Storybook Wedding, a twilight fanfic

Disclaimer: While the attempt has been made to be medically accurate, some artistic license has been taken, and statements made by Carlisle are not to be regarded as authoritative.

Do not post without permission. Do not copy/print without including the above disclaimer in its entirety.

A/N: You'll notice Jasper's "near slip with Bella" is referred to as happening at Christmas instead of her birthday; that's part of my alternate history (see my profile) and not a mistake. Barbie

Spring 2024
Winnie four

Esme

For Winnie's fourth birthday last November, Bella had given her The World of Pooh by A. A. Milne. Winnie was thrilled at the idea that Pooh had the same name as she did, and the book quickly became her favorite. She liked it so much that, with her name being Winnie, we all started calling her Pooh Bear.

It was spring now, and Bella and I were babysitting. I was on the couch with Winnie, reading the story of Cinderella to her from a book of fairy tales.

We finished the story, and Winnie stared fascinated at the picture of Cinderella and the Prince's wedding. "Do all brides wear white dresses, Aunt Esme?" she asked; we had decided it would be best for her to refer to all her vampire relatives as aunt and uncle.

"Most of them," I told her. "I think we have a book of wedding dresses; want to see?"

Winnie nodded eagerly, and I went to get the book Alice had pored through when she was planning her marriage to Jasper.

Winnie studied it with rapt attention, until finally I looked at the clock and saw it was almost noon. Time always seemed to pass so fast when I was with Winnie.

"Winnie, I'm going to go fix some lunch for you," I told her.

"Okay."

As I went into the kitchen, I heard her set the book on the coffee table and head up the stairs. I assumed she was going to find Bella, and so didn't listen to what she was doing.

I was fixing Winnie a honey and butter sandwich, her favorite since hearing the Pooh stories, when I heard a crash and thud from upstairs. I stopped breathing and was already halfway up the stairs by the time Winnie's wail rose up.

The sound had come from a little-used sitting room, and when I looked in at the door, at first I didn't see Winnie in a tangle of lace curtains on the floor. She had somehow pulled them down rod and all, and the end of the rod had smashed a vase that was sitting on the end table.

Bella had reached the room a second before I did, and went to Winnie without hesitation, lifting her out of the pile of wreckage. As she cradled her close, I saw blood on Winnie's arm; the two pieces of the metal curtain rod had come apart, and she had managed to get cut on the sharp end.

I found myself marveling at Bella's control. I was decades older, and still had to be careful about coming on fresh blood unexpectedly; she had run right in without even bothering to hold her breath. She somehow had naturally what even Carlisle had taken centuries to build up and obtain.

"Come on," she said softly. "Let's go to the bathroom and clean this up." She stood, carrying Winnie, and I followed anxiously after them.

"Will she be all right, or should I call Carlisle?" I asked too low for Winnie to hear me. It had to be a corollary of Murphy's Law that a doctor's family only ever got hurt or sick when he was out of the house.

"I don't think it's that bad," Bella assured me. She set Winnie on the bathroom counter and wet a washcloth to clean the cut.

Winnie cried harder and tried to pull away. "That hurts!"

"I know," Bella said soothingly. She took a tube of antiseptic cream from the first aid box Carlisle had filled and spread it over the cut. "Do you want a Band-Aid?"

Winnie nodded and stopped crying to watch as Bella put four Band-Aids in a row to cover the cut. "There. We'll let Uncle Carlisle look at that when he gets home, all right?"

Winnie sniffed and wiped her nose with the back of her wrist. "All right."

"Winnie, what were you doing?" I asked as Bella mopped Winnie's face with a tissue.

"I was trying to get the curtains down to make a bride dress."

"What were you standing on?" Bella asked.

"The arm of the chair." *

I winced. Little wonder she had slipped on that polished wooden arm; it was a wonder her weight hadn't tipped the whole chair over. "Winnie, I don't mind you using the curtains, but you should have asked for help; it's too dangerous to climb on the furniture like that." Especially when both Carlisle and Edward are out of the house, I added silently to myself.

