Chereads / Chords of Life and Death / Chapter 23 - Extra: That day

Chapter 23 - Extra: That day

That day was one of the happiest days of their lives.

The ceremony was small, short, and simple, having appointed themselves for one of those collective weddings. He had opposed at first, claiming she deserved better. He had promised her that he would do his best to get the money for a big, splendorous and dream-like ceremony.

Her argument had been the truth. The whole truth. She clearly told him the reason why they couldn't remain in Newcastle, why they had to constantly move, why she disappeared for ten years, why she had a new face and why she had returned. She told him everything and he listened.

She didn't need a great ceremony, she only needed him.

Very convinced, he immediately signed them up.

There had been only the lawyer who had the certificates ready, the priest who presided the whole ceremony, and the ones getting married. Who were just six couples, including them.

There was no big party, a whole room full of invitees, endless chatter, a magnificent dance, loud music, an impressive dress, a dashing suit or any other person they knew to give their blessings. There were just the soft words of the old priest, the lawyer who impatiently waited for the thing to end, the few invitees from the other couples and themselves.

Judd Faez and Rei Lee's wedding was the most unassuming and common thing in that little town in the middle of nowhere in the vast land of Brazil.

But they were happy.

The after party was something they didn't stay for, excusing themselves because they had a flight to catch. They had stayed almost a month in Brazil, and Rei was starting to get jittery and paranoid, thinking they were being observed. Judd never opposed her if she said she wanted to leave the country for another one.

He was completely surprised by the things Rei had to do so they could survive. Beginning with getting them false identities in some shady place he thought only existed in movies. Well, no, the place looked normal, but, who would have thought that they did illegal stuff? Judd wouldn't.

Food and a roof over their heads would have been a problem if Judd had to make deals all alone. Rei, of course, helped with that. She would also appear with a bag of fruits and water for them. And, she would just smile and peck him if he ever asked where she got them from.

Another thing he was surprised about her were the many languages she knew. He could only stupidly stand by the side while she had fluent conversations in another language with the locals of the place they were staying at. Frankly, that was another reason to love her. If it wasn't for her, he would be a dead soul in a pretty case.

So far, they had been in Spain, Denmark, Iceland, Hawaii, Guatemala, Colombia and Brazil. In the span of over a year, they had 'visited' seven countries; running away from Shadow. Hiding.

Rei constantly apologized to him for the unstable life they had. Judd just made sure she knew why she had chosen her instead of the life he had before. He really loved her and wouldn't change her for anything.

That love, soon, germinated.

The child in her womb took them by surprise. A joyful surprise.

Their coming child also reminded her he still had parents, unlike her.

Thinking his disappearance might have been too sudden, Rei suggested Judd to meet his parents to let them know he was not kidnapped or dead. Judd had been reluctant to visit them, yet he thought it was fair to let them know what had happened to him. Not to tell them the whole truth, but at least his truth.

Though, he was more invested in visiting because he wanted to pick up something from there.

The visit had gone pretty much how he expected it. His parents clearly told him he was no son of them. They yelled at him for being stupid, reckless and a good for nothing kid. They even cursed at Rei for bewitching him and leading him astray. Judd pulled Rei out of the crazy couple's house before their outburst hurt her.

He did achieve his goal of retrieving the cash he had hidden in his old room.

They left without the opportunity to let the older couple know they were going to be grandparents. Not that it was needed, based on their reaction.

They had taken a great risk going to that house in London. Their year of escaping without being able to settle down in a city was tiring and expensive. They were running low in money, so Judd had no other choice but to go.

Judd wasn't expecting anything from his parents. It was actually a miracle they let him and Rei enter the house. It was not worth it, though. Not at all. Maybe the cash was the only thing worth it, but them… Seeing them was not worth the days Rei spent apologizing for telling him to go.

He had reassured her that he cared not for his parents. That from then on, his only family was her and their future child.

With that little money, they could afford two tickets to China where they settled in a very remote and out of the way village with breathtaking landscapes of green mountains capped with clouds and endless crop fields. There, they bought a little cottage and a small patch of land to subsist.

Soon, that quaint place was thought as their home.

Living a rather peaceful life in a land where all that mattered was farming was very fulfilling in its simplicity. Getting and enjoying that peace of being simple farmers made them forget from time to time that maybe, one day, they would be found by their assiduous pursuers.

They just prayed they wouldn't be found. At least, not until the birth of their child.

Luckily, their prayers didn't go unanswered, and they spent the rest of her pregnancy in relative peace. They were only plagued with the problems most pregnant women suffered. Meanwhile, Judd learned how to work the land from his elderly neighbors using his broken Chinese.

Rei often kept him company, holding her growing belly, as he sweated under the harsh sun and tried to plow the unused land they had bought. She felt sad whenever she treated his blistered hands. Those were pianist hands, with spidery fingers and completely untarnished by hardships.

Those beautiful hands had ended up like that because of her.

"Hey," he gently called out, lifting her face with a finger. "This is what I chose. I chose you. I chose our child. I chose this life. There's nothing to be sad about." He brushed one still-blonde lock behind her ear.

Her hair hadn't grown that much in the period of time they got together. Only her dark roots were proof of the original color of her hair. The elders from the village tended to scold her for being silly and ruining her hair to which she replied she would not do it again.

"I love you." He said, pressing her lips on her forehead.

"Hm." She nodded and buried herself in his arms. She liked hearing him say those words every day. And, every day, she felt she was not worth all the effort he was putting. But, she was selfish, and would not let him go.