Wedding Plans

Charlotte was going to tough it out and let Jasper give her a tattoo for her 21st birthday anyway, so getting it done a little sooner (and now it was more significant than whatever she was probably going to decide on), was great. And, she could now say that she's had it done and never has to do it again. She did not have a high threshold of pain, like Jasper did. It was only a few minutes, but she felt like she was being tortured and she was not a fan of it, in any way, shape or form. But, she liked the way that Jasper spoke really soothing to her while she whimpered and kissed her on her nose and asked her if she wanted him to continue. He was so damn sweet and affectionate to her.

Jasper was the type of partner who, without fail, every month whenever her period showed up (first of all, he downloaded the same calendar app that she used to keep up with hers and any changes); he brought her supplies and catered to her, even if she didn't particularly "feel bad" during the week. He monitored the dogs, in case she wanted to keep them cuddled beside her, or in case she did not want them anywhere near her. Periods could be tumultuous for her sometimes and he tried to pay extra attention and anticipate her needs when she was going through it. This particular one, she wanted to be positive and encouraged, but her body decided that it was going to try the exact opposite route.

Despite being exhausted with his internship, class and everything else on his plate, Jasper made time to prepare an extra special care package. He had gotten some tips from Adanna on some remedies and she had prepared him some of her favorite go to concoctions and mailed them to him. He put the glass jars and pretty bottles into the basket that he used every month for her care package and went to her apartment. He let himself in, of course, and she was asleep, so he was able to work in silence. The dogs were on the patio, which was gated and had their dog house and feeding bowls outside, set apart from the little table and chairs that they usually sat at whenever they had an outside date night. Having the peace of the place at his disposal, Jasper lit candles in each room, prepared tea, started on breakfast and set her basket and the card he'd gotten her on her dining room table, a bouquet of her favorite flowers and a set of "period crystals" (Amethyst, Moonstone, Obsidian, Quantum Quattro) that he had gotten her, but she had yet to actually use.

She got out of bed whenever she smelled food and limped into the room, ready to have tea and medicine, because her entire lower body was aching. "Morning, Babe," she said, and kissed his tricep from behind, because that was the easiest thing for her to reach. He loved all those little random place kisses she gave him.

"Morning, Beautiful. Have a seat. Breakfast is almost ready."

She smiled and sat down, "I can't believe that you made time to do all of this, this time. You have a lot to do, Jasper!"

"Not so much that I'm gonna stop loving you the way that I love you," he said and shrugged his shoulders. She gushed and he leaned down to give her a kiss on the lips. She quickly allowed it and backed away. She hadn't brushed her teeth yet. "Anyway, I've gotta eat too, why not here, with you?" He presented a plate to her and sat down with his own. Charlotte looked at the time on her phone. If she took some medicine now, she should be functional enough to go to class with minimal to no pain. After breakfast, they washed up and headed out.

.

That week was difficult for him, because he definitely wanted to be sure to take care of her, but he also had a lot of important things to do. Classes in the morning, internship in the afternoon, sleeping until late, moonlighting at the tattoo parlour, and a nighttime nap until morning. "How do you get a chance to work out with this current schedule? You won't be ready to play if you don't keep up with your exercise."

"Baby, I don't think that I have time to keep up with sports. This internship is kicking my ass. I wouldn't even be at the parlour, if I didn't need the money." He looked exhausted and she hated it. "Not only do I need to survive, but we've got a wedding coming up. I mean, I don't know when, but I know that they cost money."

"We don't have to do anything fancy. We can just have our closest friends and a cake!"

"I've been waiting my whole life to find somebody who would be willing to marry me and you think I'm gonna commemorate it with "a cake," Charlotte?"

"I just don't want you breaking your back for something that isn't necessary. Jasper, we're as in love as any married couple, already. I'm committed and I believe that you are too. All we need is a legal contract and witnesses that we care about… and yes, a cake. A Charlotte cake, for me. I always wanted to have that as my wedding cake, even though it isn't usually made for such a special event."

"We can have Charlotte cake for everybody," he said, making notes in his Wedding Planner… which she just noticed.

"Hey, what you got there, F Sized?"

