Going to the Chapel

This second time around, Melvin was ready to tie the knot, but as much as I wanted to have his last name and be betroth to him forever, I was afraid. Twice brave, now shy. He would bring up the subject of marriage and I would brush it off. I didn't know if he was serious or not, at least that's what I told myself, and I wanted us to be together forever this time, my matrimonial track record was scathed with defeat, I couldn't bear it if we didn't make it.
It was not until a holiday celebration at one of his sisters that I became fully aware of how he felt. I walked in and caught the tail end of him saying, "It's not me this time, she doesn't want to." He was looking regretful. I was about to become alarmed when another sister took me to another room and said, "Pep wants to marry you, but he says you're not ready." I didn't know what to say. Melvin and I discussed everything and for him to share an intimate detail of our relationship with his sisters, struck me deeply. He was really ready.
We skirted the subject for some time. Then one day, in the fall, I came home from work, sat on the side of our bed and said, "Let's get married." He said, "You serious Poo?" "Yes," I said, "It's time and I want  us to set a positive example for the children." That was a Monday, we decided we would go to the court house on Thursday afternoon. I would be attending a workshop that day and would leave at lunch, come home and we would be married. I was surprisingly calm, but the closer it came to 12:00 pm I couldn't contain myself. I announced that I would getting married at lunchtime. They allowed me to briefly tell our story and some were so overcome with emotion that they cried. They even collected a minuscule dowry for me.
When I got home, Melvin was down right giddy. I had never seem him this nature of happy, I can't explain it, but it was beautiful. Just as we were about to exit the house, the entire sky opened and it rained so hard that the power shut off. We were standing in front of the garage door and without missing a beat, we looked at one another, pulled the garage door cord for manual opening, got two umbrellas and headed downtown.
We filled out and filed the forms, the entire time Melvin was dancing and joking around. I was the serious one. There are ministers in the court house, eager to marry couples and we were directed to one of them, Nancye. Melvin told the boys to meet us at the courthouse, we waited for them, but they went to the wrong one and the storm was steady. We were taken into a secluded room, there were people peering in, but our focus was on each other. I don't know what Melvin saw in my eyes, but what I saw in his remains etched in my mind. He looked down at me as if to say, you're mine forever, he never took his eyes off me. The minister was entranced by the event as well and commented on how much we seemed to love each other. The deed was done, we went home, Melvin cooked and called me his last name for days. Wind and Fire brought their friends over, I guess out of excitement. All three of the the boys had to peruse the marriage certificate to make sure it was real. It was official, I was unmistakenly Ma, Da's wife and we all had the same last name.

Tomorrow.