by Alice Raine
‘Do you have any idea how much a six-bedroomed house in Belgravia costs these days? Tens of millions! Fuck me, I thought I was up on the property market given my job, but I nearly died when the estate agent told me the cost of the first place I’d enquired about! Sixty-nine million pounds!’ Shaking his head Nathan blew out an amused breath, ‘I mean I know I’m well off, but not that well off!’ he said with another laugh. ‘My plan had been to buy a place as an investment and then rent it out when Stella and I move into the house I’ll build, but I’m reconsidering now. I might speed up the schedule for our own build and just rent one in the meantime.’
‘Sounds sensible.’ I loved my townhouse, but I have to say I had actually been a little jealous when Nathan had told me his plans for designing and building a house for him and Stella somewhere outside of London. I liked London, and I knew Becky loved it, but sometimes all the crowds and bustle were too much for me. Although seeing as Nathan was my only family I could easily see Rebecca and I moving out somewhere close by them once they were settled, or at least buying a second smaller property so we could visit frequently.
‘This house is much cheaper and technically not on the market until tomorrow. It’s the one I mentioned in South Hampstead, so not far from here, really. Three bedrooms, nice road. The house has a garden, but there’s also a private park for residents running along the centre of the street. The vendor will consider sale or rental, so we can choose.’
‘Sounds perfect, you should get over there now and seal the deal.’ We were pretty much ready to set off now anyway. Besides, the morning rush hour was over, so this was the perfect time to be driving out of central London. As far as I was concerned, the quicker we got on the road, the sooner we would be arriving at the hotel and then it would just be a matter of one night before I’d be marrying my girl. Thinking of the word ‘marrying’, something I’d noticed earlier sprung back to my ever curious mind.
‘By the way, bro, that’s a nice necklace Stella has on today.’ Stella had her hair up when they arrived early in the morning to help us get organised, and the clasp on the back of her necklace had immediately caught my eye. To your average person on the street it would probably just a look a bit chunky, but I’d seen enough collared subs around Club Twist to recognise that clasp design anywhere – it was the work of Diango, a jeweller used by many of the clubs patrons.
The look on Nathan’s face was a picture; his eyes darted to mine then away again and his cheeks actually flushed. ‘Hmm. Yes, it’s new,’ was all the reply I got, which only hastened my curiosity. I had kept my tone casual for my first questions, but I was prepared to dig a little deeper to see if my suspicions were correct. It seemed Nathan was intent on being cagy with me about it, so fine, I’d simply push for more information.
‘Did you buy it for her?’ Again I used a mild tone, but I watched as Nathan scratched almost viciously at the back of his neck in his discomfort.
‘Fuck. I wasn’t trying to beat you to it, or compete with you, brother,’ he explained sheepishly as my eyebrows rose. I’m not sure I’d ever seen Nathan demonstrate real actual guilt on his face, but that realisation was pushed aside by the more important thought at the forefront of my mind – I’d been right. ‘You collared Stella? Like officially?’ I asked in astonishment, almost in disbelief at this gigantic step for my brother.
Once again Nathan’s eyes darted around the room until finally he expelled a gigantic breath and looked me straight in the eye. ‘Yes. I’m not keen on the whole marrying thing … I think after Mum and Dad … and then the way I’ve lived my life, I don’t know, I guess it put me off.’ Pulling out a dining room chair Nathan sat down, looking very much like he was about to fall down, so following suit I did the same, my eyes riveted to my big brother. ‘But Stella … fuck.’ He shook his head in wonder, and I knew just what he was experiencing, because it was the way I felt every time I thought about Rebecca.
‘I can’t be without her, Nicholas, and I couldn’t risk losing her if she knew I didn’t want to get married, so I did the only thing I’m capable of and offered her this link with me.’ I nodded my head in understanding, seeing as Nathan had told me that their relationship was mostly vanilla but with some aspects of Dom/sub living thrown in, it made perfect sense, really. ‘It’s another compromise to add to the many that have come before,’ he said with a dry laugh. ‘Anyway, after finding out about the baby I didn’t want to wait any longer to ask her, so I did it last week and she said yes.’
