Chapter 16

Edward's POV

Edward get out of that room, it is the day of the wedding and you are not allowed to see the bride, I pinched the bridge of my nose at Alice's voice coming through my head. I quietly freed my arm from around Bella's head, kissing her lightly before exiting the room and going across the hall where the rest of my family was waiting.

The night has been long even though it was just a few hours after midnight, the day will be even longer as I will not be able to see Bella until the Twilight hour. The family has been keeping watches outside for our visitors and Alice's visions have been changing constantly. The only thing that has been staying somewhat true was something was going to happen tonight, late in the night.

Jasper and Emmett were just getting back inside about the same time as I when Alice settled onto the floor working back and forth, holding her head as if she were in pain, a sight and image that I have seen just a couple of days ago before the is escaped to get married started.

I cocked my head to try to get into hers but nothing.

Jasper went over to his mate and put a hand on her shoulder. "Alice, what do you see?" Jasper shot his eyes up to me.

I shook my head.

"Nothing," Alice said quietly. "I can't see anything."

"What do you mean, you can't see?" Carlisle asked walking over to his daughter to take a look into her eyes.

"I mean I can see fine, but my vision, I was having a vision and then it all went black and then came back to go black again. Something or someone is blocking my visions."

"Party crashers?" Emmett asked.

"No, I have seen them already and from what I can tell none of them have a gift like that."

"What about the newborn that took Bella last night," Jasper asked.

Alice closed her eyes focusing on the newest piece of information about Bella's visitor, now that we had a name and knew his scent; Alice has been able to focus more on his plan, as choppy as that plan seemed to be. "No, if he does he is unaware of it."

"The only other beings in the area that have not been factored in are the wolves," Jasper said helping Alice stand up. "Could they be blocking Alice's visions?"

Carlisle began to pace the room. "I don't know much about the pact; personally I thought that the gene has run its course. Alice did you see Bella in the wolves before we found her last night?"

Alice closed her eyes to think and replay all of her visions and then opened them up quickly. "No, actually I was not able to see any of you until you made the decision to start back home. I think Jasper is right about me not having clear visions because of the wolves."

"Then chances are, and I am going on a theory here, that your visions are not clear because the wolves will be there as well."

For the next few hours until the wee bits of sun began to break behind the trees outside our room the family strategized. At no time were Charlie nor Bella allowed out of any of our sights.

"Well, that'll be easy enough," Alice said beginning to walk toward the door. "Between, Rosalie, Esme and I, we have a full day booked for Bella at the Spa, she will be getting the royal treatment."

I growled just slightly before Esme came up to me and put a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry, Edward, I will make sure to keep Alice on a tight leash and I will have Bella rest up as well."

Emmett disappeared from the room and back before any of even realized or paid attention to his absent holding a few fishing poles, wearing a pair of brown water pants and thick heavy boots. "And we will be taking Charlie fishing this morning."

"For what, trout?" Rosalie asked following her sister and mother out the door. "You look adorable, almost enough to eat."

"I will hold you to it, Rosie," Emmett said as the door closed and his eyes still focused on the backside of Rose.

"Please, Emmett, for the love of God, keep your thoughts to yourself," I walked over to Emmett and picked up a pole. "You all do realize that we would more than likely catch more fish with our hands instead of a flimsy piece of wood."

Carlisle sighed heavily, "Only for a couple for a couple of hours, boys."

"Mmm," Emmett pondered as he let the pole slide through his fingers. "I wonder if fish blood tastes fishy."

I groaned as I walked toward the door. "I am going hunting now before we take Charlie out on his fishing trip. Any of you want to come."

Jasper and Carlisle followed behind me. I looked back at Emmett. "Nah, man, I am going to save my appetite for some fish."

"Then I hope you feel like waiting a long time because you are going to need to catch a lot of fish to finally feel satisfied," I told him.

Emmett's became huge at the idea. "Like how much fish? Two or three?"

"Sure, Emmett," Jasper chimed in. "Two of three hundred."

With that Jasper, Carlisle and I ran out of the hotel leaving Emmett to think about his predicament. Within seconds he was outside and in the field that we found Bella in last night. "I think I will partake in some deer this morning and maybe some fish later."

"Why, Emmett, what a big words you used," Jasper joked.

Bella's POV:

I have been poked, I have been prodded and I have been made up to a life size version of Bride Barbie. I let out a heavy breath, my chest hurting at such an intake of air that it almost brought tears to my eyes. Just in the last three or four days my little baby inside of me who has been kicking and nudging up a storm decided to take a rather large growth spurt. Instead of me know moving at a fast waddle I am now moving at a very slow, snail pace waddle. There were even times during the day that Alice and Rosalie seemed to be getting impatient and just picked me up and carried me to where they wanted me.

