Hi guys! Here's the next chapter. I apologize for how short it is, but I promise to make up for it in the next chapter. Speaking of which, there might be a large delay before the next update seeing as I hope it'll end up being an extremely lengthy chapter, and there's also real life stuff like rehearsals, and then I'll be away from home for 5 days at competition. But anyways, here you go. It's kind of a filler, but whatever, like I said, the next chapter will make up for it. Enjoy and don't forget to review! OH AND DON'T FORGET TO WATCH BLUE EYED BUTCHER ON LIFETIME TONIGHT AT 8PM EST. Lisa's back on our tvs again and I couldn't be happier! but uhm yeah, enjoy!
"What about these?" Julia asked gesturing at the floral arrangement to their left.
Cuddy looked away from the bouquet of roses that had been calling her attention from the moment they had entered the floral boutique and focused her attention on the arrangement her sister was currently gesturing towards.
"Those are pretty, but they're not exactly what I'm looking for." She replied, letting her sister down gently. In all honestly the arrangement was unappealing. Carnations and lavender would have fit the season well, but would definitely not agree with her color scheme.
The colors she had chosen were cream and dark red. Red stood for passionate love, which were the only words to describe her relationship with House. It stood for power, which was a constant in their relationship. It was a color that defined them.
She turned back towards the roses. There were eleven white roses in the bouquet. To the left of that bouquet there were red roses. She knew that those were the flowers that she wanted. The white ones would be for her bridal bouquet, and the red ones for decoration.
"Honey, red roses are too traditional, and you're anything but traditional." Her mother said from beside her.
Cuddy rolled her eyes before responding.
"Exactly, so let me get the traditional roses for my wedding." She emphasized on the word 'my' on purpose, hoping that her mother would get the hint and back off.
"Oy vey. Whatever you say, it's your wedding. Just wanted to give some suggestions that's all."
"Thank you ma, but no thank you. You already helped with the venue, the decorations, and the dress. Let me pick my flowers on my own please. I think I can handle that. Besides, roses are my favorites; you should have known I would pick them over anything else."
"I'd just assumed that would have changed over time, that's all."
She nodded her acknowledgement before heading over to the front of the store, intent on filling her order before her mother could pester her into changing her mind.
House impatiently tapped his cane against his foot as he and Wilson waited at the front of Liberty Travel Agency; the sole fact that he had to actually book his and Cuddy's honeymoon at an actual agency rather than online was irritating enough, but the small business's wait time was driving him insane.
They had been waiting for over an hour, and his number had yet to be called. For such a small place he couldn't deny that they were obviously doing something right in order to have the amount of people they had clogging up their front and waiting to book their reservations.
"Where do you even plan on going that it requires you having to do the reservations in person rather than online?" Wilson asked from beside him.
"Sorry Jimmy, can't tell you. You've got a mouth on you."
"I do not."
House let out a low chuckle.
"Yes you do. I can't tell you anything without you going and running your mouth off to Cuddy."
"That's a lie." Wilson argued.
"Oh really? Like that time I told you I wasn't going to go to the fundraiser and you ratted me out?"
"That was different, she needed you to be there."
"Right."
"Seriously though, tell me. Where do you plan on taking her?"
"None of your business. You'll find out all about it when we get back."
Before Wilson had a chance to respond, House's number was called. He smirked as his best friend glared at him as he walked away. He spotted the clerk with the empty seats in front of her desk and dropped down into one of them.
"Hello, My name is Katherine. I'll be helping you with everything you need. What can I do for you Mr….?"
"House. I need you to book me several flights and hotel stays."
"Alrighty, and what are the names of the passengers who will be traveling?"
"Gregory House and Lisa Cuddy."
"Ok. When would you like to book your first flight?"
"How about I just tell you when and where I'm going and then you just tell me the times and the hotels I need to choose from?" He asked, honestly not wanting to sit through the questioning that would surely ensue each and every time he stated a new location.
"That sounds great to me."
"Great. May 18th, London; May 31th, from London to Paris; June 14th , Paris back here. Sound good so far?"
"That sounds fantastic Mr. House. Now, your first flight, would you like it in the morning or midafternoon?"
"Midafternoon." He replied. The later the first flight, the better. Who knew how tired they would be after they left the reception. "Actually make all of the flights midafternoon."
"Well that would be an issue considering you would be back in New Jersey at three in the morning."
"Then make that last flight at whatever time isn't the middle of the night here."
