Disclaimer: I do not own the Total Drama series or anything else copyrighted.
"I don't know when the wedding will be, Mom..."
Courtney sighed as she continued to listen to her Mom ramble on about the perfect time for a wedding. It was the beginning of December, and her Mom thought Christmastime was the perfect time for a wedding. Of course, she thought other parts of the year were perfect for a wedding as well, so she switched between talking about Christmas weddings and weddings during other parts of the year. She gloomily looked at Duncan, who was looking at her with a hint of sympathy.
Suddenly, Duncan came up with an idea - he knew Courtney and himself weren't even still used to the idea of being engaged. They were still playing along with the idea of being engaged... at least, that's what they continued to tell each other. Both were still so confused about how they felt. Were they really engaged? Did they want to be engaged and soon get married? He found a piece of paper on the table and wrote down "September" on it before holding it up for Courtney to see.
"September...?" she muttered, glancing between the paper and Duncan. She looked down, listening to her Mom talk. "Yeah, um... September sounds like a good month... Why...?" She looked up at Duncan and saw that he had written "pretty leaves" down on the paper. She bit her lip, amused, before responding, "The weather and scenery are both nice during September..."
Duncan grinned, glad she was able to make up something on the spot. He got up and stretched slightly before walking into the kitchen. He got himself a bottle of water and drank a bit of it before he heard Courtney walk into the kitchen.
"September, huh?"
He smirked, placing the water bottle down onto the counter. "Didn't hear you objecting to it."
She shrugged, also smirking. "Why September?"
"No reason." He shrugged. "The scenery and weather are nice, I will agree. Plus, Michelle and Bridgette are due around the same time, which is in the Spring. I don't want a summer wedding, because it can get really hot then and I'd rather not be sweaty at my own wedding..." He paused to think about his statement. "Well, it's not like we'd be outside..." He shrugged. "So we should wait until our friends have their kids, let them get adjusted to parenthood, and then we can journey into being a married couple or whatever..."
Courtney nodded. She agreed with his reasoning - she wouldn't want Bridgette or Michelle to go through any complications at their wedding. They were both due around the beginning of April. September was nice, and even October would be fine for a wedding as well. They'd have nine to ten months before the wedding in general, if they decided to get married then, so they'd have more than enough time to come up with a date and everything that had to do with the wedding.
"Mom wanted to know if we'd thought about a place to get married at yet," she said, leaning against the counter.
He snorted, wrapping his arm around her waist. "Did you tell her that we barely even think about this?"
She laughed slightly, wrapping her arm around his torso. "I told her we've been too busy to think about it. I did tell her to stop sending us stuff for a while, though."
He nodded, resting his head on top of hers. He let out a sigh, his fingers idly running along Courtney's side. She snuggled into his neck, resting her hand in his back pocket.
"I was thinking June," she softly said.
"Why?"
She looked up, gaping, and realized he was smirking. "You're kidding, righ?" she clarified.
He laughed, kissing the top of her head. "Of course, babe. You wanna get married on our anniversary, huh?"
She shrugged, burying herself into Duncan's side. "I guess," she murmured. "I think it'd be nice and romantic."
He nodded. "Regardless of when we get married, we have time to think about it." He hopped onto the counter and looked around. "We gotta clean up a bit."
She nodded, tiredly looking around. "When are you parents coming?"
"Same day as yours - Christmas."
She rolled her eyes, looking back at him. "What time?"
He shrugged. "Sometime around lunch... I'll ask them tonight," he said after seeing Courtney's stern glance. "What time are your's coming over?"
"Noon."
He nodded and hopped down. "I feel like cleaning. Help me?"
She mock gaped at him. "Duncan - actually cleaning?"
He rolled his eyes. "Don't get used to it. I remember your Mom's reaction the last time she came over..." He cleared his throat and, in a high-pitched voice, said, "'Sweetie! Why didn't you tell me you hadn't cleaned? I would have come over later!'"
She laughed. "My Mom doesn't sound like that."
"That's not the point. She over-exaggerated. I'm acting like she did."
He was referring when they moved into their new apartment, a month after Courtney had graduated college, which was about six months prior to the current date. Courtney's Mom had just come over to visit, and boxes and a few other things were thrown around. Her visit was a surprised one, but he assumed she thought they would have gotten done packing sooner.
