Chapter 72 - Let the Celebrations Commence
Cesca and Jonah were greeted by all their family and friends as they walked out of the church to be covered in confetti, Cesca smiled towards Jonah. That was about the only thing that was the same about the first time round, Jonah had wanted to give her something to remember and the confetti sure stuck in her head as well as her hair. Cesca and Jonah couldn’t stop the smiles that were plastered all over their faces, they were both so happy, today couldn’t have been more perfect and it wasn’t over yet, it was now time to party! They gathered for photos, a few with everyone, then all the extended family as well as just the Kirby’s before long they had reached those few special photos of them, just them as a couple, loved up and most importantly happy. Cesca gave him a passionate kiss, something she had wanted to do throughout the photos; Cesca really felt the need to kick herself she couldn’t believe how everything had turned out, her life in general. She still had the job she loved, she had taken a risk and moved to England, she had the most amazing friends and most importantly she had a loving husband and three beautiful, healthy children, it was just so surreal Cesca half expected to wake up any second from her dream or for the bubble to finally pop, but of course it didn’t. Jonah wrapped his arm around his wife’s tiny waist, he just needed her, like I child loves candy. They were a match made in heaven, their hearts were beating in sync with each other, they loved each other that was clear to everyone, “Shall we go”, Jonah asked, looking down at his wife in all her beauty. “Yes let’s Mr Kirby”, Cesca beamed before finding her lips meeting Jonah’s once more. Jonah led the way to the car he had arrived in and being the gentleman that he was helped her into the car before getting in himself. The couple waved to all their guests, Cesca even blowing a kiss to their children. Cesca and Jonah were enjoying being able to spend just a few minutes sharing time as a couple just the two of them, Jonah had picked up on this vibe from Cesca and was sure that she was going to love his surprise. He took her hand within his delicately stroking it with his thumb, “You truly are the most beautiful caring woman”, Cesca blushed and held back the tears biting her lip she wasn’t very good at taking compliments despite always being that girl that all the boys fancied. Jonah kissed her on the cheek, being polite and gentlemanly but Cesca wasn’t satisfied she pulled him back for a more intense kiss, “That’s more like it”, she joked. Their eyes locked for the rest of the journey not many words were spoken but the smiles on their faces showed everyone how happy they were.
They arrived at a field, sounds strange but it was beautifully decorated, chairs co-ordinating on the white theme, with sparkly ribbons, only subtle but added some magic, there was a big marquee, dance floor and a bar. Loads of room for Mia to enjoy herself, for people to chat and get down on the dance floor. Jonah got out first before taking his wife’s hand lovingly. Cesca’s dress was perfect for the occasion it said bride without being a meringue, it fitted her body beautifully and allowed her to move without feeling awkward or frustrated wearing her dress as she moved around and enjoyed chatting to their guests. Jonah’s hand protected Cesca’s as they walked towards the venue, it was just beautiful. Flowers and ribbons and petals delicately marking out a path, Jonah couldn’t help but shed a tear, they stopped and turned to face each other, Cesca used her thumb to wipe away the tear that rolled down his face, “Now I thought I was the soppy one, you can’t out do me”, Cesca joked before giving him a kiss and leading him back onto the path of the venue, they were both handed a glass of champagne before being greeted with congratulations from the likes of Adanna, Tom, Eleanor, The fishers and Rob, Aiden, Vicki, Ronan, Ruby,John,Janeece and even Grantley. It was lovely having all their friends there with them, having the most important people to them celebrating their special day, Cesca began to talk to Adanna whilst Jonah was preoccupied with Ronan and Vicki, “Congratulations Ces, you look gorgeous. Definitely bagged yourself a good one there”, Cesca glanced over at her husband with a smile that could only be described as love, “I know, he just makes me so happy”, Cesca said, she couldn’t really find the words to sum up how he really made her feel, they wouldn’t truly do him or the way she felt any justice. Cesca was so glad to have her best friend there, she couldn’t