Gen 1 - Chapter 14: The Afterparty

Author's note, this chapter will be told from Jenna's point of view.

I do, I repeated the words in my head on the car ride back to the house. It all seemed a little surreal, we were finally married. Billy was dropping us off at home, so that we could get changed. He went back to his to change too, as nobody wanted to spill drinks on their lovely wedding attire. I held Claude's hand the entire way home, my thumb gently rubbing over his wedding band, freshly placed on his soft hands. I felt so comfortable and yet so alive. I still had a nagging feeling that I had forgotten something, but I didn't want to ruin the day by sounding like a crazy.

It took a very short time to get changed, I brushed my dress gently before putting a plastic cover over it and hanging it in the closet. I also put my wedding shoes and earrings back in their respective boxes. I wanted to be able to open them in twenty years time and still get the same feeling that I was having now. We had to wait a while for Billy to come and pick us up, as Claude had arranged with him that he would drive so that we could enjoy a glass or two of champagne. Billy told Claude that his doctor back in France had advised him against drinking due to a stomach ulcer some years ago.

I came downstairs to find Claude and the girl's in a conspiratorial huddle, they stopped their conversation as I entered the room, all I heard was something about bags. Lyra and Lily both looked up at me sheepishly as though they thought I was aware of what they were discussing. There was an envelope lying on the table, which Claude hastily shoved into his inside jacket pocket before I had a chance to see what it was. Flashes of brilliant spy movies raced through my mind, where somebody use a sleight of hand to take something out of someones pocket without them realising. I remember though that we had just got married and I didn't want to start my first day of wedded life by becoming a pick pocket, I'm sure whatever was in the envelope I would be made aware of, it was probably nothing for me to worry about, probably just a copy of his vows that he wanted to take......on our honeymoon......damn, in that brief moment I remembered what I had forgotten.

"Claude", I exclaimed "we have forgotten the honeymoon", I looked at him dumbfounded I couldn't believe I had made such an obvious error on a day that was supposed to be perfect. He looked at me unfazed, shrugged his shoulders and simply said " Oh that's a shame." I couldn't believe that he wasn't bothered by this.

Billy arrived, so we got in the car and headed to the reception. I was still reeling from the honeymoon shock, so our journey was a lot quieter and less romantic than I would have liked. Claude rang ahead to Dudley, who Claude had deputised to oversee the festivities, to make sure everything was ready for our arrival.

When we arrived, despite my disappointment I was still amazed at how beautiful the suite looked, The flowers from the ceremony had been brought over and displayed around the room, the tables and chairs had ribbon to match my dress, it was just breathtaking. It seems like we were congratulated by 150 people, when actually there was only 20 close friends and their plus ones. We had decided that there would be about half an hour for people to chat to each other and to give everybody time to find their seats, then the speeches, and then the meal and then the disco.

I didn't see the girl's for a while, or Billy for that matter, but then I was very distracted by the amount of people I was speaking too. I saw Claude walk over to the main door as the girl's reappeared through it, I realised that something was definitely going on and as I was about to ask Claude I was interrupted yet again by more well wishers. Billy stood at the main table signalled over to Ryan, who I had just realised was controlling the music for the event. The music stopped as Billy said very clearly " Ladies and Gentlemen, can you please take your seats for the speeches, And as I am the oldest person here I am going first." Which provoked chuckling throughout the assembled guests.

It took a few minutes for everyone to work their way to where they needed to be. Billy stood patiently and waited for silence, he looked serious and yet very happy, and also very old.

"For those of you who do not know", he began " I had not seen Claude for over 25 years, he came to France and brought me back to live in TwinBrook where his family and their friends welcomed me with open arms. I can tell you now that it makes me very happy to see these two together and to see the beautiful children that they have brought into this world. I have many regrets in my life, most of all is the time I missed with the people I cared for the most. There is a famous saying " That smart people learn from their mistakes, while genius's learn from the mistakes of others". Now if this newly married couple go away from here today having learnt just one thing, it is that you cannot buy time. Time wasted or lost cannot be replaced. The lives of those most precious to you can disappear in a heartbeat, so treasure every moment because you cannot get it back. Thank-you very much for coming today, it is very nice to see that my family is surrounded by so many people that they can call friends. I would like you to all join me in a toast to the happy couple."

