-x- Chapter 2 -x-
They stood at the altar, as Charlie smiled back at Duffy, tears in his eyes, her hand caressed his cheek. She smiled softly at him, tears also filled her eyes. She let her hand drop into his, he covered her hand with his, as they let out a deep breath in sync, and then giggled at each other.
"We did it." He whispered at her.
She giggled at him again, and nodded at him, and smiled.
"We did." She replied.
The guests clapped and cheered as they rose from their seats, the couple then turned around and smiled at them all.
Josh was first up to congratulate them, shaking Charlie's hand, and patted him on the back.
"Congratulations mate, Duffy." Josh said, smiling at them both.
"Thanks Josh." Both Charlie and Duffy said in sync, as they then giggled at each other.
"You both deserve it. It's been a long time coming." Josh said, as he smiled back at them both, then stepped aside.
Robyn was next up, as she congratulated them.
"Well done Duffy, Charlie. See, I told you not to worry."
"Thanks Robyn." Duffy said, as she smiled at her.
Charlie frowned slightly, then looked back at Duffy, who pulled a nervous smile back at him.
"Thanks Robyn." Charlie said, as he smiled back at her.
"Ready?" Charlie said, as he held out his arm for her.
"Yeah." Duffy replied, as she threaded her arm through his.
They then walked down the aisle together, as their guests clapped and cheered them, as they watched them leave through the chapel doors. Their guests then began chatting amongst themselves.
"Right, excuse me, folks, ladies and gents, let's go and celebrate the happy couple, over at the pub." Josh said, loudly to the guests.
The guests then all slowly filtered out of the chapel and walked over to the pub to meet up with Charlie and Duffy.
-z-
Josh stood at the end of the bar, next to the buffet table, a microphone in his hand, as he tapped on it trying to see if it was working.
"Oh, ok, right. Ahem. Ladies and gents, can I have your attention please?" He said into the microphone.
"Oh no." Charlie said, to Duffy, as he buried his head in his hand, then looked up to see Josh standing with the microphone.
"Ha, ha." Duffy laughed, as she turned to see Josh blushing slightly trying to get the microphone to work.
"I'm looking forward to this." Duffy said, as she sipped at her white wine and lemonade, holding the glass up high against her lips.
"I'm not." Charlie said, as he took a gulp of his lager.
"Right, now, most of you won't know me. Erm." Josh said, as he scanned the room.
"Actually I don't think I know any of you. Oh wait, there they are." Josh said, as he spotted Charlie and Duffy stood together, at the end of the pub, looking at him.
"Charlie and Duffy. Mr and Mrs Holby ED, oh, I mean, Fairhead." Josh smiled.
Charlie turned to Duffy and rolled his eyes at her, then shook his head, she giggled back at him.
"What can I say about those two?" Josh said, as he then took a long pause in thought.
"I've known them both, oooh, well, over 28 years. Charlie, mate, sorry. But, it's about bloody time you told her." Josh said, as he shook his head at him.
The guests murmured slightly to themselves.
Charlie just blushed, and sighed.
"Sorry." Charlie whispered into her ear, as he grasped her hand with his.
"It's fine." Duffy said in return, squeezing his hand.
"I could tell you some really embarrassing stories about Charlie, but, we'd be here all night. And Duffy would kill me, but, to be quite honest she'll know most of them anyway. So, I'm going to keep this short. Duffy, what can I say? He always been quite fond of you, you know that, but for many, many years he just hid it a little bit too well. So, it's no surprise to me to see you two now married. As a mate, to you both, I couldn't be happier to see you together, at last. So, I'd like to raise a toast to Mr and Mrs Holby ED, the one and only Mr and Mrs Fairhead."
"Mr and Mrs Fairhead." All the guests said in unison.
Charlie squeezed Duffy's hand in his, and raised his glass to his guests, and to Josh, he smiled at Josh. Duffy did the same, and shook her head at Josh, but then mouthed the words, "thank you", to him.
Josh raised his glass to them both, smiling at them.
"Right, my turn." Charlie said, as he turned to Duffy, squeezed her hand again, then let go, as he walked down the pub towards Josh.
Charlie then put his pint down onto the bar, then took the microphone from Josh, he then paused slightly, and gave him a hug.
"Thanks for that mate." Charlie said.
"You deserve it Charlie, you both do." Josh said to him.
"I know. Cheers Josh." Charlie replied.
