Sadly i still don't own Bill, as always all characters owned by Charlaine Harris, Alan Ball and HBO, i'm just borrowing them and will give them back

Chapter 3

I awoke at 1pm, refreshed and bubbling with excitement. Today was my wedding day, the day. I giggled at the thought of a vampire marrying a fairy, it seemed like some kind of an old fairytale but this was real life. Today Bill and I would begin our happy ever after. I quickly threw on some shorts and a t-shirt, then went down to the kitchen and put on a pot of coffee. It seemed Tara was still sleeping, so I filled the pot with enough water so there'd be plenty when she finally surfaced. After putting on the coffee, I went to fetch the mail; on my way, as I walked into the living room I noticed, there on the table, a big red heart-shaped box with a huge pink bow. I could see there was a card on this box which I figured must contain a wedding gift but, as I turned the card over my, heart fluttered as I immediately recognised Bill's beautiful copperplate hand-writing.

"My Sookie. I love you" and underneath he'd continued, "Sweetheart, I know you will probably be nervous, I know I will be, and I wanted you to have a relaxing day. Please look inside the box, it's for you, I hope it will help. I cannot wait to marry you, Miss Stackhouse. Yours in love for eternity, Bill.

I untied the ribbon, removed the box lid and discovered a gift basket inside, I pulled it out, placed it on the coffee table and examined its contents. Heavenly floral scented candles, luxurious bath soak, oils, lotions & potions, a pure silk robe and a CD he'd burned with all of my favourite songs. I couldn't keep the smile from my lips, but my eyes started welling-up too, as I looked at what he had sent for me. How thoughtful he'd been, he really loved me.

"So you found it then, huh?" came Tara's voice from over my shoulder, she came into view carrying in two steaming cups of coffee. "Bill asked me to give this to you today, just a little gift he said, he wants today to be perfect for you".

I smiled to myself as I thought how wonderful my fiance was. Tara passed me my coffee, it smelled good, I took a sip, it tasted good and today was going to be good. Tara had to pop out to pick up a couple of last minute items so, while she was out, after a second cup of coffee, I took my gift basket to the bathroom, planning on taking a long relaxing bath and giving my body a good pampering with the wonderful things Bill had sent for me. Afterwards, Tara would do my hair and make-up before helping me into my beautiful dress. Then when Jason had arrived we'd head out to the place where I'd marry the man of my dreams. There was, however, something I had to do first. I threw on my trainers and went out, pausing to collect an armful of roses from the bushes at the side of the house before making my way over to the old cemetery, dividing the beautiful flowers into two bunches as I did so.

Arriving at Gran's grave, I kneeled to arrange one bunch of roses on there. "Hi Gran", the warmth of her memory stirred such bittersweet feelings, "I wish you were here. I miss you so much. Today's my Big Day Gran, I'm getting married, can you believe it? I know you liked Bill, and today I'm going to be his bride. Bill is wonderful, he really loves me and he makes me so happy, I can hardly wait to be Mrs Compton. I just wish you could be a part of this, Jason's going to give me away and he's real nervous but happy. He's really grown up alot you know. Sam's gonna be Bill's best man. I never thought I'd see the day when those two would stop wanting to kill each other, let alone become good friends, but I guess miracles do happen" I sighed, smiling as I sat down for a chat. "To be honest, I'm a little nervous, I guess I'm going to be like a kind of mother figure to Jessica and I have no idea what I'm doing. I don't want to overstep my boundaries, I did that before and I was wrong but I do want to support Bill. I wish you were here to give me some advice Gran" I said wiping away my tears. I sat with Gran in silence for a little while; then got to my feet, aware that time was getting on, there was one more thing I had to do before going back to start getting ready.

I made my way further on into the cemetery until I reached the grave I was looking for. I held the remaining roses in my left hand and, with my right, wiped away fallen leaves to reveal the name CAROLINE COMPTON as I knelt before the headstone. I placed the roses on the stone marker and took a deep breath. "Caroline" I said solemnly, "I wanted to come here, to tell you that Bill is well and he is happy. We are getting married today, and I promise you I will look after him, I promise I will be a good wife to him. I love him so much, he is my miracle. I know you made him so happy and that I could never replace you, I just wanted to tell you that I'm going to do everything I can to make sure he has the happiness he deserves" and with that I stood to make my way home.

Tara was still not back, so I made my way straight to the bathroom, lit the scented candles, placing them around the small bathroom. I ran my bath and, as the bathroom filled with glorious aromas, loaded my CD into the little waterproof player Jason had bought me for my birthday last year. I undressed, tested the water temperature and stepped into the tub. I sat down, leaned back and all but sank under the mountain of bubbles - oh this was heaven. I closed my eyes and thought of Bill. I couldn't wait to see him in his tux, he always looked so stunning in a suit. 'He's gonna look amazing in a tux' I thought, just as the song Amazed by Lonestar began to play, I smiled at the coincidence, it was a great song for my Bill and I just couIdn't stop thinking about him. I began to think about our honeymoon, we were going to St Lucia. We'd hired a private light-proofed villa; at this time of year it would be dark earlier and sunrise would be quite late, giving Bill and I lusciously long nights together. We would fly out during the day tomorrow and arrive just before dark and then, just as soon as the sun set, we would begin our honeymoon.

