ABC/DISNEY owns GH. No copyright is intended.
Chapter 18
After eating they made the rounds of the small group. A good portion of the guest list was already here. Most folks would be departing to stay at the casino. Only family was staying at the mansion tonight. That included the members of the crew Jason and Liz were closest too.
They came over to the table where Francis was sitting with Diane and Alexis, who was waddling off to the bathroom. "Hey how are you feeling?" Liz had seen the doctors in attendance all stop by and check on Diane.
"I am fine. I'm on a tropical island with friends, the man I love, and I have a fruity non-alcoholic drink." Patrick had said drinking would alert everyone that she didn't just get her memories back. His bribe of choice had been very altruistic. He requested a piece of equipment for the hospital that the board was too cheap to purchase. It would by no means break Francis's bank account, so the deal was struck. "Tomorrow I get to watch two young people I am very fond of get married."
"I'm glad that you will be healthy for the ceremony." Liz said smiling at her friend.
"As am I. Since you are here it's a good time for Frannie and I to give you your wedding gifts." Diane said grinning.
"We agree with everyone else that the two of you are impossible to shop for." Francis said looking at the younger couple. "But only as a set, once we decided to shop for you as individuals it got easier."
"Elizabeth, we'd like to gift you your wedding gown." Diane told her young friend. "I know you had every intention of paying us back. So I'm asking you not too." It was like a gift for them as well.
"I accept." Elizabeth said smiling.
"For you Jason." Francis said taking over. "We got this." He handed over a small box.
Jason laughed. "A car."
"A Shelby Cobra." Francis said grinning. "You need something other than the trucks and your bike to take your wife out." They knew about the SUV Liz's family gifted her so they went with something more casual.
"I love the bike." Liz said grinning.
"We know." Diane laughed. "But sometimes a car is necessary." Once the stick turned blue, whenever that was, Jason wasn't going to let Liz anywhere near the bike for a while.
"Thank you." Jason would take it out for a test drive when they got home.
"Hey, we doing gifts?" Johnny asked walking over. He had Georgie's hand in his. In fact he hadn't let her get too far away all night. "Here is ours." He had simply told Georgie to sign the card, he knew she couldn't afford to give gifts on par with what everyone else was giving the couple. Although whatever she gave them Jason and Liz would have loved.
"Thanks." Liz said taking the envelope. "A boat." She said looking at her friend. A cabin cruiser complete with two bedrooms.
"It's for when you are down here on the island." Johnny said grinning. "Name it, and register it. Congrats you two. Come on G, let's go dance." If they stayed small talk would ensue. Johnny didn't feel like sharing his girlfriend.
Jason just smirked at his friend's possessiveness of his girlfriend. "Come on. We'll see you two later." He held out his hand to Elizabeth. "Let's go find Sonny."
The older man was in the kitchen. "Everything okay?" Liz wanted to know.
"Yeah. I came in to check on the cake and now I'm waiting for Alexis to come back out of the bathroom." Sonny told the couple. "So this is a good time to give you my gift."
"Shouldn't we wait for Alexis?" Liz asked leaning into Jason. This time tomorrow she would be his wife. The minutes were going to crawl by.
"She already knows what the gift is." Sonny said smiling wide.
"I thought you wanted an audience." Jason pulled Elizabeth closer thinking he wanted the hands on the clock to move faster.
"I have gotten enough adoration for dinner." Sonny said opening a drawer and pulling out an envelope. "Who wants it?"
"She does." Jason said tilting his head towards Elizabeth.
"Just in time. Gifts." Alexis said joining them. She was urged onto one of the barstools. "Open it."
"Okay." Elizabeth opened the envelope and removed several sheaths of paper. "What is this?" She asked confused.
Jason on the other hand took the pages and quickly scanned them. "Are you sure?" Was what he said. He wouldn't have expected Sonny to make this type of decision without talking it over first.
"What is it?" Elizabeth asked getting that she was the only one in the room who didn't know what the gift was.
"Its paperwork for the island." Jason said clearly surprised. "I – We now own it."
"You're giving us the island as a wedding present?" Elizabeth asked gob smacked. "Why?"
"It's a pain to sell." Sonny said being a smartass before getting serious. "I bought it for another woman." He said shrugging. "It's time I let it go. Jason loves coming down here and being near the water. I was told that since the wedding is being held here I couldn't buy you a gift. So this way I get to give you something, and I don't get into trouble." Alexis was ready for him to let the island go, more importantly he was ready.
