Rating/Warning(s)/Note(s): T, Parkward
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Prompt: Jingle, tingle, mingle

When Alice arrived home she immediately started planning on how to incorporate the beads. Since it wasn't readily apparent what their intended use was, she thought it would be funny to use them in people's drinks. I put my foot down. They were not going to making an appearance, at all. Not at my reception, not in my bedroom, not anywhere. I was banning them.

Oh, and I wasn't rewriting the thank-you note. Let the Smiths try to figure out what I meant when I said we'd use them to entertain.

Alice rolled her eyes at me, handed me a bottle of body wash and pointed me to the shower. Apparently I needed to fully exfoliate for the opera opening tonight. What I wasn't expecting was the tingle when it hit my skin. Immediately rinsing it off I grabbed the bottle to read it. 'Naturally exfoliates with alpha-hydroxy acids. Do not use with pale or sensitive skin as redness may occur.' Great, my introduction into society was going to be made with blotchy skin. Nobody would want to come to our wedding. I could already hear the matrons whispering behind their hands that I was only marrying Edward for free medical advice for my eczema.

"Alice!" I shouted, the word vibrating around the small room.

"Geez, what?" she said, walking in. "Did you use the body wash?"

"Did you read the label? My skin is all red," I said, putting my arm out so she could see.

"Oh, that could be a problem. I'll go get Edward," she replied, rushing out of the room so fast she didn't bother to shut the door. Naturally Emmett had to peek in.

"I usually shut the door, Bella," he said right before grunting. Edward was elbowing him out of the way.

"Alice said you were having a reaction?" he said, literally shutting the door in Emmett's face.

"Yes, my skin is reacting to Alice's soap." He looked at my arm that I had stuck back out. It was beginning to itch.

"Is the worst of it here?" he asked.

"No." I really didn't want him to know where it was the worst, but knew he was going to ask. "Um, my, um, private areas are worse."

"Bella, I need to see," he said. "I can't prescribe the right medicine until I do. I promise not to look at you, just your skin."

"My skin is on me, and I want to be pretty the first time you see me." I could hear him huff on the other side of the curtain. "Is Tanya here yet?" She and Mark were due to arrive soon. Thankfully, not two seconds later she was being escorted into the room by Alice.

"Edward, out," was Tanya's command. "Bella, shut off the water." Her no-nonsense voice brooked no argument. As soon as the water was off she yanked back the curtain and tutted. "Your poor skin." I pointed out the worst places, one look and she just shook her head. "I'm writing out a prescription for you. The pharmacy should still be open. The good news is this is mostly a histamine reaction, so a really strong anti-histamine should do the trick. You'll be fit and ready to mingle in no time." She was all business as she wrote something on a pad of paper she had pulled from her purse. "I'm also instructing Alice to pick up a very specific moisturizer for you. That should help with any remaining redness."

"Me? Why am I going?" I heard Alice say from the doorway.

"Alice, shut the door. I don't want your entire family seeing me like this," I fussed.

"You get to go because you bought the soap," Tanya said, ripping the paper off and handing it to her. "Bella, don't scratch," she said in an aside to me.

Esme brought me a robe and some cortisone cream. Sadly, Tanya took the cream from her, saying it would make things worse. It seemed she thought the best solution was to wrap my hands in fabric so I couldn't scratch. Edward had gone with Alice in an attempt to hurry her. Rose tried to distract me from the torment by providing me with a different one, styling my hair.

The jingle of keys alerted me that my pain might be soon over. Jumping up and forgetting there is a curling iron in your hair is a really bad idea, but the loss of hair in comparison to the hope of relief was a fair exchange. Rosalie didn't think so since she was the one who had to deal with me jumping around as she tried to untangle the mess I created.

Edward told me to sit down and handed me a couple pills. "This will take about twenty minutes to take effect," he said as I swallowed them down. At my panicked look he handed me the lotion. "This will help until then. You haven't put any cortisone on the rash, have you?"

"Nope, I kept it away from her," Tanya interjected. "Everyone needs to leave so I can put this on Bella." Edward gave me a wistful smile when he left the room. "Don't worry, I'll have you beautiful and itch free in no time."

"Thanks, Tanya. I'm sure you didn't want to see me naked."

"I'm a doctor, I've seen a lot of naked people," she said, trying not to laugh. Snickers broke free whenever I moaned as the lotion calmed my burning skin. "You know, they'll probably think we're doing something inappropriate in here with the way you're sounding."

"Don't care, just don't stop." That drew forth a loud laugh. When the fire was finally out she helped me put on my gown. "Don't worry about the residual redness, it'll fade by the time we get to dinner," she assured me.

A timid knock on the door, followed by my name being whispered, told me Edward was waiting. "I'll be right out," I called before turning to Tanya. "Am I okay?"

"You're beautiful," she said, giving me a hug. "Inside and out. Now go knock his socks off."

Sorry, no dress description. To be honest, I didn't even look one up. Fill in whatever you'd like.