Topic: Girl Time

Victoria Granger · Date: 2016-02-11 11:06 EST

There were so many things that needed to be done in the run up to a wedding. So many arrangements to be made, decisions to be finalized, that sometimes it was difficult for the bride to remember that the day belonged to her. Which was why, of course, she had a maid of honor. In Elle's case, this maid of honor was Victoria Granger, and today had been declared an Elle day. With a fitting booked with Miranda for the late afternoon, Vicki had descended on Elle shortly after Daisy had gone off to school and dragged her out of her home, checklist in hand. A quick mani-pedi to get her in the mood for spoiling herself, and a visit to the jeweler where her bridal bling was being put together was most of their morning's work. But the thing Vicki had insisted upon was this ....the all important underwear shopping.

The redhead was currently sat in a private viewing room, within which was an equally private changing cubicle, waiting to find out which confectionery bridal sex item was going on the yes pile next. "Complain all you like, but you're going to be wearing this all day," she pointed out, ostensibly looking at the ceiling. "Don't worry about how it looks, worry about how comfortable it is. You can always get a negligee or something for the wedding night."

Behind the door that separated them and gave the future bride some semblance of privacy, Elle was unfastening yet another rejected bra and tossing it over the door to the woman who had quickly become her bestie here in Rhy'Din. "This is ridiculous. Why can't I just go braless" The girls aren't that big!"

"One, boob sweat," was Vicki's prompt answer as she caught the flying bit of lace and satin. "Two, it affects the hang of the dress. Three - unless you're wearing thick layers, your girls are going to be pointing at everything, and that isn't a good look for a bride."

Vicki wasn't much more endowed than Elle, and while it was often a blessing, at times like this, it seemed a curse. "Vicki, I have no cleavage. There just isn't that much to hold up!" Thankfully, the gown Miranda was creating for her took that into account, and so far, Elle was pleased with the results, but that didn't make bra shopping any less painful. "All right. What do you think of this one?" she asked, pushing open the door and letting her friend get a look at the lace and satin contraption that was holding her decolletage in place.

"The whole point of the dress/undies combo is to give you cleavage," her friend pointed out in amusement. She looked up as Elle came into view. "It's lovely, but it'll show," she said almost instantly. "The neckline of the dress is cut low, remember. Try that underwear solution thing I found - I know it doesn't look pretty, but trust me. You could go on a bouncy castle in it and everything would stay still."

Elle sighed as she turned her back to her friend. "Undo this bloody thing, will you? I feel like a human pretzel."

"Yeah, but you're not salty like one," Vicki chuckled, rising to her feet to do the honors. "Did you remember to bring the shoes, too' Miranda will kill you if you get fitted without wearing the right shoes." Which was, of course, why Vicki had insisted on the underwear shop today as well. Get that decision made, and the fittings would be much easier for all involved.

"Yes, mother, I brought the shoes," Elle replied, as she ducked back into the changing room, the only thing covering her girls a tiny wisp of a bra held in place by a hand, but quickly snatched away and tossed over the door, like so many others she'd tried on thus far. "So, what are you and Christian Grey doing for Valentine's Day?" she asked as she searched through the piles of brassieres for the one contraption that might actually work.

Catching the discarded bra so she could put it back on its hanger, like all the others, Vicki laughed. "I'm not allowed to know," she told her friend cheerfully. "I'm never allowed to know what?s being planned for Valentine's Day. That started when we were first going out - the man took me to Venice and proposed, despite the fact that I told him not to propose on V-Day."

"Why not' It sounds perfectly romantic," Elle remarked as she fastened the contraption and slid it around so that she could slide it into place properly, pausing a moment to make a few adjustments as she examined her reflection in the mirror. "If Dom wanted to take me to Venice, I wouldn't have any complaints."

"That's because, at heart, you are a princess," Vicki chuckled. "You love being wined and dined and made a fuss of. I'm definitely not - at the time, my idea of a good date was pizza in a tidy apartment." She smiled to herself at the memory. "It was a wonderful weekend, though. He let me drag him everywhere, to see everything, without complaining even once. And, of course, the sex was amazing."

"No argument there," Elle admitted. Yes, she enjoyed being spoiled, especially by her fiance, but as someone who had once been penniless, she never took it for granted. "Of course. You married him, didn't you?" she added at the mention of sex, though she wasn't complaining. Though she and Dom were getting married soon, they were no strangers to the marriage bed. "Hmm, this might just work. What do you think?" she asked, brazenly pushing open the door again to see what her friend thought of the latest contraption.

"Oh, I knew I was going to marry him long before he ever even knew my name," Vicki chuckled, turning to take a look at the latest contraption. She tilted her head, considering it. It wasn't going to win any aesthetic prizes, but the plunge was definitely deep enough to handle the dress. "Bounce around, see if they stay put."

"Yes, that whole time travel thing," Elle said, before bouncing up and down to see if the thing would keep her girls in place. "You know, I'm getting married, not doing calisthenics," she pointed out with a smirk. "Satisfied?"

"Oh, come on, everyone bounces around in a new bra just to make sure," Vicki grinned. "Well, it looks good from here. How does it feel?"

