Chapter thirty seven – Green carnations

The rest of the ceremony continued happily, with the occasional sarcastic or funny whispered remark from one of Ivy's ex-husbands at the front. The three men with the addition of Jack and Alfred were getting many a glare off the surrounding crowd, but whenever Ivy looked over, she always beamed down at them, giving them a little wave.

After the ceremony and a rather mature kiss that was shared between the bride and groom which Scott and Alastair pretended to gag at, the crowd were all asked to make their way back to the Kirkland's house. On the way out of the tiny, beautifully decorated church, Alfred ran over to Arthur trying to get the answer to the question everyone was asking – why the hell was Miss Héderváry giving Ivy away?

"Artie!" Alfred grinned, pulling the Brit back so they could walk together, "what's Miss Héderváry doing here?"

Arthur shrugged, "I have no idea. It's something I plan on finding out, though…"

"Count me in! Awesome performance, by the way, and you're looking like a pretty gorgeous gentleman there…"

"Oh shut it you idiot…" Arthur muttered, eying Daniel making sure his dad wouldn't notice the homosexual flirting that was going on quite literally behind his back, "but thank you… you're not that bad yourself. Though you need one of these…" Arthur reached into his pocket, and brought out a little green flower, the same one he was wearing in his buttonhole.

Alfred eyed it cautiously, "Gee, I know you can pull the whole French-y buttonhole look off, but I don't really think it's for me…"

Rolling his eyes, Arthur turned up his lips, "Do you really think I'd voluntarily wear something French? This is a green carnation. It said on Wikipedia that these are often worn to support homosexuality. See, my dad doesn't know this…"

Gasping with sudden realisation, Alfred beamed, "No way! So this is your way to secretly get back at Daniel? Awesome! Pass me that flower, you little genius!" Alfred began fiddling around with the flower, attempting to pin it in his buttonhole.

"Yes, but look how many people are wearing them. We went to everyone, and explained it quietly, and anyone who agreed with our little plan quite happily wore a flower." Arthur pointed to the crowds around them exiting the church. There was Francis and his mother, both decorated in the flowers, Matthew, Gilbert, Ludwig, Mr. Belischmidt, Mr. Vargas and his daughters Roma and Felicia, and walking beside them were Lovino and Feliciano, all of them wearing the pretty flowers. Then of course there was Ivy, who was wearing quite a few of the flowers, though in not-so-obvious places, which is why Alfred hadn't noticed them before. Of course, all the Kirkland brothers, and now all of their fathers were wearing the flowers, apart from Peter. In fact, it seemed about the only person that wasn't wearing a flower was Daniel. Well, and a few other women who looked very closely related to the man. Even Miss Héderváry and Mr. Edelstein were proudly wearing the flowers.

"It's a silent protest…" Arthur muttered, "Our own way to get back at my dad. I'm quite proud of myself for thinking of it."

"And so you should be! It's genius! Pure genius!" Alfred exclaimed happily, throwing his arms up in the air, "you know, I'm sure Daniel will be distracted later on in the night… I'm sure we could steal away a few hours of our own…"

Blushing, Arthur smiled shyly, "break that promise and I'll break your neck, Jones."

"Nothing in the world would make me break it, my hot-headed, adorable little Brit," Alfred breathed, grinning as he saw Arthur's ears turn a pretty pink colour. Oh he really was inexplicably adorable.

Meanwhile, Gilbert and Matthew were having their own secret flirting session.

"I heard Francis had a little chat with you, then?" Gilbert grinned, "Nice flower, by the way…"

Rolling his eyes at the albino, Matthew sighed, "Yes, he did. In fact he wouldn't stop having words with me. I've had a think… and… well…"

Smiling, Gilbert chuckled, "say no more, my little maple leaf! No wait, tell me… is this what you were trying to say?" with a quick glance about to make sure that the only people that could see him were those wearing green flowers, Gilbert very softly pressed a kiss to Matthew's hand, then his cheek, and finally his lips. All completely chaste, and this was a change for Gilbert. Matthew was one of the rare people that had been allowed to see Gilbert's witty, romantic side, and the Canadian was finally appreciating it.

"Y-yes… that was something along the lines I was planning to say…" Matthew muttered, "But seriously, you need to be more careful. If Arthur's dad catches you, you'll be in deep."

