Free It Must Have Been Love by Krissie LaBaye

bridesmaids, Maria, Melissa, and Sophie. Maria was Angie’s best friend through high school. It seemed only right to choose her two sisters-in-law as bridesmaids, as she had been bridesmaid for both of them. All three bridesmaids wore simple full-length deep red taffeta dresses. They each carried a small posy of white roses, dotted with small deep red rose buds.
     
    With everyone else already gone, Bill Aitken helped his only daughter into the wedding car. On the journey to the church, Bill couldn’t stop staring at his beautiful daughter.
     
    “Are you happy, Angela?”
     
    “Yes, yes, yes; I’ve never been so happy in my life, Dad,” beamed a gleeful Angie.
     
    “Then I’m happy too. You look so beautiful today. Your mom and I are so proud of you and we know you’re going to have a wonderful life with Chris. But if ever you need us we’ll be there for you,” Bill finished with a noticeable quaver in his voice.
     
    “Oh Dad shush, or I’m going to start blubbering. Seriously though, thanks for being such wonderful parents, even when I was a difficult teenager. I love you and Mom so much. I just hope me and Chris can be half as happy together as you and Mom have been.”
     
    “It isn’t always easy, sweetheart. You have to work hard at it. You learn as you go on, but I soon found out that it’s important that you both give and take. It’s no good being all one-sided. Just be kind to each other and try to accept each other’s faults.”
     
    “What faults?” Angie glared at her father for a second, holding her breath and feigning annoyance. This left Bill lost for words, but before he had worked out how to answer she couldn’t keep up the pretence and burst out laughing. “Sorry, Dad, I just couldn’t resist it.”
     
    Father and daughter laughed warmly together as they made their way to the ceremony. The white wedding car pulled up outside the traditional church, and while a crowd of well-wishers oohed and ahhed, the proud father led his stunning daughter into the building. Once inside the church, the bride and her father were immediately hit by the beautiful scent of fresh flowers. Angie peeked round the corner, not just to get a sneaky look at the congregation, but also to confirm that the groom had indeed turned up. It was immediately noticeable that the left hand side was of the church, where Angie’s family and friends were seated, was substantially fuller than the right hand side housing Chris’. As the bridal march began to play pews creaked, as one by one the congregation turned to see the bride. Chris’ grandmother was sitting, neck craned, beaming with pride, tears streaming, and Angie knew that Chris had every bit as much love coming from his grandmother as Angie had from her over abundant family.
     
    From the moment that she walked arm in arm down the aisle with her father, Angie spent the rest of the day in a dream state. She was walking on air, head in the clouds, basking in the ocean of love that surrounded her. The church was perfect and the ceremony was perfect. The after wedding reception was perfect, the meal was delicious, and the wedding cake looked stunning. Indeed the entire day was perfect.
    The evening reception party was the finale, and it was a chance for everyone to let their hair down and relax. Chris and Angie had danced the night away. They had played all of the usual party songs, and almost everyone was dancing. The special requests had all been taken care of, and everyone remained in high spirits. The evening was moving on so swiftly that Angie felt like Cinderella, one eye on her watch, dreading the moment that the ball was over.
     
    When the couple had been dancing for quite some time, Chris mumbled something incoherent in Angie’s ear then disappeared. With Chris gone, Angie took the opportunity to chat with family and friends. The day had gone so fast that Angie hadn’t had time to properly speak with many of the guests, and now was her chance. However,