"Almost comfortable, actually. Better than those other contraptions. I swear they were invented during the Spanish Inquisition." Elle whirled back around to push back into the dressing room so that she could change back into her street clothes, now that they had decided on lingerie. "You know, Dom told me a little about that. He said Jon was only supposed to observe key points in your past. What went wrong?"

Relieved that the painful part of the day was over - though she wasn't looking forward to the dress fitting herself - Vicki smiled as she swiped her card into the automatic payment system, grateful for Rhy'Din's heightened technology at times like this. "I don't think anything went wrong, exactly," she mused. "I just think it works differently for everyone who does it. Jon needed someone who would be there for him through anything and everything, and ..." She sighed softly. "If I'm honest, I needed to have some purpose in my life. If I hadn't had Jon to look forward to, God knows where I would have ended up."

"What do you mean?" Elle asked, the sound of muffled shuffling going on as she got herself dressed. She knew a little about Jon's travels into Vicki's past, but it all still seemed a little too unbelievable, even for her. "There's so much I would change if I could, but then I might not have Daisy or Dom."

Victoria Granger · Date: 2016-02-11 11:07 EST

Authorizing the payment with her thumbprint, Vicki shrugged, though she knew Elle couldn't see her. "It's hard to explain," she admitted. "I wasn't a rich kid, but I was comfortable. I was the apple of my father's eye, all he had left of my mother. I think, if Jon hadn't been there when I was seven, I would have stayed wholly dependent on my dad. He would never have started dating again, and we would have stayed together no matter what. It's not a healthy way to live. But because I knew Jon was in my future, I built up my skills, I learned how to be without my dad, and he got the chance to live his life, instead of just looking after me. Jon gave us back our own lives, even without knowing it."

"But he didn't know that at the time. He was only being Jon," Elle pointed out, not having known the man before he met and married Vicki, before the attempt on his life that had changed him forever. "I keep waiting to wake up and find out it's all just a dream," she said, her voice betraying her fear of somehow breaking the spell and returning to the nightmare that was her life before she came to Rhy'Din.

"Which is a part of what makes him so wonderful," Vicki countered, her smile audible in her voice. She raised her brow as Elle shared that common fear with her. "You're not the only one who worries about that, you know," she assured her friend. "All of us have moments when we think we couldn't possibly be this lucky. But you know what? You are that lucky. You do have Dom, and Daisy, and a life you've built with them here. No one's going to take that away from you. They'll have to get through me first, and I'm deadly with a pencil."

"A pencil?" Elle echoed, laughing. "Do you have a license for that?" She pushed the changing room door open and stepped out with a sigh, relieved they'd had success with the lingerie. "That was exhausting!" she complained mildly, though there was a smile on her face.

"And over!" Vicki crowed cheerfully, taking the bought and paid for bra and stuffing it into her friend's bag. "As much as I complain about the money thing, it does make shopping a lot easier on the nerves." Looping her arm through Elle's, she drew her friend out of the private viewing room, dropping a massive tip to the poor girl who was going to have to tidy up the piles of rejected lingerie. "So ....lunch?"

"I thought you'd never ask. I'm starving!" Elle replied with a grin, as she linked arms with her bestie's. "Remind me to show you the gown I picked out for the ball." She was not only getting fitted for her bridal gown, but picking up a gown for the Valentine's Day Ball, at the same time. "I wish you and Jon were going," she added, pouting a little.

"We went to one, a couple of years ago," Vicki told her with a warm grin. "A disco theme. I went all seventies for it, it wasn't bad. Of course, I did spend most of the evening threatening to undo his tight pants and have him on the nearest table, but he didn't seem to take me seriously." She flashed Elle a wicked snicker and a wink. "Besides, you and Dom will be completely wrapped up in each other. A little dancing, a little champagne - do not drink the fairy wine unless you are absolutely sure you don't mind stripping him down in an alley or a field on the way home, that stuff is potent."

"Fairy wine?" Elle asked, curiously. She hadn't been in Rhy'Din so long that she didn't take her friend's warning seriously. "Is it an aphrodisiac or will it just make me drunk?" she asked further, never having encountered the stuff before. She was looking forward to the ball, but she was a little nervous. She didn't really know anyone in Rhy'Din, except those she saw on a daily basis, but it would be nice to get away for a little and have Dom all to herself. "I can't wait to see the look on his face when he sees my gown," she told her friend with a cheeky grin.

"It works differently on different races, but with humans, it tends to manifest as an incredibly powerful aphrodisiac, yes," Vicki laughed. "I've only had it once, and we think I gave him friction burns."

Elle giggled, not really wanting to picture that in her head, but it amused her to think about it. "I doubt he minded," she remarked. As far as she could tell, Jon and Vicki had a very healthy sex life, despite having two small children underfoot. The thought of that made her smile fade a little, for some reason.

"If you do have some, make Dom drink it too," the redhead suggested wickedly. "It's amazingly like Viagra, I've heard." She glanced at Elle, seeing her friend's smile fade, and her own softened. "Still worrying about consequences there, toots?"

