“You have a name?” He asks just as the music for the bridal party starts up.
“Yes, but I can’t tell you right now, it will be revealed later on.” I whisper before moving away and staring up the aisle towards my beautiful girl. No bridesmaid’s just her and her dad.
When she reaches my side we move from the centre slightly and I quickly move Sam over to the same side as Jodi’s friend.
“What the fuck is happening?” Cal asks.
“Oh, you and the missus need to stand on that side. Emily and Terry are repeating their vows right now at the same time.”
“Asshole.” I laugh at him as he storms away. “Don’t fucking try it. I have a daughter to bring down here.” He must think I’m crazy.
When they make it down the aisle also, we all stand together Jodi and I, Terry and Emily. Her dress is amazing and I’m sort of jealous that Cal gets to give her away twice. I lean towards her and whisper in her ear.
“Fuck Emily, you look amazing and I’m so happy I get to share this with you. Thank you for finding us and helping to save me.” Her watery smile knocks me off kilter.
The sermon goes off and before I know I even repeated my vows or in reality anyone else did, we are at a reception Jodi planned for all four of us. Jodi and Emily stand and move towards the host. When they grab mic’s they look out on the crowd and everyone turns silent. Emily starts, leaving Jodi red in the face.
“I swear I met this amazing woman seven years after she returned from Iraq, a broken woman. I mean hey, we have both been through our own type of warzone but that means nothing, life trips and taunts, ruins and rips you apart. The only life you want to live is with someone who seems to have it all. Don’t get me wrong, Jodi was as broken if not more than I was but only because I healed for a long time before she came along. I’m not taking away from that. But what I am saying is, every one of us can build a life be it unstable at the beginning; we can all climb from the debris and brush off the soot. What we can’t all do is fight every idiot to tell it as it is. Jodi is that woman; she is the epitome of someone who knows how to truly exist someone who knows that no matter how many bad hands have been dealt, her next would be better. This lady right here is one of my very best friends,” she turns and theoretically winks at me and everyone laughs. “In all honesty, I don’t have just one best friend. Jodi’s new husband has to take centre spot in this whole thing. He is my idol and I will forever idolise him. Don’t get cocky though, you’re not that fucking hot.” I wink at her and she smiles at me. Man I love this girl like a sister because she is just pure heart. “Cory showed me how to be the real me again despite everything, he showed me I was a valued person who deserved everything and could take anything I wanted. All I had to do was be me. I can’t thank either of them enough for the help, guidance and friendship they have given me and I am here for them no matter what the next hurdle we are thrown.”
“Here here!” I shout and everyone cheers.
“Okay, settle down.” I see Jodi struggle slightly with her breath and I want to storm over and help her but she smiles and continues. “I wanted to share this day with my best friend even more because she deserves everyone to see her, see how amazing she is. I wanted everyone I know to know exactly how amazing this one woman is and how her support and guidance are why I’m now here married to the one man who was made for me.” She coughs into her hand and instead of me rushing over Emily turns to her and must ask if she is ok. “Sorry, still not the best at extended speech.” She hacks again and my throat catches it’s not normally this bad. I slowly move around the table towards her with a glass of water in my hand.
“Baby, are you ok?” The worry is evident in my voice.
“I’m ok.” She wheezes.
“You are not; take a break, we can do our speeches while you catch your breath.” She shakes her head.
“Sor-ry about that. Someti-mes my speech do-esn’t work. I’m still learning.” Her face is red with the exertion.
“Okay all, let’s have Terry and Cory speak while Jodi catches her breath.” The DJ shouts and we take over while Emily leads Jodi back to her seat. I see her dad heading her way and lead the speeches to thank everyone, keeping it to a minimal as does Terry.
Jodi
My words are freaking fuzzy, leaving me kind of wheezing and confused.
“Baby girl are you ok?” My dad asks as Cory and Terry take our places.
“I….iiii th..iii..nkkk s..o..oo.”
“Too much talking do you think?” I just nod at him as he passes my glass again, making me drink more water. “You have stuff written down I can read, or I could do it personally? I want to thank both these men anyway and could do you justice.”
“Em…iiii…lyyy?” For fuck sake I thought this was over.
“Oh your mam and I have something special for that girl, don’t worry.”
“Do h..err ju..sti..ce.”
“We will baby girl, don’t worry.”
When Cory and Terry finish up their thank you speeches my parents walk over and grab the mics. My mam hugs both men before my dad pulls Cory towards him, no manly slap on the back but a full on hug that brings tears to my eyes. I down the water in front of me as Emily gets someone to bring me more.
“Are you ok?” She asks as I nod.