"Were you going to marry Prince Charming?" Bella asked, forestalling the tears brimming in Winnie's eyes; she had heard me reading Cinderella to her earlier.

"Of course not!" Winnie scoffed. "I'm going to marry Chriftopher Robin!"

Bella and I looked at each other. How sweet!

I picked her up and kissed her cheek. "That's a wonderful idea, Pooh Bear, but it's time for lunch now, and I made you a butter and honey sandwich."

Winnie rubbed her stomach. "Good, 'cause there's a rumble in my tummy!"

I smiled and carried her downstairs to sit on her booster at the table.

I tried not to watch as Winnie munched happily on her sandwich; the thought of eating that sticky sweet, honey-soaked bread was positively revolting.

"I'm gonna get married right after lunch," she told me, swinging her legs under the table.

"What; with only Aunt Bella and me for guests?" I protested. Nessie and Carlisle had to see this…and Alice would never forgive me if I let a Cullen "elope," even in play.

Winnie pursed her lips stubbornly.

"All the best weddings have lots of guests," I told her. "If you wait until this evening, everyone can come, and I'll bake you a big wedding cake," I bargained.

"Can I lick the icing bowl?"

I grimaced; more sweets. "If you want to."

Winnie smiled. "Okay," she agreed. "Chocolate cake, with strawberry jam in the middle."

"All right, but wedding cakes always have white icing on the outside." Another point Alice would want me to insist on…

While Winnie helped me bake the wedding cake, * Bella cut off and burned the bloodstained portion of the torn curtain, then sewed the rest into a veil and simple dress for Winnie. They had been expensive lace, but I didn't begrudge their loss for a moment at the thought of Winnie's pleasure.

It was too late to send real invitations, so we called Alice and Rosalie to let them know to come. I warned Alice not to come with Jasper until Carlisle had been home long enough to check Winnie's arm. He hadn't slipped since the near-tragedy of our first Christmas with Bella; sometimes I thought the knowledge of everything that had come about as a result of that near-slip had been good for Jasper's control, giving him even more incentive not to drink human blood. Still, there was no sense taking unnecessary risks.

oOo

Carlisle arrived home at three, sniffing the air appreciatively; I knew he really did like the smell of chocolate. "Mm; something smells good in here."

Winnie ran to meet him, sliding the last few feet on the polished floor in her stocking feet. "It's my wedding cake, Uncle Carlisle; Aunt Esme just took it out of the oven."

"Aren't you a little young to get married, Pooh Bear?" he teased, picking her up and tweaking her nose.

She giggled. "Nope. Lookit, Uncle Carlisle, I got a boo-boo!" She stuck her arm in front of his face, and he studied it with half-feigned seriousness.

"So I see."

"An' Aunt Bella put the Band-Aids on, but she said you'd better look at it." She poked his chest for emphasis, and Carlisle chuckled.

"Well, if Aunt Bella says so, then I suppose we should go up to my office and have a look at it."

I followed him up the stairs, quietly explaining the events of the day and the coming nuptials.

"Staying, Esme?" he asked in a low voice as he carried Winnie into the office.

I smiled. "Well, if I was all right when it was fresh, I should be all right now." I sat in his recliner as he set Winnie on the desk and swiftly pulled off the Band-Aids.

"This isn't exactly a cut," he murmured. "More like the curtain rod took off a layer of skin."

He cleaned it again and applied a fresh bandage, sealing the edges carefully to contain any lingering blood scent. "All right, Pooh Bear; you're all set."

"The cake should be cool enough to ice in a few minutes; we can start making the frosting," I told her.

"Okay! Uncle Carlisle, Aunt Esme said I could lick the bowl, but you can have the spoon if you want."

Carlisle chuckled. "Save it for your father," he suggested lightly.

"Will you come watch us?"