wait for her sisters to meet her, Adanna was lovely and she was sure they were all to get on. “Ces, the service was lovely. Very proud of you”, her eldest sister Izzy came over to send her love, “Adanna this is Izzy my eldest sister”, “Thank Ces, make me seem like the granny of the pack”, Cesca smirked, “well when you put it like that”, Cesca felt the jab as her sister quickly gave her the elbow. “so have you come over from Spain just for today?”, Adanna started of the conversation, “Yeah, were all down for the rest of the week, we haven’t seen Cesca in a while, seemed like a good idea to take advantage of the chance to come down and see her”, “Mia seems to love it”, Cesca added, “Yeah where is she, I don’t think I have had a chance to say hello yet”, Adanna said, “Last time I saw her she was with Eva, one of my other sisters”, “There’s a lot of us”, Izzy added, they all laughed before burrowing down into more conversation mainly about the twins and Izzy’s ever growing bump. “It really means a lot that you can be here”, Jonah said to his best friend and his pregnant girlfriend, “It’s our pleasure, were here to support you and Cesca. The service was lovely”, Vicki added, she had grown up a lot over 5 years and had left that winy teenager who somehow managed to stir everyone’s problems up behind. She knew how much Cesca meant to Jonah and how much Jonah meant to Cesca, they were just perfect for each other, they had great chemistry. “daddy”, Mia ran over in the middle of their conversation, Jonah turned around sweeping his little girl into his arms, “Hello you, what have you been doing then”, Vicki felt Ronan’s arm fall around her waist, Vicki smiled at the sight of Mia so grown up, they were soon to have a little bundle of joy of their own, she hoped that Ronan was to be as hands on as Jonah was. Jonah had really stepped up to the mark when it came to being a dad to the twins and Mia, they were so important to him and despite being young he had always done his best for them. “Well I have been with Auntie Eva”, “Have you, what have you been doing”, “Well she was telling me funny stories about mummy when she was little”, “What sort of stories?”, Jonah asked intrigued he had to admit even he didn’t know what Cesca was like as a child, “I can’t tell you, it’s a secret”, Mia giggled, Jonah tickled her hoping to get an answer but no, “Hey”, Cesca said in her soft husky voice, Jonah turned around after putting Mia down, she held his hand, she could be a bit of a daddy’s girl when she wanted to be. “There you are”, He gave his wife a passionate kiss, “What’s all the giggling for? “ Cesca asked a smile on her face, the question was aimed at Mia, “It’s a secret”, “Oh is it now”, Cesca smiled before giving her little girl a hug, “Right I shall catch you in a bit, going to go find my babies”, She pecked Jonah on the lips before going to find Ruth and Marcus. Jonah’s head seemed to follow her body as she walked away, he found it so hard to resist.
“Have they been good?” Cesca asked as she approached Ruth, Joe and Marcus. The buggy was parked up next to one of the tables the three of them sat around the edge. The twins were fast asleep, well they looked asleep that was until Betsy opened her eyes and began to winged. “What’s the matter”, Cesca said unbuckling Betsy and picking her up, she had missed her twins this morning; she hadn’t had her morning cuddle. Betsy began to stop with the winging; she just wanted a hug from her mummy. She looked adorable in her little red dress, her legs stretching out as she made herself comfortable in Cesca’s arms. “Thank you, for watching them”, “It was no trouble, what else are auntie’s for other than babysitting”, Ruth said with a smile on her face, Cesca gave her a hug and a kiss before sitting down with them for a bit. “So how’s granddad”, Marcus smiled, “He’s good, this is all so surreal. Watching my son wedded off. Thank you Cesca.”, “For what exactly”, Cesca gently rocked Betsy as she replied, “For just loving my son, for looking after him”, Cesca smiled, “He isn’t too bad”, She winked. The Fishers approached, “Cesca she’s gorgeous”, Karen said instantly besotted with Betsy’s cuteness, “She has her moments”, Cesca smiled before carrying on, “Thank you for coming”, “We are grateful to be here, for you and Jonah”, “Would you like to hold her?”, Cesca could see Karen’s eagerness, Karen simply smiled as Cesca passed Betsy to her, “Something tells me that this little one is going to be very spoilt today”, “Always the way with Betsy”, Cesca smiled. “How old are they now?”, Jess asked, intrigued, “4 months”, Cesca replied, “Gosh, that’s