I gleefully grabbed Bella by the hand and dragged her to the door. "We'll be most of the day," I called back to the others. "Come on, you get to be the first passenger in my new car."

She climbed in, looking around. "I like the white leather."

I grinned happily. "It's very glamourous, isn't it?"

"It suits you," she said. "So does your bedroom, by the way."

That made me smile. To most of the world, I looked like an elf, or a prettier than average street urchin, not the love child of Jean Harlow and Benito Mussolini. "Bella, you understand me better than almost anyone. I suppose that's why we're best friends."

"I guess that's one reason." She smiled. "Speaking of that, as my best friend, I hope you'll agree to be my bridesmaid." I looked at her in surprise, and she laughed. "Don't tell me you didn't see that coming!"

"No, I missed that among all the new decisions. Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. You're my best friend. Who else would I pick?"

"Thank you, Bella!" I hugged her - maybe a little too hard, because she exhaled abruptly.

"Keep your hands on the wheel, Alice!" I laughed and let her go. "Thanks for keeping the other things secret. Was it difficult?"

"Not too hard. I just remembered to picture you getting married in your little blue dress. Edward's none the wiser. So," I said, smiling, "I guess our first stop is...?"

"I guess it is. It's not too late to get a wedding gown, is it?"

"Not with me in charge, it's not. What made you decide to go this route? You were so anti-wedding gown."

"I don't know. Once I'd agreed to the wedding, the externals didn't seem so intimidating. Besides, I thought it might be important to Edward."

"He'll be over the moon." I grinned at the future image of Edward, seeing Bella dressed as a bride. "He's very sentimental about some of these things."

"Then it's the right thing."

I asked her a few key questions about her wedding dress preferences as we drove. Not that I expected Bella to have a clear idea of what she wanted, but I was able to pick up on her likes and dislikes through subtle interrogation.

She squared her shoulders bravely as we pulled up in front of a bridal shop, but she looked distinctly nervous.

"Come on, girl," I said. "Time to cowboy up!" She laughed and followed me inside.

A thin woman in a dowdy suit but surprisingly good shoes introduced herself as Sharon, our bridal consultant. I brushed aside her preliminary pleasantries. I knew what was needed: chiffon, not satin or taffeta. A simple, cap sleeved dress in Regency style. No train. Bella would be at ease in a dress like that, and it would appeal to Edward's romantic sensibilities.

Bella tried on four subtly different gowns before I found The Dress. It was delicate and graceful, and set off her slender figure beautifully. "Bella, that's it! You look like a dream!"

She stared at herself in the row of wall mirrors. "It's nice." She seemed a little stunned by the image that looked back at her.

"It's perfect," I said firmly. "We'll take it with us," I told the Sharon, who was hovering nearby.

"Oh, you don't take this dress! We'll order one in for you, and you'll need to have it altered!" she protested. "That will take at least..."

"My mother's the best dressmaker on the continent." I assumed that would be taken as an exaggeration, rather than the literal fact it was. No need to mention that I was just as good a seamstress as Esme. "She wouldn't have anyone else do the alterations."

"Oh! Well, we don't usually sell sample dresses until the end of the season," she said, flustered. "I can't offer you a discount on it, you know."

"That's fine. Just wrap it up. And we need to see veils."

Sharon scuttled off to fetch veils while I helped Bella out of her dress. "I never thought I'd see myself in one of these," she observed.

"I'd say your life has taken a lot of turns you hadn't expected."

She laughed. "That's true. What was your wedding like, Alice?"

"Oh, even smaller than yours. Just the family, at this little chapel we came across in our travels."

"Did you wear a wedding gown?"

"No, I wore a very stylish white silk suit and a little pillbox hat with a velvet bow on the side. I carried a bouquet of dahlias." I carefully replaced the dress on its hanger. "Jazz looked just beautiful in a blue suit with a white rose in his buttonhole." I smiled at the memory. "We'd been together a long time already, but exchanging vows in front of our family like that...it still meant something. You'll be glad you did this, Bella, even if it seems silly now."

She nodded. "I know. And it doesn't seem silly, not any more. Just a little uncomfortable."

