Jesse's POV

A few moments later, Esmée and David enter the room, interrupting Bryan's comforting kisses. Esmée's hair is damp and she is now wearing a black shirt with a floral pattern on the sleeves and on the pocket at the front.

The image of her covered in lasagne resurfaces in my mind and my beet red cheeks darken. Oh my god! How will I ever live this down? I don't know if I'm more embarrassed that I spit food on her or that she saw that photo of us.

"Jesse, would you mind if we chatted alone?" Esmée asks and I nod. My eyes drift over to Bryan and he flashes me a smile before ushering his dad out of the room. Taking a deep breath, I refocus on Esmée and decide to address the elephant in the room. "Mrs.-"

"Esmée, call me Esmée. After all, I have seen you naked," Bryan's mom says in a teasing tone. "Too soon for jokes?" She asks immediately afterwards in a more serious voice.

My cheeks are hot enough to fry an egg but a smile spreads across my face. "No, I don't mind the jokes," I reply with a light chuckle. I pause for a moment before continuing with what I originally wanted to say. "Esmée, I'm sorry I didn't check through all the photos before giving you the phone and that you ended up covered in lasagne."

Esmée laughs briefly before rushing towards me and squeezing me into a tight hug. When she releases me she is wearing a bright smile. "It's alright! The top isn't important and it's not like I didn't know you two were sexually active, so it's really alright. And don't worry I won't bring it up again."

My eyebrows momentarily knit together. Was Bryan exaggerating his mother's possible reaction? He said she would be curious. Should I be worried she's not asking anything? "Thank you for not making a big deal about this," I say, flashing her a big smile, still not believing that this conversation went so smoothly.

"I wouldn't dare. I don't want to upset my future son-in-law," she replies nonchalantly, as if she didn't casually imply that I'll marry her son.

A few weeks ago, 'Say Yes to the Dress' was airing on television and Bryan and I were curled up on his couch watching the episode and munching on some snacks. Naturally the topic of marriage came up and although Bryan tried to hide it, I could tell that he was a bit disappointed when I said that I didn't want to get married in the future.

Needless to say, we didn't watch anymore of the episode and instead talked about the prospect of marriage. Bryan wanted to understand my reasoning behind my choice and if I would ever change my mind. While I'm not completely against getting married, I'm reluctant to do it and Bryan agreed that he wouldn't bring it up for a while, so as not to pressure me.

"That photo was detailed enough to quell my curiosity about you sex life." She grins and winks at me and my cheeks become red chili peppers. "Instead I'm more curious about why you might not want to get married." Esmée guides me towards her light grey, three piece, sectional sofa and we sit facing each other.

"Did Bryan put you up to this?" I inquire with a pout.

She laughs lightly and shakes her head. "Of course not! He'd have my head if he knew I brought it up. He was adamant that I shouldn't ask any inappropriate questions or mention marriage because he agreed he wouldn't bring up marriage for a while. But I wanted to find out why you don't want to get married first hand. Will you tell me why?"

"There's no big reason, I've just never seen myself getting married because most of the marriages I've witnessed, the couples are miserable. To me, it feels like a bad omen to get married, like the beginning of the end of a relationship," I reply with a sigh.

My parents were married and their marriage was a mess. Not to mention, the relationships I've inadvertently ruined because I didn't know the guy was married. I've seen too many marriages fall to pieces and I don't want the same to happen to me. But I think what I'm most scared of is that we'll start to resent each other.

"No marriage is perfect. Dave and I have been married for twenty seven years and we still argue and get on each other's nerves. As your relationship progresses, you'll both change and grow. I think as long as you're both changing and growing in the same direction you'll be alright. All that means is continuing to make time for each other, communicating and making each other smile and laugh. As quickly as Dave can irritate me, he can make me laugh." Esmée is wearing a fond smile when she mentions Dave.

"Do you think if you married Bryan, your feelings towards him would change?" She asks, giving me a quizzical look.

I shake my head rapidly. "No, I was never worried about that."

"So you're worried Bryan's feelings would change?" Esmée inquires.

