AN: Hi guys! Thanks so much for your continued patience and reviews on this story! As you might be able to tell from this chapter; I had started it/intended to post around Thanksgiving...but alas here it is in March! Better late then never right...hope this one has been worth the wait! It's kind of a filler that will give you an idea of what's coming next!
Chapter 20:
A lazy Saturday. It had been a while since they had one. They'd gotten an early taste of the winter chill that early November weekend, and everyone was content to stay inside for family time.
In bed that evening, Henry came in to find his fiancée flipping through bridal magazines, which he took as a good sign. It had been two months since their engagement and they still hadn't set a wedding date. They had originally only planned to wait a couple weeks to make an announcement, just to relish in it themselves for a bit longer, as they knew the press would be all over them. They'd want wedding details immediately and since they hadn't really discussed the wedding, or the date much – they figured it would be better to wait to make any sort of public announcement. They'd seen what happened just with Henry's visit to the jewelry store….they couldn't imagine the swirl of questions and speculations that would arise if they announced their engagement, especially without wedding details to follow. So their new routine was that Henry stayed at his place most nights during the work week and they spent the weekend at Elizabeth's for family time, allowing time for the kids to get used to each other more without rousing suspicion. Elizabeth of course, did not wear her ring in public.
"How's the dress shopping going?" he asked?
She frowned and let out slight sigh as he plopped in bed beside her. "Ali & Stevie marked all the ones they liked. I've got two little wedding planners."
"That's a beautiful dress, babe." Henry said as he glanced at the open, glossy page.
She shrugged her shoulders. "It's pretty but…."
"It would look amazing on you. I'm sure every dress in that magazine would." Henry said, thinking she was feeling insecure.
"That's not what I'm worried about." She said, closing the magazine and twisting her ring.
"Then what? Are you getting cold feet?"
Running a hand across his cheek she kissed him softly. "No. No cold feet. I'm just struggling with the idea of this big wedding."
"Big wedding?" He asked, placing his hand on her shoulder.
"Yea. You know, fancy dress, 300 guests, the whole thing. I just….it's my second wedding. I had a big wedding the first time around and to be honest I hated it. Well not hate so much…..but it was overwhelming."
"I can understand that. Mine was on the larger side too."
"I am sort of leaning toward something simple and small….and private"
"I'm in for whatever you want babe. Simple and small sounds great to me." He bent to kiss her
They were a couple weeks away from Thanksgiving, and still not closer to making a public engagement announcement. Elizabeth had been quite busy at work, traveling to China and Geneva and back, meaning there was little time for wedding planning. Upon her arrival home, they'd found themselves in bed once again, finally getting around to discussing some of the details.
"Thanksgiving is coming up." Elizabeth said
"Yes." Henry agreed, lost in a book.
"I was thinking…." She began, scooting closer to him. Henry realized she wanted attention and closed his book to look at her. "We should have a big Thanksgiving here. Invite Will and your family - "
"Whoa – slow down! You want to invite my family here for Thanksgiving? Henry exclaimed, cutting her off, immediately running all the scenarios in his head about how terrible that would go.
"Babe." Elizabeth said calmly, reaching for his hand. "We can't publically announce our engagement if we haven't even told our families…don't you think they would be upset to hear on the news?"
"Elizabeth, have you forgotten that my family is the main reason for us being apart for 20 years…"
"I know. But they are your family Henry." She said softly. Family was everything to her, and they had to at least try and make nice. "I recall the night we got back together you promised me you would try and forgive your father. Besides, I think the kids need to meet their new relatives and start to bond with them."
Henry sighed. He did promise her that, and he couldn't break a promise to Elizabeth. And he supposed if they were going to have a wedding and invite their family, now would be the time to do so. Plus her point about the kids was correct.
"All right. Big family Thanksgiving it is." He agreed.
Elizabeth let out a stunning smile and leaned up to kiss him. "I love you."
"I love you too, babe. I'll give them a call tomorrow. They can stay at my place….and I'll stay here with you guys. It will be good to have some distance if we need it."
"That sounds like a plan. I'll call Will tomorrow too. He and Sophie and Annie can stay in the guest room here."
Henry looked down at the phone in the study. He dreaded calling his father; they hadn't spoken since he yelled at him for stealing Elizabeth's letters. He decided it would be better to call Shane first. Maybe he could gauge from that conversation how angry his father still was.
"Hello?" Shane answered on the second ring.
"Hi Shane. It's Henry."
"Henry, hey man. What's up? How are things with you and Elizabeth…..did you get that letter business straight."
"Hey…she's great. Everything's great. Thank you again for saving those. It was a lifesaver man."
"Glad to hear it."
"But hey the reason I called is that Thanksgiving is coming up and Elizabeth and I thought it would be nice to have you guys here for the holiday. Are you free?"
"Of course man. It would be great to see you guys. I'll be there."
"Great. I'll follow up with details later. I'm going to invite the rest of the family too….how's Dad been doing since I left?"
"Eh…you know how he is. He might still be fuming internally, but he hasn't brought it up."
"Alright." Henry sighed, dreading his next call even more. "Thanks for the intel. I'll talk to you soon."