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Great Possibilities
Caitlin was beat from her long shift at the hospital and the emotional overload from a few hours ago. Despite their confessions, engagement, and a whole lot of kissing, she practically passed out the moment she touched her bed. She didn't even get changed or take off her shoes. One moment they were talking and Barry decided to get some water, and the next he comes back to find her lying soundly asleep on her bed. He smiled lovingly at the sight. He carefully removed her shoes, and a hairpiece that might bother her at night. He scooped her up and moved the covers, as he placed her gently in the bed.
"Barry…" she mumbled in her sleep.
"Cait," he responded softly.
"Will...here...morning?" Which was her way of asking will you be here in the morning?
Barry imagined that perhaps in her dream-like state, she was still questioning the reality of their declarations of love. Silly Caitlin, "I'll be here. Always."
He took off his shoes and tie and placed himself next to her, taking the time to observe and admire the woman next to him. A hobby he had developed as of late, and had no intentions of ever stopping.
{-}
This was his definition of perfection, just him and his fiancé (for real this time), embracing in the early hours of the morning. This last week felt like a dream to him, but now he was ready to face the beautiful reality ahead of him...well almost. There was the itty-bitty tiny detail he needed to square away first -coming clean to his parents. How would he even face them? Ironically, he was the one that was actually fooled by their Oscar winning performance of obliviousness. They would grill him alive, his mom more so. There was no doubt about that in his mind. Not only did he have to explain his ridiculous plan to begin with (he really hoped he didn't need to come clean to Iris and Eddie too, that would be a nightmare) but now he also had to confess he was really engaged this time.
He groaned in anticipation.
"You okay?" Caitlin said softly, coming awake slowly and with her eyes swollen and mostly closed.
"Yeah, I'm fine,"
He wasn't fooling anyone, "Everything will be okay," she said reassuringly.
"I know it's just...I'm never going to hear the end of it,"
Caitlin giggled; Barry worried too much sometimes. Not that she was any better when she came clean with Nora. "It will be fine. Your parents are some of the most wonderful people I know," she said sincerely.
Barry slowly caressed her cheek, "They are, aren't they?" Now their comments about being in love and not knowing made a whole lot of sense. He only hoped to be half as wise as his parents when he was their age.
{-}
Nora and Henry arrived a few minutes early to the restaurant where Barry had asked them to meet that evening. Nora had shown Henry a bit of the footage she had secured from Caitlin and Barry's confession. However, Nora hadn't gotten the audio just yet, she was a bit torn about invading their private moment (more so than what her, Felicity, and Cisco already did) and saving it as a beautiful memory of his son and her future daughter-in-law. Decisions, decisions.
"What do you think he may come up with now?" Henry asked in with a mischievous smile.
Nora suppressed a laugh, "Well, since Caitlin will be with him, he may just go straight to the point,"
"Hm, well that's no fun,"
Nora patted her husband's hand reassuringly, "It doesn't mean we can't poke him a little. After all, he shouldn't have lied to us,"
"Oh Barry, Barry, our boy is growing up,"
The doctor saw the young couple heading their way and noticed their entwined hands. They surely spared no time in getting together. Not that either of the elder Allen's minded.
"Mom, dad," Barry greeted them both with a nervous grin.
"Barry," his father said in a solemn tone.
"Caitlin," Nora said with a polite smile.
The CSI and doctor took their seats. "Mom, dad, there's something I need to tell you,"
Nora and Henry shared a look, "That you lied to us," her mom said not missing a beat.
"And to our friends, your friends as well," his father supplied.
"Well yes, but —,"
"And you brought an innocent person into this evil scheme of yours," his mom added while taking a bite of her cheesecake.
"I agreed to help Barry," Caitlin said softly.
"Caitlin, sweetie, was this fake engagement your idea?" Nora asked, knowing the answer.
She shook her head, "No, but I wasn't forced into it," truth be told, Caitlin was not expecting this reaction from the Allen's.
"Precisely,"
"So, what do you have to say for yourself son," Henry took a spoonful of Nora's cheesecake.
"I'm sorry?" He said as he adjusted his collar, this had gone worse than expected.
"Why don't we start from the beginning," Nora suggested, and before her son said another word, "why on Earth did you pretend to be engaged?"
"Well," He looked at Caitlin for encouragement and she squeezed his hand a bit, "I... might've wanted to break Iris' engagement…"
"Oh my," Nora said scandalized and dropped her fork for a dramatic effect, "I can't believe this Henry,"
"That's not how we raised you son," Henry shook his head.
It was then that Caitlin noticed Henry suppressing the tiniest smile, and then it dawned on her, this was a ploy. How cunning.
"Mom, Dad! I can explain!" Barry said in desperation, "it was stupid. I know. But I was being dumb, and then went to Caitlin. And she supported me no questions asked, and then I was supposed to make Iris realize that we belonged together, but then the more time I spent with her, or Caitlin rather, I realized it was Caitlin," his voice softened at her name, "the person I really loved, and the one I want to spend the rest of my life with -"
"We're engaged," Caitlin said out of nowhere with a stoic yet warm expression.
