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“Queen Elle Valentine.”
“I love that!” Averie beamed.
“So back to my original statement, now you have to marry me before our child is born. I want my child born from a Valentine as a Valentine.”
“Samuel, I already told you that I don’t want to rain on Ken’s parade. I don’t want Mommy trying to plan two weddings at once. That’s not fair to anyone.”
“Then, marry me now, and we will have the wedding later.”
“Samuel…”
“What? I don’t see what’s so hard about my request. I want all of this legal. I want King or Queen born to my wife, not my fiancé.”
“Okay, what if we do this and hold off on announcing it until after the wedding is over?”
“I will call my judge friend tomorrow. You can choose a date between now and seven days from now. That’s all you get!”
“Fine! Will you have a shotgun too?”
“Will I need one?”
“Shut up, El!”
Averie
“I just wantthis morning sickness to stop!” I said while Samuel pressed a cold towel on the back of my neck.
I just completed my morning ritual of throwing up some disgusting green phlegm before starting my day. My breasts were sore, and I was sleepy all the time.
“The doctor said this shouldn’t last much longer, right?”
I had every intention of telling Samuel as soon as I found out I was pregnant but thinking about the state of the world and how hard it is for a black man to survive, I got scared. I seriously considered abortion and went as far as calling a clinic to find out about the procedure. I’d known plenty of women who’d had abortions and were just fine afterward, but after speaking with the nurse at the clinic, I wasn’t sure if abortion was something I could go through. I was glad Samuel found my “Now That You’re Pregnant” pamphlet. His words gave me a ton of peace. Now, I am looking forward to being King or Queen’s mommy.
“Yeah, she said after the first trimester the sickness stops. As long as I can throw up first thing, the rest of my day is fine.”
“Are you ready for today?” Samuel asked.
I’d chosen three days after being given the ultimatum of marriage to have the ceremony.
“I am. Our mothers are going to kill us. What if our son just skips out and gets married. How would you feel?”
“If my son told me that after an exhaustive search, he’d finally found the woman that challenged him, cheered him on, corrected him, stood beside him and loved him. If he told me he’d found that one woman that made his heart beat, I would tell him not to waste time. Marry her immediately.”
“Baby,” I said while turning to wrap my arms around his waist.
“Then I would say, but that’s not what I did. I married your momma because I got her pregnant.”
“Samuel!” I laughed while hitting his arm.
“I’m just kidding,” he said after kissing my forehead. Anyway, our parents can’t stay mad for too long. We will have their grandchild.”
“That’s true.”
* * *
Samuel stood facingme in his dark blue suit, his light blue shirt with the monogrammed cuffs that I’d purchased for him and a lilac tie. I wore a floral embroidered, tea length, long sleeved lilac dress with dark purple shoes. We looked each other in the eyes as we recited our vows in Judge Porter’s chambers. Although I knew that we would hear about this from our families, I had no second thoughts about our courthouse ceremony. I was standing in front of a man that I loved with my whole heart, and I knew that he loved me. There was no other person that I wanted to share my life with, and he felt the same way about me. I was glad that he convinced me to do this.
“In sickness and in health. Until death do us part,” I finished.
