by Lane Hart
“Right,” he grits out before he turns toward the courthouse. “Let’s go.” Cedric falls into step behind Cooper, still clutching the white board under his arm.
“I’m ready,” I confirm, taking Cooper’s hand. His eyes meet mine, but then drop to my chest as I take a deep breath, which causes my breasts to almost spill out of my dress. I pause to adjust myself, failing to hide my smile at Cooper’s obvious interest.
“That’s a really nice dress,” Cooper says as he holds open the door to the courthouse for me. “Did you buy it just for this?”
“No, it was something I had in the closet. I think I wore it to an office Christmas party a couple of years ago,” I reply in a loud voice so that he can hear me. “I’m glad you like it, though. I honestly wasn’t sure what to put on for…well, for something like this.”
“I know how you feel,” Cooper nods. “I shaved just before I came out here to meet you, and even pulled my button up shirt out of the closet.”
“It’s perfect,” I reassure him. I’m walking in front of him now, as I know my way around the courthouse, so he doesn’t see my faint blush when he mentions shaving. The real reason Cooper and Cedric had to wait on me is that even though I insisted on our ‘no sex’ rule, I found myself in the shower with my razor making sure everything was tidy. “Here we are,” I tell the two men following me a minute later as we stand outside the door to the register of deed’s office.
“Is this where they do the ceremonies?” Cooper asks as I walk inside.
“What? No, we have to get our marriage license first, then a magistrate will perform the ceremony. You can’t just walk in off the street and be married,” I clarify with him.
Cooper looks at me with a puzzled expression for a moment, then motions to Cedric. Cedric steps up and quickly scribbles, “Marriage license first, then you can do the deed” onto the white board.
“Well shit,” Cooper sighs. “Nothing’s ever easy, I guess. And I’m not supposed to see you in your dress before the wedding or something, am I?” Cooper stammers.
I roll my eyes at him and grab his arm. “Of all the silly things for you to be worried about right now. Come on. Let’s get this paperwork handled, so you and I can actually make this official.”
“Cooper Cummings and Elizabeth Townsend, today you celebrate one of life’s greatest moments as you join together in the vows of marriage,” the magistrate starts before jumping right in. Turning to Cooper, he says, “Cooper, do you take Elizabeth to be your wife? Do you promise to love, honor, cherish and protect her, forsaking all others and holding only unto her?”
I lay my hand on his arm that’s holding the ceremony script, letting him know it’s his turn.
“I do,” he agrees.
Looking to me, Magistrate Daniels says, “Elizabeth, do you take Cooper, to be your husband? Do you promise to love, honor, cherish and protect him, forsaking all others and holding only unto him?”
“I do.”
“The wedding ring is a symbol of unity,” the magistrate continues. “A circle unbroken, without beginning or end. And today, Cooper and Elizabeth, you give and receive these rings as demonstrations of your vows to make your life one, to work at all times to create a love that is whole and unbroken, and to love each other without end.”
Cedric drops the two white gold wedding bands in the magistrate’s palm.
“Cooper, take this ring and place it on your bride’s finger and state your pledge to her, repeating after me, “This ring I give as a sign of our constant faith and abiding love.”
Reading from the page, Cooper repeats the phrase and then hands the page to Cedric so he can pick up the smaller band. Taking my hand gently in his, he slips it onto my finger.
“Now, Elizabeth, place this ring on Cooper’s finger and make the same pledge to him.”
Cooper’s band is much thicker and heavier than mine when I take it and slip it on to his finger. “This ring I give as a sign of our…constant faith and abiding love.”
As an attorney, I feel like a fraud saying those words, knowing I don’t mean them. I don’t love Cooper, and I don’t have faith in anyone but myself and the justice system.
“Cooper and Elizabeth, in so much as the two of you have agreed to live together in matrimony, have promised your love for each other by these vows, I now declare you to be husband and wife.” Smiling, Magistrate Daniels tells us, “Congratulations, you may kiss your bride.”
“Kiss her!” Cedric shouts at Cooper, who is looking between me and the magistrate.
Understanding what he’s supposed to do, Cooper slips his fingers through my hair, cupping the back of my head as his lips meet mine like he’s making sure I can’t pull away until he’s finished. And he takes his time, barely brushing my lips several light times before his tongue demands entry, deepening our kiss. His other hand presses into the small of my back as our mouths move together, tongues stroking and prodding. Like usual, when our bodies are connected, I forget where I am, who I am, and why we don’t do this more often.
That is, until Magistrate Daniels chuckles and says, “I wasn’t sure about the genuineness of this union before, but now I get it. That’s a kiss with an honest promise of a lifetime commitment.”
The phrase lifetime commitment reminds me of the one Owen is currently serving.
Since I can’t exactly pull away thanks to the hold Cooper has on me, I finally turn my face away from his, which causes his lips to land on my cheek. Undeterred, his mouth keeps going, kissing his way down to my neck, making me shiver and my face warm in embarrassment because it’s the kind of public display of affection usually saved for the bedroom.
“Cooper,” I warn him as I place my palms on his chest to urge him to stop. He finally lets me go.
