"Do you really think it's a good idea to leave them?" I asked Colby nervously as I held Maisie in my arms.
"They'll be here with Sam, Corey, Jake, and Nate. They won't let anything happen to them." Colby assured as Maisie cooed and looked up at him.
"She's gonna miss us." I said causing him to laugh. "We won't be gone too long." He said and reached over to gently caress Maisie's cheek.
It's been a week since we've gotten to LA and we have been looking at houses online. Today was the first day we were going to be looking at them.
I was excited to see the options in person but we thought it would be best to leave all of the kids down here.
I knew we could protect them if it came down to it but I didn't even want to put them at risk.
They would be safer down here.
"I'll go give Sam the rundown on how to take care of Maisie. You go say goodbye to the kids." Colby said as I nodded.
"Okay. Bye, my sweet girl. I'm gonna miss you." I said and leaned down to give Maisie a kiss on the cheek.
"We won't be gone too long, Jules." Colby said with a laugh. "I know but any second away from her is too long." I said with a sigh.
"We can bring her with us if you want." Colby said as I shook my head. "No, I don't want her taken out of her safe little bubble. It's scary enough leaving her." I said then sighed.
"Make sure Sam knows what he's doing." I said then turned to go down the hallway. "I'll make sure." Colby said as I went to go say goodbye to the kids.
When I got to the room I opened the door to see all four of them playing some sort of card game.
"Are you guys leaving?" Jenna asked as I nodded. "Mhm. We're gonna go look at a couple houses and hopefully we'll like one enough today to buy one." I said as Juniper stood up and ran to me.
"I don't want you to go." She said and wrapped her arms around me. "I know, love. We'll be back before you know it." I assured.
"You and Colby won't die?" She asked and looked up at me. "No way. Not even a chance." I said as she frowned.
"Promise." She said and held her pinky out. "Promise." I repeated then linked my pinky through hers.
"Be good guys. Jenna or Carter text Colby or myself what you guys want for dinner." I said and started making my way out of the room.
"Got it, Jules. Make sure to get the best house ever." Carter said as I nodded. "Best house ever. Got it." I said with a laugh then left them alone again.
I then made my way down the hallway and towards the elevator so Colby could meet me in the car.
I had to admit that leaving was actually really scary but I knew I was more than capable to handle any threat that came my way.
Once I got in the car I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the seat. I invisioned a normal life with Colby, the kids, Maisie, and I.
I wanted so desperately to just be able to take them to the park to play without the gloomy fear of someone coming to kill or take them.
It didn't seem possible, however maybe one day we would be lucky.
"You okay, sweetheart?" Colby asked as he got in the car. "Mhm. Just waiting for you." I said and looked over at him.
"I know this sounds bad but it feels good to just be with you for the time being." He said then started the car.
"It's been a while." I said quietly as he reached over and grabbed my hand. I smiled and looked over at him as he brought my hand to his lips.
"Can we get married today?" I asked as his face softened. "You want to?" He asked as I nodded.
I knew it was random and wasn't in the plan for the day, but we didn't have many opportunities to be alone.
"More than anything." I said causing him to grin. "I don't think the kids would be very happy that we did that without them." He said as I hummed.
"They don't need to know." I said as he breathed a laugh. "You're crazy, Juliana White. You know that?" He asked as I nodded.
"I've been told." I said then looked out the window as he drove.
There was a peaceful silence in the car as Colby drove us through the city.
I loved that just being around eachother was enough for us. There was no need for small talk or even in depth talk.
Silence was comforting.
Colby drove for a while before he pulled up to a tall white building.
"This doesn't look like a house." I said as he chuckled. "I thought you wanted to get married." Colby teased.
"I thought you said no." I said as he shook his head. "I could never say no to you, darling." He said then got out of the car and walked around it so he could open my door.
"Thank you." I said with a laugh as he helped me out of the car. "I'm pretty sure we need an appointment to do this." I said as Colby shook his head.
"I'm pretty sure we don't. We do however need a witness." Colby said then looked around.
"Hey!" He called out as a woman was walking passed us. "Don't scare her!" I said with a laugh as the girl who looked to be around 19 years old stopped.
"Is everything okay?" She asked as Colby chuckled. "We're just going in to get married and we needed a witness. Would you mind?" I asked as the girl narrowed her eyes and looked at each of us.
