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Nathan & Elizabeth: An Epic Love
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Chapter Eighty-six
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The Grant Wedding Night
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Part I
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As the Bridal Couple stood on the platform of their moving Train, watching their town, their families, friends, and especially their children fade away, both suddenly and unexpectedly felt a longing, or was it a twinge of guilt, while already missing them?
Having not expected that twinge at all, Elizabeth, both Bride and Mother, turned and buried her face in her new Husband's chest.
His long, strong arms held her closely as one large hand innocently slipped under her long veil and rested on her bare back, his fingers caressing her silky skin, his voice soft and tender while shielding her against the wind swirling around them.
That simple touch alone brought them together in an irrefutable way.
Despite their transient moment of missing their children, there was also a longing setting both their hearts aflutter. Their deep connection had always been physical as well as emotional and spiritual, and that had only intensified over the years.
The warmth from his caressing hand and long fingers created a rustling fire, spreading even more evocatively than before, throughout the both of them, as though her skin was somehow now his and his was hers, their touch being electrical from one to the other, yet both constant and significant at the same time!
He engulfed her, though not at all in an overpowering way, but in a supportive, shielding, protective way, and suddenly, she knew at this moment her strength lay entirely in him.
Yet she was definitively and intimately confident that he was going to succeed at getting her through whatever this momentary lapse was.
"Don't cry, my Darling," he whispered into her ear. "The children are going to be perfectly fine. As are we."
"But I didn't, I mean I…I don't know what I mean. No, I'm just so thrilled to be alone with you! I was counting the minutes, and I do not want to feel sad. Not tonight of all nights. Not on our Wedding Night!"
Her eyes were pleading with him as her scent of white lilies and vanilla engulfed him even in the open air, causing him to feel perfectly at home with this woman he loved more than life itself.
He cupped her chin, lifting it up so he could look directly into her beautiful oceans of blue, with her face aglow in the moonlight.
Looking up, she lost herself all over again in those crystalline eyes of his with his own unique shade of blue that always seemed, to her, to be changing into various stunning hues.
Whatever shade of brilliant blue they happened to be currently, they were always, without doubt, constant in their never-ending devotion to her.
And though some might think they were standing precariously on the small platform of a moving Train, she was with him and had never felt so safe in her entire existence.
"You know I feel it too, right?" he admitted softly.
"You do?"
"Of course I do! They are both my children, now, too!"
"But…" she searched for the words, yet there were none she could come up with momentarily.
And so, this concise man, normally of few words with others, though never with her, easily found his wife's words for her – the exact same ones she had been so diligently searching for but had somehow been completely lost to her.
"Don't you see, my Darling? The woman I love happens to be a mother first and foremost, and that she loves her children, now our children, is a huge part of the reason I love her so tremendously! Let your tears fall on me, and we'll cry together for a moment. Then there will be no sadness left, only our joy in each other!"
"Promise?"
"Promise!"
So, she did just that, relaxing safe in his shielding arms, with the wind whirling about them instead of through them, both allowing themselves to feel a bit melancholy together.
Now perfectly safe in every way, Elizabeth finally acquiesced, allowing the few tears she was struggling to hold back to instead fall on her husband's chest, knowing his uniform would now hold the drops of moisture for her until they dried naturally and disappeared altogether.
The teacher in her knew there was a lesson in all this, but the wife in her preferred no lesson, no reason, just the enjoyment and sheer pleasure of feeling this new, even more intimate, sensation of sharing and support between a brand new Husband and Wife.
To some, she knew this would have been a simple thing that might have even passed without saying anything – but this was Nathan, and he knew her much too well not to know what she was feeling and thinking, even when she was unsure herself.
"All done?" he asked gently, with a soft smile.
She sniffed and smiled up at him, nodding.
He just kept smiling down at her until her smile was more certain.
Amazingly, while they stood facing each other, she kept drawing even more strength from him, as evidenced by her smile's growing brilliance.
"Now, that's the smile I was waiting for, he grinned. "Ready to begin our Honeymoon, Mrs. Grant?"
"I'm ready for anything and everything now," she transitioned gratefully. "As long as it's with you, my Love! Especially our Honeymoon!"
"And what a Honeymoon it already is, Lizbeth! Though I am first taking you to our suite before you catch your death of cold in that gorgeous gown!"
With that, the Groom kissed his Bride in a way that let her know every little thing was going to be so much better than alright, as his eyes and his firm but gentle touch were promising her that their entire two weeks would be that special time together, they both so richly craved and deserved.