"Alright. The hotels you'll be staying at, what type of sweet would you like?"
"The Honeymoon Sweet; in all of them."
"Okay. Last but not least, will you be needing a rental car in any of your locations?"
"No."
"Okay then. That will be a grand total of –"
"Don't want to know." He replied handing over his credit card. He knew it was going be expensive, most likely over ten thousand dollars, but it wasn't like he would go bankrupt; it was money he had to spend. He knew that even if he drove Cuddy insane for the month that they would be away for she would still love the gesture. Who else would go that far to give her the honeymoon of her dreams? He knew how badly she wanted to get married, and now that it was finally happening because of him the least he could do was plan the honeymoon. He had been planning this since she had said yes to his proposal. His scheming had been the reason why he had been hell bent against any type of wedding planning at all.
When everything had been finalized, he took the folder containing all the necessary information from the clerk before limping back off towards the front to Wilson.
"When's the big day?" The tailor asked as he handed Cuddy her dress.
"A week from today." She replied, not truly believing herself as she said it. It felt so surreal to say that she would be getting married in a week. She took the dress before slipping into the dressing room to try it on.
"Ma, Jules, one of you, could you please come in here and tie the laces for me?"
"I've got it." She heard her sister say before pushing her hair forward. Cuddy held up the front of her dress as her sister tightened the laces of the corset.
"Tell me if it's too tight."
When the laces were tied, she turned around to face her sister intent on looking at her reflection in the mirror outside of the dressing room.
"God Lise… You look stunning. I can't believe this is happening."
"Neither can I…"
They exited the dressing room, and Cuddy let out a small gasp once she caught sight of her reflection.
The dress was even more perfect than she had remembered it to be. With its sweetheart neckline and column silhouette, it hugged her curves beautifully. The beaded embellishment across the ruched waistline was simple yet gorgeous.
"Save the tears for next week." She heard her mother comment.
"Mom, leave her alone. Why would she want to cry on her wedding day?"
"I cried on my wedding day… But then again I was pregnant with you and hormonal."
She couldn't help but laugh at her mother's comment.
"Doesn't everyone cry on their wedding day though? I mean the shear joy of marrying the person who completes you is overwhelming enough to cause tears of joy." She replied before looking at herself once more in the mirror.
She took a deep breath. After everything they had endured, in a week's time she and House would be married. She felt her eyes brim with tears at the thought of being his wife.
She changed out of her dress and spent the remainder of the afternoon running errands in preparation of the big day.
"Why did you wait until last minute to do this?" Wilson asked irately as stood outside of House's dressing room. They were currently at Barney's because House needed a new tuxedo.
"Why are you even bothering to ask that? It's me. I save everything for last minute."
"You're getting married in a week, you should have already had a fitting tux."
"Well I don't. So I'm doing it now. Be glad I'm even doing it at all."
Wilson rolled his eyes, amazed at how lazy his best friend could be. Only House would wait last minute to make sure to buy a new tuxedo before getting married.
"Oh please, we both know Cuddy is the reason you're even bothering to get a new tux. If she was walking down the aisle and spotted you in jeans she'd have your ass afterwards."
He laughed at the mental image his mind had created of Cuddy screaming at House in the back of the limo. Deep down he knew that House was doing it all in order to make sure Cuddy got the wedding of her dreams, even if it meant wearing something he hated.
"This damn monkey suit is going to end up suffocating me next week. "
"Just think of it this way. You wear it for one day, make Cuddy happy, and then your relationship is so to say 'set in stone'. You'll be legally married, and I know you two won't get divorced."
"And this is coming from the man who's been divorced three times…" House remarked.
Wilson rolled his eyes. He found it funny how after knowing both House and Cuddy for so long, and how after knowing both sides of their story so well, that House was still oblivious as to how right he was when he said that they were going to last.
House and Cuddy were the opposite of what his own relationships with his ex-wives had been like. Though he and his wives had gotten along fine until the end of their relationship, House and Cuddy had always clashed, and as time went on their arguments where known to have a better outcome. They would be on bad terms for a few days and then suddenly it was almost as though it had never happened. They were polar opposites but they fit together perfectly. That was exactly why Wilson so strongly believed they would last.
"Okay, fine. Don't believe me." He replied crossing his legs as he watched his best friend walk back into the changing rooms.
After leaving Barney's, they met up with Cuddy and spent the remainder of the afternoon drinking beer and watching a Yankees game as the women chatted excitedly about the events of the next week.