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by Dizzy Girl

  I unzipped the bag and found, to my delight, a dress the same colour as Tonia’s, but floor length, sleeveless and with a delicate bow around the empress line. A long loose skirt flowed under it, and Charlie presented me with a box containing matching heels. I forgot how many other people were in the room and starting undressing, this was the kind of dress you couldn’t wait to put on. I twirled to show off how it looked, and the three of us stood there, in the middle of the living room, looking our finest, and bursting with smiles.

  “Your five minutes are up” Myrtle announced. “Dresses back in their bags please. Careful of the zips as you close them, don’t catch the fabric. Shoes back in the boxes please. I’ll label them all carefully and store them here. You can come at 8am on Saturday and we’ll get your hair done here, get dressed and go together in the car to the hotel.” Her efficiency was terrifying but effective. We were just closing the last of the garment bags when the doorbell rang.

  “I’ll get it” Jason shouted.

  “Don’t forget if you don’t know who it is to call me before you open it” Charlie called back.

  I heard the low rumble of Mark’s voice in the hall. It was hard to hear the exact words, but there was no mistaking the shrill cry that Myrtle let out, “don’t go in there, the dresses.”

  “They’re all safely put away” Tonia called out, and Jason ran into the room. He reached out for Charlie and hugged her. She cuddled him, then held him out and looked at him, then down at her formerly white t-shirt, now complete with mucky hand prints. Her wedding dress had just had a lucky escape.

  “Mark brought me a chocolate frog” he said, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand.

  “Sorry babe” Mark said, walking into the room and seeing her top. “He was supposed to ask you before he ate it, but I guessed he’d have had tea by now.”

  “It’s nice of you to bring him a treat” Charlie’s mum said, bustling round the room and coming towards Jason with a damp cloth.

  “Also, it made you feel better about buying one for yourself too didn’t it?” Charlie asked. Mark nodded and smiled. She lowered herself into an armchair and fanned herself with a wedding magazine. She looked tired, but happy.

  I glanced at my watch, it was almost seven and I was getting hungry. “Thanks for a lovely evening” I said. “Don’t get up.” I kissed her cheek and picked up my handbag. I’d already told them all about my team meeting this morning.

  Tonia whistled, “so is Sunny in trouble when you get home?”

  “I thought about it” I admitted, “but he didn’t mean for my whole team to see the pictures. I think I’ll just do something subtle, like take all pants out the drawer and put them back in but not folded up, or put his socks into the wrong pairs for the next week.”

  Mark laughed but everyone else just looked at me like I was crazy. “Don’t worry” I assured them. “He’ll know what it means.”

  Chapter Thirty

  The rest of the week flew by. I was busy at work with my reports and every evening seemed to get filled with last minute wedding preparation. Sunny and Mark made the table plans and had them printed. Tonia nominated herself as link person with the hotel and dealt with their last minute queries about flowers and agreed a plan for what on earth they would feed Mark’s cousin.

  All too soon it was Saturday. Our alarm went off at seven, but by then we’d been awake for half an hour.

  “I can’t wear a kilt” Sunny said. “I’m Chinese. I can’t go to a wedding in a skirt. I’m sure Mark will understand if I go in my suit.”

  “He won’t and you can’t” I said. After thirty minutes of this I wasn’t as patient as I’d started out. “You know how stressed Mark was about getting the clothes right. You can do it, for one day, for your best friend.”

  Finally I managed to get him into his clothes, and whilst it might be unusual to see a Chinese man in a kilt, it worked. It stopped just above his knee, and his long socks showed off his muscular calves. He stepped back, looked at his reflection, adjusted his sporran until it lay exactly dead centre and nodded his approval.

  “You’re getting changed at Charlie’s?” he asked. Again.

  I nodded. “And then I’ll see you at the hotel. Make sure you and Mark are there early to greet people. Only the bride is allowed to be late.”

  “When am I ever late?” he asked, so I threw a pillow at him. He caught and walked back over to the bed to put it away. He leaned over, kissed me then left.

