The Best Day Of Our Lives [Chapter One/Five]
Story: The Best Day Of Our Lives
Characters/Pairings: Prussia/Fem!Canada, France/Fem!England, America, Austria/Hungary, Germany/Italy
Summary: Written for the APH Fluffathon; Gilbert and Madeline are getting married. Slice of lifeish AU.
Characters:
Madeline - Fem!Canada
Gilbert - Prussia
Francis - France
Elizabeth - Fem!England
Alfred - America
Elise - Belgium
Katyusha - Ukraine
Ivanna - Fem!Russia
Angelique - Seychelles
Lili - Liechtenstein
Elizaveta - Hungary
Roderich - Austria
*I know with Elizabeth and Elizaveta both in the story it might be a tad confusing, but bear with me; it didn't hit me until I finished the story that it could be confusing have two characters with similar names. Thankfully I don't think they're ever in the same scene*
Chapter One:
“Non, non, non!”
Gilbert and Madeline looked up from their vacation pamphlets. “That’s Francis, isn’t it?” Gilbert asked, going back to looking at the pamphlet about Cuba.
Madeline sighed. “Probably,” she said, shaking her head in spite of herself. “Papa said he was going to talk to the caterers...”
“What kind of wedding serves steak? We aren’t barbarians!” they heard Francis shriek.
“But steaks are awesome,” Gilbert muttered under his breath, tossing the Cuba pamphlet onto the table. Madeline looked up from her own pamphlet.
“No for Cuba?” she asked curiously. Gilbert shrugged.
“Cuba sounds like an awesome place for a honeymoon...but it sounds too sunny, you know?” Gilbert asked and Madeline nodded. Gilbert would burn up within seconds in Cuba; it’d be hard to enjoy their honeymoon if Gilbert was complete pain the entire time. Madeline sighed.
“Well, I don’t really like Costa Rica either; how about Europe?” she suggested.
“All of Europe or a specific country?” Gilbert asked. Madeline shrugged.
“We could always go to Germany,” she said, smiling as Gilbert brightened up. Her fiancé hadn’t seen his birth country in years.
“And France, if you want,” Gilbert added, making Madeline’s smile grow. Being half-French gave Madeline hold a special love for the European country, as well as for England.
“And England, wouldn’t want Mom to get mad,” Madeline joked.
“So it’s settled? We’re going to Germany, France and England for our honeymoon?” Gilbert asked. Madeline nodded. Gilbert grinned and took off his reading glasses, tossing them onto the table. “I’ll call the travel agency tomorrow to let them know,” he told her, putting all the pamphlets into a pile.
“Mom should be pleased; she’s been nagging me to get the honeymoon plans done as soon as possible,” Madeline said, standing up and putting the pamphlets away in a spare drawer.
“Didn’t your parents go to America for their honeymoon?” Gilbert asked, standing up as well and joining his fiancée as they walked towards the loveseat.
Madeline laughed. “No; Al was born there when Mom was sixteen and Papa was eighteen so they had to wait two years to get legally married since her parents refused to let her marry that frog and for their honeymoon they came here to Canada. And then they had me,” she added and Gilbert laughed.
“Sounds like them,” Gilbert said, putting an arm around Madeline and pulling her close. Madeline made a noise of agreement and snuggled closer to him.
“Can you believe we’re getting married in a month?” she whispered, taking Gilbert’s hand into her own.
“Can’t wait,” Gilbert replied, kissing Madeline on the forehead gently. Madeline looked up to lean forwards and kiss Gilbert on the lips...
...when her father came barging into the room.
“Madeline, we’re going shopping for the wedding dress tomorrow,” her father announced, ignoring the glare Gilbert gave him for interrupting their kiss. Madeline blinked.
“I thought I was going to use Mom’s dress,” she said, pulling away from Gilbert [much to his displeasure]. Francis shook his head.
“Non, that old thing doesn’t suit your figure and is completely out of style,” Francis told her. “We’ll go looking for dresses before checking out the church for your wedding,” he continued.
“Can I come too?” Gilbert asked.
“The groom isn’t allowed to see the bride in her wedding dress before the wedding!” Francis exclaimed.
Gilbert sighed. “I guess I’ll finish up inviting everyone on the list while you two are gone,” he said, motioning to the long list of names they still needed to call. Francis made a ‘tsk’ing noise.
“You should’ve had those done months ago,” he said sternly. Gilbert shrugged.
“I forgot,” he said with a sheepish grin.
Francis did not look impressed.
