Anything Could Happen

Chapter Twelve: Setting a Date

Sipping on her orange juice, Briana flipped through the newspaper and sighed enjoying the quiet morning that she had to herself; there was no Ariana today since her friend had a doctor's appointment. 

It was strange to have a morning to herself without any lessons but Briana was glad for a break, she had no idea when she would have a morning like this again with everything that was going on. 

However, the sound of the front door slamming shut made Briana blink, she wasn't expecting company this morning and she was a little surprised when Lionel stormed into the kitchen.

 "Leo?" Briana asked curious about why he was home early, she hadn't been expecting to see him until later that afternoon; he was meant to be busy today with meetings. 

Lionel gritted his teeth, he'd been to speak with his parents and it hadn't gone like he had hoped; instead he had been set a deadline that he didn't want. 

"My madre wants us to set a date," Lionel muttered with a shake of his head, he opened the fridge to get himself a drink and tried to calm his anger; he peeked at Briana knowing that this affected the both of them. 

Staring at Lionel, Briana furrowed her brow trying to work out what he meant; she closed the paper that she had been reading knowing that it had to be important if Lionel was this frustrated. 

"A date?" Briana asked brushing some hair behind her ear, she watched him knowing that she didn't want him to be upset with his parents. 

Things had been going so well and Briana had even received an invite to join Queen Celia and Princess Maria Sol for lunch one-day next week; she was a little nervous but had accepted wanting to bond with Lionel's family.

"For our wedding," Lionel spat with a shake of his head, he had tried to explain to his parents that humans from earth didn't marry as quickly as they did; he wanted to do this Briana's way damn traditions. 

Briana stared at Lionel, her stomach turning a little at the idea that she was going to marry Lionel; she was engaged to him after all but she hadn't even thought about a wedding. 

"I tried to explain that you weren't ready for that yet but she won't listen," Lionel muttered wondering what the rush was, he was sure they would have enough on their plates without a royal wedding to plan. 

Briana couldn't help but smile at how Lionel ranted, he was sort of cute when he got this worked up and she knew that it was for a good reason. 

"Leo," Briana said trying to get his attention, she messed with the silver diamond sapphire engagement bracelet on her wrist; she had already agreed to marry him. 

It only made sense that they talked about a wedding, Briana knew that people were waiting on one and she actually didn't even mind starting to think about that now. 

"We don't have to do it yet," Lionel reassured her, he was more than happy to wait and he just wanted Briana to be happy; he couldn't imagine what was waiting around the corner for them. 

She was still taking lessons from Ariana and Lionel was glad that Briana had his cousin as a friend, she was going to need it if his parents were pushing for a wedding. 

"Leo," Briana tried again, she couldn't keep the smile off her face and she loved that he was putting her first; he had been so wonderful since she had met him. 

It had been an interesting stay and Briana knew that if she hadn't met Lionel then her life would be hell; she couldn't imagine what was going on in his head right now to freak him out so much.

Briana had been doing a lot of reading on Aulean mating and she had learned quite a bit from her talks with Ariana; she was still surprised how slow Lionel was willing to take all of this for her sake. 

"I am happy to wait until you are ready," Lionel insisted looking to Briana, he didn't want her to feel like she had to push herself into this; she was tired to the rules like he was. 

His parents would just have to understand and Lionel wasn't going to change his mind, he had told them that he would wait until Briana told him that she was ready to get married. 

"Leo," Briana said interrupting him, she covered his mouth with her hand to stop him from talking; she searched his face for a moment before slowly removing her hand from his mouth. 

Lionel caught her hand and pressed a kiss to the top of it, he watched her face unsure what she wanted to tell him; he hoped that he hadn't freaked her out in anyway. 

"I am more than happy to marry you," Briana told him with a smile, she wanted to marry Lionel and she couldn't deny that she slowly found herself falling for him. 

Lionel was the first person in a long time that Briana found herself developing feelings for, he treated her well and he always seemed to be looking out for her. 

Opening and closing his mouth, Lionel stared at Briana realising that she was actually ready for them to set a date for their wedding; he hadn't been expecting it and he hoped that this was okay. 

Briana took a deep breath, she eyed Lionel before she looked down at the joined hands; she had been doing a lot of thinking and she knew that they couldn't hold off forever. 

It almost felt strange to have someone look out for her and Briana just hoped that nothing would steal this away from her; she couldn't imagine what would happen if she lost Lionel.

***

"So the 19th of September?" Lionel mused with a smile on his face, he couldn't believe they had actually set a date for their wedding; it was a decent time frame and he knew that it would get his parents off their backs.

It also gave him time to grow closer to Briana, Lionel knew that this wasn't going to be easy and she was still learning about bring a princess; Lionel just wanted her to be comfortable. 

Briana nodded her head, she leaned back on the couch watching Lionel and she knew that it was just enough time; it felt almost unreal that she was going to be planning her wedding. 

It wasn't something that Briana had ever given much thought to, she had never thought anyone would see her as anything but Carlos's bastard daughter. 

"I can't wait," Briana murmured feeling something odd, she swallowed knowing what it was and she had a feeling that she was going to have to get used to it. 

Planning a wedding was something that Briana had always imagined that she would do with her mother, however that wasn't possible and she would have to do this alone. 

Lionel eyed Briana, the bond between them allowed him to sense the grief that she was feeling and he hated that something was upsetting her; he wrapped his arms around her and held her close. 

The skin contact allowed him to see just what was upsetting her and Lionel felt bad knowing that he would never get to meet the wonderful woman that had brought Briana into the world. 

It was clear that Briana had been closer to her mother than her father, Lionel knew that she would have been wonderful and he just hoped that she was happy wherever she might be now. 

They were going to be just fine and Lionel was sure that his mother would be more than happy to help Briana plan the wedding; she was still waiting for the day where she could plan his younger sister's wedding day.