When We Were

“You know, you didn’t really need to tell everyone that it was alright to tag along. They would have understood” Emilia fussed as she smoothed out her shirt, keeping herself from looking at Lionel who sat in the driver’s seat, steering the car towards the little church that had played host to her parents’ wedding years previous. They hadn’t hung around, after the initial conversation that they had had with Emilia’s family, they booked themselves an appointment to check it out, an event which had grown from being just the two of them to including both of their mothers, Samia and Martha.

Lionel smiled, sparing her a glance out of the corner of his eye. “Do you know of a good way to let both of our mothers down gently?” he prodded “Because if you do, I’d love to hear it. It might come in handy in the next few months” he teased.

Emilia couldn’t stop the corner of her mouth from kicking up into a soft smile before she shook her head. “I would have taken the hit” she mused, glancing over at him “I’d have let them be pissed at me. I was just pointing out that you didn’t have to say yes to them all coming along” she added, her voice flitting between teasing and shy.

She was excited, the prospect of standing in the church that they’d chosen, gushing over all of the possibilities was something she was more than looking forwards to, but she wanted to ensure that Lionel didn’t feel like he was outnumbered, not wanting him to get lost or overwhelmed in the process of planning their wedding. Emilia had an idea of how it would work out, she would take the lead on most of the decisions, and Lionel would more than likely just go along with her, but she wanted to ensure that he knew that his opinion was the one that she valued the most. People would pitch their own opinions, she could already picture her mother trying to dominate the conversations, but she wanted to be clear that all the decisions would come down to the two of them, no matter how many other inputs there were. Theirs were the most important.

Lionel shrugged, his grin unmoved. “They want to help” he quipped “And a handful of opinions can’t hurt. Did you not want them there?” he asked.

“I didn’t say that” Emilia replied “I just...I don’t know, I guess I don’t want them to scare you” she added, wrinkling her nose a little at the phrasing.

Lionel’s laugh was sudden, but bright and cheerful. “You’re sweet to worry” he quipped “But I know what I am getting myself into. I know your mother’s going to pitch a new ideas every time she opens her mouth, and I know that my mother will fight her on most of them. I know that Martha’s not going to hold back, either, and that Sam’s going to be a little quiet. I am prepared for it, Em. I’ll be able hold my own” he insisted.

“You sure?” Emilia asked, watching as he steered around the last corner.

Lionel didn’t hesitate in nodding his head, offering her another lopsided smile. “They don’t scare me, Em” he quipped impishly.

Emilia laughed, shaking her head a little. “I’ll remind you of that when we’re done here” she quipped.

~#~
Gently crossing her legs, Emilia quirked a soft smile, her eyes staring down the aisle from where she sat at the top of it, watching as Lionel spoke quietly with his mother, smiling gently at something the older woman had said. It had been slightly overwhelming, with them having been left the space for a little while, the ideas had started to flow almost as soon as they’d stepped inside, and Emilia had been grateful when her father had called, distracting both her mother and Samia for a few moments. Catching Lionel’s eye, she offered him a grin, something he returned before he mumbled something to his mother, stepping away from her so that he could make his way up the aisle.

Emilia tilted her head, tucking her hair back off of her face. “Aren’t I supposed to walk towards you?” she teased.

Lionel laughed as he sat down next to her. “That’s generally how it goes” he quipped “What’ve you done with everyone else?” he asked.

“Papa called” Emilia replied “He needed to talk to my mother about something, and Samia took the chance to slip out and call Jordi to check in with Felix. I texted him, Maisie’s fine” she added.

Lionel nodded his head, allowing a comfortable silence to pass between them for a few moments, before he shuffled to his feet, leaning over to collect a bouquet of flowers which had been left behind on the end of a row. Quirking a grin, he offered it out towards Emilia who looked up at him. “What are you doing?” she asked, unable to stifle the shy smile which itched to light up her features.

“I’m trying something” Lionel replied “Humour me?” he asked.

Emilia pushed her hair back again before she stood up, gently taking the flowers out of his hand.

Lionel met her eyes, his brown ones sparking a little in amusement, before he gently nudged her forwards, edging her into a spot at the top of the aisle. Emilia lifted an eyebrow, but didn’t comment, instead opting to simply follow along, marveling at the impish expression which lit up his face. “We’d be stood just about...here” he noted, pulling her to a stop.

Emilia just giggled, nodding her head.

“You’ll come up the aisle with David” Lionel continued “He’ll probably be crying” he added.

“Obviously” Emilia played along.

Lionel grinned at her. “You’ll give your flowers to Martha” he quipped “And then you will stand there, in front of me. Can you picture that?” he asked, the teasing edge of his voice fading slightly to be replaced by something wistful.

Emilia’s smile softened in alignment with the shift in his voice. “Are you asking if I can picture it here?” she asked gently.

Lionel nodded. “I can” he noted “I could the moment we stepped through the door. It’s a beautiful place” he added.

“I’ve always thought so” Emilia agreed “I used to look at my parents’ wedding album a lot when I was little” she added.

Lionel’s face lit up. “I remember that” he breathed.

“You do?” Emilia asked, a crease between her eyebrows. There was very little that Lionel could recall about their relationship when they were children, and she was surprised that that was a detail that stuck out to him.

Lionel nodded enthusiastically. “You used to say that your mother looked like a fairy princess” he quipped “And that your papa was her prince. You used to go on about the ‘prince’ you were going to end up with, and, if I remember rightly, you were so sure that it wouldn’t be any of Jordi’s friends. That worked out, didn’t it?” he teased.

Emilia shook her head, her cheeks tinging a pale pink. “I can’t believe that’s what you remember about me” she mumbled “You couldn’t remember that I was Jordi’s sister when we first met, but you remember me swearing that I’d never end up with one of his friends?” she added.

Lionel shrugged. “I’m funny like that” he quipped.

Emilia rolled her eyes, smiling down at the flowers she still clutched in her hand. “I can see it here” she mused after a moment.

Lionel smiled as he took a step towards her, his arms settling around her waist as hers wrapped around his neck. “I love you” he whispered.

“I love you, too” Emilia replied just as softly before Lionel leant down, capturing her lips with his for a brief second before a flash caught their eyes, causing them to draw apart, glancing at Martha who stood a little away from them, grinning down at her phone.

“Martha” Emilia sighed “What are you doing?” she asked.

“We’ll call it a preview shot” Martha quipped “And it came out wonderfully on my phone, so imagine how great it’s going to be when a professional is taking it” she added, showing off the picture to the couple who rolled their eyes despite the goofy smiles on their faces, assured that they had found the right place.