When Carl had said his family liked to sing together at Christmas, Emma had imagined some genteel carolling around the piano. What she hadn't imagined was the all out, energetic performances that she was now witnessing. With furniture pushed back to clear an area for a stage, speakers and microphones, as well as a band it was clear just how enthusiastic they all were. Currently various members of Carl's family whose relatiosnhip to Carl Emma had yet to get to grips with were performing an exuberant rendition of 'Rockin' around the Christmas tree'.

Emma curled into Carl's side, his arm going tighter around her as they smiled at each other, enjoying the performance.

As the song finished, there came a cry from the back of the room "So Carl, you going to do a Rocky Horror number for us, again?"

"I think maybe not tonight," said Carl, exchanging a glance with Emma, who was shaking her head at the very mention of it.

"I'd like to sing a song for my beautiful bride here," Carl announced to the assembled crowd, their heads swivelling to find Emma as she blushed furiously.

"But I'm going to need a little help," he motioned for his father, brother and a cousin to join him on stage, while Emma shrank into her seat.

There was a brief huddled discussion between the performers, followed by smiles and nods of approval.

As Carl picked up the mic, he smiled broadly at Emma and said, "This is for you, my darling Ems. I want everyone here to know just how I feel about you and I think this song says it for me."

With the first beats, Carl's father and brother picked up their mics and started singing backing vocals.

Carl grinned at Emma as she clasped her hands in delight as she realised what song he had chosen and he looked at her as he began to sing, "I've got sunshine on a cloudy day. When it's cold outside, I've got the month of May. I guess you'd say what can make me feel this way?"

"My girl, my girl, my girl," Carl sang, as he reached out a hand to Emma and pulled her up on to the stage with him.

Emma turned her face away from the audience in embarrassment and appeared to try and hide by burying herself in Carl's shoulder. He held her firmly by the hand so she couldn't escape back to the safety of her seat and spun her around so that she now faced everyone. Drawing her into him, he wrapped one arm around her waist and looking down at her sang, "I don't need no money, fortune or fame, I've got all the riches baby, one man can claim."

Emma smiled up at him her eyes wide and adoring, as they swayed gently in time to the music. Although she had been embarrassed to find herself the center of attention, once on the stage with Carl singing to her it felt as though they were in their own little bubble and she found herself surprised when the music ended and everyone started clapping and shouting out their appreciation.

Amongst the noise there was a very clear voice requesting a duet from the newlyweds and once it had been suggested the chanting and foot stamping was hard to ignore.

Carl looked at Emma. "What do you think, Ems? Can we do a duet?"

"Well ... I ... I know you could ... maybe if somebody else..."

"Uh-unh. They really want us to sing together. And this crowd can get ugly," he joked, telling her with his eyes that she could do this. "Also there's no one I'd rather sing with."

She nodded, a little hesitantly, but the delight in his eyes when she agreed was enough to strengthen her resolve.

"What shall we sing then, baby?" he whispered in her ear.

She shrugged, her head clear of all thoughts on the subject other than her complete surprise at finding herself standing in front of a large group of people getting ready to sing. And then an idea came to her.

She whispered to him and he grinned and nodded in response. It had jokingly become their song and right now nothing seemed more perfect for them to sing together.

"It's a beautiful night," Carl began, "We're looking for something dumb to do."

"Hey, baby, I think I wanna marry you," Emma sang back to him, her eyes mirroring the laughter in his.

For they both knew that impulsive as their decision might seem, it had actually been well considered. And far from being something dumb to do as the lyrics said, it in fact seemed like the most sensible decision either had made. Carl had fallen for Emma the first time she'd set foot through the door of his practice and he felt like the luckiest man alive when she agreed to go on a date with him. Since then, he'd come to find out that she really was as wonderful as he'd first thought and she'd become such a big part of his life that he didn't want to imagine being without her. Marriage really seemed like the only sensible option.

For Emma, things had been slightly different. She had been so caught up with her feelings for Will that she had never noticed her handsome dentist, at least not in that way. She hadn't noticed the way he looked at her or the kindness in his eyes. But somehow in the midst of her turmoil over Will, all the pain and confusion that she felt, she had gone from thinking she wanted to lock her heart away so that it could never be broken again to realising that right in front of her there was a man who was kind and patient, honest, open and trustworthy. Not to mention gorgeous, funny, smart and generous. And everything was so good between them. So when he said "I love you", she knew that she wanted to say it back and that she meant it. She knew it wasn't quite the same desperate, passionate, bordering on madness kind of love that she'd felt for Will but it felt more mature, more grown up, more rational. And this time he loved her back.

"Who cares baby? I think I wanna marry you," Carl finished, embracing Emma and kissing her as their audience loudly showed their appreciation.

They were still laughing together as they made their way back to their seats. And they sat smiling with their arms around each other as the rest of the family took turns to perform. There were renditions of everything from White Christmas, Silent Night, Sleigh Ride to an interesting version of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.

Things were winding down and they had just enjoyed an adorable performance of 'I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus' sung by all of the nieces and nephews, when Carl stood up.

"I'd just like to sing one more," he began.

"Did you know you married such a showoff, Emma?" came the shout from across the room.

"Yes, yes I did," she said, nodding seriously. "But I kind of love it."

"Merry Christmas, baby," Carl sang, doing his very best Elvis impersonation. "Babe you sure did treat me nice."