A Vintage Christmas

Gerry Kenyon gave his son a look of admiration and, emboldened, said, ‘You’re old enough to make up your own mind and you’ve been together now for a good ten years, so I’m very happy for you both. And of course we’ll chip in with some of the wedding costs, if Lucy’s mother can’t manage it all herself.’

‘We’ll do no such thing, Gerry!’ exclaimed his wife.

‘Thanks, Dad, but there’s no need. We’re having a small wedding in the local church and a reception with a buffet in the village hall.’

‘I suppose you mean that dreadful woman can’t afford to pay for a proper wedding?’ Pamela said.

‘Lucy’s mother has saved since Lucy was born to give her a big wedding, so it’s entirely our choice to have a simpler one.’

‘Well, whatever kind it is, if you go ahead you certainly won’t have my blessing, let alone any help in paying for it,’ his mother told him. ‘I couldn’t bear to watch you marrying a girl like that – it would break my heart!’

‘Oh, come now, Pammie, you’re going too far,’ Gerry protested. ‘Of course we’ll be there and we’ll at least pay for the honeymoon,’ he insisted.

Pamela stared at her husband, momentarily silenced by astonishment. It was such a long time since he’d dared to cross her that she’d forgotten he’d ever been capable of it.

‘That’s OK, Dad,’ Matthew said cheerfully. ‘We’ve already got everything covered and we’re delaying the honeymoon till spring, when we’re going to tour Cornwall in a vintage Volkswagen campervan. It’s booked and so are the church and village hall.’

‘Before you’ve even told us? Nobody considers my feelings!’ Pamela said, employing a handkerchief to dab her dry eyes.

‘I didn’t know you had any,’ Matthew snapped, losing patience.

‘Matthew! You wouldn’t have said that kind of thing to your mother before you met that girl,’ she said. Then, seeing his expression darken, she added quickly, ‘But I can see you’re set on marrying her, so I suppose we have no choice but to go along with it. You were always stubborn, from being a child.’

Matt thought that, in the circumstances, developing a stubborn streak had been a survival skill. And it was just as well he had, or by now he’d be married to the hunting-obsessed, ferret-faced girl with the plummy accent they invited to dinner every single time he was visiting!

When Matt got home I ruefully described Mum’s unexpected reaction to my news.

‘She’s totally obsessed with the idea of our having a traditional wedding and quite sure that’s what Dad would have wanted, so it was impossible to persuade her that it isn’t the kind we’d like at all! She just didn’t believe me.’

‘Your dad was putty in your hands and would have agreed to us tying the knot while skydiving, if that’s what you really wanted,’ Matt said, grinning. ‘And I’m just the same.’

I hit him with a cushion and Minnie jumped up and started dashing about, barking excitedly.

‘I do love the idea of a small, quiet vintage-style wedding with just our friends and immediate family. I mean, I don’t want to upset Mum, but on the other hand we’d really hate