Toby snorted, “Are you kidding me?” he said with a laugh, “they’ll need until lunchtime to stop devouring each other. They take kissing and making up to a whole new level.”
I nodded. It was true…
However, they were about to prove us all wrong by appearing – looking completely blissed out on each other, there was no getting away from it, but still, they were awake and functioning and ready to look after their beautiful baby daughter – and it was still only ten o’clock in the morning. Wonders would never cease…
Chapter 14 – Maddie
“I really don’t need a day in a spa.” I complained, “I’d rather spend the day on the beach with the guys, playing in the sea.”
True chuckled, “Oh, don’t be such a spoilsport.” She said, “We never get a day of pampering. Humour me for at least the morning and then we can go and join the boys and the kids.”
I nodded. It was true that we never took any time off for ourselves – but in all honesty, none of us really needed to. We were a great support network for each other all of the time and spending all day every day with each other was generally blissful – and Dad and Gwen were flying in this afternoon and I didn’t want to miss them, either. “Fine.” I said, “But I have to be at the airport for three this afternoon to meet Dad and Gwen.”
True nodded, “We will be.” She promised, “Don’t worry about a thing.”
*
As it turned out, we had the best time at the spa. We both had facials, had our nails done and were generally pampered silly for a couple of very enjoyable hours.
We left feeling totally gorgeous and ready for anything.
“Right,” said True, “We’ll go and find the boys and then we’ll go for dinner – and then we’ll go and meet your folks.”
I nodded, “Great!” I agreed. I was silent for a moment and then I blurted out, “My dress is perfect, isn’t it?”
True stopped and turned to me, “Your dress?” she asked, “Your wedding dress?”
I nodded, chewing on my lip nervously. I’d loved it when I first saw it in a small wedding boutique shop in town but now I was beginning to worry that it was too simple.
True smiled, “It’s perfect.” She agreed, “Just like you.”
I nodded, “You’re sure?” I asked.
She smiled and nodded, “Absolutely.” She said, “Tate’s going to be stunned.”
Chapter 15 – Tate
“Do I look okay?” I beseeched my guys.
All of them looked up from what they were doing. Trey and Toby were adjusting each other’s ties. Will and Tomas were having a sneaky kiss and Sawyer was putting on his jacket. He was being my best man.
All of them grinned, “You look awesome.” That was Trey and Toby.
“Beautiful.” Will and Tom said in unison.
Sawyer grinned, “You look great – but sort out your face – you look like you’re about to shit yourself.”
Charming. It might be true, but it was still rude to voice it… I pulled a face at him, “Fuck off.” I said, “Just remember how nervous you were when it was your wedding.”
He chuckled, “You’re right.” He said, “I am sorry, Tate.”
I looked around at them all, “Well, this is it.” I said, “Shall we start making our way down to the beach?”
Toby and Trey jumped straight to attention, “Sure.” They both said at the same time. Honestly, I swear they were psychic.
We all made our way down to the beach. Sawyer constantly patting his top pocket when the rings were. “Beautiful setting.” He commented as we approached the officiant.
I nodded, “It’s perfect, isn’t it?” I said.
“And here comes your bride.” The officiant said in a heavily accented voice.
I turned and gasped. Maddie was wearing the most perfect dress. It showed off her slim figure to perfection. Her hair had been dressed simply but elegantly in a French pleat. I looked to see what shoes she was wearing and found that she had bare feet but her toenails were shining like diamonds. Wow. What an absolute stunner she was.
Her father was walking proudly at her side and True was following behind her, dressed in a dark navy dress that was similar enough to Maddie’s to match. I heard Sawyer sigh at the side of me. He’d clearly just spied his wife.
I looked around at our small number of guests and my heart swelled. There was one brother missing, but I understood why he couldn’t be here and we’d be home in a few days, anyway – we could totally have another party there.
We turned to the officiant who beamed at us. “Ready?” he asked.
