A Little Bit Stronger
Author's Note: I'm sorry it has taken so long to update but things have been hectic lately. I hope you enjoy because the next chapter the Cullens come back into the picture.
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight though I wish I did own Carlisle…YUM!
Chapter 10
Bella's POV
When Alec and I landed in Forks it was raining but HEY! What's new? We got off the plane and headed toward baggage claim when we saw an unexpected surprise waiting for us on the other side of the terminal near the exit.
"Alice, what are you doing here?" I asked.
"Coming to pick you, up silly. That and I wanted to show you what I made for you. I figured you could start passing them out." she said as we walked with her to her car. We got in and she felt around in the backseat for a minute before pulling out a long octagon shaped shipping box and handing it to me.
"Alice, what's this?" I asked and Alec looked just as confused.
"Just open it silly…I had a bunch made when I started planning this royal occasion." she said as I opened the box to reveal a long silver tube with elegant engravings on the side, each end came to a point, it was beautiful.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Open the end and you will see." she said and so I did and tipped it as a scroll slid from the canister. I untied the scroll to find that it had been engraved in elegant silver script.
"You are cordially invited to the marriage of Alec Volturi and Isabella Swan on the 24th day of September, 2011 in Volterra, Italy. Please send RSVP to Alice Cullen." I read. "Alice, it's beautiful…but just a bit much, don't you think?" I rolled the scroll up and tied it before putting it back into the canister and box.
"Nonsense, you are marrying a prince…I told you we were doing this Royally." she said.
"True." I said "So, where to first?"
"Well I told Emmett we'd stop by there for a minute…he kind of threatened to rip my ear off and throw it in the fireplace if I didn't." she said with a laugh.
"That'll be fine, I'd love to see the family again." I said "Is that ok, amore?" I turned to look at Alec.
"Che lei amerebbe, innamorato." he said leaning forward and wrapping his arms around me.
"Non staremo lungo, dobbiamo prendere alla casa del Charlie." I replied.
"Spero che lei due sappiano che io, come pure la mia famiglia, capisce italiano molto bene." Alice said with a laugh.
"OH!" I said with a giggle. Then I thought of the other languages that Marcus insisted that Alec and I learn, one being Romanian. "Ma intreb daca ea stie ca al si pe noi ne invata romana in cazul ne-am dat peste la coven romanesti."
"Da, Vladimir si Stefan ... totul sinistru si totul sa ia de la volturi. Am auzit zvonuri, Brooks, ca a vrut sa te bata daca nu au fost vreodata o batalie. Ma indoiesc figura va mai lasa sa se intample asta." Alice said and my jaw dropped. Alice only giggled. I wonder what languages she DIDN'T know. So I dug deeper and remembered the only other thing that I actually remembered Marcus teaching me, though I'm sure he's not done yet.
"Puteus shit! EGO can tantum recordor unus alius lingua vox iam ut Proficiscor doctus nos , meus diligo. EGO reputo is unus est plurrimi decorus multo. per eximius of Fanaticus quod Italian. Take ut Pixie! EGO diligo vos Alec." I finally said in Latin. I honestly believed that Latin, with the exception of French and Italian, was one of the most romantic languages of all. Marcus insisted that we know in cases of religious ceremonies, and since part of the wedding ceremony will be spoken in Latin since Aro is insisting on a Catholic wedding for his "son".
"OK, you got me there." she said "What is that?"
"Latin, and I love you too, Innamorato" Alec said to me. "Aro is insisting on a Catholic wedding so the service will be in Latin."
"Well then, I need to learn Latin." Alice said with a laugh "And I need to work the whole Catholic aspect into the plans. That makes it a bit harder."
"Tell me about it, I would be happy for any type of wedding but Father insists." he said.
"Yes, what Aro wants, Aro gets." I said rolling my eyes causing the other two to laugh just as we pulled into the Cullen's drive way. "OH! Alice…do they know yet?"
"No, only Jazzy does" she said "I figured that with you being closer to Carlisle than anyone, you'd want to tell him in person."
"Thank you Alice." I said
As I expected, the entire family was outside waiting when we parked. Alec got out before I did and opened the door for me, like a gentleman, and helped me out of the car and Alice already beat us to the family, taking her rightful place beside Jasper.
"Bella" Carlisle said stepping forward. Out of all of the Cullens, Carlisle was the first I forgave and the first I actually grew close to before repairing my relationships with the rest of the family. "It is so good to see you, dear." he said pulling me into him for a hug.
" It's good to see you, Carlisle." I said with a smile and I reached behind me for Alec's hand.
"Good Morning, Carlisle." Alec said.
"Good Morning, Alec, I see that you and Bella are still quite close." Carlisle said.
"Yes, Carlisle, Alec and I are in love…in fact Master Marcus saw that we were mates." I said "I knew I was attracted to him after he saved me and the attraction was there for him as well or else he wouldn't have tried to save me. These past 9 months living in Volterra and being with Marcus have been AMAZING!"
