Chapter Thirteen:
One Moment

It wasn't all that tacky, really, Carly thought, glancing around the room again. She was from Florida, after all… she knew about tourist traps and the level of neon and plastic they could inspired. If you considered that, this was sort of nice…

Ok. So that was generous. It had the trappings of a place that might have had the potential to be nice about twenty years earlier. Before the upholstery on the chairs wore to threads and the wallpaper began to take on a yellowish tinge. The strip lights weren't entirely flattering to the tattered interior. And it smelled powerfully of lemon pledge.

Carly glanced back at the girl behind the reception desk, who was blowing a large bubble in a shade of green only found in bubble gum and bus terminal bathrooms. She was aggressively young, sixteen at best, and regarded Carly over half-closed lids. She tapped a pen lightly on the desk as she blew the bubble to its zenith and it broke, deflating rather pathetically. She wrapped the gum around her tongue without taking her eyes from Carly's and sucked it back into her mouth. Cracking it loudly, she finally asked her question.

“Do you have an appointment?”

Carly narrowed her eyes slightly at the girl. There was one other couple in the place and they appeared to be fighting. She tossed her hair lightly and put a hand on her hip.

“Yeah. Cassadine.”

The girl looked down at the paper. “You're not booked until 1:30.”

The voices at the other side of the room raised. Something about someone's mother. Carly cast a languid look in the couple's direction, and looked back at the girl. “Maybe there'll be an opening, huh?”

The girl blinked. “Wouldn't count on it."

Carly resisted the urge to groan in annoyance. She was not in the mood for this. She forced her most charming smile, cocking her head to one side. “Do you think you could move us up a bit?”

“We could maybe bump you up, if…” she paused to inhale and expel a breath, flipping the page of the appointment book, “you think the guy's going to be on time.”

Carly looked the girl up and down, ascertaining quickly that, yes, if it came to it… she could take her.

“Gee,” she felt her expression change to a sneer. “That would be swell. We're in a hurry.”

The girl sighed. “There are drive through chapels, you know?”

Right, Carly thought. She was marrying a guy who had turned down vehicular sex, but he was going to go for a drive through wedding? In what, a taxi? Some how, she thought that was pushing this whole thing a bit far.

“Am I keeping you up?” Carly asked, with an unapologetic edge to her voice. “I mean, this isn't exactly a one chapel town.”

The girl closed her eyes, displaying the carefully applied blue, white and pink eye shadow she was wearing. “But THIS is where you have an appointment, isn't it?”

Carly leaned her hip against the desk, folding her arms. “Right. And what time is that appointment FOR, anyway?”

“1:30”, the girl repeated.

I will kill her, Carly thought as the door opened, setting off an automated chime that played the first few notes of the wedding march. Nikolas stopped, looking up at the source of the noise, and Carly found herself wondering just how many people that chime had sent running in the other direction. It had sure as hell given her a moment of pause.

Apparently, Nikolas was not deeply offended by the alarm, and crossed to her, closing his cell phone. “Everything is set,” he reported, in an amazingly calm voice. Carly raised her eyebrows.

“Everything?”

Nikolas nodded, removing a ring box from his pocket. “Everything.”

Carly felt herself flush hot with panic at the sight of the box, and turned away from him, back to the girl. “See?” her voice came out harsher than even she had expected. “He's here…” she stopped dead, noting the girl's attention was no longer focused on her.

Rather she was looking at Nikolas.

Ok. Staring. Mouth agape even. Carly's anger evaporated, replaced by a warm feeling of satisfaction that usually accompanies this kind of vindication. Nikolas, apparently, wasn't used to evoking quite this level of attention and looked at the receptionist as if she had, perhaps, suffered a minor stroke.

“Is everything all right?”

“They don't want to move up our reservation,” Carly's voice was even, but ever so slightly menacing. Nikolas glanced back at the girl. Upon making eye contact, the gum she had been chewing, fell out of her mouth, landing with a thud on the open appointment book. She jumped at the sound, and blushed a deep pink. Carly bit her lip to keep from laughing as she fumbled with the book, clearing her throat, and trying to brush the gum aside with the end of the pen. Instead it stuck to the page, and she had to pick it up and scrape the remains off with her fingernail. She looked up, avoiding Nikolas' gaze.