“Ah, thank you, Magistrate Daniels. We appreciate you seeing us on such short notice,” I tell the judicial official while hoping he can’t see my hard nipples poking through my dress.
“You are very welcome,” he responds with a smile. “And if I could just get both of your signatures, then you’ll be all set.”
“Oh, right. Of course,” I tell him when he offers me a pen and turns our license around on his desk to make it easier for me to sign.
Once I’m done, I offer the pen to Cooper, who takes it and scribbles his name in cursive on the other line, followed by Cedric, our first witness, and the magistrate’s clerk, who is our second required witness.
“There. Now it’s official,” Daniels says. “I’ll have it filed for you this afternoon, and you’ll receive your certificate in the mail within a few days.”
“Thanks again,” I tell him before the three of us leave his office. My legs are only a tiny bit wobbly from Cooper’s kiss.
No one says anything as we walk back to the parking lot, the three of us lost in our own thoughts. Mine are mostly that I can’t believe I did it – I’m married. And my parents weren’t there to see it. Not that I would have invited them even if there had been more time. They wouldn’t approve of the urgent nuptials or of Cooper. Hopefully they never find out…
A hand on my arm pulls me to a sudden stop right before I step across the busy road.
“You okay?” Cooper asks.
“Ah, yeah. Are you?” I reply.
Rather than answer that question, he simply says, “Follow us back to my house so you’ll know where I live. Once Cedric drops me off, he’ll go back to your place with you and help you pack and bring over whatever things you’ll need tonight. It’s been a big day, and I’m beat.”
“Tonight?” I repeat. “You-you want me to move in with you tonight?”
Either my shrieking voice is loud enough for Cooper to hear or he reads my lips when he responds. “Why not? Nova says one of the first steps of the adoption process is a home visit. If the social worker shows up and there’s nothing of yours there, it will raise flags.”
“Okay. Fine. I’ll grab a few things tonight, but the rest will have to wait until the weekend when I have more time. I
have a sentencing in the morning and a trial starting soon…”
“Always busy,” Cooper mutters. Whether or not he caught all of that, I guess he assumed correctly that I was talking about work. Either way it’s the end of our conversation, because he hobbles over to the van, noticeably wincing with each step like he’s still in a lot of pain. Guess that’s not all that surprising after all he has been through.
Chapter Eight
Cooper
I hate not being there with Liz to help her pack her things, but the truth is, I can barely make my arms lift my coffee or laptop from the table when I sit down on the sofa. I popped a few over-the-counter pain relievers as soon as I walked through the door. While I’m waiting to see if they will help, the only productive thing I can think to do is start looking into the training course Nova texted me about which is required for adoptive parents.
Jesus, it’s a thirty-hour long requirement, which means Liz is going to have to take even more time out of her busy schedule to complete it with me. The good news is that we can start it this weekend and knock out the first fifteen hours and then finish up the next weekend. Surely Liz can take off two weekends to get this done. After that, I can take care of the rest of the requirements.
There’s no telling how long this whole process will take, and I can’t help but worry about where Jenna’s kid is right now. Is she with good parents who are taking care of her? Are they feeding her? Is she crying because she misses her mother? What if she cries so much that her foster parents hurt her? People do that shit to their own kids, so it probably happens to foster kids even more often.
I feel so impotent thanks to the fucking aches in my body and not being able to hear a goddamn thing unless I’m inches away from a person’s mouth.
But then an idea hits me. A way I may be able to use this hearing disability to speed up the adoption process.
I pull my cell phone out of my pocket and start texting Nova to ask her if there are any special courses for the hearing impaired. She responds back a few minutes later saying that, if I have proof of the hearing loss, they may offer me all of the material in written form and allow us to read through it on our own. We will have to provide a notarized statement at the end swearing that we have read every word, which of course I’ll do because I don’t know anything about kids or how to take care of them.
Finally, it looks like my handicap is going to come in handy and save us at least a week getting through the adoption process.
Elizabeth
“Cooper’s place is ten times larger than this apartment,” Cedric informs me from his seat on my bed as I pull out a few suits from my closet and stuff them into a garment bag.
“I’m still paying off student loans from law school,” I respond absently while I work.
“Then you should’ve asked Cooper to pay them off in exchange for the fake marriage.”
“That’s not…no. I couldn’t ask him to do that.”
“He was willing to offer you anything to help him out, and all you wanted was no sex? Pretty low move.”
Spinning around to face him, I say, “What…that’s none of your business! How did you…did Cooper tell you about that?”
“No,” he replies with a grin. “I read it on the dry erase board because neither of you erased it.”
“Oh. Well, still, that is none of your business.”
“I’m just saying that the guy has been through hell getting blown up and now he’s trying to do something really nice for a kid he’s never met. At the very least, I think he deserves a few blowies.”
“Oh, my god. How about you just sit there quietly until I need you to carry something heavy?”
“I only take orders from the Savage Kings, not their wives on paper only.”
“You’re already starting to sound like one of them,” I mutter.
“Really?” he asks excitedly. “I’m hoping I’ll get patched in soon.”