Courtney rolled her eyes. "Come on. We've got..." She looked around. "We just need to organize some things."
He also rolled his eyes and hopped off the counter. "I was talking about cleaning the bedroom. You know our parents will snoop around."
---
Duncan looked over at Courtney as she slept. It was around 7:30AM on Christmas Day. He was always an early riser on Christmas; Even when he got older and barely celebrated the holiday, he still got up early. He was glad he woke up before her, because he had a present hidden away for her that he was going to surprise her with. He slowly got out of bed, sighing a breath of relief as he noticed he didn't wake her, and walked into their "office" - it was almost a storage room for all their old work, but a desk and an old couch were still in there, so they often worked in there if they really needed to concentrate. He had to keep Courtney out of the room for a couple of days, for in there, he was hiding a tiny little puppy.
The puppy was only nine weeks old. It was a golden retreiver. They were at the mall about a week prior, and they had passed by the pet store. Courtney briefly looked in there and was gushing at all the dogs. Duncan knew she never had any pets growing up, while he had a few - a couple of dogs and his pet tarantula. He saw her quickly grow attached to a tiny golden retreiver, who seemed to love Courtney in return. He went back a couple of days before Christmas and was glad to see the puppy was still there. He quickly bought it and was glad Courtney didn't find out about it.
The puppy instantly woke up as Duncan entered the room. He had been feeding it and playing with it, but had to sneak away from Courtney unsuspiciously to do so. He smiled at the dog and picked it up. "Merry Christmas, buddy," he said, walking out of the room. "I hope Princess isn't awake..." He was glad to see that Courtney was still asleep as he entered their bedroom. He gingerly put the puppy down onto the bed, and smiled as it wandered around, sniffing the bed and soon sniffing Courtney. Once it found her face, it started licking it.
Courtney turned a little bit, slowly waking up. "Duncan..." she murmured.
Duncan smirked, knowing she was thinking he was the one licking her face. "Wake up, babe," he said.
She slowly opened her eyes and found herself staring into the face of a happy puppy, it's tail wagging quickly and it's tongue hanging out of it's mouth happily. It immediately barked happily, almost as if it was saying, "HEY!", to Courtney. Her eyes widened and she quickly looked at Duncan. "What's this?" she quickly asked.
He continued to smirk. "Well, last time I checked it was a dog..."
She quickly glared at him before saying, "Duncan."
"Merry Christmas, Princess."
Her mouth fell open. She was truly shocked. She looked down at the puppy and cautiously patted it's head. "This is the dog from the pet store..."
He nodded and sat down next to her and the puppy on the bed. "It is."
She looked up at him, tears brimming her eyes. "It's for me?"
He nodded. "I knew how much you were fawning over it at the store, and I remembered how you didn't have any pets growing up, so..." He shrugged.
She tearfully smiled at him as she sat up. She leaned forward and firmly wrapped her arms around his neck. She was constantly astounded by the things he did for her. She was always touched by the unconditional love that he showed for her. He meant so much to her, and was always greatful to have him in her life. "Thank you, Duncan," she whispered.
He chuckled, wrapping his arms around her waist. "You're welcome, Courtney."
They stayed in that embrace for a few moments before both feeling a set of paws on their side. The glanced down and sat that the puppy was standing up, it's paws resting on them. It was curiously staring up at him.
Courtney laughed and picked up the puppy. "Well, well, someone wants a little attention, huh?" she asked, smiling at the puppy, who was seemingly happy by the attention it was now receiving. "How old is she?" she asked, holding the puppy close to her.
"She?"
"Just checked. It's definitely a girl."
"She's nine weeks old. She's got all of her current shots." He shrugged. "She'll probably be a good guard dog later. I heard Lab's are real good watch dogs."
"What are we going to name you?" she asked, staring down at the dog, who was looking up at her, tilting it's head curiously. She thoughtfully looked at the dog.
"Kate. Or Katie."
Courtney smirked, looking up at Duncan. "You've been thinking about it."
Duncan shrugged. "I won't deny it."
"I like Katie," Courtney said. She looked at the puppy and asked, "How's Katie?" Katie barked, wagging it's tail happily. Courtney smiled and looked at Duncan. "Well, it's decided."
