Chapter 99

If I'd thought that the weekend had flown by, then the next five days really rocketed by. In no time at all it was the Friday of the hen night. Lena and me were as nervous as hell, the prospect of parading ourselves in front of all our friends and colleagues was really daunting. To her credit though, Lena made a good show of quiet confidence, but I knew that deep down she was worried that we might be mocked and ridiculed. I tried to reassure her that we had invited only people we were fairly sure were comfortable with the idea of a dyke wedding. That Friday at work, the place was abuzz with the girls all chattering about the party that coming night. Poor Brian didn't quite know what to make of it, he was confused and slightly embarrassed by the whole thing and I wasn't sure if he and his wife would turn up at the reception. He more likely than her.

Lena and I finally got away from work and home to get ready for the celebration. I'd booked a side room at the club, for eight o'clock onwards for a party of twenty. I had paid £1000 up front so that the food and drinks were free and a live all-black woman band called The Black Roots were booked and paid for. I'd pay the rest if needed by credit card. We got ourselves dressed up. I chose all black underwear with a shortish tartan skirt and a scoop-necked black top. Lena went for a pair of navy blue culottes and a white lacy buttoned top. Underneath she wore one of her sexy purple lingerie sets, we both had a lot of cleavage on show. We got a taxi to the club and arrived there at seven thirty to make sure that the food was put out and that everything was set. The Black Roots were already there and starting to warm up, and the guests started to arrive at eight fifteen. I was overjoyed to see Elaine turn up, she looked stunning and I noticed Sophie taking an interest in her.

The party went off better than I could have hoped, no fights, no bitchiness, in fact just about everything was sweetness and light. I even managed to get a nice smoochy dance with Elaine, although Sophie seemed less than pleased. There was one slightly tense moment when a tipsy bull dyke from the club gatecrashed and made straight for Lena. Before anyone knew what was happening she was dancing with, and groping poor Lena's tits, she was very much the worse for drink. As I intervened to pull this shaven headed, tattooed male impersonator off my fiancee, she'd already got one hand inside her top and another between her legs. I dragged the muscled cow aside and escorted her from the room. This brought a cheer from the guests but poor Lena hardly knew what had happened.

I spent the rest of the evening very close to Lena, stopping her from falling over in a drunken heap and generally keeping her out of trouble. All in all the evening was a great success and everyone seemed to have a fabulous time, and I was comforted and heartened by the genuine expressions of support from everyone. Even Sophie, who was almost falling out of a very tight and revealing dress, was kind enough to give us her best wishes with no hint of bitterness. The party finally drew to a very happy close at two fifteen in the morning. I had to drag an almost unconscious Lena out to a cab and home, then managed to drag her inside and on to the sofa where she more or less passed out. I undressed her down to her underwear and covered her up, and prayed that she wouldn't puke during the night. I went up to bed feeling exhausted but happy, in a few hours Lena and I would be married.

The alarm clock radio woke me at seven thirty, I was out of bed and downstairs in a flash to see if Lena was awake, she was. I had a screaming headache. I found her with a duvet draped around her at the kitchen table, orange juice, coffee and toast was ready and waiting. I kissed her and sat down to eat, all that alcohol last night, I was dehydrated and so was Lena. She was nursing one hell of a hangover. I pumped orange juice and water in to us both, I didn't want either of us fainting and keeling over at the church. We managed to eat something and to get rid of the worst of the hangovers with the aid of an aspirin or two. Our appointment with the minister Beverly Croft, was at eleven o'clock at St. Jude's. Carol and Alan had arranged to be there waiting for us. I said to Lena,"OK babe, let's get ready and get married." Lena giggled and said,"Oh God Annie, it's really going to happen isn't it. I could scream I'm so happy and I know I'm going to blub at the church."

We went upstairs, Lena dropped the duvet in the spare room while I ran the shower. Seconds later we were both naked and under the hot jets of water, soaping each other. With our hands running over each other's slippery bodies, it wasn't long before we were making love. Lena had me pushed against the cubicle wall and as the water cascaded over us, we masturbated each other to quick but satisfying orgasms. It was our 'Good Luck Fuck' as Lena put it. Having dried ourselves off, we dressed in separate rooms. She'd bought and hidden a dress and I'd done the same. I spent a little time in front of the mirror doing my hair and applying some make-up. I had a good look at my reflection-not bad, not bad at all. The dress though simple, looked wonderful. Plain white, three-quarter length with a modest high neckline, it was a church after all. The underwear was also plain white. I should have had my hair done, but it was good enough as it was, at least there was no grey showing through the dye. I completed the outfit with a pair of white flat heel shoes. The effect was pleasing, at least I looked the part of a virginal bride.

