Chapter 20

It was the night before the wedding and Jasina decided to call it an early night with John, wanting to be in tip-top shape for Trish's wedding. They had a lot to do in the morning, getting hair and nails done, along with last minute wedding details, wanting everything to go perfect for the bride. This was a long time coming and being the maid of honor, it was Jasina's responsibility to make sure everything went flawless for Trish, knowing she would do the same thing if the tables were reversed. Jasina walked inside the ranch, having everything of hers packed up besides her maid of honor dress and took a week's vacation from work for the big move that would happen in two days.

She was ready for it and had a feeling Mark was too.

Mark was ready for this to be done and over with. Trish and Steve had been living together practically as man and wife for quite some time now, he was a bit surprised they were finally tying the knot and a bit curious why they hadn't done it sooner. He was happy for them, but a bit on edge because Trish had warned him if anything went wrong, she was going to hurt him. When he had said he wasn't responsible for the other guests, she had mentioned the cake knife and his balls in the same sentence.

"Jasina, read over this and tell me if it sounds right." Mark stated when he spotted her, having been pacing in front of the fireplace -he had actually built a fire- in nothing except a pair of light blue, skintight jeans, his hair cascading down his back and shoulders. He held out the speech he had written, part of the Best Man deal.

"Alright…"

Looking pressured was the understatement of the century as Jasina took the piece of paper, sitting down on the couch, and began reading over it. Being the Best Man wasn't all wine and roses, there was a lot to go into a proper wedding...a Trish wedding. Jasina finished reading the speech and looked up at him with a soft smile, handing it back to him.

"That sounds damn near perfect, Mark." Jasina honestly meant it.

For the first time, she noticed how the firelight reflected off of his glistening chest and outlined his muscular form. His hair did absolutely nothing to stop naughty thoughts from entering her mind. And those jeans...Jasina suddenly felt warmer, especially when their fingertips brushed together when he took the paper, keeping her eyes away from his.

"Don't be so nervous, it's just a Best Man speech after all." She half-joked, trying to lighten the mood a little.

"Darlin', I wasn't nervous at all until Trish informed me she had no problems in usin' my balls as a cake topper." Mark told her with a grin, feeling much better about the speech. She was a professional writer and he knew she wasn't about to lie to him to spare his feelings, so he took her word for it. "Thanks Jas, appreciate it, darlin'." He rumbled, folding it up and slipping it into his back pocket, stretching his arms over his head and yawned. "You ready for tomorrow?"

"Yeah, it's been a long time coming for both of them. I can't wait for it to be official."

Jasina was excited about the wedding, even if she had to wear pink, because that's what the main color was. It was Trish after all. She was girly girl all the way through and Jasina didn't care what color of dress she had to wear as long as she was a part of it. Jasina knew how hard Trish worked on this wedding from the smallest detail to the biggest, so it was going to be rewarding for everyone involved to see it come full circle.

"It'll be very uplifting watching those two confess their love to each other in front of family and friends."

Mark snorted, dropping down heavily on the couch and rested his arms along the back of it, stretching his long legs out in front of him. "It'll be upliftin' to see them do what they should've done five years ago. What's the sense in waitin' so damn long if you know yer going to be together forever, ya know?"

"Yeah I do, but at the same time, they had to make sure they weren't doing it just because they had a baby together. They had to be sure."

Maybe the problem with her and Mark was that had just jumped into marriage after knowing each other a short period of time. Mark was a dare-devil and didn't normally think of the consequences with his actions. Jasina stared into the fire deep in thought while chewing her bottom lip, remembering how happy they were at one time and how it had all fallen apart because of her secrets.

"They did the right and smart thing by waiting."

"Two kids and a lotta years later..." Mark grinned evilly, then looked at her thoughtfully " Just think, Jas, if we hadn't gotten married, we'd probably still be together with a dozen kids by now." He laughed when she just stared at him. "Jokin', jokin'! Half a dozen." After enjoying his little joke, he grew thoughtful again. "I'm glad they have a few tykes and are sure...I always wanted a siblin' for Arie, but...she seems to have mostly turned out alright, bit spoiled though..."

"It's not too late to give her one, Mark."

There was no malice or anger in Jasina's voice when she said that, just pure thoughtfulness, looking up at him with emotion-filled teal eyes. What would've happened had she not run away and told him the truth? There was no way they could have anymore children together because of what happened during Arielle's birth. Did Mark suddenly forget that?

"You're still pretty young, you could definitely find someone to have a child with." It definitely wasn't her, Arielle was her one and only, which both hurt and relieved Jasina at the same time, her eyes turning back to stare into the fire.

