The next few weeks passed very quickly. Zach and Kendall had been kept very busy with meetings with the contractor making decisions about the house as well as running their own businesses.
Kendall was also hard at work planning the wedding, which her Mother still knew nothing about. Ever since Erica found out that Zach and Kendall had married in Boca Raton, she made no secret to the fact of how she did not accept Zach or the marriage. On quite a few occasions Erica had even tried to break them up and push Kendall towards a divorce. Erica proved she would stop at nothing to end the marriage, even if it included enlisting the help of Kendall's long time friend JR Chandler. She had promised JR that if he would help break up the marriage that she would help him regain control of his family business. JR, being JR and for the most part only out for himself, agreed to help Erica. He had come to Kendall's condo one afternoon and professed his undying love for her and wanted her to divorce Zach and run away and marry him. Kendall knew something was up and that it had Erica written all over it. After she got it out of JR, she went and had a long talk with her Mother. It managed to keep Erica quite and off her back for a while, but Erica was never one to give up easily. Even after the night of the shooting, when Kendall informed her Mother that her and Zach loved each other, Erica had been convinced that Kendall was just in shock from the nights events and didn't know what she was saying. She even went so far as to contact a lawyer and have divorce papers drawn up for Kendall to sign. No matter what Kendall said to try and prove to her that her love for Zach, and his love for her was real, Erica didn't want to hear it. As much as Kendall would of loved to of shared the planning of this event in her life with her Mother, Kendall was determined to keep it from Erica as long as possible, she wanted her wedding to Zach to be perfect and didn't want her Mother to have enough time to try and sabotage it, however she did want to tell Jackson the good news as soon as possible.
Zach had been kept busy with his numerous doctor appointments following his surgery, finally he was released from care with a clean bill of health. He was also very busy trying to plan the perfect Honeymoon spot for him and Kendall. Zach and Ethan have even been spending more time together getting to know each other, and Ethan even offered Zach full use of the Cambias jet for their Honeymoon, for which he gratefully accepted.
Zach's biggest problem seemed to be planning a few special surprises for Kendall, with the help of his acquaintance John. It seemed like every time the two of them were on the phone or were faxing each other things, Kendall would come in. She was beginning to get suspicious, he knew that, because he caught her trying to snoop a few times. Thankfully Zach always seemed a few steps ahead of her.
On the day of Halloween, Kendall didn't go into Fusion at all, she was to busy at the casino making sure everything was just perfect for the Halloween Party that night. She did plan on relaxing for a while that afternoon and had even invited Jackson over for a late lunch with her and Zach, explaining to him that she really needed to discuss a few things with him with out her Mother knowing about it.
It was close to 2:00 when Zach and Kendall were up in their suite when they heard a knock on the door
"Are you sure you Jackson will be ok with keeping this from Erica ?" Zach asked
"Yes I am sure. If anyone knows how my Mother is, it's Jack. " Kendall said as she was about to open the door
"Sweetheart, I was surprised to get your call this morning" Jackson said as he hugged Kendall and gave her a kiss on the cheek "Is everything alright ?"
Kendall hugged him back "Yes everything is fine. I'm sorry if I worried you."
"Good afternoon Jackson " Zach said as he walked up beside Kendall and extended his hand to him "Thank you for taking time out of your day to come over"
"Slater, er Zach " Jack said as he accepted Zach's hand and shook it "How are you feeling?"
"Much better. Thanks. Won't you come in and have a seat " Zach said as he walked with Kendall into the living room area
As Jackson sat down in the chair next to the couch he couldn't help but notice Zach reach for Kendall's hand and give it a quick squeeze. He also noticed how happy Kendall seemed to be.
"So, may I ask what all of this is about and why you didn't want Erica to know I was coming to see you" Jackson asked
Zach took notice as to how Kendall looked a bit uneasy and the color started to drain from her face when Jackson asked what was going on. Kendall wasn't sure where to start. So Zach figured he would help her out, for which she was extremely relieved.
