A/N: Thanks so much for all the reviews! They were really great! Let me know what you think of this chapter. :)
Chapter 6:
"You sure you don't wanna try some with extra cheese?" Matthew asked, lifting his slice of pizza in the air.
Niles risked a longing glance at him but then shook his head reluctantly.
"I can't…unfortunately I have to watch my heart," he mumbled "and I'm already pushing it by having greasy food…let's not tempt me further."
They were sitting in a corner booth of That Pizza Place, just down the road from Whidby's, not a place Matthew had ever thought he'd be taking his future in-law to.
"So you were saying you have a plus one for the wedding?" he reminded him, still chewing on his pizza.
"Yes, I've been seeing someone since Emily's left for college." Niles nodded, pushing his plate away as if he'd suddenly lost his appetite.
"Seeing as Em's never mentioned her before I'm thinking she has no idea?" Niles sighed and shifted uncomfortably on the bench.
"No…I made sure that Alice wasn't around when she came for a visit. I'm just afraid how she'd respond to it."
"Why?" Matthew asked, devouring the next slice as quickly as the first "Her mother's been seeing someone for a while and she doesn't seem that bothered to me."
"Ah yes, the professor," Niles scoffed amused and took a sip of his drink "well, I don't know. Maybe she will be alright with meeting Alice. I just worry because she grew up with me that maybe she'll feel more…possessive, I guess. It sounds silly when I say it out loud."
"Nono…I get it," Matthew shrugged "I think I've read somewhere that girls are more…I dunno territorial…they feel threatened when there's another woman in the house who might replace her."
"And she is still C.C.'s daughter…" Niles hummed pensively "sometimes when she feels strongly she doesn't know how to articulate what's going on and I'm afraid it would change our relationship."
"Don't you think you should tell her then, rather than surprise her at her wedding?" Matthew questioned, dabbing haphazardly at his mouth with a napkin "Coz these sudden surprises really don't seem to be working."
"Yes…maybe…" Niles mumbled but was unable to make up his mind just yet.
Matthew looked around the room as the silence stretched out, realising just how inapt he was at giving advice and how likely it was that he'd already made things worse now. Eventually he cleared his throat and asked: "Are you done? We can get it to go if you want?"
"Oh I don't really fancy heating up pizza…besides I don't have a microwave either."
"Then take it along for Emily. She'll go nuts, I promise you."
"Alright then," Niles chuckled "you sound very convinced. Let's take it to go then."
Fifteen minutes and a check later, they were on their way back to Cedar Drive.
"Will you show Emily the ring now for inspection?" Niles grinned.
"I think so," Matthew nodded "I do want her to like it and it's only bad luck to see the dress and not the ring."
"That's certainly true…" Niles agreed "and if anything it could turn out to be bad luck if she sees the rings at the wedding and hates them."
"Don't want to be left at the altar," Matthew chuckled and nodded and then pulled up in the driveway.
They both climbed out and made their way to the front door, where Matthew let them in.
"Hello sweetheart…sweetheart?" Niles frowned, the smile vanishing from his face in an instant "What's wrong?"
Emily sat huddled in a corner of the sofa, her knees drawn to her chest, looking decidedly miserable. "Mom came by and we got into a fight…"
"What happened?" Niles asked, striding over to her and taking a seat on the armrest of the sofa so he could bring her closer for a hug.
"She wanted to hang out and things were going fine but then she suddenly offered to be my wedding planner and I pointed out that she might not be the most suitable person for it…"
"Let me guess…she didn't take it well?" Niles prompted.
"She wasn't that bothered…but she didn't get my point either. And then she started on her whole "marriage is for suckers" bullshit and I called her out on it."
"Oh," Niles sighed, realisation slowly dawning on him "and how exactly did you phrase that?"
"I told her that it was her fault your marriage failed and that I won't be making the same mistakes…"
"You're a Babcock alright…" Niles muttered under his breath but placed a kiss to her temple nonetheless.
"I didn't mean it! At least not like that. Now I've made things worse."
"Go and talk to her then? I presume you know where she's staying."
"Well, I do but…I'm scared…things always escalate between us. Can't you go?" she pleaded.
"Ah yes…because every conversation I've had with your mother was a walk in the park."
"You know what I mean, dad," Emily sighed "You can make her listen."
"Alright, alright…" he lifted up one hand and then ran the other through his greying hair "where is the staying?"
"At the Hampton Inn."
"Of course…where else?" he rolled his eyes "And how do I find it?"
"It's at Eatonton Road. If you follow the 441 south you should see the signs."
