There were no words to describe how surprised I felt by Renee's words. I simply could not believe that what I was hearing could possibly ever come true.

"So…hon…it would make me feel I whole lot better if she just came to spend a few weeks", make that months, "with you…I can't come…you know I would…but Phil hasn't been feeling well…"

"Mom everything is fine." I was not going to let her win. "I have
Esme and Alice", who were taking care of all the details of the wedding for me, and having tons of fun that I dared not spoil their pleasure, "and Rosalie, and have you forgotten Jessica and Angela." I was getting desperate, trying to list all the names of every female I met in Forks.

"Of course I haven't forgotten sweetheart, but you have no one from your own family to offer insight, or…"

"Advice?" I said, my mouth full of sarcasm. Immediately regretting the traitorous words as they rushed out, but Renee had to admit that I had a point, no one in our entire family had ever managed to stay married for long, or if they were, we're completely miserable. But Renee remained steadfast.

"Celine has not been married yet, but she has had some experience with men, and can probably relate to the many emotions you might be feeling right now."

I sincerely doubted it, unless my cousin had once fallen in love with a vampire and a werewolf, finally deciding to be with the vampire forever, because she knew that she couldn't live without him, thus breaking the heart of the werewolf she still cared about, and wondering if he would ever recover and wishing that he would. However, since those odds were totally nonexistent, I knew that the only thing that my cousin's visit would bring would be added stress.

"Mom my emotional state is well, and there is no reason to have Celine come two months early, all the way from Connecticut, to just sit around and wait for me to be married."

"Well…she's already on her way", I could just hear Renee wince,
waiting for my reaction. I took a deep breath, trying to force myself not to panic.

"What?!", I whispered, when I trusted myself to speak.

"Honey, Celine wanted to come…she sounded very excited to come visit you." Renee paused, I was speechless. "This will be an excellent time for you two to get to know one another and…" I waited, nervously thinking of a way to somehow force Renee to forget her whole scheme. "Your father agrees with me", Renee said the words in a rush.

I turned to glare at Charlie who grinned at me sheepishly. I couldn't believe this; out of all the things my parents could have done to me this was the worst. It was bad enough to hide all my secrets from them, but to have my cousin, Celine, who I had never met, sharing my bedroom, wanting to know everything about me, and me frantically trying to hide the truth from her, because knowing the truth would make her a target of the Volturi as well, and I had a vague feeling that my cousin wouldn't be thrilled to give up her humanity.

"You should make your room presentable", Charlie informed me, "Celine will be here in five hours." Five hours, maybe that was enough time; it would have to be enough.

"My room's fine, but I need to go out and get a few things." I was a bad liar, but I was praying that Charlie would let me go.

"Sure kiddo, just be sure to be back in time."

I grabbed my coat and ran out the door, not stopping to grab anything; I needed to have as much time as I possibly could for my plan to work. I pushed my truck to the maximum, wishing that I had allowed Edward to buy me a new car. Finally I reached the Cullen's house, which was now as familiar to me as my own. I barely got out of my truck when Edward swept me off my feet, his cold lips pressing against mine as I struggled to remember why I had come in the first place.

"Edward", I muttered, looking into his eyes and knowing that it would be all over soon. "We have to go now, Renee called…"

Edward gently pressed his hand over my mouth silencing my weak protests. "Shh, everything is going to be fine. Alice already saw your cause for distress." Of course she did. "But you're overacting Bella; Alice didn't see any problems with your cousin visiting." I was confused, didn't Edward know how risky this would be with Celine hanging around me everywhere I went. Edward guessed what I was thinking. "Bella we'll just have to be careful, your cousin will just think that we are a typical couple in love."

I snorted, Edward was anything but typical. He sighed, "Maybe you'll surprise yourself and end up having a little bit of fun."

I glanced up at him as he smiled that smile that always made my heart beat faster and my breathing irregular. "Is Alice sure?" I whispered not daring to think that this could end well.

"I see no sign of any trouble coming." Alice said, gracefully
bounding forward to greet me with a hug. I smiled, despite myself. "I'm glad you came Bella, I need you to look at the several flower bouquets I picked out, and tell me which one you like the best." Alice was already guiding me toward the house as she spoke, refusing to let me go.

"Hello Bella," Esme greeted me warmly getting up from her place on the couch, surrounded by a dozen bouquets. "These just came in from the florist," Esme explained, gesturing at the flowers, "I do hope you like the arrangements."

"I'm sure Bella would be fine with whatever you decided to get."
Edward said, trying his best to save me from his sister and mother.

Alice just waved him off, "This is Bella's bouquet, it's a big deal,
we cannot decide." She explained grimacing that he would suggest such a thing.

"Go on Bella," Alice coaxed, "which one do you like the best." I stared at the beautiful array of flowers before me and was stunned, how could I pick one, they were all perfect.
"If you don't like any," Esme started, mistaking my silence as
displeasure.

"No, I like them, just give me a moment to think," I reassured her. I began to look at each one more closely, analyzing the pros and cons of each. Then I came across one that I instantly knew was right. It was a simple arrangement of white roses and deep purple violets, but I knew that it was the one I wanted. I pointed out my choice to them, and Alice squealed with delight, as Esme sighed happily.

"Now that Bella has fulfilled your request, is she free?", asked
Edward, amused with the reactions of his family.

"For now," replied Alice, joyfully putting the rest of the flowers
away.

Edward pulled me away as I followed relieved, sometimes Esme and Alice could be too obsessed with this wedding. Even though I had given Alice strict instructions that she was not to go overboard, she still seemed to find a lot to do.

"Sorry about that," said Edward, watching my face, "Alice has been talking about the bouquet all morning, and as soon as she saw that you were going to come over here, she couldn't resist."

"That's okay, "I said, thinking about my cousin's too soon visit.

"Still worried."

"Yep."

"Everything will go smoothly," Edward said, trying to reassure me.

I sighed. "It's not just that," I paused, wondering how to put my
fears into words.

Edward looked at me, and pulled me closer to him. I heard him sigh and knew that he desperately wanted to know what I was thinking, but as always, he remained patiently quiet, waiting for me to collect my thoughts.

"It's just that…well…my family doesn't have the greatest record when it comes to relationships, and some strange relative coming to visit me before my wedding seems like…", I stopped, looking for the right words but none came to mind, "a bad omen." I chanced a glance at Edward, but was surprised to see a grin on his face rather than a scowl.

"Bella Swan," he chuckled, "of all the ridiculous things that you have said this is one of the top five."

"But…" I protested.

Edward held up his hand. "You have never even met your cousin yet. How do you know that she is like the rest of your family? Besides, it wouldn't hurt to have some extra hands around to help with the last minute preparations."

I sighed, knowing that he had won, for now.

"Good", remarked Edward, pulling me into his arms. "Now that that has been settled where were we." I smiled in spite of myself and allowed him to sweep me off my feet and into our little bubble where nothing could penetrate it.

"Bella!"

Except for that.

"Bella!", said Esme appearing by our side quicker than was humanly possible. "You should return home. Your father must be worried sick about you, and you probably need to prepare for your guest."

"Esme is right, Bella," said Edward as he gently lowered me to the ground. "You should rest and calm yourself before Celine gets here."

"Fine.", I grumbled. I said goodbye to Esme, grudgingly got into the old truck again, and headed back towards my house.