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Cosima was too smart, too evolved to be caught up in the hype of weddings. This was purely just a declaration of love between the two and to make things less complicated legally in the future. Whenever Alison brought a new bridal magazine round, Cosima would laugh and pour herself another glass of wine. She would sip from it and chat to Sarah as Alison explained to Delphine all the problems with having an outdoor ceremony in September. Cosima Niehaus didn’t care if the centrepieces were red roses or white lilies. Cosima Niehaus didn’t worry when Delphine told her the caterers had to change the salmon to chicken. No. The wedding industry just turned grown women into children.
Who was she kidding? Since Delphine had proposed to her that night in Paris, Cosima had thought of little else. In her notebook were cut-outs of ten different dress/shoe combinations, the final one circled in thick black pen. She had dreamt of standing before her parents, Delphine’s parents, Sarah, Alison, Felix, Helena and of course, Scotty, with her fingers linked to Delphine’s indefinitely. But it was no longer a dream. Today it was a reality. Her reality. Her future.
She slipped out of bed and walked to her bathroom. Their bathroom. But Delphine was staying with Alison, always one for tradition. The cold water she splashed on her face did nothing. She had hoped it would calm her down or at least bring her into the real world, but the excitement and nervousness running through her every pore was too hot. She heard her phone buzz on the nightstand and the familiar tune of ‘La vie en Rose’ that Delphine always tells Cosima she finds an annoying stereotype, but secretly loves. The chill of the screen on the side of her face soothed her, or was it the smoky voice that slipped through the speakers.
“Bon matin, mon amour” She could hear the smile in Delphine’s voice. She sounded so happy, so excited.
“Hey beautiful” Cosima replied, trying to disguise the wobble in her voice as tears formed in her eyes. Later on that day, she was going to walk down the aisle, hand in hand with Delphine and commit her future to her.
“You know, I hate it how you American’s have your weddings at night.” Delphine stated.
“Yeah?” Cosima teased back, “And why’s that?” She already knew the answer, but she wanted her fiancée to admit it.
“Because…cherie…I cannot wait to be married to you.” The tears that had already dared to fall ran down her face like tsunami tides. Her voice hitched in her throat and she was certain all Delphine could hear was high-pitched sobs and unsteady breaths. Eventually, she managed to get her thoughts out.
“I love you so much Delphine.”
“Mon pauvre petit chiot,” Her fiancee cooed back to her “Je t’aime trop”
_
“So, how do I look?” Delphine stepped out of the bedroom and into Alison’s huge hallway. Alison brought her right hand up to her face as she looked Delphine up and down. She never answered Delphine’s question, she didn’t need to. The small tears that sat at the corner of her eyes told the French woman everything she needed to know. Delphine’s dress was absolutely breathtaking. The bust was tight and covered in an intricate lace that wrapped around the tops of Delphine’s arms but left her collar bones and shoulders bare. She knew that Cosima loved the small freckles on the top of her shoulder and the dip at the base of her neck. The lace ended halfway down Delphine’s bicep to highlight her toned arms. The dress came in with a satin waistband and from the waistband fell a long trail of English netting. It was minimalistic. Simple but elegant. It encompassed everything that Delphine was. Her golden curls were pulled back into a smart bun, with a loose strand hanging free on either side of her face. She had worn it like this the night she followed Cosima to Felix’s loft. The night she had almost let her true feelings escape. The night Cosima let Delphine back in. In that very moment, that split second when Cosima wrapped her arms around Delphine’s shoulders and pulled her close, she knew that this was the person she wanted to hold close for the rest of her life.
Alison stepped forward and threw her arms around the taller woman carefully, making a conscious effort not to step on the netting. Delphine hugged her back tightly. Of all of the women in Clone Club, she hadn’t expected to be closest to Alison. If anything, she had expected Alison to hate her for what she did to Cosima, God knows she hated herself for it, especially with what she went through with Donnie. But Alison sat and listened to Delphine’s stories when Sarah only wanted to drink and get high with Cosima. What is it that Alison had said? “Sober smackheads are the best listeners.” And although she knew Alison had never touched those kinds of drugs, she understood the deeper meaning behind her point.
“Lets get you into the car hmm?”
“Oui.” Delphine smiled and let Alison lift her train as she moved to walk down the stairs.
