Happy Friday the 13th, everyone! Are you superstitious? I'm not really, I guess growing up with a black cat and being fascinated with vampires and witches kinda ruined it for me. LOL But I did see something interesting on the news this morning. We have three Friday the 13ths this year. This one, one in April and again in July and all three of them are exactly 13 weeks apart. Interesting? Freaky? You decide.
Thank you My-Bella and Hope4more, for all the time you put into the edits and re-edits and for making sure I put all those annoying commas in all the right places. You both Rock!
Disclaimer:
All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. Stephenie Meyer owns anything and everything relating to Twilight and its characters. No copyright infringement is intended.
The original aspects of this story—all of the original characters, plot, names, nicknames are all the property of the author—eternally addicted. Unauthorized use of such material is plagiarism. In simple terms—it's theft. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise mentioned in this story. No reproduction, downloading, copying, reposting, or any other kind of redistribution of this story or its contents is permitted without my express written authorization.
*~Bella~*
December 22, 2011
"You're awake early," Edward murmured against my skin as he trailed soft kisses along my neck from where he stood behind me while I poured myself another cup of coffee. I was on my third since sleeping hadn't come easy or had felt even remotely restful last night.
"Couldn't sleep."
"Mmm, I'm not surprised." He kissed the top of my head and moved around me to grab a cup from the cabinet.
"I just…I want so badly for what my mother has told me to be true, but I'm afraid to really believe that it can be."
I buried my face into my hands as I propped my elbows on the counter and let out a long sigh of frustration. Our wedding was in two days and my mother and her boyfriend Phil were arriving today. Their flight wouldn't be arriving until late this afternoon and then after checking into their hotel and freshening up they would be coming here to our house to have dinner with Edward and me. I still felt a little guilty for not offering them our guest room, but if things didn't go well with dinner, I wanted to have some distance between us. I didn't want to feel as though I was walking on egg shells in my own home and because my mother hadn't even hinted at staying here, I was hopeful she understood.
It might have seemed silly to some, but when my mother had first called with their travel plans, I asked her to arrive today instead of tomorrow. If for whatever reason things went badly, I didn't want it to happen at the rehearsal dinner tomorrow night in front of everyone and I certainly didn't want it casting any hint of a shadow over my and Edward's wedding. I had already told Edward that if things got rough tonight and she didn't appear to be sincere that I was going to ask her to leave and not bother to attend our wedding. Maybe it was selfish and childish of me but I refused to let her ruin my and Edward's day if her so called change of heart wasn't true. I was also aware that I was focused more on the negative possibilities than the positive ones, but it was my mother's own actions that had left me feeling very skeptical about whether or not she had really changed.
"You know you could still take my mother up on her offer to have dinner tonight at their house. On neutral ground," Edward suggested while sitting next to me at our breakfast bar.
Thinking about what he'd said and actually considering for a second how much easier it might be to take Esme up on her offer, I knew in my heart I couldn't. I had to face my mother head on and felt that this was the way to do it.
Rubbing my hands back and forth across my face a few times, I cradled my head in one hand so I was facing Edward. Raising my cup with the other to take a slow sip of my coffee, I pondered over my response. "I know I could, and I love that your mom offered, but it's really hardly neutral ground. If Renee isn't sincere and still has an issue with me marrying you, then your parents' house is only going to fuel her feelings. I think she'd feel trapped and ganged up on there if she has any plans to try and get me to back out at the last minute."
"And you're sure you want to do it here? Would you rather we go out to dinner? Do you think she'd be less likely to start an argument in public?" he asked while brushing my hair back out of my face and leaning over to give me a sweet reassuring kiss, letting me know he'd back whatever decision I made.
"No. You've seen my mother when she's on one of her tirades. I won't have her make a public spectacle of us either. I haven't seen her for months so I'm just not that confident that if she got worked up enough that she would behave even in a public setting. We both work in this town and neither of us needs to become the newest hot topic for the gossipers. They're almost as bad as the ones in Forks."
"Would be worse if old Mrs. Cope ever moved to Port Angeles," he added with a smirk.
"Isn't that the truth," I said with a snort and couldn't help smiling. Poor old Mrs. Cope really did think that she was offering the townspeople of Forks a valuable service by spreading everyone's business to whomever would let her chat their ear off.
"Made ya smile," he said softly, draping his arm around me and kissing me again.
"You always do," I told him.
"As long as you're sure, baby, then I'm fine with them coming here."
"I am. Besides I want her to see what we have. I want her to see how happy I am. See the home we've created for ourselves and that I'm not lacking for anything. That just because my idea of happy is different from hers it doesn't mean it's wrong. We have a beautiful home and an amazing life that is only going to get better. I love you and I love the life we have created for ourselves here. I refuse to let her undermine it ever again."
"And if she truly has changed?" Edward asked, quirking an eyebrow in curiosity.
"Then I am happy that she has. I want her to be happy and if she's changed I welcome her to be a part of our lives. It's still going to take some time for me to completely trust her again, and for our relationship to be anywhere near what it used to be. But it will be a start and truthfully that is all I am really hoping for."
