(For readers outside Australia, a few notes: Mobile = Cell Phone. Summer begins on December 1. In Australia we wear thongs on our feet = flip flops. That is 'thongs' plural. 'Thong' could be one of those items of footwear but increasingly is also used for that item of underwear which has barely a string between the bum cheeks and a tiny triangle of cloth in front.)
In 'Mr D and the Babysitter' I set the scene for this and other stores to come. The first four stories included Rachel, a beautiful young woman who, soon after her 18th birthday, moved in with Mr D and Sarah. Mr D's wife, Debbie, had died tragically when Sarah was only five years old. Sarah was her daughter from a previous marriage but they treated each other as father and daughter, at least for this time. Firstly a live in babysitter Rachel became deeply involved with Mr D but that ended sadly and badly. When Sarah was 12, Mr D met and hooked up with her grade 7 teacher.
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In this story I include an air crash. These happen too often and are tragic. The event I include has some similarities to a crash a few years ago. I hope I do not stir up sad memories. If you have anyone you know who was taken in this way may you, and they, find peace.
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Sarah made the most beautiful flower-girl I had ever seen. Just as Karen was the most beautiful bride. The previous year, when I met Karen, she was 21 and was in her first year of teaching after graduating from University. She was teaching grade 7 and Sarah was one of her students. We got together when helping Sarah through a tricky patch in her growing up and, with Sarah's enthusiastic encouragement, we fell more and more in love.
I had turned 30 during this year. Karen was now 22 and Sarah was 14 and had just finished her first year of secondary school, year 8. Once Karen was no longer Sarah's teacher we had been less secretive about our relationship, though many people seemed to know before they were told.
It was early December and school had just finished for the year for both Sarah and Karen. To allow us to take a longer holiday and honeymoon this was the earliest we could have gotten married. The short breaks between terms were not a real possibility. I had been prepared to marry Karen anywhere that we both wanted but, as we got to know each other better, we found that we both had a church background. We both had problems with some of the church teachings, especially the way that women and gay people and others had been treated in the past. But we both believed and thought that a church wedding was a good idea.
Dr and Mrs Everet were very pleased. Karen's father was a doctor working in a general practice in Clare in the mid-north of South Australia. They lived at a place nearby with a quaint name, Penwortham. At first they had been a bit concerned to hear that Karen had become engaged, especially to a guy 8 years older than her. When they flew over to 'check me out' we all got on very well. Especially when I was able to introduce Victor to my favourite wineries in the Swan Valley and the Margaret River region down south.
"Not as good as Clare Valley whites," he said. "But they show a lot of promise. The better quality ones are priced a bit high still, but not bad at all." He sent several cases back home from various wineries to show his approval. Margaret, Karen's mum, enjoyed the wine but was really taken with both the Chocolate Factory in the Swan Valley and the Freo Markets. Fremantle was a thriving place and we not only explored the markets but also the great restaurants around.
Victor was also impressed by both maritime museums. The old one had an arch from the wreck of the Batavia and the new one had the yacht 'Australia 2' suspended in the air, the yacht which won the America's Cup in 1983. They lived too far inland to be able to go sailing as much as Victor would have liked, but he already had plans to retire eventually to Victor Harbor south of Adelaide ("Named after me of course" he joked, with a grin.).
So I was acceptable. They both loved Sarah who, even though her early teen years were still bumpy at times, was on her best behaviour and charmed both of Karen's parents.
Now we were here in the lovely little church of St Matthew in the middle of a large open space called Stirling Square in Guildford, a suburb of Perth. The church had been built in 1872 and I do love a bit of history. The wooden pews were a bit hard and uncomfortable but Karen and I hardly sat that day so it didn't worry us. Our guests put up with that because they were there to celebrate our new beginning.
A friend of Karen's from South Australia was a professional musician and we asked her to play. There was a decent pipe organ in the church but even better, especially with this musician tinkling the ivories, there was a delightful baby grand piano which she made sing!
To be honest a lot of the day was a blur. I was so happy that all I could focus on was how lucky I was to have this beautiful woman beside me. Karen was dressed in white satin and lace, thankfully not looking at all like a meringue (as some brides seem to end up) but looking stunning and sophisticated and sexy all at once. Sarah was dressed in a simpler version of the same outfit, in a light shade of pink. That is what they both decided. When it came to the dresses they were both happy to conspire and leave me out of that part of the decision making entirely! I didn't argue. Grey suit for me. Easy. It matched both bride and bridesmaid/flower-girl very well. My only concession was that I agreed to wear a bow tie which matched Sarah's dress, thereby tying us all together. A nice touch, I thought.
We went to one of the wineries in the Swan Valley for our reception. Like many places they had diversified and were set up well, drawing on the excellent local produce for a menu which was totally delicious. And expensive, but, following an old tradition and at his absolute insistence, Dr and Mrs Everet had paid for the reception. At least, for their sake, we had decided to keep the numbers limited. To be honest I didn't have many people I really wanted to invite. Karen had friends from Uni, some family who flew in from South Australia along with her parents, some colleagues from school but between us we kept the numbers under 50 people.
Sarah had her best friend there for company. Sarah and Eugenie had known each other since they started school together and they had been at the same school, usually in the same class, ever since. Now they were both 14 and, looking forward, I could see that they would be getting up to lots of trouble together. I had already noticed them both flashing their eyes at Karen's 15 and 16 year old nephews from Adelaide! Karen had a much older brother who had married and 'produced' quickly and so his children were only a few years younger that her.
Eugenie had been named after one of the daughters of Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew. Like her mother and also as an interesting connection with both Sarah Ferguson and her Eugenie, Sarah's best friend had fiery red hair. I could already see that this Eugenie would grow into a woman far more dramatically beautiful than her namesake. But at the moment she was a precocious teenager and, for the moment, I was ignoring the way that she and Sarah were fluttering their eyelids and embarrassing Sarah's new cousins.
The whole day was beautiful, a great success, a dream but also wonderfully real. We left before midnight, setting out into the warm night in my new Audi convertible, top open, waving to family and friends as we set off on our life together. I had arranged accommodation for that night not too far away, so we didn't have long to wait for 'the wedding night'.
We had blown kisses as we drove out to Sarah of course. She was going to stay with Eugenie for the next three weeks until we returned, just in time for Christmas all together. I didn't want to think what sort of mischief those two would get up to while we were gone and we could only trust Eugenie's mum to either hold them in check, or at least not tell us anything that would shock us too much. They were good girls really. Most of the time. But those teasing looks to the boys had reminded me again that Sarah was growing up fast.
Once we reached the room I helped Karen to extricate herself from her beautiful but complicated dress. The cost of such perfection had been that she had been literally stitched into the dress. When she had needed to pee she had grabbed her friend, the other, older bridesmaid, to come with her and hold up the folds of satin and lace while she squatted. Funny, I thought, but also, strangely, arousing. But that is me and my mind.
Now, working through the layers and carefully snipping where instructed, it was like unwrapping a present. When I became a little urgent I was stilled with a playful but deadly serious look. Ok. The dress was important to Karen and would be removed with care. I was still going to help as quickly as I could though.