MHA # 2 Friday Afternoon

[knife_bender]

It had been a long day in Baltimore, going to wedding venue after wedding venue and mostly standing there looking supportive while Annie asked questions he didn't really understand. It was fun going over hypothetical menus though. Most importantly, this also made them finally settle on a date for the wedding. So now it felt like An Actual Thing that was happening.

And they got to visit his siblings at their abode, which was exhausting for a whole different reason.

"Why is there so much paperwork involved?" Diego asked, dumping the armful of brochures and package options he had been given throughout the day onto the kitchen table.

[For the girl, but can also be open if you want]

Comments

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Then we seem pretty well-suited to each other," Annie decided, shifting so she could lean back against Diego, rather than into his side. "You were really patient today. I know that was, like, a lot of talk about centerpieces and stuff."

Though, to be fair: centerpieces would be a good spot for hiding knives, if he decided he did want them!

[knife_bender]

"Still don't understand the point of those, by the way," he said. "And they kept asking us about colors."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"They're to decorate the tables, and they help people know where to sit," Annie explained, reaching for one of his hands to play with it. "And we're gonna have to figure out colors eventually. Flowers and stuff come in colors. But it can be a subdued amount of color, at least."

[knife_bender]

"So black and dark gray are out, huh?" he asked, taking her hand.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Kinda intense for a wedding, babe." Though now she was trying to think if she'd ever seen black or dark gray flowers, come to think of it. "But we could do black with like, one or two accent colors, maybe. Something to think about."

[knife_bender]

"I'll support whatever you want," he said, kissing the top of her head. "Even if it's, like, hot pink."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I wouldn't do that to us," Annie assured him with a laugh, snuggling a little more comfortably against him. "And I'm still gonna run stuff by you, even if you say that."

Because that was part of the fun of this! Getting to do all this stuff together. Even, maybe, the tedious centerpiece parts.

[knife_bender]

"You can run whatever you want by me," he said. "Just don't be surprised if I don't have strong opinions on flowers and invitations."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I know who I'm marrying," Annie assured him, lifting his hand to give it a kiss. "To be fair, I also don't really have strong opinions about invitations. Other than that our names should be spelled right."

[knife_bender]

"I would have serious concerns if someone messed up your last name." Like, it was a wholeass month.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Well, now I feel like I'm gonna need to triple check them in case you jinxed it." Though he was right. It was on calendars for thirty-one days of the year.

Annie was quiet for a moment, idly twining her fingers through his. "I think I'm gonna take your name, once we're married."

Hyphenating had its appeal, but it was also...long.

[knife_bender]

It would be a ridiculously long last name.

"Yeah?" Diego said, breaking out into a grin. "I was hoping you'd say that."

He had thought about it, obviously, but didn't know how to bring it up since that was something that was 100% her choice.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I mean, don't get me wrong -- Annie January is a great name," she said, shifting just enough to be able to look at him and offer out a soft little smile of her own. "But Annie Hargreeves has a really nice ring to it, too."

She had maybe practiced saying it aloud alone a few times, just to see. Maybe wrote it down a few places to test out what it looked like.

[knife_bender]

"Annie Hargreeves sounds amazing," Diego said. "And that's only me being slightly biased."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Maybe just slightly," Annie agreed, leaning up for another kiss. "But yeah. I'm glad you're in favor."

She had figured he would be, but she genuinely had struggled with the decision for a little while -- but in the end, the sense of belonging she already could feel and symbolic nature of sharing a surname made it an easy call.