Disclaimer: The characters in this story are the property of CBS and are only used for fan related purposes. The invitation text included was featured in Episode 1, "Whap".
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Last Minute Corrections
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Things were going very smoothly. Trish, with his prodding and Shea's advice, had finally picked a date and—most importantly—she had agreed to get married on Harper's Island. That step had been extremely crucial; without her agreement, there might as well have been no wedding at all.
But there was going to be a wedding. According to the Wellingtons' social status and wealth, it was going to be quite the affair, too. A destination wedding with only their closest family and friends, a weeklong event that culminated with his marrying the youngest Wellington daughter, and perhaps even a… surprise or two for the (un)fortunate guests.
With a wedding planner on the mainland to help with the bigger themes, and Maggie Krell back on the Island to deal with the little details, that part of the plan was coming together quite nicely. The guest list was drawn up, the color scheme was narrowed down last week, the yacht was chartered and the entire Candlewick Inn had been booked for the wedding party.
All that was left for him to do before focusing on the more important matters on hand was look over the invitation design, double-check and proofread it before sending it off to the printer's. Trish left it for him in an envelope with a post-it note asking him to look at it today.
Henry, always a step ahead, was already on his way to the printer's when he found the note on his dresser. Figuring it wouldn't do to let any aspect of their plan go unnoticed by him, he leaned with his back against the sturdy piece of furniture, slipped the sheet out of the envelope and glanced at what it read:
MR. AND MRS. THOMAS WELLINGTON
CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO SHARE IN
THE JOYOUS MARRIAGE OF
Patricia E. Wellington
AND
Henry J. Dunn
THE CANDLEWICK INN
HARPER'S ISLAND, WASHINGTON
CHARTERED YACHT LEAVES SEATTLE HARBOR AT 2:00 P.M.
He cast his eye over the prototype, reading the print and nodding in approval at the design. Apart from the name that was joined with his, everything else read as they'd discussed and he desired. Dad would be proud, he decided, at how he easily and confidently was able to manage every little detail of their overall scheme. Everything from the wedding plans, to calling Abby repeatedly to jokingly (but not really) remind her to save the date—what would it mean if, after all they've done to entice her back to the island, she declined her invite—was meticulously attended to.
Even he was beginning to look forward to the wedding, and not only because of the happily-ever-after that promised to follow...
Smiling so widely that his dimples were etched deeply into his cheeks, Henry was just about to sign off on the initial design and slide it back into the envelope when something caught his attention. He pursed his lips, his smile sliding right off of his suddenly peevish expression.
It almost slipped past him, too. All because he let his solid resolve falter for just a moment as he dwelt romantically on his final purpose, he very nearly let another reminder of who was (or wasn't any longer) out to the ones closest to him who had no idea who they were dealing with at all.
Faux invitations to a sham wedding or not, Henry couldn't let the message be printed like this.
Not with his name written like that:
Henry J. Dunn
Henry J. Dunn—Henry James Dunn—didn't exist anymore, not as far as he was concerned. Henry J. Dunn had died that night in Seattle when John Wakefield tracked him down and told him the truth about his heritage: the mother who threw him away, the sister who never knew, and the adoptive parents who had lied to him his whole life.
But there was no way that he could change the type to read Henry J. Wakefield, not until after the wedding had taken place and he had a clean start to forward to. He could be whoever he wants to be afterwards, after everything he ever wanted was finally rightfully his—
—until then, though, he had to keep up the pretenses and the façade of sweet, kind, lovable Henry Dunn. The groom, the best friend, the brother…
And to think that none of them had any idea why the invitations were really bringing them all to Harper's Island. It was perfect—or, it would be with one quick last minute correction.
The momentary flash of anger passed and Henry smiled again as he reached on top of the desk and grabbed a pen. With a quick slashing motion and an even quicker scribble, he corrected the invitation to read:
Henry W. Dunn
Henry W. Dunn—Henry Wakefield Dunn—gave a small boyish laugh as he then slid the sheaf of paper back into the envelope and tucked it under his arm.
Yes, he decided as his thoughts return back to Abby and Wakefield and Harper's Island, things were going very smoothly.
Author's Note: Unsurprisingly, last night's finale was not only an amazing end to the show but it was also, in its entirety, something I never would've expected. I kinda thought Henry was involved for a bit, and I definitely thought he had feelings for Abby -- considering how many times he went off with her, leaving Trish alone -- but I never expected all that happened between "Gasp" and "Sigh". I have a ton of plot bunnies -- redemption for Danny and Sully, a future for Jimmy and Abby, for starters -- but, after rewatching "Whap" right after "Sigh" ended, I came up with that. I never noticed that Henry's middle name started with "W" on the invite Abby had, but I definitely heard Henry's adopted dad call him Henry James as a kid. Long story short, this idea popped into my head. In a weird way, I think twisted!Henry might be a little fun to work with ;)
