“Next!” We heard from a Hispanic woman behind a glass wall.

My feet felt heavy and I drug them to the counter.

“How can I help you?” She asked politely.

“Yes, we’d like to apply for a marriage license,” I said with a shaky voice, like she could see what a fraud I was.

“Alright, I need both of your driver’s licenses. Fill this out,” she said, sliding a single sheet of paper our direction. “It’s thirty-five dollars.”

Harper began to fill out our information as I pulled my wallet out to pay. The sections she had no idea what to put she left blank and I filled them out after handing over our cash. I got a kick out of the fact that she was memorizing all the information she didn’t already know.

“You’re middle name is Philip?”

The lady processing our application looked at us strangely, like ‘she didn’t know that already’? I couldn’t help but let the little part of my conscience that didn’t think this was a good idea come out screaming but it was brief and I stamped it back into its box. When I was done, I checked over our application and saw that Harper’s middle name was Lily. Beautiful, like her, I thought.

In less than fifteen minutes, we had a paper license that needed three days to be considered good in our hand, an appointment with a judge Saturday afternoon at three p.m., and a conscience full of tsk’s.

“So what now?” Harper asked, folding the license and placing it in the front pocket of her bag.

I took out my pocket watch and glanced at the time. Five fifteen.

“We’re a little late but we could try The Hope House. What do you say?”

“Yes, let’s at least try. We can tell the gang tomorrow of our plans?”

“I was thinking the same,” I agreed.

The line for The Hope House hadn’t yet grown the way we thought it might and that was a slight relief. We’d have a chance, at least. When they were shuffling people inside, Harper held on tightly to my arm thinking we’d be left out as usual but when we reached the doors we were just guided in with the rest. Harper’s mouth fell open wide and I couldn’t help but feel surprised myself. Well, surprise and relief. Relief until we realized that the boys and girls slept in two separate spaces.

“I’d rather sleep in the street than leave you,” she said, not realizing, I think, the honesty in what she’d said and giving me hope.

“Harper, it’s just one night. We’ll be fine,” I tried to soothe her but I wasn’t so sure myself. I’d gotten used to sleeping near Harper if not directly with her and my chest ached with just the possibility of her absence.

“Alright,” she said, sighing as a volunteer there tried to move us along to clear the area.

“Remember,” I said as she walked the other direction. “I’m right over here. I’ll see you in the morning. Sleep tight.”

Harper broke free from the volunteer’s light hold on her arm and ran to me, wrapping her arms around my neck.

“Thank you...for everything,” she whispered in my ear. “I don’t know what I’d do without you. You’re my family, Callum.” She broke away to join the volunteer, giving me one last look over her shoulder.

I could only stand there, my hand grappled at my chest. I could feel my heart beating furiously against my rib cage. Just marry her Saturday and you’ll figure it all out later, I told myself.

Chapter Ten

Joy of Man's Desiring

Callum

The next morning, Harper saw me and jumped into my arms.

“I missed you,” she said, making me smile.

“I missed you, too. How’d you sleep?” I asked.

“Terribly,” she teased and rolled her eyes.

We worked the entire morning at the docks, then the restaurant in the afternoon. In between jobs, Harper and I showered at Cherry’s and let her know we’d like to have a little get together that night. She asked us what it was all about but we told her she’d have to wait just like everyone else. Cherry said we could use Charlie’s, encouraging us both to come there after the restaurant to help her because she thought, and I quote, ‘Announcements always go better with dinner’. We didn’t know where she got the impression that it was an ‘announcement’ but Harper told me girls are freakishly intuitive and I left it at that.

We obeyed Cherry and showed up at Charlie’s around three-thirty. Charlie and Cherry were both there and Harper and I both noticed how friendly they’d become of late.

“So what’s this all about then?” Charlie asked in his impossibly English accent.

“You’ll see,” I said, holding plates in my hand, following Harper around like a little lost puppy as she placed them neatly on place mats around Charlie’s table.

The gang started trickling in around five-thirty and Cherry passed around glasses of wine around as everyone chatted. They were all gracious enough not to mention John for which, I think, we were both grateful.

Then it was time to eat, a few of us sat around the table and up at the bar, the rest on random cushions on the floor near the table and on the couch. Harper and I chose to stand.

“We have an announcement,” I said, extremely nervous. Harper placed a hand on my back, offering her support. “Harper and I are marrying.”

We were bombarded with absolute silence, a few forks and knives fell on plates in clangs as all turned to stare our direction.

“Now,” I continued, “I know this seems rushed but I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life and it was only a matter of time anyway. We thought it was stupid to wait.”

Again, nothing.

Sam broke the quiet. “Oh my God, she’s pregnant,” she said with disgust.

“No!” I said emphatically. “Harper is not pregnant.”

Harper snorted.

