Two small human missiles cannoned into Bianca. She hugged them tight, depositing a kiss on each head. Janet joined the hug, depositing a kiss of her own on Bianca's bowed head.
Then came the explosion of excited chatter, each child in competition to be the most delighted to have Bianca home at last.
Janet shushed them, "Slow down, you two. Let Bianca catch her breath." Liam had an idea. "Will I put the kettle on for tea?"
"Yes, I would love a cup. Thanks."
Liam beamed. Not to be outdone, Emma announced, "We have leaf tea. And I picked out a little green teapot with a matching tea cosy." Bianca had talked about the teapot on the table when she was growing up.
Whilst the twins were occupied with making tea, arguing about who would do what, Bianca pulled Janet in for a brief but intense hug and kiss, breathing in her ear, "God I've missed you." A little shiver ran through Janet as she leaned back, giving her lover a smouldering "bedroom eyes" promise for later.
In anticipation of the reunion, the twins had made a chocolate caramel slice as a surprise for Bianca. "Oh, wow, my favourite!" She made a great show of slowly savouring it, to the delighted satisfaction of the kids.
There is nothing quite like sitting around the kitchen table, sharing favourite foods and excited chatter.
Liam had caught on to his sister's theme, and announced, "So now you're gonna get married."
"Yeah. You can do it straight away." Emma had no trouble supporting he brother on this one.
He continued, "You should have it at the beach. We could have a beach party and play basketball."
Emma agreed. "It's a great idea. We could have a barbecue."
Bianca nearly choked on her tea. "The beach. For a wedding?" She shot a questioning look at Janet. After all, she had once wanted to go to the beach on a whim.
"Well, we could think about that. We've had some really great times at the beach. It would have to be on the park at the beach, though, not on the sand!"
"I thought you would want to paddle your feet." Bianca quipped. Janet just rolled her eyes and pulled a little face.
Emma had another idea - "We could go to Fiji!"
Quickly from Liam, always protective of his young cousin, "No, we couldn't. Finn couldn't come."
Janet put the idea to rest. "That's right, Liam. And it would be too hard to arrange."
Emma conceded. "Yeah, Finn has to come. And it costs a lot to fly to Fiji." She sighed, but was chuffed when Bianca offered, "We could always have Hawaiian as a theme."
And Hawaiian it was - two months later, immediately after Margot got home. They kept the guest list to family, except for "Uncle" Tony, who was also very conveniently a marriage celebrant. He announced from the outset that he would be wearing a pale blue toned hawaiian shirt and black trousers. No bright colours for him! It was to be a morning ceremony, in the hope of beating the sea breeze. The barbecue idea was replaced by takeout lunch arranged from a nearby cafe.
Bianca's deep burgundy shirt had short sleeves and a flat open neck collar. It tapered in at the waist and sat firmly over the hips. It was patterned with splashes of lighter burgundy flowers, deep pink hibiscus, smaller white ones, and silver/gold palm leaves . She chose matching, knee length plain burgundy shorts.
Janet's deep burgundy dress had a softly flowing skirt to the knee, wide V neckline and tiny sleeve. The pattern was sparsely spread clumps of small pink and white flowers, with chains of cascading tiny, pale green leaves. They both chose simple burgundy sandals.
Then they were undecided about whether to wear hair up, or down. Liam clinched it when he said, "Both of you should leave it out. It looks pretty." How to argue with that? No indecision for Emma, she always liked her hair tied back.
The twins wore matching shorts and shirts in similar patterns. Liam in purple with yellow flowers. Emma in purple with white flowers. Finn wanted to be just like Liam and they managed to find something very close to it. Deb and Joel, Hilda and Oscar let Finn choose their shirts, ending up in quite a splash of colours. The little boy was over the moon.
Linda and James went outrageous with big, bold patterned shirts, and hibiscus in their hair. Gemma and Kate, outfits not as loud, were somewhat embarrassed by their parents, rolling their eyes when Liam said how much he liked the outfits.
Robyn looked almost regal in a long dress with muted tropical pattern. She was amazed and thrilled that her usually serious daughter had gone along with the slightly wacky notion.
Margot showed up in a shirt of mostly big red hibiscus - her favourite colour. White three quarter pants completed the outfit.
Bianca's parents, Pam and Max, chose shirts of orange sunset, overlaid with black palm trees.
To the delight of all the children, Deb arrived with a big box of hawaiian leis in a variety of colours.
Bianca had wondered what prompted Tony to become a civil celebrant, when he had more than enough to keep him on overload in his full-time job. Turned out he had taken it on when he was young and in between jobs. His flair for suiting ceremony to people was well known amongst those close to him and he had kept up his registration for just such an occasion as this.
He sent Liam and Emma to bring everyone in close so the ceremony could begin. When they were all gathered around, he began.
"G'day. Good to see you all here to celebrate the commitment to marriage of Janet and Bianca. Little did I know that keeping up my registration all these years would result in such an honour.
These two have travelled a sometimes rocky road to get to this day. I've known Bianca only a few short years, but what I do know is that she is VERY good for Janet.
Ah, Janet. I've been her colleague and friend, for a long, long time. Not to mention being the go-to uncle." (Giggling and clapping from the twins). "I've shared the triumphs, of which there have been many, and the disappointments. We all know Janet's single-minded pursuit of justice. Workaholic doesn't cover it!
But it hasn't been all work. She's been Mum to two great kids and the decision to go to Fiji was amongst the best she has made. Time for fun and the beach. And a couple of weeks lazing around, watching those little tackers running non-stop, wasn't too bad for Uncle Tony, either. It seems fitting that here at the beach is the choice for today.
