Shopping time!

[prof_stargazer]

Date: Tuesday, February 5th
Time: around 2pm
Location: Tresor Litteraire, then Diagon Alley
Rating: PG, I'm sure
Characters Involved: Stella Sinistra and Charlotte Finnigan

Stella had been elated, on Friday evening, to hear that Caleb had asked Charlotte (and she had agreed) to stand up in the wedding.  Stella knew that Caleb had come to cherish

Comments

[beautesolitaire]

Charlotte was excited to get out and help Stella. She looked up at the door dinged. She was working on getting Constance all bundled up. 'Stan' as her daddy had taken to calling her was going to be spending the afternoon with daddy over at the pub while mommy went shopping with Stella. As perpetual mother time was beginning to set into Charlotte's life. She was annoyingly unpunctual. Before she had had Constance, Charlotte was annoying punctual, usually early to everything

[prof_stargazer]

"Oh, I'm sure she's worth it," Stella replied, coming over to greet her new goddaughter with a kiss on the forehead, and Charlotte with a wide grin.

"And don't worry about it- I'll just say hello to Caleb and meet you outside." As she made her suggestion, Stella glanced over to where Caleb was, helping out a customer at the register.

[beautesolitaire]

"Yes, she is wort' it." she said with a smile and a nod before she scooped up the baby, mindful of her head. She was such a smart baby. She said her good-byes to Caleb and Anna with a distracted way and "Bon Soir." Then she took her little angel off and settled her in with daddy.

Oh yes, she was not all that happy that mommy was leaving. She let her daddy know it with those lovely Finnigan lungs that his family had given to her. She kissed Seamus' cheek and left him with wailing baby. Afterall, as they had discussed, they couldn't baby her and let her get all attached to one rather then both. It would just make her hard to deal with when she was older and sitters came into the picture.

Plus, she'd calm down after a few minutes of daddy attention. Charlotte bounced off to go shopping. She was almost back to her pre-baby weight which she was thoroughly enjoying. She had been a little anal about getting her belly back into shape, mostly because she was rather vain. "So now we can go. Promise me zat I won't 'ave to wear pink, oui?"

[prof_stargazer]

After the customer left, Stella enjoyed a brief moment with Caleb before stepping back outside to wait for Charlotte.

Stella was glad Charlotte seemed so excited about this- the young mother seemed to be handling everything very well so far, and Stella was happy that she would be able to be a part of the wedding.

"No, no pink," Stella laughed as she and Charlotte started walking down Diagon Alley. "I had to promise Remus that too, by the way. Is there something about me that screams 'pink' for some reason?" Stella asked, finding it funny that she'd needed to reassure them both.

"As a matter of fact, you can choose whatever color dress you'd like, as long as it doesn't clash with the red and white roses." Stella had settled on the flowers almost immediately- she loved roses, after all, and red and white looked lovely together.

[beautesolitaire]

"Non, zis if you wedding. You get to pick ze colors." she said with a smile to Stella. It was important that it be just how Stella dreamed about it. She knew what it was like. It should be her fairy tale and she should have everything she could want.

"So zen, tell me about zis place zat you are getting married at, Caleb was of no 'elp at all. Somet'ing about wings."

She was happy to be able to shop. Hannah's birthday present might come in handy in getting her some non-pregnant clothes. She was wearing one of her early pregnancy hide the belly dresses with a pair of leggings. She still hadn't quite gotten back into her high-heels. How she missed her high-heels.

[prof_stargazer]

"We'll pick something we both like, then," Stella nodding, wanting Charlotte to understand that her input was definitely important- after all, she was the one who had to wear the dress! "And something that looks good on you, most importantly."

Stella was not at all surprised that Caleb hadn't been able to answer Charlotte's questions about the wedding- Stella knew that he'd be just as happy if they got married wearing jeans and t-shirts in the middle of the street, as long as they got to say 'I do'.

"Yes, he's fairly useless when it comes to the details," Stella laughed, shaking her head. "Fortunately, he's doing an amazing job in fixing up our new house. He's in charge of that, and I'm in charge of the wedding, I guess," Stella smiled. "We're getting married at a place called the Prancing Unicorn- Mum found out about it from a friend at the bank, and it's just lovely." Stella had been very pleased that they'd been able to find a place for the wedding so quickly.

[beautesolitaire]

"OH! TRES BONNE!" she squealed and bounced up and down, getting more then a few odd looks. "Oh you must connect me wit' your mozer." she said, knowing she wanted it to be a surprise. She knew the owners of the Prancing Unicorn quite well. She had patronized their restaurant over the years. It was where she and Seamus had celebrated her birthday the year before. She and Fleur had gone there several times for just girl time. It was a wonderful place for a wedding and her mind was already whirling with ways to make it extra special for them.