  Charlie was in the eye of the storm at her house. Sat serenely in the chair having her make up applied, her mum seemed to be shouting orders at anyone brave enough to go near her. “Don’t forget your shoes” she called out when she saw me.

  “I won’t, I promise” I said.

  Tonia was having her hair done next to Charlie. “Not too much hairspray” Charlie’s mum told the hair dresser. “We don’t want the bridesmaids to be fire risks.” She walked out of the room, probably looking for someone else to chase.

  “How are you doing?” I asked Charlie.

  “I’m so excited. I can’t wait to be a proper family” she said.

  “How are you staying so calm?” I asked her.

  She leant in close to me and whispered. “I found a bunch of Mark’s brownies in his freezer last week, his special ones,” she winked at me. “He didn’t want them anymore so I brought them home. Just gave my mum one. I think it’s going to kick in any minute. I just wish I could have one too but I don’t think it would be good for the baby.”

  Her mum walked back into the room. “Where’s your dress?” she asked me. “Have you had your hair done yet?” then before I could answer she left again.

  “She’s just happy for me” Charlie said. “She helped us so much when Jason was born, she’s just pleased that this baby is going to have a daddy who will want to help too. If she hasn’t changed all the nappies herself already.”

  “Have you got any more of those brownies left?” I asked.

  “Just one. Do you need calming down too?” she asked. “It’s hidden up on top of the fridge out of Jason’s reach. Help yourself.”

  I wandered into the kitchen and made myself a coffee. The brownie was just where Charlie said it would be, and I closed my eyes and took a bite. It was gooey and chocolatey and delicious. I was about to take another bite when Myrtle walked in and spied it. “Have you got any more of those?” she asked.

  “Sorry, this is the last one.”

  “Ooh, can I have a bite?” Myrtle asked.

  “It’s, well, I’ve bitten it already. I think I might have a cold.”

  “It’s ok dear, I know what is in them. Charlie thought she was tricking me this morning but I knew full well what she was giving me, it just wasn’t strong enough. I could do with a top up.”

  I broke it in half and handed her some. We ate in silence. After we’d finished she handed me a tissue and said “you’d better wipe your mouth and get your make up done. No more food for you until after the photographs in case you smudge your lipstick.” I think that was the first time I ever wished I’d given someone more of my chocolate.

  Chapter Thirty One

  My mobile beeped as we got in the car. “Sunny says they’re there and greeting people” I told Charlie.

  “Ask him how it looks? Are the flowers nice? Does it look how I wanted it to?” she called back.

  Sunny went quiet at this end. Eventually he said “there are flowers, lots of flowers. Red ones.”

  “He says it looks beautiful” I relayed.

  “Who is there? Is everyone there ok? Tell them we’ll be there in a minute. I’m getting nervous now. Tell me it’s going to go well. Oh man, why did I tell Mark to sort the music. I haven’t even asked him how it went. What music are we having? Does Sunny know?”

  “Did you catch all of that?” I asked Sunny.

  “Yes and no” he said. “I caught it, I can’t answer it all. Everyone who is here looks really happy. But Mark hasn’t mentioned the music to me. I can go and ask
, I just have to give out a few more buttonholes. I’ll call you soon. Good luck.”

  I turned to Charlie to try and calm her down, but she had closed her eyes and was doing some breathing exercises. “It’s not good for the baby if I panic. I will calm down, I’ve held it together so far. Today is going to be perfect.”

  We pulled up to the hotel. The driver got out and opened our door. Myrtle got out first and reached behind her to help Charlie out of the car. Sunny walked up the path to meet us. He kissed me and whispered in my ear “You look beautiful.” Then he turned to Charlie and kissed her hand. “You look stunning” he said. “Mark says he’ll meet you inside and that he can’t wait to marry you. He also asked me to give you this.” Sunny handed her a box.

