Chapter Text
It happened while she was getting ready for bed.
Anthony had already turned in and was scrolling through something on his phone. Kate, on the other hand, was still brushing her teeth, mentally cataloguing some last-minute wedding details.
And that was when it hit her.
She was just thinking that she needed to call and confirm the drop-off time for the wedding cake when suddenly she saw it in her mind’s eye, clearer than she’d ever seen it before.
They would be married by the time they ate that cake.
They were really getting married.
She and Anthony would hold hands and cut into that wedding cake — on their wedding day — at their wedding.
They would vow to stand by each other for life in front of all their loved ones… and then he would be her husband.
It was really going to happen.
And soon.
Kate practically skipped into their bedroom, fresh faced and moisturized and ready for bed, but she couldn’t take her eyes off of Anthony. Couldn’t keep the smile from her lips. Couldn’t stop her heart from fluttering with sheer and unadulterated joy.
“You’re in a good mood,” Ant observed when he looked up and saw her. He lay relaxed in their bed, bare-chested, propped up on pillows, one arm flung behind his head.
Grinning, Kate nodded. “I’m excited.”
“About what?”
“Becoming your wife.”
Ant’s phone was down in a moment, dropped onto the bedside table. He smiled at her, but Kate saw a peculiar expression creeping into his eyes.
It took her a moment to recognise it, it was so rare that she saw this particular emotion in him these days. It was a tender expression, a vulnerability. A sense of disbelief that this life could really be meant for him.
“It’s really going to happen,” came the words, almost more question than statement. “I’m really going to get to keep you forever, aren’t I?”
He sounded every bit as awed as she felt.
Slowly, so slowly, Kate began to walk closer to him, her smile transforming into a playful smirk. She watched the need grow in his eyes with each step she took as Anthony shifted restlessly beneath the sheets. His fingers flexed over the covers, as though he were physically holding himself back from grabbing her.
He didn’t have to resist very long.
She climbed up onto the bed, straddling him, her thighs hugging his hips as her hands cupped his face. She felt his strong arms close around her, felt her own want growing to match his, felt the friction between their bodies as she slid close enough to whisper in his ear.
“Just try and get rid of me now.”
He pulled her even closer.
***
It had been easy enough for Kate and Anthony to choose September as their wedding month. It was the anniversary of their meeting, their relationship, and their proposal.
Then, it had only been a matter of choosing between Saturdays.
Benedict was of the opinion that the twenty-first of September, which happened to fall on a Saturday this year, was too perfect an opportunity to pass up.
“Just think,” he’d said. “You’ll never forget your anniversary. There’s a whole song dedicated to it.”
But in the end, they’d decided on September 28th.
For one thing, it gave them more time to plan. But Kate also thought the twenty-first was too close to Ant’s birthday on the 17th. They wouldn’t have any time to celebrate him if they got married just four days later, and Kate didn’t want him to feel unimportant.
(Besides, as Hyacinth reminded them, in Taylor Swift’s acoustic cover of “September,” she changed the lyrics to take place on the twenty-eighth, so it was even more perfect. Kate and Anthony elected to see this as a positive omen.)
The next phase of planning had been deciding how to fuse together the two ceremonies for the actual wedding day. Which ceremony should come first? Would one directly follow the other? Should they take place on different days?
(Kate offered to have their church ceremony earlier in the week, and move all of the Hindu ceremonies after — that way she wouldn’t be covered in henna in the chapel and risk offending some of his more traditional guests. But Anthony insisted that anybody who had a problem with the mehndi on her arms in the church could take it up with him personally.)
Still, Kate found herself obsessed with the order of events. Which ceremony would be first? And at what point would they consider themselves “officially” married? It seemed to her that whichever ceremony came first would be seen as the “real” one, with the other as a surplus. She found herself fretting for days about it, going back and forth, testing the logistics of each option, trying desperately not to offend either side of their families.
And then Anthony had taken her hands in his, had looked deep into her eyes, and had reminded her about the commitment they’d made to each other. They were planning to set aside a private moment, just the two of them — an eye in the hurricane of their wedding week — during which they would make their most personal promises to each other without a crowd of people watching them.
They decided that would be the truest ceremony of them all.
“So, we’ll do our private ceremony first. We’ll get together, just the two of us, before either of the weddings, and we’ll say our vows,” Anthony said as he kissed her hands, first one and then the other. “That way, it doesn’t matter which ceremony comes first. Those will be for our family and friends to witness. But we’ll already be husband and wife.”