Our minion returned with a cartload of veils. Now that the dress had been selected, it was easy to choose accessories. "This one," I said, picking out a waist length veil in a very fine, very sheer silk tulle. I held it in place and turned Bella to face the mirror. "What do you think?"

"I agree," she said, grinning. Obviously, she would have gone along with whichever one I picked. Wise girl.

"You want to take the veil with you as well?" the saleslady asked brightly. I assumed she worked on commission. If so, this was probably the easiest day's wages she'd ever made.

"Yes, please. Do you carry shoes?" She directed me to a side room. "Nothing here," I concluded after a quick glance. "We'll have to move on." I produced a credit card and accepted the garment bag and hatbox in return.

"Thank you," Sharon said to me, and to Bella added, "Best of luck with your wedding."

"Thanks," Bella mumbled, following me out of the store. I very carefully stowed the dress and veil in the trunk. "Now. Shoes are next." I headed for the highway. "I know just the place."

She put up a bit of a fight at the shoe store. "Bella, you can't wear flats with your wedding dress!"

"I don't see why not." I just rolled my eyes. "Alice, I can't even walk in high heels! Falling on my face would do more to spoil the wedding than the wrong pair of shoes."

I sighed, and reminded myself that she wouldn't have this problem for long. I finally got her to agree to a pretty pair of sandals with kitten heels, simple but with crystal embellishments. She took a few cautious steps in them. "See? You can walk in those. Just regard them as training wheels." I paid for them before she could change her mind, led her out of the shop and added the shoe box to our secret hoard in the trunk. "Those are perfect! You'll be a beautiful bride," I told her as I pulled back out into traffic.

She turned red. "Thanks for helping me with all this."

"It's my pleasure, believe me. And thank you for not making a fuss about the payment."

"I can see it's kind of silly at this point. None of the reasons for objecting really apply any more." I looked at her. "Well, I hardly have a penny to my name, and you guys have an unlimited supply. And you all seem to like buying things for each other."

"That we do."

"And once Edward and I get married..."

I grinned at her. "Yes, you get your own credit card and your own link to the Cullen treasury." I laughed at her expression. "Speaking of treasure, what about jewelry?"

"What about it?" she asked warily.

"Are you wearing any jewelry with your wedding gown?"

"Oh! I don't have much, other than my engagement ring. I suppose I could wear the crystal heart Edward gave me."

"Crystal heart? You mean his mother's diamond?"

"No, the little heart pendant he gave me as a graduation present. Would that be okay?"

"Yes, that would look very nice."

She looked at me rather narrowly. "What did you mean about a diamond?" I just looked at her. "Alice - that can't be a real diamond! It would be, like, five carats!"

"Just under six, actually."

"You're not serious! And I've been wearing it around my neck all this time?"

"That's what it's for, Bella."

"Holy cow!"

"I suppose it's just as well you didn't know. You probably would have refused it, and that would have hurt Edward's feelings."

That slowed her down a little. "Well, I wouldn't want that, but it feels weird to be wearing a diamond that size."

"Bella, try to put this into perspective. Edward's been carrying those things of his mother's around with him for ninety years. He wasn't saving them because of their monetary value."

"No, I know."

"Especially the engagement ring. Edward never expected to find someone he could love. The ring was a souvenir of someone else's happy marriage. Can you imagine how it felt to finally find someone to wear it for him?" She nodded. "Of course you can. Edward didn't need a six carat diamond, Bella. What he needed was someone to give it to."

"Okay. I know. I really do get it, Alice. It just took me by surprise."

"You really had no idea it was a diamond?"

"Not a clue." I snickered. She sighed and nodded toward the trunk. "Are we done, then?"

"We're done with the wedding shopping. We still have to get started on your summer and fall apparel." She stared at me. "That was the official reason we were shopping today, remember? We can't come back empty handed."

"No, I guess not."

"Besides which, you actually will need clothes for the coming months."

"I've got clothes," she muttered.

"You've got a tee shirt collection. It's hardly a suitable wardrobe for a newly married woman." She grimaced irritably. "Besides, you're going to be a Cullen, and you have to be prepared to sometimes dress the part. Cover story, remember?"

