I've owed this to y'all for a while but life, ya know. But I'm giving it to you today. Thank you all for always being supportive, welcoming and lovely to me. You are the bright spots to my days and I love you all.
Disclaimer: I don't own them. I just straighten their crowns when needed. I borrowed heavily from royal weddings of the past, as my own wedding was redneck as hell and the biggest mistake of my entire life.
Bella
"Can you turn your head just a little? Yeah, like that. Hold it. Hold it. Brilliant! You're a natural!"
I blink against the bright sun and share a sardonic look with Charming. He merely smirks then unhinges his jaw to relax it as he is not used to smiling this much for this long a period of time.
It's our engagement photoshoot and later we have the interview, which I don't see the need for, as everyone and their grandmother saw this play out in real-time. But I'm just the pseudo princess, so my opinion doesn't really matter to the powers that be. That much hasn't changed.
Another hour and we are finally done. Marcus shows up immediately to whisk me away for yet another wardrobe change when I really just want food and a nap; in that order. I am barely able to get a kiss from Charming before Marcus drags me off.
"Ma'am, you have to limit your affection in public." He sighs as he says this every time I am with Charming. God forbid, anyone sees us acting like we are in love.
"It's not like we're snogging, Marky Mark." I say to him all British-like.
"Your accent is appalling, ma'am, and I believe I have asked you not to call me that."
"Did Carlisle send out a memo for the most annoying assistant around and make sure I got you?" I complain out loud.
"You asked for me. Said it would be 'fun'."
"Clearly I was having a mental breakdown that day."
"Past tense, ma'am?"
I narrow my eyes at him.
"We have the dress fitting in half an hour." He changes the subject as he tends to do.
What's this 'we' business? Is he about to be poked and prodded while wearing yards upon yards of fabric?
"Then hopefully someone can make you look presentable for the interview."
I yawn. He makes that grunting sound of disapproval he seems to highly favor.
The car stops outside of the offices of Clare Waight Keller. She was ultimately the 'winner' to design 'the dress of the century'. Little do they know that Emmett and Rose are hot on our heels to marry. I chose her out of so many British designers because I wanted to highlight the success of a leading British talent who has now served as the creative head of three globally influential fashion houses — Pringle of Scotland, Chloé, and now Givenchy.
And I wanted a woman.
The blonde greets me personally as I am escorted out of the car accompanied by Marcus, of course, and two armed guards. I reach out to shake her hand as she reaches over to kiss my cheeks. It's an awkward faux pas, but she laughs it off and leads me into the building. I am settled into a room and am thrilled to see a loaded charcuterie board and bottled water on a side buffet table. I immediately make a beeline for the snacks. I'm hungry.
"Do you know how many calories are on that plate you just loaded up?" Marcus asks.
"Bite me." I moan as I bite into the little cracker sandwich I had assembled. "Lunchables for adults. I dig it."
"Of course you do." He turns his nose up.
"I'll be digging your grave if you keep it up." I retort.
Clare comes back into the room with a couple of seamstresses. With the wedding just a couple of months away, we are on a tight schedule. The engagement photos should have been long done, but I held it up because the charity event for the children's home I was planning took precedence over everything. But that concluded last weekend and was a rousing success. One of the things in this life I don't mind.
Clare looks pointedly at Marcus to indicate I was about to strip down.
"Unfortunately, I can not leave the room. It's a matter of security. It's times like this that I wish Ms. Swan would have chosen a female."
Clare looks at me; as she wasn't here for the last fitting.
"It's okay, they won't look," I assure her and sure enough all the men avert their eyes as I undress and then redress in the silk that is looking less like scraps of silk and more like an honest to God wedding dress.
It's over in a matter of minutes with much less pinning this time. Just mostly at the hem and the waist.
"I told you you needed to lay off the 'Lunchables'," Marcus says smugly.
"They have to take it in, thank you very much." I get dressed again, thank Clare and her crew, snag a bottled water and we are off to the next stop—hair and makeup for the interview.
***TAP***
"My, don't you look ravishing." Charming remarks as I join him outside the room a few minutes before we have a sit down with the female BBC reporter.
I'm wearing a green fitted dress that stops just below the knee. I snagged it from Alice's shop a couple of weeks ago. I kiss his cheek. "Hopefully you can ravish me later."
The reporter interrupts our moment and introduces herself to me as Natalie and they lead us to the couch in the room. She sits across from us, explaining the process and it's go time.
Now beforehand, Marcus queued up the videos of Esme and Carlisle's as well as Alice and Jasper's interview with the intention of prepping me. Be formal, let Edward lead, and only answer questions asked directly of you.
