Unexpected Love

Chapter 56 - The Wedding Part 5

Catalina

It was far better than any image I could have possibly conjured in my mind.

When I gave Sariena free reign to begin the decorating in any style she wanted, I was not expecting her to pull off something as extravagant as this was and still fit my personal tastes.

"....ying." I finally finished my sentence, the initial shock waning as the moments went by.

"This is so damn amazing," Cris whispered excitedly. I'm truly glad that he felt the same way that I did.

We were snapped out of our little daze as the guests started to applaud loudly, with a whistle and catcall or two mixed in between the din. I immediately looked over at a frazzled Clarice who was trying, to no avail, to reign in her husband who was standing on his chair whistling. I giggled and pointed him out to Cristiano, who started laughing until he fell into a fit of coughs.

"Ladies and gentlemen please join me in welcoming the newlyweds, Mr and Mrs Aveiro!" our MC, Josep bellowed into the microphone.

Personally I don't know who gave him that mic.

We took our seats at the lavishly decorated headtable with Diana perched my left and Miguel seated to his right. Dainty silverware littered the immaculately white tablecloth while the creme and white centerpiece was the central focus of the setting. From where we were positioned, I had a view of our babies being taken care of by their grandmothers. Dolores was fastening a bib around Selene's neck while Maman rocked Xavier, who already had his shirt off, to sleep despite the din around him.

He really does take after me.

"Now I know you guys want to get down to the great food and wild dancing so we're going to kick this night off with a few speeches and toasts." Josep said,"Can the Maid of Honour please take this mic? And don't say anything too inappropriate Di. We have mothers, children and a priest here."

Diana made a face at him before grabbing the mic.

"I'm hoping to make this as short as possible because I know Javier wants all the time to speak to his little sister," Diana gestured to Javi who gave her a thumbs up.

"All those years ago in 2012, when Catalina told me that she was developing something with a footballer, I was not really surprised because I mean look at her, magazine ready and perfect for the red carpet and she was kinda smart too. Just kidding babe, just kidding. However when she finally told me she was dating Cristiano, I was a bit on the fence about it. Not just because they ran in two entirely different circles at the time but they looked like they had nothing in common, they seemed less alike than chalk and cheese or stone and satin but oh boy how wrong was I?" Diana shook her head.

"These two are so damn inseparable it can be annoying sometimes. Catalina cannot be found without Cristiano by her side nor is Cristiano complete without Catalina. Whenever Catalina is not around and I need advice I know I could always go to Cristiano because they even think alike that I am bound to get the same response in the end. Their relationship is the prime example of what any relationship should be like and what everyone should strive to attain. One in where there is immense understanding and unconditional love. So this is where I'll end my speech for tonight. Congratulations to my dearest sister and her new husband. Cheers,"

On her way down from the podium, she passed the mic to Miguel, whispering something to him which in turn made him laugh out loud.

"Diana said to make it brief as well because apparently Javier has a power point presentation in store for us." Miguel laughed, making Sariena turn a give my brother a questioning look,"I've known Cristiano for almost twenty years now and I can safely say that I have seen him genuinely ecstatic on exactly four occasions only. The first time happened to be when he won that first ballon d'or, the second was when Junior was born and that was probably one of the three times he actually cried, the third time was the birth of Rhani, Xavi and Lene where he almost rented the entire hospital floor and the fourth time was this morning when those church doors swung open and Catalina came walking up that aisle."

I felt Cris' hand reach covertly under the table to encase mine as Miguel continued.

"For years now Catalina had been able to keep that smile permanently attached to his face. I don't know how she does it but I know I am grateful that she can do it with such ease. The years ahead will have its trials and tribulations but I am glad that you two have each other because I know you can overcome anything that comes. I wish the newlyweds many blessings, many comforts, and many more children for us to spoil. Cheers."

"Thank you Miguel that was beautiful." Josep pretended to wipe away a tear,"Now we'll have the final speech for the night and if anyone else has anything extra to say to Catalina and Cristiano, there is a book at the back where you can just write down your thoughts. So before Javier runs me over, I'll just give him the mic and the spotlight to say something on behalf of our family."

"Goodnight everyone, it's story time," Javier winked at us and I could hear a slight groan come from Sariena.

"I am not going to lie, I was wary of Cristiano at first. Not because he was a bad person or anything, I barely knew the guy at the time, but simply because I did not want my little sister to go through anymore pain in her life. She has been so consistently strong and has been a tremendous support system for us all but there were moments that she could not put on a brave face for and I sadly admit I was there for those rare instances. I hated to see her that way, so right after meeting him I began to vet Cristiano because that was one of the last things my father told me that I had to do before he passed away. He gave me that responsibility and I never took it for granted because I always fulfill my promises and duties. And I can safely say that Cristiano has never let me down."

He cleared his throat before continuing.

"He has never left her side and she returns the favour in full. They often behave as if they had been married all their lives. One of the moments that I knew that Cris was the right one for her happened to be when Mae had been admitted to the hospital after she had fallen into a coma. Not only did Cris drop everything in Spain to be here to support Catalina here in Brazil, he helped all of us to cope as  well. I saw him be the shoulder for each one of us to cry on, I watched him take care of Crysa without question, I saw him take charge when all of us were too numbed to speak and I saw him sit with Mae in quiet times, sometimes he even read to her."

Javier had managed to capture everyone's attention, even reducing some to tears.

"I asked myself in those moments, how could Catalina find someone as selfless and compassionate as she was? It is often said that opposites attract. That might be true but in this case it goes deeper than that. Their souls are one and the same, aligned with each other by something a little more that fate. I hope that nothing ever comes in between such a pure union and that it endures the tests of time. Congratulations to my little sister and my new brother-in-law,"