Somewhere along the line Olivia had appointed herself the person in charge of planning Helena and Hunnigan's bachelorette parties and their wedding, no questions asked from the happy couple of course. Truthfully, her eager assistance was more than welcomed, neither Helena nor Hunnigan had the time or the genuine interest in figuring out the minor details.
"I'm surprised at you, I was expecting you to be in full bridezilla-mode and Hunnigan to be micromanaging everything," Olivia commented to Helena as she waited outside the dressing room at a costume store, the small place cluttered with a surprisingly wide variety of outfits to choose from. Olivia had decided the theme of the bachelorette party would be a costume party, and it hadn't taken Olivia long to spot what she insisted Helena wears for the occasion. Frankly, had it been up to her, there would've been two separate bachelorette parties, but considering the circle of the couple's friends consisted mainly of all the same people, it seemed pointless.
"Honestly, I just want to get married, I want to see our names on a piece of paper which proves that, amazingly, Hunnigan has agreed to have herself legally bound to my stupid ass," Helena chortled and exited the dressing room wearing the outfit Olivia had ordered her to put on.
"Remind me again why I'm the one who has to endure this and Hunnigan gets to dress however she chooses to?" she then grumbled.
"She threatened not to show up at all unless she gets to go as Drunkerella. That woman sure loves those gray sweatpants," Olivia rolled her eyes.
"True, but as unsexy as they are, she somehow manages to look incredibly hot in them," Helena sighed and turned to glance at herself in the mirror once more, hanging her head in defeat.
"I look like a prostitute," she said dressed in the ridiculous cop-uniform Olivia had picked out for her. The skirt barely reached halfway down her thighs and there was absolutely no way she could've buttoned up the jacket completely without getting a breast reduction first. Olivia slipped a tie around Helena's neck and let it hang there loosely before placing a cop hat on her head, leaving it kind of crooked.
"Now you look like a stripper."
"Oh yes, much better," Helena drawled sarcastically.
"It is, now you can be the entertainment at the party and you won't have to hire a stripper. You're welcome," Olivia said cheerfully and patted the top of the hat so that it slid over Helena's eyes.
"Thank you so much," Helena mumbled, headed back into the dressing room and began to change back into her own clothes.
"Have you picked up the rings yet?" Olivia inquired.
"Uh, no..."
"Let's get that done next then."
"Yes, ma'am," Helena smirked as she exited the dressing room and they headed to the checkout to pay for the cop-costume.
Not long after that, they arrived at the store where Helena had ordered the rings from the day she'd finally had the cash to pay for them. The clerk retrieved them and held up the platinum bands for Helena to inspect.
"Whaddaya think?" she asked from Olivia, swallowing a bit nervously, trying to hide it, but also finding herself desperately needing someone's reassurance.
"Oh, Helena. That is... elegant, classic, beautiful... it's Hunnigan. It's perfect," Olivia confirmed with a smile and Helena let out a relieved exhale.
"Excellent. Now all I gotta do is figure out how to propose to her," Helena said and proceeded to pay for the rings and the clerk placed them in their boxes which he then handed to Helena once the transaction was complete.
"I was under the impression that you already did, with a Kinder egg," Olivia quirked an eyebrow as they headed toward the exit with the rings, "I doubt anything could surprise her more than that did."
"I am aware that she's probably expecting me to do it at some point, but I want to do it properly, you know? Not with a plastic polar bear-shaped toy and melting chocolate..."
"Don't make it too complicated, most of the time what women want is just... someone to kneel in front of them with the ring, okay?" Olivia smirked and Helena scoffed.
"As if you'd ever settle for something as simple as that," she commented as Olivia unlocked to doors to her car and they got in.
"Okay, maybe I'd want a fancy dinner before the proposal, but you know Hunnigan... or at least you should know her by now well enough to know that a public display like that would just make her feel uncomfortable and embarrassed."
"Well, you're not wrong; she barely tolerates a kiss from me in public," Helena muttered and Olivia glanced at her, her eyebrow rising a little.
