Robbie & Jamie

Eighteen - The Wedding Part 1 - The Ceremony

The day of the wedding was the happiest day of Robbie's life, the most perfect for Jamie's, Rose's proudest, Joseph's most expensive, and Margaret's most exciting.

The day began for Jamie at eight o'clock, when she woke up in the spare bedroom at Claire's house and laid there, her hands over her mouth to supress her squeals of excitement. After laying in bed hugging her blankets for another thirty minutes and fantasising about what was to come, she pushed herself out of bed and scrambled to the kitchen to make a cup of tea. Claire came to join her moments later, and suddenly Jamie found herself being sat down to a big breakfast of fried egg on toast, along with bacon and tomatoes. Grandma's were amazing.

Back to the spare room they went, and sat Jamie down to begin applying her makeup, attempting all three different looks she had noted down and deciding which looked better. After seeing to Matthew's morning routine, Claire returned to brush Jamie's short hair and neatly pin it up, tight enough so it wouldn't fall out of place but not so it tugged uncomfortably. Jamie had gotten her hair cut the day before so the dyed green tips were gone. More cups of tea were made in celebration, and Matthew wheeled himself into the room, a bottle of whisky in his lap.

"For the nerves," he nodded reassuringly as he tipped a generous amount into Jamie's cup before actually asking if she wanted some.

The look of surprise on Jamie's face couldn't be hidden despite her giggling, and Claire swatted her husband with the tea towel draped over her shoulder.

"The poor girl will need rolling down the aisle!"

As the minutes gradually turned into hours, Claire helped Jamie into her wedding dress, securing all the fastenings at the back and arranging the neckline so it sat comfortably. It was now when the nerves hit, and Jamie carefully paced around the room, fretting about everything not going perfectly, if Robbie would show up on time, the possibility of rain, or if they'd wrote the wrong date on the invitations and nobody showed up.

"Look." Claire gave Jamie her own copy of the invitation to look at, "today's date, okay? And the forecast says it should be sunny all day. Look outside - the weather is glorious. And do you really think Robbie would show up late to her own wedding?"

"No, no, she wouldn't," Jamie held a hand over her thumping heart. "I'm sorry, I don't know why I said that. I'm just panicking."

"I know you're nervous, on my wedding day I was petrified," Claire nodded, thrusting a teacup into Jamie's grasp, not speaking again until Jamie had taken a sip. "But once I'd reach the altar and saw Matthew waiting for me, I knew I had made the right choice. It was one of the happiest days of my life."

"One?" Matthew asked.

"When you reach my age, there are a lot of days which are tied between being the best."

"Your age?" Jamie asked. "And how old are you, twenty one?"

Claire pretended to swat her. "I'm a married woman! And soon you will be too. Everything's sorted for your big day. Now," Claire rested her hands on Jamie's shoulder. "Are you ready?"

Jamie took a breath. This was the day she had been waiting for. Several years ago, Jamie had believed the idea of love and marriage weren't allowed for someone like her. Of course, she had always dreamed of standing with the woman of her dreams, exchanging vows and sharing rings. But that reality didn't feel like it would ever belong to her, because of society, her family situation, and her own internal homophobia weighing down. But after meeting Robbie, discovering happiness and becoming at peace with herself, Jamie knew that she WAS allowed to experience love and joy, and she wanted to experience it with Robbie. They would show the world that they belonged together, were happy together, and were proud of who they were.