For everyone clamoring for Sophia, I haven't forgotten you. Or her.
Enjoy xo
THE WATERING CAN
777 5th AVENUE
MANHATTAN
Alex's morale turned around so fast after the visit that she was declared for discharge early. It was all she could do to not fall asleep while heading out to the car, however. She appreciated being patched up and fed, but all she wanted was to sleep in her own bed. To say that she needed it was an understatement. She was asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.
Upon waking, there was enough time to eat before getting ready to go see the Novaks at the flower shop. Any moment around that family was always an adventure.
When the Benson-Cabot clan entered The Watering Can, it was to find it somewhat empty.
"Hello?" Olivia called out. "Violet?"
They were met by the littlest Novak instead of the matriarch. Abby had had every intention of watering the plants that her mother had just told her to, but when she saw that their guests had arrived, she dashed right back to where she'd come from. The joy in her squeals were very palpable.
When Violet finally appeared, she was grinning. "You all are right on time. Augustìn and I just finished setting up your work stations."
"Pardon?" Olivia said in polite confusion.
"We do most of our arrangements at workstations out in the open because people like to watch. They're positioned on opposite ends of the room, and we thought that it might be fun to surprise each other with what kind of bouquets you make."
"I like that." Olivia looked to Alex. "What about you?"
"I do." Alex replied. "I'm down."
Beside Violet, Abby suddenly began shuffling her feet. Olivia had to suppress a laugh because she'd seen this exact nervous look on Casey many times over the years.
"Noah's mamas?" she squeaked. "I have a question."
"What is it?" Olivia said patiently. "Scrappy, you can ask us anything."
The little girl giggled nervously at the use of her most preferred nickname. "C-could Noah come look at plants with me, and water them?"
"That sounds like fun. Why don't you ask him?"
"Okay!" she tapped Noah on the shoulder. "Noah, I'm Abby."
He blew a kiss to her. "Hi!"
"Wanna come help me take care of the plants?"
"Yes!"
Olivia sent them on their way. Senior trailed behind, keeping an eye on them.
"Well," Violet said to her friends. "That just leaves one last matter. This way, if you will, please."
Violet led them to the area of the shop that she'd described. They found two work stations, laden down with everything needed for wedding flower arrangements. There were also two people waiting for them.
"Sophia! Harper!" squawked Alex in surprise. "What brings you guys here?"
Harper gave her amused, tinkling laugh as she and Sophia hugged them. "After you guys told us that you're getting married, we decided to help out with the 'old,' 'new,' 'borrowed,' 'blue' traditions."
"Harper and I both put things in," Sophia tacked on. "And so did Amanda and Casey. We've got packages for both of you."
"That was fast."
"We aim to please." Harper motioned to Serena, awake in her sling and wanting to get out. "May I hold her?"
"Sure."
Alex lifted Serena out of the sling and watched Harper get her settled. Pleased, Serena sat up in Harper's arms, going from a restless mood to a very contented one. She proceeded to take in everything she could—the florist was one of her favorite places to be.
"That's got the little miss all sorted." Harper laughed again. "Come on, Alex. Everything is over here."
They headed to the right side of the shop.
Sophia turned to Olivia. "That leaves you and me."
"Works for m—"
Olivia was cut off when Sophia surprised her with a very intense hug. Her daughter was known for giving really good hugs, but it had been awhile since she'd given her one.
"What was that for?" Olivia asked her.
Sophia smiled at her mother as they sat down together. "It's just been awhile since we've hung out, you know, without any sort of looming peril about."
"Peril definitely put a dampener on things, doesn't it? Are Casey and Melissa at home?"
Sophia nodded. "Yeah. They had just started Toy Story when I checked in twenty minutes ago."
"Noah's just discovered Finding Nemo, and he watches it often." Olivia sighed. "But you're correct—it's been too long. What do you say ti us doing something together on the twenty-fifth?"
"But that's Christmas Day, plus Harper's birthday," Sophia protested. "And it's your first Christmas with Alex!"
"I totally know what day it is, and Harper is my next door neighbor. But about her…"
"What's up?"
"I've been spending a lot of time with Harper lately because she's fit to pop, but she doesn't have anyone else. I'm just sorry that we haven't talked much outside of something that involves peril."
The guilt in Olivia's voice was very plain, and Sophia instantly felt a pang of sympathy. "I miss you, too, but I promise that I am not jealous of Harper, mom. I understand that she needs extra support and attention right now. Do you feel bad, like you're neglecting me, or something?"
"Yes."
"Well, don't worry. I was never mad."
Olivia breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Sophia Rose. One last thing—as far as Alex goes, she loves you dearly, but she would want us to hang out together. It's our first Christmas together, too."
"I forgot." Sophia said with a jolt.
"Even if it's just for an hour our two, spending part of Christmas Day with you would be the best." Olivia went on. "I missed your first twenty-four Christmases, after all. I don't want to make it a twenty-fifth."
"Neither do I. Us not hanging out together fun lately is also because we're both working mothers, though." Sophia patted Olivia's hand. "I forgive you, and I would love to hang out with you on Christmas."
Olivia lit up. "Alright. What do you want?"
"Pancakes: I love them, but Casey physically can't handle the smell because they make her want to gag." Sophia rolled her eyes. "Melissa feels bad for her, so she won't touch them at all."
