“I know I’ve said this before, but I wish I had never married Angela,” Paul told Nita one Sunday afternoon when they were at her place.
“I wish you’d never married her too.”
“I don’t want her to keep my name anymore but I’m not sure I can force her to go back to using her maiden name.”
“Have you spoken to anyone about it like a lawyer?”
“Yes, I did and he said, that after a divorce a man cannot force his ex-wife to drop her married name but he could make a request to her to do it.”
“Does this apply to an annulment too?”
“I guess so.”
“I guess you don’t like the idea of the two of us having your last name at the same time.”
Nita was still reeling from the fact that she was engaged to him. He had popped the question last night over dinner at their favorite restaurant. After leaving there, they went to his place for a nightcap and to celebrate. It was after midnight when he took her home so, she had to wait until the next morning to call and tell her mother the exciting news.
“As far as I’m concerned, I will have only one wife and recognize only one marriage.”
“Yes, I get to have all of you.”
“You already have all of me.”
“Except your name.”
“That, you will have very soon. When would you like the wedding to be?”
“How about October?”
“Why October?”
“Yes. A friend once told me that it is the most popular month for a wedding.”
“All right, then. We’ll have the wedding in October. The ceremony can take place at your church or mine and the reception can take place at the River Room.”
“Why the River Room?”
“It’s in downtown Wilmington and it has large bay windows, overlooking the Cape Fear River.”
“Sounds great.”
“We can start making arrangements as soon as we set a date.”
“How about October 22nd?”
“All right. Let’s make it October 22nd.”
“Now that we have a date, we can start planning what kind of wedding we want and how many guests we want to have.”
“I’ll call both of our churches to find out if October 22nd is available for the ceremony.”
“And if that date is open for both churches, which one do you want to have the ceremony at?”
“I guess the bigger of the two because we might have more guests at the ceremony than at the reception.”
“Then, we’ll do it at your church. Mine isn’t that big.”
“All right. I’ll call the office tomorrow and leave a message.”
“Where would you like us to go for our honeymoon?”
“A place where I get to see you wear a bikini.”
Nita smiled. “How about the Bahamas or Grenada or Hawaii?”
Paul went over to her. “Any one of those will do,” he murmured as he took her in his arms. “Although, it would be great to have a private island all to ourselves where we can go skinny dipping and then make love in the sand afterwards.”
“We can pretend right now that we’re on that island. The shaggy rug in front of the sofa can be the sand.”
“I love the way you think, Nita” Paul muttered.
He released her to drag the tee shirt off and she quickly removed her top. In a matter of minutes, they were naked and back in each other’s arms, kissing wildly. That lasted for a while and then, he backed her over to the rug. He pushed her down and stretched out on top of her. Her hands gripped his arms as he parted her legs and thrust against her. The sun streamed through the windows bathing their bodies as they made love.
Sources: Marriage Name Change; Wedding Wire; Zola; Travel Triangle
Notes to Women 