"Let me change clothes first, and I'll be right down," he promised.

oOo

Alice had Winnie helping decorate the living room when Rose and Emmett arrived. I hadn't been sure they would come; Rosalie never seemed to want much to do with Winnie. She was looking as if she was trying to appear bored, but I saw she was interested in spite of herself.

And there was a glint in Emmett's eye that I knew all too well… "Emmett. She's four years old; I don't want to hear any innuendoes or crude jokes."

"Aw, she wouldn't understand them anyway," he muttered.

"I mean it, Emmett!"

Rosalie winked at me. "I'll keep him in line," she promised. Turning, she whispered something in Emmett's ear.

I shook my head; there was something ironic about a wife…bribing…her husband to keep him from making off-color jokes.

"Hey; is there some kinda family meeting?" Jacob asked, coming in with Nessie. We hadn't called to invite them, since they would be picking Winnie up anyway; he had seen the cars in the driveway and realized everyone was here.

"No; we're having a wedding," Edward explained; he had gotten home shortly before Alice and Jasper arrived.

Confusion crossed Jacob's face, and I could picture him mentally going over our cover story. "You and Bells?" he asked; they were the only couple not already claiming to be married.

Edward shook his head. "Winnie is going to marry Christopher Robin."

Nessie's hand went up to cover her smile. "Oh, how sweet!"

Jacob growled low in his throat, and Edward lightly punched his arm. "Hey, easy, Jake. At least you have plenty of time yet before she's doing it for real." He glanced at Nessie, an unspoken reminder that she had been technically only eight when Jacob married her.

Nessie turned to look pleadingly at Jacob, standing on tiptoe to touch his face.

Jacob sighed. "Oh, all right; I'll go along. Just don't expect me to give her away or anything."

Just then, Winnie dashed into the room. "Momma! Daddy! I'm going to marry Chriftopher Robin!"

"That's wonderful, Pooh Bear!" Nessie enthused, bending to hug her.

Jacob looked up sharply. "What's with the bandage?"

"She was standing on the arm of a chair to try to get down the curtains for a wedding dress; she brought the whole thing down on herself and managed to cut herself on the curtain rod. Carlisle's seen it; it's fine."

"She all right to be around Jasper?"

"Yes; I can't smell any fresh blood at all."

"Come on, Momma!" Winnie said, tugging on Nessie's hand. "Come see me get married!"

oOo

Soon we were all gathered in the living room for the wedding ceremony. Jasper stood behind the couch, Alice making a video of the entire thing from her perch beside him on the back of it. She had already taken at least half a dozen still-shot "wedding pictures," and had announced her intention of PhotoShopping a drawing of Christopher Robin into one of them.

Winnie pulled the end table into the middle of the room and set her stuffed Winnie the Pooh on it to be the minister. Running to Carlisle, she climbed to kneel in his lap with her hands on his shoulders. "Will you do Pooh's voice, Uncle Carlisle?"

"I'd be honored," Carlisle told her.

"Hey, Pooh Bear, what about me?" Emmett protested. "I can do a good bear." He growled convincingly, and Winnie scowled at him.

"You're too funny," she pronounced seriously. "Uncle Carlisle does it better." Emmett did have trouble sticking to the book when he read to Winnie; some of his adlibs were downright crude. Winnie had laughed at them at the time, even while telling him to stop, but apparently she realized they wouldn't be appropriate for a wedding.

"Where's Christopher Robin, Winnie?" Bella asked. "Isn't he here yet?"

Winnie looked at her as if the answer should be obvious. "He's 'magindary, Aunt Bella!"

I bit back my smile as Winnie ran from the room, ready to come down the "aisle" as Edward played the wedding march. She had never been to a wedding, so she didn't question the fact that Jacob wasn't walking with her to give her away.

She had her lacy dress on over her everyday clothes, and she wore a pair of white shoes that I surmised Alice had brought for her, as I didn't remember ever having seen them before.

She walked solemnly up to the end table and then stopped. "Now you do Pooh, Uncle Carlisle."