a lot longer that I thought it was”, “I know the time flies by, I still can’t believe Mia’s 5”, Cesca said watching her running around with Ronan and Nathan playing it, there was no chance of Mia being bored, she was being spoilt just as rotten as the twins were, Cesca gently rocked the buggy which had her little boy in as she noticed him stir. “Oscar, what’s that face for?”, Anna came over and picked up Oscar, Cesca smiled “Anna can you feed him, the bottles in the bag”, Cesca carried on talking to Jess and Karen, Rob had just joined them along with Aiden, considering that the Fisher girls were dating father and son there wasn’t anything awkward about it in fact, it seemed just like any normal relationship, “Which bag”, Anna called out, “The baby bag”, Cesca replied, it wasn’t that hard, “This one?”, Anna showed Cesca, “Yeah”, Anna took the bottle and then went and walked round whilst feeding Oscar. Cesca sighed whilst rolling her eyes, “So how do you know Anna?” Rob asked. “She’s my youngest sister”, “You all look really similar”, “Yeah, we do all look quite similar”, “So have your family come over from Spain?”, Karen asked still holding Betsy who was slowly falling asleep in Karen’s arms, after three grown children she had a picked up a knack. “Yeah, my mum and three sisters Anna who you have just met, Eva who is running around after Mia and then Izzy who is the whale sat down over there”, Cesca laughed, “Gosh so there is quite a few of you Montoya’s then?”, Rob was jokingly playing this question, “I know, but now they come with extra baggage, their boyfriends and fiancé’s”, “It’s amazing what time does”, Karen said, “It sure is”. Jonah placed his arms around Cesca’s shoulders whilst she sat down and kissed her on the check, “oh it’s you”, Cesca said startled, he led her up off her chair, “what you doing?”, she asked smiling, “Can I ask you for our first dance?”, “Yes”, Cesca smiled and allowed him to lead her to the dance floor, he placed his hands around her waist, her arms fell around his neck. They danced around the room to the sound of Marry You by Bruno Mars before being joined by the rest of the guests. Mia joined the pair of them as she danced along – rather well to her favourite artist, she had always had a love for Mars. Cesca went and had a boogie with her sisters and her mum whilst Jonah danced with his little girl; it was a moment to be treasured. Everyone who had a partner was now slow dancing around the room, everyone was completely smitten by the emotion of love, there was just so much joy packed into one room.
The dancing ended and they began to sit down to eat, a little later than planned, the plates were cleared of the delicious food, belly’s were full and it was time for the speeches, Jonah had been secretly dreading this moment as well as Cesca god knows what stories her mum and Ronan were to come up with. Jonah began to tap the side of his glass with his knife, the force being possibly a little hard as the glass smashed. Cesca burst into fits of laughter, “Well that’s one way of getting everyone’s attention Ro”, Jonah added, it was typical Ronan it really was. “Well this is going well, anyway so we are all here for one reason and one reason only, that is to celebrate the marriage or remarriage of Cesca and Jonah. A couple who it is fair to say have been faced with pretty much every barrier, but there love has always got them through it. I will always remember the day when I found out about Cesca and Jonah’s relationship, it was awkward to say the least, watching any teacher kissing anyone is let alone your best friend”, Cesca looked guilty, those risky days of secret kisses in empty classrooms, she placed her hand on Jonah’s knee with a cheeky smile, “We all know that Jonah is always one to push the boundaries, not many people are blessed with that cheeky sense of humour. It is safe to say that Jonah had always had the hots for her, we would be at lunch and you would have to give him a nudge to stop him from staring at her bum, we are all guilty of those teacher crushes as teenagers but I think Jonah managed to take that to a whole new level. Jonah had always been the mature one of our group so it’s no surprise he has finally settled with an older woman”, “Watch it Burley”, Cesca joked, “Less of the old”, She smiled and so did Ronan “So a best man is supposed to grace you with plenty of embarrassing stories, I thought long and hard about this, I wasn’t going to be so mean but then I hit the jackpot and there will always be that one time that has to be shared at an occasion like this”, Jonah rolled his eyes, Cesca could see