I nodded, “Definitely.”
Our vows might not have been as flowery as Sawyer’s and True’s, or even as emotionally charged as Tom’s and Will’s but they were delivered from the heart and you could have heard a pin drop while we were saying them to each other. The only other sound was the waves lapping the shore.
As we finished our vows and turned to the officiant for him to announce us husband and wife, the sun was just dropping down to meet the horizon. The whole experience had been absolutely magical.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your beautiful bride.”
I didn’t need telling twice. Gathering her to me, I lowered my face to hers and closed my eyes.
Our lips met and I thought my heart would burst with the feelings coursing through me. “I love you Maddie.” I whispered as I pulled away.
She smiled at me, “I love you, too.” She said, “Always have. Always will.
The End
Toby and Robyn and Trey and Clarissa’s Weddings…
Chapter 1 – Toby
My brother scowled at me. It still wasn’t as impressive as Tom’s, even after all these years, but he tried hard, bless him... “They’d better have come up with something really fucking awesome for our stag night.” He said grumpily, “’Cause theirs were all amazing.”
I chuckled, “You’re just sore because they wouldn’t let you organise it – you can’t organise your own stag party, dude – that’s the best man’s job.” And besides, everything had to be approved by our management team now that we were all celebrities...
He pulled a face, “Well – that’s the other thing that pisses me off. I still don’t see why we can’t be each other’s best men – we’d give each other the most awesome stag night…” Again, the management team would never allow it, but if I started on that, Toby’s mood would go even further downhill...
I rolled my eyes, “Look, bro’,” I said, trying to sound as reasonable as I could, “it stands to reason that if we’re both gonna be up there saying our vows – we can’t exactly be the ones holding each other’s rings.”
That got a smile out of him. He snorted, “No,” he said, “That would never do – that’s more Sam’s style anyway.”
Dirty bastard. Why did he always have to go for the filthiest wisecracks? “Well, good job he’s our best man, then.”
Trey beamed at me, “Yeah.” He agreed, “He’s the next best thing to you, anyway.”
I nodded. I felt the same way about him. “Yeah, he’s a great lad.” I agreed.
Just at that moment, Sam sauntered into the room. He grinned, “Hey, guys.” He said, “How’s it going?”
I shrugged, “Trey’s having a meltdown about the stag party. Please tell him that you’ve organised something absolutely out of this world, won’t you?”
He grinned, “I’ve organised you a whole week of fabulousness.” He said, “Starting with a night out at an exclusive restaurant and club, with your lovely ladies – and I cleared it with security, too.”
My heart stuttered. Restaurant and nightclub? Didn’t he and Luca work at one of those? I always instantly thought of fancy gay strip clubs or something when I pictured where they worked. Just with gourmet food – and from the look of horror on Trey’s face, I was guessing that he thought the same.
“And what’s that gonna be like?” I asked.
He just smiled se
cretively, “You’ll see.” He said with a slight hint of laughter in his voice. “Trust me,” he said, “You’ll fucking love it.”
Well, Trey might with his penchant for being able to appreciate a decent set of pecs as well as breasts – but I wasn’t all that sure I would…
Chapter 2 – Dylan
I knew I was becoming quite well-known in some circles for the weddings I’d planned with my partner in the business, Zoe, but nothing could have prepared me for being asked to plan the celebrity wedding of the year… I kid you not – I almost passed out cold.
Robyn Reece. She was a multi-millionaire actress and had recently become the sweetheart of the nation, since she’d met and fallen in love with her pen-friend of ten years, Toby Fletcher. It was the stuff of dreams and I’d been absolutely gobsmacked when she’d called our office in person to request my services.
To say I’d been star-struck was a bit of an understatement and Zoe, too had been absolutely delighted to meet her. Zoe was pregnant with her first child, having finally met the man of her dreams, Rick and had been taking a far less active role in the business as a result – meaning that the entire gig was down to me.
