The Spencer household is in full swing, Luke and Laura trying to calm Lucky down long enough for them to come up with a solution to this latest development. Neither of them could understand how this could happen. The last they heard, Jason and Elizabeth were no longer in the other's life. How did it go from completely out to getting married in such a short span of time? It made no sense.
"We'll figure this out, Lucky." Laura assures her son, desperate to fix this in order to get his son back. "I don't know how, but we'll fix this."
"Your mother's right, cowboy." Luke shakes his head before taking a deep breath. "That cousin of yours just might come in handy after all."
"What are you talking about?" Lucky asks his father. "Where are you going?"
"I've got some calls to make." Luke says simply before making his way over to the door. "I'll handle this, cowboy. Trust that."
As her parents console her brother and do whatever it takes to make this right for him, Lulu Spencer snatches up the wedding invitation from the coffee table before rushing out the back door, fully dressed to impress. If they aren't going to use the invitation, no use in letting it go to waste.
Calling ahead to get her name on the list for the reception, Lulu makes her way to the church, eager to bear witness to. In her opinion, Elizabeth has made a definite upgrade and she can only hope to learn a thing or two from the woman that would have been her sister-in-law.
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Standing face to face with her grandmother, Elizabeth used what little she was able to learn from Jason all those years ago and steals herself against the hateful things the elder woman begins spewing from her mouth. She always knew that her relationship with Jason would never gain approval from her grandmother, but she never imagined the woman would stoop this low. The almighty Audrey Hardy brought to a level where it seemed as if cursing was a second language.
Elizabeth could see Johnny itching to step in, but Francis has a firm grip on him and refuses to let go. She had told them to stay out of it. When it comes to her grandmother, Elizabeth refuses to let anyone stand up for her, knowing that it wasn't anyone's place to do so. She will face her and she will stand her ground like she has many times before. Regardless of the repercussions of doing so.
"What did you just say?" Elizabeth finally speaks up when she hears something she swears she must have heard wrong. There was just no way her grandmother had said what she thought she just said.
From the look on Audrey, it was apparent that the elder woman hadn't intended on divulging that tidbit of information during her mile long rant. Obviously Elizabeth's habits of revealing more of herself than intended while in a fit of rage has rubbed off on Audrey because she couldn't backpedal fast enough. It was then that she realized it was the truth. Which, in turn, caused a feeling of being betrayed and handed her freedom at once.
Audrey tries to end the conversation by heading for the door, but Elizabeth has the guys block her way. There was no way in hell that Elizabeth was going just let her up and leave now that the truth had been spilled. The only way that she was leaving that room was to give her every last detail behind her admission. After a lifetime of being belittled by Audrey and the rest of them, the older woman owed her this much.
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Hanging his tux in the closet by the door, Jason turns to face the man behind his predicament, Maximus Giambetti. From what he has learnt over his time working for Sonny, he never would have believed that this man would be the reason behind him getting married.
Everything about this situation sends up red flags all over the place for him, uncertain of the man's true purpose on pointing out Jason's flaws as if it was suddenly an important factor in regard to business being conducted. Until he finds the true reason behind Giambetti's motives behind it all, he has to play the part and play it well enough for him to believe it.
"I see you've got your act together and finally set the wedding into motion." Maximus comments after ordering Milo to pour him a drink. "Good. I was afraid I'd have to set up another meeting for a whole other reason."
"Its done." Jason says firmly. "I'm getting married."
"I got the invitation." Maximus says simply. "I appreciate the effort it must have taken to send it ahead of the rest. Especially with the last minute find in regard to the wife. For that reason alone, I have chosen to overlook your little disappearance."
"How generous of you."
"What can I say? I'm a sucker for weddings." Maximus shrugs. "Call it my wedding present to you and the future wife."
"If that's all you came here to say, with all due respect, I don't have much time before I'm expected at the church." Jason voices firmly. "Wouldn't want the wedding to be cancelled, would we?"
"Heaven forbid." Maximus shakes his head. "Which brings me to my true purpose for this visit."
"And that would be?"
"To ensure that this wedding goes off without a hitch, I have assigned an entire division of my organization, snipers included, to stand guard at your wedding. If anyone makes any effort to interrupt the proceedings, let alone thinks about rising when the priest requests for objections, my men will handle it." Maximus explains sternly. "This wedding, Mr. Morgan, will go completely uninterrupted. You have my word on that."
"Do you really think that's necessary?"
"With your relations to the women in this town, Carly Corinthos, in particular, I'd say its more than necessary." Maximus replies as he slides back into his coat. "You worry about delivering that heart wrenching speech of yours and you leave the rest to me. I have six armed vehicles fully loaded with my men who will see to it that you're not late."
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Turning her back on Audrey as she walked out the door, Elizabeth takes a moment to let the information sink in, unsure of what she would do now. She could almost feel their intense gazes upon her, almost willing her to tell her what she will do with the information that she was given, albeit reluctantly. The only problem was that she wasn't sure what she should or would do.
"I need to be alone right now." she voices just above a whisper. "Please."
Hearing the door open and shut behind her, Elizabeth lets out a deep breath, begging herself to think about this objectively. All her life she knew that there was something different about her, something that set her aside from the rest of her family, but she could never truly place it. With only their lies to guide her, how was she supposed to ever find the truth?
