“Come on Liz, we need to hurry up or we will be late!” I screamed down the hallway to our room. She had spent all morning trying to pick out the best clothes for the occasion. I was smart enough to pre-plan my outfit. I heard the muffled pounding of her feet on our carpet. She was most likely stumbling about trying to rush into an outfit. Tch, the hands on my watch just kept moving, and after another minute my feet plodded down the hall. I opened the door, and she was hopping on one foot as she tried to put the other leg into her tights. Why wouldn’t she just sit down on our bed to put them on. I clicked my tongue again as I walked forward and grabbed ahold of her shoulder. I pushed her backwards onto the bed, and sat myself above her.

She started to calm down as I brought my lips to hers. My hands roamed down her sides. I was happy whenever my fingers left the fabric of her dress in favor of her soft skin. Once I had traced all the way down her I met her disheveled tights. I fixed them for her, and readjusted my lips on hers. The heat from her tongue filled my mouth with warmth, and moans echoed through our room. So we laid there sexually frustrated and making out before an important event. She was the first to pull away, and brought me back to reality at just how late we were going to be. My hand rested next to her face, and pushing myself up I began patting and pulling my dress back into order. Liz looked away, and I watched as her teeth clamped down on her bottom lip. My feet landed on the floor and my hand fell in front of me. Her fingers curled around my palm, and I gave her a tug. The entire time her gaze was averted, and I laughed at her flustered attitude. Flipping our light switch, we rushed out of the house.

The Uber we had gotten was outside, and we jumped in the back of the car. Giving him the address he sped down the street. Liz sighed and let her head fall onto my shoulder. I sat there staring out of the window for most of the ride. I was excited for what was happening tonight, but still it worried me. I wanted him to be happy, and I was more than content with our current situation. I was mostly sad that they were lacking in ceremony. Liz and I were at fault. They shouldn’t have been worrying about us. They should be celebrating their relationship as much as possible. At least I knew we were going to make this last so they didn’t waste this experience together.

I looked down at our dresses. They were simple scarlet frilled dresses, and they were chosen to match June’s. She was really excited whenever we had went to pick them up the other day. While we were out doing that, dad had dug out his old suit. I hadn’t seen him in a suit since the award ceremony for nationals last year. Before he left for the courthouse earlier he looked so happy. Happier than I had seen him in years. The ear to ear smile he had given Liz and I when he was talking about how excited he was showed me just how happy she made him. Liz and I have started thinking about how we can repay them for everything. We were so happy together, and the fact that Dad and June was letting us be together was something most parents wouldn’t do. The car shook slightly as it pulled into one of the few free parking spaces. I looked out at the overly grandiose architecture and sighed. It was happening finally. Liz and I were about to become family, just not in the way either of us had particularly wanted. From the start of the ride Liz had nodded off, and lightly shaking her was enough make her sit up. She corrected her posture while snapping off the seat belt. I looked over at her and smiled.

*****

“So, that is what it's like having a wedding at a courthouse.” I said mostly to myself as we walked out of the main hall and towards the exits. A few of our parents friends were there, and in total there were only ten people including the bride and groom. Lucas and Mom decided we should all go out tonight for dinner, and I agreed. Macey and I hadn’t eaten all morning so I could definitely use a decent sized meal.

Once outside, Lucas and June both said their goodbyes to their friends. Macey and I stood slightly behind them chatting about how different it was from what we had expected. After the small crowd had dispersed we were motioned towards the car. Mace and I hopped in back quickly getting excited at the idea of having food in our stomachs. “So we have some news for you two. Sorry in advance, but you will be staying with Mina for the next two days while we are having our stay at home honeymoon.” I already knew this was coming, but mace was caught off guard. “You already packed the bag right Liz?” she asked looking back at me. I gave her a nod, and looked over at Macey who was slightly pouting.

“You should have told me we would be out of the house. I could have grabbed the books I wanted to read over the weekend,” she said her cheeks puffing out even further. I laughed at her childishness before leaning next to her ear.

“Well babe, I guess we'll just need to find a way to occupy ourselves,” I said as I began nipping at her ear. She purred and pulled me closer, giving me a kiss before sitting her forehead on mine.

“Who is Mina?” Macey asked as we settled into a comfortable position.

“You know how I was telling you about my cousin who owns that bar downtown last week?”

“Oh the one you were going to work for when we graduate?”

“Yeah well she has a pretty big apartment, and we are going to be staying there for the next few days.” Macey nodded as she rested her head back onto my shoulder. I watched out the window as the scenery started to blur. “So, do you two have anything special planned for the next two days without us?” I asked leaning back into the leather of the seat.

“We will be having two days of romantic bliss.”

“So sex.” I said laughing at the way she explained what they would be doing.

“To put it bluntly, yeah.” Lucas said laughing along with me. Macey’s breath hit my neck as she showed her distaste for my comment, but I still thought it was funny.

The restaurant we were headed too was rated to be the most romantic spot in the city. I was extremely excited to eat a high class meal with my girlfriend. The next closest thing we had ever had was the meal we made together. We pulled into what seemed to be a very refined place to dine at. Trading roles and nudging Macey awake we all prepared to go in. I double checked my hair, Macey put on another coat of lipstick, June fixed her eye shadow, and Lucas adjusted his tie. Once we were all content with our appearance we started our way inside. It was rather cliche, the tables had white cloth over them, the waiters were in suits, and the entire place had a sophisticated ambiance.

I tried my best not to be the one to break the atmosphere as the hostess seated us at our table. Mace took my hand as we walked towards the table in the back. The waiter stopped at a table for two. “Don’t we need another table? Not all of us will fit.” I said my glances swapping between the waiter and my mother.

