San Cristian Island, September
Ben lounged in the sand by his beautiful – if difficult – best friend.
Layla: Don’t start, Benjamin.
Ben: All I’m saying is that maybe it’s a sign from fate.
Layla: I don’t believe in fate.
Ben: You look just like this girl. Her family picks San Cristian Island of all places, where you happen to live, to have their wedding and you don’t think that’s a nudge from some higher power that you should go meet them?
Layla: Look, you’ve spent all summer trying to convince me to go meet these people. If I had some long-lost twin sister and family, don’t you think I’d know about it? Don’t you think my father would have mentioned something to me about it?
Ben: Your father doesn’t talk to people unless he absolutely has to.
Layla: He talks to me. You know why? ‘Cause I’m his daughter. Please, drop this.
Ben: Fine. I’ll pester you about something else. Archie sent you flowers again. The guy’s crazy about you.
Layla: But, I don’t like him.
Ben: How come? He’s a prince.
Layla: You like him so much, you date him.
Ben: I don’t think I’m his type. Besides, you wear tiaras much better than I do.
Layla stared out at the water. She was glad for the topic change, but truth be told, she hadn’t been able to get Bianca Bishop out of her mind since she read that article in the newspaper last March. What if they were family? But, that would mean her whole life here on San Cristian was a lie and she wasn’t ready to entertain such a notion.
A few miles away, Jasper Mancini and Ted Bishop met on the beach. Tomorrow Ted would be married to Beth, but tonight, while Beth had her bachelorette party, he and Jasper had their – whatever they were doing here.
Jasper: So, there’s a cooler full of your favorite beer and fishing poles.
Ted: Fishing and beer?
Jasper: Bianca-approved.
Ted: Is there a stripper?
Jasper: I considered breaking Bianca’s no-strippers rule, but then I decided I like being alive.
Ted: I don’t blame you.
Over the past few months Ted and Jasper’s strained relationship had softened somewhat. He still loathed Jasper with the heat of a thousand suns for nearly killing Bianca, but Bianca loved Jasper and Beth had adopted him. There was no escaping the boy, so he might as well be civil.
The girls had insisted Jasper join them when they toured Europe this summer. Beth had wanted to go away, to celebrate her cancer being in remission. He was thankful for every day that he saw Beth and Bianca healthy and happy, and had to give Jasper credit for his part in that. Ted hadn’t seen Bianca smile this much in a long, long time.
They took their poles down to the water’s edge and cast their lines in. Jasper had been considering broaching this topic for weeks now, but never found quite the right time. On the eve of Ted’s wedding, when he was at his happiest, seemed like a good time, but out here where no one could hear him scream and the water could wash away his body and all forensic evidence of his murder, Jasper wasn’t so sure.
Jasper: So, tomorrow’s the big day, huh? Are you nervous?
Ted: I think most men are on their wedding day. I was petrified when I married Rachel, but I’m only mildly nervous about tomorrow with Beth. Then again, I was much younger when I married Rachel and, if I’m being candid, she’s very frightening.
Jasper: Sir, I was hoping you and I could talk about something.
Ted: Any particular something in mind?
Jasper: Bianca. I understand you and I have had our differences. I hurt Bianca – I didn’t intend to, and I would do anything to take away the pain I caused her, but that doesn’t erase the fact that I did hurt her.
Ted: It was an accident. Bianca has forgiven you.
Jasper: I know. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I love her and I know we’re young, but I’d like to ask for your permission to ask Bianca to marry me.
Ted took this in for a moment. He’d been anticipating this. Bianca and Jasper were close. One night in Venice, he’d come into Bianca’s room to find her sitting at her window, sketching outfits for her wedding to Jasper. Apparently, he would be wearing fuchsia when he escorted her down the aisle to Jasper, who would be wearing sunrise red. She, of course, would be wearing white, but, though Ted tried to not think of his daughter as sexually active, he was betting that ship had sailed a long time ago – and it didn’t help his fury when he looked at Jasper, either.
Ted: You’re very young, Jasper. You and Bianca, you’re legal adults now, but you’re still in school.
Jasper: I know. But, we’re doing abbreviated senior years. We’ll graduate in December and we’ve talked about going to college together and applying for off-campus housing so we could live together.
Ted: She told me.
Jasper: I have money, sir. I have no desire to be with anyone else. All I want is to spend my days making your daughter happy, and I think I can do that. For some reason that I don’t understand, she loves me.
