Author's Note: My sincere apologies for the long space between updates. I know you've probably all forgot what happened, but to be quite honest, if you just skim Chapter 10 you'll get a good enough idea. There's a new development, and the plot for this story has actually shifted abruptly, thanks to an "epic plot" idea developed by myself and Eternity Phoenix when we were having one of our random "how Breaking Dawn could have been improved" conversations. So here it is…I'm actually very fond of this chapter and I hope it makes up for the lack in updates. And if it seems like I'm rambling right now, that's because it's 5:20 am. Okay? Okay. ENJOY!! And press that newly re-sized REVIEW button at the bottom!!!!
Chapter 11
Thirteen
Everything was warm. Pillow, sheets, Bella…everything. No. Wrong. I bolted awake at my discomfort. Where was Edward? He was always here when I woke up. I sat up and looked around, searching for my Adonis in a slight panic before I remembered why he wasn't there. Today was August thirteenth: my wedding day. And Edward, following silly traditions, insisted on spending last night at a hotel. He wouldn't even be here until an hour before the wedding.
I sat back against the wrought iron headboard of the huge bed in Edward's room and thought about the events of the last couple of weeks.
The engagement party had gone off flawlessly, much to Alice's satisfaction. I had the feeling she especially enjoyed all the compliments she received and I had to hand it to her. She did a wonderful job of pulling off my simplicity requirement. It wasn't overdone, nor did I feel like I wanted to jump out a window to escape. It didn't hurt that Edward never left my side and he only made me dance once.
Alice had rented a party room at The Lodge and actually made it look, well…as much not like The Lodge as she could. Not that it mattered to me, of course. It was just family anyway, so I didn't see the point in renting the room out at all. But for Alice, this was fun, so I let her at least have the cake since she couldn't eat it.
Then there was my bachelorette party…if you could even call it that. It really just consisted of me, Alice, Rosalie, Esme, Renée, and Angela sitting up until three o'clock in the morning two nights ago watching movies. Not popular teen movies, but classics like "Breakfast at Tiffany's," "An Affair to Remember," "Casablanca," and even delving into a good Christmas movie in the summer with "It's a Wonderful Life." I even broke down and let Alice paint my nails while Angela French braided my hair into pig tails. "There you go, Dorothy," she had said with a laugh before Alice attacked her fingers with the candy apple red polish.
And of course, there were the conversations about our men. By the time the night was over, I had learned that Emmett was actually quite the romantic softie, Jasper often had fun using his talent on Alice, and Angela had blushed profusely while admitting that she was no longer a virgin (adding to my surprise was the fact that apparently Ben was quite…feisty…and with prodding from Rose, Angela admitted she liked it.)
I didn't actually think Esme and Renée would participate in this little game, but boy did they ever. Esme regaled us with a story about the time she'd surprised Carlisle at the hospital and they'd had a "Grey's Anatomy"-style rendezvous in the on-call room. He'd just gotten out of surgery, and she knew that he had to pass by the on-call room on his way to his office. So, wearing the scrubs she bought, she'd waited for him to pass by before opening the door and yanking him inside and telling him she needed a physical.
And last but not least, I had the fight the urge to run to the bathroom and spill my dinner when Renée decided to inform everyone of the fact that I was conceived in the back of Charlie's cruiser when they'd been celebrating his graduation from the police academy.
Being forced to share something about Edward in front of my mother was the worst. But of course, Alice and Rosalie wouldn't let it rest until I'd divulged something about their, to use Rosalie's words, "prude of a brother." I took a deep breath and kept my head down, not even bothering to stop the heat rising to my cheeks as I told them about the time that I'd woken up from having a dream of a…sexual nature…about Edward only to roll closer to him and feel his arousal pressed against my hip. When I'd looked up at him with a raised eyebrow he mumbled something about how I moaned his name in my sleep.
I was brought back to the present by my favorite pixie and matron of honor dancing through the door, my dress slung over her arm. "Good morning, Bella!" she greeted me with a huge smile as she hung the dress over the bathroom door and opened the drapes all before I had time to bat an eyelash.
"Bright!" I whined before covering my face with my hands.
"Oh, come on! We have work to do," she insisted as she pulled the covers off and practically pushed me out of bed and to the bathroom. "Shower."
I rolled my eyes and saluted her before obediently turning the shower knob to the semi-cold temperature I had grown accustomed to that was oh so comforting. As I lathered up my strawberry shampoo I tried to imagine what it would be like walking down the aisle toward Edward. What would he look like? Would he have managed to tame his hair? I laughed out loud at that one and rinsed the shampoo out of my hair.
