Mother of the Bride

by Marita Conlon-McKenna

  An hour later, after swopping some wedding and mother-inlaw stories, a tour of the herbaceous border and some good advice from Carmel on an enriching organic feed for the lawn, Helen cut a few flower heads for Carmel’s latest arrangement. Then they said goodbye, both looking forward to the upcoming wedding on the twenty-eighth, and to the days and years ahead of a new friendship.

  Chapter Sixty-two

  ‘Hurry, or we’ll be late,’ called Paddy up the stairs as they raced to get ready for the wedding rehearsal to be held in St Mary’s Church.

  Helen applied a fresh coat of lipstick and checked that her hair and make-up were fine as she shut the bedroom door. Father Tom was going to take them all through the things they had to do during the wedding ceremony on Friday, and make sure that Amy and Dan weren’t too nervous.

  ‘Mum, have you seen my black wedges?’ called Ciara, throwing all the shoes and boots in the hall cupboard out on to the floor in a heap till she found the precious pair she wanted.

  Helen smiled. She had forgotten how quiet things had been for the past two months with her younger daughter away. Ciara looked well after the trip to Thailand. Her normally pale skin had turned a soft golden colour, and she seemed more relaxed and calmer. As Paddy said: sitting on a beach contemplating the universe had done her some good!

  Amy and Dan were already in the church, talking to the priest and Liam, when a few minutes later Eddie and Carmel and their two other sons, Rob and Dylan, arrived, too. Helen glanced around nervously, looking for Jess. It wasn’t like Jess to be late. Ronan arrived with Krista in tow and a few minutes later Jess appeared, all out of breath.

  ‘Sorry I’m late, but school starts on Monday and I was in checking on things and getting my classroom organized!’ she apologized, slipping into a bench.

  Father Tom got them to gather around him as he explained the format of the ceremony: the welcome, the readings, the lighting of the candles, the marriage ceremony itself, followed by Communion, the blessing and finally the signing of the register and the long walk back down the aisle for the happily married couple.

  ‘Now, the first thing we will practise is the words Amy and Dan have to say to each other, as that is what everyone, including me, wants to hear.’

  Amy stepped up to the altar. Her hand was shaking as she read from the booklet and, filled with emotion, her voice was barely audible.

  ‘I know that we have a microphone, but, Amy, you need to speak up a bit,’ encouraged the priest.

  She tried again, but even though she was louder this time she totally forgot what she was saying. Then she took a deep breath and, concentrating totally on Dan, repeated exactly what she was meant to say.

  Dan, taking his turn, missed the words, panicked, forgot everything, then turned bright red with embarrassment.

  ‘Dan, why don’t you have a go again?’ urged Father Tom.

  Dan was almost as bad the second time, and it took four attempts before he lost the shake in his voice and was calm enough to remember the words of the marriage ceremony properly.

  ‘Dan, you’ll have the booklet with the words of the ceremony if you get stuck,’ assured the priest.

  Helen thanked heaven that Father Tom had insisted on a rehearsal for everyone, as he made the young couple go through the actual marriage ceremony and exchange of rings until they had it perfectly and were both relaxed and calm.

  Ronan and Rob both went up to practise the Bible readings they were doing for the wedding. Then Dylan and Ciara and Liam went through the prayers they would say for friends and family.

  ‘Now, let’s have the two mothers bringing up the gifts,’ suggested Father Tom, making Helen and Carmel practise getting in and out of the bench without tripping, and carrying the gifts to the altar.

  ‘Now I think that perhaps we will all be ready for this marriage on Friday.’ He laughed as they all stood around the altar together and said a few prayers.

  ‘Marriage is a precious gift,’ he said, ‘and not to be undertaken lightly. It is one of the most important sacraments in the church: the sacrament that binds a man and a woman together for the rest of their natural life and into eternity. It is the sacrament of love and joy, of honesty and truth and unselfishness, as a man and woman vow to always care for each other and to be each other’s friends in good times and in bad.’

  Helen could feel a lump in her throat as she listened to Father Tom.

  ‘Paddy, do you mind me asking how long you and Helen have been married?’ he asked.

  ‘Thirty-three years. Our anniversary was in May,’ said Paddy proudly.

