Chapter 26

JPOV

Dad was in hog heaven when I asked him to be the one to marry us. He said he had a lot to do, and then he disappeared into his room to work on his speech. It thrilled me to know he was excited and I knew he approved.

I was horrified at the thought of having to choose one best man from my pack, so I was stunned when they came to me and told me that they were all declining before I even asked.

"We can't put you through it, dude. We know you love us all, and we want no jostling for position between us. We think you should choose your Beta and be done with it," Embry explained.

"But my Beta is..."

"Leah, yeah we know," Quil chuckled.

"So you want me to ask Leah to be my best man?"

"And we want to watch," Seth said before the three of them broke into laughter.

"You guys suck!" I said smacking the back of each of their heads.

"No, honestly we wanted to make it easy on you and tell you we didn't care who you chose," Seth said more seriously.

"Then I need to tell you I'm kinda wanting to ask someone not in the pack," I confessed.

"Edward's already got a job, dude, and so does Bella," Quil reminded me.

"I know. You guys are sure you're alright with it?"

"It's your wedding, we just want to party."

I had thought long and hard about who I wanted as my best man and the moment I decided I knew I had made the right choice. I approached him one night at the big house and asked him to join me for a run.

Once we were a good distance from the house and clear of being overheard I copped a squat on a boulder and asked him to do the same.

"If it weren't for you I wouldn't have made it through all of this. You kept me sane. You reminded me what I had to focus on, and in the end you helped me save not only Nessie's life, but my sanity. Truth be told I really didn't think I would come to trust you the way I do, but you are now as much my brother as Edward is, and I want you to be my best man."

He was very still and as always, very quiet. Then he shook his blonde hair and ran his hand through his mane. Finally he raised his eyes to mine and smiled broadly.

"You honor me, sir. I will stand beside you with pleasure, and if ya need me to calm any nerves, you just let me know," came the sweet southern drawl.

"Thank you Jasper, not only for this, but for helping me see my way to helping my girl."

"Our girl," he said, " ya know I looked after you as much for her as for you. That child would skin me alive if I let harm come to you. I was only trying to remain her favorite uncle, after all."

As the day approached, my pack and Sam's decided to get together with the Cullen men and devise a "bachelor party." I fought them tooth and nail, but finally, the night before the wedding I was ambushed and dragged away from the Cullen compound and we all piled into vehicles and headed out to the woods between forks and La Push.

We spent the evening laughing and talking and generally enjoying the male bonding. We had a huge bonfire and a truckload of food for the wolves. Then each of my compatriots who had any experience took their turn expounding on the art of love.

"Just remember that the woman he is about to marry is my daughter," Edward said then he sat back and let them have their say.

"Always remember that a woman's heart is a fragile thing," Carlisle said, "treat it with care and concern and you are probably safe."

"When all else fails, apologize," Sam offered. "just make sure you know what you are apologizing for, cause every now and again they ask, and if you guess wrong the fight begins anew."

"Never stand between her and her family, even when she's mad at them, cause trust me, the minute you do you'll need to duck," Paul said laughing. I recalled the time my sister Rachel smacked him in the back of the head when he agreed with her that I was an ass. She told him she was free to call me any name she chose, but he was not.

"Respect her strength, and acknowledge her frailty," Jasper said sagely.

"What the hell does that mean?" Emmett asked.

"In your case, remember that your woman can be pissy, and know when to duck," Edward laughed.

"That and remember that every few years you're gonna have to dress in a monkey suit and marry her again," Jazz nodded.

"Gotcha!" Emmett nodded. "My advice is more practical, Jake, and I have actually already taken care of it for you."

"What's that Em?"

"Soundproof the damn bedroom, cause nobody wants to hear a thing, trust me!"

Everybody laughed heartily at that, and I thought to Edward "Especially you." He nodded.

Carlisle then took his turn. "As the longest married of the group my advise is simple. Remember each and every day that she is a gift and that love needs freedom and care to grow and thrive."

Finally Edward stood and told everyone that he needed a moment with his future son-in-law. We walked away from the fire and ended up a few miles out before we paused.

"Jacob, you are the only man I would ever trust to give my daughter. I know you'll make her happy, because you already do. Be happy. That's the only advise I have. Trust yourself and the imprint to guide you, it has never steered you wrong yet. Welcome to the family, Jake."

It was the first time I could remember him using my nickname. I smiled at him and we returned to the rowdy group to continue the business of being men.

NPOV

It took the women of my family three weeks to pull the wedding together. I informed them of my desire to show up and end up married, and do nothing else, and they ran with it. Neither Jacob nor I wanted a big protracted event. All we wanted was to say our vows before our family. Of course that meant the vampires and wolves all needed to gather.

Jacob asked his father to officiate for us, as he was the chief of the tribe and served as shaman. Billy agreed enthusiastically. We asked Papa Charlie to play "traffic cop" and usher. He almost fell over himself laughing at our request.

I asked Aunt Rose and Aunt Alice to be my bridesmaids and they hopped at the chance. Mamma insisted that she, Gran, and Sue would make the meal and that she wanted to personally make my cake.

Alice made the dress, although we had a rather intense discussion about it. I wanted something simple and low key, Alice wanted something "Royal Wedding" worthy. We compromised and I walked down the aisle in an ivory, off the shoulder dress with an A-line skirt. It had the most beautiful back I had ever seen, it laced up with a teal ribbon and had a teal triangle that fell from the back to form a fall down the train. I felt like a princess, and the teal made my hair and skin shine.

We held the wedding on the cliffs overlooking First Beach at sunset so that we could all celebrate and party on the beach. I honestly cannot tell you much about the day other than that Daddy kissed my temple before we walked to the cliff.

"I'm not ready for this, baby," he said. "I want more time with my little girl. Still, if I have to trust anyone with you're care, I cannot think of a better man than Jacob. I still feel like such a newlywed myself, I am afraid I have no words of wisdom to impart to you. Just love each other, and remember that although you two actually have forever you need to cherish every single moment you share."

"I love you daddy."

"And I love you, my miracle."

Mamma joined us for the walk, because I had asked that they both "give me away." She looked so beautiful. She was dressed in dark blue, (Daddy's favorite) and her eyes seemed to shine more than usual. It almost looked like she would be crying if she could have.

"Now you remember, Nessie, that just cause you are getting married does not mean that you stop being my baby. To me you will always be that beautiful baby who gave me a reason to live beyond my own existence. I expect you to remember that and cut your old mom some slack when I forget that you are a beautiful woman in your own right," she said as she hugged me tightly.

"I will," I swore.

"You remember to take care of Jake for me. He has always been the best friend I have ever had, and I need to know I can trust you with him, cause he is going to screw up. I mean after all, he's a guy," she laughed. "Be happy. That's all I want for you both."

Jake was in a perfectly tailored tux and I almost ran to him the moment I saw him. Daddy placed my hand in his and our eyes met. I began to send him images of us from my memory and I knew he was feeling all my love as his father spoke to the two of us.

"I did not have Jacob's mother nearly as long as I would have liked. Now, I know that these two are looking at forever stretching out before them, and in this case they will likely have just that." Our friends and family chuckled at that. "My only advice to the two of you is to treat each day as if it were your last. That way you are less likely to do things you'll regret. If today were your last day with her, would you say something that would hurt her feelings? If tomorrow were not guaranteed would you treat him with anything less than the utmost care? You two almost lost each other, never forget that, and I think you'll be just fine."

We exchanged vows and then spent time being congratulated by everyone. After a few hours Daddy handed Jake the keys to the Astin Martin and told us to go. We drove to the airport and flew off to spend time at Gran's Island.