Cricket Match

I sipped my drink before continuing. "It could go wrong at some point, of course, it could, but if that happens then I'm sure you'll catch me and help me. I don't want it to happen, I want to live with and love her."

Amy smiled at me, "Sarah, the question had to be asked. I see how much you love her and I wish you all the best, but you're right, the four of us also love you and will be there for you if you need us."

With that the mood lightened, we put on some music and started dancing. At one point Amy started singing and we were a bit stunned, none of us knew that she could sing that well. We asked her to sing something else and she found the backing music for 'I will always love you.' She looked at me, "Do you remember our first Christmas? The two of us played this and sang along."

I nodded before she continued, "I'm going to sing this for you, Sarah. Meeting you and your Mum changed my life, I was already in love with you by then and I still am." Amy wasn't Whitney Houston or Dolly Parton, but that didn't matter, it was beautiful and we were all pushing back tears. At the end, I cuddled her and Karen asked her to sing another one.

"The only other song I know well enough to sing is a favourite of Dee's." She turned to Karen and Olivia, "That was my wife who died a few years before I met these two and I..." Obviously, for some reason, Amy had forgotten that they knew the story very well.

Mum hugged her, "Please sing it if it's not too hard for you." Amy sang 'The wind beneath my wings' and we were all sobbing before she got halfway through.

Mum gave her another hug, "Well done, beautiful. I know how much you loved her."

Amy looked at me, "I hope things work for you and Hayley," she turned to Karen and Olivia, "and for you two, you're lovely girls. I don't know what I did to deserve the love that I had with Dee and after she went, I assumed that I'd be on my own, but then I fell in love again, deeply in love with Meredith. I've had two such wonderful partners and if you're half as lucky as me you'll all be great."

I wanted to call it a night and headed for my room just before eleven. I climbed into bed and sent a text. 'Missing you, I love you. Can't wait for tomorrow.' Five minutes later I got a reply, 'Missing you too, tomorrow we'll be married and I'm excited. Love you.' I smiled and hugged the phone to my chest.

Ten minutes later the door opened, Karen and Olivia, in nightshirts, stood there. "Need some company?" Karen asked.

"Might be the last chance for the three of us," said Olivia.

My smile was my answer and they climbed in beside me and I burst into tears. "What's wrong?" Olivia asked.

"Nothing. I'm lucky, I've got a great Mum, grandparents, Amy and two of the best friends anyone could ask for."

"And tomorrow you'll have a wife. I really wish you well." Olivia kissed me, a sloppy one on the cheek and Karen evened it up on the other side. We talked for a few more minutes before cuddling together as we'd done many times for the last ten years. My final thought was, that as nice as this was and as wonderful as these two are, I'd rather be with Hayley.

*****

Fortunately, there were no hangovers at breakfast the next morning, but despite not having any alcohol all I could manage was toast and coffee.

A friend of Mum's turned up to sort out our hair and make-up. It took a while to get through the five of us but we laughed and had fun whilst she did her stuff. My nerves had started, not because I was having doubts, I just wanted things to go smoothly.

Mum and Amy had gone to town on their outfits, beautiful dresses and new shoes, the whole shebang. Mum even wore a hat, Amy refused.

Karen and Olivia wore identical dark ivory silk dresses, calf-length with full skirts, plenty of cleavage and long close-fitting sleeves. I was stunned at their beautiful and very sexy underwear.

My dress was a similar fabric, but a shade or two lighter. It was a sheath, with wide shoulder straps and a very full hem so that it flowed around my feet which were in heels and I'd had to put in some practice in these, they were so tall. I hadn't seen Hayley's dress, but I knew that it was very similar to mine, but with more embellishments. Our heels matched, that was important so that we were the same height. My hair was in a single French braid, fastened up at the nape of my neck with some small flowers woven into it.

My grandparents arrived right on time and Gran left in a car with Mum and Amy. The car returned ten minutes later for Karen and Olivia. They helped Grandad and me into our car before they left just in front of us.

"You look beautiful Sarah and I'm very proud of you. I love you very much." Grandad was beaming and looked incredibly smart in his tail suit and tie.

*****

The car entered the grounds of the cricket stadium and slowly drove past the administration offices, around the rear of the Pavilion before coming to a halt outside the Sherwood Suite, where one of the Club staff opened the doors and helped Grandad out. Karen and Olivia were there to check my dress, not that there was much to fix. My friends were two good looking women and despite having only left them a few minutes ago I was amazed, they looked incredible, "You two look stunning."

Karen fixed the shoulder of my dress and quietly said, "I always knew that you were gorgeous, but you look so happy and I don't think I've ever seen a more beautiful bride."

I took Grandad's arm; he wasn't as agile as he once was and not that steady on his feet. We went through the door and were about to start along the aisle. There wasn't far to go, but after two footsteps Grandad faltered and looked horrified as he said to me in a whisper, "Hold on lass, I need a second."

