Chapter XII

''Open wide,'' Trixie said to Shelagh as she applied her mascara, ''and bat.''

''Trixie, are you sure about this?'' Shelagh had never been a big fan of make-up. But after almost fifteen minutes of girlish screaming after she had arrived home the other evening and had told her friend what had happened, Trixie had insisted in helping her get ready for tonight's date.

''Absolutely. You look gorgeous! Here, look for yourself.'' Trixie handed her a mirror, ''The old Doc is going to have a heart when he sees you.''

''I wish you'd stop calling him old,'' Shelagh chuckled as she checked herself. Trixie was right, she did not look that bad, not bad at all. A touch of powder, a light red lipstick and just a few brushes of mascara.

''I'm just teasing.'' Trixie stood up, ''Now, about the dress…''

''Nothing too much above the knee…'' Shelagh quickly said.

''Oh, Shelagh you've got a gorgeous pair of legs, you know!''

''I know, but I'm going to my choir practice first, remember? I can't go to church wearing that?'' she pointed to one of the shortest dresses Trixie had in her closet.

''Oh, yeah…how about this one?''

''That's a miniskirt!''

''Shela-…''

''No!'' Shelagh had to laugh at the disappointed look on Trixie's face, ''Forget it, I'll just wear my skinny jea-…''

''Oh, no! I'm not letting you go on a first date with your future husband wearing jeans! Not going to happen!'' Trixie got serious.

''What are you talking about? My future husband? We didn't even…''

''Listen to me.'' Trixie walked to her, ''Would you please trust me with this?''

''I…''

''Shelagh, please?''

''Alright.'' She finally gave in. If there was someone who knew what they were doing when it came to fashion, Trixie was your girl. ''But nothing above…''

''Knees, yeah, yeah, I know!'' Trixie ended her sentence, already walking out of the room to get her friend the perfect outfit; that would make any man lose their mind seeing her, nevermind the old Doc.

xXx

''You look good, you look good!'' Patrick mumbled to himself the whole way to Poplar. With every minute passed, he was getting more and more nervous. Was the tie Tim had picked alright? Were the flowers he had bought beautiful enough? Was he wearing too much brylcreem? All the stuff he had almost never cared about suddenly seemed important. He didn't want her to take a single look at him and regret her decision of doing this. No matter what, he was a widower who was 13 years older than her and she? She was perfect.

Finally arriving in front of the church, he checked his watch and saw he was about 15 minutes early. Great! More free time to get even more nervous. He thought to himself and smelled the roses he got her, for the tenth time! For god's sake, Patrick just calm down! She would have said no if she didn't want to go out with you!

Luckily for him, a shower started, making him walk inside the church so he wouldn't get all wet. Closing the old door behind him, he heard it.

The most beautiful voice he had even heard. Her voice.

She was singing a solo and it was like the world stopped spinning. Before he knew it, he was walking down the altar, where the choir was, forgetting to make a sign of the cross, forgetting about his stupid worries about flowers and his stupid hair.

Her voice! There was such comfort in the beauty of it, that it almost made him cry. It was like everyone else melted away and it was just her. In her tight black dress with a few silver stars scattered all over it. She was simply beautiful and Patrick knew for certain, that from this moment on his heart and soul would belong to her.

He had no idea when he sat down in one of the pews. Or when the singing stopped. Suddenly he blinked and he could see her hips swinging in the most tasteful way possible as she was walking towards him.

''Hi,'' she said with this shyness in her voice when she reached him. She hadn't noticed him coming in until she stopped singing, but simply seeing him sitting in one of the rows made her feel excited. He came!

''H-hello!'' Patrick snapped out of it and stood up. She was wearing a pair of silver high heels and they made her look just a bit taller than she really was. The only thing that went through his head was the fact that he would be able to kiss her even sooner if he leaned down. But he didn't. They were still in God's house, after all. ''Your voice…I…it's beautiful.''

''Thank you.'' Shelagh blushed.

''I've got you these.'' He suddenly remembered and reached for the flowers abandoned on the pew!

''Roses?'' She really did not expect him to get her flowers, but on the other hand, this was a date.

''I'm sorry they are pink. They didn't have any red ones.''

''I prefer pink anyway, thank you.'' Shelagh took the small bouquet from him and slowly inhaled the smell of it. He really was something. ''I thought you've said you only own ugly ties,'' she tried to break the tension and it worked. Plus, he really looked good! Black suit, white shirt and not an ugly tie. And his hair! She was so used to his floppy look that it really surprised her to see him looking so dapper!

''Tim helped,'' Patrick admitted, still smiling like an idiot.

''Oh, so, h-he knows about this?'' Shelagh got worried for a second, ''about the d-date, I mean.''

''He does,'' Patrick responded as they started walking out of the church. ''I hope you didn't mind me telling him, but I don't like keeping secrets from him. Not since his mother…'' His voice trailed out. ''I'm sorry, I shouldn't…''

''No, it's okay.'' Shelagh quickly calmed him down by placing a hand on his arm,''He's your son, and if you think it's alright for him to know, then it's alright.''

''He likes you, you know.'' Patrick opened the church door for her. ''He even wanted to come with me.''

''Oh, really?'' Shelagh chuckled and almost stopped in place as she walked past him. His cologne hit her nostrils and oh, my god, he smelt unbelievably good! This was going to be a long evening of self-torture!

''Yeah, but fortunately I've managed to convince him to stay at home.''

''And how did you do that?''

''Easy,'' Patrick proudly grinned, making Shelagh's forehead frowned, ''with tickling.''

''Oh!'' tickling was the last thing she would think of, but it was nice to know the man standing before her had a healthy relationship with his son, no matter what.

''Shall we?'' Patrick placed a hand on the small of her back when their laughter calmed down.

''Where are we going?''

''You'll see.'' He smirked and for the very first time winked at her, making her blush even harder. He had had only one day to plan the perfect date and he could only hope she would like it. And she would if the restaurant didn't mix his booking information…

beta: weshallc! thanks!

yeah, I've stolen a few words from the show ;) sorry Heidi...