The Big Day

Alice had given Jasper instructions not to allow me back to the house until the afternoon. She didn't want to take any chances that I would catch an early glimpse of Bella on our wedding day. I had a feeling that she also knew what a bundle of nerves I would be, and that even my mother would have gotten irritated with me being underfoot.

As per her instructions, Jasper and Emmett kept me occupied in the mountains for the better part of the day. I worked off some of my nervous energy tussling with my brothers and hunting down a couple of elk and yet another lion. Glimpsing my eyes in their minds, I didn't think they'd ever been such a light gold. Rubbing my stomach and rather regretting that last lion, I also thought I'd never been quite so full.

Though we'd run into the mountains, we couldn't exactly stroll up to the house with all of the people who were supposed to be there. We picked up Emmett's jeep from where he'd stashed it and drove the last few miles back home.

Once parked, I leapt out of the back only to find Emmett's hands on my arms as my entire body leaned toward the sound of my Bella's heart. My muscles were quivering with the need to run to her. Alice had filled the house with orange blossoms, lilacs, roses, and, of course, freesia. The flower that smelled so similar to my bride was as nothing when compared with her rich scent, and I could still detect where she had walked up the steps and into the house early that morning.

"Patience, lover-boy," Jasper chuckled. "You're a mess, and Alice will never forgive me if, after all her work to make this wedding perfect, the groom still had twigs in his hair."

Running my hands through my hair, I discovered he wasn't kidding. Though I usually preferred to eat neatly, there was something immensely satisfying about giving myself over to the hunt, especially when defending my prey from my brothers or, better yet, stealing theirs from them. Our last tussle had knocked down half a dozen trees, and I still wore the evidence of their destruction. Grinning at them, I made my way to the stairs on the side of the house where I could get into my room with the fewest witnesses, ignoring the few glances that were thrown my way by those humans who did see me.

...been some wild bachelor party...

Catching the thought of some human, I chuckled to myself. They had no idea.

Even at the graduation party Alice had thrown a few months earlier, our house had never been so full of people as it would be that night. In and about the house, there were already caterers and the band. None of them mattered. Their voices, both physical and mental, the sounds of their pulses and breathing, the banging from the band setting up their stage, and the clattering of pots and pans in the kitchen, those sounds barely even registered. All I could truly hear was the distinctive sound of Bella's heart, running slightly faster than normal.

I guessed she was nervous.

When I opened the door to our house, I winced and shuddered from the smells which assaulted me. I had always hated the smell of human food cooking. It was revolting: the peppers and spices that should have smelled pleasing took on a nasty scorched tint from being heated, and the vegetables turned from their natural state of crisp sweetness into mush during cooking or were disguised under some other false flavoring.

And worse still were the animal products. Yuck. From their meats to the cheeses, the things humans turned animals into were horrifying to my sensitive nose. I supposed they might feel the same way about drinking blood, but at least I didn't drag fully grown grizzlies into their houses to dine on!

More terrible than any of those smells were the drinks. I had wanted to yell at my mother when I found out that they were planning on serving alcohol at our wedding. I despised the foul stuff, but a champagne toast was traditional, even if technically the bride and groom were underage. Esme assured me that Bella would be served sparkling grape juice, which I could choose to have as well, or else stick to water. Though I would have preferred to pretend to sip on water, I reluctantly agreed that the grape juice would be more in character, and resigned myself to the false, plastic taste I'd have to endure.

Although I had no desire to eat them, fruits in their natural state smelled pleasant. What the humans did to them during processing, I wasn't sure, but they ruined their food in my opinion. At least Bella's scent would not be marred by the stench of alcohol.

Stripping out of my ruined clothes, I stepped into the hot shower and scrubbed myself clean. Despite how nervous I felt, I took my time, cleaning the dirt from the animals' graves out from under my nails and making sure that all traces of blood, fur, and dirt were gone from my hair and skin. I had a towel wrapped around my waist and was trying to tame my hair by the time Carlisle found me. He was in a pair of khakis and a casual shirt, rather than the tux I had expected.

"Do not bother getting ready just yet, Edward. The wedding will not start for a few more hours. Esme needs some help with the seating, Alice wants the yard filled with the flowers she did not use in the living room, and the band's stage needs to be reassembled."

I groaned, unable to believe how long a few hours could seem to an immortal.

Correctly interpreting my frustration, he laughed and poked at my shoulder. "You have waited a century already. A few more hours will not kill you."