Henry almost spewed his coffee on everyone, but instead coughed madly.
"Really?" Nora asked as she patted her husband's back, "Not sure I can believe it, considering, the circumstances,"
"It's true!" Barry confirmed.
"Son, with your track record," his mom gave him a pointed look.
Henry waved his hands, "Wait a minute here," he regained composure. Note to self, limit drinking in front of son and future daughter-in-law. "A week ago, you said you were engaged, which wasn't true,"
"Right,"
"And now, you're saying you're engaged again and we are to believe you? Son, cut us some slack,"
"Dad it's true! Ok I know it sounds farfetched, but it's true, I love Caitlin, and have been madly in love with her for so long I feel like the biggest doofus for not realizing sooner, and if you have a problem with that —"
This time it was Henry to cut him off, "We know son," he said in fatherly approval.
"—then you're going to have to deal with— what?"
"We know you love each other, told you as much didn't we,"
Barry nodded trying to process everything.
"Son, we know you and Caitlin were made for each other," Nora winked, "we did tell you several times,"
Caitlin, who had remained silent through most of this exchange nodded and smiled at the woman. They were right, "I'm very thankful for that,"
Nora returned her smile and so did Henry, who didn't hesitate to pitch in, "Now Caitlin, why on Earth did you agree to help this guy with such a ridiculous plan?"
Caitlin looked at Henry, then Nora, and lastly to Barry and with utmost certainty she said:
"Because I love him,"
{-}
"You think it's been enough torture?" Henry asked as he dried plates next to Nora.
She giggled, "Not yet, but soon,"
After they had that coming to Jesus meeting where Barry's silly plan was explained. Nora and Henry, decided that to make the engagement official it needed to be a real Allen proposal. After her love declaration, Caitlin had left the group for another emergency at work -the joys of working in the ER department. Meanwhile, the elder Allen's did not want to discount Barry's intimate proposal (not that he knew they knew about it), but Barry needed to step up his game. It wasn't at all that Henry and Nora wanted to torture their son a bit (really it wasn't like that). However, they figured Barry and Caitlin owed it to themselves to mark the beginning of this new journey with a bang.
Nora subtly told Barry he should stay at home for now to plan out his proposal, and not see Caitlin until he had a worthy proposal in mind. Barry, trying his hardest not to refute this outrageous request, agreed reluctantly, he still had a few days of vacation left, and his mom wasn't wrong -Caitlin deserved the best proposal ever. And as oblivious as he might be for some things, he wasn't oblivious to his parents' intentions. They were purposefully keeping him away from Caitlin as punishment for his lie.
This was Day 2 of not seeing Caitlin, and it was killing him. Under normal circumstances he wouldn't mind much, he knew how absorbing her job was, and it never bothered him much, since he knew he would see her when she had some days off. But now, now that they were together, together, the separation was getting to him.
He went through his list and wasn't satisfied with any of the options:
Balloon ride and proposal mid-air
A Will you marry me? In the sky
A candle-lit dinner with close family and friends
A surprise proposal at the hospital
No, while decent options (if too cliche) they just didn't resonate with Caitlin. Although that surprise proposal at the hospital was staring back at him….no, no, no, Caitlin wouldn't approve. She hated mixing personal and professional matters. He only had one more day left of vacation and needed to finalize a plan soon.
And he knew just the person to ask.
{-}
She didn't remember when everything got this chaotic, she just said she would avoid black olives at the reception and then a whole argument ensued at the table about who would become her maid of honor.
"Well I should be the man of honor, I'm the mutual best friend of the couple," Cisco stated proudly.
"Excuse me! I'm Barry's best friend," Iris said with conviction, "and I'd be returning Caitlin a favor since she helped with my wedding,"
"Stop you two," Felicity said calmly.
Caitlin held an internal sigh, at last someone sensible.
"I," she said while pointing to herself, "am the best choice for this, I saw their love written in the stars before anyone else, so I should be the maid of honor,"
Too much for sensibility.
"Nuh-uh, I did," Cisco said, he wasn't giving up.
"I have the most experience," Iris stated.
"Ehem, I'm married too you know," Felicity said with a raise of her perfectly shaped eyebrow.
The trio continued their heated argument in front of her, each providing valid points as to why they would be the best fit. The doctor then felt someone sit next to her, a comforting presence, finally.
"Oh my, you have very passionate friends," Nora said, as she observed the scene unfold.
"I'm very fortunate for that," the doctor responded.
After a few more minutes, Felicity, again the sensible one, said, "Let's stop and let the bride decide!"
They could argue all they wanted but at the end of the day it was Caitlin's choice.
"So, who's it going to be?" Cisco said with a wink.
The doctor's eyes scanned the three of them.
She'd known Felicity the longest, and while they didn't quite become friends since the very beginning, she was her very first girl-friend. Then again Cisco was the one that was constantly challenging her to do something outside of her comfort zone and always made her feel like she belonged. Yet Iris, despite knowing her for a lesser amount of time, proved to be a good friend and could talk endlessly about Barry's early days (even if she did focus a bit too much on his embarrassing memories).
