Making Love

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

After dinner, Tom kicked off the speeches once the master of ceremonies had everyone’s attention.

“I hope you’ve all got your drinks in, because I’m told this could go on a while,” he teased. “I’d like to thank you all for coming and sharing this day with us, especially those who went above and beyond to make this a memorable day. You have my eternal gratitude, and a lovely bottle of scotch for your trouble.

“Next, I’d like to thank the bridesmaids for the wonderful job they have done, and while I’d apologise for inflicting my groomsmen on them, I will also take this opportunity to absolve myself of all responsibility for them.

“You might have noticed that many elements of our day thumbed out noses at tradition, we shared a bed last night and we saw each other this morning, but then given that we hardly met in a traditional fashion, it seems rather fitting. Some say that I’ve been brainwashed and to them I say, it’s a wonderful feeling and should anything ever happen to Elle, I will be joining the nearest cult in the hopes of being brainwashed again. Other kinder people say that our love is made or manufactured and if that is so, then we must all raise out glasses to Katie, for the experiment that brought us together was her brainchild. May all your experiments turn our as well for your subjects as this one did. You have our eternal gratitude, my dear.” He raised his glass in her direction. “To Katie.”

The rest of the room echoed his toast.

“Finally it only remains to toast my beautiful wife. It often seem to me that all I do is complicate her life but for reasons I have yet to fathom, she not only puts up with the disruption, she does her best to enjoy the whirlwind that comes with my life, and wring every ounce of pleasure from it that she can.” He raised his glass in my direction. “To my darling Elle. Would that everyone could experience, if only for a moment, the joy you bring me. In the words of the immortal Bard, ‘What made me love thee? Let that persuade thee there's something extraordinary in thee. I cannot, but I love thee, none but thee, and thou deservest it’.” He smiled. I knew he’d slip Shakespeare in here somewhere. “To Elle.”

I had tears in my eyes as I stood up, and I kissed him before he sat down.

“Oh God, how do I top that?” I asked. “I thought for ages about what to say tonight but I knew I’d never come up with anything that could match his words. I even considered asking Joss for help but that would be cheating.”

“Is it?” Mark, the best man suddenly asked, making everyone chuckle.

“Well it would be for me,” I assured him. “I’ll start by thanking everyone who helped make this day so special. Katie for her thesis idea, I promise I will get around to giving you that bribe for pairing me with Tom one day.” For once, I didn’t even care of anyone didn’t get the joke and repeated that as a serious quote to the papers. “To Joss, for giving everyone time off so they could attend. To Maria and Rayne for talking me down from the brink a few times and especially Hannah, my beautiful sister, who has only ever wanted what’s best for me, even when she’s telling me off.”

That got a laugh at least. I turned to Tom.

“And to my Thomas, the only man I know who can blend such fearsome intelligence, childlike wonder, and a substantial dose of crazy and not only function, but somehow make it work for him. I also chose to steal someone else’s lines and whilst this is often attributed to Shakespeare because it’s based on his play, it’s actually from the Italian opera, Falstaff. ‘When I saw you I fell in love, and you smiled because you knew’. Maybe it wasn’t instant, but I knew that even after only an hour with you, I was in love. And I’m eternally grateful that you felt the same, because you would have been a real bitch to get over.”