Chapter 25

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters of Twilight.

A/N: Sorry I haven't written in so long, but I've been having trouble with my health and a lot of times my hands were in so much pain I couldn't move them from one position for hours at a time. Thanks to everyone who's stuck with me.

Bella's POV

I'm so nervous. Peter has been acting really weird all month. He's always busy doing something, I have no clue what, but when he's with me, he's attentive, caring, sweet, and a whole bunch of adjectives that describe more of the same. He apologized for letting it get so long since he told me how he feels. He said that if for some reason he doesn't say something in regards to me, that he thinks I'm the most precious gift and he praises every deity he can think of daily for making me be his mate. He said, since with his vampire brain he can think of multiple thoughts at the same time, that he cornered off a section in his mind that he called 'Bella Land' and thought about me every second of every day. That was one of the sweetest things I'd ever been told in my entire life. 'Bella Land' is so Peter and I absolutely love it.

He told me to dress up because he was gonna take me out for dinner and dancing to start to try to make up for making me feel I was anything less than perfect.

I'm wearing one of the dresses I'd bought when we went to Peter's human home, but hadn't had a chance to wear it yet. My arms are so covered in scars and crisscrossing bites that I almost look like a burn victim. That's one of the reasons I chose this dress, it has long sleeves. My legs are hardly covered in bites at all so they're one of my better features so my nylons would cover up those imperfections nicely. The dress is dark purple with a plunging neckline, a risky choice everything else considered. It has a cinched waist and flairs outward stopping mid-thigh. I paired it with 5 inch black stilettos that had a wrap around straps until it hit mid-calf. I put my hair up in an elegant French twist and applied makeup that was subtle yet enhanced my features. I would have looked perfect if not for the scars that are very visible across my face. Obviously there was nothing I could do about that.

Peter told me he was going to pick me up because it was gonna be 'done right.' It was almost time for him to get here and my nerves have shot through the roof. I opened the door when he knocked and I was stunned speechless. My man cleans up good. He was wearing a dark blue suit with a red tie and the first three buttons left undone on the white shirt he wore underneath. He even did his hair. He looked good enough to eat and I'm pretty sure I started drooling.

He seemed to be just as affected as I was because his mouth hung open and then he snapped it shut with an audible click. Then there was this rumbling sound that came from his chest. Once that quieted down he seemed embarrassed. That was adorable. "Darlin', do you have any idea how hard it's gonna be to act like a gentleman with you dressed like sin? You look absolutely amazing."

"Good, then my plan is working. You look really handsome. I don't know how I'm gonna be able to act like a proper lady and keep my hands to myself." I told him and then blushed from that bold statement. I hardly ever blush anymore and it just seems to happen in front of him every time. He ran the back of his hand along my reddened cheek.

"You're so beautiful. I love you so much I hardly know how to deal with it all. Shall we go?"

"Yes, let's. I love you too, Peter." He guided me to put my hand in the crook of his arm.

We walked into a beautiful restaurant that I've never seen or heard of before. It was decorated to perfection with all of my favorite things. I noticed it was completely empty except for the people who seemed to work there. I looked questioningly at Peter and he told me he bought out the whole restaurant for the night so we could be alone. He said he knew I didn't like fancy or extravagance such as buying out the whole restaurant for the night, but he wanted tonight to be special and didn't want to risk other customers making me feel uncomfortable and ruining our night. As much as I wish he didn't go to so much trouble, I was just as appreciative because the gesture was just so sweet.

He told me he had them put my favorite flowers as the centerpieces, had my favorite meal all ready, had my favorite music playing, and made sure the staff wouldn't make either one of us uncomfortable. We talked while we ate and then he asked me to dance. Of course I said yes.

