Baby Blues and Wedding Shoes (49 page)

Her face was serene, but her eyes
seemed troubled. He guessed she was unsure about his reaction to
being led unknowing to the altar. He wanted to tell her that it was
perfect; that he felt nothing but overwhelming love for her, for
organising this idyllic wedding on the beach with his family all
looking on.

He smiled and gave a slight nod, as if
to say, “It’s all good.” He was rewarded with a beaming smile. Even
across the distance he could see the tension drain from her face
and shoulders.

Helen felt a sob of relief well up in
her throat and willed it to go away.
I am not going to cry today
of all days. I’ve shed enough tears.
She hadn’t realised how
frightened she had been, until Marcio’s nod of consent.
What if
he’d said no?
She shivered at the thought. Her left side was
suddenly warm, as her father came to stand beside her, pulling her
arm through his. It seemed he, too, had been waiting for Marcio’s
nod. Her mother handed her a posy of flowers, then melted away back
into the crowd.

Helen felt her heightened senses take
in the space around her; the waiting friends and family, the altar,
the sand beneath her feet and the sea whispering in the distance.
After weeks of planning, it was finally real. She wanted to kick
off her shoes and dig her toes into the sand, to convince herself
that she was really here. Shivering again from the cool breeze, she
thought better of it, focusing instead on walking down the
makeshift aisle.

How did I dare do it? To plan a wedding
without consulting him. Do all this behind his back, after we said
no more secrets?

Thinking about it now, as she let her
father lead her slowly across the sand towards him, she decided the
sleep-deprivation must have addled her brain. Benita hadn’t thought
she was crazy though, now she thought about it. When she had called
her, only a few weeks ago, and begged her to help plan a wedding,
Benita had been startled but enthusiastic.
He can always say
no
, she had said with a shrug in her voice.
We knew, the day
you came to the vineyard, that you were meant to be together. If
you leave it to Marcio, you’ll never get married. You take charge,
Helen. When happiness is at stake, you have to just go for
it.

Mum was as bad,
Helen mused.
Arranging for her and Dad and Simon to come over.
She looked
to her left and caught sight of Sharni grinning at her. Helen felt
her cheeks twitch in response, and forced herself to look forward
again.
I can’t believe they all came too, in March!
As the
wind swept across her bare skin, raising goosebumps, Helen thought
ruefully,
Maybe I should have waited a few weeks. Would it have
mattered?

She remembered the constant,
increasingly desperate, calls from Daniel since their showdown.
Even though she had kept him at arm’s length, cancelling his calls
and refusing to answer the door to him, it had taken all of her and
Marcio’s newly discovered strength and honesty not to be rattled by
it.
After today, Marcio will be one step closer to being the
twins’ true father. And when Daniel’s calmed down, we can discuss
it properly. For now I don’t want to think about him. This is,
finally, my wedding day.

She was almost at the front. Marcio
stood a few feet away, with the twins being held to one side, their
little adorable outfits fluttering in the breeze. Helen’s heart
felt as if it might pop from the love crammed into it. She reached
out a hand towards Marcio and let him lead her the last few feet to
the altar.

As he watched Helen approach across the
beach, Marcio thought about the nine months that had led him here.
It seemed a lifetime ago since Mia had made her brave decision, one
that at the time he thought had ruined his life forever. Yet here
he was, with a beautiful bride who understood him, gave him the
space to be himself.

He looked towards the pram. Two of his
sisters were holding the babies up so they could be seen. Someone
had thought to dress them for the occasion; James in a tiny suit,
Jasmine in a white silky dress. They were both wide awake,
apparently unconcerned by everything going on around them.

My babies.

Turning back to face Helen, Marcio
thought he might catch fire from the joy illuminating his entire
body. Who knew such beautiful contentment existed in the world?

When she arrived at his side, Marcio
pulled Helen close, kissed her cheek, and paused to whisper in her
ear.

“So, do we live happily ever
after?”

She looked into his blue eyes, tears
filling her own, her heart thumping in her throat.

“I don’t know, ask me in fifty years.
The story hasn’t ended yet.”