***
Ever since Gilbert and Madeline had told their respective families that they were going to get married, Francis had been in overdrive trying to make the wedding as perfect as possible. Not that Gilbert minded; Francis was better at organizing things than he was.
Gilbert had met Francis when he was just a kid and Francis was helping his friend Antonio with his babysitting summer job. Gilbert, being at the mature age of five, had befriended Francis [who had already married Elizabeth Kirkland at this point and had two children despite not even finishing university] and Antonio and ever since then, the trio stayed close, despite the sixteen year age difference between Gilbert and the other two. Gilbert had met Francis’ two children as a child but had never thought much about them until many years later when he was in his early twenties and Francis’ daughter was visiting from university.
Madeline was nothing like all the other girls Gilbert had known and before any of them knew it, the two were dating. Gilbert knew she was the one; never before had he felt this way about any girl. When he finally saved up enough money to buy an engagement ring he proposed to Madeline. And now here they were, a month before their wedding.
Gilbert stared at the list of invites with annoyance. There were at least forty invitations he had yet to mail out. Maybe he could not invite some people...no, Madeline would kill him if he left out anyone. Sighing, he set off to work, wondering how Madeline was faring with her father. Francis could be pushy when it came to shopping; he saw first-hand how the Frenchman was like countless times before.
“Have you seen the frog?” a voice asked behind and Gilbert had to pretend he didn’t just jump in surprise; he thought he had been home alone. Gilbert turned in his seat to see his future mother-in-law, Elizabeth Bonnefoy, standing behind him. How she managed to get into his house was beyond him, though it was probably due to Francis taking one of their spare keys in case of emergencies.
“He’s gone shopping for a wedding dress,” Gilbert told her, returning back to the invitations. Elizabeth joined him at the table, making a noise of distaste.
“I told him that Madeline can use my dress,” she hissed, sitting down. “Of course the wanker wouldn’t listen to me; he claims I have no sense of style - I have a sense of style!” she fumed at Gilbert.
“Sure,” Gilbert hummed, ignoring the older woman as he wrote the address of Madeline’s Cuban friend on the envelope and added it to the slowly growing pile of invitations.
“Shouldn’t you have done that earlier?” Elizabeth asked suddenly, motioning to the invitations.
“I forgot,” Gilbert replied. “But you can help,” he added, tossing Elizabeth some envelopes.
The two worked in silence, writing down names on the invitations and putting them into envelopes. Gilbert mused how peculiar it was; Elizabeth was not the in law he got along with best. The woman hated him from the start. Perhaps in hindsight it had been a bad idea to introduce himself to her while drunk. Or perhaps Madeline was right and Gilbert just reminded her mother of Madeline’s older brother, Alfred, before he had broke all contact with the family and moved away to America. Elizabeth really was never quite the same after her oldest child had gone.
“Have you chosen your groomsmen?” Elizabeth asked finally, breaking the silence. Gilbert nodded, not looking up from writing the address of Madeline’s Korean friend.
“Toni and Francis, for sure, and my bro and his boyfriend,” Gilbert answered. “Maybe the pansy too, if he asks nicely,” he added as an afterthought.
“Your best man?” Elizabeth prompted.
“Haven’t chosen one yet - but you can be it, if you want,” Gilbert teased. Elizabeth rolled her eyes.
“Has Madeline chosen her bridesmaids?” she continued, ignoring his last comment.
“Not sure. Maybe Katyusha and Angelique...probably Elise...” Gilbert shrugged. He didn’t know who Madeline had chosen yet; they never discussed it.
Elizabeth made a ‘tsk’ing sound. “You should figure that out now and let them know as soon as possible,” she told him.
“I know,” he muttered, working on another invitation.
They fell into another silence; both working on the invitations and Gilbert reflected that this was probably the strongest bonding moment for them. Not that he’d ever say that out loud.
***
“Too puffy, it’ll swallow you up,” Francis said as Madeline stepped out in what felt like the hundredth dress. They were at a fancy [and expensive, Madeline noted] wedding dress store; Elizaveta, Gilbert’s cousin, had tagged along to bond more with Madeline and brought along Lili, another one of Gilbert’s cousins. Once Angelique, one of Madeline’s cousins and Aunt Elise had found out she was going wedding dress shopping, they had promptly joined the group.
“Papa, is there any dress here that you like?” Madeline said in frustration, stomping back into the change room. Her arms were beginning to hurt from lifting them up to pull off wedding dress after countless wedding dress.
“If there isn’t, then we’ll just go to another store,” Francis replied as Madeline slipped off the wedding dress delicately and placed it on a coat hanger and on a hook.
