A/N: Yes, Germanlibi, there still are some people around here. I don't think all the 48 visitors of the first chapter (until Monday afternoon) are robots. And I believe that among the 33 visitors of the second chapter (until now) are some human readers too. ;-) But I heard of a problem with notifications, so that might be a reason why there are just a few reviews at the moment, and maybe the other readers have a real life too - LOL

Anyway, let's go on. It's...


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Still Saturday

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While he heard the typical sounds from his posh high-performance percolator coming from the kitchen, he prepared a few web pages and pictures to be presented to his love. He knew Barbara would like it. He was sure she would be delighted. She certainly would fall in love with it, just as he had moments ago.

Barbara came back and sat down on the comfortable office chair because Tommy had seated himself on the spare chair again.

She gave him a mug of coffee and a peck on the cheek. "Well? What is it? Have you miraculously found a suitable venue?"

"I think I have." Tommy nodded. "Simon suggested it."

"I'm intrigued, but I hope it really has nothing to do with the Horse Guards Hotel."

"I told you. You'll see..."

Together they looked at the pictures, read the descriptions and looked on web-maps where it was exactly. Barbara squealed in delight a few times and Tommy could see from the expression on her face that she already wanted their wedding to take place there. But then he saw her body tense.

"Stop." she exclaimed. "Scroll up there again."

He had known it. Unfortunately Barbara had spotted the pound sign where the approximate costs were listed in the e-mail he had received from Rory. It was not exactly cheap.

"Phew!" Barbara blew up her cheeks. "Well, that's... I don't know how to phrase it..."

"It's still in the limit." Tommy reassured her and showed the most disarming smile he was capable of. "And for our special day any costs are irrelevant."

She still chewed on the inner side of her cheeks. "If you say so..."

Barbara feared that she never would get used to being able to spend huge amounts of money on things you probably could get cheaper if you just try a bit harder or leave out a few things that were not really necessary. She probably would be arguing with Tommy for the rest of their lives about things like that. But then again, a wedding was something you only do once in your life, so maybe she could just ignore it this time. And maybe this hotel was their only chance. She gave him a slightly uncertain smile.

"And maybe we could beat it down." Tommy suggested with a wink.

"Yah, sure..." Barbara rolled her eyes. "Okay, go on. Don't let that numbers there get burned into my eyes."


He chuckled when he scrolled down again. He had switched to the page where the large hall was described. It included several pictures of different events, some of which were weddings. Mostly they looked all the same and they knew the white and pastel shades from their previous internet search, but some pictures showed more alternative wedding parties, for example without those cream white antimacassars over chairs, and they all looked great. They agreed on having a mix of both, a bit of the classical wedding stuff and a bit of quirkiness.

"A bit like we are." Tommy said and they exchanged a kiss.

The rest of the page were descriptions in text and certain requirements and peculiarities they only skimmed. Suddenly both laughed out in unison.

"102?" Barbara chuckled about the maximum number of guests in the attached building with its long front facing the garden.

"Well, the bride and groom plus 100 guests, I assume. It's very precise."

"They're funny." She hesitated. "But I agree with you, Thomas. This is the perfect place. I just wonder if it's on the list of certified venues."

Her question puzzled him. "To be honest, when I saw it, I completely forgot about that. I haven't checked yet."

With beating heart Tommy clicked on the bookmark for that government list. Barbara almost bit her nails off while they waited for it to load again. Nervously he typed the name into the search mask and hit enter. Their hearts fell.

The perfect venue for their wedding was not on the list.


Tommy sighed. "Well, that explains why there were no pictures of ceremonies."

"Hmph." she grunted. "Now what?"

"A change of plans?" he grumbled.

"But I want that!" she exclaimed. "Can't we just..."

"Just what?" he pressed on when she did not finish her sentence for several moments.

"Well, can't we just have the ceremony at the register office, with family and a few special friends, then have a break and later celebrate our wedding party here with all guests?" She pointed towards the monitor. Tommy frowned. "You see, I don't want a huge wedding anyway. And you don't want it to be a small one. This way we could have both. I'm okay with a huge party, there could be even more than 100 if you need them, with the mentioned tent in the garden there. But the wedding ceremony is something so special where I don't exactly like having strangers, people of importance or such with me."

"I understand what you mean." Tommy slowly answered pondering on her suggestion. "And I feel like I'm getting used to that idea. We could have a small reception after the ceremony. Somewhere at a cafe around here, near the register office."

He clicked through the web-map and Barbara cuddled into his side. She was glad that he adjusted to her idea. "Or at a pub." she muttered.

"Yes, even a pub. Have some pints or bubbly-"

"...or orange juice."

"...some nibbles and snacks. And then have a break so everyone can refresh and dress up for the evening and we can have a quickie at home..."

"Thomas!" Barbara gave him a playful slap onto his upper arm.

"Ouch!" He laughed out loud before he pulled her into a hug and kissed her deeply. "You know, it's much more fun to check it all out together. I didn't know what I was missing."

"So, you didn't even pick the venue you'd liked when you married Helen?"

"Well, our wedding planner had picked some and so there were only a few options to choose from. And then Helen had decided to have it in Cornwall. I think she thought she'd give me a treat."

"It was a nice wedding." Barbara cautiously said.

