Questions and Answers (Aug 14 2016)
Aug. 18th, 2018 05:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kiramaru7 posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
bluetigerpinkbunnyTitle: Questions and Answers
Author: Kat & kira
Characters: Didi, Amber, Tino, & mention of Bernd, Wolfgang, Luigi, and James
Word count: 1722
Rating: PG
Summary: Didi nervously seeks Amber’s advice and gets an unexpected answer …
Genre: slice of life
Author’s notes: Thanks go out to my beta, Kat, for pinking this for me. Please note Amber belongs to her.
Didi got up from his bed, where he was sitting, clutching a small box from the jewelry store. His mind made up, he left his room and headed downstairs. He had something he wanted to ask his brother, but he figured he would get a better answer out of his sister-in-law. So he spent a few minutes looking for her, before he finally found her in the kitchen.
“Hey, Amber?” he said as he approached her. “Can I ask you something?”
Amber looked up from her mug. “Sure. What’s up?” She was leaning over a counter in the kitchen, enjoying some “me time,” and flipping through a magazine, when he found her. She smiled.
Didi glanced over his shoulder to make sure they would not be overheard. “Ummm…” he said, unsure of how to start. “How did ummm…” He tried again with a more direct approach, “How did my brother propose?”
She paused bringing the mug back up to her lips, studying him for a moment, keeping her features as neutral as possible. “Which time?” She punctuated her question with a very long sip.
Didi blinked. “He asked you more than once?”
Amber smiled. “When he was seven and when he was ten, seven or eight times when we were twelve,” she said, “James punched him one of those times… Sort of when we were seventeen, but I’m not sure that one counts…” She was lost in her memories for the moment.
“Really?” He chuckled, feeling a bit better and sat down at the kitchen table. “Anyway, the time when you finally said yes and got married, how’d he do it?”
“Oh, he didn’t.” Amber sipped her tea casually.
“Yeah?” Didi was surprised at that turn of events. “Did you propose to him?”
She frowned. “Not exactly.”
“Then how did you two decide to get married?” He frowned. Somehow none of what she was telling him made any sense. He knew they had eloped, which he always thought was very romantic, but his brother had been in love with her like forever and he was sure there was some planning that went into it.
Amber sipped her tea. She set the cup down. “I sort of… informed him it was happening and that he had thirteen hours to pack and if he told anyone, I was going to wax him unpleasantly.” She smiled.
Didi laughed. He could picture that happening exactly as it she said it did. When he could speak, he said, “Oh… I was wondering because I want to ask Tino to marry me and I wanted to make it special.”
“Oh.” Amber smiled as Didi could be so adorable at times. “I’m sure no matter how you decide to propose to Tino, he’ll think it’s special.”
“I know,” Didi sighed, “but I wanted to do it right.”
She rolled her eyes fondly. “There’s no wrong way to do it.” Amber reached out and patted his hand.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Amber shrugged. “You two are so…” She trailed off, trying to think of a word he would not find offensive, no matter how affectionately she meant it. Unable to find one, she simply continued, “Look, Tino is going to say ‘yes’ and the two of you will live happily ever after in a way that most of us are going to find disgustingly adorable. How you propose isn’t a big deal.”
Didi felt his cheeks burning. “Oh…” He wondered if his should ask his father and Onkel Luigi for advice.
“Look, Didi, it’s sweet you asked, but I might be the wrong person. I’m not someone that ever wanted to be proposed to.” Amber sipped her tea.
“Yeah? But you and Bernd are so perfect for each other. So are you and Greta and you and Minky… Did you ever think of proposing to them?”
“I know, but I’ve always felt that…” Amber rubbed the back of her neck. She found it hard to explain it to him. She sipped her tea. “That being together is what’s important. A wedding never was important to me. Or marriage in general really.” She frowned. “I mean ninety percent of why I made things legal with Bernd were because of the kids and logistics that go with school paperwork and medical stuff…” She trailed off, finding it difficult to be clear and hoping he understood.
“Oh…” Didi blushed. “Well, we don’t have to worry about kids, but I kind of wanted a wedding…” He trailed off and wondered if it was a lifetime spent enjoying romance books that made him think a wedding and the proposal were so important to him.
Amber gave him her best motherly look and with a tone that matched, said, “There’s nothing wrong with a wedding.”
Didi smiled. “Okay… ummm… So should I take him out to dinner? Or cook something for him, or ask him at the museum while we’re looking at the art? Or what?” He gave her a pained look.
