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“I love you too.” He nodded towards Radleigh. “Now, go to him before the anticipation kills him.”
Laughing, I placed another kiss on his cheek then handed my bouquet to Freya before finally turning to Radleigh. His eyes glimmered as he stared at me for a moment, then reached out and put his hands on my waist, drawing me in to him and holding me close. I let out a breath as I circled my arms around his neck. It had been less than twenty-four hours since I’d seen him, but it felt like forever. The feel of his lips on mine, in a kiss that might have got us thrown out of a church, told me everything I needed to know.
We were there. We’d made it.
“Leah,” he whispered against my cheek. “You look incredible.”
“Thank you. And thank you for the necklace. It’s gorgeous.”
“So are you.” He brushed his lips against mine one more time. “You ready to get married?”
Grinning, I said, “I’ve been ready since… London.”
Radleigh chuckled softly. “Let’s do this.”
I stood beside my man in front of our family and friends, and we exchanged vows. As much as we could have written our own epic vows, we decided to stick with tradition – everything else about our relationship hadn’t followed the rules, so we decided to do this one thing the “normal” way before, no doubt, heading back to our usual unconventional routine.
There was no stopping us when Radleigh was told he could kiss the bride. He turned to me with the biggest smile, placed his hands on my face, and kissed me hard. I couldn’t help laughing as his tongue found mine. If we’d had the choice, we’d have slipped away for a private celebration, but when applause and whistles erupted around us, we reluctantly broke apart. There was a hell of a long way to go before we were allowed any alone time.
I felt like I was floating as we walked back up the aisle, and this time, we smiled and waved to those who caught our eye, and camera flashes went off as people tried to capture our first moments as husband and wife.
**
Something nobody ever told me about their wedding day is that it rushes by you in a blur. That, when you look back, you can’t quite remember every moment of the day because you’re swept along on a tide of things you have to do, and along the way, everyone wants to talk to you, and it’s so overwhelming that bits and pieces get lost. But one thing I knew I would never forget was that look. The sheer happiness in Radleigh’s eyes the moment we were pronounced husband and wife. If I forgot everything else about my life, that was the one moment I wanted to remember. That, and the moment Jessica was placed into my arms for the first time.
After the photos had been taken, we’d had a little down time, and we’d had dinner, it was time for the speeches. At this point, after a few glasses of champagne and some food, everyone had totally mellowed out.
Radleigh and I sat at the centre of the top table, with my dad beside me, and my mum beside Radleigh – we actually had the longest top table I’d ever seen; necessary with so many bridesmaids. Chrissie and Josh took one for the team and sat at a table with the kids – it just made it easier to keep an eye on them all, and neither of them minded supervising them.
My dad finished his toast to a huge round of applause, and he’d left me feeling like I was the best daughter anyone ever had - which probably wasn’t the truth, but I knew he’d meant every word he spoke. After thanking him, and hugging him for what was probably the hundredth time that day, Radleigh squeezed my hand before standing up for his own speech.
I turned towards him, and he blew out a long breath as the room quietened again and all eyes fell on him.
“Okay,” he began. “I’m sure most grooms spend hours and hours figuring out the exact right thing to say for their wedding speech. They come prepared with notes.” He shook his head. “Not me. That’s not to say I haven’t prepared for this. Because believe me, it’s kept me up a lot of nights while I worked out what I wanted to say. But notes felt a little too formal, and I want everything I say to come from how I’m feeling today. Right now.
“First and foremost, I need to thank all of you for being here today. Leah and I couldn’t imagine this day without any of you. Each and every one of you has played a huge part in our lives, and we’re so happy you’re here to share it with us.” Radleigh paused and glanced down the table at my bridesmaids, then over at the kids’ table where the rest of my party, plus my brother, sat. “Freya, Bree, Chrissie, Izzy, Kayla, Jayden, Jamie, Grace, and Jessica…” he paused and chuckled, “I can’t believe I got that out in one breath. Thank you for your support, not just today, but in the lead up to the wedding.” He turned back to the rest of our guests. “I think we can all agree they look amazing.”
Shouts of agreement and applause rippled around the room, and I raised my glass to my friends at one side of the table, then the other, then to Josh and Chrissie.
“Next,” Radleigh went on, “I want to thank Leah’s family. There have been a lot of changes over the last couple of years, but throughout it, even when I haven’t deserved it, you’ve still supported our decisions. We wouldn’t be where we are without you.”
My parents beamed at him, and he leaned down to kiss my mum on the cheek then reached over the shake my dad’s hand.
“To my parents,” Radleigh said, and his voice wavered for the briefest moment. Nobody but me, and probably Deanna, would have noticed, and when I glanced at her, she winked at me, making me laugh. “My mom and dad, for those of you who don’t know, have the patience of saints.”
“They’d have to be to put up with you!” Cody heckled, and everyone laughed.
“Yeah, yeah,” Radleigh said, laughing too. “He’s not wrong. Seriously, though, they have had to deal with a lot over the years, but it’s been their example of how a husband and wife should be that let me know what I was looking for. Mom, Dad.” Radleigh looked at them in turn. “Thank you for everything you’ve done. Not just for me, but for Leah, Jessica, and Jayden, too.”
Once again, he stopped to hug Deanna and Mitch, and I had to swallow back the lump in my throat. That thing he’d said about the example they’d set him? Even though they weren’t my parents, I felt the same way. My own parents’ marriage was solid, and certainly something to aspire to, but they hadn’t really had any bumps in the road, aside from dealing with me. Mitch and Deanna had endured a lot of things – things Radleigh and I would have to go through. Things we were still getting used to in some ways. I hoped we would battle through any difficulties the way they did, and come out stronger than ever.
“I have two more extremely important thank yous,” Radleigh said, and his face turned serious. “But before I do, there is one person who isn’t here who Leah and I wanted to talk about.” The air stilled around us, because this was the only part of his speech where I knew what was coming. We’d discussed it because it was important to me that we honoured everyone who was important to us. He reached down and took my hand because he must have felt the waves of emotion radiating from me already. He glanced down the table to Freya then back out at our guests. “When Leah first moved here, right away, she made two friends. Firstly, Freya, and then Will Carter.”
The stillness rippled out from us around the rest of the room, and the air felt heavy with the reminder of the loss we’d shared.
“Freya and Will took care of my girl before she was mine. Leah always talks about Will as someone who told things how they were. Someone who would always look out for the people he cared about. Someone who was highly respected, not just on our team, but on teams all across the country too.” He smiled then added. “And many of you will remember him as the guy who wouldn’t have dreamt of showing up at work without ironing every item of clothing he wore, even though it would get creased within seconds of being on the field.”
I giggled, as did many of those who knew him best. I caught Freya’s eye, and although I could see she was fighting tears, she smiled too.
