A/N: Okay boys and girls, one more chapter after this and we're done. Please review because I'd like to put the final ch. up as soon as possible!
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Jake made no idle threats and by noon the day after my party, Olivia's favorite shirt had been used as a chew toy and completely demolished. Everyone failed to mention that it was actually Leah who called the stripper to the party until it was too late and by then my younger cousin was chasing my fiancée around, fire ball in hand.
My bridal shower came and went with very little incident, except for Renee making rude and mean comments to Jacob every chance she got and a few inappropriate gifts from the pack, although I expected the later. My mother was just acting insane and there was a part of me that as I sat there during my shower, listening to her run her mouth, I wanted to just tell Paul to 'go for it'.
Charlie tried to be sympathetic and had told Renee to stay away from his house after the party, since I was staying there; it was now like my sanctuary. She hadn't dared to go near the reservation; probably the only smart thing she'd ever done seeing as one step onto 'pack territory' would have her mauled before she could get back into 'leech country'. I was hurt but I was still hoping that she'd get over it before my wedding.
Today we were going to look for dresses. Alice refused to wear something off the rack at first, we'd quickly told her to get over herself, and we'd all refused to let her tell us which dresses we were going to get. The girls, while they acted nice and even genuinely liked Alice, weren't crazy about her power and liked making there own choices.
"I say we go with red," Olivia said as we walked into the store.
"I vote for silver!" Ursula squealed jumping up and down.
"Green or yellow would be very flattering," Elena mentioned as she wandered over to the shelves.
"We're going with whatever Isa likes, even if it's hot pink, god help me," Alyssa muttered the last part but I heard her.
I laughed as we all started looking; I wanted to get bridesmaid dresses before we started looking at wedding dresses. "Actually, I was thinking deep blue."
We walked over to the blue dresses and soon everyone was swarming around us. Finally I stumbled upon a strapless sheath dress in royal blue and just fell in love; it even had a white design right at the waist that reminded me of waves. I started jumping up and down, squealing, and Alyssa knew that this was the one; Alice confirmed almost as an after thought.
The girls all tried on their dresses, they all looked stunning. Alyssa and Alice's dresses, although matching, were slightly different from the other girls because they had crystals around the top. They twirled and showed off for a while; when I watched Ursula jump up and down with Olivia, it hit me that this was happening. I wished that my mom was here.
"Bella," ask and you shall receive. I take it back!
"Mom, what are you doing here?" I demanded, Alyssa came up beside of me for emotional support, thank God!
"Hunny, I'm sorry for the way I've acted. I just wanted to protect my little girl and I really do want to be a part of this with you," Renee explained to me.
I looked at Alyssa but she only smiled slightly and turned back to the other girls. Now she leaves me alone; traitor! Yeah, I know she did it for the right reasons but I wish she would have just told me what to do!
"I love him Mom, this is what I want, but I'd like for you to be apart of this too," I said quietly. We hugged and she started appraising the girls. I had a funny feeling in my gut but I pushed it away for now.
Then it was my turn to pick out a dress, I started getting really excited. We looked around for a while but it was Elena who pulled out the perfect dress. It was strapless, just like the bridesmaid dresses and long but it didn't quite touch the ground. It didn't have any special designs or crystal and flared only slightly at the bottom, but it wasn't plain either, it was just perfect.
I put it on with Renee's help and it already fit like it was a sign from God. Alice, Olivia, and Ursula started going nuts, hugging, and squealing, making every head in the store turn. Everyone grinned at us as Alyssa and Elena came to hug me, I saw a shop attendant snap a picture of us all before running to the back.
We decided to go with what we each had on so we started undressing and getting back into our street clothes. Renee told me that she had a dress that she'd picked out for my wedding to Edward but that she'd fallen in love with it and just couldn't give it up; I said that it was fine with me.
"I just wish I could see your wedding play out, it's aggravating," Alice said from the stall next to me.
"Get over it Alice, everything is going to go fine!" Alyssa said from the stall on my other side, "Stop making her nervous!"
I could just hear Alice sticking her tongue out but didn't say anything; she was worse than Olivia and Ursula when it comes to acting childish.
When we were on our way out, the shop attendant that had taken a picture of us came running over, "Here, please take a copy. I wanted to ask you girls if I could use this picture for advertising; I'll make sure that you get twenty-five percent of profits!"
We all looked at her with raised eyebrows, she laughed, "Sorry, my aunt opened this store before she died, and I've always wanted to make it bigger, expand. It's not really my thing and I've kind of been stuck with it until it gets bigger and I can find a buyer. I opened two new stores and just needed to find a way to advertise!"
I took the picture from her and looked at it. Alice, Olivia, and Ursula were jumping up and down in front of us, while Elena and Alyssa were giving me a sideways hug on the platform; we were all wearing our dresses.
"I think that'd be great, hey do you have anyone managing your other stores?" Elena asked. She and the other girls had been looking for work ever since they arrived, so had I. This could work to our advantage if she really wanted to get rid of the place and sell it!