Ted: I know. That’s why I will give you my blessing on two conditions. First, that you wait until after you’ve graduated from high school before you get married.
Jasper: I can agree to that. Second?
Ted: Second, if you hurt my daughter, I will hunt you down and make you regret the day you were born. Am I understood?
Jasper: Crystal clear.
Ted: So, I wonder what the girls are up to right now? Do you think they got a stripper?
Jasper: Of course not. Bianca said no strippers.
Bianca: His name is Chocolate Thunder!
Beth: And, where did you find this Mr. Thunder?
Bianca: Franklin recommended him. He said something about doing a spring break on San Cristian. Or, maybe it was doing spring break on a guy named Cristian. Anyway, he comes highly recommended.
Rebecca: Well, if Franklin recommended him…Lord knows he’s the expert. Bianca: Rebecca, we agreed you wouldn’t make disparaging remarks about my Franklin, remember? And, I wouldn’t make disparaging remarks about your closeted boyfriend.
Rebecca: Ex-boyfriend.
Beth: I’m not so sure this is appropriate.
Bianca: But, he’s so talented. He can –
Bianca whispered the scandalous talent in Beth’s ear.
Bianca: Oh, yes they can. I let Jasper do it to me once.
Beth: Bianca!
Bianca: What? It was his birthday.
Beth: Still, we told the boys no strippers.
Bianca: Like they listen to us.
Beth: You threatened to castrate them if they so much as looked at a stripper ad in the phonebook.
Bianca: Jasper has no business looking at other girls. But, since Chocolate Thunder isn’t a girl, it’s okay for us.
Beth: That’s how you’re going to rationalize this, huh?
Bianca: Do you want me to send him home?
Beth: I didn’t say that.
Bianca: Yay! Hit it, Thunder!
Chocolate Thunder went to work, shaking his groove thang for Beth, Clarissa, Bianca and Rebecca. Or, rather, he shook it for Beth, Clarissa and Rebecca. When he turned around to give Bianca some attention, he found her …
...asleep.
Chocolate Thunder: That’s never happened to me before.
Beth: She’s exhausted from all the wedding planning. Maybe we should just let her rest.
Chocolate Thunder: I’m paid up through the next three hours.
Rebecca: Come along, Chocolate Thunder. I’ll let you earn that money.
Beth: You sure you can handle him?
Rebecca: I’ve got enough dollar bills to keep him in Muscle Milk for a year. Besides, he doesn’t look a thing like Noel. He’ll provide a worthwhile distraction. See you in the morning.
Beth: Bye.
Beth bid goodnight to Clarissa and went to bed herself. She was glad to have her best friend from college there. They hadn’t seen each other in ages.
When she awoke the next morning, Bianca was standing by the bed.
Beth: Bianca? What time is it?
Bianca: Time for you to get married!
Beth: It’s my wedding day.
Bianca: It’s your wedding day. Come on, rise and shine. We have a lot of work.
Beth: Where’s Clarissa?
Bianca: She’s getting ready herself. See, there’s been a minor change in plans.
Beth: What happened?
Bianca: Well, the ferry from the mainland lost an engine, so they’re not shuttling anyone out today, which means the reverend can’t make it. But, that’s okay. Clarissa’s going to do the ceremony. She got ordained on the internet and everything.
Beth: Will it be legal?
Bianca: Yes. I double-checked with the San Cristian authorities, just to be sure. The prince’s representatives were very
friendly with me for some reason.Beth: Then, everything is set? What if something goes wrong?
Bianca: Raise your hand and repeat after me. I Beth
Beth: I Beth --
Bianca: Promise to let Bianca handle everything and relax.
Beth: Promise to let Bianca handle everything and relax.
Bianca: Good. Now, you just go have a nice, long bath and I’ll go tell the hotel kitchen to send up breakfast.
On her way back from the kitchen, Bianca heard the concierge talking with the lady behind the reception desk. Apparently, the guest in 312 was causing quite the commotion, having sent her breakfast order back three times this morning. Bianca didn’t intend on listening as she waited for the elevator, but then she heard the guest’s name and made a beeline for room 312.
The door was open when she got upstairs. She let herself in.
Bianca: Mom? Are you here?
Rachel: Bianca? Is that you?
Bianca: No, it’s the other person who calls you ‘Mom.’ Where are you?
Rachel: Bathroom. Um, now’s not a good time.
Bianca: Not a good time? You fell off the face of the earth last March. What gives?
