Chapter 36
“Remind me again why I’m putting on this monkey suit for a Cassidine?” Luke asked bitterly, fighting with his tie.
“Because Liz is my friend, and as much as you deny it, you like Alexis,” Lucky said, standing next to him and looking in the mirror.
“Natasha’s got spunk, and she hates Helena, two very fine qualities in a woman, I’ll admit that. But, she’s still a Cassidine, and that rules out everything else,” Luke said, giving up on his tie and leaving the room to find Laura. “Honey, I need your help!” he shouted down the hallway. Lucky chuckled to himself and left the room as well, heading downstairs to wait for the everyone to finish.
A few minutes later there was a knock at the door. Since everyone else was still upstairs, he got up to answer it. “Don’t you clean up nice,” Nikolas smirked as he brushed past him into the house.
“Yeah, well, at least I don’t look like a mortician,” Lucky shot back. “Where’d you get that thing, anyway?”
“My father,” he answered, knowing that it would just add fuel to the fire. “It was such short notice, I didn’t have time to get mine cleaned, so I had to borrow his. Can we just leave it for now? I’m not in the mood for vampire cracks from you, I’m sure I’ll get enough of them from Luke.”
“Why are my ears burning?” Luke joked, coming down the stairs. He saw Nikolas standing there and frowned. “Where’s the funeral? Oh, did Kathy fall off the parapet again?”
“Very funny,” Nikolas said. “You just can’t let it stay buried, can you?”
Luke grinned. “Well, if Blondie would stay in the ground this time, maybe I will!”
“Okay, okay, enough arguing you two,” Laura shouted, making her way downstairs with Lulu. “Are we all ready to go?”
“As ready as I’m going to be,” Luke grumbled, pulling at his tie again. “Let’s get this thing over with.”
“You all look so handsome!” Laura gushed, stopping to admire her family. They all rolled their eyes and headed for the door.
Lucky looked at Nikolas and sighed. Please tell me she’s not going to be like this all day!
Are you kidding? It’s a wedding, of course she will be! She’ll probably blubber through the whole thing!
“I heard that!” Laura snapped from behind them.
“Damn, I forget sometimes that she can do that, too,” Lucky grumbled. Luke just shook his head and walked on ahead of them. He had learned that the best thing to do when they started to get witchy on him was to just walk away and ignore them.
“Is Emily sitting with us, or will she be on Ned’s side?” Laura asked as they climbed into the car, trying to redirect the conversation.
“She has to sit with her family,” he answered. “She invited me to join them, but then my survival instincts kicked in and I decided to stay on the Cassidine side, where it’s safe.”
Luke laughed. “What do you know, the boy’s actually got a sense of humor in there! Must have come from his mother,” he added, grinning at Laura. She just laughed and shook her head. This was going to be a long day.
~*~
“If you don’t stand still, I’m going to stick you!” Chloe shouted, trying to get Alexis to stop fidgeting. There were a couple of things the dressmakers couldn’t finish in time, so Chloe was busy trying to fix them with some pins.
“Sorry, I guess I’m nervous. Have you seen Liz anywhere? She should have been here by now.”
“I’m here, I’m here!” Liz shouted breathlessly as she hurried into the room. “Sorry, I left something at home and had to turn around and go back for it.”
“What was so important?” Alexis asked, curious about what could cause Liz to be late.
“This,” she answered, grinning as she pulled out a small jewelry box. “It’s something old and blue.”
Alexis smiled, touched by the gesture, and took the box from her, trying not to move too much so Chloe could continue pinning her into the dress. She flipped open the lid and gasped. “Oh, Liz, this is beautiful!” Inside the box was an antique necklace with a sapphire set in the middle, surrounded by tiny diamond chips. “You didn’t have to do this.”
“Well, you’re my mother, and I wanted to give you something nice. Besides, I figure when it comes time for me to get married, you can lend it to me, and then I’ll have old, blue and borrowed all wrapped up!” The two women giggled as Alexis reached out to hug her.
“Careful!” Chloe scolded, holding onto the her dress. “Do you want to walk down the aisle with a blood-stain on the back of your dress?”
“Of course not!”
“Well, then please stop moving, or else you will! These pins are sharp, you know. I’m almost done, so it’ll only be a few more minutes, then you can fidget all you want.”
Alexis smiled and stood still until Chloe completed her alterations, trying not to laugh
So, have you decided when you’re going to tell him? Liz asked, standing in front of Alexis so Chloe couldn’t see her.
Yeah, right before the reception. At least, that’s the plan for now, but I’m sure I’ll chicken out. I wanted to get it off my chest early, so I could try to enjoy myself, you know? I didn’t want to sit through the whole reception with this weight on my chest.
Liz smiled. That makes sense. Would you like me to be there with you? Moral support?
Alexis shook her head slightly, making sure not to jostle the dress. No, I need to do this myself. I just hope he takes it well.
I’m sure he will. I may not know him that well yet, but he seems to me like the kind of guy who takes everything in stride, and doesn’t mind things getting kind of crazy. I mean, didn’t someone say he was a rock star for a while?
Yeah, he was. Maybe you’re right, maybe this will go fine.
“Okay, you’re all done!” Chloe announced, standing up and putting away the remaining pins. “Twirl around, so I can make sure it all fits right.”
Alexis obeyed, spinning around in front of the mirror. “Why do I feel like Cinderella, and at midnight, this dress is going to turn into a pumpkin?”
Liz giggled and shook her head. “It won’t. It might fall off, if Chloe’s pins don’t hold...”
“Hey! I’ll have you know that dress is on good. In fact, it may even be kind of difficult to take off later.”
“What?” Alexis asked, spinning around to face Chloe. “You didn’t sew me into it or anything, did you?”
“No, I just used a lot of pins! You’ll probably need help to get you out of it tonight.”
Alexis grinned slyly, happy with that answer. “Oh, well in that case...”
“Okay, okay, stop right there!” Liz shouted, covering her ears. “I may not have known you that long, but you’re still my mother, and I just don’t need to hear this!”
Alexis and Chloe laughed and Liz slowly brought her hands down, blushing. She cleared her throat, wanting to change the subject. “So, it’s almost time, are you sure you have everything?”
“Yes, I’m sure.”
“What about the whole old, new, etc. thing? As maid of honor, it’s my duty to make sure you follow the traditions to the letter!” she teased.
“Well, the dress is new, your beautiful necklace is old and blue, and....oops, I guess I did forget something. I don’t have anything borrowed.”
“Here,” Chloe said, pulling off her bracelet and slipping it over Alexis’s wrist. “You can borrow this, but you have to give it back! Jax gave it to me.”
“Thanks,” Alexis said, hugging her friend. “Okay, so I guess I’m all set.” She took a deep breath and glanced at herself in the mirror one last time as she carefully placed the veil on her head. “I can’t believe I’m actually about the get married!”
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