Chapter 25

The wedding was the first Saturday in August. Amy looked wonderful in an ivory dress that seemed somehow to flow round her. She was 'given away' – for the second time – by her father, Alan Gardiner while her mother, Sarah, sat with tears streaming down her cheeks. When Alan sat next to her, she whispered, "I was such a fool before..."

"Hush," he replied, "water under the bridge. You're here this time ... just enjoy it."

It would be a toss-up who was the more nervous among the men. John Shepherd, marrying Amy at last, had to work at preventing his knees from knocking. His Best Man ... well, he'd had a problem deciding, but in the end, asked Tom.

"After all," he said, "without Tom, I'd probably never have met Amy, and the wedding wouldn't have taken place."

Tom was nervous; this whole thing was way out of his comfort zone. But everyone concerned reassured him and in the end he managed perfectly well.

Chrissie watched. She'd rather have been holding Tom's hand, but she had her own role to play in the ceremony.

Anh and Terry sat well back, holding hands, happy in each other's company.

Beth was Matron of Honour ... James sat holding Callista, hoping to get through the ceremony without tears.

Robert and Eva were just happy that their son had found someone they believed he would be happy with.

Lucy and Andrew were very serious, being respectively bridesmaid and page.

The little church was full; between family (by blood and adoption) friends and colleagues; Sarah Johnson was there, with her husband and Emma Carlisle, John's former boss.

When Jenni and Chrissie moved to the front to sing, they began with 'Spend My Life with You' (Eric Benet). There were a more than a few damp cheeks by the time they'd finished. Amy and John, with their witnesses, went into the vestry to sign the register as Chrissie checked the tuning of her guitar; the girls then sang 'Drink To Me Only', followed it with 'I Know Where I'm Going' and finished with 'All You Need Is Love'.

Wedding receptions are usually quite predictable. If you've been following Jenni and her friends for any length of time, you will know that they are not particularly conventional and are quite willing to flout tradition if it suits them; in this case the reception was, in fact, quite conventional. When John asked Tom to stand as his Best Man, he was not sure of Tom's ability to stand up and give the Best Man's speech. Indeed, he was quite prepared to find a surrogate. Between James, Dave and Terry, however Tom received enough support and encouragement to write, then read out, a really rather satisfactory speech. Two items in that speech deserve comment. He got a few smiles when he turned to John and reassured him that Amy, as the sailor, actually did not have a man ... or even a woman ... in every port. The other was when he, very seriously said "Amy and John are very special people. I hardly need to tell anyone here, that ... but there are at least two people here today who owe life and happiness to Amy's and John's concern." He finished, conventionally, by complimenting and thanking Beth and Lucy.

Among other things, Tom had a crash course in dancing, so he didn't disgrace himself after the meal when he danced with Beth, then, to her obvious delight, with Lucy, before seeking out the one he really wanted to be with.

James took Callista, Alison, Andrew and Lucy to his and Beth's home as the youngsters began to flag; Amy and John left to begin their two-week honeymoon and everyone else settled in to drink, nibble snacks, dance and socialise. Chrissie, however, wanted Tom to herself so they told Jenni and Dave they were leaving. Jenni took Chrissie aside.

"Officially, Tom is sleeping on the couch in the lounge," she said. "I rather think Jessica and Dave won't have time to check that you are where you're supposed to be."

Chrissie giggled and hugged her hard. "Thanks! I really appreciate it."

"Not at all. It'd be a bit silly to make a fuss after the times the two of you have shared a bed, wouldn't it? Besides ... don't let on, but I shared Dave's for months before he married Jessica and, well, I never..."

"I know. Neither have we ... not yet, anyway."

"Chrissie ... just be careful of each other, okay? You can never have too many friends."

"I ... think I understand. Jenni, I think Tom and I will always be friends; whether we have a ... future as a couple ... we have to stay friends."

"Good."

They walked home, mostly along by the sea. From the hotel on the sea-front, the prom extends both ways. They were heading east; at Maybush Lane they had to leave the front for a while, walking along Golf Road to Cliff Road, then getting back on the path on the sea-wall to the Ferry.

The house was dark and silent.

They shut the door behind them and locked it, turning the hall light on. Chrissie turned to Tom, pulled him to her and kissed him, holding it until he responded to her and returned the kiss.

"Tom ... I'm a little tired, over-fed ... and all I want is a glass of water and bed. With you. If..."

He silenced her in the time-honoured way.

"Glass of water and bed sounds good to me."

The formalities – drink and bathroom – took a few minutes. Chrissie took the first turn in the bathroom, so was in bed when Tom arrived in the room dressed in pyjamas; she'd turned off the room light, leaving just a small bedside light on. As he shut the door and turned back to her, she turned back the duvet ... revealing herself to be quite naked.

Tom thought he'd never seen anything quite so beautiful. Somehow, though he opened his mouth, no sound came out. After ... well, to Chrissie, it was eternity...

"Ash..."

The single syllable expressed a whole love poem and she breathed again and held out her arms to him as he crossed the room to kiss her. When they broke the kiss,

"Wouldn't you like to get those 'jamas off and get into bed?"

He didn't need further encouragement.

They kissed and explored each other with their hands until Chrissie pushed him onto his back, straddled him and impaled herself on him. As she placed his hands on her breasts and began to move, he came rather quickly and very hard.

"I'm sorry," he began until she silenced him with a kiss.

"It was perfect. In a bit we can do it again and take a little longer, but it was perfect, Tom."

Indeed, he'd hardly softened at all and was still in her; she grabbed tissues to mop up, and let him slip out of her.

The second time was much slower as they explored what worked for each other and Chrissie gently guided what Tom was doing; they climaxed together, wonderfully ... and slept.

When they woke, Sunday morning, neither could have said which woke first; it was as though they were so closely connected their eyes opened in unison.

"Hullo, lover," Chrissie spoke first.

"Hullo, Aisling," (Tom pronounced it, properly, as 'Ashlin' – but that's not how it's spelt. Forgive me, please).

Her smile lit up her face. "I love it when you call me that. It's funny, I never really thought about my middle name."