Chapter XXXII
It was the morning of the 6th of August, when Olive and Niall Harris arrived at the steps of the House on the Hill, in the very moment when Julia was putting on her wedding dress. "Hello, hello you gorgeous girl!" Olive said cheerfully when she entered Julia's bedroom. Julia turned around and squeaked with happiness. She hugged and kissed both Olive and Niall tightly, forgetting about all the poeple surrounding them who were waiting to meet the friends of which Julia couldn't stop talking about ever since she came back from France.
"I can't believe you're really here, in Glen!" Julia gasped and put her hands on Olive's shoulders.
"I can't believe that you're getting married today!" Olive said excitedly and kissed Julia's cheeks again.
Julia smiled at her again and then turned around to her Mother, both Grandmothers and bridesmaides who were looking at the new guests with interest in their eyes. "May I present to you, my dearest friends without whom I wouldn't survive the war. Olive and Niall." she said proudly and let her family get acquainted with them.
Olive and Niall looked even more in love with each other than the last time Julia had seen them, the both of them had their eyes just for one another and couldn't hide it even if they tried. To be honest, Julia had never seen them as happy, not even Olive who at the worst hours, could always think of something optimistic. And that was also another reason which made Julia even more excited for her own wedding day and married life.
"Bath, your dress is absolutely beautiful." Olive whispered to her ear when Julia finally sat down in front of the mirror letting Faith do her hair.
"Thank you, Olive darling." Julia whispered back with a smile.
"We met your Blythe already, you know." Olive winked at her knowingly.
Julia gasped and her cheeks turned pink "Really? When?" she asked her.
Olive chuckled at her friend's reaction "Just now, when we took Ingleside for the House on the Hill, when we got lost, obviously." she laughed merrily.
Everyone else in the room chuckled as well "And…?" Julia questioned with a grin.
"He looks positively beaming!" she said theatrically and sat down on the chair making everyone else laugh once again. Julia's cheeks flushed with red once more and she looked in the mirror in front of her. She was surprised to see a very beautiful young woman, a woman and not a girl, who had all her life in front of her. Her red short curls were pined up to the back with lavender-flowers put around her head like a little crown. Her cheeks were naturally rosy red and on her slender "Anne Shirley's nose" were eight small sweet freckles. Around her neck was a small rose-shaped necklace she got from Blythe three years earlier which she never took off. And in her shining hazel eyes, was the absolute definition of love, strength, independence and beauty.
"Done, my darling girl." Faith said and patted her daughter's shoulders tenderly.
Julia stood up carefully, took her Grandmother Anne's veil and put it on her head gently. Then… she turned around to face all the women in front of her. Silence and the sound of gasp and astonishment spread across the room. Julia's bridesmaids; Leslie, Luna and Cee looked at her with eyes full of hopefulness; Grandmothers' looked at Julia with pride in their eyes; Rilla, Di, Nan and Una had tears in their eyes; Olive, Cilia, Lily and Rose's eyes filled up with their own memory of their weddings; and finally Faith, whose lip started to tremble and whose cheeks were already wet, came up to her daughter and took her in her arms.
"Even though you have your wedding dress on, and a veil is right there on your head, you will always be my little girl, won't you, dear?" she asked her, and looked into her daughter's eyes.
"Of course, Mother-dearest." Julia whispered back, feeling how tears started coming up to her eyes "I may be Blythe's wife and live in White Sands, but I will always be your Julia from Glen." she said with a tender smile.
"I love you darling." Faith said with a trembling voice, once again.
"I know you do. And I love you too." Julia answered and kissed her Mother's wet cheeks.
"Alright, that's enough of crying for today!" Faith said and dryed off her tears making everyone else in the room to laugh light-heartedly.
"Bath, it's almost quarter to one!" Olive exclaimed making all the others in the room to stand up at once and make their way towards the door of Julia's bedroom.
"Good luck, my darling girl." Grandmother Anne said and kissed her granddaughter on the nose tenderly.
"Thank you, Grandmother." Julia whispered and her grandma winked at her knowingly.
"May God bless you both, dear." said Grandmother Rosemary "I know that you and Blythe will be very happy together." and she squeezed Julia's hand.
"We will." Julia agreed and smiled at her.
