Ch 8

Spring break came and the Cullens were in a tizzy trying to throw together a shotgun wedding. Carlisle was big on not living in sin, having married Peter and Charlotte during their first meeting.

It was during the dress fitting that I was able to talk to Carlisle, Eleazar, and Edward. We were at Peter's, far enough away from the girls to have privacy.

He seemed just as horrified as the rest of us, but kept his cool.

"It sounds similar to the gift possessed by a member of the guard. Alec, he has the power to numb your senses. The Volturi uses his gift as a courtesy in their... judgments." Eleazar remarked. "Only you cease to see or hear or feel anything."

I had been definitely able to see and feel.

"Time stopper, maybe." Edward supplied.

If Jessica was indeed a time stopper, she could be the deadliest being on the planet. My fear only grew.

"We'll stay quiet. You must get her under control, though," Carlisle warned.

That meant training, practicing her gift. I wasn't sure if that was a task I could handle.

The wedding was held on Saturday in a makeshift chapel that Emmett and Rosalie had built. Rose had been trying so hard to earn my forgiveness, but it wasn't me she needed to make things good with. Even though it seemed insignificant to the rest of us, Jessica had missed the best parts of the rest of her human life.

"I know it's not the same in the least bit. Prom isn't exactly giving birth to a child, but you robbed her of her choices just like you accuse Carlisle of having done to you." It was a low blow, but a blow she needed to receive. "Everytime you bemoan your existence, Carlisle feels guilt. He didn't understand how love worked back then. He only thought you and Edward would be a good match and felt that your beauty was too much to be wasted by death. Everytime you bemoan your existence, Emmett, your mate, feels that bear attack all over again. Ask Edward. Emmett is incapable of imagining an existence with out you."

Rosalie's angelic face crumpled. Of course she hadn't realized her selfishness affected others. Just like I hadn't when Peter knocked sense into me.

She had a lot of apologies to make, but it would have to wait until after the ceremony.

Peter, of course, walked my bride down the aisle. I could feel her happiness as she was handed off to me, albeit a few months too late.

Edward played a beautiful piece from his spot at the piano and then Carlisle began his sermon.

"We are here today for a celebration of love and new beginnings. Many of you believe that we are damned and have no souls. I am here to not only join these two in holy matrimony, but to remind each of us that whether or not we have souls, we have feelings. We have desires and dreams. Our existence is not wasted if we spend our time with the ones' we love doing what we dream to do. We love, we forgive, we build bridges and tear down walls. If that's not what makes up a soul, I don't know what does."

"Before I continue, does anyone here have any objections for why these two should not be wed?" Carlisle asked as a formality before getting into the meat of the ceremony.

Jessica and I exchanged rings and vows before sharing our first kiss under God's watchful eye and being pronounced husband and wife.

"Oh, that was so beautiful my dear friend," an unfamiliar voice spoke from the entrance of the chapel.

Trouble had arrived.