Okay, you guys begged for more… so, ONWARD!! (you all are so spoiled!) and really… I need to publish something while I try and fine the pages to my next one (I know I put them in my room somewhere…. They're lost. Gone. Never coming back. Well, I'll just have to pull an improv!)
CHAPTER 10: A LAST MEMORY
When I woke up three days later, I felt like something was looming. It was strange, the way I knew something big was happening today. But what? I'd already graduated (how could I forget that?). I wasn't having kids. Oh. Yeah.
I was getting married.
Today.
I took a deep breath and felt Edward's arm come to my waist. I looked over into his beautiful, golden eyes and smiled.
"Good morning," he whispered, kissing my eyelids.
"Good morning." I bit my lip as I stared into his perfect eyes, thinking. I was marrying him. I mean Charlie had flipped. If I'd had to describe it, I would say it was like a heart attack only opposite. He seemed to get all faint and then he jumped up and yelled over his dead body. At this point, I had more courage than ever.
"Over my dead body are you two getting married," he roared at us. I let go of Edward's hand and jumped up.
"Keep acting like a prejudice little two year old and I'll kill you myself," I yelled back at him. He was shocked. So was Edward. It was almost like a premonition of what would happen in the garage when he had tried to leave. Charlie sat down and stared at me as I faced him, fuming.
"Bella, maybe you'd better…" Edward started but I waved a hand for him to be quiet. Really. I'm so selfish and horrible to him. Why does he want that for eternity?
"Dad, I've given this a lot of thought. I was opposed to it at first, you can even ask Edward. He asked and I said not happening. But I know that this is what I want. This is the first step for me." I conveniently forgot that the reason I was marrying him was because a) I wanted to get into his pants, b) I wanted him in my pants, c) there was no entering anyone's pants but one's own until I did, d) I loved him, even if he is old fashioned.
"Bella, you just graduated a month ago. You have college and traveling ahead of you. Didn't you leave before because you didn't want to get tied down in Forks?"
"Actually, Chief Swan, that was my misunderstanding," Edward threw in. Charlie looked at him sourly. "I loved Bella enough to tell her so and she thought that I loved Forks so much that she would be stuck here. I, however, am all for traveling. I wouldn't mind a trip to Paris, London, Hong Kong. I'd love to see the world, but only with Bella with me."
"Dad, please. I'm eighteen. I'm almost nineteen. This is what I want. This isn't just some whim of mine. I honestly love Edward. I can't bear to be parted from him. Or have you forgotten last fall?" He winced and then his face darkened.
"Last fall never would have happened if he hadn't taken off like a bat out of Hell," he accused. My anger flared again. Screw being understanding and all that. Charlie just didn't GET it.
"Dad! Last fall happened because I need Edward more than food or oxygen or sleep! I need Edward. It's as simple as that. He left and what point is there living if you've got nothing to live for? I love you, Dad, you know I do. But if I died, you'd still be able to go on, like you were before I came. Renee has Phil now. But if Edward died, I would literally kill myself. And when he left, that's what it was like. I no longer needed to live if he wasn't here or coming back. So please, Dad, understand this. You love Mom, even after all these years. I love Edward even after all we've been through. Being his wife would be the greatest thing for me." I sat, silent. Charlie pursed his lips and thought about it.
"I can't say I'm not worried, because I am, Bella. Marriage is a big step with lots of hills and mountains and it's not something you can just quit when you get bored. You have to work through it. But I know you well enough to know that you aren't one of those girls who thinks she's in love with the first guy she meets. So I consent, to your marriage with Edward. How he's going to put up with your stubbornness, though… well that's something I wish him luck on." I leaned down and kissed Charlie's forehead.
"Thank you, Dad. You won't regret this and neither will I."
He'd given his blessing and things were finally good between him and Edward. He'd had his doubts before, of course, of Edward's devotion. But when he saw the two of us together, he said that he wondered if I was not in love enough because Edward's every feature seemed to radiate devotion. Score Edward! If he only knew the truth of it.
