Mimi (15 page)

After a little while Aunt M. came in and plonked herself down on the sofa beside me. “Your granny!” she said, but she seemed to have calmed down a bit.

“Is it all sorted out now, Aunt M.?” I asked, one eye still on the telly.

“No, it’s not,” sighed Aunt M., “but I suppose it will work out on the day. I just hope the good weather keeps up for tomorrow.”

“My mammy’s in charge of the weather. Dad says it will be fine because she’s very reliable.”

Aunt M. laughed at that and gave me a little squeeze. “Did you meet the best man?” she asked. It was really hard to follow what was going on in
Southsiders
with all Aunt M.’s interruptions. “Nicholas used to be like him when I first met him. A total slob. Your granny thinks he still is!”

“Sally fancies him,” I said.

“Who? My Nicholas?”

“No, not your Nicholas,” I said. “George!”

“And how do you know that exactly, Miss Mimi?” Aunt M. started poking me in the side with her finger. “Did Sally tell you that?”

“Well . . . not really.”

Aunt M. was kneeling on the couch attacking me now, and I couldn’t stop laughing. “You read it in her diary, didn’t you? Admit it, you little nosy spy! Admit it or die a death by a thousand tickles.” We both fell onto the floor then, and between fits of nearly getting sick from laughing I could hear the closing music from
Southsiders.

In the evening, while it was still bright, Dad and I took Sparkler for her walk. Everyone else had gone home. We walked along quietly, but it was a nice peaceful silence. Then Dad said, “You know that I am going back to work full-time after half-term.”

I did know that, but I didn’t like to think about it. I didn’t like to talk about it either. “Mammy was killed during half-term,” I said at last.

“Yes,” said Dad. “It doesn’t seem like almost a year ago, does it?”

I thought about that. Sometimes it feels as if it happened yesterday, and other times it feels like a hundred years ago. “I wish she was here for the wedding,” I said.

“So do I,” said Dad, “but we’ll have a good day anyway, won’t we?” and he put his arm around my shoulder.

“Yes, we will. I can’t wait!”

We stopped then because Sparkler had to do her poop, as usual.

When we got back it was dark.

“I want to show you something,” said Dad. “Look!”

He flicked a switch and the whole garden lit up like a wonderland with little colored lights all around. It looked magical. And sitting in the middle of the grass, suddenly lit up, were Sally and Conor having a quiet chat.

“Now, off to bed, little miss,” said Dad. “You have a big day tomorrow. We all have.” And he gave me a special hug.

Before I went to sleep I took Mammy’s picture and told her about Sally fancying George, and asked her not to forget to make the sun shine tomorrow, and I told her that I loved her and said good night, sleep tight.

Today lots of good things happened.

First Good Thing:
I woke up early and the sun was so bright it was shining right through the curtains. Mammy had done her job.

Second Good Thing:
Daddy took Sally and me up to Aunt M.’s apartment to get ready. Emma was already there and the place was a mess. Aunt M. was in a state. Sally had to help her get dressed, and Emma and I had to put on our pink marshmallow dresses, and the phone kept ringing.

“Miss Marigold Roche’s residence. Can I be of assistance?” said Emma in a real posh voice when she picked up the phone. It was Granny. “M. — Granny wants to know if you need a hand getting dressed?” Emma called out. “God, no!” Aunt M. muttered under her breath, even though she was a bit worked up. Sally was trying to put her hair up but it looked like a bird’s nest. “Tell her no, thanks, everything is fine. Sally has it all in hand!” shouted out Aunt M. from the bedroom.

“Marigold says everything is in order, right on time and shipshape, Granny. Your assistance, while greatly appreciated, will not be required. Thank you and good day.” Emma got a fit of the giggles when she put the phone down. “She called me a cheeky little scallywag,” she said.

“This isn’t working, Sally!” Aunt M. was saying. “I know you’re doing your best, but you’re clueless!”

“It’s just that you won’t stand still for a minute!” complained Sally.

“Do you mind if we call Betty?” asked Aunt M.

“Please do!” said Sally, who was getting a bit fed up with it all.

“Emma, call your mother!” shouted Aunt M.

When Aunt Betty arrived, she gave a shake of her head at the state of the place and the state of Aunt M. “Marigold, you are a mess!” she declared, and then she started giving orders.

“Mimi, pick up those clothes and fold them. Sally, get yourself ready. Emma, keep out of the way. Chop-chop!”

Of course she soon had Aunt M. all dressed and made up and looking like a princess.

“Right, you all look smashing,” said Aunt B. “Now can I go home and get ready? I have a wedding to go to!”

“We look like a lollipop and three marshmallows,” said Sally, and everyone laughed.

Third Good Thing:
Driving to the church with Grandad in the jalopy. Grandad had been polishing up the jalopy for a week now and you could see your face in it. He had tied white ribbons to the trunk and the antenna, and cars hooted at us as we drove by. Emma and Aunt M. and I sat in the back, and Sally sat in the front. Grandad drove very slowly and carefully.

“Keep your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road, old man!” said Aunt M. in her pretend Granny’s voice.

Even though Grandad drove at the speed of a tortoise we got to the church too early — brides are supposed to be late — so Aunt M. made him drive around the block three times.

Fourth Good Thing:
Walking up the aisle with Emma, holding Aunt M.’s train (the long tail of her dress), while the wedding music played. Sally had to walk slowly in front, and Aunt M. was holding Grandad’s arm and it was just “cool.”

Fifth Good Thing:
George looked ridiculous in his black suit. It was much too big for him, and every few seconds he had to hitch up the trousers to stop them from falling down. There was a wet patch on the front of his shirt where he had wiped off a spill of jam, and the flower he was wearing seemed to have died.

