Cassie loved the way her ring sparkled in the light of day.

In typical Nate fashion, her ring was a show stopper. Like something you would see on someone's engagement Pinterest board, with its large centre stone and sparkly side stones.

It was just perfect and she was absolutely smitten.

Smitten with her perfect ring, smitten with Nate.

Her sparkly stones were now joined by a thinner diamond band. A new addition and the tangible evidence of her new marital status.

Yes, because Cassandra Myrtle Howard was now officially Mrs Nate Jacobs.

Their wedding had been a humble affair, a (secret) visit to the Town Hall on a Tuesday afternoon with Aaron and Gemma as their (unwilling) witnesses. Sure, it wasn't the wedding she had always dreamt of or even hoped for. There was no three tier cake, beaded mermaid gown or jazz band. Her dad wasn't there to walk her down the aisle, her sister wasn't there to hold her bouquet and her mom wasn't there for some last minute encouraging words.

But there was Nate. And there was her. And their son in her belly.

And realistically, nothing they had done so far was remotely conventional so it only seemed fitting their wedding would go down in similar fashion:

A white summer dress, a pair of heeled sandals that fit over her swollen feet and a last minute bunch of flowers from the store.

Still, Cassie looked at the framed polaroids Gemma had so beautifully taken of their day with a big smile. She had everything she had ever wanted- and she truly had never ever been happier.

Telling their families…was a little less happiness inducing.

For starters, Nate- whose Instagram account barely saw any activity- had decided to finally hard launch their relationship and marriage all in the one go. A picture of Cassie flashing her ring to the camera with a big smile as he leaned in for a kiss, over a slice of cherry pie from Dan's Diner.

The caption? Hitched.

And as much as Cassie was so happy that he had made their relationship public on social media, the shit storm that ensued was not worth it.

"Just relax, Cass." He had said when she voiced her concern. "We don't owe anyone an explanation."

But the incessant calls she started receiving from her mother 15 minutes after Nate's announcement told her a very different story. Lexi had no doubt seen it and told Suze immediately. And her mother's reaction was exactly what she expected it to be.

"What the fuck, Cassie?" Suze had raged over the phone, when she finally returned her mother's 9 missed calls. "Who does that? Do you have any idea what you have done?"

"What's the big deal? We were basically already married and about to have a baby." She tried to placate her mother.

"What's the big deal?! The fact you didn't have the courage to tell us about it says it all…you know exactly why this is bad."

And as much as Cassie didn't want to admit it to herself, their strategy had definitely been to just do it and apologise later. This reaction was no surprise.

"Why can't you just be happy for me?" Cassie had asked, tears coming out of her eyes.

"Happy? Cassie, your life has been one big mess for the past year because of that boy. You were crying in my house a few weeks ago all bruised and now you're married to him? Lexi is so disappointed…"

Her youngest had called her distraught and upset at her sister's latest decision. How could Cassie have married Nate after what he had just put her through? For Lexi, who had told her mother she had no interest in speaking to her sister ever again, Cassie's short stint back home had felt like a turning point in their relationship. This? This felt like the complete opposite of that.

"STOP! I'm so happy, Mom. I love Nate and he loves me and you can accept that if you want, and if not, just stay out of my life."

Suze had taken a second to let her daughter's words sink in. What was it about Cassie's personal life that caused such turmoil for her family? Realistically, Cassie was right. Her and Nate were basically married, and would be in each other's lives for the next 18 years regardless of their relationship status.

But this wasn't their modus operandi as a family. They were united by the hardships in their life, rather than divided. They faced their fears as a trio. They were best friends, Suze, Cassie and Lexi. It was maybe this loss of family unity that had scorned mother and sister more than anything else.

"The Cassie I raised," She began, with a deep breath, "would never want to live through these important moments of her life without her family there. I don't know who you are anymore…"

Cassie had hung up the phone sobbing hysterically. Her Mom was furious and her sister had no interest in even speaking to her. This was supposed to be the happiest day in her life and, as usual, it had ended in tears for her.

"Cass, don't let them upset you like this." Nate had told her, his hands running through her hair soothingly. "It's our life, they don't get to decide what's right for us."

And maybe Nate was right, and maybe she was too worried about their approval, but this feeling of despair had her feeling so unsettled. She had gained her own little family, but at what cost? Her sister hated her, her mother was disappointed in her.

Nate's parents had been a little more positive.

Sure, Marsha was a little disappointed to not have been made a part of it, but after all she was the one who had given Nate the ring. Her position on the situation had been made clear from that moment.

Cal had opted to just not say much to the young couple- after all, what use would it have? His son had made it clear time and time again that his father's approval no longer held much weight for him. But despite having come around to Nate's journey, the feeling of dread of his son making his same mistakes rested heavily on his soul.

"I can't believe you allowed this to happen." He had harshly told his ex wife later that day. "Letting them move out, giving him that ring…fuck, you may as well drove them to church yourself."

"This is the most normal our son has been in a long time- and it's no thanks to you."

"Normal? Nothing about this is normal, Marsha." He shouted over the phone, before allowing himself to calm his voice. "Can't you see? We're letting him do exactly what we did…and look at how that turned out?" Cal pushed back the feeling of tears.

"Cal, our problem wasn't that we married young…our problem was that you liked to meet up with random men in motels and fuck them."

That constant feeling of disappointing those around you was familiar to Cassie and Nate. They had struggled to find supporters of their relationship from day dot. Cassie tried to reassure herself there was something romantic about their love defying the scepticism of others, like two star crossed lovers. The basis of most torrent love stories was exactly that, like Romeo and Juliet. She pushed away the voice at the back of her head telling her their love ended in death.

But despite that feeling of sadness at her family's reaction, one look at her ring centred her again.

She had love.

She was loved.

She loved.

Her mother had sat across from her a couple of days after their phone call and asked her, hand in hand, eye to eye, heart to heart, if she truly was happy.

"I know it's hard to understand, or accept." Cassie had conceded, while running her ring adorned hand over her large bump. "But I feel like this is exactly what I'm destined for."

"Okay." Suze had agreed, understanding she needed Cassie to make her own decisions (and mistakes) without the weight of her judgement. "Well, you look good…you look really beautiful."

And Cassie felt like her life looked pretty beautiful too.

All wrapped in one he was so many sins

Would have done anything, everything for him

And if you ask me I would do it again