“Papa,” Madeline moaned, feeling a flash of frustration. There were many dresses in this store that Madeline liked that Francis had voted down. It was starting to seem impossible to please her father. A part of her wished her mother was there; Elizabeth would be able to control Francis...though then again, they’d probably end up arguing and getting kicked out. Madeline sighed to herself and put on another dress.
The silk was cool against her skin and Madeline involuntarily shuddered as it slid into position. She opened her change room door just a crack to let Elise into the change room and help her with the long zipper.
Madeline turned to face her aunt, running a hand through her hair tiredly. “Let’s see if Papa likes this one, eh?” she said, smiling in spite of herself.
Elise winked at her niece. “I think this one might be the one,” she whispered, slipping out of the change room so Madeline could make her ‘entrance’.
“Are you ready, Cherie?” Francis called out from the other side.
“Yes, Papa,” Madeline called back, opening the change room door and holding the dress so she could walk out of the little room.
Gliding out of the change room, Madeline saw her father’s face light up.
“Oh mon dieu,” he whispered, standing up. The women around him beamed at Madeline.
“Papa?” Madeline asked, feeling confused as Francis walked toward her. She had never seen her father look so speechless before.
“Un ange...you look like an angel,” Francis whispered, his eyes glistening, taking her hands into his own. “This is the one, I’m sure of it!” he proclaimed, moving away so the others could see Madeline in the dress.
“I agree, you look breath-taking!” Elizaveta agreed. “How did Gilbert get a pretty girl like you?” she added, laughing as Madeline blushed.
“Oh I’m so proud of you!” Angelique squealed, rushing forward and embracing her cousin. “I can’t believe you’re getting married!”
Madeline laughed, hugging her back. “I can’t either,” she said, glancing at herself in the long mirror not too far away from them. She did look pretty nice, she noted to herself. She looked like a princess.
The dress was insanely expensive, much to her horror - she should’ve realized that it was too good to be true - but Francis had insisted that he buy it.
“Papa, you don’t have to,” Madeline said quietly as Francis swiped his credit card.
“Let an old man spoil his beautiful daughter,” Francis replied, though Francis really wasn’t that old.
Now the wedding dress was done with. Madeline felt her stomach churn with excitement. She couldn’t wait for the wedding day to come so she could see Gilbert’s reaction to her in the dress!
Next
Characters/Pairings: Prussia/Fem!Canada, France/Fem!England, America, Austria/Hungary, Germany/Italy
Summary: Written for the APH Fluffathon; Gilbert and Madeline are getting married. Slice of lifeish AU.
Characters:
Madeline - Fem!Canada
Gilbert - Prussia
Francis - France
Elizabeth - Fem!England
Alfred - America
Elise - Belgium
Katyusha - Ukraine
Ivanna - Fem!Russia
Angelique - Seychelles
Lili - Liechtenstein
Elizaveta - Hungary
Roderich - Austria
*I know with Elizabeth and Elizaveta both in the story it might be a tad confusing, but bear with me; it didn't hit me until I finished the story that it could be confusing have two characters with similar names. Thankfully I don't think they're ever in the same scene*
Chapter One:
“Non, non, non!”
Gilbert and Madeline looked up from their vacation pamphlets. “That’s Francis, isn’t it?” Gilbert asked, going back to looking at the pamphlet about Cuba.
Madeline sighed. “Probably,” she said, shaking her head in spite of herself. “Papa said he was going to talk to the caterers...”
“What kind of wedding serves steak? We aren’t barbarians!” they heard Francis shriek.
“But steaks are awesome,” Gilbert muttered under his breath, tossing the Cuba pamphlet onto the table. Madeline looked up from her own pamphlet.
“No for Cuba?” she asked curiously. Gilbert shrugged.
“Cuba sounds like an awesome place for a honeymoon...but it sounds too sunny, you know?” Gilbert asked and Madeline nodded. Gilbert would burn up within seconds in Cuba; it’d be hard to enjoy their honeymoon if Gilbert was complete pain the entire time. Madeline sighed.
“Well, I don’t really like Costa Rica either; how about Europe?” she suggested.
“All of Europe or a specific country?” Gilbert asked. Madeline shrugged.
“We could always go to Germany,” she said, smiling as Gilbert brightened up. Her fiancé hadn’t seen his birth country in years.
“And France, if you want,” Gilbert added, making Madeline’s smile grow. Being half-French gave Madeline hold a special love for the European country, as well as for England.
“And England, wouldn’t want Mom to get mad,” Madeline joked.
