My mind was reeling with this sudden influx of information; no wonder Davey had accepted that he and I could make this work; he’d already seen it happen before, and it had worked out perfectly for his best and closest friends! When it happened to him, he was already subconsciously primed to accept it. His reaction to me and my scheming made sense now. His willingness to be with me was so headlong and wholehearted because he knew from his friends’ experiences how it could be, even if he didn’t register it at the top of his mind at the time.
I don’t believe he’d ever sat down and consciously thought out or planned anything that had happened between us; he didn’t need to, he already knew, because he was already in a receptive state when I made a play for him. In truth, I believe he was truly unaware at the time that he was ready for me if we should somehow embark on something, but that didn’t stop him responding so positively, because I don’t honestly think he could have done anything different.
“‘Snotty little brat sister’, eh? You’ll pay for that, Doctor-Man!” was all I said though, and it was kind of half-hearted; I was too busy having insights, not something I do on a regular basis; I kind of live on my skin, but everything Davey had said, and the train of thought it had set off in me made true and perfect sense in a way not much else did most of the time. Davey had jumped at me because he was ready to accept me, even if he didn’t consciously know why, but now I did. He and I have a lot to thank his friends and their choices for.
*
The wedding was flawless, thanks to Sophie’s meticulous planning, her inspired contingency-planning in case someone like Bella or Maude showed-up and tried to disrupt the proceedings, and her foresight in planning the seating so no jealous ex or wannabe started a commotion; those girls who might be part of a clique with trouble on their minds were salted around in the seating plan a long way from each other in case they decided on a little concerted troublemaking.
All of Davey’s close family and friends were given prominent seating to drive home that this was going to happen, it was a done-deal, get used to it, to anyone who may have been harbouring any last-minute resentments.
Not that it would have made the slightest difference, of course. Davey and I were already legally married, and this whole elaborate show was for form’s sake and the benefit of family and friends, but I still didn’t want someone who thought they had an ax to grind suddenly kicking-off and ruining my big day.
Walking down the Nave of the chapel (and Davey pointed that out to me; the aisles in a church are on the sides of the congregation, or behind the choir; the central approach to the altar is the Nave) on Richard’s arm to where the Dean of the chapel waited for us at the Lectern under the spectacular domed ceiling, at the entrance to the Choir, was the most unbelievable experience of my life; the swelling music of the Wedding March, David and Jack, Richard and Hugo, and Jimmy all waiting for me, dressed in matching dove-gray morning suits with tailcoats, vests, and impeccably knotted gray silk ties, with folded gray silk handkerchiefs in their breast pockets. I’m sure they all looked wonderful in their formal attire, but I only had eyes for my Davey.
Uncle Richard had chosen to wear a black morning coat and blue silk tie, as befitted the father of the bride. He kept his hand on mine as I held his arm, steadying me and being what I needed most just then. True to her word, there was Sophie, sitting on the Bride’s Side, dabbing at her eyes as she cried for me, just as she’d promised she would, just as Aunt Sybil was doing, while Rosie, my Maid of Honor, and Josie and Sara, my demurely beautiful Bridesmaids held my veil as they followed me.
Sybil had surprised me that morning with a long, ornately embroidered veil of sparkling white handmade Nottingham lace, dotted with seed pearls, tiny little satin roses, and the blue glint of tiny blue gems, referencing my blue eyes; I nearly lost it when Sybil told me it had been my mother’s veil, she’d entrusted it to her best friend, Sybil, to keep safe for her when she’d moved to Iowa, and Sybil in turn had been delighted to give it to me as a wedding gift from Mom; poor Sybil had to do a lot of hurried repair to my make-up to get me past that, believe me!
My one break with tradition was my bouquet, a beautiful spray of blue English wildflowers; Cornflowers, Borage, exquisite little Forget-Me-Not’s, Harebells, and Wild Basil, accented with subtle little peach and gold-blushed roses.
To top it all off, I wore Sophie’s platinum and diamond tiara that she’d worn on her wedding day, along with the antique blue diamond pendant Davey had bought me in Boston, and a finely-worked silver and gold filigree bracelet Uncle Richard had given me, so I would have the requisite ‘something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue’ to bring good luck.