But now as the day began to end and I could see the faint hint of orange and red be painted across the sky I knew that it was worth it. Or it will be worth it in the end. I will be married to Edward, my very own Prince Charming. There was just one question though that was still left unanswered and a question that Edward has been refusing to answer during the last forty-eight hours of hiatus on the run marriage that we were doing.

"Why now?"

"Hmm, I'm sorry, Bella did you say something?" Esme asked from behind my hair which sat high on my head with a few baby daisies and trundles of curls.

"Did I? I was thinking out loud I guess."

Esme moved over to sit down next to me. "Is there anything you would like to talk about?"

I bit down on my perfectly high glossed lips that tasted like strawberries thinking about what it was that I really wanted to talk about and how much of it Edward would hear or read for that matter. "I just don't understand why we need to get married so soon. Why did Edward not want to wait a couple of weeks or until after the baby comes?"

Esme nodded her head slowly while Rosalie and Alice came back into the room carrying more wedding looking stuff. "I can understand your feelings and how it must feel very rushed. Edward is just trying to protect you and the little one that lives inside of you. He has chosen you to be his in more ways than you can think is possible."

"His?" I asked. "I am like some kind of thing you buy at the store?"

"No," Rosalie said quietly. "It's deeper than that, much deeper. Our kind loves our mates in a way that humans could never fully love. Emmett, Jasper and Carlisle are soul mates in a sense. If something were to happen to our mate, we would feel it as if it were happening to us."

"But Edward and I aren't…"

"Actually you are, you may not know it yet, but Edward does," Esme said taking my hand. "Edward has waited for you. He has been searching for something that he did not even know existed until he found you."

"But there is more to why now, Bella," Alice chimed in quietly. "You are already someone else's mate without even realizing it."

"What? Who?"

"Dean, the rape, he basically marked his territory in even sense of the word and now that he is a vampire he is just trying to get back what is rightfully his. And without Edward being married to you, Dean can just take you. You, Bella, not the baby."

I tried to process this new bit of information knowing that it made sense in some strange and twisted way. "So, Edward and I get married, Dean leaves me alone?"

"No," all three of my soon to be vampire women said at once.

"Dean will never leave you alone not until he is rightfully taken care of," Alice continued as her eyes began to glaze over and she looked off into the distant. "It's time."

Alice moved quickly to put the finishing touches on my dress which flowed with the natural shape of my belly. The low neck line had my watermelon breasts practically jumping out at anyone who walked near me. The material was a soft white silk and reminded me of a Greek Goddess.

I waddled behind the girls to the elevator and then the doors opened up Charlie was standing inside wearing a pristine black tux and a white tie. His breath hitched in his throat. "Bella."

Charlie and I rode down the elevator together in silence, there were really no need for words to convey what we already knew and felt. When the doors opened up at the bottom of the lobby a row of fresh white rose petals lined the path that we were to follow. Charlie more than likely saw it as the path to my doom; I saw it as a path to my future.

She'll change her name today.
She'll make a promise, and I'll give her away.
Standing in the bride room just staring at her.
She asked me what I'm thinking, and I said, "I'm not sure,
I just feel like I'm losing my baby girl."
Then she leaned over... and gave me...

Butterfly kisses, with her mama there.
Stickin' little white flowers all up in her hair.
"Walk me down the aisle daddy, it's just about time."
"Does my wedding gown look pretty daddy?" "Daddy don't cry."
With all that I've done wrong, I must have done something right.
To deserve a hug every morning, and butterfly kisses.
I couldn't ask God for more, man, this is what love is.
I know I've gotta let her go, but I'll always remember.
Every hug in the morning, and butterfly kisses...

The moment that the reverend said you can kiss the bride I finally felt like I had a fairy tale wedding that I never thought possible. But it is in the calm of the storm that trouble will quickly brew.

And it is in that storm that I will truly learn what it means to die for the ones that I love.

A/N: I know, I know, you all might have thought I dropped off the face of the earth. Well, NaNoWriMo is officially completed and I won the word count, but far from completing the story, which I am still working on faithfully, but figured I also needed to give all of you some love as well. Please check out my bio and webpage for more in depth details about NaNo and to read the first chapter of Shadows of Darkness.

I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter, remembering to R&R!! The song mentioned is "Butterfly Kisses" by Bob Carlisle.