Both now smiling after a moment of melancholia, having successfully transitioned from home and children to each other, he swooped her up, carrying her into what would be their new temporary home for the next couple of hours, handily slipping by Security just inside. However, the agents weren't even noticed by the Bride since she was completely lost in kissing her Groom, who was still romantically insisting on carrying her over both their thresholds…
Though unsure exactly how her husband was opening the doorknob to their cabin suite, Elizabeth felt him push the bottom open with his raised boot while holding her effortlessly - though her focus was still singularly on kissing him – his silky mouth, his long neck, his hairline, his rugged jaw.
They were now officially hers.
How had she resisted in this way for so long?
As for him, he couldn't get enough of her full attention or her lingering and wandering kisses.
This was immensely different somehow, though in the best of ways!
Once inside, the two together somehow managed to close the door behind them as Elizabeth slid from Nathan's arms, wrapping him in her own arms, as he repositioned and did the same with her, doing a bit of a tango in their raw hunger for each other, neither knowing at any one point whose back was against the door.
Elizabeth's soft hands ran slowly down the front of her Husband's Serge, slowly unbuttoning it as she went, as Nathan's calloused hands grazed over the lace and satin peau de soie of her Wedding Gown that she had chosen solely for her Groom, creating new glorious sensations in each other, each taking pleasure from the other in such a necessary exploration.
Suddenly, Nathan clasped his hands against his Wife's back, pulling her toward him in a kiss with both giving their all - full of imminent anticipation, total devotion, incredible dreams, heady excitement, frantic energy, wild hopes, newly married love, and unexpressed passion - resulting in feelings so strong, that both knew they had to regroup.
Both breathless, Nathan swooped his Lizbeth back up in his arms and somehow blindly made it across their suite.
Still holding her close, he managed to find their sofa and sat down while maneuvering her from his arms to his lap, the whole while doing his best to keep her gown straight and not touch that bare skin again, not if they were going to make it to their hotel!
Because as nice as this travel suite was, his special gift to her came later as he wanted everything perfect for his Bride, on this the start of their new forever...
Bringing the temperature down was quite possibly an exercise in futility, though both were still trying their best.
They were hazily aware that lights were dimmed around them, and music was playing somewhere in the background though both were still so dizzy with love, neither could have told you where it was coming from or what melody it was.
Nathan simply kept holding her, both expressing their love for each other by finding new, as well as previously visited places, to shower their abundance of kisses, with both subconsciously aiming for safer.
But she couldn't stop touching him, running her hand appreciatively down his firm chest, up to his broad shoulders, creating wonderful new sensations in him even through his heavy Serge, simply through her touch alone.
Nor could he stop touching her; their touch to each other was now as necessary as the air they were breathing.
After their lips joined again and again, sealing their lavish affection, they parted, finally needing to catch their breath, yet their foreheads stayed bound together, both chuckling low.
"I love you, my Beautiful Wife!"
"I adore you, my Handsome Husband!"
"What an incredible start this is, Lizbeth!"
"There is so much passion between us! Where do we begin?" she asked, almost innocently.
"Right now, we pace ourselves just a bit. Trust me?"
"Implicitly!"
"There is something very special waiting for us tonight in Union City!"
"I'm so excited! This is the best start in every way, Nathan! You always know what to do and say when I'm a little lost and need you most!"
"You do the exact same thing for me, and I love that about you, about us, over and over again!"
Elizabeth playfully kissed the tip of his nose, then relaxing completely, she smiled, glancing around to see where the delectable aromas were coming from, delighted to find a semi-round banquette with a huge round table, elegantly set for dining, but with large silver domes covering the plates and all the dishes!
"Darling, did you do all this?" she asked nonplussed.
"Yes, with a little help. I actually have a very special surprise for you right here as well!"
"This better be a good one," she teased light-heartedly. "Since every single surprise you've ever given me, I've loved, and you do not want to ruin your pristine record of excellence!"
"Oh, this is a fantastic one, if I do say so myself," he winked smugly. "I figured we wouldn't get to eat much of our Wedding Dinner or Cake at our Wedding Reception, which ended up being exactly the case, so I arranged with our mothers to have enough of our Wedding Dinner sent here for two, along, with some of our extra Wedding Cake, and some special chilled champagne, which happens to be your favorite!"
"Oh, Love, since I'm starved," she admitted. "That's the loveliest thought ever! Goodness, I think we only got to eat about a fourth of our dinner, if that, maybe two bites of cake each, and a single sip of champagne with each toast! This is such a romantic thing to do. And, truthfully, so much lovelier with the two of us alone!"