“Okay calm down now, it’s about time I had my say,” my dad says and an immediate silence engulfs the room. “Both my girls deserve the world. Both have been through the wars in one way or another and I’m going to make sure everyone knows just how amazing they are. Each in their own right to be fair, but both in extremely rare circumstances. My baby girl Jodi; we spent our lives together wanting nothing but the best for you. Your mam and I wanted you to have everything handed to you on some sort of invisible server while you pivoted on a pedestal that was made for you because you are worth it and a million times more. You were and still are our very own miracle. We have smiled and thanked some higher power since he blessed us with your presence and reluctantly,” he laughs knowing its innocent banter, my mam slaps his arm, “handed you over to this man who is perfect for you in every single way, but be sure I will make sure he remembers who rules in this whole dynamic. Get it?” He aims at Cory. When Cory nods, I giggle breathlessly. “Emily sweetheart, we thank the lord for the day you entered our lives. I swear you couldn’t be more family than if we had have had you ourselves and I know this is a little sad of us but you are ours as much as our princess and we would be privileged if you would have us also.” My mam walks over towards us both with a gift in her hand and hands it over to Emily.
She gasps as she releases the strings attaching the ribbons.
“No freaking way!”
“Yes way, you are our honorary daughter, I wish we could make it official but this late in life we can’t. What we can do is make sure you have the best future you and your husband could ever want for and this is a small token of that.” She turns to me with her framed picture of Terry, her and my parents altogether and a cheque for fifty thousand pounds and silently asks if this is ok. I laugh at the look of pure disbelief on her face and nod at her.
“Don’t argue.” I say, noticing my voice has stabilised. “These people deserve you just as much as you deserve them.”
“We can’t take this. These are your parents not mine Jodi.”
“The moment you welcomed me and introduced yourself to them, you showed them you were family. Shit, I wish I’d have thought of this and not just my shitty speech, which to be fair I couldn’t finish because I’m useless.”
“Jodi, you never have to finish I know what I mean to you. You are my home, my best friend and my sister forever. Thank you for doing all of this. Sharing your special day with us and making my life almost whole again.”
“You aren’t whole?” It hurts me to think we haven’t done enough.
“Well, no one can ever bring back my face, I love me but shit I wish there was some quick fix. I love what I have but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want
what I had before.” My face must drop because she jumps in before I can speak. “I don’t want my past, just my face, I just don’t want to wear these scars for the rest of my life and have people judge me forever for them.”
It hurts my heart, I might wear some of my scars but they will never match Emily’s, mine are easily hidden, hers are forever on show.
“We don’t see them you know? I mean we know they are there but you are beautiful because your soul is. I doubt we would have met if you didn’t wear them and then where would I be? Oh that’s right, I’d be still lost as would Cory and Terry, hey even the parents so let’s just be thankful your awesomeness out shines your scars.”
“You know how to make a girl cry on her wedding day you know that?” she kisses my cheek before turning to our guests and speaking once more.
Emily
“Not many people would share their wedding with someone; especially someone who has suffered at the hands of someone else. But here we are sharing a beginning, hell we share more than that. We share something that normally we won’t allow others to entwine with. Each of us share a common denominator. We share what others don’t easily admit to and that is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. We each share it not because we have suffered something the same but because we suffered something totally different. There is no telling when this deadly condition will strike or who it will attack, what it does is it brings out the absolute worse in people and there is no definite cure; what we do get in our minimal recovery is maybe someone who can share it in some sort of recovery. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying people can’t recover from this I’m a prime example but what I’m saying is there is no definite cure. What you see is what you get; we all still have to play our part. So, because we all thought this was just the day Jodi and Cory said their vows ours was a secret; I’d like to ask you all to dig deep to donate towards PTSD Organisations.”
“Emily, didn’t you read our invites?” Cory shouts towards me.
“I didn’t get an invite.” I say looking at him before flicking my eyes towards Jodi.
“Here sis, you better check it out considering this is your day as much as ours.” He says as he walks towards his wife, chucking an envelope at me before wrapping her in his arms as Terry grabs me and whispers in my ear.
“Shit, you’re hot when you’re all bossy.”
I open the envelope and almost faint.
“Really?”
Cory
“Yep, cross my heart.” I act out the older brother routine while she looks at me like I’m crazy.
“You want me to be a mentor?” She asks.
“I sure do. But I want you to train specially to do it.”
“I’m not sure I’d be good at it.” She says looking at me like I’m crazy.
“You would be the perfect person to do it.” She looks at the letter again and then bursts into tears.
“Finding faith with PTSD? You changed the group name?”
“Yep, can’t just have PTSD group meetings now can we?” I say looking at her during our joint reception. She rushes me and throws her arms around my neck.
“Shit I might love you more than your wife right now.”
“Get off my wife.” Terry shouts as he pulls her from me.
“Hey take her, she’s far too much for me to handle I’m good with my angel.” I say as he grabs me and pats my back in some sort of man hug. “Can’t thank you enough for sharing your group with my girl, she needs something.” I look at him as he pulls back and nods.
“She deserves the best and she’s the best when it comes to mentoring those who need her. As are you when I need to find people so don’t go slacking off, you have a permanent job for the foreseeable.” He smiles a weak smile.