From somewhere close by Graham Dowling stepped forward and said, "Can I help?"

Grandad recognised him, let's face it, he was a hero to any English cricket fan and Grandad looked at him in awe, "My legs aren't what they once were and I'm not sure I can make it. Sir, it would be an honour if the England Captain would walk my Granddaughter down the aisle."

"Nonsense, you can do this and I'll give you a hand. You need to give her away, but I'll help." With that, he took Grandad's other arm and helped him to the end of the aisle. We both smiled at Graham as he left us to resume his seat.

I'd not paid that much attention to the guests as I'd been caught up with Grandad, but I realised that there appeared to be far more people than I expected. I'd caught glimpses of some familiar faces and realised that most of the England and Bandit's women's teams were present and a few of the men's team as well. I put it out of my mind, I had other things to think about.

I turned to face Hayley and got a good look at her for the first time, I let out a small gasp, she looked stunning, her whole face was lit up and her eyes sparkled as she looked at me. Then she leaned forward a little and whispered, "You look beautiful and I'm excited, I love you very much." Her hair was in a bun and also gathered at her neck, we were so similar.

I smiled back at her and thought how wonderful this was, I was about to be married to my hero. "I love you too, I'm excited and I can't wait to kiss my wife."

*****

I had a grin on my face the whole way through the service, I kept looking at Hayley and she kept looking back, we must have looked like two lunatics. Then I was told that I could kiss my wife. On reflection, I don't think I've ever seen a bride throw her arms around her partner's neck, drag her close and kiss her as ferociously as I did that day. It induced some titters from the gathering and that morphed into actual laughter. When we stopped kissing, I looked around, Amy was wiping tears of laughter away, Mum was bright red and Hayley's mum couldn't decide if she should be humiliated or amused. Her Dad was grinning and looked so proud of his daughter.

I turned around to see our bridesmaids, Karen, Olivia and Carrie, Hayley's cousin, all smiling too. I opened my arms and pulled them all into a big hug and thanked them. We were surrounded by the other guests offering congratulations, it was family first, close friends and then the other attendees. It was at that point that we were told that the ECB (who administer cricket in England and Wales) and the local county team had suggested adding many of the current players to the guestlist for the ceremony. They were then off for a meal elsewhere at the ground and would be back later for the less formal bit and the dancing, after the reception meal. We'd invited a few of our teammates, those that we were closest to, but we'd limited the numbers conscious of the cost. Those who'd been 'added' were simply delighted for an excuse to party. I noticed Graham Dowling and his wife hanging back and pushed some others aside, whilst clutching Hayley's hand, to get to him. I grabbed him and planted a huge kiss on his cheek, Hayley caught the opposite side. "Thanks for being here and what you did for Grandad was so kind."

"Well, I like the two of you and this event is something I was delighted to attend. You know, just because I'm well known, I'm still just a normal bloke who happens to be good at cricket, the same as you two. Your Grandad looked distressed, what should have been a very proud day for him suddenly looked as if it was going to become an embarrassment for him and I couldn't have that." He grinned, "and I almost got to walk a beautiful woman down the aisle." Hayley slapped his arm, he looked offended, "What? I could only do it for one of you and you're gorgeous too."

"Good recovery Dowling," laughed Hayley. His wife burst out laughing before adding her good wishes.

People were swilling bubbly as we posed for photos, thousands of them, at least it seemed like that many. We also took a group shot with all the players behind a set of stumps, they weren't on the actual playing square, that idea had been knocked on the head, but they'd been set up nearer to the pavilion. I saw Bill, the Head Groundsman, loitering nearby supervising to make sure no one damaged a blade of his precious grass. He'd been here for many years and there was a joke that he was so proud of his ground that he hated people playing cricket on it because of the wear and tear it caused; that wasn't entirely true. He was the loveliest man and knew as much about cricket as anyone I'd ever met. When he looked over, I saw a little girl, maybe ten years old wearing a smart dress standing with him. I raised an eyebrow and he walked over. "Congratulations to both of you, I'm proud to know you. This is Kirstie, my granddaughter, she wanted to come, she has something for you."

With that she stepped forward, looking hesitant holding a beautiful horseshoe with 'Good luck' on it. "I think that you two are amazing. I'd like to play like you and I made this for you." She was so cute and I could feel my tears starting to form as I thanked her. As Hayley bent down to hug her, I caught the eye of the photographer and called him over. He took photos of the two of us with her and then with Bill. He tried to protest, but I told him not to be daft. A few minutes later I saw Graham Dowling holding Kirstie on his shoulders as Bill and he sank a beer.

