The Lost Moments

From this moment on

From this moment on.

His eyes filled with tears.

A smile spread a mile wide across his face.

It was here.

Finally here.

The moment.

The one moment in time he'd hoped for but never truly expected.

A gaggle of small flower girls including his niece and hers in various soft shades of blues and green, carrying baskets of flowers had already made their way up the aisle followed by Prince George carrying the rings with his cousin James at his side. The two boys wore kilts to match his own and his attendant's Harry and Stephen - navy and green, a family tartan - a matching navy coat and white shirt.

And then there had been his sister Emily and Lady Louise - the last of the preliminaries. They wore soft flowing dresses of green and blue, their bouquets were blue delphiniums and green/white roses with shells worked into their dome design.

He had smiled widely at both of them, bouncing nervously up on to his toes as they arrived at the end of the tiny white kirk with it's ocean blue pews lined with branches of willow tide in raffia decorated with shells.

Nerves built in his stomach, not the gentle butterflies of the first day on set, or the hummingbirds of opening night of a play, no these were closer to something built by Boeing. He took deep breaths as Harry put a comforting hand on his shoulder. Tom nervously fiddled with the rose on his jacket and breathed again.

His whole family was here, his mother in her new hat, his father, stepmother, prospective stepfather, sister and aunts and cousins sat on his side of the little church mingling with a few school, uni and Rada friends as well as a sprinkling of co-stars. On her side, if he turned around, the Queen of England of the UK was in his direct line of sight, her husband the duke by his side, her stepmother and Sophie and Edward completing the front row. There were doctors, celebrities, friends and her extended family and the odd dignitary - not too many - though somehow the Prime Minister had wrangled an invite. He turned a little to look at the Queen, bowing his head lightly as protocol dictated of an earl - his new title as of this morning (they'd debated it but as Harry and Em had titles and so would their children, they'd been talked into following suit) before turning his attention to his own mother there were tears in her eyes, no one had wanted this more than her. The woman about to walk down the aisle was finally going to be her daughter.

His wife.

The shy little girl who had learned to cook and to laugh again in Diana's kitchen was about to be family in the eyes of the law.

Mind you in the eyes of Diana Hiddleston, she always had been.

He smiled back at her, knowing what this meant to her and to his father beside her, who although late to the Tory party, had played a significant role in getting them back together. His father smiled warmly before turning - a sound behind him capturing his attention.

And then Tom heard it too, the sound of a lone piper. He turned to see Stuart, a Hiddleston cousin making his way towards him and then he finally turned properly for the first time as the door opened behind him.

And there she was.

His bride.

His life.

His Tory-Beth.

All eyes shot quickly from her to him - to see the look on his face and they weren't disappointed. His breath hitched at the sight of her and then he was beaming, tears filling his eyes.