Stefan wakes up the next morning and feels a warm body next tohim. He
rolls over and props himself up on his elbow and watches Arielpeacefully
sleeping. He recalls what transpired the night before and smiles.Ariel
had told him she had always loved him. He wasn't going to take anychances.
When Ariel said she loved him and wanted to spend the rest of herlife
with him, he proposed marriage. The emerald and diamond ring on herfinger
showed that she had agreed. He reaches over and brushes a lock ofhair
away from her forehead then gentle kissed the spot where the hair hadbeen.
He continues to plant gentle kisses on her eyes, checks, nose, chinand
finally her lips. Even though Ariel had not opened her eyes, Stefanfeels
her hand reaching for him and her lips responding to his kiss. Hestopped
and looked at her again.
Ariel opened her eyes and smiles saying, "Why did you stop? It wasa
lovely way to wake up," rolling into Stefan's arm and giving him afull
body hug.
"I will enjoy waking you up this way every morning." Stefan repliesas he
draws her closer to him and their lips meet in a long good morningkiss
that starts their passion for each other to rise again.
Across town in the kitchen of the Scorpio home a rumpled Robert istrying
to find coffee filters. He is looking in every cupboard and drawertrying
to find them. He starts to mutter to himself, "Okay, Mac, where didyou
put the damn filters." He continues to look and doesn't hear Mac comeinto
the kitchen.
"What are you looking for?" Mac asks.
"The damn coffee filters."
Mac walks over to the cupboard above where the coffee maker issitting on
the counter, opens it and pulls out a container with coffee filtersinside.
He pulls one out and hands it to Robert saying, "Right here."
Robert grunts, "Thanks."
"I see you are still as unbearable before your first cup of coffee asyou
were before."
Robert shoots Mac a look and continues with making the coffee. Macgets
eggs and bacon out of the refrigerator and starts to makebreakfast.
Brenda's eyes flutters open. She snuggles closer to a sleeping Sonnyand
listens to his heartbeat as her head lies on his chest. She smiles asshe
thinks about what had happened last night. . .
After Ariel's talk with her she realized that she would do anythingto have
Sonny in her life. It seemed that Sonny had the same idea. Arielwas
correct; Sonny had forgive her for her mistakes and wanted to startover.
Sonny and she left Robert's party around 11:30. They started to walkand
talk and found themselves at Stone's bridge. When they realize wherethey
were they started to laugh. It was as if Stone had guided themthere.
When their laughter died down, they stood in each others arm's gazinginto
the other's eyes. They both knew this time it was forever. Theyreturned
to Sonny's penthouse around 2:00 and Sonny carried Brenda to his bed.He
gently laid her down and then they started exploring each other. Theyhad
plenty of time. . . the rest of their lives.
Brenda continues to smile and think about waking Sonny to show himhow much
she loved him, but decided against it since they had only fallenasleep a
couple of hours ago. She did not want Sonny to be completelyexhausted,
she would let him sleep. . . for now. As she listened to hisbreathing and
heartbeat, it lulled her to sleep.
Ariel lies in Stefan's arms after they had made love again. He iskissing
the top of her head as she runs her fingers over his chest."Mmmmmm,"
Ariel sighs as she looks up into Stefan's eyes. He takes her chin inhis
hand and raises her lips to his. As their kiss breaks, she snugglesinto
his arms as they wrap around her tightly. They lie there holdingeach
other in silence enjoying the togetherness. Soon Ariel turns her faceup
to Stefan and says as she pulls away from him, "I need to go andcheck on
Victoria."
"I'll only let you go, if you promise to hurry back," Stefan purrs.Ariel
kisses him once more before she gets out of bed and puts the robe onthat
he had worn earlier. "Maybe I shouldn't have your things sent overfrom
the hotel. You look good in my clothes," Stefan teases.
"I'm sure your business associates would love to see me wearingyour
clothes," Ariel says lightheartedly as she bends over the bed andkisses
Stefan again before she leaves. Stefan looks lovingly after her asshe
leaves the room.
Ariel goes into Victoria's room and finds Victoria awake and out ofbed.
"Good morning, sweetheart," Ariel says approaching her.
"Mommy!!!," Victoria runs over to Ariel and Ariel bends down andkisses and
hugs her daughter.
Ariel release her and stand up saying, "Let's find you some clothesto
wear." Ariel goes over to the dresser and opens a couple of drawersbefore
she finds some play clothes. As she is looking through some pants,Mrs.
Landsbury opens the door to Victoria's room and comes in.
Seeing Ariel she says, "I can get Miss Victoria dress if you prefer,Ms.
Wiseman."
Turning to Mrs. Landsbury, Ariel says, "No, thank you, I will helpher get
dressed."
"Very good. I will have breakfast ready whenever you and Mr.Cassadine are
ready. Master Nikolas has already had his breakfast."
Smiling, "Thank you, Mrs. Landsbury. When Victoria gets finisheddressing,
I'll have her go to the kitchen. Will you please feed her herbreakfast.
Mr. Cassadine and I will be awhile before we are ready to comedown."
"Very well, Ms Wiseman," Mrs. Landsbury says as she leave theroom.
Ariel turns to Victoria and asks, "Do you want to wear your black,navy or
pink pants today?"
"PINK!! PINK!!" Victoria says excitedly.
Ariel removes the only pair that is not of a dark color and saysto
herself, "Stefan, whoever taught you what little girls wear?" Turningto
Victoria, "Now we need to find a blouse for you. And some socks."
"I want my pink socks! I want my pink socks."
Ariel bend over and kisses Victoria on her head, "Okay sweetheart,pink
socks it will be. Now for a blouse." She goes to the closet and opensit.
She sees a few dresses and blouses, but they are all dark colors -black,
navy, gray. Shaking her head, Ariel says to Victoria, "I think weneed to
go shopping and get you some new clothes. Something alittle morecolorful
than what your papa picked out."
"Can I have something purple?" Victoria asks.
Ariel goes back to the dresser and starts looking in drawers again."Okay,
I think purple would be a good color along with some red, yellow andmaybe
some light blue and green."
"More pink?"
"Of course, more pink." Ariel finds the drawer with panties and socksand
takes out a pair of panties and the pink socks. She then finds adrawer of
shirts and the white and pink striped knit shirt that goes with thepink
pants. She takes the clothes over to the bed and starts to helpVictoria
take off her nightgown.
"No, Mommy, I can do it myself," Victoria tells Ariel.
Ariel stops helping, smiles at her daughter and says, "Yes, you cando it
by yourself. You are a big girl." Soon Victoria is dressed andAriel
helps with tying her shoes. "Now you go down to the kitchen and getyour
breakfast from Mrs. Landsbury and Papa and Mommy will be downlater."
"Okay, Mommy," Victoria says as she goes to hug Ariel. Ariel hugsher
daughter and holds her for a moment, then gives her a kiss on theforehead
and sends her down to get her breakfast.
Ariel return's to Stefan's bedroom and sees that he is no longer inbed.