“I think it'd be ok if you went at 1:15.”

In a moment of bravery she looked back at him, and he smiled at her warmly. She reddened again. Nikolas moved closer to Carly, placing his hand lightly on her hip.

“We'd really appreciate it.”

“Or… Maybe even one o'clock. My Dad's really fast, he doesn't, like, waste time or anything.”

Carly marveled as the years melted off the kid. Nikolas nodded. “That would be fine.”

“How 'bout I just call you as soon as he's ready for you, ok?”

“Thank you,” Nikolas felt Carly's hand close over his as she leaned back against him. He cleared his throat. “That's a big help.”

The girl nodded, scrambling for a pencil and clipboard sitting in an out tray on the desk.

“Here, just fill this in, and I'll ring up the bill for you,” she pushed the clipboard at Carly, who took it from her, meeting her eyes briefly.

“Thanks,” she gave a sweet smile, though her voice was devoid of charm. “You're a peach.”

She turned from the desk, her hand still holding Nikolas', and led him across the room to a couple of chairs located a healthy distance from the feuding couple in the far corner. Carly turned back to him as they reached the wall, smiling at him as if they were co-conspirators. She looked down at their hands, still threaded together, and felt a small rush. This was the first time they had really presented themselves as a couple in public. She couldn't believe how good it felt.

Carly dropped down in the chair, crossing her legs and leaning the clipboard against her knee. She grinned at Nikolas. “Thank God for hormones, huh?”

Nikolas looked at her innocently. “What do you mean?”

Carly studied his expression carefully before deciding he knew exactly what he was doing. She shook her head. “You always get what you want, don't you?”

Nikolas reached out, brushing her hair back from her face and tucking it behind her ear. “Let's just say I'm on a roll tonight,” he said, his voice soft.

Carly's stomach flipped, her mind clouding a moment. She could feel her blood rushing through her again, without a doubt not much better off that the teenager at the desk, and looked down at the clipboard. The words blurred momentarily in front of her.

“We better hurry up and get this done,” she spoke quickly, focusing on the task at hand. That had been what was getting her through this whole thing. She refused to let herself think too much about the big picture, preferring to break this whole thing down into a series of errands she had to get done by eight AM Port Charles time.

The chapel had been chosen for its proximity to the airport. Time was of the essence, and Carly was fixating on it with single-minded zeal, preferring to add and subtract numbers, fret about time zones, and what might happen if there was a storm… She stole a quick glance at Nikolas' watch, still set to East Coast time.

3:45 am.

Carly flipped the pencil around her fingers, then looked down at the page. “Ok, first question. Bride's name… I can do that.”

Nikolas watched Carly hunch over the clip board, scribbling furiously. He slowly slid his arm over her shoulders, looking down as she hurriedly filled in personal information.

“We're fine, Carly.”

Carly stopped for a moment, not looking up and took a purposeful breath. He was talking to her in the same steady voice he had since she'd come to that terrifying realization in the car.

She had reached out without warning and grabbed his arm, digging her nails into his flesh.

“Michael!”

Nikolas had nearly veered into a ditch in surprise.

“What?”

Her grip on his arm was released to clamp her hand over her mouth, while the color drained from her face.

“Tomorrow's Saturday,” she'd moaned into her palm.

It had taken Nikolas a moment to put the pieces together.

“You're supposed to see him?”

Carly nodded, feeling panic grip her. This was exactly what she wasn't supposed to do. Precisely. “Two until six.”

Nikolas had pulled the car over to the shoulder, and killed the engine. He'd turned as best he could in the seat to face her.

“What do you want to do?”

Carly looked over at him, her eyes wide. “What?”

“What do you want to do,” his voice was solid as a rock. “That's over fourteen hours away. It should take roughly four hours to fly to Nevada… less if the weather is good and the pilot pushes a little.”

