The Royal Contract

He stared at her face, noticing how young she looked when she did not seem to carry the world on her shoulders. Technically, she was too young to have a child, but fate did a number on her. Or rather, whoever that guy was.

“Hey, Ria.” He whispered as he attempted to wake her up. But she only stirred a little but did not open her eyes. He let her sleep a little more since he figured it was still barely dawn.

He carefully untangled himself from her body and then fixed the blanket to cover her body. Then, he stood up and stretched his sore muscles while scanning their surrounding, concluding that the sun would rise soon on the horizon.

He cleaned up the slight mess they made, remembering the late snack they shared as they talked about a few things about themselves. But mostly, it was stories about Edison that he could not wait to meet.

“Hey, what time is it?” She asked, making him turn to look at her sleepy face. “You should have woken me up.” She mumbled as she quickly struggled to stand up from the makeshift mat and cushions where they had fallen asleep.

Luckily, he thought of blankets, or they might have been cold from the slightly chilly breeze of the morning dew. But it was not that cold that they would freeze to death. Maybe just enough to catch a cold if they were not careful.

“It is still early but just in time to watch the sunrise.” He pointed at the colorful sky on the east side of the ocean. It was like a kaleidoscope of colors that created a beautiful colorful pattern in the sky.

The bright, colorful shades changed as the sun carefully made its presence known, taking its place as the King for the day. It was enchanting, just like the woman that stood by his side.

.....

“It is indeed captivating.” Ria could not help but gasp at the magnificence before her. She had seen pictures of sunrise but had never experienced anything like this.

“Do you think Edison will enjoy a place like this?” He asked, slightly surprised by his question but, at the same time, curious about her answer.

He watched her face light up after hearing her son’s name. He noticed that she became lively and excited when they talked about him. Maybe she was right. He still had much to learn about dating a woman with a child.

But was he truly ready for such responsibility, or was he jumping the gun because he was afraid to lose her? But there was no point in questioning his judgment since he could not back out now.

But how hard could this relationship be?

“I think he would like the water.” She commented as she finally turned around to look at him. “Thanks for doing this for me.” She lifted her hand until it rested on his cheek.

She eventually tiptoed to reach his lips, letting him feel her appreciation for all his efforts. It took him a second to respond to her kiss, but he took it as an invitation to deepen it to the next level.

Last night, they barely kissed since they spent more time talking and getting to know more about each other. Truthfully, he hardly said much since she did most of the talking. He learned that just a few glasses of alcohol and her tongue easily let loose.

Then, the tide started to shift, making the water create some waves. A slight wind picked up and blew in their direction. The boat mildly shook, notifying them that it was time to move.

“I think that is our cue to get back.” He reluctantly pulled away from the kiss, enjoying how her lips fit perfectly with his. Sadly, they had no choice.

Although they designed the floating platform to float freely on the water, it still had an engine attached to the rear portion of the craft. The motor would push the vessel back to the coastline.

In a few minutes, he was ushering her down the sandy shore and guiding her back to the main house. He did not exactly plan to sleep on the boat, but it had been a new experience, spending it with her.

“I had a great time, but I am still sorry for the...” She was about to apologize again for her breakdown, but he would not have it.

“Let us just focus on now and having a great time.” He told her, not wanting her to feel guilty for whatever she said. The way he saw it, she only spoke the truth.

Besides, if they were going to make this relationship work, they would need to be honest about each other and tell each other how they feel. Going into a relationship was hard enough, but keeping it was worse.

“Ok.” She finally agreed with an adorable smile. He realized that he loved watching her happy. Therefore, he intended to do that as much as he could.

“Come on. We don’t want the entire hotel staff to form a search party for us because we went missing the entire night.” He jokingly said as they rode back to their hotel.

“What time is our flight back?” She asked, suddenly looking anxious as they traveled on the open road.

He could tell she was slightly nervous from how she held her hands together on her lap. He could only attribute it to their new relationship. Then, she probably was thinking of her son.

He reached out one of his hands and pulled hers into his lips, quickly glancing her way before concentrating back on the road. He wished to reassure her that everything would be ok. Now that they were together.

He could not help but wonder why a man would leave a girl like her. She might not have come from much, but whatever she lacked, she made up for her other incredible qualities.

Suddenly, he felt like he was the luckiest man on the planet.