Elle might have commented further regarding the fairy juice, if she didn't have other things on her mind. She shrugged at Vicki's question. "My time clock is running, but I don't want to get pregnant without talking to Dom about it first, and we've been so busy with wedding plans, I thought I'd wait until after."

"So talk to him," was Vicki's practical advice. "Or, if you don't want to jump straight in with that conversation, talk to Daisy about Lynnie's little brother, or about Emily and Ben. Give him the opportunity to bring it up with you. Dom's never going to come straight out and say yes, he definitely wants a child of his own. He's too afraid of losing you, the way he lost Gwen."

"That's not going to happen," Elle said, though, of course, there was always a chance, however small. "I've already had one child without any problems. I know it worries him, but there's no reason to believe that will happen again."

"So you need to be confident," Vicki shrugged. "Hell, tell me when you come off your pill, and I'll do the same. It's about time I added to our brood, anyway." Which was Vicki's blunt way of saying she wanted more babies.

"I don't want to go off my pill without telling him though," Elle pointed out. It seemed to be worrying her that Dom might be angry if she got pregnant without telling him, leading him to believe she had tricked him into giving her another child. "This isn't just about me, Vicki. I know how much he wants a child, and I want to make him happy. You don't think Daisy would be jealous, do you?"

"You'll never know unless you talk to her about it," her friend pointed out with a gentle smile. "But even if she's over the moon happy about the idea, she'll still get jealous occasionally. It's part of growing up. Ask Piper, she's dealing with that at the moment with Lyneth and Dylan. Lynnie loves having a little brother, but she has her moments when she resents him being around, too. I have no personal experience to work from here - only child, and Emily was too little to really mind all that much when Ben was born."

"But she's old enough to know the difference if you have another," Elle said, knowing her friend was right, but what if Daisy didn't want a little brother or sister" What if she liked being an only child" And what if Dom was so afraid of losing her that he wouldn't even think about having a child" "It's not that I'm not happy with the way things are, but if we're going to have a baby, I'd like to do it sooner, rather than later."

"That makes sense," Vicki assured her, one hand dipping into her bag to pull out her phone. "Sorry, text." She flashed her friend a smile, her thumb dancing over the keys before she put the phone away. "You shouldn't worry so much about something you can't control," she suggested. "You don't know how Daisy will react. You don't know how Dom will react. Stop imagining the worst and just talk to them."

"Before or after the wedding?" Elle asked, not thinking too much about the text. She got her own fair share of them now and then, especially if Daisy got her hands on Dom's cell phone. "What if he says no?" she asked further, though she knew she should be worrying about the wedding first and babies second.

Victoria Granger · Date: 2016-02-11 11:08 EST

"Before the wedding," Vicki suggested. "Get everything out in the open so you're not stressing over it on your happy day. And if he says no' You adopt. Easy as. There are more ways to have children than popping them out like a vending machine."

"I suppose," Elle admitted with a thoughtful frown. She was getting married in a few weeks. She was supposed to be happy, so why was she worrying so much' Was having a baby so very important to her or was she just worried about making Dom happy"

"Elle, why is this bothering you so much?" Vicki asked her friend searchingly, drawing her to a halt and out of the way of others passing them by. "Do you really want to have another child, or is it something you think you should want, or something you want to give Dom?"

Elle sighed, looking a bit lost. "I don't know. I mean, things are really good right now. I'm worried having a baby will mess things up, but I'm also worried if I don't have a baby, I'll disappoint him. And I'm not getting any younger. Sometimes I think it would be easier to just go off the pill and let nature take its course, but I know I'll get pregnant."

"Elle." Vicki reached for her friend's hands, holding her gaze quite seriously. "If I told you, right now, that you were pregnant and there was no way I could be wrong ....how would you feel?" Her phone buzzed in her bag, but she ignored it for now.

Put that way, Elle knew without a doubt how she'd feel, though she couldn't predict how Daisy and Dom might feel about it. She dashed a little wetness from the corner of an eye. "I'd be happy," she whispered, surprising even herself with her answer.

Vicki smiled softly, pulling her friend into a gentle hug. "So what makes you think that the two people you love most in all the multiverse wouldn't feel exactly the same way?" she asked quietly. "Talk to them, no expectations. They might surprise you."

"I'd be terrified, but happy," Elle corrected herself with a chuckle as she returned her friend's hug, sniffling suspiciously. "You're a good friend, Vicki. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Have a lot less innuendo-laced conversations," Vicki chuckled, squeezing her before letting go. "Here, have a good blow." She handed Elle a tissue from her bag, exhuming the phone to check the message and tap out a quick reply.

"What does Jon have to say about my problem?" Elle said, knowing her friend well enough to guess who she'd been texting and what they'd been texting about. She took the tissue from Vicki and gently blew her nose, while her friend tapped out a reply to her husband.

"He thinks you're pregnant," Vicki told her with a chuckle. Elle was a former thief, after all; she knew she couldn't get much past her best friend. "I'm threatening physical violence to Dom unless Jon can get him to man up and initiate The Talk with you, instead of making you do it."