I felt my chest puff with pride at the huge step that Nathan was taking and I reached across and gave him a hearty slap on his shoulder – his uninjured one – before smiling. ‘Congratulations, Nathan. I think you two are perfectly suited.’
Nathan looked a little bashful, staring at the table in embarrassment, but I didn’t miss the smile that tugged at the corner of his mouth. ‘Thanks, brother, I think so too. She’s amazing. I’m sorry it’s just before your wedding, believe me, that wasn’t intentional. After I got out of hospital it hit me how close I’d come to … well … let’s just say it made me realise what was important and I knew I just had to make her mine.’
Nathan’s accident had put things into perspective for me too, all those days sat in the hospital thinking I was going to lose him, the man that had saved me all those years ago, had been unbearable. I didn’t care when, how, or where he’d sorted out things with Stella, I was just pleased that he’d done it. Trying to ease his concerns I gave a firm shake of my head. ‘Don’t be daft, I think it’s excellent news. Did you have the full collaring ceremony at Club Twist?’ I asked, marginally hurt that if he did, he hadn’t invited me.
‘God no. We hardly go there anymore now. It was just the two of us. I kind of caught Stella unaware actually, sprang it on her, but luckily it all turned out alright in the end.’ Just then we heard the mumble of voices signalling the return of Rebecca and Stella to the dining room so after giving my brother one more reassuring wink we stood up to meet them.
‘Well, super organiser Stella says we have everything we need now,’ Rebecca said with a grin, indicating to the huge handwritten list that had spent the last two months stuck to our fridge and being amended and updated daily – probably hourly, actually.
‘You sure there’s nothing else we can help with?’ Nathan questioned shrugging his jacket on.
‘I think we’re good, brother. Thank you both for coming round so early to help us out.’ With our wedding being up in the Lake District it wasn’t exactly like we could ‘pop home’ if we forgot something, so I knew that having Stella check over the list of things would help put Becky’s mind at ease. ‘Just don’t forget the rings, will you?’ I said in a solemn tone. My brother was so controlled over everything in his life that losing the rings was not something I had any worries about, but Nathan was so easy to wind up that a little joke never went amiss.
‘Give me some credit, Nicholas, do you seriously think I would fuck this up for you?’ he muttered as he straightened his cuffs. Despite the slightly stressful start to the day I was in a seriously good mood and very tempted to tease him further, but at the reproachful look Rebecca flashed me I relented and grinned at him instead. ‘I know they’re in safe hands, Nathan, I was kidding. So, you’ll be driving up to the hotel this afternoon after viewing this house?’ I confirmed.
Sliding an arm around Stella’s waist Nathan nodded. ‘Yes, we shouldn’t be on the road much after you, actually. Once we arrive I’ll drop Stella off at Rebecca’s parents’ house then drive over to the hotel and we can relax with a few drinks in the bar.’
‘And we can settle in for some bubbly with your mum and sister!’ Stella said enthusiastically, but then almost immediately sighed as Nathan gave her a disapproving look. ‘Well, you can all have the bubbles. I’ll stick to grape juice,’ she joked with a roll of her eyes as she rested a hand on her tummy and smiled up at Nathan. I still couldn’t quite believe that my brother was going to be a father, but as I watched the way his eyes drifted to
Stella’s stomach and a tiny smile curve his lips I just instinctively knew that he would be great at it.
Thirty – Rebecca
I couldn’t believe it was finally here. The big day. The day I would vow to love and honour Nicholas until death did us in. Our wedding day. And to top it all off it was an absolutely beautiful day – the sun was shining and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, which for late March was pretty lucky. Someone somewhere was obviously looking out for us today.
Shaking my head in disbelief at my sheer luck I smiled. Wow. It felt quite surreal actually, all of us girls crowded into mum’s living room – we were down here because it was bigger than the bedrooms – and I gazed around at my closest family, Mum and Joanne, and my best friends in the world Stella and Louise and just tried to soak up the excited atmosphere and commit it all to memory.
