Prince's POV
When the alarm went off on Wednesday morning, Prince quickly turned it off and leaned over and kissed Bella on her cheek. He got up and went to make his morning water and then noticing that Bella was laying there quietly looking at him, He said "Good Morning Bella". "Morning Prince" she responded. " I was going to go get us some coffee", he said. "I will be right back". "Okay baby" Bella said. She got up and did her morning business and came back into the room to make up the bed. She was almost finished when Prince came back into their bedroom with the two cups of coffee. He set hers on her nightstand and sat down on the lavender sofa and took a sip of his. Finishing the bed, Bella picked up her cup and joined him on the sofa. He couldn't help it. Even with her hair still uncombed she was beautiful. He leaned over and kissed her lips. "That's better...that is a proper good morning" he said smiling as she beamed at him. "Living for the Music is going to be the main focus of filming today. The music is quite complex as you know and there is a lot more dialogue and true acting to capture. So we will really need to be focused", Prince said more to himself than to her. " I want to make sure that we find out that Ray Burgess's plane got here safely also. It is due in at 7:00 AM. I will ask Frank to check on that". "Good" she said. "I know his wife and children will be relieved to see him. They can then focus their energy on supporting their son and each other through the surgery". Bella silently asked the Creator to touch this child and bring him through his surgical procedure without any complications and to restore him to full health. Prince heard her telepathically and said "Amen". They dressed quickly and then holding hands went into the kitchen bringing their now empty coffee cups with them. There had been no new snow overnight, but the temperature had dropped considerably. It was 12 degrees outside with at windchill factor that made it feel more like 9 degrees. Bella shivered without realizing it. Why exactly was it that she wanted to return to the midwest to live after their marriage, she asked herself careful to mask her thoughts? Prince however, looked like he was thinking the same thing, but he said nothing. "Good Morning Bella" . "Good Morning Ross". "I have made some Creme of Wheat, and Cheese toast for breakfast this morning. We also have Orange or Apple Juice". "Sounds good" she said. Carlos and Elaine walked into the kitchen and said "Good Morning all". "The menu sounds terrific", Elaine said as she poured two cups of coffee and dressed them. Bella refilled their two cups and did the same. Frank and Larry came in as the 4 sat down and Melvin was right behind them. They greeted one another and then Prince said the blessing asking that the Lord of Hosts ensure a safe arrival of Ray Burgess. They dug in to eat. While they were eating they discussed the plan for the day. They all knew what was being filmed and they would look over their dialogue in the air car and during makeup. There were no dance scenes for the rest of The Stork concert scenes this week, although there would be some next week. The girls did still have vocal duties though, so they would be in the soundchecks. Prince and Carlos would head to Schwartz's tonight and get the rings ordered and gifts for their brides and would also look for gifts for their attendants and the ushers. Bella would remind her mom to order the invitations with half of the stock naming Prince and herself and the other half naming Elaine and Carlos. Since the guys had an errand after filming tonight, they would use the time to work on finding whatever else they could online for the wedding. They would check the list this evening as soon as they got home.
They got up to gather their coats and things for the trip to The Stork with Bella and Elaine taking kitchen cleanup and then doing the same. Prince made sure everyone also had their dialogue books and then they went and got into their SUVs. They took two vehicles again because Prince and Carlos would run their errand right after shooting today. They were at their makeup stations at 5:00 AM on the dot. Before they started, Prince took Frank aside and asked him to check on the arrival of Ray Burgess's flight. Frank assured him he would. The day went very well but there were several more takes for both the music and other dialogue scenes. That however was to be expected and when they finally broke for lunch, both Christian and Anthony seemed to be in very good spirits and seemed happy with the progress so far that day. As they were heading to lunch, Frank informed Prince that a weather system had slowed down the Burgess flight, so it had gotten in late, but it had gotten here. Ray had grabbed a cab and headed directly to Children's Hospital to see about his son.
After lunch, they went back to the filming. They finally nailed the Living for the Music Scene to Anthony's satisfaction and Prince had been very happy with the outcome of the music. The band had been awesome! They took a 30 minute break after being instructed to be back on set at 3:00 PM. They grabbed some juice and fruit and went into the VIP room and turned on the news and relaxed for a few minutes. The entire cast and security had joined them. While they watched a Breaking News Banner appeared at both the top and the bottom of the Cloud Stream screen.
