I had this chapter half written and then forgot about it...oops! Its all finished now and ready to go. Many thanks to Hollie and drawandpaint for the lovely reviews as always. Enjoy!
Everyone turned as the music began, smiling at Jess and Robert as they made their way down the aisle. She beamed back at them, feeling Roberts grip on her arm tighten slightly. And then her gaze fell on the altar, on Callum. His mouth was slightly open in shock but as his eyes met hers a blinding smile appeared. Beth and Sally stood in position at the side of the altar, waiting for Jess to meet them. As she reached them, Jess handed Sally her bouquet, Sally nodding at her in encouragement. Robert kissed Jess' hand before placing it in Callum's firm grasp. Callum leaned forward, placing a gentle kiss on Jess' lips.
"You look even better than I ever could have imagined." he whispered to her as he stood straight.
"You look pretty good yourself." she said with a wink.
The priest smiled at the congregation, "Good afternoon everyone. Today we are here to celebrate the marriage of Callum Stone to Jessica Grace Hunter. Now, we shall begin. Callum, if you could take Jessica's hands in yours please. Could the best man bring up the rings please?" Smithy nodded, rising from the pew and passed the delicate white gold wedding band, which was set with a small diamond, to Callum. "Now, Callum and Jessica have written their own vows to each other. So when you're ready Callum."
Callum cleared his throat nervously, raising his eyes to meet Jess' green ones, "Today, I Callum Stone promise to take you, Jessica Grace Hunter, to be my lawful wedded wife. I can pinpoint the exact moment I knew that I was going to have you as my wife; it was when I first laid eyes on you. I had this need to love you and protect you fiercely. I waited, waited until you were ready to have me in your life. And when you did, I was awestruck by not only your beauty, but by your compassion, your humour and how tender you are. I couldn't believe that you would want the gruff Sergeant who nobody liked. But obviously you do, that's why we're here today, showing everyone our love. I have never, and never will, love anyone as much as I love you Jess. You are my best friend and soul mate. We will never be separated, not even in death. Because words cannot describe my love as fully as I would like, I gave you this ring as a sign of my everlasting and never fading love." Callum slipped the band onto Jess' finger as he said the last sentence, quickly wiping a tear away from her eye.
"Thank you Callum, that was lovely. Now Jess, time for your vows." the priest said with a smile as Smithy handed Jess Callum's simple white gold wedding band.
"On this day, I Jessica Grace Hunter vow to take you, Callum Stone as my lawful wedded husband. Before I met you, I was in a bad place. And then you came into my life, a grumpy sod, but I knew from that moment that you would change my life. And you have, more than you can ever know. You loved me when I didn't think love was possible, you cared for me when I was down and encouraged me when I felt like I couldn't go on. But most of all, you saved me. Without you, we wouldn't be here right now. So with this ring, I commit myself to you for eternity. I love you and will do long after we're both dead and gone." Jess' voice shook slightly on the last few words as she slid the ring onto Callum's finger. They smiled at each other before turning to face the priest.
"Thank you Jessica. Now for the most important part of the day. Callum and Jessica, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Callum, you may kiss your bride." The priest clapped with everyone else as Jess reached up on tip toes to reach Callum. He closed the gap between him and his new wife, kissing her with as much love as he had in him.
Everyone stood up, clapping and cat calling, making their way out to the front of the Church ready to shower the happy couple with confetti. Nate took Sally's hand firmly in his as they headed out followed by Beth and Carly, then Will and Smithy. Michelle and Robert were the last ones out, Michelle blowing a kiss at her daughter as they walked out the Church. Jess rested her head on Callum's chest as they waited for the final few people to exit the Church.
"We did it! Its official! I'm officially Jessica Stone." she said excitedly.
"I can't believe it. I love you so much. And you look so beautiful; whatever did I do to deserve you, eh?" Callum said with a smile as he took Jess' hand as they headed up the aisle.
"Simply put its fate. And no one can argue with fate." she replied.
As they walked through the Church doors Will shouted, "The new Mr and Mrs Stone!" and so ensued lots of confetti throwing.