"Oh, he doesn't have to do that. I'll talk to him ....eventually," Elle said, with a sheepish grin. Okay, so maybe she did need a little push. She and Dom had talked babies before, but he seemed so terrified at the prospect that she hadn't dared bring up the subject again.

"Too late, Jon's on the case!" Grinning at her minor bit of meddling, Vicki dropped the phone back in her bag. "Right, so ....what do you fancy for lunch' Anywhere, anything, your choice, my treat. I take this maiding of honoring seriously, you know."

"Technically, you're not a maid, you know," Elle teased, playfully bumping her friend's arm. "But then, I probably shouldn't be wearing white either." She shoved the tissue into her purse for now to dispose of later, and retook Vicki's arm. "What do you think of sushi" Dom hates it!"

"Screw the technicalities," the redhead grinned, patting her friend's hand as they linked arms again. "Mm, I haven't had sushi in forever. There's a place not too far from here, I think ....This way!" Steering, she moved to cross the street with Elle well in hand. "Besides, white doesn't stand for virginity in every culture. Hell, it only became fashionable on Earth in Western culture after Queen Victoria got married in white."

"Yes, well, if I don't get married in white, Miranda will kill me!" Elle pointed out, hurrying to keep up with her friend. She was wearing heels, after all. "I hope you're happy with your gown. I don't want to be a bridezilla forcing all my friends to wear something they hate."

Slowing once they reached the other sidewalk, Vicki rolled her eyes. "Elle, if I didn't like the dress, believe me, you would know about it," she assured her friend impishly. "Ash trusts you implicitly, and Piper's just excited about wearing something pretty for your big day that she didn't have to make or pay for herself."

"I'm surprised Ash didn't beat me to it, the way she and her captain are going," Elle remarked as they started down the sidewalk toward the sushi bar. It wasn't the kind of place Dom or Jon were ever likely to take them, as neither would consider it a meal.

"She might be trying to hold off so that you guys get there first," Vicki suggested. "Although ....are they really that serious" I never would have pegged Ash for the type to go googly over a pirate."

Elle giggled. "Darling, did you get a good look at him' That man is sex on two legs," she said, fanning herself with a hand, just for effect, though she was perfectly happy with her own personal hottie, as she assumed was Vicki.

"Oh, I don't deny the man is all kinds of sexy," Vicki agreed, pushing open the door to the sushi bar. "But the complications ....all that backstory, and the attitude ....They must have a really strong connection, or she's just setting herself up to get badly hurt. Although hopefully if he does hurt her, he'll forget to skip town." She smirked sweetly. "I got to see Team Granger all kitted out at Halloween, and let me tell you ....they are a scary bunch."

"Vicki, everyone has complications and backstory. Lord knows I do. If Dom were to have judged me based on that alone, we'd never have become a couple. Give Ash a little credit. I'm sure there's a lot more to him than his swagger," she argued. After all, James might have been a pirate once, but Elle had been a thief. "He came into the shop a few weeks ago. Did I tell you?"

"I don't know," Vicki shrugged. "Something about the bad boy attitude just gets my back up. It isn't personal, it's just me." She slid into a seat, patting the one beside it to invite Elle to sit with her. "You didn't tell me anything. But now you have to. C'mon, spill."

Elle frowned a little as she took her seat. What she was about to share had been told to her in confidence, and though she trusted Vicki, she felt a little guilty about betraying that confidence. "You have to promise this goes no further. I haven't even told Dom yet!" Yet, as if she hadn't decided whether she was going to or not yet.

"Not a word," Vicki promised, making a gesture of zipping her lips just to underscore the promise. She'd become gossip central in the Granger family, but that didn't mean she didn't know what to share and what to keep to herself.

"Okay," Elle said, drawing a breath before continuing and looking around as if to see if anyone was listening who shouldn't be. She leaned in to whisper, a conspiratorial gleam in her eyes and the hint of a smile on her lips. "He's building her a house. Shhh," she added, touching a finger to her lips.

Whatever Vicki had expected to hear, it certainly hadn't been that. Her eyes widened abruptly, her mouth dropping open in shock. "You're joking," she breathed, leaning back in amazement. "Well, crap. I guess I seriously misjudged that one." She blinked rapidly, trying to put together the mental image of the pirate with a man who loved someone so much he would build her a house. The pictures just didn't seem to want to go together. "A house, though' And how do you know?"

Victoria Granger · Date: 2016-02-11 11:09 EST

Not only build her a house, but let go of a rare uncut, unpolished large diamond to do it. Elle shrugged, looking just a bit smug. "He told me. He cornered me at the Christmas party and asked if I knew anyone who might be willing to buy an uncut diamond. I gave him my card, he came by the shop, and the rest is history."

"Wow ..." Vicki slumped a little. "Bugger, I'm going to have to be nice to him now I know that," she mourned comically. "Oh, well ....someone else is bound to produce a boyfriend or girlfriend I can take an immediate and unjustified dislike to, right?" She flashed Elle a grin, glancing at the little conveyor in front of them. "Food."