“I… Have no idea,” Carly said, shaking her head.

“Trust me on this,” Nikolas smiled ruefully. “I do a lot of flying. Particularly, I do a lot on this jet.”

Carly caught her breath. “Jet? We're taking the jet?”

Nikolas nodded. “That was the call I made on the dock. They're used to this, I fly on business a lot these days, they shouldn't question it.”

“And if they do?”

Nikolas shrugged. “It won't matter. Once we're in the air, nothing matters.”

Carly furrowed her brow. “There's no way they'd spill this to your father or anything?”

Nikolas' expression darkened. “I'm twenty-one, Carly. I'm not a child. My father knows better than to try to treat me like one.” There was a tinge of bitterness to his words, suggesting that may have been a hard-won victory.

“Four hours…” Carly closed her eyes, doing the math.

Nikolas was far ahead of her. “That leaves us three hours, at least, in Nevada. More, most likely. We could have to leave by eight AM our time for you to make it to the mansion safely by two.”

Carly bit her lip. “Yeah… Unless there's a storm or something.”

Nikolas shrugged. “I don't control the weather.” He cringed the moment the words were out of his mouth. “I… I don't plan to, either.”

Carly looked at him oddly, suggesting that she was not familiar with this part of the family history. Nikolas cleared his throat and pressed on. He felt like she was still in favor of this plan, and for some reason, he did not want to delay, not another night, not even twenty-four hours. There was a momentum here, and he had no desire to put a stop to it.

“We can do this,” he insisted. “There's enough time.”

“As long as nothing goes wrong…” Carly bit her lip, clenching her hand over her stomach.

“I can arrange everything by phone during the flight,” Nikolas was continuing, making his case as best he could. “I can ensure we get the license quickly, we can go some place that stresses speed, and the pilot will have a standard weather report waiting when we arrive at the plane anyway.”

Carly glanced over at him. He looked so collected about all of this. She could feel the knot in her stomach abate a little. Nikolas continued. “I want to marry you tonight, you know that. If you want to wait, though… We will.”

In a sudden flash Carly had been assaulted by memories of begging Tony, crying and pleading with him to please, please, please marry her… How hard it had been. How she'd been willing to do almost anything as long as he would just do that one thing, just marry her, just promise to take care of her. She'd never, ever, thought she'd be in this position back then.

“Nikolas?” her voice sounded uncharacteristically small. Nikolas steeled himself. “Tomorrow… When we get back, will you come to the mansion with me? To meet him?”

Nikolas sat back against the door, clearly surprised. “For your visit…?” he managed after a moment. “You want that?” Carly's face clouded, and Nikolas leaned forward again, taking her hand in his quickly. “No, no… I don't mean I don't want to, I just mean… I know you don't get much time with him. I don't want to…”

“Horn in?” Carly turned, staring out the front window of the Jag, her hand still gripping Nikolas’, despite the detached expression on her face. “They're court supervised visits, Nikolas. At the Quartermaine mansion… You can't horn in on that.”

“We're going, then?”

Carly released his hand, leaning back in the seat and closing her eyes.

“Drive, she said.

And so that was what had happened. After years of dealing with Jason, seeing how quickly he got things done, she had still been unprepared for what the Cassadine name could do. The license had been the most impressive… It had taken no time whatsoever, already prepared short of signing and the most basic of paper work, once they got there. How she couldn't even imagine. And she didn't much care. What mattered was that they were ahead of schedule and by tomorrow afternoon she would, for the first time in memory, be going to see her son with some kind of hope.

“Problem?”

Carly jumped, then looked up at Nikolas. “What?”

Nikolas nodded at the clipboard. “You stopped writing.”

Carly looked back down at the clipboard, staring at the next question. Groom's name.

“Nikolas with a 'k', right?” She frowned and looked up at him. “I don't know how to spell your name.” Carly shook her head out and laughed. “Does that scare you?”

