The Beginning
Chapter 13 The Wedding
Jackie had never been so excited or so busy in her entire life. She had no idea that planning a wedding would be so complex, there were so many details that had to be dealt with.
The thing that was stressing Jackie out the most about the wedding right now was the fact that the couple had agreed to write their own vows. They wanted something personal, something from the heart and Jackie was drawing a blank.
She was nervous about the wedding in general anyways, not about marrying Nick, she had never been so sure of anything in her entire life but the fact that she would have to stand in front of all those people made her sick to her stomach.
She stared at the blank piece of paper in front of her where the vows should have been written down. She sighed as she scribbled on the sheet of paper "Dear Nick, let's drop this formal wedding idea and elope. Love Jackie." She laughed and then crossed that out.
She glanced around the busy Vegas coffee shop that she was in, most of the people there were typing feverishly on their laptops. She had flown to Vegas a few days ago to help set up the last minute details because the wedding was only one week away. "I have to focus on the vows" she told herself as she again stared at the blank piece of paper in front of her.
"Problems?" A voice behind her asked.
"Oh hi Warrick." She said turning around.
"You look stressed out, what's up?" He asked as he took a seat next to her.
"Oh nothing, I'm just having trouble writing these vows."
"Just try to think of Nick's good qualities, I can't think of very many, I don't really like him very much but hopefully you can think of something, after all you're the one marrying the guy." Warrick said.
The smirk on his face told Jackie that he was just kidding.
Warrick grinned even bigger and said "How about something like: "Nicky, trying to think of something nice to say about you is tricky. The situations you often find yourself in are icky and somewhat sticky, but maybe that's because you are way too picky."
Jackie was laughing so hard she couldn't breathe. When she had finally managed to get control of herself she said
"Thanks Warrick I needed a good laugh."
"No problem." He said still grinning.
"Instead of me using that for your vows, maybe you should use that as your best man speech." She said with a laugh.
"Hey, that's not a bad idea. Could you imagine the look on Nick's face if I did?"
"It'd be priceless." Jackie agreed.
"I really should do that, although, I work with the guy every night, and he does carry a gun so maybe that's not a very good idea."
Jackie laughed.
Warrick just grinned.
Just then Jackie's phone started ringing.
"Hello." She said.
"Hey Sweetie where are you?" Nick asked.
"I'm at the coffee shop down the street from your apartment."
"Oh ok, but don't forget we have that cake tasting appointment at four o'clock for the wedding cake." He said.
"Ok, I'll be right home." She said before hanging up.
She had forgotten all about that.
"I'm sorry Warrick but I have to run." She said as she gathered her coffee, pen, and paper.
"Alright, see you later, and if you need anymore help with your vows just let me know." He said with a smirk.
Jackie laughed "will do." She said and then she headed out the door.
Soon after Jackie got back to Nick's apartment they headed to their cake tasting appointment. When they got there a nice woman started asking them all kinds of cake questions.
"What cake flavor would you prefer?"
"Chocolate." Jackie answered.
"Vanilla" Nick said at the same time and then they both laughed.
"Let's have it be chocolate, I don't care, this is your big day, the only thing that matters to me is that you show up." Nick said with a smile.
"He's a keeper." The lady told Jackie.
"I sure think so." Jackie agreed.
"We can do half and half if you want, that way both of you will be happy."
"Sounds good to me." Jackie said.
"Me too." Nick agreed.
"How many tiers do you want the cake to be?" The lady asked.
Nick and Jackie looked at one another and shrugged.
"How many people are going to be there?" The lady asked.
"Around two hundred and fifty." Nick said.
"Alright how about we do four tiers, a large one and three smaller ones. The big tier can be chocolate and the three smaller tiers can be vanilla. How does that sound?"
Nick and Jackie agreed that that sounded like a good idea. Then the couple got to taste all the different chocolate and vanilla flavors. When they had finally decided the woman drew a design of the cake and then showed it to Nick and Jackie to make sure they liked it, they did.
"That was the best appointment I have ever been too." Jackie said after the appointment had ended.