Josh then stepped aside as he stood next to Charlie. Charlie then took out a sheet of paper from his pocket, and his glasses, putting them on. He coughed slightly before he spoke.
"Thanks for that Josh. And you're right, Duffy would have killed you if you'd told them anything. So, thanks for that. It means a lot, to us both." Charlie said, as he looked at Josh, then back to Duffy.
Duffy just shook her head at Charlie, smirking at him.
"First of all thank you all for coming here today, and at such short notice. It means the world to Duffy and me that you are all here to share our day with us. So thank you, thank you all. Well, ha, where to start?" Charlie blushed, as he visibly became more nervous, as he looked around the room.
Duffy looked at him, sensing his nervousness, she then walked over to him, and stood at his side. Charlie watched her as she walked over towards him. She then took his hand in hers, and smiled at him, he squeezed her hand with his, and smiled back at her.
"Duffy, we've been friends, best friends for over thirty years, I'd hoped, I'm dreamt of it, but I never thought that one day I'd be calling you my wife." He says to her directly, smiling at her, tears forming in his eyes.
"Sorry." He says, as he rubs at his eyes, under his glasses, with his fingers.
"Aw, Charlie." Duffy says, as she reaches for his hand once again, squeezing it.
He smiles back at her, nervously.
"I erm," *ahem* he coughs. "Sorry, ha, um, I have a big speech ready, it's just." He then removes his glasses, and folds up the paper, and puts them both into his pocket.
"I erm, I heard something recently that wonderfully describes us both, and so I'd like to share it with you, with everyone." He says, as he looks at Duffy, and back at the crowd.
"Um, ok, here goes. There is a theory that two people, who are perfectly matched, are attached by an invisible thread, nothing can break it, and it stretches all around the world if it has to. That's us Duffy, that's exactly like us." He says, as he looks at her, for reassurance, grasps her hand with his.
"It is." She says, as she nods at him, then smiles back at him, squeezing his hand.
"Duffy, I know I can't turn the clock back, or change anything." He says to her, holding her hand.
"But I do know that I have loved you for many, many years, and knowing now that you always felt the same way. We can definitely say that our love is unbreakable." He says to her, and then lets go of her hand.
He picks up his pint of lager, and says.
"So please, join me in raising a glass to Duffy, my best friend, and now my wife." Charlie says, as he looks into her eyes, smiling at her, tears filling his eyes once again.
He then raises his glass to her, and to the crowd.
"To Duffy." He says again, smiling at the crowd, and takes a sip of the lager in his hand.
"Duffy." The guests repeat together, raising their glasses.
As he gulps down his lager, he then says.
"Right, folks, um, the food is ready, the bar is free for a few hours. Enjoy yourselves. And, um, thanks once again for coming. It means a lot. To us both." Charlie said, as he smiled at the crowd, then puts down the microphone.
He puts down his pint, then turns to her. Putting his arm around her back, resting his hand on her waist, he pulled her closer to him, and kissed her on the forehead. She giggled at him, and looked into his eyes, reached up, and gently caressed his cheek.
"Love you." Charlie whispered at her, as he gazed into her eyes, then kissed her on the lips tenderly.
"Love you too." Duffy replied, as she broke their kiss, and smiled lovingly at him.
-x-
Charlie gently took Duffy's hand in his, and rested his other on her waist. He smiled at her, feeling incredibly lucky to now call her his wife. He realised he was now free to tell her exactly what he thought when he looked at her, now he held her in his arms.
"You're beautiful" Charlie said, as he looked into Duffy's eyes, as they began to dance.
They swayed to the music of Rod Stewart's - Have I Told You Lately, chosen by Charlie for their first wedding dance as a married couple.
Duffy blushed, smiled at him, as she replied. "You're not too bad yourself"
Duffy's hand lay his shoulder as they danced. But she then moved it slowly down Charlie's right arm grasping 'the tattoo' with her hand.
"Oooh, ow." Charlie grimaced.
"Sorry. Did you get hurt?" Duffy frowned, concern written all over her face.
"Na, it's nothing." Charlie tenses up, as she questions him.
"Do you want me to take a look?" Duffy asks again.
"Just be a good wife and dance with your husband." Charlie smiles, trying to distract her attention away from his tattoo.
"Yes, sir." Duffy smiles.