Walking over to her dresser, she shoves her limited amount of makeup into her purse before grabbing her favorite pair of heels and walking out the door. Today is about getting married and convincing the general population, both law abiding and breaking citizens, that she and Jason are the real deal. Anything outside of that just can't matter today.
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As Sonny hangs up his best tux in the living room to see what needed to be done before he gets ready to head to the church, his front door opens up to produce an unexpected visitor. Of course, with his wife in tow, it seemed as if the five families' need to have this wedding happen has come accompanied by Maximus Giambetti's old school flare. Word has spread that the Giambetti empire's starting to allow more civilized ways of handling things now because of his sons, but that didn't stop him from throwing around his weight whenever it suited him.
"Corinthos, I believe you lost something in the hall." Maximus voices as he instructs his men to release their hold on Carly. "See to it that you keep a better hand on your fox of a wife or I'll be forced to do it for you."
"What's the meaning of this?" Sonny questions as Carly moves to stand by his side, doing her best to keep her mouth shut, albeit painfully so. "What has my wife done?"
"A man of your stature, Corinthos, I doubt you're oblivious to what your wife was about to do." Maximus waves away his ignorance. "I will only say this once, so, open those holes on the sides of your head. This wedding is my number one priority. My only priority at the moment. If anything goes wrong, anything at all, and I find either of you had anything to do with it..."
"I can understand the urgency of the wedding, but there are other options in regard to the bride." Sonny tries to explain. "If you'd let us..."
"Morgan made his choice. The wedding's in motion. As far as I'm concerned, there are no other options." Maximus cuts him off swiftly. "I suggest you use what little time you have left to work on your poker face because you are both going to be standing at the entrance to greet the guests as they enter."
Just as Carly musters up enough guts to speak out against Maximus, he walks out the door and one of his men slam the door shut behind them. As his wife turns a glaring eye to him, he knew that he would be having an earful as they got ready for the wedding and the entire drive to the church. As much as she hates the idea of Elizabeth having any part in Jason's life, there was no way she'd give him any peace now that Maximus has forbidden any kind of outburst from either of them or anyone for that matter.
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Arriving at the church, Elizabeth makes her way into the bridal quarters as the two guards make their way to meet up with their men and ensure that security was tight. From what she was told, her wedding's going to be the most locked down, protected, wedding Port Charles has ever seen. With the five families' need for this wedding to happen, they've gained protection from a good amount of organizations to ensure that it happens without any delay.
Hugging her best friends in greeting, she allows them to get started on her hair and makeup. Not many people know this about them, but Johnny and Ethan are actually pretty skilled as far as makeup and hair is concerned. Ethan, in an attempt to impress a girl, had gone to beauty school. He ended up graduating from the school, but the relationship fizzled out soon after. Mostly because the girl couldn't stand the idea of her boyfriend being better than her at hair and makeup.
"Elle?" Johnny voices for what felt like the hundredth time before her eyes finally meet his. "What's going on in that head of yours?"
"What?" she looks at him in confusion before glancing at Ethan and realizing that she had spaced out completely. "Oh, uh, nothing."
"Oh, uh, nothing?" Ethan looks at her with suspicion. "Now I know something's up."
"Are you having second thoughts?" Johnny dares to ask. "If you are, just say the word and we'll get you out of this."
"What? No!" Elizabeth blurts out, hating the mere thought of ducking out of this wedding. "I just...I have a lot on my mind, okay?"
"Care to share with the class?" Ethan questions. "We're here to help, love, but we can't do much unless you tell us what's going on."
"I know." Elizabeth sighs. "I just don't think now's the time to delve into this."
"There's no better time than now." Johnny counters. "You deserve to enjoy your wedding and we both know that won't be possible with whatever this is that's weighing on your mind."
Taking a deep breath, Elizabeth lays it out there for them, knowing just how strange it all really is when the both look stumped at the information. As they finish up her hair and makeup, the three of them theorize all the possible ways this could be true. For this to stay buried for this long in a town like Port Charles, there had to be people at play than just the Hardy/Webber clan. Promising her that they'll help her look into her past, they leave her to get into her dress. There are a few more last minute preparations that had to be handled before the ceremony goes underway.
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Maximus has had his fair share of weddings, some would say more than his fair share, and he has to admit that the look of the church sent him back to at least three of his past weddings. As he gets confirmation from his enforcer that everything is as planned, Maximus spots his sons off to the side and gives them the nod to get things situated with the groom.
"Everything going to plan?" Maximus questions when Johnny Zacchara steps up to his side. "Don't tell me you botched it already."
"No, nothing like that." Johnny assures. "But circumstances have changed. Audrey Hardy let it slip out."
"Never could trust that woman to take much to her grave." Maximus states. "Has she started asking questions?"
"She's too wrapped up in the wedding to start." Johnny replies. "Once the honeymoon is over, however, its inevitable that she'll begin poking around."
"Good." Maximus says after a moment. "I have until then to make sure there are no resounding repercussions."
"Have you told your sons?"
"In due time." Maximus assures. "For now, we make sure this wedding goes without a hitch."
"Understood." Johnny replies before heading back to the bridal quarters to tend to the bride to be.
Turning away from his retreating form, Maximus takes in the beauty that is the church, all too curious to see just what the reception will look like. With everything falling into place, he knows that its only a matter of time before it starts to fall apart. Hopefully by the time he has to show his hand in this, he'll have a strong enough standing to withstand the fallout. Until then, however, he has a wedding to enjoy.