his face go bright red and his smile get bigger, “See I hadn’t really ever pieced this all together but Jonah I guess you could say had an extreme love for Spanish, he would quite happily once plastered of course look up cheesy lines in Spanish, never fully understood the purpose of it but we just laughed along, until one day these lines became a paragraph and that paragraph became a love song – isn’t that right Jonah”, Jonah’s cheeks were bright red, Cesca looked at him her eyes filled with tears she rubbed his leg, his face turning around, looking completely guilty, “so how come I have never heard this song?”,”Never really found the right moment”, Jonah weaselled his way out of singing it to her at that moment, “I’m saving it for later”, of course Cesca didn’t know what was planned for later, she simply kissed him as he wiped her delicate tears away before their faces were once again replaced with smiles. “Ladies and Gents please join me in a toast, to the Kirby’s”, “The Kirby’s”, Everyone enjoyed a glass of champagne, Cesca appeared to glug hers down, she was preparing for a speech of embarrassment from her mum and she usually wasn’t one to disappoint. “So your turn”, Jonah whispered in her ear, which only resulted in a playful slap on his leg, “So Cesca, where could I begin. I just want to say that I am so proud of her, what she has achieved, she hasn’t exactly had the smoothest of journeys through to adult hood but she has done me proud, my only daughter to take that step to her future overseas, we are all so proud of you Francesca. I am so happy that Jonah has come into my daughter’s life, he makes her so happy, he’s there on the downs and the highs, yes he is young but what an asset he is to Marcus, he has had to step up to the mark, become that man that Cesca needed and boy has he succeeded at that, he is a caring husband and a loyal father. Jonah take care of my little girl, she can be a hand full at times but she loves you”, Jonah wrapped his arm around his beautiful wife who was still bracing herself for the bombshell her mum was to drop, “Today feels all so surreal for me, I’ll always remember Cesca as a little girl, dressed up as a bride, teddy bears as guests all lined up on her bed, she’d wear my shoes and use my make-up. Cesca has always known what she wanted ever since she was little, I’m sure her sisters could tell you a few stories where Cesca ordered them about or played headmistress. Cesca has always made me proud; she has always tried her best and not stopped until she got what she wanted. I wish you two all the best and a big congratulations”, Cesca was beet red, now everyone knew about her dressing up days as a kid, but it could have been a lot worse. “You could have invited ted and bear, I’m sure there feeling a bit left out, crying into their fur”, Jonah joked, he couldn’t resist, “Oi you”, Cesca said. Jonah placed his hand on Cesca’s thigh, a little higher than Cesca had, “Any higher and you’re in trouble”, “Is that so”, Jonah teased her, his pearly white teeth on show for them all to see.
Cesca giggled before once again being swept off her feet by Jonah but this time literally, “Right I have a surprise for you”, Cesca was rubbish when it came to surprises, and she wasn’t one for all the secrets. “What have you been planning mister”, “You’ll see, be patient”, “I have no patience”, Cesca giggled before stroking his face with her hand, she just loved those eyes of his, she could almost loose herself in the beauty of them. “Okay so this is the surprise”, Cesca looked around, “A car?”, Cesca wasn’t really sure, “No, okay it’s not very obvious but we’re going on our honeymoon just like I promised you, we are going to Cornwall” Jonah smiled, so did Cesca briefly, “But what about the kids, what about packing?”, “Don’t worry, we will be back in 2 nights time, your sisters and mum are looking after the kids and I have packed, don’t worry all of your favourite clothes are in the suitcase and yes your shoes to”, Cesca smiled before kissing him for what would be the 1000th time that day. Her mum, sisters and Marcus and Ruth appeared to say goodbye they had known about Jonah’s surprise. Eva was holding Mia’s hand and Izzy and Anna had a twin each, Jonah and Cesca said their goodbyes. “Right be good, I love you lots”, She said to Mia before giving her a big hug and a kiss, “Love you”, Mia said. Jonah was so thankful to all of them for helping him to make this all possible. Cesca gave the twins a kiss before Jonah insisted they left, Cesca was excited, they were off to Cornwall just the two of them, something they hadn’t done in months.
