Easy As Falling Off A Bike pt 741.

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Wuthering Dormice
(aka Bike)
Part 741
by Angharad
  
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“What’s all the fuss about?” Stella asked, coming from the kitchen.

“Simon has met President Obama.”

“You’re joking?”

“No, he’s been in Washington for a couple of days. There’s going to be a ball around Christmas time and he wants to take me, but we have to be married.”

“That’s utter bilge,” Stella said sharply. It took me by surprise.

“What is?” I asked almost apologetically.

“That you have to be married to go to a ball at the White House.”

“You don’t?”

“No, but it’s easier if you are, if only so you would then be Lady Cameron officially not Cathy Watts.”

“So why did he tell me I had to be married?”

“Search me, why does my idiot brother do anything? Who’s going to look after your brood while you’re gallivanting around the world? Don’t look at me, a few hours maybe, not a week or so.”

“We could take them with us, I’m sure top hotels have baby-sitting services.”

“That’ll cost you.”

“No, it’ll cost Simon.”

She laughed and said, “You’re learning at last.”

“Well, Simon told me a deliberate fib.”

“Don’t you ever tell him any?”

“Of course, but mine are acceptable fibs.”

“Acceptable to whom?”

“To me, who else?”

“Sounds a trifle one-sided to me.”

“You should know, Stella, you taught me all I know.”

She laughed again, “Nah, I just uncovered a whole pile of deviousness just waiting to grow.”

“It’s me ‘ormones, vat’s wot it is,” I said in the worst cockney accent since Dick Van Dyke. Stella nearly wet herself laughing.

“You sound like nothing on earth – no – correction, you sound like a poor American actress playing Eliza Doolittle.”

“I ‘ates you, guv’nor,” I said portraying the same dreadful abortion of a cockney sparra.

“So what are you going to do?”

“Tomorrow, I shall call Marguerite and ask to make an appointment for a quickie wedding. I wonder if she can do it?”

“You’d be better off with a register office, wouldn’t you? They’re used to doing quickies.”

“But I wanted a church wedding, even if it was only Simon and me and a witness or two.”

“Why?”

“To make my vows somewhere sacred.”

“Before a God you don’t believe exists?”

I blushed, “Um, did the kettle boil?”

“Never mind changing the subject, you want to do a church wedding although you don’t believe, is that about it?”

I blushed even more, “Yes,” I said in a very quiet voice.

“Why?”

“I don’t know.” I felt a tear form in my eyes and dribble down my cheek, “When I was a kid,” I sniffed, “I always had a fantasy of walking down the aisle in a white dress with a bouquet of white roses and lilies of the valley, on the arm of my father.” The tears came more freely now.

“Oh, Cathy, don’t cry. I didn’t mean to sound – mean.” She wrapped me in a monster hug.

“Why is my Mummy cwyin’?” asked a little voice and I heard Stella trying to shoo her away. Then I felt her hugging my leg, like a lovesick puppy. I rubbed my hand in her hair.

“I’m okay, darling, I just had a sad thought, but it’s gone now.”

“What sad thought?” she asked.

“It’s gone now, darling, so I can’t remember. Ladies do this now and again.”

She looked at me as if I barmy, which isn’t too far from the truth. “You okay? Weally okay?”

“Yes, darling, I’m fine now, thank you for your concern.”

“It’s alwight,” she said and shrugged, then went back to watch the telly with her sisters. Stella released me from her bear hug and went off to the kitchen while I went to the cloakroom to splash some cold water on my eyes.

By the time I got to the kitchen, Stella was pouring hot water on teabags and I sat myself at the table, letting her complete the job. When she’d finished and we were sitting with a mug of the magic fluid before us, she asked, “Do you really want a white wedding with all the trimmings?”

“I don’t know what I want, if the truth be told. Part of me wants the Cinderella thing, doesn’t every little boy?”

“I have no idea, but lots of girls do.”

“Yeah, but I was a boy.”

“Only by virtue of wearing trousers and having short hair, I doubt it fooled anyone then either.”

“Okay, some saw through the sham, except my dad. I actually have a vague memory of asking him if he’d walk me down the aisle when I got married. He got cross with me and my mother gave me a lecture on the differences between boys and girls.”

“How old were you?”

“Nineteen.” I kept a poker face.

