It was the day of Jasper Jax's wedding to Oksana Kanishcheva. The wedding was going to be in the garden of Oksana's house.
Alexis arrived, very pregnant, but still the maid of honor. She made jokes about how it was good luck to have a pregnant maid of honor.
"Just in case the baby comes during the wedding and the maid of honor has to leave," Jerry, her husband, the father of the baby, said, "is that even better luck?"
"That's really good luck, I'm sure," Jax said, grinning from ear to ear.
"He's so completely happy," Jerry observed to Alexis, as they watched Jax walking over to his future mother-in-law and helping her with a corsage.
They turned to see Mikhail come in with Tatiana and Irina.
"Oh, hello," Alexis said.
"Mom and Dad are on a date," Irina said, proudly.
"Aren't you a married woman?" Alexis asked Tatiana.
"I just bring her here so she can come," Mikhail said, indicating Tatiana with a nod of the head towards her. "She can get to know everybody. She is my date, sort of. But only for this."
Irina giggled, though. She thought it was cool that her parents were together, and with her. She'd hadn't had that for a long time.
Karl and Beth Delaney came with their six children. All together and dressed up, the five girls and their brother Liam looked adorable.
Kara was nervous. She'd had help from three different employees of Deception, Inc. Her make up was perfect, her clothes were the latest fashion, tailored and chosen just for her, and she wore big hoop earrings, and her short hair was styled like a model's. But she still felt sort of naked with such short hair.
Looking in the mirror, she had not particularly liked the way she looked, but could see that she was supposed to look good. It was a matter of taste. She had never been impressed whenever she saw models with very short hair in magazines.
But her mother raved about it and said she should always wear it that way. "It shows off your beautiful face," Beth had said.
Kara didn't feel like she had such a beautiful face to show off. She intended to keep growing her hair.
It still made her nervous to think of Peter's reaction. She knew Peter loved her for herself, not her hair, as her mother had stated to her already a few times. Still, it bugged her. Peter was so cute. She already felt like something of a mismatch to him. Before she'd had her head shaved for a brain tumor operation and then had radiation and lost her hair.
"You look great, Kara," Quinn was there, and greeted her with that. Zander, right behind her, echoed the sentiment.
"Very jazzy looking haircut," Zander said.
"Thanks," Kara said, with a little uncertainty.
"You really do look sophisticated," Quinn said, patting her on the arm.
Kara smiled in gratitude. At least everyone tried to make her feel better. It made her feel guilty that though she did feel better, it didn't last that long.
Jax was in the study with his brother and his father. "I can't believe both of you will be married, and in the same year," John Jacks said. "You both waited so long, and now both almost at once."
"And a grandchild on the way," Jerry said.
"And two new step-grandsons," Jax said.
His father patted him on the back. "Yes, that's so," he said. "We won't forget them."
AJ Quartermaine came with his girlfriend Joanna and their three combined kids. AJ worked for Jax Corporation now, but Oksana had remembered to invite them too, as they were friends of Zander and Quinn.
Peter came down the stairs, taking them two at a time.
"Hey, Q!" he said, seeing his sister-in-law standing at the bottom of the stairs, talking to Jane Jacks. "Hi, Mrs. Jacks," he added.
"Hi, Pete!" Quinn said. "Kara and her family came in. They're in there," she pointed towards the living room.
"Thanks, Q.," Peter smiled and ran off.
"He's such a doll," Jane said to Quinn. "He has to be able to call me something else. Maybe Granny Jane, how's that?"
"That's nice," Quinn said. "If it's OK with Sergei, I guess. Peter and Zander's other grandmother was someone they never knew. She disappeared in that era they called the Terror. In the Soviet Union, when they rounded people up."
"My goodness," Jane said. "Sergei lost his mother that way?"
"His whole family, he never even knew them," Quinn said.
"Poor man," Jane said. "So all he has are his own children?"
"Yes."
"Then for sure I'll ask him first before I play second grandmother."
"I think he will like that," Quinn said.