Janet has made an even better decision, to share her life and love with Bianca." He addressed Janet directly. "You almost lost her to your work obsession, my girl." Janet grinned cheekily and nodded. She knew it all too well. And she didn't mind the "my girl" either. Tony really was the father figure in her life.
"Well, that little speech done, we'd better get on with making this thing legal. And just so you know, I am duly authorised by law to solemnise marriages according to law."
In typical Tony style, he managed to intersperse all the required legal jargon with some of his dry wit. When all of the mandatory stuff was taken care of, Bianca and Janet added their own vows to each other:
Bianca: "I promise to love you, care for you and to honour our marriage in true partnership, forever. Even if you won't come to the cricket."
Laughter.
Janet: "I promise to love you, care for you and to honour our marriage in true partnership, forever. For you, I would even endure cricket." She smiled, very sweetly. "But only once!"
More laughter, and Tony took over again.
"As authorised by the Australian Government, according to the Marriage Act, 1961, I pronounce you legally married. Now you may kiss." Adding, with a faint grin, "If you want to."
They kissed briefly, chastely, to the delighted applause of the family (and a few curious onlookers).
No speeches, but they each had something to say, side by side, holding hands.
Janet: "Thanks for coming, all of you. And thank you, Tony, my best friend. I don't know how I'd have survived the past few years without you." She leaned into Bianca. "And thanks, Bibi, for not giving up on me."
Bianca grinned, held Janet's hand to her lips. "Thank you, for not giving up on me!
Thank you all for coming.
Thank you Tony, for the ceremony today, and for always giving it to us as it is. Never any BS from you.
I love being part of this family. Let's remember that Ash is part of that love, and is here with us in these three great kids. That's all. Back to you, Tony."
"Right. I know you kids are chafing at the bit for food, so while we attend to the paperwork, Joel and Oscar will go get the tucker!"
Once the signing was taken care of, Hilda came and hugged Bianca. "Thank you so much for including Ash. You are a blessing to us. Janet is lucky to have you."
"I'm lucky she trusted me enough to risk loving again. And Ash will always be part of us."
Hilda nodded. "I'm glad. Thank you."
James had joined Joel and Oscar and they were soon back with a variety of finger foods beautifully presented on platters, to be returned to the cafe. The platters were trimmed with heart shaped chocolates in burgundy foil, and there were burgundy serviettes. To top it off, the owner surprised them with a decorated wedding cake, inscribed in burgundy letters, 'Bianca and Janet. Congratulations'. Gemma and Kate were most impressed. Kate giggled, "It's not green, Aunty B, but it's better than the one we made."
Bianca laughed, hugged her. "Yours was very special and I loved it just as much."
Deb and Joel packed up. It had been a very big day for Finn and he was tired. He protested loudly about it being time to go, but Liam convinced him with a promise of building Lego with him tomorrow.
Oscar and James took the platters back to the cafe and when they returned, the gathering gradually broke up until only the newly confirmed family was left.
The twins wanted to walk along the beach. Sandals were discarded and the four of them splashed along in the gently lapping water. By now there was a light breeze and Bianca produced hair elastics from her pocket, so they could tie back their hair.
"Glad you thought of that."
Bianca adjusted her pony tail. "Me, too."
Emma concentrated on finding shells, not that there were many to find. Liam ran ahead, waded in up to his shorts and waited for them to catch up. When they did, he bounded out of the water to face Janet. "Is this the beach you came to without us?"
Janet's heart froze. What was coming from this? "Yes, it is."
"Was that when you fixed it?" He included Bianca in the question.
She replied, "Not exactly, but we did want to fix things, as you put it."
He jumped up and down with excitement. "But you didn't know if you could, so you didn't tell us. Now I get it!" And with that, he raced off ahead again.
It was dinner time when they got home but no-one was really hungry. Toasted cheese and tomato was the unanimous choice.
They watched a movie but Liam didn't last the distance, falling asleep in the chair. The other three sat on the lounge, Emma close to Bianca. When the movie finished, Janet flicked off the TV. Emma turned to Bianca. "Do you mind if I don't call you Mum?" The question startled her, but Bianca replied swiftly.
"Of course not! Bibi is just fine. Or Bianca. Or just B." She cuddled her in. "Just as long as you call me, I'll be happy."
"I liked what you said about my Mum in heaven. I don't want to forget about her."
"We don't want to forget, either. She loved you very much."
"Did she love Mum as much as you do?"
Janet was beginning to feel like an outsider - and loving it. She waited for Bianca's response.
"Oh, yes, she did. Every bit as much." She and Janet locked eyes, love unspoken. "And your Mum loved her, too. Now I think it's time for bed."
Emma yawned. "I'm glad you got married. I had fun today."
Janet stood up. "We are glad, too. I think everyone had fun. A real family day. Bianca is right, it's time for bed."
Bianca gave Liam a gentle shake. "Wake up, mate, time for bed."
Both kids asleep, the newlyweds lay side by side, skin to skin, not in any hurry for passion. What they were feeling was deeper than passion. It would come, but there was joy and gratitude to silently soak in for a while.
Bianca's fingers played around Janet's ring. "Are you okay with the ring, now that it's on your finger?"
Janet rolled onto her, kissed her. "Of course. Are you okay with yours?"
Bianca ran her fingers down her back, "I'm very, okay with mine." Blew softly in her ear, "Now I want you wild."