An hour later everyone had finally made their way to Bexley Manor where the reception was being held. The main hall had been draped in vibrant flowers, with small fish bowls complete with floating tea lights and flowers adorning the tables. At one end of the room stood the DJ booth, and next to it, much to Will's delight, was the karaoke machine. At the other end of the room, big French doors opened out onto a grand patio which led down into the beautifully landscaped grounds. The trees and bushes glittered with tiny fairy lights twinkling against the darkening sky. By the time Jess and Callum arrived at the Manor most of their guests had taken advantage of the free bar, meaning plenty of merriment ensued.
Three hours later and everyone had eaten their meals and loosened their waistbands, chatting to their neighbours on the tables. People intermittently came up to the top table to congratulate the new Mr and Mrs and having their pictures taken with them to put into the Wedding Memories book. And then it was time for the speeches. Jess was incredibly wary of what Will was going to come out with, and even though she had threatened him on pain of death she didn't think it would have put him off. She knew it would be embarrassing, maybe even mortifying, and she just prayed that he hadn't included pictures. Luckily the speeches would be short, as the couple had agreed that the worst part of any wedding was drawn out speeches. Jess wanted them out the way so they could move on to the karaoke and dancing, so only Will and Smithy were to do speeches. Smithy cleared his throat, tapping his knife against his champagne flute. The chattering in the room slowly quietened, everyone looking at Smithy expectantly. He smiled and stood up.
"Evening all! For those of you who are lucky enough not to know me, I'm Smithy, Callum's best man. I've known Callum now for about three years and I can safely say we didn't get on when he started. At all. We both had specific ways of managing our team and it caused many clashes. Callum was the gruff Sergeant who didn't appear to care for anything except for getting a result, but deep down I thought that he must have a heart...deep, deep down mind you! Jess started working at the station about a year and a half ago now, and in that short span of time Callum began to change, for the better. The gruff Sergeant retreated to be replaced by someone who you could actually have a laugh with. No-one could figure out his sudden mood change, but it didn't take long for us all to figure it out. Jess. So, to the new Mrs Stone, I'd like to thank you on behalf of all of us at the station. You did us a service by taming the beast and we thank you." Smithy paused as everyone started laughing, with someone shouting, "Hear hear!" When the laughter had died down Smithy continued, "So if you'd all like to raise your glasses to the newly-weds, Mr and Mrs Stone!" As Smithy raised his glass, as did the whole room, clapping and cheering. Smithy sat down, ready to listen to Will's speech. Will cast a cheeky smile in Jess' direction as he stood up, facing the room.
"Evening everyone. I'm Will, Jess' best man. Don't ask...all I'll say is that what Jess wants Jess gets! When I first met Jess, she wasn't the confident, funny woman that she is today. She'd had a rough time of it when she joined us, but soon things began to change for her, for the better. That was when her and Callum got together, and she began to smile. It also helped that she had me for a friend, of course." Will said with a grin as people laughed, "Look at them now. Married with a bun already in the oven. I'm sure they did it backwards! Anyway, people say that your wedding day is one of the best days of your life...let's hope it's not all downhill from here on out then!" Jess smacked Will's arm playfully as he sat down, kissing him on the cheek. They all raised their glasses once again in a toast to the happy couple.
Callum stood up, ignoring Jess' questioning look. "I haven't got a lot to say to you all, just thank you for coming today and witnessing our marriage and supporting us through the past year and a bit. I hope you enjoy what remains of the free bar and of course the karaoke that will no doubt be in high demand later. Jess and I are now going to take to the floor for our first dance, everyone please do join us." Callum turned, holding his hand out to Jess. She took it with a smile, following his lead to the dance floor. "Care to dance Mrs Stone?"
"I don't mind if I do Mr Stone." she replied with a giggle as he held her close to him, one hand on the small of her back and the other entwined with hers, their wedding rings glinting. Nat King Cole started to croon Let There Be Love as Callum started to gently lead Jess round the dance floor. As the song came to a close, he scooped her up into his arms, spinning her round slowly, kissing her lovingly. The song finished and he gently set her back down amid wolf whistles and shouts. He turned to face the crowd.
"Who can blame me when I married this beautiful woman!" he laughed. With that everyone cheered, all the couples joining them on the dance floor. Jess danced with Robert while Callum spun Michelle around the floor, whizzing by Nate and Sally who had happily worked through their problems. Jess looked around as she danced with her father, spotting Andy and Alyssa slowly moving side to side, Alyssa's arms wrapped around Andy's neck. She couldn't help but think that it might not be long until it was their first dance.
