Ella picked up her cup and took a sip. She and Yannis were sitting and going through the diary and looking at commitments for the next few months and beyond that. She was lucky in that she was able to pick and choose her assignments.
"One more thing Yannis."
"Yes?" he said raising an eyebrow at her.
"My stepdaughter is getting married." She began.
"And you need a photographer?" Yannis guessed.
"Yup." She smiled. "Do you fancy it?"
"I do." He said and they looked at each other and laughed.
She wrote down the date, time and location for him and he tucked it in his own organiser.
"Now your last chance. You are happy if I use the studio to do some work aren't you?" Yannis asked her.
"Yes I am. " she nodded. "I would be offended if you went anywhere else you know that!" she told him. "Now I'm going to take my husband sightseeing."
She placed a quick kiss on his cheek and left him to finish up while she went upstairs to find Roman.
"Hey!" she called.
He turned around at the sound of her voice.
"Hey. All finished?" he asked.
"Yes and he is happy to do the photography for the wedding." She told him with a smile.
She walked over to him and kissed him slowly on his lips.
"Very nice." He told her. "Almost makes up for falling asleep on me last night."
"Uh huh. Perhaps I needed my rest!" she said.
He handed her a piece of toast and she bit it and chewed slowly.
"Thank you." She smiled at him.
He reached out his hand and she walked around the kitchen counter to move into his arms.
"Are you feeling ok?" he asked her. "You've slept a lot and I heard you again this morning."
"I know I wasn't too well this morning." Ella said with a shrug.
"That's one word for it." he said and she rested her cheek on him and felt his arms give her a squeeze.
"I want to take you around the city." She told him.
"Well how about you save it until the weekend and take us and the girls around." He suggested.
"Uh huh. Are you trying to get me to rest today?" she asked.
"Yes please." He said.
"I need to go see Harry at least." She said. "I told Nic that I would sort out the caterer and Harry is the best person to talk to about it."
"We will go later." He agreed.
She lifted her face and he took the hint and kissed her.
"I love you." She told him.
"That's good because I happen to love you too." He told her.
She caught hold of his hand and led him over to the sofa.
"What are you plotting?" he asked her.
"Nothing sinister." She told him, grinning.
She pushed him back and he sat slowly on the sofa and then she climbed on his lap straddling him. His arms went around her automatically and he kissed her.
"I think I like this." He told her with a grin.
She laughed huskily.
"I'm sure you do." She tugged up his T-shirt and pulled it over his head.
She stroked his arms and chest and continued to kiss him deeply. He tried to stroke her in turn but she pulled away.
"Nope." she told him laughing.
She moved his hands and placed them on her waist.
She continued with her gentle massage of his chest, before she stood up.
"Lay down" she ordered. "On your front." She added, when she saw his eyebrows lift.
He did so and she once again straddled him, across his prone form. She let her hands glide over his back rubbing his muscles.
"I know I like this." He almost purred.
"Uh huh." She told him.
She lowered her head and pressed gentle kisses down his spine.
"I definitely like this." He told her.
Her tongue slipped between her lips and she let it glide up his spine. She pressed her kisses to the side of his neck and blew softly on a special spot in the way she knew he liked.
"You are not playing fair." He said. "I so need to touch you." He moaned.
She laughed.
"No. This is my time to play." She whispered.
He chuckled.
"I'm liking this." He said.
Nic stepped into the florists and looked around. She looked down and saw that the floor could do with a clean and resolved to stop doing that everywhere she went. Ruby and Annie had taken it upon themselves to remove all the cleaning products from the house and the vacuum too. Geoff had woken her at 6am and made her go for a run. Technically though fast walk would be a more accurate description. He'd also promised her a designer handbag if she went to gym with him later and she was tempted.
"Hello, you must be Nicole." A voice cut through her daydream.
She looked up and saw a plump woman with her hair in a bun.
"Hello, yes I am." Nic confirmed.
The woman shook her hand and said.
"I'm Laura Windsor, Pastor Frank's wife. It is nice to meet you."
Nic smiled.
"Good to meet you. I've spoken to Pastor Frank a couple of times." Nic said feeling awkward.
"I know. It's ok Nicole this isn't some kind of test. I run this shop and do most of the flowers for the church that's why he sent you here." She told her.
