The First Look

by Marni.246

This is a Rosalie/Emmett one-shot about one of the many weddings they held in the years to come! This story allowed me to write first from Rosalie's POV, then from Emmett's POV, so I hope I wrote them all right. All characters belong to Meyer.

A/N: Well, this is my first true attempt at writing for both Emmett and Rosalie, so I hope it works out all right. This is just one of those stories I had lurking around in the back of my mind since the first time I read the series. I hope you all enjoy it, and all characters belong to Meyer!

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I stood in front the oak-framed mirror and could not help but admire myself. I knew I was vain for so thoroughly appreciating my own beauty, but on this day I was allowed to. On this day I was allowed to do anything I wanted, because it was my day. Not that every day wasn't in some way about me, but today was my wedding day. Again.

A wedding is something many women dream about as a child. I was certainly no exception. One of my strongest memories as a human is one from my childhood, during which I was unabashedly snooping through my mother's belongings. There was a large, mahogany chest in the far corner of her room which she always kept locked, and I was determined that day to open it.

I remember that the room had forever smelled strongly of oranges and another scent unknown to me, but one I had equated with the sun. It was a pure, summery smell. They were the smells that – even to this day – I would smell when I thought of my biological mother. When I was young, I envisioned growing up like her; how soon dreams can change.

As I knelt before the chest, I felt excitement well within me. It had taken vast amounts of cunning to find the key to the chest, and after accomplishing that feat, I felt it was my absolute right to see the contents of the chest.

Looking back, I am not sure what I thought I would find within the chest. Perhaps it would be some scandalous secret that my mother would not want anyone else to know about or a secret stash of treasures meant just for me. When I finally opened the chest, I remember feeling pure shock.

I reached inside and traced a hand slowly across the white fabric, relishing in the feel of satin and lace. The bodice was covered with lace while the skirt was made of pure satin. The cut was not a low one at all, but still seemed strangely enchanting to me. The arms were satin and long-sleeved, but had a cuff of lace on both shoulders. It was the most beautiful dress I had ever seen; it was magical to me.

From that moment on, I had dreamt of one day having my own wedding with my own beautiful, lacy white dress. I would be the belle of the ball, and everyone would think I was center of attention and the most beautiful woman ever.

How dreams can change.

As I admired myself in front of the oak mirror, the memory slid from my mind and was unwittingly replaced with one I abhorred – what had happened to me.

"I will not ruin this day with thoughts of them." I said aloud to myself. There was no chance this side of hell that I would ever grant those monsters my time. I pushed the thought of those repulsive monsters away as rapidly as I could.

I chose instead to focus on my dress. The long, white-colored gown was quite simple this year, and I had chosen it with particular care. Esme had helped me find a dress-maker whose expertise was old-fashioned dresses, and I had it fashioned after the first dress I had ever worn to marry Emmett. The dress I wore now had a slightly more modern look to it and it was a real white color, but other than that, it was quite identical. Needless to say, I felt like a princess.

"Rosalie, you look better than breath-taking," Esme told me, a motherly smile on her face as she entered the room. My ego flared, naturally, and I stood a little bit straighter.

Behind her, Alice, Bella, and Renesmee followed, all three smiling warmly at me.

"Aunt Rosalie, you look absolutely stunning," Renesmee said, dabbing lightly at her eyes as she began to cry. "Hell, I think I ruined my make-up."

"Emmett is asking if you're ready," Bella said, though her eyes were narrowed at her daughter for cursing. Renesmee looked quite repentant as she mouthed, Sorry, Mom.

I nodded, glancing back at the mirror. "Yes," I replied with a smile. "I'm always ready for him."

As they began to leave, I called out to my maid of honor. "Would you help me with the veil?"

She smiled as the others left the room. I watched in the mirror as Bella took the veil and placed it swiftly and gently on my head, securing it in place. She paused, still standing slightly behind me, "Can I ask you a question?"

Our eyes met in the mirror in front of me. I nodded.

"Why did you choose me as your maid of honor? I was convinced you would have chosen Renesmee."

I smiled, turning to face my sister. "I considered choosing her," I admitted. "What I really wanted, though, was to prove that I love you as a sister and a friend."

Bella's eyes widened and after a split second a genuine smile covered her features, "I feel that way, too, Rose. Thank you."

She reached up and straightened my veil slightly, pulling the front half over my face so that it was hanging in front, and fanning the lacy back out across my hair. "I made the right choice," I added as an after-thought.

