I've been told I have the kind of name that you have to say all of. Can't say I disapprove. Newlywed. Best aunt ever. Anthropology Major. Coroner for NYC Morgue. Part-time baking assistant at Decadance.
TAGGING → Norah Declan Marlowe, Blake Marlowe, and Hayley Carmichael
LOCATION → Norah’s hotel room
TIMEFRAME → Monday, July 19, 2016; hours before the wedding
NOTES → Hayley and Blake help Norah prepare for her wedding.
Norah was nervous. God, was she nervous. Not only was today her wedding day, but Kaidan had no idea there was actually going to happen. As far as he knew, they were still going to get eloped at the court house. But she spent all day yesterday planning a proper wedding for the two of them. Kaidan wanted an actual wedding despite arguing that no matter what happened as long as they got married, as long as they were together, that Norah was happy, he was happy. But she wanted to give him what he wanted. It was still going to be small though, just their parents, Becca, Cam and his family and Oliver and his date.
So now, with all the planning pretty much done, all that was left is to get ready. Oliver’s date, Hayley, is currently doing her hair. There’s a knock on the door of the bathroom of the hotel she and her parents stayed at the night before.
“Come in,” Norah calls, knowing it had to be her mother.
Blake Marlowe enters the room hesitantly, peering around the door until she spots her youngest child. “Oh, Norah, dear, look at you,” she exclaims with the faintest of Tuscan lilt. Her parents must’ve been in Italy before they arrived state side.
“My hair isn’t even done, Mom,” Norah complains.
“It’s almost done,” Hayley inputs, off-handedly. “There’s not much to do to short hair.”
“Either way, you’re always going to beautiful in my eyes, Norah.”
Norah rolls her eyes. “Thanks.”
“I just wanted to let you know, there’s a few packages that have arrived for you. When you’re ready.”
Norah gives her thanks and her mother leaves giving her time to have her hair finished and slip into her dress.
Hayley comes out of the bathroom twenty-five minutes later, a bright smile on her face. “Presenting the future Mrs. Lyons.”
The door opens again to reveal Norah dressed in her short tulle wedding dress, black sash around her waist, black high top Converses on her feet.
Her mother is immediately in tears. “Kaidan’s not going to know what hit him.”
Norah smiles sheepishly, “You think so?”
“I know so. You’re stunning,” she tells. “You know, when you called your father and I, and told us you were getting married, I thought you were joking, I honestly did at first. And then I assumed it was Oliver you were marrying. And then I met Kaidan, and while I will never think anyone will be right for my little girl, he’s the closest anyone will ever be. I’m very proud of the young woman you’ve become. My little girl is a grown up. Kaidan is a very lucky man.”
This brings Norah to tears. Thankfully her makeup is waterproof. Blake steps across the room to pull her daughter into a tight hug, pulling away after a long moment to wipe at her tears.
“Now, come dear, you have pre-wedding gifts.” Taking Norah by the hand, Blake pulls the younger girl to the bed where there’s four packages of varying sizes. She picks the first one up, a larger white gift box. “Something old,” she says holding out the box for Norah to open.
Quickly, Norah removes the lid and gasps. Inside rests the tiara her mother wore during her own wedding along with the veil she wore as well. “Is this...?”
Blake only nods. “Open the rest before you put it on.”
Norah nods, letting her mother set the box aside. The next box is small, maybe a little bit bigger than a ring box. There’s a little tag tied around it.
Something New
- Ollie
Norah make’s quick work of the tag and opens the red satin box to reveal a gorgeous pair of diamond earrings. “Oh.”
“Here,” Hayley says, taking the box from her, aiming to put the jewels on the bride. “I helped him pick them out. Had to make sure they were fit for a bride. There.” She steps back and allows Norah to get the next box.
This one is black velvet, wide and flat, a pink sticky note on top, like all the little notes Emerson leaves for her husband, with the inscription:
Something borrowed?
Inside is the very same diamond floral necklace Em had worn to the gala she had planned for the museum.
