Riverside... The Weddings

by Heather Mar-Gerrison

  I shook my head, “I can take care of it.”

  Will raised an eyebrow, “You’ve certainly come a long way since Zsófia was born.” He commented, “You didn’t even want to hold her!”

  I smiled at him, “Yeah,” I agreed, “I know. I didn’t like picking her up to begin with either – they’re like trying to hold a bag of water when they’re small.”

  I kissed Millie on the forehead and turned her to see Will. She regarded him with interest. “This is your Daddy.” I said.

  Will’s eyes about popped out of his head, “I thought you were Daddy.” He said.

  I shook my head, “I’ve never been Daddy.” I said, “I’ve always been Uncle Tom. Do you think it’ll be too confusing for her? When she’s always known me as her Uncle Tom?”

  Will shook his head, a smile breaking out over his face, “I don’t think so, babe,” he said, “I think we can both be Daddy and she’ll be absolutely fine with it,” He smiled.

  I grinned back at him, “Cool,” I agreed, “Daddy it is.” I turned to Millie and rubbed my nose against hers, making her giggle in delight again. “Come on, let’s go and see Mummy.”

  We got to Sarah’s and I let myself in.

  “Tom?” I heard her voice calling me weakly.

  “We’re coming through.” I called back, “And I’ve got good news, babe. I finally grew a pair and told Will.”

  “Oh, thank God.” She said, beaming up at me from where she was lying on the sofa, “What did he say?”

  Will came into the lounge and went over to her, taking her hand in his, he squatted down so they were at eye level with each other “I said that I would be honoured to bring up your beautiful little girl.” He said, “I will cherish Tom and Millie for as long as there is breath in my body.”

  Her eyes filled with happy tears, “Thank you.” She whispered, “You don’t know what this means to me.”

  Will leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “You don’t have to worry about anything, anymore.” He said.

  Sarah struggled to a sitting position, “That’s good.” She said, “I’ll make you both a coffee.”

  Before either of us could protest, she’d got herself up, but as she took a step, she collapsed. Will caught her and shot me a worried look, “We need to get her to the hospital.” he said.

  I nodded. Picking her up in my arms, I carried her to the car while Will called the hospital to tell them we were bringing her in.

  Thankfully, Millie was completely oblivious to the fact that her mother was in serious trouble and was sitting in Will’s arms, completely at ease with him.

  We strapped her into her car seat and set off.

  Heartbreakingly, Sarah never came out of the hospital and from that day, Millie started living with us.

  *

  We made our way across to the hospital. We were spending most of our days there. Sarah was worsening and I couldn’t bear for her to pass away without me being there with her.

  We walked in and she looked up and smiled weakly. I took her hand in mine. It felt so small and bony. “You will look after her, won’t you, Tom?” Sarah looked up at me. Even with all the tubes sticking out of her, she still managed to look beautiful.

  I looked back at her incredulously. How could she ever doubt me? “Of course we will, sweetheart,” I said, “She’ll be the most loved little girl ever. She’ll have everything she wants. A pony, kittens, anything you want for her. Write me a list and I promise you, we’ll fulfil every single wish.” I looked at Will for confirmation. He smiled and nodded, his eyes filling with tears. Millie was fast asleep in his arms, completely oblivious and totally at ease. She’d really taken to him... I knew how she felt.

  Sarah turned her head and grinned at him, including him in the conversation, “I know you will,” she said, “I want her to have a birthday party every year with balloons and bunting – the works.”

  I rolled my eyes, “Her two dads are gay – that’s far too easy.”

  She snorted and Will chuckled softly, “Okay, too easy.” She said, “I want her to go to university.” She bit her lip looking between us.

  Will nodded, “Done.” He said.

  She smiled, her eyes going misty with tears, “I want her to get married in the biggest, the floatiest, prettiest dress in the world – unless she turns out to be a butch lesbian and then I want her to have the most stylish outfit – an Armani suit or something like that. But do me a favour – don’t let her have tattoos.”

