Something Old
eighteen years old
"They're children. Your friends are all children"
"They're the same age as me!"
"Yes, well, you're different now aren't you? More mature. Surely it has to do with the company you keep."
Sofia pat Cedric's arm comfortingly as they strolled the palace gardens. "That must be it, darling."
He put his hand on hers and stopped their walking, his eyes boring down into hers. "You don't think you're too young for me, and I too old for you, do you?"
Sofia indulged in an over-the-top eye roll. "For the ten-thousandth time, Cedric, no. I love you and your age and my age do not matter. Love that superseeds poor impressions and bad jokes."
Cedric quirked an eyebrow and Sofia pressed her lips together. She knew he'd just caught her.
"Bad jokes? What bad jokes?"
"Didn't you want to see the - um - those plants over there with that very special unique thing for -"
"Sofia." His tone was flat, unamused, and demanding all at the same time. It was amazing how he could accomplish so much with three little syllables.
"Weeeell…"
"Out with it."
"You're not going to like it."
"That's a given. Just tell me."
Sofia took a deep breath. "Hildegarde has been joking that I'll only need something new, borrowed, and blue on our wedding day."
Cedric's face shifted into confusion. Sofia sighed.
"You know, that saying for what a bride needs when she walks down the aisle?"
He shook his head. He had no idea what she was talking about.
"It's a rhyme. And it starts, um…" She looked down at his hand on hers, finding his hand less threatening than his eyes, and said as quickly as possible: "somethingoldsomethingnewsomethingborrowedandsomethingblue."
"Something…what?"
Sofia sighed, slightly put out for having to spell out the dumb joke. "Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. A bride is supposed to have one of each of those things and Hildegarde is saying I already have something old because I'm marrying you."
Cedric stared hard at her. Sofia winced inwardly in anticipation of his reaction.
"HA!" He guffawed, to her complete surprise.
"You're not...you're not upset?"
"I would be, if I didn't happen to know the list of men being considered her betrothal are twice again my age."
Sofia was dumbstruck that Cedric would know a piece of gossip Sofia hadn't yet heard from Amber. Less specifically, Sofia was just generally dumbstruck that Cedric knew any gossip at all.
He chuckled quietly as he started their walk up again, practically dragging a stunned Sofia along with him. "It's a funny little quip though, I must admit."
A/N: Shout out to Jessibelle811 for inadvertently giving me the idea for this one! I had been stumped on this prompt!
Side note - I've started my work in earnest on revising Riches. Preface and Chapter 2 (former chapter 1) are up. Look for more updates over this week and a new chapter before the end of July (fingers crossed for two new chapters. We'll see how work goes with my beta!)