A/N: Sorry for the late update I was in the hospital! Also I would like to mention that what Freed mentions in the story concerning wine is NOT real facts, if you would like to know how real ice wine is made please go to topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/ice-wine where they have many great articles concerning Ice wine. I will repost this link at the end of the chapter.

Chapter 20: Let's go on a date?

When Lucy woke up that morning it was to the smell of freshly brewed coffee and bacon, her first thought going to her kind maid spirit. She roused herself and stretched looking over expecting to find Freed, but he wasn't there. 'Must already be up.' She threw her legs over the side of the bed and walked lazily over too the bathroom and was about to open the door when she saw a little white folded piece of paper on the dresser. The picked it up and read it:

"My love,

Wear something cool yet refined, I think it's time for our first real date and I don't want you to feel out of place. I'll be waiting downstairs with some coffee and a snack.

-Freed"

She read the note a couple of times, he was taking her out on a date! She hurried through her normal routine and was on her way to her closet when Virgo popped out and handed her some clothes and accessories.

"I think you will find these will match the occasion perfectly Princess. If not feel free to punish me."

"No punishments, thank you Virgo."

With that the spirit bowed and left, Lucy looked at what her spirit had brought her. The dress had the same cut of the famous white one Marylyn Monroe wore, however instead of white it was a pattern that looked like the sky in Vincent Van Goh's painting 'The Starry Night' in deep reds, golds, and silvers. It would be normally out of Lucy's color scheme, but she had to admit the dress was gorgeous. The maid spirit had also given her a pair of low-heeled gold dress sandals, a red and gold headband, and a pair of simple gold drop earrings to finish the look. She decided to do her make-up in with gold eyeshadow and a light red lip gloss, so it was over powering but still matched the colors. She took one last look in the mirror and smiled before heading downstairs to get herself a cup of coffee.

When Freed laid his eyes on her he almost dropped his cup of coffee, she looked gorgeous. The gold tones in the dress bringing out her hair while the reds emphasized her eyes. A light smile grazed his lips when she sat down.

"You look amazing Lucy."

Lucy smiled and took a sip of her coffee. Her eyes filled with excitement and joy. The two finished their coffee in relative quiet, but over the past few months they had both come to get used to this little ritual of theirs. It was the calm before the storm, and that claim held true every time. Once they were both done with their coffee Freed stood up and offered his hand to Lucy, which she took, and led her to the door. Her voice was bright and bubbly when she spoke.

"So Freed, where are you taking me I'm really excited!"

"It would ruin the surprise if I told you."

"True."

The pair walked through the streets of Magnolia towards the edge of town, the streets already bustling with life at the mid-morning hour. Slowly the town began to fade as nature began to take over the view. A few minutes later the path slit in three direction and the couple went to the left, a shrubbery wall with an archway entrance blocking their path after a few yards. Lucy looked at the entrance with awe as the couple entered a garden brunch café, several well-dressed individuals surrounding them. A waitress in a maid uniform with a flower crown approached them.

"Reservation or garden seating?"

Freed smiled at the waitress and handed her some sort of golden flower with their family name printed on it.

"Foudre private seating area please."

"Welcome back to the hidden garden Mr. Foudre. This way."

Lucy and Freed followed the waitress to a private seating area in the back of the garden, when they walked under the little arch that led them to the table Lucy gasped. It was probably one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen. There was A table set for to with an enchanted rose centerpiece, but that wasn't what was special about the area. No what was special about the area was the sparking area surrounding the table before the rose bushes of various colors, and the enchantment one area that made the sky look the sun was setting.

After they took their seats the waitress brought them white wine and water as well as bread and salad. Then she handed them each a menu and bowed taking her leave. Freed and Lucy sat and lightly snacked on their salads as they sipped their wine and conversed and looked over their menus, fully enjoying the calm atmosphere. Once their salads were gone the waitress was right there to clear the plates and ask their order. Freed was the perfect gentleman allowing Lucy to go first.

"I'll have the roasted rosemary chicken salad."

"Yes ma'am, would you like to pair that with our famous lemon drop soup?

"Yes please."

"Yes ma'am. What is your order sir?"

"I'll have the wine simmered roast beef sandwich with sautéed mushrooms."

"Yes sir. Would you both like the accompanying wine with that?"

They both just nodded, and the waitress left. Lucy smiled and took a light sip of her wine and looked at the lazy river surrounding them.

"This really is a beautiful place Freed. How did you find it?"

"Actually, my mother and father found it, when they met. This is where they met. She was a waitress here. Three years later my father proposed to her here. While they were dating he bought this, and he's kept it ever since."

"That's so, romantic. So, your mother isn't nobility?"

"No, she isn't it caused a little bit of an uproar with the other noble houses, but as father said when he met you were a very well-established house and we can bend the rules as we please. Grandfather was more concerned with father being happy."

