Disclaimer: I don't own any of the original characters nor the original Inspector Lynley Mysteries – they belong to Elizabeth George and the BBC. I have borrowed the characters from the TV-Show and only own the ideas of my stories.


A/N: For reasons this and the following stories were a bit of work and it took its time. I had to research on how the official parts of marriages in the UK go, I had to set some time tables, consider the developments of a pregnancy, rearrange some scenes I've written years ago, check old stories for names and events... Well, and write a lot. Apart from that I do have a real life ;-)


Summary: Denton is away and our newly engaged couple has to sort out a few things. Well, in fact they have to sort out a lot of things before they marry. Let's start with a few lists and decisions. Enjoy...


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Black Folder

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Friday

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It was Friday after the debriefing and their official announcement at the office. Denton was on a visit to his sister in Cornwall for a week and the newly engaged Detectives were not on call after the solved case. It was a mild evening. They had come home about half an hour ago. Tommy had showered and then Barbara indulged in a bath when he went downstairs.

A bit later and armed with two writing pads and some pencils Barbara marched into the kitchen where Tommy was just preparing a wholesome but simple dinner. He looked up from the cheese grater. Her hair still was damp.

"I was contemplating." she stated with determination and sat down on the bench at the table. It was already set but she shoved the plate to the side and replaced it with her writing pads.

"Uh-oh..." he said curiously expecting everything.

"We've said August or September..." Tommy nodded, so she went on. "That's in less than three months. I'd say we're in a horrible hurry. And if it should be no disaster, we should start planning our wedding immediately. I've just browsed the internet and-"

"Barbara." he calmly interrupted her. "I understand what you're saying, and there's really not much time, but we're not doing this right now."

"But-"

"No. Please put away the writing pads. Dinner's almost ready. We can talk about it afterwards, you nervous something." Wiping his hands on a kitchen towel he placed a kiss on her head. "But not here in the kitchen. We have a room for paperwork, you know... You can serve the tomato soup, if you want to do something helpful."

Barbara made a face and wriggled her head but she put away the notepads and rearranged the plate in front of her.

Of course they had dinner first. It was one of the rare occasions where Tommy had cooked. The meal was not perfect but it was prepared with a lot of love.


"Oh, that was delicious, Thomas." Barbara leant back on her chair and stroked her belly.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it." Tommy got up and took their plates with him. He saw her eyes darting to the writing pads next to her on the bench. Barbara's forehead already was pensively furrowed again. He sighed. "Hush. You go to the study. I'll take care of the kitchen and join you later."

"You're an angel." After a quick kiss she hurried away.

Tommy followed a few minutes afterwards. He found her sitting at the big mahogany desk. She almost crept into the monitor and with a frown she read something. "Do you need glasses?" he asked in amusement.

"No." She did not look up at all.

"What are you reading?" He was curious. He had expected her to write down lists or notes or something.

"I'm on gov-dot-uk. Marriages and civil partnerships in England and Wales."

"Oh, okay." Tommy forced his eyes away from the bottle of fine Scotch and came around the desk. "What do they say?"

"Get yourself a glass, Thomas, I'm fine with it." Barbara fondly smiled at him. She had seen his slightly longing looks towards his beloved nightcap.

"Nah, I... Mmh, maybe later."

Barbara got up and got herself a can of the expensive Italian lemonade she had discovered for herself lately. Then she poured a finger of Tommy's amber liquid into a glass, sniffed at it and gave it to him. He had pulled a second chair next to the comfortable one where she sat on.

"Thank you." he said. "Now, go ahead. What do they say about marriages? The only thing I really know is that civil marriages require a certificate."

"Oh, really?" Barbara rolled her eyes sarcastically. "That's why we do this, isn't it?"

He frowned at her from the side. "You know, that doesn't sound very romantic."

"Well, it is romantic, but due to the fact that ours also is a bit helter-skelter for reasons-"


"For one reason." Tommy objected and bent down to give her a kiss. "Well, two... No, three in fact. One: I love you." He put his untouched glass of whisky next to the keyboard on the desk and gave her a second kiss. "Two: You love me." He put her can next to his glass and they kissed again. "Three: we have a certain proof of our love." He put his arms around her and she hugged him and they exchanged a deeper kiss.

After a while, when they broke apart, Barbara confirmed breathlessly "Like I said, for reasons." She gave him another kiss. "Now, will we go on with our investigations on how to get married..." She kissed him again. "...or do you intend to make love to me on the desk again?" Tommy grinned with his head full of pleasant memories. "You know that it will end with us building up all this office stuff again and that would mean today we wouldn't find out anything for our helter-skelter spousal."

Now Tommy had to laugh out loud. "As much as I'd love to rearrange all the office stuff with you..." He gave her a kiss. "...I'm afraid, at the moment you would be too absent-minded anyway. So, investigations it is. What do we have until now, Sergeant?"

She gave him a stern look and shook her head reproachfully for mocking her before she turned her attention back onto the monitor. "Well, we do fulfil all the requirements like age and such, and we're both UK citizens, so that's not interesting. The only thing we have to do in advance is to give notice."

"I vaguely remember that. Sounds rather easy."

"Not after you've heard what they want to hear or see when we do that."

"Isn't it just going to our local register office and signing a legal statement which says that we intend to get married?"

She frowned. "Well, you are the one who's done it before. Can't you remember what a huge amount of stuff they want?"

