Mimic | Jacob Black

40. Surprise

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River waited patiently in the living room, fully dressed, while Alice worked her magic on Bella upstairs. That is, until Alice entered the room.

"Is she ready?" River asked, resisting the urge to mess with his gelled back hair, lest Alice kill him for it.

"Not yet, Rosalie's doing her hair. Jasper should be here any second now, with Renee and Phil. Your father is also on his way–with your mother and Charlie, so he wouldn't get lost. I just have to grab a few more things..."

She disappeared, but River didn't have to wait long until he heard a car pulling up outside. Soon followed by Charlie, Julie and Joseph–all dressed up–entering the house. He stood up and made his way to the front door, meeting them there. Joseph's eyes brightened.

"Wow, I don't think I've ever seen you dress up this much for anything."

River shrugged. "When would I be dressing up like this any other time?"

"Well, it definitely suits you," Joseph said.

"Don't get used to it," River answered.

"You look so handsome!" Julie said excitedly.

"It's a good look for you," Charlie added.

Joseph hummed. "I always thought you and Bella would end up married."

River rolled his eyes. "You're ten years too late to be saying that, Dad."

"I know. Besides, you've got your eye on that Jacob boy, don't you?"

River blinked in surprise. He was certainly not expecting to hear that, and he had no idea how to respond. He didn't need to anyway, as Julie smacked Joseph's arm, giving him a firm glare.

"Don't go on about that now. Jacob's been missing for months!"

Now Joseph looked surprised. "What? Really? I didn't... I wasn't aware."

Julie looked at River again, guilt in her eyes. "Sorry, honey. I hadn't informed him yet."

"It's fine," River said.

Charlie and Julie were used to his lack of emotion when talking about Jacob, but Joseph naturally found it confusing, given he had just learned that Jacob's whereabouts were unknown.

"Well, I'm gonna head outside now. It won't be much longer now. Bella's upstairs," River said.

"Are you sure? I can come with you," Joseph offered.

River shook his head. "I have a spot with my friends."

"Alright. I'll see you later."

River headed out around to the open area behind the Cullen house. What was once just nature had been turned into something that almost looked like it belonged in a dream. White blossoms hung in garlands from trees. On the ground, rows of chairs had been placed down in rows on both the left and the right, leaving an opening down the middle, leading up to an arch overflowing with more flowers. There was a band off to the right as well, playing soft ambient music. All the men of the Cullen family were up around the altar, chatting quietly.

Towards the front, he quickly spotted Angela, Jessica, Mike and Eric amongst the sea of people, and an empty seat next to them. They were all dressed up, too, and Mike whistled when River came into view.

"Jeez, dude, I didn't realise you were getting married today."

"Alice planned everything so obsessively. Sadly I could not escape her vision," River answered, sitting down.