CHAPTER 9
She was groaning in the morning, especially as the light was slicing through the material of the tent. I prodded Eric awake.

“Brew up, love”

Turning to my other side, “What brought that on, Merry?”

“Nnnggghhh?”

“Last time I saw you get wrecked like that was when you met Eric, aye?”

“Well, perhaps I should do it more often, so that I become accustomed to the consequences”

“Wine and strong drink, Merry”

“A mocker and a rager, Proverbs 20:1, I know, Annie. But in vino veritas. It is difficult when in the presence of a personality such as Sarah’s uncle not to be swept along in the debauchery, and when he enlists the assistance of his son I am lost”

There was more. I could feel it. “Eric, I think you probably need the bog, aye?”

He took the hint and slithered out. I cuddled up to her swaddled form.

“Talk, Merry”

She lay and looked up at the top of the tent. “It is no more than I have said to you before, dear cousin. I am feeling age and infertility knocking at the door, and time grows short for me. I am sorry, I know your situation, but I can only truly mourn my own. I must be true to myself, Annie, I must be true to my Lord, and that is what curtails every prospective alliance”

“Not the right sort of bloke around Chapel, then?”

She snorted. “Weaseling hypocrites, to a man, my love. All I want is a normal, God-fearing---no, God-loving---man. Someone who values the contents of my soul above both the contents of my nether garments and of my bookshelf.”

I gave a wry smile. “That is a rare man indeed, love. I have been lucky to find one who rather looks past the, ahem, contents of my nether garments”

“That, Annie, is what made last night so difficult for me, and why I succumbed to the temptation placed before me”

“I rather think you went to the bar yourself a few times, Merry”

“You know what I mean. Look at you all. Every couple matched, every individual smiling at the other. I know that sin was dwelt in before marriage for all of you, but your true morality is there for all to see–all others forsaken, true marriage in the eyes of our Lord. That big man, the blond…”

“Steve?”

“Yes. His wife has put on some weight, I assume..."

“Oh you bitch, Merry!”

She grinned. “Guilty! But after three children, aye? They are like our family should have been, joined in love before God, and one can see that He has truly blessed them. The others…Stephanie told me how her husband broke his hand protecting her. That passion, coupled with true faith…that is all I want, Annie. Last night, my failings were made so apparent, I surrendered to the temptations of Lethe.”

“Quoting heathen mythology now?”

The grin was a bit more credible now.

“Know thy enemy, Annie!. Now, tea, and a breakfast, and perhaps some ibuprofen?”

We breakfasted in a great herd in the pub, and I noticed that Jim was now sitting next to Alison, grinning, laughing, and every so often blushing, as Darren caught my eye and slipped me a wink with all the subtlety of a punch in the face. I was actually quite proud of him, just at that moment, as he seemed to be making a particular effort to keep his eye on friendship as well as trust.. I mean, he and Chantelle were still so young, but it was still a warm thing in my heart to see him trying to cling onto his honesty. He had already come so, so far, but he still held the ability to amaze me and lift my soul.

Merry was still subdued, and I realised that she had only ever let herself go twice in my presence, and both of them were out of sight of the rest of our family. She was definitely unhappy, though, definitely lonely, even with the comfort of her faith. It was with deeply mixed feelings that I considered our difference, the fact that I could never know that visceral need to give birth that came with the anatomy she had that made such a difference between us, such a gulf. I wanted children, I would at times have killed for the opportunity to have my own, but it was in the mind and soul, not in my flesh.

“Merry…why don’t you come over to visit us for a few days? If you can accept that Eric and I have our own rules, aye?”

“And you have a church?”

“Er, we are not exactly church-goers, aye?”

She smiled. “Annie, how could I not know. I will adapt. Now, what is it you are planning to do today? The family expect, of course, but this is not a seemly place. I would suggest some tea, some luncheon perhaps, in Ammanford. That will avoid the men feeling they have to travel to the ends of the Earth, aye?”

“Aye, but what about the others? We go as an invading horde?”

She smiled, still a little pale. “What better way to show your normality, aye? Boys, girls and dog. A Welsh collie as well…”

Jim must have been listening. “Actually, Pie’s a Border collie, they come from Northumberland”

Tony grinned at him. “Well, from Kent in his case”

“Yeah but, Dad, the breed is Northumbrian!”

As the father-son discussion took wing, Merry smiled at me.

“See? How could our family not delight in such a pairing?”

It felt a bit like a transfer of flocks as we made our way in convoy back over the mountain and into the haunt of my youth and one of the places that still haunted me then. We found a tea room…no, we found a café, this being Ammanford, and waited for the rush of family. Predictably, the first three were the women, Leah, Vanny and Aunty Esther, but while the children walked the dog with Steve through the Arcade the rest started arriving. James was the one who broke the impasse.

“We have spoken to our Parch, and there is space at the Chapel. This is unseemly, too many people, and the poor dog is outside, aye?”

Once more it was transhumance, and I wondered what was actually going on. I suspected that we had had the option of the chapel room right from the start, but the boys wanted to vet my friends first. Luckily, they passed whatever test was being applied.

It was certainly nicer than the decrepitude of the Ammanford high street, and there was tea, and Welsh cake, even bara brith, and they did not mind Pie, who simply curled up with his nose on Jim’s feet.

“What are we here?”

I offered that one up in a pause in the buzz of conversation that was springing up, as I assumed it would be the one thing my suspicious herd of kin would be asking.

“You have met some of my friends, but this time I wanted to let you see that I am not alone over in that foreign country, aye? Even if so many of them ARE English! Now, I have asked all of you to our wedding, and I thought this would be a good time to thrash out some of the aspects that I would like you to cover for me. Now, bridesmaids. I will be blunt, some of you will not be asked. The dresses will be ivory, and that is just not your colour, John”

That brought the required laugh. “I will need flower girls. I have one, which shall be Darren’s girlfriend Chantelle”

I was watching very carefully as I said that. Darren looked sheepish, Ali looked slightly cross, and Jim was trying hard not to let his grin show. Job done, perhaps…

“Arris, I was wondering, would your two like to do that as well?”

I could see Pie wince at their reaction. Poor dog. Arris spoke to the two.

“You want to get all dressed up and stuff at a wedding, girls?”

Little Suzy was saying “No”, while nodding her head vigorously “yes”. ALI just grinned.

“Sold, I believe”

“OK, then. We have three girls, aye, so we need three boys for balance. Anyone know where I can hire some willing lads?”

Eric had his hand up. “Please, Miss, I’m willing…”

I had to take a deep breath before I said something that might offend my family.

“Sorry, but I have other plans for you that day”

Alice murmured “And night, I would hope” and Eric looked embarrassed, but the roar of laughter confirmed a few things for me just then.

Firstly, my family did have a sense of humour, and once we were talking about ‘respectable’ married life, they let themselves give in to a little bit of naughtiness. Secondly…

Secondly, and most importantly, that laughter revealed that I had broken through to them. They were laughing at the usual newlywed naughtiness, and that meant that they were now laughing at and with a man---and a woman.