Chapter one went up last week.

They had pulled together their wedding day in a few short weeks. Bill had a smart suit already and he had sent Allie into town to buy herself a new dress. Being a second wedding she had opted not to wear white but he hadn’t seen what she had picked yet.

The invites had been sent out, and the marriage licence had been obtained. The speed of things had been necessitated by the fact that the children were to return to school in September, and were absolutely refusing to miss the big day. Not that Bill or Allie would have dreamt of excluding them. Luckily the registry office had a morning slot the day before the children were due to leave for their boarding schools. 

The usually calm and cool Allie had become a little more flappable and was often heard saying things like before the wedding you must all make sure you are packed for school! and if you need anything new please tell me now so that I can go and order it!

Jack and Kiki had been severely reprimanded as the bird had been squawking Cold feet! Cold feet! Over and over and had also been caught pecking at the bag containing Allie’s new dress. 

Bill had some stern words of his own for Kiki when she had snuck into the room where he was trying to write his speech and muttering under his breath. She must have liked what she heard as she kept repeating What an ass! Such a poor Polly. What an ass!

Bill had jumped, banged his knee on the desktop, accidentally scored a line across his page, and shouted Bother you Kiki! Jack, come and get this bird RIGHT NOW!

Of course that had only led to Kiki cackling Bother you! Bless you! whenever she thought she would get away with it.

As this was Allie’s second wedding, and neither of them could be considered love’s young dream, they were keeping most things simple, much to everyone’s relief. One tradition they were sticking to was the groom not seeing the bride before the wedding.

“Is that just so you can avoid us in the morning?” Philip had asked cheekily when the plan was discussed.

“You, the chaos you will undoubtedly create, and particularly that wretched bird,” Bill had confirmed, giving Kiki a dark look. He hadn’t quite forgiven her for the What an ass debacle. Kiki had raised her crest slowly and said Cold feet in a mournful tone before adding a cough she had picked up from Uncle Geoffrey.

On the morning of the wedding Allie was being attended to by Dinah and Lucy-Ann who had both been rapturous in their delight over helping choose the dress, the flowers, the make-up and the hair. The boys meanwhile were only tasked with making themselves decent.

And Bill had Anatoly, his 20 year old surrogate nephew and best man, who didn’t particularly care for weddings (other than the free bar) even if he was pleased for him and Allie.

Anatoly was already dressed in a smart suit which complemented Bill’s when he arrived. Bill had insisted that Anatoly had his curly hair cut so that he would appear at least semi-presentable, so he was pleased to note that not only had Anatoly not managed to pick up a black eye or other obvious injuries right before the wedding, but he had also run a comb though his recently shorn curls.

“Not ready yet?” Anatoly asked, eyeing Bill’s attire, which consisted of his suit trousers and a vest.

“Top marks for observation,” Bill said with a laugh. “I’m just taking my time. No point in rushing when I don’t have to. I’ve shaved and -”

“Done your hair nicely?” Anatoly suggested, looking at Bill’s balding head from his slightly greater height; augmented by the fact he was the only one wearing shoes.

“Remind me why I didn’t choose Tim as my best man, out of gratitude for the Thamis rescue?” Bill shot back. He had invited Tim and a few of his other most trusted colleagues from his time in the SIS, but he was far closer to Anatoly whom he really saw as family despite there being no blood relationship at all. His relationship with Jack, Philip, Dinah and Lucy-Ann also went to prove that a family could be formed in many ways other than by blood.

When Anatoly just shrugged maddeningly and kept his face blank Bill gave up. “I’m going to finish getting dressed, you can pour the drinks in the meantime.”

Anatoly crossed to the drinks cabinet as Bill headed back upstairs. He was well acquainted with the contents of the cabinet so already knew exactly what he would find but he still spent a few moments lifting up the bottles to read the labels, occasionally pulling a face at some of Bill’s liquor choices. He settled on the vodka which Bill kept in for him. It wasn’t the finest stuff but it was an acceptable brand. He poured himself a generous measure (Bill was always complaining how quickly the bottle went down) and took it over to the window to sip as he looked outside.

He was just finishing it off when Bill came back downstairs, raising his eyebrows at the lack of a drink for him. Anatoly just shrugged again. “I did not know how long you would be. You like ice in your whisky and it might have melted.”

Bill fetched his own ice and poured his own drink. “As my best man you are supposed to do a little more than stand around drinking and insulting me.”

“I have to look after the rings,” Anatoly reminded him.

“You do, but only after I’ve given them to you,” Bill pointed out.

“Moral support.”

“Eh?”

Anatoly gave a long-suffering sigh that was a good imitation of the ones Bill so often gave him. “I am providing you with moral support.”

“Are you? I don’t feel particularly supported yet. Is your mere presence supposed to be helpful?”

“Are you anxious? Nervous? Panicking at all?” Anatoly asked him, grinning when Bill paused to consider. “Nyet. You are far too busy being annoyed with me to be getting your feet cold.”

Ignoring the incorrect phrasing – he suspected that Anatoly did it deliberately, at least most of the time, just because he thought it was funny – Bill had to acknowledge that Anatoly had a point. He wasn’t terribly anxious about getting married, but he did have his worries about making sure that the day went without a hitch and everyone had a good time. 

He didn’t anticipate too many threats to the smooth running of events. Jack and Kiki had been extremely well warned about Kiki’s behaviour and the bird was to be taken out at the first sign of trouble. If Jack had to miss parts of the festivities then so be it.

Micky wouldn’t be a problem as with Allie refusing to be responsible for a monkey during term time, he had recently been adopted by a local retired colonel from an Indian regiment who had long experience with exotic pets. The colonel had responded to an advert that Allie had placed in the newspaper, offering a monkey for sale, reasonable offers considered. The other people who had responded had all been circus and zoo owners, so when Micky had taken an obvious and immediate liking to the ruddy-faced colonel as he had regaled them all with the monkeys he had known in his lifetime, Philip and Allie had decided he was the best choice. When he agreed that Philip could visit Micky whenever he wanted during the holidays he had been told that he could have Micky for free, and they had shaken on the deal.

With the animal threats taken care of, there was not much else to worry about. But annoyingly Anatoly was right – his attitude was distracting Bill from repeatedly running over the day’s schedule, his vows and other details of the day.

To be continued.