Chapter 23 - wedding bells

BPOV

I took a deep breath and steadied myself.

'You look beautiful.' Alice assured me.

I smiled at her and nodded my thanks. I was fidgeting and couldn't stop smoothing down the skirt of the dress I was wearing. Why had I agreed to this again?

Oh right… Eternity with Edward.

I took a steadying breath. True to her word Alice had definitely reigned herself in. She had checked all her ideas with both me and Edward. We'd agreed with pretty much everything she'd suggested, except for spending the night before the wedding apart. We had both vehemently been against that. So she'd respected our wishes, only separating us to get ready a few hours before the ceremony.

'Are you sure you're still shielding Edward?' Alice asked for the tenth time.

I nodded. 'Yes, Alice. I'm sure.' I assured her again. I checked my shield though, just to be sure. It was still wrapped around Edward securely.

'Good.' Alice put the final touches on my make-up and then took a step back to look at me.

'Done?' I asked, impatience seeping into my voice.

Alice rolled her eyes at my tone. 'Yes, you're ready.'

I breathed a sigh of relief and Alice stuck her tongue out at me. A knock sounded at the door and Alice zipped over to open it. Carlisle stood on the other end dressed in a brown suit with matching tie. I smiled at him.

'You look good, Carlisle.' I said smiling at him.

His answering smile was warm and fatherly. 'You look beautiful, Bella.' He complimented me.

'Thank you.' I would have blushed if I'd still been human.

'Are you girls ready?' Carlisle asked us, knowing full well Alice would have planned this exactly to T.

'Yes, we are.' Alice said confidently and I took a deep breath. She placed a bouquet of flowers in my hands and I clutched them tightly, keeping in mind I couldn't hold them too tightly.

Carlisle stepped next to me and held out his arm. I wrapped mine around his carefully.

'Thank you for doing this.' I told him as Alice swept out of the room in front of us and the soft sound of a piano playing Pachabel's Canon drifted from up the stairs.

'You don't have to thank me, Bella. I see you as my daughter. I love being able to do this for you.' He assured me with a grin. I grinned back and squeezed his arm gently. His words meant a lot to me. Although I was slightly saddened that Charlie couldn't be the one to walk me down the aisle, if it couldn't be him, I was damn sure glad it was Carlisle doing it. He truly was like a father to me.

'I'm up.' Alice pulled us from our conversation. 'Wait three counts and then follow.'

'Okay.'

'Don't let me fall.' I mumbled quietly to Carlisle as we stood at the bottom of the stiars.

He smiled and chuckled softly. 'I won't.'

The music swelled in volume and we started climbing the stairs. The bannisters were wrapped with twinkle lights and an abundance of different white flowers; roses, lillies, tulips, dahlia's, camellia's and here and there a large snowball of white hydrangea. The scents wove together inticingly and I inhaled deeply. White tufts of tule hung in sweeping waves over the staircase and wrapped around the endposts. I smiled at how magical it all looked. Alice had outdone herself.

We reached the end of the stairs and Carlisle turned us to face the living room. The furniture had been cleared out of the room, a few rows of chairs had been put in their places, a large white aisle had been created, scattered with red flowerpetals. The exposed beams of the ceiling had tule flowing down in pillars, schielding the rest of the room from view. At the start of the aisle two large vibrant blue flowerpots were filled to the brim with bouquets of the same white flower combinations as the bannisters on the stairs had been. The same flowerpots were also at the end of the aisle and right behind the altar creating a semicircle around Edward.

Edward...

I had been trying to avoid looking at him, because I knew as soon as my eyes landed on him I wouldn't be able to take in the rest of the room. And I was right.

Edward…

Our eyes locked together, his a vibrant ocher colour, which trapped me. I let out a small sound, a cross between a whimper and a gasp and Carlisle tightened his hand on mine, squeezing it in support. A breath-taking smile stretched across Edward's face and suddenly the music seemed too slow. I wanted to be there, next to him, not walking slowly up this aisle which seemed to stretch on forever.

I didn't see the rest of our guests, or the brilliant way Alice had incorporated small elements of blue everywehere in the décor, or even who was standing in as our minister. The only thing keeping my gaze, were Edward's eyes and the complete and utter love and devotion I could see shining in them.

I was sure mine echoed the same sentiment.

