THAT Girl by Isabella Marie Antoinette.
A/N: I know that this chapter is months overdue but I hope you'll forgive me.
There was a family crisis.
Chapter 18...
So…Edward and I are getting married. We told our families and they planned a dinner party for us two days following our engagement. I tried my hardest to appear nonchalant about the situation, but I couldn't. I've never been more scared or excited about anything in my entire life. Marriage!
When I told Angela about it, she screamed. In delight of course but the next instant, she was bawling her eyes out.
"We are growing up. Growing apart," she'd said. "Forming different families. We shall have no time for each other any more."
"Nonsense," I'd said. "Not any person or anything will come between our friendship. Even if you have ten children that take up your every waking moment and I move out of the state," I promised her.
Then, far before I could stop myself, I was crying along with Angela and they were bittersweet tears wept in the wake of a vow. I didn't realize at the time how difficult that vow would be to keep.
I also didn't realize how difficult wedding planning could be. I didn't recall Angela's wedding details being so hard to map out. Of course, Angela's wedding was done in haste and it wasn't very large or quite as extravagant as my mother has envisioned my wedding to be. I just want a simple wedding…one that doesn't involve relatives rushing in from all over this country. Everybody else seems to have their own ideas about how my wedding should go.
Graciously, Alice volunteered to take on the task of planning everything. She would worry about figuring out the big things and Edward and I would just worry about small details like what colors we wanted everything or what foods we liked. The main thing was just having everything ready by July 28th, the day we set for the wedding to take place on.
Alice was very enthusiastic about the whole project but Edward was a bit wary. He thought she was too enthusiastic.
"You have no idea what she is capable of," he was telling me as we were eating a picnic lunch in his meadow. We were just finishing. He was lying on his back in the grass and I was sitting close by his side eating some of the grapes we brought.
"She'll take this job and won't want to let go of it until she had annoyed everybody with every little detail she could possible thing of. She'll drag us to tons of shops, invite half of Chicago and it will be so very overwhelming. I love my cousin dearly but when she commits to something, no matter how big of small, she takes it overboard. Way overboard. I should know because there was this one time when we were little kids and –."
"Edward," I said, taking his face between my hands. "Don't worry about Alice.
I'm sure she knows what she's doing and it makes her really happy I think."
"But does it make you happy?"
"As long as in the end I get to become you're wife," I said and then I boldly kissed him full on the mouth. He kissed me back softly for a moment then pulled away.
"Fine. We can let Alice plan this. I don't mind so much as long as it pleases you."
"Thank you," I said, kissing him again lightly. "we'd better go. I told your mother that we'd meet her at the paper shop so that we could pick out stationary for the invitations."
I started packing up our lunch basket. He stood up and helped me to my feet. Then we walked back through the trees into town. It was a quiet stroll except for the chattering of birds nearby. But we were both content with only the sounds of nature as we enjoyed the fading remnants of our afternoon getaway.
The paper show was a short walk through town and Edward and I strolled close to each other's side, our fingertips were touching but we weren't exactly holding hands. When we arrived at the shop, Edward's mother was already inside, scanning the stationary selection. When she saw us, she gathered me into a hug and kissed Edward on the cheek. Then she excitedly brought us over to the section of the sort she was inspecting and showed us a few samples she liked. A few of them were fairly nice, one of them made Edward shudder in revulsion. Nevertheless, none of them were quite what we were looking for so the three of us set about scouring the rest of the shop.
"What about this one?" Edward's mother asked after a while of rummaging. Edward and I shuffled to her side, a bit wary from a few false leads from her.
The invitation sample she held up for us to see was an off-white color. When it was closed, there was a flap of the paper in the shape of a heart with flowers and vines intricately embossed around it. Then, when you open it, the heart is at the top of the pate and inside is where the details would be written. The envelope was a simple white one but it matched the elegance of the invitation. (A/N: There is a picture on my page.)
"What do you think?" Mrs. Masen asked us.
"Its —," Edward started.
"Amazing!" I blurted out.
"So you like it?" she asked.
Edward looked my way. Our eyes locked for a split second and I nodded infinitesimally, but he understood, I was sure of it.
"That's the one," he said, looking back at his mother. "They're incredible. That's it exactly."
"You're sure?" she asked.
"Yes," we said together.
"Okay. I'll order them right now," she said a bit excitedly.
For the weeks that followed, the wedding planning came so much easier and I found myself rather excited for the occasion. It was, after all, my wedding. The only drawback was less time spent alone with Edward. We were always doing different things. Alice, Angela, and I would look at dresses, guest lists, and a few more minor details. Edward and both of our fathers, and sometimes Benjamin, would go out looking at suits and all the expenses for the entire event.
The only time we were together was when we had to make joined decisions on things like the food menu and such. We found ourselves planning short times for sneaking away from everybody.
One night, when we were less than a week from the week from the wedding, Edward and I were supposed to meet after supper at the entrance to the forest near my house. He was a few minutes last and I was beginning to worry.
"Bella," I heard, in a velvet voice behind me.
I turned to see my Edward standing before me. His brilliance enough to nearly blind me but I couldn't look away. However, there was something about his expression that made me cautious.
"What's wrong, Edward?"
"Bella…it's my dad. He's…" he trailed off.
"He's what, Edward?" I suddenly feared for the worst.
"Well…he's sick. Some sort of cold the doctor says. But there's a chance he could get worse. If he gets worse…there's a chance he could become contagious. And…he really wants to be at our wedding. I mean, he's my father. I couldn't have a wedding without him there."
"What does his attendance at our wedding have to do with his health?"
"If he gets worse he won't be able to come. I'm sure it's nothing but if he does indeed show no improvement in health…would it upset you to postpone the wedding? Only a week at the most," he added quickly.
"Edward…if postponing the wedding is something you need then how could you possible think that it would upset me, dear?" I said, almost shocked that he would worry about upsetting me. Then I kissed him lightly.
The wedding date was rapidly approaching. Two days before the happening Edward found me.
"Bella, he's gotten worse."