Nikolas blinked, considering this. “It should,” he admitted. “And yeah, it's a 'k'.”

Carly nodded, committing his name to paper, then stopped again. “Middle name?”

Nikolas wordlessly reached over, taking the pencil from her and wrote down his middle names, then pulled back. Carly stared at the clipboard.

“They're not going to make me say that, are they?”

“You have twenty minutes to practice.”

“Right. I, Carly, take you, Nikolas Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Cassadine…”

“Super-what?”

Carly rolled her eyes, looking up at him in amusement. “Oh, don't tell me you haven't heard of Mary Poppins!”

Nikolas paled visibly.

“What does that have to do with Mary Poppins?”

Carly stared at him, incredulous. “It's a SONG. You know, like a spoon full of sugar? Let's Go Fly a Kite?” Nikolas’ face registered no signs of recognition. “Please don't make me sing it.”

“If this is a musical version…”

“It's a MOVIE!” Carly's voice escalated in volume, as it some part of her was deeply offended that he had no knowledge of this. “You know… Disney? Julie Andrews.”

Nikolas gave a look of disdain. “They made a movie?”

“Is that a problem?”

He shifted his weight in the chair, looking away from her. “No, I guess not.”

Carly couldn't figure out if she should find this annoying or funny. She leaned forward, draping her arms over the clipboard, trying to catch his gaze.

“But…?”

Nikolas looked back at her, clearly troubled. “But why would you want to mix music with that woman?”

Carly raised her eyebrows. “With Julie Andrews? Oh, you are in need of a serious education…”

Nikolas straightened up. “Julie Andrews? The woman from the Sound of Music?” She nodded. He frowned again. “Disturbing.”

“WHY?” Carly prompted again, determined to get to the bottom of this.

Nikolas sighed in frustration. What was so complicated about this? “Because in that film she's this innocent nun apprentice dancing around with small children, why would you put her in a movie as Mary Poppins?”

Carly shook her head. “You're losing me, Cassadine.”

“My nanny used to subject me to those books when I was a child.”

“And you didn't LIKE them?”

“Why should I have liked them?” Nikolas looked honestly dumbfounded at the suggestion. “She was a horrible person! She was cold and disagreeable and she never smiled… and then, when everyone came to rely on her took off just because the wind had changed!” Carly sat back, a bit surprised at the venom in Nikolas’ voice. He was, however, just warming up. “But it doesn't end THERE. She come BACK, sticks around until everyone gets comfortable and feels some kind of security and then she takes off AGAIN. And there are more books after that… but I ordered that they stop after the second one. I didn't need that in my life.”

“That's… Not what the movie is like…” Carly spoke slowly, and Nikolas forced himself back to reality. Right. Fictional character. “Well, believe me, in the books, she's not the sort of person I'd have wanted around as a nanny or any other sort of care giver.”

Carly nodded. “I'm getting that feeling.” She sighed and picked up the clipboard again. “So you don't like Mary Poppins.”

“I HATE Mary Poppins.”

Carly gave him a disarming smile. “Well, then. I guess you better tell me how to pronounce this.”

Nikolas finally felt himself relax. It was true, perhaps, that this was something he took a little seriously. But as a child he had felt like those books were cruel bedtime reading and as an adult, he'd never given himself a chance to amend the opinion. Carly's expression suggested to him for the first time that maybe there was something amusing about it.

“Mikhail Stavrosovich,” Nikolas’ voice took on a slight accent out of habit. Carly closed her eyes, repeating the names in her head a few times.

“Mikhail Stavrosvic… Straveros…” she stopped, feeling a bit flustered. “That is NOT easy to say.

“It's just Stavros with an 'ovich' on the end.” He gave a slight smile. “I have a Great, Great Uncle Agamemnon, be thankful.”

Carly laughed in spite of herself. “Ok, ok. Starvos… ovich” She rolled her eyes at the awkwardness with which the words still came forward. “Cute. Do you want to practice my middle name? Watch carefully now.” Carly pointed to her lips as they slowly formed the word. “Ann”.

