WHO: Adam Parrish and Persephone Poldma WHAT: Adam gathers up all his courage to ask Persephone to walk him down the aisle at his wedding, because you know, family. WHEN: Saturday afternoon, September 25 [backdated] WARNINGS: None! STATUS: Complete
There was no rubric for what Adam was about to do. Part of him thought it might be easier to have asked in the comfort of the kitchen at Fox Way. Another part of him thought he should be more operational and formal by writing a nicely worded letter—that idea was quickly dashed. Persephone deserved something warm, earnest, and from the heart. But Adam needed somewhere to walk around and divide his attention appropriately before he vibrated out of his skin. To feel like he was just asking for permission for using Persephone's house for their reception, though that wasn't what was making him anxious.
Having the energy to burn and time to spend—a rare opportunity these days—was best used in the pumpkin patch. Adam wondered if he was going to buy pumpkins out of stress; a very real possibility. At least they would go well with the dozens of plants that seemed to be still thriving at the Barns.
Adam was sure that whatever carefully crafted calm demeanor he put on, Persephone would see right through it. So to hide his unintentional nervous jitters, he crouched down by an obscenely large pumpkin with a sad spot on the side where it had been resting while it grew. Blue would probably say it's charming, Adam figured it would be a nice one to carve.
"I know you know," Adam said, flipping the price tag over on the stem, "that I didn't invite you here just so we can look at pumpkins, but what do you think of this one?"
“Yes you did,” Persephone threw back at him, her hand already grazing over a delightful pumpkin that was covered in green warts. “You just invited me here for more than one reason.” It made perfect sense to her, even knowing Adam wanted to talk.
It didn’t even take a psychic to know what he wanted to talk about - the topic most on his mind as of late, and no one, especially Persephone, could blame him. She keenly remembered what that euphoric elation of post-engagement could feel like.
It was easier to run a hand over the pumpkin under her fingers than it was to focus on the missing weight on her finger, and she turned her knowing smile on Adam. She liked that he gravitated towards a pumpkin with a little sadness on the side, it matched how he saw himself. “I think it has character and would display a very nice carved car. What do you think of this one?”
"I like it," Adam said with a breezy laugh. It felt very distinctly something she would turn to, too—Adam felt a bit like an out of place gourd until Persephone centered him, giving him the care and attention that he craved. It was a little pathetic when he let himself linger on it too long, but those were his own feelings, his own overanalyzing of his conversations with her. Persephone never made him feel like his desire for parental affection was anything but necessary.
That didn't stop him from being guilty that he had unintentionally put pressure on her for something more than the mentorship that he had originally sought guidance for. How far their relationship had come from moving rocks and listening to leylines.
"Ronan and I are planning for our wedding," Adam said, and nearly stumbled over the word. He still couldn't seem to accept the reality of it, and he was certain that he probably would still feel a bit like an imposter all the way up until the moment they exchanged vows. "And we were hoping that we could have the reception at Fox Way."
Adam let the request hang there for a moment, before he felt the need to explain why. "We could still have it at the Barns but we wanted to spread it between the places we love the most. And Fox Way is important to me, just like his family home is to him. I'll ask Maura too, but I wanted to ask you. It's a big request, a lot of people."
She liked it too, just as she liked his, but Persephone moved along, sure there was another in the field of pumpkins that would call to her. One that she wouldn’t just like, but want to nurture. It was here, she was sure of it.
But this was the question she’d expected from him. The one both her and Maura had mused over during tea, that she’d looked out at the backyard and squinted one morning, trying to picture it all. There was a lot of natural beauty at Fox Way, and certainly a lot of character. They’d have to clean. And landscape. But this was Adam, and there wasn’t much Persephone wouldn’t do for him when given the opportunity.
“I’ve heard that,” she teased lightly, and a gentle smile ghosted across her lips. “I think we’d be honored, Adam. It’s been a while since we had a wedding celebration there.” Though each and every time had infused Fox Way with happy memories, ones she’d be glad to see again. “It’s been too quiet in it’s time here, and could certainly use the touch of a lot of people.”
