Chapter 66
“You got us presents?” Liz asked in shock as Lucky pulled her to the couch. It was bad enough that they were throwing this party, but now that there were presents involved, she was really starting to feel guilty for lying to everyone.
“Of course, darlin’, no wedding reception is complete without them,” Luke assured her, pointing to the pile of gifts in the corner. They had been so preoccupied with making everyone believe they were really married, they hadn’t even noticed them. Laura walked over and picked one off the top, then handed it to Lucky.
He took the box from her gently, as though he was afraid it was going to explode. “Guys, you really didn’t have to do this. I mean, it’s not like money is an issue with us or anything...”
“Nonsense,” Laura said. “Every couple needs wedding gifts, no matter what. Now come on and open it.”
Lucky sighed and glanced over at Liz, then looked back at the gift, reading the names on the card. “All right, this one’s from my Aunt Bobbie and Jerry.” He glanced over at her, trying to gauge whether or not his father told her the truth, but Bobbie just smiled back.
Lucky tore off the paper and opened the box inside, sifting through the styrofoam popcorn and finally pulling out a small catalog clipping. He looked up at Bobbie in confusion.
“It’s a china set,” she quickly explained. “Everything’s taken care of, all you have to do is go to Wyndham’s and choose which pattern you want.”
Trying not to laugh, Liz rested her hand on Lucky’s knee and smiled. “See, honey, I told you we were forgetting something. We never picked out a china pattern!”
“Well, everything happened so fast...” he said, trying not to roll his eyes. He was saved when Laura handed him the next package. “Here, your turn,” he said, quickly handing it off to Liz. She took it from him and studied the card.
“Um, this one’s from Chloe.” She ripped off the paper and pulled out a large photo album with their names and wedding date embroidered on the cover. She looked over at Chloe and smiled. “This is beautiful.”
“Well, normally my present would have been designing your wedding gown, but since I couldn’t do that.... Anyway, I don’t know if you thought to have any pictures taken, but you can always put something else in there.”
Liz turned to look at Lucky, wondering if there were any pictures. After all, there was a video, maybe there were pictures somewhere they didn’t know about!
“Okay, next one,” Laura said, thrusting a larger box at them. She wanted to keep things moving so they couldn’t slip up and blow everything. Lucky took the box and groaned at its weight.
“Damn, what’s in this thing?” He set it on the table in front of him and pulled off the tag. “Sonny....what did you give us, man? Lead bricks?”
Sonny chuckled as Lucky tore into the paper. He opened the box and peered inside, then pulled out one of its contents. It was a set of crystal glasses and decanters, much like the one Sonny had in his penthouse. Actually, pretty much everyone in Port Charles had some sort of crystal set in their homes that held water or some, more often, liquor. “Hey, thanks, man.”
“Is that crystal?” Liz asked, awestruck. Lucky nodded and handed the glass to her. She took it and studied it, then looked over at Sonny. “Wow, thank you, Sonny.” He nodded in acknowledgment as Laura passed another box to them.
Liz took this one and read the tag. “Alexis.” She looked over and smiled briefly at her, then pulled off the wrapping paper and opened the box. She chuckled when she saw the contents. “Did you and Sonny do your shopping together?”
Sonny looked over at Alexis in surprise, wondering what she had gotten them. Liz pulled out a large crystal bowl that looked like it could have been part of the same set Sonny had just given them. Like Chloe’s photo album, it was engraved with their names and wedding date. They both thanked her, then took the next gift from Laura.
“Charisma,” Lucky read, then looked up at his friend curiously, suddenly getting a bad feeling about whatever was in the box. She just smiled at him, waiting patiently for him to open it. He sighed and dug in, figuring the sooner he got it over with, the better, but he wasn’t at all prepared for what he pulled out of the box: a black negligee.
“Um..” he stammered, his face turning red. “I think this is for you.” He quickly tossed it over to Liz, trying to hide his embarassment. She took it from him, also blushing.
“Actually,” Charisma explained, trying her hardest not to burst into laugherat their faces, “even though the bride wears it, it’s really more for the groom, don’t you think?”
Liz quickly put the garment back in the box, wishing she could crawl under the couch and hide. “Um, thanks.”
“Well, I know it’s not really a wedding gift, but you didn’t get to have a bachelorette party... Anyway, I figured you didn’t get much of a honeymoon, either, so...” She smiled as they both blushed harder, then glanced behind her at Luke, who was shaking with repressed laughter.
Seeing that an intervention was needed, Laura quickly grabbed the next box and handed it to Liz. “Here, keep going, there’s more.”
She took it gratefully, hoping there were no more surprises like the last one. “Um, this is from V.” She opened the gift and laughed. “A toaster?”
”I figured it was tradition. Doesn’t everyone get a toaster?” she asked, grinning.
The next gift was from Jax. Lucky opened the box to reveal a set of very expensive champagne glasses, all with their initials engraved on them. After thanking him, Liz took the next gift, from Mac and Felicia.
“Oh, wow,” she breathed, pulling out a gorgeous quilt.
“It’s a wedding quilt,” Felicia explained proudly. “It’s an old tradition. Usually, it’s made by the person who gives it, but I don’t quilt, and there wasn’t much time anyway, so I found this one at an antique shop. You guys can use it on your bed, or whatever.”
“On our bed...” Liz mumbled, folding it and putting it carefully back in the box. She quickly cleared her throat and smiled at them. “Thank you, it’s beautiful.”
“Okay, next!” Luke said, growing anxious. Lucky sighed and took the next gift that Laura was holding. It was a personalized welcome mat from Rich that said “The Spencers.” He laughed and rolled it up, looking over at his friend as Laura passed on the next one to Liz.
She read the card and forced a smile. “This one’s from Carly and Jason.” She glanced over at him, wondering what was inside. He just shrugged, feeling slightly uncomfortable giving his ex-girlfriend a wedding present, especially since he had no idea what Carly had bought.
“Oh, look,” she said, trying to sound excited. “Monogrammed bath robes and matching towels!”
“I know, it’s kind of corny,” Carly said quickly. “But they were just too cute to pass up! I just though the mongram looked cool, the big S with the two little L’s on each side....”
“Yeah, thanks,” Liz said quickly, wondering when this was going to end. Lucky opened Ned’s gift next, a set of fine silver, then Laura handed Nikolas and Emily’s to Liz. It was just an envelope, which for some reason, made both of them very nervous. She opened it and slid out the contents, her eyes growing wide with surprise.
“We figured you didn’t get a chance to have much of a honeymoon, so those are two tickets to Monte Carlo. You can use them whenever you want, there’s no date. Just call the hotel ahead of time to let them know when you’ll be there, the whole thing is on us,” Nikolas explained proudly.
“Thanks, man, but you didn’t have to,” Lucky said, trying to find a way out of it. “I mean, it’s not like I can’t afford it!”
“I konw, but we wanted to do something nice, so just take it and go whenver you have some time,” he instisted. Lucky sighed and nodded, knowing he wasn’t going to win.
“Okay, thanks.” He then looked up at his mother. “Is that it?”
She grinned and handed one last box to him. “Nope, one more.”
“Yeah, we saved the best for last,” Luke joked. “That one’s from us.”
Lucky and Liz exchanged a fearful glance, praying Luke hadn’t done anything to humiliate them. Lucky sighed and tore off the paper, then carefully opened the box. There was a layer of tissue paper on top, so he pushed it aside, his jaw dropping open as he saw what was revealed.
