"Why the hell is there so much to do for wedding planning?!" Fawn asked.
Fawn and Isabella decided that they wanted help with wedding planning from their one friend who got married and their other friend who's also getting married. They all met at Anna-Marie's house due to her having morning sickness. When Fawn asked this question Anna was just getting back from the bathroom and Erik offered her his seat, which she took without complaint. Lan was sitting on the opposite side of the table as she breastfed baby Fawn and Li was watching Flower playing with her toys. Isabella was sitting right next to Fawn and was feeling as dumbfounded as her fiancée.
Lan shrugged in response to Fawn's question. "I don't know. But really you should take things one step at a time. You did just get engaged a couple days ago. Take it step by step. Step one: set a date for the wedding so you know how much time to give yourself. Or at least have a rough estimate."
"Rough estimates are usually a good idea so that way if a venue you really like isn't available on a specific day you can still get the space at around that same time," Li suggested.
Fawn nodded. "Okay. Well... I've always sort of wanted to get married in the fall or winter." She looked at Isabella. "What do you think?"
Isabella thought about this. She was never entirely sure when she wanted to get married. At one point in her life she didn't actually think she would ever get married. But since she and Fawn got together she could always picture their wedding.
Isabella shrugged. "I dunno. I always sort of picture us being indoors so the time of year doesn't necessarily matter to me."
Fawn nodded. "Okay, cool... I say we do November. The only thing in November is American Thanksgiving and we're still debating how we should celebrate that... Anyway, does November work, mi amor?"
Isabella smiled. "Si, cariño."
"How about you, Ann?" Erik asked. He was massaging her tense shoulders as he asked this. "Any idea when you want to get married?"
"After our baby's born," Anna answered. "So after the winter... I dunno. I've always wanted a spring wedding."
Erik smiled. "Me too." He kissed the top of her head. "Any month in mind?"
"How about May?"
"May works."
Lan smiled. "See? That wasn't so bad."
Fawn nodded with a shaky breath. "Yeah..." Suddenly images flashed in her head. Images she only saw after her visit to Destiny's Heaven...
"Fawn?" Isabella asked as she put her hand on Fawn's. "Are you okay?"
Fawn took a deep breath. "I need to get some water." She stood up to get herself a drink.
Isabella sighed. "Most of the time she's fine. But other times... Other times she gets so overwhelmed..." Isabella's eyes teared up. She swallowed. "I don't really know what to do..."
"Would a therapist be able to help?" Li asked gently.
Isabella shrugged. "I dunno. And I don't know if she would be willing to do that..."
"She'll be okay," Anna-Marie said. "I know she will. It just might take some time... Has it been getting better?"
Isabella nodded. "Definitely. For the first week she barely got a couple hours of sleep a night. Now she can sleep through the night, but sometimes she still wakes up in a frenzy... I just worry."
"I know you do," Fawn said as she came back to her seat with water. "But I've gotten a lot better. Really. I just... I don't always know how to communicate what I'm feeling. But if you're all concerned for me I can try to."
"We just don't want you to suffer alone," Lan said.
"Agreed," Erik said. "No one person should have to deal with the information you possess. We're all here to help if you need us."
Fawn smiled. "Thank you, guys. Really. I mean it."
~~~~
"I don't want a long ass guest list," Fawn said.
"But what about my family? I have a big family..." Isabella asked in response.
"Uh...what if we just do closest family? Like siblings and stuff? Possibly cousins..."
Isabella shrugged. "I dunno... Maybe no cousins. I have too many. Maybe just siblings and their significant others and stuff..."
"Alright, cool. I'll do the same..." Fawn wrote down multiple names on her sheet of paper. "And now friends. Obviously Lan, Anna-Marie, and Lilly. Anyone else?"
"Xavier and Laura?"
"I was thinking that but I wasn't entirely sure if you'd agree. I didn't know how small you wanted to make it."
"Well, they're your best friends. Of course you can invite them to our wedding."
Isabella smiled right after she said 'our wedding'. Fawn did, too.
"I still can't believe we're getting married..." Fawn said. She looked down at the ring on her finger as she swallowed. She looked back up at Isabella, tears forming in her eyes. "I know this is really sappy, but I really, really love you. I-I honestly can't wait to marry you... I don't necessarily care about all this extra stuff. If you wanted we could just get married today at the courthouse or something..."
Isabella smiled. She held Fawn's hand with the ring and kissed it. "Cariño...I never thought I'd be getting married to anyone. Or at least not anyone that I loved. I thought maybe I'd have to marry a man and hide who I really was... I honestly did. I...I thought who I was was not good. Everyone I grew up with seemed to think so..." A tear rolled down Isabella's cheek. Fawn wiped it away before resting her hand on Isabella's face. "I...I never thought I would fall in love with someone so incredible who I can be so open with... I didn't expect my family to be as accepting as they are... We're having a huge wedding. As big as our budget will allow. I want to show the whole world that you are mine and I am yours and that itching will ever change that... Te amo, Fawn. So so so much."
Fawn smiled as a tear went down her own face. "I love you, too, sweetie." She grabbed both sides of Isabella's face gently and kissed her. Isabella kissed her back, smiled, and kissed her again.
~~~~
While everyone was in separate rooms either with their kids or trying to plan their respective weddings Fawn looked at Isabella. "You know I don't totally regret the Battle, right?"
Isabella raised an eyebrow. "I know. You just don't like the stress it causes... Why'd you ask?"
"I dunno. I wasn't entirely sure if I clarified that so I figured I would... When you proposed to me right after you said that you don't regret that...well, it was pretty romantic. And I wanted you to know that I felt that way, too... I dunno. I might've just been overthinking it."
"Well, you were. But that's okay." Isabella kissed Fawn on her cheek. "I know you mean well."
~~~~
"The only thing I'm worried about is the dresses," Fawn said as everyone was in the same room again. "I mean, if we wanna be traditional and not have us see each other in our dresses how're we gonna go shopping for it?"
"Who do you want shopping with you?" Lan asked.
Fawn shrugged. "I dunno. You guys. My mom. My other sister. Maybe brother."
"How about you?" Lan asked Isabella.
"My dad. Sisters. You and Anna."
"We can help," Lan said with a nod. "We'll make sure you don't get too similar of a dress to each other's."
Anna smiled. "Yeah, we got you. I should probably try wedding dresses on soon before I get too much bigger, huh?"
Li nodded. "Probably, yeah."
"I don't care if you're gonna wear a trash bag," Erik said. "To me you'll still be the most beautiful woman in the world." He kissed Anna's cheek, which made her smile.

YOU ARE READING
The Battle Across The Universe
ActionTwo years after the Battle of the Races. A lot has changed. For starters, Fawn went home and saw a twenty-something-year-old version of herself in her bedroom. Things are getting weird. Fawn from the future tells eighteen-year-old Fawn of some thing...