"He's a little rough around the edges, but so long as Ashlyn is happy, who are we to judge him?" Elle asked, smiling as she spied the food. Sushi was a rare treat, seeing as neither of the menfolk cared for it much. "It would be funny if one of us started craving this stuff."

Vicki snorted with laughter. "Can you imagine their reactions?" she chuckled, smiling to the chef who caught her eye as she helped herself. "But it's raw fish! You can't eat raw fish, what about the baby?"

"What do you mean, you can't eat raw fish"!" Elle echoed, eyes wide, looking alarmed. There was sushi that wasn't made with raw fish, of course, but she didn't see much point in that.

Vicki laughed out loud. "I was doing a terrible impression of our respective Dadbots," she nudged Elle, busting out her chopsticks. "Jon would freak out if he caught me eating sushi when I'm pregnant. He smiles like I just made his millennium if I have a bacon sandwich when I'm carrying."

"Why' Is it really not good for the baby?" Elle asked, visibly relieved that Vicki had only been kidding. She took up a plate and a pair of chopsticks to choose a few varieties. "Bacon can't be good. It's full of fat and ....fat."

"Well, raw anything when you're pregnant is typically a bad idea," Vicki shrugged. "It's all to do with bacteria and things. And the bacon thing ....well, that's all to do with me generally not eating meat. I mean, meat is a great source of protein, and when I'm pregnant, I'll have the occasional bit of bacon, or a steak, but try explaining that to an overly-protective dad-to-be."

"Like raw carrots?" Elle challenged with a grin. She knew her friend was a vegetarian, but also knew she was not opposed to eating fish. "So, you're thinking about having another?" she asked, changing the subject as she picked up one of the little rolls with her chopsticks and dipped it in sauce. This was probably why the men didn't like sushi - not because they didn't like the taste of it, but because it took a certain amount of skill to eat it.

"You know what I mean," Vicki chuckled, pausing to chew a mouthful with a happy smile. It really was a treat. Elle's question made her smile soften. "I'd like to have two more, ideally," she admitted. "An even four, so no one gets left out or has to be the problematic middle child."

"Two boys, two girls, or no preference?" Elle asked, before popping one of the treats into her mouth. She lifted a hand to the waiter, wiggling her fingers to get his attention. "I'm going to order some sake," she told her friend, grinning mischievously.

The redhead snickered, rolling her eyes at her friend. "I refuse to take the blame if you over-indulge and can't stand upright for Miranda," she laughed, not at all afraid of the same thing happening to her. She wasn't the bride, after all. "And no preference. We have one of each, any more is a bonus."

Neither of them was driving, after all, and it would help them relax. Or at least, it would help Elle relax. "Oh, Miranda Schmiranda," she said, waving a dismissive hand at her friend. "I'm not going to get drunk! I'm just going to loosen up a little," she said, before sending the waiter off to fetch her order. "Do you think Jon would rather have sons or daughters?" she asked, dunking another roll in sauce.

"That is a hard question to answer," Vicki admitted warmly, investigating one of the sauces with a curious sniff. "Ooh ....okay, that would be the shark bile one, then," she laughed, gently easing away from her and turning her attention to something else. "Jon is completely wrapped around Emily's little finger, and he absolutely adores her. But then, when it's just him and Ben ....he gets something else out of having a son. I genuinely don't know, but I would lean more toward girls than boys for Jon. Me, I think I'm a scary soccer mom."

"Emily is definitely a Daddy's girl," Elle said, smiling her thanks at the waiter as he returned with her order - not just one bottle of sake, but a small variety of flavors for the two of them to share. "I'm not sure if I want a boy or girl next time." Assuming there would be a next time. "I'd like to give Dom a son, but I wouldn't mind another daughter."

Grinning at the selection of flavors in front of them, Vicki gently nudged her friend's elbow. "Not going to get drunk, huh?" she teased affectionately. "I'm pretty sure Dom would be delighted with a son or a daughter. He's amazing with Daisy. I have never seen a man so willing to do just about anything a small girl suggests, just to see her smile." She wasn't going to forget the dress up day - Dom had ended up wearing a princess dress, wings, and a crown, and had taken Daisy, Emily, and Lyneth into town for ice cream still dressed like that.

"Uh huh. Says the woman who's married to Father of the Year," Elle teased back, though she wasn't sure Jon would have been so wiling to wear a princess dress in public. "Dom is talking about officially adopting Daisy once we're married," she added, though Vicki might already know that. She poured them each a small glass of sake from one of the various flavors.

"Good for him," was Vicki's cheerful response to that, raising the little glass to sniff before she took a sip. "You know, Piper arranged for Des to sign his adoption of Lyneth at the same time as he signed the wedding register," she offered. "It was pretty cute."

"Did she?" Elle asked, arching a brow. "That's a thought," she added, though she'd have to discuss it with Dom first. She knew Daisy would be thrilled. The girl had been asking Dom to be her Daddy for months now.

"I'm sure they could arrange it for you guys," Vicki nodded confidently. "Des being all lawyered up and all." She paused to chew and swallow her sashimi, chasing it down with sake. "Any ideas about how you want to spend your hen night yet?"

