Our Safeguard

Chapter 44

Chapter 44

~Jerome~

       I was glad my boyfriend's family owned a vet clinic because I was getting a lot of experience for my veterinarian degree. I didn't technically need the experience yet, but it was really helping me with my assignments and exams.

       It also helped that I got to be around a bunch of animals all day. And sometimes Nolan when he chose to just hangout with me at the front desk. He would literally sit beside me just to watch videos on his phone or nap. Mostly the latter.

       He sure loved the nap.

       As I was working at the front desk right now, Nolan came home from school, immediately sitting in the chair beside me with a heavy huff. "Are you okay?" I asked.

       "Yeah, I guess," Nolan said. "Joel's just still being annoying. After the whole Valentine's thing, like, two months ago, he still won't shut up." He sighed heavily. "That's okay. There's just two months of school left so I won't have to deal with him anymore. I hope."

       "You won't," I said. "So are you here to take a nap again? Because it's probably more comfy for you to nap upstairs."

       "Yeah, but it was easier coming through here than walking all the way upstairs. So good night." Nolan proceeded to rest his head on the desk to nap and honestly, it didn't surprise me he didn't go upstairs to nap. He could nap pretty much anywhere he wanted.

       He did end up falling asleep, but he didn't get to nap for long since my shift was soon over. I woke him up, telling him we could go upstairs together. We headed to our bedroom where Nolan immediately flopped onto the bed.

       I sat down beside him, running my hand through his hair. "Are you sure you're okay?" I asked.

       "Yeah," Nolan said. "I just can't stop thinking about Joel's consistency to diminish our relationship. I don't get people like him. Like, why go out of your way to ruin a perfectly happy relationship? If it's because you like one of those people, you're only going to make that person heartbroken in the end. If you're so desperate for a relationship, just find someone else."

       "If only people thought like that," I said. "We're happy. It's clear we're happy with each other. I don't know what else we would have to do to prove we're not going to separate just because someone else likes us."

       "Mmm. You know what we should do? Go to the city hall and just get married without telling anyone."

       "Is that a real proposal or a fake one?"

       Nolan shrugged. "Would it be bad if I say it's a real one?"

       Would it be bad if I said it wasn't a bad thing? That I was actually contemplating it? I mean, Nolan and I surely couldn't just go and get married at the city hall, right? There had to be some reason why we couldn't just go get married, right?

       Right?

       "I mean, we're going to have to tell two people," I said. "Marriages need two witnesses."

       "Oh."

       "We can probably find people at the city hall to be a witness. After all, they all love me there. And you, of course. I hear them raving about your mural all the time."

       "Why are you always at the city hall?"

       "It started as community service, but I came to love it there. And all those wonderful people came to love me. In a 'Jerome's so annoying but I can't help but love him' kind of way."

       "Makes sense."

       I sat up on the bed. "Wanna go get married right now?"

       Nolan sat up as well, his eyebrows furrowed. "Okay, I know I said it was a real proposal, but are you being for real right now?"

       I shrugged. "Why not? We love each other. We're old enough to get married. I already know I want to marry you. You and I both aren't fond of big gatherings. I know you wouldn't like all those eyes on you if we have a wedding. This seems like the perfect solution."

       Nolan smiled. "Okay. Yeah, let's do it."

       I smiled back before pulling him off the bed. I had to change in some different clothes since I didn't want to show up to the city hall in my vet scrubs. Nolan changed into different clothes as well before I grabbed his hand and led him out of the bedroom.

       Before we could leave the house, Ryder asked, "Where are you two going looking all giddy like that?" 

       "Out," I said as I opened the front door. "We'll be back by dinner. Probably."

       Nolan and I left the house and got into my car so I could drive us to the city hall. I didn't know why Nolan and I were going to do this, but I didn't even feel the slightest bit of hesitance. I knew I wanted to marry Nolan, so why wait? 

       As soon as Nolan and I got into the city hall, we were greeted by the mayor who was always so happy to see us. She smiled as she walked over. "Well, if it isn't Jerome and Nolan? What can I do for the two of you?"

       Nolan and I looked at each other before looking back at Tamala. "We want to get married," I said. "Right now."

       "Right now?" Tamala said. I nodded. "Well, I can certainly help you with that. Follow me."

       First, Nolan and I had to apply for a marriage license. Normally, we would have to wait a week or so for a copy to be mailed to us but since we were getting married right here, we didn't have to worry about waiting.

       Tamala then had to go find someone who could officiate the wedding, as well as one other person to be a witness. She was going to be the other one.

       It didn't take her long, but we just had to wait a bit for them to be free. Once they were, it came the time for us to be married.

       I couldn't believe we were actually going to do this.

       "Would you like me to take pictures as well?" Tamala asked before we got started.

       "Yeah," I said, fishing my phone out of my pocket. I handed it to her. "That would be great."

       "Alright, let's get started," the officiant said.

       Nolan and I held onto each other's hands but before we could begin, I asked, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

       Nolan smiled softly at me. "I've never been so sure of anything in my life."

       I smiled back at Nolan before looking at the officiant. "We're ready."

       The ceremony began, and it didn't take long at all before the officiant said, "I now pronounce you married. You may kiss."

       I couldn't help but smile as widely as I ever had before pulling Nolan, my husband, in for a kiss. Were we crazy for doing this? Probably. Did I have any regrets? Absolutely not.

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lmao i've been wanting them to just randomly be like "let's go get married" and do it for a while now.

i thought this was the perfect time to do it because i had a very crappy day and needed my own book characters to cheer me up lol.