  Will let out a snort making Millie jump in her sleep.

  I raised an eyebrow, “What the fuck’s wrong with tattoos?” I asked indignantly. I had three now. I’d had another one. It was just Will’s name on my ribcage and he fucking loved it.

  She shrugged, “Well, not on her face, then.” She amended.

  I snorted, “As if I’d let her do that.”

  She smiled at me, “I love you.”

  I stroked her hair away from her beautiful face that was so much thinner than it should have been, due to her illness, and smiled back, “I love you too.” I said, “I always have.”

  She nodded, closing her eyes, “Forever.” She whispered, squeezing my hand one last time, and then her grip went slack and she went to sleep.

  Chapter 6 – True

  None of us liked funerals. Well, obviously not – most people don’t. They’re not exactly joyous occasions for anyone but for us? Well, I guess we’d all been emotionally scarred from having to attend our parents’ double funeral at a very young age. Still. That didn’t mean that we wouldn’t have supported our brother and his fiancé in their hour of need any more than anyone else. So, the Fletcher family were out in force for Sarah’s funeral.

  She’d been sick for a while, but it seemed that as soon as she knew that Tom and Will were on board with taking on her beloved daughter, Millie, she accepted her fate and safe in the knowledge that Millie would be loved and cared for, she died within a few short weeks. Tom was distraught. Sarah had been his best friend, but he’d taken on the role and stepped up to become Millie’s dad brilliantly – along with Will, of course – and she’d been getting used to being around all of us while going to see her mummy every day.

  She was an adorable little thing – and totally adored Tom. She’d known him all her life, anyway because he’d remained really good friends with Sarah right from first meeting her.

  Will absolutely doted on her – just as much as Tom did and she was totally the apple of their eyes.

  Tom had made good on his promises to Sarah and we’d already got her a pony for when she was older; she was already enrolled at the school that Zsófia was going to attend in our village, which was outstanding in its Ofsted report (it was incredibly popular, so the sooner the better) and she was doing really well adapting to her new life. I guess at barely seven months old, that was to be pretty much expected.

  She and Zsófia were great friends. As for the rest of us? Well, we’d all fallen in love with her from the moment we met her, too.

  She was fascinated with Meg and Meg was just excited to have another playmate around. Meg was pretty useless as a sheepdog to be fair but then we only had six sheep so it wasn’t like it mattered much – and she was still only a puppy, really…

  Sarah’s funeral was held on a Wednesday morning, on a bright sunny day in September. She was only nineteen years old. Millie had a little navy-blue dress with white tights and she had a little silver bracelet on her wrist that Sarah had bought for her as a going away present.

  Tom carried Millie into the crematorium with Will walking at his side.

  Sarah’s father decided to make an appearance at her funeral. He hadn’t seen his daughter since he abandoned her at only fourteen. He was with a woman. I assumed her to be his wife. He marched up to Tomas. “Is this my granddaughter?” he asked, looking at Millie and then back at Tom.

  Tomas shrugged, eyeing him dangerously, “How should I know?” he sneered, “This is Millie, my daughter and Sarah was her mother.” He lo
oked him up and down disdainfully, “I take it that you’re Sarah’s long absent father?”

  “Your daughter?” He glanced between Tomas and Will, clearly realising they were together.

  Tomas nodded, “That’s right,” he said with an edge to his voice, “Do you have a problem with that?”

  He shook his head, looking slightly taken aback at Tom’s ferocity, “No,” he replied hurriedly, “No problem at all – but she’s got a home with me now. I understand that she was just dropped on you by Sarah when she found out she was dying.”

  Tomas looked at him as if he was about to murder him but instead he passed Millie to Will, “take her and go and sit down,” he said quietly. It was never a good sign when he went quiet – it usually meant someone was about to get a broken nose… “I’m just going outside with this joker.” Turning back to the man he said, “I’ve seen Millie regularly, almost every day from the time she was born. She knows me and Will and all of my family, which is a damned sight more than you can say.”

