Still - h.s (au)

Chapter 35

Grace

Ever since I was a little girl I have dreamed about this day. The long white dress that belonged to my mother, and to her mother before. The big ceremony with all my family and friends in the backyard of my house, everything beautifully decorated. Then the honeymoon where I would go with my husband to somewhere pleasant where we could spend time together, maybe Paris.

Since I was around six years old that I have known I wanted to marry for love. Nowadays it's more and more uncommon for arranged marriages to happen, but parents still like to have a thing or two to say about who you marry. When I turned seventeen and my parents pushed me to Calvin, I knew exactly what they were trying to do. They wanted me to marry him eventually because he was a good match for me. 

Young, rich, successful, everything a girl could want. Right?

No. Not me. At the beginning I tried to give him a chance, I really did. But I hated the fact he was like any other man I have met during my life, the ones who order for you in a restaurant because you are not capable to make your own choice. The ones who stop you from chasing your dreams because you shouldn't have dreams that don't involve marriage and children.

That was not me. I was not going to spend my life with someone like him, but I had to wait until the right moment to break up with him. If I let him take control of my life, he would never let me come to the war and fight.

But then, Harry came. That cheeky, careless soldier on bed number four. The soldier no one believed he would survive the first night in the hospital, but yet here we are, four years later.

And I'm going to marry him today.

All the dreams I had for my wedding were not going to happen. The long white dress, the wedding in my backyard, the loving honeymoon. but I was marrying the man of my dreams, and that was all that mattered to me.

We were having an improvised wedding in the field right outside the hospital. And I admire their efforts to make this look presentable. Because for a wedding taking place in the middle of a war it looks incredible.

But if I have to be honest, none of that matters. I could get married to Harry in any place and it would still be the best day of my life. Although it is nice to spend it with some of our closest friends.

After seeing Harry yesterday I haven't seen him again. He had spent the night inside his tent with some of his friends, and after I was discharged, the girls and I also had a girl's evening here. But I was too tired to even want to do anything, so I ended up falling asleep very early in the evening. 

I'm glad I managed to get a good night's sleep because today is going to be a long day, and an even longer night.

"I'm glad we are the same size, I didn't have to do many alterations in the dress." Nina explains to me as she makes last-minute alterations in the dress I'm wearing. She wants to make it perfect. Originally, it was a simple white summer dress, a little under the knee length, short sleeves, and a button up front. For a summer dress it was very modest.

Nina and Charlotte have worked very hard to make this dress the perfect wedding dress for me with the scarce resources we had available. It was now a long sleeve dress making it much more appropriate for a wedding, and they also managed to find a matching hat. It is not the veil I always dreamed of but it is as perfect.

"When Harry sees you he will faint for sure." I laugh at charlottes words. 

My Harry will not faint, but I do want him to be surprised when he sees me.

If I ever thought I would be married the soldier in bed number four? 

Yes, ever since he kissed me for the first time that I knew he was the one. If I wasn't going to marry him then I wasn't going to Harry anyone else. Thankfully Harry had the same opinion as me, he never gave up until I had a wedding ring on my finger. And now, after three years of wearing it, I'm finally getting married to the love of my life.