Hello lovely readers!
First and foremost, I AM SO SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE! It's been absolutely mad how busy I've been this week- I'm still exhausted and it's back to school again tomorrow!
Anyway, thanks for being so patient and I hope this makes up for it! The beginning is a little dry as I didn't have much inspiration, but it gets better as it goes on, I promise :')
Any feedback would be lovely and I hope you enjoy! -Sophie x
After the wedding, Zoe and Max got into their limo and drove off to the venue of their after party- Clark Hall. It was a regal looking building on the outskirts of Holby, and they did lavish wedding receptions and parties for those who could pay the large amount of money.
Fortunately, Zoe could with her wage, and so they told everyone to rendezvous there. Cal dropped Connie, Grace and Louisa home so the girls could change out of their dressed, and then they set off for the outskirts of town.
When they arrived, a worker offered to park Cal's car for him, then they made their way inside, Grace and Louisa in awe of the beautiful building. The walls and ceiling were intricately carved and painted, and the carpets were a deep, royal red.
They followed the other guests into a large hall, which contained seating, a dance floor, a live music set up, and a bar. They greeted Zoe and Max before wandering off to find their seats. All the tables were large and circular and seated around 8 people in total. Connie, Cal, Grace and Louisa were sat on the table beside the bride and groom, with Charlie, Tess, Ethan and Lily who were also looking for their seats. They chatted for a while, Grace and Louisa getting bored half way through so they went to play with the balloons scattered around the floor.
"Your girls looked beautiful." Ethan said, looking at his boss and blushing slightly as Lily elbowed him. "You too!" he clarified, putting his hands up. "You too!"
Connie just laughed, her red wine sloshing about in her hand. "They did, thank you. Grace was especially excited- she'd never been a bridesmaid before. I haven't either, come to think of it."
"Me neither, don't worry about it." Tess winked as a balloon promptly hit her in the face, startling her. Grace came bounding over and picked it up, face sheepish.
"Grace, be careful!" Connie told her off but Tess just waved it away.
"She's excited, leave her be."
"Sorry Auntie Tess. Want to play with us? We're trying not to let it touch the ground." Grace grinned and looked over to her sister who was waiting for her.
"I'll leave you and Lou to it. I'm not as young as I used to be!"
The girl seemed to accept that answer and ran off again, aiming the balloon for Louisa's nose. Connie just smiled and shook her head.
…
Half an hour later and everyone was seated, ready for their meals to be brought out. Their starter was either prawn cocktail or stuffed potato skins, and everyone's stomachs were rumbling eagerly as the doors opened and the waiters and waitresses filed out, a plate in each arm. They were all served and tucked din immediately, leaving no time for chatter.
When no-one was looking, Tess slipped half a potato skin onto Grace and Louisa's plates and winked at them in turn. They giggled and ate it right up, making sure Connie didn't see them.
She was too busy with her own starter, and she even finished before Cal who looked at her empty plate in amazement.
"You were hungry weren't you!"
"Starving. Not had enough wine to fill me yet." She smiled and Cal grinned, eating the last bit of potato with a final flourish.
Their main was either steak and chips (Max's suggestion) or roasted stuffed peppers (Zoe's suggestion). Then pudding was either chocolate gateaux, a cheese board, strawberry tartlets or coffee and biscuits. The two girls chose the gateaux, which turned out to be a huge mistake as Grace ended up with it all over her face, and down her clothes too. Connie just tutted and took her to the bathroom to wash it off, leaving Louisa behind with the adults.
"She adores you." Tess smiled, looking from Grace's retreating figure to Louisa, who promptly smiled and took a sip of lemonade.
"It's nice having a sister. I was an only child before mum adopted me and it got really lonely sometimes."
"I know the feeling, I'm an only child too." Lily smiled and Ethan just pulled a face.
"I wish I was sometimes!" He exclaimed, and Cal just rolled his eyes.
By the time Connie and Grace came back, everyone had finished and Max was about to make his speech, followed by Charlie who was very, very nervous.
"I thought asking you something on one of your bad days was scary… Nothing compared to this." He muttered to Connie who just smiled as the porter stood and hit his glass with a knife.