The relief that Adam wanted by her saying yes still hadn't come. He did seem elated that Fox Way was on the table. One less stressor off the top of the mountain of worries that came with planning a wedding. Adam had promised Ronan that they could do it in two months, but sometimes Adam bit off more than he could chew and would stubbornly not admit that he was overwhelmed. He worked best under pressure.
His answer to her was a wide smile, a little tight in his eyes. Delighted despite the impending other question. "Yeah? I would, we would be really appreciative. We can talk about details or food, decorations, when I have all the paperwork in front of me, and the color scheme. We have a color scheme. And—" Adam was getting ahead of himself again. He had to remember that weddings were partially about delegating. He didn't have to do everything.
He kept walking beside her, thankful that the pumpkin patch was deceptively large and there was a whole swath of land they hadn't covered yet. Dozens of pumpkins he hadn't used as a distraction. "There is something else," Adam blurted out.
There was no use in prolonging it, but if they kept moving he wouldn't overthink it. The fear of rejection to this was far higher than Persephone saying they couldn't use Fox Way. "With the ceremony."
Persephone let out a slow breath as she looped her arm into his while they walked, keeping him at a leisurely pace. It was almost used to serve the purpose of reminding him to slow down. Sometimes, Adam Parrish needed limitations without being told he was being limited for his own good, and Persephone was one of the more gentle hands at that.
“We’re not painting the house black to match,” she teased with a smile, enjoying the image in her head of Fox Way during the peak of fall with all of its autumnal colors. “But we’ll get the group out to make sure everything’s perfect.” She would remind him again, and again, that he didn’t have to do things entirely by himself. Especially not when magic could be involved.
She hadn’t expected something extra though, that part wasn’t in the cards. A blond eyebrow arched in his direction. “Something else? Is it that horrible screeching song?”
Adam laughed, brief and bright, surprised that Persephone could catch him off guard with the horrible screeching song comment. It had released some of that building tension. "No, no. Definitely, no on painting the house black, I wouldn't ask that of you anyway. But I can't promise the Murder Squash song won't be played at some point, Ronan might sneak it onto a playlist."
His hand came to rest on her arm looped through his, and it struck him then how right and familiar this felt. How asking her was the right choice. Not that he ever doubted she would be, but Adam would rather go alone down the aisle than think anyone else could fill the shoes that Persephone had unintentionally, and maybe intentionally, filled for him along the way. Without even asking.
He was looking ahead, focusing on more pumpkins and more people with kids weaving in and out of the rows, and he squeezed her arm. It was grounding for himself. "I wanted to know if you would walk me down the aisle?" God, he sounded so uncertain, scared of that refusal in his head. "You know, give me away at the wedding."
Oh. Persephone blinked, and blinked again. That was a request she hadn’t seen coming, not with Adam’s own worries and history, not with everything he’d gone through. The fact that he was willing to let anyone walk him down the aisle was a miracle, and the fact that it was her was more than a little humbling.
It was a good reminder that this was a two-way street, even as much as he’d struggled down it. Adam Parrish deserved the best, and would always be important enough for her to want to give what she could so he could experience it.
She touched his hand over her arm, and squeezed it right back. There were people around them, but she didn’t care, she’d never been one to think much of what others thought-- and if they would judge her for turning towards him and bringing him in for a gentle hug? Well, they weren’t worthy of much.
Persephone squeezed around his shoulders, a motherly embrace that likely felt as unfamiliar to her as it did him. “I would like that very much.”
A peculiar sensation came over Adam as Persephone pulled him into an embrace. Part of his mind wanted to say this wasn't real, that people like Persephone didn't accept people like Adam as their own. Part of his brain was fighting for acceptance that he deserved all kinds of love, including hers. And the last part, the one that always had a vice-like grip on his emotions decided today it was going to ease up, a little.
Planning to get married was not something Adam had truly thought about when he was younger. And the rare occasion when he wrote family into a five-year plan, his parents had not been a factor. How sad and alone he imagined himself in a tux waiting for his partner at the other end of the aisle. But right now, he wasn't alone. He was hugging Persephone in the middle of the pumpkin patch because the person who came the closest to giving him unconditional motherly love was saying yes—she would show everyone that she meant it, that she was that person to him.
