The Wedding

The train whistle echoed across the dunes forty-five minutes before the wedding was to begin. The train came to a halt at the small station on the outskirts of town. Around a hundred people got off the train and headed for the church. For the first time for as long as anyone could remember the train was actually on time. The driver, stoker and conductor got down and headed into town as well with the driver and stoker carrying a change of cloths for the festivities. There was a huge line outside the church when Rory and Tom arrived. Mr. Donnelly was outside welcoming everyone while Mr. Lonogan and Mr. Shay were busy getting people seated.

The minute Mr. Donnelly saw Rory and Tom approach he rushed over to greet them.

"What did I tell you? There's thousands of 'em. They're coming from miles away," he exclaimed excitedly before rushing back to his post by the door.

Rory paled a little at the sight of such a huge crowd still waiting to be seated with the wedding set to begin in fifteen minutes. They went around to the side door where Father O'Bierne was waiting for them.

"We've got chairs in the side aisles and at the back," he said. "They're packing them in. We'll be down to standing room only before they're through." He was quite excited at the prospect of having so many people in the church.

Rory peeked out at the crowd and shut the door quickly.

"I think I'm going to be sick," he said.

The crowd was huge. There were at least four hundred people in the church with more coming in. Some of the men were wearing morning suits as were Rory and Tom, others were in their Sunday best.

"That's quite the crowd," Nigel Morehouse said as he entered. He was a friend of Rory's from medical school and had agreed to answer any emergency calls for the next three days during his fishing trip so Rory could have them off. Today he was acting as a groomsman.

"Don't remind me," Rory groaned. "I hope I don't mess this up."

"You'll be fine," Nigel said.

"It will be over before you know it. Just think, you'll be legal after this," Tom said.

"You're no help," Rory squeaked. It was bad enough he was nervous about the ceremony. He didn't want to be reminded about the wedding night. His previous experience if you could call it that was sketchy at best. The group he had been involved with when he was a teenager had a few women who hung around them constantly. Prostitutes he now realized but at the time he had been too naive to realize what they were. The boys had bragged and swaggered and taken the women in a back room from time to time. One of the men had pushed him into a room with one of the women. She hadn't bothered to remove her cloths. She'd taken his hands and shoved them under her blouse and pulled up her skirts. Her breath had smelled terrible as well as other parts. To this day Rory wasn't sure if he'd got things where they were supposed to go. He'd done the deed as quickly as he could before he'd gotten away from her. When he thought about it he could still hear her laughter.

During medical school he'd been too busy to think about finding a sweetheart and everything that went with it. At one point during his residency he had been assigned to a ward of patients with the advanced stages of sexually transmitted diseases. He hadn't been able to get an erection for almost two months.

He wanted the day to go perfectly for Colleen and to give her a wedding night that would erase her previous experience from her mind. He'd been thinking about her constantly and what he would like to do with her but had kept the two of them well buffered with other people. His hands were shaking and his knees were wobbling a bit by the time Father O'Bierne came to tell them everyone was in their seats and they needed to take their places.

There were so many people in the church Rory couldn't look at them. He had his eyes glued to the door waiting for Colleen to enter. Once everyone was in place they were ready to begin. The procession of the priest and the alter boys entered the church first followed soon after by a piper. Colleen's two brothers and the two Branson boys came up the aisle next accompanied by Tom and Sybil's daughter and three girls from the local town. Two girls of about Colleen's age from the local town came up the aisle next. Finally Colleen and her father made their way slowly towards the front of the church.

The crowd gasped at the sight of Colleen in her elaborate gown. Her hair was twisted up into an elaborate configuration of braids and twists at the back. She carried a small bouquet of flowers from a green house at one of the country estates nearby laced with ivy and a small horseshoe that had been painted white attached to the bouquet. Once everyone was in position the doors to the back of the church were closed and locked. Rory lifted Colleen's veil and looked into her eyes. His nervousness faded away and he forgot the existence of the crowd.

When it came time to place the ring on her finger he retrieved the ring from the priest once it had been blessed and placed the traditional claddagh ring with a heart being held by two hands on her finger with the tip of the crown pointing towards her knuckle. He was smiling like a fool by the time they exited the church and were greeted with a shower of rice and the sound of the church bells ringing. Rory pulled his bride into his arms and kissed her for so long there were whistles and howls from the crowd.

"Wait till the reception's over," someone called from the crowd.

"You'll have the rest of your life for that," another called.

Colleen threw her bouquet into the crowd before they walked up the road to the town hall followed by the crowd of well wishers. Rory and Colleen were seated on a pair of chairs in the town hall and people came by in turn to pay their respects. Tables laden with food had been set up at one end of the room. The hotel was open to view the gifts and people poured through the doors of the hall. Drinks were given out, toasts made and speeches called for. The next order of business was dancing. A group of musicians struck up a tune and it wasn't long before the dance floor was packed.

"Remember to keep both feet on the floor," Colleen was told. "The fairies love a bride and like nothing better than to get under her feet on her wedding day."

The festivities continued all day and well into the early hours of the morning. The pubs along the street had opened and people came and went from the town hall all evening. At one point Rory could have sworn the crowd actually got bigger. When it was time for the bride and groom to leave, a large crowd accompanied them to the cottage singing songs and making noise. The racket kept up for a good half hour before the crowd headed back to the town hall for more partying.

"Mummy," came a loud wail from the sitting room where the three Branson children were sleeping. "Make the big noise stop."

Rory and Colleen could hear someone moving upstairs to settle the children, before a door closed and everything fell silent again. They still stood where Rory had set her down after carrying her over the threshold.

"It was a lovely wedding," Colleen said. They were both so nervous they were tongue-tied.

"I never thought there would be that many people," Rory commented. "Are you tired?"

"Not too tired," she said curling her self against him.

"Then lets go up," Rory whispered into her ear. He took her hand and led her up the stairs. They made their way quietly down the hall, as his family wouldn't be leaving until the next day. Once they were in the room he pulled her into his arms and kissed her slowly at first then with more passion. Colleen's breathing was fast when the kiss ended. She quickly kissed Rory again before she moved to the dresser to remove the veil that was still pinned to her hair.

Rory came up behind her and held her waist, trailing kisses down the side of her neck while she removed the pins from her hair. Once it was free he turned her around and spread his fingers through her hair while he kissed her again. He tentatively slid his tongue into her mouth. When she moaned he deepened the kiss and explored her mouth. When he felt her return the gesture he pulled her closer and moved towards the bed. They lost their balance and fell onto the bed with Colleen on top of him. Rory was so busy reveling in the sensation of Colleen's kiss and the feel of her weight on top of him he didn't notice when the bed made a large screeching sound. Rory rolled onto his side so Colleen was lying beside him. The bed gave a massive groan before the frame fell apart and the mattress hit the floor with a loud bang. The both sat up in shock only to hear very loud laughter coming from the room next door.