Chapter 4

Preparations

My eyes flew open.

"Oh my God" I breathed aloud. A high pitched melodic chuckle sounded from across the room.

"Edward's right." She commented as she stood and crossed to my bed. "You do talk in your sleep."

I blushed.

"And you-" She poked my nose playfully with her tiny finger "are much more excited about this wedding than you let on You must have said 'I do' about ten times since I've been here!"

I blushed harder and struggled to change the topic.

"How long have you been here?"

"About an hour. It took a lot of effort on my part to get Edward to leave. He wasn't very happy with me, but he'll get over it soon enough."

I smiled, to picture tiny Alice forcing Edward out of bed and out the window was an absurd thought.

"Oh Bella!" Alice grinned, "you are going to look so beautiful tonight."

Oh God. Tonight… not even tonight, actually, it was more like this afternoon. 2 o' clock, to be exact. I threw a brief glance at the clock on the wall and my stomach suddenly became filled with butterflies. It was 10 now. 4 hours.

So many questions I had for Alice, about things she had foreseen about the wedding.

"Alice, can I ask you something…..well, actually a few things?"

"Yes." she replied warily.

"Is Renee going to be there?"

"Yes."

"Is Charlie going to be there?"

"Yes."

"Jacob?" I knew the answer was a no as soon as I asked. If he was going to be there, Alice would not have been able to see it. He must have changed his mind about attending, and I was much more upset about that then I should have been. I didn't blame him though.

She shook her head to respond to the question that I had already worked out the answer to and then she changed the subject.

"Charlie is waiting for you downstairs."

"Crap." I muttered. Charlie's teary and heart-felt apology last night was awkward enough while I was faking sleeping, I couldn't imagine how much worse it would be if I had to be coherent and responsive to it a second time

I grimaced and descended the stairs.

Charlie was in the kitchen sipping coffee and reading the newspaper. A creaking floorboard gave away my presence and I froze as he turned around to face me. I ran through the scenarios in my mind. Maybe I dreamt his apology and he was really just waiting to scream at me some more, or maybe he was going to be all mushy and supportive again. As his eyes met mine I tried to study his expression for some sort of hint as to what to expect, but nothing could have prepared me for what he did. In fact, it wasn't until he was across the room, enveloping me in a tight bear-hug that I even realized what was going on myself. My jaw dropped in astonishment. Wow, he was actually sticking with this.

"Today's the big day, Bells." He spoke without breaking our hug.

I struggled for the breath to form words. He was hugging me so tight.

"Yeah, I know.." I managed to gasp.

He properly interpreted my breathlessness and released me from his grip only to hold me at arms length by the shoulders and continue talking.

"Are you nervous?" His interest in the topic seemed strangely enthusiastic and genuine.

"Yes." I nodded. It was the truth too. I had never had so many butterflies inhabit my stomach before now. "Hey Dad, not to…er, press my luck or anything-" I edged. "But what exactly did Edward say to you to bring on this sudden tolerance?"

His forehead wrinkled up as he thought about it.

"I don't think it wasn't so much what he said as it was how he said it. He was completely honest with me, Bella. I could see it in his eyes that when he said he loved you - he meant it."

Ah, I thought, so the dazzling thing worked on Charlie too. Well played, Edward.

"It was almost like he could read my mind." Charlie continued. "He answered every question, calmed every fear, and countered every argument before I even had the chance to say it out loud. It was strange, but it was good to know that he could put himself into my shoes and see things from my point of view."

I nodded my head in agreement as Charlie pulled me into another too-tight bear hug.

"I'm sorry I was so difficult." He sighed.

I waved off his apology. "Don't worry about it Dad. All is forgiven."

With that situation all cleared up, I shrugged out from under his grasp and began gathering my common breakfast supply.

