Cinnamon Twigs (20 page)

             
‘I wanted you to know.’

             
‘When are you looking to get married?’

             
‘Next summer, hopefully.’

             
‘Am I invited?’

             
‘Of course you are, don’t be silly!’ I chuckled.

             
‘I thought you’d come back, but you’re flying the nest for good.’

             
‘I’ll always be here for you. I promise you. I’ll never leave you again.’

             
‘Please keep that promise, because the thought of losing you again really hurts.’

             
My mother had conveyed emotion, a rare moment that touched me.

             
I hugged her.

             
‘Get off me, you soppy bugger!’ She laughed.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

The Wedding

Lauren and I decided to get married at St Mary’s Catholic
Church, where I’d been baptized. Everyone in Cardiff knew Father Dwyer, especially the pub landlords. Father Dwyer was renowned for his kindness, as well as his frequent intoxicated states during Mass. He was a very intelligent man, although he often tripped over his words. I had the utmost respect for him, even though I liked to joke about his drinking habit. He’d been a member of the clergy for a long time.

             
‘Do you believe in Christ’s ascension into heaven?’ He smiled at Lauren and me as we sat in front of him, discussing the proposed marriage.

             
‘Of course,’ I said.

             
‘That Jesus died for our sins?’

             
‘Yup. That too.’

             
‘As an expiatory offering on account of our wrongdoings, pierced for our transgressions?’

             
‘Uh-huh.’

             
‘Do you believe in the Immaculate Conception?’

             
‘Now that’s the bit I’ve always found questionable,’ I jested.

             
‘Really?’ Father Dwyer arched his eyebrows, revealing the deep wrinkles on his forehead.

             
Lauren fixed me a stony look and nudged me in the ribs.

             
‘What are you nudging me for?’

             
‘He’s only joking, Father. He’s a bit of a joker, my Daniel.’ She took my hand in hers and squeezed it hard.

             
‘Ah, bit of humor never hurt anyone.’ He grinned, stood up and said goodbye to us, remarking as Lauren exited, ‘“So light a foot will ne’er wear out the everlasting flint.”’

             
‘I see you’re familiar with your Shakespeare, Father,’ I said. ‘Funnily enough,
Romeo and Juliet
happens to be her favorite play.’

             
‘Indeed. I don’t just read John Donne, you know.’ A sparkle appeared in the old man’s eyes.

             
I grinned. It’s always nice to exchange a wanky literary joke with the priest who ducked your head in water when you were a nipper.

             
A shadow passed over Lauren’s face as we exited the church.

             
‘I can’t believe you were acting like that!’ she said.

             
‘Ah, come on, I was just winding you up.’

             
‘You wanted this wedding to take place here as well, you know.’

             
‘Of course. He didn’t seem to mind, anyway. The bloke’s pissed most of the time. Just look at the way he parks his car.’ I pointed at an old banger taking up two spaces outside the church. ‘He parks horizontally!’

             
My wedding day was the best day of my life. I’ve never felt so complete as when I kissed Lauren’s soft lips, while our family and friends applauded. A spark of unadulterated happiness passed through the air as I gazed into her beautiful blue eyes, and Father Dwyer smiled at us with his lazy drunken eyes. I placed my hands on Lauren’s shoulders, the fabric of her gorgeous white wedding dress slipping through my fingers.

             
‘You may now kiss a bride,’ Father Dwyer garbled.

             
I remember it well. Lauren’s pearly smile and the first violin playing the opening bars of
Pachelbel’s Canon
. Exhilaration surged through my veins. I recognized that life is lived for those warm moments, the moments of happiness that transcend the bad and stay with us, until death forces us to part with them.

             
I acknowledged our guests’ congratulations. A crowd congregated near the entrance of the church. Lauren spoke to her friends and family. I found my mother among the cheery faces and embraced her.

             
‘I wish you the best of luck in your new life.’ She searched my eyes for a moment, and turned away with a teary expression on her face.

             
‘Love you, mum.’

             
‘I know.’ Her wet eyes told me she was happy for us. ‘Good to you, I am.’

             
‘Indeed you are.’ I beamed.

             
Just before we left the church to be greeted by buckets of confetti, I held Lauren in my arms and looked up at the statue of Jesus hanging above the altar. The stained glass windows admitted a warm light, which lingered on Christ’s face. I took the whole church in, from the marble arches to the font. I wanted to remember it all forever.

             
‘What are you looking at? You’re very strange!’ Lauren giggled.

             
‘What does that tell you about yourself then?’

             
‘I must be just as strange to marry you.’

             
‘One hand, one heart, one strange couple!’ I giggled. ‘I think it’s time to take note of Father Dwyer’s example, and get very drunk.’

