ps. I don't own any of these characters.

"Bella? Are you awake yet?" Alice's singsong voice floated up the stairs to Edward's room, where I was still lying in bed, trying to sleep. I groaned.

"Don't be like that. There's lots to do today! We're going to pick out the flowers, and the cake!"

"I'm up," I mumbled. I rolled over, expecting to see my fiancé lying next to me, perhaps smiling at my unwillingness to spend the day running errands with Alice, but he wasn't there. With a sigh, I remembered that Edward had gone hunting today, to some place hundreds of miles away that was having a problem with grizzlies. Emmet had gone too – grizzlies are his favorite.

I slowly got out of bed, and walked towards the dresser. For the past month I'd been staying over here more and more frequently, so Alice had brought a few of my clothes here. Charlie was under the impression that I had stayed the weekend to get the house ready for the ceremony, which was only a few days away, but of course Alice had finished all the preparations Friday night. So Edward and I had had the entire weekend to ourselves, much to Charlie's dismay. He wasn't totally hostile towards Edward like before, but he still hadn't totally accepted Edward as my future husband.

Just before I'd reached the dresser, Alice appeared in the doorway.

"Don't even think about putting on those ratty jeans and that faded t-shirt. You're going to be a Cullen, Bella. You have to dress like one! Here, I bought you some new clothes the other day. Try these on."

She handed me a shopping bag – the kind you'd get at a designer store, the one with gold sheen and elaborate decorations, the kind you didn't throw away specifically because it looked nice. I peered into the bag apprehensively, unsure of what Alice had prepared for today.

"Oh, don't worry. It's nothing crazy. It's a skirt, and a blouse. And they go really nice together, and the skirt would even go with that one blouse of yours, the blue one, so it's not like you can't mix and match."

"If you say so, Alice. So do I have time for a quick shower before we leave, or--"

"Nope," she said, smiling, "We've got too much to do. You'll have plenty of time to shower when you're part of the family."

I smiled widely. I was looking forward to becoming part of the family, looking forward to not needing sleep, being able to move lightening fast, being super beautiful...

"Don't just stand there! Get dressed! I'll be downstairs," Alice sang, and danced out the door.

I'm looking forward to that, too, I thought, walking gracefully will be nice for a change. I slipped into the skirt, and buttoned up the blouse. I walked to the bathroom, meaning to do something with my hair, but Alice called from downstairs, "Bella! Just put your hair in a ponytail, it'll look fine. Our appointment is in half an hour, we have to go!"

"Kay. I'm coming!" I called back to her, quickening my pace. I grabbed a black pony from the drawer in the bathroom, and glanced in the mirror. The skirt and blouse did look nice together. Then I turned around and walked carefully down the steps, trying to imitate the grace all of the Cullens posessed. I almost fell once, but caught myself on the railing. Eventually I made it down the stairs, and I heard Alice revving the engine of the Porsche.

"Jeez, Alice, give me two seconds to get ready!" I mumbled, knowing she would hear me even in the car. I looked at her, and she scowled. I slipped into my flats, and walked as quickly as I could without risking falling over to the car, and slid into the seat. "Wouldn't the Volvo be a little less conspicuous? I mean, we wouldn't want to draw attention to ourselves."

"This is faster," Alice explained, already racing down the long driveway from the house to the main road, "and if we took the Volvo, we'd be late. With this, we'll arrive just a few minutes early."

And so we drove in silence toward Port Angeles, going almost three times the legal limit, Alice pushing the car to its maximum capabilities.