When the shampoo was gone, I moved onto conditioner and just as I put the bottle down and rubbed my hands together I realized I had no idea of Edward's plans after the reception. Were we even going on a honeymoon? He'd promised me we would "try" but where? Here? In his room? Or were we going on a honeymoon? When did he plan to change me? Would he do it right after we "tried" or would he try and convince me to wait even longer? I'd already decided I wouldn't be nineteen. That was out of the question.
I shook my head clear of all of these bothersome thoughts and finished up my shower, focusing simply on the next few hours. Ten minutes later I was out of the shower, hair and teeth brushed, and I'd slipped on the terrycloth robe that Alice had given me to wear until it was time for my dress to go on.
Right on cue, Alice came in the bathroom bearing gifts: makeup and hair-styling products. Surely a gift I would normally return for store credit. However, I put on a brave face and allowed Alice to get to work.
"Alice, are you allowed to tell me what's happening after the reception?" I asked after a few minutes of letting her paint my face in silence.
She laughed one of her tinkling laughs and said, "No, Bella, I'm not. He wants it to be a surprise." She put away the expensive-looking mineral powder foundation and pulled out a soft pink blush (as if I needed any at all).
"I just want to know if we're going somewhere. I haven't even been informed if I'm getting a honeymoon or not because everything always has to be some epic surprise with him."
She sighed in an over-dramatic fashion and put the makeup down, putting her hands on her hips. She looked at me for a moment with her lips pursed, probably deciding on just how much to tell me, if anything at all. "Fine," she said after a minute. "You're going somewhere. I just can't tell you where, for how long, or what you'll be doing when you get there. But you're not spending your wedding night in this house, or in Forks."
I nodded and smiled sweetly. "Thank you, Alice, my favorite pixie almost-sister-in-law."
She rolled her eyes and kissed the top of my heard. "Let me concentrate now." She turned on some background music and continued pulling cosmetic after cosmetic out of her never-ending Mary Poppins-style bag.
After what felt like an hour, my makeup was finally finished. When I tried to turn around to look in the mirror Alice faced me back the other way. "You don't get to see until you're all done," she scolded.
I sighed and settled into allowing her to finish. I closed my eyes and focused on the brush strokes of the blush brush. One, two, three quick strokes on the left cheek. One, two, thr…on the right before she stopped. I opened my eyes and looked up at her. "Alice?"
She stared at the wall for another moment before sighing and putting the makeup down. Without raising her voice at all she said, "Rosalie."
"What is it?" I had just gotten out the last words when Rosalie entered the bathroom.
"What's up, Alice?" She already had her hair curled (flawlessly of course) and pulled up halfway with a diamond-studded clip.
"The florist is about to send the Lilies of the Valley to the wrong wedding. I'm going to have to go down there myself. Will you finish Bella's hair and makeup please?" She turned to me. "Don't even think about giving her a hard time. I'll be back in an hour."
Rosalie and I nodded simultaneously as Alice danced out the door and out of sight.
"Don't look so nervous, Bella," Rosalie said as she took over the eye shadow brush, dusting it with a shimmery champagne-looking color. I closed my eyes and she began sweeping it across my lids.
"I'm eighteen and I'm getting married today. Even middle-aged brides are allowed to be nervous." I opened my eyes when I felt the brush leave my lid and looked into her flawless face. "Besides…I'm not nervous, I'm…anxious."
She chuckled lightly. "Close," she instructed, and I closed my eyes again for her to apply the shadow to my other eyelid.
After that, she worked in silence for a little while, and just like Alice, she refused when I asked to look in the mirror. She grabbed the curling iron off the bathroom counter and began curling my long tresses into loose loops. When she was finished, she bobby-pinned a small section from the front, pushing it forward into a pouf.
Finally, she spun me around to see the finished product. "Voila!" she said with a smile.
I was barely aware that the girl…the woman, I was looking at in the mirror was me. Though still plain in comparison to any of the Cullens, I thought I looked pretty good for a human. It wasn't overdone, but just enough to accent my eyes and Rosalie had done an amazing job controlling my wild hair.
I touched my hair softly. "Rosalie…thank you," I managed to choke out.
"Oh, no you don't, Bella," she warned. "No crying. It's waterproof mascara, but it wasn't meant to come in handy until you were actually at the altar." She took my face between her hands and smiled, not something I was still quite used to seeing on Rosalie Hale's face. "Bella, as prone to the idea of you wanting to give up this life you have as I am, I want you to know that I am excited to become your sister officially today. You make my brother so happy, and I can't apologize enough for my stupidity when we first met."
"You don't need to apologize, Rosalie. When you talked with me a few months back and explained, I understood more than you think. But it really does mean a lot to hear that you aren't opposed to me as a sister."
I sensed that our sentimental conversation was over, at least for now, when she stood up and gently pulled me up by the shoulders. "Let's get that dress on now, hmm?"