"Ah, don't worry so much! Ivy adores me! I've only met her once of twice, but according to my dad and Elizabeta, I'm her favourite albino!" Gilbert flashed his teeth, "It's 'cause I'm so awesome."

"Sure, sure, honey." Matthew grinned, "N'aww, I'm kidding. I have to admit, Gilbert, you are incredibly awesome. Though since when were you on first name terms with Miss Héderváry?"

Winking, Gilbert folded his arms, "See, dear Matthew, there's a bit of a history between me and her. And that bastard Edelstein. She always used to look after me when I was little! She's friendly with my dad too, so I pretty much grew up with her!" Gilbert knew he was exaggerating now. The only reason he remembered Miss Héderváry looking after him was because of the stories she'd told him back when he'd been seeking advice, "then of course… you remember the 'issues' of last year…"

"Issues? I don't remember any issues?" Matthew narrowed his eyes in confusion.

Gilbert looked at the floor, blushing, "well, there was that whole thing about… y'know… me liking Elizabeta… remember?"

"I don't remember that…" Matthew frowned, for some reason not all too pleased at the news, "anyway, that's all in the past, yeah? I just want you to know that you have no reason to feel threatened by Francis. Although I can't say all my feelings for him are gone, I hope they will be soon. I'm no cheater, and neither is Francis."

"Wait, who does Francis have to cheat on?" Gilbert frowned, "Apart from all those girls he woos into his bed… how he does that I don't know."

"From what I've heard, it seems he and Owain are back together…" Matthew nodded over to the French and Welsh boys, who were smiling and chatting with each other, both looking happier than they had done for a while, "I'm glad they've got each other again. Plus it'll make you feel more secure I'm sure."

Gilbert grinned roughly, "Ah, even if you did cheat on me with Francis – which I know you wouldn't – I'd blame it all on him and make sure to give him a nice fist in the face. Though even though those two're happy… I'm a little worried about Alastair…"

Matthew shook his head, "To be honest I think this is good for him. It'll show him that he needs to make an effort to find someone as well. It'll force them to move along, right?" Matthew smiled, and then changed the subject, "but hell, how long is it taking us to walk to this house? And why the hell do we have to walk? You'd think they'd provide transport…"

"I think it's nice! Apparently the house is only down the road, so we won't be long. Plus it gives us time to talk!" Gilbert smiled, wishing that he could hug the Canadian, but knew the action wouldn't be worth the risk, as Daniel was looking his way.

Finally, after rounding a little corner, the crowds exiting the church were faced with the huge driveway of the Kirkland estate. Matthew and Gilbert practically fainted at the size of the place – it was pointlessly huge. Gilbert's house was pretty big, and even he was shocked at looking at the place where Arthur and Peter had grown up.

"Jesus Christ." Matthew muttered, "I knew the Kirklands were pretty loaded, but this takes the biscuit." Gilbert grinned at Matthew's innocent choice of words.

"Well, I think it's true to say we have a lot of exploring to do! Let's go and find Feli and my brother, and we will raid this place! Though only after we've eaten. I'm starving."

"Message received and understood!" Matthew gave a rare whoop of enthusiasm, looking forward to what was destined to come of the evening.

Just across the path on the opposite side of the crowd were Feliciano and Ludwig, though Feliciano didn't seem to grasp the concept of 'no contact in public'. The naïve Italian just couldn't get why he couldn't hug Ludwig or hold his hand – it was perfectly fine, right?

"No, no, listen Feliciano, I love it when you hold my hand, and it's fine when you do it in school and places like that, when you're with people that can accept you. But right now, people like Mr. Kirkland-Evans," Ludwig pointed over to Daniel, who luckily was involved in a conversation with an elderly looking woman, "don't like it that we have a relationship, and it would cause an awful lot of problems for Arthur and his family if they found out we were dating, see?" Ludwig really hated himself for patronising Feliciano, but the Italian just wouldn't understand.

And still the Italian wouldn't understand, "But Ludwig, if I don't kiss you, then they won't know that we're in a relationship, right? They'll just think we're really, really close friends!"

The German sighed, beginning to loose all hope. Just when he was about to slowly talk Feliciano through the reasons why for the fifth time, Lovino came over, and grabbed Feliciano's arm.