"Okay," he agreed. "Just remember if at any time it becomes too much, I have no problem with throwing her out."
"My superhero," I sighed. "Always here to save the day."
"I'll show you super," he growled, pulling me off my stool and spinning it so he could trap me between his legs and the counter. "How about we go shower together? You know in the name of water conservation and all."
"I couldn't think of a better way to start the day." Without another word, coffee cups were left abandoned and we were racing down the stairs to our room.
*x*x*x*x*
"Dinner was fantastic, Bella," Renee said as she placed her napkin on the table and took a sip of her wine.
"I second that," Phil added.
So far things had gone pretty well. It was clear we were all a bit apprehensive, but I really didn't see any way around it. It was just one of those things that were going to require time to move past. My mother had seemed truly happy to be here, impressed with our house and excited about the wedding when we talked about it while showing them around the house after they had first arrived.
"Thank you," I replied.
"Phil, why don't I show you the deck and the view we have over into Canada?" Edward suggested, effectively ending the awkward silence that seemed to have overcome us all now that dinner was over. He knew that my mother and I needed some time alone to talk and by offering to show Phil around outside, it gave us the opportunity.
"Sure," Phil replied.
The two men got up and walked over to the door leading outside. I stood to start clearing the table of the dishes and looked up just in time to see Edward wink at me and mouth to me that he loved me on his way out the door. It was his way of letting me know that he would be right outside if I needed him.
"Let me help you," my mother offered.
I nodded and continued clearing the table.
Once the table was cleared and the leftover food put away, I set about loading the dishwasher and cleaning up the kitchen. I knew we needed to talk, I wanted to talk, but just didn't know where or how to begin.
"You're just like your father, you know," my mother said as she leaned against the counter next to me.
"What do you mean?" I asked and glanced over at her while grabbing another dish to rinse before putting it in the dishwasher.
"Well when you have something on your mind and you're not ready to talk about it or you don't know how to talk about it, you become this hyperactive busy body as if you need to exert some physical energy to allow you to get your thoughts straight."
"Oh." Her observation surprised me at first, but as I thought about it, I could remember a few times when I had seen my father doing exactly as she'd said.
"Charlie used to clean his guns, rearrange things in the garage or organize his tackle box to busy his hands while his mind worked things out in its own way. I swear I had often wondered if he had his bait and tackle arranged in alphabetical order in that old tool box he kept it all in. And you're doing the same thing now."
I smiled remembering that old tool box. He had far too many lures and other fishing gadgets to use a regular tackle box, so he bought a new tool box for the tools and used the old one for his fishing stuff. I was fairly certain she had no clue that I still had my father's old tackle box packed away with a few other things of his I had kept.
Nodding at her again, I stopped what I was doing and grabbed a dish towel from the counter. I dried my hands and looked up at her. I could see pain and regret in her eyes. For the first time since I had been in contact with my mother again I truly felt like maybe she was really sincere.
"Phil seems really great. He seems to be really good for you."
"He is."
She took both my hands in hers and pulled me over to the breakfast bar that separated the living room and kitchen. We sat down on the stools there and she continued to hold my hands.
Letting out a long sigh she began to talk, "I know I have a lot to make up for not only to you, but I know that by hurting you I hurt Edward too. I've said some things to both of you that I am not proud of. I can't take them back, but I do honestly regret saying them."
"You did. It really hurt him to see me in so much pain. It's hard to watch someone you love be hurt by someone else that is supposed to love them just as much if not more," I told her, using the exact way Edward had once described it to me. "And Mom, you also hurt Carlisle and Esme. You and Dad were such close friends with them and they still regarded you as such even after we moved to Arizona. What you did…How you hurt Edward and me. It hurt them too."
"I know," she whispered. Her voice shook as she started to speak again. "I've hurt all of you with my selfishness and my refusal to see things for what they really were. I know that saying I'm sorry doesn't begin to cover it, Isabella. There may not even be an apology possible to make up for what I've done, but I really am sorry. I can't even begin to tell you how much I regret what I've done. How I've hurt you. Do you believe me?"
"I want to," I said taking a deep breath, knowing it was time for me to tell her how I felt. It was time for me to be completely honest with her. "It's really, really hard to though. When I first heard from you I wasn't sure. Hell I wasn't sure this morning and I'm not now. But I want to believe you. Seeing you here now. Hearing the sincerity in your words and seeing the remorse in your eyes and for the first time actually feeling that you mean it all. I think I do." I swiped away a couple of tears that slid down my face and went on. "But even if I do believe you, you have to understand that it is going to take a long time for me to trust you again. You hurt me really bad, Mom. I couldn't, still don't, understand how a mother could do that to her child. Say the things to me that you said."
I couldn't hold it in any longer and broke down crying. It was just too hard not to.
"Shhh, baby," my mother said as she wrapped her arms around me and held me while I let it all out. "I'm so, so sorry, baby. I wish I could take this pain away."