“You're mocking me,” Nikolas observed. Carly shrugged, turning her attention back to the forms.

“Hey, get used to it.”

Carly felt the same panic that had assailed her when he had displayed the ring box begin to stir in her again. It kept coming, in short little gasps, every time her brain floated beyond the moment. She quickly reigned in back in, passing the clipboard off to Nikolas. “Here. You do it, it'll go quicker.”

Nikolas paused before taking the pencil from her, and beginning to fill in his own information. Carly watched the way he moved the pencil over the paper. It was not conventional, it was… Almost formal. He was printing, but the letters were coming out almost artistic. She frowned, and moved closer, leaning her chin on his shoulder. Nikolas stopped a moment, at her proximity, shifting his gaze to look at her. She smiled at him, then glanced down at the paper in front of him.

“Aries,” she murmured. Nikolas looked back at the sheet.

“Right…” his eyes trailed up to her birth date. “You're Leo.”

Carly nodded, slipping her hand around the back of his neck. “Is that a problem?” Nikolas asked.

“Do you care?” Carly smiled at him devilishly, an expression he hadn't seen her wear all evening. He shifted, pulling away from her to get a better look at her face.

“Depends. Should I be worried?”

Carly laughed. “You're going to start worrying about our horoscopes after flying across the country?” she joked, widening her eyes. “'Wait! Stop the wedding. She's not an air sign!’”

Nikolas smiled slowly, watching her face change, the way she seemed to glow when she was happy. It was incredible.

“You have the most beautiful smile I think I've ever seen in my life,” he said softly.

Carly looked away quickly, running a hand through her hair. “Yeah… Well. You're not bad yourself.”

“You don't like compliments, do you?”

Carly shrugged, crossing her arms and turning to face forward. “Of course I do. Doesn't everyone?”

“You just… Don't seem to believe me.”

Carly glanced over at him. “Do you believe everyone who says something nice about you?”

Nikolas sucked his lower lip a moment, considering this.

“No,” he admitted. “I usually try to figure out what they want.” He turned to look at her again. “You know what I want.”

“Oh?” she smirked at him. “I do, huh?”

“Yes. You.”

Carly felt herself blush again, and turned from him again. God, what was wrong with her? When was the last time she'd actually blushed at something someone said to her? AT the same time, she could almost feel a sense of euphoria stirring inside her. She turned back to him, suddenly, as if something had just occurred to her.

“You are so much more likable than I thought you'd be.”

Nikolas furrowed his brow. “Uh… thanks.”

“I mean that in a good way,” Carly pressed, leaning forward. “I didn't expect to like you this much.” She exhaled heavily. “I thought you'd be more rigid, conservative… Arrogant.”

Nikolas laughed. “Oh, I'm arrogant, just give me some time. I'll prove it to you.”

Carly eyed him carefully. “You're sweet. That's what I didn't expect.”

The look of amusement faded from Nikolas’ face and he looked back at her, studying her expression. She was serious. “I just thought you should know… I like you”.

Nikolas reached out and cupped her face in his hand, lightly running his thumb along her bottom lip.

“I like you, too.”

Carly didn't turn away this time, just watched him, the small smile, the kind look in his eyes. She felt her heart stop a moment, then let herself relax, her face breaking out into another smile. She saw Nikolas’ eyes soften as she did this, realizing he had been serious. He liked to see her smile.

In a swift movement, Carly opened her mouth and snapped her teeth down on Nikolas’ thumb, biting him. Nikolas jumped and pulled his hand back in shock.

“Ow!” he looked at her in mock injury. “What was that for?”

Carly sat back from him, laughing. God, she couldn't remember the last time she had just laughed at something, without it having some sort of caustic or ironic edge to it. She reached out and took his hand, kissing the joint she'd bit down on lightly.

“I have no idea,” she murmured, still smiling. “It just seemed like a good idea at the time.”

Nikolas looked at her oddly, then leaned forward. “You just felt like it, huh?”

Carly nodded, brushing his thumb against her lips again. “I can be impulsive like that.”