Rachel: I told you, I went to a spa.
Bianca: For six months?
Rachel: I’ve been very stressed.
Bianca: How much stress could you possibly be under?
Rachel: You’d be surprised…
Bianca: Holy crap. Please tell me you’re just fat.
Rachel: Would if I could.
Bianca: Is it –
Rachel: Yes.
Bianca: Does he –
Rachel: No.
Bianca: Are you –
Rachel: Going to tell him? Someday. When I figure out how. I was thinking I’d send him a card when the baby graduates from high school. Wait, why are you here?
Bianca: Beth and Ted’s wedding is here.
Rachel: I had no idea. I mean, I knew there was a wedding here today, I heard someone talking about it, but I didn’t know it was them.
Bianca: I’m so conflicted. On one hand,
I don’t want anything screwing up their wedding, but on the other hand, yay, baby! Do you know what it is?
Rachel: It’s a girl. I had my seven month checkup a couple of days ago and the doctor let it slip. I’d wanted to be surprised, but now I’m glad I know.
Bianca: Hi, baby girl. You’re going to have awesome parents. You’ll grow up to be exceptionally beautiful, a natural best friend to the gays of the world and you’ll fall in love with a handsome blue-eyed boy Dad hates, just like me. Hopefully you’ll skip the multiple personalities part.
Rachel: I hope she is like you.
Bianca: What about the wedding?
Rachel: I’m not going near that wedding. The last thing I want is to remind Beth on her special day that I’m having Ted’s baby when she can’t.
Bianca: Thank you.
When Ted woke up, he went for a run to blow off the excess nervous energy. He hadn’t been too nervous last night, but this morning he woke up feeling like he’d mainlined six gallons of coffee. But, he wouldn’t change a thing. He was marrying the woman of his dreams today. He’d try not to think about Jasper standing next to him as his Bianca-and-Beth-imposed best man, or about the conversation they’d had the night before. The thought of his baby girl marrying anyone, let alone Jasper – Ted hated to admit it, but the thing he hated most about Jasper was that they were much too similar.
Layla sat on a bench outside the hotel where the Bishop-Davenport wedding was being held. She didn’t know what to do. How did she approach these people? “Hey, funny story, did one of you maybe lose a twin sister to the brunette?” She felt foolish and her feet were getting cold. But, before she could get up and run away, Ted Bishop (she recognized him from the papers) came running around the corner. He stopped to talk to her, thinking she was his daughter.
Ted: Hey, sweetheart.
Layla: Um, hi.
Ted: Why are you looking at me like that? Do I have a zit? Please tell me I don’t have a zit. That’s the last thing I need is for Beth’s pictures to be ruined because I have teenager face.
Layla: No, your face is fine.
She took his face in her hands, studying him. It was chilling how much she resembled him, and even more chilling that she didn’t resemble the man she thought of as her father at all, now that she thought about it.
Ted: Bianca? Honey, are you okay? You're acting weird, even for you.
Layla: I don't understand.
Ted: Understand what?
Layla: Why I look so much like you. In pictures, I didn't see it. But, up close -- I have your hair and your eyes.
Ted: You got my features and your mother's bone structure. What's this about? And, why did you change headbands?
Layla didn't answer. She only ran away.
Upstairs, Jasper went to the groom’s dressing suite to get dressed. He hated monkey suits, but Bianca had asked nicely and he did so love when she asked nicely –
Jasper stopped cold in his tracks when he realized the dressing suite was occupied by a familiar face.
Jasper: Alison?
Alison: Hello, Jasper.
When she stood, all the blood drained from Jasper’s face as his gaze traveled down the length of her body, zeroing in on her swollen stomach. His heart ceased to beat, his lungs deflated – he could’ve fallen dead on the spot, but something told him the fates were far too cruel to let him off that easy.
Alison: We need to talk.
Jasper: Is it mine?
Alison: Yes. I – I didn’t know how to tell you. I don’t know if I would’ve told you if I’m being honest. But, I figured if I was going to do it, now was the time.
Jasper: Why? Why now?
Alison: Because I have to have an amnio done next week to test for potential problems with the baby and I figured you’d want a DNA test, so it’d be the best time to do it.
Jasper: Jesus Christ.
Alison: I know this is the last thing you want and I am not asking anything from you. I’m just letting you know that I’m carrying your daughter. Whether you want to be involved or not is entirely up to you and I understand if you don’t. Neither of us planned on this.