“Hold on to the rail!” She called out, as if Delphine were one of her children. The blonde woman didn’t mind. It was the nurturing side of her that Delphine loved. She held out her right hand and clasped the rail. Donnie was waiting in the doorway in his smart, if slightly ill-fitting tux. He didn’t speak, he simply smiled walked to the car. “After you, mademoiselle.” He laughed.
“Not for long.” Delphine reminded him. It hit her again. She was marrying Cosima today. In about an hour, they would be standing in front of their friends and families, minus Delphine’s father of course, declaring their love and promising to spend the rest of their lives together. For Delphine, it was an easy task, because everyday she fell more and more in love with her cheeky girl.
Alison slipped into the car next to Delphine, her left hand resting firmly on Delphine’s leg. The blonde woman gave it a squeeze with her own and smiled. “Right then ladies,” Donnie huffed. “Let’s get this one married.”
_
Felix was flitting about her like a restless fairy, bending down and straightening her dress at the ends. “It’s fine Felix, relax.” She sighed.
“How is it that you are calmer than me about this whole thing?” He tried his best to come across sassy and camp, but there was an edge of nervousness about him.
Sarah stepped out of the bathroom in her short, skater dress. The fanciest she could be. “Fe, she looks good, yeah?” Sarah looked Cosima up and down. “Shi’” She smiled. “Now I know that’s what we looked like in a wedding dress I’ll give Cal a bell.” Although she laughed, Cosima couldn’t help but blush and look herself over in the mirror. She felt beautiful. She looked beautiful. Her dress could not have been more different to Delphine’s. Where Delphine was traditional grace, Cosima was vibrant revolution. She wanted to look back on her wedding photos with their children and for them to know their mother was a rebel, someone different, a risk-taker.
Cosima had chosen a tea-length dress with capped sleeves, in a breath-taking Wedgwood blue and just like those famous pots, her dress was embroidered with thick, white, intricate, floral patterns that swept across the bustier and lined the hem of the dress. A dopey smile hung on her face and Felix ran his hands up and down her arms as he rested his head against her shoulder.
“You look beautiful Cos.” He cooed, still taking in the sight before him.
“I feel beautiful.” She sighed. “What time is it?”
“Uh.” Sarah snapped out of her Cosima-infused daze and grabbed her phone. “Shite, it’s 20 to 6. We’d better get you out of here!” She hurried quickly to the door and shouted to Cal to start the car. Cosima was not far behind her.
_
As planned, the venue was full at 5 to 6. The only thing that was left was for the two women to meet by the double doors and enter together. Kira and Dominque had skipped down the aisle, arms linked together as if they had known each other their entire lives when in fact Dominque had been in the USA for a week. Cosima checked the just above the double doors, 4 minutes to. Come on Delphine, I’m normally the late one. As her eyes drifted from the clock to the corridor in front of her, she caught sight of her fiancée. Delphine’s hands were pulling the front of her dress up as she half-skipped towards the doors. Cosima grinned like the Cheshire-Cat. It was a very rare occasion to see Delphine Cormier hurried or flustered, besides…you know. But here she was, her long legs moving quickly and eyes focused on not tripping on her netting. Their eyes met. For a second, Delphine did not match Cosima’s all-consuming grin. Her brain was too busy taking in the rest of the woman to notice, but as her eyes studied the patterns as if they were synthetic-sequences her mouth could not help but turn up at the corners.
“Tu es belle, Cosima.” She reached out her left hand grabbed Cosima’s right. “I know I shouldn’t but…” she leaned in and pressed a chaste kiss on Cosima’s lips. Delphine pulled away, but kept her lips close enough that with each word, they would bump into Cosima’s. “I couldn’t help myself.” From inside the hall they heard the beginning notes of ‘L’hymne à L’amour and knew it was time to enter. “After you, cherie.”
Cosima took a deep breath and straightened her back. She gave Delphine’s hand a light squeeze, and pushed open the double doors. Everyone in the room turned to face the couple. Delphine’s family was on the left of the church, sat on white seats with light blue ties. Her mother, her Oncle Louis, Tata Chloe and Mathieu. Even Dominque’s mother, Delphines Tata Anne, had managed to make it. To make her side seem less bare, Scott and his ‘battle bitches’ had agreed to sit there too. Since the proposal and the wedding, Delphine’s Grand-mere had passed. In memory, Cosima had insisted one seat be left empty, only a single lily to grace it.