“I've noticed,” Nikolas said softly as he moved in to kiss her. Carly closed her eyes, awaiting the touch of his lips.

“You son of a BITCH!” the woman across the room screeched in such high decibels that Carly sat bolt upright, jerking away from Nikolas. The woman was all ready on her feet, revealing clearly that she was a few months along in a pregnancy that was only going to become more painfully obvious. She turned on her companion, hitting him several times with her purse, then spun on her heel and turned for the door at a breakneck speed.

The door chimed the wedding march as she stormed out.

After a moment, the man stood up, looked around the room, nodding a quick apology to all present, and walked briskly to the exit, setting off the same alarm as he disappeared into the night.

Carly looked over at Nikolas, feeling laughter threatening again. “I think our appointment just moved up.”

The words were barely out of her mouth when the girl from the reception appeared before then. “My Dad can see you now, I guess.”

“Thanks,” Nikolas stood up, Carly still holding his hand, and held out the clipboard to her.

The girl nodded, smiling coyly as she took it from him, then looked down at it.

“Hey!” she immediately protested, looking up and glaring at Carly. “This hasn't been completed.”

Carly rolled her eyes, stepping between Nikolas and the girl. Oh, great. “What hasn't? Why do you need all this stuff?” She reached into her purse and pulled out the license, handing it to the girl. “Look. License. It's all right here.”

Nikolas put a hand on Carly's shoulder, gripping it in a manner she was sure was meant to suggest she not push this any further than it had already been.

The girl snatched the license from her. “Yeah, well, we need this TOO, but you didn't fill in what kind of flowers and stuff you wanted.”

Carly furrowed her brow. The girl turned the clipboard around and shoved it back at Carly. “How am I supposed to prepare the bill if I don't know what I'm CHARGING you for?”

Nikolas gritted his teeth monetarily, then cleared his throat. “Excuse me,” he spoke quietly but with an air that suggested she not ignore him. “Why don't you just tell us our choices and we'll inform you of what we want.”

The girl sighed and looked back up at Nikolas. “Ok, fine.” she muttered, petulantly. “It goes like this. Flowers. We got roses that are fifteen each and then we got the bargain bouquet that's red and white carnations… that's eight…”

“I think I'll spring for the roses,” Nikolas cut her off.

“Ok,” the girl sighed heavily, like a waitress going over salad dressings for the millionth time. “We got white, red, yellow, champagne, pink…”

“Champagne.” Nikolas cut off again. Carly looked up at him in surprise. “If… You don't mind,” he backed up from her slightly. “I just thought it seemed appropriate.”

Carly nodded, her mouth going dry, and looked back at the girl. “Champagne.”

She shrugged. “Fine. Music. Live music is ten bucks. You can have an organ play the wedding march, if you want. Or for fifteen, you can have a tape of Pachabel's cannon play through the ceremony.”

Carly looked at her as if she was insane. “A TAPE costs more than the organ?”

The girl raised her eyebrows at Carly. “You've never heard my mother play.”

Carly stared at her, thinking that this really did figure… A whole town of wedding chapels and she ends up this one.

“Is there… Anything else besides Pachabel's Cannon?” Nikolas asked, his voice ever so slightly pained. The girl shook her head.

“Nope, that's it. Want it?”

Carly turned and looked up at Nikolas, who closed his eyes briefly and nodded his consent. “Fine.”

The girl nodded. “Ok, fine. I'll ring you up then.” She turned on her heel and walked back to her desk. Carly turned around to face Nikolas.

“Don't tell me. You don't like Pachabel's Cannon either.”

Nikolas looked down at her intently, sliding his hands under her hair and around the back of her neck. “The only thing that matters is that we get married. That's all I care about.”

Carly nodded, mute. She was beginning to understand where all these vampire references had come from. Nikolas had the power to look her dead in the eye and she could find herself agreeing to almost anything. She shook herself and brought her hands up, sliding them over his, then gently removing them from her neck.

“As long as you're not going to be making some kind of face or something,” she tried to make her voice sound light.