They arrived at a field, sounds strange but it was beautifully decorated, chairs co-ordinating on the white theme, with sparkly ribbons, only subtle but added some magic, there was a big marquee, dance floor and a bar. Loads of room for Mia to enjoy herself, for people to chat and get down on the dance floor. Jonah got out first before taking his wife’s hand lovingly. Cesca’s dress was perfect for the occasion it said bride without being a meringue, it fitted her body beautifully and allowed her to move without feeling awkward or frustrated wearing her dress as she moved around and enjoyed chatting to their guests. Jonah’s hand protected Cesca’s as they walked towards the venue, it was just beautiful. Flowers and ribbons and petals delicately marking out a path, Jonah couldn’t help but shed a tear, they stopped and turned to face each other, Cesca used her thumb to wipe away the tear that rolled down his face, “Now I thought I was the soppy one, you can’t out do me”, Cesca joked before giving him a kiss and leading him back onto the path of the venue, they were both handed a glass of champagne before being greeted with congratulations from the likes of Adanna, Tom, Eleanor, The fishers and Rob, Aiden, Vicki, Ronan, Ruby,John,Janeece and even Grantley. It was lovely having all their friends there with them, having the most important people to them celebrating their special day, Cesca began to talk to Adanna whilst Jonah was preoccupied with Ronan and Vicki, “Congratulations Ces, you look gorgeous. Definitely bagged yourself a good one there”, Cesca glanced over at her husband with a smile that could only be described as love, “I know, he just makes me so happy”, Cesca said, she couldn’t really find the words to sum up how he really made her feel, they wouldn’t truly do him or the way she felt any justice. Cesca was so glad to have her best friend there, she couldn’t wait for her sisters to meet her, Adanna was lovely and she was sure they were all to get on. “Ces, the service was lovely. Very proud of you”, her eldest sister Izzy came over to send her love, “Adanna this is Izzy my eldest sister”, “Thank Ces, make me seem like the granny of the pack”, Cesca smirked, “well when you put it like that”, Cesca felt the jab as her sister quickly gave her the elbow. “so have you come over from Spain just for today?”, Adanna started of the conversation, “Yeah, were all down for the rest of the week, we haven’t seen Cesca in a while, seemed like a good idea to take advantage of the chance to come down and see her”, “Mia seems to love it”, Cesca added, “Yeah where is she, I don’t think I have had a chance to say hello yet”, Adanna said, “Last time I saw her she was with Eva, one of my other sisters”, “There’s a lot of us”, Izzy added, they all laughed before burrowing down into more conversation mainly about the twins and Izzy’s ever growing bump. “It really means a lot that you can be here”, Jonah said to his best friend and his pregnant girlfriend, “It’s our pleasure, were here to support you and Cesca. The service was lovely”, Vicki added, she had grown up a lot over 5 years and had left that winy teenager who somehow managed to stir everyone’s problems up behind. She knew how much Cesca meant to Jonah and how much Jonah meant to Cesca, they were just perfect for each other, they had great chemistry. “daddy”, Mia ran over in the middle of their conversation, Jonah turned around sweeping his little girl into his arms, “Hello you, what have you been doing then”, Vicki felt Ronan’s arm fall around her waist, Vicki smiled at the sight of Mia so grown up, they were soon to have a little bundle of joy of their own, she hoped that Ronan was to be as hands on as Jonah was. Jonah had really stepped up to the mark when it came to being a dad to the twins and Mia, they were so important to him and despite being young he had always done his best for them. “Well I have been with Auntie Eva”, “Have you, what have you been doing”, “Well she was telling me funny stories about mummy when she was little”, “What sort of stories?”, Jonah asked intrigued he had to admit even he didn’t know what Cesca was like as a child, “I can’t tell you, it’s a secret”, Mia giggled, Jonah tickled her hoping to get an answer but no, “Hey”, Cesca said in her soft husky voice, Jonah turned around after putting Mia down, she held his hand, she could be a bit of a daddy’s girl when she wanted to be. “There you are”, He gave his wife a passionate kiss, “What’s all the giggling for? “ Cesca asked a smile on her face, the question was aimed at Mia, “It’s a secret”, “Oh is it now”, Cesca smiled before giving her little girl a hug, “Right I shall catch you in a bit, going to go find my babies”, She pecked Jonah on the lips before going to find Ruth and Marcus. Jonah’s head seemed to follow her body as she walked away, he found it so hard to resist.
