Swanson Farms

Chapter 14

The day of Jackie and Zach's wedding rolled around quickly and they were so excited. Jackie spent the night at my house and Zach stayed at his place the night before. Since Jackie was good at doing her own makeup and was very particular with the way her hair got done she decided to do both on her own. I was her only bridesmaid since she mainly stuck with Zach and I in high school and Seth would be Zach's only groomsman. They wanted to keep it small and put the money towards their new place and towards Zach's goals of opening the veterinary hospital on the property or to eventually go on a vacation together.

Seth stayed the night once again and since the wedding wasn't until three we slept in longer than usual. Seth had to get up early still to start on the chores for the day but he tried to work as quickly as possible and make it back home before I rolled out of bed at ten. Since the cake was in the pantry fridge and so were all the baked goods I made for the wedding I wasn't very worried about the desserts. Mom and her side of the family offered to help make the food so it was a potluck and we wouldn't have to hire caters.

Almost the whole town was invited and we anticipated the arrival of a few unwelcome and not invited guests since word travels fast in a small town. However Dad and Uncle Joe were ready and promised Jackie that she wouldn't be disrupted.

Dad's side of the family couldn't book the time off from work, but Uncle Hank and Aunt Julia had called two nights ago and said they were going to fly in for the wedding, as they 'wouldn't miss it for the world'.

This time they would be staying with Mom and Dad, since they heard that I had a boyfriend and they told me they wanted to respect my privacy and didn't want to put me out again. Dad didn't want to put them in a hotel since they were paying for the flight to come to the wedding.

Jackie made a pot of coffee when she got out of bed and sighed, resting her head in her hand,

I was already up doing the dishes but I had used the left over coffee from the pot that Seth made earlier in the morning.

"Did you sleep last night?" I asked, handing her a plate of breakfast; eggs, bacon, home fried potatoes and toast. She shook her head, sipping the coffee,

"Hardly. I'm so nervous."

"There's no need to be nervous. You and Zach love each other and that's all that matters Jackie." She nodded and glanced at the clock. It was almost ten, and she grinned,

"I guess I'd better start getting ready." I laughed and put a lasagne in the oven for us so it would be ready by lunch, and went with her to watch her get ready.

"Should I do your make up and hair first?" She asked, looking at me from the mirror. I shook my head,

"You are more important. I can do my own make up, but do my hair after. This isn't my wedding." She rolled her eyes playfully and pretended to flip her hair,

"Whateva."

I laughed and sat beside her and watched as she started doing her hair. She had practiced it a couple of times before so she knew how to do it today, and she was so graceful. Bailey started to make some noise on the monitor so I went to get her, sitting her in my lap. She was content and she watched Jackie do her hair. Hannah showed up almost five minutes later to start taking the photo's for us, and Zach's sister in law Mariah would be taking the photo's of Zach and Seth, and Zach wanted some with his brothers and Dad.

She started snapping pictures as soon as she walked in the door, of Jackie doing her hair, of Bailey, anything really.

Jackie started on her make up after, and she did an amazing job. She made it look like it was completely natural and I was really impressed.