“Baby, I Love Your Way”,
“I Want to Know What Love Is”,
“As Long As You Love Me”,
I’d better stop or we’ll be here all day.
Maybe love is just a song looping,
Where you know all the words, every beat,
A melody as sweet as the sun itself,
That’ll make you dance, make you fly, down the street.
A magic rhythm, a pulse that flows and soars,
That makes all other sounds melt far away,
It really is everything. It is enough.
A love song to keep, to repeat, to play.’
I sigh as I say the last line, a tear rolls down my cheek. Don’t, Josie. Mum and Dad look over at me and are gone. We are all gone. I scoop the tears up with my fingers. I really should have brought extra tissues. Sonny looks up at me and beams. You idiot.
‘You forgot “Love Shack”. Amateur.’
The whole room roars with laughter. Let’s get this wedding started.
TWENTY-THREE
‘That is a snazzy suit,’ I say, a green crayon in my hand as I help Vinnie colour in the book he has at his table. I made all the kids little party bags and they’ve gone down a treat. Even with my limited knowledge of children, I know that they go batshit crazy for bubbles, stickers and colouring. We’ve gone for broke with this colouring page, the groom to the centre has a patchwork suit of about five different colours and the bride is a wonderful shade of cyan, which means she might be part-Smurf.
I know you shouldn’t wallflower at a wedding, but this current situation suits me to the ground. Thank god lovely Vinnie is here to act as my date for the evening, to allow me to sit down and not dance all night. I’ll leave that to Mum, who’s taken off her shoes and lost her fur stole. On the dance floor now, Xander steps on her feet and they rotate adorably. Dad is by the bar. He’s on the shots and buying tequila for many people, so there will be Cossack dancing tonight and I am taking bets that he will have to wear a knee brace tomorrow. Don’t talk to me about Nan because she had some personality change when Wesley arrived and went slightly googly-eyed at the sight of him in a very fetching tweed suit. They danced and now I can’t see them. In my head, I hope this means they went on a moonlit promenade around this nice country house. In reality, I think she bought that tangerine lingerie set for different reasons.
However, it is a joy to see Sonny and Ruby enjoying themselves. After we sampled some of Sonny’s poetry and I ugly-cried in front of the group, the ceremony had us all under its spell. It was always going to be emotional, but the words never fail to cement it for me.To have and to hold. It just makes me picture two people intertwined together, in an embrace. Like a love pretzel. That’s a nice cosy way to be for an eternity at least.
Since then, it’s been a whirlwind of food, speeches, tears and one of Ruby’s bridesmaid’s boobs falling out of her dress. This is why God invented tit tape and this is why I had a rucksack under my table at the wedding breakfast for such occasions. She can now twerk the night away without fear of boob spillage.
Sonny and Ruby are on the dance floor now, arms around each other and singing to one another under the pastel flashing lights. Did they change outfits? Of course they did. Is there a strong Baz LuhrmannRomeo + Julietvibe with feathers and a breastplate? Yes, but look how bloody happy they are. I haven’t seen much of them today, but I didn’t anticipate I would, it’s their day. I only hugged Sonny the once when he was doing the rounds at the breakfast. I got a chance to tell him he sucked at poetry, he told me the blade of beef was an inspired choice.
‘What are those two people doing?’ Vinnie asks, as I scan the room.
I look over to the dance floor and there is a couple who are getting slightly over-amorous. I guess it is a wedding and the sparkling beverages have been flowing since early afternoon. It’s one of Ruby’s bridesmaids and Ruby’s brother, which takes a weight off my shoulders as it means I’ve been relieved of that duty. He is very handsy, though, and he needs to remember there are children in the room.
‘They’re dancing.’
‘Is that how you dance? It’s not how Aunty Susie and Xander are dancing, or Mummy and Daddy.’
I catch sight of Vinnie’s parents and toss my head back in laughter. Tonight, Brett and Tina have officially clocked off. Their duties are over, the childcare is in healthy supply and all they have to do is crawl upstairs at the end of the night. It’s time to throw it down and from the looks of it, sing along to ABBA’s ‘Voulez-Vous’ quite vocally, hanging off each other and baying to the ceiling. Super Troupers, the both of them.
‘Dance is whatever you want it to be. You not keen?’
‘No, I went on there before and that lady over there nearly fell on me.’
He points over to Michelle. Gorgeous Michelle, who’s maybe in a dress that’s two inches too short for a wedding but, by god, she’s going for it. Keep the legs down, girl, or I’ll be able to see your wedding breakfast. She sees me looking and waves with both hands, beckoning me onto the dance floor. I signal that I’m otherwise committed. Colouring is my bag at the moment.
I feel something bumping into my ankles and see Dave at the foot of my chair. I have to dog-sit too. I let him sit on my lap and Vinnie gives him a pat on the head. Thank you, lads, for looking after me tonight. I break a bit of wedding cake icing off and let Dave have a nibble.
