Remington, Ephraim and Lux all had a very important appointment to keep at a wedding planner’s office downtown. The business would be closed to the public so they could plan the wedding without interruptions. Remington was excited and nervous about planning the wedding, but thankfully Ephraim was more than willing to help, while Lux wasn't into the whole wedding planning thing until now, suddenly he seemed much more interested. Remington buzzed the door and then waited until the door clicked open before entering with Ephraim and Lux following him close behind. Just inside the lobby of the fancy business was a woman with a nice metallic sky blue woman's suit, blonde curly hair that was scrunched up in a loose bun, with stylish red flare reading glasses on her petite freckled nose making her grey blue eyes much wider than they normally would be. She scurried over to Remington looking eager to meet him.

  “Remington! It's so good to meet you! Hello! Come on in here and have a seat! And this must be Ephraim, and Lux! Hello, nice to meet you all! I’ve heard so much about you from Vezaias, I must say he had so much to tell me about you three! He really loves to talk about you.” She said as she ushered them to sit in a nice seating area on soft velvet sofas with a fancy coffee table complete with a fine china tea set and hors d'oeuvres. Remington blushed brightly and Ephraim was feeling very shy, while Lux only seemed aloof. She smelled like vanilla musk, or maybe that was the scent in the air from all the decorative candles.

  “Does he?” Remington stammered out bashfully.

  “Oh yes. He has a lot of pride when it comes to his three life partners. Anyways, my name is Lori, I am so glad to be able to help you plan your wedding. Now we have lots to do. We can fit you for your tuxedos, we can look at samples of fabric, we can pick the types of flowers you like, and also I have cake samples for you to try. So we can decide on what would work best for you on your big day. But first I have one surprise special guest who would like to join us!” Lori stood up and walked over to the corner of the seating area and motioned for someone to come forward. Just then Aubrey came forward looking happy and eager.

  “Bri!” Remington stood up quickly and rushed over to hug her. “I can't believe you are here!” He hugged her joyfully.

  “Vezaias called me and asked me to be here! I'm so happy for you Remi! You're getting married!” She said excitedly.

  “Oh he is so sneaky! I had no idea you would be here!” Remington was now gushing with tears of happiness.

  “I'm glad I can be here for you Remi! Do you want to sit down and get started?” Aubrey said. Remington wiped his eyes and nodded happily and they went to sit but not before Ephraim and Lux were both introduced to her giving her a polite hug. Lori jumped right into the agenda for the day. First they did tuxedo fittings and Aubrey was also measured for her own dress to wear when she attended the wedding. Next was picking out flowers, for this Lori had several varieties of flowers to look at and smell, as well as pictures of different arrangements. Remington flipped through the catalog of flowers with Aubrey while Lux and Ephraim picked out shoes. Lux was anxious as he watched Ephraim picking shoes out to try on. He couldn't stop thinking about what Vezaias had expected him to do. Take Ephraim out on a real date. That meant he had to ask him to his face to go on a date. Ephraim was all dressed up in his subtle blush colored cross pinstriped and antique ivory tuxedo, with a muted strawberry bowtie.

  “How does this look?” Ephraim asked. Lux was stuck looking at Ephraim for a long moment. “Lux?” Ephraim meeped bashfully.

  “Well um.” Lux began. “You look perfect.” He said mildly. He wished that he had the same smooth ability to sound alluring the way Vezaias could. Instead he only sounded awkward.

  “Thanks.” Ephraim's cheeks were rosied. Ephraim turned to look in the full length mirror. It just so happened that Lori snuck by slipping a small bouquet of flowers on the stool and giving Lux a wink. Sure, she was probably aware of his mission, thanks to Vezaias. He picked up the fuchsia roses, then turned back to Ephraim nervously. Man, how could Vezaias be so confident in moments like this? Lux was nearly about to start pacing back and forth when Ephraim noticed him and turned looking curious.

  “Lux?” He asked looking at the flowers then back up at Lux.