"So... you like her?" Duncan cautiously asked. He knew he had taken a big risk when getting the big dog. Both were constantly working, and taking care of a pet, especially a dog, was like taking care of a child.
Courtney softly smiled. "I love her. Thank you so much."
Duncan smiled. "Now where's my present?"
"Got any more presents for me?"
Duncan laughed, standing up and walking out of the room. "C'mon, girls. Daddy's gonna make some breakfast."
Courtney rolled her eyes and stood up before following him out of the room. "C'mon, Katie." Katie quickly jumped off the bed and trotted alongside Courtney down the hallway.
Around noon, Duncan and Courtney were quickly finishing cleaning. Katie had made an accident on the floor, so they were quickly cleaning and covering that up, as well was trashing any additional wrapping paper they had. As Duncan passed the front door, he heard some people chatting outside of it. He stepped over to it and glanced through the peephole. He smirked and opened the door. "Well, well," he said.
Both his parents and her parents were happily mingling with each other. They were all chatting happily, almost like they were best friends that were meeting each other for lunch.
"Merry Christmas, sweetie!" his Mom said, rushing over to him and giving him a big hug. He returned the hug, smiling. "Merry Christmas to you, too."
As he greeted their parents, Courtney stepped out of the bedroom. "Oh, hello!" she said, smiling.
"Courtney!" all the parents said, walking over to her and saying their "hello"'s and "Merry Christmas"'s to her. Soon a barking was heard from below them, and they looked down and saw a puppy sitting by Courtney's feet.
"Who is this?" Duncan's Mom asked, bending down and picking up the small dog.
"Her name's Katie," Courtney said, smiling happily.
"When did you two get her?" Courtney's Father asked.
"Today," Courtney said, smiling at Duncan. "Duncan gave her to me as a Christmas gift."
"My son, the romantic," Duncan's Mom said, smiling fondly at her son, who instantly reddened. "And, look, quite the blusher! You are just so cute!"
"Mom," Duncan groaned, causing everyone to laugh.
---
"Go wake up Daddy..."
Duncan stirred, feeling the dog walk around and on him. "What time is it?"
"Nine-thirty," Courtney said, sitting beside his legs. She patted them and said, "I guess you conked out right when I got in the shower."
"Somebody's gotta watch the dog..." he muttered, not even completely hearing what she said.
She paused before saying, "But you weren't even awake..."
He opened his eyes and looked at her confused face. "What?"
"I said you must have fallen asleep after I got in the shower."
He nodded. "And I meant to watch the dog."
Realization hit her as she nodded. "Ah."
"You know what I was thinking about earlier?"
"What?" she softly asked as she laid at the other end of the couch.
"Think about Katie's name."
Courtney sat there for a few moments. She shook her head, staring at him. "I don't get it."
"Katie. Sadie."
Her mouth fell open. "No."
He smirked. "Oh yeah. Look what we did here... We named you after one of the loudest people ever!" he said, petting Katie's head.
Courtney laughed, shaking her head. "I cannot believe it... And you came up with her name!"
"Hey, I'm not perfect. If I had even cared to remember the two girls, I definitely would have not named our dog that!"
Courtney smiled. "I don't care that her name is Katie." She shrugged. "I'm still very touched that you got her for me."
He smiled, gently petting the dog as it curled up on top of him. "I knew you'd like her."
"Of course. What all have you bought for her?"
After a minute-long pause, Duncan said, "I haven't really bought her much... Just some puppy chow and a leash and collar..." When he saw her frustrated face, he quickly said, "I didn't want to buy anything without you there! You'd probably know more of what she wants, anyway..."
"Duncan, I've never had a dog! You're more experienced with pets in general!"
"My dog ran away."
She groaned. "Doesn't matter! You. Had. A. Dog." She sighed when he shrugged. "Well, first thing tomorrow, we're going to the store and buying her some treats and toys."
"Sounds like a plan."
A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews! Again, another holiday chapter posted long after the holiday... heh. Long story short: I moved to and from Tennessee within three weeks. I was looking for a job after I moved, and I wasn't really thinking about updating my stories, and I did, I had a bit of trouble writing them. Then, I moved back to Tennessee this past weekend, so I have a bit more free time. I hope you all enjoyed this! And I posted the prequel to this just today as well. It's called "The Time of Our Lives". Please read it! And please continue to review this story. Thanks!
