The Ultimate Gentleman (Part 2)

Thirty Two

"CONGRATULATIONS!!!" Johnny cheered handing out bottles of champagne to Jamie and Max to open whilst he tackled one too, the newly married couple walked into Sweetzer where a full on party had been planned to celebrate. The children were playing nicely with one another, as champagne was handed out to all the adults except Holly who opted for an orange juice in her flute. Tara nudged Holly who lent in "well you are my maid of honour, and witness." Holly's jaw went slack before she clinked her wedding ring with her glass to settle the rowdy bunch. "Ummm excuse me...." She said loudly. "Woahhh... the woman of the house is giving a speech guys!" Jamie yelled shhhhing everyone.

"Ha. Public speaking is so not my forte, however luckily and FINALLY one of the girls has opted for a small wedding... and so after being elbowed by the bride about thirty seconds ago, I'm now delivering what will go down on record as the most spontaneous unplanned maid of honour speech ever... Tara where do I start?" Holly licked her lips emotionally, and struggled to hide her emotion from her voice. "You're literally one of my best friends.. I don't know where I would be without you. Let's face it, Kate is the spontaneous one, Emily is the one who goes in all guns blazing and deals with the consequences later..." she said with a wide smile. "You're the one who fleas the country and marries somebody who we only ever lusted over in movie theatres..." Kate heckled making Holly roll her eyes before turning towards Tara "and you, you're the one who has kept us calm, cool and collected throughout it all. Throughout all of life's adventures and it's an absolute honour to not only be your friend, but to have witnessed you marry the man of your dreams today. You're an incredible mother, friend and role model and I can only hope we can make many more memories to cherish. Right... onto Trav...." The group cheered before Holly took a sip of her drink. "Travis my main man.." Johnny cleared his throat jokingly. "My main security man... you've literally laid your life on the line for me many a time, and thank you doesn't even seem to be the right words. On a personal note, you're as good as a brother to me, and I honestly can't imagine going anywhere without you complaining, moaning about my driving or asking for an extra dinner to be made." Travis chuckled at this comment before she continued "I think it's safe to say, that YOU ARE WELCOME.. for me setting you up with the finest woman you could ever wish for, and in all seriousness, Theo is so lucky to have an amazing role model and father figure in you. No matter what life brings, let's hope you share in health, wealth and happiness Mr and Mrs McGivern... to the bride and groom." Holly said cheering raising her glass.

After an equally moving yet comical speech from Johnny who had stepped into a best man role, Travis decided to make his own speech as the groom, he thanked everyone for their efforts and support before scooping Theo up onto his hip and claiming how proud he was to be "Daddy" to the cutest little man. There was hardly a dry eye in the house, as Sean rushed over to congratulate the man once again, before music began to play. Holly and Hilda were busy passing out canapés when Lottie appeared yanking on her mother's dress. "What's the matter darling?" Holly said bending down with a half empty tray. "Stanley won't marry me.." she said stomping her foot. "Well I'm not surprised with that attitude young lady. Here have some food, you're like Daddy when your hungry, grouchy." The mother said with a giggle handing her a small canapé. "But Mummy!!! Sissy marrying Pierre, Jacky married Col, Tara marrying Trav Trav, and I marry Stanley." Holly smirked before saying "I thought the other day you didn't want him kissing you so why do you want to marry him now?" "I just do Mumma...." Lottie said stomping her foot once more. "Here's an idea.. you see Daddy over there talking to Jacky and Uncle Sean?" "yeahhhhh" "why don't you go tell him about your problem and Mumma will go get you some more food ok?" "Okay Mummy." Lottie seemed quite content but Holly couldn't hide her smile. She knew Johnny meant well but he was not good with the idea of his little girls growing up. She watched as her 6 year old approached her father, her elaborate hand gestures giving away her story, before Johnny scooped her up onto his lap. She saw Sean pretend to look shocked and Jack covering his face before Lottie's eyebrows scrunched and she heard a loud "Ewwwwww that's gross!!!" Before the 6 year old jumped down and ran off. Holly rolled her eyes and giggled wondering what her husband had told their daughter before continuing her way round the room with the food.

Later, the women were dancing around the living room and the children were happy to join in to. Travis couldn't take his eyes off his new wife, and was elbowed by Johnny as he sat down. "Is this why you guys have called me insufferable for the last 9 years?" "What do you mean sir?" "That look.." "oh umm.." Travis said looking down at his drink. "Never loose it pal. The love of a good woman is rare to find." Travis nodded. "Never did I ever think I would be in this situation.." "neither did I!" Johnny said "I owe Sean a fuck load..." "you bet on me?" Travis acted shocked but smirked as he sipped his beer. "Yeah.. I had you down as our number one bachelor!!" Johnny chuckled as he spotted Holly scoop Pippa up onto her hip and spin round. "I umm, I thought about what you said, and I really do appreciate it boss..." Johnny nodded. "You don't need to give me an answer now." "No I do. I owe it to you, I umm, I'll stay on and providing it's safe for Tara and Theo to join me wherever we are, then I'm at your service."