Epilogue

“Hold still everyone, please.” Stuart
peered at the group through the viewfinder, then raised his head
above the camera. “Will you two please stop snogging long enough
for me to take at least one picture?”

“Sorry,” Sharni shouted over the
laughter that followed. She stood on tiptoe to give Ben another
kiss before turning back to face Stuart. “There, I’m all done for
now.”

“I should hope so.” Stuart’s voice was
stern, but his tanned face was creased with smiles. He bent down to
check the viewfinder again and clicked off a few shots.

“Careful,” Helen called from her
position next to Sharni. “If Derek hears you taking all those
pictures, he’ll give you a lecture about
how a real photographer
only needs to take one shot, knowing always that it will be the
right one.
”

“I can hear you, Helen,” Derek called
from further back in the crowd, where his arm was wrapped
protectively around the waist of his latest sweetheart. “Besides,
how many shots do you take nowadays?”

“I rather have my hands full these
days, Derek.” Helen laughed. “I take the occasional picture on my
phone. The rest will have to wait.” She looked fondly over to where
Marcio was sat under a tree, a bottle in each hand. They’d hoped
that Luca and Johan might wait until the end of the photographs to
demand feeding, but babies had terrible timing.

“Here, let me do that.”

Marcio looked up and saw Maggie
approaching him. “You get back to the photos; someone needs to keep
James and Jasmine from running riot.”

“Thanks, Maggie,” Marcio smiled
gratefully up at his mother-in-law.

“That’s why you brought me along, isn’t
it, to be babysitter?”

“Of course not.” Marcio saw her raised
eyebrows. “Well, not entirely. We thought you and Frank deserved a
break away from the farm, and Jersey is lovely at this time of
year.”

“And flying solo with four children
under four didn’t appeal to you?”

“Yes, that too. I would have been
alright if Helen hadn’t come out the day before me. I can’t help it
if Sharni and Ben’s school finishes earlier than the
university.”

“Go on, get over there. Stuart’s likely
to start frothing at the mouth if this takes any longer.”

Marcio grinned at Maggie, handed over
the bottles, and hurried towards the crowd standing in front of the
camera.

“Daddy, daddy!” A bouncing bundle, all
silk and netting, wrapped itself around his leg as he reached the
group. Scooping up his daughter, Marcio tickled her tummy and then
lent back as she kicked her feet in giggling protest.

“Daddy, daddy!” a second voice chorused
and Marcio smiled down at his son, as he hopped up and down,
holding up his arms to be carried.

“I don’t know I can manage you both,”
Marcio said to James, “You’re both so big now.” He bent down and
pulled James onto his hip, wearing both children like a set of
panniers.

“Okay, can we perhaps get back to the
pictures?” Stuart’s voice cut through the chatter, and everyone
straightened guiltily and faced forwards.

When enough pictures had been taken to
satisfy every photographer present, the wedding party headed to the
marque for the Asian-English fusion buffet. Although Sharni was
wearing traditional English white, having had a separate Asian
ceremony in Bradford the previous weekend, there were still a few
Asian elements to the day. Some of her younger family members had
made it out to Jersey for the English wedding and the marque was a
riot of clashing colours, sounds and smells.

“Is everything okay?” Dawn stopped
Sharni and Helen as they headed into the marque to take their
places at the top table. Helen had Luca asleep in her arms.

“Everything is right grand, Dawn,
thanks!” Sharni’s voice bubbled with happiness. “This place is
amazing. I can’t believe you’ve done all this in just a year.”

“John did most of it.” Dawn looked
around at their hilltop house, with views over the ocean to
mainland France. “Once we’d decided to start a wedding-venue
business, he threw all his energy into it. I think he was glad to
build something, you know, to have something to show for his
efforts. And to have Daisy be the first bride was the icing on the
wedding cake, as it were.”

“It’s beautiful. It must have been
great to have your daughter married here.” Sharni looked out over
the sea, and then down at Luca as he gave a little burp in his
sleep.

“I have some news, seeing as I have the
two of you together.” Sharni gestured for her two best friends to
come closer. Whispering so low the words were barely audible, she
breathed “I’m going to have a baby.”

