Follow Your Bliss

I pulled my damp hair back into a messy bun and slid my glasses on. I was the first one up when we reached the Tweeter Center in Mansfield. I grabbed Gerard's computer and plugged it in so I wouldn't completely kill the computer, leaving him with no battery. I opened the shade halfway to let some natural light through.

I opened my email, checking it and bringing up the document I had sent to myself. I opened it up and saved it to my file just incase anything should happen.

"What are you working on?" Gerard started to coffee machine.

I bit my lip at his sexy morning voice, well to me anyway. I looked away from the computer and watched him go through the cabinet for a clean mug. "Working on the article for the Nursing Journal about my trip. I want to get it in as soon as possible so I don't have it hanging over my head and everything is still fresh in my mind."

"Ah," He scooted my legs over and rested his head on my shoulder as he waited for the coffee to brew. "You look sexy with your glasses on." He complimented me making me blush.

"How come you're up so early?" I kissed his neck good morning and began where I left off.

"It's pretty noticeable in that bunk when someone leaves you." Gerard chuckled, reading over what I had written of my article so far. Half of the medical terms used he didn't even bother to try to understand.

"It feels like a military bunk, even sleep away camps have bigger beds than that." I teased, though, unfortunately, too true.

"How much longer do you have of this thing left?" He got up when he heard the last of the water bubbling through into the pitcher.

"I figured maybe a page more to sum the rest up. It's really hard to shorten a month into a short article." I sighed saving the document again. A nervous habit that has saved me before on several occasions when the computer has frozen on me.

He poured himself a mug, knowing I wasn't a big fan of coffee on an empty stomach. He shook a sugar packet before adding it to his coffee and stirring it with a spoon he found lying in the sink. "Well, if you want my unbiased opinion, what you have so far is completely captivating. I wish I had those mad writing skills for those gen-ed courses when I was in college."

I laughed. "Please, like your mad writing skills hasn't gotten you far in life."

He scrunched up his nose and grinned sheepishly. "Okay, I'll give you that. But, I will be the first to admit that I suck at writing essays, lyrics are nothing." He heard whining and opened the door to have the tiny dachshund come sliding across the narrow, wooden linoleum flooring. "I'm going to go walk him."

"And, have a smoke." I rolled my eyes, staring out the window at the rising sun over the Norton Reservoir. "Ray's fully quit."

Gerard bit his tongue, not wanting to start an argument this early in the morning. "Some habits are just harder to kick for others, sugar." He watched me shrug before picking up Will and going down the steps.

I got up and toasted a raisin bagel. I knew I was asking a lot from him, but I was stubborn. I grabbed some butter in the fridge and spread it graciously on. I heard the door open and watched as Gerard took my seat, leaning against the window. I set the plated down and watched as he took a bite. "Who said you could have some?" I pouted, picking up Will and situating myself in between his legs.

"I did." He wrapped his arms around me. "And, you always share with me cause you love me."

I rolled my eyes taking the other half, giving a piece to Will. He grabbed it and began to circle around on my lap before settling down to eat the piece. I began to start typing again before sighing and stopping once more.

"What?" Gerard looked at me, knowing that sigh did not mean I had a writer's block.

I hesitated answering, but did so anyway. "Do you really, seriously want to get married after this tour? I want an honest answer here, Gee."

"Unless, you think it's too much to take on, I have no objections." He leaned on my shoulder, nuzzling his head against me. "It's going to kills us planning over the next month and a half, but I think we can pull it off to be the event of all events."

"Do you think we're crazy?" I bit my lip from smiling ear to ear.

"Of course we are, Jane." He laughed softly. "But, I want to the whole world to know I'm yours and your mine forever and ever."

"I love you." I sighed and leaned further into his chest. "You know just what to say."

"I'm getting the hang of it." Gerard smiled, kissing my shoulder. His heart swelled, proud at him doing something right.