"If you know that, why do you still do it?"
"Because I want and need some things to be done my way too, okay?" Helena humphed and Olivia chuckled.
"I don't blame you, and for what it's worth, I'm glad you're pushing Hunnigan out from her comfort zone with little things like that."
"I'm sure she would not agree with you."
"Of course she wouldn't, that's what I love about her."
Hunnigan sat on the couch, the TV was on, but she wasn't watching anything, it was merely providing some background noise; Hunnigan's attention was on her laptop that was resting over her knees. Helena stood in the doorway for a long while, just watching her.
She loved the little crease that appeared on Hunnigan's forehead between her eyebrows when she unconsciously frowned as she concentrated on her work. She loved the smoothness of the movements of her fingers as she slid them on the laptop's touchpad. She loved the way Hunnigan pushed her glasses to her forehead, ran her hands over her face and blinked repeatedly as if trying to dispel tiredness before getting back to work again. Frankly, there wasn't a single mannerism Hunnigan had that Helena didn't adore.
"Hello there," she said and went to Hunnigan, leaned into the arm rest of the couch and kissed her. Hunnigan gripped Helena's chin gently and hummed approvingly into the kiss, letting her lips linger on Helena's for a while longer before finally pulling back a little.
"Hello," she responded then and closed the laptop's lid, a small gesture to most, but a great compliment coming from a workaholic like Hunnigan; she was willing to dismiss whatever had preoccupied her mind and give her full attention to Helena instead. The magnitude of the gesture did not go unnoticed by Helena.
"How was your day?" she inquired and went to take a seat on the couch as Hunnigan reached to put the laptop onto the coffee table.
"Delighfully uneventful," Hunnigan replied and put her arms around Helena's shoulders, pulling her closer and planting a soft kiss onto her lips once more. "How was yours?" she then asked.
"It was good. Work-wise delighfully uneventful as well, but I got a lot done," Helena smiled and turned to sit sideways on the couch, gently tugging on Hunnigan and she understood the message. She moved closer, settling to straddle Helena's lap, her arms and legs wrapped around the younger woman.
"Did Olivia come up with horrendous ideas for our wedding? Like... setting a flock of doves free or something?" Hunnigan smirked.
"She did suggest that, but I said we'd rather climb into zoo-enclosures and taunt the animals," Helena smirked back and Hunnigan laughed. She kissed her softly and hugged her to herself tightly for a long moment, simply enjoying the feeling of their bodies pressed together like that and the warmth between them.
"Are you hungry? It's a little early for dinner, but I could eat," Hunnigan then said.
"Sounds good," Helena nodded. She watched Hunnigan head over to the kitchen and stood up, stuck her hand in her pocket and felt the ring box with her fingertips. A part of her still insisted she should wait and come up with something special for the occasion rather than just unceremoniously hand the ring to Hunnigan, but at the same time, she knew Hunnigan better. And she also didn't want to wait much longer. She decided to wait until after dinner, that was as far as she was willing to postpone it.
While the rice was boiling, Hunnigan chopped up some red bell peppers and mixed the pieces together with peas and corn which she would then add to the rice once it was cooked.
"Anything I can do to help?" Helena inquired when she got into the kitchen.
"Naw, I'm good," Hunnigan said, took out the chicken cutlets and covered them with a thin layer of the flour she'd seasoned before proceeding to dip them in egg and, finally, in breadcrumbs.
"Have I ever told you how much I appreciate it that you cook meat and chicken for me despite that you yourself only eat fish?" Helena then asked.
"I'm not sure if it's ever come up, but you're welcome, and I don't mind," Hunnigan smiled and moved the chicken into the skillet to cook it.
"Well, I should've told you, and I should tell you more often how much I do appreciate the things you do for me."
"Really, it's no bother," Hunnigan chuckled, "and I like cooking a variety of things, keeps my skills sharp," she then added.
