‘All right?’ Sebastian asked. ‘They were supportive, I hope.’
‘Very. They were delighted that I asked them both to give me away on the day.’
‘I rang Zack at the hospital whilst you were speaking to your brothers,’ Sebastian said. ‘Told him the good news. He was thrilled to pieces. Agreed to be best man as well. So that’s all done. Now we can settle back and enjoy the rest of Christmas Day.’
It was a grand day full of fun and festivities, the best Christmas either Ruby or Sebastian had had for a long time. But it would not be the last great Christmas, Ruby vowed when it came time to leave.
‘Next year,’ she told everyone at the door, ‘Christmas will be at our house.’ And she privately promised herself that there would be a huge tree and lots and lots of lights, even over the front of the house.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Their wedding day, six weeks later...
RUBY SPUN ROUND at the loud knocking on her bedroom door.
‘Are you ready yet, Ruby?’ Oliver called out. ‘It’s time.’
Time...
Time to get married. Time to face the kind of future Ruby had never imagined for herself. But falling in love for real made you change your mind about things. Her vow never to trust a man with her happiness had dissipated under the obvious sincerity of Sebastian’s love. For he had had to make massive changes, too. Ruby sometimes thought of his first wife, but she wasn’t jealous of her, or Sebastian’s long-ago love for her. Ruby suspected Jennifer had been an emotionally damaged person, not capable of giving true love in return. She’d hurt Sebastian terribly when she’d pushed him away during her final days, a hurt that had taken years to heal.
But he was all healed now, Ruby thought happily as she hurried over to open the bedroom door.
‘Wow, sis,’ both her brothers said as one.
‘I do look a bit wow, don’t I?’ She preened, doing a complete turn so they could look at the back of her dress—and her hair—as well as the front.
Her white bridal gown was strapless, with a beaded bodice, a cinched-in waist and a very low back. The skirt was a full-length fall of shimmering silk that skimmed the floor. Ruby had decided against a veil, and instead pulled her hair back and braided it in a loose plait down her back, a circlet of flowers on her head. The only jewellery she was wearing besides her engagement ring were the ruby and diamond earrings Sebastian had presented her with over breakfast and which had brought her to tears.
Ruby was aware the dress was a little tighter now than at the first fitting—the result of her being pregnant. Not that she intended telling her brothers that little piece of news. They’d accuse her of having a shotgun wedding again. Sebastian knew, of course. But then it had been his idea to let nature take its course when she’d forgotten to take her pill on Christmas Day. Both of them had been thrilled when the test had come up positive a fortnight ago, which just showed how far they’d come. They were already planning names. Ava for a girl—named after her mother—and Jack for a boy—named after Sebastian’s father.
‘Come on,’ Oliver urged. ‘The celebrant is getting antsy.’
‘Don’t you mean Sebastian?’ Liam said laughingly.
Ruby smoothed her dress before reaching for her bouquet of red and white roses. ‘Let’s go.’
Once outside the bedroom and in the roomier hallway, Liam and Oliver linked arms with her, and led her out to where the wedding was to take place.
Ruby had decided on a simple ceremony on the back lawn, to be moved inside if it rained. But the day was fine and clear, and not too hot or humid. She’d been blessed with the weather because February in Sydney was often stifling. As it was, the wedding guests would not be uncomfortable today, sitting outside on the white plastic chairs that had been set up in rows in front of a portable wooden stage with an artificial rose arbour decorating it and the obligatory strip of red carpet leading up to it.
Ruby had insisted on the Christmas lights being left up. The ceremony was scheduled for six o’clock and instead of a fancy sit-down meal for guests, she’d booked the same caterers and DJ they’d had for the Christmas party. The guest list was pretty much the same as well, with a few family extras.
Ruby’s heart swelled as she noted there wasn’t an empty chair, everyone clearly having turned up. They all had their phones out, snapping photographs. She wanted lots of photos. But not ones taken by an official photographer, just lots of informal happy snaps. Her heart swelled further when she saw Sebastian standing at the end of the red carpet, a huge smile breaking over his handsome face when he saw her. And possibly relief that she’d shown up at last.
All the men in her bridal party were wearing black tuxedos, with red roses in their lapels, matching the red roses in her bouquet. Ruby knew they would look fabulous in their wedding photos, for which she’d already bought frames. Sebastian had been aghast at their number, then had laughed. He knew when he was beaten.
Ruby made her way down the aisle, smiling left and right as she went. She beamed at Georgia, who’d flown up for the wedding but was going back to Melbourne afterwards. For good.
‘It’s no use,’ she’d told Ruby and Sebastian over the phone. ‘I won’t be coming back at all. I can’t live without those kids. I’d miss them too much.’ She’d moved in with her sister and taken a job at a nearby hotel where she only worked part-time.
Ruby didn’t mind at all. She didn’t want a housekeeper. She had Janice and Tom, and that would be enough. When Sebastian had suggested a nanny for after the baby was born, she’d almost choked on the spot. A nanny? No way.
Speaking of Janice and Tom, there they were, grinning at her. She grinned right back, secretly thinking that she should have had the DJ play ‘Dancing Queen’ at that moment, just like in the movie Muriel’s Wedding. But perhaps not. Sebastian’s family might not be amused.
Ruby moved further down the red carpet, bestowing smiles on all of Sebastian’s work colleagues, but reserving her biggest smile for his immediate family, who were now her family. There were Gloria and Henry and their boys, sitting alongside Frieda, all looking resplendent. Finally, she looked back at the man she was about to marry, who was standing there impatiently, with his much more patient best friend by his side. Zack winked at her.
What a naughty man he was! Very naughty, according to nurse Susan, who’d shocked everyone by moving into his penthouse with him when he left hospital. Zack pretended he’d hired her as his private nurse, but Ruby had always suspected differently. And she’d been right. Susan was here somewhere in the crowd of guests. Ruby winked back at Zack before shifting her gaze back to Sebastian. What was he thinking at this moment? she wondered.
What a cheeky minx she was, Sebastian thought when he saw Ruby wink at Zack. But a sheer delight in every way. He loved everything about her, especially her down-to-earth nature and her lack of interest in becoming a socialite. She could have had a huge wedding, in a cathedral no less, with a custom-made designer dress, half a dozen bridesmaids and the reception held at some swanky function centre. Instead, she’d insisted on this simple ceremony, with a dress bought off the rack, a cake made by the local bakery, no bridesmaids, and a casual party afterwards with nibbles and finger food. The only thing he’d had a say in was the champagne, and he’d insisted on the very best from France. He’d also put his foot down where the honeymoon was concerned and booked a five-star luxury apartment on Hamilton Island for two weeks. He would have liked to take Ruby away for longer but Harvest Productions was back in full swing and he really needed to be hands-on, especially where Battle at the Bar was concerned. The writers of that show could occasionally go off on a dangerous tangent without a close eye being kept on them.