Jenny Harper, now Mrs. Jenny Jenkins, was in the dressing room about to put on the second wedding dress to hide her new and improved normal body since joining were society, when she and everyone else with acute were hearing heard the commotion brewing outside.
She, along with Akane and Keiko Tachibana, listened, while Jenny filled her (for now, still normal girlfriend and Maid of Honor) Karen Yuletide, in on the proceedings.
That Dieter Wilhelm and whatever henchman he brought with him were arrested and being hauled off to jail thrilled her beyond belief.
But that her dad was still out there, even arguing with the minister, still threatening to drag his wayward daughter back to Alabama, was too much for her to deal with.
"Screw this!" exclaimed Jenny, pulling away from the others. "I won't reveal our secret, but I'm tired of hiding who I truly am. I am Jennifer Harper-Jenkins now, and I'm gonna stand up for myself!" she exclaimed, before leaving the dressing room to head to the front of the church and the start of facing her father that everyone just read in our previous episode.
PICKING UP FROM THAT POINT...
"Now then, you seriously outdated neanderthal!" began Jenny, drawing upon years of repressed emotions. "You may be my father," she said, getting right in front of his face, "but I've taken enough of your abuse over the years. I am my own woman! I am 18 and a legal adult here, in Alabama, and just about everywhere else in the world. I make my own decisions!"
"Now wait a minute!" began James Harper, Senior, still uncertain exactly who this woman was. True, she had the blonde hair and blue eyes of his oldest daughter, and she did kind of look like Jenny in the face, which reminded him of his wife when they first met back in college. But the rest of her...
Even Elizabeth never looked that good on her best days, was the brief thought that crossed his mind as Jenny continued.
"In case you never noticed, when I left home, I left for good! I couldn't stand it, being under your thumb and all those archaic rules of yours. It's 2015 dad, not 1915! Women have rights. We can vote and everything!"
"Now see here young lady..." sputtered her father, even as Jenny's mother said, "You haven't let me vote in years unless it's for whoever you want me to."
"Except for my brothers and Janice, anything I truly valued came with me to Moon Lake. If you were home right now, you could search my old room and know I'm telling the truth. The only things I left behind were the furniture and a few dust bunnies. The moment I left Alabama, I was gone for good, and you drove me out!"
"Don't talk to me like that girl. I'm still your father!" declared James Harper Senior.
"Only through biology! You've never been a true father to any of us, unless being a dictator is your idea of good parenting," said Jenny in return.
"I fed and raised you for the last 18 years, and this is the thanks I get? You get your ungrateful hide in that van right now woman! I only came here long enough to take you home," said her father.
"You don't get it, you stubborn mule. I AM HOME!" shouted Jenny in return. "I have a life here. Good friends. A promising career that I CHOSE, not one you tried to foist upon me. I fell in love with the man I CHOSE. Not one you picked and thought you could get a good deal for me from."
"Why you—" began James Senior, but before either the surrounding police or Tachibana Security representatives could stop him, the hand of someone in a black tuxedo kept the patriarch of the Harper family from striking his oldest daughter.
"You dare lay a hand on my wife, and you'll have to answer to me," said Harold Jenkins, while keeping a firm grip on his new father-in-law's right wrist.
"Let me go stranger. I have no quarrel with you," announced Harper Senior.
"But I have plenty with you, sir," said Harold in return. "It's true what the police said. Your good friend Dieter Wilhelm not only had people try to kidnap my bride and try to drag her back to Alabama against her will, but they also shot my only brother thinking he was me when they tried to carry out their boss' orders to have me killed so there would be no wedding."
"No," said James Harper Senior, as his face went pale and Harold Jenkins released his grip on him.
"Now should we step in?" Samantha Twist whispered to her wife.
"Not yet," replied Doctor Frances Twist, while smiling. "This is very good for Jenny. She's standing up for herself beyond my wildest expectations. There's plenty of security around, and all the Harpers are unarmed. Let it play out as is."
"Okay," said Samantha, while putting a loving arm around her wife. "I must admit, given everything I know, this is interesting to watch."
"Told you Dieter was nothing special," James Harper Junior reminded his father.
"You keep out of this boy. We have enough to discuss about how you intend to disgrace our family on the plane ride back home," announced Harper Senior.
"No. We don't. Like Jenny said, I'm over 18 too and can do whatever I wish. My only problem was having to go behind your back instead of being upfront and honest about all of it. I love her and she loves me. Once we've graduated next Spring and relocated away from you, I hope she'll accept my marriage proposal too."
"Congratulations!" exclaimed Jenny, while hugging her oldest brother.
"Over my dead body!" declared James Senior.
"I wish we were 18. I'm tired of dad bossing me around all the time. A lot of the stuff he says don't even make any sense," said John Harper, the youngest Harper son.
"I know," agreed Janice Harper, the youngest Harper daughter. "When I repeat any of it at school, the other kids look at me as if I'm a bigot and the teachers want to keep me after school to show me the error of my ways."
"You too?" John asked Janice. "That's why I've been ignoring dad for months and keeping my mouth shut about his stupidity when I'm in public."
"KIDS!" shouted their mother. "Enough of that foolishness. Respect your father!"
"Why?" asked James Junior. "He certainly don't respect you."
Elizabeth Harper's face turned red with embarrassment as her husband said, "Just wait until I get you home too!"
"That reminds me," said Jenny, turning to face her younger siblings. "I'm afraid I can't do anything for mom unless she truly wants to be helped, and your brother has proven he can take care of himself, but as for you two, if you want, you can stay with me and I'll make arrangements here in Moon Lake for your emancipation."
"What does that mean?" asked Janice.
"Like when President Lincoln freed the slaves during the Civil War. It means we can stay with Jenny here and not have to put up with dad anymore," explained John.
"Really?" asked Janice, looking at her oldest sister happily.
"NO!" exclaimed James Harper Senior, as their father moved to grab his youngest kids.
"Don't you dare lay a hand on them!" said Jenny, stepping inbetween them and her father.
"I've had enough of ungrateful whelps to last me a lifetime!" declared Harper Senior. "Those two are still minors and my responsibility, to raise how I see fit," he said, turning to face Jenny again. "And there is no way I'm letting you marry that... that... whatever he is," he added, staring at Harry.
"The word you are looking for is husband," said Jenny proudly, holding up her left hand to show off the wedding ring.
"What the hell is that?" her father demanded to know, while staring at the ring.
"My wedding ring," Jenny said happily. "The ceremony you were about to attend was just for show to arrest Dieter Wilhelm and whoever he brought to help him. I was also hoping to give you a chance to behave yourself and hopefully see the error of your ways to some extent, but I realize now that will never happen," she added, genuinely sad. "I have been Mrs. Jennifer Anne Harper Jenkins since 8:50 this morning!"
"WHAT?" yelled her father.
"You heard me. I have been—"
But Jenny never had a chance to repeat her new title, as her father attempted to raise his hand toward her.
Several people moved at once in an attempt to detain James Harper Senior, but it was the fact that his oldest daughter slapped him in the face as hard as she could with her right hand that made him stop.
Jenny was extremely careful not to scratch him in any way, shape, or form that might eventually initiate an induction into were society.
Everyone could see the hand print on his face start to turn red as her father tried to regain his composure, for the slap also almost knocked him off his feet. When did this worthless child become so strong? he asked himself.
"I don't know when it happened," he began, staring angrily at her, "but somehow you've got the devil in you now, you ungrateful bitch, and—"
But James Harper Senior would never finish that statement, as he suddenly clutched his chest and collapsed in front of everyone, desperately trying to draw another breath.