Disclaimer: See prologue chapter
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Chapter 27
Language of Flowers
"Come on, there had to be something on here to help!" Mitchie scowled as she tried to glare the laptop into giving her the answers that she was looking for – much to the amusement of a watching Caitlyn from her position on the sofa next to her.
"Mitch, just what are you doing?" Caitlyn asked as she put down the music book she had been reading. "And why do I get the feeling that I should get some straws for you to put into your hair."
"Flowers, just plain ordinary flowers, that's all I'm looking for." Mitchie answered as she slumped backwards into the cushions. "And stop comparing me to that prime minister in that Nesbitt story; I've lost count of how many times you have now."
"Ah, silly question I'm sure but flowers for what exactly?" Caitlyn really was curious now. "For Nana Richmond, the houses, the offices although I'm sure they have professionals to provide them or for..." Her eyes widened at the look in Mitchie's eyes as she rambled, "Oh, of course, for the wedding."
"I thought you were never going to get there," Mitchie grinned even as Caitlyn looked sheepishly back at her.
Caitlyn stuck her tongue out at her and then shifted over so that she could see Mitchie's screen for herself. "So what's the problem, surely you just have to pick out what colours and what types you want and that's it."
"Cait, have you never heard of the language of flowers." Mitchie asked as she typed it into Google. She quickly chose the Wikipedia entry that she had been looking at again (don't ask me why she didn't just go to her history and do it that way, this is Mitchie we're talking about, she does things her own way!)
"Not really." Caitlyn replied as she reached out to try and scroll down the page, only to have her hand slapped gently away. "I do know it's supposed to be good to have orange blossom or roses but not why."
"Okay, orange blossom according to this other page," Mitchie switched pages – she had clearly been doing this for some time, Caitlyn realised from the amount of tabs she actually had open. "...Means marriage and fruitfulness and roses mean different things depending on the colour."
"Orange blossom got a right in your face meaning." Caitlyn giggled as a feint blush appeared on Mitchie's cheeks. "And what do you mean, depending on the colour. This is getting complicated, Mitch."
"Tell me about it." Mitchie leant back into the cushions again. "I am so taking the word simple out of the equation when referring to my wedding in future because it so isn't being simple."
"Yeah, you so got that right." Caitlyn agreed a little too whole-heartedly for her sister because she took one of her cushions and whacked her with it. Whacking her back with her own, Caitlyn then turned her attention back to the webpage. "What about baby's breath; it's always being used in wedding bouquets but it's not on this wiki page of yours."
Mitchie rolled her eyes and switched pages, scrolling up the page. "There, everlasting love."
"Well, that's got to be included no matter what." Caitlyn decided firmly (and much to Mitchie's secret amusement at just how much she was beginning to get involved with this).
"And that has to be the only thing that I agree with at the moment." Mitchie sank yet again into the cushions. "Why do I get the feeling that this is going to take a while?"
"As Connie says, anything worthwhile normally does." Caitlyn replied with the air of a seer.
It earned her the cushion in the back again.
RC-CS-EC
"Oats! You're going to have oats in your wedding bouquet! Mitchie what are you thinking?" Deanna exclaimed a couple of hours later. She had come home and found them going through the internet as Mitchie picked her wedding flowers.
Mitchie once again opened the Wikipedia page and pointed to the oats entry. "That's why!"
"Crazy, just crazy," Deanna shook her head. "This is going to be a bouquet like no other."
"I still can't see why you can't have straw if you're going to have oats." Caitlyn mocked sulked from Mitchie's other side.
"It's a wedding bouquet, not a harvest decoration, Cait." Mitchie just shook her head. Straw had not been the only strange option Caitlyn had been trying to get her to put in. She had also tried to persuade her to use coriander, wheat and mallow.
The mallow had earned her a definite hit from the pillow and not a gentle one at that.
Deanna out her arm around Mitchie's shoulder and hugged her. "Just keep ignoring her, Mitch, she's not being serious now and you both know it."
"I know when I'm not wanted." Caitlyn rose to her feet in mock hurt but ruining it by grinning. "I'm hungry any way, want anything?"
"Not right now." Both Richmond's replied at the same time then looking at each other with a smirk.
The curly-haired girl just shook her head as she walked away. "You're most definitely one of the family when you start talking in unison like us, Dee."
This time it was Deanna that threw the cushion. She then turned back to Mitchie; pulling the ponytail that she had pulled her hair back into for a change, "Seriously though, Mitch, oats?"
Mitchie laughed at the plaintive note in her sister's voice. "No, I promise, no oats."
"Then what have you chosen? You must have got some idea by now." Deanna suddenly noticed that there were actually only three pages open now.
With a smirk, the younger woman opened up the first page, "Are you sure you really want to know right now after all the suggestions that Cait has been making?" At Deanna's glare, she giggled and pointed to mixture of autumn colour flowers on the page, "Alstroemeria and baby's breath for the bridesmaids in a wrist bouquet."
"Devotion, friendship and everlasting love, nice meanings and colours that complement each other," Deanna smiled after reading what they meant and realising what Mitchie was trying to say to both herself and Caitlyn. She pressed a kiss of pure pride to her now blushing sister's forehead, "It's beautiful, darling and I love it but what about your own?"
"I've gone and surprised myself actually, I had to after seeing what they meant. Traditional." Mitchie curled her legs up under her and leant her head on Deanna's shoulder. "Red and white roses with baby's breath and ferns mixed in as well in a cascading bouquet."
"True and eternal love, together being unity with everlasting love and sincerity," Deanna said with a touch of joy at what Mitchie was trying to say with her bouquet. "Mitchie, that's a lovely choice but why ferns?"
Mitchie closed her eyes, "Because a fern also means confidence and shelter when taking their magical meaning into account."
"That's a lot of things for a bunch of flowers to say, Mitch." Deanna murmured as she felt her actually begin to fall asleep on her shoulder. "But somehow...."
"It's Mitchie." Caitlyn murmured from where she had been standing behind them listening to what they had been saying since her return from the kitchen.
"Yes," Deanna said softly. "It's definitely Mitchie."
RC-CS-EC
This particular chapter has been on my mind all day. I hope you got enough hints as to where to go to find out about the language of flowers for yourself but I have given the meaning of those that are not in this particular entry.
Now, where I do I go next? Decisions, decisions.
As always looking forward to seeing what you have to say ;op
