At first, Lailani Stone didn't want to rush her wedding.

But when Robert Calivo got word he was to be deployed to Kuwait as part of the Hawai'i Army National Guard earlier this year, she quickly changed her mind.

"I was worried about what if something does happen to him," said Stone, 19. "You never know."

So when Calivo came home from basic training, they planned a simple, intimate wedding on May 22 at Ko Olina Resort & Marina with just their immediate families. He wore his Hawai'i Army National Guard dress uniform; she wore her Winter Ball dress. Luckily, it was white.

"It was very last-minute," Stone said with a laugh.

The couple decided to have the reception, though, at Chili's Grill & Bar in Kapolei. It was the site of their first date exactly two years and two days earlier. Back then, it wasn't instant attraction.

Stone and Calivo both attended Pearl City High School — even went to the same church — but they didn't know each other.

It wasn't until their sophomore year that they finally met during a church retreat.

They were assigned to work on a group project together. And they didn't exactly get along at first.

"It wasn't one of those 'love at first sight' things," Stone said, laughing.

But the more they hung out at church and school, the more they liked each other. He was mysterious and intriguing; she was bubbly and fun.

By senior year, they were officially a couple.

"He was funny, he loved God, he was loyal, he was talented," Stone said. "He was always there when I needed a friend. And even though I knew so much about who he was, I couldn't help but think there was another side to him that I wanted to get to know, too."

Just teenagers, they weren't talking about marriage just yet. They were still young and having fun, going to the prom and hanging out with their friends.

But when Stone got pregnant right after graduation, marriage was one thing — among many others — they had to start thinking about.

"It was really hard," said Stone, who works part time at Craft Supply of Honolulu at the Pearl Highlands Center. "It was a lot harder emotionally for me. I couldn't do the things I wanted to do, I couldn't look the way I wanted to look."

She had to give up going to college and hanging out with her friends to raise a child. And Calivo had to get another job. He left Leeward Community College and joined the Hawai'i Army National Guard.

It was hard, Stone said, but it was also an adventure.

"I remember being scared," she said. "But I was excited, too."

Robert Calivo III was born on March 10, 2004 after 20 hours of labor. Robert stayed overnight with Stone, who was living with her parents in Waiau for the first few months.

"He loves to play with him," Stone said. "He's the fun dad. But when he has to be, he can be the strict dad, too."

Their parents wanted the couple to get married before the baby was born, but Stone and Calivo didn't want to rush it. They wanted to take marriage classes through their church and plan a traditional ceremony and reception — until Calivo got called to serve in Kuwait. Suddenly, getting married was a priority.

"I was worried," Stone said. "But to be honest, I had a feeling he was going to be fine."

Incidentally, on the day of his goodbye party at his parents' house in Pearl City in June, Calivo got hit in the eye with a bungee from the tent he was setting up outside. It was so bad it required surgery. He wasn't going to Kuwait after all. At least not yet. (Calivo is scheduled to deploy to Kuwait next month.)

For now, they're living with Stone's parents and planning for a future together, one that includes an 18-month-old baby who's the center of their world.

They may be young, but they've been through so much. And now marriage has started yet another chapter for them.

And they're not complaining.

"I definitely see him more often," she said, smiling. "It's nice to have somebody to wake up to."

Reach Catherine E. Toth at ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com.