Nick laughed, "Yeah, free cake bites, you can't beat it can you?"
"Nope." Jackie grinned.
While driving back to Nick's apartment he remembered he didn't have anything at home for dinner so the couple went out. When they finally got back to the apartment Nick wanted to relax and watch a movie.
"Sorry babe but I'm tired, I think I'm just going to go to bed." Jackie fibbed, she wasn't really tired, and she would have loved to watch a movie with him but she had to finish those darn vows.
"Oh, ok, are you feeling alright?"
"Yeah, I'm just tired." She fibbed once more.
"Alright, goodnight." Nick said.
"Night Nick" she said.
She went into her bedroom and grabbed her note pad. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't think of anything to write.
"If I don't think of something pretty soon, I'm just going to use what Warrick said." She thought to herself.
She obviously would never do that, she was just frustrated.
After two and a half hours of working on them, she was finally finished. She was very happy and relieved as she laid her head on her pillow and fell asleep.
The days flew by, they were jammed packed with last minute wedding details.
Finally the big day arrived.
"Are you excited?" Jackie's mom asked as she was helping Jackie put the final touches on her makeup.
"Yes, but I'm a little sad." Jackie confessed.
"Sad about what?" Her mother asked.
"I'm sad that I won't get to see my family as much, I'll miss you all." She said.
"You won't have time to." Her mother said with a smile.
"What do you mean?"
"I wanted it to be a surprise for after the wedding but I guess I'll tell you now. We are all moving to Vegas."
Jackie was stunned.
"But how can you do that, what about dad's job, is he going to retire?"
"No, but the company is granting him a transfer."
"What about Aunt Rachel's job and Uncle Rodney's business?" Jackie asked.
"Rodney is going to sell the business, he is sick of it anyways, you know that. Rachel also managed to get a transfer here, but her company won't let her leave for a couple more months so she and Dean are going to have to stay behind for just a bit."
Jackie smiled, she could not believe how awesome her family is.
"I wonder how Nick is going to feel about this." Her mother said with a grin.
"Oh Nicky will be happy, he likes you guys a lot, in fact I think this will be really good for him because he really misses his family in Texas. Hopefully you guys will help him feel a little less home sick."
Jackie's mother smiled as Jackie threw her arms around her . A couple tears slid down Jackie's face.
"Hey hey now, no crying, you'll make me cry, plus you'll smear your makeup." Her mother said with a warm smile.
An hour later Nick stood at the altar watching Jackie walk down the isle. He couldn't wipe the ear to ear grin off of his face. Nick had never seen anyone look as beautiful as Jackie did at that moment. Her long brown hair was in curls, her eye makeup made her beautiful green eyes shine even brighter than normal, her gorgeous long white dress showed off her cute figure and as she clung to her father's arm she looked up at Nick and smiled, that smile could have lit up a room, and it definitely lit up Nick's heart.
As the ceremony started Jackie realized with surprise that she was not at all nervous about standing in front of all everyone. To her it felt like she and Nick were the only ones in the room, nobody else mattered.
Finally it was the time in the ceremony for the couple to recite their vows to one another.
Nick went first:
Jackie, knowing you has been by far the happiest time of my life. I love you more than you will ever realize. From the first moment I saw you I knew that there was nobody I would rather spend the rest of my life with and I promise that I will love you forever. Whenever you need a shoulder to cry on, I will be there, forever. Whenever you need someone to make you laugh, I will be there, forever. You will be mine and I yours, forever. I look forward to our future together with great anticipation. I love you with all of my heart.
Jackie was crying so hard she could not speak.
"I'm sorry" she croaked as she wiped her tears away with a tissue the minister gave her.
She took a deep breath and managed to compose herself again.
Nick, you are by far the sweetest, kindest, and most caring person I have ever met. Those are just a few of the many traits I love about you. I have loved every moment I have ever spent with you. No one has ever come close to making me as happy as you make me. I too look forward to our future and I could not imagine embarking on this wonderful journey with anyone else. I love you.