"This is so much better, Love!"
"Though you did wonderfully with the crowd, Nathan!"
"Our guests were enjoying everything so much! And honestly, I enjoyed it all, too! How could I not – with my resplendent Bride at my side!"
"I know everything ended up being so much larger than we imagined, but it was all really perfect! I'm just so glad you were comfortable and able to enjoy it too!"
"Well, my favorite thing was dancing with my beautiful Bride, both in private and in public!"
"Well, my favorite thing was dancing with my handsome Groom, who looked like my Prince in his Royal Navy Dress Uniform! But my favorite of all was our stolen private and secret first dance in our cabin!"
"Me too! Though I've never thought of myself as a Prince. But when you're married to a Princess, what can I say?" he grinned, arching both eyebrows, which brought laughter from his Bride.
"Come, Prince, let's see what we have to eat!"
He chuckled.
"Sounds like I have a ravenous Bride! Can I help you get a little more comfortable?"
"You know, I had our mothers pack a change of clothing for each of us in case we wanted to change here on the Train. But I go back and forth on whether we should or not. I don't know. I'm sort of enjoying wearing my gown just for you alone. After all, I chose it for just you! What do you think?"
"The blunt truth, Mrs. Grant?"
"Always!"
"I'm not even sure I can stand to know you're changing so close by without me helping, and we both know where that will lead! Knowing us, we might just miss our stop and end up on the opposite side of the country," he grinned, eyes twinkling. "Besides, I'm very much enjoying my Princess Bride wearing her splendid once-in-a-lifetime creation just for me, alone!"
She giggled.
"And I'm very much enjoying my handsome Prince Groom wearing his new Dress Uniform just for me. I agree. The truth is, I'm not sure I can stand to know you're changing close by without helping, either! And as you say, I'm pretty sure we'd end up at Niagara Falls, or heaven forbid, in it, instead of on Father's Island in the Pacific. So yes, it's definitely smarter that we wait!"
She scrunched up her nose, not liking the idea at all but knowing it was wise given the short time they had on the Train.
He placed his hand at the side of her face, grinning that now full-blown lop-sided grin that made her melt.
"I promise our destination will be more than worth the wait!"
"You know I'm holding you to that!"
"Absolutely! What do you say? Let's just fill our travel time with each other, intimate conversation, and eating our delicious Wedding Dinner and Wedding Cake! But my Love, there's one rule: no iced faces until after we've checked into our very swanky hotel! It might be a bit embarrassing explaining icing all over us and our clothes as we register!"
She laughed that fun, lyrical, rich laugh he longed to hear more of.
"I should have warned you earlier! My bad! I just couldn't resist that Greek nose of yours! But I'll try to be all proper, my Darling, till we get to the confines of our suite. Then, Sir, all bets are off!"
He chuckled more loudly but then grew serious, tenderly kissing both her hands.
"Just know I want you desperately, right now, this very moment," he whispered. "But I also want everything perfect for you! Is that so terrible as your new Husband?"
"That is wonderful as my new Husband! And you, Nathan Grant, have no idea how much that means to me!"
"Actually, I think I might, at least a little. Just relax and enjoy the pampering, my Darling, because I promise it's well-deserved. Besides, there's going to be lots more of it waiting for you."
"And apparently, that pampering is starting right now…"
The two walked to their dining table, though it felt more like floating, arms wrapped tightly around each other's waists.
There, the Groom lovingly assisted in seating his Bride after sliding in beside her on the banquette till their bodies touched each other.
"This is perfect, sitting beside each other," he winked. "With no one else anywhere in sight! What could be better?"
"This really is perfect! I can't stand the thought of being parted from you for a single second. So much so, that I think if we had chairs around our table instead of this banquette, I'd probably have to sit in your lap! So be forewarned and very grateful we have this instead," she teased, though half-way seriously.
"I wouldn't complain at all if that were the case, Love! Not one bit!"
She reached up to touch his face, which was full of amusement, tracing the length of his rugged jawline, both suddenly serious.
"Neither would I," she sighed. "I do love the glow of the candles spread across the suite, along with the beautiful music playing so softly. You're a romantic, Nathan Alexander Grant!"
But he wasn't looking at all that. Instead, he was looking directly and only at her.
"Lovely, yes, though I prefer their glow surrounding you, doing the impossible job of making you even more beautiful! Almost iridescent!"
She reached up to offer her Groom - her Husband - a kiss of thanks.
"I am so crazy happy, in love!" she admitted, sighing contentedly.