"If I could have all your lovely eyes on me for a minute or so, that would be brill." He grinned before going on.
"Today has been absolutely perfect in every possible way. No-one messed up, no-one missed it and no-one died! Always a perk." He paused until the laughter died down.
"I'm going to keep this relatively short, I know our Charlie over there's getting a sweat on now. Anyway, I just want to say that today has been one of the best in my life so far. Now for the rest of it, I get to spend with my beautiful, caring, loving wife. She's the only woman I have ever fallen in love with. Her. It's always been her, and I know for a fact that it always will be. So, I'd just like to say thank you all for coming and to my stunning bride- Dr Zoe Walker!"
The party cheered and clapped as Zoe blushed, watching Max sit down and kiss her on the lips, his face, like hers, beaming. Charlie took a deep breath from his seat and after some encouraging words from Tess, stood up.
"Here goes nothing I suppose…" He muttered before tapping on his glass too.
"Right, well, this is my bit I guess. It's funny, I can remember to a T how to perform an emergency tracheotomy, but can't for the life of me remember a bloody speech. So, apologies if this turns out pants."
The crowd chuckled as he took another deep breath.
"I've been working in Holby City's emergency department since the very day it opened 30 years ago. I'm on the wrong side of 60 so I can't remember anyone's names, but I can tell you they were nothing, nothing compared to the wonderful team that works there today. We have one of the very best cardiothoracic surgeons as our clinical lead-" He gestured to Connie who smiled slightly and looked down, cheeks turning red.
"-we have one of the very best ward sisters around-" Charlie placed a hand on Tess' shoulder and she tried to brush it off, a grin quickly forming on her face.
"-and our consultants are second to none!" Zoe raised her glass to that, whereas Dylan just looked very embarrassed.
"-and not to mention our brilliant nurses and doctors, from the clumsy, to the frank, to the awkward, to the confident, to the downright lovely. They are the very best we could hope for." Lofty, Lily, Ethan, Cal and Robyn grinned in turn.
"And it goes without saying that we couldn't be without our amazing receptionists, paramedics, porters and of course, HCA's!" Charlie looked over to where Mac sat very smug, surrounded by Dixie, Ian, Noel and Louise who clapped him. From the table next to the speaker, Max whooped loudly and everyone laughed.
"They're all a joy to be around, and make coming into work each day that little bit more bearable. As most of you may know, my son Louis and granddaughter Megan live in Australia, meaning I don't see them very often. But seeing this lovely team day in day out makes up for that. You're all like family to me, all of you, and I know Tess feels the same way. I care about you all like a father would, and I just wanted you all to know that. So, to finish, I'd like to wish the bride and groom all the best in married life from their old adoptive dad. God knows they'll need it! To Max and Zoe Walker everybody!"
"To Max and Zoe!" The crowd repeated, toasting their glasses before drinking, and erupting into chatter. Charlie sat down, wiping his brow on the napkin that sat beside his plate. He looked up to see everyone smiling at him, and before he could ask why, Robyn ran over and pulled him into a hug.
"That was beautiful!" She said, and as she pulled away, Charlie could see the tears in her eyes. He looked at everyone in surprise.
"Wow, was I that good?!" He exclaimed and the table nodded in firm agreement, with Grace shuffling over and onto his knee for a cuddle.
"As they say, you "nailed it"." Tess smiled, sipping at her wine. Louisa just shuddered.
"Please, Tess, no- don't say that ever again." She said dramatically and everyone laughed, including Lily!
The rest of the night was spent out on the dancefloor, dancing their cares away. It turned out that they had some pretty good dancers in their midst! Zoe and Max's first dance was perfectly choreographed with some rather fancy footwork. Charlie and Tess danced to impress too- they pulled off a waltz with flying colours! Cal span Connie round the room when the floor was quiet, watching her tilt her head back and laugh, eyes lit up and hair flying free around her shoulders.
"I love you." He whispered, bringing her in to him.
"I love you too." She replied, eyes bright and out of breath. Grace came over and pulled at Cal's arm, with Louisa doing the same with Connie's for a family dance. They jumped and sashayed about until their feet screamed no more, but their hearts sang to never stop.