You Are My Light Part II

323 - Mended Families *Modern*

"Are you excited?" The new owner of TSM Industries asks her friend as she twirls in her wedding dress. It's not the first time any of them have been in this position, nor will it probably be the last, but happiness is happiness, and Mary has learned to enjoy these things as they come. God knows all of them have earned it.

Once upon a time, when they were all so much younger and were donning white for the first time, everything had been so different. Mary had been with Francis, Kenna with Sebastian, Greer and Leith and Lola with Stephane. The children had not been born, they were all so nieve and silly, just girls with stars in their eyes and wonder in their hearts.

But they're all older now, relationships have bloomed and died, reality is strong and their hearts have heartened.

"You look beautiful." Mary smiles softly at Greer, as she takes handfuls of her skirts and blooms them as she spins around on the stand. "My brother is a lucky man."

Greer blushes. "Will he like it?"

"Darling, you could wear a bin bag with clown makeup on and he would still ravish you." Kenna smirks. Greer laughs, and even Mary cracks a smile as she glances down at her phone.

"James, Anna and Francis are finishing their homework. Lunch was vegan tuna sandwiches, carrot sticks with garlic mayo, apple and watermelon with salted crackers and cheddar bites, yoghurt pouches, potato crisps and chocolate bars. Jacob didn't want his carrots, but compromised on cucumber, he's struggling with his geography project. Twins are enjoying their yoghurt and cheese, but they're complaining of stomach cramps, so we should get on the doctor about lactose or dairy allergies. Chefs Kai and Francetelli are making thai green curry with veg, tempura mushrooms, white rice and pickled fennel. You will be back at 7?"

"Yeah, I'll be back at 7. I'm at the dress fitting, then Aylee's coming with me for a meeting about the townhouses in west Anglia. I'll have Julien and Peter get into contact with the dietitian and pedestrian about the cramps. Thanks, love."

Mary pays attention to her friend instead of her senior nanny, smiling as Kenna changes a silver tiara for a beautiful floral crown that hides the comb of the veil a little more.

"Beautiful bride," Kenna kisses her cheek, running her fingers over Greer's curls to tidy them. "James is going to be a wreck when he sees you, you're so beautiful. You look so happy."

Mary remembers what it was like, the first time. Being so young and naïve and dreamy, so excited to be the next Mrs Valois-Angoulème de Medici that she couldn't stand the waiting. And her white lace covering her arms, long skirts skating behind her, silver tiara in her hair and walking towards her groom in black and gold. So many years ago, so many tears and losses.

"I can't wait, it's been so long. It feels real this time, I've never felt like this before." Greer grins. Mary stands and smiles, adjusting the off white-blush sash that's wrapped around her friends' waist. She deserves this, deserves a man like James after everything she's been through and done and lost. And she can't imagine anybody better for her brother than her dearest friend.

It's not Greer's first time wearing a wedding dress. The first time with Remy hadn't even made it this far. The first time was with Aloisious, and they had been happy for a time, until he had been caught in a scandal after the company he had invested in had been exposed in illegal foreign trade. His losses had turned the lovely man into a drunk, and Leith came to her rescue for a year long romance that came with Greer's flourishing dating business. But that hadn't lead to marriage, only a broken heart when Leith had fallen for Claude Valois-Angoulème de Medici. A brief entanglement with Martin de Lambert had blessed Greer with her sweet baby girl Rose, who her recently freed husband had agreed to help raise while they looked for the travelling merchant to get child support or for him to sign his rights away to the baby girl. PTSD had stripped Caselroy of his gentleness and compassion after his tome behind bars and the loss of a lot of his fortune. So, they divorced amicably, while Greer focused on her business and her baby, and then she had met James Stuart two years ago, and the rest is history.