"Crazy happy in love! I like that!"
"I'm also crazy hungry!" she added with glee, though dead serious.
Nathan couldn't help but chuckle.
"How about let's say our Grace and get you fed before you starve!"
"Will you please ask our blessing over the food, Nathan?"
The two were already holding hands, so Nathan began.
"Dear Father, we just want to thank You first for our great love for each other and for this perfect Wedding Day, which You've given us, with all its memories to be cherished throughout our lives. Thank You for the support of our Families, our Colleagues, our Friends, and our Children, all of whom you've gifted to us. We pray your blessings on all of these who are so dear to us, but we ask that You especially be with our Allie and Jack, as well as with us as we are apart! Keep Elizabeth and me safe as we travel and enjoy our time together. Bless us, we pray, and bless our Wedding Dinner and Wedding Cake, which we are about to receive in full. In your most Holy Name, Amen!"
"Amen!" added Elizabeth.
"My goodness, look at all this! Our dishes must be serving platters, Darling!" mused Nathan.
"They are rather huge! Oh, by the way, it's pieces like this that will be stored in our eventual Butler's Pantry whenever we build that new home of ours!"
"Aha, good to know! I think! Though I still haven't figured out exactly who in our household is going to be using the thing since there is no way we're going to be having a Butler!"
Elizabeth couldn't help but laugh!
"Well, I suppose, Mother, when she comes to visit! No, let me correct that. Mother will no doubt bring Nigel with her to ensure the entire Pantry is stocked correctly and sufficiently, at least the first time!"
"Nigel? Who's that?"
"Our Head Butler, Darling!"
"You have more than one?" asked the Groom, more than a little perplexed.
"Well, I suppose it's more like one Head Butler with four Under Butlers!"
"Four? Five total?" he asked incredulously.
Since praying their blessing, Nathan had been feeding his Bride but was so stunned at this tally of Butlers that he suddenly stopped, with the next bite on her fork suspended in mid-air!
"Darling, the thought of one Head Butler alone is overwhelming to someone like me who came from a Horse Ranch in the middle of nowhere," explained the Groom. "Much less that, said Head Butler has a staff of four Under Butlers assisting him?"
"I know it's a lot, my Love! I completely agree. In fact, it's rather ostentatious. Yet they all do stay busy. Of course, you haven't been to Hamilton yet to realize how monstrous our home is! It's just one of the many reasons I belong here in Hope Valley with you and not in Hamilton! Oh, my goodness, I just realized, Mother, will no doubt have Nigel arranging our entire household as well," cautioned a flummoxed Elizabeth, not at all happy with that sudden thought.
Then she brightened.
"I know! Since Mother and you get along so swimmingly, I'll just let the two of you handle that little project together!"
"Whoa! You wouldn't dare, Elizabeth Rose Grant! Remember, I'm the one feeding my ravenous Bride at this very moment!"
"Oh, I so love my new name!"
"You better, since it's the most beautiful name in the world!" and he couldn't resist kissing her soft lips, all food set aside.
"At least to you?" she flirted.
"Especially to me, my Darling! But you were saying I am to deal with your Mother, Nigel, and his team of Under Butlers all at once? That's like throwing your new Husband into a den of lions. I'm not at all sure I'm ready for that!"
Elizabeth chuckled.
"The truth? Who would be?" she laughed. "Okay, Chief Inspector, looks like I've found your Achilles Heel! I'll be the one to talk with Mother since I currently choose food over all else! And you're right - together, the five would be quite a force to reckon with - even for me - especially all at once!"
"Good choice, and what a relief!"
"Besides, I really choose you, my Darling, always!" she cooed.
"Even better choice, my Love!"
"Darling, what was your favorite thing about our Garden Wedding?"
"Well, the location was perfect, and, I loved that everything felt so natural. But as to favorite things? That's easy! I have two that come immediately to mind. First, seeing my resplendent Bride step out of her Wedding Carriage, and second, exchanging our Wedding Vows – while saying them, I knew without question they were the most important words I would ever speak!"
"Such lovely and romantic answers, Darling!" beamed Elizabeth.
"Though I have to admit, Jack's precious antics are a close third!" added her husband, almost apologetically but unable to hide his look of humor.
"Oh, don't remind me! I have no clue what I am going to do with that precocious young man when he's in my classroom this fall!"
"And that dangling moment of question will be here before you know it! But Allie will be there to support the two of you while you're at school. And I'll be there to support the beautiful teacher at home," he began nuzzling her neck, causing her to forget what they were discussing entirely.