She could see the panic building and starting to bubble over. It was sort of rare with Didi, but she had had enough experience with Bernd that she knew how to take care of it. “Take a deep breath.”
Didi inhaled deeply and let it out slowly. He felt a bit better.
“Okay, so red or blue?” Amber said.
“Red or blue?” He frowned.
“Don’t think, just answer. Red or Blue?”
“Blue.”
Amber continued, “Left or right?”
“Left.”
“Cheese or chocolate?” she said with a smile.
“Chocolate.” Didi smiled back at her.
“Spring or fall?”
“Spring.”
“How do you want to propose to Tino?”
“I want to get down on one knee and hold out the ring and ask him, why?”
“There you go.”
Didi smiled. “Thanks, Amber.” He got up, went over to her and hugged her.
Amber hugged him tight. “You’re welcome.”
“I’m scared he’ll say ‘no’…” Didi said softly.
Amber pulled back and looked him in the eye. “He’s going to say ‘yes’.”
“I hope so…”
“He will.”
Didi leaned in and hugged her tightly again.
Amber patted him on the back.
“If I knew Bernd would be okay with it, I’d ask you to me my best man,” he said shyly.
She chuckled.
“You’ll be the first one I call to let you know. Do you want to see the ring?”
“Sure, honey.”
Didi let go of her and pulled back. He took the box from his pocket. “Here.” He handed it to her.
Amber looked at it. It was a simple, thin, gold band with a heart-shaped diamond chip in it. “I think you picked well.” She handed it back to him and he put the box back in his pocket.
“Thanks… I got something dainty and a little girly,” he smiled, “because Tino’s got these long slender fingers. I hope it fits.”
“You can always get it sized easy enough.” Amber smiled. “That’s if it doesn’t fit.”
“True…” Didi smiled. He felt so much better talking things out with her and a lot less nervous about the whole thing.
Amber grabbed the front of his shirt to pull him down and kissed him on the top of his head, like she used to do when he was little. “You’ll do fine.”
“Thanks.” He blushed.
She smiled and picking up her mug, she went over to the cozy wrapped teapot to refresh her cup.
“Should I make reservations at Onkel Luigi’s new restaurant? I think Cesare and Julio are working there tonight, so I know they’ll take good care of us. Or should I just make some pasta at home?”
“Do you think you will be in anyway left alone enough to propose, if you go anywhere near anything owned or frequented by anyone in this family?” She called back over her shoulder.
He frowned at the thought of his family intruding on his romantic dinner plans. “Yeah… I guess I’ll make him his favorite dinner and dessert.” He smiled as he went over the menu in his head.
“Might be an idea,” Amber said. She sipped her tea.
“Yeah…. That way no one’ll bother us.”
“Yeah… Oh! And don’t tell your brother!” Visions of Bernd’s face pressed against the glass of the boys’ apartment window and the play-by-play group texts of the event, complete with live video feed, were already gathering in her head.
Didi frowned. “Why not?”
Amber gave him her best “you’ve got to be kidding me” stare. “You know what your brother is like.”
“Oh.” This time his cheeks heated up over the stupidity of his question. Amber was right; if Bernd knew, chances are Tino would find out before he got to ask him, ruining any chance he had of making this the most romantic moment in their lives, aside from getting married. Changing the subject he said, “Think Vati will let us get married here?”
Amber sipped her tea. “I don’t see why not.”
“Good…”
She smiled at him, glad she could help him.
Didi smiled back. He was feeling so much better now, that if Tino walked in right now, he would get down on one knee and propose. “Thanks, Amber.”
“You’re welcome.” She smiled over her mug at him, happy he was feeling better. She sipped her tea.
“Call you later!” Didi said as he left to go home and make dinner.
She waved at his retreating form.
Later that night, while she was in the kitchen washing dishes, her phone rang. Wiping her hands and turning off the water, she answered it. “Hello?” She snorted at what sounded like kisses on the other end of the phone.
“Amber?”
“Well?” Amber smiled as she leaned against the counter. She had been waiting all afternoon and evening for this.
“He said ‘YES’!!”
“That’s great!”
“Thanks! Is everyone there?”
“No, but I can get them.”
“Please!”
“Okay.” Amber walked into the den where everyone was sitting, watching TV. “Didi’s here, he’s got something to tell you.” She put the phone on speaker.
On the other end of the phone, Didi was holding Tino close. “Ummm…” he started, feeling suddenly shy.
“We’re getting married!!” Tino excitedly said.
Everyone cheered.
“Uh…” Didi said.