"You really want a stranger there to be a witness?" She asked as Colby took my hand. "I don't see why not?" He said then looked over at me.
"If it makes you uncomfortable though, you don't have to." I said as she shook her head. "No, I think it's sweet. Let's do this." She said then gestured to the building in front of us.
I couldn't help but laugh at her willingness but I couldn't really complain.
"Are you sure we don't need an appointment? I don't wanna be away from the kids for too long." I said as we made our way inside.
"I think you forget who I am, sweetheart." Colby said then walked up to the desk. "How can I help you, sir?" The lady behind the desk asked as Colby squeezed my hand.
"We want to get married today." He said as the lady narrowed her eyes slightly.
"Do you have an appointment?" She asked as Colby shook his head. "No, but I'm sure you can squeeze us in." He said then slid his ID over to the woman.
I watched as her face went white and her eyes slightly widened before her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
"Yes, sir. Go right down the hallway, third door on the left." She said as Colby took his ID and put it in his wallet.
"Thank you....Susan." Colby said after reading the name plate on her desk. "Are you like...famous or something?" The random girl we were with asked as we made our way down the hallway.
"No, I just work with the Governor." Colby explained as I let out a small laugh. "Oh! Sick." The girl said as we walked into the room.
When we got to the door, there was a man sitting in there behind a desk.
"Oh! How can I help you guys." He said with a warm smile. "We're planning on getting married today." Colby said as the guy nodded.
"I see. Congratulations first of all." He said then grabbed an envelope filled with papers.
"Thank you." I said quietly as the guy gestured for all three of us to sit down. "I take it this is your witness?" He asked as I nodded.
"Yeah. This is uh..." I said causing the girl to laugh. "Kaylynn." She said as the guy nodded.
"Perfect. And you two are..?" He asked with an uncomfortable laugh. "Oh! I'm Julia, this is Colby." I said and gestured to Colby.
"Amazing. We're gonna get the marriage license all sorted out then we'll get you two married." He said as my heart fluttered in my chest.
I knew it wasn't the most traditional thing to be getting married like this but I didn't care.
I was so excited to finally be able to call Colby my husband and I didn't care for some elaborate ceremony.
I just wanted to be married to my person.
We spent the next twenty minutes getting the marriage certificate all sorted out then we made our way to the courthouse so we could actually get married.
I felt kinda bad for Kaylynn because she was wasting so much time doing this for us but she seemed almost as excited as we were.
"Are you ready for this?" Colby asked as we faced each other, holding each others hands. "More than ready." I said quietly, causing him to smile softly at me.
"Let's get started then." The judge said as I looked into Colby's eyes.
I knew there were other people in the room but as we went through the little ceremony. Most of it was legal jargon that we had to repeat but had no real emotion.
It wasn't until they gave us a moment to express our love for each other that it started feeling personal.
"Juliana, we haven't always had each others hearts but since we fell in love, I never stopped feeling it. Even when we pushed each other way, you were the only thing on my mind." Colby said as my eyes watered.
"You're my whole world and I can't wait to continue our lives together. I can't wait to raise our daughter together and I can't wait for to be my wife and my partner in crime. I love you more than life itself." Colby said as I breathed a watery laugh.
"Beautiful. Now go ahead, Juliana." The judge said as I nodded.
"Colby, we've been through hell and back in this life and there's nobody in the world I would rather be with than you." I said as Colby reached up and wiped a tear from my cheek.
"The way you take care of my siblings and the way you love and care for our daughter is something I can never thank you enough for. After everything we've been through..I honestly never thought we would get to this point." I said and laid my hand over his as he rested it on my cheek.
"You're my everything, Colby. Today. Tomorrow. And every single day. I love you." I said as a beautiful smile bloomed on his face.
I could hear Kaylynn sniffling behind me as Colby looked into my eyes, before flickering his gaze to my lips.
"By the power vested in me and by the state of California, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss your bride." The judge said as Colby shook his head slightly, before pulling me into his arms and kissing me passionately.
I melted into him, not caring about who was watching as we sealed our love with a kiss.
My mind raced and my heart fluttered with joy, thinking about everything we have been through as a couple.
All of the trials and tribulations didn't matter because in this moment we were happy and in love.
We were finally husband and wife.