His fingers were unconsciously digging into the back, afraid to lose this moment. Afraid if he pulled away it would just be a dream. But Adam, much like his dreamer fiancé, knew when he was awake. He was very awake. "Thank you," Adam whispered hoarsely into her hair.
When he pulled away, he quickly touched his cheeks and found them blessedly dry. He still reached for tissues in his pocket and offered her one. "I came prepared. I wasn't sure if it was going to be that kind of day or not."
Persephone laughed at his attention to detail, a wet thing that she tried to hide behind a little sniffle and snicker all at once. She accepted, and dabbed at her eyes delicately, before folding it into a neat little square. “Smartest man I know,” she replied cheerfully, her growing smile causing the crow’s feet to wrinkle in a pleasing way.
Once the tears were stopped, which thankfully didn’t need more than a few seconds, Persephone looped her arm back in his. “I knew today would be a good day, but I thought it was because of the apple cider donuts and not because of this.” As if confirming what this meant, she tugged on his arm playfully. “I’m looking forward to this wedding, but probably not as much as you are?” It was a leading question, poking a little at his walls on purpose, to get him to relax.
"I can't believe I surprised you," Adam said, a little awed. He had spent so much time leaning on Persephone for answers, even if her ambiguous guidance often required interpretation. But that was because Persephone was, and still would be, wiser than time led people to believe. Still, this felt like an uncanny reversal, and he'd pick it apart later when he recounted the day to Ronan.
Adam blushed lightly at the question and tried to hide the instinctual smile that crept up when it came to the wedding. For a second, he ignored the question and flipped it back on her by asking, "Do you still want apple cider donuts? I was going to ask if we could bring some back home if you weren't interested."
He stuffed the tissues back in his pocket and offered his arm out again—because he liked it and practice. "And yeah, excited. Nervous. Less so right now," Adam replied as they headed for the donut stand. "Something else will hit me later though. Something we need to do, or schedule, or plan that we didn't think about planning. It never ends."
Adam blushed again and bit his lip as he looked down. "But I can't wait to get married."
“Let’s do both?” Persephone knew he wasn’t one for treating himself, but he rarely denied things when other people he cared about were involved, and she wasn’t against taking advantage of that. “I want a donut, and I know Blue will, and Maura, and--” She paused and tilted her head up like she was thinking about it. Or she was silently asking something else. “Yes, everyone else at the Barns.”
It was hard to tell if she was making that up, or some divine power did in fact let Persephone know that everyone back at the Barns wanted an apple cider donut. But her secretive little smile wasn't giving anything away.
“Just remember that it’s the end goal. Everything else will fall into place.” She was sure of that, even if she couldn’t make out the details. But details rarely mattered in the end.
He nodded in agreement. Everything would fall into place. Adam might have believed he had to be the one to direct it there, but it wasn't impossible. He had a support system of people, one he didn't have a few years ago. All of them eager to help bring him and Ronan together in matrimony. The feeling blossomed bright in his chest and it took everything he had not to hide his face on Persephone's shoulder because he couldn't stop smiling.
"It will. But it's good to hear you say it too. Sometimes it's hard to trust myself or to think Ronan's not being biased," Adam said as they approached the stand. "And I'll have my family there, so that's all that matters." He has said this part a little bit hesitantly, the closest he had gotten to speaking the words they knew he had always intended for her, out loud.
Adam didn't want to linger on them, so he asked, "Let me get the donuts for you? As a thank you."
“He may be biased, but he isn’t wrong.” Persephone teased, and bumped him with her hip. “But you’re forbidden from telling him that, family or not.” Family warmed her through, though, and she smiled so fondly at him. More of that focus and she’d have to steal another one of those tissues.
So she turned her attention to the donuts, which rarely made her cry, and nodded. “I accept, but only if you agree to see which of us can finish ours first.” And like that, a challenge was made, and Persephone raised both eyebrows in a taunting fashion.