Chapter 21

"A nightmare? That must have been one hell of a nightmare, I thought you were being murdered or something, you scared me to death!" Esme had one hand on her heart while her eyes darted around the room. I wasn't sure what she expected to find but I could see the unmistakable worry on her face.

"Yeah, I have nightmares sometimes." I mumbled not really sure what to say. She looked at me for a moment longer before taking the few steps between us and gave me a hug. I hoped she couldn't feel my heart racing.

"If you want to talk about it, I'm a good listener." She said and I was grateful for the offer as much as I was grateful she wasn't pushing the subject.

"Thanks Esme, but it isn't anything new. So how was the drive?"

"Not too bad… I guess it's something that I'm going to have to get used to since all of my kids are living here now."

"Oh, yeah….. That must be kind of hard."

"It is, but clearly it was the right decision for all of them." She smiled to herself seemingly deep in thought.

"Oh! I found quite a few bridal magazines that I brought with me." She stood up and started for the door obviously having left them in the car. She wasn't kidding as she handed me a stack slightly smaller than the one she was carrying.

Esme kicked the car door closed with her foot as we both had our arms full. A couple of the magazines started to fall forward off the top of her stack and I automatically reached to help her but started losing the grip on the ones I was carrying. I managed to save hers but dropped a few of my own. I was about to pick up them up when a hand shot out and grabbed them before I had the chance.

"Let me help you." An older man said as he started to place them on top of the others I had. He looked to be about 75, dressed in beige slacks a plaid dress shirt and an old ratty cardigan sweater, while holding a cane in one hand.

"Thank you." He was looking at me kind of strange. I checked him out the best I could in the time I had. No evil smirks, no eyes changing, nothing out of the ordinary other than he looked confused by me but maybe that was just him. It was probably nothing more than my over-active paranoid mind at work again.

"You're welcome Miss Swan." How did he….

"I'm sorry, but do I know you?" I asked as he continued his retreat to the corner limping slightly.

"Good day." Was his quiet response. I stood there frozen in place as he turned the corner and started to disappear. I looked over at Esme whose eyebrows were furrowed with lips in a tight line before she looked back to me. She smiled slightly and led the way back inside quickly. I set my magazines down on the table as I saw that she was looking out the window facing the direction the man was walking.

"He went into the backyard of that green house on the corner." She turned back to me and joined me on the couch.

"I guess he's a neighbor, maybe I should make more of an effort to get to know the people around here." I chuckeled.

"Must be, I saw him earlier at the gas station down the street." She said absentmindedly, eyebrows still furrowed.

"Oh?" I inquired as I pictured the one she was talking about. It was at least 15 blocks away off the main road heading towards downtown.

"Yeah, he was walking by and eyed me as I was getting gas."

"That seems like a ways away for someone who seemed to have difficulty walking." I said more to myself than Esme.

"Yeah, it does." She answered briefly turning back towards the window.

"You're not excited about the wedding or anything are you?" Looking back at the now covered coffee table, I joked as I indicated to the plethora of magazines.

"I only get one shot at this so I'm going all out."

"You still have Edward and Emmett." I blushed not really having a reason to other than some mildly in-appropriate thoughts about Edward in a tuxedo.

"Yes, I do but being the mother of the bride holds a few more privileges that being the mother of the groom. I'm sure your mom will be just as bad as I am when it's your turn." I didn't bother to correct her; I highly doubt Renee would even show up let alone help me plan it. We opted to have lunch here instead of going out. I brought out the soup and sandwiches along with a drink for each of us. Esme smirked a little.

"I like your taste in dishes Bella." She winked. I'm sure she recognized them as Edwards. I wonder if this is her way of letting me know that she knows that Edward and I are officially living together as opposed to him just staying here temporarily. I meant to ask Edward if he told his parents or not but it slipped my mind. She looked around the room as if for the first time noticing that some of the things were in fact Edwards. We have been integrating our things together little by little.

"Uh, thanks?" I said not really sure how to respond to something that was clearly meant to let me know that she knew something was up and not at all about dishes she may or may not have purchased for her son. Come to think of it they are a little feminine.

"I'm not trying to be nosy or anything but is there anything you'd like to tell me?" Her excitement was more than obvious. I didn't mind the being nosy part, not even sure if it could be considered nosy for a parent to want to know about the rather large decisions in their children's lives especially knowing how close her family is. And to be honest I was just so happy to be accepted and not judged it didn't bother me at all.