As I stared into Edward's eyes, I fought down a nervous giggle.
"So… today's the Big Day."
"Yeah," I said casually. "Time to strap on the old ball and chain."
"Tie the Knot."
"Kiss Bachelordom goodbye," I teased. He assumed a face of mock pain.
"Become mine fully," he whispered. I blushed and he chuckled.
"Yours, mine and ours," I said cheerily. He grinned.
"Ours… that has a nice ring to it," he said, brushing a hand across my hair.
"Mrs. Edward Cullen," I said quietly, running a finger over his top lip.
"Mrs. Isabella Cullen," he said, one hand running circles along my arm.
"Yours." He smiled crookedly.
"Mine. I like that far more than I ought to," he admitted. "Thou shalt not covet and all that."
"Well, I give you full permission to covet me all to yourself for about, I don't know, eternity. And what about all that stuff like "till death do you part" and "cleave unto me and only me" and "in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer"?"
"Knowing you it will be in sickness, or more specifically injury, than health. And as for cleaving unto you," he said, pulling my body to his. My heart quickened. His lips brushed my cheek. "I suppose that is something that I will just have to live with."
"That and Victoria's Secret," I mumbled as his lips moved closer to my mouth. He smiled and chuckled.
"That is something I'm looking forward to with very keen interest." His lips met mine. Only this time, instead of pulling away when my heart skipped a beat, he continued, kissing me deeper. I breathed through my nose to avoid all possible termination of this amazing kiss. But yet again, something interrupted us before I was satisfied.
"I don't think you want to keep doing that," Alice said, eyebrow raised in silent inquiry and smugness. We broke apart.
"Alice, I really, really think I do," I said breathlessly.
"Okay. If you want Charlie walking in on you two naked an hour before the wedding, then by all means keep going. Mind you, he will have an apoplexy and die on the spot but hey, it's your funeral… or should I say wedding?" I groaned and threw a pillow at her.
"Your talent is so inconvenient sometimes," I moaned.
"But you love me anyway," she sang at me. "Now get up. Edward, they could use some help downstairs to set up tables and lights. I told Jasper that I wanted them to surround us with light and what does he do? He goes and sticks a glob of them in the trees and then plugs them in. To the bright orange extension cord. I bought white for a reason. If I didn't love him…" she sighed with an inward smile.
"You would still rip his clothes
off with your teeth," I ventured. Edward burst out laughing as
Alice stared at me shocked and I grinned at her.
"What's the
matter, Alice? Can't you see that?"
Edward gasped. I giggled and next thing I knew they were on the floor
wrestling. She's a fast little demon.
"Fine, Alice. Edward, please go help with the lights since her husband seems to have a problem with her directions." They stopped abruptly. Edward kissed my cheek and then disappeared. Alice brushed herself off although I didn't see a speck of dirt on her clothes. I was a little surprised to see her wearing pink sweat pants and VS Pink™ T-shirt.
"Gee, Alice. No Gucci or Marc Jacobs?" She grinned.
"I decided that I'd save that for the wedding. And my VS outfit is still very much In. Okay. So here's the plan. You are going to change into this-" she tossed a familiar pink striped bag at me "-and then we're going to eat." I raised an eyebrow in skepticism. She grimaced. "You will eat. I will watch. Then we're all going to do our hair. Yours will take the longest. After that, lunch. Then makeup, which shouldn't take too long. After that, we're going to put you in your dress. Then we're going to do something a little different. Do you remember how I had you write that letter to Edward?"
"Oh yeah," I said, recalling how hard it had been to find words to describe my love. Alice had insisted that I write Edward a letter. She said it was just for the purpose of practicing the different kinds of things I could say for vows and such. Ha. I knew it would have a purpose.
"Well, right before the wedding, you are going to read a couple of letters. And he's going to read his at the same time. It's a tradition I picked up from Carlisle and Esme. They re-read them every anniversary. It's so amazing. You're going to get all teary-eyed so I'm going to wait until right before the wedding starts to apply mascara and eyeliner." I blushed in advance. I would cry. Lovely.