"I'll take it from here." The older Italian frowned at the German, though there was an odd sense of peace in his voice. He definitely didn't sound happy that he was talking to the German, but he wasn't acting as hot-headed and potty-mouthed towards Ludwig as per usual.

Catching on to the change of attitude, Ludwig narrowed his eyes, "You're not going to call me 'potato-bastard' or some other petty nickname? And why do you want to talk with Feli?"

"Ehh, because he's my brother maybe? I don't need permission from you to talk to my own sibling!" Lovino's usual bite was back, but the teeth weren't as sharp as they had been previously, "I just need a word with him! And I'm not calling you 'potato-bastard' because I don't want to call you 'potato-bastard', thank you very much!"

Ludwig rolled his eyes, holding up his hands in mock surrender, "fine! Fine! Very sorry for aggravating you so much. Try and explain to Feliciano why he can't hug me while you're with him, though, will you?"

"Fine. Now scram." Lovino narrowed his eyes, not turning to talk to Feliciano until he'd seen that the German had gone over to Gilbert in search for company. "So, Feli… what Ludwig's telling you… you know it's important, right?"

Frowning, Feliciano sighed, "I don't get what the big deal is! So, I hug Ludwig, why does that affect other people?"

"I know, I know. It shouldn't, but because some people are painfully shallow, they don't like gays." Lovino explained slowly.

"Lovi, you don't have to patronise me! I know that – that's homophobia!" Feliciano pouted, "Even I know that."

The older brother internally ground his teeth, realising there was no winning in this situation. He'd have to be blunt, "Look, Feli. If you hug Ludwig, or show any form of loving attitude towards him, then some people here, like Arthur's dad, are going to get seriously pissed off. And when I say that, I mean more pissed off than me when I run out of tomatoes. You need to keep your distance from potato-bas—Ludwig, okay?"

Finally the message seemed to be sinking into little Feliciano's naïve brain, "So why didn't Ludwig just tell me that? I get it now!" The Italian grinned adorably ignorantly, "But, Lovi, why aren't you calling Ludwig 'potato-bastard' any more? I'm glad you're not, but it doesn't really seem… like you… y'know?"

Nodding, Lovino frowned, "Well… Toni and I were talking… and he said that not only was it unfair to Ludwig to be a constant bastard towards him, but it was unfair to you. I mean I wouldn't like it if you constantly bullied Antonio with names and stuff, not that you would – you're way too nice – so I figured, I'm bigger than that, right? I care about you, and I want you to be happy. So I'm not saying I'm planning on getting along with that stupid German, but I won't be a bastard towards him."

Feliciano stared at his brother for a moment, thinking about what he'd said, and, as soon as the message had sunk in, he attacked his brother with a bone-crushing hug – and that was saying something for harmless Feliciano. "Y'know, Lovi, you're the best brother in the entire world!"

Lovino's face grew the shade of a tomato, his ears ready to burn up, "Ahh! What-the-fuck-ever! Just go and bug Ludwig or someone! Bye!" with that, the flustered brother ran off to go and talk to Roma, one of the only people he could actually get along with without too many problems.

Smiling secretly to himself, Feliciano giggled, and did indeed run off to Ludwig, just in time for the crowd to reach the top of the Kirkland's very, very long drive. Ivy and Daniel stood at the front of the crowd on a rock, letting them be seen by everyone.

"Thank you so much, everyone, for being here today. This wedding wouldn't be complete without all of you here!" Ivy smiled down at the crowd, "even those who are here for other people, your attendance is most appreciated!" she caught Matthew's eye sneakily and winked, "Now it is our time to give you something back! We apologise that the reception isn't in a big, fancy hotel, we just thought it'd be nicer to be surrounded by homely surroundings. My sons, especially Owain, have helped immensely with the decorating, so if you're going to congratulate anyone on how amazing the place looks – go right over to him! But, I'll stop talking – I know everyone is very hungry – fear not, food is being made!"

There was a cheer from the crowd at the mention of food, everyone practically running through the huge double doors, childish grins on their faces as they followed Ivy, Elizabeta and Daniel through to where they were destined to get their stomachs filled.

The hall that everyone had run into was a real treat for the eyes. Alfred had never been inside this room – Owain had instructed him from the moment of entering the Kirkland household that he, along with anyone else was not to go inside the room, and had even gone so far to tape it off (Alfred did wonder where Owain got crime-scene 'Keep Out' tape from…) but now the American was beginning to see why he hadn't been allowed to even see the insides of the huge room.