"This is Wally Crawford of WWKH with a breaking news story. As we have been reporting for the last few days, the little 6 year old boy, Ray Burgess Jr., has been stabilized and the prayer that his mother had been praying was answered this morning. Ray Burgess Sr. has gotten home to Detroit arriving at 8:50 this morning. When asked how that had been arranged, as it had been reported that there were no military flights coming to the states for 8 days, he said that it was the private sector that had helped him. A fellow airman who was now a private flyer out of Vietnam had flown into the airport in Kabul, picked him up and gotten him to Ho Chi Minh City where he caught a commercial,non-stop flight, on American to Detroit. When he had asked the airman who he had to thank for all this, he said, "God the Father, Creator of the Universe". Ray had then looked directly into the camera and said and I do thank Him and the human angels whoever they are that got me home. He declined to talk anymore saying that he needed to get to his son and his wife. He disappeared with his suitcase in his gloved hand into the huge medical facility". Wally said "there will be more on this story forthcoming. The boy is facing a 5-6 hour brain surgery tomorrow and we will keep you informed of his progress. Police continue to search for the driver of the car that hit and ran from the accident. The young boy had been in another car with 3 other children who were his neighbors. The neighbor, Becky Simpson, had been driving the children home from school as she did daily and was also bringing Ray home due to his mother's advanced pregnancy. The car that hit them had been traveling at a very high speed and witnesses said that the driver sat still for a moment and then backed up and took off down the road without ever getting out of his car. Noone got the license plate and the only description given by the few that had witnessed the accident was that the vehicle was a high end silver SUV . Becky Simpson is at Sinai hospital and is expected to be released tomorrow. Her three children are also at Children's Hospital. 1 is in intensive care in critical condition. The other 2 are in fair condition. Their father, Bryan Simpson, is a Sr. Manager with General Motors and has been running back and forth between the two hospitals since the accident". The camera then went to another story...something about making sure that this year's turkey was raised under acceptable conditions.
The room was absolutely silent. No-one said anything but Prince's bandmates and Carlos and Elaine looked directly at Prince. He dropped his eyes and just said "those poor people". Carlos said "I am glad someone helped the dad to get home" as he continued to look at Prince". "Yeah me too", Prince said still not looking up. No-one else said anything, so Frank said "excuse me gotta use the facilities". A couple of the other men headed to do the same. No-one had noticed except Bella and maybe Carlos, but Prince's demeanor had changed and Bella did not know why. She knew he was pleased with Ray Burgess being home...he had to be. So, she wondered, what it was? She sat quietly watching him. He finally said "what kind of an animal can hit a car full of children and not even stop to see if he could help them? Who does that"? Elaine said "let's pray for this situation. Father please be at the side of each of these children as they fight for their lives. Comfort them and with a touch that only You can provide bring them back to complete wholeness", she said. "Please bring their mother, Mrs. Simpson, back to wholeness also that she might be there to comfort her children and help them through their recovery. Be with the Burgesses too as they stand watch over their son. And Father thank You for whomever it was that helped Mr.Burgess to get home". Prince then added" and Father in your infinite wisdom and mercy, please bring the person who did this horrible act to justice and if possible do so quickly that he or she does not have a chance to hurt anyone else. In the name of Your Son Jesus we pray, Amen". The men that had stepped out had respectfully stood in the doorway with heads bowed in prayer when they had returned to the room. All now stood up and quietly headed back to the set. Bella walked at Prince's side. "Bella", he said, "there are some people in this world that are truly evil". (Bella heard the anger in his voice and shuddered as she thought back to Lucian and Jessebelle). "Yes there are", Bella said, "which is why The Creator has made sure there are still some on earth who are really good too, like you my sweet Prince". Prince looked at his amazing woman who always knew just what to say to him and said "and like you Arabella Bordon". They returned to the set and as they did, Prince got resettled in his soul and was ready to focus on the task at hand again. The dialog heavy second set of scenes of the day pushed them into overtime. But when 6:15 PM came around, they had nailed the dialogue and the cast headed to the showers and dressing rooms to clean up and then dismissed for the day.
Prince and Carlos hugged their women and hopped into one of the SUVs with Frank and Larry and went to do their errands. Bella and Elaine were driven back to Bella's parents house by Ross and Melvin. Ross decided to make a Spaghetti dish with Lemon Chicken Piccata. When they got home, however, Kendra had baked a couple of chickens, made some dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy and some grilled asparagus. She had made enough for the next day too. Great Ross thought, I can make a winter fish stew for Friday. He rarely told people what it was until they tasted it as it just looked like a stew and telling them always brought up weird comments. Once they tasted it though it was one of those dishes that was a true winner! The girls loved coming in and smelling Bella's mom's home cooking. They went into the kitchen to see if they could help and Kendra asked that they set the table in the dining room tonight. They did and then all gathered to bless the food and eat.
