“Wake up, bitch. The bestest, most awesome bridesmaid in the world has brought you breakfast in bed.”

I salivated as I inhaled the aroma of expensive coffee and could have kissed Nikki as she handed me a cup with a fresh Danish pastry.

“This is my favourite breakfast,” I beamed.

“Well, you can thank your husband-to-be for the heads up. Now move your butt across. I’m freezing.”

She climbed, fully clothed, into bed next to me and switched on the television. We had an amazing breakfast watching The Goonies, and it couldn’t have been a better start to my day.

“Are you nervous?” she asked me.

“A little,” I admitted. “But mostly I’m just excited.”

“Well then, princess.” She grinned. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

Three hours later, I’d been buffed, exfoliated, plucked, and curled. My makeup was delicate and simple looking, giving me that natural ethereal look that most brides wanted. Nikki had fastened my hair into a beautiful loose knot at the back of my head and fastened the antique comb above it. A huge bang sounded on the door, making me jump.

“I’ll get it.” Nikki smiled.

She returned with a beautiful bouquet of royal blue and white flowers for me, and a smaller version of the same bouquet for her.

“Mac just dropped them off,” she explained, setting them down. “I take it all back about letting a man organise your wedding. Con is totally hired as my wedding planner when I finally pick a victim.”

I start taking deep breaths, knowing that I was seconds away from bawling like a baby. I really didn’t want to ruin Nikki’s makeup job.

“Here,” Nikki said, thrusting some tissues at me. “If you’re losing it over some flowers you’ve got no chance of holding out for the rest of the day”. Nikki left me a glass of champagne, and a bunch of tissues while she went to get ready. An hour later, she came out wearing a gorgeous halter neck knee length royal blue dress. The skirt was floaty and delicate, but the ruched bodice fitted her every curve. It showed off her figure perfectly.

“Nikki, you look stunning!” I exclaimed in awe.

She’d ditched her traditional red hair earlier in the week in favour of a rich chocolate brown, which curled down her back in waves. Simple, silver jewellery complemented her delicate silver strappy heels perfectly, and I was floored by how beautiful she looked.

“I don’t scrub up badly, do I?” She grinned, admiring her figure in the mirror.

“Kieran and Tommy are going bust something when they see you in that dress.” I smiled.

“Well, they have to catch me first,” she said with a wink. “Now let’s get you into that dress.”

Marie, being the absolute superstar that she was, had spent nearly all yesterday making alterations to my dress so that it fit perfectly. Unlike most customers who were fitted in the shop, I spent nearly the whole day camped out in her back sewing room so that we could get the dress finished in time. I made myself as useful as I could, making lots of cups of tea and running out to grab her some lunch. By the end of the day, I had a perfectly fitted and absolutely stunning wedding dress and a new friend. I was thankful for both in equal measures. Nikki fastened the last of the silk buttons just as her phone vibrated. Checking her message, she looked out of the window and yelled, “Taxi’s here.”

I was excited that it was finally time. But at that moment, I couldn’t help but feel a little sad, too. My dad should be the one walking me out to the car, and I wondered if he’d be proud of me; if somewhere, somehow he could see me now. As we walked down the stairs, the freezing cold shocked me out of my melancholy. Nikki held the main door open, as my hands were full with my bouquet and dress, but I nearly dropped them both as I looked up. At the curb stood Danny, looking resplendent in a dark grey suit, in front of a vintage black Bentley, adorned with white wedding ribbons.

“Oh Danny, how...,” I cried, at a total loss for words.

To all intents and purposes, Danny was the nearest thing that I had to a dad since my own father had passed away. Having him here to take me to the church made the day complete.

“Sunshine,” he sighed, looking himself as though he was fighting back the tears. “You look beautiful.” He opened up the car door for me and helped me climb in with my dress. The driver held the door open for Nikki to sit up front, and Danny sat next to me.

“Thanks, Danny. Not just for this, but for everything. You’ll never know just how much you and the boys mean to me.”

“Go way wichaya’. S’not like you’ve never done anything for me. Can’t say I was over the moon with you fallin’ for a fighter. I wanted an easier life for you than the one you picked. But Con’s my boy, and he’ll protect you with his life. That having been said, if the little fecker ever hurts you, come and see me, sunshine,” he told me, and squeezed my hand.

I swallowed hard, fighting back the tears.

“I love you, Danny,” I told him.

“Huh,” he grunted, rolling his eyes, but he squeezed my hand again, and I knew he felt the same.

When we arrived at the church, Nikki whipped out her phone and insisted on taking a ton of photos of Danny and me. Even the driver jumped in on the action, playing photographer so that Nikki could get into the pictures with us. Danny didn’t complain once. He puffed out his chest like a proud father in every photo, but when the driver started getting a little too arty, we politely rescued the phone and made our way into the church.

“You’re walking me down the aisle right?” I whispered to Danny, suddenly nervous and holding onto his arm with a death grip.

“Sunshine,” he replied calmly. “Just try and stop me.”

The doors to the church opened, and the beautiful sound of choir song assailed us, as it echoed throughout the church. Nikki spread my train around the back of my dress then moved to stand in front of me. Looking back over her shoulder, she winked at me then whispered, “Fucking hell, Em, your boy looks hot.”

“No swearing in church,” Danny scolded in the same mock whisper, and I giggled.

I didn’t think it was possible to feel happier than I did right then. Nikki, completely undaunted, poked her tongue out at Danny and began walking down the aisle. A few seconds later, we followed slowly behind her. Despite being Christmas Eve, the church was packed. People that I didn’t recognise were interspersed with people that I did. I was overwhelmed to see all of my friends from university and the girls from Daisy’s, though I couldn’t see Katrina amongst them, thank goodness. Rhona and Mike were both there, all dressed up, and I was blown away when I realised they must have completely closed the cafe to be there. The altar, on both sides, was surrounded by huge arrangements of candles, and in front of it stood Father Patrick, sporting a big beaming smile. Kieran and O’Connell stood in front again wearing matching dark suits. They were both clean-shaven and heart-stopping gorgeous. When I met O’Connell’s gaze, I welled up with tears again. He looked at me the way that every man should look at his bride on his wedding day, like I was an angel, like I was the answer to every prayer that he’d ever made. He looked at me like he loved me more than anyone else in the whole world and that he couldn’t believe that I had chosen him. It was exactly the same way that I was looking at him.