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37 DAVID

Two Hours Until the Wedding

David felt nervous but he psyched himself up because Meg needed to know what she was wearing. Her hair and make-up was now mostly done, and he was sitting patiently on the sofa, fiddling with his phone.

‘Okay,’ David said, getting up. ‘Meg, can I show you your new dress?’

‘Oh, yes, okay.’ Meg spun round excitedly in her chair. ‘So it is a dress? Okay, for this I am perhaps a little nervous.’

‘Don’t be,’ David said. ‘It’s fine.’

He walked into the hall and came back holding the bag with the dress in.

‘Close your eyes, and I’ll hang it on the door.’ She placed her hands over her eyes. ‘Okay, open.’

‘Oh my God.’

David watched as Meg took it all in. It was her mum’s dress, or at least it had been. Susan had been working all night but David hadn’t wanted to tell Meg the idea in case she was instantly turned off. With a huge number of tweaks, what had been a traditional sort of dress now looked amazing. It was a thick white silk, with a see-through wrap over the decolletage and down to the wrists. The train had been old-fashioned, too long and heavy, but had now been completely taken off. Where there had been some damage, Susan had sewn blocks of colour in triangles at the bottom of the dress, which were hidden but opened up as the dress moved. The bottom of the dress would only just skirt her knees, but at least there was space for her to move properly, and that was more like the type of dress she would wear out somewhere anyway. The colours at the bottom were simple pastel versions of the pride flag.

‘David, this is …’

She looked at him and seemed to lose her train of thought. He had no idea what to say, or what she thought. ‘If you hate it, or you want to wear something else, we can, well I don’t know …’

‘Okay.’

‘Susan said trying to dry yours would have completely ruined the material.’

‘No, no, it’s … David, I think it’s perfect.’

‘Do you really?’ He could have burst with happiness.

‘It’s completely perfect,’ she said. ‘I would never have thought … I want to put it on right now.’

‘Put it on then!’ David said as Meg stood up.

‘And we did check with your mum,’ David said. ‘She’d said alterations were fine, but Ailie messaged her to make sure. She said she didn’t have use for it anymore.’

Meg looked like she wasn’t sure what to say. He wondered what that meant for today. ‘Can I put it on?’ she asked, turning to the make-up woman, Stacey.

‘Yes, of course,’ Stacey said, checking her watch. ‘But be careful of the lipstick!’

Meg ran away to the bedroom and came back with the dress on.

‘This is so great,’ she said, bending to look at herself in David’s narrow mirror in the hall. ‘I think it’s … it’s definitely more fun than before. I never would have thought to wear something like this. It’s so short.’

‘Are you happy?’ David asked. ‘I was worried it was a little short or that you would think it doesn’t look like a wedding dress, but I guess that’s good for later on when Martha …’

‘I’m ready to dance now!’ Meg said. ‘You were right. Thanks, David, I …’

She moved over to hug him and squeezed him tighter than she ever had.

‘Can I ask you something?’ Meg asked.

‘Yes, of course.’ David checked his watch. ‘But make it quick; you’ve not got long.’

‘Well it’s something important …’ Meg said. ‘I wanted to know … Where’s my wedding?’

They both laughed. ‘Do you want to know?’

‘I do, but it doesn’t even matter at this stage.’ Meg looked at the ceiling as if trying not to cry. ‘The one thing I do want to ask is whether you’d do me the honour of walking me down the aisle?’

‘Meg! I …’

‘I spoke to Hannah about it after we’d visited my parents, and it seems so obvious now, that it should be you. You’ve been by my side every step of this journey, and I wondered …’ She paused. ‘Whether you’d take the last few steps with me?’

She looked at David and David looked at Stacey, who looked like she was going to cry.

‘Of course I will.’ David touched Meg’s shoulder. ‘I’d love to!’

‘Are you sure? You don’t have to.’

‘I really want to, Meg. That’s lovely, thank you so much for asking.’

‘Well thank you, ’ she said. ‘For everything.’