I was a bit shocked by the tenderness and sincerity in her effort to comfort me. My first instinct had been to pull away from her. After all she was the cause of the pain I was feeling. She had caused this rift between us. But at the same time I found myself craving it. She was still my mother, the only living parent I had left and despite the pain she had caused me I still loved her and wanted her to be in my life if she was truly sincere in her regrets and her desire to make things right between us. It felt like it had been a lifetime since she had acted this way with me. Since she had acted like she truly cared. Since she had acted like my mother.
After a few minutes I pulled myself together. "I really want to start fresh and work to put things right between us, Mom. But I have to know that you are being completely honest here. If you hurt me again it will be the last time. I won't be a part of your life nor you mine if you ever try to behave as you have in the past."
"I want that too, baby. And I promise you that I will never hurt you again or ever take you for granted. You have grown into such a wonderful young woman and I have been such a fool not to see it," she said while handing me a tissue she'd grabbed from the box on the breakfast bar. "I want this so much."
"It's not going to be easy or instant," I told her as I wiped my eyes.
"I didn't expect it would be. But it will be worth it. You are worth it." She paused briefly to wipe her own eyes and then took my hands into hers. Looking me directly in the eye and holding my gaze with hers she said, "All I am asking for is the chance. Can you give me that?"
"Yeah. I can do that. It's going to take some time, but I do want to work on it."
She pulled me into a hug. "I love you, Isabella."
"I love you too, Mom." And I really did. She hurt me deeply, but at the end of the day she was still my mother and after everything I'd read in her letter as well as the copy of my grandmother's letter she had sent with it, I could see why she was so determined to hang on to me so tightly. It didn't excuse her actions or make them right, but I knew that if I ever lost Edward again, it would devastate me and because of that, I understood why she was so desperate to cling to me. So I was willing to try. I had to. No matter what she was still my mother and there was a time when we had been really close and I wanted that again. It would take time, but I now had hope we could get there again someday.
We headed back into the kitchen and just a few seconds later Edward and Phil came in from outside.
"You okay?" Edward asked walking up behind me and sliding his arms around my waist. Kissing the top of my head he then whispered in my ear, "Or at least as okay as you can be for now?"
"Yeah. We talked and we're both ready to try. We both know it's going to take time," I told him while leaning back against him, feeling the security of his embrace, and being grateful that I would have him with me every step of the way.
I turned and saw Phil and my mom talking softly back and forth and realized just how much in love they were. I could see how much they truly cared for each other in the tender way he caressed her arm, the way her hand rested on his chest and the way she looked at him. While I didn't know if I could ever love again if I lost Edward, I could see just how good Phil was for my mother and I was happy for her. For them.
"Well, how about dessert?" Edward asked trying to lighten the mood. And in doing so it didn't mean he was letting my mother off the hook, it just meant that he could see that enough had been talked about for now and we could all use a break from the heaviness that was hanging in the air around us.
"What did Bella make?" my mother asked with a smile. "I know how much she loves to bake."
"She made turtle fudge brownies," Edward answered as he turned to pull them out of the fridge.
"Well I never could resist chocolate," Phil said causing us all to laugh. However as I looked over at him to admit to my own chocolate addiction, I saw him gazing, like a man who was head over heels in love, at my mother. More specifically her eyes. I may have gotten my personality traits and hair color from my father, but my other physical characteristics came from my mother, including my eye color.
Edward had often told me that my eyes were like pools of molten chocolate and I found myself now wondering if that was how Phil thought of my mother's eyes as well. Seeing them like this really made it easy to see how much he loved her and that really did make me happy.
I shut the dishwasher and started it. Then the four of us sat at the table and had our brownies as we talked about the wedding. I was beyond excited to become Edward's wife and in less than two days now I would do just that.
*X*X*X*X*
Christmas Eve, 2011
Lifting my head off the pillow, I opened my eyes just a tiny sliver before quickly closing them again in resistance to the bright sunlight that was currently streaming in through the open blinds of Edward's childhood room.
Please let the sun holdout for the entire day, I silently prayed to myself.
We'd spent last night at Carlisle and Esme's house after the rehearsal dinner. Their house was just a few minutes from the inn and with the possibility of freezing rain today, Christmas Eve, my wedding day, we didn't want anything to interfere with us being able to make it to our own wedding. Nothing, not even Mother Nature herself, was going to stop Edward and me from getting married today.
"Go away," I mumbled loudly while burying my head into the pillow when someone banged on the bedroom door. I was sure it was Alice coming to begin her beauty torture routine.
"You do realize we have to get out of this bed to get married, right?" I heard Edward ask while chuckling. He snaked his arm around my waist and slid his leg over mine and scooted closer to me until he was partially lying on top of me.
I turned my head to the right and was just barely able to raise it enough to kiss Edward's cheek. "Can't we just stay here and have Reverend Weber perform the ceremony here?"
He peppered a few soft kisses to my shoulder before saying, "We could if that's what you really want."
