Lillian's P.O.V.

I sat on the couch that Thursday night after dinner, drinking ginger tea and relaxing. Cam sat beside me reading a short story collection. It wasn't even eight and I was already getting tired. "Hey Cam."

"Hmm?"

"When do you want to start planning the wedding stuff?"

"We," He now looked up from the book, pondering the question. ", we could start right now."

"Alright then. When do you want to have the wedding?"

"I dunno." He shrugged. "One week from tomorrow?" I couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

"Seriously?" I laughed. "Even with Howard's help I don't think we could plan so much in such a little time." Howard would want something grandiose, larger than life and larger than our budget.

"Does it have to be a lot?"

"Huh?" I asked mid-yawn.

"Who says it has to be elaborate? I could get married to you tomorrow wearing my pajamas and I'd be happy. But I assume that you have your dream wedding. Most women do, right?" I nodded. Every girl I knew of had fantasized about their wedding day since they were kids. "Then I want you to do whatever makes you happy, make it your ideal wedding."

"You sure?" I was skeptical, surely he must want some input. But he nodded eagerly, so I decided to go with it. "Alright then." I smiled, taking another sip of my tea.

"There is one thing I'd like to do."

"What's that?"

"I'd like to do the flowers, even if it is my own wedding."

"Are you sure you'll have the time?"

"I'll make it." He finally shut the book being sure to keep one finger in, marking his page. "I'm especially excited about making your bouquet. If that's what you want." My smile became a grin as I looked at my future husband.

"I'd love that." I couldn't imagine myself carrying flowers designed by someone else. "I wouldn't want anyone else to design my bridal flowers."

"What colors would you like?"

"I hadn't thought about it yet." I pondered the idea for a moment. "I guess I'd like purple and green for the main flowers."

"And your bouquet?" I shrugged slightly, taking a large gulp finishing the last of my tea.

"Surprise me." I scoot over to my right, leaning up against him.

"Surprise you?" I nodded.

"It'll mean a lot more to me if you do it. Just, do whatever you think is best."

"You sure?" He asked, skeptical.

"Of course." I held his hand in mine, squeezing tight.


"One week huh? That doesn't give a lot of time to get everything ready." I looked up at the man as he listed off everything left to do. "There's the food, linens, china, silverware, dress, tuxedos, invitations, seating arrangements, venue, music, theme, and jewelry." The blonde chef set down a plate of blueberry muffins and two cups of tea on the table before taking a seat across from me.

"Howard, please, nothing fancy. All I want is a simple dress, great food, and beautiful flowers. I don't want to focus on crystal, gems, and china. Most of all, I don't want everyone to make a huge fuss." Expensive things weren't for me and I was pretty sure it was apparent if you took one look at me and my house.

"But darling, every girl deserves to be a princess at her own wedding. Walking down the aisle to meet her dashing prince. Becoming one in mind and spirit, together for eternity. Everyone cheering as you walk back, flower petals dancing in the wind." I snapped my fingers, drawing him out of his dream.

"I'm no princess and I never wanted to be. Expensive parties aren't important. I just want a nice celebration with the people I care about." Even if I had wanted something lavish I couldn't afford it on our small budget. A wedding wasn't a high priority, we had more important things to save for.

"Alright it's you're wedding. I can't force you to do things you don't want to. I can just help with the guest list for now, so I know how much I'll need to cook."

"Sounds like a good place to start."

"I assume everyone from Bluebell and Konohana are invited, right?" I nodded. I knew Kana, Nori, Reina, and Hiro would probably come. There was a possibility of Yun, Ying, Mako, Ayame, Gombe, Ina and Rahi coming as well, but I wasn't banking on it. "So, aside from your parents who else are you inviting from the islands?" My heart sank. Cam and possibly Ash were the only ones around here that knew about what happened.

"My parents won't be able to make it." I forced a smile, hoping that he wouldn't ask about it. "Which means I'm only inviting four people, but one's a baby so he won't eat much."

"Your parents aren't coming?" I shook my head a little before taking a bite of one of the sugar coated muffins. "Ah, I'm sorry to hear that." I looked up at him from under my bangs, he seemed to understand what I meant. After a few moments of silence he spoke again. "Would you like me to walk you down the aisle?" I finished chewing before I spoke.

"I appreciate the offer, but I've already asked my friend Vaughn to do that." He reached across the table and took my hand. His hand dwarfed mine, making it look more like a child's and not a full grown adult.

"Alright, if there's any fatherly duties you need me to do I'm more than happy to step in, you just let me know." I nodded again.

"Well there is one thing."

"What's that?"

"Well, the bride is supposed to dance with her father at one point. So, can I dance with my new father instead?" I said sheepishly. He pulled me into a hug, nuzzling me as he squeezed.

"I'd be honored." His voice was quiet as he continued to hug me. As easily excitable as Howard was he had a general sense of when it was appropriate to react that way. A small brass bell that was attached to the cafe's door rang, announcing someone's entrance. I looked over to see Laney returning from talking to Cam.

"Hey, Lillian." I stayed in Howard's hug but I gave Laney my full attention. "I was thinking we could head into the city next Monday so we can go pick out the dresses. Ash says he's more than happy to give us a ride to and from the train station."

"That sounds like a plan." We spent the next hour discussing bridesmaids dresses, the menu, cake and everything else that excited brides and their friends for generations upon generations. The wedding would take place the last week of March so there wasn't a huge risk of downpours. I figured Mikhail could play the ceremony and Helena could join him for the reception, if I paid them for their time. If not, Mikhail would simply be a guest, having to listen to whatever CDs we decided to play. I did my best to pick a menu that would please most everyone. Howard, Laney and I decided bruschetta would be the appetizer, risotto for the main dish, and the cake would be vanilla with butter cream frosting. I knew Cam wouldn't eat more than a few bites of the cake but I tried to make that experience as painless as possible for him by not adding any chocolate.