“How old? You idiot,” she slapped me on the arm.

“I was about six and had stood with my mother outside our local church as the bride came out; she looked beautiful.”

“All brides do. You will.”

“Oh God, Stella, I hope so.”

“You realise that it takes months to organise a white wedding?”

“Yeah, it was a pipe dream, wasn’t it. No more real than my early fantasies.”

“No, it could be done, but to start with you need a church and priest available when you are. Then there’s the dress, even if you got one off the peg it would need altering and could take weeks. Flowers, catering, honeymoon–it’s quite a lot to organise, Cathy.”

“Yeah, too much. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.”

“I said it could be done.” Stella looked me straight in the eye, “but we’d need to get on to it immediately.”

“I can’t ring Marguerite back now, can I?”

“Why not? Go and see if her if necessary.”

“What about the girls?”

“I’ll look after them for an hour or two.”

“But, I can’t, I mean it’s Sunday tomorrow.”

“So?”

“She’ll be doing her sermon or something.”

“She owes you, Cathy.”

“What for?”

“Cleaning up her daughter’s face. Strike now while she remembers.”

“I don’t know, Stel, it’s quite a big undertaking I’m asking her.”

“No, the undertaking is done by undertakers, she does the committals.”

“What?” I gasped not having clue what she was talking about.

“She buries or burns ‘em, the funeral director does the undertaking.”

“What’s that got to do with weddings?”

“It’s a stage or two later, that’s all,” she smirked, “now, dial.” She handed me the cordless phone.

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Comments

Cathy's doing the right thing for the wrong reason.

'Oh we only got married so I could get into the Whitehouse and see the president.'

Really, she's supposed to be marrying Simon because they love each other, because it's truly what she wants and what she believes is best for the children. To get married just to get into the Whitehouse and see some president who'll only be a footnote in history in a few years time when people cheer or complain about whomever the new guy/gal is, is just wrong.

Get married for the right reasons, not the wrong one, and certainly not for some false convenience.

I'm ticked off at Cathy's sense of priorities.

Arwen

Is she?

Is Cathy really getting married for the wrong reasons, or is this the spark she needed to stop thinking of excuses and follow her feelings, and actually do it?

I tend to see it as a catalyst for her to finally listen to the woman she is and to ignore Charlie's objections.

PB

Maybe the wrong reason to hurry but

it's about time that Cathy and Simon do the deed. They've been through hard times, sickness, health, arguments. They've saved each other's lives. They seem to be compatible in bed and both love the children. (that's another good reason!) They've both grown up a bit in the last few months. I say go for it. But get Stella's help to organize the real thing. She'll make it happen. Just hope she doesn't have a breakdown over her own misfortunes as she organizes Cathy's wedding.

Yes I think she is.

If you need something outside the relationship to get you to marry, then you are marrying for the wrong reasons. If she wasn't ready to marry before why should the opportunity to meet the president make her want to get married now? Her feelings of inadequacies are still there and will be there after they are married. If she doesn't deal with them before being married it may put more pressure on her fragile sense of self after marriage.

Again all I can say is get married for the right reasons, not for some external and quite fleeting reason. Oh and married or not she may find she can't attend once the pres's security and press people discover her past, even though it should not have any bearing on the situation.

Arwen

No, she isn't :)

Athena N's picture

It's been rather obvious for a while that the reason they aren't married already is more due to how they see weddings than how they see their relationship. They both have strong views and powerful childhood dreams about the wedding itself, and because of this, marriage seemed to become harder and harder to achieve. They simply need a little last-minute panic to realise that getting married is more important than getting every last detail right.

Is she ?

gonna have to agree with PB on this one

and look whom the catayst is my FAV charactor kicking Cathy in the rumpas glutamas to get moving it.

Think about what got her to finish her transistion...

Sometimes Cathy needs pushed. She has said yes multiple time, but she is waffling just like she did when she was Charlie. Now she is getting another push. Given it was going to happen eventually, why wait. Why judge?

THAT Might Be The Key

To Cathy's athieism. Could Marguerite help? or hurt?

    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine
    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine

About time!

With all the stuff that was going on before, it's about time plans for the wedding are made. If Cathy waits for the right reasons, she would die an old maid. Sometimes the right decisions are made for the wrong reasons. It still does not devalue the rightness of it. Going through with the wedding will help her exorcise her demon, Charlie. He always seems to pop up when the story gets around to having Cathy get married.

