Surrogate in Love - Richard Madden

chapter 24: publication party

Iris p.o.v

It was the day of the party and my nerves were on edge. I had spent the last few days trying to make everything perfect and the day had actually arrived. Since the party was in Central London we had booked a sitter for Blue and a hotel room for us. We were almost ready to head out.

"Rich, are you ready? We need to go. Hair and makeup will be there soon!" I yelled up the stairs to him. He walked down the stairs like he had all of the time in the world.

"Ris. We have 2 hours. Relax" he was right i was over worrying but how was i meant to not. After the success of my last book this one had gained some following and was having an official launch party. Red carpet and all. Nervous was an understatement. We made our way to the car and Richard drove us into the centre of London. He parked up around the back so that we weren't seen and we made our way to reception. After verifying who we are we were finally shown to our room. It was huge! A full suite with a living area and a separate room with the bed in it.

"Only the best for my girl" he whispered in my ear as the porter brought our stuff through. In the middle of the room there was a glass table with a centre piece and next to that there was a massive bunch of white roses. The exact ones my grandad used to love. I walked over to them and looked at the note on them.

'He would be so proud of you tonight. Just as I am'

I had to quickly wipe away the tears that threatened to spill and quickly run to give Richard the biggest hug I possibly could. He held me tight and whispered sweet nothings in my ear. I knew from that moment the night would be perfect. I had him.

Hair and makeup came and went for us both. The dress I was wearing was a black long line dress and so all my makeup was gold themed to match the beautiful jewelry I had. Richard was wearing a black suit with gold cufflinks to match my jewelry.

"You look like an actual goddess. Athena has nothing on you" I laughed at his comment. It was a line out of one of my earlier books that Richard had been rereading the last few weeks.

"You don't look so bad yourself" I replied and then we headed down to the car that was waiting. The nerves started to pick up a bit as we headed to the hall that was hosting the venue. I hadn't seen anything yet. The publisher had handled most of it as I wanted to be surprised. We finally made it and I could see all of the flashing lights that were going off. We exited the car and Richard's arm never moved from behind me. We smiled for the cameras and answered all of the questions we could before we were ushered into the building. They really had out done themselves. The idea for the book was all based on past memories. My editor Katie had asked for all the pictures I had that made me happy but didn't explain what they were for. On the way there were massive screens with lots and lots of pictures of me with family, friends, Richard, Blue, even some when I was pregnant with the twins. Mixed in there were also pictures of people in the photo booth (which I did know was happening) it was tear jetting seeing all the beautiful memories I was watching. We went a bit further in and I was bombarded with people congratulating me. People I hadn't seen in a long time. After about 2 hours of that food was served and I finally had a chance to go over to the booth my friends were at. Richard was the first to see me as always and he pulled me into a hug. When he let go Taron did the same saying how amazing it all was and how proud of me he was. Ever since the situation with Jess. Taron had really taken over the place of best friend and had been amazing at it. Tom and Harrison pulled me aside and hugged me and congratulated me and also thanked me for their little acknowledgement at the end.

It had to be done there was no way i was going to write this book and not involve them somehow. All the holland brothers took their turns hugging and congratulating and eventually we all settled down to enjoy the night. There was music playing and there were different things to do like photobooths and giant Jenga. I was a few drinks in by halfway through the night. A free bar was probably a little dangerous. We were sat laughing and drinking and that's how I didn't notice the two men walking towards me. As they got closer to the table Richard knocked my arm so and pointed them out to me. Walking towards me was Elton John and his husband. I hadn't met David, but I had seen more then enough on the internet to know that it was him. I stood up awestruck at the fact that they had come. Per his request I had sent a copy of the book to Elton and forgot all about the fact that all early copies came with two tickets to the launch evening. I couldn't believe they actually came.
"Good evening, Iris, boys" Elton said to us. Pulling me into a bone crushing hug.
"Good evening thanks you so much for coming it means the world to have your support" I hugged him back, the alcohol doing most of the talking.
"of course, David hasn't put the book down since it arrived" He replied.
"it's amazing. Such a beautifully written piece of work" I was gobsmacked. The David Furnish not only enjoyed my work but he actively wanted to read it. "I cannot wait to read more of your work" we spoke for a little while and then Elton made his way with some of the boys to go in the photobooth. I sat with David for a while until Richard asked me to dance when one of our many songs came on. We danced and laughed for hours until my feet hurt. I think I managed to dance at least once with each of my friends and it was brilliant. I hadn't felt so happy in such a long time. Ever since everything with Jess and the twins I felt like I was missing something but dancing here with the love of my life and the best friends in the world I honestly couldn't be happier.

The night wound down and everyone slowly left. Elton and David left to see their boys before bedtime which melted my heart. It was amazing to feel like I was becoming friends with someone who I had idolised for my whole life. By the end it was just me and my boys who had to go. We were all staying at the hotel except from Tom who had to go home to the twins. He won custody of the twins on the ground of Jess being of not sound mind and some potential addiction issues that none of us knew about and so he was trying to do everything himself. Of course, he was having help from us and wasn't doing it all alone but I knew he wasn't finding it easy and so he made the decision to leave first and go home to his nearly 9-month-old babies. We all made our way to our rooms saying goodbye as we went. Harrison was in the room right next to ours so once we got completely wasted Taron into his room promising that no monsters were going to get him, we got to Harrisons room.
"I'm so proud of you boo Ris" he said and pulled me into a hug. Richard walked on into our room and left me to say goodnight to him.
"thanks Haz, honestly couldn't have done it without you guys." He hugged me for a little longer and then left me to head to my room with a cheeky wink and a suggestive have fun. I couldn't help but laugh at the drunk j man that was wondering into his room. Nothing changes with that man, and I wouldn't want it to.
I made my way into our room and as I closed the door Richard was up behind me pushing his hands down towards my inner thigh.
"Let me show you how proud I am of you baby"