  ‘And what about you, Eddie? How long have you and Carmel been married?’ Father Tom asked, turning to the Quinns.

  ‘Thirty-six years,’ said Eddie. ‘We got married in London. I was only a lowly intern but Carmel worked night and day as a nurse to keep us going.’

  ‘Have any of you ever thought of renewing your marriage vows?’ asked the priest, glancing at them.

  Helen used to think people getting married a second time was just for celebrities and Hollywood stars, but when Paddy had been lying in hospital in intensive care with machines and tubes and equipment all around him, she had wished that she could let him know just how much she still loved him and that she hadn’t regretted a single day of their marriage and would do it all again if given the chance.

  ‘Yes,’ she nodded. ‘I have. It’s something that I would like to do some time.’

  ‘I have, too,’ said Paddy.

  ‘Yes,’ said Eddie, taking Carmel’s hand.

  Carmel nodded quietly in agreement.

  ‘Well, would you each like to renew your marriage vows here this evening with me, and with your children and family as witnesses?’ Father Tom asked.

  ‘Yes,’ the four of them said, without the slightest hesitation, all certain and sure that this was something they wanted to do.

  Helen held Paddy’s hand as Father Tom guided them through their vows, the words somehow more meaningful and beautiful with their three grown-up children standing watching.

  ‘I do,’ Helen said, eyes shining as she kissed Paddy, feeling like she was a young bride again and that the years had slipped away from them.

  Carmel looked nervous as Eddie stood beside her and the priest got them also to repeat their vows. Eddie fought to compose himself as their boys looked on.

  The children and their friends gave a huge hurrah, and congratulated the two couples as Father Tom finished.

  ‘Mum, I can’t believe it, you and Dad getting married again in front of us all.’ Amy hugged Helen. ‘It was so lovely. I’m so proud of you both.’

  ‘You and Dad are the best,’ said Ciara, wrapping her arms around Helen fiercely. ‘I love you, Mum.’

  Ronan came over, his eyes shining as he congratulated them both. He kissed his girlfriend Krista, and Helen could see that her tall young son had decided that the quiet Polish girl with the long blonde hair and beautiful eyes standing beside him in the church would in time be his own bride.

  They all thanked Father Tom.

  ‘I can’t wait till Friday when it’s our turn.’ Dan beamed at them all, wrapping his arms around Amy.

  ‘I booked a big table for dinner for everyone to have a bite to eat over in Fitzgerald’s,’ said Paddy as they crossed the street to the local pub.

  Helen’s mind was in a spin as they sat down, Paddy ordering drinks for everyone to celebrate their own form of wedding that had just taken place. Helen could see that Carmel had been equally moved by the experience, and the two of them thanked Father Tom profusely for making them reflect on their own marriages as they renewed their vows.

  ‘I feel wonderful,’ said Helen, sipping a glass of wine. ‘It was so special that I will never forget tonight.’

  Glancing around the table she could see that everyone was having fun as Liam regaled them with stories about Dan’s stag night in Edinburgh. Over at the far side she could see that Jess was sitting beside Rob, Dan’s older brother, chatting easily.
Ciara was telling Dylan and Krista and Ronan all about her travels in Thailand. Paddy looked tired and a little pale, and she was glad to see him with his pint in hand sitting down near Eddie.

  She was a lucky woman: blessed with a good husband, a happy marriage and a wonderful family. Tonight, renewing her marriage vows with Paddy, the man she had always loved, had made her realize just how much their marriage meant to her.

  ‘To the Quinns and the O’Connors!’ toasted Liam, getting everyone to raise their glasses.

  Chapter Sixty-three

  ‘What a family gathering!’ declared Paddy O’Connor, relishing it as everyone began to gather for the wedding. Amy had moved back home to stay with her family in Linden Crescent for the three days and Dan had decided to stay with his folks, too!

  The house looked great. Helen and Ciara had the place sparkling: the couch covers and chair covers had all been cleaned, and the wooden floor re-waxed. The garden was in great shape, and Helen had huge pots of pink hydrangeas in full bloom at the front door. Amy had never seen her home look so well, and knew just how much effort everyone had put in. Even Barney had been cut and washed, and his smelly foam bed and blanket laundered. Amy couldn’t believe all the neighbours and friends of the family calling to wish her well. She smiled when she saw the new mugs and cups her mum produced when she served the visitors with coffee and biscuits.