The meal was great, the speeches mercifully short and humorous, it seemed like everyone was having fun. Hayley and I chatted with our parents, but for a lot of the time, the two of us had our heads together and giggled. She had her hand high on my thigh at one point and squeezed it, she thought that no one could see it underneath the table, but I caught sight of Helen, the England Women's Captain. She'd seen the gesture, she smiled at me and shook her head a little, laughing as she did so.eahHeather

"Leave that until later, you've been spotted." I giggled and slapped her arm.

"That's spouse abuse!" She paused with a slightly red hue to her cheeks, "Sorry, I thought it was safe. Later I'm going to do much more than grab your thigh."

"I bloody hope so," I replied.

Grandad tried to apologise, but I told him that I was incredibly proud that he wanted to give me away and that we'd managed it. He grinned back at me saying, "I didn't know that you were friends with him, he's a legend."

"I'm not sure that we're friends, but Graham's a lovely man."

Mum hardly took her eyes off of me, she seemed proud, amazed and bewildered all at the same time. I know she thought that we'd rushed into this and I'd spent hours trying to convince her that it was the right thing to do. She worried about me, but that's what mother's do.

When the meal was cleared away, the dancing started and the other players who'd been partying elsewhere joined us. Hayley and I had the first dance, a real smoochy number, then I danced with Grandad, but only briefly, then Hayley's Dad, who asked me to be kind to his daughter. Once again Graham Dowling seemed to know what to do and he danced with Gran, Mum, Amy, Hayley's Mum and Gran, my aunt, Karen, Olivia, Carrie and then most of the female cricketers. He seemed to be on the floor constantly.

Hayley and I were whisked around by lots of the male players, most of whom we knew fairly well. It was pretty exhausting and mid-way through the evening I knew that it was time to go. Hayley and I were off to a fancy big hotel and spa, about an hour's drive away, for a few days, but we'd kept the destination quiet.

As we were getting ready to leave Karen and Olivia came over and gave us both a big hug. "Thanks for what you did today, it wouldn't have been right without you."

Karen smiled as Olivia said, "The three of us are pals, we always have been and always will be. You both looked great." She turned and looked Hayley squarely in the eyes, "We trust you to care for her, so be warned, but actually, we love you as well."

We hugged and kissed them, said our goodbye's, waved to the guests and climbed into the car. There were people on both sides of it and some of them followed us as we drove to the gates and then out of the ground, we waved from the rear window until they all disappeared from view. I turned to Hayley and put my head on her shoulder, "I love you; this is the best day of my life, now I'm married to a wonderful woman."

"If you'd asked me about getting married a year ago, I'd have said that it was unlikely because I've never known anyone I could feel so strongly about. Then you kissed me and suddenly I knew that we were meant to be together. Can I get a kiss?"

That was the first of many we exchanged that night.

Olivia - A few days later

"Did you get a message from Sarah?" I asked.

Karen turned around and smiled at me as she continued to stir whatever was in the pot, "No, I don't think so, but I haven't checked. What does she say?"

"When Amy got home after the wedding, she got down on one knee and proposed. Meredith said yes."

"That's great, they're a lovely couple. When you think back, Meredith changed after meeting Amy and she always seems happier now."

"I always loved going over there, they're both wonderful."

I went to change and got back just as Karen was plating the food. We talked about our day, but something was nagging at me. Something I couldn't put my finger on.

We cuddled up together on the couch in front of the TV and a few minutes later I got it. I turned to face Karen and she gave me a lovely smile, which changed to a puzzled look, "What's wrong?"

I took a deep breath. "What's wrong is..." I hesitated, I started to cry and the words that followed came out in a rush. "They're all married or getting married and we're not, we should be, we love each other. I want to be your wife."

Karen's eyes and mouth opened wide, she muttered "What?"

"You heard. I'd love to get married, what do you think?"

"I think that you're crazy, but I agree, so if you're asking, the answer's yes."

We kissed. "I'm sorry, I never planned that." I slid onto my knees in front of her, "Karen Church, will you marry me? It wasn't much of a proposal and there are no rings."

"And you're not Prince Charming, you're my Cinderella. I don't care about all that stuff and we can get rings. This is crazy you know that?" She had a huge smile as she spoke, "Olivia Hill, I'd love to be your wife."

"I love you." I was grinning.

"And I love you." Karen paused thinking, "So are we going to be Hill or Church. Or keep our own names or go double barrel?"

I only needed a few seconds, "I'd like us to be the same, why not Churchill?"

Three months later

I reached the end of the aisle and smiled at the Registrar. Dad let go of my arm, I handed my flowers to Sarah and turned to face Karen; I've never seen anyone so beautiful; I didn't know that it was possible to feel so happy that I might explode. In a few minutes, I'd be her wife, then she grinned and mouthed silently, "I love you, I'm so happy."

The end

Thank you for reading. I love to read your comments and ratings are appreciated.

There is a follow up to this story, set 23 years later, about Sarah, Hayley, Karen and Olivia. I give fair warning, there is a tragic event that will require tissues, but it ends well.