For the record, my dad told me the same thing when I got married. And, my grandfather told my mother the same thing when she married my dad. Must be a southern father thing! Read on to find out!

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"No flowers!" Jessie moved out of Mattie's reach.

"But, chile, yo' Mama wore flowers in her hair when she married yo' Daddy. You always said you wanted flowers in yo' hair when you got married."

Jessie wanted to stomp her feet like she did when she was a child. "You should know by now that I am not my mother. Plus, I'm wearing her dress. Isn't that enough?"

Mattie huffed, fluffing Jessie's already curled hair while Jessie made a face. "You sure ain't yo' mother, and I wouldn't have it any other way."

"I think you're going to miss bossing me around, so you're trying to get in a few last guilt trips."

Mattie pursed her lips. "Don't sass me! You're still my baby, and I can still throw you over my knee if I like."

"But, you wouldn't do that."

"Oh, and just how do you know?"

"You'll ruin my mother's dress." Jessie smiled at Mattie in the mirror. Seeing the tears in the older woman's eyes, she jumped up, trying not to trip over the miles-long train. "Oh, Mattie, don't cry! I don't think I could stand it!" She threw her arms around her surrogate mother.

"Honey, I'm not sad. Well, maybe just a little bit." She held Jessie at arm's length. "When I see you all dolled up with yo' make up and yo' Mama's dress, I still see my little girl with mud up to her ears because she wanted to see why the hogs liked it so much."

"I remember that. You scrubbed me for two hours, then sent me straight to bed. I couldn't go back to the barn for a month."

Mattie sniffed. "Miss Andrea was always so easy to deal with, and Mr. Johnny was yo' Daddy's son through and through, but you always scared me. I never knew what you were goin' to get into next."

"You still don't, if I'm correct."

Mattie patted Jessie's cheek. "Oh, child, you turned into a mighty fine young lady, if I say so myself."

"Thanks to you."

"Oh, poo! You'd have turned out just fine without this old lady."

Jessie hugged Mattie again, fighting her own tears. "Thank you, Mattie, for everything."

"Honey, now you're goin' to ruin my dress."

Arthur stuck his head in the door. Jessie could hear the music faintly through the closed double doors, the swish of bridesmaid's dresses and Honoria's giggling almost drowning it out. "Time to go, Mat. Let's not keep these muckity-mucks waitin'."

"Arthur!"

He just shrugged, looking a little out-of-place in his formal attire. "You know what I mean. I just can't wait to get back home and get some good ol' Texas dirt back under my fingernails."

Jessie gathering her skirts and met him at the door, pecking him on the cheek. "I'll miss you, too, Arthur."

Looking a little flustered, he gathered his wife up and left. Jessie stuck her head out the door to speak to her sister.

"Get back in there, Jessie Callahan! He'll see you! It's bad luck!"

"Good Lord, Molly! That's a bunch of hog wash, and you know it!"

"You get back in there now!" Molly ushered her sister-in-law back into the dressing room, slamming the door behind her. Jessie huffed to herself as strains of Vivaldi filled the air. She knew that one-by-one the attendants were walking down the aisle, led by her nephews and Meggy.

Jessie glanced at herself one final time in the mirror. Surprisingly, she wasn't as nervous as she thought she would be. Not that she had time to be. Her family had arrived in Boston a week before the wedding and had attended party after party in their honor, sometimes two or three a day. Charles attended where he could, but often, he was caught up in some crises or another at the hospital.

Honestly, it didn't bother her that much. She knew how it would be going into this marriage.

Her father stuck his head in the door. "It's almost time." He tried not to choke up seeing his youngest daughter in his late wife's dress, pasting a smile on his face.

Jessie stood still as he adjusted the train behind her, clutching her bouquet in sweaty palms. When it was to his liking, he took her arm, waiting on the double doors to reopen.

"You know, Jessamyn, you don't have to do this. We can go out this back door right now, and it will be OK."

Jessie was ready for this speech. He gave the same one to Andrea. "I know what I'm doing, Daddy. I really want to marry him."

He smiled wistfully, patting her arm. "I know you do, sweetheart. I just want you to be sure."

"I'm sure."

"Good."

The first few notes of the wedding march, along with the shuffling of rising guests, silenced them as the doors were opened.

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"I distinctly remember him not being on the guest list. Did you invite him?"

Jessie sipped on a glass of champagne, watching Hawkeye and Trapper terrorize their single female guests. And, a few who weren't single. "No, I didn't. I honestly didn't think he would come, anyway. The two of you weren't exactly best of friends."