"Yeah, actually now that you mention it." I said probably a little too slowly as she cut me off in her quest for answers.

"You and Edward are living together…..officially?"

"Are you upset?" Not truly thinking she was because she was clearly excited but then again maybe she temporarily forgot about my abilities and she'll change her mind when it all comes back to her.

"Bella honey I can see that my son loves you and I can see that you love him. So no, I'm not upset, far from it."

"Thank you Esme." Feeling a bit emotional not being used to a maternal presence I hugged her. She smiled and patted my knee before we started looking at the magazines while we ate.

"What do you think of this one?" She asked.

"It's beautiful; do you think we could talk Alice into a strapless dress though?" Alice made her preferences clear as far as the type of dress she wanted.

"Not for her, dear." She winked again. "Personally I would wear this one if I had another chance to." She continued and pointed to one on the next page.

"Geez, mom how many did you get?" Alice asked once she arrived. Rose walked in about 15 minutes later. We spent several hours going through everything and ended up tearing out multiple pages and making a pile for each of us of our dream wedding dresses. Alice had the biggest selection by far and I could tell that when the day came to try some of these on it was going to be a long one.

Edward had called and said he was stuck at work later than he thought and then planned on heading over to his future brother in laws house for awhile afterwards. Personally I think he just didn't want to get stuck in a room full of woman in wedding planning mode. Hearing the doorbell ring unexpectedly I got up and answered the door.

"Hey Leah, come on in." She had a baby carrier with a sleeping Isabella in one hand and a rather thick book in the other.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but I just wanted to drop this off." She said setting the book down. I remembered then she had an extra wedding planner that had been given to her before she married Jake. She planned on giving it to Alice once I told her about the engagement.

I introduced her to Esme as Isabella woke up. Esme's attention quickly changed from the wedding planning to the baby she was now holding. She was smiling so much I could see the wheels turning in her head. Surely imagining her own grandchild especially now that Alice was going to be married soon. We all talked for a while and soon enough we were all ready for dinner.

"How about we all meet back here in an hour or so?" Alice asked wanting to go home and change and get Esme settled in. Everyone left except for Leah; I could tell she had something on her mind.

"How are you really doing?" She asked.

"I'm fine." I felt like a broken record but then I remembered who I was talking to and how she was able to read other people better than most.

"Okay, so maybe not completely fine." She waited patiently.

"I'm still having nightmares but there's something different about them. It's unnerving because I don't really understand them. It's hard to explain but they are partially precognitive but not in the way I'm used to."

"Like what exactly?"

"The dreams with Edward in them." I started but paused when I watched Leah grimace.

"It had been the same one over and over again. It starts off with Edward and I making love, him telling me he loves me and I say it back to him he rubs my ring finger."

"And?"

"And the night we came home from Rosalie's housewarming party we climbed into bed and that exact scenario played out."

"Exactly?"

"Up to that point yes."

"So what's different in the dream?"

"In the dream his next words were 'we'll be together forever' and that night when he said 'we'll' I stopped him before he could finish his sentence."

"Okay….then what happened?"

"I left the room but later when I asked him what he was going to say when I interrupted him he said he was going to say that 'we'll have to figure out what to do with Rosalie's old room."

"So it's not really precognitive then."

"But it is, the first part was verbatim."

"But the rest wasn't so could it just be a coincidence?"

"You know I don't really believe in coincidences."

"Maybe this was though Bella. Maybe you're looking too hard to make this into something that it's not. He's gone, and I know you don't believe that completely but."

"But what if he's not gone and he's messing with my head?"

"I don't think so."

"I don't know, you didn't see him Leah. I have never experienced anything like that; nothing has ever even come close."

"Okay, okay. You're right, I don't know. I wasn't there but you have to trust the people that were. The Varner's were and they know what they're doing."

"I know."

"I'm not saying you shouldn't be upset or cautious but give yourself a little time. You experienced something traumatic, there is bound to be some fallout both consciously and subconsciously."

"So stop looking for trouble where there isn't any?" I asked somewhat sarcastically yet seriously.

"Is it only the nightmare or have there been other signs too?" She ignored my tone.

"So far just the dreams."

