"May I have this dance, Mrs. Crane?" Niles asked me later. We had finished dinner. The tables had been cleared and pushed aside so everyone who cared to dance could join in.
"Charmed, I'm sure," I said joyfully, and he brought me into the center of the dance floor.
The band we had hired struck up a familiar tune. I looked into my husband's eyes and he gave me a meaningful smile just as the singer in the band began the song. It was 'Heart and Soul'.
The song sparked the memory of the cooking session where we'd chopped vegetables in rhythm while singing. It had been such a sweet moment and I remembered how much he had enjoyed himself preparing for his date with 'Phyllis'.
How could I have not seen that all his attention was on me? Or fully comprehended the look in his eyes when the woman I thought was the 'real' Phyliss had left and we had ended up dining together?
Niles had told me the truth about that night not long after we became a couple, and I wondered why I hadn't realized I was the one on his mind that night.
But that was in the past. What mattered was now. I lost myself in the moment as Niles slipped an arm around my waist, drawing me close. With his free hand he ran his fingers across my braided hair.
"You look like an angel," he said softly, as he led me into a dance and we moved in perfect rhythm.
When the song ended, we chose other dance partners. Eventually Niles and I took a break, enjoying ourselves at the refreshment table and watching the festivities. Little Audrey came up to us while we were observing everything and she smiled excitedly at me.
"You're the happiest bride I've ever seen!" she chirped before rejoining Alice.
She had just left when we heard Peter shouting from across the room.
"Stilts, look!"
He pointed to the dance floor. Everyone looked then.
Mum had dragged Martin onto the dance floor. I could just hear him above the music, protesting that he didn't dance, not with his hip the way it was. Mum, as usual, wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. I groaned as she grinned flirtatiously at him.
"Don't worry. Gertrude won't let anything happen to you," she said cheekily.
Martin gave up. Mum tended to have that effect on people.
My father, standing some distance away with Nigel, noticed and he seemed to be fighting against a fit of laughter. Martin saw the look on his face and gave him his most scorching glare.
"Look, Roz is filming the whole thing!" Niles said gleefully. "Just wait 'til Dad watches himself dancing with your mother!"
"Poor Martin! He looks absolutely petrified!" I said, finally finding humor in the situation.
Mid-dance, Mum noticed her ex-husband watching them. The look on his face was of one struggling not to burst into a fit of undignified laughter, but she seemed to take it as an expression of jealousy. A crafty look came into her eyes and she gave Martin a brief but fierce kiss. The she turned and gave my father a triumphant smirk, as if to say: Forget it! I am so over you!
Roz was nearly hysterical from laughter as she zoomed in to get a very shaky view of the shell-shocked expression on Martin's face.
"Way to go, Mum!" Steven shouted from a corner of the dance floor, where he was trying to fight off Yvonne's advances.
Harry walked to Mum and Martin and shook the hand of the latter.
"Aren't you two adorable?" he said loudly enough for everyone to hear. He was obviously enjoying himself hugely. "It looks like we might have another wedding soon!"
"Oh, go boil your head, Harry Moon," Martin snapped.
Martin wrenched himself out of Mum's grip with and fumbled for his cane. I was sure he wished a hole would open and swallow him when he realized everyone had been watching.
Frasier rescued his father from the embarrassing situation by cuing the band to play the last song. The strains of a sultry tango filled the room.
Niles looked at me with fire in his eyes and I took the cue. We repeated the dance we had done all those years ago at the Snow Ball.
We were vaguely aware of everyone watching, but it didn't matter to us. This time we were only dancing for each other, lost in our own world.
The guests burst into applause at the end of the dance before dispersing. Niles and I bade goodbye and retreated to the sanctuary of our luxurious suite to spend our first night alone as husband and wife.
A/N: I am posting this and the last two chapters today so it's all up for y'all to read. Enjoy!