'All weddings are special, but there isn't a single person sitting around this table who doesn't know or in some way has recently come to understand why we hope Harry and Ruth that this is the first day of many when everything you have ever wished for will be yours to enjoy,' had been Andrew's way of practicing what he intended to say, almost certainly to be amended to sound more like a friend and less like their solicitor along with some added humour, prompted by Ian as a means to bring everyone together over breakfast at the pub.
A rehearsal if you like, after which he had spoken to Graham and Catherine who as well as having chosen the music had offered to give a hand during the reception. once he'd assured them that apart from a few conversations on the telephone unlike most weddings the rest of them hadn't actually met until the previous evening.
Coinciding in as much as Harry and Ruth are also having breakfast, but in their case with the children and at a time when Harry is reflecting on the morning when he had married Jane and the contrast, vast is the only way to describe it compared to how he feels now and would have told Ruth had he she not been multi-tasking by buttering Lucy's toast at the same time as supervising Freddie who is doing his best to eat his cereal at a pace to suggest he might choke, whilst he himself is making a pot of tea.
Only to be prevented from any further contemplation when Ian and Alice arrive, the former with a bright, 'how are we this morning,' and Alice to supervise the children getting washed and dressed. Allowing him and Ruth time to enjoy their own breakfast at a leisurely pace before disappearing into their own bedroom, relaxing under the shower as much as anyone can when they are about to get married, before stretching out on the bed for what is the best part of an hour before reacquainting themselves, him with his suit and tie and Ruth with the cornflower blue dress which again takes his breath away, just as it had on the day when she'd emerged from the cubical in the shop and asked him what he thought? A question he had answered without words whereas Ruth had suggested once they had come out of the shop that undressing her with his eyes on their wedding day probably wasn't a good idea - well not until they were on their own.
Now with a tinge of nerves but without question happy for all the training and years spent reading people and situations, not in a million years had they expected when they descended the stairs that the room where they are about to be married would be decorated in what again is an understated but perfect way with flowers, or what is an even bigger surprise that along with the other smiling faces would be Jo's.
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'Ready?' asks Ian, before adding, 'no rush,' when Ruth tells him she needs a moment, which sees him filling the gap by telling those who are sitting in what now is a small semi-circle behind him, that a little bird told him that Freddie his son had suggested he was good at weddings as a means to get an invitation, proving how well he knows the couple in question by waiting until both Harry and Ruth are breathing normally again and continue to do so, after which he asks what he describes as a question his is obliged to, 'whether anyone knows of a reason that the couple who are standing in front of him shouldn't be joined together in holy matrimony?'
Tradition again sidelined in as much as there is no best man which means that their two matching rings are lying side by side amongst the flowers, although Malcolm and Alice are when the time comes going to step up and sign the required paperwork as witnesses.
Before that though, the moment that both Ian and Harry know Ruth has been, dreading is perhaps putting it too strongly, but short of an alternative is what Harry is imagining now, because this service although it not being in church, doesn't mean that Ian can amend the wording as would be possible had it been a civic ceremony, so asks him to repeat after him, 'I Henry James Pearce do take thee Ruth Catherine Evershed to be my lawful wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health and forsaking all others keep you only unto me as long as we both shall live.'
All of which he delivers in a clear voice, as does Ruth when the time comes.
In contrast to the moment when he places the ring on Ruth's finger and along other things he is required to say is, 'with my body I thee worship', which he's been doing rather a lot of recently in an attempt to produce a baby Pearce, which for someone as private as Ruth despite or maybe because they are surrounded friends causes a blush on her cheeks, proving to him that she still is the sweet and beautiful woman he had fallen in love with and is why he continues to hold her hand with an expression that says we can do this, right up to and beyond the moment when they are both wearing rings and with an audience looking on, Ian says, 'you may kiss the bride.'
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By the time they pull out of the kiss and open their eyes, they are both beyond thinking anything other than they are now married, apart from wondering who it was that had been thoughtful enough to invite Jo who is walking towards them with a huge smile on her face. Although any chance to ask her is temporarily prevented when Catherine beats her to it and gives them both a huge hug before saying, 'pre-lunch drinks which I'm sure you could both do with in the sitting room,' served when they arrive by Graham looking every bit as pleased as his sister does.
