Just a bit of fluff here. I want them to enjoy their engagement and moving in together a little big before any more big things happen in their lives. You can expect one more fluff chapter, or two, then we'll see where these goofballs take us. Thank you so much to those who continue to read and review!
When they walked into Beryl's they were seated almost immediately. They requested that the maître de tell Beryl that they were there, and not two minutes later did they see the redhead bopping through the restaurant.
"And to what do I owe you being here twice in one week?" she asked as she greeted them.
Elsie and Charles both stood to embrace their friend, Elsie trying to hide her left hand from Beryl until they told her the news.
"We were hoping you could sit with us for a moment," Charles explained. "We have something we want to talk to you about."
"A-ha," Beryl said. "Is this celebration material or something upsetting?" Beryl asked.
Charles and Elsie both looked at each other and both said, "Celebration," at the same time.
At that, Beryl nodded her head and said, "Give me a minute. I'll be right back."
When she left, Charles and Elsie sat back down and waited for her return. Elsie was sure to hold her left hand under the table to keep it away from her very observant friend. Charles reached under the table to take her hand, gently caressing it and grazing his fingers over the ring that was there, smiling as he did so. Just then, Beryl came hustling back, with one of her servers following behind.
"Okay, I am covered for the next half hour or so. My stepson William will be taking care of us," William approached them, carrying a bottle of champagne and three champagne flutes.
As he put it down on the table, he reached over to shake Charles' hand. "Mr. Carson, good to see you again. And Judge Hughes, it has been a while, but always wonderful to see Mum's best friend," William said, leaning over to kiss Elsie on the cheek.
"William, you are getting so dapper," Elsie said. "How are things?"
"Wonderful, actually, thank you for asking. Mum has already taken the pleasure to order your meals, so I will be back with your food when it is ready. Otherwise, if you need anything, just holler," he said as he gave a slight bow and retreated.
"He's such a good lad," Elsie said.
"Darn right he is, but we can talk about him anytime," Beryl said. "Okay, out with it!"
Charles and Elsie both looked at each other and then back at Beryl. They hadn't practiced how they were going to tell her or who was going to say what. So, instead, they both started talking at the same time. Beryl just stared at them as they giggled.
"You," Beryl pointed to Elsie. "I want to hear it from you," she said.
Elsie took a deep breath. "Okay," she said. "Charles and I are getting married!"
Beryl froze for a moment, looking back and forth between the two of them to see if they were joking. Realizing they weren't, she finally said, "It is about time the two of you got your shit together and realized what we have all known—that the two of you can't be without each other. Ahhhhhhhhh! Congratulations! Finally!" she yelled, standing up to hug Elsie.
"And you, you old bugger, how'd you finally manage it?" she asked Charles, hugging him as well.
"Let's just say we both finally came to our senses after—"
"Almost twenty long years!" Beryl interrupted, as she announced to all of the patrons in the restaurant, "My two best friends are finally getting married! Champagne for everyone!" To say she was excited was an understatement. "But first, for us," she said as she poured them all a glass of champagne and handed each of them one. "To my two closest and most cherished friends. I cannot believe you are finally doing what everyone knew was meant to be years ago. I am so happy for you. To a long life full of love, friendship and happiness, always. Cheers!" she toasted.
Elsie and Charles clinked their glasses with Beryl's and said, "Cheers" simultaneously. After taking a sip of the champagne, they shared a quick kiss before turning back to Beryl.
"Okay, let's see it. Let's see what the old sod came up with," Beryl said.
At that, Elsie put her left hand forward, showing Beryl her ring. "My, my, it's bloody gorgeous, Charles," Beryl said.
"It was my grandmother's," he explained. "I've been keeping it safe for the last twenty years, waiting for the moment I could put it on Elsie's hand," he said.
"Ah, such romance," Beryl commented. At that, she heard someone come up behind her and he said, "And they say romance is dead!"
"Bill!" Charles and Elsie both said.
"So good to see you," Charles continued.
"Room for one more?" Bill asked.
"Of course," they all said in unison.
"You're off for the night, Beryl," Bill said. "Daisy is handling the kitchen, and no, you are not to go back in there. She is perfectly capable. We are going to celebrate this wonderful news with our friends!" At that, William came back to the table with a fourth champagne glass and filled it for his father.
The foursome spent over two hours talking, laughing, and sharing many stories from the past, while at the same time discussing the very exciting future to come.
The next couple weeks were extremely busy, with Elsie intending to put her flat on the market, however, after sharing the news with Anna, Anna expressed an interest right away. She loved growing up there with Elsie, and it was bigger and nicer than the flat she and John shared. Elsie was so excited that the place she loved for so long would stay in the family. Each day, after getting home from work, she found herself at home packing up her things. Some things she would leave for Anna because she wouldn't need them in her new home. After a long and busy two weeks, most of her things had been moved to the house, and she was finishing with the final part of the packing.
She was just putting the last items from the kitchen cupboard into a box when she felt Charles' hands on her shoulders, gently massaging them. Elsie leaned back into his chest and put her head on his shoulder. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head.
"How are you doing?" he asked her.
"Okay," she replied. "I am going to miss this place, you know?"
