Page 78 of Just Say Christmas
Now, Vic started to play the first notes of the song she and Marko had chosen, the melody simple as a folk song, strong as a river.You Raise Me Up,which was good because it was true.Marko and Koti stepped forward and turned to face the kitchen door, and the group of people, most of whom had traveled all the way here on a moment’s notice to share their day, rose to their feet.
Marko’s face. It was set, it was scarred, and it was strong. His hands clasped in front of him, his shoulders endless in his navy-blue suit jacket. Shoulders broad enough for anything.
“Want to marry him?” Nan asked quietly.
“Oh, yeh.”
“Then let’s go do it.”
Nyree clutched her bouquet in one hand, the tropical blooms and greenery she’d asked for, mixed with red and orange roses from Olivia’s garden, and told the silvery girl swimming in her belly,Time to do this. Time to make it real.She took her Nan’s arm with her other hand and said, “Let’s.”
* * *
MARKO
Marko stood in front of the arbor with Koti at his elbow, his mum, dad, and sisters watching from the first row, and his grandmother in her lounge chair at one side. Her eyes were open, even though she had to be so tired, and he smiled at her, then shifted his gaze to the kitchen doors, because people were standing up.
He hadn’t seen the dress before. He couldn’t have guessed.
Creamy lace over a pale-gold underdress, the patterns in the lace embracing her breasts and hips, and the swell of her belly outlined beneath. He wouldn’t call it “tight.” He’d just call her . . . bloody curvy. Also fertile. And, absolutely and eternally, his. Gold gleaming in her ears, and across her collarbones, the flash of diamonds and citrine.
She came to him like a promise kept, an arrow from a bow, probably faster than she should have done, and her Nan was laughing, coming along with her, patting her hand where it was threaded through her arm.
It was going to be a party. It was going to be a celebration. It was going to be alife.
38
The Whistle Blows
LUKE
It was a pretty good wedding, Luke thought. The way you’d want to do it. More like a fun time and less like a stage set. Of course, what did he know.
He and Hayden had only got here, along with Kane and Victoria, a couple hours before the wedding was slated to start, and he and Kane had spent almost all of it carrying in the drinks and playing bartender. Hayden had disappeared somewhere in there to change, and eventually, Luke had, too. Everybody shuffling in and out of a few bathrooms, taking a turn in front of a mirror. A little haphazard, and a lot casual.
Hayden had officiated over the ceremony, which had been good. Touching, and relaxed, and with a laugh when Nyree had tried to fit the gold band over Marko’s rugby-damaged knuckle and Marko had had to help her. And if Luke had got a chill down his spine when Hayden had raised his handsome head and looked at him, after he’d said the words and Marko had kissed his bride, lifting her off her feet to do it, his arms gentle around her? If Luke had gone a bit short of breath at that look, nobody needed to know.
“And now,” Marko announced, once he’d finally set Nyree down again, “if everybody wants to gather round, we’re going to diverge from plan again and find out what this bump of Nyree’s is before Amona has to go lie down again.”
His grandmother, in fact, looked fragile as paper. She tried to sit up, and Marko went to her, crouched by her chair, and said, “Nah. Don’t move. We’ll bring it to you.” He asked Koti, “Mate?”
Koti went inside, and when he came out again, he brought a balloon with him. A big gold helium balloon, to be precise, with pink and blue tassels tied to the strings, and the words,He or She. What Will It Be?written in curly script.
“I won’t even make a speech,” Koti said, handing the balloon to Marko. “Though I had a few sheep jokes . . .”
“Save them for the toast,” Marko said. “I know they’re coming.”
“We don’t really need to know anyway,” Nyree said. “Amona already told us it’s a girl.”
“No,” Koti said. “You are popping this balloon. After I drove all over Christchurch today to find a place to fill it? Kept the secret,andfilled it with confetti? There’s a fiddly business, if you like, especially when you’re doing it in a car. Of course, I knew what it was even before I opened the envelope.” He put his fingertips to his forehead. “Coming through again now. Hard-headed. Bloody-minded. Oh, wait. That’s Marko.”
Marko smiled, then handed an oversized hatpin to his grandmother. “Go on, Amona,” he said. “Let’s find out.”
It took her a couple tries. In the end, Marko’s hand had to guide hers. But when the balloon popped, the confetti streamers that cascaded down were pink.
“Arielle,” Marko said. Nyree’s hand was in his, and he looked like he’d forgotten to smile.
“Arielle,” Nyree said, and laughed through a couple of tears, then crouched down herself, not easy in that dress, and put her arms around the old lady. “Thank you, Amona. Your way was better.” And when Marko picked his grandmother up to carry her to bed and her hand went to his cheek, there may not have been too many dry eyes.