"I can tell that life has been treating you well, Bella. You are happier now than I have ever seen you." Carlisle said.
"I am" I said.
"Come in, let's catch up." He said motioning for us to come inside. Alec and I followed the rest of the Cullens inside and sat around the living room. "So, what brings you to the States?" he asked once we all sat down.
"Well this is our first stop before going to Florida to see my mother and Phil." I said "I wanted to go ahead and give you this while I am here." I had managed to grab one of the many keepsake invitations that Alice had made for out wedding before getting out of the car. I handed one to Carlisle.
"What's this, Bella?" he asked.
"Just open it" I said with a smile and I watched as Esme, Emmett and Rosalie gathered around to open the canister.
"You're getting married?" Rosalie asked.
"Yes, actually, I am." I said beaming. What surprised me was hearing Rosalie squeal. Rosalie wasn't really that bad, ever since forgiving the Cullens for them leaving Rosalie and I had become quite close.
"Let's see the ring" she said once she calmed down and I held my hand up displaying the beautiful ring proudly. "Oh my GOD, That's GORGEOUS!" she said before hitting Emmett "I want one of those!"
"Yes, Rosie…I'll go to Ireland and get you one." Emmett said.
"Thank you, baby." she said kissing him. I swear they were so good together, and hilarious also.
"So, Alec and I hope that you can make it. Aro would also like you to come, Carlisle, he misses you A LOT!" I said.
"It has been too long since I have seen my old friend, and you know we wouldn't miss your big day for the world, Bella." Carlisle said.
"Also, I would like for Alice to be my matron of honor and for Rose to stand as one of my bridesmaids alongside Jane, Heidi and Chelsea." I said.
"Oh My GOD! I'd LOVE to!" Alice said jumping up and hugging me.
"Thank you so much, Bella." Rosalie said, in all the time I knew her I had never seen her this excited.
"Emmett, Jasper, will you do me the honor of standing at my side along with Demetri, Felix and Afton? I understand if you say no but you are important to Bella so you are important to me." Alec said finally breaking his silence.
"We'd be honored" Jasper said.
"Yeah, man! I can see why you would think we would say no, but our family has forgiven Felix and Afton when we saw Bella forgive them. They seem like cool guys." Emmett said.
"They really are." I said.
"So, have you told Charlie yet?" Esme asked.
"No, we were on our way there when Alice took a little detour." I said "I'd hate to cut out visit short but we really need to get over there. We will return though because Alice said we could use the guest room, if that's all right." I said.
"Bella, you know you and Alec are more than welcome here any time." Carlisle said.
"Thank you for your hospitality, Carlisle." Alec said.
"Alec, I've known you for a long time and I trust you with my life. You are more than welcome." Carlisle said.
"Well let's go." Alice said and we left to head to Charlie's on the way, Alice asked a question I was dreading. "Are you going to see Jacob?"
"I don't know. I mean, he knows that Alec and I are together but I'm not sure how he will react to us getting married." I said.
"Innamorato, you should go see your friend." Alec said "Maybe you could call him across the Treaty line, I would like to ask him to stand as my best man if all goes well."
"Honey, I don't know how well that would fly with your father." I said.
"Father knows of your close relationship with the wolf and he is ok with him coming if he wants to." he replied and I was shocked.
"You've talked to him about this?" I asked.
"Yes, innamorato." he said "I know that the young wolf is very important to you, like the Cullens, and I wanted to be able to have him there if you wanted him there."
"See, my love, that is EXACTLY why I love you so much." I said pulling out my cell phone "I will call him."
I dialed the familiar number that was Jacob and Billy answered the phone before transferring over to Jacob.
"Hey Bells, are you in town?" he asked.
"Yes, Alec, Alice and I are heading to Charlie's right now. Can you come over? We need to tell you something." I said.
"Yeah, I need to tell you something as well. A lot's happened since we last talked." he said.
"I'm sorry it's been so long, Jake, I've been super busy." I said.
"I admit I have been too. But I'll see you soon. Do you mind if I bring a friend?" he asked.
"Sure, I don't mind." I said hoping that this was a female friend he was bringing. It would be good to see him with someone. It had been almost a month since Jacob and I had last talked.
"OK Bells, see you soon." he said and we hung up just as we pulled into Charlie's driveway. I noticed Sue's car in the yard, she and Charlie had started dating a few months back. The last time we talked, a couple of weeks ago, he said they were moving in together. I was glad to see my Dad happy again, it had been too long since he had someone. I decided to surprise Charlie, Renee and Phil with this trip so he had no clue we were coming. Alice got out and Alec opened the door for me, taking my hand in his. I grabbed two of the invitations from the trunk and we walked up the steps to my father's house. I knocked on the door, though I know I didn't have to I did it out of respect for his new living situation. Sue was the one that answered the door.
"Bella? Oh my GOD! Look at you!" she said pulling me in her arms "We had no idea you were in town!"
"I wanted to surprise you guys, is Dad home?" I asked.