“Bye!” Tino said as he hung up the phone. Setting it aside, he wrapped his arms around his fiancé and kissed him like there was no tomorrow. Not that Didi minded in the least.
Author: Kat & kira
Characters: Didi, Amber, Tino, & mention of Bernd, Wolfgang, Luigi, and James
Word count: 1722
Rating: PG
Summary: Didi nervously seeks Amber’s advice and gets an unexpected answer …
Genre: slice of life
Author’s notes: Thanks go out to my beta, Kat, for pinking this for me. Please note Amber belongs to her.
Didi got up from his bed, where he was sitting, clutching a small box from the jewelry store. His mind made up, he left his room and headed downstairs. He had something he wanted to ask his brother, but he figured he would get a better answer out of his sister-in-law. So he spent a few minutes looking for her, before he finally found her in the kitchen.
“Hey, Amber?” he said as he approached her. “Can I ask you something?”
Amber looked up from her mug. “Sure. What’s up?” She was leaning over a counter in the kitchen, enjoying some “me time,” and flipping through a magazine, when he found her. She smiled.
Didi glanced over his shoulder to make sure they would not be overheard. “Ummm…” he said, unsure of how to start. “How did ummm…” He tried again with a more direct approach, “How did my brother propose?”
She paused bringing the mug back up to her lips, studying him for a moment, keeping her features as neutral as possible. “Which time?” She punctuated her question with a very long sip.
Didi blinked. “He asked you more than once?”
Amber smiled. “When he was seven and when he was ten, seven or eight times when we were twelve,” she said, “James punched him one of those times… Sort of when we were seventeen, but I’m not sure that one counts…” She was lost in her memories for the moment.
“Really?” He chuckled, feeling a bit better and sat down at the kitchen table. “Anyway, the time when you finally said yes and got married, how’d he do it?”
“Oh, he didn’t.” Amber sipped her tea casually.
“Yeah?” Didi was surprised at that turn of events. “Did you propose to him?”
She frowned. “Not exactly.”
“Then how did you two decide to get married?” He frowned. Somehow none of what she was telling him made any sense. He knew they had eloped, which he always thought was very romantic, but his brother had been in love with her like forever and he was sure there was some planning that went into it.
Amber sipped her tea. She set the cup down. “I sort of… informed him it was happening and that he had thirteen hours to pack and if he told anyone, I was going to wax him unpleasantly.” She smiled.
Didi laughed. He could picture that happening exactly as it she said it did. When he could speak, he said, “Oh… I was wondering because I want to ask Tino to marry me and I wanted to make it special.”
“Oh.” Amber smiled as Didi could be so adorable at times. “I’m sure no matter how you decide to propose to Tino, he’ll think it’s special.”
“I know,” Didi sighed, “but I wanted to do it right.”
She rolled her eyes fondly. “There’s no wrong way to do it.” Amber reached out and patted his hand.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Amber shrugged. “You two are so…” She trailed off, trying to think of a word he would not find offensive, no matter how affectionately she meant it. Unable to find one, she simply continued, “Look, Tino is going to say ‘yes’ and the two of you will live happily ever after in a way that most of us are going to find disgustingly adorable. How you propose isn’t a big deal.”
Didi felt his cheeks burning. “Oh…” He wondered if his should ask his father and Onkel Luigi for advice.
“Look, Didi, it’s sweet you asked, but I might be the wrong person. I’m not someone that ever wanted to be proposed to.” Amber sipped her tea.
“Yeah? But you and Bernd are so perfect for each other. So are you and Greta and you and Minky… Did you ever think of proposing to them?”
“I know, but I’ve always felt that…” Amber rubbed the back of her neck. She found it hard to explain it to him. She sipped her tea. “That being together is what’s important. A wedding never was important to me. Or marriage in general really.” She frowned. “I mean ninety percent of why I made things legal with Bernd were because of the kids and logistics that go with school paperwork and medical stuff…” She trailed off, finding it difficult to be clear and hoping he understood.
“Oh…” Didi blushed. “Well, we don’t have to worry about kids, but I kind of wanted a wedding…” He trailed off and wondered if it was a lifetime spent enjoying romance books that made him think a wedding and the proposal were so important to him.
Amber gave him her best motherly look and with a tone that matched, said, “There’s nothing wrong with a wedding.”
Didi smiled. “Okay… ummm… So should I take him out to dinner? Or cook something for him, or ask him at the museum while we’re looking at the art? Or what?” He gave her a pained look.
She could see the panic building and starting to bubble over. It was sort of rare with Didi, but she had had enough experience with Bernd that she knew how to take care of it. “Take a deep breath.”
