was going to have to ask Charlie about this later. It didn’t seem fair of her to try and make him jealous whilst he was stood at the altar waiting for her.
As the vicar began the service Charlie winked at Matt and he mouthed to her; “you look beautiful.” She smiled at him and he felt his heart expand with happiness.
“In a departure from tradition,” the vicar said; “the bride and groom have decided to say their own vows.”
Matt felt his head snap from Charlie to the vicar. He hadn’t agreed to this, and he hadn’t prepared any vows. He felt himself starting to panic, but when he looked at Charlie she smiled audaciously at him. He recognised this smile. It was the same smile that she’d used when he’d gotten a detention at school, after she’d convinced him to skip his lesson to spend her free period with her.
“It was my idea to say our own vows, and Matt’s only just finding out about this,” Charlie announced to the congregation as she took his hands in hers whilst everyone in the church laughed. Well everyone aside from him he noted. He wasn’t finding this amusing right now.
“But we’re surrounded by our family and friends again,” she continued; “and I thought that standing in front of you all, and repeating the same vows that I said to Matt when I was twenty one would be a travesty.”
She turned to look at him, and he could feel the intensity of the moment in her eyes. “In the past eleven years,” Charlie said; “you’ve been my heaven and my hell. As a little girl, I had the same hopes and dreams as every other little girl. I wanted the fairytale. I wanted the handsome prince and the happily ever after, and eleven years ago I naïvely stood here and thought that I’d gotten everything that I’d ever wished for and more. I stood up in front of everyone here, and I looked forward to the rest of our story together. What I’d conveniently forgotten though, was that there’s always a scary element to all the best fairytales. It’s never just plain sailing.”
She took a breath and continued; “when our storm hit, we were unprepared. We lost our way, and we lost each other. We weren’t together in sickness, and it didn’t take death to part us.”
Matt tried to swallow back the lump in his throat.
“I lost you once because I forgot my way, but I never stopped loving you. So whether I can remember it or not,” Charlie said; “you should always know this. I have loved you my whole life, and I will love you forever.”
Matt could feel tears in his eyes, and he fought with himself to prevent them from sliding down his face. He looked at the girls stood behind Charlie, and he could see that they were all crying.
“You’re the best person that I know,” Matt said calmly. “You’re brave, and you’re fearless. When faced with the worst you protect those around you first, even if they don’t deserve it. You sacrifice your feelings for theirs, and your heart for their happiness. When others are scared you reassure them, and when people don’t deserve your forgiveness you offer it to them anyway. I used to thank god every day that you’d married me eleven years ago. I now realise that that wasn’t enough.”
The congregation made another collective; “aaah” sound.
“So know this,” he said; “I have loved you my whole life, and I will love you forever.”
Charlie kissed him.
The vicar cleared his throat, and the congregation laughed. “Sorry,” Charlie said to the vicar and looking a lot like a naughty school girl as she did which made Matt laugh.
“You have renewed your vows in the presence of god, and in the presence of your friends and family. I now pronounce you husband and wife again,” the vicar said. He then turned to Matt and added with a wry smile; “and you may now kiss the bride.”
Everyone clapped as Matt kissed a smiling Charlie, and as they walked up the aisle Matt looked at her and said; “I’ve got a really good idea, let’s say our own vows.”
Charlie looked at him guiltily, and then she smiled sweetly and said innocently; “I loved yours. They were very off the cuff.”
Matt laughed and knew that it was impossible for him to be mad with her, and as they walked out into the bright sunlight he swung her around into his arms before kissing her again.
“Charlie your vows were beautiful,” Emily said after she’d walked over to join them. The tear track marks on her face were evidence of the sincerity of her words.
“Thanks,” Charlie said hugging Emily.
“Congratulations Matt,” Emily said before hugging him.
He noticed that there was no tension between them, and he wondered if this had anything to do with the man that was hovering by her side and who he now noticed was the same man that had walked Charlie down the aisle.
“Do I know you?” Matt asked holding out his hand to the man. “My wife and friend clearly do.”
“This is Patrick,” Emily said as Matt shook his hand and looked from him to Charlie.
“Emily and Patrick have been dating for a few weeks. They met when Emily came with me to track him down,” Charlie said. But Matt looked at her confusedly, wondering why she’d tracked him down.
“Patrick was the paramedic that was called to my crash. He stayed with me until they managed to cut me free. He kept me chatting and conscious for as long as he could, and he told me sweet little lies so I wouldn’t be scared,” Charlie said smiling at Patrick.
He looked embarrassed, but he returned her smile.
Emily looked at him proudly, and Matt noticed that they were holding hands. Yet he felt blindsided for the second time that day. He had recognised this man in the church. He knew him from the hospital, and it now transpired that he’d also helped save Charlie’s life.
“That’s why you asked him to give you away?” Matt asked Charlie somewhat distractedly, as an image of her trapped inside a wrecked car filled his mind.
She looked at him and whispered; “I’m right here, and I’m okay.” He looked at her with amazement at how well she knew him, and she smiled at him.
“I think I need to shake your hand again,” he said turning from Charlie to Patrick and holding out his hand once more for Patrick to shake.
“Thank you,” Matt said as Patrick shook his hand again.
“It’s my job,” Patrick said smiling kindly at Matt.
“She’s my life,” Matt said to him as Charlie pulled him into a hug.
Emily and Patrick smiled, and then they walked away hand in hand.
“Come on,” Matt said taking Charlie’s hand in his and leading her away from the church.
“Where are we going?” Charlie asked. “What about our guests?”
“I think we waited too long before consummating our marriage the last time that we did this,” Matt said; “and we’ve had some pretty bad karma since then.”
“You could just say that you can’t wait to get me into bed Mr Grayson,” Charlie said jokingly.
“You’re right,” he said smiling; “I just can’t wait to get you into bed Mrs Grayson.”
Charlie smiled, and he whipped her legs from beneath her. He hoisted her up into his arms, and as she began to laugh he started to run.
The End