"Are you sure about that? Because I don't think my heart can take the wait," I said as I placed a hand on my chest. "Oh. Oh, no. Carlisle! I think the wait has killed me already. I can't feel my heart beating!" Staggering backwards, I toppled over to lay on the floor with my eyes closed and my tongue sticking out.

Seeing myself in his mind, I knew he was watching me, but when he didn't respond, I peeked an eye open to find his eyes narrowed and his lips pressed tight together with sour amusement.

"You're no fun," I muttered, standing again.

He finally laughed and shook his head. "Get dressed and meet me outside. Time will pass faster if you are occupied."

Giving up on my hair, I threw on some clothes and joined my brothers outside, where they were trying to compensate for the uneven ground. The band had started to set up too close to the tree line, and some of the tree-sized roots were getting in the way of the stage. The humans had gone back to their truck to retrieve some tools to dismantle it, and were grumbling about the amount of time it would take them to do so.

"No one's looking," I advised them, and Emmett, Jasper, Carlisle, and I quickly lifted the entire thing, shifting the stage over a few feet farther from the trees.

We made an excuse for the stage's new location when they came back, pointing out that the biggest roots had already been avoided. The band members glanced at Emmett's bulging arm muscles as he strolled across the lawn holding a stack of chairs and decided they should start adding some gym time to their schedules. When they returned to the task of setting up, I snickered at their slightly dazed expressions. Most humans were so easy to divert with lies when the truth made no sense.

As it got closer to the time for the ceremony to start, Jasper disappeared to pick up Renée and Phil, and Charlie arrived shortly after with Angela Weber's father, who was serving as our minister. Soon, the other guests would begin trickling in, and my long wait would be over.

It was difficult to focus on the task at hand. My mind wanted to peek in on my sister's room, to where I knew my Bella was patiently submitting to Alice's overzealous fashion sense. Unwilling to ruin the day for myself like that, I concentrated on hanging the flowers, arranging the tables and chairs, and following Esme's instructions for placing the decorations about the yard.

I had to hand it to Alice: she really knew how to plan a party. My brothers had spent the previous day building a wide dance floor, and there was a spacious seating area with more than enough tables and chairs for the guests to sit and mingle. The trees were hung with flowers and twinkling lights, and the stage and tables held candles along with more of the flowers in vases. Once the sun set, the whole area would still be brightly lit.

Following the sound of music, I discovered my sister seated at my piano. Despite the fact that I had asked Rosalie to play at our wedding, I felt a low rumble in my chest. That was my piano! Shaking my head, I was forced to laugh at myself. How often had I been reminded how possessive vampires were? Especially since on this day I would be making Bella officially mine, those feelings were apparently in full force. Fighting them back, I strolled over to listen to my sister play. Before long, I found myself bouncing on the balls of my feet, chattering at Rosalie as she ran through the songs and double checked the instrument's tuning.

"I've got it, Edward!" Rosalie repeated for the fourth time. "I could play the songs in my sleep. Now will you please stop dancing behind me?"

"You don't sleep, Rose! And I'm not dancing. I'm only moving so I can see what you're doing better. Just let me hear you play it again; there's a place at the fifty-seventh line where you're supposed to change the tempo, but it didn't sound quite right. I think you switched a measure too early and - "

"Carlisle! Come get your son before Bella finds herself without a groom."

"Alright, Edward. Leave your sister alone. I think it is close enough to time now. Go get ready." Taking pity on my sister, Carlisle wrapped an arm around my shoulder, steering me toward my room while she stuck her tongue out at my retreating back. Glancing over my shoulder, I wrinkled my nose, but resisted returning the gesture.

In my bathroom and fighting my unruly hair once more, I had to laugh. "You know, Carlisle, I know that my mother had a lot on her mind during my final human days, what with everyone around us dying from the flu, but I do wish she'd taken the time to give me a haircut."

As if it knew how important the day was to me, my hair had taken on a life of its own and seemed determined to ruin all of Alice's plans for a perfect ceremony. I wet it and ran a brush through it once more, trying to keep from looking like a ruffian. Every time I managed to get one side to lay smooth, the other would stick up again, or flop into my face, or just poke out all over the place.

"If I had realized how much trouble it would give you over the years, I might have tried to do something about it when it was still possible to do so. Of course, you fought me so hard during your change that I probably would have ended up needing to shave your head completely if I had tried."