  “I just wanted to ask you to go out on a real date with me.” Lux said hopefully. “…because I really love you. And I want us to be closer than just both dating Vezaias alongside each other. I want us to be close and together with each other too.” Lux said he felt butterflies flapping around in his stomach and his chest aching with anticipation. Ephraim looked amazed at first but then he quickly came over to Lux and hugged him.

  “Of course I will go on a date with you!” Ephraim nearly squealed in happiness. Lux was relieved now and nearly euphoric over the acceptance. Lux gave Ephraim the flowers and made sure to stay close to him to hold his hand as they finished with tuxedos and moved on to see what Remington was doing. As soon as Remington saw Ephraim holding flowers and looking so bashfully thrilled he had to ask.

  “What's up Eph?” He noticed Lux holding Ephraim's hand.

  “Lux asked me on a real date!” Ephraim said with eagerness.

  “Really? Oh my gosh!” Remington got up and hugged Ephraim and then Lux.

  “When are you going?” Remington asked.

  “Probably tonight if Ephraim wants to.” Lux said. He looked happier than Remington had ever seen before. Everyone settled down and Lori moved on to the cake tasting. She had lots of samples to try of several different cakes, fillings, and frostings. The most popular flavor being cinnamon gram cake with white chocolate cream frosting, with maple filling. It tasted like a high class version of French toast only in cake form.

  “So Remington, since this will not be a traditional wedding have you given any thought to how you would like the ceremony to go?” Lori asked, now ready to take notes.

  “Um, well I'm not familiar with wedding traditions so I'm not sure.” Remington said.

  “In basic wedding tradition, the bride walks down the aisle with her father who gives her away to the groom. Of course we do not have a bride, and I do not want to assume you would want to be viewed as a bride. So the ceremony can be structured any way you envision it to be. So maybe start giving that some thought because we want to make sure everything goes the way you want it to.” Lori said modestly. Remington paused to think about this. “Also usually the bride has her bridesmaids, and a maid of honor, and the groom has his groomsmen and his best man, who walk down the isle before the bride, plus a flower girl and a ring bearer. Of course this is also very customizable. We also would like to start building a guest list. Who would you like to invite to the wedding? It can be as small or as large as you want it to be. Another thing to ponder over.” Lori said.

  “Well I'm not a bride but if I were to have to choose someone to be my best man I would want it to be both Lux and Ephraim but then again they also could be Vezaias's best man. So I would hate to have either of them on one side or the other because we are all a unified group. So maybe….” Remington thought about it for a moment. “Aubrey, would you possibly walk me down the aisle?” Remington asked sheepishly.

  “Really Remi?” Aubrey asked eagerly.

  “Yeah!” Remington said with more confidence.

  “Of course I will!” She exclaimed. They hugged.

  “How wonderful! I will write that down immediately.” Lori said. Before long the planning had run its course and everyone left to go and do other things.

  “I am going to stop at this place downtown that sells baby items, do you want to go with me?” Remington asked.

  “Sure, I don't mind.” Ephraim said cheerfully. He sure was smiling a lot now that he was going to go on a date with Lux.

  “Ugh I guess.” Lux groaned. He held Ephraim’s hand now as they got in the limousine to go to the store. Of course going into the store that was open to the public was going to be stressful. They walked around looking at things while trying to keep somewhat of a low profile however with a limousine parked at the store eventually someone would notice. Remington was eager to look at baby stuff while finding things that were adorable.

  “Look at this baby shirt, it says Lil Nugget! Awww!” Remington cooed.

  “And this one says ‘I won my first race’! It has sperm on it!” Ephraim held up a onesie. Remington and Ephraim were now laughing together about the outfit.

  “I feel like this one is way more accurate.” Lux held up a onesie that said ‘I spent 9 months on the inside' with a graphic of a jail cell.

  “Ugh, that's not funny.” Remington said in disgust.

  “I said it was accurate, not funny.” Lux said seriously.

  “Still, I think that is a very uncouth shirt to put on a baby.” Remington said.

  “Baby humans are so bougie anyway, so why not?” Lux said in irritation. Remington gave him an annoyed look just as a woman who worked at the store approached.

  “Excuse me, can I help you find something?” She sounded rather snobby.

  “Uh, yes where can I find baby swings?” Remington asked.