"I'll try and get the navi to work…" he muttered and headed for the door, clapping Matthew on the back in passing "See you later."
The exterior of the Hampton Inn looked far less pompous than he had imagined. C.C. had always stayed at the finest, the fanciest hotels and this one was definitely more akin to a motel than to a palace. Even the lobby was lacking in grandeur, furnished as it was to the bare minimum. Nonetheless, he was soon spotted by a smartly dressed man who smiled to reveal a row of perfectly white teeth. "How can I help you, Sir?"
"I'm here to see C.C. Babcock, she's staying at one of your rooms. Perhaps you could help me out?"
"I'm sorry, Sir, unfortunately we are prohibited to hand out private information." the receptionist replied politely and Niles sighed, tugging at the hem of his shirt.
"Oh it's not a problem," he said, keeping his voice confident "I'm her husband, she's expecting me."
The receptionist's doubtful glance swept over Niles' attire and his ring-less hand. "I'll have to check that with Miss Babcock, I'm sure you understand."
"Go ahead," Niles nodded, feeling the smile on his face twitch with impatience.
The man swiftly dialled a number and waited while the phone rang. "Ah yes, Miss Babcock, Marc from reception here. I'm sorry to disturb you but your husband has just arrived. Should I send him up or?" he waited and listened "Yes…yes…I understand, of course. Thank you."
Niles swallowed and glanced at the elevator, pondering if he could outrun the man if necessary.
"Miss Babcock would like me to remind you that you are no longer married and that she'd appreciate it if you wouldn't go around spreading preposterous rumours like that."
Niles groaned and opened his mouth to rebuttal, knowing that the man was only the messenger, but he was faster.
"She's in room 209, if you'd like to go up. That's on the 2nd floor, turn right once you step out of the elevator."
"Thank you," Niles nodded and started walking towards the room.
It was located right at the end of the corridor with the door slightly ajar.
"You're very funny, do you know that?" he asked upon entering.
"I didn't want the poor man to get the wrong idea, especially with Richard arriving in a couple of weeks." she answered, without bothering to look up from the book she was reading.
"Ah yes, I'd forgotten how much concern you usually show towards employees." he commented dryly, crossing the room and plopping down on the sofa by the window. "Good God!" he then exclaimed, taking a look around "Did your mother design this place?"
C.C. briefly glanced up, eyeing the frilly curtains and the flower print sofa he was sitting on and then quickly hid behind her book once more to conceal the smile that was tugging at her lips. "Please…my mother has a better sense of style."
"And probably also more money…" Niles muttered in agreement.
They both remained quiet for a moment before C.C. decided to cut to the chase. "I suppose Emily sent you?"
Niles shifted and made an effort to keep his voice as gentle as possible. "You can't just run out on her like that. I'm used to it."
"I assume she told you what she said? I don't expect you to agree with me but I think she was out of line." C.C. said, abandoning the book and with it her pretence.
"I do agree with you," he smiled a little "especially because I wasn't the one who left."
C.C. tensed, sitting up straighter but he continued before she had the chance to lash out.
"But running from her won't help matters. And if you'd disagree with me on that, we both know I wouldn't have even been invited up to your room. Emily's sorry, C.C. She didn't mean it. She's stressed and we're probably not helping matters…it's just unfortunate she'd had to inherit your hot-headedness." He grinned a little.
"I'm sorry…what do you mean my hot-headedness?" she challenged, setting her palms firmly down on the bed.
"Precisely that," he chuckled.
"You're the one that started attacking me last night," she reminded him.
"Yes and you're the one who couldn't handle it and lashed out in a very hurtful way…much like Emily. But neither of you mean it…at least that's what I have chosen to believe." He swallowed and averted his eyes, too embarrassed by the pain he still felt a day later "Though I will offer one more time to take the ring of you if you truly shouldn't want it."
C.C. had averted her eyes as well and was now staring past him and out of the window.
"It's in New York," she answered, which was the safest way to express how she felt.
"Very well then," he nodded "I think that Emily would love to go dress shopping with you if you'd manage to keep the disastrous predictions to a minimum." He rose to his feet and started walking back to the door. "Just give her a call, please, she's waiting to hear from you."
Early the next morning C.C. and Emily were on their way to Atlanta. The atmosphere in the BMW was uncomfortable at best. Both women had never found it easy to communicate and needed a third party to initiate a conversation. So while C.C. kept her eyes on the road and Emily kept hers on the landscape that they were passing, the radio blared out one pop song after the other. Eventually Emily glanced guiltily at her mother.