"Our wedding planner. I'm putting all of our notes in it, separated by these little tabs, and I'm gonna get with Henry on the best ideas so that we can make it happen. Oh! He's calling!" Jasper cheered and answered the phone, "Yo, yo, yo!" Jasper yelled and got up and left the room. Charlotte sighed and texted a group chat that she had recently created, titled "Matriarchal Matrimony Advice," including herself, Rosemary Page, Jasper's Mom Pansy, and Adanna Blackfoot.

"Hey. Jasper is running himself ragged and not listening to my sound advice. How do I get him to think it's his idea to take a break?"

Jasper's Mom: You would know before I would. If you figure it out, let ME know.

Mom: Let him do what he feels like he needs to do and just back him up whenever he falls short. No need to manipulate or trick. Just, let him do him. He most likely knows his limits better than you do. Even if he isn't that responsible, he knows that he's got you to think about now.

Adanna: My advice. Just let him know that it is really important to you that he takes some time for himself and gets some rest. You want your lover at his best and it makes you happy whenever he can be. To be at his best, he'll need to get some rest.

Charlotte: Thanks Moms!

.

Charlotte's birthday was nearby and even though Jasper hadn't posted a video in a while, he wanted to be sure to do a Birthday Tribute episode for her. It would probably be the last one that he had a chance to create, with his schedule, so he wanted to check in with his fanbase to let them know and also to celebrate her, at the same time. He had done an engagement announcement video, but it was basically a couple of minutes in which he cheered about her saying yes, told the brief proposal story, and got her to show off the ring that he gave her. The outpouring of support was fantastic. He lived for it and hoped to see as much or more whenever he made a video for her birthday.

Now, Charlotte was trying to keep things lowkey for her birthday. Yes, she was turning 21 and that was supposed to be monumental, but with the exception of her adding wine to her diet, she didn't think any real changes were happening in her life because of the birthday. The biggest real change that she had ahead of her was becoming the next Mrs. Dunlop… Or Page-Dunlop, or Pagelop… "Hey, what's your opinion on last names when married?" She asked at dinner.

"My opinion, or what I want?"

"Those should be the same thing."

"My opinion is that everyone should have whatever name they choose to have. But… I… do want you to take my name… Not as like ownership or anything! I just want us to have the same last name."

"You could take my name, or we could do one of those combined last names, or both have both last names and have them hyphenated…"

"Okay. I wasn't tryin' to pressure you. You asked, so I answered…"

"I know! I'm just… I never thought about it because I never planned on getting married and now that I'm planning on getting married, I have to actually think about it. Plus, a wedding… A ring! I don't know where to start on any of it, or when I'll have the time."

"I'll have the time. Summer's in less than 2 months and you know I won't have classes," he said, not really seeming very worried about it as he teetered on his phone.

"You'll have the time to do what… select your own ring? Aren't I supposed to do that?" She checked the Clueless Bride App and said, "It's on MY checklist!"

"I can pick one out and just tell you what I found, although, it really doesn't matter to me what ring you get. The being married to you part is the prize." She curled her lips and gave him a doubtful look. There was no way his sensitive ass wouldn't feel a way if she didn't get him some kind of exquisite, stylish, and probably expensive ring to wear for the rest of his life and she was not buying what he was selling right now. He smiled, "Just, do your best. I love you." She folded her arms. Jasper was WAY too used to getting greatness out of her for her to be able to skate by with his wedding ring.

"Okay," she said, and rolled her eyes, still knowing better.

Whenever Jasper pulled her into the show for her birthday, she was sheepish, being on camera with Jasper's audience. They were… not the same kind of people she spent much time around and sometimes said weird things. Everything from too strong of an interest in their sex life, to trying to push children out of their relationship, to… just weird things that didn't even make sense to her. But, he wanted it to be a treat and was so excited that it was her first birthday as his fiancee and future wife that she went along with it all.

They made the video pretty early in the day. She was glad to have already been awake and doing things around her apartment whenever he got up and insisted that a day of magic was ahead of them. Charlotte had gotten a few gifts via mail and several of Jasper's fans sent stuff to his PO Box for her, too. All that she had asked her loved ones and associates for were engagement/wedding donations. She was accepting funds, coupons, gift cards, and contracts for goods and services. If someone's aunt was a baker, she wanted to get in touch with them. If a friend was a musician on the side, she wanted to talk to them. She really just needed to know that people who cared enough about her to want to give her anything would just give her help with this one thing that she had never thought about and was totally unprepared for. All she really had ever considered was her dress! And that was because of her interest in fashion, probably.

