Epilogue

A few weeks later...

They managed to time it perfectly for once, getting an appointment before the same judge who had administered Diego Javier's oath of citizenship, on exactly the first anniversary of their wedding in Las Vegas.

Javier and Letty, holding Angelina, were sitting on a bench outside the judge's courtroom, across the hallway from Paulo, Paulito, and Maribel, who had come to witness and celebrate. Letty freed one hand and reached across to slap Javier's hand away from his other wrist, where he had been nervously scratching his new SCS tattoo.

"Stop that. Rub, don't scratch," she reminded him.

Turning his head, he actually glared at her – although he did put his hand down.

"Why are you so nervous?" she asked quietly.

That got a Duh eyeroll added to the glare. "I'm sitting in a courthouse, with dozens of cops around. That's one step away from prison," he nearly hissed, as quietly as he possibly could.

Letty turned her torso to give her husband a steady, level look. "You are not going to prison," she reassured him. "Not now, not ever. This is why." She reached across to tap the tattoo.

Javier nearly rolled his eyes out of his head, then gave a sarcastic, whispered, "Si, Señora." Then, giving her a comically mean glare, he used his other knuckles to frantically rub the LLM tattoo on his left wrist.

She started to splutter, but just at that moment, the courtroom door opened, and they were beckoned inside by the judge's clerk. Maribel bobbed up and bounced across the hall as Letty stood with her daughter. "May I hold her for you?"

"Oh, I was hoping you would!" Letty beamed, and handed the baby to the teen girl, then leaned over to kiss her on the cheek. "For luck!"

"Yeah," Javier agreed. "For luck!" And he leaned over to add his kiss to Maribel's other cheek, then turned towards the courtroom.

"Hmmm!" Letty huffed with mock outrage, raising her eyebrows at the blushing girl – then grinned at her.

A minute later, Letty stood in the open area before Juez (Judge) Manuel Ortiz, Javier a step behind her left shoulder, holding her hand and giving support. The Rodriguez clan – plus baby Angelina – were watching from the gallery.

Juez Ortiz shuffled the papers on his desk and looked interestedly at the pair before him. "¿Señora Nicoleta Perez? ¿Quiere hacerse ciudadano de Ecuador?" You want to become a citizen of Ecuador?

"Si, su señoría." Yes, your honor.

"¿De donde eres?" Where are you from?

"De los Estados Unidos, su señoría." From the United States, your honor.

Juez Ortiz's gaze turned quizzical, and he switched to fluent English. "It is unusual for someone to emigrate out of the US. Spanish is not your first language then?"

Letty gave him a grateful smile. "No, your honor, I'm still learning the language. But I've been studying the citizenship information, and the oath, to make sure I understand every word."

"Well, I am not going to test you on it, like they do up north. But I am going to ask you a question: Why?"

"The truth, your honor?" she asked automatically, and blushed when he said, "Preferably!" – but he was smiling, too.

"Sorry, your honor," she apologized, then paused for a moment. "Honestly, your honor, if it had been completely up to me, I doubt I would have ever left the US. And Ecuador would definitely not have even been on the list. But... women – and men – have been following their new husbands or wives to new lives in new lands since... civilization began. I'm no different." She bobbed her head sideways towards Javier and said simply, "Where he goes, I go. And he settled here. But just because it wasn't all my choice doesn't mean I'm unwilling. I'll be as good a citizen as anyone born here." This, perhaps the most honest speech she'd ever made, was delivered with such an air of direct sincerity that the judge couldn't help but be impressed.

He nodded. "Good answer. Then raise your right hand."

And thus did Nicoleta Rosa Perez became a legitimate citizen of Ecuador.

The judge then turned to the next page in his small stack. "I understand the two of you now wish to renew your wedding vows?" he asked with some perplexity – this was not a common thing in his country.

Javier took the half-step forward so he was even with Letty, still holding her other hand. "Yes, your honor," he replied, continuing in English as the judge had done. "For two reasons. First, we want to make sure that our marriage is absolutely legal and proper here, and no one will ever have a reason to tell us it isn't. And second, well..." He glanced at Letty with a half smile. "This year has been pretty rough. We were separated for part of it – and not by choice. So we want to renew our vows, and our promises to each other."

"Your rings?"

Javier held up his left hand with a rueful grimace. "Unfortunately, neither will come off now – our fingers have swollen."

Juez Ortiz laughed. "Then just touch them at that time, and pretend. If you will turn towards each other, and join hands..."

This time, both Letty and Javier would remember every word, every emotion, every moment of the ceremony for the rest of their lives. They had endured the toughest challenge they would ever face, and their love had triumphed. They knew nothing could ever have the power to threaten their marriage, their commitments to each other, ever again.

And so Diego Javier and Nicoleta Rosa Perez began their long second life together, raising their daughter into the capable, courageous, intelligent, beautiful young woman she would become; always in close association with their good friends, the Rodriguez family.

But that is an entirely different, and very long and very boring, story.

After the twin ceremonies, and all the congratulations had been given and accepted, and all the papers signed and seals affixed, Paulo and the kids took the three Perez's out for a celebratory dinner at the finest restaurant in Guayaquil. (Paulo had tried to make Javier promise not to make even any mental notes on recipes, but the professional chef couldn't resist, and came away with several ideas.) At the end, the servers brought out a special desert, supplied ahead of time by Paulo: a white cake, decorated American-style. On top, in English, in yellow, red, and blue icing (the colors of the Ecuadorean flag), was written:

CONGRATS
MR & MRS
100% LEGIT

.

.

Author's note: thank you so much for reading to the end! If you liked the story, please consider leaving a review, both to pay the author, and to help others find it! Thanks again!