"You're better than you think." I grabbed the yellow legal pad off the counter behind us. I rubbed Will's ear, loving the soft, silky feeling of his puppy fur. "Do you want to start making a list of who we're gonna invite?"

"No more than 50 guests?" He grinned taking a pencil out of my hair and held it out for me. "You go first then. Unless, you need to finish the article."

I took the pencil out of his hand. "Please, this will take me maybe a minute." I split up the names from my mom's side to my dad's side to friends, numbering as I went to make sure I wouldn't go over. "Okay, I think that's it."

"Really? That was fast." He looked at me skeptically before taking the list and skimming it over. I went back to finishing the article. "How come you have her friends and no family members under your mom's?"

"I put down my grandma's name." I looked at Will who had fallen asleep, probably since we weren't giving him much attention. I sighed. "Gerard, this is our day. You know our history with my Mom's family. Besides, I've talked to her about it and she agrees. We are not going use our wedding as a day for breaking bread."

Gerard ran his fingertips down my side gently. "I just wanted to make sure. You know I'm only here to protect you."

I smiled and bit my lip. "Is that all you're good for?"

He laughed. "I'm sure there's a few other things." He stretched out his leg disturbing Will.

I chuckled, picking him up and holding him close to my chest. "Poor baby, what did your daddy do to you, waking you up all mean like that."

Gerard rolled his eyes. "Yeah, he's got a tough life."

Will began licking my chin. "I know, baby, daddy's so mean."

Gerard gave my side a squeeze making me squeal. "Uh, uh, uh. Don't want to be waking anyone up."

I glared. "Get to that list, mister."

"Finish that article, sugar." He returned the stern look.

I pouted, leaning against the back of the booth so I could face him. "Only if I get a kiss first."

Gerard grinned and set the notepad down. His cold hand gently cupped my face. "A kiss?"

I smiled and nodded. He leaned down, closing the space between us, gently pressing his lips against mine. His mouth was soft with his lips nibbling mine so that when I opened my mouth he slipped his tongue inside over mine dancing with it. Heat gathered in my lungs and every breath I took was of Gerard.

"Finish your article." He whispered, his breath caressing my lips. He pulled back and leaned against the window, like nothing happened, as he thought over who he would want to invite.

I almost made a snappy comment about leaving me dry and hanging, but instead I let out a giddy giggle. "We're planning our wedding."

"We are." Gerard returned the excited grin as realization shocked us both. Never in a million years would he have thought that he would have made it this far in life. Everything seemed to be coming to a full circle and he couldn't be happier. He straightened up and glared teasingly. "Finish."

"What are you two doing up so freaking early?" Frank groaned pouring some coffee into a mug of his own. "And cheerful too." He sat down opposite us. "Way too cheerful," he mumbled.

"It's a beautiful morning Frankie. Let's see that beautiful smile that makes all the little girls and boys spaz." I chuckled.

"Yeah, Frankie." Gerard laughed and shook his head.

Frank huffed. "Shut up. You're one of those girls too, Gerard." It was way too early to be messed with. He should have stayed in bed longer, like he had originally planned.

"Too true." He sighed leaning over the table. "Kiss?"

Frank laughed and kissed him quickly on his lips before pushing him back in his seat. "I swear you two get the most action out of everyone." I rolled my eyes. "Right baby?" I asked Will. He licked my lips making me laugh before snuggling his head under my chin. I took that for agreeing with me. "That's right."

"Well, it gets so pent up that everything just ends up coming out on stage." Frank giggled drinking the magical caffeine in his mug. "But, really what are you two doing?"

"I'm finishing an article." I pushed up my glasses. "And, he's working on some wedding plans."

"You're kidding." Frank grinned. "When is it going to be?"

"Um," I looked over at Gerard and shrugged. "We only got as far as after tour."

"Well, congrats then." He giggled. "It's definitely going to be a great way to end tour."

"That, and at least we'll have three weeks to ourselves before the next one." Gerard tapped the pencil, trying to think of who else he was missing, before he thought of something. "How much can the restaurant hold?"

