The Devil You Know: Chapter 62

Todd was pacing.  He couldn’t help it.  He had been the picture of calm and serene until Victor had to run through that stupid checklist when he got there.  Now, he was getting nervous.  What if something happened to Blair and the wedding party on the way to the church?  What if she was getting cold feet?  Todd could feel the panic attack coming on when a hand touched his shoulder.  He jumped a mile in the sky as he came face to face with Carly and Jax.



Carly jump a bit at Todd’s reaction.  “A little nervous?” she asked, annoyance in her tone. 



“What, me?  No, not at all,” he responded, trying to cover.



“You are crap at lying,” Carly answered.  She signaled to someone in the church.  Jack came out to join them.  “I think your Dad’s about to have a panic attack.”



Jack looked him over.  “Thanks, I’ll take it from here.”  With that, Carly and her date went in and Jack turned to his father.  “You okay?”



“I’m fine, Jack, really.  It’s just my damn brother.  He was recapping all the crappy ways my weddings have blown up in the past.  I guess I just…”  Todd’s voice trailed off.



Just then, the doors opened and in stepped Jessica and her date, Nikolas Cassadine.  She saw the panicked look on her uncle’s face but walked up to him, putting a soothing hand on his arm.  “She’s right behind us.”



Todd’s whole body relaxed in that instant.  He grabbed Jessica by the shoulders and kissed her cheek.  “Thank you,” he whispered in her ear before turning and heading towards the altar.  Andrew was there, as was most of the family.  Harry was sitting next to Viki, giving his stepson a warm smile.  “Okay, Padre, I’m told the bride is moments away.  Let’s get this show on the road.”  He took his place, but his eyes slid towards Victor.  He then faced Viki.  “You did take his phone, right?”



Viki rolled her eyes, but held out her hand at Victor.  He looked at the two of them, but slapped the phone into Viki’s hand shaking his head as he did so.  She took it, shut it down and stuffed it into her purse.



As Todd looked on approvingly, he noticed Dorian and other members of the coven walk down the aisle.  She looked at Andrew and gave him a nod with a grimace on her face.  The music began and down the aisle came Cassie, followed by Sarah.  Then, Starr followed, a grin matching her father’s on her face.  Next came little Sam and Bree, tossing petals all the way down towards the bridal party.  Lastly came Blair, escorted by her mother. 



She took Todd’s breath away.



Her dress was long and flowing, fitted with a train that spread out down behind her.  She wore no veil (she never had), and her hair lay naturally back from her face.  She was walking way too slowly for Todd’s liking, but when she got to him, she reached out and grabbed his hand.  He held on to hers for dear life.     



She bestowed him with a brilliant smile.



“Dearly beloved,” Andrew Carpenter began, “we are gathered her today to join this man and this woman, again, in holy matrimony.”  Todd just had to roll his eyes.  He and Blair had been through this so many times, the whole thing was rather tedious.  But he held his tongue as the reverend continued.  “Before we begin and knowing their families, are there any here who see cause why they should not be wed?”



Automatically, and in perfect unison, Todd turned to Tina and Blair turned to Dorian.  While Tina merely smiled and offered a little wave, Dorian was looking in every direction but Blair’s.  After a good two minutes of this, as well as drawing the stares of everyone in the church, Starr cleared her throat, at last gaining Dorian’s attention.  “No complaints from me,” she said at last.   



Todd was still eying Dorian as he said, “Good, let’s move this along.”



Andrew nodded.  “I know many of you know this, but I’ve had the honor of marrying Todd and Blair two times previously.  And when I was called and asked to come here for a third time, I was musing on what would bring a couple together time after time.  And the answer I found is simply…love.”  Andrew smiled at them individually.  “And knowing this couple, I am guessing they have their own vows they wish to express to each other and the rest of us today.”



Todd had been caught off-guard as he realized that all eyes had fallen on him.  He cleared his throat, though, as he began.  “I said to you once, everything in my life that I have that is good is because of you.  I don’t think you realize just what that means to me.  I’m not just talking about our children, I’m talking about…my family.  Because of you, I found out, in the midst of self-pity, I did have a family.  Okay, so, I may have had issues with them over the years, but because of you, you and a hare-brained scheme, you gave me a family.  And we’ve added to it…and continue to…and that is the most precocious thing that I have ever been given.”  A tear rolled down Todd’s cheek, crossing his scar as it went.  “We’ve vowed before about truth and love and it’s never really worked out.  My fault, mostly.  But I think I’ve finally seen what’s been there all along.  Your love.  It’s what I’ve lived for all these years.  When I didn’t have it, or thought I lost it, I’ve been at my worst.  But when I was separated from you, it’s what kept me alive.  I vow this to you, now, I am going to trust in that love.”



Blair was fighting valiantly to keep her emotions in check.  “You swore to me that you would put us back together and you wouldn’t stop.  And I knew that day, you would be right.  No matter what has happened to us, no matter what we’ve done to each other, there has always been some force that has brought us together.  We’ve both been stubborn all these years, all that time apart.  I’m going to vow to you, while I may still do things to hurt you, and accept you may do things to hurt me, I’m going to trust in that power that has always brought us together.”  The dam burst at that point, and the tears came streaming down her face.  Todd moved to kiss them away, giving her time to gather herself together.  She knew she couldn’t go on, so she whispered, for his ear’s alone, “I love you.”



After a moment, Andrew began again.  “Todd, do you take this woman to be your--”



“Yeah, I do,” he interrupted the reverend. 



Andrew merely raised his eyebrows as he turned to the bride.  “Blair, do you--.”



“I do,” she stated, loud and clear.



There was a tiny ripple of laughter from the assembled.



At that moment, Sam stepped forward.  “Here’s the rings!” he shouted, eliciting more laughter from the congregation.



Andrew nodded and Todd and Blair took the rings off the pillow and slipped them on each other’s fingers.  Before Andrew could even announce the happy couple, they mouths’ connected and they got so lost in each other, Todd had no memory of how they had gotten to the Grand Ballroom at the Metrocourt.   They were in each other’s arms, dancing slowing as if they were the only two people in the world.



“Mrs. Blair Manning,” Todd said with a measure of satisfaction. 



“It’s been a long time,” she responded, a sexy smile touching her lips.



“I don’t know about that.  Even when we weren’t together, I still thought of you as that.  But then again, I have always been a bit possessive about you,” Todd said. 



“Just a bit?” Blair asked him, arching an eyebrow.



Todd cocked his head and was about to respond when he saw Starr and Jack approach them.  Reluctantly letting his wife go, he engulfed his eldest daughter in an embrace, as Jack did likewise with Blair.  “Thank you so much, Shorty,” he said, kissing the top of her head.



Starr stepped back.  “Since you’ve never had a lot of the traditional elements of a wedding, we want to make sure we get some of them in, if in a different way.”  She held her arms out to her father and they danced away as Blair and Jack did the same. 



As they moved around the floor, Todd began to notice others in the room – the rest of their family.  He remembered back to that glorious night at the Palace Hotel when it was just him and Blair and Starr.  “Thank you,” he repeated.



Starr smiled that mischievous smile of hers, the one that was so like his.  It was at that moment that Starr released him and Jack released Blair and Todd was back in the arms of his soulmate.  As they continued their dance, something fell gently on Todd’s head.  Mr. and Mrs, Manning looked up and saw they were being showered by gold balloons. 



It was under those that they kissed again, sealing their union once and for all.     


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