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Philip looked up from his scrambled eggs when Belle plopped an envelope on the table next to him. "What's this?" he asked. On the front of the envelope, his name was written in beautiful script. He smiled at the address underneath it. 1004 Country Club Drive. Belle's and his love nest. The spacious apartment that they shared, only a few blocks from the university.
Belle settled into her seat on the other side of him and took a sip of her orange juice before responding. "Open it up. You're gonna flip."
His fingers flicked envelope flap up. Inside, he found a white card decorated simply with two red roses crossed over each other. The saying on the front read, "Two lives, two hearts, joined together in friendship...united forever in love." When he flipped the card open, he let out a breath that he hadn't been aware of holding, his grin fading away. "Wow."
"I told you that you'd flip," Belle giggled. She quietly munched on a piece of toast as she watched Philip's eyes scan the message inside.
"I can't believe this. I mean...Chloe and Brady...I knew that they were together, but...married?" he stumbled out.
~*~
Jan reached into the small mailbox with her right hand, her left hand juggling Faith, a diaper bag, and a folded stroller. There were only three envelopes today, something that made Jan happy. At least there wouldn't be an enormous amount of bills to pay this weekend. She closed the metal door to the box, extracted her keys from it, and trudged up the stairs to their apartment.
Shawn was inside on the couch, still in his work clothes, arm stretched over his eyes. He mumbled a hello when he heard the door slam behind his wife and daughter.
After setting Faith in her playpen, Jan began looking through the mail. "Bill, bill...what the..."
Her eyes grew large as she recognized the return address at the top of the envelope. As quietly as she could, she tore open the envelope and peered inside. "Shawn, honey...I think you should read this," she called from the kitchen table.
"What? Come bring it to me."
She dreamily made her way to the couch and allowed the envelope to drop onto his muscular chest. "What is this?" she asked.
He sat up wearily. On his lap was a white card that displayed roses and a sentimental statement on the front. He quickly opened it up. "Please join family and friends in celebrating the marriage of Chloe Elizabeth and Brady Victor Black...Saturday, the fifteenth of June two thousand and two at nine o'clock in the evening Tilting Heights Park, Salem, Illinois. Reception to follow at the home of John and Marlena Black. Please respond by May 20th to Nancy Wesley," he read aloud.
"How did they know where we were?" Jan asked lightly.
"I don't have any idea."
~*~
"So, he'll be here for sure then?" Nancy asked into the telephone receiver. Chloe had sent out invitations for the wedding only a week ago, and already most of the guests had called to confirm that they were coming. Even Mimi, Philip, and Shawn had called to let her know that they would be arriving for the occasion. Now, as her hand gripped the phone tightly, she heard the words that Chloe would love to hear...her biological father would be attending to help escort her down the aisle. Nothing would make her happier. "Thank you very much, sir! I'm so glad he'll be able to make it," she smiled brightly, regardless that the other party couldn't see it.
Chloe's voice was calling to her from the hallway, so Nancy hurriedly hung up the phone and jotted down a few notes. "Nancy! Where are you?" Chloe sang as she entered the room. "What are you doing?"
Nancy slammed the tiny piece of paper that she'd been writing on into the desk's middle drawer before locking it with a tiny silver key. "I'm just making a few last arrangements," she assured her daughter. "You do know that you're getting married in about a month, right?"
"Yes. But then again, who can forget a thing like that! Especially when you're getting married to Mr. Brady Victor Black," Chloe beamed. For the moment, the secretive acts of Nancy and the phone were forgotten.
~*~
On June 14th, Belle, Philip, Mimi, Jason, Mandy, Amanda, and Angel had all arrived at John and Marlena's penthouse. Mimi and Jason had arrived on a plane from LA that morning, leaving Jason's roommate Jeff to fend for himself at their apartments. Belle, Philip, and Mandy had traveled via Phil's new SUV from Kansas. All three of them were tired from the 12 hour road trip. Amanda and Angel had slinked into the apartment that afternoon, but no one really paid much attention to how they had gotten there in the first place. The rehearsal had been that morning, so pretty much everyone had missed it.