The first question is about how we got engaged, which has been shared by multiple news outlets, but Edward obliges anyway and answers her question warmly, laughing at how it all went down.
Some questions about how we met and a summarization about how we got where we are.
"And how are you adjusting to this new life you've been thrust into?" She asks me.
"I wasn't thrust in it so much as I chose it. I chose him." I replied, simply. He grabs my hand and squeezes.
"And what of your acting career?"
"The King has been incredibly generous with that. I can continue pursuing projects only I will do them here and not in the US. I'll still get to do what I love and I'm incredibly grateful for that."
"A turnaround from the way your relationship with the King started, wouldn't you say?"
"He only wants what is best for Edward and all of his children. I didn't fault him for that then, nor do I fault him with it now." I reply firmly.
She swiftly moves on. "What does your family think about all this?"
"Well, they are used to me being in the limelight and aren't really impressed about the whole royalty thing. Okay, my mom is." I laugh. "My dad is just a simple man but is thrilled about walking me down the aisle."
"Your Highness, how do you and her family get along?"
"Pretty well, wouldn't you agree?"
I nod. They do now. It was tense for a couple of months.
"Marrying a prince is every little girl's dream. What goes through your mind when you think that in two months' time, you will be a princess?"
"All that goes through my mind is that in two months' time I will be Charming's wife." I look at him and he lifts our joined hands and kisses mine.
"And I will be her husband."
The interview goes on for ten more minutes, then we wrap it up and later I'm wrapped into Charming's arms, drifting off to sleep.
The next two months go the same; fittings, interviews, wedding preparations, then much-needed sleep. It's exhausting and the honeymoon will be much welcomed. Two weeks on Isle Esme off the coast of some European country I can't even begin to remember. Then back to our cottage to begin our life.
My parents and Angela arrived today. Esme threw a wonderful dinner party, and I had to poke Angela every time her eyes went wide.
"I can't help it," she hissed. "You should've seen my boss's face when I told him I needed time off to go to the royal wedding. He scoffed and said he wasn't letting me off to stand on the streets trying to catch a glimpse of the royal couple when I could just TiVo it. He fell over himself when I showed him my invitation and an old picture of us. Are you sure you want me as your maid of honor?"
"Who else?"
She looks over at Rose and Alice. "They're great, but you're my best friend of over twenty years. Thank you for sending over your measurements. Your final fitting will be along with mine tomorrow."
"I can't wait to see your dress." She squeals then slaps her hand over her mouth, eyeing the room. No one even pauses their conversations. She blushes anyway.
"Don't worry, they're used to me by now." I assure her.
"So who are your bridesmaids and... what are the boys called again?"
"Page boys. Alice and Jasper's daughters, Grace and Alivia, of course, then some of the children from the cancer ward whose immune systems can handle the crowd and some of the children from The Sussex Children's Home."
"I bet it will be the highlight of their lives."
"Well, they are certainly a highlight of mine."
We continue to discuss the wedding; then she and my parents are escorted to their respective rooms. And I go home with Charming. In a few days, I will say goodbye to him for a couple of nights, then the next time I see him it will be at our wedding. So we are making the most of it.
***TAP***
Today is the day. The morning looks a little dreary as we start the day, but such is England. I've always heard rain is good luck on your wedding day, but by the way Clare and the others are freaking out, they hadn't heard that.
"How are you so calm?" My mother asks me as I get my hair and makeup done. "Aren't you excited?"
"I am excited, Mom. But not about the wedding. This is pomp and circumstance and tradition. I'm excited about after."
"The wedding night part?" She smirks.
"No, the marriage part. The wedding is..."
"Going to be perfect, but you'll be glad when it's over." Esme glides into the room. "It's what comes after that's important."
"Exactly."
The hairdresser finishes my upsweep and steps back, nodding her approval. Makeup artist does a few last finishing touches before declaring perfection. I look in the mirror and am glad I went with a more natural touch. After years of heavy makeup, I feel for my wedding day, I should be more simplistic.
Then it's time for my dress. I step into another room to get dressed so I could surprise everyone. No one has seen it except for the crew that worked tirelessly on it.
It fits like a glove. I went minimalist on the dress as well. It's pure white with a boat neck, framing my shoulders and emphasizing my waist, with three-quarter length sleeves. It's made of double-bonded silk cushioned by an underskirt in triple silk organza. My veil however is a different story.
