Completely & Stupidly: Forever and Ever

Chapter 16. Vanessa

When she woke up, Vanessa turned over as she usually did, to kiss Charity good morning, but as she opened her eyes, she found herself in bed alone, so she came to the conclusion that Charity must have gotten up early without waking her. As she yawned and stretched, she could hear voices downstairs and the rustling of plastic bags. She strained her ear to hear who it was that was talking and making such a ruckus at seven o'clock in the morning. When the very moment she heard that it was in fact Tracey and Rhona's voices drifting up the stairs, she realised that the day she had been counting down to for the longest time, was finally here. Similarly, to Charity, Vanessa leapt out of bed and ran to the top of the stairs. She too got to the halfway mark before she stopped frozen. Together, Tracey and Rhona looked up from the mess of discarded drinks and stray feathers that had been left behind from the hen party, to look at Vanessa. "I'm getting married today" Vanessa shouted, her voice started off excited and she had a smile on her face, but as the words left her mouth she instantly began to cry. Running to her, her best friend and sister embraced her lovingly as she sobbed a mixture of emotions upon their shoulders. "I'm getting married, today" She repeated, only this time a small bout of laughter followed as she began to wipe away her tears while her body coursed with a mixture of nerves and excitement. "Get that breakfast going" Tracey instructed Rhona as she hugged her sister tightly at the bottom of the stairs. "Righto" Rhona replied, with a thumbs up, feeling a little hungover and hungry but more than ready to kickstart the day with a good fry up. "I'm sorry" Vanessa sighed as she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror, now calming down. "Don't be" Tracey gasped, shrugging and letting her know that it was natural for her to feel so emotional. As she did, her phone vibrated in her pocket. "Oh, it's Chas. They're all up and getting ready over there. Ryan's on his way over with Johnny and she's sending a bottle of Champagne with them" Tracey informed as she read from the text. "Result" Rhona exclaimed as she fried bacon and eggs over the hob.
Just as Rhona finished cooking, Johnny was dropped off and brought inside, which gave Vanessa a few heart-warming moments with her son before they had to begin getting ready. Soon after they had eaten, the photographer arrived to snap some shots of them getting ready before the ceremony. As the photographer took plenty of photos of Mother and son, there was a knock at the door and in came the hairdresser and Moira, who had arrived at the same time. All was well and ready up at the farm and Matty and Victoria were overseeing everything else until the time came for the two brides to walk down the aisle. Hair and makeup took up two hours of the morning, making sure each of the bridesmaids were photo ready with pink lips and elegant updos. They seemed to be just ahead of schedule by the time Vanessa's own hair was finished, and now that her makeup was underway, she had to try her best not to cry anymore tears, or else she would ruin her eye makeup and leave glistening track marks down her cheeks. Johnny had spent most of the morning playing on his mother's phone, missing his brothers, who were getting ready with Charity for the time being, but he especially missed his partner in crime, Moses. "It won't be long now Johnnybobs, and we get to go and see the boys, and Mummy" She told her son, who was beginning to get a little restless and bored as all the attention he usually got from his Auntie, was being shown to his Mum instead. "Trace, why don't you take Johnny over to the shop and get him some sweets. No chocolate though, I want to keep him as clean as I can for as long as I can" Vanessa suggested, trying desperately not to move her lips too much as her lipstick was gently applied with a thin brush, hoping that keeping her little one entertained throughout the morning would help keep him in high spirits as the hours went by. "Okay, how does that sound Johnny?" Tracey asked her nephew who immediately jumped up from the arm chair he was sitting in and ran to the door. "Won't be long" She nodded to the others before they ducked out into the village.