"You are so bad! What were we even talking about?"
"Our precocious Son in your classroom," he reminded her, refusing to stop nibbling her neck, to her utter delight.
"Oh, that! Right! Uh...you might be...oversimplifying that, but just keep telling me all that...on repeat!"
"I will!"
"Let's face it - Jack's going to be quite the handful! Poor Guy, everything's going to be so different for him, too. And I have to learn how to be his teacher at school instead of his mother. Oh no! I just realized, will Allie feel differently, too, since I'll be both her mother and teacher, now, too?"
He drew his current fascination to a pause, realizing this was a real concern of hers, and she needed his full attention.
"I'm sure it's going to be a bit different for all three of you! But I'm also sure my family is going to work through all these transitions! You've got this – you'll figure your part out, Babe! And the children will theirs. Besides, I'll do my part. The four of us together will get through this, and splendidly, I might add. I promise!"
"Somehow, when you say it, I believe it! Though you might have to still remind me a few times here and there!"
"You can count on reminders whenever you need them. I promise!"
She squeezed his free hand.
"I love you so!"
"So do I," and he kissed her once more with a wink. "Not to change the subject, but back to your question: what were your favorite Wedding moments, Darling?"
"Oh, there are so many! But first, has to be finally getting to see you in person again, after our self, well mostly me, imposed absence! You looked more handsome than ever standing there in your Royal Navy Dress Blues, waiting for me! Second, I think, exchanging our personal vows! And can I please, please, please have a third?"
"You may have as many as you like, Love!" agreed her Groom, adoring his Bride's enthusiasm.
"Third, sharing our first kiss as a married couple, as it just felt so different! But then there's that killer kiss when you dipped me under the Arch of Sabers! Oh, my goodness, I have so many! Can I just say all of it?" (*207)
"Both those kisses were memorable and pretty spectacular, my Love! And as far as I'm concerned, I completely agree, all of our Wedding was perfect: naturally beautiful, relaxed, and so very us…"
"Babe, how about we move back to the sofa and just relax together, feed each other bites of our scrumptious Wedding Cake, and have a little Champagne? But, my Little Prankster, this time instead of iced noses, specifically mine," and he pointed along the bridge of his nose for emphasis. "How about we scoop our Wedding Icing carefully onto our fingers and feed it to each other instead? Do we have a deal?"
"I guess, I sort of promised!" giggled his Bride, though not convincingly. "But I do still have to keep you on your toes!"
"Oh, Love, that goes without saying! When have you not?"
She laughed because he was right.
"The thing about that is, I just might have to keep you on yours!"
She moaned petulantly.
"That is so totally not fair."
Laughing, they walked, wrapped as one, and though still in their Wedding Clothes, comfort was the goal till they reached their destination.
The two sat, and the first thing Elizabeth did was to loosen his tie, part of his new Uniform, both Dress and Daily, wrapping him up in love in the process.
"That better?"
"So much better!" he grinned, their faces adjacent.
She had loosened his tie before - but not like this, where there was now clearly the unspoken promise of so much more written in her eyes, almost as though she was claiming wifely ownership because both knew that was exactly what she was doing. And it felt like the most extraordinary gift Nathan had ever received in his entire life!
"You know," she began in her sultriest of voices. "This new uniform of yours is going to make a tie person out of you yet!"
"Don't remind me! There are moments I crave my old Serge!"
"That's because you're a creature of habit. And I just happen to be your new habit!" she announced cheerily.
Laughing, they fell into a very long kiss.
"You know, I can't think of a better habit!" he grinned, then reached for their Champagne.
Elizabeth watched intently as her laid-back Husband, never showy, popped the cork perfectly from their celebratory Champagne bottle, resulting in a large sudden explosion of joy for both, followed by a cascade of bubbles dancing up from the bottle in frothy bursts of goodness that made her delightedly jump, even though he laughingly caught them!
Then, smiling, Nathan poured their chilled Champagne lazily into two beautiful cut crystal flutes, both wishing to savor every moment.
Handing her one of the flutes, he lifted the other.
"A Wedding Toast to my Resplendent Bride! May our future together be everything we want it to be and more, my Darling Wife!" offered Nathan, in the most heartfelt of ways, his love for her overflowing.
"May our future together be everything we want it to be and more, my Darling Husband," responded Elizabeth in kind, still struggling to fathom the depths of this great love of theirs, without success because that was an impossibility.
Both could feel it - their love was simply endless, with a depth of infinity to last forever.