“I wasn’t sure who that one was from, but it’s certainly a piece I would love to have,” Blake says with a slightly knowing tone. Norah shoots her a glare, handing over the necklace to Hayley for help putting it on.
“It’s from my sister-in-law. Kaidan’s brother’s wife.” Norah lets he hand rest on the necklace briefly before she moves on to the last.
It’s smaller than the necklace, but bigger than the earrings. There’s a note on top from her future mother-in-law, Melissa.
Something from my own collection. I thought it might suit you. Welcome to the family.
This one she’s nervous to open. Obviously, Melissa already thinks of her as family, as Norah does the same, but this... this was something.
It’s a bracelet, sapphires and diamonds, gorgeous. It fit perfectly, even if she wasn’t used to wearing it.
“Something blue,” she murmurs. The only tradition she’d forgotten and her family, all of them, came to the rescue and picked up the slack.
With all of the gifts open, Blake has the honor of putting the tiara and veil on her daughter.
“I can’t believe this is happening,” Norah says, taking one last look in the mirror. “I’m really getting married. Kaidan’s going to be my husband. I’m going to be his wife. We’re going to be a family.”
“I can’t believe my littlest daughter is the first one to get married,” Blake offers.
Norah meets her mother’s eye in the mirror, they’re both tearing up again.
“Ti amo mama.”
“E ti amo farfalla,” Blake replies back.
Hayley’s phone chimes, alerting them to the time and the fact that they have to leave now to make it on time to the wedding.
He hadn’t realized before now just how grateful he is that Camerson have agreed to help out with the party for Becca. With Cameron taking care of the cake and Emerson taking care of all of the party decorations, Kaidan and Norah are free to take some time before the party to spoil the birthday girl. They’ve already fed her a delicious breakfast that had very nearly consisted of ice cream (Kaidan had fought with all his might, but Norah had put her foot down; there would be enough ice cream and sugar later on without them giving it to her for breakfast too), but instead was made up of pancakes. Blueberry pancakes with actual blueberries to garnish them because yes, the birthday girl does actually enjoy some healthy foods. Norah had done most of the work, if Kaidan’s going to be honest about it. She’s the master chef between the two of them. All he did was make sure he 1) offered assistance when necessary and 2) stayed out of her way so he didn’t hinder the process.
And now, they’re on phase two of spoiling Becca: taking her to the movies so she can finally see Finding Dory. While it was initially supposed to be only about Becca, he’d managed to convince the birthday girl to share a little bit of her spotlight during this phase of the celebration. This part hadn’t been planned out too well. It had only really been thought up the night before. He and Norah had been talking a lot about their future, about getting married and having a child of their own, and somehow, that had led to talk of getting married now. Like, right now was almost too long of a wait. Norah sounds like she wants all of this to happen as quickly as possible. Like marriage is just a formality to appease their families so that they can get to the good stuff: having a child of their own. And the more he thinks about it, the more Kaidan feels the same way about it. He’d always wanted the traditional wedding, and he still wants to give Norah an epic proposal worthy of her awesomeness, but did they really have to agonize over making every last detail of it perfect?
After thinking on it for a while, he’d decided the answer to that question was no. The most badass, romantic thing he could do to even attempt to be worthy of Norah’s love for all of eternity would be to, for once in his life, just say fuck it. And so, he’d worked out a way to give her a fairytale marriage proposal (because who wouldn’t want to get engaged on their anniversary? How perfect was that timing? It couldn’t have worked out any better if he’d planned it to.) while also making sure he didn’t stress too much about the details. It only makes it even better that Becca is going along with his spontaneous wedding proposal. She’s the one dragging them into the theater before they can even stop and grab popcorn or candy at the concession stand. Just like they’d planned, though he teases her about how excited she is (like he didn’t know anything was up).