  He said all of this through gritted teeth as he marched him back towards the doors. I took it that the guy was going to be taught some manners…

  I looked at Will questioningly. He nodded and leaned across to Trey and Toby, “Will you please go outside and make sure that your brother doesn’t end up with a charge of ABH or worse, please guys.”

  Toby nodded and grabbed Trey’s arm, “Come on.” he urged, “It’s damage limitation time.”

  Deciding that it was probably wise to be there too, I followed along with Sawyer and Tatum. We got outside just in the nick of time. Tomas had Sarah’s father by the throat and was pushing him up against the wall.

  “Tom!” I shouted, “Stop! What’s going on?”

  Tom turned, his face was red and he was clearly seething, “This fucking joker thinks he can steal my daughter just because I’m in a relationship with Will.” He growled.

  My jaw dropped but to my surprise, Will, who had decided to join us after all, laughed.

  I looked at them in surprise, “What’s so funny?” I asked quietly.

  Will shook his head. He didn’t answer me though; instead he addressed Sarah’s father. “You seem to be labouring under the misapprehension that you somehow have more rights to Millie than my Tomas does. He’s the father of your daughter’s child. You have no rights over her.”

  He sneered, “Where’s the proof?”

  Tom shoved him away from him, “The birth certificate is pretty damned clear, dude.” He growled.

  “But you’re gay.” He said indignantly, “Or you wouldn’t be getting married to your boyfriend.”

  Tom nodded; Sarah’s dad was pretty well informed, he’d clearly done his homework… “It took me a while to figure that out. Sarah and I were together for a while before I ended up with Will – not that any of this is your business.”

  Sarah’s father straightened his shoulders and nodded, trying to look all business-like, “Well, like I’ve already told you, she has a home with me and her new grandmother now.”

  Tomas stepped into him and snarled, an inch from his face, “You’re forgetting that she already has a home – with me and Will.”

  He laughed nervously, “You can’t seriously be expecting to know how to bring up a little girl…”

  Tom’s eyes flashed dangerously. This guy was either very brave or very stupid to keep prodding at the bear... “And what sort of a parent were you?” he asked in a deadly voice, “Because from where I’m standing, I’d strongly suggest that any court in this land would agree that she belongs with me. She lives with her two daddies, her uncles, her aunt and her cousin.” He paused, “She’s happy and loved and taken care of – just take a look at her. She’s thriving with us.” He looked Sarah’s father up and down. “You walked out on your only daughter when she was barely fourteen years old – leaving her completely alone in the world. She was raised by foster carers until she was old enough to live alone.” He sneered in his face, “Millie live with you? Over my dead and festering body. No fucking way. You’re a fucking disgrace.”

  I went over to stand with Tom. “Is that true?” I asked the rather uncomfortable looking man incredulously, “You left her – on purpose?”

  He looked back at me shiftily, “I was in a bad place. My wife died when she was very young. I found it difficult…”

  Tom nodded, “So what happens when you’re another twenty years older and find yourself in the same boat?” He took a step towards him, “She’s staying with me.”

  The man nodded, “Fine…” he agreed. He could see he was beat.

  Tomas took a deep breath. “You’re welcome to stay for the funeral and we’re having the wake back at home. You can come to that, too – that way you can see how well looked after your granddaughter is.”

  He smiled, looking relieved that Tomas had stopped snarling, “Thank you.” He said, “I’d like that.”

  *

  It was an emotional day. To start with, Sarah had done a video for us. We all watched with tears rolling down our faces.

  “Hey everyone,” she waved into the camera, a beaming smile on her face. She’d recorded this a while back – when she didn’t even look ill. It was so damned cruel that her life had been cut so short, “My thanks to all of you for coming today. It’s nice to see so many of you coming to see me off.”