"Jackson" Zach began " I know you have never been to thrilled about the fact that Kendall and I are married"
"Can you blame me ? The two of you entered into something I consider very sacred, as a business arrangement. " Jackson answered " Marriage shouldn't be entered into lightly and most certainly not without love. I don't call a business arrangement love"
"I agree with you Jackson. However since Kendall and I have gotten married, we have gotten a lot closer." He replied
"I can see that" Jackson admitted "I still don't understand, why you didn't want Erica to know about this and what this has to do with me"
"Jackson, to be perfectly honest, when we first got married I promised Kendall a marriage with no love, no strings and no commitment. She was allowed out of the marriage anytime she wanted, all she had to do was say the word. We have both been hurt in the past and didn't want to get hurt again. Our agreement seemed like the perfect solution and it worked for us, until now" Zach said
"Until now , what does that mean ? The two of you have come to your senses and are filing for divorce ?" Jackson asked
Zach took Kendall's hand and continued " I tried to deny my feelings for a long time but I can't any longer. I have fallen in love with Kendall. I want us to have a real marriage and a life together. We would like to get married again and start our marriage the right way, and I would like to request your permission to marry your daughter. "
Kendall was absolutely shocked that she had just heard Zach ask Jackson's permission to marry her, she was speechless.
Jackson just sat back in his chair, taken totally off guard by what he had just heard. After a few moments he looked at Kendall and finally spoke "Honey, is what he is saying true , do you love him ?"
"Yes Jack, I love him with my whole heart, more then I have ever loved anyone." she answered
"Are you happy ?" he asked
Kendall reached over & took Jackson's hand "Happy doesn't even come close to what Zach makes me"
"Alright" Jackson said " In that case, Zach you have my permission and my blessing to marry Kendall"
Kendall was so excited that she went over and gave him a big hug "Oh Jack Thank you so much"
Jack held his hand out to Zach "Zach, I want you to promise me that you will take care of Kendall. I don't want her to get hurt."
"Jackson, I will do everything in my power to make sure Kendall never gets hurt again, I would gladly lay my life down for her" he said as he took Jacks hand.
" I believe that" he replied
"I don't know about the rest of you, but I am starved. How about we continue this conversation over lunch" Kendall suggested
They all sat down at the table and continued their conversation while they ate
"Jack I have a favor or two to ask of you" Kendall said
"What is it Honey. You know I will do anything for you that I can" he said
"My first favor is, will you give me away at the wedding ?" she asked
"Well I would be honored, of course I will give you away" Jack said with a smile "What's the other favor ?"
Kendall just looked at Zach then to Jackson "I don't want you to tell my Mother about the wedding"
"You don't want your Mother at your wedding? " Jack asked all confused
'Of course I want her there, I just don't want her to know about it until the day of the wedding" Kendall replied
"But why ? I don't understand, why you would keep this from Erica " he said
"Jack, ever since Mother found out about our marriage she has done nothing but try to get me to divorce Zach. You don't know what all she has done. I want our wedding to be perfect and I don't want to be planning a wedding and have to be constantly looking over my shoulder wondering what she is going to do next to sabotage it." Kendall explained
"Don't you think you are over reacting a bit Kendall ?" Jack asked
All Zach could do was laugh "Oh you have no idea some of the stunts Erica has pulled. Her latest being the divorce papers she had drawn up the day after the shooting."
"I can't believe Erica would do such a thing " Jack exclaimed
Kendall filled Jack in on all of Erica's little stunts including enlisting JR. He was truly amazed that Erica had been doing all these things to split them up.
"I am very sorry for everything she has put you through, and now that I know, I will do everything in my power to get her to leave the two of you alone. So when is the big day anyhow ?" Jack asked
"New Years Eve" Zach replied. " We are getting married at that big white church on the edge of town and coming back to the casino for the reception"
The three of them continued their lunch a talked the entire time. Before they realized it, it was almost 4:30
"Wow, I didn't realize it was getting so late. I guess I had better be going." Jackson said " I want to thank you for lunch, and don't worry, I won't tell Erica anything. I can see now why you didn't want her to know what was going on "
"Will we see you tonight at the Halloween party ?" Kendall asked
"Erica and I will be here, although I am not quite sure as what" he said as he gave Kendall a hug
"That reminds me, Kendall what are we going as ?" Zach asked
"You'll see " she replied with a grin
"Judging by that look, that can't be good" Jackson laughed as he shook Zach's hand "If I were you Zach, I would be worried "
After Jack left, Kendall walked over to Zach and gave him a big kiss
"What was that for ?" he asked
"Zach, that was the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me" she said
"What was ?" Zach asked
"Asking Jack for his permission to marry me. No one has ever done anything like that for me before" she said as a tear fell down her cheek
"Kendall, I had planned on asking Jacks permission all along. I want to do this right. I know Jackson isn't your Father, but he is the closest you have and he couldn't love you anymore if you were his own blood" he said as he wiped the tear away "Now how about telling me about this costume you have planned for me to wear"
"I told you, you will see. Which reminds me, I need to get out of here & go check on how things are going for the party. I will be back in a while" Kendall answered
After giving Zach another kiss Kendall left
"I have a feeling I am in trouble " Zach said