Chapter Text
As she waited for the results of her latest experiment to finish compiling, Jemma pulled out a binder emblazoned with the words May and Coulson Wedding. This binder was quite a bit thinner than the others that Jemma kept shelved alphabetically on a bookshelf in the flat she shared with Fitz. But the thinness of the binder wasn’t an indication of the effort they had put into planning the wedding.
FitzSimmons Wedding Planning always went the extra mile for their clients.
“Simmons?” Jemma looked up to see Fitz staring at her through a pair of enormous goggles. “Are you almost finished? We have to meet with those new clients tonight.”
She glanced at the screen in front of her at the data streaming across the screen. “Almost. If you’re done, you can go ahead and I’ll meet you there.”
Jemma flipped through a few of the tabs while waiting for Fitz to answer. A beach wedding was actually much more complex than she’d anticipated, but she thought she had everything in order.
“No, that’s okay. I can wait.”
He wandered back over to his side of the lab and she smiled and shook her head. Fitz was just so funny sometimes. They still had time to finish at the lab and get over to the office before --
Oh. Dinner. She’d almost forgotten.
“I can order something to be delivered before our meeting. Or if you want to wait we can get Thai on the way back home.”
“Thai, I think.”
She riffled through her bag and pulled out a granola bar that she tossed gently to him.
He missed and it dropped to the floor. “You’re the best, Jemma. Thank you.”
That should keep him from getting too grumpy during their meeting. This couple was planning their second wedding and she honestly wasn’t sure what to expect. It might be really quick, or it could be a very long night. There never was any telling with some of these brides. Luckily Fitz seemed to handle them pretty well.
She turned the last page of the binder and nodded to herself. “I think everything is in order with the May-Coulson wedding. I’ll email all the details to May in the morning.”
“Ah, I think he’s the one you should email. She didn’t seem too interested in the specifics.”
Jemma bit her lip, thinking. “You’re probably right. I’ll send it to both of them then.”
Three long beeps sounded and Jemma looked at her screen, studying the results.
“Is the analysis finally done?”
“Yes…”
“And?”
Jemma smiled. “And I think this is exactly what I need to write the next chapter of my dissertation.”
“Perfect.” He tugged off his goggles. “Now let’s get to that meeting. I’m starving and the faster we get through it the faster we can get dinner.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you Mr. Hunter and Ms. Morse.” Jemma extended her hand to the couple who had just entered the office. “We’re so very pleased you selected FitzSimmons Wedding Planning for your special day.”
“This is Simmons,” Fitz said, gesturing to her. “And I’m Fitz.”
“Cute,” Mr. Hunter said. “But you can just call me Hunter, and my lovely bride-to-be is Bobbi.”
Years of experience had taught Jemma which couples were likely to make it and which would fall apart -- some even before actually saying their vows. Which was why they always required a deposit up front. But looking at these two...well, there must be some interesting story as to why this was their second wedding.
“Oh, ok. Sure.” Jemma pulled out a notebook and turned to a blank page. “We have a few questions before we get started on the details.”
“When would you like to have your happy day? And what is your vision for your wedding?”
Her pen hovered over the page while Fitz went on to ask the questions. Their partnership was seamless. Effortless really. And their clients seemed to appreciate a demonstration of that at their first meeting. Some of it may be staged for their clients’ benefit, but that really was how they worked best.
“Before she can change her mind, and something simple...but classy?” The man, Hunter, had answered, and Jemma jotted down his response while Fitz turned to Bobbi.
“Simple, but classy sounds right to me. Our first wedding was a rush -- one of those drive-thru chapels.”
“We were foolish back then. Or I was at least. Not sure Bob has ever been foolish in her life,” Hunter added.
“We’d like to have our friends and family there this time, get some nice pictures, share the day with everyone. But nothing too extravagant.”
“Got it,” Jemma said. “Now just so we’re on the same page, are you renewing your vows or is this a second ceremony?”
“No, we’re divorced. Proving I was foolish at least once.”
“Notice she didn’t say if her mistake was divorcing me, or if it was getting married in the first place.”
Bobbi didn’t seem ruffled at all by his words, and it seemed to be a sort of joke between them, so Jemma laughed politely and Fitz followed her lead. All of the couples they worked with were special in their own way, but Jemma found herself most intrigued by the ones whose relationships had survived through the ups and downs of life. Couples like Bobbi and Hunter. Just from looking at them she could see they were in love, but somehow they’d been married, divorced, and then found their way back to each other.
A half hour later they’d gone through all of their first meeting information and had even started the wedding binder with ideas for colors and flowers. Bobbi was surprisingly decisive with her answers. Jemma really liked her.
“I think we have enough to get started,” Jemma said, snapping her notebook closed. “I’ll send you some potential themes and aesthetics in the next few days.”
Fitz and Hunter had gotten distracted several minutes prior and seemed to be discussing football.
“I’m so sorry about that,” Jemma said, pointing towards Fitz. “It’s not very professional, but I’m afraid the only thing that will stop him is dinner.”
But Bobbi just laughed. “I remember that phase. How long have you been together?’
“Together? Fitz and I?” It wasn’t like she hadn’t been asked the question before. Everyone always assumed they were a couple. Now, though, it was starting to feel a little different. It was most likely the upcoming end of their dissertations and therefore grad school. This business they’d built for themselves to pay for the expense of first their master’s and now their doctoral programs would no longer be necessary. “We aren’t a couple.”
“Oh, no?” Bobbi didn’t seem convinced, which gave Jemma a weird, fluttery feeling in her stomach. “I just thought FitzSimmons.”
“That’s just what everyone calls us. We’re both finishing our doctorates and we’ve been sharing a lab since undergrad. We work really well together.”
Bobbi looked skeptical, but didn’t say another word, instead turning to Hunter as he approached.
“We should get out of here, Bob. We still have time to meet Mack at the bar and catch the game. It’s American football, but at least I can make fun of Mack for his terrible taste in sports.”
“And we can get dinner,” Jemma said to Fitz with a smile.
“Sounds good, Simmons.”
“Congratulations again,” Fitz said as they walked Hunter and Bobbi to the door. “We’ll be in touch in a few days.”
“Good night,” Jemma called. “It was lovely to meet you.”
Packing her notebook and the new binder into her bag, Jemma locked the door behind them and they walked to pick up their food. It was only a few blocks between their office, the restaurant, and their flat. The perfect triangulation.
“They were a really interesting couple.”
“If by interesting you mean he follows a crap football team, then yes. Very interesting.”
“Oh, Fitz.”
“What?”
“I just meant it’s really romantic that they weren’t ready to be together when they were younger and now they found their way back to each other and want to get married again.”
“When did you get to be such a romantic, Simmons?” Somehow when he said it, it sounded a little like an insult, though she was certain he didn’t mean it that way. “I’m supposed to be the romantic one, remember?”
“Right.” She was the one who excelled at preparation and he was the one who put the clients at ease and always managed to come up with that one special touch that made the wedding unique. That’s why they were the perfect team. “Do you want to start working on the binder tonight?”
“We’ve been working all day. Can’t we just get our food and watch a movie?”
They had been working all day. Between teaching and their own research, they’d been at the university since 8 in the morning, and now it was nearly 12 hours later without any real break. The thought of just relaxing without having to worry about anything else was very tempting.
“Alright. I guess we’ve earned it. Tomorrow is a light teaching day for me anyway, so I should have time to get started.”
“That’s why I love you, Jemma. Always so reasonable.”
She wasn’t sure why, but she stayed warm the rest of the walk home even though the air was a bit chilly.