He watched Hawkeye dip one of Jessie's giggling cousins and tried not to smile. "We had our moments. But, good Lord, with them both here, it's like having double the insanity!"

"I suppose Dr. McIntyre could bring a guest, so he chose Pierce. Why did you invite Trapper, anyway?"

Charles rolled his eyes, draping his arm over the back of Jessie's chair. "He conned me into using an invitation as a bet during a poker game. Slow night."

"You're kidding!"

"I'm afraid not."

Laughter filled the air. "I suppose he had it in mind to invite Hawkeye all along."

"Appears to be the case, doesn't it? The sneak."

"I say, Miss Callahan, or should I say, Mrs. Winchester, you sure look lovely this evening." Hawkeye plopped down next to her, helping himself to the remainder of her drink.

"I should. I'm the bride, remember? Oh, and stay away from my cousin. She's only 15."

"Ah! Fifteen! What an age!"

Jessie couldn't help but laugh at his leer. "You're too much!"

"That's not what I was told by half the nursing staff at Crabapple Cove General."

"Really, Pierce." Charles was trying hard not to laugh aloud, not wanting to encourage him.

"I'm glad you invited yourself to our wedding, Hawkeye!" Jessie wiped her eyes on a napkin. "It wouldn't have been the same."

"Ah, but the evening is still young. There're more surprises in store." With that, Hawkeye rose, making his way to the dance floor.

"Ah . . . Pierce?" A million of Hawkeye's pranks floated through Charles's mind, and he cringed to think which one was next.

Jessie stopped him, a little worried herself. "Just let him do whatever it is he is going to do and get it over with."

Hawkeye put both his fingers in his mouth and whistled, getting everyone's attention immediately.

Charles covered his eyes. "I can't watch."

Hawkeye bowed towards the crowd. "Ladies and gentlemen. My name is Benjamin Franklin Pierce, and I have been asked by the groom to welcome you to this lovely reception."

Jessie looked at Charles.

"I did not – repeat, not – ask him to do anything, let alone make a fool of himself in front of half of Boston!" Charles hissed.

Jessie shushed him, taking his hand. Wearily, Charles settled back in the chair, resigned to his humiliation.

"Now, I have not known this lovely couple as long as many of you. And by lovely, you know I mean Jessie." The crowd laughed, and Hawkeye waited for them to quiet.

"However, due to the circumstances, I came to know both of them quite personally. For instance, did you know that Chuckles here snores like a commoner when his allergies act up?"

Honoria spoke up. "You got that right!" The guests laughed.

"I'm going to kill him," Charles mumbled.

"Or, that Jessie knows the words to all the bar songs in Texas? Puts on a pretty good show, too. If you know what I mean."

"Oh, good grief," Jessie muttered.

"But, that's not all. For instance, there's more courage in Jessie's pinkie finger than an entire platoon of Marines. And Charles," Hawkeye laughed. "Well, Charles can be downright likable when he wants to be!"

The guests roared, and Hawkeye held up his hand to quiet them. "There was a time that if you told me these two would ever marry, I would have laughed in your face! You would not believe the war of the egos! Sheesh!"

"I bet most of you didn't know that he saved her life. Yep, he sure did. If that North Korean bullet had gone further to the left or right, she wouldn't be here today, despite Charles's obvious skill as a surgeon."

"That's because I prayed for my baby everyday. That's right." Mattie's voice could be heard across the room.

Charles took her hand, and she looked at him and smiled.

"And what our Jessie lacked in surgical skills, she more than made up for in chutzpah. She managed to save Charles here with an Army-issue pistol and a ton of Southern belle hysterics."

Charles sucked in his breath. "I never told my parents about that!"

Jessie caught their glances from the table nearby, as well as curious stares from other guests. "Looks like we're going to have to tell it before we get out of here."

Hawkeye continued merrily away. "Just think, so many events happened, that if they had gone differently, we would not be here today." He paused for affect. "But, I digress. As time went on, we saw something there that took both of them a long time to figure out for themselves. Through all the blood and gore and tears, these two learned to care for each other. Not the mushy kind of affection you see on the big screen, but genuine, honest-to-goodness love, a kind of love I hope to find one day." He made eyes a table of women. "Who knows, maybe I'll find it tonight!"

The guests erupted into laughter. Hawkeye held up his wine glass towards the pair. "Here's to you, Jess and Charles. May you have many years of happiness together. God knows you've earned it."

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Remember, I promised to bring even more characters back, didn't I? Keep reading to find out how!