Owen felt like his head had just exploded. Even though he was very angry, he spoke to her in measured tones. "That may be your mother's opinion, Cristina, but it is not her baby. It is our baby. You and me. We are both adults, now. We should be the ones deciding the fate of our pregnancy." He knew he had to stay calm because if he ranted and raved, he may push Cristina in doing what he thought was the unthinkable.

"But I don't have a job," she said. "I don't have the money to take care of this baby. I am going to be 22 in a couple of days and I haven't even really lived."

"In terms of the money part, that is really no excuse. I have the money to take care of you and this baby. My recent promotion ensures that. So we do have the finances to have this baby. As for the other part, that is really up to you," he told her.

"But my mom said…," she started. He stopped her. "This is not your mom's baby. This is ours. We are the ones who have to decide what we are going to do. I am not going to force you to do something that you don't want to do but I hope you really think about what you are doing before you do it. Let me be clear – I want you and I want this baby and I am committed one hundred percent. But I am not the one who is going to carry this baby. You are, so whatever you are going to do, please make sure you know what you are doing. I guess this is all I have to say. So I am going to leave you to think and I am going back to the reception."

As he turned to leave, Cristina asked, "If I have the abortion, will you leave me?" He stopped in his tracks. "I love you, Cristina, more than you could ever know. I cannot imagine life without you in it. So, no, I won't leave you but if you decide to do it, I will be disappointed. Anyway, talk to you, later." He left the garden and headed back to the reception.

As he got into the reception, he headed to the bar. He needed a stiff drink. He understood how Cristina was feeling and why she was feeling that way but he couldn't imagine the thought of terminating their baby. He had to prepare himself for that possibility.

He ordered himself a straight scotch and leaned back against the bar. "Hey, best man," Garrett said, coming up to him. "That was a terrific job you did there with the best man' s speech. Thanks, buddy."

"No problem, Garrett," Owen said. "It was my pleasure." Garrett looked around, "So where is Cristina? You two are usually joined at the hip." Owen sighed. "Well, she has some thinking to do," he said.

"Ooh, that sounds ominous," Garrett said. "Don'tell me you two are breaking up again. You just got back together, a couple of months, ago. I was pretty stoked about that, since I asked you to be best man and didn't want things to be awkward at the wedding. I guess another issue has come up. You want to talk about it?"

"No," Owen said. "This one is really private."

"Okay," Garrett said. "I see my wife is beckoning me to go dance with her. That sounds so weird saying 'my wife.' Anyway, hope things work out with you and my little sister." He left and headed in Holly's direction. Owen watched as Garrett and Holly danced together. They looked so happy. He ordered another drink and found himself at an empty table. He sat down and took in everything. He was there for about 45 minutes when he heard someone sit behind him. "Is this seat taken?" she said, softly.

"I'm not sure," he said, even though all of the chairs at the table were empty. "Depends on who's asking." He turned around his head and smiled at her.

"Have you been drinking?" she asked. He nodded and answered, "But not much. This is just my second drink. I have been nursing it for a while."

"I made my decision," she said. He perked up and turned his whole body around. "Yes?" he said, anxiously.

"I know you said you wouldn't leave me if I decided to terminate but do you really mean that?" she asked. His heart sank at her words. He found it hard to answer, "Yes, I won't leave you."

"Thank you for telling me that," she said. "That was good to know." She let out a big breath before she continued. "I have decided to keep the baby."

"What!" he yelled, a little bit too loudly, as people looked around to observe them. "Keep your voice down," she told him. He gave her a long kiss.

"I thought you were going to tell me something different," he said. "Especially the way you started this conversation."

"Well, I just wanted to be sure about how much you loved me. That even if I did something that you did not want, that you would still love me," she said.

"Always," he said. "I would probably be hurt and disappointed but I still love you. So when are you going to tell your mom and dad about it."

"Tomorrow," she said. "Let's just enjoy the rest of the night. Will you dance with me, Mr. Hunt?"

"Certainly," he said. He got up and offered her his hand. She took it and he led her out on the dance floor. There, they clung to each other in a slow dance. She put her arms around his neck and rested her head against his chest, while he wrapped his hands around her waist. They were happy.


The next day, Owen came across to the Yangs' house to have a conversation with her parents. Both Helen and Stanley waited anxiously, as the two young people took center stage. Owen took Cristina's hand into his.

"Cristina and I have something to tell you," Owen started. Helen interrupted, "Is it about the baby?"

"What baby?" Stanley asked. He looked at his daughter, "Are you pregnant?" Cristina nodded and answered, "Yes, dad."

"What, what!" Stanley spluttered. "How am I always the last to know anything around here?" He glared at his wife. She had not mentioned anything about this.

"So now that we have established that we are pregnant, Cristina and I have decided to keep the baby," Owen said. He noticed Helen opening her mouth to say something. "Yes, Mrs. Yang, I know what you think we should do but I have to insist that this is our baby and Cristina and I are both adults. I know she is young and just out of college but I do have the means and capability to take care of her and her baby. I make a good living. I am not rich but I can afford to take care of her and the baby."

"So what about Cristina and her career aspirations? Will she be stuck at home taking care of the baby?" Helen interjected. "She does want a career, Owen."

