Somehow, Alec managed to survive the rest of the evening. Tess was showing off, as he knew she would, given such a large audience.
"Oh, you've just got married then?" he heard her ask someone with a Welsh accent. "My daughter's the head bridesmaid, she's over there," Tess nodded to where Daisy was sitting near the DJ, probably hoping the blonde haired man was going to ask her to dance.
Well he knew that was never going to happen and she'd be upset tomorrow after the wedding. He went to stand at the side of her.
"Come on Daisy, don't waste your time," he urged her.
"Don't know what you mean Dad," she denied.
"Yes, you do. Don't hang around here, go dance," he suggested.
He saw Rose dancing with a group of women now and wondered if he could go steal her away or should he leave it until tomorrow? That was the problem, he'd probably back out tomorrow as well. He knew he would back out of standing in line to kiss the bride or should he give Tess something else to complain about?
"There's no-one to dance with," Daisy reminded him.
"Don't want to dance with me then?" he smiled as the music slowed down a bit.
Daisy rolled her eyes but got up, just to please him.
"You'll find someone more your age to dance with at the wedding," he told her.
"You think so Dad?" Daisy hoped.
"You have a lot to learn Daisy," he smiled back.
"Thanks for bringing me Dad, I guess when I entered, I never really thought I'd get chosen," Daisy admitted as they danced slowly. "I wonder if that poor girl who died entered?"
"I've no idea love, it's not something we would have asked," Alec admitted.
He had a feeling that if Pippa had somehow entered, her mother wouldn't have let her go to it. There was something very strange about Cate Gillespie, like one minute she was saying Pippa was a little angel and the next she wasn't. It was also strange that the Gillespies were making more fuss than Lisa's parents were.
He was glad another division was handling that mainly, since there was no evidence to say Lisa hadn't just gone off somewhere to leave poor Pippa to her fate. Maybe it was no wonder Lisa was hiding after the news. He and Daisy had just gone to sit down again when Tess joined them, Daisy getting up to get more party food.
"I hope you put Daisy right on that man she's been watching?" Tess asked him.
"Of course I did Tess. If he is one of Rose's friends, that will be why he's staying away rather than lead her on," he suggested.
Jamie had finished talking to someone from Torchwood and looked around for Rose, who had seen Daisy and Alec dancing and wished she'd invited some younger people, Daisy must feel out of place. Jake reached her before Jamie did.
"I see you had an audience," Rose smiled.
"Tell me about it," Jake grinned as he saw Jamie approaching. "Be glad it's not Jamie being stared at."
"Who's being stared at?" Jamie asked innocently.
Rose burst out laughing, grabbing hold of him.
"Never mind babe," she laughed, patting his arm. "Poor Daisy's waiting for Jake to dance with her."
"Oh, I get it now," Jamie also laughed.
"Why don't ya go and ask her to dance?" she suggested.
"Me?" Jamie acted surprised, pointing back at himself. "Rose, you know I'm all left feet," he laughed.
"You're a great dancer," Rose encouraged him.
She grabbed hold of him again and dragged him over to where Alec and Daisy were sharing some food, Tess deciding she wasn't going to watch them.
"Hi Daisy," Rose greeted the teenager. "Want to swap partners?"
"Oh, well okay I guess so?" Daisy seemed surprised. "Dad?"
Alec just nodded his head, he was also surprised.
"May I have this dance Daisy?" Jamie then grinned.
They went off to join the others, leaving Alec with nowhere to go.
"Guess that leaves us?" Rose smiled at Alec.
What was she trying to do, Alec wondered as he took her offered hand. Wouldn't her almost husband be getting jealous? Jamie was jealous when he realised Rose meant to dance with Daisy's father. It was bothering him more and more how much they looked alike. He had been joking earlier but he wasn't so sure now.
"So, are you getting nervous now?" Alec was asking Rose as they swayed to the music, Alec now glad it wasn't another slow one.
"Doesn't everyone when their wedding's the next day?" Rose admitted.
"I was more nervous than Tess was, apparently," Alec confessed. "I am not sure if you know but we are almost divorced."
"Oh, sorry," Rose apologised.
"We both promised Daisy we would see her be your bridesmaid," Alec explained, wondering what had made him tell her.
"She seemed really excited when she arrived," Rose smiled. "Oh, if ya need another room, just ask one of the staff."
"It's fine, Daisy and Tess are sharing," Alec assured her. "We did not want to make a fuss over it."
"I promise not to tell my mum," Rose laughed. "Ya should have said though."
"It was of no concern to your family," Alec replied. "Thank you for the dance Rose."