Dotted around the room were lots of little tables, sitting about seven people as the maximum. As always in weddings, people's names had been written on little cards, and placed around everyone's respected seats. But this was no ordinary layout. The lights had been dimmed, and the very decorative curtains closed, the room only being lit by low-hanging lanterns. The lanterns were very small and dark, and the way they'd been positioned made it look like there were little balls of fire floating in mid air – it really did look impressive. There were little clusters of lanterns all around the tables, about ten to twenty hanging above each one, so there was enough light for you to see things, but not enough to ruin the effect.

As for the tables themselves, they'd been covered in either baby blue or pale green table cloths, with large white sashes draped across the table, on top of which large, very decorative looking flower vases were sitting. Inside the vases were collections of the same flowers most people were wearing on their dresses or in their buttonholes – green carnations, with a few blue ones to match the theme. The cutlery had been placed neatly either side of a large plate in everyone's places, and a little green bag rested on top of each plate, neatly tied with a blue ribbon, hiding away its insides. Alfred was seriously curious as to what was inside the little pouches.

That was not all that made up the room, however. There were random, oddly shaped ornaments dotted all around the sides of the room. They fitted with the very regal look the hall was radiating, and complimented the theme perfectly. Alfred wasn't too sure what the ornaments were or what they were used for, but they did look rather impressive and expensive. Owain had really though about this!

Already, before anyone had sat down, neatly-dressed, rather French-looking waiters were offering around different wines to the adults, and a selection of appetisers to the children and teenagers. Alfred was quite flattered when a young maid came over and asked him if he'd like a drink, to which he grinned bashfully, rejecting the offer as he was underage.

As it turned out, Alfred was taken to his seat right to the front, on the largest table in the room. It was a sort of semi-circle shape, arching around so it could let the people sitting at it face all the other tables in the room, rather than some people having their backs to others. All the tables were very carefully places, Alfred realised, as they were all centred around the table he was being led to – obviously the important table – making sure everyone would be able to see the bride and groom if they so desired.

Thankfully, Alfred was not alone on this big table. He was pleasantly surprised that he had the honour of sitting on the bride's table, a seat next to Arthur and none other than Miss Héderváry. On the table was of course Ivy and Daniel, Peter on Daniel's left. Next to Peter sat Owain, then Alastair, then the twins, then Arthur, next came Alfred, and finally Miss Héderváry, who was on Ivy's left. It seemed the few people who weren't wearing green carnations who Alfred had deemed to be closely related to Daniel were not at all pleased that they weren't sitting on the table, yet Alfred was. Daniel didn't seem too pleased about that either.

"Hello there Alfred! I never expected to see you here! I see you've befriended the rest of the Kirkland family like the charming little American you are!" Miss Héderváry grinned down at Alfred, nudging him happily. "I bet you weren't expecting to see me here, either, were you?"

"No, Miss, I wasn't," Alfred smiled up at his teacher, "I didn't even know you knew Ivy!"

"Oh! A first name basis, are we? Quite the little charmer. Though I know who has your heart…" The Hungarian sneakily eyed Arthur, grinning creepily.

"Who?" Piped up Daniel. Arthur, Alfred and Elizabeta all froze guiltily, not realising the groom had been listening in.

"Ahh…" Alfred blinked, naming the first female that popped up into his mind, "Ehh… Elizabeth… Smith…?" Alfred suddenly realised he had no idea what Elizabeth's second name was, though Smith did seem to ring a distant bell.

Ivy looked up at this, "Oh! Little Elizabeth? That adorable girl with the pigtails? I thought she was dating you, Alastair?"

Alfred sent over apologetic looks at the internally-facepalming Alastair, "Ehh… Yeah. We broke up. Don't you remember me telling you about that whole fiasco on our first day?"

"Oh! Of course, I'm terribly sorry, sweetie!" Ivy smiled at her son, "Did you say you were dating anyone else?"

The look that Daniel gave Alastair seemed to imply that if he was ever going to accept his step-son as a man, Alastair'd have to answer 'yes' to that question. Alastair didn't want to seem to be like a complete loner.

