other — most of the time, it wasn't a big deal, just teasing the other about how many people had hit on them. But, there was one time that one of Nini's coworkers had made advances on her despite knowing she was attached. She hadn't picked up on the signals, believing that he was just a very nice guy. Ricky had tried to tell her but she ignored his warnings, and continued to be nice to the guy until one day he had asked her out. Nini had apologised profusely to Ricky, he'd been right all along; Ricky then admitted that he'd been sized up by the guy quite a few times, he decided against telling her for fear that she wouldn't believe him. Just normal things that couples fight about, Nini and Ricky weren't immune to any of those.

One night, the both of them were lying down in Nini's bed, just talking about Ricky's financial planning — It had been six months since he had decided to take up Mr Roberts' offer to move in with them, and managed to save a ton of money off rent. This was the first time that he was able to save up a significant amount and he was determined to put it to good use. Nini was propped up on her elbows, while Ricky was lying down, his head on the pillow. They shared a moment of silence until he turned over on his side, a hand caressing her back, "I've thought about it, and you're right, going back to Oahu will be good for me." A smile grew on Nini's face, glad that he had given her words thought. It had been months since she'd told him that he needed to go back to Oahu and that Kauai was holding him back. She had said that she was the only reason why he refused to go back, and he had refused to admit it, giving a lame excuse that he had friends in Kauai (not many, just his lifeguard crew) and other things (nothing really, except the Roberts). He also argued that he wasn't financially ready for Oahu, the island was significantly more expensive than Kauai; then, he said that she hadn't counted the cost and they weren't ready for it. Emma intercepted their conversation, the older couple took time to talk with them one-on-one and they hadn't broached the topic since. "I'm coming with!" Ricky's hand ran up and down her back, "I don't want to take you away from your family, Nins. You love them and they love you." Nini leaned down to give him a kiss, "And, I love you. I want that for us too, a family that we grow with love." He pulled her in for a deeper kiss, "Are you saying you want to marry me?" The girl managed a breathy whisper, "Yeah, I do." Ricky flipped them over so he was above her and leaned in to kiss her once more, "You know it's going to be hard right? With the kinds of jobs that we have and the cost of living in Oahu?" He wanted to prepare her for the worse, giving her a chance to wiggle out of what she might have unknowingly signed up for. "Ricky, we've talked about this before. I'm ready to rough it out with you," She then revealed that she had a whole plan for their future in Oahu; she even got up from the bed to bring her laptop over to show him the spreadsheet she had created. It was titled Bowens to Oahu and there were several sheets in the file namely: House, Renovation, Groceries, Travel, Car, Children, and School. Not all the calculations were done, but it was something; Ricky was amazed at the work that she'd done, impressed that she had taken his words to count the cost seriously. "You are really something, Nina, I wouldn't want to marry anyone else." He pulled her close and kissed her forehead. She snuggled into him, "I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you."

Ricky had talked with Mr Roberts and Nate about taking the Roberts' girl's hand in marriage and they were more than happy to give her away. Ever since their one year anniversary, Mr Roberts had given them his blessings, telling the younger guy that if his daughter were to marry anyone, it would be the Bowen boy. Upon receiving Nini's dad's blessings, he decided that he needed to solidify everything with a ring. With Emma's help, he managed to find a pretty one within his budget - there weren't any diamonds, he hoped that Nini would be okay with it, Emma said she would be. He ordered the ring in her size; of course he knew her size, she loved to announce every now and then that she was a size 6 and it was ready within the week. One whole week after the couple had talked about moving to Oahu, as they were hanging out as usual at the docks, Ricky thought it was time to give her the ring. He fiddled with the box in his shorts pocket, waiting for the absolute right time to take it out and get down on one knee. However, Nini beat him to it. She took a little box out of her sling bag and handed it to him. "Is this what I think it is?" Ricky nudged her teasingly and she almost snatched it back, if only he hadn't dodged her. It was a silver ring with a dark wood inlay and a carving inside, Nina Bowen. He quickly slipped it onto the ring finger of his left hand, pleasantly unsurprised that it was a fit — Nini had taken his ring measurements before, and they'd joked about her proposing to him. "Thank you love, it looks really good." She ran her thumb over the wood inlay, "Now, the girls at the beach will seriously know that you're taken and stop hitting on you." He kissed her cheek, knowing that they could only wish that they would stop bothering him, "Let's just hope that they get the hint." Ricky then took a small box out of his surfer shorts pocket, "Now it's my turn." He opened up the box and showed it to her; it was a simple silver band with a pale blue aquamarine stone in the middle. Nini snatched the box away from Ricky, "Oh my gosh, it's really pretty, thank you so much!" He leaned over to give her a kiss on the lips, distracting her as he eased the box out of her hands, "Come on, let me put it on for you." He decided to forgo the kneeling, deciding that it wasn't their cliche. As she examined the stone closer, he couldn't help but feel a little worried that she would be disappointed that it wasn't a diamond. "I know it's not a diamond," He tried to explain himself but Nini interrupted him with a kiss, not wanting to hear whatever self-deprecating thing Ricky had to say about himself. "I love the ring, and who gives a shit if it's not a diamond? Definitely not me." He kissed her again, thankful that she was cool about it. They continued to talk about everything under the sun (or moon), but the girl could not take her eyes off the ring — her gaze fixed on the barely blue stone on the silver band. Ricky teased her, "Hey, stop looking at it, look at me." The only way he could keep her attention was if he kept kissing her. He wasn't complaining, he'd gladly kiss his fiancee anytime, as much as she would him.