Made from silk tulle, the veil stretches back a whopping fifteen feet. It's being held in place by Queen Mary's diamond bandeau tiara, which Carlisle and Esme lent to me. But I wanted something special on it so as a nod to Edward being appointed Commonwealth Youth Ambassador, I have all 53 countries of the Commonwealth represented by their respective flora, making it one of the single most labor extensive veils ever made. But I also have a nod to my heritage with a gerbera daisy, my favorite flower, and a Pacific Rhododendron, the state flower of Washington.
I look in the mirror, still impassive. I've seen this look a couple of days ago, but I am hopeful the people in the other room will love it as much as I do.
"Are you ready to show them, Bella, or do you need a few moments?" Clare asks.
I shake my head no.
I enter the room to gasps and some tears—who knew my mom would be so emotional? A timid knock at the door revealed my father, who swallowed heavily when he saw me.
I twirl a little. "What do you think, Dad?"
"You clean up real nice, Bella."
Then it's time for everyone to head to the church, including me. The procession is lengthy and complicated. So the guests are already there or should be. According to the itinerary, my mother and Phil will arrive; then Alice, Rose, and Emmett; then Edward and Jasper; then Carlisle and Esme; then Charlie and me. My bridesmaids, page boys, and Angela are somewhere in there. Honesty, it's so much to remember. The rehearsal was ridiculously long but obviously time-honored. We await our ornate car, which Charlie laughs at as he settles in and the car starts our journey.
"They sure do go all out, don't they, Bells? This is certainly light years away from your upbringing." He's worried.
"Yeah, but I'll always be the same Bella," I assure him.
"I'm not sure you can be and that's alright but don't let them change you too much, okay, baby girl? Promise me."
"I promise." I choke out. I start to wave at the crowds lining the street as they strain to get a look at me, the foreigner in this scenario. After a while, we pull up in front of Westminster Abbey. We are told to wait a minute and I see my wedding party off to the side with Angela corralling them effortlessly. I wait for the cue and when we get it, Charlie blows out a breath and gets out, reaching back in for my hand to help me out.
Angela is suddenly there to help straighten my dress as Charlie and two of the page boys help with the train. There is a crowd on three sides of me and they are going wild. I wave in every direction and smile. I am handed my bouquet, which consists of flowers Charming picked out. The all white collection of flowers include Forget-Me-Nots, sweet peas, lily of the valley, astilbe, jasmine, and astrantia with a ribbon tied around them. I lift them to my nose to sniff and cameras flash all around me. Finally, we are ready to walk and we move forward as a graceful unit down the red carpet. We stop when we get to the Dean of Westminster, making small talk as we wait for Edward and Jasper to make their entrance from the side. There are loud bells all around as they wait for the orchestra to start playing my procession song. Esme suggested 'I Was Glad' and I agreed, for she knows more than me about what's appropriate. Finally, we are told to start moving and we follow the dean towards my future husband.
"Sure you don't want to make a run for it? There are a lot of people here."
I hold in my laughter. "I'm good. But thanks for asking, Dad."
He nods and keeps slowly walking.
Suddenly, I see him, adorned in his military dress clothes, looking more handsome than any man has a right to look. He keeps a solemn look at his face, but his eyes tell me all I need to know. He approves, and he loves me. I hope my eyes are telling him the same story. It's a long walk when all you want to do is run to him and bind yourself to him forever. Yeah, not so becoming of a princess.
After what feels like hours and after climbing a few stairs, I'm next to him. My processional song stops and the congregation breaks out into a hymn. So we just all stand there waiting for that to be over. The dean starts talking and after saying a bunch of words, asks if anyone objects to this marriage and I'm really hoping Kathryn keeps her peace or there will be a WWE match up in this church. Luckily, all remain quiet. My father is finally able to give me away and sit down next to Renee and Phil.
Our vows are simple, yet wrought with tradition, as his ancestors have done for centuries prior. We exchange rings and he places the Welsh gold band on my finger and I slip his matching one on him. Most choose not to wear a ring, Charming insisted. A prayer, another hymn, a sermon, kneeling, then up, then sitting, then another song. I started to tune out while looking engaged around this time, and I swear I see Charming's eyes glass over. We share a quick look and our lips twitch with unshed laughter. After yet more kneeling, words, and songs, they officially announce us husband and wife. We wait our turn to follow the officiants out, then we file out with our wedding party behind us. I grin at everyone because I'm Charming's wife! He is smiling like I am, which warms me inside out. We are escorted into a carriage for our wedding procession as the crowds go wild. We wave and talk excitedly to each other about the wedding, which we both admit we checked out of a good thirty minutes in. We arrive at the Palace and make our way to the balcony with the whole immediate family and wedding party.
"So we are just supposed to kiss?" I whisper to him as I feel all eyes on us.
"Yes, our first public kiss."