"As in more than one? I thought it was the same one."

"It was but recently it changed. The beginning's the same but there was a new ending, this time he proposed before changing into him."

"Well Edward proposing is something that is going to happen whether or not you had a dream about it."

"I don't…"

"Bella, for the sake of argument we both know that it will happen eventually and not because of some dream precognitive or not. You know that Edward isn't him so no matter what you dream about it will never come true even if there are some real life similarities."

"You're right." When she put it like that it became embarrassingly obvious, I was just over reacting.

"I don't want you to become complacent though."

"That's a fine line."

"I know, but you need to let this go so you can move on, just keep track of anything more that's out of the ordinary."

"My whole life is out of the ordinary."

"You know what I mean."

"I know."

"Everything's going to be okay Bella, you'll see."

"I hope so."

"I have to go but please call me and let me know what's going on."

"Are you sure you and Jake cant make it to dinner?"

"I promise we will another time. By the way your future mother in law seems really great."

"Will you stop?" She just rolled her eyes.

"I'll talk to you later."

"Thanks for everything Leah."

"Anytime." She was right. I had to stop looking for trouble.

"Do we have time?" Edward was already carrying me to the bedroom. He got home a minute ago but unfortunately everyone was due back here in the next 10.

"Nope." That didn't deter him at all.

"We'll be quick." He was already pulling down his scrubs. Don't get me wrong I was more than willing but his mother will be knocking on our door before we know it.

"Edward, your mom." His groan stopped me mid sentence. And it wasn't the good kind of groaning either. He sat back on his heals.

"Bella, never mention my mother when we are doing that. It's bound to scar me for life."

"Sorry, but she's going to be here any." I didn't have to finish as the doorbell rang.

"See?"

"Yeah okay." Edward grumbled before giving me a quick kiss and getting up from the bed. As planned everyone was here and we all left for dinner together. It was late when we got back and I was tired from all the days' activities as well as not sleeping well the night before. I headed to the bathroom to brush my teeth and when I came out Edward was lying down in bed sifting through the pictures of wedding dresses that were clearly marked 'Bella' in bright red pen.

"Oh Lord." Edward heard me groan and looked up smiling.

"You would look exquisite in any of these Bella."

"You weren't supposed to see those." Why didn't I make sure to put those away before he got home?

"Sorry, is that some sort of 'You're not supposed to see the bride until the wedding' sort of rule?"

"Sort of."

"Sort of?" He smirked.

"Technically I'm not supposed to be looking for wedding dresses until after I've been proposed to." Why is it I tend to make things more awkward for myself instead of taking the easy way out?

"Well if that's all, I can fix that." He was smiling and I'm pretty sure he was joking.

"Edward."

"What?" He was clearly pleased with himself. Distracting him would be my best bet. I climbed on top of him and picked up where we left of before dinner.

I woke up to the sound of the blearing alarm. I reached over and hit snooze, I was way too comfortable where I was. 10 minutes later it went off again and I knew I only had one more snooze left before I would be late.

"Stay." Edward's quiet command was said with his eyes still closed as he wrapped his arms around me tighter.

"I wish I could."

"You can."

"Huh-uh." I started to get up.

"Noooooooo." Edward whined. "Why do you have to get up on my only day off this week?"

"Because your mother is meeting us for breakfast before we start our quest for the perfect bridesmaid dresses."

"Can't you do that tomorrow?"

"Today is the only day Cynthia will be in town." Cynthia was going to be Alice's maid of honor. She was her best friend growing up and was now living outside of Portland and had a pretty busy schedule so today was the day.

"Fine." He pouted still not having opened his eyes yet.

"Go back to sleep." I whispered and kissed him on the forehead. He was already snoring again by the time I reached the bathroom.

Cynthia was nice, extremely quiet though so we didn't talk a whole lot so I hung back with Rosalie, which was fine. It gave Alice a chance to catch up with her friend. My feet were aching but we did it, five stores and 500 dresses later we found the perfect one. At least they weren't peach taffeta. They were actually beautiful and something that I'd be able to wear again.

Finally we sat down to a late lunch. Eating at the hole in the wall café, it was actually named that, near home I slipped off my shoes to rub my feet. I knew I shouldn't have worn dress shoes but I thought it would make it easier when trying the many many dresses on we did. We had placed our orders at the counter and were just waiting for our number to be called. I glance out the window I noticed someone walking by. I didn't see their face but from the clothes and posture it looked like it could be my neighbor from the day before.