"So that leaves you very stuck. Okay—we'll go to your favorite diner, and then for a walk in Central Park. How's that sound?"
"Totally perfect. Hopefully this is, too."
She placed a small bundle in front of her mother. The wedding tokens.
Olivia regarded the sight. By itself, she was looking at a blue silken kerchief tied together, but when she untied it, she found that rest of the tokens came in a creative array. There was an antique hair comb, adorned with decorative diamonds and roses, along with a black velvet jewelry box that contained an anklet with four leaf clover charms. There was a second velvet box, this one with a pair of pearl earrings, and curiously, and English sixpence piece.
"These are all so beautiful, Soph. What is from whom?"
"The hair comb is from me."
"Are the diamonds real?"
"They are are, and so is the rose quartz. This beauty was even made in 1947." Sophia said. "I picked it out since I'm Sophia Rose, and Serena is Serena Diamond."
"That's really clever, and so thoughtful." Olivia pointed to the earrings. "Everybody knows that Diana's middle name is pearl. What's the story here?"
"They're from Amanda to borrow. She said that Beth Ann gave them to her awhile back, and that she got them as a gift from Benoît the night before they got married."
"Incredible. What about this?" she was indicating the bracelet. "From Casey?"
"Affirmative."
Olivia looked closely at the piece of jewelry. It consisted of green four leaf clovers running all the way around it, and each clover had a bit of chain in between to keep everything from sliding around. It was beautiful in its simplicity.
"The chain is real silver, and the lucky clovers are made of actual jade." Sophia informed her. "Besides law, Casey is an expert on flowers and gems."
"That hasn't changed. Who put in this handkerchief?" Olivia ran her fingers over the soft texture. "Blue is Noah's favorite color."
Sophia folded over one corner to reveal 'HAB' and 'VI-X-MMX' in two neatly monogrammed lines.
Olivia's heart filled with even more love. "These are Harper's initials, and her wedding anniversary."
"Xander gave it to her on their wedding day, and she gave him new cufflinks. The kerchief is one of her most prized possessions now." Sophia folded the corner back over. "It would mean so much to her if you found a way to include it in your wedding attire."
"I'm honored, and for Harper, I will." Olivia picked up the sixpence piece. "I'm stuck on this now."
Violet walked up to them at that moment. "The actual final bit of the old rhyme talks about the bride having a silver sixpence piece in her shoe. It's for good luck, and we gave one to Alex, too."
"That's all really nice.
Violet gave her a kindhearted look. "Are you alright, Olivia? Have you had enough time to slow down, what with all that's happened?"
"Yes. Thanks, friend."
"As long as you're sure." she cast an eye over the table. "I heard through the grapevine that you're allergic to roses, but you love lilies. Is that still true?"
"Yes." Olivia in surprise; she'd only mentioned this fact to Sophia once.
"We have a few varieties. It's like someone told me." Olivia immediately noticed three different types of the bloom in question. "Augustin and I decided that our gift to you and and Alex is that we're going to cover any cost for any flowers you want for your wedding. Just say the word."
"That's incredibly generous. We appreciate it."
Violet gave her a hug and a warm "You're welcome," before crossing the room to check on Alex. The Benson women were alone again.
Olivia wrapped her wedding tokens up and put them away.
"So you told your almost-mother-in-law that I like lilies, huh?" she said to Sophia. "What are your favorite flowers?"
"I love sunflowers and wildflowers, too."
"Now there's an answer you don't hear every day."
"Do you think it's dumb?"
Olivia shook her head. "Not at all, and actually, my mother loved wildflowers, too."
This made Sophia beam. "Wow! Really?"
"Truly. They always made her smile, just like you're doing now."
Sophia opened her mouth to respond, but she just wrinkled her nose and quickly put down a length of twine she'd cut. Both of her arms were now wrapped around her middle.
Olivia rubbed her daughter's back in concern. "You good?"
"Uh-huh. Feel this, mom."
Sophia laid her hand on the area were Agnes and Esme were bouncing around the most. The magic only last for a moment, however.
"I—oh, my goodness. Who was that?"
Olivia had pulled her hand away in surprise she felt something hard collide with it. Sophia giggled.
"That was a signature 'quit being sappy' jab from Agnes. Thank goodness it was only that, because she and Esme always go bananas whenever I sneeze."
"I have no doubt. Hey, what are you doing now?"
Sophia had started laying out rows of rainbow-colored ribbon spools and matching taffeta. "I've been learning to make wedding bouquets ever since my first week here, and my specialty is cascading bouquets."
"I love those. Do you secure the stems with twine, then?"
"Yep. Then I tie a braid of taffeta it all with a color from the bouquet."
Olivia surveyed the plants she'd been supplied with. "Besides the lilies, it looks like I have gardenias, delphiniums, and olive branches."
"That's quite something. It'll be so beautiful."
"Then I would like a purple and white braid, to match the delphiniums and all these white plants."
"You got it."
"And Sophia?"
She looked up from her measuring and cutting. "Yes, Olivia?"
"I'm glad that you donated wedding tokens, and I'm really glad that you're here now, helping me with my bouquet."
Sophia gave her mother a smile that clearly mirrored her own. "I couldn't imagine being anywhere else right now."
And that was the truth.
She was just happy to be with her mother for a little while.