"No cereal, Bella." He ordered. "I am making you a big breakfast this morning." He moved around clumsily compiling eggs and bacon onto the table in preparation for his weak attempt at cooking. I was not at all hungry, and I felt as though I was going to be sick as it was. But Charlie was trying to be thoughtful and generous and who was I to shoot him down. I wasn't going to have much more time left with Charlie. I might as well let him have his way while I'm still here. I certainly wouldn't be able to see him after the change…which was scheduled to occur shortly after the wedding.

Wedding. Change.

Such appealing and horrifying thoughts.

I shook my head to clear my swirling conscience and submitted to Charlie's breakfast offer, Even though… it really didn't seem like I had much of a choice in the matter anyhow.

After Charlie waved off my effort to help, there was nothing left for me to do than return up the stairs to Alice. As I approached the stairs, a short knock on the door sent me in the opposite direction. I opened the door to find Alice grinning mischievously from the front porch.

"Alice….wha-?

"I had to make a proper entrance." She whispered. "Besides, I need a word with Charlie." She bounced into the house and sang out "Good Morning, Charlie!"

"Alice!" Charlie beamed "Are you hungry? I'm just about to make Bella some breakfast." He reached for another egg.

"No, no, Charlie. Thanks anyways, but I just had my breakfast."

She threw a discreet wink my way. Her version of breakfast was a little different than what Charlie had in mind.

"Bella!" Alice exclaimed as if she hadn't noticed my presence before. "Get your butt up in that shower. I have 4 hours to beautify you and your lollygagging is not making my job any easier!"

I scowled at the prospect of Alice fussing over every detail of my appearance for the next few hours and decided to make this shower last as long as possible. As I climbed the stairs, I also realized that she was probably shooing me away so that she could talk to Charlie without me being there. Typical. So many secrets .

I gathered my toiletries bag from inside of my room and undressed in a daze. I let the hot water wash over me and relieve my tension. I used Edward's favorite shampoo. The kind he said "complimented my already floral scent". As I rinsed, I thought about what was in store for me today. I was so nervous. The thought of walking down the aisle with all of those people watching me, no doubt judging my 'rash decision' horrified me. And knowing my clumsy tendencies, it would be just like me to trip and fall on my face in front of every one of them. I shook my head and forced the thoughts from my mind and realized with a start that the hot water had run out. The water was freezing cold, and it should have chilled me to the bone and replaced my tension. Instead, though, I felt strangely at home. The cold reminded me of Edward.

The thought of Edward rendered all of my butterflies immobile for a peaceful moment. I thought of him, the very definition of perfection standing at the end of that white silken path and all fear vanished. I wished we could have just gone to Vegas and did this privately. But that would have been selfish and unfair to Charlie and Renee and the Cullens. Alice especially. Listing off the names in my mind brought the butterflies back to life. I sighed in defeat and turned off the water.

I dressed quickly, realizing that Charlie's breakfast was probably getting cold. I rushed down the stairs, toweling my hair as I hurriedly forced down some breakfast. I thanked Charlie for his unnecessary thoughtfulness and ran up to my room with Alice close behind. I was suddenly in an unexplained anxious hurry. I understood the reason for this when I opened my door to find Jasper waiting for us. Alice seemed unsurprised by his presence and I shot her a quizzical glance.

"Bella, you weren't going fast enough. And, I could tell that you were nervous."

Jasper was here to calm me down and hurry me up. I silently cursed the Cullen's use of unfair powers on me while Alice blow dried my hair and threw it up into hot curlers on the top of my head. When she was done torturing my hair, she turned her attention to packing my suitcase full of my things in a minute flat. Only pausing to marvel at my lack of "sexy lingerie", all the while ignoring my constant stream of questions.

"Alice!" I raised my voice to get her attention. She stopped and looked at me in shock, as if she hadn't heard me the first seven times I asked her.

"What's the suitcase for?" I repeated.

"What?" She seemed confused. "Well what on earth do you think….unless of course he didn't tell….." she grew quiet.

