My hands had begun to sweat while I'd waited for Rosalie to begin to play the music. I rubbed them together nervously, shuffling my feet as Charlie stood beside me. He looked different in a tux, and he didn't look like he was enjoying it.
"You okay, Bells?"
Charlie's gruff concern helped sooth the butterflys in my abdomen, but not destroy them. figured he was tryng to give me a way out of what he didn't want for me, so I made sure my answer was confident. Well, I tried to.
" Yeah, Dad, I'm fine. Just nervous about the stairs. It's almost a given that I'll fall."
I gave him a forced smile and turned to face Alice, who would walk down ahead of us. She looked gorgerous, and I grew even more nervous when I realised that everyone would see her and then me.
It was my wedding day and I knew I looked good - good enough that even I could finally see why Edward wanted to spend eternity with me- but I was still a young human being with insecurities. Alice was a vampire and vampires were a helluva lot more beautiful than normal people. I hoped the change would make me feel more worthy of Edward, but I also wanted to be able to stand beside Alice, Rosalie and Esme without feeling like the odd one out.
Taking a deep breath, I prepared to begin my descent down the spiraling stairs, praying ( a rare event) that I would not fall.
Rosalie's musical talent (in my opinion) was almost as good as Edward's ability and I was glad that she would be playing my wedding march. We (meaning Alice and Alice only) had decided to just have Rosalie play the instrumental, as there was no one good enough for us (once again meaning Alice and Alice only) to perform at a "Cullen" wedding.
As the music began, my breath hitched, and Charlie once again looked up at me worriedly. I reasurred him before he (once again) questioned whether or not I wanted to do this. I didn't want to walk down the aisle with a father who thought I didn't want to be there. Well, I could, but Edward would read his thoughts and go all emo on me. That would kinda ruin our honeymoon, so I really didn't want Charlie to have any doubt.
"Really Charlie, I'm just nervous about the stairs. I don't want to ruin my wedding by breaking my neck or something."
I didn't even blink an eye when I felt a breeze behind my back. A hand sqeezed my shoulder lightly, and I heard the soft rustle of paper setting before I turned my head to the left and spotted the slip of paper on the floor. I bent to pick it up as Alice came back (how had I missed her leaving?) and told us that Rosalie would be starting the march in two minutes exactly. I had a feeling Charlie was staring at her weirdly as I straightened up and opened the piece of paper one of the Cullens had dropped for me to read.
A smile graced my face as I recognised Edward's neat handwriting and my eyes eagerly read the words before I laughed. Emoward (Emmett's idea) had torn a tiny hole at the end of the paper as he'd leaned so hard on the pen. His signature was a bit off and his words were clearly stressed.
Bella,
Please refrain from discussing breaking your neck with your father. I can hear you downstairs and Emmett's jokes only ceased when I asked him to give this to you. He plans to continue when he returns.
Waiting for you to walk down the aisle with an intact spinal cord, Edward.
When I looked up from the note, Charlie was staring at me, complexed and Alice had a tiny smile gracing her lips. She'd obviously seen me reading it, as she couldn't have seen Edward writing it with Seth sitting in the crowd waiting. He was there as both a friend of Edward and to me, but I was sure that others (like Jess and Mike) were here to see me mess up.
They were here as friends, but neither had been very happy when I'd told them of our engagement, and I was sure me falling down the stairs would make their day.
"One minute, Bella."
Alice dusted her fingers over my dress, forcing imaginary particles of dirt off of it. Tinkerhell.
"Take deep breaths and count the time between you steps okay?"
I nodded as Rosalie began the march, signaling the beginning of the ceremony. Alice smiled at me once before turning and walking down the stairs gracefully, and in a way I knew I would never be able to.
Taking her advice, I took a deep breath and counted the thirty seconds before I was supposed to follow.
Twenty eight seconds
What if someone objected? Jake would have no problem doing so and neither would Sam or Paul. If someone objected then Edward and I wouldn't be able to get married! Then, we wouldn't have a honeymoon, which meant no "trying" which meant no eternity with Edward!
Twenty five seconds.
Had everyone found their seats comfortable? I didn't want someone to be bitching about the seats at my wedding for the next twenty years!
Twenty seconds.
And what about Jasper? The seats full of guests must be torture for him. There were nearly two hundred people here! Their blood must have been tempting him for the past hour!
Thirteen Seconds.
Were the Denali coven disappointed with my wedding so far? I didn't want Tanya to think me unworthy of Edward. They were, after all, family to the Cullens. And since I would be a Cullen soon.
Eight seconds.
What if I forgot what to say? I mean, kissing Edward had made me pass out! Was it so much of a jump to assume that marrying him could make me forget to say "I do"?
Three seconds.
I'm was going to fall. I could feel it. I was going to fall and embarass myself in front of nearly two hundred people the Cullens and I knew. Emmett would never let it go. I was going to be mocked for the rest of eternity by my brother for falling down the stairs on my wedding day.
Time to go.
Charlie and I began to walk down the steps as we both finished counting to thirty, and I watched my feet before Charlie reminded me with a cough of Alice's warnings to look straight ahead.
It was hard, walking down the steps without looking as my feet, but I managed it. When we reached the end of the stairs, I gave a sigh of relief and blushed as I saw everyone standing and looking at me. Most were smiling, and I felt relieved that Alice and Rosalie had been the ones to help me get dressed.
I was half-way up the aisle before Edward's eyes caught mine, and I knew I must of had a cheshire grin on my face as a warm, fuzzy feeling flooded my body. It was still there as I neared where he stood. Soon, Edward and I would be married, officialy each others. No one would be able to object-
"Ahhhhhh!"
I screamed as I tripped on the hem of my dress, falling forward and pulling Charlie with me. I heard a thump and tensed, waiting for the pain of falling in heels to arrive. I was shocked when it didn't, until I finally realized that felt colder than I had before my fall.
My eyes fluttered open, to a smirking Edward setting me back on my feet.
Once he had made sure I was okay, he turned to help Charlie to his feet-his fall had been the thump. He was red-faced, but it was clear he found the situation funny. It seemed as though I was the only one who didn't, and I could see Emmett planning the insults already.
My embarassment at what had happened faded when Edward bent towards me and whispered in my ear. He always knew exactly what to say.
"I'll always be there to catch you when you fall."