How Did I Get Here?

Robert and I shook hands as Kate joined me in the gazebo. Kate and I were both grinning madly at each other, taking hold of each other's hands. Looking at my beautiful bride I noticed she had the heart shaped pendant on that I had given her for her birthday. As we stood there together Kate mouthed to me 'I love you', and I did the same back. Kate giggled quietly as I did this.

Elouise had picked up the microphone. "Hi everyone. I'm Elouise Logan and besides being friends with Dan and Kate, I'm also a registered Celebrant, and as you may have guessed by now we are here today to celebrate the wedding of Kathryn and Daniel."

The ceremony went beautifully, but all I can remember is looking at Kate and seeing her look at me. We said our vows and the I Do's, and put our wedding rings on. I do remember kissing Kate though, as I had wanted to do that ever since she had walked into the garden. As we pulled apart I remember hearing the cheering and clapping of everyone watching on.

Kate and I and the bridal party went and had photos taken before returning to the party about an hour later. All our guests were now in the marquee adjacent to the back of the Taylor's house. This had been closed up when everyone arrived, but was now open and was beautifully decorated.

Elouise took over the microphone again, this time as MC and she announced us into the marquee. Kate and I walked into the room and everyone clapped and cheered again. Instead of sitting down, we went to the microphone and decided to speak to everyone, explaining ourselves for the day's events.

"Thanks again everyone. We hope we surprised you today with all of this. We would just like to explain to you all why we did this." I said.

Kate took over the microphone. "Now I will answer the same question both our parents asked when Dan and I first suggested this..... NO I AM NOT PREGNANT." Laughter filled the marquee.

As this died down Kate continued "As you all know Dan was involved in a car accident just after we returned from overseas. Thankfully he wasn't seriously hurt."

"No just a broken thumb, concussion and a night in hospital." I interjected.

"Anyway, when I saw Dan lying in hospital unconscious I got really scared." Kate held my hand again. "When we were back home I realised I didn't want to wait to get married to Dan. Anything could happen. So we arranged to get married today. We knew you all were coming to our engagement party, so we thought why not kill two birds with one stone and get married at the same."

"We will talk with you all throughout the night. Please enjoy the evening."

The evening went well. Everyone was so happy for us. We did get some 'grief' from my sister as she wasn't included in the plan, but she was really happy for us. Our guests all seemed to be enjoying themselves.

The night continued with a few speeches. Elouise, Pete and our Fathers all spoke about how happy they were for us.

Then Amanda came up to speak. She talked about growing up with Katie (she is the only person who can call Kate 'Katie'), how great a big sister she is and how close they are as friends and sisters. She then went on to talk about Kate and me.

"I remember Katie coming home from work one day last year and she was really happy. It was the happiest she had been for a 'very long time'. She had been given some flowers from one of the girls she taught and her father. She kept talking about this father, how nice he was, how handsome he was, even how great it would be to go out with him.

"Katie was really hooked on this guy. She was always talking about him. She even changed her roster at work so that she worked every Friday afternoon just so she could see this guy when he came to pick up his daughter." Kate was now looking very embarrassed as Amanda said these things.

"A few weeks later I convinced Katie to come with me and James to the sports store in the mall as we were going the see the footy team that was having an autograph signing there. We were standing in the line waiting for it all to start when Katie grabs me by the arm and in a panic starts saying 'That's him. It's Dan. He's here, he's here. Up the front. He's here.'

"I looked up to the front and could see this nice looking man setting things up for the autograph signing. He was good looking, dark hair, pretty fit, well dressed. Katie was now in a bit of a state seeing him. She was frantically fixing up her hair, straightening out her clothes. He was looking around from the autograph tables, looking at the crowd that was waiting. I said to Katie 'Don't look up. He is looking this way.' So what did Katie do? She looked up." Everyone laughed.

"I saw Dan recognise her and a big smile came onto his face. He came down from the signing area and walked to where we were in the line. I still to this day don't know how Katie managed to pull herself together to talk to him, but she did. He invited us to stay after the signing and meet the players properly and we did. Dan talked to Katie all the time we were there. He even asked her out for coffee after he had finished working there.

