Disclaimer: Nothing in this story belongs to me!
A/n: A HUGE thanks to my one reviewer for the last chapter! I know I've said this before, but I love reviews and they inspire me to keep writing. They also help let me know if all this writing I'm doing is worthwhile. So please keep 'em coming!
"I should have known this wasn't going to be easy!" Mrs. Bucket thought as she sleepily rubbed her eyes and stepped out into the darkened Chocolate Room. It was a few weeks after the wedding planning session, and she, Ronnie and Sylvia were about to go on their shopping excursion. However, things had not gone entirely as planned. The original plan (which the three women had made right after the wedding planning session) had been for Ronnie and Mrs. Bucket to drive to Sylvia's house in Ronnie's car. After they picked up Sylvia, they would head out to the mall.
But then, just a few days before the date of the shopping trip, Ronnie's car broke down. So it was in the shop, and Ronnie and Mrs. Bucket were faced with quite a dilemma. Since it was nearly June, just a month before the wedding, they didn't want to postpone the shopping trip. The Buckets didn't own a car, though, and neither did Willy. Eventually, they decided that their only option would be to take the glass elevator. That presented another problem, though. If people saw a strange, flying contraption leaving Willy's factory, they would obviously have questions. And the fact that the chocolatier wouldn't be in it would just make it look even more suspicious.
In order to solve that problem, they had decided that they would leave Willy's factory in the early morning pre-dawn hours. Getting up at five in the morning wasn't exactly their idea of fun, but they had no other option. To avoid having to get up even earlier, Ronnie had slept over at the factory the night before. Mrs. Bucket figured she'd be arriving in the Chocolate Room at any minute. "No reason I can't make myself comfy while I wait," Mrs. Bucket thought.
She had just sat down on the swudge grass meadow when she was startled by what sounded like a soft moan. She quickly got up and started walking in the direction the moan had come from. She hadn't taken more than two steps when she heard more sounds. "Willy...chocholisius...amazing...feels good..." a voice mumbled. But not just any voice. "That sounds like Ronnie!" Mrs. Bucket thought as she quickened her pace.
Moments later, her suspicions were confirmed. There, curled up beside the Chocolate River, was Ronnie. She was sound asleep, and she was clutching a large lollipop in her arms. "Willy...keep doing...feels...so good." she mumbled. It was all Mrs. Bucket could do not to burst out laughing. Obviously Ronnie was dreaming, and her dreaming mind was clearly mistaking the lollipop she was holding with the man who made it!
Mrs. Bucket hated to wake Ronnie, but she knew it had to be done. She put her hand on the woman's shoulder and began to gently shake her. "Ronnie? Ronnie, it's time to wake up," she said gently. Ronnie reached up and stroked her face. "Oh...Willy..." she mumbled. "Ronnie, dear, you need to wake up," Mrs. Bucket said, a bit louder this time. Ronnie still didn't wake up, though. Instead, she stroked Mrs. Bucket's face some more and puckered up her lips as though in preparation for a kiss. Mrs. Bucket sighed. Obviously Ronnie was a very deep sleeper, and waking her was going to require a bit more effort. She shook Ronnie a bit more forcefully. "Ronnie, it's time to get going," she said as loudly as she dared.
Ronnie woke with a start. "AAUGH!" she shouted as her body jumped with surprise (making Mrs. Bucket very thankful that she hadn't fallen asleep any closer to the Chocolate River than she had!). "Sorry about that, Ronnie, but it was the only way to wake you up," Mrs. Bucket apologized. "It's all right, Mrs. Bucket. I woke up around four-thirty, so I decided to get dressed and come down here. I guess I must have fallen back asleep," she said.
"It looks like you were intending to have a bit of a snack, too," Mrs. Bucket said with a smile as she indicated the lollipop (she decided not to mention Ronnie's dream, since she knew Ronnie would be mortified if she knew what she had heard!). Ronnie grinned. "Yeah, I love the stuff in here. Willy told me to feel free to eat whatever I want in here...except him, of course!"