             
The wedding party was a haze of hilarity and blazing emotions. My maudlin mother spent the night arguing with everyone that she wasn’t a hypochondriac, because she could genuinely sense she had terminal cancer. After all, she was a healthcare expert, working behind a till at a local pharmacy… She attached herself to me for the rest of the night, burbling, ‘I loves you much, Daniel, I do. Look after me when I’m gone. Dunno how long I’ve got left…’ She’d had far too many double vodkas, but so had everyone else. Guests stumbled into chairs and tripped onto tables. Lauren’s dad, a stout, affectionate man, shook my hand vigorously throughout the night and at one point offered me a tenner, saying, ‘Go on, son. You deserve it for taking her off my hands!’             

             
‘I’ve taken far too much money off you already, Mister Caldwell. But I’m sure she’s worth more than that!’ I laughed.

             
‘For God’s sake, Daniel, call me Rich! You make me feel like your teacher, not your father-in-law… Now, down to serious business. What do you think the best nine and ten combination would be for the Lions’ tour?’

             
Pints smashed, people said ‘Yay!’ and the poor barmaid swept up the broken glass.

             
‘Yay!’ I exclaimed, after dropping my own pint, despite telling people to be more careful with their drinks.

             
Towards the end of the night, Lauren and I danced to Eric Clapton’s definitive love song,
Wonderful Tonight
. We struggled to stand, never mind dance. But we stayed in each other’s arms as the softly lit room orbited us.

             
‘I love you, completely, utterly, unalterably, immeasurably love you,’ I said.

             
‘That’s a very concise description.’ She grinned, her eyes wide and oceanic.

             
My face hurt from smiling so much. I couldn’t help it. I spent the night looking like I had an upside down clothes hanger in my mouth. Lauren and I stopped dancing when my mother joined us for Bob Marley’s
Is This Love
with her maniacal attempt at a moonwalk. She bopped away like a lunatic with an itchy arse.

             
I led Lauren over to a table in the corner of the room. I stroked her hair and we kissed.

             
Warm tears gushed from her eyes and onto my cheeks.

             
‘I’m so happy,’ she whispered.

             
‘Me too. I love the fact I’m gonna spend the rest of my life with you.’

             
‘You’ve gotta look after me.’

             
‘Likewise.’

             
She took my right hand in hers and ran a delicate finger down the forked life line on my palm.

             
‘This, right here, is true happiness. This moment. It’s perfect. You’re perfect.’ I kissed her eyelids and then both corners of her lips.

             
‘Come on. Let’s dance again. Your mother has fallen asleep on the buffet table.’

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

The Honeymoon

We went to Elounda, in Crete, for our honeymoon. Everything just felt so right. I know it sounds pretentious, like predetermined destiny
bullshit, but Lauren was definitely the
one
. She was meant for me. I’d never felt so sure about anything in my whole life.

             
I have so many romantic memories of our time there. Lauren and I went exploring one night, feeling strangely at home in the small fishing town. We made our way to a dockland area, sat on the ground and looked at the boats. The night sky resembled clear glass, dotted with flecks of twinkling stars. The moon sat in the lap of majestic darkness and the boats cast shadows across the glistening water, which looked like a mirror raised to the silvery moonbeams.

             
Lauren’s emerald dress shimmered as she held a fluffy whale teddy close to her chest. I’d bought her the teddy earlier that day.

             
‘This feels right,’ I said.

             
‘Yeah, it really does.’

             
‘Look at the stars. Don’t they make you feel small?’

             
‘No. Not when I’m with a star as big as you.’

             
‘Cheese personified!’ I smiled broadly. ‘I must be rubbing off on you with my cringey comments!’

             
‘Um-hmm. You know, all those stars are dead but their light still reaches us.’ Lauren held my hand.

             
‘No, they’re not all dead. Some of them are.’

             
‘I like to think they’re all dead.’

             
‘Why’s that, ya nutter?’

             
‘Because I like to think they had a purpose in their existences. They’re dead, but they still shine above us.’

             
‘Hmm, I guess that’s pretty romantic!’ I laughed.              

That honeymoon was perfect. Absolutely perfect. Each day we’d lie on the beach
together, and we drank the bars dry each night. When light showed its silver forehead in the mornings, we’d fight away our hangovers and go back to the beach. Elounda was paradise.

             
One sunny afternoon, we traveled to the village of Plaka, as well as the adjoining Agora, so Lauren could buy clothes.

             
‘Come on, come and haggle with me,’ Lauren said.

             
‘Nah, we don’t need to haggle. We’ve got lots of spending money on us.’

             
Lauren’s parents had given us plenty of cash to spend as a wedding present.

             
‘Where’s the fun in that?’              Lauren haggled for clothes she could easily afford, such as underwear, bikinis and dresses. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She glowed like a dazzling white angel among the dusky stalls.

             
‘Well, that was most productive,’ she said, handing me two bags of clothes.

             
‘I never thought I’d have so much fun clothes shopping with a woman.’

             
‘Fun! You just stood there and watched me.’

             
‘That’s a man’s job!’ I chuckled.

             
‘You think you’re too good to haggle, don’t you?’ She poked me playfully in the ribs.

             
‘No material item would be enough for me when I’ve got you.’