Somewhere in the countryside of Canterbury, England - September 18, 2022 – 5 days to the wedding.

Esme's POV

I sighed as I slumped over in defeat, staring at the half-packed suitcases at the foot of the bed. I felt like I would never pick the right combinations of clothes to take with me.

In five days, Carlisle and I would be renewing our vows for our 100th anniversary. Centennial Anniversary if you will.

In three days, all our guests would be arriving in Rio, to make themselves comfortable in their hotels.

And in less than 24 hours, the two of us were to fly out and make our way to Rio. We would have a day alone to spend on the island before out children filed in to begin set up. Yes, Isle Esme had been the location Alice had so wonderfully selected as the venue for the occasion. She had even flown there two weeks ago with Emmett, Rose, and Jasper to search out and landscape a clearing, close enough to the house that if it suddenly started to rain we could duck for cover, but far enough away that if we decided to retire for the night before our guests had left, the party would not be disrupting us.

I let Alice and the rest of my children go about planning this event as they wished, only asking Alice that I had the final say on the dress, the ring, and my vows. The rest she could freely plan and consult with me as she wished. Which I was surprised she was doing; consulting with me as often as she was.

I returned my attention to mine and Carlisle's suitcase. Carlisle's bag was simple. The man didn't own to many clothes, nor a large variety. So, it was mostly dress pants and shirts, and the odd casual outfit, swim trunks, some boxers and socks, a belt, three pairs of shoes, his "toiletry bag", and his packing was done.

My bag on the other hand was a challenge. Do I pack a variety of everything, or only the things I was positive I would need, because to be honest, after the ceremony, two weeks alone on the island with Carlisle, if we weren't naked, we had swimsuits on. That, or I would throw on shorts and a top for a hike through the jungle.

A knock on the door pulled me from my suitcase thoughts and I sighed, as Carlisle entered the room, closing the door behind him. He smiled softly at me.

"How's the packing going?" he asked happily with a grin as he approached me, but he must have seen the defeated look in my eyes, "Not to well, I assume?" he asked, sitting beside me on the soft bed. I touched his leg gently, and his hand rested on top of mine.

"I'll figure it out, don't worry," I assured him, and quickly changed the subject so he wouldn't worry, "Did you manage to convince Alice?" I asked with a hopeful look and he smiled with a slight chuckle.

"Yes, she said she'd honour our wishes," he said and squeezed my hand reassuringly.

"Good. I know how much it means to you, and I'd like it too," I admitted. He leaned over and pecked my cheek softly, tucking my hair behind my ear.

Getting married (or remarried in this case) was a hard thing to do in England, where we currently resided. If you weren't part of a royal or highly thought of family, it was hard to get married in a cathedral. Getting married in a church was a difficult thing as well since we didn't go to church anymore (most of us since becoming vampires) it was hard to find a parish to marry us. Modern day England was just like that. So, upon learning we would be having the ceremony on the island, Carlisle's only request was a parish-based ceremony. Hymns, hosts, prayer. And I agreed. It was important. We were married in a church the first time, and we both wanted to keep it that way. Knowing our friends, many of whom came from religious backgrounds as humans, they would partake in the event in honour of us.

"I came up here, my love, for two reasons. The first, to tell you that Alice requests your presence in the living room," he said, our eyes meeting.

"Will you be joining us?" I asked, standing up, and facing him. He looked up at me and stood as well.

"No, love. That brings me to my second reason," he added, "I came to take your ring," he said softly, taking my hand in his. I noticed at that moment he was no wearing his. Oh yeah, the jeweler. Carlisle had arranged to have out rings cleaned and fixed up for the ceremony. It had been at least 20 years since we had them fixed and the metal was becoming dull and worn down again.

"Ah, yes," I said, and he released my hand, allowing me to wiggle the wedding band off my finger. I placed it gingerly in his waiting palm. He smiled and I flexed my hand a few times. He chuckled.

"I did the same thing," he stated.

"It feels so bare," I admitted, as he slipped the ring into his pocket.

"Don't worry, you'll have it back before the end of the week," he said, and gave me a gentle kiss on the lips, "Now you'd better go see what Alice needs," he whispered and I smiled, turning and leaving him to trail behind me. We parted ways at the bottom of the staircase, as he left out the front door with Edward waiting for him.

I wandered to the living room, finding Alice and Rose perched on the couches, Jasper relaxed beside Alice, his attention directed toward the TV. I sat across from her as she sorted papers on the coffee table.

"Oh good, you're here finally," she said, sliding a piece of paper towards me, "I wanted to double check the RSVP's of who's coming to the ceremony," she said, and I picked up the paper. There was a fair amount of people on the list, mostly vampires and wolves. The only humans coming were Charlie, Sue, Billy, Emily, and Leah's human husband, Jeffery, whom she had married a few years back. There would be roughly 50 people on the island for the ceremony. I slid the paper back to Alice, who tucked it into her pile again.

"Nothing of the Volturi?" I asked her, worry lacing my voice.

"Nothing Esme. I promise you, they won't even know until long after it's over," she said. Since the Volturi had confronted us in Forks we had only had one visit from them, a few years ago when they learned of us moving to Europe. Since then we had not heard from them. The last thing any of us wanted was for them to learn of this event and show up on the island, ruining everything.

I relaxed when she said that.

"Now the entire ceremony is templated out," she said, sliding a stack of stapled papers to me. I picked them up and looked over them. They didn't look any different than the 10 other times Alice had shown me, but I pretended to read it and handed it back.

"Alice, I really need to finish packing," I told her, still feeling that defeat form earlier. She waved her hand dismissively.

"You finish with plenty of time, I've seen it," she said in a monotone voice, and continued to scribbling things down.

"Renesmee and Jacob? Have you heard from them?" I asked, concerned. I hadn't heard yet of what my granddaughters travel plans were. Rose gently touched my hand.

"Ness and everyone from the U.S. are coming in two days straight to Rio. Emmett, Bella, and I are meeting them at the airport," she said, and I nodded, understanding.

"Alice, you're bringing the rings and the dress, correct?" I asked. She nodded, not looking up. I tried to relax. But all the worry of everything that could go wrong was bothering me. I guess Jasper picked up on it because he turned to look at me with a sympathetic look.

"I think you should go relax, Mom. Go take a bath or something," he said softly. I took a deep breath and nodded, leaving the living room and heading upstairs to the bathroom.

A hot soak would be nice. It will hopefully relax my mind.