Though they would have said it was impossible, both could already sense it growing with their new roles of husband and wife beginning to settle in.
They clinked their glasses of effervescent goodness, then came together, lavishing their love on each other passionately once more, kissing in new places on visible flesh previously unexplored as he ran his soft lips along the length of her clavicle following just above the curves of her Wedding Gown's soft lace scallops, his warm breath causing her own breath to catch as her body quivered under his touch. But then the fluttering of his lashes against her bare skin was her complete undoing, leaving her shaking while gasping for air.
As she recovered, she poured her sweet attention onto him, dancing her own lips across his entire face along with his long lashes as her hands wrapped lovingly around him. It was as though she couldn't dare miss a spot of his handsome face while memorizing every handsome nuance in its entirety and painting it indelibly on her soul to comfort her just in case he was called out of the room for some unearthly reason.
Such was her desire and need for him.
Together, they were experiencing a new interim dimension that only served to heighten their confidence, familiarity, and pleasure in each other, the whole while creating even more anticipation for all the new experiences soon coming for them to share on this, their Wedding Night.
Finally, spent, they just needed to relish in the closeness of each other.
He pulled her closer to him, which they both needed, and she sighed more contentedly than she could ever remember feeling.
With her head on his chest, he reached down, leaving a whisper of a kiss, like a punctuation mark sealing the intimacy that had just been gifted and exchanged between them.
And there they sat on the sofa, right in the middle of the most comfortable silence, cuddled together as one.
"Finally, two halves together equaling one whole, with one beautiful exception that will soon come," whispered Nathan, filling his wife with perfect assurance and relaxed expectation, as she reached up, wrapping her arm around his neck while allowing her fingers to play, entwining the locks of his hair.
Nothing was said for a good half hour, no cake was eaten, nor were their glasses emptied.
Extraneous needs didn't exist.
Husband and Wife were alone together in sacred silence, and for now, that was beautifully fulfilling on its own and much more than enough for the both of them…
Finally satiated with love, they went back to their Wedding Cake and Champagne, and in an effort to get even more comfortable, Elizabeth kicked off her heels.
"Can you help me take off my Wedding Veil and then fix it back later, Love?"
"I tell you what. I'll make you a deal: I promise to do my best to fix it back on, but if that fails, which is a huge possibility, I promise to carry it for you over my arm to our hotel suite! Fair?"
She laughed.
"That, Darling, is all a girl can ask for!"
She turned and gave him instructions as best she could remember them.
"I think the decorative comb will come out without mussing my hair if you lift it straight up, maybe?"
"Okay, I think I can manage that!"
He held his large hand, poised above, attempting not to disturb her French Twist, then with his fingers landing on the edge of the Diamond comb, quickly pulled it out, just as she had instructed.
"There, success!"
"It's an old family piece!" she smiled.
"The comb is beautiful, Lizbeth, and so is your veil. I love it all!"
She scooted so that he could lift the entire veil up and then watched as he almost reverently hung it on the luxurious coat rack by the door.
"There, I think it will be fine here!"
"That's perfect!" assured his Bride.
They kissed ever so sweetly.
"Thank you! Oh, I have a surprise too, so I guess it's my turn!" began Elizabeth.
"Now that sounds exciting! Do I get hints?" asked Nathan, teasing, since his Lizbeth was always insisting he give her hints, though one was never enough.
"Well, that's sort of hard to do because I haven't seen any of this yet, myself. But I can share what I know if you'd like!"
"Since we're a bonafide team now, sharing's good!" he encouraged playfully.
"Well, I know Viola is a little socially conscious, well, a lot, actually! But she has a really good heart! As it turns out, she and Lionel travel a lot all over Europe, though she's left alone a lot during the actual travel while he's at meetings. So, she sort of went crazy shopping and brought four trunksful of Wedding Presents to Hope Valley for us!"
"Four trunksful? Isn't that quite a bit overboard?"
"Well, apparently, two are Wedding Gifts to use for our home, which we'll open when we get back, but the other two trunksful are goodies for our Honeymoon – one trunk for you and one trunk for me! And since Mother bought matching trunks to go with our new luggage, Viola filled them with our gifts, and they're on the Train with everything else!"
"My, that's awfully nice of them, especially Viola doing all that shopping! Though I can't imagine what all that could possibly be."
"With Viola, one never knows, but I did hear that the Grant Tartan might be included, and I'm personally hoping there might be something we can use at the beach!"
