wedding dress and with very few to be found in London, they had opted to get married in their uniforms. Her parents had been disappointed and also concerned by the speed, but they had come round to it, and sent a telegram saying they looked forward to meeting their new son-in-law. The war had changed people. Len’s stream of family and friends made up for the absence on Diana’s side and her two best friends and her fellow WAAFs were all there to support her.
And when the day arrived, the sun had shone on London and they’d all counted their blessings, with what appeared to be a halt in Hitler’s constant bombing campaign on London. Lizzie even seemed to rally and genuinely felt happy for her friend, though it was bittersweet when she thought about the fact this could have been her own wedding. But slowly, gently, painfully she was making her way back, back into the world again. Abigail was a huge part of her healing. When she wasn’t on duty, she was at Julia’s house, with the little girl curled in her lap, sitting by her side or holding her hand. It was as if Abigail understood that she had a special place in mending Lizzie.
That afternoon they had all stood at the register office, Diana and Len opting for an easy wedding. That morning, Julia and Lizzie had fussed with her hair, then Diana just took the comb off them and eventually did it herself.
‘I’m so glad you’re going to be happy,’ said Lizzie. ‘We deserve happiness. All of us, and though I know that I don’t feel that yet, I know that one day, hopefully, I’ll make my way out of this tunnel. I’ve started the process to adopt Abigail now. I have to try.’
The women hugged. ‘I’m so glad. I can’t imagine her not being in your life.’
Lizzie nodded. ‘She is my one joy in all of this. I’m so grateful for her every day. At first, I was worried that I was using her to replace the emptiness I felt from losing my own daughter, but now I think differently. Yes, I feel maternal instinct towards her. But now I’ve seen my real daughter again, things have changed. Seeing how well she’s doing. As soon as I looked at her, I knew she didn’t belong to me. Her journey only started with me; her path has never been with me. Abigail is different. She needs me, and I don’t care what they think of that, here or in Scotland.’
All the girls nodded. After the ceremony itself was over, they had a little get-together and something to eat and, as Diana and Len left, they all threw confetti.
John had gained weight and was on the mend, and the women watched him play with the children as Julia looped Lizzie’s arm with hers. ‘I know this war will probably be the worst thing we will go through in our lives. There’s also something it’s given me, a true sense of what matters. I don’t think that will ever leave me for the rest of my days. I will just be content to be healthy, to be alive, and to have the people around me that I care about. It’s not that I didn’t feel that before. I did love my family and my friends, but now it really means something, and I know I will never take it for granted even once this war is won, which I hope it will be, the way it’s going. I fear we have a long way to go still, but I can only be optimistic. Promise me we’ll always be friends.’
Lizzie hugged her. ‘Always.’ And the two of them watched Diana wave from the car as Len whisked her away.
48
7 May 1945
The day the end of the war in Europe was announced, Lizzie, Julia and Diana had been standing in the kitchen, washing dishes, listening to the wireless that John had turned up in the front room. With Churchill’s announcement, tears streamed down all their faces.
‘We did it!’ yelled John, hobbling into the kitchen with the limp he had been left with and grabbing Abigail, now ten, and Maggie, fourteen, by their hands. He twirled them in circles under his arm as they giggled. Tom, now a willowy twelve years old, left the book he was reading and came downstairs to find out what all the commotion was about.
Diana, who was very pregnant with her second child, was so