"You'd do that? You'd really marry me right here in this bed?"
He slid his hand under my stomach and pulled me with him as he rolled over and brushed the hair off my face so he could look me in the eyes.
"Bella, I would marry you in the middle of the Thriftway canned foods aisle if that was what I had to do to make you Mrs. Edward Cullen. All that matters to me is at the end of the day, you are my wife."
How does a girl respond to that? I knew the how and the where wasn't what was important to us. I knew what he said was right because I felt the same way. His tease of running off to Rio would have been fine with me. But that would have been incredibly selfish of us. So we would give our families this moment to share with us. Like Edward had said, all that was important was that at the end of the day we'd be husband and wife.
"I love you so much," I said softly. I stroked my hand across his cheek a few times, then slid my hand behind his head and pulled him down to me for a kiss.
We were interrupted by another loud knock and the turning of the door knob, telling us whoever it was, was going to enter the room.
"My eyes are closed. Tell me if it's safe to look."
Instead of the insistent voice of Edward's sister we'd expected to hear when the door opened, we heard the soft caring voice of his mother.
Edward winked and held his finger over his mouth to silently tell me to be quiet. "Just a sec, mom," he told her.
I didn't know what he was up to until he covered my mouth with his again and gave me a mind scrambling, toe curling kiss. He then rolled and reached over the edge of the bed and grabbed his sleep pants and the shirt of his we'd gone to bed in last night. They hadn't been on long, having been quickly discarded when we'd made love.
"Okay, we're decent now," he told his mother. I felt a little guilty when I saw that she'd been standing there holding a breakfast tray full of food for the two of us, but I couldn't be sorry for the amazing kiss I'd gotten either.
"Good morning. Well it's morning for the two of you anyways. It's nearly lunch time for the rest of us," Esme said while smiling radiantly at us. Her smile was nearly as bright as the sun shining outside.
She walked over to the bed and Edward reached out, taking the tray from her and settling it on the bed between us. Noticing there was not only breakfast foods on it, there was also some lunch items as well, I twisted around and grabbed my cell phone from behind me on the bookcase headboard of the bed, thinking it surely couldn't really be that late.
"Holy crap," I gasped.
"What's wrong, baby?" Edward asked looking at me slightly concerned.
"It's a quarter past noon."
Esme sat on the edge of the bed near the foot and continued to smile at us. "I thought I'd give you both the chance to sleep in. I remember being up at the crack of dawn on my wedding day and by the time we were halfway through the reception I was exhausted. Of course shortly after we found out I was already expecting Emmett, but still if I'd been able to sleep in that day it would have helped my energy levels tremendously."
"Thanks, Mom. We really do appreciate it."
"I thought you were going to be Alice ready to drag me off to play beauty boot camp with me," I admitted while letting out a sigh of relief. I loved Alice to death, but the girl was a beauty queen drill sergeant from hell sometimes.
"Well, dear, that was part of the reason I let you guys sleep. Plus I know we were all up late last night chatting with everyone downstairs after the rehearsal. But don't dally much longer, she'll be here—"
"Right now," Alice interjected as she entered the room. "I can't believe the two of you are still in bed. Bella we have so much to do, you should be showered and ready to start."
"You have plenty of time, munchkin," Edward told her. "After all, it's not like it will take much to get Bella ready. You can't improve on perfection you know." He leaned down and kissed me before sitting up and shoving a piece of bacon in his mouth and flashing his sister a sly smirk.
"Ugh, you two are so damn wishy washy and cheesy. It's sickening," Alice groaned while making a fake gagging motion with her finger pointing at her mouth.
"Come on, Alice. Let them eat and then you can have your fun with Bella," Esme ordered while dragging her daughter out of the room. Edward and I both waved goodbye to his sister with wide sarcastic smirks on our faces as she gapped like a fish unable to offer an argument against her mother's wishes. At the last minute when she stole one last glance in the room, I couldn't resist sticking my tongue out at her. After all it was my wedding day, so I could do whatever I wanted, right?
*X*X*X*X*
"Sit still, Bella." Drill sergeant Alice was in full swing while she ordered me to do what she asked as she brushed, twirled, curled and pulled my hair.
"How much longer, Alice? I thought this was a simple hairdo you were giving me. You know, the one in the picture I showed you?"
"We're almost done. And while the hair style itself was simple, your hair had to be curled first."
"Okay, so…"
"So?" Alice huffed and raised her hands up in the air, forgetting that she still had the curling iron with my hair wrapped around it in one.
"Ow! Shit, Alice. You don't have to rip my hair out of my head"
"Damn," she gasped, burning her finger when the curling iron almost slipped out of her hand.
"Serves you right," I muttered. But then when our eyes met in the mirror in front of me, we both burst out laughing.
"Sorry," we chimed in unison just like when we were younger.
But of course Alice being Alice, she had to get her say in. "Seriously though, Bella. You have a thick head of hair. Not to mention it's so long. These things take time."
