Nathan stood at the altar of the church resplendent in his dark Morning Suit with Lionel and Charles Kensington, of all people, standing next to him as they waited for the bridal party to make its way down the aisle. Somehow he and Lionel had become friends; and when Julie had started dating Charles it had been inevitable that they would get friendly and now the three men were bound by the bond of loving three very close sisters as well as the fact that they found that they had a lot in common and got on very well.
He couldn't believe they had fallen in with Grace's plan of getting married in September but here they were on the last Saturday in September getting married and he couldn't be happier. He couldn't wait to be married to Elizabeth.
After he'd recovered he had asked Elizabeth to marry him and she'd said say immediately. When they'd gone to the Thatchers for Sunday Lunch and told the family Grace had told them about her idea of them getting married in September, she had been quietly working towards it without their knowledge, inspite of William's objections. She had in fact already talked to the vicar and also asked about possible reception venues and she had taken her wedding dress out of storage.
Elizabeth had tried on her mother's dress and wasn't surprised to find that it fit her almost well enough and didn't need too many alterations. Viola and Julie also had their own ideas about what they would wear – they took it for granted that they would stand up with her and they weren't wrong.
The wedding ceremony was taking place at St. Peter's, the oldest church in Exeter and the Archbishop himself was officiating at the wedding. The reception, which had been dubbed the social event of the year, was going to be at the local country club. Elizabeth had wanted it to be held at their home but Grace and Benson had overridden her suggestion – Grace didn't think their home was big enough, while Benson had pointed out that the club would allow the staff a chance to properly enjoy the wedding as guests and he agreed with Grace that the club was much bigger and better suited for a wedding party and the social event of the year.
Benson was in charge of coordinating the whole wedding apart from dressing the bridal party – he had insisted and Grace and Elizabeth had been grateful to leave everything in his very capable hands. He had organized for a cocktail right after the ceremony and then a three-course dinner later in the evening and he'd chosen the flowers – roses, lilies, peonies and gardenias, and the décor of the ballroom where the reception to be held, as well as the wedding cake.
The rehearsal dinner that had been held two days earlier had gone off without a hitch and everyone was sure that the wedding would be a very grand occasion indeed.
Elizabeth stood outside the church with Grace, William, Viola, Julie and Allie. They were waiting for Bach's Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring to be played – the song that the bridal party would walk down the aisle to. Allie was the flower girl, of course, although she had protested the term insisting that she was too old to be called that. After that the Wedding March would be played and Elizabeth would enter the church with her Grace and William.
She couldn't wait.
The Wedding March began to play and Nathan turned slightly and watched as Elizabeth walked towards him smiling.
Elizabeth flung a hand across the bed and touched the empty space where Nathan would have been lying normally, she could still feel his warmth. She remembered that he had kissed her quietly before he'd left the house earlier that morning. He had to testify in a high profile case at Old Bailey's in London, which is where he'd gone for the day but he would be back before evening. They had been married for almost a year now and she honestly couldn't remember being happier.
They'd just found out two weeks ago that they were going to have another child and Allie had told them she couldn't wait to be a big sister and that she wished for a brother first and then a sister.
She got out of bed and got ready for the day. She'd finished her first novel and was currently working on the second, it was the second in what she had decided would be a trilogy and it was going much better – and faster – than the first one had gone. She loved her characters and it easy to write their stories.
After finishing a few chores she went to the home office and booted her laptop and was surprised to see a word document called Elizabeth on the desktop. She took a sip of her tea and clicked on it.
My Dearest Love Elizabeth, she read,
By the time you read this letter I shall probably have finished testifying already.
She glanced at the clock and saw that it after 11 a.m. Nathan had been the first witness and should have finished by 10 a.m.
Is it corny and clingy to say that I miss you? I picture sitting at your desk with a cup of hot cranberry tea by your side as you read this letter. Am I right, I wonder? Whatever the case I cannot wait to see you and hold you and our child in my arms. You know, I thought of writing this letter on a nice piece of paper and putting it in an envelope beside the bed but then I remembered how you get out of bed like you have something chasing after you and I realised that if I did indeed expect you to read it before I got home then it would be better if I wrote it on your laptop. Don't worry I didn't read anything that you didn't say that I could read.
Nathan, who will always love you.