Jasper: How did this happen? We used a condom.
Alison: Nothing is 100%. Maybe it was defective.
Jasper: It’s a girl?
Alison: Yeah. I think she might be a soccer player. She’s been kicking up a storm all day.
Jasper: Can I –
Alison: Feel the baby kick? Yeah. Just put your hand here.
Jasper: Wow.
Jasper had never felt so torn in his life. He was going to be a father, he’d just felt a child he created kicking from inside the womb. But, it wasn’t Bianca’s womb and he’d been wracked with guilt, keeping the secret of his tryst with Alison from her. He couldn’t keep something like this from her, too.
It’d kill her.
She’d kill him.
But, it had to be done.
Beth was checking herself out in her wedding dress when Ted came in.
Beth: Go away! You’re not supposed to see me in my dress before the wedding!
Ted: Well, you could take it off.
Beth: Theodore Bishop…
Ted: I was just looking for Bianca. She was acting so strange earlier today.
Beth: How so?
Ted: Well, she’s wearing pink for one thing, even a pink headband.
Beth: No, she’s not. She’s had her red headband and her matron of honor dress on ever since she woke me up this morning.
Ted: She has?
Beth: Yeah. I just saw her two minutes ago, she was still wearing it.
Ted: Are you sure?
Beth: Yes, Ted.
Ted: That was so strange.
Beth: Maybe it was her doppelganger. They say everybody has one.
Ted: Or, maybe she just took her dress off for a while to keep it from wrinkling. I don’t know. But, one thing I do know is we have a few hours until sunset and I would very much like to find out what you’re wearing underneath this dress.
Beth: You scoundrel.
Beth and Ted kissed and hurried out of their clothes en route to the bedroom.
Poor Bianca picked the wrong time to try to talk Beth out of wearing the veil.
She screamed when she saw the horrible sight awaiting her in Beth’s bedroom.
Bianca: Calling every therapist I have ever met in my entire life for an emergency session. Heaven knows the personalities this could cause me to create.
Ted: Very funny. Now, go away. And, maybe change your headband back. I kind of liked the pink one you were wearing earlier.
Bianca: What are you talking about? I don’t have a pink headband.
Ted was confused. Very, very confused. And, Bianca was mentally scarred. Very, very mentally scarred. She left Ted and Beth to do whatever old people did when they were alone and went down to the garden to check on the site of the wedding. Beth and Ted were to be married by the arch as the sun set.
When Jasper joined her, she was elated to see him. They hadn’t seen each other in almost a whole day.
Jasper: You look beautiful, too, Binx.
Bianca: Ugh. I have had the weirdest day ever. I just hope nothing screws this wedding up.
Jasper: You think something’s going to go wrong?
Bianca: I just don’t know why people can’t be happy and stress free with no drama like one night stands popping up
seven months pregnant. Jasper: You know?
Bianca: You know, too?
Jasper: I saw her earlier today.
Bianca: Me, too. I mean, she says she’s going to keep her trap shut and let this wedding go off without a hitch, but she’s notoriously moody when she’s not pregnant. Pregnancy hormones have to make it ten times worse.
Jasper: You aren’t angry?
Jasper: God, Binx, you don’t know how happy I am to hear you say that. I thought you’d hate me.
Bianca: Why would I hate you? You didn’t sleep with my mother.
Bianca: Who did you think I was talking about?
Jasper: No one.
Bianca: Don’t lie to me. You said you saw someone. Who was it?
Jasper: A--Alison.
Bianca: Alison is here? Wait, Alison is pregnant? Who’s the poor unfortunate soul responsible for that?
Bianca noticed that Jasper wasn’t saying anything. And that, in itself, said everything. She searched his eyes for the truth, and it was all there, shimmering beneath the guilt. Her heart broke and she turned away, not wanting him to see the tears.
Jasper: I’m so sorry.
Bianca: You son of a bitch. When?
Jasper: Do you remember when I saw you kissing Lucas?
Bianca: He kissed me! I told you, he was trying to make my Layla feelings resurface.
Jasper: I know. But, I didn’t know at first. I thought you’d chosen him, that you wanted him and I – it was a one time thing, Bianca. Bianca: You’ve been lying to me for months. Every time you touched me, every time you said you loved me, every time you made love to me – all of it was a lie.
Jasper: No. How I feel about you isn’t a lie.