"Yeah, we were getting ready to watch a movie but it can wait. Come in, Come in." she said pulling us inside and into the living room. "Charlie, we have a surprise visitor here to see us."
Charlie looked up from the TV and when he saw me his face lit up. Charlie wasn't much for emotion but he seemed genuinely happy to see me.
"Hey Bells, what are you doing here?" he asked.
"Well Alec and I are in the states for a few days because we wanted to see you guys and we wanted to tell you some things." I said.
"You're not pregnant are you, Bells?" Charlie asked.
"Oh No, Dad. It's not that…one- I'm a virgin and two- Alec can't have children. We actually have a few things to tell you today Dad." I said
"OK, what's going on?" Charlie asked.
"First of all, Alec and I are getting married." I said.
"Really? Congratulations, Bells." Charlie said "I knew it was only a matter of time, Alec is a good man."
"Thank you, Dad, I think so too." I said beaming. "Now for part two, Aro, Alec's father, wants a Catholic wedding for his son since he is a prince after all."
"What do you mean a prince?" Charlie asked. "I thought there was no King in Italy."
"There's not…which brings me to part three. Sue, I think you may already know…or at least suspect what I am about to say." I said.
"Yes, I have an idea. Seth and Leah sort of filled me in the last time you were here." she said.
"Oh God, Alec's not a wolf is he?" Charlie asked.
"You know about the wolves?" I asked.
"Kind of hard not to when you live with the mother of two wolves, have to feed them and plus I caught Seth when he was coming back from patrol." he said. "Not a pretty sight when he phased back if you ask me, I think that was the LAST thing I wanted to see." he chuckled.
"Oh, but no, Alec is not a wolf." I said "Dad, Alec is a vampire…like the Cullens are."
Charlie went silent, his eyes wide. He sat that way for a few minutes, I guess processing everything before finally speaking. "You're not going to eat me are you?" he asked Alec and Alec smiled before shaking his head. "Are you going to become one Bells?" he asked.
"Eventually…after we are married." I said.
"Oh, um…ok?" he said.
"Don't worry, Dad. I will be the same ol' Bella…just paler, with red eyes…or Gold if I decide to hunt animals like the Cullens do. Alec and I haven't really discussed that." I said.
"I really don't know what to say, Bells. It's kind of hard to believe…and a lot to take in " he said "But this doesn't change the fact that I am still happy for you guys, whether or not my future son-in-law is a vampire or not. But what does that have to do with him being a prince?"
"Aro, Alec's maker and 'father', is the leader of the Volturi which are the three Kings that rule the vampire world." I said "Alec, and his twin Jane who you met last time we were here, are Aro's most gifted and most precious guard members…thus they are his 'children'." I said.
"Oh, ok…I guess that makes sense." he said. I liked that Charlie caught on quickly without asking many questions.
"The thing is, you can't tell anyone about this. Aro only gave Alec and I permission to tell you, Mom and Phil about our secret. Sue can know because she already knows." I said.
"OK! Well, when do we need to fly to Italy?" he asked and I handed him the keepsake invitation. "Two months? That seems kind of quick to get together an ENTIRE Catholic royal wedding."
"That's where I come in, I am a fast worker." Alice said.
"Well Bells, can I still walk you down the aisle?" Charlie asked and I nodded.
"I wouldn't have it any other way." I said. We sat around talking about wedding details when there was a knock at the door. On the other side stood Jacob with Angela Webber on his arm. Well, that was new! We most DEFINITELY had a lot to catch up on.
Translations:
"Che lei amerebbe, innamorato" is Italian for "Whatever you want, Sweetheart."
"Non staremo lungo, dobbiamo prendere alla casa del Charlie." means "We won't stay long because we need to get to Charlie's house."
"Spero che lei due sappiano che io, come pure la mia famiglia, capisce italiano molto bene." in Italian means "I hope you two know that I, as well as my family, understand Italian very well."
"Ma intreb daca ea stie ca al si pe noi ne invata romana in cazul ne-am dat peste la coven romanesti." in Romanian means "I wonder if she knows that Marcus also taught us Romanian in case we come in contact with the Romanian coven."
"Da, Vladimir si Stefan ... totul sinistru si total sa ia de la volturi. Am auzit zvonuri, Brooks, ca a vrut sa te bata daca nu au fost vreodata o batalie. Ma indoiesc figura va mai lasa sa se intample asta." in Romanian means "Ah Yes, Vladimir and Stefan. Totally creepy and totally out to take down the Volturi. Rumor has it that he would like to fight you, Alec, if there were ever a battle. I doubt Bella will let that happen."
"Puteus shit! EGO can tantum recordor unus alius lingua vox iam ut Proficiscor doctus nos , meus diligo. EGO reputo is unus est plurrimi decorus multo. per eximius of Fanaticus quod Italian. Take ut Pixie! EGO diligo vos Alec." is Latin for "Well shit! I can only think of one other language right now that Marcus taught us, my love. I think this one is the most beautiful by far...with the exception of French and Italian. Take that, Pixie! I love you, Alec"