Harvesting Acorns (19 page)

Now
the only thing was to set a date. Chloe said, for reasons she would not share
at that point, that she would like a late autumn wedding. The park would be all
shades of brown and gold and the weather neither too hot nor too cold for an
outside wedding. That meant that they had roughly eight months to go which was
more than enough time to prepare and what seemed like an eternity to wait for.
They were eager to begin their new life together but Chloe was adamant that was
the way she wanted it for everything to be perfect. Ben did not question her on
that, he trusted her judgment and that her reasons would be valid.

C
hapter Twelve

During
the next eight months Chloe juggled her career, her soon to be new family and
her wedding preparations with grace and elegance. Her wedding organising was as
meticulous as her research and editing. She made all the décor herself, from
invitations to table place cards and thank you gift boxes and notes. Hannah
helped her as well and together they discovered a new, useful hobby they both
enjoyed – they made all the candles for the tables themselves. They were
varying shades of brown with gold details as Chloe had thought would be fitting
for their autumn theme.

They
rummaged through the antique store and other stores for glass covers for the
candles to protect the flames from the autumn breeze. Chloe decided on off white
table cloths also with overlays in shades of brown. Closer to the time they
would collect the autumn leaves that fell from the oak to decorate the tables.

She
had been told that Jessica was a talented seamstress in her spare time and so
Chloe had asked her to help design and make her dress. She had decided on a
simple flowing satin dress in a rich white with gold shimmer. She did not like
anything overdone with lace and beads and the like or big trains and stiff
petticoats. She just wanted something that followed her natural curve and made
her feel feminine and graceful. Hannah, on the other hand, wanted something
with a little more flair for her flower girl dress. She wanted to look like a
princess and Jessica was very patient and creative in styling the perfect
princess dress for her, complete with sequins and tiara. James had a simple
white suit with a gold waistcoat and tie.

Phoebe
popped into her office almost daily with either pictures of wedding cakes or
samples of cakes she had practiced baking. In the end she decided on just a
simple one tiered square and trusted the decorating to Phoebe’s care. The meals
would be simple, picnic style; salads, breads and cheeses, fruit and yoghurt
and an assortment of easy foods that could be served without heating.

Everything
was coming together perfectly. Everyone had their roles to play in the special
day and Chloe, Ben and Hannah could finally relax in the last month leading up
to the big day. All was prepared and so there was no pressure or last minute
stressing to get things done.

That
just left James’ task and Chloe met with him the first Saturday of the month
before the wedding to discuss it with him. He was so happy to have such an
important role and to be able to contribute and be included. Chloe asked him to
keep it as a surprise for the day, but knew she did not have to worry about him
spilling the beans. She remembered all the patience she had learned while
waiting for him to reveal his own secrets all that time ago when she had first
met him. She knew this was safe with him and that he was well equipped to carry
it out perfectly. He would handle his part alone and then they would get
together a few days before the wedding day to put it all together.

Chloe’s
parents, her brother, and her sister and her family would be arriving a week
before the big day, and her two best friends would arrive four days before.
Phoebe had organised their rooms as well as arranged for them to be collected
from the airport in the neighbouring town. She wanted to make sure that the
only thing Chloe needed to focus on was marrying the love of her life and
stepping into her new role as wife and mother.

Edward
had given her their gift early, when the preparations had first begun so that
she could plan properly. He and Beth were giving Chloe and Ben the gift of a
two week honeymoon. He asked Chloe to discuss it with Ben and give it some
thought as to what kind of honeymoon they would like. An island honeymoon, in
the Seychelles or Mauritius, with lazing on the beach and sipping cocktails; or
a skiing honeymoon in Switzerland with fireside hot chocolate and toasted
marshmallows; or perhaps a historical or spiritual tour, Machu Pichu or Tibet
maybe – anywhere in the world they wanted to go for two weeks would be the
Taylor’s wedding gift to them. After much discussion they had decided on
Alaska. Chloe had always dreamed of seeing the aurora lights and Ben would love
to go husky sledding. Hannah would stay with Jessica and James for the two
weeks and Grace and Joel would be on standby to help out. Of course Hannah and
James were thrilled with this idea. She really had been recovering well and Ben
felt confident that she would be in capable hands while they were away, and
when they returned they would take her on a weekend away with them to celebrate
their new family circle.

The
big day was drawing nearer. Chloe’s family arrived and they shared a happy
reunion with them telling her how proud they were of her and happy that she had
found her niche in the world. They spent hours catching up on family news. Her
parents were getting on a bit in years and had started making retirement plans.
They would work just until Byron had completed his studies and was able to
become self-sufficient. Their retirement plan included selling their large home
in the suburbs and buying a smaller unit in one of the luxury retirement
villages of the golf estate. Chloe’s father had been a keen golfer most of his
life and had been a member of the golf estate for many years. It seemed the
natural plan for them to extend their membership to make provision for their
retirement years.

Byron
had finished school and had begun his studies in sports physiotherapy. Chloe
was so proud of him. He had always been very athletic and loved sports. He had
received many school awards for just about as many sports as the school
offered.

Julia
and her husband were contemplating a move back home for a small town
environment for their children to grow up in. Julia was finding the travelling
to school and work challenging with still having to run the children around for
after school activities and doing homework with them. They were considering
baby number three, and with her husband’s career taking off in a big way, they
felt Julia could stop working for a while to focus on the family and most
likely home school the children herself. She had always dreamed of being able
to do so.

