The Devil You Know: Chapter 57

When Christmas Day had arrived, Todd was actually quite surprised.  With all the family there, he wasn’t looking to strangle any of them.  It wasn’t like he didn’t have a lot of options.  Tina, Victor and Dorian were always on his hit list.  He still had mixed feeling about Michael hanging on his daughter.  The Buchanans always presented an option to him.  And yet, they all were acting quite civil in a large group.  Even Dorian and Viki had held off on going at it on this festive day!



It was seeing them together that made Todd feel he should show some equal sign of being magnanimous.  He signaled his twin over to the side, a gesture he didn’t notice had garnered Tina’s attention.  When Victor made his way over, Todd looked him straight in the eye.  “I have a request to make of you.”



“What is it?” Victor asked.



Todd’s lips twitched as he said, “I’m planning for my wedding to be New Year’s Day, and I actually like it if…”



Victor couldn’t stop the smirk from appearing on his face.  “‘If’ what?”



“If you would be one of my groomsman,” he finally got out.



Before Victor could answer, Tina stepped up beside her brothers.  “What are you two doing hiding over here?”



Todd’s eyes rolled.  “We weren’t hiding and it is none of your business what we were talking about,” Todd told her.



“He asked me to be a groomsman in his wedding,” Victor said with delight.



Tina grabbed Victor by the ear and yanked him towards the foyer.  He was making a commotion on the way out, drawing all the attention in the room.  When they were finally alone, Tina released him and ordered, “You have to say no!”



Her baby brother was rubbing his ear and throwing her a nasty look when he asked “Why?”



“Because,” she began then pulled him further away from the rest of the family.  “Because, his wedding plans have already been put into motion…and Jack and CJ are going to be the groomsman.”



Victor’s face took on a look of genuine concern.  “You’re not planning the wedding, are you?  Tina, I heard what happened the last time you ‘planned a wedding’.  This is not an invitation for you and Cord to go renew your vows.”



It was Tina’s turn to roll her eyes.  “No, silly, Starr is planning it.  But Jessica and I are helping her and we have everything under control and you are not in the plans…ours or Todd’s.”



“I must be, because he just asked me,” Victor replied.  Before Tina had a chance to answer, he headed back inside and went to Todd.  “Why do you want me to be in the wedding?”



“Um, because you’re my brother,” he responded.  “Isn’t that what normal brothers would ask of each other?”



“I think we can safely say we are never going to be normal brothers,” Victor said.  Then he paused, getting serious for a minute.  “Look, it’s a nice thought you have, asking me.  But I think there are other people in your life who mean more to you than me.”



“Like who?”



“Well, I’d say Jack, for one.”



“Jack is going to be my best man.”



Victor smiled at a memory.  “Can’t wait to hear the toast.”  He then waved off Todd’s look.  “What about CJ?”



“CJ was also in my plans,” Todd said.  “Look, I was trying to be brotherly.  Obviously, I was wrong to even ask.”



Victor looked back at Tina, then to Todd.  “You seem to have a lot of this planned out.  Who were the bridesmaids going to be?”



“Well, besides Starr, I was going to leave that up to Blair,” Todd said.



“But if you had your way?”



Todd had to think for a minute.  “I’d really like Sarah.  She was there for the first time.”



“Second, actually,” Victor corrected until Todd glared at him.



“Toe-may-to, toe-mat-to,” came the retort.  “Other than her, I really can’t think of anyone else I’d personally like to be a bridesmaid.”



Victor looked over at Tina, who was eyeing him with interest.  “Okay, well, look, why don’t you talk this over with Blair and if she decides on anyone else besides Starr and Sarah, I’ll do it, okay?”



Todd nodded and went looking for Blair.  He found her in the kitchen with Reginald.  “I need to talk to you.”



Blair looked at Reg, who hurried out of the room.  When Todd was sure he was gone, he came out with, “We’re getting married on New Year’s Day.”



Blair looked at him, stunned.  “Wait, what?”



