When Julia arrived home later than normal, she found no one waiting for her in the kitchen. Upon quick inspection of the house, she finally entered the last place she expected to find anyone, Douglas’s sitting room.
He was on the couch, his briefcase open on the table in front of him, papers spilled everywhere and his mobile at his ear. His eyes came to her the minute she walked in and, even though they warmed, they were also wary.
Will was doing his homework sitting at the desk in the corner.
Mrs. K and Ronnie’s disembodied voices came from the bedroom and Julia tore her gaze away from Douglas and wandered through the door dazedly.
“There’s nothing for it, we’ll have to build a bigger closet,” Mrs. K’s voice came from an opened door that Julia knew was Douglas’s dressing room.
“She has many shoes,” Ronnie noted.
Ruby was jumping on Douglas’s bed and Lizzie was lying on it telling her to stop.
“May I ask what’s going on?” Julia’s voice was both bewildered and dangerous.
Will ran through and jumped on the bed, bowling over Ruby, making Ruby shriek and Lizzie groan.
Julia felt Douglas come up behind her and was about to whirl on him when Ruby informed her knowledgeably, “You’re moving in with Unka Douglas, just like Mummy and Daddy. Mummy and Daddy always slept together.”
Neither Lizzie nor Will had any reaction to this in any way, shape or form.
It was then she whirled on Douglas.
“You…” she started.
He caught her by the waist, pulled her to him and laughed, burying his face in her neck.
“I love you, darling,” he said, clearly and distinctly, the first time he’d said it since The Night of a Thousand Russian Horrors (another one of her favourites) and the first time he said it in front of the children.
Her back was to them but she could feel their eyes on her and Douglas.
But she was too busy nearly dying in rapture at the sound of those words and she felt herself dissolve into happy laughter.
“I don’t know why because you’re such an arrogant, underhanded cad, but I love you too, sweetheart,” Julia replied.
This scene was something with which the children were very familiar. They settled comfortably in the bed, annoying each other to the extreme while Douglas nuzzled Julia’s neck, Ronnie and Mrs. K eventually gave up on the shoes and Mrs. K left the room to call the carpenter.
* * * * *
The music had started in the Cathedral, the beautiful strains of the organ filling the air.
It was time to begin the wedding.
Ruby was first to have her turn up the aisle. She was wearing her pretty ivory dress with puffed sleeves, big tulle petticoats and a hem that dripped lace. It was completed with a wide, white-satin sash tied in a bow in the back.
She was supposed to be littering the aisle with white rose petals but halfway to her destination, she spotted her uncle and shouted, “Unka Douglas!” as if she didn’t expect him to be anywhere near the Cathedral that day or even in the country (and hadn’t been practising her role for a month). She threw aside her basket of petals and dashed forward, throwing herself against him as the congregation twittered.
“She’ll ruin everything,” Will hissed at Julia’s side, his nerves in tangles.
Julia bent, not nearly as far as she had to ten months ago, to look him in the eye. “She’s just being Ruby and it doesn’t ruin the day, honey, it makes it perfect.”
“If you say so,” Will grumbled dubiously, clearly too overwhelmed by his looming responsibility to find rambunctious Ruby perfect at anything.
Lizzie, however, was perfect, serenely gliding up the aisle like she was a professional bridesmaid. She too was wearing ivory, a younger girl’s version of Julia’s dress (except not backless). It fell neatly in a column to just above her ankles. With it she wore gloves and a matching double-strand choker of pearls at her throat, wrist and tiny teardrop earrings (Douglas’s “early” birthday present to Lizzie whose birthday just happened to be in July).
Julia saw that Douglas decided to calm Ruby by picking her up and positioning her at his hip to give her the best vantage point of the proceedings. Julia found this, too, endearing and her heart melted at the sight.
Then again, she found almost everything about Douglas endearing.
However, upon entering the aisle out of nowhere an unbidden wave of melancholia overwhelmed Julia.
She was afraid something like this would happen and as she walked hesitantly forward, she tried to focus on Douglas. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t contain her trembling lips, her heart beating like a jackhammer, her legs feeling like jelly and her hand clutching Will’s arm with vice-like pressure, all the while her throat burning like fire.
“You okay, Auntie Jewel?” Will asked out of the side of his mouth, wincing at her grip on his arm.
Halfway up the aisle Julia halted. Ignoring the gasps of the crowd, she turned to her nephew and put her hand on his cheek. Again, she bent toward him.
“I didn’t say it before, when you told me you’d give me away, but I’m going to say it now. I miss your Dad with everything that is me, but I’m so proud you’re here with me now,” she whispered to him, her eyes filling with tears.
Will stared at her a moment then gulped back his emotion, nodded slowly and finally shot a sidelong glance up the aisle.
“Um, Uncle Douglas looks kinda mad,” he whispered, his face bright red.
Julia jerked upright and saw that Douglas didn’t look mad, he looked furious. He’d put down Ruby (she was now standing by a bewildered-looking Lizzie) and was scowling at Julia.
Julia fairly raced up the aisle, pulling Will along with her.
“Sorry, sorry,” she muttered when she reached him, avoiding his eyes, “we were having a moment.”
“Perhaps, in future, you’ll pick the timing for your ‘moments’ better,” Douglas replied dryly and her eyes flew to his.
His were carefully blank.
Julia’s heart sank.
“Er, shall I start the ceremony?” the Bishop asked in a low voice.
Douglas quirked a brow at the same time Julia cried, “Yes!”
After this incongruous start, Will’s performance at giving her away was superb.
With Julia’s hand held firmly in Douglas’s (very firmly) the Bishop started the ceremony.
Julia muttered under her breath, “I’m sorry, Douglas-honey, I got a little overwhelmed with missing Gavin. It just came over me.”
When the endearment came from her lips, the first time she’d ever used it when addressing him, Douglas’s lithe body froze, statue-still and Julia misinterpreted it as anger.