Mrs. Bucket laughed. "Because that would be called cannibalism, and that is in fact frowned upon in most societies," she said in a perfect imitation of Willy. "You've got him down perfectly!" Ronnie chuckled. "You're really weird!" Mrs. Bucket replied, imitating the chocolatier yet again. "We're probably lucky he can't hear us," Ronnie hooted as she pressed the button for the elevator. Then she remembered that it was only five in the morning and that everyone else in the factory was probably trying to sleep. "Speaking of hearing, though, we should probably quiet down a bit before we wake the entire factory," she said.
Mrs. Bucket nodded, but her mind wasn't really on what Ronnie had just said. Rather, her mind was on the elevator ride they were about to take. It wasn't her favorite mode of transportation, and while she had been on a few in-factory rides on it, she had never been on an out-of-the-factory ride on it. Knowing that this was going to be Ronnie's first time operating the contraption didn't exactly do much to calm her nerves, either.
"It's all right, Nora. I'm a little nervous, too. I feel a bit like a 16-year-old who's about to take her driving test. Willy gave me a quick lesson in how to drive this thing, of course, but driving it under his supervision and driving it alone are two completely different things," Ronnie said, noticing her companion's nervousness. "I'm sure you'll do fine, Ronnie," Mrs. Bucket said. "Thanks, Mrs. Bucket. I appreciate it," Ronnie said as she pressed the "Up and Out" button.
As the elevator rocketed upward, Ronnie and Mrs. Bucket looked at each other in anticipation. "We need to relax a little. This is going to be fun!" Ronnie said. Mrs. Bucket nodded absently. "I'll have fun just as soon as this contraption has landed safely," she thought. At that moment, Ronnie reached over and pressed another button in the elevator, and a panel in the roof above them opened up (it was a new system that Willy had come up with, since it didn't really make sense for the Oompa Loompas to have to repair the roof all the time!).
"I'm glad that at least the elevator doesn't have to crash through the roof anymore to get out of the factory. That part always scared me, and was one of the reasons I refused to go any rides out of the factory in this thing," Mrs. Bucket commented. "To be honest, I don't mind not having to crash through the roof, either. I'm glad Willy came up with this new system," Ronnie said.
Once the elevator was safely out of the factory, Ronnie hit the button to close the roof panel, followed by the buttons to turn on the "hover rockets" (as she called them). "You know, this isn't so bad," Mrs. Bucket said. Ronnie looked at her friend, knowing that she wasn't going to like what she was about to say. "I hate to tell you this, Nora, but that was the easy part," she said. Mrs. Bucket gulped. "I knew there was a catch," she groaned.
"Don't worry, Nora. Willy wouldn't have let me take the elevator if he had even the slightest worry that I'd crash it," Ronnie assured her. Then she turned her attention the the walls of buttons. "Now, let's see, the directional buttons are..." she muttered to herself. When she was sure she remembered which button did what, she started pressing them. Unfortunately, she had forgotten an important detail: that speed was controlled by how firmly you pressed the buttons.
Since Ronnie had pressed rather firmly on the buttons, the elevator accelerated rapidly. Soon everything below was almost a blur. Ronnie quickly pressed the buttons lightly to slow the elevator down. Then she looked over at Mrs. Bucket. Just as she had feared, her poor friend was barely managing to stay on her feet. She was also clutching her stomach, her face had a greenish tinge to it, and she had her eyes squeezed tightly closed. "I'm really sorry about that, Nora. I'd forgotten that pressing the buttons hard makes this thing go fast," Ronnie apologized.
All Mrs. Bucket could do was nod. She felt as if her stomach had jumped into her throat, and she knew that Willy would not be happy with her if she got sick all over his elevator! Luckily for her, the elevator slowed down rather quickly. The rest of the ride was a little bit better, as Ronnie gradually figured out the correct pressure to apply to the buttons for a normal speed. Even so, Mrs. Bucket still felt rather queasy by the time they arrived at Sylvia's!
Ronnie felt awful about what the elevator ride had done to Mrs. Bucket. "I probably should have asked Willy to give me a longer lesson," she thought as she dug around in her purse for something. "Don't worry, Ronnie, I'll be okay," Mrs. Bucket said. Ronnie grinned. "This should help," she said as she handed Mrs. Bucket a lollipop. It was labeled "Lollies for Queasy Tummies". "It's a new invention of Willy's, as you can probably guess. I know how you feel about the elevator and figured you might need one," Ronnie explained. Mrs. Bucket grinned back. "Thanks, Ronnie," she said as she unwrapped the lollipop and began to suck on it.
