October
After all the
excitement at the Vicarage, Charlie drove Toddy to Beechwood so he could
finally give Toddy her birthday gifts.
They sat at the
large kitchen table, where they had sat many times before, with fresh steaming coffees
in front of them, as they had many times before, and he put three gifts in
front of her, the first was a box of pistachio flavoured Lindor, the second was
a memento of one of their summer outings,
a keyring from Abbottsford Cathedral, and the final gift was an elegant Elgin
Art Deco Wristwatch made in 1925, in white gold, with a white and royal blue enamel
face,
The watch was a
gift to her great grandmother from her husband to mark their 50th wedding
anniversary and was passed down to Toddy when her grandmother died and was the
only memento she had left of her pre convent life.
She was
permitted to keep it because it was in such a poor state of repair that it was
deemed to be of no financial value, but it was her most valued possession and Charlie
had to get Verity to sneak it out of the Vicarage for him.
He then took it
to a company called Time and Time Again on Mornington Field run by an old
friend George Vineyard, who was a Timepiece Maker turned Restorer, and he had
done a first-class restoration.
“Oh, my
goodness! Its grandma’s watch” she exclaimed “It’s so beautiful”
Tears welled up
in her eyes as she held the timepiece in her hand.
“I didn’t mean
to upset you” he said and held her hand
“You haven’t
upset me, I’m just overwhelmed by your wonderful gift, you really are a lovely,
lovely man” she said and kissed him.
Toddy was
curled up beside him beneath the duvet with her head on his chest and she was
sighing in the afterglow after making love, and as she sighed, he kissed the
top of her head.
“Happy Birthday”
he said
“Happy Birthday
to me” she agreed before dosing off.
They had both
dosed off in the comfortable postcoital coziness and when they awoke, they
began discussing the wedding, and they both wanted it to be sooner rather than later,
but they wanted it to be a Church service, and both concurred on a Christmas
wedding at St Agatha’s.
That part of
the conversation was concluded quickly but the honeymoon was a much longer
conversation.
Charlie had
traveled widely, in business and with his wife, but Toddy had never even been
outside of the county let alone to another country.
So, he asked
her if there was anywhere in the world she had always wanted to go.
They quickly
ruled out beach resorts, partly because Toddy was fair skinned and partly
because she wasn’t someone who could just sit around, she was a doer.
There were
places of religious significance that she would enjoy if they ever went but she
also appreciated history, art and culture.
So, after much
deliberation they settled on the city of Rome, because it ticked all the boxes,
a city of religious significant, historical, cultural, and an abundance of art
and of course a city of romance.
Charlie knew
that Toddy wouldn’t want to get up and dress with him in the room, as most of
her clothes didn’t make it upstairs.
So, he slipped
out of bed and quickly redressed himself and went downstairs and gathered up
her clothes and when he had put them on the bed, he left her to sort herself
out while he went back downstairs.
Toddy shuffled
towards him still buttoning her jeans with her eyes on the task.
When she
finally looked up at him, she went immediately scarlet and rushed straight into
his arms and buried her face in his chest and held onto him in a vice like
grip.
“I love you so
much” he said
“I love you too”
Came a muffled replied
“Come on then
gorgeous, let’s get you home” he said
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