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Her sandals were flat and gold and she felt beautiful and confident and very, very ready to marry the man she loved as she walked down the grand stairs.
‘Oh, Mia.’ Michael sat in his chair, elegant in his wedding suit, and so proud of his sister. ‘You look stunning.’
‘Thank you.’ She smiled at her brother, who had been through so much and had finally come to a place of peace with his situation, helped by the gorgeous Gemma, who loved him so very much.
A helicopter was hovering overhead, no doubt to get a shot of the wedding, and Mia, finally, could not care less.
Instead, Mia walked towards Dante with her brother by her side and with her head held high, to the smiles of family and friends.
Angela was there, smiling proudly, and Luigi with his wife.
Stefano was the best man and so Eloa, who would be a bride herself in a couple of weeks, stood with Ariana, who was both smiling and crying on this emotional day.
There were no doubt a few wide eyes amongst the guests. And perhaps there were again whispers behind manicured hands. Dante had specifically said, after all, that nothing had taken place between them before Rafael died, yet the bride wasclearlyin the family way!
Mia could almost hear the clacking of rosary beads as they counted it to be less than four months since the funeral!
Roberto was there, of course, looking handsome, polished, and smiling at the bride as he dabbed at his eyes.
Then Dante turned to see his bride and the smile on his face was slow, stunned, delighted, and it made everything all right. Not a soul present could doubt that they were about to witness the marriage of two people who were deeply in love, for as he stepped forward towards her, everyone laughed when Stefano put a hand on Dante’s arm and told him to wait, that she would be by his side soon.
‘You look beautiful,’ Dante said. He took her hand and kissed the tips of her fingers and they shared a smile.
‘So do you,’ Mia said, as she looked at her very handsome groom. He wore a stunning grey morning suit with a silver-grey waistcoat, and he looked so elegant andsoclean shaven she wanted to reach out to stroke his cheek.
She resisted, but the bride was blushing fiercely as they faced each other and made the vows that would bind them for life.
They were in English because Dante wanted her to be sure she understood every word.
‘I, Dante Rafael, take you, Mia Jane...’ And he put his hand to her cheek as he gave her his promise to be faithful always, in joy and pain, in health and in sickness, and then his voice became husky as he gazed into her eyes and vowed that he would love and honour her for the rest of his life.
Mia started to cry, then made her vows to Dante in English. ‘I, Mia Jane, take you, Dante Rafael...’ They were similar vows to his, except she ended them with, ‘To love and to cherish, all the days of my life.’
And then it was time for Dante to kiss his bride, and Mia closed her eyes to the bliss of his lips, the smoothness of his cheek, and the fragrance of pure Dante.
It was a gorgeous wedding and Dante, of course, made a wonderful speech, with one more surprise to come.
Actually, two more surprises to come, for there was a reason that Mia was rather big for her dates.
‘My wife and I are thrilled to share the news with family and friends, that we found out, last week, that Mia is having twins.’
Yes, their forbidden night had come with two delightful consequences and there were congratulations, dancing and celebrations all around, though for a little while the happy couple slipped away for some private time together.
‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ Dante checked.
‘Very,’ Mia said, and in the sunset they walked hand in hand towards the lake, then stood beneath the holm oaks.
They saw they weren’t the first to visit. There were beautiful orchids that had been lovingly placed there this wedding morning by Roberto, and beside them Mia placed her gorgeous bouquet of poppies on dear Rafael’s grave.
There was nothing to fear, Mia knew now. In fact, it felt as if he was smiling down on them.
With Dante by her side, she was no longer scared.
