A/N Hello! Anyone still reading this? Apologies for the slow going but I'm having a dreadful time with revision, and its draining my creative juices! Only seven weeks till my exams are over and I am panicking a little. Fortunately for you, it means I have been having trouble sleeping, leading to many books having been read and a new chapter for you all!
…
"You're both coming with me to church?" Shelagh asked dubiously, narrowing her eyes at her son, approaching eye level, and her fiancé, towering above her.
"Yes," Patrick helped Timothy on with his coat, both ignoring the suspicious tone in Shelagh's voice. "And then we will all go out for lunch with Julie-Anne and Paul. It's all been decided."
"In such a case as this," Shelagh put her hands on her hips, "You would usually bring Tim to meet me after Church. Why are you coming now?"
"Pleasure of your company my love," Patrick answered with a smile, leaning down to press a kiss to Shelagh's lips, swiping the car keys in the process to the sound of Timothy's kissy noises. Shelagh didn't look convinced, but, thankfully, dropped the subject in favour of getting to church.
In the car, Shelagh was going over their wedding preparations. Or what little she was allowed to be involved with. It was mostly a local affair, everyone involved were friends. Chummy was making her dress, she was waiting to decide on her flowers still, a friend from Church was doing the buffet as she had a business and Trixie, Jenny and Cynthia had sited on decorating the parish hall for the reception. Everyone was terribly excited this time round.
But the wedding was in three weeks, and Shelagh was starting to get a little anxious. She had hoped that this time around, they would give the church a go. However, on the date they had fixed for the wedding, the church had already been booked, and she wouldn't marry in another church. They had waited too long, so she had reluctantly asked Patrick to book the registry.
They were all keeping something from her though, Shelagh could tell. Julie-Anne would often give Patrick a message regarding 'That Matter' and neither were fooling her it wasn't wedding related. Maybe it was the honeymoon. Patrick had insisted on organising that himself. She was hoping he would be taking her to Greece, as promised, even if they had to wait another two or three months to go. April probably wasn't a good month to go honeymooning.
The family of three settled quickly into the Church hall, many people stopping by to say hello to Shelagh, and express their surprise at seeing Patrick. The parish was local to the hospital, so Shelagh was quickly greeted by many mothers who's children she and Patrick had delivered. Half an hour of cooing over infants and exclaiming about how big so-an-so's little boy had gotten, Tom called for order from the pulpit and the congregation rose to launch into a lusty rendition of Praise to the Lord.
Whilst singing, Patrick found himself staring in wonder at Shelagh. Her eyes were closed, her hymn book held close to her heart, her beautiful voice raised to the rafters and the purest sound he had ever heard. He loved to hear her sing, but here, her voice raised in praise, there was something more to her voice that he didn't think he had ever heard before outside of the carol service. It took Timothy nudging him to remember to sit down as the song had passed.
Towards the end of the service, Tom was once again addressing his congregation. He caught sight of the Turner family, Julie-Anne and Paul behind them, and smirked briefly at Trixie waiting for him on the front row. She grinned gleefully back.
"And now," Tom announced, a wide grin on his face. "It gives me the very greatest pleasure to read the Banns of a couple that we all hold very dear in our hearts. Three Sundays hence, this church will witness the union of Miss Shelagh Mannion, of the Parish of Poplar, and Dr Patrick Turner, of the Parish of Poplar. If anyone knows of any lawful impediment, speak now, or forever hold your peace."
After a moments anticipatory silence, Tom continued. "Doctor Turner would like to extend an invitation to attend the ceremony, followed by an open buffet at the Parish Hall. Please join me in congratulating the happy couple, Patrick, Shelagh? Would you join me?"
A thundering round of applause, whoops and whistles sounded through the church as Patrick escorted a shocked looking Shelagh to the front of the hall. Tom's face looked close to splitting from the smile he was sporting, and Patrick feared he looked much the same.
Shelagh however, was crying, one hand pushed to try and control the flow, the other looped through Patrick's arms.
"This is what you wanted, isn't it?" He asked suddenly, worried by the tracks making their way down her face.
