After Uncle Jo's reading it was time for the vows and the exchanging of rings. Daniela's father placed the rings on the cushion that Evelyn was holding and Daniela picked one of them and placed it on my ring finger.

"Lynn, I give you this ring as a token of our marriage." she said reading off a prepared card. "I promise to join my life with yours in a world that sometimes tells us we shouldn't be together so we can create a bright and happy home." She briefly stopped as her voice cracked with emotion. Behind her Caitlin had tears running down her cheeks and Daniela's sister Christina also had tears in her eyes too.

"I will honour and cherish our relationship for as long as we both shall live." Daniela finished wiping away another pair of tears before they fell.

It was now my turn. I took the final ring and taking my vows out of my pocket started to read. I had to stop a couple of times too to wipe my tears away but I managed to finish them.

"Daniela, I give you this ring as a token of our marriage. I promise to be by your side, to always support you and keep you strong, in good times and in bad and to take you up on your offer to watch a sunset. I will honour and cherish our relationship for as long as we both shall live."

Christina now had tears running down her cheeks and I could hear a sob coming behind me from Hayley.

"By the power invested in me, I pronounce you partners in marriage." The officiant announced. "You may seal your vows with a kiss."

Tenderly me and Daniela kissed to a chorus of claps and then it was time to sign the register. When this had been completed, our pianist played the wedding march from The Little Mermaid as we walked back down the aisle and outside into the grounds

Last edited by reptongeek (May 17, 2018 10:57 am)

"I didn't know your Uncle Jo was a Formula 1 fan." Daniela said to me as we waited outside the room to be called in.

"He was." I confessed "Not so much now though. Why?"

"Chris was explaining that Dad missed her birth because he was watching a sports event." Daniela explained. "It had overrun apparently. Your Uncle suggested he might have been watching the Belgian Grand Prix"

We both heard our Toastmaster asking everybody to be upstanding for our arrival and we walked hand in hand to our table. There were six smaller tables named after places me and my new wife had visited while we had been dating such as Brimham Rocks and Rievaulx Abbey. The top table was named after Littondale Hall the hotel where the wedding was taking place.

We both took our seats and it was time for the speeches

Claire stood up first

"There are many things me and Hayley can say about Lynn." she said. "But I think only one need suffice. She was the sister we never had."

I was really moved by this statement and it was hard to not let my eyes fill with tears again.

"I'm proud to be here to celebrate her special day." Claire continued. She raised her glass in celebration. "To Lynn and Daniela."

"To Lynn and Daniela."

Christina stood up next, giving a couple of funny anecdotes about her and Daniela growing up and then her and Claire read out the wedding cards including a brief message from Cassie's father who although grieving for his wife still managed to wish us all the happiness in the world.

Ian finally stood up to add a few remarks.

"When the senior partner of my firm went round asking if anyone would like to be part of a TV show, most of us declined." he recounted. "This less sensible fellow volunteered."

Ian paused to let the laughter die away.

"Although my career as a speedrunner sadly didn't last, something else very much did. And four years on I am proud to celebrate the union of two people who have become like family to me."

Ian raised his own glass to toast us and afterwards the meal began

Just before dessert was served I happened to notice that Hayley came back in looking very upset.

And then David came back in. I wasn't stupid I know he had spoken to her and shot him a brief glare.

We were halfway through our dessert when Chris our Toastmaster came across to us

"I've got some bad news." he told me and Daniela. "The singer you booked for the dance isn't coming. His manager cancelled the booking because it was for a same sex wedding. He apologizes and says he has to be honest and follow his beliefs."

Me and Daniela shared a look. Although same sex weddings had been accepted by many people it was still problematic for some which increased our problems when planning our wedding. Jeremy for instance had to be assigned to do our Wedding Video at the last minute for this same reason.

"With respect the time to be honest was at the time of the booking, not on the day of the ceremony." I told him. Chris nodded in agreement

"Aunt Sharon has a copy of the music." Daniela told him "It's in order you just need to start from the first track."

Chris thanked us and left to sort it out. We linked hands for a moment determined not to let it spoil our day.

At the announcement of the first dance we both took to the floor and to the soft strains of Elton John's Your Song we quietly and slowly danced to the music. Even though it was a recording on a CD we both found it quite emotional and by the time the music faded away our cheeks were streaked with tears. We wiped them away and shared a tender hug. And in that moment I didn't want to be anywhere else

I felt my shoulders deflate a little. I tried to think of something to say, but all I could think of was 'I'm sorry'. Which at that particular time wasn't very helpful.

Cassie must have guessed what I was thinking because she replied for me;

"Me too." She paused and then continued "You and your family, you've been the best in-laws I could ever want."

She walked away looking emotionally drained.

"My forecast was about right." I said to Daniela. "Not that I'm particularly proud of it given the circumstances."

We exchanged a private look.

"I'm disappointed in my brother." I carried on. "When I was eight, he convinced my parents to let me play Doom. Even if he couldn't understand why. So I know if he wanted to fight for his marriage he would have done."

