“Elope?  Can we really do that?”  Liz tried to bring some reason into the thought.

“Why can’t we?  I can’t wait to marry you, surely we can find some place close tonight that we can get married.  It’s less than a week until Christmas and what better way to celebrate with our families than telling them we are married for Christmas.”

“So you are saying that you want to spend our honeymoon with our families, constantly surrounded by people?”  Liz asked teasingly. 

He stretched his right hand out and caught her unaware as he attacked her ribs with gentle fingers.  “Do you think this is funny?”

Giggling, she squirmed away from his touch.  His playfulness was just one more thing that she loved about him.  “Both hands on the wheel, mister!”  With one last tickle, he moved his hand from her ribs to grasp hers tightly. 

JC tapped on the brakes as he moved over to the exit lane to merge onto another highway.  Liz reached down to her purse on the floor and grabbed her phone.  “Any ideas where to look for a place that will marry us?”

“Google is a good place to start.”  He released her hand so she could open her phone and start searching. 

“Is this too crazy?  I mean we haven’t even met each others families.  You may change your mind after you meet mine.”

JC turned serious for a moment.  “Liz, I want you to take a moment and really think this through.  You didn’t really have an opportunity to say no earlier.  Is this what you really want?  I have a very hectic and public life.  You need to make sure this is something that you really want to do, because this will be forever.”

“Pull over for a second.”  JC did as Liz requested, finding a parking spot in front of an open shopping center.  He quickly put the car in park, leaving the engine running, and turned to face Liz. 

“Jace…you are the man that I never thought I would meet.  I thank God every day that I dialed your number those days and not the other Josh.  You came into my life for a reason and have made every day brighter.  You floored me tonight when you asked me to marry you, but I have never wanted anything more.  I love you and can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.  I don’t want to wait another minute.  I want to marry you…now…tonight.”  She leaned over and met JC halfway as she backed up her words with a heated kiss. 

Drawing away enough to look into his blue eyes, she asked one more question, “Do you have doubts?”

“No doubts, absolutely no doubts.”

“Then let’s go get married.”

They each settled back into their respective seats and looked out the front windshield.  There was an enormous church across the parking lot in front of them that was brightly lit. 

“Perfect.”  JC drove quickly through the parking lot and parked in the nearly empty church parking lot.

They met in front of the car and walked hand in hand quickly up to the large front doors of the church.  JC pulled open the door and let Liz proceed him inside the beautifully decorated foyer.  A couple exited the sanctuary, talking, until they noticed JC and Liz making their way towards them. 

“Can we help you?”  The man, dressed well in a nice suit and tie, asked in a friendly tone as the short woman next to him looked on curiously. 

“Good evening, my name is JC and this is my fiancée Liz.  We were looking for the minister.”

“Well, you’ve found me.  I’m Luke and this is my wife Mary.  What can we do for you?”

After JC shook Luke’s hand, he placed an arm around Liz’s shoulders.  “We were hoping you would be willing to marry us tonight.”

Luke raised an eyebrow as he looked between the two.  “Marry you,” he said slowly.  “May I ask what the rush is?”

“The rush?  I guess the rush is that this is the most amazing woman on the face of the earth and I don’t want to spend another day without her as my wife.  She knows me better than I know myself, just as I know her better than she does.  I love this woman more than life itself and will do everything in my power to make her as happy as she makes me.”

Liz hurried to reassure the minister.  “We are not rushing into this, we are both anxious to start our life together, but don’t want to have to deal with the stress of planning a wedding.  Both of us have enough stress in our lives already and we are positive that God brought us together and that we are not making a mistake.  Will you please do us the great honor of marrying us?”

Considering their words, Luke looked down at his wife, who nodded her consent.  “Alright, I’ll marry you.  Do you have a witness?” 

JC and Liz shook their heads. 

“Would you be willing to be our witness, Mary?”

“I would love to.  Liz, why don’t you come with me so you can freshen up and we can search for something that will work as a bouquet and Luke and JC can take their places.”

Wiggling her fingers at JC, Liz let Mary lead her down the stairs to a group of older women seemingly finishing a meeting.  “Ladies, this is Liz and she and her fiancé are eloping tonight.  Luke is going to marry them upstairs.  Can you help us make this into a wedding to remember?” 