“So it’s settled? We’re going to Germany, France and England for our honeymoon?” Gilbert asked. Madeline nodded. Gilbert grinned and took off his reading glasses, tossing them onto the table. “I’ll call the travel agency tomorrow to let them know,” he told her, putting all the pamphlets into a pile.
“Mom should be pleased; she’s been nagging me to get the honeymoon plans done as soon as possible,” Madeline said, standing up and putting the pamphlets away in a spare drawer.
“Didn’t your parents go to America for their honeymoon?” Gilbert asked, standing up as well and joining his fiancée as they walked towards the loveseat.
Madeline laughed. “No; Al was born there when Mom was sixteen and Papa was eighteen so they had to wait two years to get legally married since her parents refused to let her marry that frog and for their honeymoon they came here to Canada. And then they had me,” she added and Gilbert laughed.
“Sounds like them,” Gilbert said, putting an arm around Madeline and pulling her close. Madeline made a noise of agreement and snuggled closer to him.
“Can you believe we’re getting married in a month?” she whispered, taking Gilbert’s hand into her own.
“Can’t wait,” Gilbert replied, kissing Madeline on the forehead gently. Madeline looked up to lean forwards and kiss Gilbert on the lips...
...when her father came barging into the room.
“Madeline, we’re going shopping for the wedding dress tomorrow,” her father announced, ignoring the glare Gilbert gave him for interrupting their kiss. Madeline blinked.
“I thought I was going to use Mom’s dress,” she said, pulling away from Gilbert [much to his displeasure]. Francis shook his head.
“Non, that old thing doesn’t suit your figure and is completely out of style,” Francis told her. “We’ll go looking for dresses before checking out the church for your wedding,” he continued.
“Can I come too?” Gilbert asked.
“The groom isn’t allowed to see the bride in her wedding dress before the wedding!” Francis exclaimed.
Gilbert sighed. “I guess I’ll finish up inviting everyone on the list while you two are gone,” he said, motioning to the long list of names they still needed to call. Francis made a ‘tsk’ing noise.
“You should’ve had those done months ago,” he said sternly. Gilbert shrugged.
“I forgot,” he said with a sheepish grin.
Francis did not look impressed.
***
Ever since Gilbert and Madeline had told their respective families that they were going to get married, Francis had been in overdrive trying to make the wedding as perfect as possible. Not that Gilbert minded; Francis was better at organizing things than he was.
Gilbert had met Francis when he was just a kid and Francis was helping his friend Antonio with his babysitting summer job. Gilbert, being at the mature age of five, had befriended Francis [who had already married Elizabeth Kirkland at this point and had two children despite not even finishing university] and Antonio and ever since then, the trio stayed close, despite the sixteen year age difference between Gilbert and the other two. Gilbert had met Francis’ two children as a child but had never thought much about them until many years later when he was in his early twenties and Francis’ daughter was visiting from university.
Madeline was nothing like all the other girls Gilbert had known and before any of them knew it, the two were dating. Gilbert knew she was the one; never before had he felt this way about any girl. When he finally saved up enough money to buy an engagement ring he proposed to Madeline. And now here they were, a month before their wedding.
Gilbert stared at the list of invites with annoyance. There were at least forty invitations he had yet to mail out. Maybe he could not invite some people...no, Madeline would kill him if he left out anyone. Sighing, he set off to work, wondering how Madeline was faring with her father. Francis could be pushy when it came to shopping; he saw first-hand how the Frenchman was like countless times before.
“Have you seen the frog?” a voice asked behind and Gilbert had to pretend he didn’t just jump in surprise; he thought he had been home alone. Gilbert turned in his seat to see his future mother-in-law, Elizabeth Bonnefoy, standing behind him. How she managed to get into his house was beyond him, though it was probably due to Francis taking one of their spare keys in case of emergencies.
“He’s gone shopping for a wedding dress,” Gilbert told her, returning back to the invitations. Elizabeth joined him at the table, making a noise of distaste.
“I told him that Madeline can use my dress,” she hissed, sitting down. “Of course the wanker wouldn’t listen to me; he claims I have no sense of style - I have a sense of style!” she fumed at Gilbert.
“Sure,” Gilbert hummed, ignoring the older woman as he wrote the address of Madeline’s Cuban friend on the envelope and added it to the slowly growing pile of invitations.
“Shouldn’t you have done that earlier?” Elizabeth asked suddenly, motioning to the invitations.
“I forgot,” Gilbert replied. “But you can help,” he added, tossing Elizabeth some envelopes.