When they get settled into their seats, Kaidan looks over at his girlfriend with a sudden rush of adrenaline coursing through him. He’s really going to do this, isn’t he? “So, by the time the movie is over, we should have enough time to get home and put the finishing touches on any decorations Em hasn’t finished with before the guests arrive,” he starts, sounding like his organized, punctual self. He’s always been anal about making sure the day is planned out to a T. Maybe today is no different after all. A movie here, surprise proposal there, and then the party. He’s starting to get nervous about the whole thing, so he decides to launch his plan into action before he can chicken out of the whole thing. “Oh! Crap. We were in such a hurry, we didn’t grab any snacks.” Leave it to him to bring up food, right? At least it wouldn’t sound out of the ordinary. “I should go grab some for us. What do you want, love?”
Norah is just as eager to see this movie as Becca is. She’s been waiting for it since the first rumors of a Finding Nemo sequal appeared, so she doesn’t complain when Becca totally ignores the concession stand and drags her into the theater. She rolls her eyes when Kaidan brings up the party that was hours away. “Yes, this is true. But don’t worry about it. I’m sure Em and Cam have everything under control. We probably won’t have to do anything when we get home.” She snuggles into Kaidan, lifting the arm rest between them up so its easier. They’re the first ones in the theater, so obviously they got the best seats. Only the best for Becca. Of course, Kai has to bring up food. Such a typical Kaidan thing, Norah only laughs not finding anything weird about it. “I want twizzlers or, like, the little purple and white licorice candies…Good & Plenty! That’s what they’re called. And a Sprite or Sierra Mist, whatever they have.” Becca leans over her aunt to look at her uncle and put in her order of peanut m&ms, popcorn, and water.
Kaidan moves on from the talk of the party, accepting that Camerson will have everything handled the way Norah says they will. They usually throw a pretty good party anyway, so it’s not like he was too worried about it to begin with. He’s just anxious about the proposal. Norah’s answer is a certain one, but it still has him all jittery because what if he messes everything up? What if he doesn’t propose to her well enough to get a yes from her? “That’s a whole lot of options. You’ve got like, your go-to choice and then, what, a back up plan?” Kaidan asks with a laugh, squeezing her with his arm that’s already found its way around her shoulders. He listens to Becca’s order too and acknowledges it with an, “As you wish, birthday girl. Just save room for cake and ice cream.”
He ruffles Becca’s hair, gives Norah a quick peck on the lips, and gets up out of his seat to go to the concession stand. It’s here that he’s already got some of the pieces in motion. He’d called the theater ahead of time to get permission for everything and he’d paid a few people to be along for the ride because, try as he might to be even half as badass as Norah, he’s not. He’s book smart, but he’s not the kind of smart it would take to illegally rig a camera to project into the screen in the theater Becca and Norah are sitting in. Nonetheless, it’s happening now. Just not, you know…illegally.
The theater gets dark as if the coming attractions are about to play, but instead of the movies you’d expect, the camera shows Kaidan. He seems to be unaware of the fact that he’s being recorded, standing at the concession stand where he’s being helped. What the camera doesn’t show is him fumbling around with the ring and some Twizzlers. A voiceover starts to speak: “Today, one man will go where he has never dared to go before. The concession stand of a movie theater! No. Wait…that’s not exciting. What kind of hook was that?” It’s clearly Kaidan’s voice, though he’s tried to make it sound dramatically deeper and more monotone.
The peck to Norah's lips doesn't last nearly as long as she'd like it to, but she's quick enough to pull Kaidan back down for a proper kiss before she let him go get their snacks. Becca is still beyond excited, bouncing in her seat. Norah tries to get her to calm down, but she's not having any of it. The only thing that seems to calm her any degree is the dimming lights. Norah glances to the hall they came in at, wondering how long Kai was going to take. He needed to hurry. She really missed cuddling into him.
It's kaidan's voice that draws her attention back to the screen. She has a rush of secondhand embarrassment that rushes through her at his voiceover, but it gone as soon as it's there. Norah's confused as to what Kaidan is planning. A proposal is the furthest thing from her mind at the moment. Instead she thinks it's some kind of birthday surprise for their niece. She looks over at Becca, a polite smile on her lips. "What is your silly uncle up to?"