"Okay. Just please, please, please Alice, don't go all OCD on me. This is a bit stressful. I don't want remember that my favorite sister wouldn't let me pee because I would ruin my hair or something." She nodded.
"I will be as laidback as possible." I knew we were both thinking of that day in the garage…and the promise I had made. Why, oh why did I make that promise?
"Time to eat, Bella."
CHAPTER 11: WORDS OF WISDOM
After we'd done my hair and everything else Alice had promised, I found myself sitting in the dining room, waiting. Alice had shut the glass doors that opened into the family room and covered them with fabric. On the table in front of me, a stack of letters sat. They were all on beautiful stationary paper that I'm sure Alice had provided. Somewhere else in the house, Edward was probably done reading his pile.
I looked at myself in the mirror again. Alice had done my hair to perfection. She had curled and pinned and pulled and wrapped as needed until it ended in my hair being a beautiful waterfall on the back of my head. Two spiral curls framed my face gently. My makeup was pretty simplistic. She had said that no product invented can make someone glow like a bride on her wedding day. And I guess she was right. I couldn't stop smiling, even crookedly. My eyes looked bright and alive. And I just seemed to glow, to emanate this aura of warmth and happiness.
My dress was beautiful. Alice had changed the original one somewhat. It had a square-cut neckline and cap sleeves. With a princess cut waist so that my hips looked curvier, the skirt opened into a beautiful ball gown style. I only had a small train. Knowing my luck, I would probably still manage to trip on it. It was simple, but beautiful in all its effortlessness.
I picked up the top letter and slit it open with a letter opener Alice had provided.
Dear Bella,
You know I've never been much for emotional insight or anything like that, but… well, I'm proud of you kiddo. You are such a wonderful, mature woman. You grew up and I missed it. Thank you for making life for me so wonderful this past little while. And good luck with Edward. I know that you wouldn't settle for someone less than perfect.
Love,
Charlie
I sniffed away tears and smiled bitterly at the handkerchief that Alice had also provided. I picked up the next letter and slit it open. Three guesses who it was from.
Dear Bells,
Hey honey! You're getting married! I'll admit, when you first called me, I was worried. That Edward boy is nice to look at and all, but marriage is such a big step. But then again, you are old enough to make your own choices. So, here's my advice.
Just love him. Remember why you love him. When you get angry, think about your wedding vows, or why you fell in love with him. In the end, most arguments are stupid, pointless. Only a few are actually important. But never be stubborn about something that won't change your life. As my mother once told me: You can be right… or you can be happy.
All my love,
Mom
I wiped away a tear quickly before it could leave a streak in my makeup. I never knew Renee could be so insightful… so adult. I still had seven more to read. I quickly picked up the next.
Dear Bella,
Welcome to the family… well, almost. I want you to know that I think of you as a daughter already. You have made my first son so happy in a way I never thought he'd be. I've loved getting to know you. You bring something to this house that no one else has. You seem to have something special for everyone.
When Carlisle first changed me, I refused to talk to him. I know, how silly of me! But I had lost the one truly important thing to me: my child. I had tried to escape the pain and Carlisle immortalized me. At first, I wanted to rip him to shreds –or something like that- for making me live for eternity, childless. But he gave me something much greater than that. He gave me a family. And I'm so happy he did, or else I would never have met you. Always remember, Bella. Family is the most important. No exceptions.
Love,
Esme
I don't deserve this family. I'm such a horrible person and here they are trying to welcome me.
Dear Bella,
I'll keep this brief, seeing as I have eternity to thank you. You have made Edward so happy. I have known him almost his entire existence, and I can see the changes in him that you cannot. When he first joined me, if I had told him he would find you, he would have laughed.
I am forever in your debt.
Love,
Carlisle.
Short, sweet, to the point and yet Carlisle's blunt sincerity touched my heart.
