A Fighting Chance

Happy Ever After

The church was beautiful, all decked out in golden roses and autumn leaves. The pews had sheaves of corn at the end, each adorned with a rose and a dark orange dahlia. The arched front door had a garland of autumn flowers and corn and roses pinned around the outside, perfect for the photos afterwards.

I got out the car, Emma came from the door to meet me, helping smooth out my dress and sort my veil. I was shaking, despite everything, this was my big day. It was the beginning of the rest of our lives and I wanted perfection. I deserved it. Mum had the twins inside, their little kilts - I was determined to have my Scottish roots represented - drawing awww's from all present.

Emma looked beautiful in a pale coffee coloured evening dress, her hair curled to perfection and adorned with roses. My bouquet was yellow roses to match. I had the old, the new and the borrowed. My blue - my shoes. Blue sparkly Jimmy Choo's - my wedding present from Tom. Something I would never have bought myself in a month of Sundays, I much preferred to spend on Tom and the boys. He knew I loved them and had secretly ordered them.

I'd given Tom a watch to wear today engraved on the back with "MTYLTT". Only we would know what it meant, but it meant everything.

I stood for a moment at the doors and took a deep breath. Tom was waiting for me at the alter. I was going to walk myself down the aisle, so I let Emma go in first. She looked so pretty. As I made my way to the end of the aisle, I could see Chris and Tom standing their, backs to me. I nodded to the Vicar and he asked the congregation to rise, the music started and I walked forwards, barely hokding my emotions in check.

As I looked along the rows I picked out family and friends, old and new. Even one or two famous faces who'd been able to make the journey. Kevin blew me a kiss and winked, I grinned back. I passed Mum and she was crying, Chris reached out "mama" rang out and everyone laughed gently. I almost lost it completely.

As I reached them, Chris turned a fraction of a second quicker and just winked at me with a smile. He nudged Tom who turned and I could see him gasp ever so slightly. After that, I saw no-one else. He stood in his tails and waistcoat, silk cravat at his neck, handsome and distinguished. His eyes sparkled and he bit his lip, struggling every bit as much as me. To see his reaction had been worth the wait. As I approached him, he whispered "You get more beautiful every time I see you darling". He lifted my veil, I passed my flowers to Emma and we began.

Despite the fact technically we were already married, we took this as seriously as if we were starting from scratch. We repeated our traditional vows with all the heartfelt commitment of any new couple, this time really believing that the death us do part bit was further away than either of could imagine. Half an hour later, it was done. We walked back up the aisle, arm in arm everyone clapping and feeling on top of the world.

Now to party! We danced and ate and drank, there were speeches and tears - of joy - and there were many many hugs. I got my waltz, at long last with my Thomas, in my beautiful dress and I felt like the most beautiful bride in the history of beautiful brides.

The honeymoon was just as perfect.

We lay on the rugs drying off after a lazy swim, just listening to the sound of the ocean. The scene seemed idyllic and, well, it was. A white sandy beach, a secluded villa in the grounds of a discrete 5-star Caribbean hideaway, endlessly relaxing, sunny days and darkly intimate, sultry nights. Tom lay with his head on my lap, as I read aloud from a book containing love letters from famous people. I had bought it for the flight and the one I marked was Gerald Durrell to Lee McGeorge.

It was, I thought, one of the most perfectly voiced declaration of love I had ever read. I became aware of a slight buzzing noise and realised my own romantic hero had dozed off. I laughed quietly. Relaxing was hard work. We had been here 2 weeks and had 2 weeks more before reality would come knocking. We didn't even have our mobiles. Any messages would come through the concierge in an emergency. We were off-grid and on honeymoon, at long last.