Fortunately for me and my hair, she was finished with it about fifteen minutes later. I was thrilled with the results. My hair hung in soft curls down my back, with the front of it twisted back loosely and held in place by pearl embellished hair pins.
"You ready to get into your dress now?" she asked after helping me put on the necklace Edward had given me earlier as a wedding gift.
It was a circle of love pendant that had nestled in the bottom of the circle, my and Edward's birthstones with the stone for December in between them to signify the month we were getting married in. I had given him a money clip that was engraved with our initials and our wedding date. He had mentioned to me that he was tired of carrying a wallet and how a money clip would be more convenient so I got him one.
"Been ready since I got up this morning," I said through the ear splitting grin I felt spread across my face as my hand reached up and felt the necklace.
"You mean this afternoon?" she teased, quirking her eyebrow at me.
"Whatever," I told her with a roll of my eyes.
I got up and walked over to the closet door and unzipped the white garment bag that hung there containing my gown. Once the bag was completely open I brushed the bag back off the hanger and stood there looking at my dress.
"You're going to be so beautiful. Edward is going to be speechless when he see's you," Alice whispered. She had come to stand next to me and had clasped my hand in hers. "I know I gave you crap earlier about being cheesy and all, but it's so clear to us all how very much the two of you love each other. He was never this happy when you were gone."
"Neither was I." I'd barely said the words loud enough to be heard. It was hard to think about that time.
"Okay, this is supposed to be a happy day, so let's get you into your dress," Alice ordered. "Oh here don't forget this," she said handing me a small flat box and winking at me.
I snickered when I realized what it was she had handed to me. "I wonder what your brother will think when he finds out that the garter isn't the only thing that's purple under my dress."
"Your garter is purple?" she asked. "Let me see. And why?"
After wondering briefly if she had caught all of my statement or if she'd focused solely on the fact that I had a purple garter, I opened the box and showed her the garter that Edward had picked out. "He popped in at my office for lunch one day, saying he knew it didn't go with our wedding theme, but he loved the color on me so much he couldn't resist when he saw it."
She let out a few giggles. "Jasper has a thing for green."
"Your eyes?" I asked her.
"Yeah he says he likes it on me, and says what it does to the color of my eyes really gets to him."
"I could see that," I told her. "I love green on Edward too and you guys have practically the same color of eyes."
"Okay, enough of our husbands' pervy preferences. Let's get you dressed. Can't have you late for your own wedding," she said.
I turned to her and pulled her in for a hug. "It's real. This is really going to happen isn't it? Edward is going to be my husband."
"It really is, sweetie."
Alice and I turned simultaneously when we heard the door to the room open. She had just finished zipping my gown for me and helping me slip on my shoes. In walked Esme, Rose and my mother.
"Oh, Isabella," my mother gasped while clasping her visibly shaking hand over her mouth.
"Bella, honey, you are beautiful," Esme said as both women embraced me between the two of them and sandwiched me in a hug.
I had seen my mother and Esme deep in conversation last night at dinner after the rehearsal and it gave me hope that my mother was making amends with her friend too.
"Now let us get a better look at you," my mother demanded as their arms loosened the tight grip they'd had on me.
"Didn't I tell you her dress was gorgeous and she was going to be gorgeous in it?" Esme added as they walked around me and took in the details of my appearance.
I watched my mother's face for any hint of animosity towards Esme for being there to help me shop for my dress and filling in for all the things that a mother would normally do, but all I saw was a glint of sadness in her eyes that told me she wished she had been there too.
"Oh, Bella, baby. You are just stunning. Look at yourself. Do you see how beautiful you are?" my mother asked.
I turned to face the full length mirror and gazed at my reflection. She was right. I wasn't one who would normally say I was stunning, I didn't think I looked bad or ever put myself down, but I could truly see how pretty I looked today. And looking at my dress, I was so happy that I had chosen it. It was different than what I had thought I'd want, but seeing it on me now I knew there was never any other option.
My gown made me feel like a princess. It was strapless with a criss-cross design to the bodice that was topped off by a sweetheart neckline which was accented with thousands of crystal beads and rhinestones. The dress then spread out into a full classic ball gown type skirt that consisted of layers of tulle and taffeta covered with layers of glitter netting that gave it just the right amount of sparkle. I absolutely loved it.
"I do," I said finally answering her.
"Well now, we have just a couple more details to take care of before you say those words to my son," Esme insisted with a smile.
"What details are you talking about? All I need are my flowers."
"And here they are," Rose said, giving me a quick hug before handing me my bouquet of red roses.
"Really now? Then you already have something old, something new—"
"Something borrowed and something blue?" my mother asked, finishing Esme's sentence for her perfectly, almost as if they had rehearsed saying it together.
"Oh my gosh, Bella," Alice gasped. "I totally forgot about all those things. I can't believe I did that. Again."
Her last word had been nothing more than a whisper and I knew she was about to beat herself up over it. I didn't know what the "again" part of Alice's words had meant, but I wasn't going to let her feel guilty for forgetting anything about today. She had been such a tremendous help to me and Edward and we hadn't given anyone much time to throw together the details of our wedding. However before I could say anything, Esme did.
