THE MORNING OF MY WEDDING, I woke up completely disorientated. It didn’t help that my fiancé, whose great hulking presence took up most of the room in my bed, wasn’t with me. I’d grown used to waking up next to him so quickly, that I’d almost forgotten that immediate sense of panic when he wasn’t there. O’Connell was so concerned about my safety, that I just didn’t worry about it as much when he was around. The front door slammed shut with a loud bang, just as I remembered that I’d spent the night at Nikki’s. Loudly and proudly, the sound of her voice filled the room as she la, la, la’d her way though, “Here Comes the Bride”.
“Wake up, bitch. The bestest, most awesome bridesmaid in the world has brought you breakfast in bed.”
I salivated as I inhaled the aroma of expensive coffee and could have kissed Nikki as she handed me a cup with a fresh Danish pastry.
“This is my favourite breakfast,” I beamed.
“Well, you can thank your husband-to-be for the heads up. Now move your butt across. I’m freezing.”
She climbed, fully clothed, into bed next to me and switched on the television. We had an amazing breakfast watching The Goonies, and it couldn’t have been a better start to my day.
“Are you nervous?” she asked me.
“A little,” I admitted. “But mostly I’m just excited.”
“Well then, princess.” She grinned. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
Three hours later, I’d been buffed, exfoliated, plucked, and curled. My makeup was delicate and simple looking, giving me that natural ethereal look that most brides wanted. Nikki had fastened my hair into a beautiful loose knot at the back of my head and fastened the antique comb above it. A huge bang sounded on the door, making me jump.
“I’ll get it.” Nikki smiled.
She returned with a beautiful bouquet of royal blue and white flowers for me, and a smaller version of the same bouquet for her.
“Mac just dropped them off,” she explained, setting them down. “I take it all back about letting a man organise your wedding. Con is totally hired as my wedding planner when I finally pick a victim.”
I start taking deep breaths, knowing that I was seconds away from bawling like a baby. I really didn’t want to ruin Nikki’s makeup job.
“Here,” Nikki said, thrusting some tissues at me. “If you’re losing it over some flowers you’ve got no chance of holding out for the rest of the day”. Nikki left me a glass of champagne, and a bunch of tissues while she went to get ready. An hour later, she came out wearing a gorgeous halter neck knee length royal blue dress. The skirt was floaty and delicate, but the ruched bodice fitted her every curve. It showed off her figure perfectly.
“Nikki, you look stunning!” I exclaimed in awe.
She’d ditched her traditional red hair earlier in the week in favour of a rich chocolate brown, which curled down her back in waves. Simple, silver jewellery complemented her delicate silver strappy heels perfectly, and I was floored by how beautiful she looked.
“I don’t scrub up badly, do I?” She grinned, admiring her figure in the mirror.
“Kieran and Tommy are going bust something when they see you in that dress.” I smiled.
“Well, they have to catch me first,” she said with a wink. “Now let’s get you into that dress.”
Marie, being the absolute superstar that she was, had spent nearly all yesterday making alterations to my dress so that it fit perfectly. Unlike most customers who were fitted in the shop, I spent nearly the whole day camped out in her back sewing room so that we could get the dress finished in time. I made myself as useful as I could, making lots of cups of tea and running out to grab her some lunch. By the end of the day, I had a perfectly fitted and absolutely stunning wedding dress and a new friend. I was thankful for both in equal measures. Nikki fastened the last of the silk buttons just as her phone vibrated. Checking her message, she looked out of the window and yelled, “Taxi’s here.”
I was excited that it was finally time. But at that moment, I couldn’t help but feel a little sad, too. My dad should be the one walking me out to the car, and I wondered if he’d be proud of me; if somewhere, somehow he could see me now. As we walked down the stairs, the freezing cold shocked me out of my melancholy. Nikki held the main door open, as my hands were full with my bouquet and dress, but I nearly dropped them both as I looked up. At the curb stood Danny, looking resplendent in a dark grey suit, in front of a vintage black Bentley, adorned with white wedding ribbons.
“Oh Danny, how...,” I cried, at a total loss for words.
To all intents and purposes, Danny was the nearest thing that I had to a dad since my own father had passed away. Having him here to take me to the church made the day complete.
“Sunshine,” he sighed, looking himself as though he was fighting back the tears. “You look beautiful.” He opened up the car door for me and helped me climb in with my dress. The driver held the door open for Nikki to sit up front, and Danny sat next to me.
“Thanks, Danny. Not just for this, but for everything. You’ll never know just how much you and the boys mean to me.”
“Go way wichaya’. S’not like you’ve never done anything for me. Can’t say I was over the moon with you fallin’ for a fighter. I wanted an easier life for you than the one you picked. But Con’s my boy, and he’ll protect you with his life. That having been said, if the little fecker ever hurts you, come and see me, sunshine,” he told me, and squeezed my hand.
I swallowed hard, fighting back the tears.
“I love you, Danny,” I told him.
“Huh,” he grunted, rolling his eyes, but he squeezed my hand again, and I knew he felt the same.