Shelagh tilted her head up, unbridled joy in her eyes, "You stupid man," she said affectionately, "I'm so happy I think I might burst!"
During tea and coffee, many people came up to congratulate them on their wedding, and express their excitement at being able to attend.
"If I have to hear, 'about time' one more time," Shelagh sighed with a smile on her face. She hadn't stopped smiling since Tom had read their banns, and she wasn't likely to stop soon. She accepted the tea from Julie-Anne with a soft thank you, and went back to watching Patrick playing with a few of the younger members of the congregation, Timothy included, while their parents chatted. "You'd think everyone had been waiting for us to get married for years, rather than months."
"But we have been waiting years," Julie-Anne teased, "Just waiting for you both to wake up and smell the proverbial coffee!"
"So, you've been organising everything?" Shelagh turned to Julie-Anne, "Anything I need to know, Tom says you have it all under control, and I trust you completely, but I am a control freak and I am curious…"
"Well, Mrs Wells has already got the floral arrangements ready to go, and I know which hymns you would want, and you always said you wanted traditional vows but Tom says if you want to add anything he is more than happy to," Julie-Anne paused, "He is so pleased to be marrying you. I think he was a little upset that you weren't having a church wedding."
"Oh, I know," Shelagh looked a little pained. "Trixie kept trying to talk me into the big white wedding, but it wasn't what Patrick and I wanted."
"You do know Patrick was only saying that because he thought it was what you wanted?" Julie-Anne asked softly, "And you were only saying it because you thought it was what he wanted. Shelagh, that man would give you the stars if you expressed any sort of inclination for them. Its why he called Tom about getting married here. All he wants is for you to be happy on your wedding day, because he already will be the happiest man on earth."
"Well, maybe I'll have been the happiest woman anyway," Shelagh chuckled, "But I am so happy to be marrying here. With everyone present!"
"Well, I for one, am terribly glad," Trixie piped up, leading Jenny and Cynthia and slipping into a seat gracefully. "I know it was under the worst circumstances, but we can now give you the wedding of your dreams, purple bridesmaids included!"
"I am so glad Timothy is healthy again," Shelagh agreed, "We would never get married without him. He's going to be Patrick's best man you know."
"Shelagh…" Jenny asked suddenly, after a few seconds of watching Timothy and Patrick playing. "Which one of us is your maid of honour?"
Shelagh suddenly looked incredibly awkward, like she had been hoping to avoid such a question. However, Jenny wasn't done.
"Because, Cynthia and I were talking yesterday, sorry Trixie… but you never said, and we thought maybe you would want us to nominate, as such. So… Cynthia and I nominate Trixie. After all, she is much closer to you than either of us, we understand that…And we didn't want you to not be saying anything out of some sense of fairness," Jenny suddenly stopped talking and bit her bottom lip, as if she had been kicked for saying too much (in fact, Trixie had kicked her under the table, noticing the tears welling in Shelagh's eyes again). "So…. Yeah…"
Shelagh attempted to talk, closed her mouth and tried again, "I didn't want to choose," She admitted, "You're all so dear, and I didn't want to make it seem like I was picking a favourite."
"But I am your favourite," Trixie said with a wink, "And don't you worry about a thing, we three have it covered!"
…
"I still can't quite believe it," Shelagh sighed happily, pulling back the covers to climb into bed. She snuggled down under the thick blankets and smiled at Patrick as he emerged from the bathroom. "How on Earth did you manage to keep it a secret for that long!"
"Well, I managed to keep it a secret that I was madly in love with you for years," he teased, climbing into the other side and leaning against the headboard.
"You didn't work out you were in love with me until Chris came to stay," Shelagh admonished with a chuckle. At the surprised look on his face, Shelagh elaborated, "Oh, just something Jenny said, about you being outside the staff room while Trixie and I were talking about my weekend."
"You knew?" He asked sheepishly.
"That you had been eavesdropping? Yes," Shelagh reached out a hand and tugged on Patrick's "But her comment that you looked like the Cheshire cat didn't make sense until you kissed me."
He looked confused at that, "I don't remember hearing that," he admitted.