"Oh, good question." I saved the document once more. "Let me check."

"Any excuse." He laughed. "Just finish your article first, sugar. Get that out of the way."

"Alright, I'm going to leave you before I catch your cheeriness and it fully wakes me up." Frank teased, yawning. He ruffled my hair laughing at my scowl. He dumped his mug in the sink and went toward the bunks, shutting the door behind him.

Gerard nudged me and pulled the laptop closer to me, whistling innocently as he hinted so subtly to get back to work. I rolled my eyes and started reading what I had in the beginning. I included short blurbs about the people I had met and what procedures I got to do. Now, all I had to do was finish it off, trying to put into words the feeling of fulfillment I received from the trip.

I bit my lip and tapped my nails on the table as I tried to think of the right words. I smiled as Gerard subconsciously rubbed my side as he worked on our list. I looked over to see his tongue lazily jutting out as he concentrated. He gave me a squeeze letting me know I was caught.

I rolled my eyes. I looked down at Will, who had begun to knead my leg as he tried to resituate himself. I smiled when he stopped circling awkwardly and just flopped down. He swatted the drawstring of my shorts before chewing on it.

I stuck in the memory card looking for some inspiration and skimmed through all the photos, uncut. There were some not so pleasant ones that I was glad I didn't show. I looked over the ones that the children took when I had allowed them to play with the camera. There were a bunch of random ones because they didn't realize the camera had already gone off.

I closed it down before going back to the article and trying to write as best I could the reward I was given from going to both locations. I let out a sigh of relief when I finished the last few words. I looked over at the art pad to see him shading something in. "That doesn't look like a list."

Gerard jumped and glared. "Well, I got stuck." He pouted.

"What are you drawing?" I asked trying to get a better look.

"You." He turned it to me.

"I'm a superhero?" I laughed at the revealing costume he drew along with it.

"Yup." He grinned.

I looked over the details that he started to add in the material to make it look like leather. "And, what's my name?"

"Haven't got that far yet." He reached around my waist at scratched Will's belly.

"I better have some pretty awesome superpowers." I kissed his cheek.

"Of course." He chuckled. "You finished?"

"Yup, I'll have you read it later before I send it." I closed the document and opened up Safari. Google was still set from when I changed it on him making me laugh. I leaned against him. "Gee?"

"Yeah, Jane." He mumbled started to draw again.

"What do you need for a wedding?"

"You think I know." He raised an eyebrow making me laugh. "Look it up."

"What, like a check list?" I felt him shrug and started typing it into the search engine. I clicked on the first thing I saw and my eyes widened at the long list. "You sure we can do this?"

"Positive." He leaned forward, resting his head on my shoulder looking over the list. "You said the restaurant could close for events like this, right?"

I bit my lip. "I don't remember the name of the place exactly because we went to more than one place. It either started with a –d or an –o? That kind of helps right?"

"So, that narrows it to somewhere on Long Island." Gerard laughed. "I forgot I'm asking the person who doesn't know how to read a compass."

"Not true. Sun rises in the east and sets and the west. And, a compass goes Never Eat Soggy Waffles." I smiled proud that I remembered that of my very limited span of survival skills.

Gerard threw his head back laughing. "Are you serious?" I heard behind us.

I looked over to see Mikey and grinned. "It works doesn't it?"

Mikey thought it over as he sat in the booth. "Actually, as scary as it is, it does."

"See, now thanks to me, you'll never be lost." I grinned.

"Yet, you always get lost." Gerard squeezed me. "I don't think you were talking about Southampton." He said when that search came up empty. He opened up a new window and started searching restaurants up and down the east to west end of the Hampton's.

"Well, I know it had a blue website so if you opened it I would recognize it." I looked at the websites he clicked on whenever one was available. I looked up across the table. "Mikey, you're married. How do you plan a wedding?"

"Vegas?" He chuckled and shrugged. "Caitlin, you were there, the hotel did it for us."

