Stephenie Meyer owns all of the rights.
– if you want to see the dress, tell me so in your review and I'll PM you the link.
"I've never seen anyone so prone to life-threatening idiocy."
– New Moon
Over the next few weeks, I spent a great amount of time studying the ring that Edward had slipped onto my finger. It was a silver band with several small emeralds built into it. I loved it. It had an antique feel, but it was also very fashionable. Esme had confided in me that it had been Edward's mother's ring; Carlisle had taken it off of her finger before he slipped Edward out the morgue door. That intrigued me, but Edward didn't really want to talk about it. I was okay with that because he was happy, I was happy, life was great... Honestly.
Okay, who was I kidding? Life was insane!
Of course everyone (but me) knew that Edward was going to propose. And as soon as I had accepted his offer, Alice had been able to tell everyone that I had said 'yes' to the youngest son. I couldn't believe how happy Esme and Alice and Rose were. It was fantastic – a real bonding experience, if you asked me.
Okay, actually it was really chaotic, if you asked me. It was insanely chaotic, actually. I didn't care for it at all. It was insane! Yes, I was ecstatic at the thought of marrying Edward, my love... but I didn't want to do anything that Alice and Rose (and Esme, but not as forcefully) were suggesting... like trying on a million different wedding gowns that looked exactly the same as the last (to me, anyway) or picking out colors for a wedding or anything like that. I hated it, truly.
It was stressful!
Silly me for thinking that I could hide my distress, too.
"Bella," Jasper said to me one day as I sat on the ground, flipping through yet another Modern Bride magazine. My head snapped up, to attention. My eyes were unfocused for a moment - a wave of bows and frills still flying before them – before I nodded to let him know that he had my attention. "You're too stressed."
"Huh?" was about the only comprehendible sentence that I could muster.
"Stop stressing. You know you can always tell them to back off," he reminded me as I felt calmed. I knew he was purposefully trying to calm me down, but it was nice, so I wouldn't argue with that!
"I guess so," I admitted, shifting the magazine out of view in a guilty manner.
"Really, Bells," he said fondly, using the nickname that Edward had given to me. "You don't have to go through with a big shindig, if you don't want to. I mean, Rose and Emmett do every so often - but that's them. Esme and Carlisle and Alice and I aren't constantly getting remarried. That's just for Rose and Emmett. If you don't want it to be some big deal, then don't let it be. You're definitely old enough to make your own decisions," he added with a chuckle.
Yes, I was old enough.
But was I strong enough? I didn't want to kill that light that Esme had in her eyes when she talked about the wedding. And Alice was way too excited, too. And so was Rose – we were finally accepting that it had always been our fate to be sisters. To some level – a very shallow level – Rose did care about me. But that's how she cared about everyone, Emmett excluded. She thought very highly of herself, though, which could be rather annoying sometimes.
"Bella!" Alice screeched, running into the room from the hall way. I visibly winced – I had good hearing, too. We didn't need to run around the house screaming at each other!
"I'll let you ladies to it," Jasper told me with a wink. Under his breath, he added to me, "Remember, you don't have to do this if you don't want to."
It's not that I didn't want to marry Edward. I did, more so than anything. But I didn't really want such a big affair. I didn't really have a reason to. The only people that would be coming were the Cullen's. I had no other vampire friends. Perhaps, though, Edward would want to invite those from Denali. I hadn't asked him about it. But that'd be what? 12 people, including Edward and I, in attendance? That, I could deal with...
"Bella!" I heard the wave of excitement quiver through Alice's voice and I directed my attention back to her.
"Yes, Alice?" I inquired, though I wasn't sure if I wanted to know the news.
"I've found the perfect dress for you. You'll just love it."
"Is it to die for?" I asked, attempting some humor. She just shot me a look and pretended as if I hadn't spoken.
"Come," she said, pulling me up off the floor and towards the staircase. She dragged me up the stairs and to her room as fast as she possibly could with me dragging my heels, so to speak.
"What did you see, Alice?" I tried again. New wording. Same meaning.
"Look!" She exclaimed this latest statement as she plopped me in front of her computer screen.
I rolled my eyes up to the screen and thought perhaps my jaw had dropped in shock. This was the most beautiful dress that I had seen since we started to do a silly dress search. It was simple, yet elegant... and it was something that I felt as if I could pull off. I wouldn't look as gorgeous as the model in the photo – of course not – but... I would feel pretty.
"What do you think?" Alice asked me with a grin.
I had to restrain myself from touching the photo of the dress on the computer screen.
"It's beautiful," I responded in barely a whisper; I was breathless.
The dress was so white, it was awing. It was perhaps a shade or two lighter than my pale, colorless skin. It was strapless with a "scalloped sweetheart" neckline. On the front, extending from the top of the dress to perhaps the midriff, was a floral-vine design in a rich, red color. It wasn't fire engine red or anything – it was just a beautiful red. I loved it. I wanted it. I looked at the price – just under $400 – and knew that I could have it.
If there was any such thing, I knew that it was the perfect wedding dress for a vampire.
"I want it," I told a grinning Alice.
"Good – I made you an appointment to have it fitted in thirty minutes," she informed me as she tugged me away from the computer screen and into her car. Ugh- Alice was going to be the death of me.
Rosalie and Esme were coming along, too, as "moral support". That's how they put it, at any rate. They "oohed" and "awed" at the dress when I tried it on. I must say, with my pale skin and dark hair and unusual colored eyes, it looked beautiful. And that was me being modest. There were no alterations that needed to be made, much to my surprise. I loved the dress, I loved how beautiful I felt in it, and I knew that if I wore it to our wedding, Edward would love it, too.
Alice bought it right there on the spot. We whisked it away to home and hid it in the closet. The girls kept their minds on other things for the rest of the day (and evening) so that Edward couldn't see what the dress looked like.
As insane as it sounded, I was getting married and I was enjoying the thought more and more every day!