The Affection Multiplier - Chapter 266: Finding them. (Patreon)

You exit the cabin in a hurry and head down to the metal fence leading down the ravine. Your heart thunders in your ears, and you can’t seem to stop the terrible images that go to your head.

But as you’re going down, you hear voices. Many of them. You rush down even faster, and see them all going through the door at the fence at the edge of the resort. An instant headcount tells you they’re all together, along with two other people you don’t know.

Tension leaves your body, your chest feels light and a couple of tears threaten to leave your eyes. You wipe them off before walking up to the group.

“Are you guys okay?” you ask them, worry still in your voice.

“Yeah, no problem,” Emma says with an exhausted smile. Her clothes are dirty, with her shoes and the bottom of her pants covered in mud. The other girls aren’t much different.

“We had a bit of an accident and had to find another way up,” Julia chuckles, but she also looks tired.

“We worried you, didn’t we? I’m sorry,” Mia says with an apologetic smile.

“I’m just glad you’re all okay,” you sigh. “No one’s hurt, right?” you ask, looking at Anzu.

“We’re all fine. Only the mister here has a sprained ankle,” she tells you, looking at the… big gentleman next to a young woman.

“Oh. Do you need help, sir?” you offer. “I can help you get to your cabin.”

“Please, young man, don’t bother yourself with me,” he says with an apologetic smile. “The ladies told us how they were late for a special diner. Don’t let me take any more of your time. I can walk just fine.”

“We’re so sorry for the trouble we caused,” the woman apologizes as well.

You watch them leave in the direction of their own cabin, the man with a slight limp to his step. You turn to your girls and offer them a smile.

“You all look exhausted.”

“We had to walk a lot,” Katherine says.

“Let’s go back. I’m guessing you’d all like a shower right about now.”

“You know me so well,” Emma chuckles as she kisses your cheek and walks past you.

When you enter the cabin, the girls see the table ready, neatly arranged with red candles and flower arrangements you bought from the resort’s store, all plates served and regrettably already cold. Their faces fall.

“I’m so sorry, sweetie,” Mia grimaces.

Olivia looks at the table full of food and at the plate of risotto, now cold and soggy. “I’m really going to choke someone.”

“What matters is that you’re all okay,” you tell her, chuckling as you hold her shoulders from behind and kiss her cheek. “Go take a shower. If you still feel like eating this, I’ll heat it up.”

“Of course we want to eat!” Jessica says and drags Lilian with her to the bathroom.

“We’re showering together?” Lilian asks, startled.

“Saves time!” Jessica answer.

“Good idea,” Emily and Megan nod to each other and go to the second shared bathroom.

“Katherine?” Anzu asks. “Shall we take the private bathroom?”

“I think Sophia needs it more than me right now,” the redhead says, looking at her friend. Sophia does look like the most beat out of them all.

“No, you go. Give me some time to sit down and rest my legs,” Sophia insists.

“Here,” Julia says, kneeling in front of Sophia and putting her hands on her thighs. “Let me give you a massage.”

“I’ll be back in a minute,” Olivia says. “I’m going to tell management of what happened while you’re all showering. I don’t mind going last. Maybe I’ll have to convince them to throw in an apology gift to the other family to try and avoid a lawsuit. Don’t worry. I’ll behave.” She sighs and leaves the cabin.

As the girls are getting cleaned and change into new clothes, you work on heating up the food, throwing the risotto back in a pan, the pasta in the microwave, the sauces in a pot and so on. It’s really not ideal, but it’s far better than letting it all go to waste.

________________________________________________________________

Despite how tired they all are, they still changed into the nicest clothes they brought for this meal. None of them are wearing fine dresses or anything like that, but they do wear shirts, skits, thin sweaters, cardigans and the like. They reapplied their makeup and fixed themselves up as best they could.

It’s enough to make a man feel guilty for having them go through all that, especially after they tell you what happened as you all eat. You sit at the head of the rectangle-shaped table, with a plate consisting of some of the leftover pasta, a piece of stake and vegetables. You didn’t prepare anything special for yourself, after all.

“We had to walk around the cliff,” Julia tells you. “There was no path, footing was unstable and the bushes and branches were pretty sharp.”

“We ended up finding a part of the ledge we could climb,” Emily says. “The hard part was helping the… gentleman up.”

“You can call him fat now,” Julia groans. “I’m not going to defend him anymore than that. I’m just as pissed at him as you are.”

“It clearly wasn’t his intention,” you say, smiling wryly. “Don’t hold it against him.”

“He shouldn’t have gone down in the first place,” Olivia sighs.

You watch the girls eat their food with gusto. People say everything tastes better when you’re starving, but still, you’re glad they’re enjoy it. The salmon was what had you the most worried, but after throwing it back in the pan with some more butter, it seems it turned out alright since Mia’s almost done.

“I can’t believe you made the pasta from scratch!” Katherine says after swallowing a bite. “Rather, I can, but you know what I mean.”

“Yeah, this is really good!” Emma nods. “Makes me angry we couldn’t eat it fresh.”

“The only hamburgers I ever eat are my mom’s,” Megan says, moaning in delight after she takes another bite. “But this is great!”

The conversation continues, and with each passing moment your heart rate increases. The moment comes closer with every agonizing second that passes. You feel your heart thumping in your chest. It almost hurts. You eat your own food mostly silent, only answering when addressed directly. Still, you can tell by how quiet the conversation is that the girls are really tired.

