The Devil You Know: Chapter 19

As the rehearsal at St. James ended, Tina Lord Roberts tried to gather everyone up.  “Can I have your attention…Please can I have you attention…LISTEN UP!” she finally shouted.  When all the family members in the church jump and became silent, Tina smiled pleasantly.  “Thank you.  Now, for the surprise I have organized for all of us.  The first one is for Kevin, Joey, Natalie and Jessica; Starr, Jack and Sam; Sarah and CJ; and Danie and of course your guests.  There is a party waiting for you at Rodi’s.  I rented the place out, so enjoy.” 

Then she turned to Clint.  “As per tradition, you can’t go back to Llanfair tonight.  But I am making sure Cord keeps you company until tomorrow morning.”  Then she finally turned to her brothers and sister.  “As for us, we’ll be heading back to Llanfair for the night.”

Victor gave her a curious look.  “Why?” he asked.

“Well, we’ve never all spent one night under the same roof.  Something we’ve never all done.  I thought it might be nice.  Make us feel like a real family,” Tina explained. 

Rolling his eyes, Victor turned to his twin.  “You knew about this?”

Todd merely smirked at him, then got up and walked over to Blair.  “Did you put my tux in the car headed for the Lord Family Psych Ward?”

“Now, Todd, behave.  Remember what I said.  This could do you all some good,” she warned.  Then she kissed him on the cheek.  “See you tomorrow.  I can’t wait to see you walk your sister down the aisle.”

As she was ready to leave, Cord stopped her.  “What are you doing tonight?” he asked.

Blair looked over at Todd, who was talking with Starr and Michael.  Then she smiled.  “You asking me out?”

Victor and Tea were in the back of the church.  “I really don’t want to go, but Tina and now even Viki are insistent on it,” he whined. 

“Well, I’m sorry to say, I knew about it and I put tour tuxedo into the car for this reason,” Tea regretfully admitted.  “Look, Tina gave me this big sob story about how she wanted one night with her family.  When she puts on the waterworks…”

“Fine, I’ll go,” he grumbled at last. 

Tea smiled at her husband.  “I’m sure you’ll be fine.  Just don’t kill your brother.  I really don’t want to have to worry about bail tonight.  And it will ruin the day for your Viki.”

When the Lord siblings finally left, Clint walked over to Tea.  “I’d like you to join Cord, Blair and I at Asa’s.  While my daughter-in-law feels the need for a family bonding session, I think we can all trade war stories about our significant others.”  Tea smiled at that and walked to her car, her destination, the Buchanan Mansion.

The Lord grandchildren made their way over to Rodi’s.  They mingled about, but at one point, Starr noticed that Kevin was staying away from her.  She decided to see what was up.  “Kevin, is anything wrong.  Yesterday at Thanksgiving, I noticed you were avoiding me.”

Kevin looked over at her.  “Sorry, but I still look at you and all I see is your dad and all the havoc he caused here for years.”  When he saw Starr ready to get defensive, he held up his hand.  “We had a talk on Wednesday and while we will never be friends, I think we have an understanding.”

Starr looked at him, a question forming in her mind.  “Kevin, what was he like…before the rape?  I know it’s a tough topic, but it could really help…help me understand my dad.”  She felt Michael put his hand on her shoulder, offering her support.

Kevin look a deep breath.  “He was never a nice guy.  Always arrogant.  In fact, the only times I didn’t see that was when Peter Manning would come.  He’d usually ream him out for something and it would only make Todd angrier.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” Starr agreed.

“Hell, the first time I really didn’t see that in him was here,” he continued, spreading his hand around the bar.  “I was looking at a picture of my son and he was talking to me about being a father.  It was before your mom and dad got married.”

When that topic came out, Starr asked, “What do you know about when they got together?”

“All I know was it made Asa happy to have her out of Cord’s orbit.  That and she knew who he was and that was why she zero’d in on him,” Kevin said.  “If you want to know anything about their second wedding, ask Joey.  He was there.”

“Ask Joey what?” his brother asked as he came to the bar.

“You were at Mom and Dad’s wedding?” came Starr’s question.

“Well, I happened to be at Andrew and Cassie’s when Sarah and CJ showed up, CJ with my tie.  And then Kelly wrangled me into staying and then I noticed my mom was already in the church, so I figured, what the heck,” Joey explained.   

“You were there when Todd an Blair got married?” Natalie asked, joining the conversation.

“Oh, yeah, even if there were still some lingering issues between us,” Joey said. 

“Blair was beautiful that day,” CJ said.

“By the way,” Joey asked, turning to CJ, “who actually tied that tie?”

When CJ went looking to go point the finger at his sister, he saw her at a table with Dillon.  “Hey, want to join us at the bar?”

“Sarah, you go, I just don’t feel right…being here,” he said.

CJ sat next to Dillon.  “My mom told me about your grandfather.  If it’s any consolation, I could be here when my great-grandfather died five years ago.  Couldn’t even get back for the funeral.”

“It’s a little different.  You were on a ship out in what, the Indian Ocean?” Dillon retorted.  “I’m here for a wedding and I…I’m sorry.  I don’t mean to bring everyone down.”

“Dillon, it’s totally understandable,” Molly said as she and Jack walked over.  “When Todd and Blair came back to La Boulaie today and told us, I felt very bad for your family.  He was such a sweet man.  I remember him dancing with Michael‘s mother at Uncle Sonny‘s wedding last year.”

“Thanks,” Dillon replied.  “Wait, he went to Sonny and Brenda’s wedding?  He can’t stand Sonny, even if he thought of Brenda as another granddaughter.”  Before Molly could reply, he said, “Never mind.  Tell me when where heading home.”

“This is probably going to put a damper on the Nurses Ball, right?” Jack asked.

“Yeah.  From what I’ve heard over the years, he performed at a number of them.  Mom’s said he had a pretty good voice,” Molly said.

Jessica came over to where her brothers and Natalie were.  Starr and Michael had moved off to talk to Sarah and Dillon by then.  “So, round three for Mom and Dad,” she asked.

“Yeah, but this time, I doubt Mom’s in the same situation as she was the last time they walked down the aisle,” Kevin commented.

“Same situation?” Natalie asked.

“You don’t know?” Joey asked, a smile on his face.  

“Yeah, when Mom and Dad last did this, it was, shall be was, a real…shotgun wedding,” Kevin explained.

When Jack heard that, he nearly spit out his drink.  “Aunt Viki was knocked up?” he yelled.  Then, embarrassed, he said, “Uh, I never knew that.”

“Yeah, it’s true.  Mom was pregnant with these two,” he pointed to Natalie and Jessica, “when they last got married.”

“Jack, Mom was pregnant with me when she and Dad got married of the for the second time,” Starr said.  “Must be a family tradition.”

That seemed to get the ball rolling.  Kevin and Joey started telling their younger cousins stories from when they were growing up.  That led to CJ and Sarah jumping in with tales of Tina and Cord, especially the one about Cord’s wedding where Aunt Tina returning from the dead with a baby that wasn’t hers. 

“See, Jack, Dad wasn’t the only one to do a baby switch,” Starr teased him. 

After those stories, Starr regaled them of some of the kinder chaos she and Jack had caused over the years.  Danie, who had remained silent for much of the gathering, opened up about her childhood, but also some of the uncomfortable scenes she walked in on. 

As the night wore on, it seemed Tina’s goal had been completed.  The cousins, all of them, grew closer as family.  They laughed, shared stories, teased and, at last, grew to appreciate the fact that they were one family, for better or worse.  


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