  “Humph, you need a baby swing? You do not look old enough to have a baby…” She said, eyeing Lux and Ephraim as they held each other's hand. “….hopefully it is a gift.” Remington scowled at her.

  “Actually it is for my Nephew.” Remington said.

  “Thank goodness. That makes much more sense.” She said, “Follow me.” They followed her to the section of the store where larger baby items were on display.

  “We have a variety of different swings right here. These right here are more affordable, the further you go down, the more expensive they become.” She put very insulting implications as she spoke as if Remington wouldn't be able to afford any of the swings. He was now very irritated at this woman then turned to go and find the most expensive swing on display.

  “I like this one.” Remington said in amusement. He watched as the lady look at the price tag very smugly.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “That one is over $400. I really don't think..”

  “I'll take two of them.” Remington said firmly. “Could you have someone take two of them to the register? I want to continue to shop.”

  “Two of them? How can…”

  “I have two nephews that were recently born. Actually make it three so I can donate one to charity. Can you please take them to the register now, and wait there with them please.” He cut her off firmly. She looked flabbergasted by this.

  “Yes of course.” She said in irritation, then she walked away. Remington continued to shop, finding a few things he wanted to buy including a white noise machine and two baby monitors. He headed to the checkout where the baby swings were waiting to be paid for. Remington got in line with Ephraim and Lux who were both amused at how he handed the snobby sales woman. She stood at the front of the store with the swings looking very irritated still as Remington got in the longest line possible. It just so happened that a young woman in front of him was buying some basic baby things, diapers, formula, baby bath, baby lotion and a few items of clothing. Remington watched her as she counted out her money and began digging in her purse for change but coming up short.

  “I guess I will have to put a few things back.” She told the cashier. Remington felt bad for her and her infant who was fussing in the car seat that sat on the shopping cart. He immediately stepped forward to help.

  “Don't put anything back, here I will pay for it.” Remington said. Before the woman could try and deny him he pulled out his debit card and swiped it. The transaction quickly approved and the cashier gave her the receipt.

  “Oh my gosh you didn't have to do that! Thank you so much!” She said now nearly in tears.

  “It's no problem. Here, don't leave yet.” He turned to the cashier and picked out a gift card and handed it to the cashier.

  “How much do you think? A grand?” He turned to ask Ephraim and Lux.

  “Babies are expensive.” Ephraim reminded him.

  “Babies are greedy.” Lux said seriously.

  “Can I put five thousand dollars on this gift card?” Remington asked the cashier. The cashier eagerly

  Rang up the gift card and handed him the receipt and card. He turned to the young woman and handed her the card and receipt.

  “Here you go. $5,000 for you to buy whatever you need for your baby.” He said happily. She was stunned and took the card and was now gushing with tears.

  “Thank you so much!” She sobbed. “Can I give you a hug?” She said with a shaky voice.

  “Sure.” Remington said. She hugged him telling him how much she appreciated this but then it must have dawned on her.

  “Wait oh my gosh, are you Mystery? From Nobody In Particular?” She suddenly asked.

  “I am!” He said with a smile.

  “Wow! I was so overwhelmed I didn't recognize you at first! I love your music, you are just so amazing! Can I have your autograph??” She said now in amazement.

  “Of course. Let me check out my items and I will do whatever you want alright? Selfies, autographs or whatever okay? I don't want to hold up the line anymore.” Remington said cheerfully.

  “Yes! You're right! I will wait over here!” She said then she scurried away to wait for him. The cashier was also thrilled and told him how much she also loved his music and how much she admired what he just did for that young woman highlighting how she has had trouble paying for what she needed more than once. The store was now helping to load all the stuff into the limousine as Remington spent a few minutes talking to the young woman he had helped, but now word had gotten out that he was at this store and there was a growing number of people showing up to get a chance to see Remington and get an autograph. The snobby woman was now ashamed after one of the employees mentioned how the 10,000 dollars Remington had spent just in gift cards to help people buy their baby items was probably just a drop in the bucket of his wealth from being famous after winning ‘album of the year' and ‘best recording artist of the year' among many other awards. It was a struggle getting out of the store and trying to leave now that the parking lot was swamped with fans but eventually they made it to the limousine and left to go to the recording studio. Of course Remington could not let anyone see him take these baby items to the base so he had the limousine driver unload everything and store it in one of the offices before he went to search for Vezaias.