"As a matter of fact… I am." Alastair answered.

"You are?" Owain, Miss Héderváry and Daniel all asked at once, looking more than a little shocked at his answer.

"Yes… Emily Jones." Alastair didn't sound as confident as he looked.

"Oh! That chick Matthew was dating? The awesome American? I didn't know you were dating her!" Alfred grinned, completely oblivious to the fact that it was a cover-up. "Nice one, man!"

"And now I think we should stop talking." The twins said simultaneously, grinning as they noticed how in-synch they were. Miss Héderváry nodded, seeming to understand that there was probably being to be a slip-up some time soon, and Daniel would find out something he probably shouldn't about what he thought were his heterosexual sons and step-sons.

There was a bit of an awkward silence at the table, while Ivy happily asked Owain and the twins about their love lives, all of whom just answered with something along the lines of 'uneventful'. Daniel frowned at this, but before he could say anything, a plate was shoved in front of him by a smiling waiter. Plates were also placed neatly in front of everyone else in the table, and presumably everyone else in the room – the food was finally here, Alfred thought happily as he began to dig into his starter.

Sadly, starters didn't take too long to eat, so before long, the table of ten were silenced and shoved back into their very awkward atmosphere.

"When in doubt, take a risk." Miss Héderváry grinned down at Alfred, and then, with a wink at Ivy, stood up on top of her chair, a grin on her face as she tapped her glass to call attention to herself.

"Hello, everyone!" The Hungarian grinned, immediately gaining control of the room, "Now, a lot of you don't know me – but, all you need to know is that I am Ivy's close friend from high school. For some of you I am your teacher, others I was also your friends. Now, this day isn't about me, as much as I dislike that! Ivy here has just got married. And I'm being nice and not adding in an 'again' there, Ivy." Elizabeta smiled down at Ivy, who was chuckling to herself, "So, first it was Scott. I remember those days! They were bloody hectic! Not only did I have to baby sit little Gilbert for Legolas over there, but I had to look after little Alastair too. Man he was a cute little kid. After Scott there was Finn, one of the maddest guys I have ever met. Finn, to be fair, you are a legend. Not only were you funny, but you were also kind and caring towards both Ivy and Shane and Colin. It's a real shame it didn't work out between you two, y'know? But I can't mention Finn without mentioning his equally awesome brother, Jack. Jack, you are an equal legend, if not more of one than your brother. For those of you who don't know, Finn could barely take care of himself after the divorce, let alone two twins. Luckily, Jack the Superhero swept in, and looked after little Colin in Northern Ireland while Finn got a stable job and got back up on his feet. Next on the list, we all know sweet Dafydd. All I can say, Dafydd, is please marry me. You're perfect! Of course there is the slight problem that I am engaged, and you are only attracted to men, but hey – we can overcome it!" She then No, but seriously, you are one of the wittiest, most helpful, and just all-round stars I have ever met, and I've met some pretty gifted people. There were often times where Ivy felt down about herself, and no matter what, Dafydd could always put her radiant smile back on her face, and I cannot thank you enough for that, Dafydd.

"But, back to the people who are actually married. Daniel and Ivy. Ivy, you have no idea how much you deserve a happy marriage. I've watched you all these years slowly crush your own self-esteem through mistakes and break-ups, but hopefully there won't be any more. Ivy, you are one of the oddest people I've ever met. You somehow manage to be elegant and graceful at the same time, you managed to be forever relaxed, yet so disorganised. You're like a combination of all the things that should never work, but somehow do. And you know, what? It's one of the best combinations I've ever witnessed. I am so glad I met you when I was younger, and I'm thankful for teaching each and every one of your amazing sons. And, I know that Stephanie, Legolas, Roderich and Roma all stand with me on this – you were our best friend, and you still are! The nineteen sixties for the win! As for you, Daniel, there has been a lot of… discussion in our big family about you. I'm being one hundred percent honest with you here. Every one of us in here with a green flower on us somewhere is Ivy's family. We're the ones that love her and protect her – we are her family, whether we are related by blood or not. You are now entering that family, and if you disappoint us and hurt Ivy in some way, we will have serious words. Missiles may be involved. But that's enough doom from me! Apparently the food is on it's way! I never knew I was talking for so long… I know I'm not your average speech-giver, but we all need a bit of change, right? Congratulations!" Elizabeta grinned, clapping her hands as she jumped down from her chair, only to stand up again to propose a toast for 'the family of green flowers', choosing to ignore the rather obvious glares she was getting off Daniel.