"Well, I'm very thankful that all of you are so willing and ready to help,"
Cisco resisted the urge to roll his eyes, "Come on Caitlin, you're not one to beat around the bush,"
The doctor looked briefly at Nora who gave her an encouraging smile. "Actually, I had already asked Nora to be my maid of honor," she said as a matter of fact.
Nora gave an approving nod and hid a victorious smile behind her cup of tea.
"What!?" The trio yelled in unison. If they were going against the Allen matriarch, they had no chances of winning.
And that settled that argument.
(The next day)
"I can't believe weddings are this stressful," Barry said as he dropped himself on Joe's couch.
"And this ain't the half of it," Eddie said as he sat next to the CSI.
"You know what would make it easier?" Cisco said as he popped a lollipop in his mouth, "a best man,"
Eddie nodded, "that's true," Wally and him shared a fist bump, since Wally had done a superb job as best man. Who knew the kid was that resourceful?
"Choosing a best man is a must for weddings," Joe said as he and Henry gave each other proud smiles. They had been each other's best men.
"I see," this got Barry thinking, and after a few moments he looked up searching for his dad in the room.
Oh no you won't, Cisco flashed in front of his line of sight. "I got you man, I've done all the research for tuxes, ballrooms, got my drones ready for a 360-wedding recording, you name it,"
"Wow Cisco, I didn't know you liked weddings this much," Barry said in awe as thye both started reviewing the data the engineer had readily available.
The room wasn't big enough to contain Cisco's ego at the triumph of becoming Barry's best man. He couldn't be Caitlin's man of honor, but he'd be Barry's best man. He wasn't in that will-they-won't-they phase of those two lovebirds only to be a bystander on their wedding day. Nu-uh. He needed to be front and center.
Besides, if Barry by chance had chosen a best man without telling him. He still had another ace up his sleeve.
Wedding's Cupid.
A totally not made up position.
{-}
Somewhere in the Allen Residence, Iris felt a chill down her spine.
"You okay?" Felicity asked.
Iris narrowed her eyes in suspicion, "I feel like I lost something, but for the life of me, I don't know what,"
Felicity shrugged, "must not be important. Come on, let's make sure they get the color scheme right this time,"
{x}
Bet you weren't expecting this! I still think the last chapter is my favorite, I mean how can it not be, it's just so fluffy! But there are still a few things I needed to get out with this story to feel fully satisfied.
I'm very thankful for your support and for reading this story, it means a lot to me so thank you.
To clarify, in case it was confusing, the last snippet of the story was actually a flashforward. This is a small scene of something that happens in the future as opposed to the flashbacks you've seen in previous chapters about things that happened in the past.
dstroyr8nikh: It's definitely on my list. I'm working on some outlines, but am not ready for another full-length story yet. Thank you for reading!
PurpleYin: LOL. You make some excellent points, I'm glad you enjoyed this. Ah, Caitlin so naïve…but Barry really needed to step up his game.
SnowbarryEndgame: Surprise! Here is another chapter.
Shadow9841: Really!? I'm very happy to hear/read that. Usually people are not too kind with these AU stories, but I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Cat: Whoa! What? No, no, not at all. They're an innocent pair. What I meant is that Barry has slept at Caitlin's before. Now I'm debating about adding a flashback for this…hmmm….
This chapter addressed what happened that night, so I hope it clears it.
Guest (1): Thank you!
Guest (2): You humble me. Thank you!
thed4rksavior: LOL. Well I hope this chapter delivered that. I know many people wanted to read that. I did re-write this several times, stepped away and then came back to it. But here it is.
Raquel: Yes, they are! Even though it hasn't been mentioned as much Nora does know Cisco, and he coordinated with the rest. A SnowBarry fan club with Nora as the president -priceless.
No, no, now, SnowBarry is pure in this story. It just meant Barry has stayed over at Caitlin's, but there is a reason why boundaries were needed (not that they were respected much anyway). Although I do admit it was written vaguely on purpose…teehee!
Well I did take a break from this story because I loved it so much as it was, but there are still a few things I want to get out before closing the book on it completely. The conversation with the parent's was one of them.
You'll have to wait and see for the others
Jdcocoagirl: As I was going through the story, I did consider a slow burn engagement. But the more I looked at Barry and Caitlin, this just felt right. Despite the labels they've been in love for a long time, they know each other, and have seen each other at their worst and were nothing more than supporting and loving. And it just felt right. In character for Barry too, since he's very emotion driven.
But I may be biased. I'm the writer after all.
hippie1993: I know this is a year after, but I hope things have turned out for the better for you. Despite the pandemic and world affairs. If you need someone to talk to, I'm here.
Very happy that you loved this story! I couldn't agree more SnowBarry and WestThawne for the win! I really do think that there's been no better partner for Iris than Eddie. He just brought out the best in her.
The same goes for Caitlin and Barry, but the story has changed so much from what the first 2 seasons were…