Bianca: Oh my God, I stood there in front of you that night making all these grand statements about how much I
loved you and how much I wanted to work on us and the entire time you were keeping this huge secret from me. Did you think it was funny? Did you laugh to yourself as I stood there professing my love to you that you’d scored with Alison? Jasper: I didn’t know what to do! Binx, I didn’t want to lose you.
Bianca: And, then, you made love to me after you’d just been with her? My God, did you even shower first? Did you use protection? Please tell me you
didn’t have unprotected sex with her.
Jasper: We used a condom, but it didn’t work.
Bianca: I feel sick.
Jasper: Binx, tell me what to do. Please? I don’t want to lose us. I don’t think I could survive it.
Bianca: Save your tears for your family, Jasper. They need you. I don’t.
Jasper: Binx, please –
Bianca: If you’re thinking about running off to wallow in your misery, don’t even consider it. You and I are going to stand next to Beth and Ted all smiles, not once letting on that we’re over. And, when they leave to go on their honeymoon, you are going to come back to my room, pack your things and get the hell out of my life.
Bianca walked away from the love of her life and left him sobbing in the garden.
She went inside the hotel, to the women’s bathroom. As she washed her hands, she told herself over and over with to get it together. This was what she went through therapy for, to handle feeling powerless and devastated without resorting to alternate personalities. She was in pain now, but she’d get through it. Or, so she thought. When she looked up, she saw a familiar face staring back at her.
Bianca: I don’t need you. I’m fine. Go away!
Layla: Um…okay. Bye.
At sunset, she returned to the garden with Beth and Ted. Clarissa joined them for the ceremony. Beth had never been so happy in her life as she was, standing there with Ted, saying their vows. And, Bianca had never been more miserable than when she realized she’d never exchange those same vows with Jasper. It took everything she had not to break down in tears, and judging by the look on his face, he was in the same boat.
Ted: I, Theodore, take you, Elizabeth, to be my wife, my partner in life and my one true love. I will cherish our friendship and love you today, tomorrow, and forever. I will trust you and honor you, I will laugh with you and cry with you. I will love you faithfully through the best and the worst, through the difficult and the easy. What may come I will always be there. As I have given you my hand to hold so I give you my life to keep, so help me God.
Beth: I, Elizabeth, take you, Theodore, to be my husband, my partner in life and my one true love. I will cherish our friendship and love you today, tomorrow, and forever. I will trust you and honor you, I will laugh with you and cry with you. I will love you faithfully through the best and the worst, through the difficult and the easy. What may come I will always be there. As I have given you my hand to hold so I give you my life to keep, so help me God.
Clarissa: If there is anyone here who can give just cause why these two should not be joined as husband and wife, speak now, or forever hold your peace.
Bianca couldn’t breathe. Her body was trembling as she struggled to hold on to her pain and her fury, but she did. For her father and for Beth. And, when Clarissa pronounced them husband and wife, she watched them kiss and ran away.
Bianca: I’m sorry. I have to go.
Ted: Bianca, honey, what’s wrong?
Bianca: Please, just let me go.
She ran back inside the hotel, into the lobby, where she intended to go upstairs, throw herself down on the bed and cry until morning. But, something caught her attention – a girl in pink, sitting by the fireplace.
A girl who looked exactly like her.
Ted: Bianca, please, I’m worried about you.
Bianca: I’m worried about me, too. Daddy, how many of me do you see?
Ted glanced over at the girl in pink – the girl he’d seen earlier today. He didn’t understand. How could she and Bianca look so alike? He was about to find out, as the girl stood and joined them.
Layla: My name is Layla.
Bianca: Layla?
Ted: It can’t be.
Layla: I didn’t mean to cause problems for your family. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come here.
Bianca: No, don’t go. Please, don’t go.
Layla: I saw a story about you in the paper. You look so much like me, I had to find out why.
Bianca: You’re my sister. I don’t believe this. We thought you were dead.
Layla: Dead?
Bianca: There was a boating accident eleven years ago. We thought you’d drowned.
Bianca was so overwhelmed she grabbed Layla and hugged her. Her sister was alive – really alive and not just a figment of psychosis. And, though Layla was uncomfortable and scared, she hugged Bianca back, while Ted went to his stunned wife and Jasper.
Upstairs, in her room, Rebecca cuddled with Chocolate Thunder, who lived up to his name. Tenfold.
Chocolate Thunder: You missed the wedding.
Rebecca: Eh, I’m sure it was boring. How much could possibly happen at a wedding?
