Black Sheep

The day flowed, as it always does, to the night when the bride and groom were drinking champagne, and dancing the night away.
“I’m telling you now, there is now way Vettel can win this season, or the next.” my dad said, sipping slowly on the pint that he had.
“He could if he had the right car.” Harry countered.
“Still talking about cars are we?” I said, rolling my returning to my seat next to Harry with a gin and tonic. all the men in the room had taken off their suit jackets and ties and were now supping on drinks, Harry included.
“Of course we are sweetie.” Harry said, placing his arm around the back of my chair.
“Is there anything else you talk about?”
“I don’t think so do you?” Dominic turned to ask around jokingly.
“What happened to your girlfriend anyway?” I asked my brother.
“She’s over there somewhere, I can’t believe you haven’t chatted to her yet and told her all the hideous stories of me growing up.”
“You have plenty of stories about me.” I countered
“Yeah and I’ll tell Harry all of them.”
“I certainly need to hear every single one.”
“You certainly do not.” I felt a soft tap on my shoulder, and I turned in my seat to see Poppy in a mess. From the top of her head to her white patent shoes and all over her hands, and face, and dress there were strings and blobs and splodges of chocolate and strawberry ice cream.
“What have you been up to?!” I asked, shocked
“Auntie Becca, I had ice cream! I was white and chocolate and pink flavour!”
“I think we need to get cleaned up don’t you?” I asked, and Poppy nodded sheepishly. I walked her over to my cousin (her mother) who passed me a change of clothes and some baby wipes, and a promise of a catch-up later on. We headed for the bathroom, where I could get Poppy changed and cleaned up.
“Auntie Becca, do you love Harry?”
“Of course I do darling!” I said, pulling her clean dress over her head.
“So you’ll marry him, just like Auntie Sarah got married to Uncle Dan today.”
“Maybe one day.” I wiped her face.
“He loves you. He told me so.”
“Harry did?” she nodded into my arm.
The bathroom door opened and my cousin Louise popped her head through the door.
“Ladies, Sarah is about to throw the bouquet!” her high pitched squeak went straight through me. Poppy pulled me through to the main hall and onto the dance floor. I looked for my mum at the table, but found her, my dad and Harry talking excitedly, tears in her eyes. I went to go and investigate, when I was pulled back onto the dancefloor by my Auntie Sue.
“You have to stay right here.” she said winking at me. I inwardly groaned. I never really understood these silly little traditions. Before I knew it, the swarm of unmarried women were all counting down from ten to one, and the bouquet of pink and white roses went flying over the crowd of flailing arms and straight into my hands. In a moment of shock I didn’t know exactly what to do. I could only imagine what would happen if this was in the papers. I dropped it. clean on the floor and looked around in fake pity, before Poppy swooped down and picked it up.
“I’ve caught the bucket!” she shouted, running off. I giggled and looked up to the table where my mum and dad laughed, happily. Harry on the other hand wasn’t as cheery. He looked worried and a little bit heartbroken, then ran outside. I quickly ran after.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, standing on the raised patio of the house that was rented for the wedding evening. He walked down the stairs leading onto a gravel path into the darker depths of the garden. “Answer me: What’s wrong?” I shouted, running further after him. He sat on a marble bench, shrouded by the overgrown hedge.
“Will you please tell me what’s wrong?” I said breathless, eventually catching up with him.
“do you want to marry me?” He eventually spat out, staring at the gravel he was scraping around with the sole of his shoes.
“Of course I do.”
“Then why did you drop the bouquet?”
“I didn’t, it just-”
“Don’t lie to me. Why did you drop it?”
“I could only imagine the front pages tomorrow morning and the headlines and the speculation.” He nodded.
“I understand.” He said, patting the marble bench next to him. “I need to ask you a question.” My heart leapt into my mouth. Was this really it? Was this the moment in the moonlight with the star blanketed sky in the rose garden of a stately home? Was this the moment that my knight in shining armour would finally ask me to be his one and only?
“Will you-”
“There you are!” my cousin Sarah, now drunk, came staggering into the rose garden, with a glass of champagne in one hand and a lit cigarette in the other. “Everyone thinks you’ve gone for a quick shag, but you’re just out here.” He giggled to herself, staggering over on her heels.
The pent up excitement, left me in a sigh, standing up to help Sarah back inside.