And just that easily, the pressure was off.
Then everything started falling into place.
They discussed the possibility of just having one blended ceremony — a quick and traditional Anglican rite out on the grounds next to a mandap, after which they would proceed directly into a shortened Hindu ceremony. Both cultures and families would have to make several compromises, but it could be done with quicker that way.
But in the end, both agreed they should just make a full day of it. People could come to whichever ceremonies they wanted to, or both. It didn’t matter. What mattered to them was that their wedding day turned out how they wanted it to.
So on Saturday, they would meet at dawn, before anyone else was up, and have their private vow ceremony alone. Then, they would get ready for the church ceremony, which would take place in the village chapel in the late morning, not far from Aubrey Hall. The Hindu ceremony would take place in the early afternoon in the gardens of Aubrey Hall itself, followed by a reception in the house’s ballroom.
But of course, that was only one day. There would be several events to coordinate during the week.
True to their word, Kate and Anthony had designed personalized Order of Events cards for each of the invited guests, detailing which of the activities they were invited to attend, what would happen, what the customs meant, and how they should dress.
The inner circle of Bridgertons and Sharmas would be arriving at Aubrey Hall on Wednesday, with no set itinerary to speak of, just to settle in and start preparing the house for its guests.
On Thursday, the women would participate in a mehndi ceremony, then they would all have lunch before welcoming their extended relatives, and in the evening, both families would get to know each other at a sangeet.
On Friday, they would have a rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, followed by the joint haldi ceremony with their families.
And then Saturday would be the wedding day.
Having two full ceremonies while trying to manage hair and makeup schedules, photo opportunities, cocktail hours, and outfit changes was a trial in and of itself, but they’d managed to nail down what Kate thought was the perfect schedule.
There would be plenty of different opportunities for stunning photographs, both at the chapel and at Aubrey Hall, both indoors and outdoors. Violet was having the grounds fitted with a small portable dance floor and covered tables and fairy lights so that the indoor reception could spill outside if needed.
The next morning, on Sunday, they would host a brunch before everyone went their separate ways.
It would be a perfect week.
But in all likelihood, it would also be an incredibly chaotic one.
And this was going to be a large party — by Kate’s standards, anyway. They’d originally wanted to keep the guest list under fifty, keeping things strictly within their closest inner circles, but that had been a point of contention for Violet in particular, and in the spirit of compromise, the number had climbed closer and closer to one hundred.
The bride and groom tried to make the best of it. Anthony may have been a very important man with a lot of very important social connections, but he was also intensely private. In the end it was Kate, who hated the attention of a large crowd on her, who insisted on making the compromise.
“The ceremonies are for our families as much as for us,” she reminded him gently. “And by all accounts, one hundred guests still makes for a fairly small wedding.”
And so, they’d reserved a block of rooms at the local inns for those who wanted to stay the night. Everyone in the wedding party would be staying at Aubrey Hall together, sprawled out over the many, many bedrooms where they could get ready together, fixing hair and consulting on wardrobe to their hearts’ content.
They’d already had a marvelous time shopping together for the Bridgertons’ wedding clothes. Mary, Kate, and Edwina had taken all of the Bridgerton girls shopping for bridesmaids’ dresses, saris, and lehengas, helping them pick out appropriate outfits for each part of the wedding week. It had been a delightful outing and everyone had come away happy and excited.
Shopping for the boys had been just a little bit harder.
Mary and Kate had guided Anthony and his brothers in their search for appropriate attire, but when it came time to select Anthony’s wedding sherwani, Kate had begun to feel a little melancholy.
“Appa should be here to help you do this,” she’d whispered, her hands on Anthony’s chest, the silky gold fabric soft beneath her fingertips.
She gazed up at him, his hair cut short and neat for the wedding, little flecks of greys filling in at his temples. He looked so handsome, his eyes so warm and tender. He kissed her temple and said he understood — and she knew he did. He said he believed Appa was with them now, in spirit. He held her through the sadness of the moment, feeling it with her, and together they made it through to the other side.
***
Soon, the countryside would be teeming with people ready to celebrate Kate and Anthony’s nuptials and the start of their new life together. According to Violet, the old country seat hadn’t hosted a party of this magnitude in decades — even Daphne and Simon had opted for a tiny church ceremony in the city. Kate and Anthony knew that in just a matter of days, people would be making their way to Kent, traveling by car, by bus, and by plane from as near as London and as far as Mumbai.
It would be busy. It would be stressful.
It would be beautiful.
They couldn’t wait.