EPOV

Alice had truly outdone herself. I had been worried when she'd started going off on us that she would completely lose focus on what Bella wanted and railroad her into doing what Alice thought was best. But she had kept her word. She'd involved both of us with every decision. She'd made sure it was what we wanted, with her personal flare thrown in.

I gazed around the room in wonder, it was remarkable that this used to be a living room. It seemed more like a church or wedding venue with the way it was decorated. I inhaled slowly, savouring the rich mix of scents that hung in the room.

Emmett stepped up behind me. He'd gotten a minister's lincense and was going to do the ceremony.

'No funny business.' I warned him under my breath.

He laughed and shook his head. 'Do you think I'd embarrass her like that?' he asked, shaking his head again.

I only cocked an eyebrow at him.

He rolled his eyes. 'I won't. Also Rose beat you to it. She already threatened me.' he grumbled.

I chuckled at that and looked over a Rose. She shrugged and smiled then headed over to the piano to take her place.

'Are you ready?' Esme asked me, fixing my bowtie for what felt like the fifth time in the past hour.

I nodded. 'I've been waiting for her for a long time.' I said smiling at her.

She nodded, and I knew if it were possible she'd be crying. 'I'm so happy you found your way back to each other.' She said, warpping her arms around me and hugging me tightly.

'Thank you.' I said honestly.

Their support of me and of Bella had blown me away. I was so grateful to have them as my family. Esme stepped back and sat down. I gazed at the rest of our 'guests'. We hadn't invited extra people, so it was hard to think of them as guests really, but it was nice to have our entire family here for this. I hadn't really cared either way, we could have been married in a box under a bridge in the middle of nowhere, we could have gone to Vegas and gotten married by Elvis, we could have done a big fancy wedding costing millions of dollars, I didn't care about any of it. I only cared that she was finally going to belong to me, and I was finally going to belong to her – fully and completely.

The first chords of Pachabel's Canon sounded and I straightened up and stared at the front of the aisle expectantly.

'Wait three counts and then follow.' I heard Alice say. Then Alice started appearing, slowly coming up from the stairs and walking in pace with the music. She had a large grin her face as she turned to look at me.

Although this would have been one of the times where we normally would have had one of our private conversations, this time it was blissfully quiet in my head. I wasn't assaulted by one's opinion about anything. I wasn't seeing myself standing here grinning like an absolute fool from ten different perspectives and most importantly no one had ruined the surprise for me how Bella looked. It was amazing. And I couldn't wait to actually see her for the first time in her dress and be blown away by her beauty like any other normal human man would have been, had they been lucky enough to have been the one shed said yes to.

But she'd said yes… to me!

I grinned to myself but then I froze. There she was.

Carlisle turned them around at the top of the stairs, and I felt my mouth drop open as I stared at Bella.

She was…

Beautiful… Gorgeous…. Perfection… a goddess


Her white dress was insipired by the fashion of the 1910's. The bodice was overlaid in lace with a high neckline and long sleeves. The skirt was elegant and flared out only slightly at the bottom, accentuating her lovely figure. She was holding a bouquet of white flowers, with one blue dyed rose in the centre. It was a shoking contrast and so beautiful.

I had loved the idea of choosing blue as a theme for the wedding. Blue had been my absolute favourite colour on Bella when she'd been human, and as a vampire she pulled of the colour even better if that was even possible.

My eyes trailed up and I felt my mouth pull up into a giant grin as I took her in. Her face was beautifully fresh, I was grateful my sisters hadn't felt the need to plaster her full of make up. She only wore a little, some mascara to highlight those gorgeous eyes. Although they were still red tinged, they were fading into a more amber colour already. And the depth of them hadn't changed. I felt I could have lost myself in her chocolate eyes, but I could truly drown in these amber ones.

Her hair was curled loosely and hanging in graceful ringlets over one shoulder. She had chosen to forgo a veil and I couldn't be happier about it. A veil would have only shielded her from my eyes, and I had no intention of letting that happen. I took her in greedily and when her eyes finally locked with mine it seemed that time had stopped. Her tongue snaked out over her bottom lip unconsciously and I felt my grin grow wider. I loved this woman. God I loved this woman./

After what seemed like an endlessly long time the last cords of the piano died away and Carlisle placed Bella's hand in mine. I grasped it tightly and let out a breath. I was home. She was my home. Finally our happily ever after could begin.