  She looked directly into the camera and addressed Tom. “But I’m mostly happy to see you here Tom. I guess you’ve always known that you’re important to me but now that there’s no awkwardness between us, I want you to know that I really love you with all my heart and I always have. Ever since I first laid eyes on you at Grattage’s.” She smiled, “And I always knew that you’ve always loved someone else and you could never be mine – so I took what I could and you were the best friend I ever had.

  “I’ll never be able to thank you enough for what you’ve done for me and Millie – or you, Will. I know he had difficultly in telling you what he’d promised me and neither of us could have foreseen how it would end – so thank you for the being the most amazing person. Good luck for your wedding at Christmas. I’m totally bummed that I won’t be able to make it.” She laughed, “I’ll be there in spirit, though, I promise.”

  She smiled into the camera again. “Sorry for making your cry, Tom.”

  We all giggled softly as Tom let out another huge sob that was also a laugh. Will put his arm around him and gave him a supporting hug.

  She smiled, “I hope in time you can watch this and smile instead. And Tom, don’t forget – a pony, uni, and an Armani suit.” She winked.

  The video ended. We all cheered.

  Tom stood up and walked to the front. “I’m crap at speeches.” He started a little shakily, “But a few of you like my singing – so here goes.”

  Tomas had asked Sawyer to play the piano while he dedicated a song to Sarah instead of giving a speech for her. He sang “She’s always a woman.” Everyone was in tears.

  Sarah’s father came over when he’d finished. “I’m sorry we got off on the wrong foot.” He said sticking his hand out to shake Tom’s.

  Tom nodded. He didn’t smile at the guy but he did shake his hand. “Right.” He said.

  “I can see that Sarah must have meant a lot to you. That was beautiful.”

  Will went over to them both. “He really loved her,” He said, “They were best friends.”

  Sarah’s father, who we later discovered was named Andy, nodded, “Well, she couldn’t have asked for a better friend, then. It’s been a real pleasure to meet you – all of you.”

  Tom smiled, “Thanks,” he said, “You’re welcome to visit Millie any time. It would be nice for you to have a relationship with her.”

  Andy nodded, “Yes,” he agreed, “maybe I can do better this time.”

  Chapter 7 – Will

  Stag Party…

  “Is it really bad that I just want to be with you for our stag party?”

  Tom looked at me with his eyes twinkling and a
big smile on his face. He shook his head, “Absolutely not.” He said, “I don’t want to be apart either, dude.”

  I sighed in relief. Not that I thought he would do anything really stupid like end up on a boat to China or anything, and the idea of either of us wanting one last night of freedom was frankly laughable. We were the most loved up couple in history and we had a child together already, too…

  I grinned back at him, “Toby and Trey are organising our stag party then. God help us…”

  He nodded, “I know, right?” He agreed.

  Chapter 8 – Trey

  Toby and I had been set the task of organising Will and Tom’s stag party. The pair of pussies wanted to go out together. I know! What’s that all about? Anyway…

  “So, what sort of thing do you think they’re gonna want?” I asked Tate one morning as we were getting breakfast, “A male stripper? You know how much they both like Magic Mike.”

  Tate snorted and shook his head as Toby looked at us both, utterly horrified at the idea.

  I had to laugh at his face, but I thought it was a valid question. A lot of guys wanted to go to a strip club for their stag nights. I just couldn’t see a bunch of girl strippers really floating their boat…

  Tate’s answer was even funnier though, “No you dummy,” he said scornfully as he flicked the kettle on, “those two would probably prefer a tea party and a Disney movie!”

  I laughed, “Yeah, you’re probably right there.” I agreed. I got the cups out and was just reaching for the coffee. I didn’t notice Tomas who had just come into the kitchen.

  “Oi, you cheeky git!” he said with a laugh, “I heard that!” A pair of rolled up socks sailed straight past their intended target and hit me on the back of my head.

  I started laughing too. “Sorry mate – just trying to figure out what you want to do for your stag party.”

  He shrugged, grinning all over his face, “Just my brothers, my fiancé and my sister’s fiancé is enough. We can find a club, have a few drinks, a dance and home again. That’s perfect for us.”