Nic sighed.
"Sorry I'm just really tense and nervous. The wedding is 4 weeks away and I have so much to do. I thought I had a handle on it but well things seem to have run away with me. " Nic babbled. "My mum was helping me but she's just found out she's having a baby and so my dad has taken her away for a rest and I can't do this."
In her confused state she didn't even realise she had referred to Ella as her mother.
"What is the most important thing?" she was asked.
"Geoff." Nic answered back immediately without thinking about it.
"Well then everything will fall into place." She was told.
Laura placed a comforting hand on her arm and led her through to the back room where she had a patio table set with a tea tray on it.
"I tend to find my brides can be a little tense so I bring them here and give them a nice cup of tea before we get started talking about flowers." Laura told her.
Nic laughed.
"I'm not a little tense." She replied. "I'm a lot tense."
Laura poured the tea and handed Nic a cup. Nic found herself pulling out a tissue and wiping the rim of the saucer with it. She glanced up and saw Laura's knowing smile.
"Ok, so I've become a little wired too." Nic said. "They kept trying to calm me down with Tea but I think the caffeine is making it worse." She sighed. "And I never clean."
Laura laughed.
"I thought I saw you inspecting my floor when you came in." she said to her.
Nic flushed guiltily.
Laura reached over and patted her hand.
"It's quite alright. We clean every night because during the day flowers get delivered and the floor becomes a mess." Laura explained.
"Oh you…" Nic began.
She laughed feeling suddenly less tense.
"Thank you for helping." She told Laura. "I hope I can do that when Geoff becomes a pastor."
"You'll be fine. Geoff has told us all about you." Laura said. "And the fact that you have made it through some horrifying things and always come back together shows how strong your relationship is."
Nic blushed then giggled.
"Yeah we have kinda been through a lot." Nic confirmed.
"And you've supported his faith and encouraged it despite having none of your own." Laura said.
"Oh." Nic said huskily before she blushed again and tried to think of something to say.
Laura laughed at the expression on her face.
"Don't worry Nicole." She told her.
"But is it wrong? To be a pastor's wife and not believe in God?" she asked, realising this had been on her mind for a long time. She didn't realise that she had been worrying that her Princess like ways would hold him back.
"Well I've done it for 17 years." She was told.
Nic's head snapped up at the comment.
"Seriously?" she asked.
"Oh yes, I'm a hippie. Vegetarian. Make my own clothes. Tie Dye. Love beads. Hippie." Laura told her. "At one point I had my own kiln and insisted that all the plates we used I made myself. Luckily that didn't last long. I hated the clay under my fingernails."
Nicole laughed.
"Seriously. Oh my god." She said and then clapped a hand over her mouth.
Laura looked at her for a moment before they both burst out laughing.
"Finally Frank says to me. The only thing you like doing are your flowers so go sort out a shop and get doing them." Laura explained when they had sobered. "So here I am."
Nic reached into her bag and pulled out a white envelope. She opened the envelope and then the tissue paper inside it.
Laura looked over at the pressed flower.
"I want some of these in my bouquet." Nic said softly.
Laura reached for the tissue and took a look at the flower.
"That's a blue Dampiera." She looked up at Nic. "Not usually found around this area."
Nic smiled.
"He picked it for me when he proposed. So I want this as my something blue." She explained.
"What a lovely thought. I will do my best." Laura promised. "Have you had any thought what you want the bouquet to look like?" she asked.
"My dress is a fairytale dress so I want something magical. I was thinking some baby's breath, which I know is totally 80's, but I like it. And I'm going for gold as a theme. So in the bridesmaids arrangements I was thinking using gold ribbon." Nic pulled out her organiser and showed a number of arrangements she had taken out of the various bridal magazines.
Laura stood and picked up her album.
"These are the flowers in the church. As you know there are two weddings before yours and they are going with this theme." she pointed out.
Nic looked at the arrangements.
"Will there be time to add something to them?" she looked over to the other woman.
"Yes. What did you have in mind?" Laura said.
"Well how about tall gold candles in the centre and remove the white ribbon and add some gold ribbon instead. If we pick up one of the flowers from that arrangement for the men's buttonholes it will tie in both the theme and the flowers." Nic mused.