"Dress…right. I can do that." Me in a long white dress in a few minutes was a lot for my human brain to process. I didn't exactly have cold feet, but dresses always made me nervous. "No white Converses huh?" I asked hopefully.
Rosalie laughed and tugged at my hair playfully. "No, Bella, not this time. Sorry." Why did I get the feeling she wasn't all that sorry?
I sighed as she unzipped the garment bag and watched as she pulled out my dress. I had to admit, it was beautiful.
I took off my robe and laid it aside, moving forward for Rose to help me put the dress on. "What do you think you're doing?" she asked.
I looked at her with utter confusion drawn on my made-up face. "Huh?" was all I could manage.
Her eyes raked over my body, which was clad in mismatched bra and panties. She shook her head. "Tsk, tsk, Bella." Before I could ask where she was going she was out of the room, but back less than thirty seconds later carrying a pink clothes box.
"Victoria's Secret? No way, you're joking." I was utterly afraid to see what could possibly be wrapped in that box with pink tissue paper ever so carefully by one of the zealous employees at the over-priced lingerie store.
"I'm completely serious, Bella. Just at least see what's inside." She pushed the box at me and I glared at her warily before sliding off the lid. Much to my surprise, I didn't completely loathe the undergarments inside. I was afraid I'd be looking at a corset attached to practically see-through panties.
While the white underwear were indeed lace, there was no corset to be found, only a matching padded bra. I nodded appreciatively. "Okay, I guess I can handle this."
Before I knew it, I was staring at myself in the full-length mirror in Edward's bedroom, head to toe in white, veil and all. I took a deep breath, and was surprised by the lack of suffocation I felt from the form-fitting dress. "Rose, I'm supposed to tell you that…jeez, Bella." Emmett had come in, surely with a message from Alice. "You look…stunning. Wow."
What was sure to be one of the biggest blushes of my life rose all the way from my chest to my cheeks and I bit my lip with a half-smile. "Thanks, Emmett, really."
He smiled and nodded. "You know me, I only tell the truth. Edward's going to be floored."
Rosalie stepped forward, sensing my head would probably explode if I blushed any deeper. She wrapped her arms around Emmett's waist, kissing him. "What did you need, monkey man?" she asked.
"Alice said the photographers are ready for you now, they just finished with us."
Two hours later, the girls' pictures were taken and my makeup and hair was touched up, and it was twenty minutes until the string quartet would officially start the wedding march.
"Bells?" Charlie called as he knocked on the bedroom door.
I took a deep breath and opened it, a smile on my face. "Hi, Dad."
"Wow, Bella. You look…amazing…like your mother on our wedding day."
The inevitable blush once again needed to be forced down by taking a deep breath. "Thanks. Walk me down the aisle, Dad, it's just about time." I smiled, thinking of the song that he'd play for me when I was little before bed. He never sang it, but it was always in the CD player beside my bed when I visited.
I could have sworn I heard a choking sound as Charlie smiled in a peculiar way. It was like he was sad to let me go, but obviously at peace with the fact that he knew I'd be taken care of and happy. "You ready?"
Ready? To try not falling flat on my face? No. To marry the man who was so much more than the love of my life? "Of course. Just don't let me fall."
He chuckled softly and did something Charlie wasn't really known for: he kissed my temple as he looped my arm through his. "I love you, Bells. I feel like I'm losing you, so I need you to know that. And no matter what happens, dads never stop loving their daughters."
I had to fight the ever-threatening tears as Charlie uncharacteristically voiced his thoughts. "I love you too, Dad. So much." I smiled up at him and turned to Alice who was dancing down the hall towards us.
"Are you ready?" she asked as I nodded. She smiled and pretended to fix an out of place curl in my hair as she said, "Wait till you see him, Bella, he's elated."
"I can't wait," I answered her as I heard the strings start playing the processional song indicating Charlie and I were to head to the top of the stairs.
We did so, and descended them when Pachelbel's Canon in D started, where Rosalie and Alice headed down the aisle escorted by Emmett and Jasper respectively. Still walking with the utmost care, I took my place at the end of the aisle and looked up at Edward who, true to Alice's words looked beyond thrilled, beamed brilliantly at me.
Instead of the wedding march which I'd expected, the string quartet's music smoothly changed over to my lullaby arranged for strings. I felt my stomach drop to the floor and my knees go weak. Thank God Charlie was there to keep me on my feet. I saw Edward chuckle at my reaction to his and Alice's surprise for me.
"Something wrong, Bella?" Charlie whispered.
I shook my head and whispered, "No, it's just that I was expecting the wedding march, but this is the song Edward wrote for me on piano. They surprised me is all." I smiled up at him, then focused my sights back at the end of the aisle. "Let's go."