When we arrived at the church, Nikki whipped out her phone and insisted on taking a ton of photos of Danny and me. Even the driver jumped in on the action, playing photographer so that Nikki could get into the pictures with us. Danny didn’t complain once. He puffed out his chest like a proud father in every photo, but when the driver started getting a little too arty, we politely rescued the phone and made our way into the church.
“You’re walking me down the aisle right?” I whispered to Danny, suddenly nervous and holding onto his arm with a death grip.
“Sunshine,” he replied calmly. “Just try and stop me.”
The doors to the church opened, and the beautiful sound of choir song assailed us, as it echoed throughout the church. Nikki spread my train around the back of my dress then moved to stand in front of me. Looking back over her shoulder, she winked at me then whispered, “Fucking hell, Em, your boy looks hot.”
“No swearing in church,” Danny scolded in the same mock whisper, and I giggled.
I didn’t think it was possible to feel happier than I did right then. Nikki, completely undaunted, poked her tongue out at Danny and began walking down the aisle. A few seconds later, we followed slowly behind her. Despite being Christmas Eve, the church was packed. People that I didn’t recognise were interspersed with people that I did. I was overwhelmed to see all of my friends from university and the girls from Daisy’s, though I couldn’t see Katrina amongst them, thank goodness. Rhona and Mike were both there, all dressed up, and I was blown away when I realised they must have completely closed the cafe to be there. The altar, on both sides, was surrounded by huge arrangements of candles, and in front of it stood Father Patrick, sporting a big beaming smile. Kieran and O’Connell stood in front again wearing matching dark suits. They were both clean-shaven and heart-stopping gorgeous. When I met O’Connell’s gaze, I welled up with tears again. He looked at me the way that every man should look at his bride on his wedding day, like I was an angel, like I was the answer to every prayer that he’d ever made. He looked at me like he loved me more than anyone else in the whole world and that he couldn’t believe that I had chosen him. It was exactly the same way that I was looking at him.
“Who gives this woman to wed this man?” Father Pat asked. I’d been so captivated by O’Connell that we were already at the altar.
“I do,” replied Danny gruffly and placed my hand in O’Connell’s as he stepped back.
“You came,” O’Connell whispered, swallowing hard.
“Did you think I wouldn’t?” I asked, and he nodded looking vulnerable.
“You look so beautiful,” he told me.
“Dearly beloved...” Father Pat began, and I gave myself, heart and soul, to the man that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, and in return he gave his heart and soul to me.
“LADIES AND GENTLEMAN,” yelled Kieran. “May I present to you the bride and groom, Mr. and Mrs. O’Connell.”
The entire room at St Patrick’s Sports and Social Club stood up and applauded. I held onto my husband’s arm, who incidentally had been grinning from ear to ear since that ludicrously passionate kiss at the altar. He’d forewarned me on the way over that he and the boys had done the best they could with the wedding, but with little money and no notice, they’d come unstuck with the reception, especially with it being Christmas Eve. Father Patrick and Tommy’s mum had, once again, came to the rescue and had leaned on the committee to open up the social club for the evening. The local fish and chip shop served their fare in paper cones for the wedding feast. Personally, I thought it was a fantastic idea, and I still couldn’t believe they’d pulled it all off. With everyone promising to email us wedding photos from their cameras, there was a good chance that we might even have a proper wedding album one day as well. Curtains of fairy lights adorned the walls, and in the cold light of day, I was sure that the club was more than a little shabby looking, but to my romantic love-struck eyes, it was wonderful. We hadn’t arrived more than two minutes when a robust-looking woman with red hair came barrelling toward us. She crossed the entire room with arms wide open, then threw them around me as she reached us and squeezed.
“You are just as beautiful as Tommy said you were, darlin’. Not that I don’t love you like me own son, Con, but if my Tommy had a bit more sense about him, I’d be hugging my daughter-in-law now. You are pretty as a picture in that beautiful dress. I cried when you said your vows, didn’t I, John? I cried.”
She turned around to poor John as she asked him, hand on heart, but as he opened his mouth to reply, the lady started talking again ten to the dozen. Apparently, the question was rhetorical.
“And, Con, you are so handsome. So handsome,” she said, as she reached up on her tiptoes to squeeze his cheeks like you might with a chubby toddler.
“Mary, you’re looking gorgeous, as usual. If I wasn’t a happily married man, John would be in trouble now,” charmed O’Connell.
John didn’t look as though he’d mind anyone running away with Mary. He grinned up at O’Connell and shook his hand, but before he could congratulate us, Mary started again.
“Get away, you charmer. You’ll have to watch out for this one, lovely. He’ll charm the birds from the trees and virgins out of their knickers. Now my Tommy, he’s a good boy and loyal to a fault. You’d never catch Tommy drinking or flirtin’ with other girls.”
Tommy would flirt with a nun if she were half decent looking. In fact, as I thought back on some of the train wrecks that he’d hooked up with since I’d known him, I didn’t think that good looks were even on Tommy’s list of prerequisites. Being a woman, having a pulse and being over eighteen were probably the only attributes on that list.