“Just what the world needs, another Savage King added to the ranks,” I say with a shake of my head.
“Hey, you married one,” Cedric points out. “And don’t you have to consummate a marriage to make it like official and all.”
“I’m not talking about that with you.”
Fifteen minutes later, and I have all of the clothes, shoes, makeup and haircare products I’ll need for the rest of the week loaded into my car thanks to Cedric. I’m not even sure why Cooper insisted he come with me since I could carry it all on my own.
When we pull back up to Cooper’s enormous home, Cedric insists on taking it all in or he’ll get bitched out, so I let him.
The prospect doesn’t even knock. He sits my suitcase down to punch in a code on the door’s keypad to unlock it and goes on inside. In the foyer there’s another keypad on the wall, which he nods towards. “Mind hitting 8847 on that?”
“8847 is his code?” I ask.
“Ah, yeah. You’ll need to remember it.”
“That’ll be easy,” I say as I punch in the digits. “It’s the last four digits of my office phone number.”
“Oh,” Cedric responds as he hefts the garment bag up over his shoulder when it starts to slide down. “Then you won’t have to worry about forgetting it.”
“Did he just change it for me today?” I ask him.
“Nope, that’s been the code since I started coming over. Now, do you mind moving things along before I drop something?”
“You can put it all down here and then I’ll come back for it,” I say when I start to reach for one of the suitcases with my shoes, but Cedric takes a step back.
“No. I’ve got it. Just get a move on, woman.”
“Fine,” I say on a sigh as I turn around and venture further into the house until I find Cooper.
“Hey,” Cooper says when he looks up from his laptop and sees us. He suddenly frowns as he leans forward, but then sinks backwards without getting up from the sofa. I don’t think he’s being rude; he must just be hurting after all the excitement of the day. “That everything of yours?” he asks when he looks over at Cedric’s load.
“For now,” I tell him. Since his gaze is on my lips, I assume he understood that.
“I guess you’re going to want your own room?”
I nod my head in agreement. “That would be best.”
Looking away from me and back to the laptop in front of him, he says, “Cedric can show you the guest bedrooms so you can pick one, and then he’ll give you a tour of the rest of the house.”
“Thanks,” I say even though he doesn’t acknowledge it. The truth is, I’m happy to be saving a little money on rent while I live with Cooper. I’ll offer to pay him half for my part of the mortgage, and utilities of course, but I have a feeling he won’t take my money.
The bedrooms are all upstairs on the second floor. “That one at the end of the hall is Cooper’s room,” Cedric says. “Both of these rooms have their own bathrooms, which is a bonus. Hurry up and take your pick so I can put your shit down.”
“The one on the right is fine,” I say without looking into either of them. “I’m not picky.”
“Good because I’ve been sleeping in the one on the left,” he says as he goes into the opposite room and tosses my things down on the mattress.
“You’re living here?” I ask in surprise.
“Just while he recovers. The Kings didn’t want Cooper alone here and unable to hear if someone is trying to break in or whatever.”
“Do they think that’s a possibility? That someone will try to break in?”
“Probably not,” he replies. “Besides, Reece will be watching the security cameras and will get a notification if any doors or windows cause the alarm to go off.”
“Oh, okay,” I say and then consider that for a moment. “Are there any cameras inside the house?”
“No. Just outside so you can get your freak on without anyone watching. But that’s right, you told Cooper you didn’t want any sex.”
“You can leave now,” I tell him. “And I do
n’t just mean my room but the entire house. Cooper doesn’t need you to stay with him since I’ll be here. At least at night.”
“Not yet,” the kid says. “He wants me to show you around. Let me do that, and then I’ll hit the road.”
“Fine,” I agree.
Cedric leads me all around the large, two-story brick home. It’s much bigger than it looks from the front, owing to the fact that it’s shaped like a ‘U’ with a wing on each side stretching backwards and framing a central backyard. There are four bedrooms, four bathrooms, a kitchen that could serve an army barracks, and a surprisingly large library.
The backyard is by far the biggest surprise. There’s an actual grotto laid out in sandstone slabs, forming a semicircle that stretches out from the back doors of the house. The inground pool is surrounded with palm trees, and there’s a jacuzzi complete with waterfalls. It’s amazing and…erotic, the complete opposite of the homey interior. The outside looks like it was built for the sole intention of drunken orgies. I think I can still smell the coconut oil and latex in the air.
“I feel like I’ve walked into the playboy mansion’s backyard,” I mutter to Cedric.
“Coop’s parties before the bombs were pretty epic. All the dancers came over and hung out with him, but none of the other Kings show up lately since all but one are locked down.”
“Really?” I say as I imagine tons of women in bikinis strutting around Cooper while he lounges on a float in the pool with a bottle of beer in his hand.
“Too bad he hasn’t felt much like partying since Avalon blew up.”
“Yeah, too bad,” I reply sarcastically.
Chapter Nine
Cooper
The night of our wedding, I don’t see Liz again after she goes upstairs to unpack. Which doesn’t really make sense because she didn’t bring a lot of her things over to put away. She didn’t even come down for dinner.