"Kara," Peter said, looking at her. "Wow, you look – amazing."
Beth stood next to Kara, smiling.
Kara shrugged. "It's OK, I guess."
Peter laughed and hugged her. "You look like you belong working at Deception with Gia What's-Her-Name and the other models."
"She does, doesn't she, Peter?" Beth said, beaming.
Kara looked doubtful, but smiled, holding Peter's hand.
Everyone was sitting down, and Lisa ran around making last minute adjustments; her aunt Rosa and her sister Diana trying to help her. Lucky Spencer was setting up cameras and tripods, while Tim Connor and Joe Quinn directed people into the garden and to the chairs.
The Cassidine family was there, too, made up of Alexis' two brothers and her nephew and his wife, who worked at Deception, too.
Irina was a bridesmaid, and Brad Connor escorted her down the aisle. Everyone murmured that they were adorable.
Then Alexis came down the aisle and everyone laughed. Alexis smiled.
"At least it's not the bride," Matt said to V. Ardanowski, his date. V. grinned. Turning her head back, she saw Rick Friel sitting with Amy and Amanda and Jackson Delaney. Next to Rick, to V's surprise, sat Patti Polk.
Oksana stood at the end of the aisle then, with her father. Everyone stood up, staring at her in admiration.
She looked very young in a lacy white dress. She managed to pull off the young bride look, with her long, thick black hair flowing over her shoulders, the look she'd wanted, since this was her husband's wedding, the only one he'd get. As she stood there, it felt like her first marriage, too, in a way. It was the first time she'd worn a dress like this and had her father to walk her down the aisle and been surrounded by family and friends.
Jax did not take his eyes off of her as she walked towards him. She was so lovely, his breath caught in his throat. Her big, dark eyes were fixed on his, then. All of the guests and even her father faded, he felt like they were alone.
The justice of the peace then went through the simple ceremony, very civil and slim on religion, as the Jacks' weren't all that religious and Oksana had been raised in the USSR and didn't know much about all that. Jax didn't remember a word of it, he could only remember Oksana's eyes and her dark hair and her smile. Finally, it seemed like forever, and he was kissing her and they walked down the aisle.
They had the reception there on the grounds, with a big dance floor set up outside. Jax had a vague memory of Jerry toasting.
Oksana's head was spinning. She sipped a little champagne but was wary of drinking any more. She felt intoxicated already. Beside her sat the most charming husband in the world, blue eyes, golden hair, an incredible man, really. It was all a first for her, as her previous marriage just was so long ago and so incredibly grey and dull in comparison.
But then there were her two sons, so handsome, and Jax being so wonderful with them, and accepting their congratulations and teasing them that now they would have to behave for their mother, or else.
When it was time to through the bouquet, the single girls were rounded up. Amy and Amanda, Irina and Kara, Kara's little sisters, and Diana and Lisa, dragging a demurring Rosa with them, V. and Patti, Joanna and Cheryl stood in a giggling group.
Oksana threw the flowers. They landed right on V. Ardanowksi, as if radar had taken them right to her.
"Hey!" Alexis said, in mock protest. "V. caught mine, too!"
"And she's still not married," Jax said.
"I told you then and I tell you now, it doesn't work," V. joked.
"Maybe you're getting married twice," Patti said, wryly.
"Bigamy or serially?" V. asked. Everyone laughed.
Jax threw the garter. As usual, the men tried to pretend they did not want to catch it. Rick Friel was looking at them and laughing at this when it landed right on him.
"Don't worry," V. Ardanowski was right there, telling him. "It doesn't work."
"Doesn't work on you, Venus," Jax said. V. hit him with the bouquet. Jax laughed and said, "You now will dance with the garter-catcher, as custom dictates."
"Yes," V. said. "As I have done many a time before."
V. turned to Rick. He hesitated a second before taking her into his arms.
"So he used the forbidden name," Rick said. "Does he get away with it because it's his wedding day?"
"He always gets away with it," V. said. "I don't know how. How did you know it's the name and forbidden?"