Alfred grinned at his teacher as she sat down next to him once again, "You rocked that speech, Miss. Seriously, I bet you it'll be better than anyone else's later on."

"Well, I try my best… I'm glad you like it!" Elizabeta winked, and then happily smiled at a waiter as he passed her a plate.

Alfred then felt a tap on his shoulder, turning around, his face lightening when he saw it was Arthur who'd requested his attention, "Is it me, or do you feel that there's something… more about mum and Miss Héderváry?"

"I do know what you mean…" Alfred muttered, dropping his voice even lower"… kinda like with me and you before we started… y'know… dating… Like there's some weird tension there."

"Top secret mission to find out what went on?" Arthur said with a confident smile.

Mirroring his expression, Alfred gave the Brit a thumbs up, "Count me in!"

After the very delicious food, there were more speeches. Alastair even got up and said a few words, though they were more pessimistic hints at how much he hated Daniel than words of congratulations. Dafydd, Scott, Finn and even Jack took it in turns saying things about how much they loved Ivy, and wished her well in the future. Daniel then took his turn, boring the whole room to death with stories about how he and Ivy had met in a library where their eyes just met over a shelf. Most of the room silently snorted at that – it was no secret the way Daniel and Ivy had come to cross paths, which was, of course, prostitution. Alfred found it quite amusing how everyone's speeches were how awesome Ivy was, and how they loved Ivy's sons, and that they wished Ivy good luck and prosperity for the future. The only person to dedicate their speech to Daniel was one of the old women, who revealed her identity to be Daniel's mother, without a green carnation tucked into her very badly fitting, unflattering woman-suit-thing.

The speeches were over, Ivy cried because she was so happy and a little bit tipsy already. Desert was served, jokes were cracked, and three hours later, Alfred found himself sprawled out across some random sofa, completely exhausted. Unfortunately, he was only halfway through the night.

The after-party had begun an hour earlier, but luckily he and Arthur had been able to escape the noise with the excuse of wanting to get changed – though even in their more casual clothes, the green carnations stayed pinned to their chests proudly. Now though they were faced with the inevitable and rather unpleasant fate of having to waltz randomly into a room full of drinking, and now probably drunk adults, whom they'd have to interact with the entire night, and pretend to have fun and interesting conversations with them. They'd much prefer to run upstairs and lock themselves in the bathroom.

"Well, we can't put it off for much longer…" Alfred grinned, "Hey, we can complete our super-secret mission while we're here, right?"

"Right." Arthur agreed, smiling, and squeezing hold of Alfred's hand, before letting it go to push open the door. The two walked right into a wall of noise, heat and the smell of alcohol. It wasn't as off-putting as they'd deemed it to be, though for two thirteen year old boys, it was hardly inviting.

Time to face the after party!

A/N

Okay, so that wasn't the end X'D
THE NEXT CHAPTER PROBABLY DEFINITELY WILL BE HOPEFULLY.
X'DD oops X'D I was planning on making it the last chapter, but I realised that if I did, it'd probably be about 7,000-10,000 words long X'D and I don't know about you guys, but I really don't like reading chapters that long – I just get bored of them, and start skipping bits ._.
But fear not! Because I didn't plan on making two more chapters, I've actually written more than this, and just sliced the end bit off to make this a neat little end for this chapter, so I have made a reasonable dent into the first half of the next chapter :D so you can expect that up soon, I hope!
I'd have got this up sooner, but as I was writing it last night, my brother called me into the living room because there was a new Doctor Who trailer on, and I spent about half an hour re-watching it and fangirling ASSDFHDKJLJSDFKSLJ IT LOOKS AMAZING. OH THE FEELINGS. And then I got distracted by Youtube XD and then my Hetalia DVDs came QAQ I'M SORRY X'D
So yeah X'D sorry about that! But thank you for your wonderful, wonderful reviews! /GLOMP/ :'D I'm so glad I made it over 300! (lol I almost typed 3000 X'D) It really does mean an awful lot to me! All of you readers are AWESOMELY AMAZING. Love you guys!
Over and Out! FOR NOW! XD