Disclaimer: See prologue chapter

Chapter 13

Girls Only

"Cait..." No reply.

"Caitlyn..." Again there was no reply.

"CAITLYN!"

"WHAT!" Caitlyn shouted back as she appeared the doorway of the music room, hair dishevelled. "I'm working!"

"What have you done to your hair?" Deanna asked, distracted from her reasons for calling the younger woman. "It looks like you stuck your finger in the socket again."

Caitlyn turned her head slightly to look in the mirror and groaned. "Not again! I've been working on a piece for Nate and Mitchie..."

"Say no more, I understand completely." Deanna laughed softly. "Come with me and I'll sort it out for you."

"Why were you looking for me anyway?" Caitlyn asked as she followed her to sit in a small dressing room and watching Deanna in the mirror as she started to tackle her hair. "It's unlike you to go through the house shouting."

"I wanted to know if you wanted to come shopping with me. If you do, you can help me pull Mitchie out of the music huddle with the boys and get Megan to come with us." Deanna replied as she gently teased Caitlyn's unruly locks back into place with a brush and comb.

"Sure, would love to." Caitlyn smiled back at her. "I need to visit the music store anyway."

"Excellent, I need to go there too." Deanna responded happily, "And the Bakery Store, Connie needs some new muffin tins."

"Doesn't she normally order them for delivery?" Caitlyn asked a little confused.

"For the business yes, but this is for here; some idiot, also known as the man that I am married to, managed to split them this morning and before you ask, no-one knows how he managed to do it." Deanna's tone was stern for a moment but she was unable to stop herself breaking into giggles as the look of disbelief on Caitlyn's face.

"How did I manage to miss that?" She exclaimed.

Deanna gently tugged a lock of hair. "You're the one who didn't want to get up this morning." She chided her softly. "And how you managed to miss the noise that came from the kitchen is beyond me. It sounded like a miniature thunder storm."

"I had my headphones in." Caitlyn actually looked a little sheepish. "I was working on an arrangement in my head and didn't want to break my concentration."

Deanna shook her head, sighing as she did so. "I suppose I should have known... there you go, all done. Try not to run your hands through it until we get back, there's a dear."

"Yes ma'am." Caitlyn snapped back with a cheeky salute, grinning as she did so. "Did you say Mitch was with the boys, Dee?"

"Right in the middle of them, they got struck with an idea two hours ago and haven't come up for air." Deanna sat down next to Caitlyn. "I knew that it happened but this is the first time that I seen it for myself. It's amazing just how focused they get."

"Well, if we don't pull her out now, we never will." Caitlyn jumped to her feet and pulled Deanna out of the room. Now that her mind was made up, she was determined to get going as soon as possible. "When they get like that, they're lost to rhyme or reason."

With that said she raised her voice and shouted, barely giving Deanna time to cover her ears.

"Mitchie, Megan!! Girls only shopping, NOW! No arguments, boyfriends, fiancés, husbands or brothers."

RC-CS-EC

Mitchie sank back in her seat in the cafe they had just entered, adjusting her hat as she did so and took a huge drink of her shake. Putting it back on the table, she grinned at the three other women seated with her. "This has been fun."

"Hasn't it just," Caitlyn agreed as she kicked one of her bags out of her way. "So what just were your four huddling over earlier?"

"Just an idea Jake had for the concert, he wanted to run it past us and then he was going to talk over the production side with you." Mitchie picked up a fry, dipped it in her sauce and then slowly ate it. "It could be quite a number when they work out all the instruments that are needed for it, and yes, Cait, you will be needed to play the keyboard as well."

"That's the only downer of being a Fiver," Caitlyn groaned much to their amusement. "I actually have to be on stage instead of behind the scenes like I prefer."

"You'd think after two years of doing these shows, you'd of been over that by now." Megan commented wryly.

"It wouldn't be Cait, if she couldn't find something to moan about." Mitchie murmured (earning herself punches in both arms from Caitlyn and Deanna) before she continued. "Alright, Dee, what's the real reason for the girl's only trip today?"

"I know that we will want the mothers and grandmother at some point but I thought that we could just do a cursory look through the bridal shops here in town." Deanna held up her hand at the look she could see appearing in Mitchie's dark eyes. "Mitchie darling, it's better if we get an idea now just in case it comes down to having our dresses made for us."

She reached out and caught hold of Mitchie's hand. "I'm trying to save you the hassle that I had with my dress, Mitch by doing this now. I'll admit now, it was the arguments over it that almost ruined my wedding planning and you know that. It's one of the reasons why I am so sure you have been so secretive until now about yours."

Mitchie sighed and gave in, squeezing her sister's hand. "Alright, I get the point."

Megan looked at her young charge carefully for a moment. "But you've already taken that into account haven't you Mitchie."

"Okay maybe I have kind of decided on colours but that's about it." Mitchie admitted honestly. "Styles are a different thing altogether so Dee's got a good idea there."

"Alright simple things first, sleeves or no sleeves?" Caitlyn asked.

"Sleeves but gauzy, maybe a sweetheart neckline with a, I'm not sure what they call it, but a Napoleonic waist line and a long flowing skirt." Mitchie replied, eyes growing hazy as she seemed to see her ideal dress in her mind's eye.

"Veil?" Deanna asked amused by just how much detail Mitchie just given them. She had clearly been thinking about this more than she had admitted.

"No veil," Mitchie shook herself slightly before looking at her. "I want my hair down so perhaps some sort of tiara, flower or... I don't know, Deanna, we'll just have to try some things until we get it."

"And this was supposed to be simple." Caitlyn murmured as the other three chuckled. "There's no such thing as a simple wedding from what I'm getting."

"There's no such thing as simple when Connect 5 are attached to it." Megan growled and the chuckles became full laughter.

RC-CS-EC

Just another short chapter but slowly moving things along. I may just do things this way for a little while due to RL

As for the poll, thanks for all who have voted so far but can I have a few more please. Two options are in a dead heat at the moment but are logistically impossible to do so a few more voters would be appreciated please.

As always looking forward to seeing what you have to say ;op