Then she hears the shower running. She unties the robe and lets itdrop to
the floor as she goes to join Stefan in the shower.
Robert and Mac are sitting down to their breakfasts at the kitchentable
and discussing the events of the last few days.
"You are telling me, the bomb scare was a ruse to distract the PCPDfrom
your operation at the docks. Why didn't someone just call me, informme of
what was going down and ask me to keep the PCPD away from thearea?"
"One of my best agents advised me against it. She had somereservation
about you. You see, we didn't know who the inside person was and sheknew
of your dealings in running arms for terrorist in the past. I knewwe
could trust you, but I also knew if I had an agent looking overher
shoulder because you were in on the case; I might have a dead agentbecause
her attention wouldn't be completely focused on what she needed todo.
Besides, didn't you like the pink and green smoke?" Robert asks.
"NO!! I had to spend an hour with the mayor yesterday explaining whyI had
men searching for smoke bombs, while there was a major bust goingdown on
the docks by the WSB."
"Lighten up, Mac. Next time I promise I'll let you know."
Just as they were finishing their breakfasts, Robin comes into thekitchen
in her robe. Yawning, "Good morning, Uncle Mac. Good morning,Daddy."
She gives her father a kiss.
"What is this? Your father comes back and I no longer get a goodmorning kiss."
"Uncle Mac!" Robin goes over and hugs and kisses Mac.
"What can I get you for breakfast?" Mac asks her.
"I can get my own." She goes to the refrigerator, gets out an orangeand
the carton of milk and pours herself a glass. She also gets a bageloff
the counter. She brings her breakfast to the table and starts to peelher
orange.
"Is that all you are going to have for breakfast?" Robert asks. "Ithought
it was important for you to eat with the medication you are on."
"I am eating. Milk for calcium, an orange for vitamin C and fiber, abagel
for the carbohydrates and I'll have a banana later forpotassium."
"But is that enough?"
Robin looks at her father exasperated. She loved the fact that herfather
was with her, but now she has to educate him about HIV and how shewas
being treated. "Yes, it is plenty. Maybe you and Dr. Quartermaineshould
get together and he can tell you that I'm fine and doing what I needto."
"Maybe I should talk with Alan to make sure," Robert sayssolemnly.
"Alan has been really good about explaining things to me and howthis
treatment is working for Robin," Mac tell Robert. "It took me a longtime
to accept this and then even longer not to hover." Turning to Robin,"I'm
sure you got sick of me asking you if you were all right and doingwhat you
needed to do."
Robin smiles at Mac and takes her father's hand in hers. "I can'tmess up
too badly with Alan looking after me. . . And Mac and Sonny and Jasonand
Luke. . ."
"I get the message," Robert smiles at Robin. "But I'm still going totalk
to Alan to be sure myself. I just got you back, I'm not going to letyou
leave me for a long, long time." He reaches over and kisses Robin onthe
forehead.
"That's fine. I'll call Alan later and tell him it is okay for him totalk
to you. You can ask him anything you want. Alan know all about HIVand
me. I don't know what I would have done without him."
Sonny wakes up and feels Brenda head and hand on his chest. He smilesas
he remembers the night before. He had gotten his Brenda back and thistime
for good. They had talked for a long time last night. This timethere
would be no lies. If there was something that he felt he couldn'ttell
Brenda about because it might put her in danger, she promised tounderstand
as long as he didn't lie to her. A smile comes to Sonny's face whenhe
remembers where they ended up at. Stone had always said theybelonged
together. At the bridge last night they both felt Stone'spresence.
Brenda moves and this brings Sonny back from his memories. When hefocuses
on Brenda, she asks, "Where were you just now?"
Sonny kisses her lightly and answers, "I was just thinking of whatStone
would say to us this morning."
Brenda's smiles broadly, "He would probably say 'I told you so.' and'Why
did it take us so long?'"
"Yea, he probably would. You know he never would give up on us. Nomatter
what, he always kept telling me that we belonged together."
"Yea, that was Stone," Brenda says as she starts to kiss Sonny.Their
kisses soon turn into hot passionate lovemaking.
Ariel is standing infront of one of the few mirrors found atWyndemere
finishing her putting on her make up. Stefan comes up behind her andwatch
as she applies mascara.
Stefan addresses Ariel very seriously, "You said you would marry melast
night. Have you changed your mind?"
Ariel spins around to face him with a crushed look on her face, "Youdo not
want to get married now?"
With a voice filled with emotion Stefan answers, "I want to marry youmore
than ever. But I want you to be sure that is what you want, too."
Ariel breathes a sigh of relief as she approaches Stefan and wrapsher arms
around his waist. She looks deeply into his eyes and replies, "I toldyou
I wanted to marry you more than anything in this world last night.And if
anything I feel even more so this morning. I am not going to let yougo.
You and I are going to be together for the rest of our lives." To
punctuate this statement. She reaches up and kisses him tenderly onhis
lips at first and then more passionately.
Ariel and Stefan are having their breakfast in the dining room whenthey
hear the front door open and close.
"Nikolas?" Stefan says.
Nikolas comes into the dining room. He is dressed in his Tia Chiuniform.
When he sees Ariel with his uncle he is not surprised nor is hehappy.
"Good morning, Uncle." He looks distastefully at Ariel, "Goodmorning,
Ariel."
Ariel senses that Stefan is about to reprimand Nikolas for hisattitude
towards her and she wanted him to let it go. She reaches for Stefan'shand
and gets his attention and with her eyes tells him to let it be.
Stefan understands what Ariel is trying to tell him and although heis not
happy with Nikolas' attitude he doesn't say anything. "Ariel and Iwould
like to talk to you and Victoria when you have changed. Will youplease
come to study when you are finished changing?"
"Yes, Uncle," Nikolas says as he leaves the room to go andchange.
"Thank you, Stefan," Ariel says.
"I don't like his attitude towards you. He doesn't have the rightto
behavior like that."
"Stefan he is just concerned about you. That is all. He is tryingto
protect you and himself from getting hurt again. It is something heand I
will need to take care of and it will take time for him to trust thatI'm
not going to leave again."
"You are probably right. He has had his mother leave him so much, Idon't
think he trusts anyone any more, including me," Stefan saysquietly.
"He loves you and trust you. You have always been there for him. Heknows
that even though sometimes he doesn't act that way."
Stefan leans over and gives her a kiss. "You are so wise, Ms.Wisemen.
Should we go and find our daughter?" They get up from the table andgo to
find their daughter.
Nikolas finds Stefan, Ariel and Victoria in the study. Stefan isshowing
Victoria something on the computer. Ariel sees Nikolas come in,"Nikolas,
how was your workout this morning?"
"Fine."
"Nikky," Victoria squeals when she hears his voice.
Nikolas' face lights up when he sees Victoria. "Well, what are youworking
on there, Victoria?"
"Papa is showing me the whales on the computer."
Stefan watches Nikolas and again is disturbed by his attitudetowards
Ariel, but also wanting to comply with Ariel's wish to allow herand
Nikolas to work this out, he says, "Nikolas, I'm glad you are here.Ariel
and I want to talk to you and Victoria."