"Thank you." Jason said coming around and hugging his friend. The man he thought of as a brother. "You of course are always welcome here at the house." Although Sonny hadn't come down once since he married Alexis. They always went to Puerto Rico.
"Be happy." Sonny told his friend.
"Thank you Sonny." Elizabeth would see that she and Jason came down often. It was a short flight and it would keep her hubby relaxed. "Thank you Alexis."
"You are welcome." Alexis wasn't petty by nature. Reminders that Sonny had been married before didn't normally phase her. Morgan was from her husband's first marriage and she loved that little boy to distraction. Would hurt anyone who dared say he wasn't her son. But the island bothered her, so she was happy to hear that Sonny was doing this. "I'm going back out. Bring me cake." Alexis said heading for the door.
"Go mingle." Sonny told his friends. "I'm bringing out the cake and then us guys are gonna scram."
"I'll keep an eye on your wife." Liz said walking out too. She got the feeling that her guy wanted to talk to their friend privately.
"If you change your mind you can have it back." Jason let Sonny know.
"I don't need it." Sonny actually felt lighter signing the papers. Like Carly had finally let him go. While Morgan would always be a reminder of his mother, the best reminder there could ever be, Sonny didn't need anything else. "Since you're still here you can help me bring out the cake." He said putting that away.
"It's my party, I'll send in one of the guys." Jason said dodging a flying dishtowel and trotting out the door.
"I'm getting married!" Elizabeth said dancing her way into the kitchen the next morning. She was in blue jeans and an oversized button down top so that when she got changed it wouldn't mess up her hair. "Where are the guys?"
"Eating breakfast in the guest house with Jason." Sarah told her sister. Even Nikolas had been invited over.
"So the house is girl territory until we leave for the spa." Georgie told her friend. She had spent the morning talking with Sarah and getting to know her better. The eldest Webber sister started the conversation by telling Georgie she didn't have to give up her maid of honor spot. The brunette lawyer said it was where Sarah should stand putting the argument to rest.
"How did you sleep?" Audrey asked handing her granddaughter a mug of hot chocolate.
"Fantastic." Elizabeth said sitting at the table where the ladies were eating breakfast. Since the buffet warmers were out she knew Sonny had cooked before heading over to the guest house. "Because I'm getting married today!" Elizabeth sing songed.
"Really?" Diane said laughing. "So my afternoon of shopping isn't going to happen?"
"I could shop." Kelly said simply to cause trouble. "Or just sit around and look at all the gorgeous guys currently walking around the property."
"Don't you have a boyfriend?" Sarah had enjoyed talking to the outrageous doctor last night. She was surprised Kelly wasn't in the wedding party since she and Liz were close, to which the ob/gyn replied she didn't do the bridesmaid thing anymore. She had been in ten weddings and all the couples were now divorced. Sarah had simply said thank you.
"Yes. Patrick is smart, sexy, good in bed, and did I mention smart." Kelly said smiling. "But I also have twenty/twenty vision and a really good imagination."
Audrey just chuckled. "I must admit to enjoying the view this morning a time or two myself."
"Gram!" Elizabeth and Sarah said at the same time.
"With age comes wisdom and the appreciation of tight buns." Monica said clinking her mug with Audrey's. "I wonder if any of the guys has considered a second career as a pool boy." The cardiologist mused. She loved her husband, but yeah her eyes worked too.
"I'm not dead." The older woman said sipping her coffee and looking at her granddaughters. "You let me know if that happens Monica. So what is the plan for the day?" She would stop scandalizing her family members.
"Just hanging out at the house until it's time to leave for the resort where we will get a full day of pampering at the spa. Then back here where I'm getting married. In case you forgot." Elizabeth said grinning.
"She made it all the way to her wedding day before becoming a bridezilla." Diane said shaking her head.
"Don't forget it. Today is all about me." Elizabeth said with a sunny smile.
"And Jason, you can't leave out Jason." Georgie knew her friend was just being outrageous.
"Of course not." Elizabeth said finishing her breakfast. She had a very erotic dream about her soon to be hubby, and was looking forward to seeing if they couldn't make it come true.
"This being an island I'm sure we can find a boat to facilitate your escape." Johnny told his friend.
