Work Text:
“Ugh, I want to eat nothing else in my life, but Sutlach.” Clary whispered into Maia’ ear, as they walked around the room.
The other woman chuckled, amused by what her wife had said. Wife. Wow. She had never been happier, than she was right now. Maia had all the people that loved and respected her and Clary, surrounding them, and she had just married the love of her life. Her soulmate. They would spend the rest of their lives together, as wives.
She thanked G-d again, for putting Clary in her life, before focusing fully on the other woman again.
“Where are we going?” At first, Maia had thought that Clary had wanted to get her somewhere private, to kiss her without having to worry about watchful eyes. But they had long since passed the bathrooms and the kitchen, and Clary was still walking.
“You will see.” Clary replied, then looked around to see if anyone was watching them.
“Are you planning to escape from our wedding reception?” No one had said birkat hamazon yet, and the wine hadn’t been blessed. “We can’t just disappear. We are the brides!”
“Just trust me with this.” Clary’s eyes met Maia’s and the other woman didn’t even hesitate before nodding. If anything, she had trusted Clary with her life. And she would follow her everywhere, even to the edge of the world, just so they could be together.
Clary opened the front door, and Maia could see an Uber driver waiting for them. His eyes widened when he saw their white dresses, but Clary was quick to calm him down. “We are the brides! No one is running away from abusive husbands.”
The man didn’t ask any more questions, only opened the door of the car, and helped to fit two gowns inside. It were moments like this, when Maia was grateful they had both decided on a simple A-line skirts, and not huge ball gowns. Clary had given him some address, written on a small piece of paper, and his eyebrows shot up high. “You sure you are okay?” He asked with a thick accent.
“Yes!” The redhead replied. Maia could feel her vibrate with nervous energy right next to her, so she reached for her hand. A moment of gratitude passed between them, as their eyes locked, and Clary visibly relaxed.
The drive didn’t take long, but the streets they were passing didn’t clear the confusion in Maia’s head. She had no idea where her wife was taking them, or what awaited at their destination.
“Do you want me to wait for you?” The driver asked, after stopping the car. Maia looked out of the window, but the neighbourhood didn’t look familiar at all.
“No, thank you.” Clary replied, as she handed him the money. He walked out to open the doors for them again, then got back into his car, without even wishing them ‘everything best’.
“Just one more moment.” Clary reached for Maia’s hand again, and led her inside a small restaurant. The place was awfully empty, but the old man behind the counter didn’t seem startled by their presence, nor their clothes.
“Ahhh, yes.” He said, after spotting them. “You sit down here, and I bring it.”
They both sat in a small booth, facing one another. Maia took in their surroundings - the dirty yellow color of the walls, a few flowers in the short vase on the table, the squeaky brown upholstery - but she could feel Clary’s gaze on her the whole time, and it was distracting.
Before she could ask what was going on, the man came back with a dish in his hands. “Enjoy!” He said, before putting it down.
“Surprise!” Clary said, as Maia stared down at the familiar shape. “You told me so many times last week, how much you miss eating kubaneh, so I found this guy. He had amazing reviews online, and promised to cook one for you.” For some weird reason, Maia had never tried to bake kubaneh, while living with Clary, even though it was one of her favourite dishes of all times.
Clary continued to talk. “So I thought, what a better gift than to take you out on our wedding day, so you can eat it. It even has the grated tomato dip.” She gestured towards the small white bowl, that came with the bread.
Maia just reached for the bread, and tore off a piece. She had never expected to eat a traditional Yemenite Shabbat food on her wedding day, yet, here she was, in a small restaurant, doing just that.
Clary watched her chew and swallow, anticipation clear on her face. “So? How is it?”
“This is absolutely..awful.” Maia lowered her voice, so the man wouldn’t hear them. The bread was terrible - nothing like she had had. She didn’t believe it could even pass as the kubaneh.
Clary’s face fell at those words, so Maia was quick to reach for her hand. “Hey.” She said. “This is the most wonderful thing anyone has ever done to me. I thought it was impossible to love you even more. Marry me.”
“We are already married.” Clary replied, the smile back on her face.
Maia couldn’t help herself, so she leaned over the table to steal a kiss.