👑 The Justice of the Peace: Beth Logan’s Final Verdict 👑

I. The Unsettled Sanctuary

The Forrester living room was being meticulously prepared for the umpteenth wedding between Hope Logan and Liam Spencer. Yet, despite the fresh flowers and expensive catering, the atmosphere was thick with anxiety, not joy. Everyone—from Brooke (who worried about Taylor’s potential interference) to Steffy (who silently questioned the durability of the union)—knew that the perennial problem of Hope and Liam’s commitment wasn’t the ceremony; it was the officiant.

“We need someone who truly understands the depth of our history, Liam,” Hope sighed, tracing the rim of a champagne flute. “Carter is too close to the drama with Thomas. A judge is too impersonal. We need someone who has lived through the chaos, but still believes in the possibility of ‘Lope’.”

Liam, ever the waffler, simply wrung his hands. “Someone who won’t mention Rome, or the cabin, or the countless times we’ve broken up? That person doesn’t exist, Hope. Maybe we should just elope.”

The conversation was interrupted by a tiny, determined force: Beth Logan, who bounced into the room, twirling in her newly tailored flower girl dress. She overheard the final, anxious word.

“You need an officiant?” Beth asked, her eyes wide and serious. “I’ll do it.”

Liam and Hope burst into nervous laughter. “Sweetie, that’s adorable,” Hope said, walking over to embrace her daughter. “But the officiant has to be an adult.”

Beth pulled back, her small frame radiating a shocking sense of purpose. “Why? I know your love story better than anyone. I was there for the good parts and the bad parts. And I’m the only person who doesn’t have to choose between Mommy and Daddy anymore.”

The words landed with the stunning force of truth. Beth was the living, breathing centerpiece of their tumultuous history—the child they had mourned, miraculously recovered, and the definitive reason they always found their way back. She was the one true constant in their volatile equation.

After a long, silent glance, Hope and Liam exchanged a nod that transcended all prior doubt. Beth Logan would be their Justice of the Peace.

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II. The Logan-Forrester Backlash: A Crisis of Protocol

The news that a ten-year-old child—the product of their endless rivalry—would officiate the most anticipated wedding of the year sent shockwaves through the Forrester and Logan elders.

Brooke Logan, initially thrilled, quickly descended into maternal panic. “Hope, darling! This is unorthodox! It’s sweet, yes, but a wedding is sacred! What about the legalities? What if she gets stage fright? And what message does this send to the press?”

Ridge Forrester, ever the traditionalist, was more blunt. “It’s a publicity stunt, Brooke! A child cannot officiate! It makes a mockery of the institution!”

The loudest objections, predictably, came from Steffy Forrester, who saw the move as Hope manipulating Beth for emotional effect. “This is Hope’s manipulative nature at its finest! Using her daughter to emotionally lock Liam down! It’s gross!”

But Liam, for once, stood firm, defending his daughter’s unique role to his ex-wife. “Beth is not being used, Steffy. She’s earned this. She is the unbiased truth in our relationship. Every time Hope and I separated, it was Beth that brought us back. She will officiate because she represents the only thing in our life that is truly unbreakable.”

The sheer, unprecedented nature of the decision—and the unyielding support from Liam and Hope—forced the family to back down. The decision stood: Beth, the daughter, would marry her parents.

III. Beth’s Rules: The Ceremony of Truth

Beth approached her role with meticulous, terrifying seriousness. She didn’t seek out a Justice of the Peace’s script; she wrote her own. She established three non-negotiable rules for the ceremony:

No Traditional Vows:

1.  “You two always say the same promises and then you break them,” Beth declared at a rehearsal. “You need to promise to do things you can actually keep.”

A Time-Out Clause:

1.  The ceremony would include a mandated, three-minute “Time-Out” where guests were instructed to remember the worst argument they had witnessed between Hope and Liam. “We have to remember why we are scared,” Beth insisted.

The Secret Question:

 The final, binding vow would be a single, secret question Beth devised for her parents—a question that had to be answered truthfully and alone.