“We’ve been engaged too long already,” he began again.  “Seriously, this is the longest engagement we’ve ever had.  And I don’t want to be engaged any long.  I want to be married.  So I was actually planning the wedding for a while and was going to spring it on you like I usually do, but I don’t want to do that entirely.  And with my family here, even if I don’t want half of them to be here, and Dorian here, who I really don’t want here, but I know you would, I think we should go tell them,” he said in a rushed voice.



It was a tick of Todd’s she had always loved.  She kissed him and then said, “I can’t wait to marry you.”



“Then let’s go out there and tell everyone.  Get the hens clucking,” Todd replied.  He started to lead her out then stopped.  “One thing, I also want to announce that I want Jack to be my best man.  I was wondering, would Starr…?”



“Of course she would be,” Blair answered.  “And don’t forget, we promised Bree would be the flower girl and Sam would be the ring bearer.”



“And I would like CJ and Sarah to be part of the wedding too.”



Blair smiled again.  “Of course.  Is there anyone else?”



Todd remembered his conversation from a minute ago.  “Well, this may sound weird, coming from me, but…”



“Victor?”  Todd only nodded.  “I think that’s a lovely idea, actually.  I guess the only other person I’d consider is Cassie.  We have enough time, I guess, so I’ll call her in the morning.”  They kissed again.  “Now, let’s go let everyone else know.”



When they arrived back in the study, Todd cleared his throat loudly and everyone hushed.  “Since you are all here, be decided to tell you something.  On New Year’s Day, Blair and I are getting married.”



Starr’s grin lit up the room.  “Oh, that’s great!” she said as she ran to congratulate her parents. After she hugged her mother, she said to her father, “If you need any help in arranging it, I’ll be more than happy to help.”



“Well, you can do one thing for me,” Blair said.  “Be my maid of honor?”



“Of course!” Starr replied as Jack went up to congratulate his parents.



“I want you to be my best man, Jack,” his father said to him.



“Yeah, I kind of figured that.  I’ve actually been working on the speech, as a matter of fact,” Jack told him.  Starr threw him a look, but he retorted, “What?  Process of elimination.”



By then, Sam ran into Todd’s arms.  “Can I we in the wedding too?” he asked.



“Of course you will be.  You’ll have a very important job,” Blair assured him.  “You’ll be the ring bearer.”



Todd put Sam down and went over to Jessica and her kids.  “And I do remember the promise Aunt Blair and I made at your grandmother’s wedding.  You still want to be the flower girl, right?”  Bree nodded, and Todd held out his hand for her to shake.  “Job’s yours then.



Blair moved over CJ, Sarah and Dillon.  “Todd also told me he wants you two in the wedding as well.  Since you were there all those years ago, when it was so perfect for us.”



Sarah hugged Blair, as did CJ.  “It was a honor than, and it’s an honor now,” Todd’s niece replied.



As Blair walked away from them, Dorian practically accosted her.  “Why the rush?”



Blair nearly jumped.  She knew Dorian was going to start something.  “There’s actually no rush this time.  We’ve been engaged since just after he was shot.  To Todd, that’s a long engagement.”  Then she patted her stomach.  “And with the baby coming, I want to be married too.”



“Then maybe you should wait until after the baby is born,” Dorian responded.



“Me-my daughter will be born after we are married, Dorian.  I’ve made my feelings very clear on that in the past,” Todd said.



“And besides, it’s only a week away.  It’s not like I’ll be blowing up like a house in that time.  It gives us a enough time to plan, also,” Blair said.



“Actually, I’ve got a lot of it in motion.  But we can talk about that later,” Todd said.



“And I look forward to your wedding,” Viki said as she approached, embracing Blair before giving Todd a peck on the cheek.  “And I am sure Dorian is too, right Dorian?”



All eyes were on her now and she plastered on a smile.  “Of course I am.  I was just concerned…”  When she noticed the looks were getting darker, she finally came out with, “I just want Blair to be happy.”



Todd took his bride to be in his arms as she said, “I am happy.  I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy before.”



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