"I like that idea." Laura said to her nodding.
"I'm going to the city tomorrow it will be easier if I pick up the ribbon because I will be getting the material for the bridesmaid dresses at the same time and I can match it up."
Nic quickly wrote ribbon on her list.
"Will you be wanting headpieces?" she was asked.
Nic shrugged.
"At the moment until I get the material I really don't know." Nic told her. "I'm having a very expensive tiara" Nic grinned.
The other woman looked over at her.
"Oh, and I'm having my kinda niece and nephew as part of it so I might need a basket of rose petals for Amy-belle to throw about." Nic added after looking at the list again.
"Well how about we go for creamy white ones and I add some glitter to them. And maybe some golden confetti shapes." Laura suggested.
"Wonderful." Nic said with a sigh. "Thank you Laura. This has been good."
Laura looked over at the girl.
"The broom and mop bucket are over there if you really need to do the floor." Laura told her.
Nic laughed.
"Was I so obvious?" she asked.
"No of course not, aside from the 50 million glances at the floor and the 5 millions sighs." Laura laughed at the expression crossing Nicole's face.
"I'm sorry Laura but I really do have to clean your floor. I bet I'm one bride you are never going to forget." Nic sighed and walked over to collect the broom and started sweeping.
"Nicole I'm sure that you and I are going to be friends!" Laura said. "I hate cleaning."
Nic sighed again.
"Me too, but I seem to be getting better at it these days."
"Ok how long was I asleep?" Roman asked.
"An hour or so." She told him grinning. She blew on his neck again and snuggled closer.
He sighed.
"Don't worry I won't tell anyone." She grinned some more.
"Tell anyone what?" he asked grumpily.
"That you fell asleep during a sensual massage just when I'd decide to put you out of your misery and have sex with you."
He tugged her even closer and pressed a kiss on her lips.
"It was sensual relaxing massage." He grouched, emphasising the relaxing part of the statement.
"I guess you aren't 26 anymore." She said with a sigh.
"No I'm not." He told her. "I've learnt a few things since then."
He slid his hand up her vest top and started caressing her back.
"I thought you wanted me to rest?" she asked him.
"Yeah I'm thinking you should probably go to bed." He grinned.
She pulled away and eased off the sofa. She picked up his T shirt from where she'd tossed it earlier and handed it to him.
"Come on we are going out before you get any ideas." She told him.
He sat up and rubbed his hand over his face before pulling on the T shirt.
"I've already got lots of ideas." He told her standing up. "Would you like to hear some?" he asked.
"No!" she exclaimed. "Well at least not right now I'm hungry and we need to get some fresh air inside of us." She amended.
He laughed and pulled her to him for a long kiss.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
She smiled and reached out to caress him slowly and teasingly.
"Quite sure." She murmured stepping away from him and picking up her bag and heading toward the door.
"Ella!" he roared chasing after her.
She laughed and ran down the stairs.
He caught up with her by the bottom door.
"Hey you. Don't run on the stairs." He told her catching hold of her hand.
She grinned.
"I thought I would get a warning before you went into over protective." She told him.
He smiled and kissed her.
"Sorry." He muttered.
"Uh huh." She said. "Come on lets go grab something to eat in Harry's then we'll have a look and find something to do this afternoon."
She caught his look.
"That doesn't involve a bed."
She caught his look again.
"Fine, which doesn't involve a bed or sex or petting or….." she ran out of descriptors.
"Really, I bet I can still find something!" he told her.
She blushed a fiery red colour.
"I know." She said to him. "Why do you think I married you?" she asked grinning.
"You are so going to pay for being cheeky!" he warned.
She tugged the door closed and locked it
They walked slowly to Harry's.
"Elizabeth. Two visits in one week?" Harry said as soon as he saw her.
"Is that unusual?" Roman asked the other man.
"That it is so few, yes!" Harry grinned at them.
Roman laughed and watched as she blushed again.
"Harry we so need to talk." Ella told him, her grinning back spoiled trying to go for a stern tone of voice.
"Sure thing. What would you like to eat first?" he asked.
"I'm not sure I need to look at a menu." She said and realised that was a first. Normally she adored one of his pasta dishes with lots of cream and garlic, but thinking about that made her feel slight queasy.