"What am I missing?" I asked, even though I knew she wasn't going to tell me.

"I shouldn't." She confirmed my assumption. "Maybe he wants it to be a surprise… But honestly Bella, how could you not-"

Jasper interrupted, clearing his throat in a warning. Alice shut her mouth immediately and finished zipping up the suitcase.

The urge to protest immediately vanished and I shot Jasper a look. "Ya know, your going to exhaust yourself if you keep trying to manipulate me into feeling anything else."

He shrugged his shoulders and grinned at me before turning his attention to Alice.

"C'mon. Edward is hunting right now, if we get her over there now we can avoid the task of avoiding him."

"Wait!" I interrupted. "I thought Charlie… I mean that's what Edward said. That Charlie was going to drive me.."

"Well," Alice replied, "Edward is a man. He can't be expected to understand the amount of time I am going to need to prepare you. You clearly need to be there much earlier than he planned. Don't worry. I talked to Charlie about it. He will meet us there later." She grinned. Apparently proud of how she thought this all through.

Jasper grabbed my suitcase and Alice grabbed my hand. Jasper needed to exit through the window since Charlie was unaware of his presence in the house and would require an explanation as to why he chose to use the window to enter instead of the door. Alice grabbed my hand and led me downstairs and out the door.

"See you there, Charlie!"

His response was too distant to comprehend it. We were already in the car speeding to the Cullen residence.

--

I was strongly opposed to Alice's high levels of incessant pampering, but I knew better than to resist her. She had spent the last two hours pinning the freed curls to my head in a random fashion and applying, removing, and reapplying different shades of make up. Most, I suspected, was for her own personal pleasure and satisfaction rather than for the benefit of my appearance.

"There." She finally breathed.

She turned the spinning chair to face the mirror. I allowed myself to gasp slightly. Again, the effect was mostly for her satisfaction. She was as pleased with my reaction as I was to my appearance. She had turned me from ordinary to almost fascinating. I almost looked worthy to enter into "unholy matrimony" as he had so sarcastically put it, with Edward.

I met Alice's eyes and thanked her.

She smiled. "Dress time."

She pulled me out of her economy sized bathroom into the bedroom where the dress was laid out on the bed. The dress was pure, white silk. It had the tiniest hint of embroidery on the front and its simplicity was breathtaking. It was strapless and well fitting, thanks to hours of Alice's readjusting. I glanced at the clock. It was nearly 1. I winced. Guests would be arriving soon. I hadn't gotten to see Alice's elaborate transformation of the back lawn. Oh well, I would see it soon enough.

If Jasper hadn't been staying close and focusing on my relaxation, I would have felt very nervous just then. But I was forced instead, with no argument on my behalf, to maintain a composed and calm attitude. Alice sat down and grabbed my hand with her own. The chill sent a shiver down my spine and then I felt suddenly warm. Thank you, Jasper, I thought.

"Do you know the story behind this dress?" Alice asked.

"No… I just know that you got it for me. Which is a dead give away that it was probably very expensive." I shrugged.

She laughed. "No, silly. I didn't buy the dress."

I frowned, confused. "But... I thought you said that you bought this..."

She continued, "It was Esme's dress when she married Carlisle." I inhaled sharply, realizing the value and meaning behind the fabric in my lap. "We decided that this would be better than a designer made dress. You don't mind, do you, Bella? I wore it when I married Jasper, and Rose wears it when her and Emmet get married." She gestured to the fabric. "Its our way of welcoming you to the family as our sister, and in Esme's case, her daughter."

The tears welled up and Alice mumbled something about ruining my makeup. Jasper calmed me and sent away the tears before they had a chance to spill.

"Thank you, Alice." My voice was a whisper.

Right on time, Esme and Rosalie entered the room and accepted their hugs and thanks from me. They all helped me dress and then stood next to me in the mirror, complimenting me gratuitously.

Alice turned me to face her and grabbed my hands again.

"Its time."