“This is ridiculous,” I muttered under my breath.
“Just keep walking, baby,” he murmured back. “We’re almost out. I can carry you.”
That’s when I saw the sign.
Marriage License Bureau — Lower Level.
I stopped walking.
DaVinci felt me pause and turned toward me, brows pulling together in that way he did when he was trying to read my mind. I didn’t say anything at first, just stared at that damn sign and let the weight of the last month hit me all at once, the fire that could’ve taken him from me, before I even knew him, the hospital where he refused to leave my side, my father finally coming back around after years of absence. Cassie being sentenced just minutes ago. And through it all, DaVinci chose me every single day, even when I didn’t know how to choose myself. My life had flipped upside down and right-side up again, and somewhere in all of that chaos, this man had become my sanctuary.
“You know what’s crazy?” he said softly, nodding toward the sign. “I've been waiting for this Cassie shit to be over with before asking you to be my wife.”
I turned to him fully. The noise faded. The cameras blurred. It was just him.
His eyes were warm and steady. His presence grounded me the same way it always did.
And the truth hit me so hard it almost knocked the breath from my lungs.
“I don't want to wait,” I said. My voice didn't shake this time. “I don't want to wait a year or six months or even a week for some big, pretty wedding. I want you. Right now. Today. Before the world gets another shot at ruining something good.”
He blinked, taken off guard. “Halo, nah, I know you don't want some quick shit at the courthouse.”
“Look at me.” I grabbed his hand and pressed it over my heart so he could feel the way it beat for him and him alone. "This is real. And life is short, baby. We’ve both seen that up close. So tell me why we're waiting when we know we want the same thing? You do want that with me, right?"
I felt so vulnerable, halfway crazy.
“Lo, be for real, I probably wanted this with you from the day I met you. But I want to make sure you are saying what I think you are saying.”
“I'm saying let's go downstairs and get married.” I nodded toward the staircase. “Right now.”
His stare held mine, reading through every layer of me until his whole face softened.
“What about your dad? Your friends? You really want to do this without them?”
“Respectfully, this is about me and you.” I felt a smile tug at my lips. “You already act like my husband. Might as well make it legal. And plus, if I change my mind, I have a man who won’t stop at anything until I have my way. Today I want to walk out of here with your last name. I could never regret how I got it.”
For a second, he didn’t move, didn’t speak—he just held my gaze. Then he pulled me close, kissed my forehead, and whispered.
“Aight then, Angel. Let’s get married.”
The breath I didn’t know I was holding left my body all at once. That was it—my yes, our yes, everything condensed into this moment.
“Langston,” DaVinci called, turning to him. “Change of plans.”
Langston looked at us like we’d both lost our damn minds—and maybe we had, but it felt right.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
“Downstairs,” DaVinci said, sliding his hand down to my lower back. “To get married.”
Langston blinked. “Aight man… y’all stay on some other shit.”
We were, but for the first time in a long time, it felt like the good kind. We headed for the stairs, my heart pounding, palms warm, mind steady. I wasn’t scared, not even a little. This man had walked into my life, flipped it inside out, scared me, challenged me, protected me, loved me hard, and refused to let me give up on myself. Marrying him felt like choosing peace, choosing joy, choosing the future I didn’t realize I was allowed to want.
And when we hit that last step and pushed open the door to the marriage license bureau, fluorescent lights humming overhead and only four people in line, I smiled.
“We’re really doing this,” I whispered.