"Someone told me, somewhere. At school."
"School?"
"Yes, in Matt Delaney's class."
"Matt doesn't know!"
"It was another one of the parents. Oh, what is her name? Maxie Jones' mother."
"Oh, that's Felicia," V. said.
"Felicia, right," Rick said. "How did she find out?"
"She's a private detective," V. said. "I think she investigated me once because Jax wanted me checked out. It was before he and I were friends, don't worry, he's not crazy."
"I've worked for his company for years."
"Oh, so it's too late for me to protect his reputation. You already know he's crazy."
"Yes," Rick laughed. "I know that. I'm sure he had me checked out. Now that you tell me this, maybe it was Felicia. I think I must have checked out OK. She lets Maxie hang out with Amy."
"May I have this dance, in lieu of our mutual dates?" Matt asked Patti.
"Sure," Patti said, following him out onto the dance floor. In spite of herself, she felt a thrill of excitement.
"How did you end up here?" Matt asked her.
"At London Underground, a friend said a friend needed a date. I already fixed you and V. up for this wedding. I figured it was just my destiny. But by then, I couldn't think of anyone better than myself."
"Found a way to get into this wedding, eh?"
She smiled. "I hadn't really thought of it that way, but if I had, it would have been kind of clever, wouldn't it?"
"Very clever. But your matchmaking stinks."
"Huh?"
"Well, you've got you with Rick and me with V. Yet look at the two of them. Kind of – I think they are more into each other than us."
Patti looked off at them. "Yes," she mused. "They do look kind of happy."
"He's into her," Matt said. "As a man, I can tell."
Patti looked up at him and smiled. "How can you tell?"
"Oh, the look, the way he looks a little nervous," Matt said.
"You don't look nervous."
"Well, I am," he said, looking straight at her.
She stared at him.
"I'm good at hiding it," he explained.
"I'm – way too old for you."
"What's too old?"
"I don't know – I mean, I have a teenager."
"I have one hundred and fifty teenagers."
She relaxed and little, and smiled. "It's not the same thing," she said.
"It may be quantity over quality, but it's roughly equal," he asserted. He looked over and caught a sight of Amy Friel. "Little monsters," he added.
Patti laughed when the way he said that struck her funny bone. "Yes, that they are," she agreed. "But you'll want some of your own some day."
"Only one, at most," he said.
"Really?"
"Yes, I come from a family of nine."
"Oh, I see, but didn't you like it?"
"I liked it for me, but it has certain disadvantages," he said. "As you can imagine."
"Yes, I think your mother must be a very strong woman," Patti said.
"A saint," Matt declared.
"Your father, too," Patti said.
"He's a good guy," Matt said. "We just – it means you spend more time with each other than your parents. Which is OK. But you have peers at school."
"So where do you fall, in the family order?" Patti asked. "I know of Clay, and Branwyn."
"The two youngest," he said. "I'm sixth. There is Hugh between me and Clay. My brother Jackson, number two, is here also. He came with Amanda Friel."
"Oh, Rick's daughter," Patti said.
"See, a family so big, you can run into your brother at a wedding."
"That's nice," Patti said, grinning. "I think he brought Taryn home one night, too."
"We Delaneys specialize in driving women home," he said, with a mischievous grin. "In fact, I would like to drive you home, tonight."
Patti felt her stomach churning. It was flattering attention. But she hesitated. "I'm just getting through a divorce," she said.
"All the more reason to have a little fun."
"We've got other dates."
"Our dates look perfectly content," he said.
"But it would still be absurdly rude."
"OK, but he's going to take you home, and presumably, just get a handshake at the door."
"And you know this how?"
He just grinned and pulled her tighter.
"Then, when you get home, there's no rule saying you can't go out again," he added, temptingly.
"Funny, Taryn and I were talking about men and their rules," Patti said. "How each one has his own and expects them to be followed. So if you go out on a date and take her home early, she can go out again, right?"
"Oh yes," he said. "That's rule number forty-eight."
"Oh, no," Patti groaned, mockingly. "There's that many?"