Simon and Cathy have gone through more than most married couples ever experience. Both have shown that they seem to have what it takes to make a relationship successful. This is just the icing on the cake. The invition to the White House Christmas Ball seemed to be, for what ever reason, the one thing to push Cathy over the edge or stop her from running away form the inevitable.

Once her wedding is over, it is one less thing she has to do. She can get on with her PHD and the second film on harvest mice. Although our resident goddess in charge of Cathy's world, Angharad, may have other ideas. I'm certain Cathy has what it takes to be officially married. After all taking on kidnappers and assins, the Russian mafia and the tabloids just taught her all the skills she'll need to survive a marriage.

On a lighter note, I'm dreading the day when Meems finally grows out of her manner of speaking. It has become one of her defining features. She comes accross so cute. Growing up can be such a drag.

Thanks for keeping the story lively.

Hugs,
Trish-Ann
~There is no reality, only perception~

Hugs,
Trish Ann
~There is no reality, only perception~

Meems

I noticed in this episode, that Meems was pronouncing 'l's, but not 'r's. Is she beginning to speak more as a child her age or slightly older would speak? How about that, Angharad?

Don't let someone else talk you out of your dreams. How can we have dreams come true, if we have no dreams?

Katrina Gayle "Stormy" Storm

Ere' now, there'l be no panik ere'! full stop!

Oh, I just knew that her wedding could not be done in an orderly manner! :) It's wot, October if me memry serves me right, eh? Ah, it'll be up to Si and Stellar to make the earth move.

Nothing ever goes smoothly with this girl

Khadija

Well i like

the fact that Cathy is going to do the deed It's been along time coming coming and whatever the cause of this sudden desire to marry,I don't think anybody could argue that Simon and Cathy truly love each other....Sometimes the method of getting what you want is not ideal, but ultimately it's the end result that really matters.

Yes they will have problems... who does'nt? But maybe just maybe, The fact she will be a married woman will give Cathy the self-belief she sometimes lacks, And give her the confidence to go on and achieve what she really wants in life for herself and her family.

Kirri

White House Introductions

It would be interesting to see how Cathy and Simon were introduced at the White House if they are not married. I could image it going something like this:

Mr. President may I present Ms. Cathy Watts, Britain’s foremost expert on the dormouse and responsible for the BBC nature documentary on the dormouse.

And this is Cathy’s finance, Lord Simon Cameron of Merchant Bank.

Michelle B

And Obama's reply?

Angharad's picture

"Did you ever see that clip on Youtube of the dormouse going down the girl's...?"

Angharad

Angharad

UTUBE

well ya beat me to that comment ... I know it's a fictious thang, but your story has made it so real im my eyes, I can totally visualize it occurring

Does England or Wales or

Does England or Wales or Scotland or for that matter, the rest of the Commonwealths around the world believe in or recognize "Common Law" marriages? Live together for 7 years as if in a normal JP or Church marriage. That method could be the way out for Cathy, if she really doesn't believe in a Higher Being such as God.
Janice Lynn

There is no such thing

Angharad's picture

as common law marriage under English law.

Angharad

Angharad

thoughts spec. in this day and age

umm ANGHARAD since this storyline/plot line seems to be following real-time, how we gonna gonna get passports for the girls.?

least one has gun runners on her background check which surely is going reD FLAG her for USA VISA entry, only a very loose technicality has any of the 3 legally attached to Cathy and as far as I can see, Simon has no legal athority even if Simon & Cathy were married.

I'm looking what USA Homeland Security has done to our country & it's the worst piece of CR*P I've ever seen enacted & yet no one seems to have the balls to complain w/o getting runover by a giant steam roller

thought of even worse scenereo - Cathy,Simon,Stella & least one girl have suicide in background ... security checks to to get anywhere close to the president are usually very thourough. I know this because of my US Embassy days via State Dept. which makes me wonder about Simon already gotten thru once.

Dum dum de dum, dum dum de dum.

Meeting Obama should not be the reason for getting married.
Call Marguerite, NOW, make an honest man out of Simon, and do it in a church !! It's just a fancy guild hall, no reason to be nervous.

DSCN0735.jpg
Hey, look one red eye !

Cefin