Nick tightened the grip on her hand and his smile got even bigger.
After what seemed like a lifetime the minister finally said the words both of them had been waiting to hear.
"I now pronounce you man and wife, you may kiss the bride."
Nick wrapped his arms around her and gave her a tender kiss.
Everyone clapped and cheered and as the couple walked out of the church all of the guests continued to cheer as they threw rice on them. Nick and Jackie laughed as they quickly made their way into the awaiting limo.
"You look good with rice in your hair." Nick joked on the way to the reception.
Jackie laughed "So do you."
Nick grinned at her and then his facial expression turned more serious.
"You look incredible, I love your dress, although I am glad that I hadn't seen it before today, it was more exciting that way."
"Thank you, I'm glad you like it. Oh and you don't look too bad yourself in that tuxedo."
Nick smiled "Thank you." He said.
It wasn't long before they arrived at the reception hall. When they walked in, arm in arm the DJ said
"Please help me welcome for the very first time Mr. and Mrs. Nick Stokes."
Once again all of their friends and family started cheering wildly.
Nick and Jackie had their first dance as husband and wife. Then Jackie danced with her dad and after that Nick danced with his mother.
Once those three dances were over everyone started dancing. People had a great time at the reception, laughing, eating, dancing and joking with one another. Nick was just about to steal Jackie away from a table of her friends so they could dance again when Nick's little niece Maci came up to him
"Uncle Nicky, will you dance with me?" She asked with a sweet smile.
He looked at her and smiled "Of course." He said as he grabbed her little hand.
He gave Jackie a wink before leading the little girl on the dance floor.
Minutes later Jackie was on her way to the restroom when Nick grabbed her hand.
"Come with me for a minute." He said as he led her over to the wedding cake.
"What do you think of the cake?" He asked when they were standing in front of it.
"It's beautiful." She said.
"Yeah it is, but do notice something odd about the little bride and groom on top of the cake?"
"What do you mean?" She asked as she looked at the tiny little statues.
"The groom is completely bald." Nick said.
Jackie looked closer and sure enough Nick was right, it was. She couldn't help herself, she burst out laughing. Nick also chuckled.
"Don't say anything, maybe no one will notice." She said.
"Honey we're in a room full of crime scene investigators, trust me, someone is going to notice." He said.
There was not much they could do about it now so the couple just laughed it off and sure enough ten minutes later Greg came up to Nick and said
"Hey Nicky, you're bald."
"What?" Nick asked, pretending he had no idea what he was talking about.
"The little groom on the cake, it's bald."
"I know, keep your voice down." Nick said.
"That's hysterical." Greg said as he burst out laughing.
Nick just shook his head and walked away.
Not long after that Nick was leading Jackie onto the dance floor and on the way there they passed the cake once again.
"What the hell?" Nick said sounding very surprised.
Someone had drawn hair on the little statue with a sharpie the only problem was that instead of drawing hair that looked like Nick's hair the little statue had a mohawk.
Jackie again burst out laughing.
"I wonder who did that?" Nick said.
He had to admit it was pretty funny.
"My guess would be one of my uncles." Jackie said and Nick laughed.
Nick was just about to continue leading Jackie onto the dance floor when he felt a tap on his shoulder.
"Just thought I would help you out." Greg said as he nodded to the cake with a smirk.
"Greg you are something else, but because I am in a great mood, I'm not going to kill you." Nick said.
"Thanks, I appreciate that." Greg said before walking away.
Nick just rolled his eyes.
Overall everyone had a wonderful time at the wedding. Jackie could not have asked for a more special day and Nick was equally as thrilled because he got to marry the woman of his dreams.
That is the end of the story! I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you to everyone that has read this story! Also thank you to those who write reviews, that is what makes this so much fun! Without readers and reviewers it would be pointless and so I truly appreciate it! This story was different than any I have ever written because it is so long, usually I prefer writing one shots but I have actually enjoyed writing this! If you can think of anymore stories you'd like me to do for milestones in their relationship just shoot me a personal message! I am thinking about writing one where Nick and Jackie go house hunting!