Silence fell between us, but it was a comfortable one. The type of silence that two sisters or close friends would share on a summer afternoon, sitting on the porch and sipping some type of refreshing drink. It was a silence I had shared often with Alice and numerous times with Esme, but never before with Bella.

I found myself relishing in it. I was honest enough to admit that I was selfish in my want for many close siblings, but was that really such a bad thing? I had had many hardships in my life, and I knew that in some way each of them were kin purely for what we'd each been through.

I paused for a second, lost in my thoughts. If I had had a brother like Jasper, or even an annoying one like Edward, how differently would my life have turned out? Would I have been sheltered and protected from someone as cruel and conniving as Royce? I already knew that had I a sister such as Esme, Alice, or Bella, I would have had the best type of diary in her. She would be someone I could tell my true thoughts and feelings to without fearing judgment.

I was blessed to have these siblings now; I was cursed to not have them then.

"Edward once told me," Bella began, catching my attention and waking me to the present, "that you and Emmett get married often. I can see that now, obviously, but what makes you want to do it?"

I couldn't help but smile, though it was a slightly bitter one. "Part of it, I have to admit, is vanity. I like my day. It gives me a sense of great pride to know that everyone looks and stares at me. Vain, I know, but as I told you before, I was completely caught up in myself, and still have those moments."

I looked towards the door quickly, knowing we were running out of time. I wanted her to know, though. I desperately wanted her to understand that I was not completely without good virtues.

When I turned back to Bella, it was to find she was looking at me without a hint of judgment on her face, which made me even more positive that I needed to tell her. I continued, "The bigger reason for why Emmett and I often marry goes back to when we first wed. I'm sure you can guess at the feelings I felt, having experienced what I did.

"On my first wedding day, I was entirely nervous and I felt so very unworthy of Emmett. I was this tarnished, abused woman, and I felt I was far less than he deserved. I wasn't whole." I paused again, clasping my hands together as I did so, though I am not sure why. My emotions were in a riot and it was hard to discern what I was truly feeling.

"Nothing could calm my nerves," I continued, my eyes drifting back to Bella's, "but as I took the first step out onto the aisle and I saw his expression, everything shifted into place. I knew he loved me long before we married, but in his expression I saw not only that he loved me, but that to him, I was perfection. Not simply because I was beautiful, but because in his eyes I was whole. It was perhaps the best feeling in the world. So to be honest, that is why I marry Emmett over and over again, because no matter how many times we've done this, the look on his face is always the same as his very first look."

Alice poked her head through the door then, and motioned for us to hurry. "Come on, you two. I think the priest has begun to have heart palpitations standing so close to Emmett."

Bella and I both laughed and I nodded, looking once more at Bella before making my way through the door and out into the long hallway. It wound around until it stopped before the ornate doors leading to the altar. It may be unthinkable for vampires to be wed in a church, but since we already had a priest, I didn't see the harm in it.

I stopped beside Carlisle, who always asked each time we were re-married if he could have the pleasure to walk me down the aisle, and the others continued through the door, Bella and Jasper walking through last. Carlisle nodded to me, "You look lovely, my daughter."

I decided then and there that people could call me greedy or selfish as much as they wanted; I would never let my family go. They were far too special and meant so very much to me. "Thank you, Father."

Carlisle smiled and held out his arm to me, just as inviting as ever. I took it willingly and we stepped around the corner and through the doors. I noticed nothing but my soon-to-be-husband-again, for in my mind the rest of the world had melted away. My eyes traveled immediately to Emmett's face, and I held my gaze there appreciatively. On his smiling face, more dependable than anything else in our world, was the same first look.

The fear was washing off the priest beside me in nearly palpable waves. I didn't need Jasper's gift to know that the priest was nearing a heart attack. I couldn't understand it – we wanted him to help us. Couldn't he sense that we weren't going to eat him afterwards?

I shifted my weight to my other foot and suppressed a sigh as the priest jumped. I was not one to tolerate skittish men, and I wouldn't have moved in the first place had I not been trying to maintain a human façade to put him at ease. I was strongly beginning to suspect this man knew that we were different. Did he have any idea he was about to perform a marriage service for two vampires?

As I glanced out across the rows of nearly empty seats, my eyes fell on Edward. With a smile that was almost a laugh, he shook his head, answering my voiceless question. Get out of my head today, I mentally growled at him. Edward smiled.