"Well, who says that she can't have a career and her baby, Mrs. Yang. Cristina and I had a long discussion last night about it. We decided that in the near future, she will take a short-term position until the baby is born. We know that companies may not want to hire a person who has to go on maternity leave in a couple of months, so she will look for a temporary position until then. After the baby comes and we put the baby in day care, she can look for a permanent position."

"Day care is quite expensive, Owen," Helen reminded him.

"Yes, I am aware of that but my company offers subsidized day care at an excellent facility," Owen said.

"What about health insurance?" Stanley said. "It is going to be expensive to have a baby."

"I propose to have her put on my company's health insurance as a dependent and the baby, too, when he or she comes. However, this means we have to get married and I am going to take her back to Portland with me," Owen said.

"Married?" Stanley said. This was all coming too fast for him. First, he found out that his daughter was pregnant. Now, she was getting married and moving to Portland. Well, he already knew about the Portland part but everything else was a shock.

"Married?" Helen repeated. "What? When?"

"This afternoon," Owen said. Stanley and Helen both gasped. "This afternoon?" Stanley spluttered. He had just recovered from his son's wedding, the day before.

"I am not sure about everything," Helen said. "I am not sure this is the path where you two should go. It just seems so sudden. I don't agree with all of this."

"We understand how you feel, Mrs. Yang. But Cristina and I are going through with this. We are getting our license this morning and going to shop for rings. We are getting married at City Hall at 4 p.m. this afternoon. We would like you to be there," Owen said.

There was silence in the room. Helen spoke up. "Thank you for telling us. I know that you are both adults but it does seem a little too fast for everything. I am not sure Stanley and I could support this." Cristina looked like she was about to cry. Owen squeezed her hand. "We understand but we are still going to get married. We're going to get the license, now."

Cristina and Owen headed out, got the license and then went jewelry shopping. He could tell that Cristina was a little sad because her parents were not in agreement. When he had proposed marriage the night before, he knew that she would have some reservations because just a couple of months before, she had declared that she wasn't ready. He reminded her that their circumstances had changed drastically and it wasn't going to be about them, anymore. They were going to be responsible for a new life and they both had to grow up and face that. He also told her that they needed to be married for her to be covered under his company's health insurance. "We have to make grown-up decisions, now, Cristina," he told her. "We were always going to get married, anyway."

They found wedding rings they both liked. He even bought her an engagement ring. He dropped to his knee in the jewelry store and proposed. "Now, I know you can't say no to me because we already bought the wedding rings," he joked. She pretended to be thinking about it before she said yes. They both laughed.


At 3.45 p.m., they found themselves at City Hall. Owen was wearing a suit, while Cristina was in an ivory tea-length dress. Her hair was up and she was wearing pearls. Owen's dad, George arrived at 3.58 p.m. He rushed in. "Sorry, sorry, I thought I would get here, earlier."

"You are just in time, dad," Owen said, giving his dad a hug. George looked around and noticed that neither Stanley nor Helen were there. He looked at his future daughter-in-law's sad face. He whispered to Owen, "They're not coming?"

"I don't think so, dad," Owen said. "She is a little unhappy about it so don't mention it." George nodded and enveloped Cristina into a big bear hug.

When it was four o' clock, the clerk called out their names, "Hunt and Yang."

"That's us," Owen said. Cristina took a final look around. She couldn't believe that they weren't really coming. She had tears in her eyes, as she followed Owen into the room.

"Okay, so everyone is here? Can I have the paperwork and identification?" the judge asked. Owen handed over the paperwork and their iDs. "Okay, then, let's get started." There was a clatter at the door and they all turned around to see Stanley and Helen struggling to get through the door at the same time. Cristina started crying tears of joy. She ran to her parents and they both hugged her at the same time.

"Sorry, we're late," Helen said. "But Dad wanted to stop and get a bouquet of flowers for you. He said you're a bride and you needed your flowers. You're still our baby girl and we knew we had to be here." Stanley handed her a beautiful bouquet of white roses and lilies. Cristina kissed her dad, "Thank you, dad."

"So now, can we get started?" the judge said. "Everyone is here right now. No more guests?"

"No more guests," Owen said, happily. It was turning out to be a great day. It was a short ceremony, probably only about 10 minutes in all but they were legally married. Owen kissed her but not a tongue type of kiss, since they were in front of their parents. "Mrs. Hunt," he whispered. She laughed.

After the ceremony, they all decided to take an early dinner at one of their favorite restaurants. Garrett was missing but he and Holly had already gone off to the Cayman Islands for their honeymoon. Julia was also missing because she was back in her city, after Garrett's wedding. As they awaited their orders, Owen said softly, "I wish mom was here."

"Yeah, me too," George said. He wiped away a single tear. "She would have loved to see her boy get married." Everyone was quiet, as they remembered Lana.

When their food came, everyone ate heartily. Owen whispered to Cristina, "I am sorry that I couldn't give you the big wedding with the white dress."

"It's okay," she said. "Big white dress or not, we are still married. And don't they always say that it is the marriage that counts, not the wedding. You could have a beautiful wedding with all of the trimmings and have a crap marriage."

"Yeah, it is the marriage that counts," he said. He gave her a kiss. He was glad that Cristina's parents finally came around. He knew that he had their doubts but he was determined that to prove that they were wrong. He and Cristina were going to make it work. About that, he was sure.


A/N Please leave your thoughts and comments. I do appreciate when you take the time to do so.