"So, you're Belle's roommates?" Mimi asked, sitting on Jason's lap. The group was gathered in the living room, casually sitting upon the various couches and chairs. There were freshly baked cookies on the coffee table, and lemonade in tiny glasses nearby.
Mandy spoke up, not really expecting Amanda to respond. "Yep. Well, we were...until..."
"Until I decided to start working late...yeah...uh...that's an inside joke. They hardly ever see me anymore, so it's like I've moved out!" Belle interrupted, shooting an evil glance in Mandy's direction.
"You can say that again," Amanda mumbled. Angel let out a grunt that was supposed to be muffled laughter, but his face turned calm again when he noticed Philip's eyes pleading with him.
"Well, that's nice," Mimi said uncomfortably. "So, er...uh...Mandy...you're engaged?"
"Uh-huh! Wanna see my ring?" she said enthusiastically, holding out her left hand to show off her tiny diamond. "He goes to UCLA, so I don't see him that much, actually. But we're gonna get married here in a few years. When we've both graduated."
"We go to UCLA," Mimi said, gesturing towards Jason. "We might know you're fiance. Who is it?"
"Jeff Huncovsky...the greatest guy in the world."
Jason, who had been drinking a lemonade, quickly spit all of the liquid across the room. "Who?"
"Jeffrey Alan Huncovsky."
"Oh my god! That's Jason's roomie!!! What a small world!" Mimi shrieked.
Angel snickered again from beside Amanda. The silence filled the room once more as the friends ran out of things to say. Finally, at about 8 o'clock, Belle began shuffling the guys out the door. "We'll see you tomorrow, boys! It's time to get ready for some girly fun!"
The guys retired to the Kiriakis mansion to set up for Brady's bachelor party, the girls doing the same for Chloe at the penthouse.
~*~
"Take it off, baby!" Chloe yelled at the half naked blonde dancing on top of Marlena Evan's glass coffee table.
"Chloe! Sit still! I'm trying to finish you're manicure!" a drunken Mimi laughed at the brunette.
"Isabella...does Philip know that you do this at parties?" Mandy giggled at the gyrating blonde on the coffee table. They were all clad in their bikinis, having sat in the jacuzzi earlier that evening. Then, they had guzzled two bottles of wine between the five of them and danced around the penthouse, dying hair, trying on outfits, and giving each other manicures.
"Yeah...and sometimes he joins me!"
The entire room burst into laughter. "Is that what you guys do? Or is that just what you call it?" Amanda asked.
Chloe stopped laughing for a moment. "You and Philip are...well...uh.."
"They like to play 'hide the salami' from time to time," Mandy cracked.
Amanda joined in by offering, "Yeah...you know the song, Chloe..." then Mandy, Amanda, and Mimi started singing. "You and me baby ain't nothing but mammals, so let's do it like they do on the Discovery Channel!"
Belle looked helplessly at Chloe, who looked a bit distraught at this news.
Then, Chloe started laughing again. "Ewww! Belle! Is he as big as I remember?"
"What?!!?" Belle shrieked, eyes wide, but mouth breaking into a smile.
"Yeah, I never told you, but we almost had sex in his father's barn when we were going out."
"So...is he as big as Chloe says he is?" Mandy asked, really interested now.
"Ohhhhh, yeahhhhh!" Belle exclaimed. "And then some!"
The room erupted into laughter again. "What about Jason?" Chloe asked.
Mimi blushed deeply before answering. She demonstrated with her hands and the other girls looked on greedily. "Who'd have thought, huh?" she giggled.
"What about Jeff?"
"He's average...But I know someone who's definitely NOT average...Angel..."
"How do you know that?" Amanda demanded, still laughing.
"I have my sources."
Mimi turned to Chloe. "How about Brady...or do you even know yet?"