Glasses clinked and tears fell, there were not many dry eyes in the room, I even saw some of the waiting staff reaching discreetly for their handkerchiefs. Claude stood up and embraced Billy, who also had tears in his eyes. I heard Billy whisper to Claude that it was a shame that his mother could not have been here to see it, because she would have been so proud of the man he was and the life he had built.

Billy sat down, Claude turned and began his speech.

"Firstly I would like to thank my dad for those very beautiful words, I am sure that is a lesson that we could all learn from today. Secondly I would like to thank all of you for attending as well and being part of our day and part of our lives. When I arrived in TwinBrook I had the change from my train fare and a dream to become a police officer. Over the years I have started to feel more like a farmer than a police man as I started to sow the seeds for my future, I stand here today full of pride and happiness at the legacy I have spawned. I first me Jenna about 6 months after my arrival in TwinBrook, she practically assaulted me with this book she was reading, which I later found out was her favourite called "Special Snowflake". Obviously we all know where that meeting led too. I'd never been married before but I am full of hope for the future, I'd like to thank my wife Jenna for the years of support and for the effort she has put in to make this day as special as it is. When we were getting changed before coming to the reception Jenna remember that she had not organised the honeymoon, I was aware from her plans that I happened to come across that she seemed to over looked this piece of the wedding puzzle". Claude reached into his pocket to pull out the envelope. " This envelope contains two passports, 5,000 simoleans spending money and two tickets for a two week all inclusive trip to Al Simhara in Egypt". There was a round of applause. "I have spoken to Ryan and Goodwin and we are now officially on a two and a half week holiday, dad is staying at ours and will be looking after the girl's. In the boot of dad's car is all of our luggage, which the girl's packed for us shortly after we arrived here.

I couldn't believe it, I loved this man. He knew the one thing I had forgotten and had organised it better than I could have done myself. I stood up and kissed him gently. "Once again", said Claude as he held my hand " Thank-you all very much for coming, I would like you all to join me in a toast to my wonderful family and my beautiful wife."

Claude sat down, I felt a weight of expectation after those two wonderful speeches, what was there left to say?

"I'm not a big public speaker, so I will keep this brief. Nothing I could say could equal Claude and Billy's words today. Firstly I would like to thank my wonderful Husband for being everything I need and everything I have ever wanted. Secondly I would like to thank Billy, you have been a wonderful addition to this family and I am very glad you are a part of our lives. And thirdly to my girl's, you looked absolutely divine in your dresses today and I have absolutely no worries about jetting off halfway round the world, I know that you will be well looked after and are sensible enough not to get into trouble. Lastly to all of our friends and the staff, thank-you all very much for attending. That is all for the speeches, there is an open bar and buffet, so please feel free to enjoy yourselves and I hope you have as much fun today as I have had."

We stayed at the reception for a couple of hours and then headed off to start our future. There were more tears from some guests and the girl's. Billy had agreed to drive us to the airport. I told Ryan and Dudley to make sure that the girl's did not drink too much. I knew I was being over protective, but it was the last parental thing I would do for two weeks. With it being such a small town we had agreed with the bar manager to obviously cover the costs of the event and the staffing and the open bar, apparently he had told Claude before we left that as Claude was a police officer he was sure he could trust him to pay the bill on our return from our honeymoon. As obviously he would need a day or two to work out all the costs. Claude looked at him and pulled something out of the envelope, which was a pre-written check, I could see a handful of zero's and told him that this would cover the expenses for room hire, staffing, drinks, food and a very generous thank-you tip to be shared equally amongst the staff. The bar manager enthusiastically shook his hand and said that he had never met a man quite so generous. He whispered to me in a voice laced heavily with an Italian accent, make sure you keep a hold of this one. I replied, I don't think will be any problems with that.

We finished our goodbyes and left for the airport. Claude unloaded our luggage, and we said goodbye to Billy who then left to collect the girls and take them home. There was a 10 minute delay with our flight, I felt sad to think that by the time we landed in Egypt our wedding day would be over. I wanted to be able to bottle this moment and keep it forever. I reached into my hand luggage and found a copy of Special Snowflake, and I snuggled up next to Claude as we waited for takeoff.......... .

Stay tuned for Chapter 15 :)