“Marry me, Jess.”
Her head whipped around to meet the Bradford accent that fluttered in her ears.
“Malik, you already proposed.” She lifted her finer for him to see a ring that could be spotted from miles away.
“No, Jessie,” he clutched her hand. “I mean, today. Like right now.”
“Where are you going with this, kid?”
“I’ve been thinking about this since you talked about it last night,” he took a breath.
“So a whole eight hours?” She spoke, clearly confused.
“Babe, I just want to marry you and what would be a better time than now.”
Jessica looked into his eyes and saw that he was serious. He was a lot more adamant about it than she expected. He really wanted to marry her and she wanted to do the same. She was left with no sarcastic comment back to him, nor did she have any objection.
“Jessie, what are you thinking? Let’s just go to the court house.”
“Let’s go home.”
“Jessica,” he spoke in desperation.
“I can’t get married in this.” She wrapped her legs around the table and let her Missoni sweater fall down her rounding belly. She grabbed his hand and he kissed her forehead as he pulled her into him.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
***
Jessica looked through her closet for over an hour. She knew that this wasn’t going to be anything the news had access to or even knew about, but she wanted to feel beautiful. She wanted to feel like she deserved to be Mrs. Malik.
She pulled out the band that she had gotten Zayn a while back. It was a Cartier platinum band with onyx circled around it. It was masculine and it really made a statement.
She looked down at her ring and she remembered what they went through just for her to feel honorable wearing it. He got shot clutching onto the ring and she didn’t take any moment with him afterwards for granted.
She loved that man more than she loved herself. She was Jessica Palermo and he was Zayn Malik.
And they were in love.
No one truly understood their love for each other. They needed each other to even feel complete within themselves. How they survived those years without even knowing each other was a mystery to all.
As she was losing herself in her thoughts, she saw a trace of light pink lace peaking through her trails of Valentino gowns. She pulled the garment through the layers of feathers and tulle.
“Babe, have you found anything yet?” Zayn asked as he fixed his Alexander McQueen cufflinks in the other room.
“Actually, yes. I think I did.”
She pulled out a Missioni dress that came just above her knees. It was light pink and fluttered with lace and texture. She studied it more and saw the detailing of the way it was designed to hug her in the right places. Her hair was already done and pulled up gently. She pulled the dress over her teal Manolo Blahnik jewel encrusted heels and zipped up the side. She looked in the mirror and saw the happiness and glow in her skin. She had two beautiful babies growing inside of her and soon she would be a married woman.
She rubbed her stomach as she looked in the mirror and saw the changes that were happening to her body. She was gaining weight, but she felt more purposeful and beautiful than she ever had. Malik went behind her swiftly and placed his hands atop of hers and whispered in her ear.
“I can’t wait to meet them.”
***
They sat in the waiting room, apparently everyone wanted to get married that day. They had to wait in alphabetical order and as soon as ‘Malik’ was called the rejoicing in their head didn’t stop.
“Have you written your own vows?” The judge asked.
“Yes,” Zayn answered.
Jessica was a little caught off guard. She wasn’t really expecting him to have it all thought out. She trusted him, though. She knew that all she had to do was believe in her soon to be husband.
“Jessica,” he began. “Jessica Margaret Palermo, I’ve been in love with you for over two years, but it only feels like two seconds. I want to spend the rest of my life with you and I want to use that time to make you feel as beautiful as I know you are. You can be arrogant, rude, and condescending. But, you’re also the nicest person I’ve ever met. First off, you’re always my best friend and I can tell you anything. We have so much fun together, but when I need someone to cry to, I don’t even think twice before your name pops up into my head. Over the years, you have proven that you would do anything for me and I hope that I’ve done the same to you. I just love you more than I could ever come to know. There are feelings that I didn’t even know I could feel. I need you in my life more than anything and I thank God everyday for keeping you here. Thank you for marrying me.”
“Jessica,” the judge spoke, cuing her.
“Zayn, it’s no secret that I love you more than anything. After the recent trials and tribulations that we went through it only made me love you more than I thought possible. All those days that I claimed to hate you, never existed. You’ve always held the most special place in my heart and I love you to the ends of earth. You literally took a bullet for me and the nurses told me how they had to pry this ring out of your hand. You got shot for us and I wear this with so much honor. It’s the true token of our love and that wound is symbolized on you daily. Every time I see it, I think of how strange it is that someone loves me so much. It makes me smile to know that you love me as much as I love you and you don’t ever regret any of it. You make me so happy, Malik.”
He wiped a tear from her eye as the judge spoke again.
“Do you take Jessica Margaret Palermo, to be your lawful wedded wife?”
“I do,” he looked into her eyes as the words rolled off his tongue as if he were born to speak them.
“Do you take Zayn Javadd Malik, to be your lawful wedded husband.”
“I do,” she spoke proudly.
“It’s my pleasure to announce Mr. and Mrs. Malik for the first time. You may now kiss the bride.”
They locked in a sweet kiss and it felt better than the rest. It just felt right. Zayn snuggled his head into her hair and whispered to her softly.
“Forever thine, forever mine. Forever ours.”