His mind conjured an image of me, mostly bald but for tufts of hair sticking up here and there, and I burst out laughing. "You may be skilled with a scalpel, Carlisle, but a barber you are not!"

"Too bad pomade is not still in style," Carlisle said with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

"No it bloody well isn't! Ugh, I hated that stuff and you know it. I smelled like bear fat for an entire decade."

Poking his head into my room, Emmett snorted. "You wish you smelled that good. It was more like rancid dog meat, if you ask me."

"Nobody asked you, Em." Giving in and using a tiny dollop of gel, I finally got my hair to behave.

Of course, my brother took this as his cue to rub his knuckles against my scalp. Seeing his plan, I ducked away at the last second and grabbed his arm. Not one to be so easily deterred, he twisted his captured arm in my grip so that we held each other. His free arm wove back and forth, looking for an opening. I held mine at the ready, mirroring the motions of his waving arm with my own, determined not to give him that opening. Pushing and pulling against each other with the arms we held, he laughed as we circled around each other.

"I don't have to touch you to mess your hair, you know!" He imagined himself propelling me through the wall.

"I wouldn't if I were you. The humans might notice if you start busting the walls down." Growling playfully at him, I raised an eyebrow, my eyes never leaving his weaving hand.

"You're right, I guess." You should save tearing apart the walls for later tonight! Laughing loudly, he lunged at me. I tried to duck away, but his hold on my arm, and his wider reach let him get in a good swipe at my head.

Angry this time, I pushed him away from me. "Watch yourself."

He snickered. "Come on, Eddie. It's a good thing you have money in the bank, cause you're going to end up needing to build Esme an entirely new house, and you know it!"

"Don't call me that!"

Carlisle muttered my brother's name in disapproval, but that only earned another round of chuckles from my indefatigable brother. "Perhaps Esme could use some more help setting up downstairs?" Carlisle prompted.

"Nope! She told me to come help my little brother get ready."

"And a fine job you have done, too," he said dryly.

"Why I ever bothered asking you for advice, I'll never know," I muttered, grimacing at the image of myself in their minds. Grabbing a brush, I turned back to the mirror. "Congratulations, Emmett. Mission accomplished. I'm a mess again."

Carlisle fixed my brother with a stern stare. "Now, how about you go get yourself ready?"

He made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat. "Spoil sport."

Scowling at the mirror, I couldn't avoid seeing Carlisle's amused smirk after Emmett closed the door behind himself. Carlisle, of course, was impeccable as always. Not a hair was out of place, and he was only missing his tie to complete the picture.

"You really should not let him get under your skin. You know he only calls you Eddie because it annoys you."

"No. He calls me that because he's obnoxious."

"Well, yes, that too."

"You're the coven leader. Can't you do anything about him?" I muttered, frustrated at having to use yet more of the hair product I'd borrowed from Esme. At least it didn't smell as bad as the pomade, but I disliked the greasy feeling that it left on my palms and between my fingers. Even after washing them, my hands still felt as though there were traces of the gel on them.

"What would you suggest? Shall I have him write, 'I will not call my brother Eddie,' a few million times?"

"I don't know. Hit him where it hurts. Restrict him to deer for the next month." I laughed at the idea of Carlisle trying to enforce that rule.

His eyes widened. "You are probably going to be gone for most of that, leaving me to deal with a very irritable, thirsty vampire, and with no repercussions to yourself. Nice."

Snickering, but presentable at last, I shrugged into my shirt and began fastening my cuff-links. "So what's your point? It sounds like a good plan to me."

"If I tried to restrict you or your brothers to deer alone, I have a feeling I would have a mutiny on my hands."

"No. They love you too much for that."

His grin faltered, but he kept his thoughts on the image of me preparing for my wedding.

"What?"

"I am very happy for you, Edward. I cannot begin to tell you how much I have longed for this day. Granted, your bride is not what I would ever have imagined, but your heart has chosen well. She will make you proud, I am sure."

Smiling wryly, I spoke in a whisper. "She already does."

I could hear the last of the guests arriving as I finished getting ready. Just knowing that Bella was probably in her gown by that time had me jittery with excitement, and I found my fingers unusually uncooperative as I tried to do my tie.

Carlisle laughed from where he stood beside me, using my mirror to secure his own bow into place. "Do I need to call Jasper in here to calm you down? I have never seen such a jumpy vampire!" He turned me so that I faced him, and his deft fingers tied the bow for me.