"What are you looking at?" Rose asked me.

"Oh, nothing. I just thought I saw someone I knew."

"Who was it?" She asked leaning towards the window trying to get a better look.

"I think he's my neighbor." Was he always around before but I never noticed him until yesterday, is he following me, or is it me just being paranoid yet again. Maybe it wasn't even him...

"Mr. Benson?"

"No, the man that lives in the green house on the corner."

"I didn't realize you knew them."

"I don't, not really but he was walking by the house yesterday and stopped to help me when I dropped something."

"Oh." My number was called so I got up to get my lunch effectively putting an end to the conversation.

EPOV

I couldn't believe it. My little sister is getting married. Mom was coming down for the weekend but dad couldn't make it. It was just as well. I was working long hours today and only had Saturday off and had to work again Sunday.

I knew all the girls were meeting at our house so I called Jasper and Emmett to see what they were up to.

"Hey man." Jasper opened the door.

"Hey." I walked in and closed the door behind me while he grabbed me a drink.

"Thanks for letting me hang out here."

"You didn't want to get stuck looking at fashion magazines huh?" He joked.

"I just didn't want to get put into the impossible situation of being asked which one I liked the best. I guess wrong every time."

"How can you're opinion be wrong?" I heard Emmett ask as he walked around the corner leading from the bathroom.

"Did you not grow up with Alice? She was constantly asking me which outfit looked better or which shoes she should wear. She was already leaning towards one and it never failed that that was the one I didn't pick."

"Remember when mom asked us to take her to the mall to exchange something, it was only suppose to take a few minutes but somehow we ended up sitting outside the dressing room for hours while she tried on each outfit multiple times just to make sure everything matched?" Emmett asked.

"You're in for a long six months Jazz."

"Actually all I'm on the line for is the cake sampling." He smirked leaning back into his chair.

"How the hell did you pull that off?"

"It was all Alice's idea. Apparently I made a very poor choice about the font I wanted for the wedding invitations, she realized quickly that it would be better for her to handle the rest."

"Lucky bastard."

"More than you know." I had a feeling he was talking about more than just not having to plan the wedding.

"I wonder if that would work on Bella?" I mused to myself.

"What was that?" Jasper asked.

"Oh um nothing."

"No, I distinctly heard Bella's name." My brother would not let it slide by.

"I just, you know, wonder if I'll have the same luck with Bella."

"I didn't realize you were planning a wedding."

"Not right now of course."

"But sometime?"

"I hope so."

"So you're planning on proposing?"

"I haven't gotten a specific plan yet but I know she's the on for me so it's really all about timing."

"And what kind of time frame are you working with here Edward?" Both of them were now leaning forward with their elbows on their knees.

"It won't be until after Alice is married at the earliest. I wouldn't want to steal any of her limelight." Jasper smiled at that.

"So were looking at six months then?"

"Shit, I don't know for sure. I mean I know what I want but I'm going to be taking my cues from Bella. I want to make sure she's ready."

"Congratulations man."

"Thanks."

"Let me give you a piece of advice." Jasper said.

"I'll take whatever I can get."

"She loved the ring I got for Alice, in fact she said and I quote "It's exactly like something I would want."

"Really?"

"Really. I don't think she meant to say it because she blushed pretty badly." Just then Alice called Jasper to tell him the plan of meeting back at our place before heading to dinner. I got in my car and drove home.

I'd been thinking about my future with Bella but to have said it out loud seemed to take it to another level, made it a lot more real. My checks started to hurt from the smile I had on my face but I knew I had to rein it in. I really don't think Bella is anywhere near being ready for this and I was not about to rush her.

I pretty much attacked her when I got home not being able to stop myself but we didn't get very far before everyone arrived. Dinner was nice but I wanted to get home. I knew Bella was tired by the way her eyes were starting to droop so I wasn't surprised she was ready for bed.

As she went into the bathroom I noticed some papers sitting out on the coffee table. There were pictures of wedding dresses and I wouldn't have thought anything of it, thinking that Alice left them until I saw Bella's name written across the top. My smile was back, I could all too easily see her wearing any one of these. Rein it in Cullen...Yeah good luck with that.