I felt almost guilty immediately after, because I knew Edward found my thoughts extremely refreshing. The good news was that today Rosalie's thoughts would be of pure happiness, which meant he would find it more bearable to be around her. I had no idea what his problem was, but I was grateful. If they hadn't clashed so thoroughly, I would not have ever met Rosalie and would not have felt all these other clichéd feelings about her.

Jasper, who was slowly pacing back and forth off to my left, suddenly stopped and glared fiercely at the priest. His eyes narrowed and – probably unconsciously – he bared his teeth and began to growl. Curious, I glanced over at the priest to see that he was staring at Alice with a look of pure want.

Alice, who had just walked through the doors followed by Renesmee and Esme, took one look at Jasper and frowned at him. I hoped she stepped on his foot again. It was priceless.

Edward came forward and began talking to the priest about absolute nonsense, directing his attention away from our sister. I turned to Jasper and walked him farther over to the side of the church, putting my hand on his shoulder. "Jasper, I know you want to go and rip his eyes out right now, but I'd really like it if my best man could hold it in until the end of the ceremony."

Every time I re-married my wife, I alternated between Edward and Jasper as my best man. Honestly, they both were, but apparently two best men were too big of a deviation from traditional marriages that Alice put her foot down. Since she always organized the weddings, I had absolutely no say. Oh well.

I could almost feel Jasper trying to calm himself down, and I felt total sympathy with him. When men looked at Rosalie with even the slightest bit of lust the priest had just unleashed on Alice, I felt an overwhelming urge to do them severe bodily harm. High school sucked.

In a last-ditch attempt to appease him further, I added, "Besides, we can teach him a lesson after the wedding is over." Jasper grinned.

I frowned as Alice turned her attention to us and immediately came over. She always ruined my fun, damn it. "Absolutely not," she said pointedly when she was standing with us.

I glared at her, hoping I could keep Jasper on my side, but just as always, he melted like butter under her gaze and did whatever made her happy. Damn it. I groaned rather loudly and walked back to where I was supposed to be standing, catching Edward's low, polite threats to the priest. He was no doubt taking full advantage of the fact that Alice was distracted by Jasper and would not be able to rebuke Edward for it. It was just pure luck that Bella, who would also be utterly horrified by Edward's comments, was not in the room. Score one for him.

The next few moments were utterly dull, and had the uncanny ability to feel as though they were passing even slower than usual. My thoughts turned hastily to Rosalie, and I began to imagine what her dress looked like, especially the color. In a lot of ways I couldn't blame Edward – if I could see images in people's thoughts, I'd probably steal a peek or two, also.

My excitement increased exponentially as Esme, Renesmee, and Jacob took their seats next to Edward. Alice smiled encouragingly at me before darting out to hurry Rosalie and Bella along. I would honestly never understand women and this insane obsession with fashion and looking perfect to the point of taking hours upon hours to be ready. Alice baffled me – and everyone, really – more than anyone else, and I had long since resigned myself to never understanding her.

Carlisle and Jasper walked along the aisle to the end of room and disappeared through the doors – Jasper to collect the maid of honor and Carlisle to collect my bride. As soon as Alice came back into the room and took her seat next to Jacob, I was almost bubbling over with happiness.

Though it was Rosalie who always wanted to renew our vows, I was not afraid to admit that I took great pleasure in it also. No one other than my wife had the ability to make me feel such a riot of true emotions at one time, and no one else had the ability to make me feel as though I were the only man in the world.

The first look of that magnitude she had ever given me was when she began to walk down the aisle the very first time we married. She had seemed somewhat nervous or unsure as she stepped out, so I had simply looked at her with all the love I possessed, and had been rewarded with a look of her own.

Bella and Jasper stepped out through the doors and quickly made their way up the aisle towards the front. Jasper was smiling as he took his place beside me and patted me on the back in a brotherly manner. "She looks beautiful, Em."

"She always does," I said with a grin at him.

A split second before Rosalie and Carlisle turned the corner, I was once again wondering what her dress looked like. It was for that reason that I was caught completely unaware. In fact, I could barely stifle my gasp, because my lovely wife, for the first time since we had begun this tradition, was wearing white to our wedding.

She had worn an array of colors for her weddings previous to this, but never white. She had told me once that white wedding gowns brought up such painful memories that she refused to wear one in that particular color. I couldn't help but wonder what had made her decision change.

I kept my eyes focused on hers the entire time she was walking towards me, trying to show her just how much I loved and wanted her. The moment was always so magical for me that I knew without a doubt that if I were human, I would have tears in my eyes. Not that I would ever admit that to anyone other than Rose and – unwillingly – Edward.