The music stopped and Jamie brought Daisy back to Alec.
"Rose," Jamie went to whisper in her ear. "We should dance with each other the rest of the evening."
"I know. See ya later Daisy, Alec," Rose told them.
Was that the last dance he was going to get with Rose, Alec wondered.
"You look all flustered Dad," Daisy laughed at him.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he wanted to know.
"Like you wanted to dance with her but didn't expect she would," Daisy teased him.
Alec shrugged his shoulders and tried to ignore the fact that Rose was now dancing with Jamie in the middle of the floor and the DJ had turned a spotlight on them and everyone was watching. Jake was leading the cheering as the couple danced to 'Moonlight Serenade', the DJ having been told to bring some 40's tunes with him as they were Rose's favourites.
Jake often wondered if Jamie knew the real reason she liked them so much, having been told by Rose about her dancing around the Tardis with her first Doctor but Pete had told him Rose had refused to tell Jamie anything at all about her travels. All Jamie knew was that Pete had rescued herself and Jackie after following the Cybermen.
"That was fun," Jamie admitted, then saw everyone was cheering them.
"Ha, admit ya took some keeping up with me," Rose laughed.
"If you let me come to your room later, I'll show you how I can keep up with you, Rose Tyler," he waggled his eyebrows at her.
"Ya know the rules babe, mum will kill ya if she catches ya," Rose laughed even more.
"Ah, speaking of whom, where is she?" he looked nervously around the large room that had been cleared earlier for the event.
"Probably putting Tony to bed," Rose replied. "He looked dead beat the last time I saw him."
"Yeah, poor kid!" Jamie agreed, grabbing two drinks from a tray. "He wanted to stay up late."
"Mum won't have let him, we don't want him falling asleep during the wedding," Rose told him.
"So, are we going to sneak off for half an hour?" Jamie asked hopefully.
"Wait until tomorrow Mister," Rose teased him.
"Aw, come on Rose," Jamie tried to get around her.
"Okay, we'll sneak off to the conservatory, I'll go first," Rose agreed.
Jamie gave her a satisfied grin.
"Right then. Thought at first you wanted another dance with that detective," he tried to joke.
Only it wasn't a joke to him, he had really got jealous because Rose had encouraged him to dance with the teenage daughter of the detective in charge of the Sandbrook case. He was certain she'd done so on purpose. Would they have had another dance if he'd not returned the girl? Had Rose planned it that way?
He noticed her slipping away and waited a few moments to see if she was followed. When Alec remained with Daisy, having restrained himself from getting up to see where Rose was going, Jamie thought he was not being observed as the dancing has resumed but he should have known Alec's eyes were on him.
Alec had a strange feeling coming over him as he saw Jamie heading in the same direction. He took a deep breath and tried to put it out of his mind. He couldn't afford to get tangled up in this if the other man accused him of something and they all got thrown out in the morning by Pete Tyler himself.
Daisy would never talk to him again for ruining the best day of her life so far and Tess would at the very least slap his face and made sure everyone knew what had happened. That would further ruin his already tarnished reputation and he may as well quit now or get a transfer to a quiet backwater town where he could hide away until the press went onto something other than the scandal at Rose Tyler's eve of wedding party.
Once in the conservatory, Jamie surprised that Jackie hadn't followed them, they kissed for a good while then Jamie looked down at Rose as she leaned on his shoulder.
"Not long now love, eh?" Jamie reminded her. "Have you got the shivers?"
"Whatcha think?" Rose replied, trying to look up at him.
"Me too," he laughed. "All those preparations going on in the morning. Still it'll keep your mother busy."
"Yeah and you don't have much to do in the morning so why don't you help her by keeping Tony occupied?" Rose suggested.
"You mean go up to her and offer?" Jamie looked shocked.
"Sheesh, you're not still scared of my mum are ya?" Rose laughed.
"What gives me away?" Jamie admitted. "Why don't you suggest it to her?"
"Chicken," Rose laughed at him. "Come on, before she comes looking for us."
They got back to the party and those who lived in London began to say goodnight to the couple, Jake was staying ready to start early in the morning organising security on the main gate and the early guests and service providers. Then, Daisy went up to Rose to thank her.
"Just do everything in the morning that my mum tells ya to do," Rose advised her. "If ya need anything, just ask one of the staff. Breakfast is from eight in the dining room so ya can please yourselves."
Alec stopped himself from asking is she was going to be present but thought maybe she would have breakfast in her room, to avoid the groom seeing her before the wedding. Why was he going to hang around in the morning until the ceremony began? Maybe he should remain in his room, out of Tess's way? She would be far too busy fussing over Daisy's dress since Jackie Tyler would be fussing over Rose.