He nodded to the musician and they started playing a song I'd never heard before. Peter was singing softly in my ear, I'm not sure if he wrote the song or just changed the words so that it fit us. I could hardly concentrate on the words he was singing because I seemed to be on a Peter overload. The sound of his voice, the feeling of his hands on my body as we're dancing, and his breath on me nearly drove me crazy. A couple of the lines of the song came through to my brain before he stopped altogether and dropped down on one knee. The lines I heard were, 'I love you so much. I know you're mine right now, but I want to lay claim for eternity. Will you be my wife?' He opened the velvet box and inside was the most amazing ring. It was a combination of gold and white gold intertwining. It had a small diamond on either side of a slightly bigger one. I fell to my knees in front of him kissing him with all I had.

"So it's a yes?" he asked me almost shyly.

"It's definitely a yes." He got the biggest smile on his good-looking face.

"Bella, I know neither of us are into fancy, so what if I told you we could get married right here, right now? I've got two people willing to be witnesses and a preacher in the back on the off chance you said yes, I didn't want to give you an opportunity to change your mind. So what do you say, Darlin'?"

"While I'm a little upset that you took things so far, I understand why you did it. It's also incredibly sweet that you want me to be your wife so badly. You went to all that trouble, and I'm just as anxious as you are to be able to let everyone know you're mine. Let's get married, Peter." he smiled and swung me around in a circle, then set me down kissing me all the while. Once he stopped, he told me he was gonna grab the preacher and witnesses. He came back with the preacher and what looked like a waiter and a cook.

It was so beautiful, even if it was somewhat shotgun. We said 'I do' and he kissed the bride. When the preacher introduced us as Mr. and Mrs. Peter Charles, I started tearing up right there. Peter said he knew I'd want to get married under that name which is why he chose that one. We put our names on the paper, then the witnesses signed, and now I'm officially Peter's wife.

Peter said the surprises weren't done and he had another place to take me. I followed him and he led me to what looked like an abandoned warehouse. I looked at him like he was insane. "Do you trust me?" He asked me.

"Heart, mind, body, soul, spirit, and life." I answered him. We went inside and it was decorated absolutely beautifully. There were lavender flower petals on the floor in the middle of the room surrounded by light blue candles set in a circle. The candles were all lit and I absentmindedly thought he was lucky that they didn't fall over and start the place on fire.

He led me over and we both stepped over the candles onto the flower petals. "Darlin', you've made me so happy by marrying me, so you feel free to say no, but I also want the vampire world to know that you're mine. Are you willing to have the mating ceremony done with me?"

"Um, what's the mating ceremony? I thought mates gave each other their mating marks when they're intimate? I love you so much, but I'm not willing to let our first time be in a warehouse no matter how nice you fixed it up."

"While that's usually true, there's also the mating ceremony. It's where we each say vows, kind of like the wedding ceremony, and at the end instead of 'you may kiss the bride' it's 'you may mark your mate.' I'd bite your neck and inject some venom, which I brought your anti-venom thingy in case you didn't want to be changed completely yet, and you'd bite my neck, which would be more symbolic at this point, then we'd be forever marked in history as mates and if anybody ever tried to take one of us away from the other by killing us or some other means, the penalty for them will be death."

"How?"

"There's somebody who will perform the mating ceremony, then they will mark it down in a big binder booklet thing, then will take it to Volturra to transcribe into their records, and since we're married, we'd be under Peter and Bella Charles. We can get married again under Weston if you want, but the mating ceremony will only be done once.

Also the ceremony's different in that after it's completed each of our names will be permanently tattooed on the other. For example, mine would say 'Bella's Peter' or maybe 'Isabella's Peter', I'm not exactly sure. It would be placed where my heart is. Yours would say either 'Peter's Bella' or 'Peter's Isabella.' It would be placed where your heart is as well. It would be there both before and after you changed completely into a vampire. Like I said, I'm completely thrilled that you married me, but if we did this then nobody could deny that we're mates and refuse to believe us and stupid vampires wouldn't try to take you away from me."

"Peter, we've been over this. You're the only one who thinks I'm even remotely attractive and I'm pretty sure you're biased. Nobody would try to take me away from you. Neither of us would let that happen anyway. How do you know about this? I've never heard of this from any of the vampires I've met."