Stefan stands up with Victoria in his arms and carries her over tothe
sofa. Ariel sit down on the sofa and Stefan sits beside her. Arielsits
on the other side of Stefan, while Nikolas sits in one of thechairs.
Stefan takes Ariel's hand in his and looks at Nikolas and say, "Arielhas
agreed to become my wife."
Victoria tugs on Stefan sleeve and says, "What?" before Nikolas hashad
time to say anything.
Stefan turns to Victoria and says, "Papa and Mommy are going to getmarried
and we are all going to live here together as a family. You,Nikolas,
Mommy and me. Would you like that?"
Victoria squeals as she climbs into Stefan's lap. He and Ariel laughsas
Ariel says, "I think she likes the idea."
Nikolas gets up and leaves the room. Stefan doesn't seem to noticeright
away as he has his hands full with Victoria. Ariel gets up andfollow
Nikolas out of the room into the foyer where Nikolas is about toleave the
house.
"Nikolas." He stops when she says his name, but does not remove hishand
from the doorknob. Ariel comes up behind him and places her hand onhis
back and softly says, "Nikolas, I know you are not happy with this.But
you must know I love your uncle and I made a promise to him to bewith him
for the rest of our lives."
"You made that promise before and you left."
Ariel closes her eyes for a moment. "No, I never had made thatpromise to
your uncle before. I think we both thought it would be that way, butwe
had not made a promise to each other to be together for the rest ofour
lives." Ariel rubs Nikolas' back to clam him as she continues."Then
things happened that neither he nor I could control."
"You mean you got pregnant and left," Nikolas says impertinently.
"Yes, along with Helena coming to me and telling me if I didn't getout of
your uncle's life she would do something that would have separatedyou from
him. I couldn't let that happen."
"She couldn't do anything to take me away from Uncle. He is mylegal
guardian and head of the family until I'm 25."
"Yes, there was one thing she could do that would have taken him awayfrom
you." Ariel feels Nikolas tense up and starts to turn around.
He faces Ariel and demands, "What are you saying? Tell me?"
Stefan has been in the doorway listening to the conversationbetween
Nikolas and Ariel. When he hears Nikolas' demand to be told, hesays,
"Helena was going to kill me."
Both Nikolas and Ariel are startled by Stefan. Nikolas by hisdeclaration
and Ariel by his presence. "What are you saying Uncle? Helena wasgoing
to kill you if Ariel stayed with us? Why would she?"
"Nikolas, your grandmother didn't feel I was worthy for your uncleand to
help raise The Next Cassadine. She also knew I wasn't frighten by anyof
her threats towards me. The only thing that could make me leave wasif I
thought I was putting you or your uncle in danger. She came to me andtold
me if I didn't disappear she would have Stefan killed and raiseyou
herself." Ariel chokes back the tears as she continues, "I couldn'tlet
that happened to you or to Stefan and Helena would have carried outher
threat if I had stayed. I loved the two of you too much to letthat
happen."
Nikolas looks into Ariel's eyes and sees that she is not lying. Shetruly
believed that Helena would have killed his uncle. He needed to bealone to
figure out how he felt about these revelations. He turns away fromAriel
and his uncle and leaves the house.
Stefan walks over to Ariel and holds her in his arms. She says, "Iwish
there was a way so he wouldn't be hurt by what Helena has done."
"Nikolas will be fine. We will be here to help him."
A month after Robert's coming home party.
Alexis comes bustling though the study where Nikolas is speaking withMrs.
Landsbury. "Nikolas, have you seen Victoria? When I went to her roomto
make sure she is dressed for the wedding she wasn't there."
"I haven't seen her since she told me she was going to get dressed.Have
you checked Ariel's room?"
"Of course! She is probably with Ariel. I didn't check there."Nikolas
starts to laugh.
Exasperated Alexis says to Nikolas, "What is so funny?"
"You are. People would think that this is your wedding the way youare acting."
"I just want to make sure everything is going to be right for Stefanand
Ariel. Mrs. Landsbury is the ballroom ready?"
"Yes, Ms. Davis, the last of the flowers and candles were put inplace an
hour ago. Everything is ready."
"Good. Thank you, Mrs. Landsbury. Nikolas shouldn't you be helpingStefan?"
"Uncle is fine. He wanted a few minutes alone."
"I think you better go to him to make sure everything is right,"Alexis
tells Nikolas as she leaves the study.
Nikolas just laughs and shakes his head at Alexis' behavior. He turnsback
to Mrs. Landsbury, "Now where were we before 'the tornado' blewthrough
here?"
Mrs. Landsbury smiles at Nikolas and answers, "The rear of theballroom is
set up for dinner and the extra servers have been instructed. Afterthe
ceremony is finished champagne will be served. Dinner will be ready30
minutes after the champagne is served per Mr. Cassadine request."
"That will be fine, Mrs. Landsbury. Have the musician arrived?"
"Yes they are setting up in the ballroom and are tuning up."
"I think that covers everything. The guest should be arriving in anhour.
I better go check on Uncle and see if Alexis has found Victoria."
Upstairs Stefan is staring out the window of his bedroom. Histhoughts are
interrupted by a small knock on the door. He goes over and opens thedoor
and finds Victoria dressed in a bright teal color satin dress whichaccents
her eyes wearing the locket he had given her when he had just foundher.
Stefan teasingly says to Victoria, "Who is this beautiful creaturebefore
me?"
Victoria looks up at him and says, "It me, Papa!"
"And so it is. Come in here and show me your pretty dress Mommypicked out
for you." Victoria comes into the bedroom and twirls around so Stefancan
see her dress.
"See, Papa, it is the most beautiful dress in the world."
"Yes, it is, Precious," Stefan says as he comes over and gives hisdaughter
a big hug. Victoria wraps her arms around his neck and as hestraightens
up he lifts her up. He kisses her cheek. "I'm is so happy you aremy
daughter," Stefan tells her. "I'll love you, always."
"I love you, too, Papa," Victoria says as she gives Stefan a kiss onhis
cheek.
Stefan holds her tightly thinking about how the frightened abusedchild he
found a month ago is the bubbly happy child he is now holding. Heknows
that the love Ariel, Nikolas and he have given her has been only partof
the reason that Victoria is the way she is today. Gail Baldwin hadalso
played a big part in Victoria's vivantization. When he had returnedwith
Victoria he had taken her to Simone Hardy to be checked out. He hadseen
some of the abuse that Victoria had been subjected to himself. Simonehad
found evidence of physical abuse, but there was no evidence ofsexual
abuse. Stefan had thanked God for that. Simone had suggest thatVictoria
see Gail Baldwin to help her adjust to her new life and to help herdeal
with the past abuse. He had made the appointment with Gail and hadtaken
Victoria. When Ariel found out that he had taken Victoria to seeGail, she
had suggested that they all work with Gail to help everyone adjust tothe
events that had take place. He really didn't think that he needed totalk
to a psychiatrist, but agreed because Ariel had convinced him it wasthe
best thing to do to help Victoria. The therapy had not stayedcentered
around Victoria. It also got into some issues with Nikolas. Nikolashad
been carrying around quite a bit of anger towards the Spencers, Arielfor
leaving them and himself for all the secrets and for letting Lauraand
Ariel leave him. He had even ended up having a private session withGail
himself last week.