The women had all stared when Mary and Liz had entered, but now they realized they had work to do and jumped into action. 

***

Hearing the soft sounds of a nearby piano, JC glanced over at a woman who had snuck in to play the beginning strains of the wedding march.  He cleared his throat and adjusted the tie at his throat.  When Liz had left with Mary, Luke had ushered him to a nearby office, offering JC a dark suit for the wedding.  JC had quickly changed and had been waiting impatiently for Liz to make her appearance ever since. 

Now a few women made their way to sit in the first couple of pews as JC tossed a look of confusion toward Luke. 

“They had a meeting downstairs and helped get Liz ready for your wedding.”

JC threw them a grateful look and a smile until his attention was drawn to the back of the church.  Both doors had been thrown open to frame the portrait of his bride.  The smile slowly disappeared as his breath caught in his throat at the vision she portrayed.  Somehow, the women had managed to find a beautiful white dress that had been used in a play and had dressed Liz in all its finery.  Her makeup and hair were perfect and the candlelit sanctuary complimented the flowing bouquet she carried. 

Their eyes met and held as she walked down the aisle to the wedding march.  JC descended the stairs to meet his bride.  He tucked her hand through his arm as he escorted her back up the stairs to stand in front of Luke.  “You are beautiful,” he whispered as the music faded. 

Luke spoke for a few minutes about love and how it should be treasured and protected against all odds.  He moved on to the vows that Liz and JC exchanged, knowing that this would be forever, no matter what challenges came their way. 

Having no rings to exchange caused a momentary panic until JC suggested they use the ribbon in Liz’s bouquet.  A pair of scissors was quickly produced and the ribbon was cut and tied so the wedding could continue. 

Soon, Luke was announcing them man and wife and giving JC permission to kiss his new wife.  JC took a moment to bask in the love shining back at him in Liz’s eyes, before he settled his lips on hers.  His hand carefully cupped her face as the women clapped. 

Breaking apart, the newly married couple turned to walk back up the aisle as Luke introduced them for the first time, “I now present you Mr. and Mrs. Joshua Chasez.”

“Thank you so much,” Liz said as she gave a big hug to Luke and Mary.  “You will never know how much it meant to us that you made this night so special.” 

“We were glad to do it, you are a couple that is going to make it, I can sense these things.”  Mary commented as another woman rushed up to them. 

“Wait, I didn’t want you to leave until you got these.  I know they won’t be as nice as a professional would have done, but at least you’ll have something to show people.”  The woman pressed something small into Liz’s hand. 

Palm open, she showed JC.  The woman had given her two memory cards.  “One has pictures and the other has a video of your vows.”

That brought tears to Liz’s eyes as she gave the woman a tight hug.  “I don’t know what to say…thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

Once they changed back into their own clothes, they started out the door to their car under a flurry of rose petals the women had found somewhere.

Inside the car, JC honked as he pulled out of the parking lot on their way to the hotel Liz had been staying in only a few minutes away. 

Liz covered her nose and mouth with her hands as she squealed.  “Oh my gosh, Jace!  We are married!  MARRIED!”

“I know!  Can you believe it?  You were the most beautiful bride I have ever seen.”

“You didn’t look so bad yourself.  I can’t believe how nice everyone was, they didn’t have to do any of that for us.  I don’t think I could have planned or dreamed a better wedding than that.”

“It was amazing.” 

JC parked the car near the back entrance Liz directed him to at their hotel.  Shutting the engine off, the couple just turned to look at one another for a moment in the silence. 

“Shall we go inside, Mrs. Chasez?”

“I would love that, husband of mine.”

While JC grabbed the duffel he had placed there earlier and locked the car, Liz dug through her purse for the key card to unlock the back door of the hotel.  She linked her arm through JC’s and led him up the stairs to their room. 

“It’s a good thing that you will be off work the next couple of weeks because I’ve waited this long for you and I’m not letting you venture very far.”

“That sounds like a threat.”  Liz said as she unlocked the door and prepared to enter until his hand on her arm stopped her.  JC tossed in his bag, not caring where it landed.

“Not a threat,” JC said as he swept her into his arms to carry her over the threshold.  “Merely a promise, a lifetime full of promises, Mrs. Chasez.”

“The best kind,” she whispered as the door closed behind them with a soft click, locking out the rest of the world.