"They are a really great couple too, I love them both so much and so does Mika. Your siblings too!"

"Yes, my family is filled with light hearted people. I'm just happy you joined it. You are the most light filled of them all."

The both smiled and sipped their wine, lightly chatting. Laughter filling their cozy environment every now and then. After about twenty minutes their food came. The waitress set Lucy's chicken down and it looked gorgeous. The chicken was set with a white rose rosemary sauce garnish to the side of the chicken. The stuffed peppers were elegantly laid on a bed of lily pedals, and the green beans were in a daisy bowl. The waitress poured her a white wine and then started to serve Freed. Freed's roast beef was served with a read rose and red wine sauce garnish. His sautéed mushrooms were served in a tulip bowl, while the mixed vegetables were served in an iris bowl. The waitress poured him a glass of dry red wine, then bowed and left to allow the couple to eat.

The rest of their meal was eaten in a comfortable silence. The atmosphere calm and comforting, serene even. Once their meal was complete the waitress cleared their plates from the table and placed what looked like a delicate white rose in a pool of water in front of them. If you looked very closely, and I do mean very closely, one would notice almost microscopic strawberry shavings in the rose. The waitress poured them each a very small glass of wine in a frosted glass.

"For dessert we have the house special, a strawberry and white chocolate rose in crystalized sugar sauce. The dessert is accompanied with by a sweet ice wine."

The waitress left the couple with a slight bow and went to tend to her other duties. Freed smiled and pointed to the dessert with his fork.

"This is why we are here. It's the only dessert they serve, hence why we didn't get a menu. But for a good reason. Some people have passed out on a taste."

"Oh, well I can't wait to try it then."

Freed watched her intently as she took a small taste, her eyes widening as the taste of strawberry melded with the white chocolate and crystalized sugar into a perfect combination. A moan left her lips like they were in the bedroom and Freed chuckled, knowing the feeling himself from the first time he tasted it as a child. This dessert was the cornerstone of the restaurant. It was why the restaurant was a 'hidden' garden and had a wait list of six months or longer for a single table. That is unless you were smart and rich enough to pay for private seating.

"Oh, my this is amazing. That's the only word I can think of."

"I'm glad you like it. They take frozen strawberries and shave them up into very fine shavings then mix it with white chocolate before molding it into the rose and plating it. I was allowed watch them make it one time after years of begging. I don't know the proportions or recipe, but it was amazing to watch how masterfully they worked, and how precise they did every step."

"The effort is defiantly not wasted. I could eat this every day for the rest of my life."

"Try it with a sip of the wine, it's a whole new flavor."

Lucy did what she was told and once again she was blown away. The wine was sweet yet mellow, not overpowering to the dessert. Rather it complemented it as if it was a dessert itself. The dish commanded its eater to take their time and savor every bite, terror of its end being something that truly at the end of every bite. Freed's smooth voice rang through her ears again, his hint of amusement still there.

"They paired the dish with ice wine, a staple of many desserts as you know. However, this wine is special. Many grapes for ice wine are picked at the end of a frost to make their sweetness very overpowering and prominent. This wine's grapes are picked mid frost to ensure a milder taste that doesn't outshine the dish. They have it made especially for this restaurant."

"Amazing, how do you know all this?"

"I've been coming here for years, I tend to ask questions. Especially to the owner."

Lucy looked down at her plate and suddenly realized that her wonderful dessert was gone. She frowned slightly but then realized that if there was and endless supply of it then the magic would be gone. At some point Freed had also eaten his, so the waitress came and cleaned their plates from the table and gave them each a cup of rose petal tea.

"Sir ma'am compliments from the owner. She sends her apologies that she is unable to meet you Mrs. Foudre and hopes you will come and visit us again soon. I hope the rest of your day is filled with bright skies, thank you for visiting the hidden garden."

The waitress bowed and left them to drink their tea, it now reaching well past one in the afternoon. Lucy couldn't believe how much time had flown by, but she wouldn't change it for anything in the world. The experience in this amazing place was so different from where her parents had taken her as a child. It was so much more, refined. Their waitress was so much more dignified and on top of things, the atmosphere was astounding, and on top of everything else the food was amazing. Freed and Lucy were just about to get up, their tea finished when she realized something.

"Wait Freed, the bill!"

"Oh, don't worry about that Lucy. Everything will be wired directly to the family's accounts. Its part of the perks of having private seating. The wait staff we have is always one of three people as well, so their compensation is also predetermined at thirty percent."

"Oh. Well that's convenient."

"Very much so. I think its about time we go get our wonderful daughter don't you think?"

"Yes, I do. I had an amazing time, but I have a feeling she might be getting more than just a slice of cake right about now."

"Try the entire cake."

A/N: Once again that link I mentioned is: topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/ice-wine