Then the bridesmaids went downstairs, along with Olive who was whistling the "Wedding March" all the way down to the garden and Rose, Cilia and Lily walking with their small children in their arms. "Oh, Mum, it's really happening, isn't it?" Julia questioned Faith when they were left alone for a moment.
Faith nodded and kissed her daughter's cheek lovingly "There's no way you can deny it." she said sweetly "Are you nervous, after all?" she asked with a funny look in her eyes.
"No, not a bit." Julia replied decidedly and chuckled "You know, Mother-dear, that Blythe and I really do love each other very dearly." she said with her cheeks turning red from emotions.
"I know, dearest. And that's why I'm not feeling bad for letting you marry so quickly." Faith said with watery eyes.
"Mum, if there wasn't a War, you would marry Dad when you were nineteen!" Julia exclaimed and Faith laughed again.
"That's quite true." she answered and then the two of them turned around because they heard a knocking on the door.
"Jerry is ready to start and Blythe just can't stand still." Jem said to his wife and daughter with a smile on his lips.
Faith nodded and quickly kissed Julia's cheeks, twice each "Good luck, dearest." she said and when Julia nodded, not able to say anything at all, Faith came downstairs into the garden, leaving the daughter and father together in the room.
Jem stepped nearer Julia, looking at his daughter as if she was the most wonderful creature he had ever seen in his life "You look so beautiful, I don't know if Blythe will be able to stand it." he said to her.
Julia chuckled quietly "I hope so." she said and made her Father smile at her with eyes full of tears "Shall we go?" she asked him, taking into her hands her wedding-bouquet made out of roses right from her and Blythe's Secret Way to the Light, of which no one knew except for the two of them.
"If you're ready." Jem whispered and offered his arm to her.
Julia took his arm swiftly "I am ready." she whispered back in a decided tone and the two of them started coming downstairs right into the House on the Hill's garden. The weather couldn't be more wonderful. The sky had just a few clouds on it, the sun was shining and the birds, hiding in the trees around, were singing their enchanted love-song. When Jem and Julia arrived at the beggining of the aisle, everyone held their breaths and looked into the direction they were standing.
Julia looked as if she could fly straight into Blythe's arms. And her smile, which was constantly on her face, could never get more beautiful as it was in that very moment. Her face was shining and her cheeks were bright pink, making her to look even more perfect than she already looked. Julia struggled to hold back her tears of happiness, as she just realised that it wasn't a dream; it was all real and it was all happening right in front of her eyes. She was going to marry Blythe, her Blythe, and they would start their life together that day.
Blythe, at the end of the aisle, looked so handsome that Julia just beamed in pride. He straightened his back when he saw his bride-to-be and winked at Julia while smiling, when she started walking down the aisle, slowly, wishing that she could run instead. Blythe, just like Julia, couldn't believe that their wedding wasn't just a fantasy. Wasn't it just a few years earlier when he thought that this dream would never, not for the world, become a reality? But what a sweet reality it was! He would never think that happiness such as he felt in that moment was even possible to achieve.
When Jem gave his daughter away and left her standing next to Blythe, she looked at him under her veil and smiled lovingly. "I'm glad you came." Blythe whispered with a small grin crossing his face.
"I promised that I would, and so I did." she whispered back and the two of them chuckled quietly while taking each other's hands.
Jerry smiled at the both of them, put up his hands high into the air and said outloud to everyone: "Let us pray." Then the whole ceremony started and neither Julia nor Blythe thought it could go as quick as it did. Jerry gave a wonderful and very moving speech about "being lovers as well as friends" which Julia nor Blythe would ever forget. Little Julienne and Knoxie seemed to enjoy the ceremony as much as everyone else and were giggling from time to time. The birds continued on singing, and Julia thought that it could not possibly be summer, as they sang as beautifully as they would do in the springtime.
And in a blink of an eye, Julia and Blythe were exchanging the gold rings and placing them on each other's hands. Then they were repeating the sacred words of faithfulness and love, and suddenly... Julia and Blythe became husband and wife and the proud groom removed the veil from Julia's face, bent down and kissed her passionately. The cheers spread across the garden and Julia's bridesmaids along with the little Jackie started throwing flower-leaves on the laughing, very much in love with each other, married couple.