Emmett cleared his throat and the rest of our family sat down again. Bella turned to face me and she smiled a beautiful smile. I could see she was nervous, I was too a bit to be honest. But I could see she loved me. It shone brightly in her eyes as she looked up into mine. I was certain there was a goofy lovestruck expression on my face in return.

Emmett launched into his speech, probably embarrassing the hell out of me, but his words seemed to pass over me. I was completely mesmerized by the beauty standing in front of me. Somehow my mind caught up again at just the right moment.

'Do you, little brother, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward as long as you both exist?'

I threw him a quick smile. 'I do.' I said clearly, my voice carrying proudly around the room.

'And you do, little sister, take this uptight morose little boy' I threw him a glare, but he continued on undeterred. 'to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold form this day forward as long as you both exist?'

She gave Emmett a smile and then turned back to me. Her voice was strong and unwavering as she uttered the words I had longer for so long for: 'I do'

'Then by the power vested in me by the internet, I now pronounce you husband and wife.' Emmett concluded. 'I present to you, Mr and Mrs Edward Cullen.'

Our family jumped form their seats and cheered loudly. Emmett nudged me in the shoulder and gestured with his head to Bella, quirking his eyebrow at me. I grinned and shook my head at him. Then I pulled Bella in my arms and placed my lips on hers. She curved around me instantly, moulding her lips to mine as our family continued clapping and cheering around us. I pulled back after a moment and gazed down at her. Her eyes were still closed and a small blissfull smile graced her lips. I smiled down at her.

'You're mine now, forever.' I whispered to her.

Her eyes opened and she smiled brightly. 'So are you.' she whispered back.

We stared at each other for a moment, before we were tackled in a bear hug from behind by Emmett, apparently he had gotten impatient.

We headed outside for a lovely little reception where we danced under the stairs and twinkle lights. All the usual trappings had been left behind, no one ate cake, no one drank, there was no bouquet toss or garter toss. All that mattered was Bella. All that mattered was the love of our family and friends as we celebrated this day together.

We danced with everyone and often, but most of all my arms were wrapped around the most beautiful woman there. My wife. My Bella.

We danced until the sun started lightening the sky, signalling the end of the night.

As dawn broke, we sat on the edge of the cliff with each other, watching the sunrise.

'It's beautiful.' Bella sighed as she leant her head against my shoulder.

'It's alright.' I muttered.

She looked up at me an incredulous expression on her face. 'Alright?' she echoed. 'It's gorgeous.'

'With you sitting here beside me, everything else becomes dull. You are the only exquisite beauty as far as I can see. That – ' I gestured towards the setting sun. 'dulls in comparison to you.'

She stretched up and placed a soft kiss on my lips. 'You're so sweet.' She muttered softly against my lips. My lips pulled up in a crooked smile.

'With you I am.' I muttered.

'What now?' Bella asked, putting her head back on my shoulder to watch the sun continue it's ascension towards the heavens.

'Alice is packing your bags, she'll put them in the car and then we'll head out.'

'But the rest of the family…'

'They'll head out the day after next.' I assured her. 'No one's forgotten the plan, love. They're just giving us a few days to ourselves first.'

'So where are we going?' she asked, excitement creeping into her voice.

'Well, when I'd first asked you to marry me, I'd imagined an extended honeymoon on Isle Esme.' I admitted. 'but that would take us two days alone to get there. So I've rented a cabin in Banff National Park, near the emerald Lake.'

Bella looked up at me in wonder. 'That sounds amazing.'

I kissed her forehead and pulled her tighter against me. 'Let's go then.' I muttered, the sun was nearly up now, we had a while to go before we would get to the cabin.

She put her hand in mine and as we turned towards the house, our family was already lined up in a row, bright smiles on their faces, to see us off. Even though it would only be a small honeymoon of a couple of days, this was a tradition that Esme and Carlisle had asked us to do. So we headed over with smiles on our faces, even as the rice began raining down on us as we rushed through their constructed archway. They cheered and congratulated us as we passed and we smiled and laughed. Alice had pulled the car up already and everything we needed was inside.

I opened the passenger side door for bella and she waved towards our family before climbing in. I headed around the front and did the same.

We said goodbye to everyone one last time and then I sped down the drive, ready to begin our small honeymoon.