"Yeah, I know." She frowned. "It'll seem...funny, dressing the way the rest of you do."

"I think you'll get over that. Once you see your new self in the mirror, you'll probably enjoy dressing yourself a lot more." I had been headed for downtown Manchester, but I foresaw Bella asking for a bathroom break and some lunch, and turned toward the nearest mall instead. Her expression became thoughtful. "What?"

"Will I really look like you? Like all of you, I mean?"

"We all look different," I hedged. I wasn't sure what she was worrying about.

"But you're all beautiful."

"You will be, too." I indulged in a quick peek at Bella's future, and saw her, pale and gorgeous, running through the woods at blinding speed.

"Will I be...?"

"Will you be what?"

"Will I look like myself? I mean, would someone who knows me now be able to recognize me, after? Will I look like myself, only better; or will I look completely different?"

"I haven't really seen people both before and after. In person, that is. I've seen you, though."

"Seen me?" She sat up straight as she realized what I meant. "You mean you can see what I'll look like?"

"Oh, yes." I smiled. "It's one of my favourite visions. You look wonderful. And you do look like yourself, more or less, only much prettier. You just go from Bella to Bellisima."

"It's weird that the change makes people more beautiful."

"Not really. The venom heals everything, you see. If you get bitten when you have a broken leg, or some chronic disease, or anything else like that, the venom heals it completely."

"Sure, but ugly isn't a disease."

I laughed. "No, but a lot of the things that make people less attractive are minor physical imperfections. Those all get healed, too. Skin blemishes, broken capillaries, uneven teeth, crooked nose from a childhood fall - they're all fixed. And then," I went on, warming to the subject, "any flaws that result from slight hormonal imbalances, like a woman with a little moustache, are adjusted. Female characteristics are sort of enhanced in women, male ones in men. That's why we're all so dazzlingly masculine or feminine, as the case may be." She giggled. "Skin becomes smoother, hair thicker, everything more symmetrical. The end result is that it's very hard to find an unattractive vampire."

"I see. Thanks, Alice."

"Any time." I deftly cut in front of a slow moving truck and took a right turn, into the mall parking lot. I led Bella down the main corridor, remembering to slow down enough to let her keep up with me.

"Alice, could I stop a minute..." She broke off as I pointed her down a hallway to the ladies' room. "Oh! Thanks. I'll be right back."

While she was gone, I quickly looked over the mall directory and planned our itinerary to minimize walking, for Bella's sake, and to access the more interesting shops first, before she got tired or started rebelling. She emerged from the washroom, and I obtained food and waited more or less patiently as she ate. Human eating was so dull and plodding compared to hunting.

She paused between bites of something vile smelling, but apparently acceptable to her palate. "Can I ask you about the wedding?"

"It's your wedding, Bella! Of course you can."

"What happens, you know, right after."

"After the ceremony? We celebrate, of course. What did you think?"

"Well, at human weddings, the meal is kind of a central part of the celebration."

"Aha. Well, there will be food and drink for you, of course. Plus, I've ordered a gorgeous wedding cake."

"A cake, when only one person can eat it?"

"It's tradition more than food," I said firmly. "You'll love it. It's two tiers, round with scalloped edges, chocolate cake with pale blue fondant covered in a kind of lace made of spun sugar." She blinked, and I laughed. "Too much?"

"I'm sure it'll be great."

"As for the rest of us, we'll celebrate by dancing, socializing, the usual. Emmett will make an embarrassing speech, you'll toss the bouquet, Edward will throw the garter..."

"Garter?"

"I'll provide one." She looked a little dismayed. "Tradition, Bella."

"That's one tradition we should probably skip."

"Spoilsport. Well, I'm giving you a garter anyway. Edward can take it off later."

She blushed. "Do I really need a bouquet?"

"Actually, I think you might appreciate it. It'll give you something to do with your hands when you're walking up the aisle."

"That's true."

"What else did you want to ask?"

She went red again. My throat burned. "About the other people you're inviting - your cousins? Are they okay with me and Edward?"

"They're very happy about it. Tanya wouldn't believe it at first," I laughed, "but they certainly have no objections." She frowned a little when I mentioned Tanya.