Elle frowned a little at her bestie's question. "I know I don't want to go to a strip bar and get drunk," she said. Maybe it was her age or the fact that she had a daughter now, but the thought of that just didn't thrill her very much anymore. "What are you thinking?" she asked, as she picked up her glass of sake.

Vicki smiled. "Well, there's the standard hen - go out, get smashed, throw up, snog a stripper," she offered wickedly. "But I had another idea that you might prefer. I was thinking of maybe making it a luxury girls' night in - full spa treatment, champagne, your choice of entertainment, all in the comfort of your home or mine."

"Oh, I love that idea!" Elle said brightening, a smile on her face. "I can't guarantee I won't get a little tipsy, but I don't really want to go to a bar and all that. What do you think I should do with Daisy?" All her regular babysitters would probably be invited to the party, and if Dom was having a party of his own, he couldn't be counted on to help.

"Well, it's your hen night, not the bridal shower," Vicki pointed out. "Invitation only, and only a few people invited, generally. And if we co-ordinate properly, we could have the hen on a different night to the stag, which would leave Dom available for Daisy. Unless you'd like her to be involved."

Victoria Granger · Date: 2016-02-11 11:10 EST

"I think she'd be just as happy to have a sleepover than hanging around with a bunch of old hens," Elle pointed out. It was just a matter of figuring out who she'd be sleeping over with. "Who do you think we should invite?" she asked further. Though she was perfectly happy to keep it to just herself and her bridesmaids, she didn't want to leave anyone out.

"Who do you want to spend the evening with?" Vicki turned it around onto her with a chuckle. "Me, obviously. I am, naturally, the single most amazing woman you know and will be providing all this pampering anyway. But who else?"

"You are pretty amazing," Elle admitted with a grin. "Piper and Ashlyn, of course." From there, it got a little more complicated. There were so many Grangers to choose from and she didn't know them all very well. "Miranda would kill me if she wasn't invited," she mused aloud thoughtfully. Who else?

"That makes five of us," Vicki mused, making a mental note of the names being brought up. "You don't have to invite anyone. This is your little get-together. No one's going to be offended if they're not invited to the intimate 'do."

Elle sighed, frowning again. "I haven't really gotten to know that many of you yet, and I'd rather keep it small. Is that too small?" she asked, uncertainly. She hadn't really thought much about it, until Vicki had brought it up just now.

"Of course it's not too small," the redhead chuckled fondly. "You don't want it to be a big gathering, you want to be able to relax and talk to everyone there. I think it sounds pretty ideal, really. Inviting Momma Bear is a wise move ....the woman tells the most raucous stories when she's tiddly."

"Does she?" Elle said with a grin. "It's decided then. We'll kick Dom out for one evening and have it at our place. Daisy can stay with Maria. Oh! We have to invite Olivia, too!"

"Wow," Vicki laughed softly. "Liv getting pampered ....Weirdly, I cannot imagine that at all. We shall make it happen." She toasted her friend with her little glass and a grin. "Have you heard anything from Ash yet' She usually manages to send at least one message when she's investigating the bottom of the sea, or whatever it is she does."

"We have! She seems to be having a great time. She even coerced James into scuba diving with her," Elle replied with a grin as she clinked glasses with her bestie. "Apparently, he took a job on board as a member of the crew, but she didn't say much more than that."

"Hold on ....how is he building a house for her if he's on the boat with her?" Vicki asked with a laugh, rolling her eyes. "The man has it bad if he's taking menial jobs to follow her around."

"I think he's having it built while they're away," Elle replied, taking a sip of her sake. "You're talking about a man who was a pirate captain, Vicki. I doubt he'll be swabbing the deck, though I bet he'd look good doing it!" she added with a giggle.

"You and your eye candy," the redhead laughed, shaking her head cheerfully. "Now I know why Dom was wearing tights at Halloween." She winked at her friend, wiping her lips and setting her napkin down on her plate. "Are you going to give me any clues about this dress you're wearing to the Ball, or do I have to wait like a small child to be shown?"

"And he was all natural under there!" Elle remarked with a cheeky grin, regarding Dom's tights. She had not bothered to tell him that ballet dancers wear something to protect their boys under their tights. "You're going to see it soon!" she exclaimed, regarding her dress, adding, "But I'll give you one small clue. It's gold." She deftly picked up her last sushi roll and dipped it in the sauce before popping it into her mouth, making an almost erotic sound with her mouth as she enjoyed it.

"Gold is good," Vicki approved teasingly. "Gold is not the generic red or pink or white you generally see on Saint Coupled or Death Day. And with the lingering tan you're sporting, should look devastating, too." She smiled at her friend, catching the waiter's eye to signal for their bill.

"Death Day?" Elle echoed, stifling a shudder. "Why do you call it that?" she asked, catching the signal to the waiter and knowing she had better finish up or risk being late for their appointment. The problem was that the more sake she drank, the more she giggled.