"I do. And I completely understand. This place is a part of you. Thank you for taking such a big step and agreeing to move to the house. I promise you that together we will make it into a home that you will love it as much as this one," he said to her.
At that, she turned around and put her arms around his neck, bringing her lips to his and kissing him soundly. "I know that," she said, "and I love you for it. It also helps that Anna and John will be moving in here, so I will be able to see it from time to time," she smiled, and Charles sensed a bit of deviousness in her eyes. "This is also the place where we first made love," she said. At that, Charles smiled. "What do you say we have one more go before it's not mine anymore?" Elsie asked.
At that, Charles raised his eyebrows and said, "If you insist, Ms. Hughes," and followed her to the bedroom.
It was a strange feeling, knowing it was the last time she would walk out of the flat as her own. It wasn't bad, necessarily, just strange. She stood on the doorstep for a minute, taking a deep breath, and ruminating over the major changes that had gone on in her life over the past month. It was a lot, but it was all for the better. She had never been happier than she was at this very moment. She had nothing but hope for the future, and she was excited for it. As she was thinking about it, Anna came out the door to give her one last hug.
"I promise you I will take excellent care of it," she said into Elsie's ear as they squeezed each other.
"I know you will, my girl, and I am very grateful and happy that you and John have chosen to take it over. It does my old heart good," she said.
"Aunt Elsie, you're hardly old. I wish you'd stop using that word in reference to yourself," Anna said. "And lord knows, the activities you are participating in are more like those of teenagers!" Anna said, laughing.
"Anna May Bates!" Elsie shouted, with a sheepish look on her face. "I would hardly expect that from you, young lady."
"Aunt Els," Anna retorted, "you are the happiest you've ever been. Lord knows it is that man that is making you happy…in all sorts of ways, I'm sure. It's a good thing—no need to be shy about it."
"Okay, we are done here. If you wanted to get me out of your house so quickly, all you had to do was ask, you know!" Elsie shot back, with a smile on her face. "I love you, my girl," she said as she pecked Anna on her cheeks.
"And I love you," Anna replied back. "See you at the office on Monday!"
As Elsie got in the passenger side of the car, Charles turned to her and asked, "What was that all about? Why are you so red in the face?"
"Oh, just drive, Charles. Just drive. Take me home, my love. Take me home."
It wasn't strange, necessarily, just different. The light came in at a different angle than she was used to, and the room was much larger, but the part that felt completely like home was the warmth and solidness of the man who was pressed up against her, his arm around her waist, holding her to him. Yes, it was different, for now, but it was definitely something she was going to get used to, and soon. She felt so comfortable, in fact, that she drifted happily back to sleep.
She was awoken not too much later by the lips of her fiancé, grazing along her shoulder and up her neck. She smiled, not moving yet to see how he would continue. He moved towards her ear lobe and sucked on it gently. She couldn't help it anymore and began to giggle.
"I knew you were awake," he whispered in her ear. She turned towards him and he captured her lips in a passionate kiss. She rolled over even more and placed her arm around his middle.
"Well, well, Mr. Carson. I'd say this is a lovely way to wake up," Elsie whispered between kisses.
"We were so tired from the move last night that we didn't get to the most important part of the day," Charles said.
"Oh, and what was that?" Elsie inquired, knowing full well what he was talking about.
"Christening our home. Making love for the first time here," he explained, as he snaked his hands down her sides to the edge of her nightgown, slowly bringing it up her body. As he did, he rolled her over so she was completely on her back, kissing his way up her belly, then her chest, her neck, to her lips, pulling the gown over her head and tossing it on the floor.
He came back down to place a sweet, chaste kiss on her lips. Elsie responded in kind, kissing him back and pulling him down on top of her. They proceeded to kiss each other all over, gently, sweetly, savoring every moment of their first time in their home together. It was different this time, better, actually, than all other times, due to the concrete knowledge that they were now not only engaged, but living together. They would go to sleep with each other every night, and wake in each other's arms each morning. Having this knowledge ignited some kind of extra endorphins within them, and they had never felt so good making love before.
When they both came down from their high, Elsie put her head on Charles' chest, listening to his heartbeat. He wrapped his arm around her and played with her hair.
"Tell me it will always be like this?" she said.
"It will always be like this," Charles said. "I love you, Elspeth Hughes."
At the use of her full name, Elsie picked up her head and looked at Charles. "We need to talk about when we are going to make that Elspeth Carson," she said. Now that we are living together, it seems the next step in planning the wedding."
"I couldn't agree more," Charles said. "Let's just run away and get married today," he said.
"Oh please, Charles, Mr. Traditional. That's not you," Elsie replied, as she ran her hand through his chest hair, gently massaging his chest.
"But that's the point," he responded. "You do things to me, Elsie. You make me go all kinds of crazy," he said, laughing. Elsie laughed as well.
"Good crazy, I hope!" she said.
"Yes, good crazy!" he replied. "What do you say I show you how to work the shower and then we can discuss the details over breakfast. We also need to discuss when we are going to have Becky down," he said.
"Charles, I hardly think I need you to show me how to work the shower, but yes, you can certainly join me," she laughed as she got out of bed, walking completely naked across the bedroom to the en-suite. As she entered the doorway, she turned around and said, "Coming?" He lifted his eyebrows and shot out of the bed quicker than he ever had before.