happiness is a butterfly

heaven

Cassie loved the way her ring sparkled in the light of day.

In typical Nate fashion, her ring was a show stopper. Like something you would see on someone's engagement Pinterest board, with its large centre stone and sparkly side stones.

It was just perfect and she was absolutely smitten.

Smitten with her perfect ring, smitten with Nate.

Her sparkly stones were now joined by a thinner diamond band. A new addition and the tangible evidence of her new marital status.

Yes, because Cassandra Myrtle Howard was now officially Mrs Nate Jacobs.

Their wedding had been a humble affair, a (secret) visit to the Town Hall on a Tuesday afternoon with Aaron and Gemma as their (unwilling) witnesses. Sure, it wasn't the wedding she had always dreamt of or even hoped for. There was no three tier cake, beaded mermaid gown or jazz band. Her dad wasn't there to walk her down the aisle, her sister wasn't there to hold her bouquet and her mom wasn't there for some last minute encouraging words.

But there was Nate. And there was her. And their son in her belly.

And realistically, nothing they had done so far was remotely conventional so it only seemed fitting their wedding would go down in similar fashion:

A white summer dress, a pair of heeled sandals that fit over her swollen feet and a last minute bunch of flowers from the store.

Still, Cassie looked at the framed polaroids Gemma had so beautifully taken of their day with a big smile. She had everything she had ever wanted- and she truly had never ever been happier.

Telling their families...was a little less happiness inducing.

For starters, Nate- whose Instagram account barely saw any activity- had decided to finally hard launch their relationship and marriage all in the one go. A picture of Cassie flashing her ring to the camera with a big smile as he leaned in for a kiss, over a slice of cherry pie from Dan's Diner.

The caption? Hitched.

And as much as Cassie was so happy that he had made their relationship public on social media, the shit storm that ensued was not worth it.

"Just relax, Cass." He had said when she voiced her concern. "We don't owe anyone an explanation."

But the incessant calls she started receiving from her mother 15 minutes after Nate's announcement told her a very different story. Lexi had no doubt seen it and told Suze immediately. And her mother's reaction was exactly what she expected it to be.

"What the fuck, Cassie?" Suze had raged over the phone, when she finally returned her mother's 9 missed calls. "Who does that? Do you have any idea what you have done?"

"What's the big deal? We were basically already married and about to have a baby." She tried to placate her mother.

"What's the big deal?! The fact you didn't have the courage to tell us about it says it all...you know exactly why this is bad."

And as much as Cassie didn't want to admit it to herself, their strategy had definitely been to just do it and apologise later. This reaction was no surprise.

"Why can't you just be happy for me?" Cassie had asked, tears coming out of her eyes.

"Happy? Cassie, your life has been one big mess for the past year because of that boy. You were crying in my house a few weeks ago all bruised and now you're married to him? Lexi is so disappointed..."