"Papa, are you okay?"
Stefan is jolted from his thoughts by Victoria. "I'm fine. I wasjust
thinking about our family. . . Nikolas, you, Mommy and me. And howhappy I
am to have all of you with me."
As Nikolas comes upstairs he finds Alexis frantically looking forVictoria.
"Nikolas, are you sure you haven't seen Victoria? I check with Arieland
she wasn't with her. She isn't in her room nor can I find heranywhere."
"Why don't you go and help Ariel and I'll look for Victoria and bringher
to Ariel's room."
Alexis goes to Ariel's room and Nikolas decides to check on Stefanbefore
going to hunt for Victoria. He knocks on Stefan's door and hearsStefan
tell him to come in. Nikolas comes in and sees Stefan holdingVictoria.
"So here is where you are, Victoria. Alexis has been looking foryou."
Stefan gives Victoria another kiss on the forehead this time and putsher
down, "You better go to Alexis, now, if she is looking for you."
"Yes, Papa."
"Alexis is in Ariel's room now. I'll take you there," Nikolas saysto
Victoria. Looking up at Stefan he says, "I will be back in aminute."
"Nikolas, wait a minute." Stefan goes over to a small desk, opens adrawer
and takes out a jeweler's box, which he hands to Nikolas saying,"Please
give this to Ariel from me and ask her if she would please wear themfor
the wedding."
Nikolas knocks on Ariel's door and asks, "Is it okay if I comein?"
"Come in, Nikolas," Ariel calls.
Nikolas and Victoria enter Ariel's room and see that she is settingat the
make-up table dressed in a silk robe applying the last touches toher
make-up. Alexis comes out of the bathroom and sees Nikolas andVictoria.
She asks Nikolas, "Where did you find her?"
"She was with Uncle," Nikolas answers.
"I went and showed Papa my dress. He said I looked reallypretty,"
Victoria announces.
Ariel turns around and smiles at Victoria. "He is right, Precious.You
are very pretty, as always." Turning to Nikolas, "And you lookvery
handsome today, Nikolas."
Nikolas blushes, "Thanks. I better get back to Uncle." He heads forthe door.
"We will see you later downstairs," Alexis says.
Nikolas stops and turns around and walks over to Ariel. "I almostforgot.
Uncle asked me to give this to you," pulling the jeweler's box out ofhis
pocket.
Ariel opens the box and lets out a small gasp. "They are beautiful,"she
says as she removed a pair of black pearl cluster earrings. "They arelike
the necklace Stefan gave me a long time ago."
"He wants you to wear them for the wedding," Nikolas says.
"Tell him I love them and I will certainly wear them."
"I better be going," Nikolas says as he turns to leave the room.
"Nikolas," he stops and turns to Ariel. She gets up and goes over toa
chest of drawers and takes out a wrapped box and goes and hands itto
Nikolas. "Please give this to Stefan for me."
Nikolas takes the box. "Sure." He leaves the room.
"Well, Ariel what did you decide on for Stefan?"
"I had one of my designers in Rome make a gold medallion for him. Ithas
my portrait etched on one side and Nikolas and Victoria's portraitsetched
on the other side. I hope he likes it."
"I'm sure he will," Alexis says smiling. "Now you better get intoyour
dress or you will be late for your own wedding."
Downstairs guests are beginning to arrive at Wyndemere for thewedding.
Some of the early arriving guests include Robin, Jason and Robert,Sonny
and Brenda along with the Spencers. They are shown to the living roomwere
hors d'oeuvres and drinks are being served. "I can't believe youtalked me
in to coming here of all places," Luke says to Laura, Sonny andRobert.
Robert puts his hand on Luke's shoulder and says, "Remember this isfor Ariel."
"Yeah. I still can't understand why a beautiful, intelligent womanwould
want to spend the rest of her life with Stefan."
Shocked, Laura says, "You called him Stefan instead of Steffin."
"I must be getting soft in my old age."
They all laugh.
Nikolas returns to Stefan's room. Stefan is looking franticallyaround the
room for something. "What are you looking for, Uncle?"
"I can't find Ariel's wedding band. I thought I had put it in thedrawer
with the earrings, but it is not there."
"Calm down, Uncle. You gave me Ariel's ring earlier," Nikolas sayspulling
the ring out of his pocket to show Stefan. "See I have it righthere."
"I am calm, Nikolas!"
Returning the ring to his pocket, laughing, "Sure you are,Uncle."
"Are you making fun of me?"
"No, no, never, Uncle," Nikolas says still laughing.
Stefan smiles, "Well, maybe I am a little nervous, but if you tellanyone,
I'll deny it."
"Of course, you would." Nikolas remembers the box Ariel had given himand
that he had set on the table when he took Ariel's ring out of hispocket.
He picks it up again.
"What do you have there, Nikolas?"
"Ariel asked me to give this to you," Nikolas says handing the box toStefan.
"What is it?"
"I don't know. Open it."
Stefan opens the gift and takes the medallion out. He looks closelyat it
and a tear comes to his eye as he sees the portrait of Ariel. Heturns the
medallion over expecting an inscription on the other side, but smileswhen
he sees the portraits of Nikolas and Victoria.
"What is it, Uncle?" asks Nikolas.
"Come here and see."
Nikolas walks over to him and looks at the medallion Stefan holds inhis
hand and sees his portrait and Victoria's. "I wonder how she gotthis
done?"
"She owns a jewelry company. She probably just called one of herdesigners
to make it." He turns over the medallion and shows NikolasAriel's
portrait on the other side. He unbuttons his shirt about half waydown,
removes his Cassadine medallion, then slips his wedding medallionover his
head and it falls to a spot over his heart. He then rebuttons hisshirt.
Nikolas hands him his vest and puts that on and buttons it also.Stefan
looks around as if looking for something.
"What are you looking for now?" Nikolas asks.
"My cufflinks."
"Which ones do you want?"
"The black onyx and diamond ones."
Nikolas goes over to the dresser and opens a marble box that issetting
there. He removes the cufflinks that Stefan wanted. He then takesthem to
Stefan smiling, "They were right where you always keep them. You mustbe
nervous to not know where these were." Stefan takes the cufflinksjust as
they here a knock on the door. "I wonder who that is," Nikolas saysas he
walks over to answer the door.
Standing outside Stefan's bedroom door is Laura. When Nikolas opensthe
door she smiles and says, "You sure look handsome today, Nikolas. MayI
see Stefan for a few minutes, please?"
Nikolas turns to his uncle and Stefan shakes his head yes and Nikolasopens
the door wider to let Laura in. "I'll go and check on thingsdownstairs,"
Nikolas says as he leaves the room closing the door behind him.