That didn’t bother me one iota. I had energy in bucket loads – and since I never really had time for romance for myself, I was perfectly happy to throw myself headlong into making this the most perfectly romantic day of their lives…
Chapter 3 – Robyn
“Do you think we should have more bridesmaids?” I asked worriedly, wringing my hands and feeling about one hundred and fifty years old with the stress of the whole thing.
We were getting ready to go out with Toby and Trey. It was a week before the wedding and I was getting stressed out over absolutely everything.
Clarissa poked her head out of her room with a bit of a frown, “No, why?”
I rolled my eyes, “Hello-o,” I said sarcastically, “We’ll be slaughtered in all the celebrity magazines if we don’t have a decent head-count.”
She made a really rude snorting noise – one that I’d always been kind of jealous of – but thankful that I couldn’t do, all at the same time, “Do you really care what they think?” she asked, “Who are they to you anymore, anyway?”
She had a point. I’d never been happier than since I turned my back on all that overly intense celebrity crap and started to live at Riverside with Toby and the rest of the Fletchers. It wasn’t just a family – it was a slice of heaven and since we’d been involved with the reality show, we’d been left alone for the best part of the time. We’d become household names but the intensity had all but disappeared. Most people just thought they knew us. It was still weird – but at least I had a whole family to share the weirdness with, now! “You’re right.” I nodded, trying to convince myself that I was worrying over nothing, “I just can’t help stressing…”
Clarissa came out of her room, hair in curlers and her dressing gown on. She came and stood in front of me and took hold of my shoulders. She looked me in the eye, with eyes that were pretty much the same as my own – we might be fraternal twins but we did resemble each other quite strongly, facially – and our eyes had always been carbon copies of each other’s. “Now you listen to me, little sister.” She grinned as she said that – she was fourteen minutes older than I was…
I smiled, “What?” I asked.
“Toby Fletcher adores you.”
I nodded, my heart starting to thump a little harder in my chest at the mere mention of his name. I adored him right back.
“And, so does Trey, Tom, Will, Tate, True, Sawyer, Sam, Luca, Emilio and all the rest of them.” I was pretty glad she’d stopped naming everyone – we’d have been there a while… “And that adorable young man that we’ve hired as the wedding planner will make sure that everything goes smoothly – and he’ll liaise with ‘Hello’ magazine and everyone will fall in love with him and it’s all going to be fine.”
I nodded again, beginning to breathe a little easier with her pep-talk. “I know that.” I said. In all honesty, I wasn’t worried about that side of things. I was worried that ‘Hello’ magazine or one of the others would turn a beautiful day into a nightmare.
She smiled, “And you’ve always been the paparazzi’s darling.” She reminded me, “They can’t wait to report on this wedding – it’s like a fairy tale ending. They don’t often get a happy-ever-after to report on, you know? It’s mostly all about digging in the dirt for a story for them.”
She was right of course. My heart rate started to ebb a little. I nodded, feeling suddenly a whole lot calmer. “Yeah,” I said, “You’re absolutely right. Let’s not worry.”
She shook her head, “I wasn’t worried in the slightest.” She murmured, “Now have you finished getting ready?” I nodded, “Good,” she said, “You can help me find something to wear.”
I laughed, “Isn’t Jules coming to talk to us about what we’re doing with our hair?”
Clarissa nodded, “Yes – he’s bringing Chas with him – and I think Dylan’s popping round with some idea or other he’s thought up, too. That guy is amazing. His attention to detail is second to none.”
I nodded, “He is amazing,” I agreed, “And super-cute, too. I wonder if he’s already got a boyfriend.” Not that I had anyone lined up for him or anything, I just thought he was too adorable to be wasted on the single life…
Chapter 4 – Robyn
“Robyn!”
Clarissa grinned at me, “And that would be the boys arriving.” She said, “I’ll go and make sure Trey looks after them all – while you can take five to calm yourself down a little.”