Well bloody hell. She had mentioned a new house. Why hadn't Caleb mentioned that to her? Now she would have to find them a house warming present. "Non, are you having a bridal shower?" she asked, looking at her friend, "If you do not plan on it, you might make plans. I insist."

[prof_stargazer]

Stella was rather taken aback by Charlotte's exuberant response, staring at her for a moment before laughing again.

"Of course," she said, still shaking her head at Charlotte's excitement. "I'll have Mum stop in the store some day this week- you'll get on well with her, I have a feeling. She went to Beauxbatons, and her French is much better than mine." Stella had always thought that Charlotte and her mum would get along well- especially back in the fall when Charlotte had been so worried about becoming a mother herself.

"I hadn't thought about having a bridal shower," Stella admitted. "You don't normally throw one for yourself, do you?" She asked, almost just thinking aloud. "But I'm sure if Mum stops by that the two of you can plot and plan about that as well. Sometimes I honestly think that Mum is more excited about my wedding than she was about her own!"

[beautesolitaire]

She hummed lightly and bounced at the thoughts running through her mind. She also knew that Caleb and Stella would be trying to save money, that was always good. She could work with the Prancing Unicorn to not let them know that it was being taken care of.

She bounced off with Stella to a dress shop. She didn't know what to wear. She wasn't really loving her body at the moment. Granted, she was loving the extra amount of breast filling out her tops, but not loving the extra belly. The doctor assured her that it would go down in time. "You will 'ave to be 'orribly 'onest wit' me. I know zat I am not so pretty now zat I am not swallowing ze bleach ball."

[prof_stargazer]

Stella looked at Charlotte with one eyebrow raised- she was rather amazed, actually, at the amount of weight Charlotte had lost in the past month, and had no doubt they would find her a lovely dress to wear.

"I think you look wonderful, Charlotte," Stella said honestly. "But I promise we will find you something that is flattering."

As they entered the shop, Stella grinned at all of the dresses, her eye immediately drifting off towards the more wine-colored dresses- reds, burgundys, and purples. "See anything that you like?" She asked, wandering off a bit to go pull a dress off the rack. "My dress is sort of a champagne color, by the way," she added, not sure if she'd mentioned that before.

[beautesolitaire]

It wasn't the weight that she was too concerned about. It was the extra skin that came from it. She had been very large for such a petit person. Champagne was a lovely color, but it was so.... pink. "Zen, we must find anozer color for me to wear. I can not be matching ze bride." she said with a smile to her, purple would be nice.

She started to look through the dresses too. She was self-conscious about her body post-baby, but what woman wasn't? She thought about the colors, red and white. She trailed a finger along a silk dress for a moment, "What colors do you like, Stella?" she asked, glancing over at her friend. Stella was a wonderful picker of pretty things.

She had picked out the pretty pregnancy clothes. She knew that Stella wouldn't make her look entirely stupid.

[prof_stargazer]

Though Stella had promised Charlotte that she would not be wearing pink, Stella found herself drifting towards dresses in that color range- not pink, specifically, but reds and burgundys.

"What do you think of this one?" Stella called out to Charlotte, indicating a floor-length, strapless, wine-colored gown. "Or do you think that would clash with the red roses?" She wondered, almost speaking to herself again.

[beautesolitaire]

She looked over at the dress with a small smile on her face. "It is pretty, but the colors would not look good wit' ze roses." she said, giving her a chuckle,

"You said, red and white, oui?" she asked, looking at her.

She turned down towards the reds and pulled one out that was apple red. She smiled to her, "You 'ave to t'ink about ze flowers since you 'ave already picked zem."

[prof_stargazer]

Stella considered the dress again, taking in Charlotte's words and thinking of the flowers.

"You're right," she agreed, shaking her head and looking towards the dress Charlotte had pulled out. "Ooooh, but that color would work..." Stella said, moving closer to look. "In fact, I think this color is almost perfect. Now, the question becomes, do you want a long dress or a short dress?" Stella glanced over Charlotte's petite frame- she was a good 5 inches shorter than Stella, and she wasn't sure if a long gown would suit the French girl quite right.

[beautesolitaire]

She liked long dresses, but even most short dresses ran long on her short frame. Plus with the baby. She had to seriously think about that one. She gave her friend a small smile, "It is your wedding, what do you want, mon amie?" she asked, knowing that Stella would never made her look stupid.

[prof_stargazer]

Stella rolled her eyes a bit, smiling at Charlotte.

"Yes, but you have to wear the dress!" Stella exclaimed, laughing a little. "How about we try a few of each, and just find one that looks good on you?"

With the help of one of the shop's clerks, Stella and Charlotte were able to find 9 dresses in the apple red color that they both liked. Nodding back towards the dressing rooms, Stella smiled at Charlotte.

"Alright! Modeling time," she grinned, excited at the idea of being able to find a dress today.