Her breathe caught at that, for a promise seemed a heavy weight but she nodded before he said anything further. Before this conversation Dahlia might have waved him away with a smile and dismissive comment. But now she considered it from a different point of view.

All this time Dahlia had considered Quin as any other suitor. He hardly seemed much older, but she was well aware of his reputation as an almost confirmed bachelor. He'd opened his shop when she had been a girl. The age difference hadn't mattered before (and it still didn't she resolutely determined) but what she hadn't considered was how his life was and how it would change. Her life had always been in flux with sisters moving in and out of the house and knowing she'd one day leave it too, but Quin hadn't experienced that. He'd been on his own and likely as set in his ways as her own father. She would need to work around that, or as he said, with him, to establish new patterns.

Finally, after a pause to truly consider it, Dahlia nodded. "I'll try. But...[/b] She bit her lip as she considered how to phrase it, "Will you try too? If I do something you don't like or...?" She waved her free hand abstractly again at a loss for the perfect work.

  

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Quin sighed softly. This was good. This was a good step. He wasn't pleased that he'd caused her any stress by any stretch of the imagination, but for all Quin thought himself to be a giant child, he thought he had enough emotional intelligence to make this work. It was a two-way street, there would always be push and pull, he knew that. Not every day would be sunshine and daisies, but he hoped, by the end of every day, things could be worked on, discussed and remedied, as long as they kept open lines of communication. So therefore this misunderstanding was a good indicator of how they could handle bigger things in the future.

"It's going to take time. We'll figure it out with some trial and error, but I'm sincerely looking forward to having you around all of the time." That he wasn't worried about. He feared she would get frustrated with him though, it was inevitable. He was a little messy, a little clueless and hopelessly lacking in much of a routine and he knew that was less than desirable in a husband. Quin rarely got frustrated or overwhelmed or much of anything one way or another; he had always been pretty even-keeled. That was however, probably because he was such a scatterbrain and all over the place that he was truly oblivious sometimes. He'd have to work on paying better attention and he should probably start soon, before they married.

Gently he leaned in to kiss her cheek. "We'll make it work." He assured her with another squeeze of their joined hands.

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"You are?" She asked feeling pleasantly pleased. Sometimes she felt as if perhaps it was a bit one sided on her own, this desire to always be near Quin. He was her safe place. Her shelter. But she never believed the same of herself for him.

"We will." Dahlia nodded with determination, squeezing his hand back. They were on their way to a bright future.

"On the topic of serious questions, Daffy and mama want to know if there are any particular flowers you would like included for the wedding." A mischevious look flitted across her face as she changed the subject knowing it was of great importance to her family but perhaps much less so for her and Quin.

  

With that settled Quin felt a bit better about all of this. Not that he was worried exactly, but perhaps anxious about how this big change would go. Maybe he was too wound up about it. Quin didn't worry, he wasn't one to fret or get worked up, this should be no different.

Except it was probably the biggest thing he'd ever done in his life, candy shop aside.

Fortunately her serious question was about wedding flowers and that was far easier to address. He'd thought about this since the last time they'd discussed it and though he was pretty sure he should say that dahlias were his new favorite flower, but also thought that might be a little presumptuous. He was however, not a full-fledged idiot so had done a little research (with Miss Daffodil's help) and could still only come up with dandelions. He however, did not think those a suitable for a wedding and so instead said, "Particular flower no, but I do like orange? Or purple?" Quin had always liked bright colors, but didn't know how that translated to a wedding.

Gently he tucked her arm back into his and started meandering through the flowers again. "But I want you to have whatever you want." He assured her. "I don't have any concrete ideas here, unless you want my input, then I will try. I believe you and your mother will come up with something beautiful." Quin could make the desserts if she wanted, that was easy, but other than that he was pretty sure he wasn't a reliable source here.

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Of course Daffy had been right all those months ago. Bright colors were as quintessentially Quin as seaweed was her father. "I shall let them know." She agreed amicably. Once she had dreamed of a wedding of white blooms, spring in the air, greenery everywhere. But that dream of a wedding had been to a man as blank as a white page. Quin and her would live a colorful life and already she could see the bright blooms opening up to the summer sun. A different scene of a wedding but one as beautiful and loving as the one of her imagination, but it meant more because it was not just her but her and Quin.