It seemed to take an eternity for Carlisle and Rosalie to get to where I stood. Each step was so painfully slow for the damn priest's benefit that I had to fight back the urge to just run to Rosalie at hyper-speed. Right now I wanted nothing more than to be alone with her, and that was tragically a long ways away.

When they stood in front of me, Carlisle kissed Rosalie on the cheek before setting her hand in my outstretched one. He smiled at us both before sitting down next to his own wife, who looked like she would be crying a river, could she shed tears.

My hand closed around Rosalie's and I squeezed lightly, winking at her. We took our place before the priest and I held steadfast to her hand. Nothing could – or would – ever take Rosalie from me. She was my life.

The priest began to speak then, stuttering and stammering through his opening welcome speech. I didn't pay one bit of attention because he didn't really mean what he said anyway. I preferred to look into Rosalie's eyes where I could see the true love.

Honestly, I'm a sap, I know.

"Emmett Dale Cullen, do you take this woman to be your wife through all trials and tribulations, for better or worse, until death parts you?" The priest suddenly asked.

I fought the urge to correct his last words and said, without hesitation, "I do."

"Rosalie Lillian Hale, do you take this man to be your husband, through all trials and tribulations, for better or worse, until death parts you?"

"I do," Rosalie replied, faster than I had. She winked suggestively at me, so quickly the priest did not notice. I heard Edward and Jasper shift uncomfortably and found myself wanting to know Rosalie's thoughts. After all, I could already tell what she was feeling, because I felt it, too.

The priest finished his closing remarks and then announced us man and wife. I didn't wait for him to give us permission to kiss and instead pulled Rosalie towards me, sealing our renewal with a kiss that was not the general polite one the priest no doubt had been hoping for. I wouldn't have been surprised if he fainted.

Our family congratulated us and we all left the church rather hastily, eager to return to our home where we could be ourselves. When we entered our home, the living room had been converted into a party room, and the only person I could think to blame was Alice.

She smiled warmly at us and I thanked her anyway, though I still wanted nothing more than to be alone with Rosalie right now. The evening seemed to – luckily – pass rather quickly and before long we were headed upstairs.

I closed our bedroom door behind me and leaned against it, watching as my wife removed her shoes and veil. Even in performing these simple tasks, she managed to totally entrance me and I found myself frequently mesmerized by her. I knew how lucky I was; it was pointless to repeat it.

I grinned, a wonderful idea forming quickly in my mind, and walked over to Rosalie. She turned to look at me expectantly and I held out my hand, "Will you dance with me?"

She bit her lip in a smile and nodded, placing her hand lightly in mine. "No music?" she asked.

I shook my head as we began to slowly twirl. "We don't need it."

I had no idea how much time passed, but I did know that having Rosalie in my arms was certainly the most wonderful feeling in the world.

"Rose," I said softly. She turned her head to look at me, her golden eyes warm and inviting. "Why did you choose to wear a white dress?"

"I'm slaying my demons," she replied after a moment's silence. "I cannot forever hold on to the bitterness and pain. So I am taking back my moment. I am taking back from them what should have been mine. I am wearing white to show that they never were able to take anything from me in the first place."

I was moved by her words. Moved by them as well as angered by them. Angered for the pain she had felt not only then but in the years that followed. I had always ached for her, for what they had done, and for what I was unable to do for her.

As I kissed her again, I put as much longing and love into it as I could and I knew without a doubt that no matter how much I wanted her, I would not shred this dress. This was hers. Just as this moment, this silent dance in our tiny piece of the world, was hers. And she was choosing to share it with me.

I could never extract the revenge on those vile less-than-humans that I wanted to, but I could do this for her. I could help her in these small ways and hope that it was enough.

"Have I told you how proud I am of you?" I murmured softly, stopping our movements and pulling her tightly to me. I kissed her long and slow, trying to make this moment last until the world ended. Even that would not be enough.

"Not lately," she teased when I stopped kissing her.

I grinned, "What about how much I love you?"

"Not nearly enough in the last twenty four hours," she chastised with a joking smile. "I was beginning to think you had changed your mind."

I surprised her when I pushed her quickly onto the bed and began to kiss her thoroughly, repeating 'I love you' in small breaks. "I would never change my mind about you. You're just as much my angel now as you were when I first saw you. I love you, Rosalie."

The passionate kiss she rewarded me with led to – of course – other things. I am pleased to say the dress survived.