"Hah! That's only because you didn't see yourself at your wedding!" Focusing on Carlisle's calm face, I had to force myself not to peek into the room down the hall.

Jasper opened the door a crack and glanced around. Slipping inside, he handed us each a sprig of freesia. "Good, you're ready. The guests are here, and Alice wanted me to tell you to take your places."

I had a feeling Alice had also told him to do as Carlisle had suggested and use his talent to calm me down, or it could have been the fact that the flower I held smelled so like the girl I loved, but I abruptly felt at ease. Though still filled with excitement, I was no longer fighting the temptation to run my fingers through my hair, nor bouncing from foot to foot, nor fiddling with my cuff-links. I buried my nose in the flower and inhaled before attaching it to my coat.

Carlisle strode to my balcony door and held it open for me. "Ready to get married?"

Closing my eyes, I took a few deep breaths. With my door opened, I could again smell the flowers with which Alice had filled our yard. Sighing at the scent of freesia and lilac mixed together, the memory of Bella's chocolate eyes drove away the last of my nerves. I licked my lips, remembering the taste of hers. My skin tingled, remembering how it felt to have her warmth pressed against me, and I had to fight back a shiver, knowing that in less than an hour, I would be holding my very own wife in my arms.

Opening my eyes again, I looked into my father's and nodded. "You'd better believe it!"

We made our way to the lower floor, taking the stairs from the balcony to the back porch, through the glass doors, and down the hall, until I stood at last in the dining room, gazing through the doorway into the living room.

I had often had cause to be grateful to my psychic sister. Her gift allowed her to see problems and fix them before the rest of us were even aware that they existed. Although I knew that Bella had been apprehensive over the number of guests which were invited, I found it easier to relax my tight hold on my gift with the number of minds in our house - especially as they mostly were thinking of similar things.

Like white noise, the voices blended together into a hum that effectively hid Bella from me. Each mind that I could peer into was looking at the same things: the flowers, the white lace, the satin covered chairs, and the arch, which was woven with flowers and gauze and only needed the small wedding party to complete the picture. From every mind came the overwhelming scent of freesia and lilac, accented with roses and citrus. It was heady, and I found my lids half-closing in pleasure as I smelled and tasted the air from dozens of different minds.

Alice had gone out of her way to keep Bella's dress a secret from me, and I was trying my hardest to do the same thing. Traditionally, I should not see my bride in her dress until she was walking toward me down the aisle. Having so many minds around me meant that, unless I specifically searched for one that was with Bella, I could allow them to blend together and see what my eyes saw.

And what my eyes saw was my own past. It was like the best pieces of every wedding I had witnessed my family having combined into one masterpiece. From the overabundant flowers to the room full of people; from the colorful dresses of the women to the black and white suits of the men; from the family that surrounded us to the friends we would soon be leaving behind; from the minister who would marry us to the flower-covered arch that he waited beneath, I could see a touch of the past century at every turn.

Facing my father, I saw myself in his mind. My eyes were shining with excitement, my lips were curved into an ecstatic grin, and if my heart could beat, it would have been racing. Carlisle tugged on the bow at my neck, straightening it just slightly. I was vaguely aware that there was music playing, but my body was focused on the drum that was setting the tempo. Bella's pulse was echoing in my ears, though I knew her to be upstairs.

"Ready?" Carlisle asked me with a barely contained smile.

There was so much that I wanted to say to him, but I found myself speechless. Had I ever even told Carlisle that I loved him? Surely he knew. I admired and respected the man who had become my father more than anyone else I'd ever met. As perceptive as he was, it couldn't have escaped his notice. I had told Esme how I felt about her many times, but my mother was lovable by nature. It had felt like so much time had passed since he had married her, but now, about to step out to wait on my own bride, it seemed that, not so long ago, our roles had been reversed, and it was I who had stood beside him at his wedding.

I had been angry at Fate for many years. Always alone, even among my family - especially among my family - I had resigned myself to what I was, accepting my solitude as punishment for my sins. Yet I was forced to wonder now if my wait had served some other purpose. Without Carlisle's intervention in my death, I would never have met Bella, and certainly would not now be standing in my house, in a tuxedo with a sprig of freesia pinned to the lapel, about to make the most amazing creature to ever grace the Earth my very own wife.

Perhaps Fate had known what she was doing all along.