Dear Bells,
Look, I'm going to just say one thing. It's really easy to remember and happiness in marriage is all based on this. You ready?
Be good, but if you can't be good, be good at it.
Okay, okay, just kidding. Seriously though Bells, you are the greatest sister ever. That might have something to do with Alice being crazy (we tried to send her to a shrink but she always knew we weren't going to Disneyland.) If anyone can live with Edward for eternity and not take his balls off, it's you.
Xo's from the best biggest brother you got,
Emmett
p.s. Then again, you might still take his balls off. wink wink
Typical. I don't know why I expected Emmett to say anything truly insightful. He's such a bear.
Dear Bella,
So, you made your choice. I guess I can understand that. If I were in your shoes, I would do the same thing… maybe. I'll never know. But I do know that if you feel as strongly for Edward as I do for Emmett, then eternity with him is worth the exchange. Although why you want him so much is beyond me. He's quite masochistic. It's annoying actually.
Yours truly,
Rose
At least she wasn't screaming at me. Ever since she told me her story, we'd both been a little friendlier. But my self esteem can only take so many hits.
Dear Bella,
I've felt your emotions a lot since we met. And I just have to tell you right off that you are the deepest, most selfless, amazing human I've ever met. Even though you have a small self-esteem issue (don't shake your head at me, you know you do!), you truly baffle me. I've spent a lot of time around humans and vampires alike, but never before have I met someone so understanding and self-sacrificing. Not even Edward. He likes to pretend he's giving up his happiness for someone else's, but in all honesty, it's because he's always been afraid of gaining something in case he loses it. Until you.
Looking forward to having you around permanently. And listen, about tonight… just relax. It isn't just about bodies, you know.
Love,
Jasper
Having an empathy for a brother is really cool. How did he know I would be nervous about tonight? Did Alice tell him? Did she see it? Oh, now there's something to turn off the old flame: your psychic sister seeing you have sex for the first time. Yeah, a real turn on. Not.
Dear Bella,
I know that I can come off as really crazy sometimes… but I just want everyone to be happy. And since my power is so subjective, I never know what to do so I try and do it all. You are going to be so happy. I promise. Don't worry about anything. Some things just don't change.
Love,
Alice
She's right about the crazy part. But I love her anyways. Does that make me crazy?
Dear Bella,
Sorry in advance for anything that my family has said to embarrass or upset you. It'd be easier to solve world hunger than to stop Alice when she puts her mind to something. So, again, I apologize for anything they say.
Alice said to write you a letter to describe my feelings. The only problem is, I can't think of anything that can describe it. You are so beautiful that Rosalie should be ashamed to be in the same room as you. You are so funny, Emmett should consider comedy school. You are so compassionate, you make Carlisle look selfish. You are so loving, Esme looks negligent. You are so unpredictable, Alice should just give up. You are so feeling that Jasper seems disconnected. And you are so perfect, I kiss the ground you walk on and thank God for sending me an angel like you.
I know that marriage doesn't seem like an amazing idea to you (although one would never guess from what you said to Charlie when you told him). But having you as my wife would be the ultimate blessing for me. I consider myself the luckiest guy in the world to have the opportunity to put a ring on your finger.
I love you. More than oxygen. More than life. More than you will ever know. And I'm asking you now for the opportunity to try and make you happy and to prove that you are all I will ever want for eternity.
All my love and more,
Edward
Tears gushed out of my eyes against my will as I reread the letter. He loves me!! Well, yeah, I mean that's not really news considering the guy is waiting for me to walk down the aisle but still! Of course what he said about me being all that stuff is just crap. There is no way that I am as beautiful as Rose. Ha. That's just bad flattery. In fact it's insulting to my intelligence. Well, I mean it would be if I didn't love him and all that. I couldn't remember what I wrote in his letter! Oh my gosh! What if I wrote something like, 'love you forever.' How inadequate after what he said!
Alice knocked on the door.
"It's time," she said. My heart stopped.