Chapter 23

The next few days went by very quickly for Rossalyn. They managed to get themselves into a sort of routine for the time being, though she was sure that would be changing when they returned and she took her place as lady of the house. She had no idea what she was getting herself into when she agreed to marry him to force her brother into rehab and protect her sister-in-law and their children. But, in for a penny and all that, she thought to herself the night before the wedding. She'd insisted on sleeping in the room he had given her for the night even though each night since the first she'd spent in his room with him. She found his presence strangely soothing, all things considered.

Abigail woke her up somewhere around dawn the morning of the wedding and Rossalyn wanted to ignore her insistant nagging to get up and just yank the covers over her head and sleep. It felt like she'd only fallen asleep for a few short minutes before her arm was being shaken to wake up for her beauty preparations. She grumbled about her lack of coffee as she got out of the bed and went to take her shower. She would have to do little other than sit for them for the duration of the process so that should be easy at least.

She came out of the bathroom dressed in her robe as she'd been instructed the day before when the head of the team had came over to give her the schedule they would need to follow for her to be ready on time. The wedding would be at eleven in the morning at the church Josiah had been baptized in when he was a baby. They'd do her hair and make up at the house then transport her there to get put into her wedding dress and the final touches done. If all went well, she'd have about half a hour until the ceremony that she was under strict instructions not to mess anything up.

"Oh thank God! Coffee!" She said in relief when she seen the cup of coffee and plate of breakfast on the table next to a stylest's chair that had been brought into her room while she was showering.

She looked around and was startled to realize she hardly even recognized her bedroom since it had seemed to be completely transformed into a set up similar to a back stage room that was used for performers to get ready for a concert. She glanced at the clock and it read 5:48 am and knew she'd only been in the shower for short of twenty minutes, which was her deadline to be showered. She honestly was impressed with how quickly everyone moved.

"Yes, yes, sit. Eat your breakfast while everyone finishes setting up. Once you've finished, hopefully in the next ten minutes, we will begin." Helga, the captain of the team told her dismissively.

Failing anything else to comment, she did as she was told. Lord forbid she took eleven minutes to eat her breakfast and drink her coffee. At least make-up would be among the last on the list so she should be able to enjoy her coffee while they worked on her hair, which was first on the list.

Josiah woke up around six in the morning to Brad knocking on his bedroom door. He got out of the bed and opened it for him and noted that there seemed to be a team of people waiting behind Brad. He cocked an eyebrow but just stepped aside and allowed everyone to enter his bedroom.

"Good morning, sir. We're here to get you ready for your big day!" A lady that could only be described as a sunbeam walking enthused as she pushed past him. "Why don't you go get a shower while we set everything up. Breakfast has been ordered to be brought up for you as well."

Josiah was taken completely aback by the order and looked to Brad a little dumbfounded but since the idea had been his to begin with for the wedding planner to hire a hair and make-up team to lead the charge for their wedding day preparations, he could hardly do anything but comply with the order. He went into the bathroom and closed the door behind him to take his shower, though he could still hear the bustle of voices and movement going on in the room behind him.

"Black or gray?" The same cheery voice met him at the door of the bathroom holding up two different suit jackets for his inspection.

"Black, I think." He said after looking at each of them for a moment to decide.

"Perfect! Perfect!" She enthused as suddenly under clothes and black slacks for a tuxedo were thrust towards him. "Go put these on. Quickly now! The tailor will make any needed adjustments!"

He took the clothes and disappeared into the bathroom once more to put them on. He came back out and found the tailor he normally went to waiting for him with a round platform that raised him a few feet off the ground set up. He stood on it without prompting and the tailor started checking him over. Josiah didn't think there would be much to adjust since the man had custom fitted his clothing for him for the last several years and probably had all his measurements memorized. He was given a crisp white dress shirt to put on while the tailor worked on the pants. WIthin half a hour the tailor was finished with him since there were only a couple minor adjustments needed to his outfit.

"Great! Take the shirt off and come over here." Sunshine lady instructed patting a stylist's chair in front of a brightly lit make-up station that had two people standing by waiting for their turn.

Josiah went over and took a seat after carefully removing the shirt and handing it to one of the lady's assistants who immediately hung the shirt up to avoid wrinkles. With an internal sigh of gratitude that he'd never have to do something like this again, he took a seat for them to fix his hair and apply a light layer of make-up to his face that he was assured wouldn't be able to show but would make sure his wedding photos turned out perfect.

Breakfast arrived with coffee while the barber worked on his hair and so as quickly as he could he ate his breakfast and drank his coffee. Brad was receiving similar attention as he was since he was supposed to be standing up with him as his best man so he would be in most of the photos as well. He knew that Rossalyn, Jessica, Chelsea, and James were all receiving similar treatments.

Around nine in the morning, Josiah was instructed to head downstairs to the SUV that was waiting at the front door to take him to the church to finish getting ready for the wedding ceremony. There he would be ushered into the groom's quarters to wait to take his place once he was completely dressed.

Downstairs in Rossalyn's room, she was being dressed very carefully in sweatpants and a zip up jacket to cover her undergarmets of pure white corset and stockings. Her hair had been fixed in a very complicated hairstyle that involved a lot of curls, bobby pins, and hairspray that turned out stunning. The curls framed her face and bounced prettily when she walked. Her make-up had been agreed on to be simple but striking. She had deep blue eyes and the artist decided to frame her eyes in coal black eyeliner and neutral tones of eyeshadow to draw attention to her eyes. He also gave her pale pink lips and a touch of blush on her cheeks that gave her a very youthful appearance. Rossalyn wasn't unhappy with her make-up at all. She had feared they'd go too overboard with color but it was very much to her tastes and preferences.

"Okay, ladies! It is 08:15 so we need to get to the church! Wedding dresses are always so difficult to get on and arranged properly!" Helga called to the room at large and the response was immediate, somewhat controled, chaos.

Rossalyn was offered house shoes to slip on then carefully ushered down the stairs followed by what could politely be called a parade of geese flapping around gathering the rest of the things they'd need to complete their relocation to the church. For Rossalyn, however, the relocation was mostly painless since she had little to do other than insert herself into the SUV without damaging her hair, makeup, or stockings. The task was simple enough and she found herself en route to the church without any complications.

The SUV pulled around to the back of the church for her to enter unseen by the wedding guests that had already began to arrive. It seemed their wedding would be the biggest event the church had seen in years since the parking lot was already starting to fill up and people were formed into a line waiting for the doors to open. Butterflies flapped wildly in her stomach as she seen the group of people already gathered at the church with still more than two hours before the ceremony was due to start.

"I don't even know one person at the church." She muttered to herself quietly as she waited for the SUV door to open for her to be led inside to the bride's holding room for her to get into her dress.