"We just signed some papers at our first appointment with the registrar." Tommy shrugged apologising. "We've had a wedding planner doing all the rest. And my mother helping him."

Barbara shook her head in disbelief and with rejection. "I'm not going to lay my marriage into the hands of a stranger who makes money out of planning other people's big days."

"Just as you wish, Ma'am." he chuckled.

"Yeah, and then do it completely different to what I've told them. Nah, no way!"

Tommy simply looked at her for a moment. "I love you."

"Yes. Good." Now she had to laugh. "Okay, where was I?"

"Requirements for giving notice."


They went through it together. It was all new for Tommy too because when he had married Helen, she had insisted on giving the boring parts, how she had phrased it, into a stranger's hands. Tommy almost had had no say in those matters. With Barbara he would be involved completely. He looked at her in awe when she read from the government's web page.

"Listen." she said to draw his attention to the requirements.

"Mhm."

Although both were Londoners and UK citizens, and in a mentally and physically normal state, there were a lot of other things they needed to bring to the first appointment at the register office. And a lot of things they had to sort out before they went there.

"You must give notice at least 29 days before your ceremony." Barbara read.

"Easy. I hope."

"You must hold your ceremony within 12 months of 'giving notice'."

Tommy nodded. "Already agreed on."

"Well, not to the day." Barbara chewed on the inner sides of her cheek.

"We can talk about that later. What else?"

"You need to make an appointment to give notice at your local register office. Okay, and where is it?"

"I don't know exactly, but I'm quite sure that there's a postal code list at the end of this page." He pointed towards the monitor with his chin. "We can check it later. Go on."

"You do not have to do this on the same day."

"What?!" Tommy had to laugh.

"Give notice."Barbara rolled her eyes with an unspoken reproval. "Not marry, of course."

"We're doing everything together, not separately." He smiled at her and leant closer.

"Oh, don't get mushy, Thomas." Barbara chuckled. She only gave him a quick kiss before she read on. "Documents you'll need to give notice. Now, here it comes. You must bring originals of the following documents to your appointment: details of the final venue for your ceremo- oh, blimey!" Barbara suddenly started to panic. "Oh, gosh, Thomas! We'll never find a place in the shortness of the time left. Usually weddings are planned for ages and not... oh, crap, oh, crap, oh, crap!"

Tommy placed a hand on her arm. "Hush, sweetheart. If we don't find a proper venue, and I'm sure we'll find one, we're simply having the smallest of ceremonies at the register office and later have the reception at our house." Barbara looked at him with a frown. "I don't need it by hook or by crook, and I'm pretty sure it's okay with you too when it's not with 300 people of my lot attending it." Barbara's eyes widened and she nodded fiercely. Tommy gave her an encouraging smile. "I don't want that either. At least not 300. So, we'll find a nice place or not, but it's our wedding and it's going to be perfect - wherever it may be. So let's start with a list of all the papers we need and then look for suitable places."

The list was quickly done. Finding a proper venue was a different thing.


"Before we'll look for a venue, I think we need to sort out who we will invite. To be honest, it won't be 300 but I don't want to have only 16 guests this time." Tommy said after Barbara had put the list of required papers into a black folder. With a white touch-up pencil she had drawn two intertwined rings on its cover. "Barbara, you're a romantic." he whispered when he saw it.

"Never said I'm not." She gave him a kiss.

They moved away from the desk in their study and took her small netbook with them when they made themselves comfortable on the sofa in the living room. For the rest of a long evening they discussed their guest list. And it was a real discussion. Tommy wanted to have a big wedding this time and Barbara would be fine with just a handful of guests. These different wishes had to be reconciled. At first both wrote down all their potential guests separately, realising afterwards that the sum of them was more than 200. This definitely was too much, she thought.

"And it's your fault." Barbara chided him. "You've listed almost everyone from your rowing team at Oxford." She demanded that he should remove at least half of them. "And think about your cricket buddies again..."

"Yes, I'm sorry." Tommy sighed. "But I'm afraid it's either all or none of them. I can't invite just-"

Seeing her frown he removed all except for two or three who still were in regular touch with him. It was like that with a lot of his potential guests which he had put into groups, and with a few of hers. Then they went into more detail and in the end they had three lists. One with still about 150 people, but Barbara was not exactly happy with it, because it still were too many for her liking. The second was with 60 guests (plus 20 more in brackets) and the third list was with about 30 guests where some had a mark. The third list was for the situation when they would find no venue at all and had to celebrate their wedding in a private circle at the register office and have the reception afterwards only with a few guests at their house in Belgravia.

"Or at Howenstow?" Tommy asked when he got himself a second glass of whisky. "It has a nice and huge garden."

Barbara shook her head and yawned. "No. I want to marry in London. We can honeymoon there if you insist."

"At my mother's home?" His eyes widened.

Barbara laughed out loud. "Point made." She yawned again and got lost in thought while she leant into Tommy's side. "This is weird." she mumbled.

"What exactly?"

"Me planning a wedding with you. At speed for reasons. Last year in June I still was painting the kitchen in my flat in Chalk Faaaawwwm - sorry." She had yawned away her last words. Barbara closed her eyes and did not end what she had been about to say.

"It's not weird, my love, it's terrific." Tommy objected. "But before we spend the night with looking for a venue while we fight against sleep, I suggest we go and have a nap until tomorrow morning."

"Oh, that's a splendid idea."

"Go ahead. I'll follow."


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