"I didn't know Cassie very well." Daniela said. "But I do know her respect for you. She wouldn't want us to be too sad for her. She'd want us to enjoy our honeymoon."

"Yes, she would" I said with a soft smile

"Here's where we're going." Daniela showed me some drone footage on her phone of Pendennis Castle on the south coast. It was on a hilltop with a lovely view over the sea and a bench in prime position.

*

Thirty six hours later we were getting ready to leave our holiday cottage to watch our first sunset as a couple.

"Have you got the.." Daniela started to ask me and then broke off into giggles as I held up the torch and a blanket.

She grabbed a flask of hot chocolate and after locking the door we walked out to the bench and arranged ourselves.

Accepting my mug of hot chocolate I took a sip and both of us quietly waited for the sun to disappear over the horizon. I thought of Cassie and Evelyn and what their life would be like without David. I thought of my best friends and the happy times we'd had together.

But most of all I thought of my new wife. My everything. And many more moments like this. The wind had picked up slightly since we'd sat down so I took my long hair out of its ponytail allowing the wind to gently ruffle through it.

The sun had now reached the distant ocean gleaming red as it went looking like a giant red ball. Out of the corner of my eye I could see a tear gently run down Daniela's face.

I had too much love and respect for her to tease her for crying so I simply took my hand in hers and we both silently played with each others fingers as the sun went down

Last edited by reptongeek (February 12, 2019 4:30 pm)

Author's Note

I was originally going to a mumzilla plotline but changed my mind later. Enjoy this next part.

*******

I was immediately petrified as I knew Claire's mum didn't suffer fools gladly and could be quite a formidable personality. To be fair so could Claire's Dad and this was one of the reasons why her parents got divorced. Two people with very strong opinions obviously didn't mix well.

One of the things me and Daniela had learned whilst adjusting to married life was to be more open and honest with each other, which initially we didn't consider because we were both such agreeable souls. But while this was okay for a couple who only spent a several hours together for three or four days a week, living together required us to adapt and discuss things a lot more. I wouldn't have described our first year as tough but it had been a little harder than we thought.

These things all mulled over in my mind as I walked to the room where Mrs Tuttle was staying. I'd always called her that ever since our first meeting eight years ago and despite my close friendship with Claire she'd never gave me permission to call her anything else.

"What can I do for you, Mrs Tuttle?" I asked when she opened the door and motioned me to come in.

"My future son-in-law." she began. "Is he a suitable husband for Claire. Will he make her happy?"

I inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

"He's never loved anyone else." I told her truthfully. "He's been wanting this since we were all in high school."

That was all she wanted to know and now suitably pleased she allowed me to go and return to the bridal suite. Along the way a voice hailed me from behind.

"Tom how was your journey."

"Long!" he described succinctly. "We got stuck in a huge traffic jam on the motorway so I diverted through the side streets."

Tom was Hayley's fiancee. They had got engaged purely by accident on the same day as Claire and Jeremy. Due to the fact they wanted a summer wedding like mine and Daniela's they graciously allowed Claire and Jeremy to go first.

My brother David wasn't altogether happy about this arrangement. After his divorce from Cassie he had hoped to pick up with Hayley where he'd left off but Hayley had decided she needed to live her life again and find someone new and that's when she'd met Tom. After my wedding they had briefly separated but resumed their relationship when David couldn't give her an adequate explanation as to why his fateful one night stand with Cassie had taken place.

"Dan is in the lounge if you want to say hi." I told him. At that moment my phone bleeped with a text message from her. She had met a young boy who liked to play Snakes and Ladders and had moved to the games room

"See you at the rehearsal." Tom said as he set off.

I reported back to the bridal suite where Claire was pleased that my meeting with her mum had been successful.

Hayley arrived shortly afterwards and we spent the next hour going over final details. We then parted so we could have a brief rest before the rehearsal.

"Who won the snakes and ladders tournament." I asked Daniela when I returned to my room.

"Callum did." she informed me with a grin. She gave me a mug of green tea and placed her own mug of hot chocolate on the side while she sat on the bed next to me and took her boots off. She'd purchased them shortly before our wedding and they really were beautiful boots. Plus I liked the raspy sound the zip made as it was pulled.

"What's the plan?" she asked as she took a sip of her drink.

"The wedding rehearsal is at 5. We're then going to check the tables in the main hall and finish them off with the books and table names. Then tomorrow I'm going down to the bridal suite to get ready." I paused.

"I'm sorry Dan. You must feel you've been in a perpetual state of wedding planning for the last two and a half years. We made an agreement to be each others bridesmaids when we were younger and unattached without realising what it would be like for our partners to attend three back to back weddings."

She took my hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Well it does feel like that a little bit." she confessed. "But I do like your best friends. They mean so much to you it would be churlish of me to complain."

My eyes filled with tears at my wife's understanding speech. I put down my mug wiped away a stray tear that had trickled down my cheek and kissed her on the mouth