On the day of the ceremony, the Stanton/Tiler wedding party had converged on 23 Montrose Street.

"Are you certain you're okay with this? A civil ceremony at the city chambers? You're really okay with this?" Dave looked down at his soon-to-be-wife as he held her hands at his chest. They were together in the side room, waiting for the registrar to come in and speak to them before escorting them into the ceremony room where their families waited.

"Of course, I'm okay with this! Have I given you any indication to think otherwise?"

"Well, no—" Dave sighed. "But I just worry—you know, it's not the big dream wedding most women would want."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Dave, am I 'most women?'"

A big beaming grin spread across Dave's face. "Most certainly not!"

"Alright then. Now listen—this is about me and you, spending the rest of our lives together, not about some big fancy ceremony that costs a load of money. I've been through all that, and even then it wasn't really what I wanted. As long as I'm here with you, and our family, I'm the happiest woman alive." Alex smiled up at him and gently squeezed his hands.

Ten minutes later the doors into the main ceremony room opened and the registrar walked through, with Dave and Alex following. Dave wore a traditional dress kilt and Alex an a-line sleeveless tea-length satin white wedding dress.

As they came into their places, Robin stood at Dave's side, wearing a regular suit—as was Nathan, who stood to Robin's right. Five boys, all in kilts and lined up according to age stood to next to the men: Alex's nephews, Dave's own sons and grandson, were chatting quietly as they waited. Danielle, Anna, Tanya, Lucie, and Evie, all stood to Alex's left.

As they all settled into place, the registrar stepped forward and the ceremony began.

After the ceremony, the families all went back to the Tiler home for a celebration. Food had been prepared ahead. The sun came out so they moved into the back garden for music and dancing with Tanya serving as DJ with her phone attached wirelessly to a speaker.

The party went for a couple hours before Dave and Alex said their goodbyes and drove away on their mini-honeymoon to the Highlands.

Three days later, Dave and Alex returned to find another party waiting for them at their home. Nathan, Danielle, and their boys had been staying at Alex's flat, which would now go on the market to be sold. In the three days it appeared that they, Robin, Anna, Tanya, and the kids, had been busy. She had already boxed up all her things before the wedding, but they had all been moved to the house, most being pushed into corners till they got around to unpacking. A few had been opened and some of her photos were now mixed in with the Tiler's.

At one point during the celebration, Dave came into the living room with two glasses of wine. "There you are. Were you hiding?"

"Just looking at these photographs and thinking," she said as she motioned to the mantelpiece. He handed her a glass and she kissed his cheek. "Thanks."

"Look at that," he whispered. He saw what she had been looking at: a line of family pictures. There was a family picture of he and Rita with his children to the left, to the right was a picture of her with John, Laney, and Blake. In the middle was a recent picture they had taken of she and Dave with Paul, Ewan, Evie, Lucy, Tanya, and Sam. "Do you like it?"

"I do." She nodded. "They're a part of who we are. If it wasn't for them, we'd never be here, together."

"'Tis true." He nodded and switched his glass to the opposite hand so he could wrap his arm around her waist and pull her into a deep kiss. "Now, come on. Our family awaits. Your brother says he found 'Trivial Pursuit' in one of your boxes and that, and I quote, 'the beating is about to begin.'"

They walked back towards the kitchen and dining area, finding the whole family crowded around the table as Nathan set up a game board. The adults were seated, with kids huddled around, some having pulled up additional chairs. Two seats at the table were empty and awaiting the newlywed couple. Alex stopped at the doorway for a moment and looked on at her newly grown family. She couldn't help but smile as she thought back over the past few years of her life that had led her here. Several years ago she never would have expected to find herself this happy, and with a family of her own again.

She was caught out of her reverie as Evie came running up and tugged on her sweater sleeve. "C'mon Alex! Uncle Nathan says he's going to kick your butt, but I know he's wrong! You're the smartest person I know!"

Alex smiled and glanced at her husband as she was pulled towards the table, pulling him along with her, towards their family.

A week later, a new sign was being hung outside Dave Tiler's studio.

STANTON & TILER
Photography ~ Branding ~ Web ~ Design
Alexandra Stanton-Tiler & Dave Tiler

"Why did you put my name first? I told you that you should have yours first. It's your studio." Alex looked up lovingly, but with a bit of exasperation, at her husband who moved away from the building and came up to wrap his arms around her from behind so they could examine it together.

He leaned over a bit, putting his face down next to hers, cheek-to-cheek. "But that's the point, isn't it? It isn't my studio anymore, it's ours. And I'm happy about it. And that being said, there's no reason for your name not to be first. Besides, I also told you that you didn't have to take my last name on, but you insisted on that hyphenation business. I insist on this," he said as he waved out towards the sign.

"You're sure, really? You don't mind sharing space with me?" she asked cautiously. Inside, she was beyond thrilled, both at the idea of combining forces with her husband, the magnificent man and photographer that he was—and at the idea of finally having office space outside the home.

All Alex's boxes of business things had been brought over to the studio while they were honeymooning, and now the move was official. A corner had been cleaned up and prepared for her, her desk moved in, and a small conference table put in for them to have meetings with clients.

"I love it!" he said with a grin, then he shrugged. "Besides, it makes good business sense. We don't have much room in the house for you to set up, we don't need to take on another rental payment when we have this place with enough room for your things. And on a purely personal level, it means I get to spend more time with my wife."

"More time working with your wife?" Alex grinned playfully.

"Eh, yeah—working—that too." He grinned and waggled his eyebrows at her.

She rolled her eyes playfully and batted at his shoulder as she quickly moved away, going towards the door to the studio. "Yes well, I am going to go get some work done, husband."

"Mmhmm, yes—work—" He cleared his throat. "I'll be right in to do that, too." He kept grinning, picked up the tools he had used and followed her in. Yes, working with his wife was going to be lots of fun.

Well, I think this is it for Common Bonds. It's been a fun journey. This was my first posted fan fiction story, and it's a bit bittersweet putting an end on it, but I feel that there are new stories, new characters, and new adventures awaiting me. Dave and Alex have finally found happiness, and perhaps they'll come back out to play later. 😊