Smiling affectionately I watched Mum and Louise as they fussed over Joanne’s hair, pinning and clipping it in various different trial runs as they tried to decide what style would best suit her for the day. It had taken a little persuasion, but after several long visits to Joanne in the residential centre where she lived, my sister had decided that she would like to be involved in my big day after all and so was being my third bridesmaid. Considering her condition this was a pretty big deal to not only her, but me and Mum too. Obviously with her fear of crowds and strangers Jo couldn’t travel on public transport, there were far too many possible triggers for her, and squeezing her in the car with Nicholas, me, and all the garb we’d needed to bring up for the wedding yesterday had been impossible, so my parents had driven down earlier in the week to get her. To be honest, I knew my mum would love it if Joanne lived up with them, or in a care home near them, but for now my sister was content to be near me.
I heard a muffled banging in the hallway outside the door to the living room and then it swung open as Stella waltzed in carrying a tray containing a bottle of fizz, a small jug of orange juice, and five glasses. ‘I might not be able to drink, but I decided we may as well start the day off as we may to go on!’ Placing the tray down she looked over to us with the champagne bottle hovering above the glasses. ‘What’s it to be, ladies? Champagne, Buck’s Fizz, or boring old orange juice like me?’
‘Champagne, please!’ I chorused at the same time as Mum and Louise. I was feeling a little nervy so a glass or two of fizz might help to relax me. Only one or two though, I didn’t want to be tipsy and falling down the stairs at the hotel as I made my grand entrance. Stella poured and disturbed the bubbling glasses before filling an orange juice for herself and turning to Joanne who was looking a bit unsure. Walking over to my sister I sat down and slid my arm around her waist. ‘Glass of fizz?’ I asked softly, ‘You can have one or two without affecting your meds, I checked with Nurse Claudine yesterday.’ I felt her relax against me before she looked to Stella with a shy smile and accepted a glass of champagne.
My mum suddenly cleared her throat and raised her glass. ‘To my two wonderful daughters!’ she managed, before choking back a sob and dashing towards Jo and I for a three-way hug. Clutching at them both I suddenly felt an immense wave of emotion sweep over me; partly from the excitement of the day, but also because a rush of memories about my sister’s attempted suicide flooded my brain. Even though she had a few issues now and would probably always be on the medication to keep her calm, I was so very grateful that she had survived.
‘You two are squashing me!’ Jo squeaked from somewhere in between me and Mum, and as I released my grip and saw the tears rolling down Mum’s face I suspected she was experiencing a similar set of feelings to me right now.
‘Enough of the tears! This is a happy day!’ Louise said, picking up her make-up bag and straighteners. Louise was one of those women who was just instinctively good at doing hair and make-up, unlike me, who was the complete opposite. As a wedding gift she’d offered to do me, Mum and all the bridesmaids today, which was not only very kind, but also saved the stress of having another stranger here with Joanne too. ‘Mum’s already done, although you might need a bit of a touch up with waterproof mascara now you’ve been crying, Leanne! Who’s ready to go next?’ she asked, wiggling the make-up in the air.
‘Oh! Me!’ Jo squawked, plonking her glass down and jumping from her chair. ‘I’m already showered and I loved the way you had my hair, can you make it look like that again?’ Jo asked, just as I heard Mum mumbling to Louise that she didn’t need clumpy waterproof mascara and that she just had something in her eye. Louise held back her laughter and instead flashed me a wink as she headed over to my sister and set down her bag. ‘Waterproof, Leanne, it’s the way forward,’ she announced to my mother, before looking back to Joanne. ‘Of course I can re-do that hair style, it looked beautiful, and I’ll do your make-up if you like?’
As I sipped on the deliciously cool champagne and allowed the chaos around me to continue I saw Stella wave the bottle at me before heading my way to give me a top up. The champers was relaxing me nicely, but I wouldn’t have too much more; as well as worrying about falling over I also wanted to remember every detail of today. Giggling, she nudged me playfully in the ribs, ‘So Miss Langley, soon to be Mrs Jackson, how are you feeling?’
