A Love Story

Just one thing worried Ben that first morning after they'd made love. He looked Helen in the eyes as he asked her. "Helen, when we made love last night, I didn't wear protection and I came inside you. Was it safe, you can still get pregnant, and we can't let that happen."

"You're right," she replied, "We can't let that happen but it's ok because I'm on the pill, I started taking it when I started dating, just in case I met someone that I really liked and, you know!"

"Oh, ok," said Ben, "Is it alright for you to stay on it, or should I get contraceptives?"

"Yes, it's ok for me to continue for the time being," she replied, "If we continue with our relationship for a long time we may have to think again."

"I don't want anyone but you Helen," he said, "I'll never want anyone else, I want us to be together always."

"So do I, darling," she replied, "We must see how it works out though, I'm a lot older than you and you might not want an old lady in your bed later on."

"I know I'll never want anyone but you. You'll see."

"Thank you, love. In that case we will need to make some plans for the future."

In the course of their continued discussions, they decided they would live in Helen's house as if they were married partners, but they would be careful to carry on as mother and son when outside their home, to avoid neighbours and acquaintances becoming suspicious about their real relationship.

Money wasn't an issue for them. Ben had soon decided to sell his own house now that he was certain he was going to live with Helen. She had substantial investments inherited from her dead husband, together with the proceeds of his life insurance so money wasn't a problem.

However, Ben didn't want to live off his mother or reduce his own capital savings so they decided that he would re-establish his electrical contracting business, which would provide for their day to day living costs. They would be able live comfortably and be able to enjoy an active social life together, often dining out, dancing, seeing shows. etc.

Their sex life was akin to that of a newly married couple. They didn't have intercourse every day, but they did enjoy some sort of sexual contact daily. Whenever the opportunity presented itself, or the need demanded it. They each learned what gave the most pleasure to the other and either of them would take the lead in initiating a loving session.

They kissed often and revelled in the many loving touches they shared through the days and nights together. Their love was real and obvious and sooner or later someone was going to spot it when they were out and about if they weren't very careful.

A few weeks later they discussed the subject of contraception again and, although Helen argued against it at first, Ben decided he would have a vasectomy. That way he could ensure that Helen didn't become pregnant, and she wouldn't need to be in any danger from prolonged use of the contraceptive pill.

Helen was against it at first, but when Ben insisted that he was never going to have any lover but her, and would never need, or want, to father children, she reluctantly agreed and the arrangements were made.

Despite their best efforts at being careful with their appearance outside their home, an awkward moment occurred some weeks later when Helen was chatting to one of their neighbours. The neighbour mentioned that she'd seen them out and about together, and remarked to Helen that they behaved more like a married couple than mother and son, and shouldn't Ben be leaving home and finding himself a wife.

This caused Helen to worry that tongues had started wagging, and others would soon realise that she and Ben were rather closer than the usually acceptable mother and son relationship. She discussed it with Ben, and they eventually agreed that they'd sell up and move to a part of the country where they weren't known and were unlikely to meet anyone they'd have known before. There they could make a fresh start and live openly as if they were husband and wife.

They soon arranged the sale of Helen's house and found a new home on the opposite side of the country, in Norfolk, the northernmost county of East Anglia. They expected to be able to move into their new home in a few weeks. Ben would relocate his business to their new home area. There were plenty of new homes being built in East Anglia so he figured that he would have no difficulty in continuing his profession there.

Ben wanted to do something special for Helen before they settled into their new home and decided that he'd give her the gift of a holiday in the sun. Then, whilst checking out holidays in the Greek islands, he saw an advertisement from a 'Wedding Planner' based on the island of Santorini, one of the Cyclades in the Aegean Sea. He idly perused the advert and saw that as well as normal weddings, they also offered to arrange something called 'A Symbolic Wedding'.