“I won't,” Nikolas assured her, as she turned away, following the girl into the chapel.

After several false starts, including the loss of the Pachabel's Cannon tape, an argument between the organ/mother and receptionist/daughter about the who had been in charge of organizing the music in the first place, and a careful explanation by Nikolas of why music would be unnecessary, Carly found herself standing in front of the Justice, holding a bouquet of past prime roses and baby's breath, and waiting for the man to finish some strange meandering speech about marriage that made absolutely no sense.

She stole a quick glance at him out of the corner of her eye. He was wearing a blue suit, a little too light to be navy, and a stripped tie that was askew, making her eyes spin slightly when she looked at it against the pin stripes on the shirt he was wearing under the suit jacket.

He was old, much older than the age of his wife and daughter suggested, and he looked like he only had a few days left before someone led him out to pasture by his tie and shot him. Or at the very least, he looked like that was what he was hoping would happen.

Carly turned her attention back to Nikolas, who was, as he had been this whole evening, standing in front of her, calm and collected. Nothing was shaking him. He wasn't particularly upset by the strange happenings of the evening and while this was, Carly decided, perhaps the most pathetic excuse for a wedding imaginable, he really didn't seem to care. The funny part was, she didn't care either.

The Justice coughed slightly, turning the page in his Book of Common Prayer, and looked down at the page, sliding a small piece of paper out of his pocket, and placing it on the page. He looked down at the book, reading… as if he had not uttered these words dozens of times a day over the past thirty years.

“Do you, Caroline Ann, take Nikolas Mikhail…” The Justice stopped dead, staring at the piece of paper in front of him.

An unmistakable smile fought its way onto Nikolas’ lips. Carly felt the laugh begin to bubble up from inside her, taking away the nerves that were fighting it out in her stomach.

“Strav… Stavr…”

“Stavrosovich,” she corrected him, looking into Nikolas’ eyes. “Nikolas Mikhail Stavrosovich Cassadine.”

There was a strange sort of awed reference in her voice as she spoke his name. Something that hit Nikolas hard in a way he didn't expect to be hit. Suddenly it all looked clear to him. She was going to be his wife. For the first time he began to feel like that might mean something real to her.

“Uh, yes…” the man cleared his throat, interrupting Nikolas’ thoughts. “That…” he glanced down at the book, trying to find his place without starting the line over. “To be you’re lawfully wedded husband. To love and honor, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live.”

It seemed he rushed the second part of the vows, though it didn't much matter. Carly wasn't listening. She was just looking at Nikolas, at the easy way he was looking back at her, his thumb lightly caressing the back of her hand. God, he was right, she thought. There was something here. She felt like everything else was fading away into background noise. All that mattered to her was that he was looking at her like that. And he wasn't turning away. He thought about her in a way she wasn't sure anyone ever had. Champagne roses, for God sakes… She felt tears prick her eyes.

The justice cleared his throat. “Uh… Miss Benson?”

“What?” Carly's voice sounded a million miles away.

“Do you take this man…” he started over, sounded a little tired. Carly shook her head quickly, smiling as the tears began to slide down her face.

“Yeah, I do.”

The Justice nodded, rubbed his eyes behind the shop keeper glasses he wore, and turned to Nikolas.

“Do you…” he glanced down at the paper and sighed. What happened to names like John and David? “Nikolas Mikhail Stavrosovich… Take Caroline Ann to be you’re lawfully wedded wife?” He put a hand to his temple, slowing down. His wife shot him a look from behind the organ and he forced himself to snap to attention again. God, it had been a long life. “To love and honor…”

He paused, fighting off a yawn. “…For better or for worse”

The words reverberated in Carly's head, as if she was hearing them for the first time. “For worse…”

“For richer or poorer…”

Her throat closed up. Oh, God…

“…In sickness and in health”

Her heart began to race again, in absolute panic as the words became crystal clear for her. She tried to picture Nikolas sick… Or poor… Or any of the things she'd just promised to take him in. She couldn't. She wouldn't! And he was taking her in all those things, she'd tried to tell him, she'd tried to explain… God, was it too late? Was there some way out of this? She's already said I do, her brain raced, there wasn't another out, was there? She felt a need to step back. To race away from this place, from this whole room that suddenly seemed to be closing in on her as she struggled for breath. The lights dimmed…

“As long as you both shall live?”