By the time they had returned, everything going on at home seemed to be ready and put in place and all that was left to do now was for the bride and bridesmaids to put on their dresses. Vanessa had been wrapped up in a white dressing gown all morning, and sat promptly upright in it upon the sofa, as she waited for Tracey, Moira and Rhona to arrive back downstairs in their dresses. "Three, two, one, open" The photographer counted backwards, instructing Vanessa when to open her eyes to see her bridesmaids stood before her, wedding ready so that he could snapshot her initial reaction. "Oh my God" She cried, blinking rapidly as she attempted to hold back her tears for one of the countless times that morning. The three women grinned from ear to ear, each feeling beautiful in their own way as they received Vanessa's compliments of how gorgeous they looked. The room filled once again with flashing lights from the photographer's camera as he captured each moment and emotion in the room, including a candid photo of Johnny laughing at the women as they cried and hugged one another. "Johnny's turn" Rhona called out as the five-year-old, shyly peeked up over his hand that had attempted to hide his snigger beforehand. Baring all of his little white teeth, Johnny beamed as he was led upstairs by Vanessa who wanted to dress her son herself. With the photographer respectfully waiting to capture the moment between mother and son, Vanessa fastened Johnny into his suit, while Tracey unzipped Vanessa's dress from the keep safe bag in her wardrobe. "Now, don't you look handsome?" Vanessa gasped as Johnny twirled and jumped around, suited and booted in his designer suit. Then she kissed him gently on the head and turned around, to see Tracey waiting with her dress. "I can't even describe to you how I'm feeling, right now" Vanessa confessed to her sister. Tracey had been just as emotional as Vanessa all day, and was really testing her ability not to cry as she helped her into her dress. "I wish Dad could have been here" she muttered, thinking of Frank, who would have been over the moon for his daughter. "And, my Mum" She added, thinking about how sad she was that both her parents weren't going to be there to see her walk down the aisle to her bride on her special day. "I'm sure your mum has her reasons for not making the journey here" Tracey said in a soothing voice. "She said she couldn't afford to travel. Charity and I offered to pay for her, but she wouldn't accept the offer. You know how stubborn she can be", "It's a bit spiteful if you ask me", "Yeah well, at least I don't have to feel bad about having my mother there while Charity's father is a no show", "What's his excuse for not coming?", "He doesn't have one. She didn't invite him. I don't think he even knows we're getting married" Vanessa shrugged. "Oh well. You've got me, and I'm sure Dad will be looking down on us, wherever he is" Tracey admitted, giving Vanessa a quick squeeze. "To Dad" she added, picking up their almost empty glasses of fizz. "To Dad" Vanessa smiled weakly.
"Alright, are you ready?" Tracey asked as she arrived back downstairs. Everyone was excited to see Vanessa in full bride mode, and together they sat in a bubble of mixed adrenaline as she and Johnny made their way down to the living room. "Oh, Ness" Rhona gasped, as she saw her best friend nervously, yet excitedly, appear before them, beautiful from head to toe. "You look amazing," Moira announced, not able to take her eyes off her as she glowed, radiant. "I feel amazing" Vanessa told them, half laughing as she clenched her fists at her sides, not knowing how to shake out the bottle of pop feeling that was building up inside her. Tracey gathered together all the finalising accessories as the others hugged and kissed the bride. She gently removed the lid from the box where their bouquets had been kept, and carefully handed them out. The bridesmaids had flowers that corresponded with each other's dresses. Those wearing pink, carried lilac roses, and those dressed in lilac carried pink roses, whereas Vanessa's bouquet consisted of a mixture of both colours, along with a few wisps of baby's breath. Together the flowers meant joy, happiness, longevity, love and romance, all the things that Charity and Vanessa longed to feel for one another throughout their wedding day, marriage and for the rest of their lives. As the commotion around the beautiful scented flowers died down, Vanessa's thoughts lingered with Charity, and she wondered if she was feeling equally as excited and nervous as she was. As she stood daydreaming of her bride, there was a knock at the door. "I'll get it," Rhona announced, already halfway to the door as she spoke. "Oh, hi boys. What are you doing here? Everything's ok isn't it?" She gasped, as Noah and Moses shifted nervously on the doorstep. "Yeah, everything's great. We were just wondering if we could have a minute with Vanessa?" Noah explained. "Oh, thank God," Rhona breathed a sigh of relief, clutching her chest after worrying that something had gone wrong for them to turn up unannounced. "Ness, it's for you" She then added, calling across the room. Vanessa pulled a face as she wondered who it could be. Picking up the hem of her dress, she made her way over to the door, passing Rhona as she gave them some privacy. "Wow" Noah gasped, as Vanessa arrived in the doorway. "You look like a princess" Moses blurted out, pointing at her in awe. Vanessa's heart fluttered at the little boy's honesty. "Awh, thank you Moses" She cooed, bending over to kiss him like she had done with Johnny. "Everything okay?" Vanessa asked, as Rhona had. "Yeah. We just wondered, if you'd like to have your photo taken with us?" Noah asked sheepishly, bouncing from one foot to the other as he waited for an answer. Vanessa's heart smiled. "Of course, I'd love to take a picture with my boys" She told, pulling them both in for a hug. The photographer had overheard what was going on and appeared ready, with camera in hand, and little Johnny at his side too. Together, they stepped out into the garden and posed, smiling widely as the flash flickered away, taking multiple shots. "Now, let's do a silly one" The photographer suggested. Vanessa and her three boys, pulled faces and poked out their tongues and laughed as the photographer snapped away. "Perfect" He announced, having got the shots he was happy with. "Right, we better go. Our car will be arriving any minute now" Noah exclaimed, checking his watch for the time. "Okay, see you there" Vanessa grinned, watching as Noah and Moses hurried back to the pub, now even more excited to make their little family official. With a glance towards the clock, the butterflies in her stomach fluttered and danced as she realised the time. One hour to go.