  Most of the work was done now as all the prospective talents had signed their contracts and filled out their paperwork. Demetri had finished with the newly formed band that Uzique had joined and they were packing up to leave. Uzique of course was very aloof as he watched his new band mates clear the stage of their instruments. The lead guitarist finished packing then headed over to speak with Uzique.

  “Hey, Uzique right? It was nice to meet you. Thanks for being our lead singer, you have amazing vocals.” He said. Uzique only shoved his hands in his pockets then shrugged.

  “Right, well my name is Paxton. Then there are the other guys, Wade, Miles, and Fletcher. Do you want to come hang out and celebrate with us?” Paxton asked.

  “Why would I do that?” Uzique asked seriously.

  “Well we are gonna work together a lot. Maybe we should get to know each other and be friends.” Paxton said as friendly as he could.

  “I don't know.” Uzique said in mild bewilderment.

  “Oh, well if you change your mind I'll give you my number and you can come on over.” Paxton scribbled out his number on a slip of paper and handed it to Uzique.

  “Thanks.” Uzique said, looking bemused by the situation.

  “Hope you decide to come out! See you later okay?” Paxton said then he and the other band members left the studio. Uzique exited the stage room to find Jackie in the lobby waiting for him.

  “Ah! Uzi! Are you ready to go?” Jackie asked. Uzique only shrugged.

  “What is that?” Jackie asked, referring to the slip of paper. Uzique looked at the paper that read ‘Pax cell# 555-2345’.

  “Um, well it's a phone number.” Uzique said with a grimace.

  “Oh? Who's?” Jackie asked.

  “Paxton. The lead guitarist of the band.” Uzique said seriously.

  “How nice! You made a friend!” Jackie exclaimed. Uzique grimaced more but before he could deny this, the door opened and Zach came in hoping to find Uzique.

  “Uzique, we still have to write you a check, please come with me and Vee will handle it.” Zach said. Uzique took a deep breath and followed Zach to the financial office. Vezaias was just finished writing a check for another talent prospect. Uzique waited patiently.

  “See you later Nate, call me if you need anything.” Vezaias told the talent.

  “Hey Nate, this is our other talent that we signed today. He is in a band as the vocalist. Uzique, this is Nate.” Zach introduced them.

  “Hey nice to meet you Uzique.” Nate said respectfully and extended a hand to shake which Uzique ignored, and only nodded.

  “Uzi, Vezaias will help you next. Bye Nate, I will talk with you soon about other things that we need to work on.” Zach ushered the awkward moment along. “I will see you out okay?” Nate acknowledged this and left following Zach out of the door. Uzique was now aloof and distracted as Vezaias wrote him a check.

  “Here you go, Uzi. Good luck on your investigation.” Vezaias said in amusement. Uzique immediately straightened up, pulled his hood and headphones off and looked at Vezaias very suspiciously.

  “I will find evidence. You must have a spaceship around here somewhere.” Uzique said now looking very assertive.

  “What if I got here without a ship? Say I actually grew up here like a normal human.” Vezaias looked amused.

  “I will explore all avenues!” Uzique said firmly.

  “Uzi, you are hilarious.” Vezaias looked more amused.

  “Stop calling me that! My name is Hack!” Uzique said in irritation.

  “Sure it is. Listen Hack. Maybe you are mistaken…” Vezaias began

  “I'm not!” Uzique pressed. Zach returned just then feeling the tension radiating from Uzique.

  “Is everything alright?” Zach asked in concern.

  “Sure, everything is absolutely ordinary.” Vezaias said in amusement. Uzique gave him a suspicious look again then took his check and walked out of the room. Zach was bewildered but decided to sit down and check his phone for any updates.

  “What was that all about?” Zach asked curiously.

  “Uzi thinks I'm an alien.” Vezaias chuckled.