Reading on, he found that a Symbolic Wedding ceremony was described as a meaningful, non-religious ceremony, usually performed by a humanist wedding celebrant. It is the promise of love between two people and could be performed as intimately or as publicly as the participants wish. It's broadly the same as a regular wedding ceremony, including the exchange of vows and exchange of rings, the only difference is that it's not legally binding, so legal documents are therefore not necessary, and there is no wedding permit issued.

These 'weddings' are often used as a way of renewing actual wedding vows, or sometimes, for pledging vows between couples who are unable, or unwilling, to wed legally at that time for one reason or another.

Ben decided there and then that his gift to Helen would be a Symbolic Wedding on Santorini, to cement their loving relationship. With their passports already showing their same surnames they should be able to arrange this without any problem, as if they were renewing existing vows, when in fact they would actually be making them to each other for the first time.

That night, after dinner, as they sat on the couch holding hands, Ben said, "Helen, you know that I love you without reservation, don't you?"

Looking suddenly concerned, Helen replied, "Yes, of course I do my love."

"Ok," said Ben, getting up off the couch and kneeling in front of his lover. "If I could find a way to marry you, would you marry me?"

"How on Earth.....," Helen started to say, then she stopped and seeing the serious look in Ben's eyes, she continued. "Yes, my love, a thousand times yes. But surely it isn't possible, is it."

Ben, showed Helen the article that he'd read on 'symbolic weddings' then he said, "I was looking to take you away for a holiday in the sun before we move home, and I came across this article about symbolic weddings on Santorini. I know we can't be legally married, but with a symbolic wedding we can make our promises to each other and be really married in our own eyes."

"We could have a wedding with all the trimmings of the real thing and have photographs to treasure and to show people we meet after we move home. We already have the same surname so we shouldn't have any problem in just being husband and wife in the eyes of people we meet when we move to our new home. I want to marry you in any way I can, love. Shall we do it?"

Helen couldn't prevent tears of happiness rolling down her cheeks, "Oh, my sweet, sweet love," she whispered. "Yes, of course we'll do it. I want you for my husband no matter what sort of wedding we have." She threw her arms around him, and they kissed, long and passionately.

They threw themselves into arranging the wedding and holiday on Santorini. They got in contact with the wedding planner who was very helpful, and the loving couple had little to do about the arrangements once they'd told the planner what they wanted. Of course, the planner had no idea about their true relationship.

They selected the venue for the wedding from a set of photographs emailed to them, it was a villa overlooking the sea, which they booked for their entire two weeks holiday stay, The humanist celebrant was booked to perform the ceremony on the Saturday in the middle of their two weeks stay.

Three local girls from Santorini were booked to be bridesmaids and Helen chose their dresses from a wardrobe held by the planner. Helen would provide her own dress, bought off the peg at a wedding outfitter's shop close to where they were living. She would be dressed in an ankle length, sheer, white silk dress, her bridesmaids would be wearing similar dresses in pale tangerine satin.

Two weeks before they flew to Santorini for their 'wedding' and holiday, Ben and Helen moved into their new home. Their existing furniture would be sufficient until after their holiday when they'd have plenty of time to change things to however they wanted them.

Two weeks later they were both excited and nervous as they boarded their flight to a new and exciting adventure together.

When they arrived on Santorini, they took a taxi to the villa they'd rented through the wedding planner, this was the venue for their wedding, and they were eager to see if the location was as good as it appeared in the promotional video that they'd seen.

When they arrived at the villa, they were very pleased with what they saw from the road. The villa was rendered in sparkling white and brilliantly outlined against the clear blue sky. First impressions were definitely good.

Madeline, the wedding planner, met the happy couple at the front door and ushered them inside. She immediately noticed that there was a considerable age difference between her clients. It wasn't that Helen looked old, just that she was evidently a little more mature than her beau. He looked to be in his mid-twenties but as soon as she spoke with him, she recognised a very mature head on younger shoulders. She wondered what their story was, but whatever it was it didn't matter to her as long as nothing illegal was happening. With a 'Symbolic Wedding' there were no legalities involved so she was happy to do whatever her clients wanted.