The two worked in silence, writing down names on the invitations and putting them into envelopes. Gilbert mused how peculiar it was; Elizabeth was not the in law he got along with best. The woman hated him from the start. Perhaps in hindsight it had been a bad idea to introduce himself to her while drunk. Or perhaps Madeline was right and Gilbert just reminded her mother of Madeline’s older brother, Alfred, before he had broke all contact with the family and moved away to America. Elizabeth really was never quite the same after her oldest child had gone.
“Have you chosen your groomsmen?” Elizabeth asked finally, breaking the silence. Gilbert nodded, not looking up from writing the address of Madeline’s Korean friend.
“Toni and Francis, for sure, and my bro and his boyfriend,” Gilbert answered. “Maybe the pansy too, if he asks nicely,” he added as an afterthought.
“Your best man?” Elizabeth prompted.
“Haven’t chosen one yet - but you can be it, if you want,” Gilbert teased. Elizabeth rolled her eyes.
“Has Madeline chosen her bridesmaids?” she continued, ignoring his last comment.
“Not sure. Maybe Katyusha and Angelique...probably Elise...” Gilbert shrugged. He didn’t know who Madeline had chosen yet; they never discussed it.
Elizabeth made a ‘tsk’ing sound. “You should figure that out now and let them know as soon as possible,” she told him.
“I know,” he muttered, working on another invitation.
They fell into another silence; both working on the invitations and Gilbert reflected that this was probably the strongest bonding moment for them. Not that he’d ever say that out loud.
***
“Too puffy, it’ll swallow you up,” Francis said as Madeline stepped out in what felt like the hundredth dress. They were at a fancy [and expensive, Madeline noted] wedding dress store; Elizaveta, Gilbert’s cousin, had tagged along to bond more with Madeline and brought along Lili, another one of Gilbert’s cousins. Once Angelique, one of Madeline’s cousins and Aunt Elise had found out she was going wedding dress shopping, they had promptly joined the group.
“Papa, is there any dress here that you like?” Madeline said in frustration, stomping back into the change room. Her arms were beginning to hurt from lifting them up to pull off wedding dress after countless wedding dress.
“If there isn’t, then we’ll just go to another store,” Francis replied as Madeline slipped off the wedding dress delicately and placed it on a coat hanger and on a hook.
“Papa,” Madeline moaned, feeling a flash of frustration. There were many dresses in this store that Madeline liked that Francis had voted down. It was starting to seem impossible to please her father. A part of her wished her mother was there; Elizabeth would be able to control Francis...though then again, they’d probably end up arguing and getting kicked out. Madeline sighed to herself and put on another dress.
The silk was cool against her skin and Madeline involuntarily shuddered as it slid into position. She opened her change room door just a crack to let Elise into the change room and help her with the long zipper.
Madeline turned to face her aunt, running a hand through her hair tiredly. “Let’s see if Papa likes this one, eh?” she said, smiling in spite of herself.
Elise winked at her niece. “I think this one might be the one,” she whispered, slipping out of the change room so Madeline could make her ‘entrance’.
“Are you ready, Cherie?” Francis called out from the other side.
“Yes, Papa,” Madeline called back, opening the change room door and holding the dress so she could walk out of the little room.
Gliding out of the change room, Madeline saw her father’s face light up.
“Oh mon dieu,” he whispered, standing up. The women around him beamed at Madeline.
“Papa?” Madeline asked, feeling confused as Francis walked toward her. She had never seen her father look so speechless before.
“Un ange...you look like an angel,” Francis whispered, his eyes glistening, taking her hands into his own. “This is the one, I’m sure of it!” he proclaimed, moving away so the others could see Madeline in the dress.
“I agree, you look breath-taking!” Elizaveta agreed. “How did Gilbert get a pretty girl like you?” she added, laughing as Madeline blushed.
“Oh I’m so proud of you!” Angelique squealed, rushing forward and embracing her cousin. “I can’t believe you’re getting married!”
Madeline laughed, hugging her back. “I can’t either,” she said, glancing at herself in the long mirror not too far away from them. She did look pretty nice, she noted to herself. She looked like a princess.
The dress was insanely expensive, much to her horror - she should’ve realized that it was too good to be true - but Francis had insisted that he buy it.
“Papa, you don’t have to,” Madeline said quietly as Francis swiped his credit card.
“Let an old man spoil his beautiful daughter,” Francis replied, though Francis really wasn’t that old.
Now the wedding dress was done with. Madeline felt her stomach churn with excitement. She couldn’t wait for the wedding day to come so she could see Gilbert’s reaction to her in the dress!
Next