He questioned and pulled the ribbon off and catching the item in his hands.

His eyes dilated. "Sy! look what I found!" He turned around to show the man.

"oh crap." Simon cursed. He walked over and took the ring from Aaron's hands. "I was going to give you a little treasure hunt but then you kinda...you know. And through all that happened I forgot which one of them I left it on." He sighed heavily.

Aaron blushed. "W-wait then—" he cut himself off when Simon suddenly went on one knee.

"Aaron, will you marry me?" Simon looked up at him with sincere eyes.

Aaron's heart beat faster than it had ever before. This was a moment he saw in movies and those never ending jewellery commercials. He never once pictured himself in their shoes.

His tears couldn't help but fall. He was feeling so many emotions at once it was hard to think straight at the moment (literally).

"I...I will." He replied, hand covering his face to hide how red he was.

Simon took his right hand and slipped the ring through the fourth finger. He then stood up and kissed Aaron passionately, pulling away and giving him a soft smile.

"Wait, you already knew about Cas and the kittens?" Aaron fluttered his lashes in question.

"That's right, it was thanks to them that I thought of this." He replied.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't expecting all this." Aaron said, wiping his tears from his face.

"I know, I didn't want you to expect this." Simon chuckled and brushed Aaron's bangs from his face.

Aaron pulled out a smile and raised his hand to admire the ring. It was silver in colour and had the words 'Daddy's Peach' written around it. "Wait. It was costume made?" Aaron questioned.

"Of course. I wasn't going to buy a lame pre-made one for the love of my life. I wanted it to be special." He tilted his head and smiled. "I could've gotten something more of my style—like a cute bracelet or even a collar—but I figured I might as well stick to costume." He added.

"I like the ring though. Thank you." Aaron said and hugged him tightly. "I love you." He whispered in his chest.

"I know. I love you too." Simon said back and wrapped his hands around him, kissing the top of his head.

-

After finding the female cats owner, it was negotiated that the kittens would stay with the lady and the mother until they were old enough to be independent. That way, Aaron would keep two of the kittens and the lady would keep the other.

But of course occasional play dates would take place so the siblings wouldn't be completely separated.

As they sat on the patio that summer, Simon teasing little Candie and Crane, Casper peaking his head through the door, too afraid of the scorning hot weather, and Aaron splashing his feet in the kiddy pool, all he could think about was how lucky he was.

A lot of people went through similar childhoods as he did, but very few—if any—ended up close to as happy as he was. Which is why he didn't exactly hate his family, because would he be here if his mother had been accepted? If he'd grown up like a normal child, would he and Simon have crossed paths?

"What are you thinking about?" He hasn't noticed that Simon had plopped himself beside him on the patio steps.

He rested his head on Simon's shoulder and closed his eyes. Maybe it didn't matter. What was important was that they had met. So much had happened for him to get here, and he was sure that more was waiting for them, whether it was an hour from now, tonight, the next day, or the next year. Whether it was good, bad, natural. Aaron was positive they'd get through it one way or another.

Right?

Right?

~ • ~

Well great strangers of the internet, that's it, that's the story you came to read.

Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Sorry if it was a little crap and you didn't get what you were expecting. But that's all I was able to write.

Well, with world on fire and all, I hope you're all safe and sound. You've probably heard it before, but stay inside, keep hygiene consistent, and take good care of yourself!