"I wanted to tell you how happy I am for you. Ariel and I have gottento
know each other pretty well over these last few weeks and I reallylike
her. I have also seen you change over those same weeks. When I seeyou
with Ariel I see the Stefan I knew on the island. The one who offeredme
his friendship when I needed a friend so much."
"Laura, that is enough. I haven't changed. I just have Victoria andAriel
in my life and I need to take care of them now along with Nikolas,"Stefan
says as he tries to put in his cufflinks, but has difficulties.
"Here, let me help." Stefan gives Laura the cufflink and holds outhis
arm. Laura puts the cufflink in as she continues, "I won't argue withyou
today. I just came up here to wish you all the luck in the world andto
tell you that Luke came with me and the children."
Giving Laura the other cufflink and offering his other arm to her hesays
surprised, "Luke came to the wedding? Is he planning on sabotagingit?"
"No, he won't do anything to interrupt your wedding. He has grownquite
fond of Ariel. Sonny and Robert have convinced him that you makeAriel
happy and they need to support her. He is here because he isAriel's
friend and he won't do anything because he is Ariel's friend. Ithink
Ariel may be the catalyst to put an end to this feud."
"The end of the feud?"
Laura finishes with the cufflink and Stefan drops his arm down to hisside.
"Yes, an end to the Cassadine/Spencer feud. If you haven'tnoticed
Nikolas has come to dinner at my home several times this last month.I
won't say Luke and he are bosom buddies, but they are accepting eachother
and can even get through an entire evening being civil to eachother.
Nikolas and Lucky have taken LuLu and Victoria to the park severaltimes,
too. In fact, they have even double-dated last weekend."
"Nikolas and Lucky doubled-dated last weekend? He told me he wastaking
Gina out to dinner and then to a movie. He never said anythingabout
Lucky."
"Well, they went with Lucky and Emily. From what I could get out ofLucky
it went well and they are planning something for tomorrow night withthe
girls."
"Where have I been? I should have know about Nikolas."
Laughing Laura replies, "You have been on cloud nine with Arieland
Victoria. Don't worry. Nikolas is doing fine."
Laura gives Stefan a hug and a kiss on the cheek and turns to leave.As
she reaches the door she turns around and says, "Stefan, I am sohappy for
you. I can see in your eyes how happy you are. God has finallysmiled
down on you and gave you the love you always needed in Ariel."
Stefan smiles at Laura, "Thank you, Laura, for everything."
Laura smiles back at Stefan and says, "I'll see you downstairs."
Nikolas sees Laura leave and enters Stefan room. "Everything is readydown
stairs. Are you about ready?"
"Yes," Stefan says as he picks up his jacket from the bed. Nikolassteps
over to help Stefan put it on. Stefan adjusts the jacket and thenturns to
Nikolas and asks, "Are you sure that you have Ariel's ring?"
Nikolas smiles at Stefan and answers, "Yes, Uncle, I have the ringright
here." He pats the pocket of his jacket.
"Good, then I am ready." Nikolas and Stefan goes out of the room anddown
the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs they run into Sonny.
"Stefan, can I see you for a minute?" Sonny asks. "Privately."
"We can go into the study." As they turn to go Robert and Friscofollow them.
Inside the study Stefan turns and is faced by Robert, Frisco andSonny.
"We just wanted a word with you before the wedding," Robert starts."Ariel
has been a good friend to us and we will not see her hurt."
"If you are pulling any of your 'plans' on her and are planning touse her
and Victoria in some dark scheme, you better think twice and call offthis
wedding," Frisco states. "The last time she was devastated and theonly
thing that kept her going was work and us."
Stefan is in shock, "I AM NOT CALLING OFF THE WEDDING. I LOVE ARIEL.The
only plan I have for her is to love her and raise our daughter withher. I
didn't know about her being pregnant or what my mother did to her. Ihave
taken care of that. I give you my word, Ariel will not be harmed byanyone
-- in or out of the family or they will answer to me the same way mymother
answered to me."
"That is all we wanted to hear. But be forewarned, if you hurt her*you*
will be answering to us." Sonny motions to the three of them. "Wewill
not tolerate Ariel or Victoria being hurt or put in danger because ofyou."
"I give you my oath that Ariel and Victoria will be protected."
"With that, I have a bride to give away," Sonny says. Going overand
offering his hand to Stefan saying, "I am holding you to that."Stefan
accepts Sonny's hand and they shake. The other also exchangehandshakes
and the four of them leave the study.
"Alexis are you sure you have Stefan's ring?" Ariel asks.
"It is right here," Alexis says showing Ariel her right index fingerwhich
has the wedding band that Ariel is giving Stefan on it. "Everythingis
okay."
"Mommy, I'm ready. See," says Victoria to Ariel.
Ariel smiles at Victoria, "I see you are. I believe your basket ofpetals
is downstairs on the table in the anteroom along with Alexis'flowers."
"Well, we better make sure you have everything you need," Alexis saysto Ariel.
"What are you talking about? Did I forget something," Ariel saysfrantically.
"Well, you have something old - the black pearl necklace, somethingnew -
the black pearl earrings, something borrowed --"
"I don't have something borrowed, "Ariel says desperately.
Alexis picks up a lace handkerchief from the table and gives it toAriel
saying, "This is the handkerchief my mother carried at her wedding.I
would like you to carry it at yours. Besides it gives yousomething
borrowed."
"Thank you, Alexis."
"Now for something blue," Alexis says turning to Victoria. "I believeyou
have that covered, don't you Victoria."
"Yea!" Victoria goes over to the nightstand and opens the drawer, "Iput
it in here so Mommy wouldn't find it." Victoria takes something blueout
of the drawer and goes over to Ariel and hands her a bunch of bluefabric
saying, "Here, Mommy."
"Thank you, Victoria. What do we have here?" Ariel asks as she looksat
what Victoria put in her hand. As the material starts to unbunchAriel
starts to laugh. "A blue garter! How perfect." Ariel then raisesher
dress and removes her foot from her shoe as she slips the garter ontoher
leg and places it around her mid thigh. She then slips her shoe backon
and puts her skirt down just as they hear a knock on the door. Alexisgoes
over and opens it just a few inches to see who was there. Seeing itwas
Sonny she lets him in.
Sonny smiles broadly flashing his dimples. He remarks, "Threebeautiful
women are almost too much for me to handle."
"You better not let Brenda hear you say that," Ariel teases. Sonnyflashes
another smile in her direction.
"Stefan is downstairs and the wedding is ready to begin any time youare,"
Sonny says.
"I'll take Victoria down and get her basket," Alexis says. She goesover
to Ariel and gives her a big hug and kisses on the cheek. "We willsee you
downstairs." Victoria takes Alexis' hand and they leave.
"Well, Sonny can you believe this. Stefan and I are gettingmarried,"
Ariel squeals.
Sonny smiles and draws Ariel into a hug and holds her for a fewmoments.
"I am happy for you. And if Stefan ever does anything to you to makethat
smile on your face disappear, he will answer to me with a little helpfrom
Frisco, Robert and Luke."