"That night when Katie was home, she rang me and spoke for 2 HOURS about her time with Dan. How great he was, how he listened to her, how handsome he was, how sweet he was, blah, blah, blah." Amanda laughed as she said this.

"Katie and Dan started texting each other and were becoming closer all the time. Katie was getting a little frustrated as Dan hadn't asked her out again, but she realised that this was probably because she was Emily's teacher. She was really hoping that Dan was going to ask her out when Emily graduated, but apparently they didn't get the chance to talk properly that night.

"The following week Katie rang me and she was so excited. Dan had 'finally' asked her out. I want to say thank you to Dan for doing this as I was getting really tired of Katie complaining to me about why you hadn't asked her out and what was taking you so long." Lots more laughter.

"Katie and Dan, since you have been together I have not seen a happier couple. You work together as a team and you are always looking out for each other. The love you have for each other is so clear to see and I am so happy for both of you.

"I am very lucky as well. Not only am I gaining a great brother in law but I also have a big sister who is happier than ever before." Kate and Amanda hugged together after the speech.

Not long after that Kate and I had the traditional first dance as a married couple. As we moved around the dance floor, holding each other close I whispered in Kate's ear "I love you so much Kate."

"I love you so much Dan......"

*************

"......Dan, Dan. Wake up."

I opened my eyes slowly and there was Kate, smiling down at me. Her beautiful blue eyes sparkled behind her glasses, but there are a few more 'lines' around her eyes now. Her hair is shorter than before, now shoulder length. Looking further down I could see she was dressed for the day. But what caught my eye was that she had her heart shaped pendant on, from all those years ago.

"Wake up sleepy head. I heard your alarm go off a while ago." She said.

I reached my arms up and pulled Kate close to me, kissing her deeply.

Pulling apart Kate said "Wow. You're in a good mood. The sleep in has done you good."

Kate kissed me again, sat down on the bed next to me and said "You looked so happy sleeping. I almost didn't want to wake you up. What were you dreaming about?"

"You and me; thinking about us from years ago. Different moments in time that got us here."

Kate's beautiful smile lit up her face, just like it always had. "Come on Honey. Time to get up." She said as she gave me a little shove to get me to move.

"Why do we have to get up? You could come back to bed and we could snuggle for a while." I said, still lying in bed.

"Dan, its Saturday. We have lots to do. You have to take Andrew to Soccer and I'm taking Samantha to Karate. Then we have to come back here and get cleaned up ready for Emily's 18th birthday party this evening. Don't you remember?"

It all came back to me, but I was still feeling very blissful so I wrapped my arms around Kate again and pulled her down to me. She squealed and giggled as I kissed her in all of the little places she liked. We cuddled and giggled for a minute before Kate slipped from my grasp. Looking back at me, her smile still melted my heart.

I am so lucky to have married one of those extraordinary women who get better looking as they get older. Kate is still curvy, her bust magnificent and her legs still gorgeous. Her face hardly looks any different. There are a few more lines, but Kate has retained her good looks.

"Come on Honey. You have to get up." She said, laughing.

"Ok Gorgeous." I said begrudgingly.

Getting up I went to the wardrobe to get some clothes for the day. In the mirror I could see the man I had become. The dark hair I once had is now a little thinner, with some flecks of grey through it. Looking myself over I'm still reasonably fit. Having two active kids obviously helps there. There were a few more lines on my face too.

As I stood looking at my clothes, working out what to wear, Kate slipped her arms around me from behind and held me close.

In a really seductive voice Kate whispered into my ear "If we get back early enough from the party tonight, after we put the kids to bed, why don't we have some fun in the hot tub tonight? Just you and me."

I spun around in her arms and was facing her. I reached out and held the heart shaped pendant that Kate still wore and asked "Like when we were in Palm Cove?"

Kate's smile turned into a big grin. "Oh Dan........I hadn't thought of that in ages. That was REALLY good...... Actually I was thinking more like when we were in Hawaii."

With that Kate kissed me, her tongue snaking its way into my mouth.

We moved apart and Kate turned to move away still smiling. She reached out and pinched my bum, giggling and left our bedroom.

The hot tub in Hawaii. Now that's another story...