Wedding Planning


"Hey, what are you up to in here?" Sean asked, walking into Mirren's nursery where he saw Jude sitting on the floor in the corner of the room, finishing off painting the walls finally whilst Mirren was napping in her crib.

"I figured I'd finally get round to finishing this." Jude nodded, "I'm almost done." She smiled triumphantly.

"You did such a good job." Sean nodded, admiring the walls around the nursery, painted by his talented fiancé like a wildlife safari, "I know you love teaching but you ever thought of doing something like this?" He asked.

"Painting nursery's?" Jude asked, "Not really." She admitted.

"Well not exactly, like… murals and stuff." Sean said, "You're so good at it." He shook his head.

"I enjoy teaching." Jude assured him, "And doing stuff like this in my own time." She shrugged.

"As long as you're happy." Sean smiled as she nodded, "How did therapy go today?" He asked her, walking over to the crib, smiling as he watched Mirren sleeping. So tiny and precious.

"Yeah, it was ok." Jude nodded, "Every session is super different. Sometimes it can be a little daunting not knowing what you're walking into but… once I'm there and I'm talking it gets better." She said, "And I've finally been allowed to come off the anti-depressants." She said, "So maybe I'll stop looking like a zombie." She smiled.

"Hey, you look beautiful at all times, every day." He assured her as she smiled, standing up.

"You're just trained well." She teased, putting her paintbrushes into the pot to wash them later, "How was work?" She asked him.

"Yeah, it was fine." Sean nodded to her.

"Just fine?" She tutted, folding up the sheet she was using to cover the carpet from any spilled paint.

"It was fantastic." Sean exaggerated.

"That's more like it." Jude smiled, "How's Cassie been doing?" She wondered.

"Yeah, she's fine. I rarely see her, honestly." He said.

"I just hope she's doing ok on her own. You know, without Theo." Jude said as Sean nodded.

"I think she's doing fine. She knows what she's doing." Sean nodded, "You heard from your parents?" He asked her.

"No, actually. I don't wanna bother them, though. They needed this break. They deserve it." She said as Sean nodded, watching her fold away the old sheet and sit the pot of paintbrushes over.

"You finished for the night?" He smiled.

"Yeah, all done." Jude smiled, "You had dinner?" She asked.

"No, I'll go start something." He insisted.

"Give me a kiss first." She nodded as he smiled, walking over and wrapping his arms around her waist, kissing her as she kissed back longingly, feeling his hands travel down to her ass as she smiled against the kiss and chuckled her way out of it, leaning her head on his chest as he held onto her ass.

"I get so much comfort from this." He said with a relaxed sigh as Jude laughed.

"You're such an idiot." She chuckled, looking up at him as he smiled, "Get out of here." She shoved him as he chuckled, leaving the nursery and heading downstairs whilst Jude checked on Mirren. She was definitely feeling a better energy around not only herself, but their house. It definitely felt a lot brighter every day.

Sean made his way downstairs, walking into the kitchen to start dinner, taking some things out the fridge and chopping some things up. He was designated cook of the house. Jude, although wouldn't admit it, wasn't the best cook, so he took over most nights gladly.

He tossed some things into a pan, tidying up as he went along, noticing Jude's wedding planner sitting on the kitchen table and smiling to himself. He loved that she was already planning things. They knew they weren't getting married for at least another year, but knowing she was excited to plan things warmed his heart. It was so good to see her smiling more and to hear her laugh in the house again. For a while he was so heartbroken for her and what she was going through.

He didn't want to be nosey, but he couldn't help himself, opening up the wedding planner to see what she'd written in it, smiling to himself at all the little sketches she'd drawn, turning the page and reading other things she'd written down, closing it over a little unhappily as he heard her coming downstairs.

"That smells good already." Jude smiled, "I think Mirren is down for the night." She said, putting some masking tape in the trash.

"I see you're… doing some wedding planning." He said calmly as Jude nodded.

"A little." She shrugged with a smile.

"I didn't know we were having a small wedding." He said truthfully as she looked over at him.

"What do you mean?" She shook her head.

"There's like… twenty people you've written down as guests." Sean said, "Majority being your family." He said, turning around as she looked over at him.

"I didn't think you'd want a big wedding." Jude shrugged.

"I don't, but I'd at least like the option to invite my aunts and uncles." He said.

"I've never even met them." Jude shook her head.

"That's still my family." Sean said, "And what about the station? People I work with every day? Am I allowed to invite them?" He questioned in an angry tone.