Ariel's eyes grow a little sad. "The only thing that would make thisday
even better would have been if Luke would have come to my wedding.But I
guess that is asking too much at this time. I'm just happy thatNikolas
and he are being civil to each other."
"Luke is here. Laura got him talked into coming," Sonny tellsAriel.
"She did! That's great! Now I get to share this day with all thepeople I
love."
"Okay. So are you ready to become Mrs. Stefan Cassadine?"
"You bet I am," Ariel says as she picks up her bouquet from thedresser.
It is made from white roses with the locket that Stefan gave her thenight
he told her about Victoria woven into it. Ariel had the pictureof
Victoria replaced with a photograph of her children, Victoria andNikolas,
together. Sonny offers her his arm and they leave the bedroom.
Stefan and Nikolas are standing in front of the Greek Orthodox priestthat
would be officiating the marriage ceremony. The guests are seatedin
chairs that have been set up in the ballroom. The guest includedEdward,
Lila, Ned, Monica, Alan and Emily. Lucky is sitting by Emily holdingher
hand. Bobbie and Tony and Luke and Laura are sitting in front ofthe
Quartermaines with Gina Cates. Nikolas had invited her. They wereon
their way of becoming quite an item. On the other side of the aislewas
where Kevin and Lucy were sitting. Robert, Felicia and Frisco alongwith
their daughters were sitting in the chairs behind Kevin and Lucy. Infront
of Kevin and Lucy sat Brenda with Robin and Jason and Mike. There isan
empty chair beside Brenda for Sonny.
The music starts and Alexis dressed in her dark teal dress startsdown the
aisle. She is carrying a small bouquet of white roses. Victoriafollows
Alexis carrying her basket of rose petal that she sprinkles on thefloor in
front of her. Stefan smiles approvingly at Victoria as she comes upthe
aisle. The guests rise when the music changes to the TrumpetVoluntary and
Ariel enters on Sonny's arm looking radiant. Stefan's smile turnsbroader
as he sees his bride for the first time on their wedding day. Arieland
Stefan's gazes meet and their eyes are locked in love.
Ariel and Sonny reach the front where the priest and Stefan werestanding.
Sonny gives Ariel a kiss on the check before placing her hand onStefan's.
Stefan and Ariel step up to the priest as Sonny takes his set byBrenda and
holds her hand.
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered her to unite this man and this womanin
holy matrimony. . . " the priest begins. They proceed through theceremony
arriving at the vows. The priest turns to Ariel and asks her torepeat
after him. . .
"I, Ariel Catherine Alexandra, take thee, Stefan Mikhail Mikkovich,as my
lawfully wedded husband. To have and to hold from this day forwardin
sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, to love and to cherish,til
death do us part."
The priest then turns to Stefan and asks him to repeat his vows."I,
Stefan Mikhail Mikkovich take thee, Ariel Catherine Alexandra, asmy
lawfully wedded wife. . . to love and to honor, til death do uspart."
"May I have the rings?" the priest asks. Nikolas takes Ariel's ringout
his pocket and Alexis takes Stefan's ring off her finger and hands itto
the priest. The priest continued, "Stefan and Ariel have chosento
exchange rings as symbols of their love."
He gives Stefan Ariel's ring and tells him to place it on herfinger.
Stefan does saying, "With this ring, I thee wed."
Then it is Ariel's turn. She takes Stefan's ring and places it onhis
finger repeating the same words.
The priest than turns to the gathering of people says, "If there isanyone
who know of any reason these two should not be joined in marriage,speak
now or forever hold your peace."
Before Luke can open his mouth Laura elbows him in his ribs and giveshim a
stern look. Luke grins at Laura.
Hearing nothing the priest continues, "By the power invested in me bythe
state of New York, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kissthe
bride." Stefan draws Ariel to him and they exchange a long tenderkiss.
When the kiss breaks, the priest says, "I now have the honor ofpresenting
Mr. and Mrs. Stefan Cassadine."
Everyone applauds as Alexis gives Ariel a hug and kiss while Stefanand
Nikolas embrace and kiss each other's cheek. Ariel and Stefan turnback to
each other and embrace starting another kiss when they areinterrupted by
a hand tugging on both of them demanding, "It's my turn." Laughterbreaks
out in the gathering of people as Stefan picks up Victoria and givesher a
hug and kiss and then Victoria turns in Stefan's arms and gives hermother
a kiss and hug. The three of them stand in front of their friendslooking
like the picture of a very happy family.
Three weeks later.
DING DONG. The door bell at Sonny's penthouse sounds. Sonny dressedin a
silk robe goes to answer it.
"Good morning, Pops." Mike is at the door holding a garment bag. "Youare
a little early."
"I know," putting the garment bag down on the back of the sofa, "butit
isn't everyday my son gets married."
Sonny grins broadly, "Yeah, I know." Sonny and Mike go into thekitchen
and Sonny pours them each a cup of coffee.
"When are Jason, Robert and Luke coming?" Mike asks.
"In about an hour. Which gives us enough time for us to have achat."
"Sonny, I didn't think I needed to tell you what to do on yourwedding
night. Well, here goes. . ."
"That's all right, Pops. I think I have that one covered. No, thereis
something else I want you to know and it needs to come from me."
Growing concerned, "Michael what is it?"
"First of all only a few people know about this. I told Brenda beforeI
proposed to her. She deserved to know the whole truth about me beforeI
could ask her to marry me."
"Sonny, I'm not blind. I know what your business is."
"You only know half of it. You see, about ten years ago I was workingfor
Joe Scully running this strip club in New York. One day Ariel Wisemancame
in looking for a job."
"Ariel, why would she want to work in a strip club?"
"Pops, let me finish. She had nice legs and a pretty face so I gaveher a
job as a waitress. I later found out she was really there to get
information on Joe Scully and the drugs he was running at the time.You
see, Pops, she was an WBS agent." Sonny pause and sees the surprisedand
confused look on Mike's face. "When I found out about the drugs thatJoe
was running though the club, I went ballistic. I wanted to kill himright
then and there. He knew I wouldn't have anything with drugs, but hewas
running them through *my* club. Well, Ariel got to me before I got toJoe
and convinced me that the best way to deal with the situation was tohelp
her cut off Joe's supplier. So I became her informant. With my helpthe
WSB was able to shut down a major supplier of drugs, but Joe got byon a
technicality. Even after everything went down, Joe never suspectedme. By
that time Ariel and I had become very close friends. She hadintroduced me
to Robert Scorpio and Robert and I hit it off. I helped them on afew
other cases dealing with organized crime over the next few years asI
started to climb within the organization. About seven years ago Iwent to
Ariel and Robert and told them I wanted to become a full fledgedagent.
Robert talked with the team at the WSB and they agree. The plan wasto
have me continue with the organization and to climb as high as Icould and
supply information to them. I have an agreement with the WSB that Iwould
only deal in gambling, prostitution and money laundering. No drugs.I
would then supply information to the WSB concerning certainorganizational
operations. The incident that happened on the docks a few weeks agowas
one I was involved in."
