Turn to the light & bloom.

It had been a long time since Emma could get her mind off Juniper. An embarrassingly long time, really. Before the dancing and kissing at Frankie and August's wedding. Before the almost-kiss at Jade and Rodrigo's wedding. Hell, even before she bought flowers for herself after the disastrous date auction. Juni had been a person Emma easily imagined herself with almost since they were introduced. They were kind, caring, beautiful, and a good mom to top it all off. Now, Emma just hoped she didn't fuck this date up.

Seeing Emma's smile and hearing her sweet voice made Juniper warm inside. And the kiss to their cheek made the butterflies in their stomach became even more restless with excitement rather than nervousness. "You're welcome!" they said, a bright smile stretched across their own lips. "Oh, yes! The Lyft driver knows that your place is the first stop, so I can wait here to make sure they don't leave with our dinner." Juni giggled a little at that and assured, "We'll be right here when you're all done."

"Those are great reasons for it, and I bet it's nice to even look through the options even if you're not necessarily buying something. Like you can know that there are affordable styles out there!" It was a pleasant surprise to have one of their friends offer to keep an eye on Nova so that they could dance with Emma. A bit deeper pink tint colored their cheeks as they held Emma's hand and joined them at the dance space. Juni's head bobbed from side to side, along with the sway of her hips to the beat of the music. Smiling, blue eyes fixed on brown as they replied, "I'm glad too. I've really liked talking with you but seeing you is better." They bit their bottom lip a little after that admission and then, taking a nervous beat, asked, "I was actually waiting to see you again to ask if you'd like to go out with me sometime?"

Oh that should be really fun! Do you have any particular places in mind that you want to visit? That's very true, and fortunately with things being amicable between us, they know that I'm willing to help if anything's needed. I really hope he will! Nova too even though I know she won't remember very much if any of it. But the commercials for it always look so fun. I will most definitely take a lot of pictures! And then when we get back, it'll be time for back-to-school shopping for Atlas.

“I couldn’t tell you if I remember that album. I’m sure if I heard some of it, I’d recognize it. I may have been married to a man before, but I wasn’t one of those queer guys who cared about the Christina versus Britney beef,” Thomas laughed.

"Oh I bet that you've heard a couple of the singles from the album. "Candyman" and "Ain't No Other Man" were really popular songs when the album came out so I imagine you might have heard it in the grocery store or on the radio or something like that." They chuckled a bit with Thomas, replying, "No, I didn't assume that at all. I didn't really pick a side between them because I've liked dancing around to both of their songs."

Emma wasn’t necessarily looking for Juni while on board the boat at Frankie and August’s wedding, but any time she spotted them, they caught her attention. It was hard not to in the gorgeous pink dress. Emma also hadn’t forgotten about the last wedding they attended and the almost-kiss that Nova interrupted. And even though Emma had talked to Juni since then, the almost-kiss was never brought up. She wondered if that was because Juni decided it was for the best and that kissing was a bad idea. All Emma knew was that if she was given another chance to kiss Juni, she’d take it.

Juniper continued smiling and felt a little bit self-conscious for a moment, hoping that they looked okay. Hearing Emma's response about her dress made them grin, "I've heard of that site before. It's a really great idea!" The returned compliment made their grin turn a bit bashful. "Thank you so much. I'd love to dance with you," Juni said and then glanced down at a slumbering Nova. Wisps of her auburn hair blew from the breeze but she remained unfazed by the celebration happening around her. "She might end up asleep for the night, but-"

Emma thanked Juni for putting the props back on the table for them. "Oh! Let me ask if they can print us out another copy. Then you can stick it on your fridge when you get home," she grinned. As much as Emma wanted another excuse to see Juniper, she also wanted them to have something right away to remember their fun photo shoot. The man in charge of the booth did print out another copy. "One for you and one for me. Should we put these on the table before we hit the dance floor?"

Considering the way that era was, socially, this is probably as close as anyone wanted to be. "I'm glad music and the aesthetic from that era survived," Thomas smiled. He was grateful Juni took some pictures of the kids all together. His camera roll was full with pictures of the girls. He liked to scroll back to remember how small they were. "I love it, too. Pictures are one of my favourite ways to make memories." Thomas made his way to the photo booth with Juni and nodded at the suggestion of silly pictures. "Absolutely! I'll pick a few props." He picked up a paper pair of red lips and laughed. "Oh, this one is perfect for me, I think."

"Yes, it really makes for this wedding theme being so fun!" Juniper agreed. "I think that's a big reason why Christina Aguilera's Back to Basics album is one of my favorites, as well as the music videos she made from that album." Nodding she said, "Mine too! I need to update a few of my scrapbooks with some new pages from the past handful of months of events." And when Thomas picked up the lips prop, Juniper laughed, "That's a great one. Let's see..." They looked over the remaining options and then picked up one of a black fedora, and a second one of a conversation bubble that said, 'A roaring good time'. "Okay, let's do this! We can stand back-to-back?" They suggested, holding the hat over their forehead and the conversation bubble between them and Thomas.

Thank you! I want a mix. I'm taking it day-by-day for now, but then I'll get right into planning a little vacation. Maybe a day trip somewhere. Or a few-day trip. Do you have any big summer plans?

Ooo that sounds like fun! Whether you do an overnight getaway or do something a little bit longer, I bet you'll have a really good time! I'm mostly working but I did set aside some time for a little trip. Atlas and Nova's birthdays are a little more than a month apart, and their dad and I agreed to do 1 party in the summer for both of their birthdays while they're still young. We're alternating each year on who throws the party and this year, his family is throwing it. But since this year is a milestone birthday for Atlas, I thought it would be fun take a little trip as his present! So I'm planning to take the kids to Great Wolf Lodge in Manteca!

"I am the one who insisted on the... sick bags. I'm just really glad this pile appears to be undisturbed. I wouldn't want anyone feeling ill because of our wedding, especially with all the amazing food. I'm still in awe at everything. I admittedly only gave real input about the food," August laughed. "What's been your favorite thing so far? It doesn't have to be the food, by the way."