  Charlie opened it and gasped. Inside was a silver sixpence, and a pendant with a sparkling pale blue stone, set inside a heart and with matching earrings. There was a letter tucked inside the box, and Charlie unfolded it and read it out loud. “Thank you for making me such a happy man. Just in case you hadn’t had chance to find your something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue, I thought I’d try to help. The jewellery can be your something blue and something new. The six pence I borrowed from Amy’s parents as they were the couple with the happiest marriage I know of. Now please come and marry me, I can’t wait to see you.” Charlie wiped away a tear, and her mum instantly leapt forward to offer her a tissue and to make sure she didn’t smudge her make up.

  Charlie took out the simple studs out of her ears and handed them to Tonia. She picked the new ones out of the box and put them on. Myrtle took the pendant and fastened it round her neck. It looked perfect, and we walked closer to the hotel.

  Jason met us at the door to the ceremony room. He was dressed in a three piece suit but with a tartan tie that matched Mark and Sunny’s outfits. He looked really serious. “You look lovely Mum. Mark told me to say that, but you do actually look nice.” Charlie kissed him and he rubbed his cheek clean. “Mark said you wanted your mum to walk you down the aisle, but I asked Mark and he said if it is ok with you, it is ok with him.” He stopped to take a breath. “I want to walk with you. Because when you marry Mark he becomes my family too.”

  Charlie took his hand. “I’d love that, my little man” she told him.

  “Ready?” Sunny asked, and she nodded, looping one arm through her mum’s arm, and holding Jason’s hand with her other hand. “Mark says you’ll know when to come in when you hear it.” Sunny let himself into the room and we heard the music stop.

  “I hope he’s right” Charlie said.

  We heard a lone voice start singing and Charlie smiled. “This is a Melody Gardot song, Mark started singing this to Jason when he was ill once and couldn’t sleep. It made me cry because it was so lovely. Let’s do this.”

  Tonia opened the door then dropped back and we watched Charlie, Myrtle and Jason walk up the aisle to the sound of one of Mark’s young men from group stood at the front. He was singing about wanting to give the stars to his love if he could, and it was a perfect choice of song. Mark couldn’t take his eyes off Charlie as she walked up the aisle.

  They held hands at the front and were married. I cried when they kissed, and when Mark lifted Jason and hugged him, and the three of them and the bump walked back down the aisle together as a family.

  Sunny and I linked arms to walk back down after them, and he hugged me close. Out in the bar area Mark was handing round glasses of champagne and Jason was handing round glasses of orange juice. Charlie was sat next to her mum, holding hands and watching her boys.

  Charlie’s aunty was staring at Sunny, and he started to get uncomfortable. “I’m going to the loo” he said. “I don’t know why she’s watching at me. I’ve arrested violent men who scared me less than she does.”

  He went off to find the loo and I introduced myself to Myrtle’s sister. By the time Sunny came back half the girls in the room were watching him. We went into the ball room to be seated for the meal. Sunny jumped, “I think that old lady just poked my arse with her walking stick.”

  “I’m sure it was an accident” I said, taking my seat next to him.

  We stood through the hours of photographs. By the end even Charlie was complaining. “I’m pregnant, I want to sit down.”

  The meal was delicious, and the speeches were fantastic. Sunny stood up and told the story about how he’d met Mark on their first day at secondary school, and how they’d bonded over a love of Doctor Who. Mark had been wandering around the playground when he came across Sunny, sat on a bench reading a tattered old book. They had bonded over a deep seated respect for Sylvester McCoy.

  Sunny talked about how he’d nicknamed Mark Chewbacca, and even distributed photographs that he’d had printed of Mark dressed up on the stag night. Mark protested that it was supposed to be secret. I laughed, remembering how he’d walked home fully made up the next morning and wondered how anyone hadn’t known already.

  Finally the speeches were over, and even Myrtle appeared relaxed, or maybe drunk. I’d noticed Mark filling her wine glass up a few times when she wasn’t looking. Either way, she had stopped barking orders at anyone near her and was sat smiling. Eventually though the evening rolled around and the music started. Mark took Charlie in his arms and led her to the dance floor. The music started, and he led her in a gentle swaying dance to Eric Clapton’s old classic, Beautiful Tonight.