"Really? Mother actually has a few cushions in our Grant Tartan plaid, and I think you'll love the looks of it. And, my Darling, just saying the word beach sounds so incredible. I can't believe we get to spend two weeks swimming, going on picnics, and taking nice long walks on what I'm told are some of the most beautiful beaches around, with lots of shells, too!"
"I cannot wait! Both children have requested we bring them shells, so don't let me forget to pack a box or two. But as for the rest of the gifts, I know there are cashmere sweaters from both Ireland and Italy. And there are Aran Sweater Jackets from Ireland that I'm hoping are similar to yours that I love so much! Oh, I do hope your mother allowed you to bring that."
The entire time she was dreaming and talking about that worn Aran Sweater of his, she was caressing him as though he were currently wearing it, and for both of them, that sweater they loved was right there as surely as though he was, in fact, wearing it!
"You heard I have a whole new wardrobe, I take it," he asked drily.
"I did, Baby! And as hard as I know that is for you, bravo to our Mother!"
"So, you're on her side, too?" he looked at her through narrowed eyes, half seriously, half teasing.
"New designer wardrobe from London? Absolutely, I'm on her side! And I, for one, can't wait to see you in all of it!"
He moaned at the very thought of breaking all the pieces in, but she touched his face with such loving assurance that his near panic was all but forgotten.
"Well, I did insist on that Fisherman sweater being thrown in for the both of us since I seem to remember it being a request from you, too! I don't know, Lizbeth. That sweater's the one thing I have that's pure comfort. Though both Mom and Allie say it looks ratty! Do you think it looks ratty?"
Elizabeth shut her mouth tightly, trying to helplessly hold in her escaping giggles.
"Love, technically, both Allie and your mother are correct, but I still love you in it anyway!"
"Well, thank goodness for that! It's just that clothes have never been my thing. I pretty much have this fear that when we return from our Honeymoon, what few good clothes I have left will have disappeared, and be replaced by all this new stuff. Why, none of them are even broken in!"
"You do realize you're sounding a little like Bill!" she teased, though the shoe was pretty much fitting.
"Please, no!" he looked up in horror.
"It's all going to be fine," she nudged lovingly while recognizing his futile struggle against the inevitable.
Distracted, he touched her hair, wanting desperately to remove that last hidden comb and just let it fall around her face, but forcefully restrained himself from doing so.
"I'm not sure I can take anything else new in the wardrobe department at this point. You've got to remember, I'm just now getting used to these new uniforms, too!"
"True, and I know that's a lot, Darling!"
"Also, 'Beautiful Wife of Mine,' you are having way too much fun with this mandatory wardrobe change!" he added, tweaking her nose while chuckling.
Elizabeth laughed.
"Maybe a little," she admitted, cuddling closer. "Oh, as far as Viola's gifts, I do know there are lots of leather goods from Florence, so you might like those, especially if there is anything horse-related involved! I'll gladly take the perfumes, lace, and silks from Paris off your hands! But who knows what else there'll be! With Viola, like I said, one truly never knows, Love! But at least it will be lots of fun."
"There can't possibly be much of anything else left after all that! This sounds suspiciously just like Mother's London Department Store spread out all over my living area! I mean our living area, and I do love the sound of the rowhouse now being ours! But all those clothes - talk about overwhelming! I don't think I've ever seen so many in one place!"
"And on your Wedding Day, too!" commiserated his new wife, unable to resist teasing him.
How could she not help but laugh at her handsome, clothes-phobic husband who hadn't a clue that he looked great in everything he put on, even his frayed, worn-out wardrobe? But she and his mother, because they loved him so much, just wanted to upgrade all the frayed and see that he was dressed properly in the right clothes that would make him look even greater!
"Maybe it was just the shock of seeing them all at once, Baby!"
"I sure hope so, Babe!" he mused wistfully, though still not convinced.
"Think of it this way: as your new wife, I get to dress you now, and I cannot wait! Besides, you'll have all those new things broken in, in no time flat. I promise!"
He nodded slowly, almost morosely, still not at all convinced.
"At least that new wife part sounds great!" he grinned.
"I almost forgot! The funny thing about Viola's gifts is that she started out by having the clerks wrap mine in pink and yours in blue, but she ended up with a bunch of packages wrapped in white and has no clue which are which!"
"Those should be fun to open!"
"She even brought us chocolates from Belgium, shortbread from Scotland, and Toffees from England!"
"Now, that's my kind of gift! But wait, Lizbeth. There was so little time between our engagement and marriage. How could she possibly have had any time to shop since she was on an ocean liner in the middle of the ocean?"