"I don't want to know! That's my brother!" Belle screamed, covering her ears and shutting her eyes.
"Then don't listen. We want to know!" Amanda shouted at her.
"Hmmm...well...I'll just tell you that I do know...and he's definitely satisfying!"
Belle jumped back up onto the coffee table, moving to the beat of a loud song on the radio, only to be joined by Mandy and Mimi seconds later.
The girls squealed and laughed well into the night, not caring that across town, their men were also ogling a blonde woman...but not so innocently.
~*~
Philip greeted Henderson at the library's door, quickly shuffling the new arrivals inside and locking the door after. Jason started hooping and hollering at the tall blonde that stood at the doorway. She toted a small bag and was dressed in pink vinyl. Behind her was Jason's roommate, Jeff. "Now the entertainment arrives! By the way, Jeff...met your fiance today. Sure know how to pick 'em if you know what I mean," he laughed.
"You met Mandy? Where's she at?" Jeff asked, stepping around the woman in the doorway and plopping down onto the sofa near Jason.
"She's at Belle's. That's Phil's girl...and Meems' best friend. And Brady's half sister...Man...this IS a small world!"
"Yeah...I know who she is. I've been down here before...right, Brady?"
Brady nodded and poured himself a beer. "Did you get this for me, Uncle Phil?" he inquired. He gestured at the blonde, still standing awkwardly near the door.
"Sure did, my little bachelor! Guys...this is Kari."
At this, Kari strutted over to Brady, blew him a kiss, and sat seductively on his lap. "So you're the one who's getting married tomorrow? That's a shame. We could've had something," she cooed.
Then, she jumped off his lap, pulled out a tiny boombox, and pressed play.
The guys laughed a little. But Jason began hollering again when Kari's bright pink jacket was sent flying towards him. "Oh, yeah! Man, Jeff...I hope you're getting married soon...I'm getting to like these bachelor parties!"
"Angel sure is missing out on this!" Philip shouted above the music. "He said he had to eat dinner and he hasn't come back! Now that the door's locked, though, he's just out of luck!"
Then, a black lace bra was being sent towards Philip and the entire room was speechless for almost the rest of the evening.
~*~
"Ugh..." Belle groaned into her pillow. The alarm was going off and she couldn't figure out why. Her head felt like it had been put into a washing machine and she was freezing. Cracking her eyes, she saw that she was still in her bikini and laying on top of her comforter. Around her room, she saw four other bikini-clad girls sleeping on blow-up mattresses.
Just as she was yawning and settling back into bed, there was a loud knock on her bedroom door. "What?!" she called.
Marlena peeked her head inside the room. "It's time to get up! Chloe's got a hair appointment in an hour!"
Chloe groaned from her place next to Mimi. "I'll get up in a second."
"Okay. The rest of you girls need to get up and come down for breakfast."
~*~
Brady shifted restlessly on the sofa where he had been sitting, awake, all night. He could hear Jeff snoring lightly from the recliner nearby and Angel's footsteps outside the den. He looked down at his arm, which was itching wildly, and saw that Kari's black lace bra was still entwined around it. Shaking it off, he got up.
"Morning, sunshine," Philip whispered from his place on the floor. He extracted the bra that had landed on his face and sat up. "Nervous?"
"A little," Brady admitted. "I love Chloe, but this is all so...well, it's just...I'm afraid I'm going to flub my vows in front of all those people!"
Philip chuckled. "You know what you need? You need to see Chloe. I bet once you see her, everything will disappear...but her."
~*~
It was 8:30 that evening when Brady snuck around to the large white tent where the girls were putting on their finishing touches. He could hear them inside, giggling and whispering, and he could just barely make out what they were saying.
"In just half and hour you are going to be married...and my new sister!" Belle screeched in a hushed tone. "I wish the damn time would hurry...I'm so excited!"
"Me, too!" squealed Mimi. "Here let me get your necklace for you, Chloe."
"Are you excited, Chlo? I mean...really excited? You are after all marrying the man of your dreams," Mandy interjected.
