Authors: Sarah Elizabeth Ashley
Ramiro
gives my hand to James, "You look stunning Blossom." he whispers.
"You
do too. I love you." I say quietly.
“Not
as much as I love you!” His mouth lifting to that stunning smile.
"You're
wearing your diamonds."
"What
did you expect?"
“And
you’re wearing blue. I like you in blue!”
“I
know.” I whisper.
The
official does and says whatever he needs to and then we’re invited to say the
vows we have prepared for each other. He looks to me first.
I
look up at My James, The Bossman, his deep brown eyes, his hair tamed, for
once. I smile, “James, I promise with all of my heart to love you always, to be
honest and faithful, to adore you even as we age. I promise to honour you with
my body and to share everything that I have with you. You are my very best
friend James, my confident, my lover and you will be my husband and I promise
to treat you as these every day, all day. James, I love you! Forever begins
today.”
I
look up at James and lift myself up slightly on my toes, kissing him gently on
each of his cheeks. The official looks at James and nods, he smiles, that
killer smile, my insides quiver and I flush, wildly!
“Alex I promise to love you,
always.
Without you I am only half of what I can be. I love you with all
of my heart. I will stand by you, I
will
protect you and worship you.
I’ll always be here for you, I’ll support you in whatever you do, walk beside
you wherever you go but most of all Alex, I love you for who you are.
Alex, I love you so very much. Forever begins today.”
He
leans forward and kisses me fully. Our congregation stand, clap and gasp
collectively.
The
official hands Maggie’s and Ramiro’s rings to us on a small cushion and we
place them on each other’s ring fingers, more words are said. We kiss again
before turning and walking the length of the oak clad room.
This is the Day
is played as we exit smiling at our friends, our
new
family as we hold
onto each other for the first time as Mr. and Mrs. Aconi.
Our
reception is busy, bustling. There’s beautiful food, Prosecco and as you would
expect piles of strawberries which James insists on feeding to me at random
times throughout the day, telling me that “they’re good for you”, each
strawberry is followed with a kiss and a promise of what’s to come later. I did
notice the little black bag when he packed!
I
meet people that I’ve never heard of, family of Roberto and Ramiro, cousins and
second cousins and their partners. Franco has also tracked down some of James’
family, Lucca’s family and they tell us stories of Lucca when he was young,
growing up and when he met James’ mother.
Fortunately
the majority of the younger generation speak English and so James and I are
able to hold a decent conversation. Plenty of wine flows throughout the
afternoon and dancing into the early evening, James holds my hand all the time,
watched by Ramiro who’s clearly keeping an eye on things!
Once
our reception is over we are driven to our villa, Anna and Gary are staying at
the hotel with Gia and Roberto, planned so that we may have our wedding night
on our own. As we pull up in front of the building James helps me out of the
car and lifts me up. He carries me whilst my head snuggles into his shoulder
through the door, over the threshold.
“Welcome
home Mrs. Aconi,” He mumbles. I reply with a giggle and a little kiss.
“You’re
not too tired are you?” He asks.
“No
I’m fine honestly, truthfully. Though I could murder a decent cup of tea!”
“Assam?”
“Please.
The hotel was wonderful, the food magnificent, the tea – crap!”
I
kick my pale blue heels off and crash down into one of the comfy sofa’s,
curling my legs up as James disappears into the kitchen. He returns a few
minutes later with a tray complete with tea pot, milk jug, sugar bowl and two
cups. He stirs the pot again and pours the dark amber liquid into a cup with a
tiny splash of milk. He adds half a spoon of sugar.
“No
sweeteners?” I ask.
“You
know what I feel about sweetener Alex, not now, not with trying to get you
pregnant! You need proper food, not saccharin or synthetic stuff!”
I
huff and drink the perfect cup of tea anyway.
“I’ve
got something for you.” I stand and walk to my portfolio case.
“Work!”
He grumbles.
“No,
not really! A sort of wedding present.”
I
take out a large envelope and walk back to where we’re sitting and hand it to
him. He puts his cup on the low table and sits back into the sofa. I stretch
out beside him my head on his lap as he opens the envelope and pulls out a thin
document stapled in the top left hand corner with a red seal. He looks at the
papers and flicks through the pages.
“You’ve
given me half of everything Alex?”
“Uh
huh. There’s a rider in there, but yes, what I have is yours, I promised this
afternoon to share everything I have, so yes, it’s all
ours
. With the
exception of Henry’s.”
“And
the rider?”
“It’s
in there, towards the back. It’s just to protect Anna and other children
we
may have. You can’t will or give any of the business assets to anyone other
than Anna or
our
children.”
“That’s
fine, because nothing will happen to
us.
And Henry’s?” He asks.
“Henry’s
is yours completely. Whatever happens to us and I know that nothing will, but
Henry’s is yours, one hundred percent in your name.”
He
bends forward and kisses me gently, “Thank you Alex, thank you for trusting me
so completely.”
“I
do and always will James, you’re my world!”
He
shuffles under me, running his fingers through my hair, across my forehead and
along my jaw. His thumb draws over my lips and he leans forward, his lips brushing
mine so gently. “Shall we go make a baby?” He smiles.
“I
thought you’d never ask!”
Alex’s
story continues in book three of this series
Eternally
Alex
Due
for publication Early 2014
Sarah Elizabeth Ashley is a first time British writer born
and raised in the Midlands county of Staffordshire where she still lives today
with her husband and two children, a dog and a couple of rabbits.
Forbidden to use her 'real' name by her children Sarah has
been saying for years that she has a book "in her". Finally finding
the time, she quite literally let the words flow as her first novel, Freeing
Alex, was created, the characters coming to life on her laptop. She describes
herself as a true Piscean with an over-active imagination and says that it took
a great deal of courage to release 'Freeing Alex' however, motivated by her
husband and family she finally took the plunge in August 2013.
“I love
to write- once I get an idea in my head, well it just seems to flow.” – Sarah E
Ashley