"Tell me about them."

"Well…for a long time there were four in the family, four females, all originally from eastern Europe. Tanya, Irina, Katerina - Kate - and their mother, who was executed by the Volturi. Carlisle told you about all that."

"I remember. She wasn't literally their mother, was she? Are they actually sisters?"

"No; she was their mother the way Carlisle is our father. It's been a very long time, but they still grieve for her. They never talk about her, so it would be better not to bring the subject up." She nodded, and I looked away as she took another bite of that food thing. "Then, late nineteenth century, Eleazar and Carmen met the sisters, and decided to take up the vegetarian lifestyle. They ended up joining the family."

"They're close, like your family?"

"Our family," I corrected, and she smiled shyly. "Yes, they're close; although there's a different dynamic with the Denalis. The three sisters were together a long time, so they make up a unit, and Eleazar and Carmen make up another one. They live together very harmoniously, though."

"Tanya's the leader?"

"Oh, yes. She's the oldest, since their mother was destroyed; and anyway, Tanya's kind of a natural born leader." Bella nodded, her frown deepening. "You're wondering about Tanya and Edward, I suppose."

"Well, yeah. I know I don't need to worry about Edward, honest. I just wondered if Tanya was going to have any hard feelings about the wedding. I wanted to be prepared."

I laughed, and she looked puzzled. "Honey, you do realize that Tanya had no interest in marrying Edward, right?"

She blushed. "I figured that out, eventually."

"So you understand that you and she aren't exactly rivals. She just saw a single male in a family full of couples, and figured he'd be...receptive. The only thing that bothered Tanya was having her offer turned down. She's not used to it."

"I see." She gathered up the crumpled napkins and empty containers onto her tray. "Alice, you said you'd tell me all about your cousins some time. The 'X-rated stories' about them, you said. What was that about?"

The time had come, apparently. Edward probably wouldn't like it, but he still didn't realize how tough his girl really was. "I'm not sure where to start." I thought a moment while she waited, big brown eyes fixed on me. "See, Tanya and her sisters decided to stop hunting humans on their own. They didn't have any outside encouragement."

"Like Carlisle."

"Right, but...the motivation was a little different for the sisters. They did it, initially, because of an affection for men, an affection they all shared." She tilted her head inquisitively. "Not human beings, as a whole. Human men."

She looked at me, as the poem says, with a wild surmise. "When you say affection..."

"Bella, have you ever heard of a succubus?" Her eyebrows shot up. Apparently she had. "Some people think those stories began, back in Europe, because of the actions of Tanya, Irina, and Kate."

"So they just go around...being affectionate with human men?"

"Pretty much. Thousands of them, probably, by this time. I hope that puts Tanya's pass at Edward in perspective."

"Yeah, a little. Um, is that a very common thing?"

"Definitely not. I don't know of any other examples. It's too difficult, for one thing, especially if you intend to leave your partner alive. Even the sisters found that hard in the beginning. They used to...excuse my mentioning this, but they used to do it as part of their hunting routine, at first."

She swallowed hard. "Like a black widow spider." I laughed. "What about the men? Was this all...voluntary on their part? Aside from the getting killed part, I mean?"

"Oh, yes. Those three never had any trouble getting men to accept their advances. Well, with very few exceptions."

"Don't they ever, er, get together with other vampires?"

"Once in a while. There's no reason they couldn't; any of them could even have a real mate some day; but in the meantime, they like their human men."

"Thousands of them," she mused.

I giggled. "The sheer volume makes words like 'slut' kind of inadequate, doesn't it?"

She laughed along with me. "Your whole family knows about all this, I assume?"

"Of course. Oh, I know what you're thinking! You're remembering how you once worried Carlisle and Esme would look down on you because you and Edward were canoodling at night."

"Yeah," she said, embarrassed.

"You can see that we're a bit more broad-minded than you thought."

"Edward probably doesn't really like what they do, though."

"No. I wouldn't say he disapproves, exactly. He just finds it kind of sad."

"That makes sense."

"I guess it is a little sad. They have to be careful not to fall in love with one of their humans, you know."