  “Huh, why?” Zach said in concern.

  “He has been watching me on security cameras and tracking everywhere I go. He thinks it's suspicious that I can show up someplace but he cannot find me on camera entering or exiting.” Vezaias said in amusement.

  “Hmm, well he is not entirely wrong.” Zach chuckled.

  “Eh, well it's just bizarre enough to not be believable. Still I'm gonna have to watch the situation. Wouldn't want him to find any hard evidence.” Vezaias said mildly. Zach chuckled but then fell into focus on his phone.

  “Be right back.” Zach said then he returned with his computer and quickly went to check out something of interest.

  “Apparently your fiance is stirring up quite a ruckus downtown right now.” Zach said in amusement.

  “Oh no, what's going on?” Vezaias said.

  “He is at BabyMart trying to shop while surrounded by hoards of fans.” Zach played a live video that a fan was streaming then swung the computer for Vezaias to watch. The fan was pointing the video at Remington who was signing autographs in a store while packed with people all around him.

  “Oh for fuck sake. I told him if he wanted to go anywhere else I would call and have the store closed to the public.” Vezaias groaned.

  “Well guess he had other ideas.” Zach laughed. The live feed continued until Remington was in the limousine and driving away from the store before the feed ended. It was sometime later when Remington showed up and found Vezaias in the executive lounge with Zach and Demetri who didn't have much work to do, and the business hours of the studio would be closing soon. Remington was quick to come over to Vezaias and give him a hug.

  “Did you have fun?” Vezaias asked in amusement before kissing Remington.

  “Yeah, it was alright. I ate so many cake samples that…”

  “I meant on your shopping adventure.” Vezaias said amusingly.

  “Uh! Oh you know about that?” Remington said embarrassingly.

  “Of course I do.” Vezaias said with a chuckle.

  “Right, well it was okay. Some snobby lady was passive aggressively insulting us, but…” Remington began. Everyone was curious now.

  “What did you do?” Vezaias asked.

  “Well she assumed I was poor and didn't think I could afford what I wanted to buy so I ended up spending over 10,000 dollars. I hope that's okay.” Remington said sheepishly as if he were in trouble.

  “Rem, I have our finances secured. You have nothing to worry about financially. I will support us for the rest of our lives. Your money is for you to spend on whatever you want. I honestly couldn't care less what you do with it.” Vezaias said in amusement.

  “Oh well I gave this lady 5,000 dollars on a gift card, and I paid for her baby stuff that she couldn't afford. Then I purchased another five gift cards and put a grand on all of them and had the snobby lady hand them out to random customers.” Remington explained. Vezaias and everyone were all amused by this.

  “Oh Rem, all of that just to prove you weren't broke?” Vezaias laughed.

  “Well no, I really did want to help that lady. She was struggling to buy important things like formula and diapers.” Remington said.

  “Yeah I know. How very generous of you.” Vezaias kissed his forehead. It was time to leave for the day now. Vezaias had to figure out how to get the baby stuff back to base. He elected to volunteer Lux to help him with the smaller bags while Remington easily floated the bigger items through a portal.

  “I'm going to go deliver this baby stuff, Eph you wanna help me?” Remington asked.

  “Sure!” Ephraim was eager to help. Lux stayed behind and was ready to unload his own eagerness.

  “I did it, I asked him out on a date.” Lux said anxiously.

  “Great job Lux. What did he say?” Vezaias said with interest.

  “He said yes.” Lux said feeling full of energy now. He began to walk back and forth.

  “So when are you going? And where?” Vezaias asked.

  “I was going to ask you that. I've never actually taken anyone on a date before. I mean, you have taken me, and you seem very good at planning dates. So I need your help.” Lux said.

  “Alright, come here Lux, you are going to end up manic.” Vezaias pulled him to sit next to him. He put his arms around Lux to calm him. “You are doing fine. The date will go well and I will help you. Just steady your breathing okay?” Vezaias talking to him soothingly. Lux did as instructed and listened to Vezaias's date suggestions. After settling on something more traditional, Vezaias made sure to make some arrangements and then hold Lux in his arms until he was able to calm down.