  The song ended and we clapped and cheered them. The DJ cued up some more upbeat music, and before Sunny could ask me to dance, he was surrounded by a group of women.

  “Is it true?” they asked him.

  “Show us then?” one said.

  He looked at me for help. “They want to know if you’re naked under your kilt” I told him.

  “Naked?” he said. “Why would they think I was naked?”

  “Because I told them you might be” I said.

  Mark walked over, laughing. “He might not be naked under his kilt ladies, but I am,” and before we could stop he turned around, lifted his kilt and proved it.

  Chapter Thirty Two

  We danced until our feet hurt. Eventually though, like all good things, the evening came to an end. The DJ announced the final song, and Charlie dragged herself up to dance with Mark. Then Mark carried a sleeping Jason to their room, and all the guests started to leave. Sunny worked the room, thanking guests for coming, making sure everyone took their bags home with them.

  Finally the room was empty, but for the hotel staff clearing tables and sweeping floors. The emotional highs of the day were ebbing away, leaving behind an exhaustion and emptiness. Sunny snagged a bottle of wine from the table just before it was cleared up and the last two clean glasses, and took my hand. “No sense wasting this as they’ve already paid for it. Let’s go for a walk” he suggested.

  The hotel was set in within a re-creation of a palace garden. We passed the miniature maze, it was only three foot high but Jason had spent at least an hour chasing Sunny around it, pretending to be lost, earlier that day. Now, in the dark, and without the laughter and company it seemed a much more sombre display.

  An owl hooted, and Sunny reached for my hand. He led me off the path and under the trees. “Over here” he said. “Jason and I found a little bench near the pond. It’s just through these trees.”

  I stumbled over a root and he held me to stop me falling. I could feel the strength of his biceps under his thin shirt. He was having an easier time walking in his shoes than I was in my heels, but as we ducked under the low branches the ground levelled off again and I could relax my grip. It had been a dry summer and what I assumed used to be a pond was little more than a large puddle, but the full moon still reflected on the still surface.

  We sat, side by side, on the bench. Sunny poured us each a glass of wine, and raised his for a toast.

  “Shall we drink once more for the happy couple?” has asked.

  I nodded, but felt my eyes filling up. I tried to blink back the tears and hoped that he woul
dn’t notice in the darkness. Of course he did though. He knew me too well not to. He put his glass down carefully on the floor and then placed mine next to it, and pulled me to him for a hug. I lost any chance of holding it together and instead sobbed against his chest.

  He let me cry until I could calm myself down, then dried my eyes on a tissue.

  “How are you doing?” he asked.

  “I’m ok now. Sorry, that was silly. And selfish of me. I’m happy, I really am.”

  “But?” he asked. “You don’t usually cry like that when you’re happy.”

  “I can’t help but feel that it should have been us” I admitted. I felt embarrassed as I said it. “I don’t mean that Mark and Charlie shouldn’t be getting married, they should. They’re so good together and it was a beautiful day. It’s just…”

  I stopped to try and find the words I needed to explain.

  “I think I understand” Sunny said.

  “You do? I’m not I can say why without sounding jealous. I don’t mean to. But I have loved you for so long. Even when you were away and I was so angry, I was angry that you weren’t with me because it felt like a part of me was missing.”

  “There is nothing stopping us getting married now too” Sunny said. “I know this isn’t the proposal you were hoping for, or the one I’ve been planning. But I mean it, I do want to be married to you.”

  “I want to be married to you too, but there’s a part of me that’s still scared. Your mum was only here for two weeks and it nearly broke us. Are we that fragile? I can’t marry you if it isn’t forever. I don’t want to go through the pain of losing you again.”

  “You won’t have to” he said, getting off the bench and kneeling in front of me. “I had a lot to get my head around. I wasn’t here when you had to decide about the pregnancy, and honestly, it shook me up more than I wanted to admit.”