Nikolas’ hand closed around hers tightly, squeezing it reassuringly. She looked down at it, then back up at him, eyes wide.

“I do”.

He did. He'd said it. It was done. She stared at him, at the certainty, the affection in his eyes. The room began to spin around her, the voices fading. She felt her knees buckle and struggled to remain on her feet. She just had to keep her eyes open and keep standing, she told herself, watching as Nikolas nodded, answering a question from the Justice, and reaching into his pocket, producing the box. He let go of her hand opening the box. She just stared at it, feeling as if she was in an alternate universe, no longer party to what was happening here.

The justice was speaking again, saying something about rings and eternity and love. She didn't listen, just stared at them. Then, without waiting for a prompting, she reached out and removed the larger ring from the box. The one meant for Nikolas. They were giving her instructions now. She realized her hands were full, on holding the ring, the other holding he bouquet. She tucked it under her arm without thinking, and took Nikolas’ hand in hers.

This was it. Decision time. The last moment where she really could stop and say “no”. Everything felt so quiet. She looked up at Nikolas. If no one else in the room had clued in that Carly had left the building, the look on his face let her know that he was seeing it. He looked concerned, even a little scared. She looked down at his hand again, in her', his fingers splayed slightly… There was something so vulnerable about it. That he knew she was hesitating but he was staying there, standing in that moment with her… Maybe not understanding, but staying there. He wasn't turning away. Just waiting. Waiting for her to put this ring on his finger.

God…

Somewhere in the back of Carly's mind, reason began to speak up. The reasons for doing this, presenting themselves to her. It made so much sense. And she couldn't figure out what this panic was about. He'll get you your son back! What have you got to lose?

Nothing. But God… He had almost everything. And he was the one who was sure! He couldn’t understand, not really… not what she was capable of doing to him. She looked up at him again, meeting his eyes. She could tell he was worried now. But he didn't pull his hand away. He didn't even break the look. He just stood there. Carly cleared her throat, bringing herself back, snapping herself forcibly back into the moment. She rolled the ring between her fingers and changed her grip on his hand.

“With this ring,” her voice shook as she slid the ring onto his finger, “I thee wed.” She looked up and smiled at him, as best she could. He looked relieved and smiled back.

She felt Nikolas take her hand in his and gently slide the ring onto her finger. He repeated her words, but she barely heard them. She just stared down at her hand and the gold band that circled that all important finger. She'd done it. She was married. She looked up at him, and his eyes were there waiting for her. Steady and sure, just like on the boat, just like in the car… Just what she wanted. A rock. Something solid that was going to be there for her. Even if she'd scared him… She smiled, laughing in a sudden burst that interrupted the justice yet again. This time he looked up from the book and stared at Carly as if she had just committed some hideous faux pas. She looked over at Nikolas, who was pressing his lips together, trying not to laugh himself. She shook her head, looking back at her hand. She pulled it back from Nikolas’ hand and tipped it, looking at the way the light hit the simple gold. Her fingernails were still manicured from the wedding last weekend, though the tips of the nail polish was wearing off… Her hand. She looked back at the Justice and tried to look apologetic.

“Sorry.”

“I was saying…” he cleared his throat, directing his words at Nikolas. “By the power invested in me by the state of Nevada, I now pronounce you man and wife.” He took a deep breath. “You may kiss the bride.”

Nikolas stepped towards Carly, sliding his arm around her waist.

“Just try not to laugh,” he murmured, pulling her close into what was, by no standards, an appropriate wedding kiss. Carly threw her head back, still unsure of what she was finding so funny. She shook her hair out, then looked back at him, her eyes shinning.

“Just kiss me, ok?”