  The massive table plan was spread out on their dining table and it had been all hands on deck for the past few days as they’d worked out the final seating arrangements for the reception.

  People were on and off tables.

  ‘Aunt Bonnie’s deaf, so make sure to put someone beside her good ear!’ warned Helen.

  ‘Aisling went out with him, so don’t put her on that table,’ insisted Jess.

  Dan’s elderly uncle Frank needed to be near a door to get to the bathroom.

  Carmel Quinn’s brother, James, didn’t get on with Eddie’s family.

  The single people didn’t want to be on tables full of couples.

  ‘For heaven’s sake, put friends together and family together,’ advised Helen. ‘There is nothing worse than finding yourself at a wedding, sitting for a few hours at a table with a load of people you don’t know, or with relations from the other side. Mixing people at a wedding table doesn’t work!’

  ‘When you put a group of friends or family together on a table everyone’s happy, and well able to sort themselves out and find their own seat,’ said Paddy.

  Honestly, it was like doing a big puzzle, trying to work it all out. Amy checked that Carmel was happy with the tables before finally emailing the whole plan down to Eve at Glebe House.

  ‘Thank heaven that bloody thing is gone!’ Helen said, worn out with the complexities of it.

  Amy was taking three and half weeks off from the office for her honeymoon and wedding, and was looking forward to such a long break away from work. Norah and the gang in the office had brought her for a celebration lunch in Peploes on Tuesday, and presented her with a generous gift voucher for Arnotts.

  Uncle David and Aunt Anna and four wild kids had arrived from Tipperary and had taken over Sheila’s for a few days. Her mother was in her element, having them around. Helen’s Cousin Fiona and her husband Will had come from Amsterdam and were staying with Uncle Tim in Howth. Mary and Sinead, Paddy’s two sisters, along with their husbands, had come up from Cork and were staying in the Radisson Hotel, along with a few more of his cousins. It looked like it was going to be a great family hooley!

  Faye, one of Amy’s oldest friends, who had grown up in the road with her, had come over from New York with her American boyfriend, Nick.

  ‘I’m just dying to show him off to the girls at the wedding.’

  The place was like a madhouse, with so many people visiting and calling, the phone constantly ringing, everyone wanting to talk to the bride!

  ‘I think we need to chill out a bit!’ Helen said, trying to ignore the mounting panic. ‘So I’ve booked for you, me, Ciara and Jess to go to Dalkey to have a massage, manicure and pedicure, and then we’ll have lunch afterwards in Harvey’s.’

  ‘But we’ve so much still to do,’ worried Amy.

  ‘Amy, it will all get done,’ promised her mum. ‘A bit of pampering and an hour or two with our feet up will do us all good. Weddings are stressful enough, God knows!’

  Amy was like a lunatic, checking and rechecking the weather forecast on every station, in every newspaper and online. August had been rather unsettled, with lots of clouds and showers, and she kept telling herself that it wasn’t the end of the world if it rained tomorrow – after all, they were in Ireland.

  Tomorrow’s weather forecast was for sunshine, with rain predicted by late afternoon on the east coast of Ireland. Helen had buried an Infant of Prague statue under a shrub in the back garden in the hope of a sunny day for Amy’s wedding. Barney, however, usually prowled the garden, and in a frenzy of barking had found the statue and dug it up. Helen, running to stop him, had reburied the plaster saint in the front garden, instructing everyone not to let the dog near it.

  Jess arrived at eleven and they all set out for Dalkey. Nina and the girls in Santé made a great fuss of them, asking Amy all about the wedding as the pampering began.

  Amy let herself sink into the warm towels as Nina took charge of her.

  ‘I will get all that tension and stress out of your muscles,’ she promised, as she began the massage.

  Jess was in ecstasy in the other room as one of the girls gave her a salt scrub plus a massage, followed by a spray tan and a manicure and pedicure.

  ‘I think that I have died and gone to heaven,’ she moaned, giving in to the transformation.