Adanna offered to be her "road to marriage" spiritual counselor, do wedding and house blessings and make jewelry, if she wanted. She totally accepted all of those things that she hadn't thought about a moment before they were mentioned.

Henry told her that he'd search for Jasper's ring for her. "I know ya basic!" He'd typed on her post about accepting charity and assistance on the wedding for her birthday. She just thanked him and didn't even argue with that insult. It wasn't worth it when she needed help with the ring.

Patina had told her that if she needed any help with the dress, she would be more than willing to help out. She was always SUPER VOCALLY supportive of Charlotte and Jasper, possibly out of relief that Jasper stopped bothering her at long last, some time shortly before he gained an interest in Charlotte. "The dress, I actually know exactly HOW I want it, but I'm not sure about how much it'll cost me and stuff like that."

Piper: Make a Dress Creation Committee.

Charlotte: Tell me what that is.

Piper: You, me and other people of your choice that you trust will be a group that helps find material and seamstresses and stuff to make sure that your design is made into reality and whenever you can't personally handle stuff, somebody in the committee can pick up the slack.

Henry: What, like a dress making village?

Piper: Yeah. Just like that.

Henry: I'm down.

Piper:... No. It's like bridesmaids and stuff.

Henry: Yeah, that's me. The And Stuff Man.

Charlotte: Adanna, Mom, Jasper's Mom, Auntie Cohort, availability? (Grimace emoji)

Jasper's Mom: I have a lot going on, but just keep me in the loop.

Cohort: I might not be available for dress things, but I still have a lot of stuff in storage that you might be able to repurpose. Never wound up getting rid of a lot of our things.

Rosemary: You know good and well your mama is on board to help with your wedding. ANY mother should be on board to help with her child's wedding!

Jasper's Mom: Let me know when everyone meets. I'll do my best to be there.

RAY offered to throw an engagement party for her (and Jasper), for her birthday. She didn't know why she would NEED an engagement party. Everyone was tagged for the proposal. Everyone knew that they were engaged! She told him that he could use whatever resources he would have used for an engagement party to redirect towards wedding things. "Because you were very ungrateful about my generous offer, I am going to instead throw Jasper a bachelor party!"

"Good luck. The frat bros will throw him a bigger, better, MANLIER one."

"How dare you!"

.

Henry made an effort to be in town more in the summer. He and Jasper were working on the wedding plans, even though they hadn't decided on a date yet, and fuel for the Man Copter was less than affordable, but the drive took so much longer and he also loved that he was now able to fly the copter whenever he wanted to.

"So… How's the work schedule turning out?" Henry wondered, setting his things down in Jasper's room. The dogs were there, because Charlotte had classes and Jasper just preferred that they were locked inside all day when she did.

"It's gettin' there. I was more concerned about this issue with my major."

"What's the issue with your major?"

"I still haven't picked it yet."

"That's a major issue."

"Yeah…" Jasper agreed, then they both laughed a little, before he elaborated, "Whenever Char first started talking to me about it, at the end of sophomore year, we were just getting back good and I didn't want to make things uneasy. So, I told her that I was gonna do business, and minor in finances."

"That sounds like a good plan."

"But, I think I wanna major in economics and minor in finances. I think I actually want to get a business degree and an economics degree, but I'm at the end of my junior year and my advisor is needing me to decide like yesterday, more like last year, and now I want to double major? I can't. I don't have the time or the credits. But, also… I can't let Charlotte know that I didn't do what I was supposed to. She'll lose confidence in me. I'm supposed to be marrying her in the near future. She's gotta be able to trust that I'm gonna do what I say, or she's gonna chicken out."

"Maybe, but she's also gotta be able to trust that when things didn't go as planned or plans change, that you'll be honest with her. Charlotte cares so much about you, she'll help you through it. She'll really be pissed when it inevitably comes out and you didn't let her know."

Jasper sighed and nodded, "You're right."

"So… What are you gonna do about your major?"