"Because I spent a long time being single waiting for my moment, and I learned to despise the hype around Valentine's Day," Vicki explained with a faint shrug. "When you're waiting to find out if the love of your life is going to recover from a gunshot to the head, and only then might possibly even realize you exist' All that hype turns into a major push on your senses, telling you that, on Valentine's Day, the only people who matter are the people in love. It hurts like hell, and it's the reason I don't really like Valentine's Day." Her smile was still there, but it didn't touch her eyes. "Swear to God, if you tell Jon that, I will tie your tits in a knot."

"But he proposed to you on Valentine's Day," Elle pointed out, the smile on her face disappearing in the face of Vicki's confession. She didn't want to think about what had happened to Daisy's birth father, who had not been quite as lucky as Jon. She didn't take Vicki's threat very seriously, but the talk of death put a slight damper on her mood.

"I know," Vicki nodded, her own smile fading. "But I knew he would propose to me eventually, once I had him." She laughed a little mirthlessly. "You know, we've been through hell a couple of times together. He was hunting vampires when we first got together, and then an insane ghoul decided she wanted to cut Emily out of me while I was still alive so she could raise Jon's baby with him. But none of it - none of it - scared me half so much as waiting for Jonathan Granger to notice me and worrying that he never would."

Elle knew a little about Vicki's past already, as Vicki knew about hers, but that didn't stop Elle from shuddering at the thought of vampires and ghouls and other such things that were the stuff of nightmares. She had survived plenty of trouble of her own, and Dom had helped her through it, but she wasn't really sure if the mob quite compared. "Someone once told me that humans can be the worst monsters of all, but I'm not so sure if that's true."

"I think ....the worst things we do, we do to ourselves," Vicki said quietly. "No one can make me suffer the way I can, and I hurt myself during those years. I never gave up, though. Which is why I have a gorgeous husband, and two beautiful children, and the world's most insane dog." And just like that, her smile was back, warm and sparkling, as she paid their bill.

Elle reached over to touch her friend's hand, a warm, caring smile on her face. "They say everything happens for a reason, though sometimes it's hard to understand what that reason might be. We can't change the past, love, but the past is what makes us who we are, and maybe we appreciate our blessings a little bit more for our hardships than most."

Squeezing Elle's hand, Vicki grinned. "I'll drink to that," she agreed, raising her glass to finish what was left. "And now, Soon-to-be-Mrs-Granger ....time to get bullied by a master in the art of fashion confectionery."

Victoria Granger · Date: 2016-02-11 11:11 EST

"Oh, I rather think she enjoys it, don't you?" Elle asked, relieved the mood had lightened again. They were supposed to be having fun today, but everyone needed a confidante, and she didn't mind being Vicki's. She finished off her own sake, feeling just a little light-headed. "This stuff is stronger than I thought."

Vicki didn't often bare her soul like that, and rarely did she do it outside her marriage, but some things she just could not tell Jon. Elle had become her best friend, and with that position came certain responsibilities. Rising to her feet, the redhead blinked as her own head swam for a moment. "Maybe we should buy a bottle to give Miri to apologize for turning up half-cut."

"And then, she'll want to open it, and we'll risk going home drunk," Elle reasoned, though she wasn't entirely opposed to the idea, especially after the secrets they'd just shared together - or that Vicki had shared, anyway. Jon belonged to Vicki now; there was no question about it. All's well that ends well, or something like that.

"Sounds like more fun than enduring the Miranda and her needles," Vicki snickered impishly. "We can always reschedule." She looped her arm through Elle's, not following through on her threat to buy Miranda alcohol this time. She was aware that bridal dresses were a source of stress, though her own had been an old holiday dress that just happened to fit over her bump.

Elle laughed. "I'm the one enduring the needles this time!" She linked arms with Vicki, letting her friend lead the way. Thankfully, Vicki had made an appointment late enough in the day that Miranda could likely give them both a ride home, since they were all lived at Maple Grove. "What do you think she'll say when we tell her about hen night?"

"Offer to provide the stripper," Vicki snorted with amusement. "You know, she convinced Johnny Storm to strip at my first baby shower" It was hilarious! No one's ever let him live it down, either, and it was all her idea!"

"I thought we weren't having a stripper!" Elle retorted, though she wasn't entirely opposed to the idea. She audibly gasped at the thought of Liv's husband stripping in public. "She didn't!" Engaged to her own hottie or not, she couldn't help but giggle at the thought of that. "That suit doesn't leave much to the imagination, does it?"

"She did! Miranda has a girlie hard on for all things Johnny Storm," Vicki snickered in her playful way. "Seriously, at Piper and Beth's weddings, she nearly melted when she realized she was in a room with three men who looked almost identical. It was brilliant." Waving a thank you to a man who stopped his car to let them cross the road, she flashed Elle a grin. "As far as I can tell, that's all Johnny under there. Poor man lets me treat him like a little brother."

"Three of them?" Elle echoed curiously, trying to place the two lookalikes, one of whom she had probably not met yet. "He is rather hot, and I don't mean his temperature!" she added with a grin. Though no one really compared to her fiance, like Miranda, she could appreciate a pretty face when she saw one. "Jon's no slouch, you know. You snagged one of the good ones."