She grinned and patted her stomach.
Roman looked over at her and saw this smile on her face he didn't think he'd seen before.
She looked at him her mouth open.
Reaching quickly for his hand she pressed it on her belly. He felt a slight movement against his fingers, almost a ripple.
"Isn't it too early?" he asked.
She shook her head unable to speak.
He smiled at her.
"Wow." He said eventually, pulling her into his arms for a very public display of affection. He led them away to a table at the back. Ignoring the spattering of applause from the other customers.
"That's our baby." She said to him, her eyes sparkling as they sat down.
He looked at her and said.
"Wow."
She grinned.
"I hope that is not a name choice you are trying out." She grinned even wider.
"I like traditional names." He admitted. "After being saddled with Roman I don't want my kid bullied because of his name!" he murmured.
She raised her eyebrows at him.
"You want a boy?" she asked.
He grinned.
"I really don't care as long as you and the baby are ok." he said softly. "Girls are pretty fantastic and they even let them join the army now if she wanted to follow in my footsteps." He laughed at her expression.
"Or learn to cook?" he suggested the alternative.
She glowered at him.
"Maybe my daughter will take after me." She muttered,
"Well that rules out the cooking." Roman said laughing as her hand connected with his ribs.
He put his arm around her and pulled her closer.
"I really do not care what our son or daughter does as long as they are happy." He told her and pressed another kiss to her lips.
She smiled.
"I like Grant for a boy and Laurel for a girl." She told him.
"Grant?" he questioned trying the name out. "Grant Harris"
She shook her head.
"Grant Miles Harris." She told him. "And Laurel Nicole Harris for a girl."
"So while you've been telling me to take each day as it comes and putting an embargo on buying baby things you've been thinking of names?" he asked.
She nodded.
He looked at her.
"Daniel and Natasha." He confessed. "But I like the idea of Miles as a middle name."
She laughed.
"See you are as bad as me!" she kissed him. "Daniel Miles Harris." She tried it out and nodded.
"But not Natasha?" he asked.
"No it'll be abbreviated" she told him "and I went to school with a Natasha. She wasn't very nice. I like Freya." She said to him.
"Freya Nicole Harris." He murmured. "Are you sure about the Nicole bit?" he asked.
She nodded.
"I want my baby to have a connection and know where she or he comes from."
Roman kissed her again.
Harry walked over by their table.
"Are you planning to be in here all afternoon because if so I think I could sell tickets." He told them.
A hint of colour ran across Roman's cheeks.
Harry put a coffee in front of Roman and a large glass of banana milkshake in front of Ella.
She took a long drink.
"Perfect." She told him.
Harry sat opposite them.
"What did you want to ask me?" he said.
She looked at him.
"Our daughter Nicole is getting married and we need a caterer. I was wondering if one of your students would like to do it?" Ella asked, referring to the trainee chefs that Harry worked with.
Harry raised his eyebrows.
"That's funny because you only confirmed you were pregnant a couple of days ago."
Ella laughed and blushed.
"I mean my stepdaughter." She amended with a grin.
"I'll ask. When and where?" Harry told her and wrote down the information. "And if they can't I'll do it for you. Now have you decided what you want to eat?" he asked.
Roman looked at the menu and asked for a lasagne. Ella looked at Harry and smiled.
"This can't be good." He commented.
"Can I get a chilli?" she asked.
He grinned.
"Just for you I will do one. You still on Soya stuff?" Harry asked.
She nodded.
"And not too spicy." She added.
Harry smiled and went back into the kitchen.
Roman looked over at her.
"Our daughter Nicole?" he quoted.
She flushed a darker red colour than ever before.
"Yes, ok. I think of her as my daughter." She said eventually.
He kissed her and pulled her as close to him as possible.
"I love you." He told her.
"And don't you even think about telling her I said that I am not giving her a credit card." She muttered.
Roman looked down at her.
"Uh huh. And how are you going to persuade me to forget it?" he asked.
She lent over and whispered in his ear.
"That will do it. " he confirmed. "I wonder if we can cancel the order.
She laughed.
"No chance I want my chilli first." She said.
He mock groaned.
"I suppose I will need to keep my strength up too." He said softly and watched her blush all over again.