I am going to try and write a report for our wedding but I'm not hopeful that I'll be any good at it so bear with me!
Jim and I met on the 28th June 2013. I had 6 kids of my own and he had a 14 year old son living with him. Neither of us wanted anything serious, in fact, we both said we didn't do commitment and we certainly didn't do the 'L' word!
Our first date was a coffee on Camber Sands beach. He was such a cheeky, charming fella and I instantly knew that I would like him, maybe a bit too much. We ordered our drinks from the beach cafe and sat outside where my hair was blown around so much I looked like I had been dragged through a hedge backwards and our cups were more sand than they were coffee so Jim suggested we drive into town to a little coffee shop he knew. I followed behind him in my car until he suddenly pulled off on to a slip road and said for me to get into his car instead of taking two cars and trying to park. I dithered for a few minutes thinking I didn't really know him, he could kill me lol! But I parked the car like I had nicked it and jumped into his. We walked through Rye which is quite a quaint little town, had a coffee and then went to the gun gardens and sat for ages in the sun just looking out at the view and talking non stop about everything and nothing. I couldn't believe how much we had in common, especially our dry sense of humour. After spending the day together (which was longer than I'd planned!) I had to head home as the kids would be finishing school. We drove back to my car and before I got out he asked for a kiss. I decided one little peck wouldn't hurt so I leant over and kissed him. He thought he would try and stick a tongue in so I slapped him LOL I hopped into my own car and followed him to the junction where we both went our separate ways and agreed to call each other later. All the way home I was on cloud 9, I didn't stop at a zebra and went straight through the lights at a level crossing.
We talked that night, and every night after for a week as well as texts throughout the days. We met again at the end of the week, this time we went for lunch in a nice little pub on Winchelsea beach and again we spent the whole time talking, laughing, acting stupid - we felt like a pair of teenagers but I still told myself not to jump in too quickly because men are twats lol. We finished the afternoon with ice cold lager on the beach, and this time we held hands, we sat close and in the end I let him kiss me....although he did flinch the first time he tried haha.
4 weeks of dating and having so much fun brought us closer. One particular date we spent just laying in a huge park, watching people play boules across the green and nipping up to the pub for the odd drink. That date I decided I wasn't going to see him anymore because I knew by then I was falling for him and I really didn't want to, it would never work and I had so many kids it couldn't go anywhere and what if his son didn't like me?? What would his family think of his girlfriend with a million kids?
Well I did see him again lol, we decided to introduce the kids to each other and see what happened. I drove to Jim's house nervously, warning the kids to be on their best behaviour as we were going to meet a friend lol We got there and the kids sat awkwardly on one sofa (all 6 of them!) to avoid having to sit near his son lol and his son sat pretending to flick through the tv avoiding having to talk to me or them. I thought it was never going to work but a game of football at the park and a round of haribos later, they were firm friends and I got on great with Jim's son too. My kids thought Jim was funny and said they liked him a lot and also told me they knew he wasn't just my friend lol
The following week I invited Jim and his son over to my house for a takeaway and we spent the evening together with the kids before he and Macaulay drove home. The following night he was back again and this time they stayed.
Us after one of our dates...
The rest, as they say, is history. By the end of October we moved in together and we tied the knot on Christmas Eve!