"It was. Of course. If you put aside that Peter wasn't in one of his better moods." Then his face turned into a broad grin. "But our wedding will be a perfect wedding."

"Well, sort of." Barbara laughed. "Still a helter-skelter spousal."

"Which makes it all the more matching to our love."

"It wasn't exactly helter-skelter how I fell in love with you." she gave him a gentle smile in which laid the love from almost ten years.

He knew exactly what she was thinking of and kissed her deeply. "But you have to admit that after I've finally come to senses it was like a tornado rolling through our lives."


"Yah, I agree." Barbara grinned. "At least its fast development. By the way, we haven't talked about the date they offer."

"It's the 2nd of September."

"Sounds good." She checked it on the calendar in her mobile and cried out in shock. "But that's a Thursday! It's in the middle of the week!"

"Who cares? It's perfect." Tommy still grinned like a fool. "And to be precise: this is the only one of all venues we've called that has a vacant date in our chosen time frame. And the fact that it's in the middle of the week simply increases the chance that there's a registrar available on that day. You know, at such a short notice... Oh, we mustn't forget to make that appointment for giving notice. Do we have everything we need?"

Again they checked their list from the government's web page.

"Details of the final venue for the ceremony?" Barbara read.

Both grinned.

"Check." Tommy said.

"A valid passport or UK birth certificate?"

He nodded. "I have both."

"I don't know if my passport is still valid, but yes, I have a birth certificate somewhere in one of those boxes."

"You know, you're allowed to unpack them, Barbara." Tommy gently told her. "There's enough space for your papers in that cabinet over there."

"Mh. Tomorrow." She did not deepen the topic now but made a mental note to really unpack them tomorrow. "Next: Proof of your home address. To prove your address, bring one of the following: valid UK or Irish driving licence; gas, water or electricity bill, umm..."

"Driving licence. The rest is unimportant." Tommy looked at all the possibilities to prove your home address and grinned. Then he turned his head to Barbara and furrowed his brows. "You have updated yours, haven't you?"

"Straight after we've been to Hillier to tell him." She gave him a broad grin.

"Good. Next? Proof of any name changes? Oh, not yet, dear Sirs, not yet." Grinning again he shot a quizzical look towards Barbara and she rewarded him with a sweet blush.

She knew what he wanted to know.


"I have not yet decided on that detail." she answered to his unspoken question. "I know you will keep your name, but for me there are a few things to consider."

"Well, our baby?"

"Will have your name." She gave him a gentle kiss. "Or maybe both our names."

"Baby Lynley-Havers..." he tasted its sound.

"Havers-Lynley!" she objected laughing.

He pouted playfully. "We'll see. What other things did you mean to consider?"

"Work for example. Or that I'd simply want to keep my name."

For a few moments he pensively looked into her soft face. "It's your decision, my love. As long as you marry me."

He sealed it with a deep kiss over which they forgot the list of required papers. But there only was one thing left anyway and Tommy knew where Helen's death certificate was, so eventually the monitor in front of them went into sleep mode.


Tommy took advantage that Barbara was in a recently rare mood, even if it was a bit unexpected for the place where they were. But this time there was no need to rearrange all the office stuff on the desk. The chair he sat on was perfectly well chosen for a teaser and the settee where he carried her to several minutes later was satisfactory as well.


Only after they had picked up all their clothes which laid in heaps around the chair they had a quick shower together and dressed again. Dinner time was close but since they already had decided on calling for a pizza there was no need to prepare anything. For a while they just enjoyed the evening sun on the veranda in silence. Eventually her stomach rumbled loudly and it made him laugh.

"Pizza Chef, as usual?" Tommy asked. "The bigger one for you two?"

"No, make it a simple margherita." Then Barbara laughed. "Plus two boxes of pizza rolls."

Holding her hand, he made the call with Toni's. Then he gave her a kiss on the hand and locked eyes with her.

"Right. Apart from the rest of the wedding planning things, we just have to make an appointment to give notice."

"Yes, we should call the register office on Monday morning."

"We could check their web page." Tommy suggested. "Maybe they have an online booking tool."

Barbara laughed. "They're not a travel page, Thomas. And it's the government. I don't think they're that modern."

Nonetheless, Tommy already was on his way to the computer again. Barbara followed one moment later.

"This is killing me, Thomas." she admitted. "And? Is there?"

Tommy nodded. He had checked the official page of the Westminster City Hall and as chance would have it, there actually was an online booking tool. They checked it together. The entire week there was no vacant date but two on Monday, and there were four possible dates in the following week. Tommy turned his head to Barbara and she locked eyes with him. A few seconds later she nodded. They had silently agreed that they would go there on Monday.

"Just not at eight." she only said.

Then he filled in the form and clicked on the send button.

For giving notice of their wedding, they now had an appointment with the registrar on next Monday, eleven o'clock.

"And shall we book the hotel too right now? I've just reserved it, to have the chance to decide about it together and call them tomorrow, but..."

Barbara nodded again. "We have made our decision, haven't we?"

Ten minutes later they had a specific date, a perfect venue, a suite in the hotel for a couple of days, the appointment for giving notice and an entire day tomorrow to think about their guest lists again. And search for all the papers they would have to present on Monday.

And then their pizzas arrived.


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