"Good morning! Ready for our adventure?" a cheerful voice called out suddenly. Ronnie and Mrs. Bucket had been so busy getting Mrs. Bucket's digestive system calmed down that they hadn't noticed that Sylvia had been standing on the back porch waiting for them (they had landed the elevator in the backyard amongst some trees and bushes to avoid it being spotted). Now she was walking toward them. "We already had a bit of an adventure just getting here," Mrs. Bucket replied, sucking vigorously on the lollipop.
"Operating the elevator proved to be a bit more difficult then I had anticipated," Ronnie explained. "Riding in that thing can be bad enough in the best situations, so I can only imagine how you must feel now," Sylvia said, remembering her own experience with the elevator. "Well, I wouldn't exactly call it enjoyable or relaxing, put it that way," Mrs. Bucket chuckled.
"Would you like to rest a bit before we head out?" Sylvia asked. "No, I think I'll be okay. Ronnie gave me one of Willy's newest inventions, 'Lollies for Queasy Tummies', and it's helping already. Still, it would probably be best if I skipped breakfast," Mrs. Bucket said. "In that case, I'm ready to go if you guys are," Sylvia said. Ronnie and Mrs. Bucket nodded that they were, so they all hopped into Sylvia's car and started for the mall (luckily, it was already seven and the mall opened a bit earlier than most!).
"So, how's the wedding prep going?" Sylvia asked. "Quite well. The service has been pretty much planned, and with the Oompa Loompas helping, we should have everything ready in no time," Mrs. Bucket replied. "I take it the Oompa Loompas are quite eager to help with the preparation," Sylvia said with a smile. Although she didn't know the Oompa Loompas that well (since she hadn't been to the factory very much), she had already grown quite fond of the impish little creatures.
Mrs. Bucket grinned back. "That's an understatement! They're so excited you'd think it was Christmas morning! Willy and Ronnie had to work to keep the minister from planning the entire service himself, and I don't think the chief and his wife have stopped dancing with excitement since Willy and Ronnie asked them to be Ring Bearer and Flower Lady," she chuckled.
"Charlie must be excited, too," Sylvia commented. "He is. At the same time, though, he and Willy are quite close. They're like brothers, really, and I think he's a bit nervous that the wedding may change the dynamics between them," Mrs. Bucket explained. Sylvia glanced at Ronnie, who was sitting up front with her and was being uncharacteristically quiet. One look at her daughter's face told her that Charlie wasn't the only one who was a bit nervous about the wedding.
"Ronnie, you're a bit nervous about the wedding, too, aren't you?" Sylvia asked gently. Ronnie nodded. "That's perfectly natural. Getting married is a big, life-changing event after all. You should have seen me right before I married your father!" Sylvia said soothingly. "You were nervous about marrying dad?" Ronnie asked incredulously. "I was a wreck. I was happy and excited, of course, but at the same time I was very nervous. Basically, I was an emotional mess," Sylvia replied. "You? An emotional mess? But you're always so strong!" Ronnie exclaimed.
Sylvia looked at her daughter, a sadness showing in her blue eyes. "I'm glad you think of me that way. But believe me, there are times when I have barely had the strength to make myself get out of bed, let alone do anything else," she said softly. Mrs. Bucket knew exactly what Sylvia was referring to, and she felt a tugging at her heart. Sylvia Wells may have been a very cheerful, up-beat woman on the outside, but Mrs. Bucket sensed there was a lot of sadness buried within her heart. Obviously she had always tried to keep it well hidden for her daughter's sake, which was why Ronnie thought she was so strong.
Mrs. Bucket reached out and gave Sylvia's shoulder a friendly squeeze. "We all have our moments. What's important is knowing that when you DO have those moments, you aren't alone," she said. Sylvia turned ever so slightly (so that she could still keep her eyes on the road) and smiled at her. She knew that was Mrs. Bucket's way of telling her that she understood the deeper meaning behind her words and was offering support. "Thank you," she said.
