"Hunter! I can't believe you suggested that!"
"What? Lingerie is always always a good option!"
"No, it's not. Dad, don't listen to him. You should go with jewelery."
"But that's so boring."
Oliver rubbed his forehead as he listened to his sons, Hunter and Jack, argue. When he asked them for advice on what to get his wife for their anniversary, he never thought that it would lead to this. And he was still no closer to finding a gift for her. With any luck, he'd be able to get out of this without having to yell at either of them to shut up.
"And when was the last time you had a steady girlfriend?" Jack was asking Hunter.
"Alright," Oliver said gruffly. "That's enough. Neither of you are being any help and your arguing is giving me a headache."
"What are kids for," Hunter replied, earning himself a glare.
The front door opened. "Hey, Oliver, are you home? My mum wanted me to send some of your stuff back to you. Last time you were at house, you all got pissed drunk and I'm pretty sure we still haven't found everything."
Roxanne Weasley pushed the kitchen door open to find all the three Wood men standing there. She was a longtime family friend. She was like the daughter Oliver never had and he had entertained the notion that she would marry one of his sons when she was little. Of course, now that she had grown up, she had shown no romantic interest in either Jack or Hunter, thus crushing Oliver's dreams.
She sat the box of things on the counter. "What are you all doing inside on such a nice day?"
"Why don't we ask Roxanne?" Hunter suggested, his eyes lighting up.
"No," Oliver refused. The last thing he needed was for Roxanne to find out about his problems.
"Ask me what?" Roxanne questioned.
"It could work," Jack agreed. "She is a girl."
"Ask me what?"
"Yeah, Dad," Hunter nodded. "She'd know better than any of us. Just ask her."
"Do you two know what 'no' means?" Oliver snapped.
"Ask me what?"
"Well, yeah, but that doesn't mean that we always pay attention to the word," Hunter told him. "You and Mum say it so much that I'm surprised I hear it anymore."
"That's because you always get in trouble," Jack said as if it was the simplest thing in the world.
"Excuse me!" Roxanne interrupted loudly. "What in the world are you talking about? If you want my help, which I assure you is brilliant, then you have to tell me what's going on."
"Well, Dad's trying to find Mum and anniversary present," Hunter explained.
Oliver glared at the ceiling, cursing the fact that his son was a loud mouth.
"Ooh, I definitely want to help then," Roxanne exclaimed, nodding. "Do you have any idea what you wanted to do?"
"I suggested jewelery," Jack spoke up before Oliver got a chance to.
"Nice, but unoriginal," Roxanne told him, as she bit the inside of her check. "We need something that says unique."
"Well, Hunter suggested lingerie," Jack continued.
Roxanne gave him a look. "You're pig."
"Excuse me, but I happen to know plenty of women who would love that gift," Hunter snarked.
"That settles it." Roxanne clapped her hands. "We're going shopping."
When Roxanne said they were going shopping, he thought she meant a quick run to the grocery store to pick up something nice for dinner. Instead, they Apparated to a department store and were now looking through wicker baskets.
"Remind me why we're doing this?" Hunter asked, rather bored.
"Because I'm going to pack a picnic for your dad," she replied simply.
Hunter snorted. "I hope you're not cooking."
Roxanne glared at him. Everyone knew that Roxanne Weasley couldn't cook to save her life. She always ended up burning something or the meal would taste like a dead bird. Oliver was eternally grateful for the fact that his wife could cook.
"Fine," she sniffed. "If you're so against my cooking, then you can cook the meal."
"Fine," Hunter replied, rolling his eyes. "I will."
Oliver certainly didn't see why they had to go shopping for a basket just to go on a picnic. He could just shrink the food down so it would fit into a small bag or something. Of course, they had to be all fancy about it. Katie wouldn't mind; he was sure of it.
"This song has a good tune," Roxanne said, as she hummed along.
"It does," Hunter agreed.
"What does that have to do with basket shopping?" Jack asked.
"You have to have good music to basket shop to," Roxanne told him. "It's the best part of basket shopping." Suddenly, she turned to Hunter. "Dance with me."
Hunter complied and they started to dance around the basket section of the store. It made Oliver want to laugh and deny he knew either of them at the same time. He wasn't sure which to do first. Finally, the song ended and they were all laughing at Roxanne and Hunter.
"I have got to find out what that song is," Roxanne commented. "It's really good."
"Maybe you could ask someone at the front desk," Jack suggested.
And Roxanne did just that. She made her way to the front desk and asked the pretty shop girl, who eyed her up and down, for the name of the song. All in all, the shopping trip wasn't as bad as Oliver thought it would be.
When they arrived back at the house, Hunter started dinner, insisting that his father shouldn't be cooking for his own anniversary and that it was better if he stayed out of the kitchen anyway. Roxanne was in the family room lighting floating candles. Jack was trying his best to help Hunter, but his younger brother wouldn't have it and kept shooing him out of the kitchen. Apparently, they all thought that he was incapable of helping them with any of this.
"Let me help you with that, Roxanne," Oliver offered.
"Oh, that's alright," she replied. "It's your anniversary after all."
"I'm the one who was supposed to be planning this," he sighed, shaking his head.
Roxanne smiled. "Well, we don't mind you taking the credit. Besides, it needs a woman's touch."
Oliver laughed. "Isn't that what women say when they want a man to get out of their way?"
"Sometimes," Roxanne grinned. "But, seriously, you don't have to do anything. This is going to be the best indoor picnic ever!"
Oliver thought everything looked just about perfect when the door opened. Katie was probably back from her day at the orphanage. That was what he loved about her. Even in her free time, she was always helping people.
"Oliver! I'm home!" she called as she made her way through the house. Finally, she pushed the door to the family room open. She gasped. "Oliver, what's all this?"
"Happy anniversary," he said by way of greeting.
Katie shook her head, before walking over to him and giving him a passionate kiss. Once that was finished, she smiled at him.
"Well, I can say this is the best anniversary present I've ever gotten," Katie muttered. "Jewelery would have satisficed though. You didn't have to go through all this trouble."
"I wanted to," Oliver replied. "Besides it wasn't that much trouble."
"So, who did all this for you?" she asked with a knowing look.
He glared. "I couldn't have done it by myself?"
"Not with the smell that's coming for that basket," Katie replied. "Did Hunter cook?"
"Yes," Oliver mumbled. "Roxanne and Jack helped, too."
"Well that was nice of them," Katie commented. "Oh, don't make that face. I still love it."
Then she gave him another kiss and all was forgotten.