"That will not be necessary." Sonny said with a grin. "A helicopter is faster."
"The Quartermaine jet is here." Alan said keeping the theme going.
"You guys are supposed to be telling me how great my life will be from here on out, considering that the majority of the men in the room are married. Or mostly married." Jason said including Francis.
"Marriage is great. And to be avoided up until the very last minute." Steven told the soon to be newest family member.
"I like being married." Nikolas said with a sunny smile. "It's all about finding the right woman."
"I knew Maggie was the right woman early on." Steven said giving up the ruse. "I asked her to marry me on our third date and she looked at me like I was crazy. But I knew she was it. I managed to control myself and not ask her again for another eight months. Thankfully she said yes." The wedding was one of the best days of his life.
"I had a little competition from your dad." Alan told Steven. The Webber kids were aware that Jeff had once dated Monica. "But I won in the end."
"Which is good because otherwise we wouldn't be here." Johnny pointed out.
"True." Steven said nodding.
"Alexis came out of nowhere." Sonny admitted. "I was wrapped up in a woman who was totally wrong for me. When I got out of the relationship I wasn't looking for another one. Hell I was terrified of being in another relationship, but I couldn't get Alexis out of my mind. I had to grow up though." The mob boss admitted a bit ruefully. "She wanted none of me in my prior mindset."
"She was right." Jason told his friend. The fact that he could say that to Sonny showed how far the older man had come.
"Yeah she was. The right woman makes all the difference, the wrong one can destroy you." Sonny said passing along some wisdom he learned the hard way. "You found the right woman."
"Remember that." Steven said in warning. "Also remember she has a trauma surgeon brother and a grandmother with a mean streak who both live in the same town as you."
"So noted." Jason said laughing. "So what's the plan for the day?"
"Fishing." Francis told his younger boss. "We'll have you back in time to get ready for the ceremony."
"Are we taking Sonny's boat?" Jason was guessing that the vessel would be sailed over to Puerto Rico.
"No, the charter company I use when I come down." Johnny told his friend. The fact that the Irishman owned it meant security wouldn't be an issue. "Before we go out we need to do a little business." He said looking at Jason.
"I'm done so we can do that now." Jason said standing and Johnny did as well. They went into the kitchen and left everyone else in the dining room. "What's up?"
"I want to go over Elizabeth's security detail." Johnny said leaning on the counter. "Milo as primary and Hank as secondary."
"That works out well." Jason said giving his approval. "Who else is going with us to Italy?" Elizabeth's team would always travel with her.
"Cody and Lee are going to meet you in Palermo." Johnny said explaining who he picked. "Maximus is also sending Reggie and Paolo from his security team. So that you have guys who know the region." It would also send the message that Jason and Liz were there as Maximus's guests. "I can also send Chris and Renaldo if you want more security."
"No we should be fine." Jason put his mug in the sink. "Everything okay with you and Georgie?" Business was done.
"Everything's good. I got my first full night's sleep in a week last night." The head of security said laughing. "And I missed her like crazy. I liked knowing she was in the room next to mine, five dates and I'm done." They had gone out twice over the past week. Mostly because Johnny had wanted some time where he didn't have to share Georgie. He needed to get this possessive streak under control.
"Looking at rings yet?" Jason wasn't thinking engagement, just something to say Georgie had a guy.
"Considering it." Johnny confessed. "I liked the way the ruby looked on her hand, but her preference is topaz so when we get back home I'm gonna make a few calls."
"Congratulations." Jason was happy for his friend.
"I wonder who is going down next." Johnny said with a wide grin. "We should look around and see who we can help out. You know, like paying it forward. I was sorry Diane was hurt, but she did me a huge favor." He admitted. "Maybe next year it will be Georgie and I tying the knot."
"Please, you aren't making it past Christmas." Jason said on a snort. "I need to go get my fishing gear."
"Nice try. I'll get your gear." It was in Jason's room at the main house. "You will stay away from Liz until the ceremony." Johnny was superstitious and that meant following all the established wedding rules. "Stay put, I'll be back."
"Can't fault me for trying." Jason was totally going to use this to try and see Elizabeth.
Johnny just shook his head and headed over to the main house. He would check in with the crew and see how things were going since he was there. He would also check in on the ladies, and hopefully get a smooch from his girl.
Thanks for the reviews!