[One Day Before the Wedding] [December: 4th]
[Preston Residence] [Living Room]
The Preston house had been quieter than usual all afternoon, although the coffee table suggested nobody had actually relaxed.
Guest lists, seating arrangements, transportation schedules, catering confirmations, floral notes, security plans, and three different versions of the ceremony timeline covered almost every available inch of the table. Sarah sat at one end of the couch with a tablet balanced on her knee, while Richard had a printed checklist in one hand and a glass of water in the other.
Jack sat between them, leaning back with one ankle resting over his knee as they went through the final preparations for what felt like the tenth time that week.
He'd spent months standing on movie sets surrounded by hundreds of people while explosions went off behind him, yet somehow planning a wedding for fewer than fifty guests had produced more paperwork.
Jack and Haley had agreed from the beginning that they didn't want the wedding to turn into some massive celebrity spectacle with photographers, studio executives, publicists, industry strangers, and people neither of them had spoken to in years pretending they were lifelong friends.
They wanted family and close friends.
From Haley's side, that meant obviously her family, then Jay and Gloria, Manny, Mitchell, Cam, Lily, and the rest of the extended family who'd somehow become permanently woven into every major moment of their lives.
Haley and Jack had invited Emma, Dakota, Elle, and Willa as well.
Jack's side was considerably smaller.
His parents were obvious. Then came a handful of people he'd genuinely grown close to through work, including Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Woody Harrelson, Michelle Trachtenberg, Shailene Woodley, and Matthew Perry.
That was enough for him.
Jack had never needed a ballroom filled with famous faces to make the day feel important.
Sarah scrolled through the schedule before glancing toward him. "Florist is confirmed. The arrangements land at eight A.M. sharp, well before Haley even starts hair and makeup."
Jack nodded while scanning the catering sheet. "Great. And security knows the drill? No one gets past the gate unless their DNA matches the guest list."
Richard checked something off with his pen. "Handled. We've got guards at the gate, a perimeter sweep, and a strict shoot-on-sight policy for paparazzi."
Jack smiled faintly. "Perfect. If a news chopper ruins our vows, Haley will personally take it down with a stiletto."
Sarah shook her head with a small smile before tapping the tablet again. "There is... one other tiny little detail we haven't discussed."
Jack immediately noticed the change in her voice. He lowered the catering sheet and looked between his parents. "That sentence has never led anywhere good, Mom."
Richard leaned back slightly, exchanging a quick look with Sarah before returning his attention to Jack. "Your grandparents are coming to the wedding."
Jack stared at him for several seconds.
"I'm sorry, what do you mean my grandparents are coming? Like... the people who forgot we exist?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow as though Richard had just announced several foreign diplomats were landing in the backyard.
Richard rested the checklist against his leg. "Yeah, well... My parents, and your mother's parents. They're coming tomorrow."
Jack sat forward slowly. "Since when?"
"For a while now, we've been talking again," Richard explained, keeping his tone measured. "There was a lot of history between everybody, and plenty of things were said years ago that shouldn't have been said. We've been trying to put some of that behind us."
Jack's expression remained unreadable. "So you guys are burying the hatchet."
Richard nodded. "That's one way of putting it. Things aren't suddenly perfect, but we've been rebuilding contact. They heard about the wedding, and they wanted to come."
Jack leaned back again, processing the information with less emotion than either parent had expected.
He barely remembered any of them.
There were probably childhood photographs somewhere in the house where his grandparents appeared in the background, but Jack couldn't have picked them out of a crowd if somebody offered him money.
Sarah set the tablet aside and folded her hands together. "There's a Part Two to this."
Jack turned toward her. "Why wouldn't there be?"
Sarah hesitated just long enough to make him suspicious. "My father wants to officiate the wedding."
Jack's eyebrows rose.
"He wants to do what?"
"He was ordained years ago," Sarah explained carefully. "He said it would mean a great deal to him if he could stand in as the officiant."
Jack stared at his mother for a moment before a quiet laugh escaped him, although there wasn't much amusement behind it.
"Yeah. Hard pass."
Sarah nodded slightly, clearly having expected that answer.
Jack rubbed one hand across his jaw before looking between both parents. "Look, if they want to sit in the audience, fine. I'm not going to veto your family reunion."
Richard watched him closely. "There's a 'but' coming."
Jack nodded. "There's definitely a 'but' coming."
He leaned forward and rested his elbows against his knees, choosing his words carefully because he knew how harsh they were going to sound.
"I do not know these people. If they were in a police lineup, I would pick the wrong grandparents. I don't have some magical, dormant grandchild gene just waiting to activate."
Sarah's expression softened, though she didn't interrupt him.
Jack continued, "So tomorrow, they get the standard distant-guest treatment. A polite nod, a firm handshake, a 'thanks for the toaster.' If Haley wants to mingle with them, that's her call."
Richard slowly nodded. "That's fair."
Jack's voice became firmer. "But what I'm not doing is letting strangers parachute into the eleventh hour and play 'World's Best Grandparents' for the cameras."
Sarah looked down briefly before meeting his eyes again. "I get it, Jack."
"I'm serious, Mom. I'm not trying to punish anybody for whatever happened between all of you years ago. That's your history, and if you've forgiven them, I'm glad you've reached that point."
Jack gestured toward the scattered wedding plans across the table. "But tomorrow is about Haley and me. She's nineteen, pregnant with twins, and currently dodging a dozen Dunphy-Pritchetts who all think they're Franck from Father of the Bride."
A reluctant smile touched Sarah's face.
Jack sat back again, although his tone remained controlled. "If your dad wants to grab a coffee next month and get to know me, great. We'll start at zero and work our way up."
Richard listened silently.
"But if anyone tries to hijack tomorrow, demands a special reading, stresses Haley out, or turns this into The Prodigal Grandparents Return, there will be blood."
Sarah nodded. "They won't."
Jack glanced toward her. "I hope they won't."
Richard raised an eyebrow with a little smile. "And if they do?"
Jack shrugged slightly. "Then security bounces them into the street. If they make a scene, I'll personally press charges."
Sarah let out a slow breath.
Jack looked toward her immediately. "Look, I know that sounds incredibly harsh."
"It does sound harsh," Sarah replied gently, holding his gaze. "It also sounds like someone protecting his wedding."
Jack's shoulders relaxed slightly.
Richard placed his checklist on the table. "You don't owe them anything, Jack. DNA doesn't equal a backstage pass. If you build something later, that's on your terms."
Jack nodded once.
Sarah reached over and rested a hand against his arm. "My father will attend as a guest. I've already told him that the ceremony plans aren't changing unless you and Haley want them changed."
Jack looked at her with visible relief. "Thank you."
Richard smiled faintly. "Besides, if anyone starts drama tomorrow, Gloria will probably throw them over the hedge before security even notices."
Jack laughed for the first time since the conversation started. "Honestly? I'm counting on it."
Sarah picked her tablet back up. "Alright. We have boundaries, bouncers, and a heavily armed Colombian woman as our failsafe."
Jack settled back into the couch as some of the tension left the room.
"Fantastic. Can we please go back to the floral crisis? Arguing about petals feels like a vacation right now."
Richard picked up his checklist again. "With pleasure. It seems someone sneakily upgraded us to two hundred extra roses and a live butterfly release."
Jack frowned. "That sounds like Cam."
Sarah glanced at the invoice.
"It was Cam."
Jack closed his eyes.
"Of course it was Cam."
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