Much to the trio's relief, they arrived at the mall before things had a chance to get any more depressing! After parking the car and going inside, they headed straight for a mall directory. "We definitely don't want to look at dresses first, do we?" Sylvia teased her daughter. Ronnie playfully bopped her on the shoulder. "Mom! You know darn well that I'm eager to get my dress picked out!" she giggled. Sylvia's eyes twinkled mischievously. "Really? I had no idea!" she joked as she ran her finger down the list of specialty shops. "Ah, here we are. Sadie's Bridal Boutique. It's on the first floor," Sylvia said (they, of course, had come in through a second-floor entrance). Then, glancing at Mrs. Bucket, she smiled and added, "I think we'll take the escalator".
It didn't take them long to reach the bridal shop. "How am I ever going to be able to chose a dress?" Ronnie asked as she looked around at all the possibilities. "I know it seems overwhelming right now, but we'll find something," Sylvia assured her. The three women spent the next several minutes trying on dresses, with Ronnie feeling more and more discouraged with each dress she tried.
By the time they had finished trying on dresses, both Sylvia and Mrs. Bucket had found theirs. Mrs. Bucket had chosen a chocolate brown dress (which they all agreed was perfect, considering the fact that Ronnie was marrying the world's most famous chocolatier!), while the dress Sylvia had chosen was blue. Ronnie, however, had not been able to decide. She hadn't really liked any of the dresses she had tried on. They had all been white, of course, and although white is supposed to go with just about everything, she wasn't sure she liked how the color looked on her. "Oh, who am I kidding? The white dress thing just isn't me!" she thought.
As if she had read her daughter's mind, Sylvia suddenly said, "You know, Ronnie, there's no law that states that a wedding dress HAS to be white. If that's not your thing, then it's not your thing, and that's fine". Ronnie smiled gratefully at her. "You're right, it's not my thing, and I don't know why I thought I had to stay traditional," she said. So they headed back out of the fitting room to look at dresses once more.
Now, instead of trying to find a white dress she could live with, Ronnie simply looked for a dress that would "speak" to her. She expected another long search, but to her surprise, a dress "spoke" to her almost immediately. It was a light lavender, and the material felt wonderfully soft. "I kind of like this one," Ronnie said as she took it off the rack. "Well, then, try it on!" Sylvia urged. They headed back to the fitting room, and Ronnie ducked into a stall and slipped into the dress. She smiled as the soft, smooth material fell against her skin.
"Well, what do you think?" Ronnie asked as she stepped out of the stall to show Sylvia and Mrs. Bucket what the dress looked like on her. "Lavender is definitely your color. The dress suits you," Mrs. Bucket said. Sylvia looked at Ronnie, tears of happiness glistening in her eyes. "You look...Ronnie, you look absolutely beautiful. It's as if that dress was made just for you. It's wonderfully unique, and I wouldn't expect anything less from my baby girl," she said. Ronnie knew then that it was time to ask her mom about the one wedding thing that still remained unplanned.
"Mom, you know how James started to say the other day that a bride is usually walked down the aisle by her father?" Ronnie inquired (Mr. Bucket had told her that if she was going to call Mrs. Bucket Nora, then she needed to call him James). Sylvia nodded. "Well, obviously that won't work for me. But there IS somebody whom I'd love to walk me down the aisle. Somebody who has had to be both mother and father to me, and who has been there for me every step of the way, somebody whom, if she agrees, will be representing my father as well as herself," she said. Then she looked Sylvia directly in the eye and asked, "Mom, will you please walk me down the aisle?"
The tears in Sylvia's eyes spilled over onto her cheeks, and she felt a lump rising in her throat. Since she didn't feel like she could trust her voice, she nodded. Then she leaned over and embraced her daughter. Mrs. Bucket, knowing they'd probably like some privacy, gently directed them into a stall. Mother and daughter just stood there for awhile, embracing each other and crying (it hadn't taken very long for Ronnie's emotions to overtake her as well). Finally, Sylvia managed to find her voice. "Ronnie, nothing would make me happier than to walk you down the aisle. I am honored that you asked me," she said.
As soon as Sylvia and Ronnie managed to get themselves back together, they rejoined Mrs. Bucket and the three of them payed for their purchases (including a veil they had found to go with Ronnie's dress). Then they ducked into a shoe store and bought some shoes to go with their dresses. Their next stop was a bath and body shop. "A wedding is a very important occasion, after all, so I think we deserve to go all out," Sylvia said. They picked up a home manicure/pedicure kit, some face mask cream, and a few other things.