Laughing at the pun, Vicki shook her head, always comfortable in Elle's company. "Oh, I know I got lucky," she nodded. "But then, everyone who marries a Granger gets lucky. That family won the genetic lottery, or didn't you notice?" She snorted cheerfully. "When I first married Jon, I felt like the ugly duckling. Everyone's so beautiful, starting with Humph and going right down to Noelle and Nick."

"That's it!" Elle exclaimed abruptly as something Vicki said triggered her memory. "Jack ....He's one of Johnny's clones. Such a cutie, too." She hadn't gotten to know all of the various Grangers yet, but she'd at least met most of them at the Christmas party. "You don't give yourself enough credit, Vicki," she added, nudging her friend playfully. "Besides, you're a redhead. There's a reason to envy you right there!"

"Yes, Jack and Johnny could be twins," Vicki laughed, flicking said red hair out of her face. "Add Michael Donnelly into the mix, and Miranda starts getting incoherent. Anyway, you're the complete package, look at you. Beautiful, long legs, great skin, amazing taste ....about as close to perfect as a woman can be. No wonder Dom's head over heels for you."

"But Miranda has Rufus!" Elle pointed out, though being with Dom hadn't made her blind to admiring other men. She hadn't stopped to think how she might feel if Dom was admiring other women, though she knew it was only natural, so long as neither of them acted on it. "Do you think so?" she asked, uncertainly, not quite as self-confident as she seemed.

"And Rufus knows that she likes looking at pretty boys, but she always goes back to him, " Vicki pointed out. "Hell, it took them nearly thirty years to get married!" She looked at her friend with a gentle smile. "I really do think so," she promised Elle. "You're beautiful, smart, wise, funny. You have excellent taste, and you know when enough is enough. You don't give yourself enough credit, you know."

"I can't imagine waiting thirty years for someone," Elle said quietly, more to herself than her companion. "That's not what I meant," she replied further with a small frown. "Do you really think he's head over heels for me" I sometimes wonder if he's not more in love with the idea of having a wife and child than he is with me. I mean ..." She sighed, nibbling at her mouth. "I'm no better than James, you know." At least, she'd never killed anyone - Dom had taken care of that much for her.

"Elizabeth Marlowe, that is the most appalling thing I have ever heard you say, and I never want you to even think it again," Vicki said suddenly, pulling her friend to a halt in the street to pin her with a deathly serious gaze. "If all Dom wanted was a wife and a child, he could have married any one of a dozen women since Gwen died. He could have adopted any child that took his fancy. He could have built a family from the ground up, and he would have had the wife and children you're worrying over. Don't ever even consider that again. Dom's a good man, and he loves you. You, not the idea of you, or the fact that you come with Daisy attached. He loves the woman standing in front of me. Entertaining, even for a moment, that he might only want you for what you represent is doing you both a terrible disservice."

"I know, I know!" Elle replied with a sigh, as she was tugged to a halt and forced to brave Vicki's scolding. "I just worry one of these days he's going to come to his senses and realize he's married a faker. That's what I am, you know. Oh, I've learned to play the part well, but I'm no better than a common street rat. He wasn't so enamored of me when we first met. I'm not quite sure what changed his mind."

"Put that way, he's nothing more than a privileged rich kid," Vicki pointed out sternly. "In that light, I'm nothing more than a motherless art student. That might be where you started, Elle, but it isn't who you are. Where you began does not define you. You aren't faking anything."

"Maybe," she admitted grudgingly. It was one thing she had in common with James that few other Grangers could relate to, though even James came from a well-to-do family before fate had made him a pirate. "I don't doubt he loves me. I'm just not sure why."

"I don't think we're meant to know why someone loves us, Elle," her friend said softly. "And I don't think it matters. Just being loved is a gift. You don't ask someone why they've given you everything they are, and with it, the power to completely destroy them. You honor their trust, by not asking those questions and devaluing the gift by becoming insecure about it. Whether you think you deserve it or not, he loves you. It's as simple, and as complicated, as that."

"And Jon loves you," Elle reminded her, though it seemed her friend already knew that. "We are lucky girls indeed," she added, with a soft smile of her own and a pat of her friend's hand. "Now, I think we'd better get to Miranda's shop before she sends out a search party for us," she added with a grin. Whether she was changing the subject or not, it was true.

"All hail the woman with the fashion sense of a goddess," Vicki conceded, allowing the subject to change as she drew Elle back on their aborted path. Weddings by Miranda loomed at the end of the street. "Don't forget to change your bra."

"Yes, mother," Elle quipped with a teasing grin. In actuality, neither of them had a mother anymore - it was another thing they both had in common, though neither seemed too troubled about it. They both had too much to be thankful for and too many people who filled their lives with love and joy to let their thoughts linger too long on what they didn't have, rather than what they did. One of the people Elle appreciated most was the woman by her side. Vicki had become more than merely a friend; she was friend, confidante, and sister, all wrapped into one.

More than anything, they were family. And right now, they were about to crash in on the woman who was making the gown in which Elizabeth Marlowe would become Elle Granger officially. It was definitely a good day.

((Wow, we get a whole different side to Vicki when she's with a girlfriend, don't we? Huge thanks to Elle's player!))