Reaching for Carlisle, careful not to crush our flowers, I hugged him tight, trying to say how I felt in the only way I seemed capable of at that moment.

Clapping his hands to my shoulders in return, he said in a low, husky voice, "I know, Edward. I know. It will be alright."

Feeling that he had understood what I hadn't been able to say, I grinned at him and nodded. Releasing him, I turned to face the doorway, hesitating for the briefest of seconds, purely to savor the moment. The music swelled with Rosalie's characteristic embellishments, and I took a step toward the altar to await my blushing bride, my Bella.

The crowd was a sea of faces. Right up front was Esme, with my brothers on either side of her. Emmett wore a mischievous grin, and I studiously tried to avoid hearing what I was certain his mind was thinking. Jasper, however, was basking in the emotional climate. His face was shining, reflecting the joy that he could feel pouring off of me. Meeting his eyes, I returned his grin with a brief flash of my teeth.

Bella's mother sat in the front row on the other side of the aisle. Renée's eyes were streaming with tears, which she kept blotting with a handkerchief in an attempt not to mess her eye make-up. Beside her was Bella's step-father Phil, still sporting a cast on his leg from a baseball coaching accident.

Here and there among the crowd were faces that stood out. Angela Weber was seated between her boyfriend Ben, and one of Bella's other friends, Jessica. Beside the petty girl was the horrid human boy whom I had disliked for so long. Deliberately meeting Mike Newton's eyes, it was all I could do not to show my teeth to him. He had once believed that he could make Bella his. Indeed, he had not stopped trying to do just that, even after had I told him of our engagement. He was holding Jessica's hand - much to her delight - and I wasn't sure whether to be happy for them or not. Both humans were superficial and self-absorbed, and I supposed they deserved each other. I hated to think of them inflicting their behavior on some other unsuspecting humans.

My opinion of them solidified when Jessica leaned over to whisper into Angela's ear, "So, um, d'you think Bella's gonna be showing?"

"Jess! She is not pregnant," Angela whispered back.

Esme nudged Emmett in the ribs hard as he nearly doubled over laughing.

"Okay," the petty girl mockingly agreed. "Who else gets married at eighteen?"

My shoulders shook slightly with laughter. Someday, when Bella could appreciate the humor, I'd have to tell her she'd been right - as she always was.

Recognizing several teachers from the school as well, I continued to glance around, distracting myself from searching for the one face I truly wanted to see. A few of the guests I only knew through Carlisle, as Alice had invited several of his closer colleagues and their families. Tanya was having a conversation with the human doctor whom she had chosen to sit beside, and I caught the amusement in her mind at the way he was stammering like a school-boy, despite being a successful surgeon. On her other side were Kate, Carmen, and Eleazar. The only cousin missing was Irina, but I would have been shocked if she had changed her mind and decided to join us, after all.

Catching an odd whiff of death among the very fragrant flowers, I was unsurprised to meet Billy Black's eyes. The old chief was seated next to a woman from the reservation whom I was unfamiliar with, but the boy on her other side gave me a huge grin and a wave when I met his eyes. Seth Clearwater was the source of the death smell, but given my friendship with the young werewolf, I decided that I didn't mind. He too was exposed to a smell he found unpleasant, but he ignored the way we smelled to him, just as my family was ignoring the way he smelled to us. I nodded back to him, pleased that he'd been able to come.

I wasn't sure that I could take much more waiting. Although I doubted I'd stood in front of the audience for more than a minute or two, it felt like hours already. The song Rosalie was playing shifted into the traditional wedding march, and I clasped my hands behind my back to hold myself still. My eyes instantly fixed on the top of the stairs where I knew my bride would soon be making her appearance.

I heard Bella's heart more clearly, and Alice's voice floated down to my ears. "It's my turn. Count to five and follow me."

Her head held high, her spiky hair tamed into curls that framed her pixie face, and her hands curled around a small bouquet of lilacs and freesia, Alice's excitement was palpable as she pranced down the stairs. My eyes met hers only briefly before they returned to the doorway at the top of the stairs where they'd been locked. As soon as Alice took her position on the opposite side of the arch from Carlisle, Rosalie bridged into the fanfare that announced the bride. As one, the audience stood and turned to face the wide, sweeping stairway.

Bella's heart stumbled and broke into a sprint. I inhaled, but couldn't detect anything of her over the scent of the flowers in the room. Holding myself as still as a statue to control my nervous excitement, it was all I could do not to sprint up the stairs to carry her to the altar myself.

