Chapter Text
“Why is Aunt Hyacinth going to throw her flowers, mummy? Why would anyone throw flowers? They’re so pretty!”
Penelope smiles at her six year old daughter. “Don’t worry, Aggie. Somebody catches the flowers so they still stay pretty. And do you want to know something cool about the person who catches them?”
“Yeah!”
“Some people say that the person who catches the bouquet at a wedding will be the next person to get married,” she tells Agatha with a grin.
“Really?” Agatha gasps, eyes shining with the kind of pure excitement that only a child can have. “Can I catch the boo-key?”
“Bouqet,” Penelope corrects with a gentle smile. “And yeah, anyone can catch the it, darling.”
“And if I catch it, I’m going to get married next?”
“Absolutely not!” Colin exclaims immediately, horror filling his eyes. “You aren’t getting married anytime soon, young lady.”
“Why not, daddy?” Aggie questions with a little pout that she knows Colin would usually melt at.
“Because you’re my little girl, and you have to stay my little girl for at least another fifty years.”
“No way! I’m already a big girl!” The redhead huffs indignantly. “Right, mummy? I’m a big girl, so If I want to get married, then I’m going to get married!”
Penelope holds back a laugh at her daughter’s bold spirit, it’s one of her favourite things about Aggie, she truly hopes that she never loses it. Still, she has no choice but to apologetically explain, “well, you might be a little young to actually get married right now, baby. But if you catch the bouquet, you might meet the person you’re going to marry. Aunt Hyacinth caught the bouquet at mine and daddy’s wedding, and that was where she met your uncle Gareth.”
“Pen, don’t encourage this,” Colin hisses, though not with any true anger. “She can’t be meeting any boys, not at this age.”
“Oh come on, Col,” Penelope giggles. “What’s so wrong with her meeting someone at this age? Neither of us were much older than Agatha when we met.”
“Well, yeah, but I was an idiot back then,” Colin tells her far too seriously, considering the conversation they’re actually having. “All boys are idiots when they’re kids. Some even longer, and I don’t want any of them coming near my little angel.”
Penelope briefly considers pointing out to Colin that their daughter has, in fact, been near plenty of boys at schools, but in the end she holds back. Agatha tugs on her dress and looks at her with those beautiful, curious little eyes that Colin and Penelope both insist she’s inherited from the other. “Mummy?”
“Yeah, baby?”
“Did you always want to marry daddy?”
From the corner of her eye, she sees Colin smirk proudly, and it causes Penelope to form a smirk of her own, though for a completely different reason. “Actually, Ags, before I wanted to marry daddy I wanted to marry someone else.”
Colin’s face falls, slightly confused with a hint of fear, and Penelope feels guilty for a millisecond before Aggie asks, “really? Who did you want to marry?”
She smiles, this should calm Colin right down. “Prince Eric from The Little Mermaid. When I was little I was convinced I would marry him.”
Penelope almost laughs as relief covers Colin’s face and then immediately gets replaced with sheer indignation. “What?! Prince Eric?! Why did you want to marry him?”
“I don’t know, he was handsome, he wanted to travel the world, he had a dog and he liked red heads,” Penelope laughs as her husband scowls. “At the time it felt like we were meant to be.”
“Meant to be,” Colin scoffs. “I fit like three out of four of those criteria.”
“Hm, it’s almost like I have a type,” Penelope jokes. “And I feel the need to point out that you’re getting jealous of a fictional cartoon character right now.”
“I’m not jealous! I just don’t think your precious Prince Eric is all that, that’s all.”
She lets out a small laugh. “What do you think, Aggie? Do you like Prince Eric?”
“I love Prince Eric!” The six year old squeals. Colin scowls. “But you can’t marry him, mummy, no one can marry Prince Eric other than Ariel!”
“Oh yeah, good point, Ags,” Penelope smiles. “It’s a good thing I met your daddy. As soon as I met him, I knew I wanted to marry him.”
In an instant, Colin’s prideful smirk reappears, “now that’s what I like to hear.”
Penelope rolls her eyes playfully before turning her attention back to her daughter. “If you caught the bouquet, who would you want to marry, Aggie?”
“Hmmmm,” Agatha hums, making her cute little thinking face, the one where her whole face scrunches up with concentration. “Oh, I know! I could marry Nick!”