I smiled at her, “No need. I’m fine now.” I said, “Just a bit of a wobble. I’ll come down with you.”
We headed down the stairs to where Toby was waiting with a big, happy smile on his face, “Hey, beautiful.” He said, “Chas and Jules are in the lounge waiting for you and Dylan’s just arrived as well. He’s busy in the kitchen making the coffee – you know what he’s like.” He chuckled.
Dylan really had made himself part of the family recently. He kept muttering ‘goals’ under his breath every time he met with Sam and Luca, which was hilarious to the rest of us, but I got the feeling he actually meant it.
Jules’s eyes lit up when we entered the room, “Ladies.” He said with a beaming smile, “I’ve got the most fabulous styles for your hair to view.”
I let out a happy sigh. Everything was going to be perfect…
Half an hour later, with the hairstyles sorted out and our headwear decided upon, I couldn’t have been happier.
I wholeheartedly trusted ‘My Perfect Wedding’ to sort us out with the most fabulous dresses. Dylan was amazing. He’d brought with him about twenty dresses for us to choose from, from their new and exclusive range that he and Zoe had been keeping under wraps so we were the first to wear them.
“Oh, my God!” I exclaimed, “You’re so generous.”
He beamed at me, “Oh, honey.” He said, “Thank you – but it’s mutually beneficial.”
I looked at him in confusion, “What do you mean?”
He preened a little, “Well,” he said, “You and your beautiful sister get to look absolutely fabulous – and then every young woman in the country will want to have your dresses. Voila!” he said with a flourish, “I get to be rich!”
I laughed, “Genius.” I murmured.
He nodded, “I sometimes think I really am.” He agreed. Dylan sure wasn’t under confident when it came to his career.
But why should he be? He was like a human dynamo. He’d already liaised with Hello magazine and by all accounts, had wrapped the editor around his little finger. He’d arranged everything effortlessly. Well, I’m sure with a whole lot of effort – but his presentational skills were incredible. It all appeared to be effortless.
“And how is your partner?” I asked.
At his slight frown, I added, “Zoe?”
He blinked and then his smile was back in place, “Oh, right.” He s
aid, “You do know she’s only my partner in business, don’t you?” He added, going a little pink, “I uh, you know,” he rolled his eyes charmingly, “bat for the other side.”
I grinned at him, “Yes.” I said, “I’d kind of gathered that. I was wondering how she was with the baby.”
He shuddered, “Absolutely fine.” He said, “It’s going perfectly. I just hope she gets herself booked in at the hospital in good time. I really don’t need to deliver another one.”
My jaw dropped, “What?”
He nodded, “Oh, yes.” He said, rolling his eyes dramatically, “I had to deliver my other business partner’s baby not so long ago. She went into premature labour and that baby wasn’t waiting for anyone.”
“Oh, my God.” Clarissa exclaimed, “That sounds nightmarish.”
He nodded, “Believe me.” He said with another cute shudder, “It was. Still, the baby’s cute. Her name’s Anthea.”
At that moment, Jules appeared, “Are we going to do a practice run and dress your hair?” he asked, “Or are you wanting to look at the dresses first?”
I looked at Clarissa and we both grinned, “Dresses.” We said in unison.
Dylan was in his element for the next hour, but by the end of another two hours after that and we were still deliberating, he was about hairless… Finally, we’d both chosen our perfect gown.
“You’re sure?” he asked anxiously. Well, who could blame him?
We looked at each other and nodded and then looked back at Dylan, “Absolutely sure.” I said. Clarissa murmured her agreement.
“Oh, thank God.” He said. “I thought you’d be far more diva-ish than this.”
I chuckled, “I know. How boring. I never really did get into the whole diva celebrity thing.”
He smiled, “Well, I’m very glad you didn’t.” he said. Looking up at Jules, he smiled, “They’re all yours now. Do your magic.”
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