“Have they been good?” Cesca asked as she approached Ruth, Joe and Marcus. The buggy was parked up next to one of the tables the three of them sat around the edge. The twins were fast asleep, well they looked asleep that was until Betsy opened her eyes and began to winged. “What’s the matter”, Cesca said unbuckling Betsy and picking her up, she had missed her twins this morning; she hadn’t had her morning cuddle. Betsy began to stop with the winging; she just wanted a hug from her mummy. She looked adorable in her little red dress, her legs stretching out as she made herself comfortable in Cesca’s arms. “Thank you, for watching them”, “It was no trouble, what else are auntie’s for other than babysitting”, Ruth said with a smile on her face, Cesca gave her a hug and a kiss before sitting down with them for a bit. “So how’s granddad”, Marcus smiled, “He’s good, this is all so surreal. Watching my son wedded off. Thank you Cesca.”, “For what exactly”, Cesca gently rocked Betsy as she replied, “For just loving my son, for looking after him”, Cesca smiled, “He isn’t too bad”, She winked. The Fishers approached, “Cesca she’s gorgeous”, Karen said instantly besotted with Betsy’s cuteness, “She has her moments”, Cesca smiled before carrying on, “Thank you for coming”, “We are grateful to be here, for you and Jonah”, “Would you like to hold her?”, Cesca could see Karen’s eagerness, Karen simply smiled as Cesca passed Betsy to her, “Something tells me that this little one is going to be very spoilt today”, “Always the way with Betsy”, Cesca smiled. “How old are they now?”, Jess asked, intrigued, “4 months”, Cesca replied, “Gosh, that’s a lot longer that I thought it was”, “I know the time flies by, I still can’t believe Mia’s 5”, Cesca said watching her running around with Ronan and Nathan playing it, there was no chance of Mia being bored, she was being spoilt just as rotten as the twins were, Cesca gently rocked the buggy which had her little boy in as she noticed him stir. “Oscar, what’s that face for?”, Anna came over and picked up Oscar, Cesca smiled “Anna can you feed him, the bottles in the bag”, Cesca carried on talking to Jess and Karen, Rob had just joined them along with Aiden, considering that the Fisher girls were dating father and son there wasn’t anything awkward about it in fact, it seemed just like any normal relationship, “Which bag”, Anna called out, “The baby bag”, Cesca replied, it wasn’t that hard, “This one?”, Anna showed Cesca, “Yeah”, Anna took the bottle and then went and walked round whilst feeding Oscar. Cesca sighed whilst rolling her eyes, “So how do you know Anna?” Rob asked. “She’s my youngest sister”, “You all look really similar”, “Yeah, we do all look quite similar”, “So have your family come over from Spain?”, Karen asked still holding Betsy who was slowly falling asleep in Karen’s arms, after three grown children she had a picked up a knack. “Yeah, my mum and three sisters Anna who you have just met, Eva who is running around after Mia and then Izzy who is the whale sat down over there”, Cesca laughed, “Gosh so there is quite a few of you Montoya’s then?”, Rob was jokingly playing this question, “I know, but now they come with extra baggage, their boyfriends and fiancé’s”, “It’s amazing what time does”, Karen said, “It sure is”. Jonah placed his arms around Cesca’s shoulders whilst she sat down and kissed her on the check, “oh it’s you”, Cesca said startled, he led her up off her chair, “what you doing?”, she asked smiling, “Can I ask you for our first dance?”, “Yes”, Cesca smiled and allowed him to lead her to the dance floor, he placed his hands around her waist, her arms fell around his neck. They danced around the room to the sound of Marry You by Bruno Mars before being joined by the rest of the guests. Mia joined the pair of them as she danced along – rather well to her favourite artist, she had always had a love for Mars. Cesca went and had a boogie with her sisters and her mum whilst Jonah danced with his little girl; it was a moment to be treasured. Everyone who had a partner was now slow dancing around the room, everyone was completely smitten by the emotion of love, there was just so much joy packed into one room.
The dancing ended and they began to sit down to eat, a little later than planned, the plates were cleared of the delicious food, belly’s were full and it was time for the speeches, Jonah had been secretly dreading this moment as well as Cesca god knows what stories her mum and Ronan were to come up with. Jonah began to tap the side of his glass with his knife, the force being possibly a little hard as the glass smashed. Cesca burst into fits of laughter, “Well that’s one way of getting everyone’s attention Ro”, Jonah added, it was typical Ronan it really was. “Well this is going well, anyway so we are all here for one reason and one reason only, that is to celebrate the marriage or remarriage of Cesca and Jonah. A couple who it is fair to say have been faced with pretty much every barrier, but there love has always got them through it. I will always remember the day when I found out about Cesca and Jonah’s relationship, it was awkward to say the least, watching any teacher kissing anyone is let alone your best friend”, Cesca looked guilty, those risky days of secret kisses in empty classrooms, she placed her hand on Jonah’s knee with a cheeky smile, “We all know that Jonah is always one to push the boundaries, not