“But you’ve only known her for a few weeks!” Sam said, whining out the last word.

I looked around, locking eyes with Charlie as he processed the information I’d just laid on them. Then he came full circle and stood.

“Congratulations, Callum,” he said, slapping me on the back and hugging me fiercely. He grabbed Harper’s little frame and hugged her just as tightly before pulling away. He placed a hand on each of our shoulders and looked us both in the eye. “This is wonderful news!”

And the dam broke. A sea of sincere congratulations came gushing over us,

Cherry hugged me tightly and whispered in my ear. “A very good choice, Callum.”

I felt slightly guilty for the lies I was spewing but when I really thought about it, it didn’t feel like a lie. I truly wanted to marry Harper despite how crazy it seemed.

Unexpectedly, Sam stood in a rage.

“This is ridiculous, Callum! You cannot marry someone you just met! This is just stupid!” Sam yelled.

Harper shrunk into my side slightly, fisting her hands in my shirt, sending a slew of butterflies swarming around my insides. I gritted my teeth at Sam.

“You’re too young!” She continued, the waterworks at full force. “This isn’t you! She did something to you! Why are you doing this?”

“Enough!” We heard Charlie say behind us. “Sam, can I talk to you in the hall please?”

Sam’s face softened but not entirely as she followed Charlie out the door.

A few minutes passed by and the awkwardness Sam had caused, seemed to have left with her. I was stunned at how everyone supported us. No one seemed to feel the same way Sam did. I was flabbergasted, to be honest. I expected more of an upset than this. I expected to spend a few hours convincing but instead Cherry popped a bottle of champagne and started to pouring it into glasses.

Charlie entered the apartment once more with a tear soaked shirt and I felt badly for Sam for a moment but knew she would get over it eventually. Getting over things quickly was her specialty actually. Sam huffed over to the side table by the sofa and grabbed her purse and jacket.

“Sam,” I said, grabbing her arm. “Don’t leave. Everything will be okay, you’ll see.”

“No it won’t!” She threw harshly at me. “You’re making a huge mistake. I don’t know why you’re doing this but I can promise you, you’ll regret it.” Then she walked to the door and slammed it shut behind her.

I didn’t want to think about her any longer so I pushed my way through my friends toward my solitary stress reliever named Harper. She was talking and laughing with Charlie and Cherry and I stopped to watch her a bit. She was breathtaking to me. She’d decided to wear her striped dress again but went barefoot, her hair soft and wavy down her back, cascaded slightly off her shoulders. Her eyes struck me breathless, they were sparkling so under the lights of Charlie’s apartment. She caught me staring and smiled, extending her hand to me. I swiftly walked her direction and took it in mine.

“So when is the big day?” Cherry asked.

“Saturday,” I said, tucking Harper deeper into my side, she leaned slightly back to get a good view of my face and smiled.

“Saturday!” Cherry said, making everyone around her jump. “How are we going to throw a wedding in less than a week?!”

“Oh, we’re just going to the courthouse. It’s not a big deal,” Harper said warmly.

“Not a big deal! Just a minute, let me get the other girls over here.” She turned. “Kelly! Marty!” They were laughing while they came over to stand beside us.

“What’s up?” Kelly asked.

“Did you know that Harper and Callum are marrying this Saturday?”

“What? Why?” Marty asked.

“Because we just want to get it done and over with before school starts,” I said. Not a total lie.

“Done and over with?” Cherry asked, disgust evident on her face. “Wait a minute! Did you even get her a ring, baby?”

“Of course I did!”

Cherry grabbed Harper’s left hand and brought it toward her face. All three girls gasped loudly, cooing over how beautiful they found it.

“Well, at least you did that right,” Cherry teased. “Fine. We got our work cut out for us ladies.” And with that, she stepped between Mary and Kelly, linking arms and lead them to the kitchen.

“What in the world are they doing?” Harper asked before noticing Cherry stamp her foot near the end of the kitchen.

“Uh, I believe that foot tap is for you, Harper,” Charlie said, laughing.

Harper sighed but couldn’t hide her smile. I stared as Harper retreated to the lion’s den. She peered over her shoulder, waiting for me to intervene but I raised my hands and shook my head. She stuck her tongue at me but joined the girls in a giant laugh.

“Quite a big step from a few days ago,” Charlie said matter-of-factly.

“I know it seems like we’re rushing and in all honesty we are a bit.”

“A bit?” Charlie nearly yelled but his mile wide smile let me know he was only half-joking. “You’re not a stupid man, Callum. If you feel this is right for you than I trust you. We all trust you.”

His complete trust in me gave my stomach a sharp pain. I felt like we were duping them all and we were but it didn’t feel as dishonest as it really was. That scared me. I knew I should feel worse about it than I was but it felt natural to marry Harper, too natural.