"No worries," she said kissing her daughter on the cheek. "We'll save Bella just like Rose and I did you on your wedding day. We know how you get all wrapped up in all the other details."
"Your dress is your something new," my mother said.
"And my necklace from Edward," I told them.
Esme smiled in agreement after looking at it and then placing a small white box in my hand she added, "And I have your something borrowed."
I removed the lid to the box to find a pair of diamond and pearl earrings. I wasn't sure if they were white gold or another metal, but they were silver in color and had two rows of diamonds that were shaped in a sort of a "J" form that held a pearl cradled in it.
"Esme, they're so pretty."
She took one from the box and carefully placed it in my ear. After securing the back she picked up the other one and moved to my other side. With her voice full of love and joy she placed the second earring in my other ear and told me about them, "These were given to me on my wedding day by Carlisle. They were his wedding gift to me, and Rose and Alice both wore them on their wedding day."
"Thank you," I murmured as I hugged her tightly.
"You're quite welcome, honey. You've been a part of this family since the day we met you. They only thing that is changing today is that you'll officially have the family name as yours now." She stood back and gently clasped my face in her hands. "Carlisle and I love you as one of our own just as we do Rose and Jasper."
"I love you both too," I replied as I fought back the swell of emotions that were threatening to make me cry.
Esme, Rose and Alice all hugged me again before they left to get in place for the wedding and give my mom and me a few minutes together before Carlisle came to escort me down the aisle.
"Well, it won't be long now," my mother said.
"No it won't."
"Your father would have been so happy for you today. I'm sure he's watching over you as we speak."
I laughed lightly as a memory came to me. "I remember how he teased Edward when he came to pick me up for a date the first time."
"Oh dear god yes. He was sitting at the kitchen table cleaning his gun."
"Yes. He scared the shit out of Edward so bad, he'd almost turned around and went back out the door," I told her while smiling at the memory.
"You know I told Charlie he was going to scare Edward off. But you know what he said?"
"No. What?" I asked.
"He said that any boy who would run off so easily wasn't worth a second of his baby girl's time or affection."
"That sounds like dad."
"Charlie would be thrilled to see you marrying Edward. Despite his teasing, he really did like him."
I nodded in agreement while wishing that my father could be with me today more than I had any other day since he had died.
Clearing her throat, she asked, "How much do you remember about Charlie's mother?"
"Grandma Marie?" I questioned.
"Yes."
"Not much, except that of course I was partially named after her."
"I didn't think you would. You were pretty young when she passed. She adored you though. She would rock you for hours any time she could," my mother paused while she opened her purse and took something that was wrapped in tissue paper out of it. "This was hers. You were only a little over two when she passed, but she wanted you to have this. She had instructed Charlie to give it to you on your wedding day."
I took the item from her hand as she held it out to me and unfolded the pieces of the tissue paper.
"Oh, mom, it's so beautiful," I whispered as I gazed at the diamond and sapphire bracelet sitting in my hand. It was a thin strand of alternating round and square cut diamonds offset by several oval shaped sapphires of the most vivid blue I had ever seen.
"Your grandfather had given it to Marie on her wedding day. As her only granddaughter, she wanted you to have it and wanted it to be given to you on your special day."
"Thank you for bringing it to me. Will you help me put it on?"
"Of course." She fastened the bracelet to my wrist. "There now you have your something old and blue." She paused for a minute and then pulled me to her in a bone crushing hug. "I am so happy to be here today, Bella," she told me. Her voice was shaking from all the emotions she was feeling. "Thank you so much for sending the invitation. I know when you sent it, I didn't deserve it. But I am so thrilled you did and so happy to be here."
"You're welcome. I'm really glad you came and I really want a fresh start for us."
"Me too, baby. Me too," she choked out and hugged me even tighter.
A soft knock on the door broke us apart.
"I'll get it. You need to fix your makeup." She smiled and turned me to look in the mirror. The few tears I hadn't been able to hold back had smudged my eye makeup.
"Is she ready?" A voice I recognized as Carlisle's asked my mother.
"Yes. Just making a quick last minute touch up and she'll be perfect," she told him. She then walked back over to me and kissed me on the cheek and said she'd see me out in the wedding area.
I fixed the smudge and then grabbed my flowers before turning around to find Carlisle smiling at me.
"You look beautiful, Bella."
"Thank you. How's Edward?" I asked him as I walked across the room to him.
"Eager," he replied with a chuckle. "How about you? You ready?"
"Yup," I said instantly, smiling widely.
"Then let's get you married to my son, before he comes and runs off with you. He's having a hard time remaining patient."
I laughed and placed my hand in the crook of his arm as we headed out to the main ball room of the inn.
~*Edward*~
I was pacing the floor of the small room that myself and the guys had used to get dressed in when I felt a large hand gripping my shoulder.
"Dude, you nervous?" Emmett asked.
