Chapter Text
One Year Later
Sonny clinked the neck of his beer bottle against his father’s, shooting him a wide grin, which his father matched dimple for dimple.
“We’re so glad you could make it,” his mother said softly, just loud enough for him to hear over the children screaming, his cousins laughing, and the music blasting from the cheap sound system on the other end of the porch.
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world, Ma.”
“Mmm, I know you, you’d much rather be off celebrating your anniversary,” she said with a twinkle in her eye.
Sonny groaned, covering his face in his hands as she swatted him on the arm, a devilish cackle escaping her lips. Despite himself, he could feel a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as he made eye contact with her, and her grin softened to something he could have sworn he hadn’t seen on her face since he was eight-years-old and he’d given Bella his ice cream because she’d dropped hers all over the sidewalk.
“I’m glad you’re with him, Sonny,” she almost whispered, leaning in towards him to pat his hand. “He’s good for you, you know?”
“I know, Ma,” he said with a small nod, squeezing her hand in his own briefly, accepting her non-verbal apology for what it was.
A loud shriek caught his attention, head snapping up just in time to watch Gina land, fully-clothed and into the pool, resurfacing with a string of curses slipping from her tongue. The laughter that bubbled up inside him was unexpected, but not unwelcome, as his sides ached and his eyes wept.
He could hear a chorus of, “Uncle Rafa, Uncle Rafa!”, and couldn’t stop the grin that broke out across his face as he saw Rafael being dragged around by his nieces, hair sticking up at all ends and a tiara sitting crookedly on top of his head, clinging to the product in his hair. As they locked eyes, Rafael sent him a wide-eyed plea for help, and he found himself laughing again as he rose from his chair.
The sun was just setting, the sky a brilliant array of blues, pinks, purples and reds, the clouds holding on to the remnants of the day’s light. As Sonny crossed the lawn towards his partner, the beat from the speakers thudding through his body, his chest swelled with emotion. The moment felt surreal, almost like he was a spectator to someone else’s dream.
“You okay?” Rafael asked softly, resisting against Anna’s tug on his arm to look Sonny in the eye, searching his face.
“Never better,” Sonny whispered as he leaned in to press a chaste kiss to the corner of Rafael’s mouth. “Let’s go home.”
“You sure?”
“You enjoying being a princess too much?” Sonny teased, glancing down to watch Anna give up on Rafael and run off to do something else.
“Absolutely. I think the tiara brings out my eyes,” Rafael deadpanned, just a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
“Come on,” Sonny said, grabbing his hand so they could do the rounds and say goodbye to his insanely large family together.
Once his mother had finished pressing kisses to his and Rafael’s cheeks (much to Rafael’s surprise), and they’d manage to escape the hands grabbing at them, begging them to stay for dinner, for one more drink, for another dance, they sank into Sonny’s car, the music just a distant, faraway thumping.
“Happy anniversary,” Sonny said quietly, looking up at Rafael shyly through his lashes.
“Happy anniversary,” Rafael responded, voice unusually tight as he pulled Sonny in towards him, pressing a heated kiss to his lips.
Rafael pulled back first, slipping his hand into his pocket to pull out a purple velvet box.
“I know we weren’t going to make a big deal out of this, and I promise this isn’t that. I just saw it online, and I knew I had to get it for you,” Rafael explained in a rush, not meeting Sonny’s eyes as he shoved the box towards him.
Sonny snapped the lid open, the sound almost deafening in the silence of the car. As his eyes took in the sight of the simple black band inside, his vision blurred over with unshed tears.
“Raf--”
“You don’t have to wear it,” Rafael cut him off, hands covering Sonny’s own as a few tears slipped from his eyes. “Not if you’re not comfortable wearing it publicly. I just thought--”
“Thank you,” Sonny whispered, his smile causing a couple more tears to fall.
Rafael reached up tentatively, tilting Sonny’s chin upward so their eyes were locked.
Sonny cleared his throat, a small embarrassed laugh slipping past his lips as Rafael wiped his cheeks for him, “Seriously, thank you. I’m not sure where I’d be right now without you.”
“You’d have got here on your own,” Rafael said quietly, a soft smile on his face. “But I’m glad I could come along for the ride.”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.”