A
few days later her best friends arrived, and they slipped into their lifelong
friendship ways of giggling teenagers, catching up on each other’s lives and
having an all-out good time. Although they had been out of school for many
years, they never lost the school-girlish nature of their friendship, and
whenever the three of them got together it turned into a bubbly and sometimes
raucous, though always dignified, occasion - lots of laughter and ceaseless
chatter. Vivienne was pregnant, at last. She had been so broody for a long
time, but her husband had wanted some quality newlywed time before starting a
family. Apparently it was still a bit sooner than he would have liked, but was
just as excited as Vivienne about their first baby. Candice’s second baby was
already six months old. She had two beautiful little girls who kept her
extremely busy and exhausted. Chloe took them all on a historical and scenic
tour of the village, showing them all of her favourite places and for a long
walk on the beach together.

Phoebe
invited Chloe over for the normal midweek dinner which, being tradition, Chloe
explained to her friends and family that she would honour, despite them all
being there. Little did she know what Phoebe had up her sleeve!

When
she arrived as usual, Chloe led her through to the lounge instead of the dining
room, and to her surprise her mother, sister, best friends, Grace and Jessica
were all there – for her bridal shower. Phoebe had organised it all. She had
decorated the lounge beautifully in pink and white. They had all mutually
decided on a pamper theme, which they had thought was most needed after all she
had been through and how hard she had worked to help others.

Her
gifts had included a day at a spa with massages, facials, manicures, pedicures
and utter pampering on the agenda; lingerie; perfumes and lotions; and vouchers
for restaurants for her and Ben’s date nights that would follow after the
marriage. It was a rather sophisticated pamper party without all of the
ridiculous activities that bachelorette parties were notorious for. They didn’t
make her dress up in silly outfits and hit the streets, or get her inebriated
or any other mockery. It was just a time for them to bless her with love and
fun and just spoil her before her big day. She appreciated that so much and
they enjoyed an evening reminiscing about recent events, Chloe’s dreams for her
new life and indulging on decadent confectionary that Phoebe had made.

Around
nine o’clock the men arrived. They had all abducted Ben for his bachelor party
and, as tradition throughout the history of bachelor parties, they stood
together adapting the old Vegas saying with Ben chanting ‘what happens at a
bachelor party stays at the bachelor party’, obviously teasing Chloe. She
giggled knowing that his party would have been as above board as hers had been.
They had one extra guest with them that no-one had met yet. Joel brought him
over to meet the women – he had already gotten to know the men during the
bachelor party. This was Blake. Chloe gasped and looked at Grace. Grace
apologised, she had meant to tell her when she had arrived, but they had got
swept up in the party fun. Blake had arrived the day before on a very short
notice visit. They had been planning it for some time, but he had not been able
to be definite about the dates as he was relying on the supply ship to get to
the mainland from where he would travel. Chloe was thrilled. She could see how
much this meant to Joel and Grace and extended the invitation formally to the
wedding. They all continued the party together and it turned into a wonderful
evening among friends. Ben’s family lived abroad and so would not be able to
make it out for the wedding. They were very disappointed. Chloe and Ben had
arranged to have the wedding day screened on Skype so that they could interact
and watch it in real time.

The
big day arrived and Chloe was a bundle of nervous excitement. Jessica and
Hannah arrived early with her dress and together with Phoebe they went with her
to the hairdresser to have all of their hair done. According to tradition, the
hairdresser popped a bottle of champagne, which she found just calmed her
enough to stop shaking. The hairdresser gently styled her long raven black hair
into soft loose curls that cascaded over her shoulders and down her back and
wound tiny daisies sparsely through the curls. She was not going to be wearing
a veil. Hannah had her long blonde hair curled into tighter ringlets with her
tiara clipped into place. She really did look like the princess she was hoping
to resemble. Chloe was so unbelievably proud of her and that she was about to
become a mother figure to her. They went back to Phoebe’s home to get dressed.
Chloe’s dress was perfect, she looked radiant, and Hannah’s was adorable.
Phoebe did Chloe’s make up, very light and almost translucent. When she stepped
out into the hallway there wasn’t a dry eye between them all.

“Please
stop,” begged Chloe. “My make-up is going to run and Phoebe has just done it so
perfectly.”

They
all hugged her and then it was time to leave. A horse drawn carriage was
waiting outside to take them the short distance, actually only across the road,
to the park. They would first go for a short ride through the village and
arrive from the other end of the park.

Ben
and his entourage would be waiting beneath the tree. As the carriage came
around the corner and down the lane scattered with autumn oak leaves the guests
marvelled at the exquisiteness of the sight and moment. It was a moment fairy
tales were written about, that little girls dreamed of their whole lives. The
sight of Chloe, Hannah and Phoebe arriving in a white and gold carriage drawn
by two huge black Friesian horses was breath taking.

Ben
stood frozen in his place as he watched his bride approach. Jean Pierre nudged
him as the carriage stopped and he snapped out of his reverie and went to help
Chloe out of the carriage and down the crisp brown and gold aisle the oak had
laid before them. Above them the sun warmed the earth as their love warmed
their hearts. Squirrels played among the branches and birds flitted in and out
between the leaves. It was an idyllic day and they felt the entire universe
conspire to make this dream come true. As they approached the minister and the
rest of the entourage she saw James and winked at him, their surprise would be
revealed soon enough. The minister led them through a brief ceremony and then
Ben turned to Chloe and took her hands in his and read his vows:

“Chloe,
bearer of hope, fulfiller of dreams, giver of life… today you complete me.
Before you I was just existing, and now, because of you my daughter and I are
living, really living. I am not a man of poetic words or grand gestures, but
today I declare to the world my love for you and my dreams of a lifetime of
love and happy moments that we can build as a family. Thank you for saying yes.
I love you, my wife.”