*
The reception was held back at the house, in a marquee Jimmy had set-up for us as his gift to us, complete with a dance-floor. Of course, Davey had the first dance, but the special dance for me was the daddy-daughter dance I had with Uncle Richard.
I was struggling to hold back the tears as I danced with him; it felt so much like how I’d always imagined my daddy-daughter dance would be like when Daddy danced with me on my wedding day. Richard obviously sensed how I was feeling, what the dance meant to me, and so as he whirled me around the dance-floor, he guided me while I lost myself in memories of my daddy. When I smiled at him to thank him, for one split second his features seemed to smoke and change, and I saw daddy smiling at me, and then I knew; somehow, my daddy had been there and had that special dance with me on my special day.
When the traditional time for me to throw my bouquet came, I held back; Sophie and I had a plan, and everyone had to be there, so I waited until she’d chivvied everyone into the marquee, then, when everyone counted down ‘three… two… one!’, instead of turning my back and tossing it over my shoulder, I walked out to where everyone waited, and handed my bouquet to Rosie. She stared at me in shocked, wide-eyed silence, then her mouth fell open as I stepped aside to reveal Jimmy right behind me. Rosie froze, then, when Jimmy dropped to one knee and opened the ring box Sophie had handed him, two large tears ran down her cheeks as her eyes brimmed over.
“Rosie, my own true love, I’ve loved you from the moment I first set eyes on you. Will you wear my ring, marry me, and be my wife?”
Rosie smiled as she bent down to kiss him, then straightened up and took his hand.
“Jimmy, dearest, it would be an honor to wear your ring. Yes, of course I’ll marry you, and yes, I want more than anything to be your wife!”
I was applauding with the best of them, and glowing with happiness for both of them, until I caught Davey’s expression, that ‘what did I tell you about meddling?’ look pasted on his phiz, but then Sophie was glowing too, and Aunt Sybil, so he just had to bite his tongue and shut his face; I love it when a plan goes right! Still, I had a couple of qualms when we were finally alone together, but by then his usual sunny self was back in evidence, and whatever he thought about my plotting and planning he very wisely kept to himself.
Richard’s speech as Father of the Bride, was short, sweet, and very loving; his obvious affection for Davey showed in every sentence, and there was very little of the ‘behave yourself or I’ll bury your headless carcass under the shed’ that Sophie had promised, but there was much love and affection for both of us; I was struggling to hold back the tears as he gave the speech Daddy would have given, his words honoring my daddy with the fatherly care and obvious love for both of us he showed in every sentence. Every bride should have a speech as wonderful, as loving, as Richard’s on her wedding day.
Jack made us laugh in his description of some of Davey’s escapades, and the small emerald pendants he gave Josie and Sara, and the gold locket he gave Rosie, as the gifts the best man is traditionally required to give the bridesmaids, showed care and attention to detail.
Richard and Hugo watched the girls like hawks all through the speeches, no doubt plotting their next moves, and sure enough, after the toasts and speeches and cutting of the cake, I couldn’t help but notice a certain lack; Josie and Sara had disappeared, as had Richard and Hugo. I had an inkling where they were, actually less of an inkling and more of a dead certainty I knew, if not exactly where they were, definitely what they were doing, but whenever Davey looked like he was going to ask where his cousins were, I immediately shoved him into a gang of well-wishers and let him talk to all of them at once.
In this way I kept him occupied until Richard and Hugo reappeared, with Sara on Richard’s arm, and Josie on Hugo’s, all four of them looking bright-eyed and slightly mussed-up; at one point Davey even caught me signalling to Josie that her lipstick was smeared, and there was definitely some of it on Hugo’s neck, which I immediately passed-off as a waved ‘hello!’ to someone or the other.
As before, I got that slightly quizzical, slightly puzzled eyebrow he got in full from Mom, but then he saw the slightly dishevelled state of the Bridal party and grinned as two and two finally dropped into place.
One moment of awkwardness slipped in when Davey’s friends were congratulating us; Andy was shaking Davey’s hand, and pecking me on the cheek, when I noticed Linda trying hard to be happy for us, but the tears were obviously not far away, and I suddenly knew what it was; she knew I was Davey’s sister, and now I was having something she could never have; I was marrying the man I loved, something she could never do.