THE WHOLE FAMILY was gathered, Lila and Tariq flying in laden with gifts for everyone, Steve and Fran were up from Sydney with their baby Chloe, Carrie and the twins, all three looking beautiful, Izzy and Mac, with George, usually held in Nikki’s arms, the centre of much attention as the very latest addition to the family.
Emma and Marty had decided, after much deliberation, to hold the celebration at the old nunnery where the Halliday family—as the locals called them—had grown up.
And there were dozens of them, all present to see the last of the brood safely married off.
Emma dressed in the little flat Pop had fixed up for Izzy when she’d brought Nikki home from hospital—Nikki, the birth daughter of Liane, the sister who hadn’t survived her horrendous early childhood.
And Dad was with her in the flat, helping with the last-minute touches, fastening the pearls he’d given her as a wedding gift—pearls that had been his mother’s.
‘Why didn’t my mother take them?’ Emma asked, and watched him closely for they rarely spoke of her mother.
‘She felt they were yours,’ he said. ‘She wasn’t bad, or uncaring, Emma, she was just a square peg in a round hole and she had to escape or die. She loved you and in her own way loved me, but once she’d met Helena and realised what true love was, she couldn’t live a lie anymore. Helena took her back to Europe, to Hungary where she was from, and from there they roved the world—or that had been the plan when they departed.’
‘She never thought to keep in touch?’
Her father drew her close and hugged her, heedless of creases in the soft green dress Emma was wearing.
‘She said that that would make it too hard for all three of us, and she was probably right, for it would have awoken memories that hurt both of us.’
He paused, then added, ‘Have you missed her?’
Emma eased away from him and looked into his eyes.
‘Not for a minute. You’ve been all I’ve ever needed and more as far as parents go.’
She kissed his cheek.
‘Now, let’s go and get this wedding over with,’ he said. ‘Knowing Hallie, she will have organised a tremendous spread, and everyone will be getting hungry.’
They walked down the stairs and out into the big back yard, where Marty and his family would have played so often. And the family had obviously been busy, for the rather saggy old grape arbour had been fixed and covered with fresh flowers, and a carpet laid beneath it.
And there was Marty, waiting for her, Stephen beside him as support, while Hallie held the hands of two little boys, dressed in smart new clothes for the occasion, Puppy, with flowers in his collar, sitting docilely beside them.
‘It’s Mummy,’ Xavier yelled, and everyone turned to watch her and Dad walk towards them, the two boys, obviously under strict instructions from Hallie, standing very still.
It was Marty who’d insisted they be part of the wedding party, because, as he’d explained, he was marrying all three of them. Well, four of them it would be by the end of the year—but only she and Marty knew that.
And in that flowery bower, looking out over the town towards the sea, they committed to each other, repeating words that echoed down through the mists of time, yet still had the power to bring tears to the eyes of the onlookers.
‘You may kiss the bride,’ the celebrant declared at last, and as Marty bent to kiss her, the boys broke free, rushing towards Emma, who knelt to hug them both, before Marty lifted them, one on each arm, and turned to his family and all their friends.
‘My new family,’ he said, and the pride in his voice, and the promise it held, made Emma smile through blurry eyes.
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