"No. Ready is more like it."
"So tell me, bro. Where did you and Bella sneak off to last night between the rehearsal and dinner?"
"The lake," I told him as I stopped to stare out the window.
"The lake? What on earth did you go down there for? Especially so close to dark?"
"You know all those times when you were home for the summer and everyone would wonder where Bella and I had gone off to? How you used to ask me where my and Bella's secret make out place was 'cause you could tell that's what we'd been up to and you and Rose needed one too?" I asked him, thinking that since Bella and I were adults and would be married in less than an hour, it wouldn't hurt to give up where we'd always snuck off too when we were younger.
"Yeah. But the lake? How'd you get there? That's one hell of a walk."
"Sure it is if you take the roads. But if you cross the creek that borders our yard and old man Banners then you take the trail that cuts across the outer part of his property, it leads you right to the lake. Only takes about fifteen minutes to get there walking."
"So that's why you guys would be in the yard one minute and gone the next," he said realization dawning on him.
"Yeah," I said with a snort and a chuckle. I couldn't believe he had never discovered the short cut Bella and I had found.
"Okay I get it back then. But why yesterday? You just sneak off to make out for old time's sake or what?" He wagged his eyebrows suggestively at me while he waited for my response.
"No. See years ago when Bella and I first started dating and going to the lake we carved our initials and the date we'd became an official couple in one of the huge pine tree trunks near it. So yesterday I took her back to that tree and with one of dad's old pocket knives from when we were kids in Boy Scouts, we carved our wedding date and the word forever below our initials and the other date," I explained to him.
"Wow," he said coming to stand next to me at the window. "That's actually pretty cool. It's kind of like you guys have permanently etched yourselves in time."
"Yeah, I guess it is. At least for as long as the tree is still standing."
"So no second guessing at all? It's only been a year since she's been back in your life. No cold feet?" he teased as he glanced down at his watch. I'd purposely left mine off knowing I'd be cursing the hands when they didn't move fast enough for my liking.
"None. When you know you know. I think I was ready for this moment the second I laid eyes on her last Christmas. I just want to make it official so we can do all the things we've dreamed of."
"Well then let me put you out of your misery," Jasper said entering the room. "It's time. Your dad just went to escort Bella."
"Let's get it done!" Emmett exclaimed smacking me on the shoulder again. Jasper and I just shook our heads at him. Although I couldn't really say much, considering I was thinking almost the exact same thing. I was more than ready for Bella to be my wife.
While the three of us walked through the ballroom to take our places on the small stage at the front of the room where the ceremony would be performed, I looked around and took in all the decorations. I hadn't even really seen them when we'd first arrived. I had seen the fences along the Inn's property decorated with garland and red bows, but I had been too anxious to get dressed and get married to notice how the inside had been turned into the perfect wedding venue for Bella and me.
However now as I stood here waiting for the love of my life to pledge her life to me forever, I saw everything. There were two small sections of white chairs set up for our guests at the base of the small stage with a white runner laid down the center separating them. At the back of the room were the tables set up for our dinner. The tables were all decorated with red, green and gold Christmas themed items. There were candles of varying sizes set in evergreen wreaths, festive red placemats, and napkins adorning them all. Large red satin bows added a bit of holiday color on the chairs up front for the ceremony as well as those placed around the tables. There were even red and gold Christmas trees to add to the holiday feel of the room.
None of it mattered though a few minutes later when the music began to play. As soon as I heard the first note, my eyes were focused on the doorway as I tried not to fidget in excitement while waiting for Bella to appear.
Rose was first to walk through the door and she was followed by Alice. They both looked beautiful in their gold bridesmaid's dresses. I glanced to my left and saw my brother and best friend both watching their wives walk towards us, wearing expressions that were filled with love and pride.
Next came Lizzie looking like a little princess as she dropped red rose petals while walking up the aisle. When she reached the front I knelt down and kissed her cheek before she went to sit next to my mother in the front row of the chairs.
The music tempo then changed slightly to a slower beat and I saw my father and Bella standing at the entrance to the room. They walked slowly to the end of the runner and paused. The vision of Bella in her wedding gown took my breath away. She was stunning—perfect. There really weren't any words fit to describe just how incredibly beautiful she was.
Everyone stood as my father began to escort Bella to the front of the room. As Bella took her first step on the runner, her eyes found mine and our eyes remained locked on one another and nothing else in the room mattered. Once they reached the stage, my father walked her up the three stairs and then kissed Bella on the cheek before placing her hand in mine.
Not wanting to let her go, I held her small hand in mine and couldn't help whispering next to her ear that I loved her. She softly replied that she loved me too and we turned to face Reverend Weber so he could marry us.
We kept out vows simple, using the traditional ones that had been spoken by many couples before us, adding in a few words of our own, telling each other how much we loved one another, and how grateful we were for our second chance and our future together. After the vows were said, we exchanged rings and I do's. I knew that for as long as I lived I would never forget the radiant smile that graced Bella's face as Reverend Weber pronounced us husband and wife.