Shocked Mike says, "You are a WSB agent. Sonny that is verydangerous.
You could get killed. You are playing with fire you could getburned."
"I know what I'm doing. I work with good people. Robert and Friscoare
not going to let anything happen to me from their side. I have Jasonand
Joseph on the other side and they will protect me with theirlives."
"Brenda knows about this?"
"Yes, and she was as surprised as you are. But after we talked aboutit
she understands why I must do this and will stand beside me. HELL,she is
going to marry me today."
"Sonny, who knows about this besides Robert, Frisco, Ariel, Brendaand myself?"
"A few people at the WSB and Stefan Cassadine. Ariel told him aboutwhat
she does and everything before they were married." Sonny sees thevery
concerned look cross his father's face when Cassadine's name ismention.
"Don't worry. Cassadine won't say or do anything. Ariel has him
completely under control. The only other person who knows isRobin.
Robert told her everything when he returned."
"Luke and Jason don't know?"
"No, and I want it kept that way. Robert gave me permission to tellBrenda
and you and that is it. No one else must know. My life depends onit."
Mike realizing how much Sonny has finally accepted him as his father,gets
up from his chair and pulls Sonny into a warm embrace. "I loveyou,
Michael. I will never do anything to hurt you, again. Your secret issafe
with me."
Sonny returns the embrace. "I know, Pops. I love you, too."
A few hours later a large group is gathered at St. Mary's CatholicChurch
in Port Charles for another wedding. The church is filled as Sonnyand his
best man, Luke, and the priest take their places infront of thealter.
The music begins and the first to walk down the aisle are Lucy andMike.
When they are half way down the aisle Ariel and Robert appearfollowed
shortly by Robin and Jason. Next to appear is Victoria dressed in apink
frilly dress carrying a basket of pink rose petals. Lois then entersthe
sanctuary as matron of honor. When Lois reaches the front of the
sanctuary, the Wedding March begins and the congregation rises asBrenda
enters on Ned's arm. He escorts her to the alter and raise her veilto
give her a kiss. After the kiss he whispers in her ear, "This betterbe
your last wedding. I'm not giving you away again."
Brenda smiles and whispers back, "I promise you, it is. This willlast for
a life time." Ned and Brenda exchange one more smile as Ned replacesher
veil and puts her hand into Sonny's.
The priest begins to address the gathering, "We are gathered here tounite
Brenda and Michael in holy matrimony. If there is anyone who knows ofa
reason these two cannot be legally wed, speak now or forever holdyour
peace." Hearing no objections The priest continued, "Brenda andMichael
have written their own vows for today." Addressing Brenda andSonny,
"Please join hands and repeat your vows."
Brenda hands her bouquet to Lois and takes Sonny's hands in hers.She
looks deep into his eyes and starts, "Sonny, you and I have beenthrough a
lot since we first met. We have both changed immensely. There weremany
times when I believed we would never get here, but we have a guardianangel
who is watching over us and would not allow us to be apart. We bothhad to
learned how to love and trust each other without hurting the otheror
losing ourselves. I promise you, Sonny, in front of God and ourfriends
that I will also be faithful to you. I will love and cherish youuntil we
are separated by death. I will bear your children and love them. Wewill
grow old together and play with our grandchildren." Both Sonny andBrenda
have tears in their eyes as she continues. "I love you, Sonny, withmy
whole heart and soul. I never thought that I could love anyone asmuch as
I love you."
It was now Sonny's turn. "Since the first time I saw you, I knew youand
me were meant to be together, though I never thought I would love youas
much as I do, today. I promise you that I will always be there foryou. I
will protect you and our children from any harm. Stone told me overand
over that we were meant to be together, but our stubbornness anddenial of
our love kept us apart for a long time. When we did finally allow
ourselves to accept our love, we had to fight for it. I love you,Brenda,
more than anyone else in my life. Stone is in heaven smiling at ustoday.
He always knew our love was true and that we belonged together evenwhen
we, ourselves, didn't. Brenda, I promise you we will spoil withour
grandchildren and be even more in love than we are today."
As Sonny finishes the priest smiles at the two people in front ofhim.
"Brenda and Michael have decided to exchange rings as a symbol oftheir
love. May I have the rings?" Luke and Lois each gives the priest thering
they are carrying and the priest blesses them. Then he hands Brenda'sring
to Sonny telling him to place the ring on her finger repeating afterhim. .
.
Sonny starts to place the ring on Brenda's finger saying, "I,Michael
Joseph, Junior, take thee, Brenda Marie, as my lawfully wedded wife.To
have and to hold from this day forward in sickness and in health,for
richer or poorer, to love and to cherish, til death do us part."
Brenda takes the other ring from the priest and slips it ontoSonny's
finger repeating, "I, Brenda Marie, take thee, Michael Joseph,Junior, as
my lawfully wedded husband. To have and to hold from this day forwardin
sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, to love and to cherish,til
death do us part."
The priest continues, "Now that Brenda and Michael have exchangerings and
promised each other their undying love, may the Lord bless thisunion.
What God has joined together may no man pull apart." The priest turnsto
Sonny, "You may kiss your bride." Sonny grins at Brenda as he liftsher
veil and pulls her towards him. "I will always love you," Sonnysays.
"Me, too," Brenda says as she leans into him and kisses himpassionately
infront of God and their friends.
They continue their kiss, forgetting about the others around themuntil
Luke taps Sonny on the shoulder saying, "That's enough, you two. This*is*
a church."
Brenda and Sonny break their kiss and smiles at each other. Thepriest
concludes the ceremony by saying, "It is my deep pleasure to presentto
you, Michael and Brenda Corinthos." The congregation applauds asSonny and
Brenda turn around to face them. Lois hands Brenda her bouquet beforethe
two of them start down the aisle as husband and wife.
Everyone has arrived at Luke's for the reception except for Sonny andBrenda.
"Wasn't that a lovely wedding," Laura says to Lila.
"All weddings are lovely, my dear," Lila replies. "Brenda made avery
beautiful bride. I am so happy for her.
Just then there is a commotion at the door as Brenda and Sonny arriveto
the cheers and good wishes of their friends. "Congratulations,buddy,"
Luke says as he and Sonny exchange an embrace. "Now it is my time tokiss
the bride." He takes Brenda in his arms and leans her back giving hera
big kiss on the lips.
Sonny taps Luke on the shoulder saying, "That is *my* wife you arekissing.
So stop it."
Luke stands Brenda back up and says with a twinkle in his eye, "But Iam
the *best man*." They all laugh.
"In title only, my man," Sonny replies as he gives his bride a kissof his
own. They slowly make their way to the head table accepting
congratulations from the people gathered.
After the banquet was finished the floor was cleared and the band wasset
up for the dance. Ned is at the microphone, "May I get everyone's
attention." The crowd does quiet down as Ned continues, "Sonny andBrenda
has asked me to preform a song for their first dance together as manand
wife. They have choosen 'Because You Loved Me'. Brenda and Sonny thisis
for you. . ." Ned starts to sing as Brenda and Sonny start theirfirst
dance together as man and wife.