Would proposing now really be a good idea? Dinner wasn’t exactly ruined, but it definitely isn’t was you had in mind. You had to reheat the food, the girls are probably forcing themselves to stay here for you when they’d rather go to sleep. Some, like Sophia, look absolutely beat, while Olivia is still obviously pissed by previous events, even if she tries to hide it.

…

Should you really go through with it?

Mia takes the last bite out of her food with a content sigh and wipes her mouth with a napkin.

“You never cooked anything this elaborate before,” Mia points out, taking a sip of white wine. “How did you manage?”

“I guess I can reveal the secret now,” you chuckle nervously. “Remember how I worked with Monica? The student council president?” They nod. “And remember how there was that week I wasn’t seeing you because I was working?” They nod again. “Well, turns out Monica is an amazing cook, so I got her to teach me how to make these dishes. I didn’t want you to see me practice, so I gave you the excuse I was working. Sorry.” You laugh sheepishly.

“So you weren’t working?” Olivia asks.

“Oh, I was. Only from 11:00 pm to 5:00 am though.”

“You were planning this from that long ago?” Emma asks, pleasantly surprised.

The pounding of your heart doesn’t stop. It only gets wilder. There’s a huge knot in your throat as you realize that this is the moment you were waiting for. You open your mouth to speak, but nothing comes out.

What if they say no? Would they say no? It’s… possible. What if they think this isn’t the right time? What if they think less of you for trying to rush? Fuck. What if some of them say yes and some of them say no? What will you do then? What if it leads to a fight?

You’re starting to feel dizzy. Your vision blurs for a fraction of a second. Your mouth is dry, so you force yourself to drink some wine.

Your eyes naturally fall on Emma, and the entirety of your journey comes flooding back to you. Highs, lows and everything in between. Everything that led you to where you are now, sharing a moment with the women that have become your entire world. It feels surreal, but it’s really happening.

Heh, what were you questioning yourself for? Fear really is irrational.

You take a deep, deep breath and gather the courage to speak.

“I was,” you answer Emma, your voice betraying you and sounding shaky and nervous. “I’ve actually been planning this since we decided to come on this trip.” You give them a small, nervous smile. They look puzzled, for the most part, though they also seem taken aback. Are they starting to realize what’s happening? Then there’s no backing down now.

“And to finish this meal, I hid dessert right under your chairs,” you tell them, and you think your heart is going to explode.

“What?”

“Dessert under the chairs?”

They move their hands under their chairs, and you see their eyes widening the moment their fingers touch the soft velvet box.

“What the…?” Lilian mutter.

“No. You didn’t.” Megan gasps.

“There’s no way…” Julia says.

You taped the corresponding boxes to the bottom of the chair in front of the dish for each of them. Meaning you knew exactly where they were going to sit down, and none of them even questioned it. They all easily take the box in their hands and open it with huge smiles on their faces.

“Oh my God!” Olivia gasps, jumping out of her chair the moment she opens the box, smiling and crying. “You’re lying!”

“D-David…? Is this what I think it is?” Emma asks, her voice hesitant, yet her lips start curling into a smile. Mia and Julia are looking at you expectantly as well. You nod silently. “Oh my God!” she gasps, holding the tear-shaped necklace in her fingers.

“Holy shit!” Julia swears, taking the circle-shaped necklace from the box and holding it in front of her.

Mia can only stare at her diamond-shaped necklace, covering her mouth as the tears just flow down her cheeks, unrestrained.

“It’s a ring,” Megan whispers, her lip quivering and tears rolling. “A real ring. With a diamond and everything.”

“It says ‘Sophia’ inside,” Sophia sobs, reading the inscription. “It has my name in it.” She clutches it and holds it near her chest.

Anzu takes hers from the box as well and examines it calmly, with a big, nostalgic smile and teary eyes. You two were once about to be forced into this, but now you’re asking out of your own free will.

“I can’t believe it,” Emily says, holding the opened box with one hand and the other trying to calm her pounding heart. “I just can’t.”

Lilian and Jessica stare at their rings in disbelief. They share a quick glance and then back at the jewelry, only truly smiling when they realize their rings also have their names written in them.

“David,” Katherine nearly chokes saying your name. “If this is joke I’m never gonna forgive you!” she threatens with a smile from ear to ear as she examines her ring.

“Not a joke. I wouldn’t dare,” you say. “Let me repeat what I’ve told you many times now. I want you all with me. You’ve made me happier than I ever thought I could be, and I don’t want this to stop. Ever. I promised to make you the happiest women in the word. I’m making that my life’s goal. I can’t see a reason not to ask this now. I want you all, and I want you forever. It would make no difference waiting one or two more years to ask the question my heart demands I ask at this very moment.”

You take a final, deep, deep breath. There’s not a sound in the room. The girls are all holding their breaths.

“Emma, Megan, Emily, Sophia, Mia, Anzu, Katherine, Julia, Lilian, Jessica, Olivia. Would you all do me the honor of becoming my wives?”

“YES!” They all answer immediately. It’s loud. You hear some voice cracks, some answers muffled behind hands and some interrupted by sobs. But they all look at you in the eyes, which are starting to water. You feel lightheaded, dizzy.

They said yes.

…

They all said yes.

…

They all said yes.

You’re engaged now.

It can’t be healthy to feel this much happiness.