“But you haven’t had the time to live to go out and party. You’re still a kid,” the woman argued again.
The thing was that was the same argument she had given herself over and over for the past twenty-four hours. But the more she looked at her life, the more she realized that there was more to it. “It doesn’t matter where I live or who I’m with. I’m never going to have that carefree teenage life. When I’m not working, I’m home taking care of my three-year-old sister while my parents go out drinking at bars. When I do go out with friends, I’m out of place and don’t fit in, and I just want to go home or to work.”
She thought about last night as she kept going. “You may try to stop this, but you can’t, and you may argue that I don’t understand or that I’m too young, but you’re wrong. I know what I’m doing and I know what I want. My life is either going to be a happy, relaxed, one living with my husband, or I’m going to get up, go to school, and work and raise my three-year-old sister and be miserable for the next three years. You can do whatever you want, but nobody is forcing me to do this and nobody is telling me how to think.”
They sat there and stared at each other for the longest time before the woman asked, “Are you sure you want to do this?”
Cally snickered “Yep, I’m going to marry my Prince Charming and live happily ever after”—she shrugged her shoulders—“or get a divorce.”
That had the woman making that “I can’t believe it” face. “You do know there’s no such thing as a happily ever after?”
Cally looked at her, knowing she had her point made. “But there is such thing as a divorce.” She just laughed. “Besides, my dad married his high school sweetheart, and they are still together and happy.” The way her dad told the story was so romantic and real.
The woman shook her head. “If you’re sure about this, then we can go finish the paperwork.”
Cally followed the woman out and saw the fear on Dakota’s face when she saw it. He believed she had backed out or that this woman was going to stop this. Trying to stay calm, she sat down in the chair next to him as the other woman took her seat behind the desk. The woman reached over and took the papers and looked them over. “Okay, Mom, I need you to sign the papers here and here and you need to fill out this form.”
She couldn’t look at either of them and just focused on the can of pens on the desk, doing her best to avoid them all. Dakota took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze, letting her know that she was doing the right thing. She knew this woman didn’t approve, but it really didn’t matter.
She watched as the woman got up and took something off the printer and made a point out of handing it to her. Cally took it and looked at the official marriage license. Their names were typed out with all their information, and the reality of this sunk in hard and fast. The woman had done this to give her one last chance to back out, but she held her ground and just smiled.
The woman shook her head at Cally before grudgingly forcing out the words, “The license isn’t valid for twenty-four hours. You have an appointment with the Justice of the Peace on Friday, August fourth, at ten o’clock. If you can’t make it or decide to make other arrangements, you need to cancel the appointment at least three days prior. Congratulations.” The last word was clearly forced. It was clear that this woman didn’t think this was going to work between them and she didn’t approve of it either.
Cally stood up and walked out with Dakota wrapping his arm around her while she prayed that she could make it out of the building before someone started asking questions. She was lucky enough to make it to the lobby before her mother made her first comment. “She was very rude.”
She had the feeling Dakota didn’t want to talk about this anymore than Cally did. She wasn’t sure what was going to happen next, but she was a little relieved when Dakota took her over to his car. She wasn’t sure she would make it home alive if she had to ride with her mother, in her mother’s current state. Her mother was angry beyond angry, losing the driver’s license fight had started it, and then the lady had insulted her mother or her, depending on how you looked at it. Thank goodness her mother hadn’t heard everything said in that room or this would be worse. At least, she hoped no one had heard what they said.
When they got to the car, Dakota leaned down and kissed her softly. It was just enough to distract her while he took the papers from her hands. He didn’t say a word as he opened the door for her and she had the distinct feeling she would rather ride home with her mother.
They were pulling onto the highway before he asked, “What else did she say?”
“What do you mean?” she asked, needing to gauge where this was going before she could give him any kind of answer.
He didn’t look at her, which should have clued her off to his current mood. “She accused you of being pregnant.”
“And I’m not,” she put in a little too childishly.
He just waited for her to tell him, and it wasn’t long before the silence was more than she could take. “She accused the two of you of forcing me to get married, and I told her that wasn’t the case and that I knew what I was doing.”
He was quiet for a while before he asked, “And do you?”
Oh, she saw this one coming from a mile away. He wasn’t sure she was serious or that she would actually go through with this. “I stood up and fought her to approve this. So, yes, I want to do it.”
“And if it doesn’t work, there’s always divorce?” he replied harshly.
She had said those words quietly, but apparently the walls in that room were paper-thin. Cally stared out the window as she tried to defend herself. “I believe that there is a happily ever after. My father got married when he was eighteen, and he’s still married. So, yeah, I believe marriage can be forever. I also believe that that woman wouldn’t have accepted anything I said unless I understood that there were always ways out. But I wouldn’t get married if I needed an escape route.
“I don’t do things I could regret, and I know I’m never going to regret this. Just like you know I would never cheat on you, I’d rather die first. If you don’t want to do this, then fine, whatever, but don’t blame me for arguing every reason I could for her to let us get married.”
Dakota took her hand in his and gently kissed it. Something she said must have hit home for him. She wasn’t all that surprised when they pulled up to his parent’s house. She looked at him as he shut off the car and just sat there, staring at the ring on her finger. “I feel like I’m pushing you into this,” he mumbled quietly.
Her fight came back in full force “You can’t make me do anything I don’t want to. I have a mouth. I can always say no, and I know if my mom doesn’t want to hear it, I can always call my dad in to back me up.”
He looked at her with those questioning eyes, and she stopped him before he could say it. “You wanted this, now deal with it, because I’m not backing out.”
They sat there for what seemed like forever. She didn’t know what was going through his mind, but she had just fought for this for the first time, and now she was going to stand her ground, no matter what troubles they were going to have to face. If he wanted to back out, then she would let him, but she wasn’t going to change her mind. She was going to marry him, and unless he was willing to back out, it looked like they were getting married in two weeks whether he liked it or not.
Some invisible tension seemed to snap as he opened his door and she followed suit. She followed him in the house, still nervous because this wasn’t her place and she just didn’t feel comfortable here for some reason. They actually made it through the door and got to sit down before his sister came out demanding, “Did you get it?”
Dakota just laughed. “Yes.”
His sister was so upbeat. “So when is the date?”
He