“This is a good time to think about your own relationship, so we booked to two your own table. Don’t worry about they prices just order whatever you two need sweetheart.” Lucas gave a nod of encouragement as Macey and I filed through the other walkway towards our own secluded dining spot. The lights became even dimmer as we entered a room only lit by candles. The sound of Chopin played lightly in the background. Macey being the amazing woman she is pulled out my chair for me, and then she took her own seat across from me. I stared across the table as she obstructed my view with her menu. I did the same in order to not look weird just staring at her. A few moments later we were interrupted by a waiter bringing us a bottle of wine submerged in ice. I guess he hadn’t been informed that we were underage, but I will take it.

The white gloved gentlemen picked up the ice bathed bottle and held it out for us to inspect it. He sat two glasses on opposite sides of the table, I watched as the red liquid filled the glasses. The bottle then went back into its bath as the waiter left to give us time to choose our dishes. I stared down at the menu and my eyes spread wide as I started to look at the prices. Twenty-seven dollars for a kabob. The side dishes themselves were seven dollars a piece. I felt a touch on my chin as it was pushed upward. I glared over at Macey as she began laughing. I wasn’t in such a playful mood though, and so my cheek expanded. I decided to go with something “reasonable”. Macey seemed to be eyeing something particular on the menu. The waiter walked smoothly back into our section of the dining area.

“What would you like tonight ma’am?” Asked the waiter, his gaze set on Macey.

“I would like the rack of lamb,” Macey said closing the menu and sitting it onto the table. I glanced down at my menu and realized that her dish costed forty-five dollars The waiters eyes shifted to mine, and I gulped at my options. How could mom say that we didn’t need to worry about the price of the food when it was this damn expensive.

“I would like sixteen ounce Sirloin steak, medium rare please.” The waiter just nodded as his hand flashed across the notebook he carried. I couldn’t help but sit back into my chair and think about what we were doing tonight. I get that this was a special occasion and everything, but still. The cost of the food alone was enough to pay some of our bills. When Mace and I would shop I had already pre-planned everything, but now we were throwing away our budgeting skills for one meal. My foot began a rhythmic tapping as I thought about how we were going to make it for the next week until she got paid.

“Liz calm down, its not like this one fancy meal is going to kills us. I mean it could from being so good, but not from hurting our parents wallets.” I looked at her usual lax smile and gained some comfort from it, but she was wrong.

“I just don’t understand how we are going to be able to get the commodities we need through the week if we blow everything on a fancy restaurant.”

“Dad said he had things covered. Me and him used to eat here all of the time whenever anything special happened. He would bring me here and get me the lamb chops anytime I won a really important game against a big school.”

“What does Lucas even do for a living?” I asked moving one leg over the other. My arms crossed as I waited for a response.

“He is the head of marketing for a pharmacy company, dad makes like 320k a year or something. Either way we can definitely afford this.”

“320k? Lucas? That is four times more than mom.” How in the bloody hell did mom meet Lucas, and why wasn’t Macey at a private school or something. I was stunned, but excited to be learning these things about not only Lucas but more importantly Macey. I don’t know how I hadn’t been informed about this before. We sat there discussing his work life as we waited for our food.

“What do you think it will be like when we are their age?” asked Macey as she tipped the glass into her lips. The question repeated several times in my head before I felt satisfied I could answer it.

“I will probably be a chef at my cousins bar while your helping people with physical therapy.”

“How many kids will we have by then?”

“Two, one will definitely be a girl, and you can choose if we adopt a boy or a girl for the second one.” She leaned forward, her chin resting in the palms of her hands as we discussed when we would have actually adopted the kids.

“All I am saying is that I want a boy before I grow too old to play outside with him. I know for a fact that you’re not going to make sure that the kids get there 60 minutes a day outside.”

“Hold your horses, I may not want to spend time outside exercising, but I will make sure that they eat well,” I said responding to her accusation.

“We’re going to kick ass as parents.” She said laughing into another sip of wine.

“Hell yeah.” Our conversation slowed as we calmed down about our future parenthood. “When would you want to get married?” I asked taking a gulp out of my glass.” Her eyes seemed like they were looking past me. After a few minutes of silence she broke the silence.

“Would you want to do it before or after college?”

“I don’t know. Would we be comfortable enough with each other by then to get married, or maybe we should wait until after.”

“If the past few weeks have been anything to consider we have been living together really well.”

“Yeah, but we also had the support of mom and dad. Who knows how things would go for us once we started working for ourselves, and paying for everything together,” I said as my hand met the cold rim of the glass and began tracing it. “Would you want to mix our money together and do things that way, or would you like us to keep things separately?”

“I mean there wouldn’t really be a reason for us to keep things separate, unless we broke up.” She paused for a second before she realized what she had said. “N-not that I would ever want to break up with you. I-I mean if your fine with me I wo-would love to spend the rest of my life with you.”

“You’re such a dork. Of course I want to spend the rest of my life with you,” I said closing my eyes as a huge smile grew across my face.”

“Hi-.” She started, but I could barely hear what she was saying.

“What was that Mace?” I asked leaning my head to the side.

“High school, after high school I would like for us to be married.” right as she said that the waiter poked his head into our section of the dining area. He folded open the tray holder, and sat the tray down. My steak looked perfectly cooked and its dark exterior was juxtaposed with the green of the asparagus next to it. Macey’s Lam was laid out along a big platter, and she didn’t get a side dish with it. She really didn’t need a side though, there was enough meat on the plate to feel four people. It looked so good, and I probably should have gotten it with her.

I shook my head trying to get back on topic as the waiter walked away. “I want that too,” I said narrowing my eyes at her.

“No, your own food.” she said pulling her plate closer.”

“That is not what I meant. I mean I want to marry you once we graduate too.”