“Nick? Who the fu-” Colin begins, cutting himself off with a cough as Penelope elbows him. “Uh, I mean- who is Nick, darling? A boy from school?”
Agatha giggles, “no, daddy! Nick is the fox from Zootropolis!”
The speed at which relief floods Colin’s face is almost comical. “Oh right, of course,” and then something else passes across his expression and he tugs on her elbow as Agatha gets pulled to the dance floor by her cousins. “She can’t watch that film anymore.”
Her jaw drops. “Colin, you can’t be serious.”
“It’s a bad influence, Pen! It’s making our daughter want to marry a thief!”
“I mean, before Prince Eric I also really wanted to marry Aladdin, I can see why Aggie would see the appeal in an animated thief.”
Colin merely gapes at her. “Aladdin too? Bloody hell, how many Disney princes do I have to compete with here?”
Penelope grins and presses a soft, but brief, kiss to his lips. “Come on, let’s just enjoy your sister’s wedding.”
“That’s not an answer!”
She practically cackles, heading to the dance floor to join her daughter and everyone else. She delights in Colin’s indignant expression, though it soon gives way as she pulls him over to dance with them. He starts spinning Agatha around, and she can’t stop giggling. It’s a sight Penelope can’t help but marvel at a little bit. If anyone had told her ten years ago that one day she would end up being Colin Bridgerton’s wife and that they’d have the most adorable little girl in the whole, she would have wanted to believe it more than anything, but definitely would have wanted to. And now, here they are. Penelope’s pretty sure she’s never been happier.
“Okay, everybody! Get ready! The bride’s going to get ready to throw the bouquet!”
People filter on and off of the dancefloor at an almost impressive speed. Agatha looks at her with hopeful eyes. “Can I mummy? Daddy?”
She can see the urge to say no in Colin’s eyes, so she speaks before he gets the chance, “of course you can, baby. Just be careful, it’s a big crowd. Daddy and I will stand at the side if you get overwhelmed, okay?”
“Okay!” She says cheerily before weaving her way into the crowd. Penelope and Colin exchange a fond glance, Agatha moves with so much purpose at such a young age, Penelope truly hopes that she gets to keep that quality forever because it’s such an important one to have, it’s one that Penelope still feels like she’s learning to have some days, and here her daughter is, strong and self-possessed and only six years old. Her pride in Agatha is overflowing.
Hyacinth turns away from everyone, raising the bouquet over her head before laughing and lowering it. She turns to the crowd and gives them a wink that’s just so Hyacinth it makes Penelope grin. The bride turns yet again and this time wastes no time in throwing the bouquet for the guests. Penelope watches it briefly soar through the air…
… And directly into Agatha’s hands.
Penelope grins as her daughter squeals with the purest delight, she looks at her and Colin and rushes her, an extra bounce to her step. Her eyes are sparkling as she thrusts the flowers forward. “Mummy! Daddy! Look! I got it!”
“Well done, Aggie!” Penelope cheers, learning down to give Agatha a hug.
“This is so cool!” The six year old exclaims. “Isn’t it cool, daddy?”
“Yeah, daddy, isn’t it cool?” Pen fixes a pointed stare on her husband.
“It’s… it’s so cool, Ags!” Colin says and Penelope has to hold back a laugh at the slight strain behind it.
“I’m gonna go show Penny!” Agatha declares before running off to show Penelope’s namesake and her favourite cousin.
Colin looks at Pen. “She got that from you, you know.”
Her jaw unhinges slightly. “Got what from me?”
“This whole catching the bouquet thing,” he explains, “she totally inherited that from you.”
“... Yeah, I don’t think that that’s how it works,” Penelope giggles. “Besides, Agatha’s current groom to be is an animated fox, so I don’t think you have to worry too much about paying for her wedding just yet.”
Penelope watches her husband resist for a second before he gives in to his own laughter and chuckles. “That’s true. But still, I don’t want her talking to boys for another fifty years.”
“Not sure how realistic that is, Col.”
“Fine, I’ll go down to twenty years, but that’s about as low as I can get.”
She bursts into laughter all over again, unable to keep the fondness out of her voice as she tells him, “God, you’re so ridiculous.”
“That may be true, but you still love me and my ridiculousness.”
