LSFC: I Do

Lily and Sebastian are spending a quiet afternoon sitting in Lily’s kitchen discussing everything that has been going on lately. They are both exhausted. Lily sits at her table sipping her favorite cup of tea. Sebastian is leaning against the counter near her.

“Come on, Lil. You need a vacay. It’ll just be you and me finally getting some time off... together,” Sebastian said pleadingly, as he gave her that lopsided grin she loved.

“Sebastian, I don’t know. There’s so much to do around here.” Lily sighed.

Kip sauntered over. YOU COULD USE A WEEKEND OFF. YOU ARE EXHAUSTED. Kip’s words floated above his head where both Lily and Sebastian could see. Lily could understand him perfectly fine without the floating gold words.

“He’s not wrong,” Sebastian added.

I AM NEVER WRONG. YOU WOULD DO WELL TO REMEMBER THAT, WITCH. Kip’s words floated up to within inches from Sebastian’s face. Lily giggled and looked away pretending to sip her tea.

After a few moments of consideration Lily sighed and said, “Oh, alright. I’m in.”

"You won't regret this!" Sebastian pulled her into a big hug and winked at Kip mouthing “thank you”. Kip was fully aware of Sebastian’s plan for the weekend and was secretly helping him. Kip had only been waiting for a moment like this for what seemed like forever. He knew they were a perfect match for each other.

It was a beautiful spring day in the middle of March. Sebastian planned to take Lily for a weekend getaway to Savannah. It was out of Atlanta but still close enough that should something happen, they could make it home. Lord willing, that would NOT happen.

On a Friday, they drove to Savannah. Sebastian had picked out a quaint little Bed & Breakfast to stay at. He drove them to The Amethyst Garden, the Victorian inn B&B he had picked out located in the historic district of Savannah. The Amethyst Garden was a stately Victorian home built in 1888 and was thus named for the shade of purple the house had been painted.

“Oh Sebastian, this is incredible!” Lily exclaimed as she climbed out of the car. She stared at the beautiful home they would be staying in for the weekend. Sebastian grabbed their bags out of the trunk of the car and met her on the sidewalk in front of the inn.

“I’m so glad you like it. I knew you’d appreciate this more than a fancy hotel. I know how you like old things.” Sebastian said with a grin. Lily gave him a look with an eyebrow raised, even though she had a small smile across her lips. “I mean things of historical significance,” he corrected himself through a small spluttering laugh. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and headed toward the inn to better check it out. Sebastian looked down at Kip. “You ready?”

I HAVE BEEN READY FOR THIS SINCE THE DAY YOU TWO MET. Kip kept his letters small so only Sebastian could see. Kip then raced towards Lily and started checking out the inn himself. He smelled another cat nearby and started to wander around to find this new cat.

“Hey Kip, don’t go wandering off. You don’t know this area.” Lily scolded as Kip disappeared around the corner of the inn. She couldn’t go anywhere without her cat coming along to “protect” her. Lily sighed, “I hope he doesn’t get himself into any trouble.”

“He’ll be fine. Remember: cat magic.” Sebastian said as he wiggled his fingers and eyebrows at her. Lily laughed. “Why don’t we go get checked in. I’m sure Kip will be fine. He will probably show up at the most inopportune moment.”

“You’re probably right,” Lily giggled. Sebastian opened the door for her and followed her into the beautiful three story mansion that had been converted into a bed and breakfast. Lily automatically started wandering around looking at all the history this inn held within its walls.

After a few hours of checking out the inn, Lily had looked over every aspect and nook and cranny in the place. She excitedly said, “This place is amazing! So much history. I could sit in that lounge area and do nothing but drink tea and read all day.”

“Before I lose you to a book or something else, why don’t we go for a walk in the park. You can check out the neighborhood. Besides, I had a picnic basket made up for us,” Sebastian casually said.

“That sounds lovely.” Lily took Sebastian’s proffered hand and they walked hand in hand to the nearby Forsythe Park. As they entered the park, Lily was amazed at the beauty surrounding her. They found a semi secluded area under some trees covered in Spanish moss. Sebastian laid out a large checkered blanket and sat the picnic basket down.

“My lady” he said as he swept his arm wide allowing Lily to sit down on the blanket.

“How did you have time to plan all this?” Lily asked. She looked up at Sebastian as he sat down next to her on the blanket.

“I have to admit I had some help,” he said with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. That’s when Kip came bounding around the nearby fountain. He skidded to a stop right before crashing into them and their picnic basket.

“Kip? What have you gotten yourself into?” Lily exclaimed. “ You look like a mess." She looked him over nad said with some amusement, "Are you sure you want to be wandering around here with your fur all mussed?”

I’M FINE. JUST ENTERTAINING A NEW LADY FRIEND. With that, he sauntered off into the trees to straighten his mussed up fur. Lily watched aghast.

“Sir Edgar Allen Kipling!” She exclaimed.

I SAID I WAS FINE. GO BACK TO YOUR PICNIC. I’M SURE SEBASTIAN NEEDS YOU MORE THAN I DO AT THIS MOMENT. Kip walked past them and into the trees. He found a nice spot nearby to sit down and clean himself up.

Sebastian was watching this interplay with amusement as Lily worried about her crazy, fairly self sufficient cat. Lily was a bit flummoxed by Kip’s response.

“Lily, can we stop worrying about the “magnanimous overlord” and concentrate on us, please?” Sebastian asked using air quotes on one of Kip’s favorite descriptions of himself. Lily turned to face him, shrugging off her cat’s whims and smiling.

