Back at home, Owen and Aria took a selfie with their marriage certificates.

    “Madelyn, can I post this on my status?” Owen asked.

    Aria ruffled his hair and said. “Of course. You don’t need to ask me about stuff like this. Just do it.”

    Owen leaned in closer and said, “I was worried you might be shy.”

    Aria gave him a yful p on the cheek and teased, “Come on, we’re an old married couple now. What’s there to be shy about?” She then handed him her phone and said, “Go ahead and post one for me, too.”

    Owen took both phones and fiddled with the captions over and over, finally going with something straightforward and to the point. He posted: [We got our marriage license.]

    Aria’s status blew up first.

    Derekmented: [You two didn’t give us any warning at all? Caleb, help. Owen just snatched Aria away. Let’s gang up and beat him up.]

    Caleb didn’t reply to Derek, justmented: [Congrats on tying the knot.]

    Lilymented: [Congrats, Aria and Owen. Save me some wedding candy.]

    Pearlmented: [Aria, you look gorgeous. Congrats on your marriage.]

    Cathymented: [Hey, you two are way too sudden. I call dibs on being your bridesmaid at the wedding.]

    Vanessa saw the post and immediately DMed Aria. She texted: [Girl, didn’t you swear off marriage? Did Owen force you? I’ll beat him up for you.]

    Owen replied [No way Owen would ever force me. I’m doing this because I want to.]

    Vanessa texted: [Hand the phone back to Aria.]

    Owen handed the phone back to Aria and said, “Vanessa’s looking for you.”

    Aria saw the chat and burst outughing. She said to Owen, “You should probably go reply to thements on your own post.”

    Aria and Owen had a ton of mutual friends, but everyone flocked toment under Aria’s post, totally ignoring Owen’s. Only his coworkers were sending him congrattions.

    Owen figured that was fair. After all, he was the one who had snatched Aria away.

    Seeing Cathy’sment, Aria turned to Owen. She gently lifted his chin and suggested, “How about we have a destination wedding after the project wraps up? Just the two of us, no one else.”

    She thought, ‘If it is taking wedding photos with him, I am more than happy to do it.

    Owen paused for a second, then leaned down and kissed the tip of her nose. He said, “Madelyn, we don’t have to take wedding photos if you don’t want to, but a honeymoon is non-negotiable.”

    He didn’t want Aria to change her mind just because of him.

    Aria reached out and gently patted his head, chuckling. She said, “A day or two for some wedding photos isn’t a big deal. It’ll be a nice memory for us. Anyway, we’ve still got a year and a half.”

    As soon as she heard Aria and Owen had gotten their marriage license, Emma immediately called Owen. She eximed, “Didn’t you say you two weren’t getting married? And you didn’t even give me a heads-up about the license. I didn’t get to prepare anything”

    “Mom, you don’t need to prepare anything. Owen replied.

    “I’ll have the wedding gifts delivered first thing tomorrow morning. By the way, have you two picked a date for the wedding yet? Seriously, don’t worry about a thing-I’ll handle it all, Emma said.

    Owen exined their n for a destination wedding. Then he said, “Mom, don’t get too excited. Madelyn prefers things low-key.”

    “Got it,” Emma replied.

    They’d gotten their marriage license on thest day of their vacation. The next day, they both had to go back to work.

    Owen dropped Aria off at school and handed her a bag before he left.

    “What’s this?” Aria asked.

    Owen grinned and replied, “Wedding candy. I tried a bunch of different kinds-they’re all delicious. They’re already wrapped up, so you can just hand them out.”

    Aria was surprised. She asked, “You stayed up all night doing this?”

    “Yep.” Owen said with a nod. He thought wrapping the wedding candy himself was the only way to show he cared.

    The bag had some weight to it. Aria wondered how many candies Owen had wrapped.

    But the candy never even made it to the office. Somehow, Aria’s students found out about her wedding and rushed over to congratte her. Aria ended up handing out the candy right then and there.

    Luckily, Owen had packed plenty, so she still had enough left to give to Martin and Sophie.

    When Aria got home from work, she found the doorway piled high with gifts. They were all wedding presents from their friends and family.

    One of the gifts had a note attached. It read [Heard you got married. Wishing you and Owen a lifetime of happiness.]

    Aria immediately knew it was from Liam. Thinking of him, her heart remained as calm as still water, just like before.

    It was just another experience in her life, and she didn’t dwell on it at all. It just gave her a bit of a bad vibe. Without a second thought, she tossed the gift into the trash.

    After the project waspleted, Aria and Owen were discussing which ce to visit first when they received a call from

    Cloe.

    “Aria, I’m pregnant with baby number two, Cloe announced.

    Aria eximed, “What?”

    Cloe sounded a bit sheepish on the other end as she said, “Yeah, it just sort of happened. Kim and I are nning to get our marriage license and have a destination wedding, just like you guys-no big ceremony or anything?

    Cloc had started to waver a long time ago, but she never let it show. She just wanted to see how long Kim would keep trying

    It had been almost five years since Kim first found out about Julia. His attitude had never changed. The second pregnancy

    was another ident.

    When Cloe found out she was pregnant, she considered ending it, but Julia asked, “Mom, are you not having a little brother

    or sister because of me?”

    Cloe wanted to say no, but Julia was already a big kid now-smart and perceptive enough to see right through Cloe

    “Mom, it’s okay if you have the baby. That way, I’ll have a sibling.” Julia said.

    When Kim proposed, Cloe finally decided to keep the baby. She felt incredibly lucky to have a daughter who loved her and friends who supported her unconditionally.

    “Aria, where are you guys nning to start your trip? Want to go together?” Cloe asked.

    Owen leaned in closer to the phone and said, “Cloe, let’s not go together.”

    “Alright, I get it. I wouldn’t want to mess with your newlywed world,” Cloe replied with augh.

    In the end, Aria and Owen set off first. They started by taking some pre-wedding and couple photos at home before heading

    overseas.

    The whole trip was about enjoying themselves-it was easy and rxing, not tiring at all. For their final stop, they went to Fraibia.

    Tessa sent Aria a long string of wedding blessings, then tacked on at the end: [You’re in Fraibia, right? Interested in taking on a mission?]

    Aria replied: [So that’s why you waited two months after my wedding to send your blessings-turns out it was all for the mission.]

    Tessa texted: [I just got back from a mission. The blessings are the main thing-the mission is just a bonus.]

    Aria replied: [Fraibia’s huge. There’s no way we will run into each other.]