Then it was time for Julia to threw her boquet into one of the girls's standing in front of her expectant hands. Leslie was pushing Nancy on the side, Cee and Luna stood next to each other with shy smiles on their faces, and Cordelia just giggled all the way through. Finally Julia threw the boquet high into the air and within seconds, it landed straight into Luna's shaking hands. Her cheeks flushed with red and she looked at Merry and quickly gave him a kiss on the cheek.
Then the wedding feast began and the whole family sat down by the very long table which was put at the front of the House on the Hill, right under the big cherry-tree. The food really was wonderful and even Mary Vance had to admit it, although quite reluctantly. Everyone talked and talked, enjoying everybody else's company. It was, after all, the very first wedding in their family to which everyone attended. The wedding cake arrived at the table, and Julia ate the biggest part of it herself, and everybody along with her husband, laughed and would laugh years later when they would look at the picture of Julia's "chocolaty", like Jackie said, lips, taken in that moment.
Then, of course there was the time for dancing, and Blythe who was never fond of dancing, stood up quickly from his chair, and not asking her, took Julia in his arms and they flew straight onto the dance floor. Everyone looked at them with a warm feeling in their hearts. Grandmother Anne, whose hand was resting in her husband's hand, for one moment thought that she was in Julia's age again. By seeing so much love in her granddaughter's and her grandson's eyes, it seemed that she went back to her own wedding day all over again. Grandfather Gilbert was thinking about the exact same thing and without saying a word to each other he and his wife followed the bride and the groom and they started dancing, shortly followed by everyone else.
Julia's blind brother, Merry, danced with Luna as if he could see everything even the music itself. Walt, with his wooden leg, waltzed with his wife as good as no one in his family could and even the shy Owen offered his hand to Cee whose pale cheeks flushed with bright pink while she took the offered hand in front of her. Then Julia danced with her Father, then her Father-in-law, Grandfathers, all of her uncles and even with Niall, whereas Blythe started dancing first with his own trembling Mother Rilla, and then with all the other women in his family. He even danced with Cornelia herself, and because everyone of the race that knows Joseph was there, there was no worry for gossiping or a disapproval for him to do that.
Then they all sat down together once again and enjoyed their toasts to the happiest couple that day, and they all started chatting again. Rose announced that she would become a mother again, in February next year, and after her big announcement everyone thought that the day of the 6th of August couldn't get any merrier or any more joyful.
And so slowly, the sky was robbed out of the sun which dissapeared behind its horizon, leaving the unforgettable sunset behind. The day became a night quite quickly, and the sun was replaced by stars. "It seems that the stars are dancing with us tonight." Blythe whispered into Julia's ear, and she knew that he was right.
It was finally time for Julia to dress into her "travelling suite". She was leaving her wedding dress and her veil sadly, wishing that she could wear it forever, but she didn't mind dressing up in the costume everyone else would remember later on, especially Mary Vance. Julia was dressed in her Mother's old blouse with lace on the neckline, she put a lovely small black velvety half-hat on her head, and trousers, the long and wide gray trousers with four buttons on the top of them. But after all, they all knew that it was Julia, and she wouldn't leave Glen without any surprises.
"And Blythe likes seeing me wearing something original." Julia thought to herself and was right because as she went back downstairs, to Blythe who was waiting for her by the car, he caught his breath again thinking that he had never seen her as radiating with joy as she was in that very moment. Although some people would think that it is impossible to leave a home where you were born in without any sadness carried in your heart, it was possible for both Julia and Blythe as they knew that they were ready to leave their homes and childhoods behind, and begin their lives together knowing that wherever their roads may lead them, they would go down them together.
So the two of them said their farewells to their family, and it did take a while, as everyone thought that their wishes and their good advice would do them better than anyone else's. There were no tears shed, as Julia insisted, but there were emotions nonetheless.
Julia and Blythe started driving away from the House on the Hill, with smiles on their faces and gleaming eyes full of hope, joy, romance and dreams, oh, such sweet dreams! "Are you ready for the new beginning?" Blythe asked his wife when the House on the Hill vanished from their sights.
Julia nodded and touched his hand tenderly "Always." she replied with a smile.
THE END
I can't believe that I finished "Julia of the Island"! I wanted to thank you all (my readers) for reading my story to the very end and for all the reviews I got which really make me smile every time I see them! ;)
I am starting working on the sequel which will be called "Julia of White Sands" and I will post the first chapter next week, so keep your eyes open! :) Thank you all once again! - Bathsheba Blythe