"Oh, there are millions," he said. "But you are welcome to break them all."
She smiled and flushed. She felt silly, like a teenager.
"Meet me at the London Underground," he said. "For another dance. Later tonight."
He walked off without waiting for an answer.
Patti stood there, shaking a little. Someone started saying they could form a line to dance with the groom. Patti went to the line, feeling safer in the structure the custom brought.
V. was behind her a few minutes later. Patti smiled, seeing her. "I fixed up another date for this wedding," she said. "Duane Edwards was in the London Underground with Rick and told me he needed a date for this same wedding, and I told them how I got you one, and one thing led to another and I was to find one for Rick and then I just volunteered myself."
"So I see," V. said, pleasantly. "Good job."
"So it's going OK for you and Matt?" Patti thought she'd pretend she was interested in following up on her own matchmaking ability.
"Sure, he's a nice guy," V. said. "Like you said, a little young, but fun."
Patti swallowed hard. She felt way older than V. just at that moment. The idea of meeting Matt later seemed silly.
She looked over at him. He was talking to Oksana's son.
Matt saw Patti looking at him out of the corner of his eye. "So you want to spend the rest of your life teaching the little monsters," he said to Zander. Amanda had introduced them and told Matt that Zander was getting his degree in education and working on becoming a teacher and that Matt already was a teacher, of history, at Port Charles High. "You're crazy. Or you will be when you've been at it a few years."
"Yeah," Zander said, smiling at the adjective. "I get to student teach in the fall."
"High school?"
"Yeah, I think high school is where I want to end up. So do you like it?"
"Yes," Matt said. "They drive you nuts, but then there's that every once in a while when you realize you did get through to one of the little monsters and he or she learned something and that makes it all worthwhile. I know it sounds like a corny movie, but it's true."
Zander smiled. "How do they drive you crazy?"
"Everything you can think of. Not showing for class. Not doing the homework. Doing the homework but not taking it very seriously. Talking in class. Getting up in class. Having obnoxious parents. Not giving a damn about their future. Worrying too much about their future, worrying more about grades than about learning something. Spending too much time on sports. Spending too much time on other stuff."
"Yeah," Zander said, remembering going to high school and selling drugs to high school students. "I had some bad years then. I'm hoping that will help me be understanding."
"You'll need a lot of that," Matt said. "And patience. That's the biggest thing. Patience, patience, patience."
"Now Matt," Amanda said, coming in and hearing the last bit. "Let's no overdo it."
"I don't think he scares off easily," Matt said, grinning at Zander.
"No," Zander said. "I don't."
Amy got in line behind V. "This is a dollar dance, right? I need a dollar to dance with the groom."
"Since he's a gazillionaire," V. said. "I doubt he's taking money."
Amy agreed. "Yeah, I'm not going to pay him. But hey, are you still going to show me the ropes of being a detective one day?"
"Yes, of course," V. answered. "Let's set it up for next week."
"I'd like that," Amy said.
Patti relaxed a bit, seeing as that was in line with the idea of switching the dates she had set up.
But that was crazy.
Her matchmaking did not stink, she thought. V. might be a little older than Matt. But Rick was age-appropriate to Patti, whereas Matt was not. Yet, crazily, Matt caused her stomach to take leaps while Rick was just another guy.
What a lot of confidence Matt had for someone that young. Maybe it was from dealing with teens all day. It had to take a lot of confidence to deal with them in groups of thirty or so at once, and try to teach them something to boot.
Amy and V. had gotten to talking by this time, and it was Patti's turn to dance with the groom.
"Hi, I'm Patti," she said to him as he swept her off. "I came to your wedding as the date of Rick Friel."
"Oh, I'm glad you could make it. Rick is a long time loyal employee."
That sounded dull, for some reason. Patti knew it was silly. She was a long time loyal employee herself. Why did teaching seem so interesting and exciting all of a sudden? Patti had known many teachers over the years, what with having three children. Teachers weren't interesting.
Or maybe they weren't as a group. But one was.