"That's because you didn't," Shelagh chuckled. "I had been going on about Caroline and the Chris and the baby, and then Jenny came in having passed you in the hall asking why you were smiling like the Cheshire cat."
"Well, before I found out he was married, I was terribly jealous," Patrick admitted, lying down next to her and shifting to face her, one hand propping his head up, the other hand playing gently with her soft hand between them. "He was handsome, and young, and attractive, and young…"
"And he wasn't you," Shelagh reassured him, leaning up to press a quick kiss to his lips. "So you never had anything to worry about."
"Well, the three months of radio silence did make me pause," he admitted softly, eyes downcast. Shelagh bit her lip, wondering if she should apologise when they had both made it clear, so many months ago, that if it got them to where they were now, they shouldn't complain. "I thought I'd never see you again…"
"Well, I'm here," Shelagh reminded him, pushing herself against him, and wrapping her arms around his chest, "And you booked me a church wedding without telling me, and I love you so much. I never need reminding, but God Patrick, sometimes, when you do things like this, or play with the children at church, it just hits me how much I love you."
"Hits me every time I look at you," Patrick murmured in her ear, "I love you Shelagh."
"Well, I should hope so," Shelagh joked, "We're getting married in three weeks!"
….
Three weeks later, Patrick and Timothy had been kicked out to Peter's for the evening, ready for the wedding the next morning.
Chummy was sat making minor alterations to Shelagh's dress as Jenny painted her right hand, Cynthia the left, and Trixie pinned her red-gold hair into curlers. Each woman had a sizable glass of wine next to them.
"So, are we being daring my dear?" Trixie asked with a little giggle, already on her third glass of wine for the evening, "Glasses, or no glasses?"
"Glasses," Shelagh laughed, "I'd quite like to see the groom!"
The doorbell rang through the house, followed a second later by the rattle of a key in the lock. Shelagh looked confused for a second, before raising her voice to call down the hall:
"That had better be mum, and not Patrick or I'll send Trixie out."
A distinctly feminine laugh rang down the hall allowing the five women to relax. Trixie stepped away to find another wine glass, as familiar in Shelagh's kitchen as she was her own, as Julie-Anne shepherded old Monica Jones into the kitchen.
"Gran," Jenny sighed, capping her nail polish and standing up to give her elderly, dementia ridden grandmother her seat. The elderly, but still sharp woman shook her head, holding out a bowl of blooming purple freesias to Shelagh.
Everyone at church knew the tale of those flowers, how Monica wanted them for the Christmas table, but they had refused to bloom. On a few of her more batty Sunday's, she had insisted on carting them to Church, adamant that the rhythmic vibrations of prayer would help them bloom. Jenny hadn't stopped moaning about them in weeks; unlike other fads of her grandmothers, this one didn't seem set to dissipate any time soon, even after four months.
"I had failed to divine their purpose," She said earnestly, "They have bloomed when the Lord ordained that they should do so!"
Shelagh looked at the purple-blue blooms, then back up to Monica. She smiled happily, a genuine trying to fight back tears smile, as Monica set the flowers down on the table proudly. They really were a sight to behold.
Jenny leaned in to Shelagh, as Julie-Anne fixed Monica a tea and asked if her nursing home knew where she was. They all doubted the nursing home did, Jenny had hated sending her grandmother there, but with her full time work on the ward, she couldn't devote all her attention to Monica like she wanted.
Shelagh quietly instructed Jenny to take her grandmother to the wedding flowers on the coffee table, and let her have free reign over its arrangement to include the flowers Monica had gifted her. Shelagh had tears in her eyes, and Jenny was so grateful, asking Julie-Anne to tell the nursing home she would drop her grandmother back later in the evening. Monica had practically vibrated with excitement, and the last evening of Shelagh's life as an unmarried woman whiled away perfectly surrounded by the women she held dearest to her heart.
…..
On the other side of the parish, Patrick was pacing, Tom and Peter watching him in amusement. Timothy and Freddy were both fast asleep, and their 'stag party' had consisted of a few beers at The Master's Arms, where the young Mistress of the house had refused to let them pay considering the occasion.