"I had hoped," Dahlia hesitated for a moment then recalled the promise she had just made him and plunged forward, "We might make the cake together?"

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   Quincey Honeyduke

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Quin sincerely hoped that Dahlia would do whatever she wanted, regardless of his choice of colors. They were clearly the experts on floral design and he would not have any idea what would even look nice together. Whenever he had used florals in the past it had generally been at the behest of Mrs. Potts or Miss Daffodil, he was perfectly content to follow the guidelines.

At the mention of making the cake themselves, Quin grinned; he hadn't even thought of it. "I would love that." Now that was something he could handle. "Chocolate raspberry?" He mused, casting a look at her out of the corner of his eye. Quin liked pretty much all flavors, so he again would defer to her.

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His easy acquesence put Dahlia at ease, a grin spreading over her lips and she laughed at his suggestion. "Why, Mr. Honeyduke," She affected surprise, teasing him, "It appears you know how you stole my heart." She giggled. In truth it was so much more than raspberry truffles (if it had only been the truffles she would have loved him from her childhood, although it may have been said once or twice in her school days, eyes fluttering dreamily as she indulged in her favorite sweet, "I could marry Mr. Honeyduke"), it was his kindness, the way he'd saved her from a goose and the bees, the way he'd held her close to comfort her after the swarm, the way he'd tested her baked goods and the way he'd written back to her. It was the very essense of Mr. Honeyduke, of Quin, with which Dahlia had fallen so head over heels.

"Am I selfish to want to keep that for ourselves though?" Not to mention chocolate and raspberry could very well stain and that seemed like a less than wonderful idea with children running around. "I was thinking perhaps lavendar and lemon?"

She stopped suddenly and spun toward him, "I had thought to have the wedding here, but what of your family?" How selfish of her to have forgotten something so important.

  

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Quin laughed at her teasing. Sweets rarely did him wrong. At the request for something different, the sentimental reason had his smile softening, he agreed quickly. "Whatever it is you would like. I have a good frosting recipe for that. Blueberries fit the flavors well too." They would be in season about that time, fresh and juicy to make a compote for in between the layers.

To say Quin hadn't even thought that far ahead as to where to have the wedding, Dahlia brought up a very real predicament. If Dahlia wanted the wedding to be here, it would exclude his parents and sister from attending. He would obviously want them there for his wedding, but he hated to change Dahlia's vision for the day as well. "Irvingly? There's a nice little church there, I believe?" He supposed that didn't solve the problem of where to have a reception though. "Is there a place in London we could use?" Here there was the ballroom they could rent, but was there something of the like in the Alley or nearby? It certainly wouldn't be the same as the Potts family garden in all its glory, but maybe the could make something work.

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"Oh, yes, blueberries would be wonderful." Dahlia nodded eagerly, her mind already conjuring up images of what the cake would look like. They could do marzipan flowers, each a different flavor to highlight the tastes in the cake. Perhaps a drizzle of honey might compliment it? "I think a spring honey drizzled between the layers might add to it as well." She often preferred fall honey, but the floral sweetness of spring honey would add instead of distract from the other flavors.

Dahlia chewed her lip at the thought. It wasn't that she didn't want to get married in a chruch, but rather that she simply could not envision marrying instead of a building. And how odd would everyone think if she were to marry in a field beside a church when there was a perfectly good church right next to them? "I wonder..." She started slowly, "I'll have to ask Daffy, but perhaps she might know a place in Diagon Alley?"

  

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Quin made mental notes of all of her flavor ideas. "We can make some practice ones, see what we like." It would be good way to spend more time together and in the kitchen at that. They could start with the cake base and try out the other flavors they wanted to add in. He was pretty sure he had a good lemon cake base they could modify to their heart's content.

"Oh, that's a good idea, Miss Daffodil probably knows a place." The alley was muggle friendly, that would be a good idea. "I'm glad you thought of it. Are you sure you're alright with not having it here?" It would be hard for him to not have his family there, so he hoped she wasn't too disappointed.

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"I'd like that." Quite frankly she'd love any idea that meant spending more time with Quin.

"I'll ask her." Dahlia assured him, clasping his hand in her own. "Family is more important than a place." She assured him, "As long as our families are there no matter where we are will be home." No, not quite the wedding she dreamed of, but dreams could chnage, and grow and turn into something even more special.

  

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