“Mean,” Christopher said.
“Accurate,” Rose shot back. Then she looked across the room, caught sight of her sister and husband, and once again felt that tightness in her throat and the welling of tears gathering behind her eyes. “Oh!”
“Here…” Christopher sighed and held out the handkerchief for Rose to take.
Rose snatched the handkerchief and blew into it. The noise she made was undoubtedly horrid, and she could not help but notice her husband flinching away as if worried she might get something on him. But she also did not care.
This might not be the happiest day of my life, but it must be close! It feels in many ways that my entire life has been building to this, and I am just so pleased to see that it has all worked out.
She blew her nose again and held the handkerchief for Christopher to take. He curled his lip and leaned back. “You keep it.”
She rolled her eyes and tossed it onto the table. “Oh, it isn’t that bad.”
“You did not have to hear it.”
A rolling of the eyes, and she looked at her husband with an unamused expression. “Remind me again, why do I put up with you?”
“That’s easy.” Christopher took her hand under the table. “Because you are utterly and hopelessly in love with me.”
“Am I now?”
“Are you not?” he asked with a cocky grin.
She narrowed her eyes as if to dismiss him, but she could not keep the act going for very long. She loved seeing that smile. She loved seeing life behind his eyes. And most of all, she loved him.
“I guess so…” she sighed as if it was the hardest thing she had ever done, only to lean in and plant a quick kiss on her husband’s nose. “They just look so happy,” she gushed, pulling her attention from Christopher and turning it onto her sister. “Don’t they?”
“They do,” Christopher agreed. “Even your father has managed to find a reason to smile.”
Rose searched for her father, who, as Christopher said, looked far more pleased than she might have guessed. He was speaking to some guests, and he smiled and laughed as he did so. To anyone watching, they might have assumed that this wedding was his doing.
“Oh, he will come around,” Rose said rightly. “And despite what my father might want people to believe, seeing his daughters happy does bring him some cheer.”
“Only some?”
She snorted. “So long as there is money to be made from it.”
They laughed together, still holding hands, still sitting close. Today was not their day, nor did Rose want it to be. She was happy on this occasion to take a back seat and become lost in the crowd; a perfect position to be in so that she could watch her sister glow.
It was Marianne and Julian’s wedding day, and what a day it was.
The ceremony had been quaint, as Julian had few friends to invite, and Marianne did not want the ceremony to be a whole thing. It was a celebration of their love, as she claimed, and they needed to be the focus.
Following the ceremony, the guests returned to Rose’s father’s estate for the post-ceremony breakfast. Marianne and Julian occupied the main table at the head of the ballroom, while there were another dozen tables spread around the room, each with a further ten or so guests seated around them.
“I just can’t get over how happy she looks,” Rose said again, still watching her sister. “She is glowing. Look at her!”
Marianne sat with her husband at the main table. She held his hand and was sitting so close that she was practically on top of him. She looked beautiful in her pink dress, with her eyes sparkling, and a smile so wide it split her face in two. Even as she spoke to those who approached to wish them well, she hardly took her eyes off Julian once.
For so long, Rose had been a mother and sister to Marianne, and for so long, all Rose had ever wanted was to see her happy. Marianne deserved the world, and Rose had spent her life ensuring that she was given it. Now that she had been…I can’t help but wonder what comes next?
She knew the answer to that question, despite the reservations.
Marianne no longer needed Rose like she once had, but that did not mean that Rose’s life would become hollow. She and Christopher were already trying for a family, and Rose suspected that very soon the focus of her life would quickly shift from her husband to her child… someone else to ensure that when they asked for it, the world would be there for them to take.
Speaking of which…
Almost subconsciously, Rose’s hand moved to her stomach. She stopped herself before the hand settled, a quick glance at Christopher to make sure that he had not seen, and she put her hand back down beside her.
