Chapter 37
The party goes on all afternoon and into the evening. Emily, Jodie and John took the sleeping children back home. Once they wake up, they will be brought back out.
Kean and I move through our family, friends, and the townsfolk, chatting and sharing drinks with them. I’m shocked when I see a present table set up.
“I wasn’t expecting presents,” I comment to Kean.
“Why not, Sonny?” Molly says, joining us. “The town thinks very highly of both of you, as evidenced by how many people turned up today to help you celebrate.”
“Thanks, Molly,” I say, hugging her.
“Oh, look, young Callum is bringing your wedding cake over.”
We both turn and look. Callum is carrying a work of art. We walk closer to the table and watch Callum gently place the cake down, Clarence walking beside him, carrying a large cake box, a knife and a cake slice.
“Cal, this cake looks amazing,” I say in awe. And it seriously does. It’s three tiers of cake, decorated in fine detail, with delicate icing and intricate patterns, all in rainbow colours, which stand out nicely against the white icing. And on top are two grooms.
I look at Cal and see he’s biting his lip nervously. “Are you sure? It’s the first time I’ve tried this kind of icing.”
“Honestly, Cal, this cake is stunning,” Kean tells him, pulling him into a hug.
Cal beams. “Thanks. The bottom one is chocolate, the middle lemon and the top one is red velvet. I also made a load of cupcakes.” He takes the lid off the box, and we gasp as we see the cupcakes, all decorated with rainbow flowers.
“Cal, you’re incredible,” I tell him. “We need pictures of all your cakes before we cut into them.”
“We have pictures for you, but we can take more,” Clarence tells us.
“Cal, bro, you’re amazing,” Sal says, pulling his brother into a hug.
Callum laughs and hugs him back. “Thanks. It was a bit stressful, but it all worked out nicely and I didn’t use any magic.”
“Do you want to cut it now, or wait a bit?” Clarence asks.
“Can we wait for a bit? Titus and I haven’t eaten anything yet.”
“It can wait. Go eat,” Cal commands.
We laugh as we walk towards the BBQ and food tables, stopping on the way to chat to people. Suddenly, a plate of food appears in front of me, and another in front of Kean.
“We thought you might be hungry about now,” Ebby says, as I take the plate.
“Thanks, so hungry. We were just on our way to get food,” I reply, happily biting into a sausage roll.
“Yeah, thanks for this,” Kean adds, biting into a burger.
“We figured you’d keep getting distracted. The same thing happened at our wedding. I think it took us two hours before we got to the buffet table; thankfully, the catering staff had kept food back for us,” Sly tells us.
I swallow my bite of burger. “Have you seen our wedding cake? It’s incredible.”
They shake their heads.
“Not yet, we wanted to get food into you both first,” Ebby replies.
“We met Monica earlier; she seems nice,” Sly says.
Ebby nods. “And completely different from what I was expecting.”
“She’s short but mighty,” I reply, eating the last of my burger. “Thanks for the fuel, it was just what I needed.”
“It was,” Kean sighs happily. “Let’s go cut the cake.”
I laugh as Sly takes our empty plates, and Kean catches my hand, leading us to the wedding cake.
Somehow, everyone knows we’re about to cut it, and all gather round. We pose for pictures and suddenly hear Lyric shout.
“Clean, Tus,” as he comes running over to us. John is close behind.
I bend down and pick him up as he gives us a beaming smile. We both kiss his head.
“Did you have a good sleep?” Kean asks him.
He nods and then points to the cake. “Nack.”
I laugh and shift him to my other side. “Yep, Kean and I are just about to cut it.”
Clarence hands the knife to Kean, and then I lay my hand over his, pausing for a few photos, and then we cut the cake.
Kean takes a small bit and feeds it to me, and some to Lyric, then I feed some to Kean. I laugh as he grabs my hand and licks my fingers.
Callum is stood by Clarence’s side.
“That lemon cake was yummy, Cal,” I say, smiling at him.
He beams at the compliment.
“Yummy,” Lyric echoes in agreement.
“Thanks, we’ll slice this all up and hand it out,” he picks up a cupcake that only has one small flower on top and hands it to Lyric. “This one is for you, Lyric.”
Lyric smiles and happily takes it. “Fank oou.”
“Yeah, thanks, Cal,” Kean says, hugging him.
“Okay, ladies and gentlemen, the dance floor is now open,” Ernest announces.
Everyone starts moving away.
“Dance with me?” Kean asks me softly.
“Like you even have to ask,” I reply, leaning forward and kissing him.
We pull back and walk towards the newly created dance floor.
“Hey, little man, do you want to stay with the family for a moment?” I ask him. “We’ll make sure you can see us.”
He nods, too busy eating his cupcake to care at the moment.
I spy Ben and walk over to him. “Can you look after Lyric for a moment, while Kean and I have our first dance?”
“I can do that,” he says, plucking Lyric from my arms. “Go enjoy your dance.”
“Thanks, bro,” Kean says, taking my hand and leading me to the dance floor as All-4-One, I swear, floats over the area.
We walk to the middle of the dance floor as our family, friends, and the town folk surround the dance floor. Kean pulls me into his arms as we happily slow dance together.
“I love this song,” I mutter in his ear.
“Me too, and in case you are in any doubt, I love you.”
I look into his happy blue eyes. “I never doubt your love for me.” I suddenly burst out laughing and take a step back, as laughter surrounds us.
Kean is now wearing the red wedding dress, complete with a veil. “I’m gonna kill Ernest,” he mutters, looking down at himself.
“After me,” I say, stepping closer. “I’m glad the dress made an appearance, though.”
Kean laughs and pulls me close. “Me too.” He then pulls the veil up and over us both, cocooning us inside. Again, I hear everyone laughing. He raises his hand and touches my cheek. “I love you, Titus, my husband.”
“Just as I love you, my handsome husband.”
Who knew when I first let my walls down, this would be my life. Married to the man of my dreams, with two children, all of whom I love more than I ever thought possible. Dreams really do come true.
If we don’t get a full house of tens for our special day, I’ll wonder at the sanity of this town.
The end.