Once inside, we all burst out laughing at the insanity we’d just battled through.
“Oh my God,” Bree said. “That will all have stopped by one, right?”
“I bloody hope so,” I replied. “I don’t want people running up and down the aisle while we’re saying our vows!”
“It’s going to be fine,” Deanna said, with a warm smile. “Everything is almost done and in place.”
“The marquee looks beautiful,” my mum said, and I thought I saw a tear in her eye.
“Too early for tears, Mum,” I told her, giving her another hug.
Since she’d been in L.A, for the first time in maybe forever, I felt like she wasn’t silently judging me for the decisions I’d made. She was blown away by my house, and the area we lived in. It was unimaginable to someone from smalltown Cornwall, UK, that this kind of luxury existed. While she would probably never understand how I coped with the pressure of being in this world, it felt like she had started to understand why this was the right choice for me. My dad had gotten on board a lot faster – almost immediately – but Mum had had a much harder time dealing with it all. She’d finally accepted my decision now though, and that meant more to me than I could possibly explain.
“Okay,” I said, turning back to my friends. “We need to start getting ourselves organised. Where are my little ones?”
Deanna laughed. “Kayla is in the playroom with them. She arrived at eight thirty, shortly after us. They’re all excited.”
“Was Jayden okay last night?”
It had played on my mind a little, because although he knew Mitch and Deanna, he had been thrust into a group of kids he had never met before. It must have been a little daunting for him. He was coping reasonably well without Jen being around, but James had said that he often woke up in the middle of the night crying for her. It was that fact that really sealed our decision to let him stay with James. Jayden told us himself that he liked being near to his little brother, and that when he felt sad, he would get his toys out and play with Harley because being with his brother made him feel better.
“He was absolutely fine. He and Jamie got along brilliantly, and Grace kept following him around like a lost lamb.”
I glanced at Chrissie. “First crush?”
Chrissie laughed. “I wish. Three years old, and she’s already got favourite boy friends back home.”
If Josh had been in the room, he’d have made a crack about how she turned after her auntie. I couldn’t even deny it. I had a lot of “boyfriends” starting from when I was five years old. I just hoped Grace would be lucky enough not to follow me down the road of dating disasters as she got older.
“Before I do anything else,” I said, “I need to go and see my girl. Then… then we need to start getting ready!”
Izzy and Bree both let out excited squeals, making everyone laugh, before I headed down the hall to see Jessica, Jayden, Jamie, Grace and Kayla.
What followed over the next few hours can only be described as a tangle of hair, make-up, dresses, perfume and laughter. It’s no easy task to get a bridal party of ten, plus two mums, and including four under eleven-year-olds ready. Bree did an incredible job on our make-up, and Anita, who Bree had worked with several times, had given us perfect hair. My own hair had been styled in such a way that I couldn’t quite figure out how she’d done it. It had been kind of pinned back a little at the sides, and then weaved together in an intricate way so curls hung down my back. When I finally put my dress on, I’d never felt more like a princess in my life – and I was never really a princess kind of girl.
But for my wedding day, it felt right.
It was twelve fifteen when we were all made up and in our dresses, and Jamie and Jayden were in their suits. Freya, Bree, Chrissie, Izzy, and Kayla looked absolutely stunning in their deep plum-coloured gowns. It had taken forever for everyone to be happy with a style, but the one we’d settled on was perfect for everyone. The dresses had spaghetti straps, with fitted bodices. The material was gathered at the waist on the left side, and then the skirts flowed down to the floor. The light, floaty material would allow them to dance easily later. Jessica and Grace wore white short-sleeved dresses with a thin plum-coloured ribbon at the waist, and delicate, tiny plum-coloured flowers on the front of the skirt. Jamie and Jayden looked adorable in their dark blue trousers, white shirts, and dark blue waistcoats and bow ties. Their suits matched the ones the guys would be wearing, though the men would wear jackets, not waistcoats.
“Wow,” I said, as I stared at my entourage. “I can’t believe how amazing you all look.”
“Us?” Freya choked out, her eyes filling with tears. “Look at you!”
Smiling, I looked around at my friends and family, and took a deep breath. “Before anything else happens today, because once we go downstairs and the wedding happens, things are going to get crazy, I just want to tell you all how much I love you. And how much I appreciate having you in my life. I know this sounds corny, but I wouldn’t be who I am without all of you. Every one of you has influenced me, and taught me things, and I don’t think I could have gotten through this year without you. So… thank you. Just… thank you.”
While the younger members of the group were either disinterested or didn’t understand, Freya, Bree, Kayla, Izzy and Chrissie all rushed forward to hug me.
“We love you too,” Bree said.
“However,” Chrissie added, as we broke apart, “we’re gonna go and wait in the hall to give you a little time to yourself.”
I nodded, grateful. As much as I needed my girls around me, the swarms of people surrounding all of us since we’d arrived had become a bit much, and I needed a quick time out before the wedding.
My friends slowly filed out of the room, and once I was alone, I let out a sigh. The silence was almost deafening for a moment, and I had to take a few more deep breaths until I was used to being alone again.
When I was younger, I was never the girl who dreamed of her wedding day. Sure, I played dress up with my friends now and again, but the end goal for me was having a life. A life that centred around more than a nine to five job, a husband, and two point four children. I knew I wanted a family at some point, but what had always mattered the most was living a life I was happy in, and not just muddling through with no direction.
Now, there I was on my wedding day, less than an hour away from marrying Radleigh McCoy. I’d done it. I’d worked my arse off to get a good career, and I’d got a job many people would have been envious of. Sure, I screwed up. A lot. More than once. But things were on the right track now, and I was about to get that dream job back again. I was about to have everything I’d ever need. Some would probably say I didn’t deserve it. That some of the things I did meant I should face a horrendous attack of karma, but as far as I was concerned, I’d had it. In spades. Nothing I ever did went unpunished.