  ‘I feel great,’ declared Ciara, who had opted for the Indian head massage. She watched, fascinated, as her bitten nails were magically returned to a perfect state and her feet were scrubbed until her heels and toes looked and felt amazing.

  Helen O’Connor fell asleep on the bed as all the tension and stress were kneaded from her tired, tense shoulders and back. Having her fingers and wrists massaged felt good, too, and she had a manicure afterwards.

  Amy lapped it all up, the full bridal package: nails, feet, relaxing oils rubbed into her skin and finally a light golden spray tan applied.

  ‘Lots of luck tomorrow,’ wished Nina and the girls in the salon as Helen paid and they headed off for lunch.

  Harvey’s was busy as usual, and Amy could feel her excitement mounting as they ordered lunch. She was determined to have only a glass or two of wine, as she didn’t want to be muzzy-headed or sleepy when she had so much to do. Her mum was in sentimental form and told stories about when they were kids and the silly things she and Ciara and Ronan used to do.

  ‘Imagine! By this time tomorrow, you’ll be a married woman.’ Helen laughed.

  Amy was nervous about the wedding, but she couldn’t wait to be Daniel’s wife, and for the two of them to build a life and home together.

  They all tucked into the fish of the day. The plaice was served with a tangy lemon butter sauce, on a bed of greens, with Harvey’s renowned sauté potatoes.

  Amy and Ciara ordered the luscious-sounding chocolate dessert.

  ‘I have to fit into that purple dress tomorrow,’ bemoaned Jess, begging Amy to keep the bowl away from her. Jess was so proud of the fact that she’d had to have the dress taken in because she’d lost so much weight.

  Back at home, Amy had a host of things to do, and taking out her Filofax checked that she hadn’t forgotten any of them. Daniel had collected their wedding rings from the jewellers earlier on. She had packed all her clothes for the honeymoon, and printed out three copies of their flight itinerary and hotel bookings. She rattled her brain to see if there was anything else she needed to do.

  Her aunts Sinead and Mary arrived at the house with their presents, dying to see how everyone was doing, just as Fran and Katie from next door called, too. Amy was embarrassed by all the wonderful gifts she was receiving, an
d opened a file on the computer to make sure that she remembered exactly who had given what! She thanked everyone, and Helen whooshed them all outside to the garden, to sit in the sun. Amy took Saoirse, Katie’s little girl, up on her knee, wondering how long it would be till she and Dan had a baby. Tara and Sarah and Aisling called quickly to wish her well, too. Ciara and Helen made pot after pot of coffee and tea as the visitors kept coming.

  Helen had made a big chicken casserole for dinner, and when all the friends and relations had left, they finally got a chance to sit down and relax. Paddy opened some wine, and Ronan had a load of Coronas on ice in the fridge, Krista slicing up limes to put in their glasses. They sat in the kitchen laughing and chatting as Ronan got out his guitar and played some of their favourite songs. Everyone sang along.

  It was long after midnight when they finally got to bed. Amy fell asleep in her old room with her pink quilt, school photos, and posters of all her favourite bands and rock stars around her.

  Dan had phoned her to say goodnight. He’d gone out to dinner with his parents and then down to Mackey’s, their local, to have a few beers with his brothers and his dad. They laughed, comparing each other’s time-warp bedrooms.

  ‘I swear that there is a poster of Zig and Zag still on my wall,’ he confessed.

  ‘I have Riverdance!’

  It seemed strange to be apart, and Amy cherished the sound of his voice and breathing as they both finally said goodnight.

  ‘I’ll see you tomorrow,’ he promised.

  Amy closed her eyes, thinking of Dan as she fell asleep.

  Chapter Sixty-four

  Helen O’Connor woke early to the sound of soft rain pattering on the roof.

  ‘Oh no, don’t let the day be wet!’ she pleaded, glancing outside as the rain fell on the flowers and shrubs. The sky was cloudy and dull, but looked like it might clear later. Paddy was still asleep, and she got up and went downstairs. She still couldn’t believe it! Today was Amy’s wedding day! The day their little girl would walk up the aisle to marry the man she loved. Helen put on breakfast. The full works: cereal, then rashers and sausages and pudding and tomato. Creamy scrambled eggs done the way Amy liked them, and fresh brown bread.