Charlie closed his eyes, as she rested her head against his, both lost in the moment, he held her closely to him, as they continued to dance. Then realisation struck him, the most important thing he was going to say in his speech, and he'd forgotten to tell her.
"Oh, er, I almost forgot." Charlie stutters slightly.
"What?" Duffy asks.
"It's nothing." Charlie's nerves getting the better of him.
"Tell me." Duffy persuadingly asks.
"You sure?" Charlie replies.
"There's nothing you can hide from me," Duffy says, as she tilts her head at him.
"Good, in that case, ah er, it's been worth the wait." Charlie says, quite timidly, looking at Duffy as he tells her.
Duffy lets out an overwhelmed, "aww", as she hugs him closely to her, gripping his tattooed arm in the process.
Charlie mouths the word: "ow", as he reacts to the grip on his very sore arm. She simply hugs him close to her, and they continue to sway to the music.
-o-
With the speeches over with, the cutting of their cake, their wedding dance, and a little boogie on the dancefloor. They decided to mingle with their guests. But, he as he caught sight of her from the corner of his eye, he couldn't help but then look over at Duffy, the dress she'd chosen perfectly matched her figure, as well as her eyes. He sighed at himself, "how on earth did I get so lucky?"
"Charlie? Charlie?" Josh said, as he stood chatting to Charlie.
"Hmmm?" Charlie said, as he took a drink of his pint of lager.
"What are you...?" Josh asked, as he turned to follow Charlie's eye line.
"Oh." Josh added, as he smiled at his best mate.
"Sorry Josh, what did you say?" Charlie blinked, then looked at Josh.
"Why don't you two go?" Josh suggested.
"What do you mean?" Charlie replied, frowning at him.
"Charlie, you've been following her around the room all day. Why don't you ask her if she wants to go." Josh asked.
"But, it's her day too." Charlie replied.
"Yeah, and isn't it about time you stop worrying about what she'll say. And just ask her, she might be feeling the same." Josh said.
"But, everyone has come today." Charlie answered.
"And you've just married the love of your life. You've both waited so long to be together. Don't worry about us. We'll still be here when you get back." Josh said, as he patted Charlie on the back.
"Really?" Charlie looked at Josh, raising his eyes at him.
"Of course, go tell her I told you." Josh added, then winked at him.
"Josh." Charlie replied.
"Go on." Josh said, as he patted him on the back again.
"Ok." Charlie replied, then drank the remaining pint of lager hurriedly, putting the empty glass on the table near him.
Josh smiled at him, and shook his head.
Charlie walked over to Duffy, who was busy chatting to Louise and Robyn.
"Excuse me, but, could I have a word with my wife, please?" Charlie asks, as he held out his hand for her.
"Charlie?" Duffy blushed at him, taking his hand.
Charlie then walked Duffy down to a quiet end of the pub, and turned towards her.
"Charlie what is it?" Duffy asked, as she looked at him tenderly.
"Um, I was just wondering." Charlie stammered, and blushed at her.
"Yeah." Duffy replied, now frowning at him.
"If you, um." He asked, nervously.
"I'd love to." Duffy answered, looking at him tenderly, as she reached out for his hand.
"What?" Charlie replied, shocked, as he looked at her.
"Go home." Duffy said, as she looked into his eyes, seeing his nervousness.
"You do?" Charlie replied, the nerves fading, as he began to smile back at her.
"Mmm, hmm." Duffy replied, biting her lip at him.
Charlie looked at her with such love and devotion, he was amazed that she was feeling exactly the same as him.
"I want you all to myself." She said, as she reached up and caressed his cheek.
"So do I." Charlie replied, as he smiled back at her tenderly.
"Let's go." Duffy said, as she took his hand in hers, and began to walk.
"Wait a minute." Charlie said, as he pulled her back towards him.
"What?" Duffy asked, looking at him.
"Come here." Charlie said, as he grabbed her waist pulling her closer towards him.
He then kissed her, she reached up and caressed his cheek deepening their kiss.
"Wahey! You two are starting early! Look at the newlyweds folks!" Iain said, as he caught the pair kissing passionately.
The crowd of guests turned around and saw both Charlie and Duffy parting slowly, but still holding each other tightly. They all began to cheer and clap, some even whistled at them.
"You two need to get a room." Iain said, as he winked at them both.
Charlie and Duffy blushed at each other, but then giggled, as the crowd clapped and cheered at them both.
-x-