"Great question! It's actually another 'We are Meant to Be Story.' But are you sure you want to hear the gory details?"
"Babe, we've both lived through all that fear and indecision, and we've survived it valiantly! And neither of us is taking on any guilt whatsoever by thinking of it as bad or gory."
He thought a moment and quickly added his answer.
"All that brought us here and that, my Darling, is all that matters," he answered, though still puzzled. "And now, each of the three people in that dreaded triangle are friends who are happy and exactly where we are supposed to be in life. But, yes, curiously, I'd actually like to hear an outsider's perspective."
"Apparently, when Aunt Agatha and Julie were in Hope Valley, even before we got together, Aunt Agatha knew I was in the middle of making a huge mistake and that it was you and me who were meant to be together!"
"But how could she possibly have known that? I mean, I didn't even meet her when she was in Hope Valley."
"You didn't?" she iterated, first shocked, then suddenly realizing why.
"No, I only saw her from a distance, and since she was with you and Julie, of course, I knew she had to be your aunt, Love!"
"Oh, she's our aunt, alright! She's something else, a real dynamo, but we all love her, even Mother! I'm so sorry I didn't introduce you, Darling! I didn't even realize that I hadn't. And I will definitely correct that when we visit Hamilton. She will absolutely love you, Nathan! But in my defense, I was in full charade mode with the wrong ring on my finger, doing my best to make everything work. And had I introduced you, she would have known instantly, as she ended up doing anyway!"
Elizabeth thought a moment.
"But she would have also read me the riot act for being so ridiculous! I suppose I was just trying to escape her wrath and hope against hope she wouldn't pick up on all the many nuances and problems I had created. Sadly, I couldn't even allow myself to acknowledge them, much less resolve them. Believe me, I'm sure she thought the whole debacle was quite scandalous! Not that we had done anything wrong, mind you, but that I had gotten it so horribly wrong and was making such a huge mess of everything for everyone, including my son!"
"That you didn't introduce me was perfectly normal, given the circumstances, Babe. No apology is necessary. But still curious! What was she basing her deduction on?"
"What 'wasn't' there between Lucas and me? For that matter, Julie figured it out, too. She said I wouldn't talk about any typical couple things, not even when she asked me privately, sister-to-sister. But more so, according to Julie, Aunt Agatha told my parents that I sought you out. Apparently, too, she saw us talking and knew we were in love based on our body language and the looks on our faces. And in our family, well, Aunt Agatha is seldom wrong, if ever! So, when she reported back to the family, Viola took all that at her word and obviously began buying everything she could get her hands on whenever they traveled, figuring it was just a matter of time before we saw it for ourselves. So, there you have it! Viola actually had quite a bit of time to do all her collecting in earnest, and collect she did!"
"Hmm. That is, indeed, yet another 'We are Meant to Be Story,' and I, for one, am so very thankful for each and every single one of those stories," and Nathan bent to charmingly kiss his wife, with so much sweetness, especially so, since they were eating their Wedding Cake.
"That's the sweetest kiss ever, Darling! Icing included!"
"Hey, better on our lips than on our noses, Babe! Although that back of yours is awfully tempting!"
"You wouldn't dare!"
Nathan just grinned and raised his eyebrows in question.
The Bride then giggled and tucked her feet up on the sofa, causing her Groom to immediately set his plate down on the low table in front of them.
With a sweet smile, he began massaging her feet.
"Oh, please don't stop! That feels heavenly," she moaned. "Keep doing that, Love, and I'll feed you our Wedding Cake!"
"Enjoy this little massage enough for both of us, Darling, because there's not enough time on this Train ride to get my boots off and back on again. Trust me!"
She laughed.
"Then I owe you one!"
"But the question is, can I trust you to pay up, Love?" teased the Groom.
"I promise you, Dearest Husband, I'll pay up and then some!"
"You have no idea how much I'm holding you to that, Mrs. Grant!" he beamed, that lop-sided grin exploding across his face to his Bride's delight. "Although, just for the record, at some point later tonight, there will be icing on that gorgeous back of yours!"
Together, both broke out in laughter.
A hearty laughter that, if there was the slightest speck of healing left to do for either one of them, had joyously eradicated every single bit of it…
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207. "Wedding Arch of Sabers," the custom of using the military arch of sabers to honor a newly married couple, occurs after the couple leaves the church, with them walking under or through an 'arch of raised sabers;' this symbolizes that the couple will be together forever; the custom originated in Spain and could date back to the medieval period, though some reports see it as a medieval revival in the 19th century. Public Domain Information.