Stand By Me Darling
Chapter 452: Cold Feet

Chapter 452: Cold Feet

A couple days before the wedding, they were asked to meet the Archbishop. The Archbishop was the one who is to conduct the wedding ceremony and he gave them a short message to prepare them for the marriage. He also asked for their consent for the marriage as he is supposed to ask.

After that, he went through the order of service. Arthur was excited when he talked about the exchange of rings.

"And then I can kiss the bride!"

"No! No kissing inside the Cathedral."

The Archbishop poured cold water over Arthur’s enthusiasm.

"You can kiss after you leave the Cathedral entrance for the word to see," the Archbishop added and only then Arthur got a little relaxed.

After listing all the rules they have to follow strictly and making them memorise everything, the Archbishop let them go.

"Tomorrow they will start decorating and the entire place will become different. Do you see all the cameras getting fixed? It is estimated that at least two billion people will watch our wedding... We really cannot make a single mistake, Fred. Our wedding is broadcast live in almost a hundred countries and with online live streaming, literally, the whole world will be watching our wedding," Talia felt nervous.

"What if I trip on my skirt?" she turned and paused her steps seeing Arthur’s face just inches away from her/

"Your people are so austere, Iris," Arthur whispered in her ears as they walked out of the Church.

As his nose grazed on her earlobe, he lingered. His warm breath caressed her ear, and Talia felt a surge of electricity passing through her body.

"Fred, we’re inside a holy place. Just not here," she walked in larger strides. They were forbidden to be together until the wedding and it only made her more wanting. Along with the excitement of getting married, Talia missed his touches.

She craved him. But not enough to do something inside a Church.

"Two days more," Arthur hugged her closely in the private room. "Only two days for you to become my wife for real."

"Yes, only two days," Talia hugged him. He was so irresistible and they ended up making out for longer than they spent eating their meal.

After having lunch together, both went their separate ways. Talia had to visit the bakery to see how her wedding cake is coming through. The traditional Royal wedding cake was a fruit cake that would remain unspoiled for years.

Talia opted for a frosting matching the color of her wedding dress and they added gold foil for decorative purposes too. The cake had nine tiers that stood as tall as her and cost more than two hundred dollars.

The day before the wedding, the families of Arthur and Talia had lunch together. Everyone enjoyed each other’s company and the kids got along splendidly too. It was fun watching Little Henry going behind Little Kate and Carl acting like a bodyguard of his sister, stopping him from getting close to her.

After lunch, Talia and Arthur found a dark corner to make out. In a way, Talia found it amusing to sneak out for making out with her fiancé. It reminded her of their time in high school where they’d escape Cyrus to do the same.

"Sophia escaped..." Arthur said pressing his forehead on hers. His lips were grazing hers as he pressed her on the wall.

"What?" Talia was stunned.

"She was caught in Rosandale... She escaped that night we went out for joyriding and hitched a ride to Rosandale but was caught by the border patrol. Everyone knew it and they hid it from us to not spoil our mood. I bet that’s why everyone got panicked and we even got punished severely." Arthur fixed her hair behind her ears.

"That makes sense," Talia understood. "But they still went overboard."

"Hmm..." Arthur held a bunch of her hair. "You did nothing to your hair for the wedding? Why do I find it suspicious?"

"No," Talia smirked.

"Why don’t I trust you?" he held her chin and made her look at him.

"I’m going to shave my head," she smiled sweetly and he ended up kissing her once again. No matter how long he kissed her, it didn’t felt enough for him. And he truly didn’t care what she does to her hair.

Talia, in fact, has an appointment with her hairstylist to cut her hair after the lunch appointment. She had coloured it back to her natural hair colour a while back. She wanted to keep her hair long, but after she learnt of the devastating news, she decided to cut her hair to shoulderblade length.

She wanted to look like her natural self and so she even opted to do her own makeup for the wedding. When she walks down the aisle and when Arthur lifts her veil to look at her, she wanted him to see the Iris he knew and fell in love with.

That night, Talia was asked to sleep early since tomorrow is a big day. Talia knew she needed her beauty sleep, but she couldn’t sleep out of excitement. She was a little scared about marriage, a lot excited, and wished for tomorrow to arrive sooner.

She rolled in her bed and stared at her wedding gown hanging in a hanger in front of her. Everything was ready and prepared. When morning comes, all she had left was to get ready and walk down the aisle.

As she wondered if she’d be disturbing Arthur if she called him now, she received a call and she answered immediately seeing it was Arthur who called.

"Iris... I can’t sleep. I want to meet you," he whined.

"Should we face-time?" she asked and he sighed.

"I want to meet you. I want to touch you and kiss you," he meant what he said.

He wanted to get assured by her love.

"But it is impossible Fred. How will you get inside the Palace? How will you even leave the Hotel? Let’s just sleep," Talia knew his wish is impossible to achieve.

"Fine, let’s keep on talking and see if we can fall asleep," he said and Talia agreed.

Hearing his voice, Talia fell asleep pretty sooner. Arthur on the other hand, couldn’t sleep a wink.

Whenever he closed his eyes he remembered his previous marriage. That thick face covering, how angry she was and how she tore up the papers and ran away.

Will history repeat?

He still wasn’t sure if she is truly not mad for hiding the miscarriage. Whenever they talked, she made sure he knows that she loves him and she is happy about the wedding, but still he still was doubtful.

Previously when he got sick, she took good care of him and hid her anger. And he wondered if she is doing that still.

Should I not go to my wedding so that I won’t be humiliated?

But after making this big of a spectacle involving everyone, she won’t blacken everyone’s face by stopping the marriage, right?

Ah! What am I even thinking! Of course, she will walk down the aisle and marry me. She loves me!