"It's not done very often. In fact, in the last 2500 years only 37 mated pairs of vampires have had it done. The reason I know is because I met one of those mated couples and saw what looked like tattoos and asked about them. They explained what they could to me, then I went to the Volturi in Volturra to find out more. At first Aro wanted to put me to death for my time with Maria, but once he saw of my gift he decided to 'punish' me by having me train the guard for five years. It would have been more, but I made friends with Marcus with my curiosity on the mating bonds and Cauis with my battle experience and tactical mind and they wouldn't let him 'keep' me for any longer. The Cullen's aren't aware of my time with them and it was before they met you. So what do ya say Darlin'?"

"I will do the mating ceremony with you." His face lit up into the most beautiful expression I've ever seen. He put his cellphone up to his ear and said 'She said yes, you can come in now.' The door opened and Aro and Marcus of the Volturi came in along with Renata, Alec, and Jane.

"It's okay Darlin," Peter told me when he heard my sharp indrawn breath, "Marcus is going to do the ceremony after he affirms our bonds, Aro is here to see what girl got stuck with the Captain as her mate, his words not mine, Cauis had to stay to rule otherwise he would have been here. Jane, Alec, and Renata are here as protection for the kings and will double as witnesses. We were gonna go see them eventually anyway, so we'll just make an appointment with them while they're here. Don't worry, there's not gonna be any repercussions for you not being changed yet, since you're gonna be changed soon anyway, and they thought your punishment for the Cullen's were fitting as well as hilarious. Are you ready, Suga'?" I just nodded because I was not expecting this at all. I mean it makes sense with the way he explained it, but I just wasn't prepared for it.

Marcus began speaking in a language I've never heard before, but sounded ancient which was confirmed at least somewhat since Peter didn't seem to understand the language either if the way his eyebrows were scrunched up were any indication. He then switched to Italian, I recognized a few words, but not many. Then he switched to Old English, the kind used three centuries ago. It's kind of romantic in 'Romeo and Juliet,' but you can see the words and decipher the meaning especially if you've read it as many times as I have. Hearing Marcus speak it also sounded romantic, but I was as confused as Peter seemed to be. I guess they didn't speak like that in the South either. I seriously doubt I'd be able to keep a straight face if Marcus started using the current slang of teenagers.

I can just imagine hearing him say, "Dude, do you take this chick to be your girl forever?" I can see it so clearly that I'm fighting the desire to laugh, but I know it's serious and important to Peter so I start paying closer attention again. Of course with my semi-vampire brain, one part of it was paying attention, another was daydreaming, still another was pondering how Peter could love me so much that he wants everyone in the World, human and vampire alike, to know that I was his and no one else's. Another was wondering if Volturra would still be standing when they went back because they left Cauis in charge and I remember stories of his temper, and finally I'm wondering if I'll be able to think of even more things at the same time when I'm a full vampire.

"Let it be known on this day that Peter Weston AKA The Captain has taken and claimed his wife, Isabella Weston as his marked mate in this official mating ceremony. Peter, Isabella, mark your mate." Marcus said. Peter tilted his head exposing the left side of his neck and motioned for me to do the same. Then we leaned in and bit each other. My teeth are now stronger than a human's, but weaker than a vampire's because I didn't break his skin when I bit, but my teeth did leave an impression in his skin. Peter put just the tiniest amount of venom and then put the anti-venom thingy to it right away. After he put it back away, we moved together as close as we could looking at the marks we left on each other.

Suddenly there was a vortex of wind around us, kind of like a tornado and we were in the eye, then the flames rose up and danced together in a wall of fire all around us reaching almost to the ceiling. Next what felt like a bolt of lightning hit me in the chest, burning me just where my heart beat. I could feel and hear my heart speed up due to the adrenaline and pain. It was intense and felt like it lasted forever, but couldn't have been more than ten minutes.