Cosima’s family was on the right. Sarah, Felix, Cal, Helena, and Mrs S took up the two back rows. In front of them sat Alison, Donnie, Gemma and Oscar. On the front row sat Cosima’s parents. Her mother was a tall, slightly overweight, jamaican woman with large, chestnut eyes. She wore a burgundy dress with a matching hat and loud jewellery. When Delphine first met Alicia Niehaus, she had pulled the blonde woman in for a big hug and her bracelets had knocked into the back of her neck. It was obvious to see where Cosima had picked up her fashion sense and knack for clumsiness. Sat next to Alicia was Cosima’s father, Kristian. Kristian had not passed many of his traits onto his daughter. She did not walk like him, dress like him or act like him, but the one thing they shared was a passion for science. Cosima had told Delphine stories about how Kristian would use his contacts in the scientific world and take her on after-hours tours of the California Academy of Sciences. They would watch all of the videos uninterrupted and Cosima could task as many questions as she liked. Her love for the world came naturally, but it was Kristian who satiated it.
Finally, they made it to the raised platform and faced each other. Delphine on the right so that she was facing her family, and Cosima on the left so that she was facing hers. The officiant began by welcoming everyone and commenting on how beautiful the two women were. Neither blushed because they knew. Once he had gotten through the legal side of the ceremony, he stepped back and allowed the girls to read their vows. Cosima started.
“Delphine, mon amour,” She smiled as Delphine and her family cringed at her poor French accent, “Before I met you, I had devoted my life to science. I would fall asleep thinking of Darwin and Hawking and wake up to thoughts of Buckminster Fuller and sacred geometry.” She laughed at how much of a nerd she sounded right now. “Even when I met you, I was buried deep in a project you know well enough about, but you made me pause.” She paused. “I heard your voice and it resonated through every nerve in my body. I had never heard something so beautiful in all of my life. It was my eureka moment.” Tears threatened in the corner of Delphine’s eyes. “And when I managed to squirm my glasses on, there you were. I’d never believed in a deity, but before me sat an angel.” A small laughter trickled across the room. “I guess what I’m trying to say is that, you make me re-evaluate everything about myself. You bring out the best and the worst in me, but that’s okay because it’s all out on the table. Everyday with you brings a fresh perspective, a new layer, a new idea, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives discovering.” As she slipped the gold band on to Delphine’s hand, Alison started to cry. Loudly.
“I’m sorry, please, carry on.” She whispered as she blinked repeatedly and re-gained her tough soccer-mom composure.
“Cosima. I know that our relationship was….” She struggled for the right word. “Unorthodox” Cosima laughed. Yeah, you could say that. “But ever since that night in your bedroom when you kissed me.” Delphine bit her lip and closed her eyes in remembrance. A cheeky grin appeared on her face as she ran over what she was about to say in her head “I have not been able to stop thinking about that kiss.” The dreadlocked girl shook her head and held back a sarcastic comment. “I was not supposed to fall for you Cosima, that was true. I was supposed to remain calm and focused, something that had always come naturally to me before you. When I am around you, I find it hard to focus on anything else. You can be saying nothing, and I will still be fascinated with the way your lips move with unspoken words as you read the subtitles of my French films. You can be asleep and my brain will be calculating your oxygen intake based on the rise and fall of your chest.” She heard Kira turn to Sarah and say ‘can Auntie Delphine really do that?’ Sarah nodded and hushed her daughter. “You are etched into me, forever even in the tiny Carbon molecules that make up our body. You are in my heart, my lungs and my soul. Your smile is home to me and your arms are the front door. I love you, and I will spend everyday for the rest of my life showing you.” Cosima wiped the tears away from her eyes as Delphine placed her identical band on her finger. She mouthed “I love you too”
“Cosima, Delphine, you may now kiss the bride.”
Delphine wasted no time in cupping Cosima’s cheeks and tilting her head up to capture her lips. The brunette reciprocated the kiss tenderly and ran her hands down Delphine’s firm arms. True to her nature, Cosima’s tongue pushed against Delphine’s mouth, who pulled away laughing. “You. Are. A. Brat” She punctuated each word with a kiss.
“But you’re the one who’s stuck with me…forever.”
“Oui…pauvre moi.”