many people are blessed with that cheeky sense of humour. It is safe to say that Jonah had always had the hots for her, we would be at lunch and you would have to give him a nudge to stop him from staring at her bum, we are all guilty of those teacher crushes as teenagers but I think Jonah managed to take that to a whole new level. Jonah had always been the mature one of our group so it’s no surprise he has finally settled with an older woman”, “Watch it Burley”, Cesca joked, “Less of the old”, She smiled and so did Ronan “So a best man is supposed to grace you with plenty of embarrassing stories, I thought long and hard about this, I wasn’t going to be so mean but then I hit the jackpot and there will always be that one time that has to be shared at an occasion like this”, Jonah rolled his eyes, Cesca could see his face go bright red and his smile get bigger, “See I hadn’t really ever pieced this all together but Jonah I guess you could say had an extreme love for Spanish, he would quite happily once plastered of course look up cheesy lines in Spanish, never fully understood the purpose of it but we just laughed along, until one day these lines became a paragraph and that paragraph became a love song – isn’t that right Jonah”, Jonah’s cheeks were bright red, Cesca looked at him her eyes filled with tears she rubbed his leg, his face turning around, looking completely guilty, “so how come I have never heard this song?”,”Never really found the right moment”, Jonah weaselled his way out of singing it to her at that moment, “I’m saving it for later”, of course Cesca didn’t know what was planned for later, she simply kissed him as he wiped her delicate tears away before their faces were once again replaced with smiles. “Ladies and Gents please join me in a toast, to the Kirby’s”, “The Kirby’s”, Everyone enjoyed a glass of champagne, Cesca appeared to glug hers down, she was preparing for a speech of embarrassment from her mum and she usually wasn’t one to disappoint. “So your turn”, Jonah whispered in her ear, which only resulted in a playful slap on his leg, “So Cesca, where could I begin. I just want to say that I am so proud of her, what she has achieved, she hasn’t exactly had the smoothest of journeys through to adult hood but she has done me proud, my only daughter to take that step to her future overseas, we are all so proud of you Francesca. I am so happy that Jonah has come into my daughter’s life, he makes her so happy, he’s there on the downs and the highs, yes he is young but what an asset he is to Marcus, he has had to step up to the mark, become that man that Cesca needed and boy has he succeeded at that, he is a caring husband and a loyal father. Jonah take care of my little girl, she can be a hand full at times but she loves you”, Jonah wrapped his arm around his beautiful wife who was still bracing herself for the bombshell her mum was to drop, “Today feels all so surreal for me, I’ll always remember Cesca as a little girl, dressed up as a bride, teddy bears as guests all lined up on her bed, she’d wear my shoes and use my make-up. Cesca has always known what she wanted ever since she was little, I’m sure her sisters could tell you a few stories where Cesca ordered them about or played headmistress. Cesca has always made me proud; she has always tried her best and not stopped until she got what she wanted. I wish you two all the best and a big congratulations”, Cesca was beet red, now everyone knew about her dressing up days as a kid, but it could have been a lot worse. “You could have invited ted and bear, I’m sure there feeling a bit left out, crying into their fur”, Jonah joked, he couldn’t resist, “Oi you”, Cesca said. Jonah placed his hand on Cesca’s thigh, a little higher than Cesca had, “Any higher and you’re in trouble”, “Is that so”, Jonah teased her, his pearly white teeth on show for them all to see.
Cesca giggled before once again being swept off her feet by Jonah but this time literally, “Right I have a surprise for you”, Cesca was rubbish when it came to surprises, and she wasn’t one for all the secrets. “What have you been planning mister”, “You’ll see, be patient”, “I have no patience”, Cesca giggled before stroking his face with her hand, she just loved those eyes of his, she could almost loose herself in the beauty of them. “Okay so this is the surprise”, Cesca looked around, “A car?”, Cesca wasn’t really sure, “No, okay it’s not very obvious but we’re going on our honeymoon just like I promised you, we are going to Cornwall” Jonah smiled, so did Cesca briefly, “But what about the kids, what about packing?”, “Don’t worry, we will be back in 2 nights time, your sisters and mum are looking after the kids and I have packed, don’t worry all of your favourite clothes are in the suitcase and yes your shoes to”, Cesca smiled before kissing him for what would be the 1000th time that day. Her mum, sisters and Marcus and Ruth appeared to say goodbye they had known about Jonah’s surprise. Eva was holding Mia’s hand and Izzy and Anna had a twin each, Jonah and Cesca said their goodbyes. “Right be good, I love you lots”, She said to Mia before giving her a big hug and a kiss, “Love you”, Mia said. Jonah was so thankful to all of them for helping him to make this all possible. Cesca gave the twins a kiss before Jonah insisted they left, Cesca was excited, they were off to Cornwall just the two of them, something they hadn’t done in months.