"I'm… gonna double major in Economics and Business. The internship should help me to be able to only have to add an additional year to my college career, if that. I'm getting a lot of experience and stuff from working there. If I get hired on, after this… I could make a lot of money. I'll make more with the right degree. I'll make enough to start a family, and if I work hard, after a little while, I can make enough to be the man of the house. Charlotte will only work because she wants to, but she won't have to, and for me… that'll be refreshing. She works so hard, Henry. Like, ALL of the time. She hasn't taken a break since we got here. She works nonstop and her peers are so crappy to her. She EARNS their respect, but they refuse to give it. Meanwhile, I just show up to class and there's excitement in it. Everybody thinks that I'm working too hard and stressing out too much, but she's really the one doing all that and she's not even having a good time. You know how skilled she is. I caught her crying because one of her supervisors talked to her like she was an idiot for 15 minutes, in front of a group and even though she remained calm in front of everyone and explained clearly what her position was, several of them basically told her that she should have just shut her mouth and it would have been over sooner. She's so emotional all of the time, but can't show it, because she'll be criticised and ridiculed and all of her hard work would be discredited, in their eyes."

"None of those things even make sense!"

"Yeah, but that's her life! And, she's wanted to work for so long in this field and she tries to remain strong and still do her job, but honestly, to me, it seems like everyone tries to beat her down. I hate it. I'm gonna do whatever I have to do to get her to where she knows that IF she doesn't want to put up with that shit, she won't have to."

"The bad thing is that knowing Char, she'll keep it up, just to prove that everybody is wrong about her."

"Most likely. What I'm hoping for is that she accepts that no matter what you do, some people, you just won't get to acknowledge your greatness. Even I know that there's just no pleasing some people, and I have a fun sized brain!"

Henry laughed about this, but turned his attention to a vision board. "Dude, is this what I think it is?" Jasper glanced over. "Is this one of Charlotte's vision boards?"

"That's MY vision board that Charlotte helped me with. We started with my aptitude test results, feedback from professors and Charlotte's affirmations about me to try to concoct a five year plan for me. Of course, it's changed a little since the engagement and the major and the internship. But… It's actually changed for the better, so we're gonna revisit it senior year and probably make a new one based on the current trajectory."

"She turned you into a brain!" Henry teased, loving it.

"Hardly. I try to pay attention to things that will help me be better because I really can't stand the thought of failing her again, or ever, in any other way. You know? Well, I don't know if you know. You never even go on dates. Where are you at, romantically speaking, anyway?"

Henry squirmed nervously and tilted his head from side to side, "I just… You know, gotta focus on making Junk N Stuff into a more reasonable and sustainable cover, and getting better at my other job, you know? I don't have time for… any of that."

Jasper made a face, "Don't have time, my butt! Charlotte is studying for multiple degrees, works in a laboratory, is involved in extracurricular academic organizations and political efforts, and has an overgrown child to raise and two dogs!"

"You and Charlotte have a kid?" Henry joked, laughing uncomfortably.

"You… deserve to find somebody who's gonna share all the stuff that you have to do with you. Charlotte worries about you all of the time. That you'll wind up like Ray."

"Ray's awesome."

"I know! But, she thinks that he probably should have somebody other than work friends in his life, and I think you probably should too. Did you guys even ever replace us?"

"There was no need. Turns out that you didn't do much mandatory work and Schwoz can do everything that Charlotte can, and he does it right away, instead of arguing when it's a horrible idea." Jasper rolled his eyes. "I'm not looking for anybody and if something happens, cool. If not, oh well." Henry shrugged his shoulders. "Nobody NEEDS a relationship."

"No, nobody does. But, whenever I'm stressed out at the office, and I can call Char and hear her smiling through the phone, I know that everything that I have to put up with on my job is worth it and I get reenergized and motivated to do a better job than I did the day before. Or, when we've both been working so long that we haven't really seen each other or talked or anything, instead of coming together and boning it out like a lot of our friends do in their relationships and wind up doing it to a complete stranger that they've drifted away from, we plan Talk-N-Touch Dates…"

"What's a Talk-N-Touch Date?"

"It's when we catch each other up on stuff, and talk about what's going on all across the board in our lives and touch while we do, Not anything dirty, just holding hands, or playing in each others hair, or like her scratching my belly, me giving her a massage, whatever. Non sexual touch, so that our only time spent together in periods of hectic schedules isn't just pushing around those hormones and chemicals in the brain, but actually connecting. And AFTERWARDS, sex is AWESOME! It's the best that we ever have on those nights."

