Inside, the office was dimly lit, with several, bored-looking women, mostly older women with glasses, sitting at their windows.

                            Robert, still holding Donna's hand, whispered, "Pick a window." Donna giggled.

                            "Let's just go to this one." She said, using her other hand to point ahead of her. The pair approached the window, and Robert spoke.

                            "We're here for uh, I mean, can we get a marriage license?" He asked, his voice slightly trembling. Up until now, their impending wedding had just been talk. But now there would be some form of legal documentation that sealed the deal.

                            "Just fill out these forms and then turn them in up here." She said, handing them each a clipboard with a paper on it. Robert passed one to Donna and then took the other, grabbing two pens from the cup on the desk.

                            Donna hesitated for a moment before writing anything. Just write it, you've already come this far, She thought.

                            Donna twiddled the pen in her hand, and then proceeded to write the designated details. She looked over at Robert, who was scribbling at lightning-fast speed. How could he do this so easily? Didn't making an important life decision on practically a moment's notice bother him as much as it did her?

                            She finished writing and signed the line at the bottom of the form and handed it to Robert, looking into his eyes. Robert wasn't sure, but he thought he'd seen the presence of a single, glistening tear. He walked up to the counter, and handed the clipboards back.

                           "Now I just need to see your birth certificates, social security cards, and ID or license. The fee is sixty-five dollars." Said the woman. Donna stood up and withdrew her wallet from her back pocket, pulling her ID out and grabbing her other papers from Michelle's hand. She returned to the counter, where Robert had already given the woman his own.

                        "Alright, I'll be right back with your license." Said the clerk with a smile, disappearing in the back.

                        "Have any doubts?" Whispered Robert. "No," Donna whispered back, looking down at her shoes. The clerk reappeared, and handed Robert a soft green-tinted paper, titled MARRIAGE LICENSE.

                         He handed it to Donna, and she looked it over, swallowing deeply. Staring back at her in black, Times New Roman print, her name had been placed above his, and designated Bride, his Groom.

                          The clerk took her pen and pointed to Bill and Michelle. "Are these your witnesses?"

                           Donna nodded. "You two need to sign." She said, holding the pen out. Donna placed the license on the counter and both Michelle and Bill signed the lines marked, Witness. Bill pulled the money for the fee out of his pocket and handed it to the clerk. Michelle placed her arms around Robert and Donna's shoulders.

                         It would be hard, letting her only daughter go and disappear into the life of her only non-relative employee. But it had been agreed upon, and if they were satisfied, so was she.

                         "Now this will be valid, for ten days. After that, it expires, and you'll have to get a new one." said the clerk. Ten days, how to get married in ten days, and make it last forever.. Thought Donna.