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As the young lovers arrived downtown, dressed in their wedding-day finest, ready to pledge lifelong devotion, they found chaos swirling around the Wake County courthouse — police circling everywhere.
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Any marriage celebration encounters some hiccups, but this couple found their courthouse shut down for a double shooting in the alleyway off Fayetteville Street, canceling all business for the day.
Love wouldn’t wait. And neither could Grandma.
As they fretted and paced outside, up walked a random ordained minister — ready to rescue the day.
“I’ll marry whoever’s out here,” said Angela Davis, a deputy clerk in her day job. “They let us out of the courthouse early, I think I’m still certified, and here we are.”
With that, Rebecca Stewart and Billy Khantawong marched across the street to Nash Square with their families and friends, where Davis signed the paperwork on the matron of honor’s back with a borrowed pen.
“We just always try to choose joy,” Stewart said.
“This is how we’re going to attack life,” her new husband chimed in.
Stewart and Khantawong have known each other for 20 years — since their days at Broughton and Athens Drive high schools, respectively — but reunited at a Spill Canvas concert at Lincoln Theater.
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Stewart’s cousin recently married, and at that ceremony, her 87-year-old grandmother gave them a not-so-gentle shove toward nuptials. A more formal celebration will follow later.
But even with the occasional siren, the couple’s kiss sent the day soaring past the day’s turmoil — a burst of humanity that nothing could stop.
“We’re married,” said Stewart, taking in her new husband in his crisp blue suit. “I’ll be dipped.”
With that, they retired for celebration drinks across the street at Whiskey Kitchen, and they invited Davis along.
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Later on, she told them.
She still had two couples to marry.
This story was originally published May 22, 2026 at 3:33 PM.