A while later, dinner was done and they sat down to eat, but Helena was beginning to feel too nervous to actually finish her meal. She didn't understand why she felt that way, she'd been fine when she'd proposed to Hunnigan the first time, and as silly as her initial proposal had been, she'd been just as serious about it as she would be now with the proper ring. After they'd finished eating, Hunnigan put the dishes into the sink and began to fill it with water, her intention obviously to do the dishes, and Helena quirked an eyebrow.
"Can't that wait? Or couldn't you just put them in the washer?"
"I like doing the dishes. I find a little manual labor relaxing and fun."
"Oh, honey. You've never had actual fun, have you?" Helena asked, her voice dripping with almost genuine-sounding pity, and Hunnigan laughed.
"Actually, my life's been a blast since I met you," she commented over her shoulder.
"Glad to be of service," Helena smirked and went to rinse the dishes and then dry them.
"See? All done and it took barely five minutes, and now they won't spend a week stinking up the dish washer," Hunnigan then said once they'd finished.
"Indeed, I'm proud of us, we should reward ourselves by doing nothing but cuddling on the couch for the rest of the day," Helena said and Hunnigan scoffed amusedly, nodding a little.
"That's not a bad idea. Shall we?" she then smiled and offered her arm to Helena, who linked hers with Hunnigan's and they headed back into the living room.
"Oh, there's just one more thing I gotta do," Hunnigan then remembered when she saw her laptop, and Helena didn't even comment or question it, it was amazing Hunnigan hadn't come back to check on her work sooner.
"Take your time," she said and lay down on the couch, the armrest supporting her back so that she was half-upright. "What are you working on?" she then asked.
"I'm freelancing a little bit, helping an old college buddy of mine with an update patch to fix some runtime errors in his game," Hunnigan explained absently. Helena nodded slowly, finding it needless to say she hadn't really understood much of what Hunnigan had just said.
"Neeerrrd," she teased and poked Hunnigan's thigh with her toes.
"An extremely talented nerd, the powers that be specifically crafted these hands to write some sublime code," Hunnigan said, wiggling her fingers at Helena.
"Those hands are sublime at a lot of things; if hysteria were still a thing and a medical professional was required for female orgasms, you could be a very successful doctor..." Helena said, letting her voice drop into a husky murmur and Hunnigan stopped typing.
"That's... probably the best compliment I've ever had, thank you!" she chuckled.
"I meant it more like as an invitation..."
"Oh, don't do this to me, I need to finish this so I'll get paid and I can make a kept woman of you," Hunnigan smirked.
"I'd rather have you use your hands on me than be a kept woman," Helena argued gently, offering a lopsided grin.
"Or..! You know I'm an excellent multitasker, I could do both."
"I'll have you know that my pussy deserves nothing less than your full attention!" Helena scoffed and Hunnigan chortled.
"You're right," she said and put the laptop away, "I love you, I'm sorry about my insensitive words just now," she then added, directing her words to Helena's crotch.
"You're gonna have to do better than that," Helena teased.
"All right, take off your pants," Hunnigan smirked, and Helena unbuttoned them and dropped them to the floor, pausing to frown when she heard something clatter and she remembered the rings were still in her pocket.
"Oh, no," she mumbled and leaned over the edge of the couch and then lower to look underneath the couch, exhaling in relief when she found the ringbox with the contents still safely inside.
"What's wrong?" Hunnigan asked and Helena sat back up.
"Uhm... nothing, I just... I got our rings today and this really wasn't the way I was hoping to do this, but since we're here..." Helena trailed off a little awkwardly, sincerely wishing that Olivia was right about Hunnigan not having expected a fancier proposal than the one Helena was about to deliver, barely sitting upright and not wearing pants.
"You are the order to my chaos and the logical, sensible calm one who balances out the ridiculous hothead that I can be, and I don't understand how I could live without that balance before you came into my life, because right now, I can't imagine a day without you... and I really want to spend my life with you, and I hope you haven't changed your mind about marrying me," Helena smiled, opened the box and slid the ring onto Hunnigan's finger.
"...is... is the fit all right?" Helena then asked quietly.
"It's perfect."