Paul ambled in from the kitchen, still eating the fish and chips that had been purchased on the way back. He stood chewing on a sandwich for a minute or two before chuckling at his soon-to-be son-in-law.
"I remember the night before I got married," Paul announced cheerily, plonking himself down on the sofa. "I was terrified Jules would see sense, and that I'd be standing there on the day like a melon with no wife to show for it."
Patrick made an unimpressed noise in the back of his throat and continued pacing.
"I paced a hole in my parents carpet and they gave me an IOU for a new one," he chuckled, "What about you Peter?"
"Didn't sleep a wink the night," Peter agreed, "I was so nervous that I couldn't do anything useful."
Tom sighed, and stood up to attempt placting his friend.
"Patrick," he said gently, "Shelagh will be there tomorrow, and it will be wonderful… but maybe now, sit down and play a hand of cards with your friends. Yes?"
Patrick agreed, and they managed to get him to sit still for half an hour before they had to drag out monopoly.
…
The next morning, Trixie was fixing Shelagh's make up as the other's got dressed in various other rooms.
"Are you nervous?" Trixie asked quietly, studying her best friend closely.
"I'm nervous for walking down the aisle, and I'm terrified I will trip over my gown…" Shelagh paused, a serene, peaceful look on her face, "But I'm not nervous about marrying Patrick."
"Good," Trixie smiled, patting her friends hand and helping her into her dress as Julie-Anne poked her head around the door.
"Paul and Fred will be here in a moment to take us to the church," She smiled, "So you'd better go and get dressed Trixie dear."
…..
"Timothy," Patrick called, rounding the door to Peter and Chummy's kitchen, he smiled at his son, "Ready to go?"
He frowned, as he took in the dejected slump of Tim's shoulders, and the worried look on his face.
"What is it?" he asked worriedly
"I'm afraid everyone will laugh," Tim admitted, not looking at his father. Patrick pulled out the chair next to him, and sat down to be eye level with his son.
"Weddings are about love, Tim," He told Tim seriously, "Love is beautiful, and serious. And if people smile, it's because they're glad."
Slowly, the edges of Tim's mouth turned into a smile, and he straightened up a little.
"Now, did you remember the rings?" Patrick asked with a smile, happier now his son was.
"They're in my pocket," Timothy grinned, patting the aforementioned pocket, before pushing himself carefully off the chair. "Let's get you and mum married!"
…..
They pulled up outside the church, Julie-Anne and Trixie helping Shelagh out as Jenny held their bouquets. Paul dropped a kiss to Shelagh's cheek before he and Fred hurried into the church to find their seats.
At the entrance to the hall, Jenny and Cynthia stopped, to check if Shelagh was ready, as she turned to face Julie-Anne.
"You should be giving me away," she insisted, "You should be walking with me."
Julie-Anne reached forward and adjusted Shelagh's veil and smiled proudly.
"You belong to no-one, but yourself," She said softly, "And you know exactly where you are going."
Shelagh reached for Julie-Anne's hands and gripped them tightly. Julie-Anne looked like she was already trying not to cry, and she gently disengaged her hands smile and then walk down the aisle to her position in the first row on Shelagh's side of the hall.
Trixie smiled, handing Shelagh her bouquet.
"Ready?" she asked.
Shelagh took a steadying breath, before nodding firmly. "Ready." She confirmed.
Everyone rose as the familiar strains of the wedding march filled the hall, and Shelagh emerged, radiantly happy.
Patrick turned, and in that moment, it was like the years on his face were stripped away. He was radiating happiness, it shone from both of them like beacons. An advert for love from the very heavens.
By the time Shelagh was halfway down the aisle, there wasn't a dry eye left in the room, and as she took her place next to Patrick and he lifted her veil, there was almost a collective sigh of happiness.
A collective sigh of Finally.
…
A/N So, Wedding! All recognisable content is from the Christmas Special 2012, that beautiful upsetting, wonderful Christmas special!
THEY ARE FINALLY MARRIED! :L
Please R&R, I want to know what everyone thinks, and if anyone is still trailing after the sporadic updates of this story!