How We Married

I met Kimberly in massage school 14 years ago. It was summertime and I was one quarter ahead of her in the 1 year day program. During that time, I was a "nanny" to one of our instructor's seven month old son and I would frequent the halls of the school with the baby. She loves to tell me how irresistible I was toting the little baby around. The attraction between us was immediate, but she was in the evening track and had no idea that I was also a student. Shortly after our hallway encounter she transferred to the day program. On the first day of the new quarter, I suddenly found myself face to face with this mysterious, beautiful girl from the hallway. She had walked into the classroom and upon seeing me, came directly to me to introduce herself. Soon we were partnered for evening study-groups, which evolved quickly into dates.

Our new affair was a whirlwind of after-school rendezvous but I struggled with our school's frowning upon coed relationships and ended up rejecting her.  She was persistent in her pursuit and we ended up spending the weekend at my mother's house in the mountains. A few weeks later she told me she was nearly certain she was pregnant. I didn't know how to cope with the idea of being a father at 20 and I broke her heart, coldly pushing her away and suggesting she get an abortion. We didn't talk for months afterward and our shared classes were difficult to get through. I always felt her proximity and her gaze. I desperately loved her but continued to refuse the emotion and avoided her doggedly. I spent the next few months flip-flopping between my clear desire to someday be a father and the nagging feeling that I was just too young.

That fall she phoned me at work to tell me she was still pregnant and wanted to know how I felt about it. I surprised even myself when I admitted I was happy that she still was and I wanted to be a part of the child's life. We spent the next week discussing our relationship and our tentative future. It didn't take long for our relationship to intensify and love to reach full bloom. The issue of marriage was left open and undecided. As a nanny for a wealthy family, she was invited to spend a month at their vacation home in Kauai over the Christmas holiday. I was not permitted to join her and stayed behind, anxiously awaiting her return.

She called nearly every day to relay her stories of the beach and fantastic voyages on catamarans and a helicopter tour. One day she called from a strange number, sounding broken and exhausted. She said she had miscarried and was at a small hospital, a visit paid for by the family she was nannying for. My heart sunk and the distance between us had never felt so real. I wanted her to come home immediately, but she could not. I proposed to her over the phone and she tearfully accepted. I promised we would marry as soon as she returned.

By then, I had returned to living with my mother and Kimberly moved in with us within days of returning from the island. We wasted no time. We filed for our marriage license, which was neatly written in calligraphy by a county official who obviously took great care in her work. A few days later we both left work early and drove to the county courthouse. She wore a purple dress borrowed from a friend. I was plainly dressed in a white button down and black slacks. We exchanged our vows in a dimly lit courtroom - just the two of us and a county judge. Afterwards we picked up my little sister from her elementary school and went out for Chinese food. Despite being 4 years younger than my wife and just under 21, I managed to order a Ching-Tao beer without being carded. She bought a bottle of cheap merlot for us to celebrate at home, which we intended to drink from a pair of goblets she borrowed from the same friend who lent her the dress. The goblets turned out to be made of some kind of metal that did not react well with the wine, so we ended up drinking from plain drinking glasses - ones I had grown up with.  We still laugh at the comical and hopelessly romantic circumstances of our marriage.