“Feckin’ hell, Mary. Are you seriously trying to poach my girl for Tommy on our wedding day?”
“Best place to meet a girl is at a wedding,” she beamed.
“Not when the girl is the one getting married,” reminded O’Connell, who started looking a little irate.
“Ah, stop your moaning,” crooned Mary, patting his cheek. “She’s only got eyes for you, boyo. Now if I could find a girl like that, who’d bake a cake for people she doesn’t even know, I’d be a happy woman. You don’t have any sisters do you?” she asked me.
“No. Sorry,” I apologised while I could get a word in.
“Nikki is single, and she’s lovely,” O’Connell told Mary, pointing Nikki out across the room.
“What does she do?”
“She’s a student at the university like Em. They do maths together.”
“Ohh, an educated woman! Now that would do for Tom, someone to give him a bit of sophistication. Does she bake?”
“I don’t think so,” I admitted, hesitantly.
“Well, never mind. I can teach her. Right, then. See you later, lovelies.”
With another pat to O’Connell’s cheek and a bear hug to me, she went storming off toward Nikki. Poor John, his leg still in a cast, went trailing behind her.
“Why did you say that?” I asked him. “Nikki and Tommy are a terrible match. Even if you could get them on a date, I’m pretty sure that one of them would come back missing a limb.”
“If it keeps Mary away from my wife, she can do her worst.”
“I’m getting the feeling that you like calling me that.” I smiled at him.
“I like that you’re mine, Mrs. O’Connell,” he said, cupping my cheek with his hand as he leaned in to kiss me.
“Back at you, Mr. O’Connell.” His lips touched mine, oh so briefly, before the entire room started catcalling and wolf whistling.
“Save it for the honeymoon,” someone yelled. I was bright red and absolutely mortified, but O’Connell grinned proudly.
“I never thought I’d see you married and even more unbelievable you’re dry on your wedding day. That alone is fuckin’ shockin’. Are you sure you’re Irish?”
“Em, this is my uncle, Killian,” O’Connell introduced.
“Pleased to be makin’ your acquaintance,” bowed Killian with a flourish, before kissing the back of my hand.
“Unlike my sister, Sylvia, who is a mean and evil drunk, I am a happy drunk,” he slurred, grinning.
“Nice to meet you,” I offered back, liking this man immediately.
He had none of Sylvia’s malice or artifice, and O’Connell didn’t seem to have any reservations about him.
“Right, then, boyo,” he addressed O’Connell. “I’m stealing your girl for a dance.”
I looked at my husband in horror. As likeable as Killian seemed, O’Connell knew that I didn’t often dance. So, to have to do it with a man I didn’t know, in front of a room full of people, made me panic. Even if O’Connell sensed my distress, he didn’t get the chance to intervene before I was pulled onto the dance floor. I needn’t have worried about being able to dance because my feet barely touched the ground. As soon as one song, and my dance with Killian, had finished, I was pulled away to dance with one man after another. By the time I made it back to my husband, I was exhausted and had probably danced with every man in the room.
“Could use a drink, could you, love?” Killian grinned, as he handed me a pint of beer.
It wasn’t the most feminine of drinks to be sipping in my wedding dress, but I was
gasping. O’Connell pulled me to his side and kissed the top of my head affectionately.
“No more dancing with other men,” he whispered into my ear and nibbled the lobe making me shiver.
“That possessive streak making you twitchy?” I teased.
“Baby, you didn’t see the look on their faces when they had you in their arms. I’m the only one allowed to get that look around you.” I reached up to my enormous husband and stroked his cheek as I gently kissed his lips.
“Only yours, O’Connell,” I reassured him.
“Then how about a dance with your husband?” he asked, and I nodded with a smile
As he walked me to the dance floor, it cleared, leaving us alone. Our song rang out through the speakers, and holding my hand gently in his, O’Connell pulled me in close. We danced as though we were completely alone. He spread his other large hand across the bare skin of my back, stroking me with his thumb and triggering my automatic arousal.
“Do you know how hard it is for me not to throw you over my shoulder and carry you home right now?” he asked me.
“I can feel how hard it is,” I teased him.
“I’m going to undo those tiny little buttons one by one and kiss my way down that beautiful back as I peel off your dress...” he whispered.
“O’Connell, stop it,” I squirmed in nervous anticipation of my wedding night. I hadn’t seen him since the day before yesterday, and it felt like forever since we’d made love. I’d gone years without the slightest attraction to any man, and now I was completely addicted to sex with O’Connell. I wasn’t sure there would ever come a time when the slightest whisper of his voice in my ear wouldn’t make me want to jump him.
“There’s only an hour or two left,” I whined. “Can’t we skip out now?”
O’Connell chuckled as he replied. “You’ve never been to an Irish wedding, have you, love?”
I shook my head no, confused as to where he was going with this.
“One night,” he replied, “then I get you for the rest of my life.”
I rested my head against his chest and breathed in the smell that was uniquely his; the smell that I would go to sleep with forever.