Despite being the one to suggest this honeymoon location, Charity hadn't been entirely sure that she was going to enjoy it. She knew the boys would love it, and she had an inkling that the sunniest person on the planet would enjoy coming to the happiest place on earth, but she thought she'd have to paint on a smile and get through it. Anything to make Vanessa happy.

But she finds that there's really no pretending required. Yeah, the queues are a bit of a nightmare, and there's a lot of hyper kids running around the place, but the sheer joy on Moses and Johnny's faces when they'd walked through the gates and immediately clocked Woody and Bullseye was worth the trip by itself.

She's currently waiting for the other three to get off the Dumbo ride. She'd decided to sit this one out; she's not brilliant at things that go round and round and they'd just come off the Mad Hatters tea-cups. So she's holding the bags and coats and waving like a berk whenever the elephant holding three of the most important people in her life flies by.

It's a far cry from last year's Valentine's Day. All she had to do then was make herself look a bit presentable and pretend to be surprised when Vanessa took her to that fancy place in Hotten for dinner. It was a wonderful night. A rare one spent together, just the two of them. But that was not long after Vanessa had been stabbed, and everybody was dead keen to babysit and give them time to themselves. Frank had taken the boys that night.

Charity sighs. It's been a hell of a year for all of them. But this year is going to be better, she's determined. That's why she'd suggested the wedding. This latest scare with Noah reminded her, once again, that life is short and that happiness needs to be cherished, because it's never guaranteed and often fleeting.

"Charityyyyyy!"

She's shaken out of her slightly depressing thoughts by Johnny's screech. He collides with her legs and she stumbles back a step, putting a hand on his head. "Enjoy that, did you?" she asks when he looks up at her with big eyes and an even bigger smile. She looks over to find Vanessa and Moses approaching at a more sedate pace. He nods.

"It went really high! I was waving at you!"

"I know, bab, I was waving back!"

"Mummy, you need to come on the next ride!" Moses insists as he and Vanessa arrive beside them.

"I will, I promise," Charity says with a smile. "I just had a bit of a dicky tummy, that's all. It's better now."

Vanessa stretches up towards her face and Charity leans in, thinking she's going to kiss her. But her eyes are fixed somewhere above her head and she frowns as there's a bit of a tug on her hair. Vanessa steps back and nods.

"Your Minnie ears were squint," she explains. "They're fixed now."

Charity rolls her eyes, but she's smiling. "Ta, babe." Vanessa had insisted on them all getting Minnie and Mickey ears as soon as they'd walked in. Even before they'd come, she'd been on the internet, cooing over 'Bride Minnie Ears', which came with a veil and which Charity absolutely refused, citing ride safety as a concern. She's seen The Incredibles more times than she cares to mention. She's not daft.

But Vanessa had said the ears were non-negotiable, so the boys each got a little cap with Mickey ears, and Charity and Vanessa ended up with matching headbands with ears and a ridiculous pink bow. They look like a right pair of wallies. But they also look like a family, so Charity hadn't had the heart to sneak hers off and into one of the many bags they've ended up with.

"Ness!" Moses hisses, tugging on Vanessa's sleeve. "Look! It's Mickey Mouse! And Minnie!"

Charity turns to find that he's right. Mickey and Minnie are walking towards them. Mickey's holding a bunch of helium-filled, heart-shaped balloons and is handing them out to random people as he passes. Minnie's hugging people and getting pictures taken. Charity steels herself; she's never been a fan of people in costumes. Probably because she's seen enough people hide behind masks that were far more convincing than these ones all her life.

When they draw closer, the boys run up and get a hug from Minnie, with Vanessa snapping pictures and cooing over how cute they look. Charity can't help but agree. But then, from the side of her eye, she notices something going on and turns to find Mickey looking bashful and handing Vanessa a balloon. Vanessa blushes and takes it.

"Oi, you!" Charity growls, playfully. "Are you flirting with my wife?"

Mickey holds his hands up and shakes his head, but as he's backing off, he blows Vanessa a kiss. Cheeky rodent. Charity turns to make a comment to this effect to Vanessa, only to find flamin' Minnie kissing Vanessa's hand. The boys are looking between them, wondering what's going to happen now. Charity lets her jaw drop in mock outrage and Minnie covers her mouth and runs away after Mickey, waving at the boys.

