CHAPTER EIGHT
Charlotte lounges across the couch as she flicks through old bridal magazines. She has a collection of images stacked on a pillow which is slowly increasing. I assumed there wouldn't be much after we'd gone through them, but it looks like we have different interests.
She closes the magazine and tosses it away. It slides across another magazine before tumbling off the bed. Charlotte flops against the pillows and sighs.
"Feeling the pressure yet?" I giggle.
"I felt the pressure the second I stepped out of the pub! Celebration is done, wedding planning to go! Not to mention, I also need to organise an engagement party for our family."
"Right, you need one of those." I chuckle.
"I should be organising that now, but I like the direction this planning board is going for the wedding. I wish I had the same inspiration for the engagement."
"Welp, there's always tomorrow."
Charlotte slides off the bed and crawls towards the board. She glues the images to the cardboard which is an odd combination of flowers, colourful dresses, wedding hacks and anything else she's found.
She leans against the bed and sighs.
"I thought this would be easy because I helped you, but there's so many things to think about which makes my head want to explode. Then there's Kyle who keeps saying no to everything I suggest."
"Does he make suggestions or just say no?"
"Suggestions, but I hate them. We're on the opposite sides of the spectrum."
"I'm sure you can find a balance somewhere in between."
"There's no balance between the things we want. I want a colourful wedding dress, he wants me in white. I want to get married in the park, he wants to be in a hall."
"Well, you could have the colours under the skirt. When you spin around on the dance floor, we'd see the colours."
"Hm, maybe." She shrugs. "I think white dresses are boring, no offence, you looked stunning, but ugh, I've never seen myself to the traditional bride."
"What about a compromise? You get the park wedding if you wear the white dress."
"Why can't he be like Blake and just say yes to everything?"
"Don't forget there's two people in a wedding."
"Yes, I know," she groans.
"You'll work things out. I mean, we can always bring the park to the hall."
"Mm, I'm loving that idea!" Her eyes light up. "We could have flowers and twinkly lights everywhere. That could work."
"You can have heaps of pretty plants whilst being in a controlled temperature."
"Thank you! I'm going to suggest this to Kyle!"
"You're welcome." I grin.
She crawls onto the bed and sprawls beside me.
"When can we go shopping for bridesmaid dresses?"
"I don't know, when you get your bridal party organised?" I chuckle.
"Of course, you're going to be in it, maybe Grace if she's still around. I have some cousins as well, but I was going to wait until the engagement party to ask them."
"Do you need to run dress ideas past Kyle or is that a youthing?"
Charlotte rolls onto her stomach and buries her face into the blankets. I pat her back and she grumbles into the material. She rolls onto her side and peeks up.
"I've had enough, and it's only been one afternoon," she grumbles.
"We can reconvene in a couple of days."
"Now that I've provided you with enough distractions, how's things with you and Blake?"
"I haven't fallen apart, so there's that."
"That's good." She grins.
"We're stressed, Blake is freaking out but we're getting through it together. Once we get over this bump, then we'll go back to how things were, well, it'll be better than before, stronger than ever."
"You're doing great! I'm happy you can see the positives in this crappy situation."
"Dealing with the loss of Ivan has made me a stronger person. I can hold Blake up, and fight for our little girl without feeling like I'm going to shatter."
"You two are a story book couple, it's sickening sometimes. I'm sure you'll have London back soon because that's how all good books go."
"There's no way we're a story book couple!" I sigh.
"Say what you want, but I'll never believe it."
I jab my shoulder into hers and she laughs.
"Once I'm married, we can start a wives group! We'll have another excuse to drink wine and gossip about crap that doesn't matter."
"And before you know it, we'll be like Angela and my mother." I laugh.
Charlotte jolts upright and grins.
"Do you have wine? I'm in the mood for a drink."
"Nope."
"What, really?"
"Gee, you make me sound like an alcoholic."
"Welp." She chuckles.
"Don't you dare say that! Angela kept bring wine over, and red wines actually good for you."
"It's not a bad thing, I drink too!"
"I can live without it." I shrug.
"Least married life isn't driving you to drink." She giggles.
"I have a feeling it might cause you to."
Charlotte pouts.
"Do you wanna run to the bottle-o? I'm in the mood for red wine."
"No, it's just that." I look away and sigh. "Blake and I are trying for a baby and I don't want to drink in case, you know."
"Trying." She raises an eyebrow. "I thought Blake had magic swimmers or something?"
"Considering Blake and I have only conceived one child, I doubt there's any magical properties."
"Well, you're young and I know you'll be popping out those babies soon!"
"Thanks." I chuckle.
"So, I should pick a flowing dress for you since you might be preggers?"
"With luck, yes." I nod.
"When you're ready to take the test and see if there's a little Blake in you, I can bring the champagne for me to celebrate."
"No, thank you, but I'd rather wait awhile and give Blake the good news once everything has worked out with London."
"What happens if things don't workout and you're pregnant? You can't keep waiting for a new 'good' time. Babies don't stop growing because it's bad timing."
"Things will workout, I have a good feeling about it."
"Okay." She nods. "Let me know the second you find out, I need to know for wedding dates! I don't want you popping out a baby whilst I'm saying my vows."
"Don't worry, I'll hold the baby in until you at least say I do." I chuckle.
"Thank you." She smiles.
"Now what do you want to do? I think there's some more wedding magazines in the spare room or I could call Angela?"
"Call Angela later, but see if there's magazines in the spare room. Maybe there's something in those that Kyle will like."
"I hope for your sake."
I roll off the bed and Charlotte follows me into the spare room. I dig through a couple of boxes and drag the magazine out from under a pile of junk. I pass them to Charlotte and she squeals with excitement.
She bounds towards the bedroom and I take a detour to the fridge. Charlotte returns with the other magazines and vision boards. She places them on the dining table and settles into her seat.
I collect a range of cheeses, dips and crackers and bring them over to the table. Her eyes light up with delight.
"Some sustenance to keep us going." I grin.
"Thank you, thank you!"
"Now let's create an epic wedding!"
She slides some magazines to me and I flip through the pages. More images are added but the way it's shaping up, Kyle might not get a say in this.