It was back to Hot Java coffee shop in Long Beach for Annie Parkhurst and her partner Sylvia Rodemeyer early Wednesday.
The two had been there twice before – on Monday and Tuesday mornings – anxiously waiting a pair of decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court that would decide their very near future.
Third time was a charm for the two, as they finally heard the news they had been waiting most of their six-year relationship to hear.
"Yes! Oh my gosh. Yes," Parkhurst exclaimed as she hugged her soon-to-be wife.
The Supreme Court's historic rulings Wednesday striking down California's Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage and the Defense of Marriage Act is a huge milestone for the couple, who had a wedding ceremony (pictured below) after they were engaged at a Proposition 8 rally in 2010.
They held onto a marriage certificate case, engraved with their names, that has remained empty until now.
"It says Annie and Sylvia Parkhurst and it was a little sad," Parkhurst said. "There's nothing in there."
"Not being able to make it legal was really hard for us and it was in the back of our minds that whole day," she said of her wedding day.
The couple's first step will be a trip to the courthouse as soon as same-sex marriages can be performed in the state.
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"Does that mean I can change my name?" Rodemeyer asked Wednesday.
"We can change your name now," Parkhurst replied. "That'd be nice. We've got a lot of things to do."