The pain quickly disappeared as if it had never been there. The flames died down to just on the candle wick like before. The tornado like wind slowed and then dissipated completely. "Peter, would you please remove your shirt so we can see the end result?" Marcus asked. Peter quickly took off his suit coat, shirt, and tie. There on his chest right where his heart was were the words 'Isabella's Peter' in thick black Gothic script. It was beautiful. It stirred something primal in me that liked seeing my claim on him etched in his skin. It really turned me on, to tell the truth, which was really embarrassing considering the other people with us.

Marcus recorded it in a super thick book that looked like it was at least 1000 years old. I'm kind of surprised it hasn't disintegrated, but then again, vampires don't secrete oils like humans do. "When was the last time you performed this ceremony?" I asked curiously trying to keep my eyes from straying back to Peter's chest.

"The last time I was asked to do this ceremony and their bonds were affirmed and then performed was approximately the year 1326 A.D."

"It was a splendid ceremony, absolutely marvelous. Now, when can we see you and the lovely Isabella at our castle?" Aro said and asked sounding excited as always.

"Bella and I are going to honeymoon for awhile as well as do some traveling. I don't rightly know when, but I'd say somewhere between one and five years from now. We'll make sure to call first so you'll know when to expect us and I'll let you know if it ends up being longer than that." Peter answered him.

"Great, great, young love. I can't wait to see you both again. So glad I got to be a part of these proceedings. Until we meet again, my friends. Come brother, Renata, Alec, Jane; let us not tarry. " Aro then strode regally out of the warehouse. Marcus nodded to us in departure and followed. Renata went out with Aro without so much as looking in our direction. The twins looked at us with disdain, but then turned and followed their masters out.

"So," I said, trying to sound coy, but not sure if I managed it, "any other life changing surprises you have for me?"

"Now wait a minute..." he said pausing for dramatic effect, "Nope, not today. We can talk about our honeymoon when we get back to my place." so he cleaned everything up and we quickly left.

When we got back I sat down in the living room. "Don't ya wanna change into your PJ's Darlin'? That dress is mighty distracting."

"Trust me, the pajamas I plan on wearing are going to be even more distracting, at least that was what I was going for when I bought them."

"I'm in trouble then since you distract me, in a good way, when you're not even trying. I can't imagine what will happen when you try to distract me."

"So what did you wanna talk about?" I asked curiously.

"Now don't take this the wrong way..."

"I'm gonna take it the wrong way if you start it that way." I answered angrily.

"Okay, most of your clothes are here, you sleep here every night, you're my wife and marked mate... what I'm trying to say is... I want you to officially move in with me and maybe sell the Forks house." he said cautiously expecting me to freak out. I thought about it, but he made some really valid points. Not to mention he went to all this work for me. He even had us married under the last name Charles. The house is really the last thing linked to my past. Once I sell it, I'll be his completely.

He won't have to worry about me comparing him to Eric. I really never have; they're just so different. Like night and day, but I know Peter worries about that sometimes. "I think that's a good idea. Will you help me set it up with the realtor?"

"Of course." he said obviously surprised I agreed with him so readily and quickly, "We can do that tomorrow when it's a reasonable hour."

"I agree." Then we stared at each other awkwardly for maybe five minutes. Finally I said, "Aright, I'm gonna change into my pajamas. I'll call you when you can come up." I put on my pajamas which was basically black bra and panties with a black see-through teddy over it. I had no idea if I could even pull this off. I mean even with me being part vampire, I had so many flaws and imperfections it was ridiculous. I called Peter and told him I was ready. I waited in the bathroom with the door shut so I would be able to see his honest reaction. He didn't disappoint.

A/N: I need some help. I know where I want to end, but I'm just having trouble getting them there. So I'm going to ask some questions and let me know through review or Pm what you think. 1. Should Bella be turned into a full vampire before they reach Volturra or should it not happen until after they get there? 2. Should Bella give Peter a nickname? 3. I'm thinking of making Peter start being called 'The Enforcer,' is that a good idea or would that ruin it? 4. Should Bella's werewolf scars disappear with the change or stay afterward?

A/N2: Read and Review as always.