“Ok” Lily said, succumbing to her inability to control her cat. “What did you bring for this lovely picnic?” Sebastian opened the basket and pulled out freshly baked scones and her favorite tea, hot and ready for drinking. She reveled in the smell of the tea and scones breathing the aroma in deeply.

“I had our hostess make some of your favorites, “ he proudly announced. He knew Lily so well and yet she continued to surprise him at times. Their relationship has had its ups and downs but they have always been there for each other.

“This is lovely, Sebastian. But why all the fuss? You know everything that’s going on back in Atlanta“ she queried.

“I know how much you needed a break. You need to give your mind and body a rest” he said, with some conviction in his voice. “Aunt B can handle things for a day or two. Are you ready to relax and let me handle things for you, for once?” He said as he stretched out his arms and cracked his knuckles.

Giving him a questioning look, “What exactly did you have in mind?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.

“How about we start with a shoulder massage? Let me start by massaging the tension in your shoulders and getting you to relax some. Enjoy the scenery, forget about your worries, just for a little bit.” Sebastian stated as he moved to sit behind Lily.

“That sounds wonderful," Lily replied as she settled in to let him work his magic. She was beginning to let her worries float away and started enjoying the masterful shoulder massage Sebastian was giving her. “Where did you learn to do this?”

“Learn what?” Sebastian asked nonchalantly as he continue to knead on a knot near her shoulder blade.

“Massage. It feels incredible. I never realized how tense I really was.”

Sebastian just smiled thinking about how much he already knew how tense she was and everything that had caused her to be that tense. As she was finally relaxing, Sebastian leaned in to softly whisper in her ear, “Hey Lil, can I ask you something?”

“Hmm?” She asked with her eyes closed, being fully immersed in the knots Sebastian was removing from her tight and stressed out shoulders. Kip, after cleaning himself up, quietly crawled into Lily’s lap to help with the relaxation. She automatically started petting him in all the ways he loved being petted.

Sebastian kissed her neck to bring her out of her reverie. Lily’s eyes popped open and she turned to look at Sebastian with some shock in her eyes. He had a smile on his face and he was softly giggling. He slowly pulled a small jewelry box out of his pocket. “Lily Singer, I love you more than words can say. Would you marry me?” he said as he opened the box to reveal a beautiful antique looking ring. It was a small round diamond set in an intricate golf filigree setting with small white sapphires down the sides of the band. Before he could barely finish asking her that all important question, she barreled him over, knocking Kip out of her lap. She proceeded to kiss him more passionately than she thought possible, especially for being in a public place.

Once Sebastian could come up for air, he asked, “I take that as a yes?” smiling and laughing until he could see the tears in her eyes. “I hope those are happy tears.” he said as panic almost started to set in.

“Yes! Oh my God, yes! I love you Sebastian Blackwell. I would love to marry you.” With a big cheesy grin, he kissed her.

Kip straightened himself up after unceremoniously being dumped out of Lily’s lap. He should have known better than to get in the middle of what Sebastian had planned. OH FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE. GET A ROOM. AND IT’S ABOUT DAMN TIME THIS HAPPENED. I KNEW ALL ALONG YOU WERE PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER. SO YOU CAN THANK ME WITH LOTS OF FRESH SALMON. I’M JUST GOING TO GO OVER HERE AND KEEP THE RIFF RAFF AWAY.

That made them laugh. They enjoyed the rest of the picnic in peace. Kip quietly guarded them while they enjoyed their scones and tea. Lily couldn’t stop staring at the antique ring he had given her.

After a while of relaxing and enjoying their picnic, Sebastian asked, “Wanna head back to the B&B?” He grinned his lopsided grin, wiggled his eyebrows, and had a mischievous look in his eye. Lily smiled. He packed up the remnants of their picnic and helped Lily to stand. “I know that look Lil. You want to call everybody, right now. Can I have tonight and let’s leave the calls until tomorrow?”

Lily looked at him lovingly, “Of course. One sec…." She held up a finger to stall him. "Kip?” She called for her cat. Her very protective magical talking cat proudly sauntered into sight.

YOU CALLED?

“Sebastian and I are going to go enjoy our evening… alone," she said with a smile as she looked at Sebastian with love in her eyes. "Please try and stay out of trouble.”

AS YOU WISH. Then Kip directed his next words to Sebastian. AND WITCH, DON’T FORGET THE FRESH SALMON. At that, Kip turned and wandered off back toward the gardens behind the inn to look for his female feline friend.

“Sebastian, what was that about?” Lily asked with a bit of a warning tone in her voice.

“Relax, Lil. Kip has been helping me all along.”

“Why that little sneaking ball of f…” Lily couldn’t finish her insult of her beloved cat because Sebastian kissed her to stop her from getting too upset. He grabbed her hand and they ran back toward their room at the B & B where they were able to spend the entire afternoon and evening together in each other’s arms with zero interruptions.

The next day Lily woke feeling more relaxed and happy than she thought she had ever felt before. She looked down at her left hand to make sure it wasn’t all a dream. The beautiful antique ring sat there on her finger, sparkling in the morning sunlight. She immediately grabbed her cell phone and called her mother.

After she had practically told the world, everything started to settle back into a normal routine. She and Sebastian enjoyed the rest of their weekend strolling around Savannah and exploring all the fantastic historical sites therein. They couldn't have been happier.