"You didn't have to do this…"
C.C. kept focusing on the traffic and shrugged. "I'm happy to do it…"
Then the pair plunged into silence once more. No further words were exchanged until they reached Atlanta and Emily was forced to help C.C. navigate her way to the store.
"It's a Bridal Warehouse?" C.C. asked, as they climbed out of the car.
"Don't sound so shocked," Emily rolled her eyes "we are on a budget."
"Not where your dress is concerned!" C.C. frowned.
"Mom…I'll only wear it once. What's the point in spending thousands of dollars?"
"I appreciate that you can be so pragmatic, darling, but trust me. You'll want to feel beautiful."
"You didn't?" Emily questioned carefully, afraid to approach the topic of her parents' marriage once more.
"Not particularly," C.C. chuckled a bit and placed her arm around her daughter's shoulder while they were heading towards the entrance "we were wearing hospital gowns and face masks…it was lunacy."
"I now understand why there aren't any photos around," Emily laughed and opened the door "but really, mom, I don't care that much."
"Well, I do," C.C. insisted "and I'll make sure my daughter gets the gown she wants."
Emily stopped and turned to peck her cheek for a moment and then approached a young woman who seemed engrossed in her magazine.
"Hi…I'm here to look at some dresses?"
"Oh sure, sure! I'm Annie!" the woman announced and happily abandoned her reading material "Is this your first time at our warehouse?"
"Yeah," Emily nodded.
"Okay, this is how it works. We have over a thousand gowns here so what we usually do is give you a catalogue to look at so you can pick a couple of favourites and then we'll bring them out for you to try on, okay?"
"Sounds good to me," Emily smiled and glanced at her mom who nodded as well.
"Alright, ladies, follow me then," Annie said and ushered them over to a cosy couch "would you like any drinks? Water? Coffee? Champagne?"
"We'll have some champagne," C.C. decided and Emily turned to look at her.
"Isn't it a little early? And don't you have to drive?"
"Sweetie, there's something your dad's never taught you. It is never too early for a good glass of champagne. Besides, one glass won't kill me and we'll still be here for a while." She looked back up at Annie "Don't stand there hoping I'll change my mind. Go, go!"
The young woman seemed momentarily shocked to be addressed like this but Emily only shook her head at her with an apologetic smile and so she went off to fetch the drinks.
"Mom!" Emily then groaned, slapping C.C. on the wrist "You can't talk to her like that!"
"Why not? She's here to provide us with a service, warehouse or not."
Emily sighed and decided that there was no use in arguing and picked up the catalogue instead. "Oh God…there are too many…"
"Take your time, you'll find what you like."
A couple of minutes later Annie returned, timidly handing them their drinks. "And? Any favourites?"
"I like these a lot…" Emily answered, pointing to a handful of gowns.
"Let me get them delivered then."
One hour later, Emily had tried on so many different gowns that they were all starting to look the same.
"I give up…this really isn't worth it." she groaned, plopping down on the sofa next to C.C., unaware that she was wrinkling the precious fabric.
"I thought you were meant to be all excited about the wedding," C.C. teased her playfully and flipped through the catalogue once more.
"Well, I'm not anymore. Just pick one for me and let's get the hell out of here."
C.C. hummed wordlessly and then tapped a picture on the page. "What about this one?"
Emily reluctantly lifted her head and eyed it. "I dunno…isn't it a bit too Ascot?"
"You don't have to wear that hair piece with it," she shrugged.
"Alright…I'll give it a try. Annie? Could you bring out this one, please?"
The young woman who had picked up her magazine once more, quickly discarded it and went to make the arrangements. A couple of minutes later the dress had arrived.
"What's so funny?" C.C. asked when she could hear her daughter chuckle in the changing room.
"I'll have to cut out junk food if I still want it to fit in a couple of weeks. And I gotta learn how to walk like a lady. Grandma would get a kick out of this."
C.C. opened her mouth to comment but then hurriedly closed it again when her daughter emerged. She felt her throat go dry and much to her embarrassment tears pool in her eyes. The beaded bodice was suited perfectly to hug her daughter's small frame while the flare-trumpet skirt helped to obscure her height.
"Turn around," she ordered gently, noticing how her voice sounded a little hoarse.
Emily happily obliged and C.C. swallowed once more.
"It's perfect…" she cleared her throat "Do you like it?"
"I love it," Emily agreed, smiling broadly "like I said, I'll just need grandma to teach me how to walk properly so I won't fall on my face."
C.C. chuckled and got up and embraced her. "You're beautiful…"
Emily smiled and wrapped her arms around her. "Are you getting emotional, mom?"
"If you tell your dad about this I'll kill you."