Emmett let out a loud catcall when I was already swooping in to kiss my bride before I had been given the okay to do so and the entire room of guests joined him in celebrating our union with a loud round of applause.
A few hours later, after the cake had been cut, the garter retrieved from Bella's silky smooth leg and it along with her bouquet had been tossed, I was ready to steal my wife away and begin our honeymoon. But there was one thing I needed to do first. A tradition I had to uphold. It wouldn't be exactly the same, but since this year Christmas Eve was even more special than it normally was, bending tradition a little to make it even more special would be a good thing.
My eyes captured Bella's from across the room where she was talking to Alice, Rose and my two cousins Tanya and Irina. It only took them a second to notice that Bella's attention was no longer focused on their conversation. I watched as I got closer and they followed her gaze to me. They must have known that she was lost to them with my appearance because they simply hugged her and waved to me with knowing grins on their faces as they left her waiting for me.
"Hello there, Mrs. Cullen," I whispered against the bare skin next to her ear as I wrapped her in my arms.
"Mmm, I love hearing you say that," she replied softly as she slipped her arms around my waist.
"I'll be saying it for the rest of our lives." I leaned down and gave her a soft lingering kiss. "How about one last dance with your husband before we leave this place and begin our honeymoon?"
"Okay."
I released my arms from around her and took her hand, leading her outside to the gazebo.
"Oh, Edward, it's amazing," she sighed, taking in all the decorations surrounding the structure.
Not only was it decorated with twinkle lights as it had been when we'd danced under it last New Year's Eve and the night of my prom, but it also had several small Christmas trees surrounding it along with a few sprigs of mistletoe hanging from the center of the roof.
Feeling her shiver from the cold night air, I took off my tux jacket and chuckled as I saw it swallow her small frame when she slipped her arms into it. She just shrugged, not caring that it practically swallowed her whole or hung past her rear end, and continued to look around the gazebo.
"Of course," she said when her sight turned to the ceiling and she noticed the mistletoe hanging there.
"It is Christmas Eve. And it is a tradition of ours," I said pulling her closer to me and holding her tightly.
"It's perfect." She slid one arm around my waist and the other up my chest until it was resting on the back of my neck.
"Merry Christmas, Mrs. Cullen," I murmured before covering her lips with mine and kissing her until we had to break apart for air.
We held each other, swaying to the soft sounds of the music that was drifting out to us from inside. We went on like that for a while until when out of nowhere, Bella's head popped up off my chest. Her eyes were bright and full of questions as she gazed up at me.
"Wait, we're not staying here at the inn tonight?"
"So you did catch that?" I asked teasing her.
"I did. Now spill, husband."
Hearing her refer to me as her husband was just as thrilling for me as it was for her to hear me call her my wife. I loved it.
"I've booked us a room back in Port Angeles since we have an early flight in the morning."
"Flight to where?" she asked, hopeful that I might spill the details of where we were going.
"You just don't give up do you?"
"Nope."
"Well, wife, you are going to have to be patient just a little longer. By the time we board the plane you will at least know what state we are flying off to."
"Say it again," she demanded softly.
"What that you need to be patient?" I teased her again, knowing exactly what it was she wanted to hear, but unable to resist teasing her.
"No."
"Hmm, wife," I murmured next to her ear and felt her shudder. "Like hearing that too, do ya, wife."
"I do."
"I think it's time for us to go." I didn't want to wait any longer to begin our honeymoon.
She nodded in agreement and a few minutes later, after one last kiss under the mistletoe, we were back inside, saying our goodbyes to our friends and family.
*X*X*X*X*
"I love you," I moaned against her bare shoulder as our bodies joined together and we began to make love for the first time as husband and wife.
"Love you too," she returned in a breathy voice.
I had taken my time, worshiping every inch of her body after I had removed the incredibly sexy purple lace bra and panties she'd been wearing under her wedding gown. In fact I may have ripped the bottoms in my desire to get them off of her after I had taken in the sinfully delicious sight of her wearing them. Didn't matter though, I'd buy her more if they were ruined.
As we made love and our entire beings connected, I couldn't help feeling that it was more. Bella and I had made love countless times, but now—this time—it felt somehow different—better.
"Can you feel that, baby?" I whispered to her. "Does it feel different to you too?"
"Yes. It's…just…more," she stuttered softly, letting me know that she was feeling exactly as I was too.
We took our time, savoring every second of pleasure our bodies gave each other while our hearts tied themselves to each other in a bond that we knew would never again be broken.
Late that night as we held each other and drifted to sleep, I knew that even though we had suffered during our separation that everything was finally just as it was supposed to be. Those years had been hard, but I'd suffer through it all again if I knew that eventually we'd end up right where were we were today. Together, just as we had always been meant to be.
Hope you enjoyed their magical day. Don't forget to check out the pictures on my blog. You can see Bella's dress, their rings, the decorations and more.
Up next is the epilogue.
Let me know what ya thought. Thanks for reading!
EA