“Wow!” Helen breathed in reply, her
eyes wide. “I thought babies terrified you?”

“Well, you know, I’ve spent a bit more
time with them now, you being on your second set of twins. Please
Allah don’t let ours be twins.”

“Don’t you know yet?” Dawn
whispered.

“No, too early. Scan’s the day after we
get back from honeymoon.”

“How is Ben handling it?”

“He’s right thrilled. Happen he’s ready
to be a dad now.” She thought back to a time, a lifetime ago, when
Ben had declared he wasn’t ready to be a father.

“Well, congratulations. I’m so happy
for you both. Do come and stay, we love having babies here.” Dawn
beamed, then bustled off to make sure the food was all ready as
required.

Helen propped Luca up under her chin
then put her other arm through Sharni’s.

“Going to be a mummy eh?”

“Yes,” Sharni smiled. “Any advice?”

“Get plenty of sleep now, while you
can. You have no idea how precious it’s going to become.”

Sharni laughed a little nervously.

“You’ll be fine,” Helen reassured her.
“Ben’s a good man, and you have lots of family to help out. How
have they been, with Ben I mean? I assume they don’t know about the
baby?”

“Hell no! Can you imagine? It’s bad
enough I’m marrying a white man, without being pregnant before my
wedding night. They’re doing okay. Ben can be very charming, when
he wants to be. And after Derek…”

Helen smiled. She could imagine that
even the strictest parent would prefer Ben as a son-in-law to their
daughter running off with a man old enough to be her father.

“You invited Derek to the wedding
though?”

“Well, someone has to make sure
Stuart’s doing a good job of the pictures!” Sharni spoke loud
enough for Stuart to hear, as he stood near the top table, taking
pictures of the cake.

“How dare you! I’ll have you know I
have taken wedding pictures for
Hello! Magazine
. I’m
photographer to the stars, don’t you know.”

“Oh I do, Stuart, I do. I’m right
grateful you would condescend to come to our paltry affair.”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world. You
and Ben finally admitting you fancy the pants off each other. I had
to witness that.”

Sharni and Helen took their seats, and
Maggie headed over to collect her grandson. “Thanks mum, you’re an
angel. How’s dad?”

“He’s cuddling Johan, and is happy as a
puddle full of pigs because John has brought him a frothing pint of
real ale.”

She hurried away as Ben began to tap
his glass, preparing for his speech.

Helen only heard half the words. She
looked out at the crowd of people crammed into the marque. She
could see Marcio sitting with her parents and the babies, with
James and Jasmine perched either side of him. She thought her heart
might burst with pride at the sight of her family all together. She
made a mental note to ask Stuart to take a picture of the elder
twins for Daniel. He would be returning from his honeymoon soon and
she knew he and Lucinda would love to see the twins looking so
smart for once. James and Jasmine would be glad to have him back;
they missed him and their half-sister, while they were sunning
themselves in the Maldives.

Thank god Daniel came to his senses
when they sacked him from that job
, Helen thought, as everyone
laughed at something Ben had said. Laughing along so no one would
notice she wasn’t listening, Helen thought back over the last few
years. It had taken a while, but everything seemed to be coming
together. Having a second set of twins had come as a shock, and
poor Jasmine was glad to have a half-sister, with so many brothers
at home, even if Charlotte was still only a baby.

Helen sensed a change in Sharni’s body
language and tuned back into the speech. Ben was explaining how he
had longed to rescue Sharni from an arranged marriage.
Poor
Ben,
Helen thought,
he was desperate to be the knight in
shining armour. In the end Sharni rescued him.
Ben was saying
something similar to the crowd. They all laughed as he said, “If
you can call it a rescue, going from a boring bank job to teaching
Reception Class. There are days when boredom would be lovely.”

He looked down at Sharni and grinned,
and Helen felt the tension leave her friend’s shoulders. Helen knew
Sharni had worried about talking Ben into a job as a primary school
teacher. Privately Helen thought Ben was brilliant with the kids,
as he would be with his own.