He hadn’t realized before now just how grateful he is that Camerson have agreed to help out with the party for Becca. With Cameron taking care of the cake and Emerson taking care of all of the party decorations, Kaidan and Norah are free to take some time before the party to spoil the birthday girl. They’ve already fed her a delicious breakfast that had very nearly consisted of ice cream (Kaidan had fought with all his might, but Norah had put her foot down; there would be enough ice cream and sugar later on without them giving it to her for breakfast too), but instead was made up of pancakes. Blueberry pancakes with actual blueberries to garnish them because yes, the birthday girl does actually enjoy some healthy foods. Norah had done most of the work, if Kaidan’s going to be honest about it. She’s the master chef between the two of them. All he did was make sure he 1) offered assistance when necessary and 2) stayed out of her way so he didn’t hinder the process.
And now, they’re on phase two of spoiling Becca: taking her to the movies so she can finally see Finding Dory. While it was initially supposed to be only about Becca, he’d managed to convince the birthday girl to share a little bit of her spotlight during this phase of the celebration. This part hadn’t been planned out too well. It had only really been thought up the night before. He and Norah had been talking a lot about their future, about getting married and having a child of their own, and somehow, that had led to talk of getting married now. Like, right now was almost too long of a wait. Norah sounds like she wants all of this to happen as quickly as possible. Like marriage is just a formality to appease their families so that they can get to the good stuff: having a child of their own. And the more he thinks about it, the more Kaidan feels the same way about it. He’d always wanted the traditional wedding, and he still wants to give Norah an epic proposal worthy of her awesomeness, but did they really have to agonize over making every last detail of it perfect?
After thinking on it for a while, he’d decided the answer to that question was no. The most badass, romantic thing he could do to even attempt to be worthy of Norah’s love for all of eternity would be to, for once in his life, just say fuck it. And so, he’d worked out a way to give her a fairytale marriage proposal (because who wouldn’t want to get engaged on their anniversary? How perfect was that timing? It couldn’t have worked out any better if he’d planned it to.) while also making sure he didn’t stress too much about the details. It only makes it even better that Becca is going along with his spontaneous wedding proposal. She’s the one dragging them into the theater before they can even stop and grab popcorn or candy at the concession stand. Just like they’d planned, though he teases her about how excited she is (like he didn’t know anything was up).
When they get settled into their seats, Kaidan looks over at his girlfriend with a sudden rush of adrenaline coursing through him. He’s really going to do this, isn’t he? “So, by the time the movie is over, we should have enough time to get home and put the finishing touches on any decorations Em hasn’t finished with before the guests arrive,” he starts, sounding like his organized, punctual self. He’s always been anal about making sure the day is planned out to a T. Maybe today is no different after all. A movie here, surprise proposal there, and then the party. He’s starting to get nervous about the whole thing, so he decides to launch his plan into action before he can chicken out of the whole thing. “Oh! Crap. We were in such a hurry, we didn’t grab any snacks.” Leave it to him to bring up food, right? At least it wouldn’t sound out of the ordinary. “I should go grab some for us. What do you want, love?”
Norah is just as eager to see this movie as Becca is. She's been waiting for it since the first rumors of a Finding Nemo sequal appeared, so she doesn't complain when Becca totally ignores the concession stand and drags her into the theater. She rolls her eyes when Kaidan brings up the party that was hours away. "Yes, this is true. But don't worry about it. I'm sure Em and Cam have everything under control. We probably won't have to do anything when we get home." She snuggles into Kaidan, lifting the arm rest between them up so its easier. They're the first ones in the theater, so obviously they got the best seats. Only the best for Becca. Of course, Kai has to bring up food. Such a typical Kaidan thing, Norah only laughs not finding anything weird about it. "I want twizzlers or, like, the little purple and white licorice candies...Good & Plenty! That's what they're called. And a Sprite or Sierra Mist, whatever they have." Becca leans over her aunt to look at her uncle and put in her order of peanut m&ms, popcorn, and water.
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