"Welcome, Ben and Helen", she said, "It's lovely to meet you in person. I'm certain you're going to love the villa, it has every comfort you could want and I'm sure you'll find that the rear terrace and garden is a wonderful place to hold your ceremony. I'll show you around the villa first and leave the garden until later as the 'piece de resistance'."

The villa was beautifully appointed, and the couple were very happy with it, but they were both eager to get into the rear garden area to see where they would exchange their vows.

"Ok," said Madeline, "I can see you're eager to see exactly where we'll hold your ceremony. Come on let's go." And she led them outside.

When Helen saw the beautiful gardens, with the wedding bower already erected, she began to cry. The whole garden was perfect and the views from the area where the bower was erected were stunning, looking out over sunlit cliffs leading down to the deep blue of the Aegean Sea.

"Oh Ben," she cried, "It's glorious, wonderful, I'm so happy my love."

After confirming the itinerary for the following weekend's ceremony, the wedding planner left the happy couple to get settled into their home for the next two weeks. There was a stock of staple food items in the kitchen cupboards and the refrigerator, and a couple of complimentary bottles of wine on the counter.

"We could have a meal here this evening if you like," said Helen, "Or we could find a nice restaurant for dinner. Madeline recommended the first one you come to on the road down to the beach."

"Dinner out," said Ben, "I want to show my bride-to-be off to the world. Come on, we've got a couple of hours before we need to get ready, let's walk down to the beach and explore."

The half-mile walk, down the road to the beach, was pretty steep but when they got there it was worth the effort. Fine almost white sand, sparkling blue sea and a fierce reddish sun dropping towards the horizon made it a magical location, The road just above the beach boasted three restaurants and, as they'd passed by, they'd reserved a table for dinner at the one recommended by Madeline.

After a barefoot stroll along the tideline with the warm sea foaming around their ankles they decided to make the climb back up the steep road to their holiday home.

It took them best part of 40 minutes to stroll back, and they were hot and dusty when they arrived at the villa.

"You can shower first while I unpack," said Helen, "What do you think, dressy up or smart casual tonight."

"Smart casual," replied Ben, "I don't want to have to fight off the local wildlife if you're dressed up. I wonder what the Greek for, 'go away she's mine' is. Anyway, we can unpack together after we've shared the shower, if that's OK with you."

Helen gave a little laugh, "Ok, but no sex or we'll be late for dinner," then seeing the disappointed look in Ben's eyes she said, "Well, maybe just a little sex, but we should save enough energy for later."

Ben grinned. "Ok, it's a deal" he said.

90 minutes later, they were refreshed and dressed ready to go out. Helen had given way regarding having sex, she'd pushed a naked Ben onto the bed, mounted him cowgirl style and gently ridden him until they both shared a gentle climax.

"Strange how sex makes you hungry," said Ben, "I could eat a horse."

"Well, you never know what's on the menu, you may have to." She replied.

"No, that's France," he said with a chuckle. "Now, if you've finished touching up your lipstick we should go."

"Come on then," she retorted, "I wouldn't have to redo my lips if you'd stop kissing them."

"Ok, we'll have a moratorium on kissing for a couple of hours," he said laughing.

Dinner in the Greek restaurant was good, accompanied by a good full bodied red wine. Many of the other diners were locals and obviously knew that the English couple were to be 'married' at the weekend. Many of them wished them good luck in their future together which gave them a lot of pleasure.

Touched by the goodwill shown to them they invited the diners and their families to come to the villa on Saturday to see them married. They asked the restaurant owner to bring his family and to provide enough light refreshments for everyone that came.

The owner said he'd be delighted to do so and promised them a special meal if they would like to dine at the restaurant on the evening before the wedding, which they were happy to accept.

When they returned to the villa tired and happy, they were soon in bed holding each other and kissing softly. The kissing soon turned into gentle lovemaking before they fell asleep spooned together.

The week before the wedding passed quickly and before they knew it, it was Friday and the day of the wedding rehearsal. Madeline arrived at 10 a.m. as planned, with the bridesmaids and Nikolaos, the humanist celebrant. After introductions and the usual pleasantries, they all gathered on the rear terrace.

