It was all very Dharma and Greg; meeting and immediately falling in love and rushing to the altar. It was so unconventional, in fact, that Clay had the distinct feeling he was doing the right thing. His life as of late had not been what you could call �normal,� and he liked it. Sure he was tired and worn out, but when you got right down to it, this is how he�d have chosen his life, no alterations.

Clay was the type who didn�t want to sit at home watching life pass him by, he loved living by the seat of his pants, on the fly, never knowing what was coming next and never wondering if he was doing the right thing. He didn�t second guess his decisions, not anymore, and he trusted his heart. He loved life, and he loved Barb, no matter how weird that would sound to an outsider.

Barb was not used to this type of lifestyle. Normal for her had been going to classes, working, studying, hanging out with friends and seeing her family, when there was a free second presented to her. This was something different, this boy who had come into the bookstore and whisked her away. She barely knew him, and he barely knew her, but for some reason, it didn�t matter.

A Las Vegas wedding run by a post-drugs Elvis was not exactly what you would call picture-perfect. Specifically when one of the attendants, or witnesses, threw up all over Barb�s sneakers. All of the all you can eat buffet signs hadn�t escaped him.

There were no media frenzies or people asking Clay for his autograph; the two of them were lost in their own world, together, and were not bothered by people outside their happy bubble.

Though wedded bliss, after the honeymoon, is hard to come by. Especially with Clay needing to get back to his tour, and Barb needing to get back to her life.

"You can come on tour, you know," Clay said, lacing his fingers through hers as they sat together on a plane back home. "We�re married now, you don�t have to go back to your life."

"I know," she replied, sighing. "But it IS my life, and I can�t do anything without telling everyone first and making the proper arrangements."

"You�ve only got one semester of school left, just transfer."

"Who transfers schools when they�ve only got one semester left?"

Clay shrugged, and leaned his head back, "But it�s, like, four months long, a semester."

"A perfect amount of time to cut loose ends and...stuff." "Stuff like what?" "Tell my family I�m married, for instance. My dad�s gonna flip out, Clay. He�s been planning my wedding since I was nine, you know, saving up. Not actually making preparations."

"We�re married now," Clay stated, turning his head so he could look at her face on. "And we�re not going to spend time together?" "It�s not exactly a conventional marriage," Barb laughed. "You�re on tour, and...where are we going to live?" "On the tour bus, probably." "What am I supposed to do on the tour bus? I�ll need to get a job, and---" Clay cut her off, "You don�t have to get a job. I can support us, as a husband should."

Barb rolled her eyes, shifting in her seat; Clay dropped her hand. "I want a job, I don�t want to rely on you."

"I understand that, but I want a family. A real family, not a family that�s together whenever they find time." "That won�t be us," Barb promised, kissing him softly. "After four months, we�ll figure something out. But I can�t just go with you and not finish school. I�m going to get a degree in journalism, you know. I could probably find a job as your PR person or something."

Clay�s eyes lit up and he turned his whole body in his seat, taking her hands in his, "That�s perfect! We just fired my PR person! Well, we didn�t fire her. The management did...but they were doing interviews. I�ll just call and have them hire you."

Barb looked a bit skeptical, but didn�t say anything; she knew things between them would be okay. Everything would fall into place and they wouldn�t have to worry. Things had a way of working out, and she was sure things would for them. Or at least she hoped they would.

News of Barb�s quick engagement and even quicker wedding spread fast throughout the small community; her family took it surprisingly well, they were happy that she was happy, which she very obviously was. Her friends were encouraging, but also questioned her decision. They knew her well, and knew that all she�d ever wanted out of life was a loving husband and a family, which is exactly what Clay had always wanted too.

On paper, the two of them were perfect together, so who in their right minds would try and stop them from being happy? Clay�s family were excited beyond belief for he and Barb, and very supportive. However, when news got leaked to the media, things were less than perfect.

No one ever said that life should be plotted out in black and white, and no one ever said that you had to have x amount of days being engaged before you could be married; as such, no one ever said that a star�s private life belonged to the world.

Even though what the media printed was mostly a jumble of lies and opinions and unnecessary unkindness towards Barb, the newlyweds' spirits would not be dampened.

Their parade, Clay decided, would not be rained on.

MTV put a different spin on it all and invited Clay and Barb to partake in a new version of Newlyweds, a show that used to belong to Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson. They claimed that the MTV viewers would want to get to know Clay�s wife better.

Clay rejected their proposal; he wanted to keep them out of the spotlight as much as possible. However, this would be immensely hard considering he had just bought a rather large home in Los Angeles for them to live in, once Barb had completed school.

She loved the house and could not wait to move in. During the time she was away from Clay, she realized that she wouldn�t have changed this relationship for the world. She was beyond determined to make it work, no matter how hard it was. She did love him, and even though some people couldn't understand how, she knew it was true.

"It's different," Clay said eventually, smiling at the host benignly. "I've never been married before, obviously, and these are...should I say...interesting circumstances."

"Why, was she pregnant?"

"Good heavens, no," Clay replied, laughing. Barb giggled from where she was watching on the couch in their new living room. They were still in the middle of decorating and getting everything settled, but the large house was beginning to feel like home to she and Clay; he had decided to do an interview so that people might leave them alone...but as it was, so far, it just seemed to fuel the fire.

She didn't care; as long as they were together, nobody else in the world mattered.

"I just mean that I've never fallen in love before and I never knew it could happen so quickly," Clay continued, a smile still on his face. "But as soon as I saw her, the second I did, I knew I would marry her. I said to myself, 'Self, you'll marry that girl one day.' I just didn't know it'd be so soon."

"What made you decide to do it?" The interviewer asked, looking interested. "After only having known her for about twenty four hours."

Clay shrugged slowly, "We're in love. People in love don't do things that make sense to other people."

"Well, that much is true." Laughter from the studio audience. "Clay, I wish you all the happiness in the world."

"Thank you."

Barb met Clay at the door a few hours later; she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him slowly, savoring the moments they had together.

"I love you, Clay Aiken," she said, pulling him inside and closing the door.

He pulled his coat off, and snuggled into her, "I guess you saw the interview?" They both laughed and fell onto the couch, holding each other. "I love you, too."

"We're crazy, aren't we," Barb joked, running her hand through his spiked up hair.

"Completely."

"But it's a good crazy."

"Absolutely." He kissed the tip of her nose.

"How long after the honeymoon should a wife be pregnant?" Barb started to sit up, but Clay held her down.

"What?"

"I said---"

Clay laughed, "No, I mean...well...what are you saying?"

"I'm asking a question."

He scrunched up his face, thinking, "Well. I don't think there's a set amount of time."

"No, I didn't think so either."

"Why?"

"I, ah, well..." Barb floundered over her words and finally stood up, looking down at a recumbant and smiling Clay. "We've been married for seven months."

"Yes, we have."

"I'm pregnant."

Clay jumped up from the couch so fast it was like it had bitten him. "You're PREGNANT!?"

Barb smiled sheepishly, "Yes. I've been quite sick in the mornings...and I went to the doctors this morning to see if maybe I had some sort of flu bug. Apparently not. He says I'm a month along."

Happiness spread across Clay's face and he seemed to be speechless; he picked her up and flew her around the room, hugging her closely. Actions spoke far better than words, especially when there were no words to express how amazingly happy you were.

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