"I'm...I'm...I'm nervous you guys. I'm just so scared. I know that there are only friends and family out there, but I'm still worried about everything. And the fact that I have to stay cooped up in here while everything is happening is making me a total wreck! Thanks, Mimi," she said, thanking the girl for helping her with her jewelry. "I just wish Brady was here...he'd make everything all better." The entire tent sighed dreamily before bursting into giggles.
Brady leaned forward to hear some more, intent on listening to these wonderful few words that his soon-to-be wife was saying. Unfortunately, he was leaning into a bramble bush that poked through his tuxedo and pierced his thigh.
"OWWWW!" he whimpered, clasping a hand over his mouth quickly.
"What was that?" Belle asked.
"I don't know...do you want me to go find Angel? He'll scare off any wild animal that could be out there," Amanda piped up from her padded chair inside the tent.
"No...I bet it was just a cat or something. We're in a park for God's sake, Amanda. There aren't any wild animals...except squirrels," Mandy supplied.
There was some shuffling from inside the tent before the flap flew open. Belle looked down and gasped. "Brady Victor Black! Get away from here! You're not supposed to see Chloe until she walks down the aisle! It's bad luck!"
"Brady?" Chloe asked excitedly from inside. She rushed to the flap and broke through Belle's attempt to keep their eyes from each other. "Brady! What's wrong? Are you okay?"
She knelt beside him in her huge white dress, gingerly touching his leg where he was holding it. "I'm fine...now that I could see you."
"Uh, uh, uh, you two! I let you see each other...but there will be NO premarital kissing! Do you hear me?" Belle replied forcibly, flinging her hand in front of Brady's lips. "Now...go up to the altar and WAIT for Chloe. NOW!"
"Until we can be united...in marriage...I guess I'll have to leave you. My sister...the warden!" Brady laughed. Then, he picked himself off the ground, blew Chloe a kiss, and walked out into the park.
~*~
"The wedding was beautiful!" Mimi exclaimed. "I loved the tiki torches and the white lights around the gazebo! It was absolutely gorgeous! That's what I want for my wedding!"
"Oh, God! She's planning the wedding already! Run, Jase...run fast!" Jeff chuckled.
"Shut up, man. You're already tied down...you have no room to talk," Jason scowled from his seat at the reception.
"I want mine to be in the afternoon...with the sunset over a lake...on a peak that overlooks the water," Belle said to Mimi.
Jeff groaned again. "Women!" Mandy socked him in the arm before settling back against it cozily.
"A lake, eh?" Philip asked, pulling Belle closer to him. "At sunset? Should I be taking notes?"
"If you think it would help."
"You never know, Belle. It might come in handy." Then, to the amazement of the entire reception, he sank to his knee and produced a small blue box from his pocket. "Isabella Black...we've been best friends for forever...and I never want that to end. But recently, we learned that our friendship was just a diving board to love...a love that is deeper than any ocean on earth. So, in finding that love, I believe that we should act upon it and become a partnership for life. Isabella Black...will you marry me?"
Belle's eyes were overflowing with tears as she nodded enthusiastically. Mimi cheered, kissing Jason on the lips. Mandy and Jeff smiled in earnest, Brady and Chloe looked on in understanding...and Shawn Brady walked into the reception with his wife...just in time to witness his first true love accepting her engagement ring.
"Philip Kiriakis!" his voice boomed. He strode over to the table, despite the gasps and murmurs of the rest of the party. "Philip," he said very seriously. "You're a lucky man."
He patted Phil on the back, took Jan by the hand, and wiped away the tears that were threatening to fall. Then, he introduced them all to the newest Brady...Faith.
All was well in Salem again...readying for another wedding...and watching as Chloe's growing stomach matched Belle's as they began the next chapter in their lives...bound together.
~*~THE END~*~
I am greatly sorry for the horrible ending to this fic...it's sappy. And the really crappy html stuff that I used got me nowhere. So SORRY!!!