Refreshments were offered and accepted while Madeline ran through the order of the following day's proceedings.

Then Nikolaos ran through the order of the 'service'. Before he did so he confirmed, as they already knew, that the wedding ceremony had no legal standing but was intended for the 'bride and groom' to publicly state their love for each other and promise to respect each other and keep only to each other for the rest of their lives.

Ben and Helen told him that they understood that their 'Symbolic Wedding' would not have a legal basis. They explained that they did not want or need to be legally married. Neither had any family. It was impossible for them to have children, and they were happy to just spend their lives together, but they did want a ceremony just for their own pleasure and satisfaction.

Helen and Ben had already prepared a printed copy of the vows/promises they would make to each other as the main part of the ceremony which they gave to Nikolaos, he read through them and smiled as he said they were perfect.

Ben and Helen had no need for the printed pages, their promises to each other were not new to them and they were imprinted on their psyche.

At the end of the rehearsal there were handshakes all round and kisses from the three bridesmaids then Ben and Helen were left alone to relax for the rest of the day and think about tomorrow.

That night they decided to dine quietly in the villa. Ben walked down to the restaurant where they had previously agreed to dine and explained that they wanted to have a quiet evening together, just the two of them, before their big day.

The meal was prepared by Helen from the provisions they found in the kitchen. Afterwards they sat on the terrace under a beautiful star-studded sky and enjoyed a glass of wine. Perhaps unsurprisingly, both were a little nervous. This was a big step for them. Legally binding or not, for them tomorrow's ceremony was a huge moment in their relationship.

There was no sex that night, but they slept together of course, and Helen was protectively spooned by Ben as they lay, each with their own thoughts, before sleep finally came in the early hours.

Madeline and the bridesmaids arrived promptly at 10.00 a.m. on Saturday morning. The bridesmaids would help Helen get ready while they dressed themselves.

The photographer engaged by the planner arrived at 11.a.m. and began to take informal shots until the congregation started to arrive (local villagers and diners from the restaurant would make up the congregation to give a feeling of authenticity to the proceedings).

Nikolaos, the celebrant, arrived about 30 minutes before the ceremony was scheduled and after checking with the couple that all was well, he said he would begin the wedding ceremony promptly at midday.

A few minutes before the ceremony was due to begin Nikolaos asked the bride and the groom separately if they were happy to proceed with the marriage. He reminded them again that the marriage would not have any legal basis but said that it was still a serious undertaking and should not be taken lightly. Both Ben and Helen assured him that they did not view it at all frivolously, and that pledging their continued love to each other was a serious matter for them.

With a smile the celebrant said, "Then let us go and meet your audience."

Walking together hand in hand, with Helen carrying a spray of white roses that matched those in the circlet she wore on her head, the couple passed through the clapping crowd of local people and into the wedding bower, the three bridesmaids following behind them.

They stood in the bower facing each other in front of Nikolaos. Madeline also stood close by them holding a small cushion on which two sparkling gold wedding rings sat.

There was silence for a minute until everyone was settled. Helen couldn't help thinking back to her first wedding many years previously and tears began to form in her eyes. Seeing this, Ben quickly turned to her, drew out his handkerchief and wiped the tears away. At the same time, he whispered to his lovely partner. "We can stop it all, if you want to."

Helen smiled and replied, "No, darling. It was just a sad memory, and everything is alright now."

"I love you," whispered Ben.

"I know you do," replied Helen, "I love you too."

Nikolaos began by taking hold of Helen's right hand, then placing Ben's right hand on top of hers he said, "Ben and Helen, we are come to this place today to hear you pledge your continuing and undying love for each other, and to hear your promises to hold each other above all and any other persons, as long as you may live."

"Do you understand and agree that these promises must remain unbroken whatever the future may hold."

Looking into each other's eyes they each said, "I do."

Then Nikolaos continued, "Ben, witnessed by these people here present, do you wish to make a sacred vow to Helen?"