The ringing notes that Rosalie was bringing forth from my piano were those of Wagner's Wedding March. Flamboyant as always, she couldn't resist personalizing the traditional song with a few of her own embellishments. I couldn't hold back the small chuckle hearing her play gave to me; usually our roles were reversed, and I was the one playing at her wedding! Although the song was amplified by hearing it through the ears of the waiting crowd as well as my own, nothing could stop me from hearing Bella's lovely voice whisper, "Don't let me fall, Dad," and I had to press my lips together hard to avoid laughing again.

At last, my eyes were filled with a sight that I knew I would remember for the rest of eternity: my Bella, dressed in white, holding tightly to the arm of her father, her eyes cast demurely down as she slowly descended the stairs. I felt my jaw drop in awe. An angel appearing directly from heaven could not have looked more lovely than Bella did in that moment. Usually, though she never hid the natural beauty of her clear skin under garish make-up, her baggy clothes would hide the fullness of her curves, and her hair would cascade over her shoulders in casual disarray.

Not today.

Except for a strand that hung on either side of her face, my bride's hair was carefully coiled, twisted, and braided, leaving her neckline exposed. The rich chestnut frame was a startling contrast to the white dress and gauzy veil that flowed down her back. I was very glad that Alice had not opted to hide Bella's face behind the veil, even if I would have enjoyed lifting it, unwrapping her like the gift to me that she was. The gown was a shimmery satin that hugged her body, showing off the smooth lines and curves of her figure.

Although I didn't much care for make-up, Alice's skills had enhanced Bella's creamy beauty more than I would have thought possible. Alice had brought out the rich chocolate of Bella's eyes with a smoky shadow that gave her an air of maturity which her youthful face normally lacked. She didn't look up until she reached the bottom of the stairs, and I managed to get my mouth closed in time not to be seen gaping at her, slack-jawed. Her blood rushed up to swirl under her skin, adding a hint of rosy blush to the soft cream.

The eyes I loved to stare into searched the room, and a look of surprise crossed her face. I guessed that Alice had wanted to save a few surprises for Bella, just as she had done for me. They swept the room once before settling on me. She looked like a frightened deer, ready to bolt at the slightest provocation, but the instant our eyes met, her entire demeanor changed. She had seemed stiff and scared as she clung to Charlie's arm during her walk down the stairs. Now, meeting my eyes, her body softened and the scared look melted away. I was certain that my love for her was shining in my eyes, just as hers was for me. Unable to help myself, I grinned at her and was rewarded with an answering upward curve of her sweet lips. She still looked ready to bolt, but I was sure it would have been straight into my arms if she had. Our bodies leaned toward each other and without needing Charlie's guidance, she floated down the aisle.

From dozens of angles, I watched my blushing bride walk toward me. The wedding dress which Alice had chosen had been made for Bella exactly, but I knew that it had also been made with me in mind. It was nothing like the low-cut, revealing dresses that many modern brides chose. Bella looked like she belonged to a different era - my era. Tearing my eyes away from her when she reached me at last, I met Charlie's gaze.

His face held a look of surprise as he took in mine and Bella's expressions. He held my eyes for a moment, and his thoughts would have been plain enough, even without my gift.

...really does love her... don't mess this up, kid... that's my baby girl you're taking from me...

Slowly, I unclasped my hands from behind my back and held one out to him. I tried to reassure him with my eyes that I knew what an honor he was bestowing upon me by placing her in my care.

Looking back to his daughter, he leaned close to her to place a kiss on her cheek. Her eyes closed as she leaned into him. When he looked back at me, his eyes were moist. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that any father would approve of me for his daughter. Charlie had disliked me from almost the moment that Bella had brought me into her life, and I knew that if he really knew what I was, he would never hand her over to me. Despite my past deeds, despite what I had done to Bella in particular, over the past few months he had become more accepting of me in his daughter's life, although I wouldn't have gone so far as to say he liked me.

Seeing the love we felt for each other, I felt a shifting in his mind. No longer that boy who was stealing his daughter, he seemed to see me as a young man who had given his heart to the young woman who stood between us. Holding himself straight, with all the dignity the occasion warranted, Charlie Swan willingly placed his daughter's hand in mine.