"Because if they did, it would be permanent?"

"Exactly."

"So all three actually are virgins, of a sort. Their hearts have never been touched."

"Yes," I agreed in surprise. Sometimes Bella seemed much older than her years.

She pondered a moment. "Want to get back to shopping now?"

"Absolutely."

"And you can tell me more about the cousins. We kind of focused on one aspect up until now."

"The succubus thing does kind of draw the attention," I agreed, as we left the food court and resumed our shopping trip.

I went on describing the cousins, including Carmen and Eleazar, while Bella complaisantly let me choose clothing for her, send her to the fitting rooms, and pay for her - or rather, my - selections. She only balked when I chose something too flamboyant for her tastes. That was happening less often; I'd figured out her preferences and her aversions, and I worked around those. That let me introduce her to fashion gradually and relatively painlessly.

"Eleazar spent some time in Volterra, with…friends, like Carlisle did," I told her as I helped her out of one dress and into another. "He was actually in the service, not just a visitor."

"Eleazar worked for them?"

"Sure. He has a talent they found useful."

"What talent?"

"He can see the talents of others."

"That's an odd one."

"Mm hm." I studied the effect of the current dress, decided that burgundy wasn't her colour, and unzipped her again. "Eleazar thought it was worthwhile, helping maintain law 'n' order on the ol' frontier. Eventually, he started to have his doubts, and when he met Carmen, he left them for good." I handed her a navy and white A-line skirt, and she stepped into it. "That's cute. Try it with this." I chose a contrasting blouse, which she obediently put on. "Good. That's a keeper. Okay, you can put your own clothes back on."

"We're done?"

"We're done here. We've got three more stores to visit." She sighed deeply and started getting dressed while I took the approved items to the cash. She rejoined me, and we headed back into the mall. "There's not that much more to do. Just get you some decent jeans and a few casual items, a cocktail dress, and some shoes."

"Why on earth do I need a cocktail dress?" she demanded. "Whatever that is."

"Bella, do I have to keep reminding you that you'll be playing a part? You may never seek out an occasion that requires a cocktail dress, but the cover story might call for it at some point."

"Right. Okay."

"Then again, you might decide you just feel like dressing up sometimes." She shrugged. "You know. Dressing up for Edward?" I said it as nonchalantly as I knew how. "I remember how he enjoyed seeing you all decked out for the prom. Not that you have to go to those extremes, but I'm sure he'd appreciate any effort. After all, he always chooses clothing he thinks you'd like on him."

As I'd expected, that hit the mark. I casually moved away, pretending to be distracted by a window display, while Bella let it sink in.

Shopping was easier after that. By the end of the afternoon, we'd acquired the basics: some decent jeans that didn't hang loosely off her butt like a bath towel; nicely fitting dress pants in four colours; eight skirts, including a red pencil skirt that was beyond her comfort level, but looked too good to leave behind; a selection of cute casual tops and several silk blouses; half a dozen dresses for all occasions; and assorted footwear. I couldn't convince her to try high heels, so I saved that battle for after she was less apt to fall down, and stuck with ballet flats and loafers. The clothes weren't so far from her usual castoffs as to cause her real anxiety, but they looked a thousand times better, and introduced her gradually to the concept of style. Baby steps. After her change, I could start to push things a little further.

Driving home, she asked, "What are you going to do about the dress and the veil?"

"Leave them in the trunk for now, and sneak them into my room some time when everybody's out of the way."

"That doesn't happen too often."

"No, but all I need is thirty seconds. I'll get it done."

"Can you really keep this a secret from Edward for two whole weeks?"

"I can," I said firmly. "I have this clear picture of you in my mind, getting married in your blue dress and patent leather heels, your hair up, a string of pearls around your neck. I hold that image in my head whenever the wedding comes up. He'll assume it's the real thing. If it gets too difficult, I'll add something else to occupy my mind." My emergency backup plan was to mentally translate the lyrics to The Wreck of the Old '97 into classical Greek.

"Okay. Thanks for all the effort, Alice." I waved it off. "So, what do you have in mind for the bridesmaid's dress?"

I beamed at her. "You certainly know how to keep the conversation fresh!"