Another Wedding
Disclaimer: I am not Stephenie Meyer; therefore, I do not own Twilight.
AN: This story is told through the eyes of Charlie and shows the opening of his wedding to Sue and takes place March 10, 2021, it's supposed to signify his happily ever after. It is completely able to be read on it's own an any one-shot should be, but this story is a continuation of the same timeline of the other one-shots April Prank, Trick or Treat, and Surprise.
I messed with the bow tie at my neck again, muttering under my breath, "Monkey Suit."
I tried desperately to remember why I'd decided to do this and failed miserably.
Alice stepped forward, gently slapping my hand away and straightening the bow tie. "It's supposed to be the woman that's nervous, Charlie," she reminded me, probably for the twentieth time in the last twenty minutes.
It was strange that even as I aged, laugh lines gathering around my mouth and eyes, hair graying and starting to fall out, all the people – and I used that word lightly – who I considered to be my closest family didn't seem to age.
Well, my granddaughter had aged, at a rate which my brain could not fully comprehend, turning into a young woman in her mid twenties in less than eight years. And now, not quite fifteen years after she was born she had two children of her own, William, who was rapidly nearing four years old and looked closer to about six, and a little girl by the name of Sarah who was almost two and appeared to be almost three. They were also raising my late ex-wife's second daughter, Valerie. Renee had died in child birth and her husband, Phil, lost custody of his daughter about three months later, after getting into a drunken rage. I couldn't blame him for his grief, I'd still loved her and had felt her loss as much as he had. Unfortunately, the state of Florida didn't see it that way.
Officially, Bella and Edward were supposed to be raising Bella's young half sister, but after they'd taken custody of her, they'd handed her over to Renesmee and Jacob. And I got it, I did, because in spite of my own desire not to know, it was so obvious to me. I'd watched Underworld, after all. I'd seen the tension that was sometimes visible between the Cullens and the tribe members – the... werewolves. It was undeniably clear that my daughter and the family she married were... vampires.
I tried not to think about what that made my granddaughter and my great grandchildren. I tried, and yet, I wasn't always successful.
"I'm not nervous," I grumbled.
Alice's eyes flashed in a way which promised retribution. "Really, so you always fidget this much?" She demanded, placing her hands on her hips.
"Leave him be, Alice," Edward said softly as he stepped into the room.
Even though he wore clothes that looked more sedated and mature than what he'd worn when he'd wooed my daughter sixteen years ago, he still looked like a teenage punk to me, part of that was the fact that he physically was still only a teenager. The other part though... well, he still wasn't good enough for my daughter.
His lips twitched briefly. "Come on, Charlie. It's time to take your place."
I wet my lips, reaching up to mess with the bow tie again. Alice reached out and slapped my hand before I even got my hand half way up. I stopped, grimacing.
"Fine." I stepped over to the door which Edward opened for me, following me out. As we walked into the small church sanctuary, I couldn't help but note to myself that the church was filled with far too many supernatural beings.
On the right side was my family, of them, I felt I'd invited very few. In the front was Renesmee sitting with Jacob, their two kids, and one ward who was held in Seth's arms – who was supposed to be on the left side, but he'd seemed vastly inseparable from Valerie since she'd come to Forks. Also in the front row was my best friend, Billy.
In the second row were most of the Cullens; Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper. Behind them were their cousins. I'd only met their five cousins a few times and their names eluded me, other than the raunchy looking male who went by Garrett. The rows behind them were mostly filled with the overflow from the left side – werewolves, their significant others and their kids.
At the very back though was Renesmee's friend named Nahuel, and his aunt with the disturbing red eyes, Huilen. They too, I'd only met a handful of times, but they'd made more of an impression with the cop in me than the Cullens' cousins had.
There were a total of twenty-eight werewolves in here. I knew that, because in spite of my best effort, I'd still slowly learned more and more details about them. So I knew this detail. More than that, I knew that four of the wolves were female, and the rest were all males.
In the front of the church was Leah, who'd been ordained a few years back. It had been necessary, was my understanding, what with the way things tended to go when the supernatural was involved.
On the left side, Sam and Emily sat in front, along with their three kids. In the row behind them were Brady, Collin, Quil and Embry. After that... I started to lose track of the names. I remembered one of them was named Lucas and one of the females was Ebony.
I took a breath, stealing myself before I marched up to the front and took my place to the right of Leah. Edward soundlessly took his spot behind me as my best man. I tried to remember whose idea that had been but I came up short.
In the amount of time that it had taken taken me to walk up to the front of the room, Alice had managed to magically manifest on the bench in front of the grand piano... I was seriously starting to wonder if teleportation was something vampires could do.
"It's not," Edward murmured behind me.
I flinched.
I looked around for Bella, having not spotted her earlier. Edward's hand flashed out, pointing toward the back. I looked. It took me a moment, but I finally spotted her, standing beside Nahuel and Huilen. She had her hand locked with a tall man with curly blond hair. He was hard to look at, but I was relatively sure his eyes were red too. I looked away unable to stare at him any longer.
"Who is she with?"
"His name is Fred. He's new to our family, and I'm pretty sure he'll be leaving with our cousins as he seems to like Tanya very much. But he makes the wolves nervous, so Bella agreed to stay near him for the duration of the wedding. They trust her... more than the rest of us."
Alice started playing the piano. I closed my eyes, reaching up to fidget with the bow tie as I took a breath.
"Alice will have my head if you get that bow tie out of place," he muttered behind me.
I couldn't help it, I grinned at the thought, but I put my hands down.
Claire Young, now eighteen, was acting as Sue's maid of honor, and came up the aisle to take her position. Behind her, Rachel and Paul's six year old twin daughters, Anna and Leila, trailed flowers across the floor. They made their way decently this time, but I'd been here for several of their practice sessions so I knew they were both klutzy.
After they reached the front, they sat in the front pew with Sam's family. Emily smiled at them, her hand going to her own belly, where she was just starting to show.
We had opted against a ring bearer, though Jared's four year old son had been more than willing. So I straightened to my full height, waiting on Sue to make her appearance.
It took a minute, but finally Sue stepped into the sanctuary, her head held high as she came forward.
She wore a flowing simple silk gown that was a light tan color – I was relatively sure I'd been told the color was called stone. There was no frill or lace to the dress. It was basic and it was beautiful. It was, in essence, and embodiment of her.
She reached the alter, taking her place to the left of Leah, just as the music reached the end. I started to reach up to mess with my bow tie, but stopped myself, letting my hands fall at my sides.
Leah cleared her throat, taking a small step forward. "We are gathered here today to share with Charlie Arthur Swan and Sue Myra Clearwater a very important moment in their lives. In the years they have been together, their love and understanding of each other has grown and matured and now they have decided to live the rest of their lives together as husband/wife and wife/husband.
"And now, for the exchanging of the vows." She stepped backwards, nodding at me.
I took a deep breath to say my portion.
AN: I know some people might go, "Why are you stopping there?"
To that... well this was about letting people see that Charlie has decided to join his life with Sue's, and to let people see a small glimpse at some of the other characters. But the details past this point... Aren't really that important.