The instant her skin touched mine, I felt a zing sweep through my body. Her warmth and her love were like an electric charge. Although my heart didn't beat, I felt her pulse resonating within me. She was vibrant, and her life-force seemed to reach right inside of me. She said she wanted to be like me, but what she didn't seem to understand was that I wanted to be like her.

Knowing that she would soon become a vampire and that we would be spending eternity together, Bella had requested one specific change in the traditional wedding vows. Rather than till death do us part, she wanted for as long as we both would live. I had felt uneasy about that change until that moment. When it came time for me to say the words, I knew that I could speak them with a clear conscience. Before Bella, I had merely been existing. Her love had brought me back to life.

Only truly conscious of Bella's hand in mine, I was vaguely aware that Mr. Weber was speaking. His words flowed effortlessly, evidence of his long years giving sermons and presiding over other weddings. I knew only that they were binding Bella's life with mine. Hearing the cue, I turned to face her, twining my other hand with hers.

"Do you, Isabella Marie Swan, take this man, Edward Anthony Masen Cullen, to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, for as long as you both shall live?"

My blushing bride stared into my eyes as she gave herself to me, and her melted chocolate eyes filled with tears. Those tears spilled over when she vowed, "I do."

Mr. Weber repeated the question to me, and I knew my eyes would be filled with tears too, if it were only possible. My voice rang out, claiming Bella for my own. "I do."

Following Mr. Weber's prompt, Carlisle gave Bella's ring to me as she took mine from Alice. "The wedding ring is a symbol of a love that never ends, the joining of two hearts as lovers, partners, and friends. Its giving is a promise that the future years will bring a love that will continue like the circle of a ring. Repeat after me..."

I slid the slender gold band onto her finger, where it nestled against the ring which I had already given to her. "I, Edward Cullen, give you, Bella Swan, this ring to wear as a symbol of my eternal love for you. With this ring, I thee wed."

I could feel the warmth of her body in the gold circle she had held in her hand when she slid my own wedding ring onto my finger, repeating the simple words in a whisper that I heard as clearly as if she were shouting them.

When he granted me permission to kiss my bride, I took my hands out of hers so that I could place them against her petal-soft cheeks. Her body leaned toward mine and love shone in her beautiful eyes. I held her face in my hands and paused, just for a second, unable to believe that I could be so lucky. Bella was mine! Slowly leaning down, I pressed my lips against my wife's. Her soft mouth shaped itself around my stone lips, and her body rose to meet me. Winding her arms about my neck, Bella wrapped me in her warm love.

The world faded from my awareness. All I knew was that I was kissing Bella, that she had promised herself to me for eternity, and that I was the luckiest creature to have ever walked the Earth. Her rapid pulse thrummed against me, her scent wrapped around me just as her arms did, and I held Bella Cullen in my arms at last. From the very start, her kisses had been less than careful. Her exuberance now was an expression of her vibrant love, just as it had been in the beginning. She didn't seem to care that the whole world was watching as she kissed me, and neither did I.

Our lips came together and parted, only to meet again. Her breath smelled better than the flowers that filled the room. Acutely aware of how fragile she was, I resisted the urge to pick her up and hold her body against me, opting instead to allow her to press herself to me as tightly as she wished. I could have spent years kissing her under the flowery arch, and it wouldn't have been long enough. She was in no hurry to break the kiss either. I pressed my forehead against hers, slid one hand to the back of her neck briefly so that I could rub our cheeks together, and ran my nose down the length of hers. Seeking her mouth over and over, I breathed her in as I basked in the knowledge that Bella was mine forever. Mine!

Eventually, the world intruded on the moment. My brothers were wolf-whistling loudly with their thoughts. Charlie pointedly cleared his throat amidst the giggles of Bella's classmates. Reminding myself that I had the rest of eternity to kiss her, I pulled away from her soft mouth. Her eyes were dancing when they met mine, and I was surprised to see a look of defiance in them. They were fierce and bright and I realized that the fire in her eyes was a possessiveness worthy of any vampire. Her face and eyes had always been the best ways I had to read her, since her mind was silent to me. As clearly as if she spoke the words, I could read what she was thinking: I was hers, just as she belonged to me.

A smile spread across my face. She had seemed to dread the day for so long, had resisted agreeing to marry me for months, and had argued against making our union official, while I had done everything in my power to convince her otherwise. I could see in her face a joy that mirrored my own, and I knew that her protests no longer mattered - not because we were married now, but because she wanted to be and was glad that we were. I nearly laughed aloud. For once, I had been right.