Page 25 of Mating of Convenience
“Iknow this isn’t exactly the wedding you’ve always dreamed of,” I found myself apologizing to Nathan as we stepped inside the courthouse and searched for the office of the officiator we’d contacted. Honestly, I was only speaking to fill the silence. My friend had been oddly quiet all day and if I knew him at all, he was freaking out inside his head. And I wasn’t really sure what to say to make it better. Obviously, I resorted to teasing him.
“It’s not like I had a ceremony all planned out in my head or anything,” Nathan lied. I knew that was a lie because I knew he had a subscription to a popular wedding catalogue. He pretended like those magazines were his dad’s, but they were really his. He’d told me once that he found it easy to let himself be distracted by the glossy pages when he was feeling stressed out by life.
I hoped one day he would have the wedding he deserved, but for now, this rather clinical wedding was all I could offer. At least we didn’t have to wait three days in between getting our license and signing off on it, and we didn’t need witnesses either. The officiant we were about to see was an alpha and that, along with his job certification, was enough for him to acknowledge Nathan’s right to marry any omega who would sign their name on the required documents.
Romantic, wasn’t it?
At least it was practical. I wouldn’t even have to worry about changing my name. That paperwork would be filed for me, unless I filed more paperwork to protest the change, which was honestly way too complicated.
“I wish we could have come up with the funds to fly to Vegas, at least,” I mused. “Do this in style, you know?” But I wasn’t rich yet and neither was Nathan.
“I don’t know. Getting hitched in Vegas is such a cliché. I prefer this.” Nathan gave me a smile, which was how I knew he’d said that for my benefit only. Typical Nathan.
“Really?” I decided to tease him anyway. “We could have been married by Elvis. On a helicopter. Flying over the Strip.”
Nathan shot me a look that spoke of pure disgust. I’d probably just offended every fiber of his romance-loving heart.
“Relax, I’m joking.” Anything to make the weird tension in the air dissipate. “C’mon, let’s do this thing.” We came to a stop in front of a dark oak wood door that said ‘Mr. Fawnswood’ on it. I knocked.
“Come in,” I heard from the other side of the door after a moment.
“Hello,” I said as I opened the door, dragging Nathan in with me. “We’re here to get married,” I said with the biggest fake grin I had in my repertoire. “I called earlier this morning.”
“Mr. Probst, Mr. Collins, please step inside.”
I did, idly wondering if this was the last time I’d be addressed by my birth name for a long time. “This is our license and the rest of our documents,” I said, placing the folder I’d carried in with us on Mr. Fawnswood’s desk. “I think we got everything.”
While Mr. Fawnswood studied our papers, I glanced at my husband to be. Hecouldn’tbe happy with a procedure as clinical as this, but he was trying hard not to let anyone notice that, a fake smile plastered on his face.
I’m sorry, Nathan.
He deserved so much better than this, but this was all I could give him now.
“Everything seems to be in order,” Mr. Fawnswood said after a moment. “I can marry the two of you, if you’re sure you’d not rather have a ceremony?”
“No ceremony,” Nathan said before I even had a chance to open my mouth. Mr. Fawnswood nodded. Since Nathan was the alpha, it was his opinion that mattered the most after all. If Nathan said we wanted to be married right here and now, Mr. Fawnswood would take his word for it. We didn’t even need vows.
“All right then.” Our officiator procured more documents from a dresser. “I’ll have you both sign here and here, and also here.” He pointed out multiple lines on two sets of papers.
I grabbed a pen and signed without letting myself think too much about it.
Totally romantic.
My eyes wandered to Nathan once I was done, but he showed no hesitation either, putting his signature wherever it was needed.
“Very well.” Mr. Fawnswood took the papers back from us and looked them over. “Do you have rings?”
Rings? Uh… I looked at Nathan. To my absolute amazement, he got a little jewelry box out of his pocket. When had he bought rings?
Ignoring my look of surprise, he opened the box and offered one of the rings to me. Running on autopilot, I stretched my hand out, and he put the ring on my finger—where it fit perfectly. A smile flickered over Nathan’s face. “Looks great on you,” he said softly.
“Yeah?” Trying not to look like I had no idea where he’d gotten the rings, I took the one that remained in the box and eased it over Nathan’s finger. Then I focused my attention back to Mr. Fawnswood, fearing that something in my brain might snap if I didn’t.
He smiled at us. “By the powers invested in me by the state of Maine, I hereby pronounce you married.”
I gulped. That was it? I was married now?
Mr. Fawnswood shot Nathan an expectant look. “You may kiss the omega.”