"Gee, your brother's useless." I whined and stuck my tongue out at Mikey.

Gerard rolled his eyes. "You say that like it's an epiphany."

Mikey giggled. "You're going to be my sister-in-law."

I rolled my eyes. "Just what I need, another brother. You're mom should have had a girl."

Mikey gasped and held his heart. "Well then, I see where I'm not wanted."

"That's right." I teased. I looked at the computer and squealed. "Stop, that's it."

Gerard jumped not expecting my reaction. "You sure?"

"Positive." I grinned at the picture in the center. "See, you just walk across and there's the beach. And, the restaurant is a marina too. What's it called?"

"Oakland's. And, it's in the Hampton Bays, not Southampton." He pouted at my own pout. "But, you were pretty close, just came up short. We can always have it there and find somewhere else for the reception."

"Nah, I'm satisfied. I remember this place because of the view and the good food. We won't have to worry about anyone getting food poisoning." I leaned my head against his in content. "How much is it per person?"

Gerard had already seen the numbers and grinned going back to the page with the list. "Not letting you know."

Mikey laughed at my glare. "Why not?"

"Because, no matter what it is you'd fuss. So to fix that, you're just not going to find out." He chuckled.

"So what's next?" Mikey asked getting in on this.

Bob grunted his good morning and plopped on the couch. "What are you guys doing?"

"Planning our wedding." I grinned.

"No wonder why Frank's hiding." He chuckled, yawning. "What do you guys have so far?"

"A place and my dress."

"What does it look like?" Bob asked, stood up and stealing Mikey's coffee, forcing him to move over so he could sit at the table too.

"I'm not telling." I laughed. "But it's got some red all over it."

"Oh, so you're going to be one of those murdered brides." Bob laughed. "Well, I guess it fits."

"No!" I pouted. "It's pretty and that's all you have to worry about."

"You want a limousine?" Gerard asked as he saw that on the list. I scrunched up my nose, making a face and shook my head. They all burst out laughing at my reaction. "So, that's a no." He chuckled looking at what else there was.

"I'll take care of the photographer and I have the rings already." He said clicking off some of the boxes.

"You do?" I didn't try to hide my grin.

"Yeah, well I got them when I got your engagement ring." Gerard nuzzled his head in my neck shyly, hiding a blush. "You didn't want to pick them out, did you?"

"Nah," I smiled. "It will be a good surprise. I trust your judgment." I turned the computer to get rid of the glare, not wanting to shut the blinds. "So, you'll be calling the restaurant then, huh?"

"Of course." He chuckled. "So, what are you going to make us men wear?"

I shrugged. "I was thinking of like dark blue jeans and a nice button down sky blue shirt, then you'd wear white." I looked around to see if that gained their approval. "Josh and Devin won't mind. You guys okay with that?"

I sighed softly, thankful that there were no complaints. Gerard kissed my shoulder. "Sounds perfect. And, the girls?"

"A beach dress, something they'll be able to wear elsewhere. They can choose that one." I tried to keep everything simple. "Flowers?"

"Like, I'd have to guess." Gerard chuckled. "They'll be tulips. Everything else is basically done by the restaurant."

"I figured the girls and I will pick out extra decorations that they can set up." I smiled to myself, trying to envision the layout of the evening. "What do you want to do about invitations?"

"We should do something totally out there." He grinned and kissed my cheek. "I want to draw a template and then we can just get that copied."

"I like that, like our own personal touch." I agreed.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Ray asked leaning on the doorway, his fro disheveled showing he just woke up.

I looked to Gerard and he shrugged. "I think we've got everything covered," he said slowly.

"Don't you need a license?" Ray rolled his eyes.

"Oh, yeah, maybe." I laughed. "I forgot about that."

"That's like the most important part." Mikey laughed at us. "Even I didn't forget that."

"Well aren't you just perfect." I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Why, yes, yes I am." He grinned cheekily.