After washing and conditioning my hair, I showered then dried off and applied some of the deliciously fragranced moisturiser, I knew Bill would love the smell of it too. I put on the silk robe that had been a gift from Bill and went to the bedroom, dried my hair, then took my wedding dress out of its cover. I stood back to admire it. It was simply beautiful. I had looked everywhere for the perfect dress, spent months searching all the stores in Bon Temps, Shreveport, of course I looked online to but without any luck, nothing I saw seemed quite right. Then, one day driving through Monroe, I passed a tiny bridal shop and there It was in the window, just as I'd about given up hope of ever finding the right one. The dress was stunning, cream in colour (after some of the things Bill and I had done, white just didn't seem appropriate) with gold leafing all around the hemline. And the style! It was just the style I had been looking for, civil war era with lots of petticoats, sleeveless but with covered shoulders; the skirt part extended into a train at the back. It was perfect. I had run into the store to try it on and it had been a perfect fit, no alterations needed, and the price was just right. The lady in the store said it was like the dress had been made especially for me and I had to agree, it seemed like fate had smiled down on me. Not only had I found my perfect dress, a dress I loved, but it was a dress I was sure Bill would love too.

When I came back downstairs, I heard Tara on the phone, in the kitchen, "Thanks Sam, see you in a little while" she said as she hang up.

"Is everything OK?" I asked.

"Yeah" she smiled, "Sam got those special bottles of Tru Blood y'all ordered, said he'd have em delivered to the reception with the rest of the liquor".

It had taken some searching but Sam had managed to find some special bottles of champagne infused Tru Blood, I wanted Bill to be able to have something special for our wedding toast and had heard about this variation of the drink. They'd been hard to get but Sam had managed to track a couple down. "Thanks Tara!" I smiled.

"Hey Sook! Have you eaten today?" she asked.

I just realised I hadn't "Um actually no."

"Well girl, you are gonna have to eat somethin. We can't have you fainting from hunger as you're walking down the aisle now, can we?"

Truth was I hadn't even thought about food but I knew she was right. "How about i make us a late lunch" I offered but my best friend was having having none of it, insisting I sit down and let her take care of it instead.

I did as I was told, she rustled up a salad to have with the remainder of the previous night's chicken - we decided nothing too heavy would be best.

Before we knew it, it was 3.45pm, sunset would be at 5pm and the wedding was scheduled for 8pm, to allow Bill and Jessica time to get ready (and some of Bill's vampire friends time to arrive before the service). Jason arrived a little before 4pm. He walked through the door of our childhood home and pulled me into a hug so tight I could hardly breathe. "Jason, can't breathe" I choked and he released me.

"Sorry Sook" he said sheepishly,

"Don't worry about it" I answered smiling fondly. My brother suddenly looked on the verge of tears.

"Jason what's wrong?" I asked, concerned.

"It's nothin Sis" he replied. Then "I just can't believe my little sister's gettin married" as he hugged me, a little more gently, again.

About half-an-hour before sundown there was a knock at the door. Tara went to answer it and a few seconds later she was calling me to the living room. I walked in to find two women, one a red-head in her early 40s I'd guess and the other, with jet black hair in maybe her mid 30s. I noticed they had two big bags with them; I looked questioningly at Tara who just stood there smiling.

"Tara, what's going on?" I asked

"Miss Stackhouse" the red-headed lady said, "Let me introduce myself. I'm Emily Tyler and this is Hannah Lowell, we're from Emily's, the beauty salon over in Shreveport. Mr Compton asked us if we'd come over and do your hair and make-up for your wedding, and for your two bridesmaids as well"

I blinked in surprise as I looked at Tara, who just shrugged her shoulders and said "What? Don't look at me!" then "OK, I was freaking out to Bill about doing your hair and make-up for your big day. I mean I don't mind if it's just to go watch the local football game or for a night out but this is your wedding Sook. I was scared I might turn you into a clown or something, so Bill came up with this suggestion. You don't mind, right?"

I smiled at her "Of course not."

"Good, then let's get this show on the road" she said smiling back.

Emily turned back to look at me "If it's OK with you Miss Stackhouse, we'll get started on you hair right away, Miss Thornton here told us you want it curled, is that right?"

"Yes, that's right. Is that a problem?" I asked.

"Oh no, not at all" she replied "but we best get started, I'll be styling your hair Miss Stackhouse and Hannah will start on Miss Thornton's"

"Sure, that's fine" I replied "and, please, call me Sookie".

As Emily worked on my hair, I tried my best to shield myself from her thoughts but, momentarily, it slipped; when it did, I realised I had no need to worry, Emily was thinking about how I was a very lucky girl; that Bill must love me very much. He'd seemed nice, not at all what she'd expected of a vampire. I smiled at that, Bill certainly was one of a kind.

The sun had set 10 minutes ago, my make-up was almost done and I had a head full of heated curlers, when Jessica knocked at the door. She came into the living room where the makeshift salon had been set up. She was so excited.

"Oh Sookie" she said "I can't believe this day has finally come."

"I know, me neither" I smiled at her, "Hows Bill?" I asked.

"Nervous" she giggled.

"Really?"

"Yeah, he's walking around the house practicing his vows. Sam just arrived and made him go shower so he can start getting ready" she said rolling her eyes.

"Miss Hamby" said Hannah "Would you like to take a seat please? Then we can get started on your hair."

"OK" said Jess excitedly, she'd never been a bridesmaid before.

Tara walked through into the living room carrying a tray with 4 glasses of raspberry ice tea (we'd decided that alcohol before the wedding for me was not a good idea), a beer for Jason (to calm his nerves) and a bottle of Tru Blood for Jess. We chatted about how honoured Hoyt said he felt that Bill had asked him to be one of his groomsmen, and how beautiful the wedding flowers looked, and then Tara and Jess went to get changed. I continued chatting with Jason, Emily and Hannah, as Emily put the finishing touches to my hair. Before I knew it, it was 7.15pm and time for me to put on my beautiful dress.

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