A Christmas Wedding(36)

By the time the morning shoot is finished, I have a little bit of a crush on all four of them.

Just as we’re leaving the house, I notice a picture of Alice and Joe on the hallstand. Alice is holding a baby koala, and Joe has his hand placed protectively on his fiancée’s pregnant belly. I know Lily’s handiwork when I see it and make a mental note to tell my friend that they still hold dear the shot that she took – on their request, as it turned out, at the conservation park in the Adelaide Hills, where she works. The couple gave their permission for Lily to sell the pictures she took of them, hoping it might help her get established – she’s also a keen photographer.

We go by hired limousine to the wedding venue a few miles away. I travel with the Strikes, while Rachel follows in her car. I sit on one of the seats facing backwards and take some candid shots of the four of them, lined up.

Alice looks absolutely stunning in a simple, white gown with matching jacket and diamanté-studded high heels. Her hair has been styled up in an intricate but loose bun, with a few tendrils escaping to frame her face, and there are white orchids adorning her dark locks, which match the posy she’ll carry up the aisle. The make-up artist has somehow managed to make the green in her stunning almond-shaped eyes look even more luminescent.

As for Joe, he’s out-of-this-world gorgeous in a well-fitted black suit and cherry-red tie. He can’t take his eyes off his wife-to-be.

‘You’re so beautiful,’ he murmurs for the third time since we got in the car.

She smiles back at him. ‘You don’t look so bad yourself,’ she whispers, casting me a slightly self-conscious look and giggling when I smirk at her.

Joe flashes me a grin.

I like this family so much. I wish we could be friends, I muse with an inward giggle at myself. I know damn well that everyone who meets them has that thought.

Alice is sitting between her two children, holding their hands. I put the camera back up to my eye and snap a close-up shot of Becca’s tiny hand, entirely curled around her mother’s forefinger.

Just because they’re travelling to the venue together, it doesn’t mean that we missed out on the shot of Joe and Alice seeing each other in their wedding outfits for the very first time. Rachel and I captured the moment when Alice came down the stairs and Joe was standing at the bottom. His chest expanded visibly and he looked utterly lost for a moment, completely blown away. Then his eyes filled with tears and he stepped forward to take Alice in his arms, cradling her tenderly.

Boy, does he love her.

Although part of me felt uncomfortable witnessing such a private moment, I know that, just as with Bridget and Charlie and all of the other brides and grooms we’ve photographed, these are two pictures that they’ll treasure forever.

As celebrity weddings go, Alice and Joe’s is massively understated. The day is clearly a celebration of love between two people among only their very dearest friends and family.

It was the same for Bridget and Charlie.

And, if I ever wanted to get married, it’s how I’d do it, too.

But I don’t believe in marriage.

I doubt Alex does, either, after what happened to him, first time around. I’m absolutely shattered by the time I get back to our hotel, but, as soon as Alex takes me in his arms, I feel better.

‘You want something from the minibar? Tell me about it?’ he asks.

‘In the morning,’ I reply. ‘Right now I just want to go to bed.’

‘To sleep?’ He raises a dark eyebrow.

‘Are you mad? I need to de-stress.’

He chuckles and starts to unbutton my fitted black shirt with his deft, skilful fingers.

We had to wear a uniform today so the guests knew who we were.

I turn my attention to his own shirt, sliding my hands inside and standing up on my tiptoes to kiss his lips. Very soon we’re falling naked onto the bed, his warm, solid body colliding with mine. He rolls over, pulling me on top of him.

‘Did you buy condoms?’ I ask. We only had one left last night; Alex said he’d get more today.

His face falls. ‘Shit, I totally forgot.’

I sink over his body with disappointment.

‘We don’t have to go the whole way,’ he mumbles into my hair.

I turn my face to his.

Our kisses become increasingly heated, and, when it comes to the point of no return, I really, really don’t want to stop.

He’s panting heavily against my mouth, holding back from pulling me onto him.

‘We both want the same things,’ he utters out of the blue.

‘What are you saying?’ I sit up so I can look at him.

‘I love you,’ he says, ‘so much.’ He reaches up to push a strand of hair off my face, his fingers leaving behind a trail of sparks.

His touch still has that effect on me.

His eyes are full of adoration as he gazes up at me. ‘You’re my forever. I want to grow old with you. I want a family.’

I smile. ‘We do want the same things.’

‘Why wait?’ he asks.

My head is spinning and I feel dizzy as I bend down to kiss him. I don’t overthink it as he shifts beneath me, his hands on my hips, and I go with him willingly as we connect, skin to skin, just like our first time.

It’s blissful.

Afterwards, however, as I lie in his arms, worry starts to eat me up.