Prince and Carlos talked about what they might get for the groomsmen's gifts on the way to Schwartz's jewelry. They honestly didn't have a clue so they would ask for suggestions. They knew what they wanted in the rings and the jewelry gifts though so they would just show him pictures. Prince said" Carlos you know we promised the girls that when we married we would have bought them homes and we haven't even started looking". Carlos shook his head. "We better get this done or they might kill us", he said. "Or worse", Prince said, "we will be sleeping on couches outside of the bedroom until we do"! They both started to laugh but then looked at each other. This was Bella and Elaine they were talking about. They needed to build house hunting in Chicago into their schedules and fast.
They arrived at Mr. Schwartz's store and Larry parked in the garage and they got out and went inside. Mr. Schwartz was just finishing up with another customer. His son was sitting at the watch table working on a timepiece of some sort. Mr Schwartz walked his customer to the door and then turned around and said "so how are my two favorite Superstars"? He embraced the two young men and said "I have been reading about all of your success in your concerts and my son even bought your Album. I think it is really good". " Well thank you Mr. Schwartz", Prince said. "That is kind of you to say", Carlos added. "So what brings you in this evening", he asked? "Well it is time to get the wedding rings ordered for out brides and a few other things too", Prince said. "So what do you have in mind" Mr. Schwartz asked"? Prince pulled the pictures of the rings they liked out of his valise and showed them to Mr. Schwartz. He remembered the engagement rings well and said," Prince we will need to do a V notch in the ring for Bella so that it will fit nicely under the point of the pear shape. It will be exquisite". He pulled a sketch pad from under the counter and drew a picture of what he was recommending. Prince said "that will be perfect". "What else did you have in mind", Mr. Schwartz asked? Prince pulled out the pictures of the necklace and earrings he had in mind for Bella and also the ones Carlos had selected for Elaine. " Ahhh... Amethyst and diamonds, very beautiful", Schwartz said. Thank you, Prince said. "The colors for the wedding are Purple, Lavender and White and we thought these would be perfect for them to wear on our wedding day", Carlos shared. "They also match the choices you made in rings", Mr. Schwartz observed. "I can definitely get these for you. Now let me see Elaine's wedding band". Prince pulled it out of his valise too and Mr. Schwartz said it was perfect for the engagement ring. He already had the girls sizes so he simply wrote up the orders for the rings one in each of their names. "Is there anything else today", he asked before working on final pricing? " Actually yes", Carlos said. "We need to select something as a gift for our groomsmen and we do not have any idea what to get". "Are your groomsmen young or older", Mr. Schwartz asked? "They are our age" Prince said. " I think I have just the thing. Not too over the top and will be quite useful too". He went to another counter on the other side of the room and got a catalog to show them. Coming back he opened the book and showed them what he had in mind. "We can have them engraved anyway you want at no additional charge"., he added. Prince and Carlos looked at the gift he was recommending and Carlos said "I think that will do just fine". It was sophisticated but also something they would actually use and would not end up in a drawer somewhere catching dust. Prince nodded his agreement.
"How many do we need", Mr. Schwartz asked? " 6" Carlos said. Prince said "yes please put three on each of our tab"s. " Okay let's get your final price. Prince after a 25% discount your final price will be $9022.50" and Carlos, yours is "$7897.50". "Okay, will half down now and balance at pick up work for you", Prince asked? " Of course" Mr. Schwartz said. " Hey I noticed on your record I do not have your ring sizes although I have the girls". He handed them the sizers and said "see what fits". The men found their sizes while he wrote up their bills. They gave him their credit cards and he ran them and then double checked the ring sizes. He smiled and said "good...will a pickup Christmas week be good for you"? Both men nodded yes. He walked around the counter and shaking each of their hands said "as always it is both an honor and a pleasure doing business with you". "Oh by the way Mr. Schwartz did you save the date for the wedding on you calendar"? Mr. Schwartz smiled a huge smile. "No but I will...when is it"? "June 8. It is an away wedding in Cancun Mexico. Arista is providing a plane to fly all of our guests". "May I bring my wife"? "Of course" Prince said. " She will be so excited. She thinks that you are attah nir-eh tov". When Prince looked at him questioningly he laughed and said "that is Yiddish for good looking". Prince actually blushed. They man hugged and then Prince and Carlos and their security guards headed back to the garage and the SUV. Carlos couldn't help it and said" hey Mr. attah nir-eh tov". Prince rolled his eyes but was smiling when he did.