"Hey, what's the matter with you?" Jude shook her head, "I just thought you'd want your mom and dad and… your brother there." She shrugged, "Considering that's the only family I know you speak to."

"Yeah but it's a wedding, you gotta invite everyone." Sean said.

"No you don't." Jude said, "Not unless you really want them there." She said, "My mom has a brother but I'm not inviting him, am I?"

"Your mom's family are lunatics, that's why." Sean scoffed.

"Hey, ok. Easy." Jude said, "I'm not… saying who you can't and can invite, Sean. It was just a rough idea of who I thought would definitely be there. And I figured we weren't gonna have a big wedding. What's the point? I'd marry you if it was just the two of us." She shrugged, "Doesn't matter to me." She said as Sean looked across at her.

"Sorry." Sean shook his head for a second, "Sorry, I just… I know my mom will bug me if we don't invite more of my family." He said.

"It's not your mom's decision." Jude shrugged, "You invite who you want to be there to celebrate."

"You inviting Sam?" Sean wondered.

"What do you think?" Jude shook her head.

"Sorry, I… I just know my mom's gonna stick her nose in things. You know how she is." Sean shook his head.

"Yeah, but it's not up to her and I have no problem telling her that." Jude smiled confidently.

"Yeah, but when you say shit she doesn't like it's me she goes off on." Sean shook his head.

"You're a grown ass man." Jude smiled a little, "I don't care if she's unhappy. It's our wedding, not anyone elses." She made clear.

"She's already… kinda mad about us not visiting more with Mirren." Sean admitted.

"We were there last week." Jude screwed her face up. Her future mother in law was harmless, but she just had a lot of opinions.

"I know." Sean assured her.

"Like, sorry Gail, give me some time to wipe my own ass first and I'll be straight down." Jude shook her head as Sean laughed a little.

He knew his mother could be picky and fussy. She didn't have any issues with Jude, not real ones, but she did like to complain and take digs here and there. He knew this wedding was going to be filled with her opinions and that was making him slightly nervous. He knew what Jude was like. She didn't hold back in saying what she thought, and that clash with his mother sometimes wasn't all that great.

"I'm just worried she tries to… insert herself and make you uncomfortable. She already mentioned going with you when you're picking your dress and I tried to politely say that you were going with your mom and sisters but she still didn't take the hint." Sean shook his head.

"Ok, look at me." Jude nodded, walking over to him and cupping his cheeks, "There is no need for you to be stressing over things right now. I'm not going dress shopping for a while, at least until I can fit back into my jeans I had before I got pregnant." She made clear as he smiled, "Maybe your mom is just excited and wants to be part of it all. There's nothing wrong with that."

"Jude… the thought of your mom and my mom being in the same room is giving me nightmares." He said seriously as Jude smiled, "They are… two completely different people."

"Who are both happy for us." Jude reminded him, "Don't worry about your mom or my mom. That'll sort itself out. I was more interested in designing our cake actually." She said, picking the planner back up and showing him one she sketched out as he smiled.

"Bet you didn't think I'd be the one to freak out more over the wedding." He laughed a little, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly as Jude put the planner back down.

"I get it. I know how much your mom cares about you and… I get her wanting to see Mirren more. It's better that than her not caring, right?" Jude said as Sean nodded.

"Yeah, your right." Sean said, "I just don't want her stressing you out. That's all. Especially right now. It's hard trying to explain to her that you're in therapy. She doesn't really understand stuff like that." He shook his head.

"I don't want her to understand it. I don't need her to." Jude shrugged, "I'll talk to her next time I see her." She said, "I know she can be a handful but she doesn't mean anything by it."

She knew Sean had always had, not necessarily a tough relationship with his mom, but there was definitely disagreements and clashes at times. She'd seen it live and in colour, most often than not she had to be peacemaker. She understood where his stress came from in thinking she was going to be overbearing with the wedding planning.

"I know she doesn't but let's be honest, she can be a pain." Sean said as Jude smiled.

"She loves you." Jude reminded him, "But this is our wedding and it's gonna go how we want it." She made clear, "It's gonna have the people there that we choose, it's gonna be where we choose, I'm gonna wear a dress I want to wear… because it's all about us." She smiled, "We can be selfish with this, ok?" She reminded him as he nodded.

"I love you." Sean nodded as she smiled.

"I love you too." Jude smiled, wrapping her arms around him as he hugged her tightly. In a strange way, it was almost nice to only worry about everyday mundane things again.