Sorry this is so late up guys! I'm typing one-handed at the moment as I've had a mini-op and the right side of my body is really sore.
Anyway, we're finally back on track! A few things are different and I just want to remind people where characters stand:
Jenny has left the ARC. You no longer have contact with her and she wont be coming to your wedding as a result.
Vikki is working in America.
Abby and Connor are not currently dating, that you know about.
Neither are Jess and Matt. Not officially.
Robinson and Becker are working comfortably together as will be in a later chapter.
Philip Burton is still in the picture but he's been holed up at Prospero.
April isn't a fully functioning character yet but she will be soon.
Chrissie will make a reappearance in a few chapters.
Becker is still annoying you.
Lester's still a pen-pushing civil servant. With a gun.
And DestinChild wins the special guest spot at the honey moon! :)
"What about that one?" Abby asks. Jess and Abby are sat with you on your living room floor around your coffee table. In front of you there are sixteen wedding dress magazines and three cups of hot chocolate. Abby is currently pointing to a picture of a strapless, white satin dress with a wavy skirt and satin belt.
"Maybe." Abby's running on a theme and you're wondering if she's looking for you or for her. You glance at Jess who's stopped her frantic typing on her laptop and is smiling slightly. "What are you smiling about?
"What about this one?" She moves her laptop to show you a simple dress from 'The Bridalwear Company.'
"'Snowdrop'?" Abby raises an eyebrow. "What is up with this site? First 'Lemon Blossom' then 'Bethany' and now 'Snowdrop'? What type of site calls their dresses that!"
"In all fairness, it does make them easier to find." You point out. (A/N: if you so wished to look them up yourself) Abby holds up another dress; a white, full-length strapless, silk dress with a princess line bodice and full skirt flaring from the low hip. "Does it have to be white?" You sigh, head in your hands. "The colour's beginning to make my eyes hurt."
"Not really." Jess shrugs. "But a white wedding dress does symbolise purity of the soul and Becker's keen on white wedding dresses."
"White it is then." You grin as Jess slides her second choice over to you. This one's from a magazine. It looks as though, and you're probably not far off, it's based on a Roman design. There's a small, intricate gold design around the waist and the skirt looks as though there's lots of layers of feathers or nets. It looks rather soft and delicate.
"We're only worrying about your dress!" Jess squeaks suddenly.
"Well, yeah." Abby laughs. "Kind of the most important thing unless she wants to turn up in her birthday suit."
"Don't say it." You glare at Jess who only grins.
"My point is that there's still the veil and the garter and the jewellery and the jacket and the shoes, maybe even a bag, and the lingerie!"
"I'm sorry, you're picking out my underwear?"
Jess shrugs. "Three pairs of eyes are better than one. Okay, you can pick out the underwear and the garter, but you have to let us help with the other stuff."
"This isn't going to be cheap, it is?" You sigh, resting your head in your hand.
"Nope." Abby smiles happily. "Becker's leant you a wad of cash to help."
"I suppose I don't want to know where he gets all the money from."
"Don't worry." Jess winks. "It's clean."
"It better bloody be." You mutter, pulling the flower arrangements towards you. "What do you think?" You ask the others. "Me and Becker picked them out this morning." The flower ideas are simple; pink orchids in white vases.
"Beautiful." Jess smiles. "Becker pick them out?"
"Yeah. His mother used Pink Orchids at her wedding so he decided to do the same."
"What about your bouquet?" Jenny leaned forwards in interest.
"Well, that's going to have to depend on the dress we settle on. Becker's keen on roses, orchids and tulips."
"Tip: not all three. Maybe stick with orchids so there's an on-going theme. " Abby's phone starts vibrating it's way across the table and she pounces on it. "Hey Connor." You and Jess exchange significant looks. "What? Damn it! I said ten!" Abby hangs up quickly.
"Every thing alright?" You ask.
"No. Becker. ETA five minutes." No one moves for a second, then everyone's in motion.
Jess sweeps up the dress ideas and jumps the stairs two at a time, shoving the magazines under the mattress of the spare room. Abby takes the flower arrangements and table designs, shoving them into her back. You re-arrange the living room, flicking on the TV and flop onto the couch with the girls as the front door open. Becker's head appears over the back of the sofa as Jess slips out of the kitchen and Abby locks herself in the bathroom under the pretence of being busy.
"Hello." He grins, kissing the tip of your nose. "Productive day?"
"Nope. House programs mainly." You smile at him innocently and he sits down next to you, wrapping his arms around you. Connor settles himself on the floor by Abby's feet, switching the channel to football. Matt sidles past, grabbing the remote from Connor and sitting on the arm of the armchair that Jess' sat in, handing her the remote.
You can see Jess light up at the attention and Abby's focussed solely on Connor. "To keep things equal at the table," You grin across at the two couples. "you can bring a partner from inside or outside of the ARC." You give Connor and Matt pointed looks. Abby rolls her eyes whilst Jess blushes furiously. "Just so you know."
"When will the invitations be coming out?"
"Probably the start of next week. We'll draw them up soon."
"So, you have a date?" Jess asks eagerly. You nod and she squeals. "Why didn't you tell us!"
"Because we're mean. Now hurry up and get going so we can sort the invites out!" Once they've all departed Becker fetches some paper to write out the drafts.
"How are we going to do this then? More to the point, who are we going to invite?"
"Jess, Matt, Abby, Connor and Lester." Becker scrawls the names down as you think. "Rob, for definite, and Mikey and Jenny. Oh, and Robinson."
"What about Melanie and Judy from reception?" Becker asks.
"Yeah, those two sure. What about Abby's assistant, Barbara?"
Becker looks at you with a blank expression. "Who?"
"Barbara. I haven't met her yet but she's really nice apparently. She only started last week." Becker scrawls her name down. "There's also Laura."
"Laura... she's one of Connor's technicians, right? If that's the case we may want to invite Matt's apprentice."
"Add Tammy to the list then. Is it a good idea to add Jodie and Sophie to the list, or should they stay at the ARC seeing as they're animal handlers?"
"Invite them. They nearly lost their lives the other week. They've earned it."
"What about your soldiers? Any you want to invite?"
"Carlson, Charlton, McKay, Down, Haynes and Pelt. The rest can stay at the ARC."
"How many's that?"
"Twenty two. But Jenny will probably bring her husbands and her kids and Mikey might bring his wife. We could see if we could find Vikki."
"Yeah, Matt might still have a number. So that's twenty six, possibly twenty seven. We may want to send an invite to the minister, purely so it shows we've considered him."
"What about Burton?" You raise an eyebrow. "Look, I don't want him getting hacked off any more than anyone else."
"Okay, he can have an invite. But Chrissie can't."
Becker scrawls the names down before flipping the paper over. "We can't have parents names on their for obvious reasons so it'll be us inviting them. That okay?"
You smile and kiss his cheek, trying to move his mind away from the death of his mother. "What about you and I 'Would like to invite, lets say Abby, to share in their love and happiness as they exchange vows of marriage and begin a new life together at wherever it is we're getting married, on the date and tame followed by a reception.' Where are we getting married by the way?"
Becker smirks. "That's for me to know and for you to find out."
"You have no idea, do you?"
"Yes I do!" Becker knocks you with his arm. "One of my mother's old friends owns the place and is letting us use it. Trust me, you'll love it."
We're getting closer to the wedding people! There's just a few things to tie up and get straightened out. One of which is the special guest for the honey moon. :)