"The liberties these beggars take," Charity mutters, wrapping an arm around Vanessa. "Honestly."

"Oh, I don't think you've got anything to worry about," Vanessa says, looping the string of the balloon through the strap of the backpack Charity's wearing and tying it. "I'm not about to dump you and run off with a seven-foot mouse. Not after you finally made an honest woman of me."

"Glad to hear it, Mrs Dingle," Charity says, pressing a soft kiss to Vanessa's lips, enjoying the way they still turn up every time Charity calls her that.

They're pulled apart by the boys, tugging on their arms and asking where to next. Vanessa gets out the map, which Charity would've chucked by now.

"Well, there's Alice's Curious Labyrinth just down there," Vanessa says. "Which is a big maze all made of hedges."

"Christ," Charity mutters. "We better rope these two to us, or they'll never be seen again."

"And then after that, I think it's probably time for a bit of lunch, eh?" The boys chorus their approval as Vanessa checks the map again. "Ooooh, there's an Italian restaurant down that way called Bella Notte like in 101 Dalmatians." Vanessa winks at her. "Fancy sharing a plate of spaghetti with me?"

"Long as you don't expect me to push meatballs at you with my nose, babe." Charity lifts her eyebrows. "Although at the prices they're charging, we'll probably need to share, yeah?"

Vanessa laughs and takes her hand as they approach the maze.

By the time they make it back to the hotel, they're each carrying a sleeping child. The excitement of the day finally caught up with them on the walk home and they'd both whined to be picked up. Charity ended up with the short-end of the stick and got Moses, who really is too big to be carried for any distance these days.

She's glad when she finally stumbles into the kids' room, a lovely benefit of paying the upgrade to a suite, and dumps him on his bed. Vanessa follows a moment behind, doing the same with Johnny. Charity stands up, a little out of breath.

"Should we try and get them in their jammies?" she whispers.

"Nah," Vanessa says, also sounding winded. "Just take their shoes off. They'll be fine."

They work in tandem to get the boys' trainers off. As an afterthought, Charity plucks their caps off, setting them by their beds for them to wear the following day. She eases the door closed as they leave and lets out a sigh of relief as she toes off her own shoes.

"Flamin' heck, I'm shattered," she says, throwing herself onto the sofa. "Here was me thinking a day at the Pleasure Beach was tiring."

Vanessa sits down by her hips and Charity slides a hand up her back as she unties her trainers, bending to take them off one at a time. She nudges at Charity until she makes room, and then curls up against her, her head under Charity's chin. They lie in blissful silence until there's a sharp rap at the door, that makes them both jump. Charity covers her heart with her hand as Vanessa gets up to answer it.

"Who the hell's that?" she asks. "We don't know anybody here. We came here to get away from unexpected visitors."

Vanessa smiles and opens the door, standing aside to let in two hotel staff with a room service trolley. They wheel over to the dining table by the window and proceed to unload what looks like a three course meal onto the table, all on them fancy plates with the silver covers like on Masterchef. One of them sets out a champagne bucket on a stand and plops a bottle in it, with two flutes on the table. Vanessa thanks them in French and slips one of them a folded up banknote as they nod and leave the room, taking the trolley with them.

Charity stands up and approaches the table. "When did you sort all this?" she asks, eyes dancing from one dish to the next.

Shrugging, Vanessa pulls out one of the chairs. "Couldn't let Valentine's Day pass with just a soggy slice of theme park pizza, could I? Especially not when we're on our honeymoon." She nods to the chair. "Madame."

Charity looks at her wife, with her big smile and her rosy cheeks from being out all day, still wearing them daft ears. She doesn't think she's ever loved anyone more than she loves this woman in this moment.

Instead of taking a seat, she moves in and takes Vanessa in her arms, taking a moment to look into her eyes before brushing their lips together, softly at first and then with more passion. Vanessa allows it for a while, then gentle hands on her face push her back.

"Food'll get cold," Vanessa murmurs, running her thumb along Charity's lower lip. "Plenty of time for this after."

Charity nods. "Happy Valentine's Day, Mrs Dingle," she whispers, with a final kiss.

"And to you, Mrs Dingle."