At the thought of being Mrs Jackson and being married to Nicholas I couldn’t help but grin broadly, because as sappy as it sounds, he really was the love of my life. ‘Pretty amazing, really.’ There was one thing niggling at the back of my mind, but I’d been repeatedly telling myself I was being stupid so pushed it down yet again and decided not to mention it.
‘What’s the matter?’ Stella asked suddenly, causing me to turn to her swiftly. How did she know what I was thinking? Seeing my look of shock she rolled her eyes at me and then reached up to tug my hand away from my hair where it had been frantically twirling and tucking a strand behind my ear. ‘You’re one of my closest friends, do you think I hadn’t noticed that you do this when you get anxious?’
God, could everyone read me that easily? Nicholas had spotted my ‘little tell’ within hours of meeting me, although sometimes I felt completely transparent to him so it wasn’t surprising, but now with Stella’s words it became quite apparent that my traits were obvious to others beyond him. Well wasn’t that just frigging marvellous?
Jerking my head to indicate that we move out of earshot of the others we took a few steps back for more privacy. ‘I’m fine, no last minute nerves. I promise,’ I told Stella honestly. ‘The thing is, I am a little worried about Nicholas backing out.’
Frowning, Stella immediately shook her head, ‘There’s no way he’d do that. He’s completely head over heels with you, Becks.’
Nodding I chewed on my lip. ‘I know, but … our men aren’t exactly relationship experts, are they? I keep panicking that I’m pushing this all on him and that he’s going to freak out today.’ This had been my fear for a few months now, for a guy like Nicholas with basically no relationship experience this must all seem completely mental to him.
It had turned out to be really convenient that Nicholas and Nathan’s relationship pasts had certain similarities, because it was so good to be able to talk completely frankly with Stella about Nicholas and his issues without fear of judgement. Almost as soon as I’d said it I felt a relief just from having shared my concern and was immediately thankful for just how close Stella and I had grown since meeting.
Stella’s right hand rose up and began to fiddle with her necklace as a wistful look crossed her face before she nodded, ‘True. But he’s the one who proposed to you, he wants to be with you, Becky. And besides, you’ve kept the wedding pretty small to lessen the stress for him. He might be totally smitten with you, but he’s a tough enough guy to stand up for himself if he had really disagreed with any of the plans.’
I ran this through my head a few times and decided that Stella was probably right. I was no doubt panicking about nothing. ‘Would you put my mind at rest by giving Nathan a call for me to check that everything’s going smoothly over at the hotel?’
>
‘Of course. I’ll call him now. You need to go and get your hair and make-up on, it’s only two hours until we need to leave.’
Glancing around the chaos of Mum’s bombsite of a living room I could at least see some semblance of readiness beginning to emerge from the piles of breakfast plates, clothes, hangers, and make-up; Stella was dressed and looking gorgeous – Nathan was going to blow a gasket when he saw her – Mum was almost done, she was dressed and her hair was styled but she still needed her make-up re-touching. And there in the centre was Joanne, looking a little timid but beautiful in her navy silk bridesmaid dress, her hair all clipped up like a model and the final touches to her make-up being done.
Sipping my champagne I heard Stella giggle on the phone and felt my shoulders instantaneously relax; if she was laughing everything must be fine over with the brothers. Phew. As she ended the call I watched her make her way around the discarded shoes and champagne bottles towards me, still smiling. ‘I told you there was no need to panic. Nathan says everything’s fine.’
In my relief I took a large gulp of my champagne, choked slightly, and very nearly sprayed it all over Stella. ‘Nathan said there is not a cold foot in sight. In fact, Nicholas is so excited about marrying you that apparently he tried to call the registrar to bring everything forward by an hour.’ This time I really did spray some champagne, but thankfully it just sort of escaped my mouth and dribbled down my chin rather than spraying Stella’s gorgeous outfit. Nicholas tried to bring the whole thing forwards? Was he insane? Seeing my panic Stella grinned, ‘Don’t worry, it was just a moment of madness. Apparently they’re nearly ready now and are planning on heading down to the bar to greet everyone soon.’