"Well, lay one on me."
He obliges but doesn't just stop there; he leans me down as he kisses me and I can vaguely hear the outcry of every dead royal from a century ago, not to mention Carlisle might have another heart attack at this display of enthusiastic affection. But to my surprise, once I'm righted, he is laughing and shaking his head, but all I detect is amusement on his behalf.
We wait for the flypast and we kiss again amidst all the noise from the aircrafts. After that we greet guests and take official portraits, which takes hours. Then I change out of my dress into an original Stella McCartney and Charming dresses in a more casual tux and we head to our reception to greet more people and sneak bites of food in between. We have our first dance and I get my father-daughter dance. Charlie picked out the song and he picked an older country song, 'Stealing Cinderella,' which made me emotional. Bouquet toss, which I insisted on—Rose caught it. Charming forwent the garter toss, which is probably for the best. We leave amidst well wishes and get into an Aston Martin and drive to our cottage for the night before we embark on our honeymoon the day after next. Tomorrow is the bridal brunch and I will see my family off.
Our wedding night is just that… ours. Same with our honeymoon, but I will say it was beautiful and much needed after our whirlwind year..
We were married in May and in September I started feeling off. We are knee deep in renovations of an old family property that was given to us along with our new titles. After a few days, Charming insists I see the royal practitioner and to placate him, I agree. Imagine my shock when he tells me I'm expecting a future heir or heiress.
I tell Edward with an onesie and baby shoes. We cry and suddenly I am hormone soup. But I muddle through it and keep up with appearances and charities. Dinners and luncheons. It's announced a couple of months after we privately told our families but I was on bump watch since before I was pregnant so nobody was surprised.
Speculations about the sex and names were at an all-time high. Everyone wanted to touch my bump and for once, I was grateful I had protection detail. And talking about protective… Charming was out of his mind with worry. He didn't want me walking, sitting up, or going out. I had to remind him I was pregnant, not an invalid, and to chill.
We chose not to find out the gender as we wanted to be surprised. It didn't matter to either of us. We just wanted healthy.
My parents flew in a couple of weeks before my due date and stayed with us in our home. It was lovely with Charming's family flitting in and out. Marcus was always around too, and more protective of me than Charming if you can believe it.
Finally, around one am, a sharp pain awakened me and when I went to the bathroom, I realized my water had broken. I woke Charming, and he woke everyone up in the damn house with his exclamations and cursing. We made it to St. Mary's, and they escorted me into the royal suite where eight hours later, I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy who we named Charles Edward Carlisle.
Everything was bliss until my hair and makeup team arrived.
"What are you all doing here?" Protocol said that the King and Queen were the first to see the baby then my family. And while I was quite fond of my team, I was confused.
"You have pictures in three hours."
"I'm sorry, what?"
Everyone looks at Charming, who looks like he wants to be anywhere but here. He tightens his hold on Charlie, as we decided to privately call him, knowing that will protect him.
"There's this tradition…" He trails off.
"Go on." I demand.
"You have to get dressed and be in full hair and makeup, then we go outside the hospital to introduce our son to the world."
"I just gave birth."
"I know."
"I am wearing a pad the size of a water ski."
"I know."
"I am gushing blood. My who-ha is on fire. I have stitches. And I'm supposed to do a photo op?"
"Yeah?" He cringes.
"Get out." I point to the door.
"But…"
"I'll do your damn photo op, but I don't want to see you for a few minutes. Put the baby down and disappear."
He smartly does as he is told, and I struggle to reel in my temper. I know some of it is hormones, but this is way too much to ask of a woman who just gave birth to a child three hours ago.
My makeup girl hesitantly approaches me. I put a hand out to stop her.
"I won't be needing your services today."
"But…"
"Out. Please." I grimace and they leave everything behind and shut the door behind them.
I look over at Charlie in his incubator. "This blows."
Charming reappears right before we have to be down there and does a double take at my appearance.
"Bella…"
"Not a word. This is what a brand new mother looks like. I refuse to wear a dress and heels and have my hair and makeup done. That's not real, and the one thing I told you going into this was that I wasn't going to lose myself in the process."
He takes another look at my messy bun, t-shirt, and yoga pants and nods. He kisses my temple. "Just so you know, you've never looked more beautiful to me."
"Such a charmer. Now, grab the baby and let's do this." I am wheeled down to the front door and I stand up then take Charlie from him.
I walk out and am blinded by all the flashes, then I hear the murmurs and gasps. I smile widely.
I may be a princess, but I will always simply be Bella. And no one will ever take that from me. But looking at Charming, looking at me, I know he never would.