Tony and I have been together for over ten years. We had discussed marriage and knew we wanted to, but somehow we had never got round to it. I got pregnant at the end of 2003 and our beautiful twin baby girls were born two months early in May 2004. As they were premature and very small they were in hospital for a month. It was a fraught time but it bought us even closer together and when we finally were able to take our babies home our family life began…the sleepless nights….the nappies….
It was our tenth anniversary in July and I remember saying to Tony as I changed a nappy that we should see if my parents would have the girls overnight and go away somewhere to celebrate. I thought at the time that his reply was unnecessarily grumpy but put this down to the fact that it was 5.30 in the morning! Turns out he was grumpy because he had already been planning a night away as a surprise. Anyway, I promised to leave it all up to him and not ask any questions and when the day arrived we set off in the car, destination unknown to me (even though I was having to read out the directions from a computer printout!). We stopped on route for a pub lunch and later arrived at a gorgeous boutique-y hotel outside Cambridge. We were shown to our room where a huge bouquet of white roses were waiting for me…”Yes, they’re for you.” Tony said (after ten years I was not used to this kind of romantic treatment!) ….I opened the card and it said “ten years and two babies and I love you more than ever. Will you marry me?” I gasped in shock and was so busy smothering Tony in kisses that I didn’t even answer. “So, do you want to?” Tony asked, laughing, “Oh….. all right then” I said….well after waiting so long I didn’t want to appear too keen!
We celebrated with a glass of champagne on the bar terrace overlooking the beautiful grounds, it was a gorgeous sunny day and we both agreed, the birth of our girls aside, that it was the happiest day of our lives. The wedding is booked for our anniversary in July this year. I can’t wait, and we are of course going to have the smallest most beautiful bridesmaids ever!