“I didn’t find your girl.”
“No, but you fucking tried.” He smiles at me and then takes his girl in his arms as I turn and find mine.
“Dance with me baby?”
“Never ask me Mrs Jenson, I’m yours always.” As the band strikes up she holds up a miniature jar, one I’d had placed at every place setting. “What is this about?”
“Those are wish bottles. I had the original and it was a lot bigger but I had them made so everyone got one.”
“You had the original?”
“Yes.” Shit. “Erm, well I always wanted you.”
“So you had a wish bottle?”
“Yeah, well I had it. I threw it away after you left.” I say knowing my face would be beet red.
“Did you chuck it into the sea?”
“No, I just thought I’d never see you again and that would be it.”
“So, you threw it where exactly?”
“I just threw it. But my wish was exactly this; that I’d find you one day and we would spend the rest of our lives together raising our family.”
“Well…..”
Chapter 37
Jodi
“Well….”
His face sinks as if expecting something bad after all the good he has done today.
“Well daddy, I think life’s about to get so much more hectic.”
“What do you mean?”
“We are pregnant baby.”
“What?” His face explodes into the most amazing smile I think I’ve ever witnessed on the face of anyone. “You mean you’re having another baby?”
“Shit I hope that’s what being pregnant means because if not some fucking freaky shit is going on.” I smirk at him and he wraps me in his arms.
“You kept this from me.”
“Nope, just found out this morning. Haven’t seen you around all day and now I’m emotional, everyone’s beautiful words are killing me.”
“Shit.”
“You aren’t happy?” My face must drop because the next thing I know I’m spinning through the air in his arms.
“So fucking happy baby; just a little stunned. Another baby, I can’t wait to meet him.” His lips invade mine before I can respond. Kissing Cory as my husband makes me know everything is right. Every bad thing has been wiped and my life is eventually totally right. God I love this man.
“Might be another girl.” I get out when he pulls away to look at me.
“Nah it’s a boy, I know it.”
“We will see.”
“So are you ok with your mam and dad having Fred and Sylvia over to visit Cleo while we honeymoon?”
“I am, didn’t think I would be but they were ok when I rang and said I was giving them this one chance. Are you ok with your mum and dad visiting while we are away?”
“Yeah, everything is good with them.” He smiles at me a full faced smile which has my insides doing backflips.
The MC grabs a mic and welcomes both of us and Emily and Terry to the floor for our first dance.
Ellie Goulding singing How Long Will I Love you fills the air as we wrap ourselves in the arms of the men we love and who love us despite our downfalls but make us stronger because we have them as our pillars.
Cory
The whole day passes without a hitch and is made even better because we shared it with our best friends. When I grabbed Jodi at the end of the night so we could give Emily and Terry the last gift we had for them before we left for our week away in heaven or the Maldives as it’s really known, Emily sobbed her heart out at our gift of a five day break to the Bahamas with the chance of stretching it out if they wanted to. Emily point blank refused adding more time away because she was so desperate to take control of the group sessions knowing I’d entrusted her with so much power where others wouldn’t.
8 Months Later
Cory
“Baby you need to push.”
“I’m tired Cory, I just can’t do it anymore.”
“Baby you have to a couple more pushes and he will be here.”
“It might be a girl.”
“I’m glad we didn’t find out, all this fighting wouldn’t be near as hot if we had.” I smile at her but know I’m pushing her already fragile nerves.
“I can see this babies little head, the next two pushes should have her crowning.” The doctor says making Jodi smirk at me.
As her contraction hits, she bares down as the doctor counts out her breathing. “One more, this time should do it then she will push herself out.”
“Push baby.” She screams and shoves my hands from her body.
“Don’t fucking touch me.” Jodi screams as we all pull ourselves away but stay close for when she’s ready for us.
“Breathe, breathe.” the doctor motions for me and when I move towards the bottom of the bed I see one of the most amazing sights ever. “Say hello to your baby, Cory.”
“Wow.”
“We want you to be ready to catch this baby so stay close. The next contraction should see this baby wriggle free.”
When Jodi’s next contraction hits our little one makes its hurried entrance into the world.
“Congratulations to you both; it seems I was wrong. Meet your little man. There’s nothing wrong with his lungs.” The doctor laughs as he hands me some medical scissors for me to cut the cord.
“I knew it was a boy.” I smile proudly, staring between my wife and my little man. “I love you baby.” I say kissing Jodi all over her face.
“How is it you knew?” Jodi asks disgust written all over her face.
“I didn’t know and didn’t really care, I’ll just keep knocking you up, I like you pregnant.” I laugh at her facial expression.
“Please let us have a break. It’s far too early to think about having another.” I nod at her as I stare at two of my three beauties.
“Did you pick a name?” I ask knowing she has this right I named our princess after all.
“His name is Will Caleb Jenson.”
Her Delayed War Page 16