There was a knock on the bedroom door, and then Lena called out, "Are you ready to see the blushing bride?"

I called back, "I thought I was the blushing bride, but yes come in, I can't wait to see you." The door opened slowly and Lena walked in to the room. She looked stunning, my heart swelled in my chest and I thought that I might cry, she looked so lovely. She'd gone for a plain white dress too, not quite as modest as mine. There was still a hint of cleavage but the hem of her dress was down to knees. She had on flat white shoes like mine, and a charming white hair band with a small veil that came down to her forehead. "I know it's supposed to be bad luck for you to see the bride before the wedding Annie, but hey, you just fucked her. How much bad luck is that?" Lena giggled and came in to my arms we kissed and cuddled, it felt so wonderful, I was on a natural high. I held her at arms length and looked at her, yep, no doubt about it, she was the one all right. "Come on then baby, let's get to the church and let's get married." Lena suddenly looked a little sad,"What's wrong honey, not having second thoughts?" I joked.

"No of course not, nothing like that. It's just that I wish my parents could be here to give me their blessing." I knew Lena's folks were hundreds of miles away in Malaysia and could never have afforded the trip to England. We'd discussed my paying for them to come over but she said that they were too proud to accept what they would see as charity. It was very sad for her. I gave her another hug and said,"Don't let it upset you honey, I'm your family now." This cheered her up immensely, she said,"Yes, that's right. You are going to be my wife, my next of kin. Oh I do love you so much Ann."

The white limousine I'd booked for ten thirty arrived bang on time. We travelled to the church in style, the chauffeur kept looking in his mirror, no doubt trying to work out which one of us was the bride. We arrived at St. Jude's at five to eleven. We sat in the car, finally deciding that Lena should be the one who keeps up with tradition and arrives late. I got out of the car and left her sitting there, clutching a bouquet of flowers I had arranged to be on the back seat of the limo. The service was not to be held in the main body of the church, apparently Beverley's Archdeacon had forbidden it. We had to make do with a small sacristy at the side of the church. I walked around to the open door, took a deep breath and entered the small room. Alan was there looking very smart in a new suit, and Carol looked fantastic in a lovely pale blue dress and coat. They both smiled and the Reverend Croft waved cheerily to me to come forward. I stood between Carol and Alan who both gave me a kiss on the cheek. Beverly shook my hand and welcomed me to her church. There was no organist so Alan had shown his resourcefulness by having a small stereo system to hand with the Wedding March on a tape. We stood in near silence, just the odd word of encouragement from Beverley. We'd waited for what seemed an eternity to me but in reality was no more than five or ten minutes when Alan touched my arm and I spun around. Lena stood silhouetted in the doorway, she looked beautiful. Alan hit a button on the tape machine but there was only silence. What he'd thoughtfully done was to leave a few seconds silence on the tape before it played, this gave him time to get to the door and walk Lena 'down the aisle'. Right on cue, the Wedding March began to play and Alan began to escort Lena the dozen or so paces to where Carol, Beverley and I stood.

Lena held Alan's arm and stood next to me, I mouthed the words 'I love you' to her and she did the same.

Beverley began the short blessing. "We are gathered here today in the sight of our Lord to bless the union of Lena Maria Josecuelho and Ann Katherine Malone..." The blessing lasted a mere ten minutes, Lena and I exchanged vows and promises of fidelity and loyalty. And when it came to promising to be true to her, as I said 'I do" Lena smiled and gave me a huge wink. Alan was ready and waiting with the two identical wedding rings I'd ordered. At Beverley's command Lena and I exchanged rings. Beverley then said to us both,"You may kiss the bride." We leaned towards each other and rather chastely, kissed. We were applauded by our small congregation and wishes of good luck were heaped upon us. We both offered Beverley our sincerest thanks, and thanked Alan and Carol for being there for us. Lena and I turned and slowly walked out of the church and in to the weak sunlight. We were immediately swamped by friends and colleagues who'd been tipped off by Carol, at my request, and had been hiding in the main part of the church. Smiling friendly faces met us wherever we looked and confetti rained down on us. All of a sudden, it was as if we were the most popular couple in the world. We were kissed, cuddled and manhandled and our hands were shaken countless times. I got the biggest hug from Patti, the huge black friend of Carol's. Her arms wrapped around me and her huge boobs squashed against mine as she kissed me on both cheeks. I managed to get a look at Lena, she was being smothered by Sophie, and seemed to be enjoying it.