With that, I took each careful step forward toward my eternity until finally my hand was in his cold one and Charlie had given me away with a swift kiss to my cheek. I then looked up to the officiator and almost fell to the ground with shock to see Emmett standing there. How had I not noticed that from the other end of the aisle?
Edward answered my obviously confused expression with a whisper. "Didn't know you could get ordained online?"
I laughed and shook my head. "Apparently anyone can, though," I joked with a wink at Emmett who rolled his eyes.
As Emmett spoke to the congregation, unnecessarily informing them why they were gathered here today, Edward continued to whisper quietly to me. "I never knew until today that it was possible for a vampire to go weak in the knees, but you appear to have had that effect on me today, love. You look so much more than absolutely gorgeous."
"Thank you," I whispered back, though I was sure it sounded much louder than his. "You look well…dazzling." I smirked and squeezed his hand as I turned to Emmett, hearing Edward laugh softly beside me.
I tuned almost everything out, just staring at Edward with what was probably the dopiest grin on my face until Emmett said, "And now I believe Bella and Edward have written their own vows. Ladies first." He winked yet again at me and I smiled before turning to Edward fully and taking both his hands in both of mine.
I took a deep breath before beginning. Truthfully, I hadn't written anything. But who needed it? I knew that with Edward, it was never difficult to come up with something amazing to say about him.
"January nineteenth," I began. "Probably about eleven in the morning, was the very moment my life changed forever. From the very second I asked Jessica who the boy with the bronze-colored hair was, I was hooked." I knew I'd have to speak in code if I wanted to convey to him exactly what needed to be said. "You know, Edward, that I don't care who you are, where you're from, I don't care what you did, as long as you love me. I know I just quoted a '90's boy band, but please ignore that because the words are so true." I heard a few people who knew what I was talking about laugh before I continued. "You're my entire world, Edward Cullen, my eternity. I can't spend another minute without you because I've tried, and God—along with probably half the people in Forks—knows that didn't work so well." I smiled to alleviate some of the guilt that was sure to creep up in his conscience at the words that simply had to be said. "I…beyond…love you. I don't think there is a word to describe the way I feel about you. I give myself to you completely. Forever."
I heard a loud sniffle as I finished and turned my head slightly to see Charlie handing Renée his handkerchief as he put his arm around her comfortingly. Wait…what? I did a double take just to be sure, and my eyes didn't deceive. I smiled to myself and turned back to my Edward.
"Edward, try and top that," Emmett challenged.
"Challenge accepted," Edward said with a small laugh. "My Bella." He reached up to stroke mu cheek with his thumb and I grinned softly at him. "Nothing I say, nothing I ever do could be enough for you. I still haven't the slightest idea what I did to deserve you, but I'll selfishly accept what you're so mysteriously willing to offer me. Every single piece of you is so much better than I am, your heart," he put his hand over my warm, beating heart, "your soul…everything." He reached up to cup my cheek in his hand while still holding onto both of my hands with his other. "I will spend every day for the rest of eternity desperately trying to make myself worthy of your love." I didn't feel the need to tell him that he had everything completely backwards, even though he did. "I love you so much, my lamb, la tua cantante mio."
When he finished speaking, he lifted his hand to my face and I felt wetness spread across my cheek that I didn't even know had formed. I hadn't realized I'd been crying. I squeezed his hand and smiled at him before filling my lungs and turning again to Emmett.
"Edward Anthony Masen Cullen," he began. "Do you take Bella to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward as long as you both shall live?"
"I do, over and over," Edward promised as he brushed his thumb over the back of my hand.
"Isabella Marie Swan, do you take Edward to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward as long as you both shall live?"
"I absolutely do," I vowed, still unable to stop the tears, remembering what Rosalie had said about my mascara being waterproof.
"Rings, Jazz?" Emmett said as he reached toward Jasper who handed him both rings. He gave mine to Edward and said, "Repeat after me," while Edward took my left hand in his right. "With this ring, I thee wed."
"With this ring, I thee wed," Edward said as he gracefully slid the ring onto my coveted finger where it would stay for eternity.
"Bella," Emmett said, giving me Edward's ring. "Repeat after me. With this ring, I thee wed."
"With this ring, I thee wed," I said through my tears, sniffling slightly as I pushed the ring into place on his left ring finger.
Even Emmett looked choked up as he said, "I now pronounce you husband and wife. Kiss her already, Edward." And just like that, Emmett was back to his old self, and Edward's cold marble lips were upon mine while everyone's cheers were just muffled noise in the background.
"I love you, Mrs. Cullen," he said to me as he wound my fingers with his, facing back down the aisle.
I smiled hugely. "I love you too, husband of mine."