After grabbing lunch at the mall's food court, they headed to a nearby florist's and picked out flowers for the bouquets and for decorating the Chocolate Room. This wasn't a very easy task, since Ronnie and Mrs. Bucket each wanted a different mixture of flowers for her bouquet. Naturally, though, getting separate types of flowers for each bouquet didn't exactly make much sense. It would be much easier to get the same mixture for both (with perhaps a few extra flower types for Ronnie's).
Just when they thought they were about to go crazy (not to mention drive the poor florist who was trying to help them crazy!), Sylvia thought up a creative compromise. Each woman would get to choose one of the types of flowers for her bouquet. The rest would be for both bouquets, and since Ronnie was the one getting married, she would get to pick them.
Once they got the flowers chosen, Sylvia gave the florist her address and asked for the bouquets to be delivered there once they were ready (obviously having them delivered to the factory was out of the question, since the florist would wonder why in the world they wanted their bouquets delivered to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory, and that was, of course, a question that they weren't willing to answer!).
They spent the rest of the afternoon poking around various stores and just having fun. Then, finally, it was time to head to supper. Sylvia had made five o' clock reservations for them at a seafood restaurant called Tentacles, Fins 'n More (she had, of course, checked with Ronnie beforehand to make sure Mrs. Bucket liked seafood, and more importantly, that she wasn't allergic to it!). "Well, I think we successfully accomplished our mission," Mrs. Bucket said as they waited for their food to come. I think s..." Ronnie trailed off as she realized that she'd forgotten something important. "Actually, not quite. I forgot about something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue," she said.
"Don't worry, that shouldn't be too hard to figure out. We've got something new covered at least, since your dress is new, and I'd be happy to loan you a pair of earrings or something, which would take care of something borrowed," said Mrs. Bucket. "Now, as for something old, I can take care of that," Sylvia said. "What do you have in mind?" Ronnie asked. Sylvia just smiled. "You'll see," she said. "So that jut leaves something blue," Mrs. Bucket said. "Well, now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure I've got some blue underwear," Ronnie said. Unfortunately, the waiter picked that moment to arrive with their food.
Ronnie blushed crimson. "I'd like to crawl under this table and die!" she thought. "Don't worry, I don't think he heard you. And even if he did, I'm sure he's heard worse," Sylvia assured her daughter as the waiter left. Ronnie just shook her head as she dug into her oysters. "You know, that's an interesting meal to order when you're about to get married, seeing as how oysters have long been seen as a fertility booster and all," Sylvia chuckled, indicating her daughter's meal.
She had meant to cheer Ronnie up, but to her surprise, she looked horrified instead. "Mother!" she hissed. Then Sylvia realized just what she had unintentionally implied, and it was her turn to want to crawl under the table and die. "Great, Sylvia, just great! Open mouth, insert foot!" she thought. She was barely able to make herself look her daughter in the eye. "I...I was just joking around, honest! I didn't mean to imply...oh, that couldn't possibly have come out any worse, could it?" she stammered.
"It's okay, mom. I'm not mad or anything. A little embarrassed, but not mad," Ronnie assured her. Mrs. Bucket, meanwhile, was beginning to resemble a tomato from trying to hold in her laughter. "Excuse me," she choked out as she ran for the ladies' room. "Boy, some mother I am! Instead of cheering my daughter up, I embarrass her even further!" Sylvia groaned. "Mom, really, it's okay. It's just one of those awkward situations," Ronnie said. "You can say that again! I can't believe I did that!" Sylvia mumbled. "Here, mom, have an oyster," Ronnie said, holding up one of the aforementioned mollusks.
That did it. Sylvia burst out laughing, and Ronnie joined her. "There may have been some awkward moments, but I'm glad you suggested this trip, mom," Ronnie said. Sylvie smiled at her daughter. "Me, too," she said.
A/n: Did you enjoy this slightly longer chapter? I sure hope so, because the next one will probably be even longer! And that's because the next chapter is...
Chapter 20 Preview: It's wedding time!