It was fast approaching midnight. Most of the guests were happily drunk, dancing haphazardly and making great use of the photo booth Jess had set up. Nate and Sally had already gone to their room, Will was hogging the karaoke in an effort to impress and old school friend of Jess', and Beth and Carly were showing off their moves. Callum returned from the bar with drinks, leading Jess outside into the cool of the night. He led her to a bench which was half obscured by the rose bushes around it and handed her the drink. They sat in comfortable silence which was suddenly burst by Jess crying. Alarmed, Callum set his drink down before scooting closer to her, rubbing her back.
"Hey, shhh, it's ok, you're ok. What's the matter?" he asked in concern, trying to catch the eye of his wife who was steadfastedly avoiding his gaze.
"I don't know, I'm just being silly. I think everything's just hit me. The wedding has been the most perfect day, better than I could have ever dreamed. I'm just...I'm so blessed to have found you Callum and to have you love me and to get to spend the rest of my life with you. God, I hate coming out with this lovey dovey crap that should be confined to this awful cards, but it's how I feel. My wedding to Dan...at the time I thought it was the most wonderful day but now, after this, it wasn't anything. It was him talking to his smart university friends while I got drunk with Andy. This is a dream come true." she sniffled, finally meeting Callum's gaze.
Callum wiped her tears away and gently cradled her face in his hands, moving forward to kiss her slowly, "I rather like it when you speak lovey dovey crap at me."
Jess laughed, abruptly stopping as she said, "But the thing is, all good things come to an end. What if Dan gets out of jail? What if something happens to the baby? Or what if we...drift apart?"
"Stop with what if's right now. Things won't go wrong. There is no way in hell I'll sit by and watch Dan get released from jail, and you know that. I'll fight with everything if it even looks like they're planning to release him. And as for the baby...she's going to be beautiful like you, strong like both of us, with your stubborn streak thrown in for good measure." Callum paused before adding, "And I promise you here and now, we will never drift apart. It won't happen. Now, enough of the doom and gloom lets enjoy our drinks and enjoy the rest of the evening. And gather good blackmail material from our drunken friends."
As they were finishing their drinks, the opening notes of Kiss From a Rose by Seal started to play. Callum placed their now empty glasses on the floor before taking Jess' hand in his, pulling her up flush to him as much as her bump would allow. He took her left hand, kissing the rings that glittered there. They slowly spun round the patio, the fairy lights adding a perfect atmosphere. Callum pressed a kiss to her temple, inhaling her unique fragrance, absorbing the feel of her against him, listening to her gentle breathing. She was his and no-one else's. Just his. And she would be until the end of their days.
They entered the hall as the song was drawing to a close. Jess happened to glance over to the corridor that led to the rooms and gasped. She tugged Callum's sleeve, pointing at what she had been looking at.
"Do you think they're going to...?" Jess began, her face wrinkled in distaste.
"No...he wouldn't...she wouldn't...would they?" Callum asked, a look of surprise on his face.
"Well no not normally, but Beth has got a room booked and she does like the asshole men and they've both had a ton to drink...so maybe they are! There's going to be a lot of regret in that room in the morning." Jess said, shaking her head.
"That is if he stays that long." Callum said pointedly, "Anyway, not our problem. They're both adults. So, are you all ready for our honeymoon tomorrow?"
"Mais oui! It's going to be gorgeous and romantic. I can't wait!" Jess said dreamily.
"Been learning some French have we?" Callum laughed, "See if you can work this out then. Je t'aime du fond de mon Coeur."
Jess looked at him questioningly, "You like me and you're fond of me?"
Callum laughed, shaking his head, "No, it means I love you from the bottom of my heart."
Jess' face lit up, "Callum that's beautiful! When did you learn that?"
"A while ago so I could impress my new wife with it." he chuckled, kissing her.
"I need to get used to the whole wife thing again." she said, examining her wedding ring.
"I bet as soon as you get used to that the baby will come along and then you'll have to adjust and get used to being a mum as well. You'll do it though, because you're my amazing wife." he said honestly.
"You really need to stop seducing me with compliments because my head will get too big and then you won't be able to get any action." she said with a wink.
"And you need to get used to the compliments cause they're not stopping anytime soon!" Callum retaliated, leading Jess back to the dance floor.