“He’s so cute!” whispered Sally.

George’s job was to hand over the wedding rings at the right moment, but he couldn’t seem to find them. He searched in all of his pockets. He pulled out a set of keys, a crumpled bunch of paper, which was probably his speech, tissues, a bus ticket, and some euros — which he dropped, and they went rolling down the church.

“Where are they?” hissed Nicholas.

“They’re here somewhere, man,” whispered George. “Here — hold this.”

He handed Nicholas all the stuff he had already taken out of his pockets. Aunt M. turned her head so we could see her face, and she raised her eyes to heaven and a titter went through the church, but I could see out of the corner of my eye that Granny was not a bit pleased.

Then George found the rings at last. “OK, guys, relax — it’s cool, I have them,” he said, and handed the rings to Nicholas, who handed George back all his rubbish.

Then they put on the rings and Nicholas kissed the bride for about five minutes and then they were married.

Sixth Good Thing:
Nicholas was supposed to have rented a big limo to take Aunt M. to the reception in our garden, but he hadn’t.

“Oh, Nicholas!” said Aunt M., and everybody thought that they were going to have the first fight of their married life.

But he had a surprise in store. He had a motorbike to take her to the reception — but it wasn’t his bike. It was a big shiny black bike with a sidecar sticking out of it. “Ta-da!” he said, and helped Aunt M. into the sidecar. “No need for a helmet. Your hair will stay beautiful.” Then he closed the cover over her, and sticking a helmet on his own head he climbed onto the bike and zoomed off down the road.

Everybody cheered, and even Granny had to smile.

“It’s just so cool, man,” I heard Conor say to George, and it seemed that soon we’d all be talking like George.

Seventh Good Thing:
The dinner was good, but it was a bit long; however, the desserts were great. They were all set out on long tables — ice cream, profiteroles, tiramisu, pavlova, chocolate mousse, apple crumbles, blueberries, and all sorts of cakes and chocolates. And the best bit was that you could go up and get more as often as you liked.

“I’ll have my work cut out keeping your granny away from that dessert table,” whispered Grandad.

“This is the best wedding that I have ever been at,” said Orla after she had filled her plate for the fourth time.

“I thought it was the
only
wedding that you had ever been at!” said Emma.

Wee Billy loved the desserts as well. He especially loved putting his hands in them and running away when Aunt L. tried to catch him. He seemed to have taken a liking to George because he kept running after him, and soon George had sticky handprints all over his black suit. Sally told Aunt L. that she would look after wee Billy as soon as she saw that he kept running to George.

“How’s my wee lass?” roared Uncle Boris when he saw me, and he swung me up in the air. “Now open your gob and show me all these fillings you’ve got!” Uncle Boris is a dentist, so he had a good look when I opened my mouth, and when he was done he said, “Good job. Serves you right, of course, never brushing your teeth,” and then he swung me in the air again. I think he had drunk too much wine.

Actually, a lot of good things happened that day — too many for one chapter!

Eighth Good Thing:
The speeches. Well, actually, the speeches weren’t all good. Some of them were very boring. Grandad’s speech was nice but it was a bit mushy. Aunt M. was smiling and crying at the same time when he said that all his daughters were beautiful flowers and, even though she wasn’t here today, Poppy’s spirit was everywhere to be seen and you only had to look at her beautiful children, Conor, Sally, and Mimi, to understand that. A lot of people had to blow their noses when he said that.

George’s speech wasn’t mushy at all. When he stood up he looked very nervous and he couldn’t say anything for a bit. But then somebody shouted, “Come on, man, get on with it!” and he grinned and uncrumpled the jammy piece of paper that his speech was written on.

“Hi, guys,” he started, and gave a little wave. “I just want to welcome Marigold into our family. . . . She’s, uh . . .” He had to struggle to find the right word, but it came to him in the end. “She’s . . . cool.” Everyone clapped then, which gave George a chance to relax a little. “Like . . . uh . . . the old man said . . . she’s a flower. . . .” Everyone burst out laughing at that, and Grandad pretended to be upset about being called an old man. “Less of the ‘old man,’ please!” he called down the table.

“Yeah, right,” muttered George. “Sorry, man,” and he gave Grandad a kind of thumbs-up.

I could see Granny shaking her head, but she was trying very hard not to smile too.

“Anyway, man, Marigold’s a flower and she’s marrying my brother and he can be a bit prickly, like a rose . . . so that makes two flowers.” George had to stop again because everyone was laughing. When it settled down again he continued, “Anyway . . . that’s all I have to say because that crazy dog, Sparks or whatever, ate the other half of my speech. . . . So, anyway, relax. Stay cool. Have a good evening.” Then he sat down — but he had to jump up again because he had forgotten to make the toast.

By the way, making the toast doesn’t mean making toast — it means drinking.

“A toast to the bride and groom — may they always be two blooming flowers!” George called out, and everyone drank their champagne and shouted out “To the bride and groom!” and Dad put a little champagne in my glass, and the bubbles bounced off my nose when I drank it and it tasted lovely, but Dad wouldn’t give me any more.

Ninth Good Thing:
The first dance. Nicholas and Aunt M. danced all on their own for a while — it was really slow and smoochy — and then George had to dance with Sally and he wasn’t very good. I could hear him saying “Sorry, man” every time he stepped on her toes, but Sally didn’t seem to mind at all. Then I had to dance with Emmett, and Emma had to dance with Conor, because we were the bridesmaid’s helpers and they were the ushers or something like that. Emmett danced very fast and we fell down twice. I wondered if he had been finishing off what was left in the wine- glasses again.