~~~~ For all the times you stood by me
For all the truth that you made me see
For all the joy you brought to my life
For all the wrong that you made right
For every dream you made come true
For all the love I found in you
'I'll be thankful baby
You're the one who held me up
Never let me fall
You're the one who saw me through
Through it all~~~~
"I love you, Mrs. Corinthos," Sonny murmurs into Brenda ear as theydance.
"MMM, I like that -- Mrs. Corinthos," Brenda responds with a kisson
Sonny's neck.
~~~~You were my strength when I week
You were my voice when I couldn't speak
You were my eyes when I couldn't see
You saw the best there was in me
Lifted me up when I couldn't reach
You gave faith 'coz you believed
I'm everything I am
Because you loved me~~~~
"That does sound great doesn't it. Mrs. Brenda Corinthos," Sonnywhispers.
"I love it and I love you, Mr. Corinthos," Brenda says as theycontinue to
dance.
~~~~You gave me wings and made me fly
You touched my hand I could touch
The sky
I lost my faith
You said no star was out of reach
You stood by me and I stood tall
I had your love
I had it all
I'm grateful for each day you gave me
Maybe I don't know that much
But I know this much is true
I was blessed because I was loved
By you ~~~~
"This is going to be great! I am going to make you so happy," Brendasays.
"You already has, Darling."
~~~~You were always there for me
The tender wind that carried me
A light in the dark shinning your love
Into my life
You've been my inspiration
Through the lies you were the truth
My world is a better place
Because of you ~~~~
As the song ends, Brenda and Sonny start a long passionate kiss whiletheir
friends applaud them.
Soon everyone is dancing and breaking into small conversationalgroups.
Luke has corralled Sonny, Mike, Robert, Jason, Frisco, Ned, Kevin,Stefan
and Justin into the back room.
Luke is finishing pouring the whiskey and is passing them out. Heraises
his glass to Sonny, saying, "Here's to the newest member of themarried
club. From now on you will not be allowed to make any decisions onyour
own." The group laughs as Luke continues, "No more late night poolgames
with buddies and no more bringing women home in the middle of thenight."
Turning more serious, "But instead you get a beautiful woman to comehome
to every night. One that will be by your side no matter what. Someonewho
loves you unconditionally. Congratulations, Sonny."
A chorus of 'Here, heres' breaks out from the assembled group ofmen.
After they finish their drinks, Luke passes out cigars to all andthey
light them.
Out in Luke's Lucy starts to look for her doc and comes up to Laura,Ariel,
Robin, Lois and Brenda. "Have any of you seen Kevin? I can't findhim."
"Come to think of it, all our men are missing," Lois says.
"Maybe we should raid the backroom," jokes Brenda.
"Only if you want to smell like whiskey and cigars," says Laura.
They all break out laughing. "I don't know why they think they needto
smoke those horrible things," Lucy says disgustingly. "The only timemy
doc does is when he is around Luke. Honestly, Laura, I don't know howyou
can stand it."
"Oh, I don't know. It's just Luke. At least they went into thebackroom
to smoke instead of stinking up out here. By the way, Brenda whereare you
and Sonny going on your honeymoon?"
"Puerto Rico. There is a very special beach down there that Sonny andI
are going to visit," Brenda slyly smiles.
"How long are you going to be gone?" asks Lucy.
"I don't know for sure. Sonny made all the arrangements, but as faras I'm
concerned I don't care where I am as long as I'm with Sonny," Brendasays
smiling the radiant smile of a new bride. Turning to Ariel, "By theway
Ariel, aren't you and Stefan taking a honeymoon?"
"Yes, we just postponed it for a little while so we could be heretonight.
We leave with Victoria and Nikolas tomorrow for the island and willbe
sailing the Adriatic Sea for a couple of weeks. Then the kids arecoming
back here and Stefan and I are going to Rome and Paris for a few daysand
then on to Switzerland. We both have a little business we need to doin
Europe, but that shouldn't take us more than a day or two."
"You are taking Victoria and Nikolas on your honeymoon?" Lucyquestions.
"Only for a couple of weeks. Stefan and I both want them with us. Itwill
be hard to put them on the plane to come back here when we stay inEurope.
We both love them very much." Ariel continues, "But we know they willbe in
good hands back here. Mrs. Landsbury will watch over them and Lauraand
Alexis have promised to check on them while we are away. I know Iwill
have to call them everyday, if not more than that and so will Stefan.You
see Stefan and I probably will have our mind on each other more whenthe
kids are with us than when they are back here. We will be thinking ofthem
all the time when we are separated."
"I know what you are saying," says Lois. "Ned and I have a hardtime
leaving Brooke and when we are apart I think of her all the time. Bythe
way, I need to call home and see how she is doing."
Lois leaves to make her call as Ariel and Laura exchange knowingglances.
Laura looks around the room and spies Lucky and Nikolas across theroom at
a table with Emily and Gina. "I see the boys are fine," noddingtowards
the table. Ariel turns and sees the foursome and smiles. Lauracontinues,
"If you will excuse me, I need to call home also and see how LuLuis
doing," Laura says. "Ariel, do you want to come and you can speakwith
Victoria."
"Yes, I do," Ariel says as she and Laura leave to find a phone justas the
men come out of the backroom. Ariel and Laura stop when they reachthe men
and Luke and Stefan go with them to talk to their daughters as Jason,Ned,
Kevin and Sonny make their way over towards the women.
"Did you miss me?" Sonny asks Brenda as he kisses her on hercheek.
Brenda turns into Sonny's arms, "Absolutely." Brenda then gives hima
passionate kiss on the lips.
"Enough of that. You two. People would think you are in love," Mikesays
as he joins the group.
"You're just jealous, Pops," Sonny says as he kisses his brideagain.
"Now stop that!! It is my turn to kiss my new daughter."
Brenda smiles at Mike, "I like that. Do I get to call you Dadnow?"
"You better," Mike says as he kisses Brenda on the cheek.
Just then Lois returns to the group. "How is Brooke?" asks Robin.
"Mrs. Johnson said she is sleeping like an angel," Lois says as sheputs
her arm around Ned's waist.
Sonny looks at his watch and says, "We better get going or we willmiss our
plane."
"Okay, Darling, we just need to say good-bye to a few people."
"And you must throw your bouquet," Lois reminds Brenda.
Sonny and Brenda have said their good-byes and are at the door readyto
leave. "Okay, Robin, Lucy, Emily, Gina and all you other singleladies
need to come up here," Luke announces, "Brenda is going to throwher
bouquet."
The women gather and Brenda turns her back to them and throws herbouquet
over her shoulder. They all reach for it and Lucy is the one whofinally
comes up with it. Luke goes over to Kevin, puts his hand on hisshoulder
and says loud enough for everyone to hear, "Well, Kevin it looks likeyou
are the next one to take the plunge."
Sonny and Brenda yell their good-byes to everyone and leaves fortheir
honeymoon.