Author's notes:

This is actually wrapping up. There will be one more chapter after this, and I might write a sequel sometime in the future. Thank you so much for all the great reviews!

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Kirsten hung up the phone with a disappointed sigh. Her father had called to tell her, yet again, that he wouldn't be able to make it to Berkeley that weekend for the wedding. She and Sandy had already pushed back the date twice already, and she was starting to believe that this had less to do with her father's hectic schedule and more with his objection to her choice of husband.

Sandy had told her, briefly, about the conversation he'd had at the hospital with her father. When he came to see Kirsten the following day, he'd suggested that she might do better to put her child up for adoption so that she could finish school. There would be plenty of time for marriage and children, he assured her. He was thinking about her future here.

Kirsten was glad that Sandy hadn't witnessed that conversation, because she had the feeling that he wouldn't have been at all happy about it. She told her father in no uncertain terms that she was going to marry Sandy and have their baby, and that was that. When she was released from the hospital later that day, she returned home only to pack her suitcase, and she and Sandy spent the night at a motel before flying back to Berkeley the next day.

That had been almost three months ago, and things hadn't gotten much better. Her father still paid her tuition and sent her a check every month. At first she hadn't wanted to cash them, but she didn't want Sandy working hellishly long hours at his job, and her condition was still too fragile to seek employment herself. She'd brought up the possibility once, feeling frustrated that Sandy was both working and going to school full-time, while she was taking a lighter load of classes and doing nothing else. She couldn't cook, so she couldn't even do that for him.

But Sandy had put his foot down. "You have the most important job of all," he'd insisted, patting her stomach. "You have to take care of yourself and little Seth."

So Kirsten went back to cashing her father's checks, hating doing so but knowing that she had little choice. Sandy wasn't too thrilled about accepting the money, but had finally agreed to let her pay half the rent on the apartment, and buy clothes for herself and the baby. He insisted on paying for himself, even if they just went out for tacos. He had been right all those months ago, when he'd said that he was stubborn.

Sandy came into the kitchen as Kirsten was hanging up the phone. He took one look at her face and pulled her to him, drawing her head to his shoulder. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"

Kirsten sighed, still disappointed but soothed by the comforting warmth of Sandy's body next to hers. "The same as ever. My dad can't make it this weekend."

"I'm sorry," Sandy whispered, dropping a kiss on her forehead and stroking her hair. "I know how much it meant to you."

"Not only that, but my mom's not feeling so great either," Kirsten continued. "Although she'd have to stay with Hailey anyhow."

"We could reschedule again," Sandy offered. Kirsten knew what that offer was costing him. He hated her father, but he wanted him to see their wedding because it meant so much to her.

Kirsten shook her head. "No. He's had enough chances already. I don't want to wait for him anymore."

Sandy smiled, hope flickering in his blue eyes. "Does this mean what I think it does?"

Kirsten smiled back. "Why don't we get married this weekend like we planned? It's about time you made an honest woman out of me."

"It's been far too long already," Sandy agreed.

"So…City Hall it is," Kirsten decided. "You have Saturday off work this week, don't you?"

"Saturday and Sunday," Sandy corrected her. "After all, it's not every weekend that I get married to the most beautiful woman in the world."

Kirsten slipped her arms around his neck and kissed him softly. "I love you, Sanford Cohen."

"And I you." Sandy kissed her twice. "So very, very much."

They stared into each others eyes for several moments, before reluctantly breaking apart.

Kirsten sighed. "I still can't believe we can't have sex until after the baby comes."

"It won't be so long," Sandy promised. "You're due in, what, two weeks?"

"Wishful thinking," she sighed. "Two months is more like it."

"After the baby comes, we'll go away together for the weekend," Sandy promised. "First chance we get."

"So the next time we'll have sex will be when Seth's thirty," Kirsten complained.

"You're worth waiting for," Sandy promised. "And I'm very lucky."

Kirsten held on to him tightly, not wanting to let go.

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They got up early on Saturday and took the bus downtown to City Hall. There was a wait of two hours before their number was finally called. The marriage itself took less than twenty minutes. Kirsten and Sandy both showed their drivers licenses to prove that they were over eighteen, filled out an application for a marriage license, and paid a cash fee of thirty dollars (Kirsten insisted on paying half). After another five minute wait, they were given a marriage certificate and that was it. They were now husband and wife.

Kirsten and Sandy went out to dinner to celebrate. Money was still tight, so they went to the Italian place where Sandy worked. The manager came out to congratulate them, and told them to order anything they wanted and it would be on the house.

"I know this probably isn't how you pictured your wedding day," Sandy apologized. "I promise someday, when we can afford it, we'll have a real wedding."

Kirsten shook her head. "When I thought about my wedding day, I imagined that I would love my husband more than I ever thought possible, and that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. So yes, this is exactly how I imagined my wedding day."

"Something tells me your father will be horrified when they hear about this," Sandy grinned. "I know my mother was when I told her."

Kirsten dismissed his concerns. "It's my wedding day, not theirs. And my father will come around eventually. He acts a lot scarier than he actually is."

Sandy shuddered. "He sure seemed scary to me." Realizing that insulting his new father-in-law probably wasn't the best thing to be doing, he changed the topic. "Here, I've got something for you."

He took Kirsten's left hand, and slid a ring onto her finger. "It's just a something I won in one of those prize machines, but I promise that I'll replace it with the most beautiful ring in all of California."

The ring was made out of cheap plastic, but the rhinestone sparkled brightly and it was pretty in its own way. Kirsten smiled. "It'll never leave my finger."

"I've got something else to show you when we finish," Sandy continued. "So hurry up and eat your spaghetti."

"Sandy, you shouldn't have!" Kirsten protested. She hadn't known he was going to give her anything, and she felt bad. She would have to go shopping while he was at work on Monday and get him something nice.

"Maybe not," Sandy shrugged, "but I did. And," he continued with a grin, "We're married now, so you'll have to get used to it."

"I think I can get used to this," Kirsten agreed. She ate another bite of spaghetti.

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After dinner, Sandy drove her out to the edges of Berkeley, to a quiet tree-lined street with a row of little houses. The neighborhood was obviously working-class, but the houses were all well-cared for. He stopped in front of one and got out to open the car door for Kirsten. "This is it, hon."

Kirsten didn't understand. "This is what?"

Sandy helped her out of the car, and gestured towards the house. "The house. It's ours. I know it's nothing like what you grew up in, and it's not that much bigger than my apartment now, but it's got two bedrooms and a little yard in the back where our son can play when he's older."

"Sandy, we can't afford a house," Kirsten protested.

"I called my mother," Sandy explained. "She lent me the money for a down payment. Of course, she made me promise that we'll visit her at least once a year, and this does mean that she'll want to offer her opinion on anything and everything I do, but we needed our own place. I got a mortgage for the rest, and the monthly payments won't be that much more than the rent on my place. My apartment's going to be much too small after Seth arrives."

Kirsten could have been mad that Sandy had made a huge decision like this without telling her. She would have to talk to him about that--after all, they were married now, and big decisions like buying a house should be made together. But Sandy looked so proud and happy that she couldn't let him down. And she would continue to pay her half of the mortgage, no matter how much Sandy protested.

She returned his smile. "I love you."

Sandy put his arm around her shoulders. "Come on, I'll give you the grand tour. All five minutes worth."

She laughed, and went with her husband to see the rest of their new home. It hadn't been a conventional wedding day, but Kirsten wouldn't have changed it for anything.