Didi inhaled deeply and let it out slowly. He felt a bit better.
“Okay, so red or blue?” Amber said.
“Red or blue?” He frowned.
“Don’t think, just answer. Red or Blue?”
“Blue.”
Amber continued, “Left or right?”
“Left.”
“Cheese or chocolate?” she said with a smile.
“Chocolate.” Didi smiled back at her.
“Spring or fall?”
“Spring.”
“How do you want to propose to Tino?”
“I want to get down on one knee and hold out the ring and ask him, why?”
“There you go.”
Didi smiled. “Thanks, Amber.” He got up, went over to her and hugged her.
Amber hugged him tight. “You’re welcome.”
“I’m scared he’ll say ‘no’…” Didi said softly.
Amber pulled back and looked him in the eye. “He’s going to say ‘yes’.”
“I hope so…”
“He will.”
Didi leaned in and hugged her tightly again.
Amber patted him on the back.
“If I knew Bernd would be okay with it, I’d ask you to me my best man,” he said shyly.
She chuckled.
“You’ll be the first one I call to let you know. Do you want to see the ring?”
“Sure, honey.”
Didi let go of her and pulled back. He took the box from his pocket. “Here.” He handed it to her.
Amber looked at it. It was a simple, thin, gold band with a heart-shaped diamond chip in it. “I think you picked well.” She handed it back to him and he put the box back in his pocket.
“Thanks… I got something dainty and a little girly,” he smiled, “because Tino’s got these long slender fingers. I hope it fits.”
“You can always get it sized easy enough.” Amber smiled. “That’s if it doesn’t fit.”
“True…” Didi smiled. He felt so much better talking things out with her and a lot less nervous about the whole thing.
Amber grabbed the front of his shirt to pull him down and kissed him on the top of his head, like she used to do when he was little. “You’ll do fine.”
“Thanks.” He blushed.
She smiled and picking up her mug, she went over to the cozy wrapped teapot to refresh her cup.
“Should I make reservations at Onkel Luigi’s new restaurant? I think Cesare and Julio are working there tonight, so I know they’ll take good care of us. Or should I just make some pasta at home?”
“Do you think you will be in anyway left alone enough to propose, if you go anywhere near anything owned or frequented by anyone in this family?” She called back over her shoulder.
He frowned at the thought of his family intruding on his romantic dinner plans. “Yeah… I guess I’ll make him his favorite dinner and dessert.” He smiled as he went over the menu in his head.
“Might be an idea,” Amber said. She sipped her tea.
“Yeah…. That way no one’ll bother us.”
“Yeah… Oh! And don’t tell your brother!” Visions of Bernd’s face pressed against the glass of the boys’ apartment window and the play-by-play group texts of the event, complete with live video feed, were already gathering in her head.
Didi frowned. “Why not?”
Amber gave him her best “you’ve got to be kidding me” stare. “You know what your brother is like.”
“Oh.” This time his cheeks heated up over the stupidity of his question. Amber was right; if Bernd knew, chances are Tino would find out before he got to ask him, ruining any chance he had of making this the most romantic moment in their lives, aside from getting married. Changing the subject he said, “Think Vati will let us get married here?”
Amber sipped her tea. “I don’t see why not.”
“Good…”
She smiled at him, glad she could help him.
Didi smiled back. He was feeling so much better now, that if Tino walked in right now, he would get down on one knee and propose. “Thanks, Amber.”
“You’re welcome.” She smiled over her mug at him, happy he was feeling better. She sipped her tea.
“Call you later!” Didi said as he left to go home and make dinner.
She waved at his retreating form.
Later that night, while she was in the kitchen washing dishes, her phone rang. Wiping her hands and turning off the water, she answered it. “Hello?” She snorted at what sounded like kisses on the other end of the phone.
“Amber?”
“Well?” Amber smiled as she leaned against the counter. She had been waiting all afternoon and evening for this.
“He said ‘YES’!!”
“That’s great!”
“Thanks! Is everyone there?”
“No, but I can get them.”
“Please!”
“Okay.” Amber walked into the den where everyone was sitting, watching TV. “Didi’s here, he’s got something to tell you.” She put the phone on speaker.
On the other end of the phone, Didi was holding Tino close. “Ummm…” he started, feeling suddenly shy.
“We’re getting married!!” Tino excitedly said.
Everyone cheered.
“Uh…” Didi said.
“Bye!” Tino said as he hung up the phone. Setting it aside, he wrapped his arms around his fiancé and kissed him like there was no tomorrow. Not that Didi minded in the least.