Henry was surprised, but happy that Jasper was finally willing to mention that type of intimacy between he and Charlotte to him. It made him feel like they truly were back, in full effect. Jasper added, "I'm not saying that you need somebody to have a Pimple Popping Party, a Period Pampering or Wash Day with, but IF you had somebody who'd get rid of your blackheads and back pimples, or someone to treat like a princess her whole period, or somebody you love enough to spend HOURS trying to help her get her hair cleaned and moisturized, those are some really good building blocks for the stuff that you'll face as spouses."

"Well, I'm surely not trying to be a spouse, but living vicariously through you is sufficient. We should go out and have drinks tonight. Char said she's off tomorrow."

"Yeah. That'll be cool. You'll get to see my Drinks for Gifts Hustle."

"I… You know what, instead of asking, I'll just wait to witness it."

.

This actually began before Charlotte turned 21, but now that she was and enjoyed having drinks to unwind after craziness in the lab or in class, it got elevated. It started with coeds with crushes and flirtatious lab associates trying to impress her. They'd pay for her coffee, or lunch, or saw something and thought about her and even though she'd let them know that they didn't need to do things like that and that she actually had a boyfriend who loved doing things for her, they didn't mind and probably figured that they'd get to be on the bench, if things went wrong between them. ESPECIALLY with their break up scare. Charlotte, an honest woman who talks to her boyfriend all the time always let him know whenever somebody did one of these things. Part of her wanted to see if he'd be jealous, but the other part didn't want it to be something that became an issue later, because she knew that she didn't too much like it when women did things to woo Jasper.

But, Jasper didn't respond to things the same way that Charlotte did. He didn't get jealous, like she did. He got proud. He was always delighted to find out about a new or a constant person who wanted what he had and just couldn't have it, because HE had her. But, he also didn't care too much for people always trying to do stuff to impress her. SO, what he did was estimated the cost of things. Like, if she said, "Farud got me a caramel macchiato with a doubleshot of expresso for our lab assignment. Saved. My. Life," He knew that meant about a $13 gift from Farud. Or "Cicely GAVE ME a bottle of vanilla body scrub from Scrubbies!" He knew that was about a $20 gift. He kept record of it in his documents, and at the end of the month, put the full amount into a Charlotte savings. Every now and then, he'd get her some kind of special treat, "just because," and know that at least in his mind, he'd outbought anybody trying to impress her with their trinkets here and there.

It became much more of a challenge/more fun when she began drinking, because Charlotte was HOT and now, she seemed to know it. So, he told her never to be ashamed to accept free drinks from anybody and that she could decide whether or not she even wanted to let someone know that she had a boyfriend. SO, she always drank for free and Jasper never "had to" buy her drinks, AND, he got to put aside the money that he would have spent on her drinks to buy her special and memorable things later.

"Wow! Did you come up with that idea by yourself?" Henry wondered, watching it happen.

"Uh, yeah. I wasn't gonna be outdone by Charlotte's non lovers."

"Jasper, that's a super great idea!"

"Yeah, I have great ones about 1 out of every 15. So, if I just keep pushing out ideas, the more likely that really good ones come out. This was WAY better than that Buckets o' Meat idea that I had."

Henry vaguely remembered Charlotte talking about Jasper wanting to have a food truck at which he'd cook and serve any meat that you wanted in buckets of various sizes. She'd asked him how much he'd charge for a bucket of steaks, just to see where he was mentally and he said, "I don't like 100 bucks maybe?" Which… She promptly told him that his idea was terrible and she wouldn't support it. By now, he was definitely more financially aware. He had this gift of appraisal that he discovered through his aptitude test and Charlotte encouraged him to practice honing. Turned out that somebody who could tell you the features of thousands of buckets over the years could assess materials, labor and workmanship with other products too. He'd always been a good salesman, as well… Well… He was good at speaking up the qualities of stuff and not focusing on the negatives of it. Henry gave him a hug at the bar and he looked confused. "We used to worry about you, but I think you've got a damn good handle on your life, Man. I'm proud of you."

"Awww, Henry!"

"I'm proud of her too, and of the two of you together. I SERIOUSLY thought there was no way that this would ever go this far."

"Awww. Henry…" The tone was less positive than last time and a little bit cautionary.

