Chapter 5: Preparation
"WAKE UP NESSIE!" If only I could sleep. But then again, I like all that extra time. Alice had almost escaped our attention. Now she made her presence very well known. If I had been human I would have jumped out of my skin and rolled to the floor from the surprise.
"Just five more minutes Aunt Alice! Its 6 a.m. and the wedding isn't until 2! You know it's not going to take you over an hour to get me ready." Nessie was one to be grumpy when woken.
"Oh come on, don't be a party pooper, especially at your own party!" I giggled at the sight of little Alice dragging my daughter out of bed by the arms. Nessie had about half a foot on my sister, thankfully, she took a little more after me in the height aspect. But this early in the morning and because it was her favorite Aunt, all she could do was groan.
"It's ok dear. The sooner you get started, the faster time will seem to go." Bella said encouragingly to her daughter. Nessie smiled back at her mother and Nessie didn't seem as displeased about being awake at this hour as she had been a minute ago. Alice rushed to her with a pair of jeans and a white button up shirt.
"I'm going to lay these on your bed and some other things to go under them when your father leaves for you to put on when you get out of the shower. I'm heading out to do a few errands before I head back to the house. When you're dressed and ready, you and Bella come on over to the main house. I have everything you need over there." Alice turned to me and continued to speak. "Edward, go on over to the house and start helping the others out."
---
I bowed out gracefully. I had already planned on giving Renesmee some time with her mother. I flew out the door headed toward my old home for the second time this morning. Bella and I had gone over to help out earlier while we let Nessie sleep. The running helped me to think and helped me to clear my mind.
I got to the house only to see Emmett wearing a garter on top of his head like a yamikah, dancing around the main room and Jasper laughing amusingly.
"Alice is not going to like the fact that you've been up in her room while she was gone." Jasper stated once he had regained some grip on reality.
"Emmett, put it back and I don't want to see that until we are in La Push. And then you better not have it in your possession."
"Easy bro. I was just goofing off some. Let's see if I let you catch the garter at the next wedding Rose and I have. You know you would find it funny if it wasn't your daughter's."
"Yes, Emmett, I would. Normally I would be laughing harder than Jasper was earlier when you mess with Alice's things. But, like you said, it isn't really Alice's, it's my daughter's. Oh, and I don't really need to catch one anymore. I highly doubt Bella would let my have another wedding." I may love to do that again one day, but I am happy just having her.
"Boys, get back to work. Don't leave Rose and I to do it all." Esme spoke from upstairs. She was hanging some white silk on the staircase. A bright white carpet had already been spread down the staircase, hugging each stair. The house was almost half-way finished. Rhododendrons, the state flower of Washington, were spread everywhere. The piano had been moved from it usual spot and sat on the right side of the rows of chairs that were beginning to be placed. The rest of the furniture had been moved out of the room and placed upstairs for the time being.
"Esme, we were just having some fun. All that is left for us to do is set up the chairs and get dressed." Emmett said.
"The sooner, the better then. Besides, I can always find more for you to do." Esme laughed under her breath and smiled. She would always feel like a mother as long as Emmett was around.
We finished setting out the chairs. As soon as we finished that, Rose and Esme came down with more white silk and had us draping yards of it down the edges of the chairs. At each gathering of the silk, they placed a bouquet of rhododendrons. It looked amazing.
---
Alice arrived carrying what looked to be about 50 pounds of white rose pedals. She apparently had made another trip to the florist in Seattle since I last saw her. She put them in the nearly empty refrigerator, which had been raided the previous night by none other than Seth and Jacob, to keep them fresh until just before people started arriving. She planned on spreading them from the top of the hunter green carpet on top of the stairs all the way down to in front of wear Carlisle would be standing.
Bella and Nessie walked in a couple of minutes after Alice had arrived. "Alright everyone, it's time to start getting dressed up!" There was a collective sigh coming from the direction of Bella and Nessie after Alice said that. Nessie wasn't much fonder of Alice's version of "getting dressed up" than Bella was.