He’s too cute sometimes, it’s honestly not fair. She presses a kiss to his cheek. “I do. Very, very much.”
And just like that, he softens, “I love you too, darling, with everything.”
That’s the end of it- or at least, that’s what she and Colin think. After the wedding, Agatha catching the bouquet isn’t really something that crosses their minds much- it’s not as if it has a reason to.
But then a week later Agatha comes from school, and suddenly there’s a reason.
She bursts through the door with a grin, Penelope not too far behind. “Daddy!”
“Hi angel!” Colin greets her, voice alight with joy, as she practically jumps into his arms. “How was school?”
“Good! I made a new best friend!”
“Oh, did you now?” Colin asks and Penelope truly can’t wait for him to hear the story.
“Yeah! His name is Edward and he’s really nice!”
Colin’s scowl is immediate. “You made friends with a boy?”
“Not friend, daddy, best friend!” She emphasises. “I was on the monkey bars and I got knocked off by this football-”
“You got knocked off the monkey bars? Are you okay?” he asks with concern, looking her over for bruises.
“Daddy- daddy I’m fine! I’m not finished with my story!” Agatha insists, squirming out of his grip.
“Sorry, sorry, what happened next?”
“Edward came over to say sorry because he kicked the football and he looked really scared, so I laughed to show him that I was okay, and then I decided that we should be best friends!”
Penelope looks at the concealed horror in her husband’s eyes and she knows exactly what he's thinking.
This story sounds pretty familiar.
“That’s- that’s awesome, Aggie,” Colin says faintly. “I’m glad you have a new friend.”
“Me too! He’s a really cool friend! Can we have a playdate?”
Colin pales at the mention of the word date, so Penelope steps in with barely concealed amusement. “I’m sure we can find a time for Edward to come over and play.”
“Yay!”
Penelope smiles. “Okay, darling, do you want crafts or reading?”
“Reading, please!”
God, she really does feel like she’s given birth to a mini me sometimes. “Alright, go and pick a book and I’ll come join you in a few minutes.”
Agatha nods and runs off, and Penelope turns to a still pale Colin. “You know I saw Edward at pick up today.”
Colin’s grimace remains set on his face. “You did?”
“Yup, and I saw the way he looked at her,” she grins. “I think someone has a little crush on our daughter.”
His jaw drops. “No.”
“Yes,” Penelope nods, giggling.
“I know that history can repeat itself, but that’s…”
“Completely uncanny?” She finishes for her husband as he nods, still slackjawed. “I know, I love it.”
“You love it?” Colin asks, almost indignantly. “She’s far too young!”
“Love, she’s six, it’s not like she’s getting married tomorrow, and it’s not like we know she’ll definitely get married to Edward,” Pen points out and then, unable to stop herself from teasing, she adds, “although she did catch the bouquet last week…”
Colin groans. “Don’t remind me.”
“Would now be a good time to tell you that I caught the bouquet at a wedding right before I met you?”
Once again, his jaw becomes unhinged. “You’re kidding.”
“I’m really not,” Penelope beams, delighting in his reaction. “You know how I told you I went to a wedding and caught the bouquet before I met you? Well that was actually two days before I met you. I caught the bouquet and then two days later I knocked you off of your bike. At the time I thought it was fate.”
Colin simply blinks at her. “Oh my god. I mean- that’s really sweet, but Aggie can’t be meant for anyone! She’s too young!”
“Darling, she’s six, I was eight when we met.”
“That’s a two year difference, Pen! Two whole years!”
Penelope shakes her head, a mixture of fondness and slight exasperation swirling around inside of her. “Oh, relax, Colin. Even if Agatha and Edward are at the beginning of some great love story, you’ve got to remember, Agatha’s your daughter. It’ll be at least ten years before she realises her feelings aren’t platonic, and then God knows how long it’ll take her to act on it.”
“Penelope!”
Later that night, Agatha sits at table whilst eating dinner and excitedly says, “maybe the flowers want me to marry Edward!”
Penelope laughs. Colin nearly has a heart attack. Agatha grins, having no idea of the internal agony she’s causing her dad. It’s a moment that couldn’t be more perfect, and Penelope thanks her lucky stars that this is the life she gets to live.
And to think, it all started with some flowers.