The Day of Judgment

The wedding day arrived, tense and unconventional. Beth, dressed in a tiny white suit borrowed from Douglas Forrester, stood at the altar, holding a worn copy of The Little Prince (her makeshift Bible).

The music faded. Beth faced the nervous crowd, her voice carrying a profound clarity that belied her years.

“Welcome,” Beth began. “My Mommy and Daddy are getting married again. We know this is kind of a habit for them. But this time, it’s different. This time, I’m the one in charge.”

She skipped the traditional introductions and went straight to the heart of the matter:

“Mommy,” Beth looked at Hope. “Daddy. You are here because you love each other, and because I got sick of moving my toys between two houses.”

The crowd chuckled nervously.

“You promise not to just talk to the other one whenever you have a problem with Mommy/Daddy?” Beth asked, pointing a firm finger at Liam. “And Hope, you promise not to cry and then try to run away every time Daddy makes a mistake?”

“I promise, sweetie,” Hope whispered, tears welling up, realizing the true gravity of her own past habits.

“I promise, Beth,” Liam vowed, his voice thick with sincerity.

IV. The Vow of Reality and the Time-Out

Beth then announced the mandatory “Time-Out.”

“Okay, everyone! Stand up! For three minutes, I want you to remember the one time you were absolutely sure Mommy and Daddy were never getting back together. Don’t talk. Just remember the bad feeling. We need to respect the bad feeling so we don’t do it again!”

The guests stood in stunned, agonizing silence. Brooke remembered the day Liam left Hope for Steffy. Steffy remembered the day Liam left her for Hope. Liam and Hope stared at each other, memories of their agonizing divorce and the subsequent emotional turmoil flashing between them. The silence was heavier, more meaningful than any joyous chorus.

After three minutes, Beth clapped her hands. “Okay! Now sit down. See? We survived it. We’re stronger than the bad feeling.”

She turned back to her parents, her eyes soft but unwavering.

“Mommy and Daddy, you both know all the words. So we’re skipping the rings. The rings just come off. We’re doing the Final Question now. This is the only thing that matters.”

Beth produced two small, folded cards. “You will read the question silently. You will answer truthfully, just to me, with a nod or a shake. The answer is your final, true commitment.”

Liam took the card, his brow furrowed in concentration. Hope took hers, her lip trembling.

The question Beth had written, in shaky, childish script, was not about eternal love or fidelity. It was brutally simple and profoundly revealing:

“Are you marrying each other because you truly want to be together forever, or are you marrying each other just because of me?”

V. The Verdict of the Heart

The question hung in the air, a silent, moral judgment on their entire soap opera history.

Liam read the question. He swallowed hard, his eyes locking onto Beth’s. He closed his eyes briefly, remembering the agonizing choices, the easy outs, and the magnetic pull of his old habits. He opened his eyes, met Beth’s gaze, and slowly, firmly, nodded.

Hope read the question. She paused, remembering the guilt, the pressure from Brooke, and the desperate fear of being alone. She looked at Beth, then at Liam, seeing not the waffler, but the vulnerable, committed man standing before her. She took a deep breath, and with absolute sincerity, she nodded.

Beth smiled—a true, incandescent, all-knowing smile. “Okay. That’s all I needed to know.”

She turned to the assembled guests, her voice ringing out with confidence and joy.

“By the power vested in me, as the person who knows their true story, and the reason they finally got their act together,” Beth declared, her hands outstretched in blessing, “I now pronounce you married!”

The crowd erupted in applause and cheers. Brooke cried genuine tears of happiness this time. Liam swept Hope into his arms, kissing her with a depth of commitment rarely seen before.

Beth, the ten-year-old Officiant, had not just married her parents; she had delivered the final, necessary verdict on their union. She had forced them to acknowledge their flaws, respect their history of pain, and finally choose each other, not out of obligation, but out of a shared, hard-won truth. The marriage was not just legally sound; it was morally certified by the Justice of the Peace who knew the absolute truth.