I had to hide my smile as with a perfectly straight face, Carlisle began reciting the wedding ceremony from memory in the growly voice he used for Pooh when reading the stories to Winnie. Alice had been coaching Winnie, so she knew when she was supposed to say her "I do"s. *

"Christopher Robin Milne, do you take Edwina Sue Black to be your lawfully wedded wife, in sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live, forsaking all others for the sake of her?"

Winnie turned toward us. "He said 'I do,'" she announced.

Carlisle chuckled and continued on with the ceremony.

Jacob growled faintly when Winnie pledged herself to Christopher Robin, but Nessie jabbed him with her elbow and he subsided into silence, rubbing his ribs where she had hit him.

I supposed I could understand his sentiments, but I still thought the whole thing was just sweet…particularly when Carlisle/Pooh pronounced them man and wife and Winnie leaned forward to kiss her "'magindary" groom.

"Aunt Esme!" Winnie cried in horror as we all sat down for the "wedding supper"…which only she and Jacob would actually eat. "You forgot to set a place for Chriftopher Robin!"

"Why, how could I have forgotten that?" I exclaimed, only partly playing along; why hadn't I realized that he would need a place at the table?

"I'm Winnie Milne now," Winnie announced as she was eating.

"No, you're not," Jacob growled.

Winnie pouted. "Yes, I am, Daddy! 'Cause I'm married to Chriftopher Robin, and Uncle Carlisle said his name is Milne."

I narrowed my eyes at Carlisle, wishing he had thought to leave Christopher Robin's last name out of the ceremony, and he shrugged apologetically.

"Lots of women still use their maiden name after they marry, Pooh Bear," Nessie told her.

"What's a maiden name?"

"A woman's last name before she marries," Nessie explained. "Some women don't change to their husband's name, because it would be too confusing to everyone who already knows them." Nessie's voice sounded unconvinced; with the possible exception of Rosalie, every woman in this room believed in taking her husband's name when she married.

"But I want Chriftopher Robin's name!" Winnie insisted.

"Jazz, a little help!" Alice hissed.

"Pooh Bear, most people won't understand about you being married to Christopher Robin," Bella said gently. "Why don't you be Winnie Milne here, but Winnie Black everywhere else?"

Winnie thought about that for a moment. "Okay," she agreed finally; I honestly wasn't sure if it had been Jasper or Bella who averted the impending tears.

Jacob and Winnie pronounced the cake delicious, and after he had eaten his fill and Winnie had eaten as much as Nessie would let her, we adjourned back to the living room for the wedding dance.

Winnie danced the first dance "with Chriftopher Robin," twirling around the room with her arms extended to her "'magindary" partner. Then Jacob claimed his dance with her; their height difference was so great that he simply picked her up and danced with her in his arms.

Then we all danced, all the men except Edward, who was providing the music, claiming a dance with the "bride." When Jasper beckoned to Alice, she handed Bella the camera and stepped into her husband's arms.

Finally Winnie had yawned for the third time, and Jacob picked her up. "I think it's time this 'bride' was getting to bed."

Emmett snorted, but didn't comment on Jacob's unintended innuendo.

Alice had brought packs of rice, and we showered Jacob and Winnie with it as he walked out with Winnie's head on his shoulder.

"Hey, Pooh Bear," Emmett called. "Where are you and Chris going on your honeymoon?"

I sighed, but that one was innocent enough…and I had to admit, I was curious to hear Winnie's answer myself.

She lifted her head from Jacob's shoulder, looking puzzled for a moment. Then she smiled. "To a bee tree, of course!"

Jacob chuckled, and the echoes of Emmett's booming laughter carried them to the car.

* Link to illustration can be found on my profile

I proofread all my stories at least once before posting, but if you see any mistakes I might have missed, please let me know!

Please note that I have internet access only once a week, and may not have time to respond to all reviews/messages. If you have questions regarding my Twilight alternate history, check my profile first to see if they're answered there. Thanks for your understanding! Barbie