He followed Tess and Daisy upstairs, Daisy giving him a hug before following her mother and Alec went around the corner, seeing Jamie leaving what he supposed was Rose's room.
"Ah, goodnight Alec," Jamie grinned, like he'd just be caught.
"Goodnight, I promise not to shave in the morning," Alec replied.
"Yeah, don't want the local vicar getting all confused," Jamie laughed.
Jamie patted Alec's shoulder and continued on to the room he was using until the wedding. Alec went in the other direction, past where Jamie had just been. He was slightly surprised when Rose opened her room door, making her jump that he'd stopped.
"Geez, I thought that was Jamie sneakin' around again," Rose admitted, now wearing a robe.
"Ah, just me," Alec told her. "Goodnight again Rose."
"Does being at a wedding make ya feel uncomfortable?" Rose wanted to know.
Was she trying to get him caught out by her mother or Tess by keeping him talking outside her room?
"It should do," Alec replied truthfully. "Don't let me keep you."
"Aw, it's fine, I'm not really tired. Mum insisted me and Jamie stayed apart, he was a bit annoyed about it," Rose admitted. "Sorry about you and Tess though but she seems a bit 'off'."
Alec thought that was an understatement.
"I was the one who filed for divorce. She was having an affair with another detective sergeant. Everyone knew except me at first," he admitted, though he didn't know why he was telling her.
"Well, you're both still talkin' to each other," Rose smiled. "Ya never know, there could be someone out there for ya."
"I am in no hurry," Alec replied. "You should try and get some sleep Rose, it's your big day tomorrow."
"Yeah. It's funny, when me and Jamie first met, we hit it straight off and we knew we were gonna get married," Rose admitted to him. "Night then Alec, I hope we can have another dance at the wedding?"
"Then I will try not to disappoint you," Alec promised.
Rose went back inside and closed her door, Alec standing there for a moment as one of the maids was passing.
"Are you okay Sir?" she asked him. "Are you lost?"
"Ah, no. I was just on my way to my room," Alec replied, hoping there would be no more questions.
"Well, if I can get you anything, just ask," he was told.
He thought no more of what Rose had just said. It seemed impossible to him there could be someone else out there for him, not now he'd actually met Rose Tyler and she was just hours away from getting married – to his double.
Rose thought she'd never get to sleep and would be feeling tired for the wedding but she knew her mother would be up early to check on her. It had already been decided she had breakfast in her room, it would be chaos enough Jackie had said. Besides, Rose wasn't sure it was a good idea for Jamie to see her, she would be nervous enough as it was.
The next morning, the staff already being given instructions, Rose was sat up in bed with a tray, Jamie had tried to get to see her but had been caught by Jackie, who'd had an idea he'd try something.
"Oi you, whatcha doin' tryin' to get into Rose's room?" she had asked him.
"Ah, Jackie? I was just going to see if she was up yet," he gave the excuse.
"Well she should be. I hope you're on your way to get breakfast? The staff don't have time to mess around ya know? They have enough to do once the caterers arrive," she reminded him.
"Would you tell her I was asking about her?" Jamie called after her as Jackie was about to knock on Rose's door.
"He's just as bad as that alien," Jackie mumbled to herself as she entered the room.
"I was just checkin'" Jackie told Rose. "Jamie was creeping around outside."
That made Rose laugh.
"Anyway, I'd best go and check on Tony," Jackie continued.
"Mum, why don't ya get Jamie to look after him?" Rose suggested.
"Yeah, he's only got to get into his wedding suit I suppose? It'll keep both of them out of my way," Jackie agreed. "The bridesmaids have to be supervised as well."
"Their mother's can see to them," Rose reminded her.
That agreed, Rose was left on her own to wait for her hair and nails doing and helped into her dress. Jackie went off to get Tony to tell him he had to behave for Jamie, Jake had been up early and was organising security and Pete was staying out of the way and waiting for the flowers and buttonholes to arrive.
Tess and Daisy were still downstairs when the other bridesmaids arrived and Daisy was soon chatting away to them about the party last night until they went off to get changed. Jamie was now getting Tony into his suit and they were laughing about him trying to do his tie.
"Are you nervous Jamie?" Tony asked innocently.
"Nah," Jamie laughed.
"Bet Rose is," Tony also started laughing.
Jamie was about to ruffle the boy's hair but thought Jackie may shout at him if he did.
Alec had found a quiet spot to keep out of the way, he had wandered into the conservatory and thought he'd be safe enough for now. He could see the large marquee with the flaps open as tables and chairs were being arranged so the while guests were taking photos, everything could be moved easily. He could also see the red carpet being laid and the flowers being arranged.
