“Crap!” I try to twist my body into a more comfortable position.

“Sweetie, you’re eight months pregnant. You can’t wear those. Please stop trying.” A pair of comfortable-looking flats appear in front of my eyes.

“I want my heels. I’ve always worn my heels.” I lean back and cross my arms.

Zach kneels at my feet, slipping the shoes onto them. “You haven’t been able to wear heels for two months. Why do you think you’d be able to now? There, they even go with your dress.”

I lift my feet so I can look at the flats on them. I have to admit, they do look cute, and they did come from some obscure country that Zach’s parents visited last month.

“It’s our anniversary and I want it to be special.” I bounce my feet up and down, looking up at my husband.

“We’re both here. That’s what makes it special. I’m glad the doctor cleared you to travel, or we would have had to make different plans.” He sits beside me on the bed and kisses my cheek, one hand going to my belly, rubbing it. Our little one starts moving at his touch.

Every year, we come back to Atlantic City to celebrate our anniversary. We start at the buffet and sit in the same booth. The same waitress serves us.

Our next trek is to the bar for a drink, and Rob serves me grape juice the whole time we’re there. He tells us people still come to the bar and ask about us. He has to come around the bar and feel my little one dancing around. After catching up with him, we head out again.

We skip the wedding chapel, because we decided after our second anniversary that we’ll renew our vows after we’ve been married ten years. We go straight to the courtyard and have them play our wedding song, and we dance to it.

Sam’s voice always takes me back to our second first dance as my husband whispered to me, “Of course our wedding song would be your favorite song.” I smile and lay my head on his chest as we sway to the music. When the song is finished, Sam introduces us to everyone and congratulates us on five years of marriage.

I’m wearing down by this time, and my husband knows it. He leads me back up to our room and takes off my shoes and clothes, helping me into bed. He lies behind me and rubs my back until I fall asleep.

I always knew that I loved Zach, that he was my best friend. But I didn’t realize how perfect a fit we were until we were accidentally married and decided to make it work. It’s been five blissful years, and I love him more today than when we were first married.

***Zach

I watch my wife as she slowly comes awake. I could never have imagined my life without her even before we were married, and now I know that she’s an ingrained part of me.

I step in front of her, holding my hand out to her. She reaches out and puts her hand in mine. Her belly is so big, and the rest of her body isn’t. She doesn’t have much balance these days, so I try to make it as easy as possible for her.

I help her up and lead her to the bathroom, kissing her nose. “Call me if you need me.” I rub her stomach quickly before she closes the door on me. I sit down on the couch and watch television until she needs my help again.

After the fiasco with Catherine, I went into the office the next day and requested another intern. Don asked for an explanation, and I really didn’t want to get her in trouble, but I didn’t want to lie to him either. I told him the truth. He laughed so hard that he almost fell out of his chair. He explained to me that something like that had happened to him when he got his first intern. He assured me that she wouldn’t be fired, yet, but she would receive a strong reprimand for her actions. I was given a new, male intern the next day. Don must also have switched Catherine to one of our other locations, because I never saw her again.

A couple of years ago, Rigby told me that she saw Mark. He tried to avoid her, but she cornered him and asked for an explanation. He told her that he knew he couldn’t marry her because of how she felt for me. She called bullshit, and then he finally told her the truth. He let his mother talk him out of marrying her. She kept telling him that Rigs wouldn’t fit into their family.

Then he dropped a bomb on her.

He and Ryan were a couple anyway, and he was just using Rigs as a cover-up. I laughed at that. I’m sure his stick-up-the-ass mother took that one well. Rigs wished him well and sent him on his way. I’m glad that she got the closure she needed with him.

His loss is my gain.

My wife comes out of the bathroom, looking refreshed, and I hurry over to help her. I pull her dress over her head, and she pushes her arms through as it flows down around her. I help her to sit down, and slide her shoes onto her feet. “Are you ready?”

She nods, and I help her up and out of the door. We walk slowly to the buffet and walk inside. Our parents, some of our friends, and quite a few people who were at our original wedding are there waiting for us. My father hurries over and helps me to get her seated with everyone greeting us along the way. Instead of our usual table, we have a corner of the dining room.

After everyone has filled their plates, the speeches start. I sit back with my arm around my wife and a hand on her stomach as our child moves around. Rigs is eating and enjoying the speakers.

My mother stands up and addresses the group. “I’m speaking for both sets of parents.” She turns to us. “Zach, when you started kindergarten, you never talked about it. I would ask you about your day, and you would say, “It was fine.” Then one day, you came home and told me about a new friend you’d made. You always told me everything that you and Rigby had done that day. I didn’t even have to ask.”

She looks around the room and her gaze settles back on us. “Then you started asking if she could come over and spend the day, then the weekend. The first time I saw you two together, I knew that you would be married one day.” She addresses Rigs. “Your mom and I talked about it constantly. We were impatient for you to grow up and get married.”

Rigs smiles and leans back against me.

My mother turns back to the crowd. “We all know what happened then. They grew up, and although they were still each other’s number one, they kept looking for a number two, even though everyone but them knew that would never work out. But thanks to an inconsiderate bride groom walking away, my son got to have his number one. Rigby also got to have her number one.”

She wipes away the tears rolling down her cheeks. “Zach and Rigby. As long as you remember that you are each other’s number one, then there will never be a problem that you can’t overcome as a family. You have always loved each other and always will. Happy anniversary.”

She sits down, and I kiss Rigs before standing up. “My turn.” There’s a titter amongst everyone. “Rigs, the five years that we’ve been married have been the best five years of my life. When Mark left, I was ecstatic, because I knew I would still have my best friend. We woke up married, and something righted in me. It was like my body was telling me that this was the road we were supposed to take.”

I look around the room before my eyes land on my wife once more. “There was no way I was letting you go. I walked into the courthouse with the intention of doing everything I could to keep us married. It didn’t take much, and as we found out, we had a little help in that area.” Rigs looks at our parents, who all have toothy grins on their faces.

“The day you admitted you wanted to stay married to me was the third happiest day of my life. The first being the day I met you. The second, the day I married you,” I say, answering the question in her eyes. They soften, and I continue.

“We’ve been through a few things, we’ve adjusted to living as man and wife, and we love each other through and through. I’ll always remember that you are my number one. I love you, Rigby Hyde. You are my forever.” I lean down and give her another kiss.

She has been my best friend all my life. She’s now also the love of my life. She is my number one.