All of whom are beaten to saying anything more when Freddie and Lucy who have been as good as gold throughout the entire service race towards them desperate to show them what they are wearing and as always provide a barrier sufficient that it gives them enough time while they are chatting which from day one has been easy with these children to ignore what is going on around them, to the extent when half an hour later Alice invites everyone into the dining room, they no longer care what anyone is thinking.
The exception being Malcolm who clearly hadn't been expecting to sit on what is effectively a top table of four who says to Ruth who is sitting on his left, 'this is wonderful isn't it,' whilst an equally surprised Jo is sitting on Harry's right. The understatement of the century given Harry is struggling to imagine feeling happier than he does at this moment, now knowing that the reason Jo is here was because she had rung Malcolm to ask how they were, who in turn had suggested she ring Catherine who had said the more the merrier. Catherine who along with Graham are clearing the plates after a first course, making him think and not for the first time that for his children from his first marriage to be so obviously accepting of his second that there must more to life than coincidence.
As are Alice and Marianne who whilst taking a breather in the kitchen, are with tongue in cheek considering that by joining forces on a permanent basis to promote weddings at home and use this one in their brochure based on the happy faces and of course the view, will offer them an outlet that won't require them to look after her husband's clients in Marianne's case and pacify his parishioners in Alice's, one of whom has done what in all honesty has been a pleasure whilst the other is still hoping that what he plans to say will fit the bill, which again breaking with tradition will be after the meal is over and before Harry and Ruth dance together for the first time in the sitting room and with their guests looking on.
Before that, 'yes they can sit with them,' Harry tells Freddie when he asks, before he and Lucy climb onto the sofa and snuggle in, presumably because either Ian or Alice had suggested it after what had been an early start which means that both the children are obviously tired and besides it's what they normally do and to be honest it feels comforting rather than he and Ruth sit their on their own waiting for the moment when either Catherine or Graham will insist that they dance. The warmth from the fire and from what he can see everyone else is relaxing and in Malcolm's case looks as though he's asleep causing Harry to think yet again how grateful he is for the effort that everyone has put in and how having their wedding at home had been the right decision.
A sentiment that Andrew seemingly agrees with, when his opening line is to say, 'tradition dictates that I am supposed to say something excruciating embarrassing about Harry but my first thought and what I'm going to stick with is that at most weddings and certainly when there are a large number of guests you get to sit next to someone who bores the pants off you, when I sure you all agree that this has been a pleasure and a day that will live long in our memories,' before adding, 'because as I was saying to Catherine and Graham this morning although individually we all knew Harry and Ruth for different reasons and at times in our lives which in some cases stretch back years, collectively in the space of what is now twenty four hours we have become what I am sure the others feel are now friends.'
'Thank you,' says a stunned Harry who had imagined something far more formal which of course had been Andrews first thought.'
Never assume and certainly not because you are pinned to the sofa by two sleeping children that it's gone beyond the point when you will have to dance in front of your guests, besides by now any nerves Ruth might have had are long gone, so when Graham presses play and Harry stands and holds out his hand, Ruth takes the one step that is needed to walk into his arms and to the words of 'When you tell be that you love me' sung by Diana Ross, that says everything and more about their joint past the present and a future yet to be defined, Harry becomes as the song says the candle in the dark.
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There had been no wedding cake but the icing comes when they were saying their goodbyes until the next time to Andrew, Marianne Graham and Catherine who are heading home the following morning, unlike Ian and Alice who are staying for an extra day to help tidy up, as is Malcolm, which just leaves Jo who as far back as the day when Ruth had returned from Cyprus had offered her a roof over her head and with it a way back to Harry. Intrigued now they are quite sure as to why they are not having a honeymoon, but more than that why on their wedding night they will have two small children sleeping under their roof?
Jo who along with Malcolm has been on this journey from the start so, 'yes of course she can spend tomorrow with them,' is their answer.
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A/N Even if you've heard it before may I suggest that you listen again to the song I chose for Harry and Ruth to dance to – just because.