"Now, there's nothing that I support more. I'm really excited about your future together, with how well you two have done together thus far."

"AWWWWWWWWWWWWW! HENRYYYYYYYYY!" This one was the happiest and Jasper gave him another hug, then looked to see what Charlotte was ordering. "Hmmm…" He pulled out his phone to snap a photo. He wasn't sure what drink that was, but he'd find it and account for it.

.

Jasper was knocked out whenever Charlotte got up. She usually didn't get hungover, no matter how much she drank and Jasper didn't drink at all, but typically slept in whenever he could. She and Henry had plans today and Jasper would have to be at the firm in a few hours for his internship. She got up and went to wash up and get ready for wherever Henry was going to bring her today. Coming out of the bathroom, Jasper was awake, but barely sitting up, brushing his teeth with the morning breath kit that she had for him in the drawer of the stand on his side of her bed. "Morning F Sized!" She cheered.

He smiled, rinsed, spit, and sat up to receive her. "Morning. Is Henry on the way?"

She nodded. "You should be asleep."

"Yeah yeah," he said and kissed her.

Henry took Charlotte to a few places in her area that he'd already spoken to or looked on their websites for things related to the wedding. "I… Just really don't understand how or why you think that you don't have time for a relationship, when you find the time to do things like this. You could be focusing on a relationship with this time," Charlotte observed.

"I am focusing on a relationship. On the most important relationship of my life - mine with my two best friends, who happen to be getting married and it's literally the biggest deal."

She smiled. Okay. Well, where are we off to first?"

"Well, we can't do cake. Jasper made me promise that BOTH of you gotta be there for cake, since it's the only thing that you actually care about."

"That's not accurate…"

"So, since the thing you need to be concerned about is his ring, I looked up some and wanna how them to you in person. Also, I've got Jasper's finger size and head size."

"Whhhhhhhy do we need his head size, Henry?"

"Because I found something at one of these jewelry stores that's gonna blow your balls off when you see it and I think we HAVE to get it for him…"

"Blow my…" She sighed and followed him into the store. But, whenever Henry showed it to her, she knew that he was right. It was a crown. A yellow gold medieval looking thing that had red stones, clear crystals, and silver accents. "I can get that made with jasper stones, and clear calcite or quartz. I can make him a WEDDING CROWN?"

"He'd love that, right?"

"RIGHT! I was gonna get him a trophy, but this is even better." She gasped, long and hard, "What if I do BOTH?"

"I'm on team both!"

"Me too!" She was about to alert the jeweler, but then thought about it and said, "I wonder if Adanna can make one!" She began texting her and jumped up and down, "She can! What about the ring? Is there a ring here that you wanted me to look at?"

"No. That's a different store, but… the ring is just as perfect…"

"Take me to this perfect ring!" Charlotte said, the most excited that she had been about any of the wedding planning since the proposal. Henry really was… great at this. "You oughtta be a wedding planner, Dude." He laughed. "I mean, that's not something I think that guys normally do, but the way that you know flowers, and how easily it seems for you to find stuff for us."

"That's because it's you and Jasper, Dude… But… It has been fun."

"You could have a little office in the shop of what you're doing with Junk N'Stuff."

"Flowers and Wedding Gifts, with a consultation to see if you want a wedding planner…" Henry thought out loud. "I could help fit the ceremony to the couple's needs and also discount the flowers if I'm used for any other planning services. Might be able to expand it to be a bridal shop, someday, with an in home florist, because that's gonna be a part of the store, no matter WHAT I end up doing with the space."

"This is perfect! And whenever I have free time, I could design a few dresses and they could be in there, boutique style for those brides that want something a little different!"

"And if you get tired of those snooty science dudes treating you like crap, WE can go into the business together!" Henry cheered. She stopped smiling for a moment, then laughed it off.

"Maybe, Hen." She said and shrugged her shoulders, "Few years ago, I would've insisted that I wouldn't touch Jasper if the ghost of Carl Sagan told me that all the knowledge of the universe would be known if I did it. Just last year, I would have assured you that I'm not getting married, no matter how in love I fall. So… Hell, by the time I graduate and have broken my back to get where I wanna be, maybe I MIGHT just decide to make dresses in Swellview." She laughed again, and he joined in. It sounded even more ridiculous now that she had spelled it out. But, it was still pretty sweet to dream with your friends.