He had noticed several floral bouquets in the large entranceway but he didn't expect anyone would see them until the evening reception. He knew Tess had brought several outfits with her, she always did to weddings so as not to wear the same thing twice. He wished he didn't have to stay the evening as well, he would never survive at this rate.
Rose had hoped to have some time to herself but her mother had everything arranged so when the beautician had done her nails and a little makeup, the hairdresser arrived at the same time as her mother. She had decided just to have her hair in a few loose curls at the front and bunched up at the back for the wedding, then she was going to let it down later on.
"Rose, when ya've got your dress on, I'll send the photographer up," Jackie reminded her. "I'll have to see where Pete is and if the flowers have arrived."
"Won't he send them up?" Rose replied.
"Yeah, I don't know if I'm coming or going," Jackie laughed. "At least Jamie's watching Tony for me, I hope they're not in the attic playing with that race track though."
"I hope dad's coming up for some of the photos?" Rose was worried. "I never thought that if I ever got married, that I'd have my dad here."
"I know," Jackie agreed. "I can't imagine how Pete feels about it. I mean that he'd ever have a family and be giving his daughter away. Just think Rose, that if we'd never come here?"
"I'd never have met Jamie, would I?" Rose asked her. "I hope he's got over being jealous now."
"He's not done that for a while has he?" Jackie was concerned.
"I don't think so Mum but having that detective here was a bit of a fluke. I mean I didn't know who Daisy's father was when she won the prize."
"It's not your fault Rose, ya weren't to know," her mother assured her. "Jamie will be too busy to even notice."
"I hope you're right Mum. Can ya get me some coffee before I put my dress on?"
"Oh, I'll go myself and check on your dad," Jackie told her. "I hope he's not feeling left out, he'll have plenty to do later."
"I'm sure he won't Mum," Rose replied, checking her nails were dry and the silver sparkles on them were still in place.
Jackie went down the other stairs nearer the kitchen and bumped into Alec as he was leaving the conservatory.
"Crikey, I thought ya were Jamie then," Jackie laughed as he made her jump. "I was gonna tell him to get a shave."
"Ah, Mrs Tyler. I don't believe he had a beard last night," Alec corrected her.
"Well I'm not a bloomin' detective am I?" Jackie complained. "I don't remember."
Alec thought considering the mother of the bride always had a glass in her hand last night whenever he saw her, it was probably not a surprise.
"I've not seen him since breakfast," Alec told her. "Maybe I could look for him?"
"Would ya? Just go upstairs, then up the attic stairs, they're probably playing on Tony's race track," Jackie replied. "Tell Jamie there's only an hour and I want Tony with his dad so he can see if he's still presentable. If ya want a buttonhole, they'll be in the kitchen."
"Thank you. I will go find them both for you," Alec assured her.
Jackie went off, satisfied that at least with Alec being a detective, he'd find who he was looking for easily enough. She went into the kitchen, Pete sat drinking tea so he wouldn't get too stressed with everyone seeing him as the father of the bride.
"Can ya send Rose's flowers up?" Jackie asked him as she leaned on his shoulder and kissed his cheek. "Have the other buttonholes been sent to the marquee?"
She noticed there were only a few left in a box.
"Yeah, Jake took them out, some people are early, taking photos of each other probably," Pete told her. "How's Rose?"
"About to get her dress on," Jackie laughed as one of the maids made coffee for Rose. "Daisy's father's gone to get Jamie and Tony, so they need some buttonholes."
Rose was getting impatient for some coffee so she opened her room door just as Alec was looking for the attic stairs.
"Hi, forgotten something?" Rose smiled at him.
"Ah, I was sent by your mother to find your soon to be husband and your brother," he smiled back. "You look very nice by the way."
"Oh, I'm not getting married in what I'm wearing," Rose teased him.
"I most certainly hope not," Alec corrected himself. "That was not what I meant."
"Gotcha," Rose laughed. "End of the corridor, that's where the attic stairs are, that's where they'll be."
"Thank you Rose. I will see you at the wedding," Alec replied.
He heard footsteps so he went to where Rose had pointed out. He thought it would be her mother but it was Pete as they passed each other, Pete carrying the wedding bouquet.
As Alec went up towards the attic, he thought at least he had seen Rose before her intended husband had on their wedding day. If he wasn't very careful, he may give himself away and spoil not only her day but risk the wrath of Jackie Tyler. He had to keep telling himself Rose was out of bounds but he'd not been able to stop thinking about her since he had arrived here yesterday.