First, Last, Always
She never thought she'd see the day that this would come to be. Whenever she thought of Sonny, she always believed that he would outlive every last one of them, he just had that air about him. No matter what happened, no matter what he was up against, she always believed he'd withstand it all. Seeing as she's at the church where his funeral is to be held, it seems as if she had been wrong in that regard.
The call still echoes through her brain, nearly shell shocked when the words filtered through the phone, unable to process what she was hearing. At first, she believed it was a lie, some kind of twisted joke, but then she took the source into the consideration and her whole world nearly fell apart. Once she regained her composure, she hopped on the first flight back to town, knowing she had to be here. It was only right.
"Ms. Scorpio." the voice of one of Sonny's guards, Francis, sounds off at the end of the isle. "The funeral's not set to start for a few more hours."
"I know." she says with a sad smile. "I just wanted to light a candle for Sonny. I...I can't believe he's really gone."
"I'm sorry for your loss." Francis says sincerely as he walks over to her. "I hope you don't take this personally, but I need to secure the church..."
"Say no more. I understand." Robin assures, taking a deep breath. "I'm almost finished here. Can I have a few minutes?"
"Sure." Francis agrees. "Johnny's on his way in. Just let him know when you're heading out."
"Thanks."
Granting her a single nod, Francis gets started on his evaluation of the church, needing to get started on securing the church. Robin, for the most part, was no imminent threat in any way, so, leaving her to her own accord posed no problems for him during his evaluation. Sending a quick text out to Johnny, to make sure he's aware of her presence, Francis returns his focus to the task at hand. This was far too important for any one of them to drop the ball now.
...
It was the strangest thing, seeing her sister-in-law through different eyes, yet that's her reality and she can't do anything to change it. Sure, Sonny's technically not dead, but Courtney doesn't know that and yet she still chooses to be selfish rather than help her with the boys and the funeral. From the jump, little miss blonde princess has done absolutely anything she possibly could to get out of helping her. Now, on the day of her husband's fake funeral, she comes knocking on her door all teary eyed expecting comfort from her? Is she freaking serious?
"Are you finished?" Carly snaps, needing to get ready for the funeral and make sure she has everything Michael needs. "I have things to do."
"Carly, please." she blubbers. "Today's hard for me, okay?"
"Hard for you?" Carly nearly choked out, unable to believe the stones this witch has. "He may have been your brother, Courtney, but he was my husband! Forgive me if I couldn't give a rat's ass about your pain!"
"Why are you being like this?"
"Why...are you shitting me?!" Carly glares at her sister-in-law. "Sonny's dead and you couldn't even be bothered to be here for his family! How the hell am I supposed to be, Courtney, huh?"
"He was my brother." she chokes out. "I'm sorry that I haven't been at your beck and call!"
"Get out!" Carly shouts, bounding to the door and yanking it open viciously. "Get the hell out right now before I do something you'll regret!"
"Carly, please!"
"Get the hell out of my house!" Carly shoves her out the door. "And don't bother coming back!"
Slamming the door shut, she let out a screeching groan, swearing that this whole situation couldn't be over with fast enough. She has done a lot of hellish things in her life, but she'll be damned if she lets anyone pull anything over on her. She may be Sonny's sister, but Carly will kill the bitch before she bows down to her pathetic acting. Crocodile tears are Carly's specialty and her sister-in-law's crocodile tears left a lot to be desired. If she didn't have enough crap on her plate as is, she would definitely tear her apart, but that's for another time.
...
Elizabeth had to admit that she was more than a little surprised to hear that Robin Scorpio was in the church, but she remembers how close the other woman is to Sonny, so, it wasn't that much of a surprise. Making her way into the church, she's glad that it wouldn't take much work for her to get the church exactly how Carly had envisioned it. Sure, there are a few things that aren't quite there, but it wouldn't take much man power to get it all down in time for the funeral to start.
"Ms. Scorpio." Johnny greets her when she walks up to them. "Are you done?"
"Yes. I'll be heading out." Robin assures before turning to her. "Hi, have we met before?"
"Elizabeth Webber." Elizabeth introduces, holding her hand out to Robin before shaking the other woman's hand. "We've met once or twice."
"Right, right." Robin shakes her head. "You're Lucky's girlfriend, right?"
"Wrong." Elizabeth countered, knowing it was childish, but doing it anyway. "I'm Jason's girlfriend."
"Oh." Robin had to admit to her shock on that. "I didn't know that."
"It was nice meeting you again, but I really need to get the church together for the funeral." Elizabeth says after a brief moment of silence. "And before I forget, I'm sorry for your loss, I know you and Sonny were really close."
"Yeah, we were." Robin replies with a slight smile. "Anyway, I'll get out of your hair, I'm sure you've got a lot to do. Maybe we can catch up later?"
"Sure." Elizabeth shakes her head. "Sounds good."
Watching her leave, she lets out a deep breath before getting started on fixing up the church, needing to get everything set before Carly arrives. Lord knows she doesn't need anything else to weigh down on her today. As she gets started on fixing up the church, however, Elizabeth can't help but think about what Robin's presence in town could mean for her and Jason. She is to Jason what Lucky had been for her and she can't help but wonder what her presence would mean for her place in Jason's life.
...
Standing by as the men file into the SUVs to make their way to the church, Jason sends a heads up to Johnny, wanting him to make sure that he has all the men in place by the time he gets to the church. Finding out the Robin was back in town had thrown him for a moment, but he finds that he's actually okay with her being back in town. There had once been a time that he believed it would hurt too much for her to come back, but he doesn't feel it or the pain that he had been so certain would follow.
Somewhere between the end of their relationship and the start of his relationship with Elizabeth, he had found the ability to move on from the hurt and leave it all where it belongs, in the past. Sonny had meant something to Robin, so, its no surprise that she'd make the venture back to town for his funeral. Once he was able to get over the surprise of her being back, Jason was able to return his focus to where it actually belongs, hoping that things go as smoothly as they are hoping it will.
"Hey." he greets his girlfriend a little while later in front of the church. "You okay?"
"For the most part." she assures. "Carly just got here...I think she could use a little pep talk before they wheel Sonny in."
"What's wrong?"
"From what I could make out, it seems as if she has had a falling out with Courtney." Elizabeth shakes her head. "I don't know, but the hearse will be here soon and I don't think an angry Carly is going to sell it."
"Great." he groans, running one hand down his face. "I'll talk to her."
"Okay." she shakes her head. "I'll have the guys wheel the coffin in when the hearse gets here."
"Thanks." he sighs, leaning in to place a gentle kiss upon her lips. "Love you."
"Love you back."
Making his way into the church, he takes a moment to appreciate his girlfriend's hard work before making his way down the isle to the front of his church where an upset Carly is pacing back and forth. Representatives from each of the five families will be in attendance and he needs her to be at the top of her game. Whatever's going on between her and Courtney will have to wait for another day. It would take some effort, but he eventually breaks through her fit of rage long enough to get her back on track.
"Are you good?" Jason says as he stares into her eyes. "Carly, can you handle this?"
"I'm good." Carly says firmly. "I can handle this."
"Okay." Jason breathes a breath of relief just as the doors open up to the guys wheeling Sonny's casket into the church. "Because it all starts now."