"Oh hell Jas..." Mark groaned, realizing what he had just said and, more importantly, to who he had said it, wondering if he was a total prick. "I shouldn't of said that, I-" He took a deep breath, noticing that she didn't seem overly phased by his callousness, but that could have been just a front she was putting up. "I wanted her to have a brother or sister, but not just by any woman. I wanted it to be you and then when we found out you couldn't have anymore, I just let it go. Yeah, I could've always had another child by a different woman after the divorce, but it wouldn't of been the same. Besides, Arie was more than enough to handle. Two would have driven me into an early grave."

"Why are you doing this to me?" Jasina stood up from the couch, shaking her head. "Y-You have no right to say things like that to me, Mark."

He wanted it to be her. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Why was he even dredging up painful dashed hopes and dreams that she'd come to terms with long ago? She didn't and couldn't deal with the emotional garbage he was throwing at her and had been every time they seemed like they were getting along.

"I'm not kidding, what the hell is wrong with you? You found out the day we had Arielle that I couldn't have another baby. So why would you even say something like that to me? Are you trying to purposefully hurt me? What do you think you'll gain from telling me that you wanted another child with me and let it go because you knew it couldn't happen. It would've never been the same because it would've been impossible even if we did stay together!" Jasina gritted her teeth and could feel the tears sting her eyes, clasping her hands together. "I've moved on and I can't wait to get the hell out of here and away from YOU!" She stormed out of the room and upstairs, not believing how heartless her ex-husband could be, sniffling.

"Goddamn it!" Mark cursed, slapping himself right in the middle of the forehead a bit harder then he intended too, groaning in pain and hunched forward.

He hadn't meant it like THAT. He had meant it as a sort of compliment. You'd figure a woman would be pleased to hear she was the only one a guy wanted to have his kids and since she couldn't, he hadn't had kids at all...and he had totally messed up that entire conversation with his fat mouth. Mark used to be smooth and now he was...an idiot, a fumbling forgetful idiot. He almost went to go apologize then stopped, knowing now was probably not the time and any apology or explanations he made towards her wouldn't matter.

"What the HELL is wrong with me?" He grumbled, suddenly needing a beer.

~!~

Personally, Mark wasn't sure if sangria was his color, though since he kept his hair dyed and not the natural red, there would be no clashing today. He wore a tuxedo that had been especially tailored for his frame and it was similar to Steve's, minus a few accessories and a slight variation in cut. His undershirt was the sangria color and so was his tie, though he sported a bit of gold in the form of a white and gold silk handkerchief in his breast pocket. He also had a black vest over the sangria shirt so the tie stood out.

Mark had trimmed his goatee and mustache, even taking Arielle's suggestion for trimming his hair, cutting only a few inches off, mostly dead ends anyway. He had pulled his hair back into a neat pony tail in the center of the back of his head and borrowed an old can of Arie's hairspray to ensure there would be no flyaways. Gold watch, cufflinks and he was good to go, he hoped anyway.

"Fuck, forgot the shoes..." They were downstairs, Mark cursing under his breath as he headed down to retrieve them.

Steve looked damn good and Mark didn't hesitate to tell his friend the minute he seen him stepping into the room reserved for the groom, knowing Jasina and Trish were somewhere else in the building. "You clean up damn nice, Austin."

"Not looking too bad yerself, Calaway." Steve replied, adjusting his tie in the mirror, wearing a suit very similar to Mark's except he had a gold vest on with a gold tie, a white handkerchief with sangria trim in his jacket pocket. "Can't believe we're finally gettin' married man, it seems like only yesterday we met..."

Grinning, Mark walked over to clamp a hand on his friend's shoulder. "About time you two made it official, I worried ya might wait until you were old and gray."

Steve snorted at that, turning around. "Alright...Let's- you don't think she's going to get cold feet, do you?"

"No, definitely not." Given the seriousness Steve had put in that question, Mark figured pointing out that Trish had invested way too much emotionally and financially into this wedding ceremony to back out now. "She loves you, she's not gonna get cold feet."

~!~

The following morning, Jasina was up and out the door before Mark could even bat an eyelash, not wanting to run into him again. She was fully ready to delve into Trish's wedding, refusing to let anything and anyone destroy her good mood. It was Trish and Steve's day, nothing else mattered. John had texted her the previous night wanting to know the time to meet her at the wedding and Jasina gave him the time, hoping he had something that would pass under Trish's approval radar.