Bella's POV
When they had arrived home, Bella and Elaine had asked Ross if he needed any help in warming up supper and he had said no. The girls went upstairs and found Bella's mom on the phone talking to Linda. "The girls just walked in" Kendra said into the phone. "Your mom wants to say hi" she then said to Elaine. "Hi mom. What you doing"? "I was just about to order some Chinese food for dinner and have a glass of wine". "Is Dad home"? "No, he had some toastmaster meeting tonight". "Oh, well if you want to come over to Kendra's we are going to pick out some of the other things we can find on line so we can get them ordered for the wedding. If you wanna help I am sure you are welcome", she said looking at Kendra who was laughing and said "absolutely". "Kendra cooked and Ross is warming the food now for dinner" Elaine said. "Sounds great I am on my way", Linda said. "How did filming go today", Kendra asked? "It went good mom", Bella answered. "It goes a little slower when the music is complex and there is a lot of dialogue, but Anthony and Christian both seemed pleased and Prince was really happy with the band's performance". "That is great to hear". Bella pulled up the internet on her mother's computer and said "what shall we start with"? "Well let's see if we can knock out some or all of the flowers", her mother said adding" Let's take a look at the chapel again first" so we can get an idea of what flowers we should have there also. .
Bella looked up the chapel and pulled up a picture of the entrance to it. It really was a pretty little place for a wedding.
She then located a picture of the aisle that ran from the front of the church to Alter.
She also showed them an idea of how they could use flower petals. Saying that they could do them in purple. Kendra said okay that is one idea, but let's keep looking.
While they were admiring the Chapel pictures and looking at runner ideas, Linda arrived. They sat together looking at all of the aisle runners and ideas and came to agreement on a traditional white runner with purple petals. The pews would be draped and would have matching bouquets tied on every three rows.
Bella and Elaine's Choice for the Aisle. The Aisle bouquets would be tied to the aisle drapings on the Pews.
They decided to keep the bouquets for the girls relatively small and simple. They did not want them to detract from the beauty of the unique bridal outfits.
Bridal Bouquets
Bella's Bouquet
Elaine's Bouquet
Bridesmaids Bouquet
Mother's and Mother In Law Flowers
Boutineers
Prince, Carlos and Groomsmen
Ushers
Fathers and Fathers in Law Boutineers
Alter Flowers Sitting on Pillars on either side of the Alter
They had gotten all of the flowers selected and the girls were now starving. They and their mothers went downstairs and into the kitchen. Ross was watching a movie on Cloud Stream in the kitchen. He and Melvin had eaten but he had left all of the food in the various warmers. He would leave them to chat he said and went into his room. Bella and Elaine set the table and as they did they heard Prince and Carlos with Frank and Larry pulling entering the house from the garage. David wandered in right after them coming from the toastmasters dinner. "Hi everyone", David said. They all exchanged greetings. "Have you eaten" Kendra asked her husband? "Yes they served a nice dinner at the meeting, but I would love to hear what you girls have been up to in terms of the wedding". The four women smiled as they were eager to share their choices. Bella had printed off each of their choices as they selected them to make it easier for Linda and Kendra to order them tomorrow. She ran upstairs to get the printouts while Elaine and Kendra and Linda served the food for them all but David. He would, however, have some of that Apple Pie when they got to dessert. The men went and washed their hands and then they sat down to a lovely meal. Prince and Carlos said that their errands had been successful and they all were impressed with the choices that the women had made. That was several more things they could mark off of their list. But they still had a long way to go though. Elaine asked if Nita had selected the restaurant yet for the rehearsal dinner in Mexico and if so, had they agreed to a Sunday appointment the week of Thanksgiving as they hoped? Kendra didn't know so Elaine said she would call her in the morning. The 4 had a very busy day and after dessert, the mothers said they would handle clean-up. Their 3:45 AM wakeup call would come all too soon. Linda called Andy and told him where she was and that she was on her way home. She made a set of the pictures of tonight's selections to take with her and share with him. Elaine and Bella hugged her goodnight and she promised to call Kendra to let her know she had gotten home safely. Prince looked at Bella and noting that she looked exhausted said "okay folks we are going to turn in. Thank you for the lovely meal Kendra and for the great company. Good night all". He took Bella's hand and they went to their room. Carlos and Elaine did the same.
Prince said "Sugah, get out of those clothes and let's go to bed. You look really tired". She said she was. They hung up their clothes, put their undergarments in the hamper in the closet and put on some warm PJs. Once their faces were washed and their teeth brushed, Prince pulled the covers back on the bed and they crawled in. Turning out the light on his nightstand he gathered his Bella into his arms and said "thank you for everything you and Elaine and your mother's are doing. I feel like I am contributing so little". Bella laughed and said"weddings are women's work. You have enough on your plate". "I love you Mama", he said. "I love you more", Bella answered and they got into their favorite spoon position and within moments had fallen into a deep and restful sleep.