"I don't know. Maybe? Won't our life turn into a monotonous mess? What if we slowly start to resent each other?" I asked Bryan these same questions and he told me that we'll do spontaneous things to keep our relationship interesting and that there was no universe in which he could ever resent me.

Esmée smiles and readjust herself on the couch. "Based on that picture I don't think you have to worry about monotony," she mumbles to herself, though I still hear her. "Wheth-"

"You said you wouldn't bring it up," I say with a pout.

She releases a short laugh and a slight blush appears on her cheeks. "I forgot younger people have good hearing. Dave wouldn't have heard me, so I didn't think you would." I chuckle and wait for her to continue. "Whether you're married or not, relationships take work so you'll both need to continue to nurture your relationship by doing things that make the other person happy. If you both do that and are open to adjusting and changing as your relationship progresses, then I don't think you'll resent each other."

Esmée pauses briefly to pour each of us a glass of water. She takes a sip before she continues. "Marriage isn't the beginning of the end but rather the beginning of a new adventure that you go on together. Of course I'm all for your marriage and would love to have you as my son-in-law. If you want, I'll tell you all about my married life and let you meet some of my married friends. But if after thinking about it and hearing other couples' experiences and you still see marriage as an ending, don't get married."

From her expression I can tell that she's being serious and I frown. "Wouldn't Bryan be disappointed if I don't want to marry him some time in the future?" As his mother, surely she should be advocating for marriage on all fronts.

"You shouldn't get married simply for Bryan's sake. That's a recipe for disaster, especially if your outlook on marriage hasn't changed and you still see it as an ending," Esmée replies.

I mull over the conversation I had with Esmée for a few minutes. I'm certain that I love Bryan and everyday that I spend with him, I'm starting to see more and more of a future with him. Now, I'm even starting to crave that future. Sometimes I find myself thinking about what it would be like to move in with him and to wake up in his arms everyday.

I'm still not sure about marriage but I'm open to figuring out if it could be for me. "I would like to take you up on your offer and meet some other couples who have successful relationships," I say quietly and Esmée beams and readily agrees.

At that moment, Bryan pokes his head into the room. "We brought dessert," he says, walking towards me with a bowl, followed by his father.

After settling on the couch, he gives me one of the spoons and moves the bowl towards me. "Awwwww Vampy! Is this because they were out of banana splits at the restaurant the other night at dinner?" I ask as I gaze at the decadent banana split in front of me.

My eyes drift up to meet Bryan's and a smile spreads across my face. He chuckles lightly and nods before pecking my lips. "Do you want to share or will you eat the entire thing?"

"Share," I reply, taking a big scoop of ice cream, ensuring that I get some whipped cream and fruit onto the spoon. "Ummmm." I release a contented sigh before turning to Bryan, trying to figure out if it's inappropriate to snuggle with him.

I suppress a sigh, realizing that it might be best to just stay seated next to him and maybe hold his hand.

Bryan releases a soft laugh. Seeming to read my mind, he puts down the banana split and moves to the chaise, the long part of the sectional couch, and beckons me over. I grab the dessert off the table and walk over to him, sitting between his legs with my back pressed against his chest, our feet extended on the sofa.

"Comfy?" He whispers in my ear and I nod, trying to ignore my scarlet cheeks and the excited coos from Esmée. Bryan momentarily nibbles on my ear before picking up his spoon from the bowl still in my hands, proceeding to eat his ice cream.

The next few hours are spent with Esmée and David asking me about my job and family as well as details about how Bryan and I met and the dates that we've been on. Esmée also shows me Bryan's baby pictures and tells me about silly things he used to do as a child. Before we leave, I exchange numbers with her and promise to send her cute, appropriate pictures of Bryan and I. 

Admittedly, as much as I love the prospect of getting married and I'm clearly a hopeless romantic, I actually don't personally know anyone with a happy marriage. So, I'm really curious, what is your take on marriage? Is it an ending or beginning? Do you think relationships change after marriage?

Thank you for reading! ❤ If you enjoyed the chapter, don't forget to vote and/ or leave comments!