The morning was full of running around, getting nails done with rose petal colored tips and her hair was done as well. Jasina refused to have any highlights put in her honey chestnut locks, wanting to be natural and Trish had no problem with it. It was swept up on top of her head in tons of spiral curls, a few tendrils framing her face. Her makeup was natural tan and browns with pink shimmering gloss.

Now she stood in front of the mirror in the bridal suite of the chapel, smoothing down the front of the dress. It was a sangria colored strapless satin A-line dress with a pleated chiffon ruched bodice, the side draping over the stomach region. The drape hung down the side of the dress, which added to the style.

A beautiful gold diamond waterfall necklace dangled around her neck that matched her bracelet and small diamond gold stud earrings. She didn't want anything too drastic and slipped on her gold two inch open-toed heels that strapped up her calves, the dress hiding them for the most part. All in all, she looked almost as beautiful as the bride, admitting she was nothing compared to Trish.

Trish was radiant in her wedding dress, which was a strapless A-line gown with beaded gold lace and had a scalloped sweetheart neckline. It had a chapel train that had a gold trim, her heels gold as well. She had a gold waterfall necklace on that had little sangria colored stones in it along with matching earrings and a bracelet, a sangria and gold clip in her brunette hair.

Trish definitely wasn't traditional and wanted to incorporate her wedding colors in her dress, knowing she did exactly that. Her hair was down in tons of loose curls with natural browns for makeup, her lips painted a deep sangria, foundation hiding any flaws. She looked absolutely stunning and Jasina knew as soon as Steve saw her walk down the aisle, he would probably keel over from a heart attack...especially since the wedding dress only went just to her knees and had a gold lace hem, her legs too beautiful not to be shown.

"Are you ready for this?" Jasina asked with a smile, fixing the train that hung down Trish's arms and went just past her wedding stress, making sure she looked perfect.

"Born ready."

"Steve isn't gonna be able to keep his eyes off you." Arielle beamed, standing in a simple strapless gold satin dress with a sweetheart neckline and it was the same length as Jasina's dress.

She had a sangria colored sash around the waist for style and sangria jewelry, a simple necklace with earrings and bracelet, sangria heels -special ordered- on her feet. The rest of the bridesmaids looked exactly the same with their hair swept up like Jasina's, the only hair being left down was Trish's. She walked over to stand beside her mother, looking beautiful as ever and couldn't wait to see what Gary looked like because he was one of Steve's groomsmen.

"I can't wait to see the look on his face!"

"I can't either." Jasina looked up when a knock sounded at the door, plastering on a smile at the sight of the Best Man.

"They're about ready to start." Mark announced, looking Jasina over with wide eyes.

He tried to remember the last time he had seen her looking like this. She had gone all out for Trish's wedding and looked stunning. He cleared his throat, looking to Arielle and smiling at her, she looked just as beautiful as her mother. When his eyes finally landed on the bride, he was speechless, his green eyes widening even more.

"Steve is a damn lucky man, Trish." He said finally, knowing Steve was probably going to lose his marbles when he saw his bride.

Trish beamed with sparkling white teeth, walking over to straighten Mark's tie a little. "Yes he is." She agreed, stepping back with a firm nod. "That's much better. It was a little crooked. You did very well, Mark. Thank you so much for being patient with me through this fiasco."

"Wow Dad, glad to see you took my advice with the hair." Arielle grinned, walking over next to kiss her father on the cheek. "You look very handsome, doesn't he Mom?"

"Yes he does." Jasina had to take a drink of water before answering because her throat suddenly became extremely dry, not wanting to sound hoarse when speaking. "We'll be out in just a minute. Tell Steve not to faint until AFTER the ceremony, please."

"I think Gary might've slipped him some whiskey into his drink to calm his nerves." Mark said, bending down so only Jasina could hear him.

Pretty sure Trish would blow a fuse if she thought they were getting started on the reception early. It wasn't that they were trying to get Steve drunk so much as calm him a bit since the man had begun pacing back and forth. Openly discussing every aspect of his and Trish's life together so far and if Trish would still want him once they were married. Steve had been driving himself and everyone else crazy.

"Speakin' of, I got to get back and make sure his breath is minty fresh. Five minutes and then we're walkin' down the aisle."

Jasina nodded, locking eyes with him briefly and watched him walk out the door, exhaling slowly. She immediately snapped out of it, even though Mark left a lingering scent of his cologne in the air, which made her briefly heady. She nodded at Trish's sister, Margaret, and her fourth bridesmaid, Michelle, LaShonna being in the group too. There were four bridesmaids and a Matron of Honor, four groomsmen and a Best Man. They all filed out of the bridal suite with Trish being last of course, heading toward the entrance of the chapel, the doors shut so Steve couldn't see his bride.