Disclaimer- Stephenie Meyer owns, not me.
BPOV
Getting better had been a challenge. I had been in treatment for almost three months. I took full advantage of it, with the understanding that there were people physically paying for it, not just Charlie's insurance, now.
I followed my friends down the trail towards the hot springs. There was Gina, who was in her forties, who wasn't actually the oldest in the clinic. She had three kids and a husband back in Riverside, California and a raging case of anorexia. The other person on the trail with us was Alex, a girl in her 30s who was still single, was fighting both anorexia and bulimia. We had all three spent Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's in rehab, although we had all been visited by family and friends thoroughly.
I had come into the center weighing less than 80 pounds. I didn't know I was capable of that. My body was emitted a smell- I had been aware of it, and nothing, no amount of showering had been able to cover it up. I found out I was having some kidney and adrenal failure along with my heart murmur. Edward had long since thrown our scale out after I had had the miscarriage in a futile attempt to keep me from guessing my weight, so I didn't know how bad I was. Gina and Alex had had miscarriages, too. The two of them were like big sisters to me. We had bonded quickly.
My "family" came to visit- as often as possible. My room through my stay, had been covered in pictures from Will and Wendi, since we weren't allowed to see anybody under the age of 14 in the clinic. Edward came so often that he had collapsed from exhaustion on his rounds one day. My family and friends called me so much that I had to put a stop to them calling me everyday and set out a schedule of when they could call and when they couldn't. Gina and Alex were always reporting back to me about how cute everybody at the clinic thought Edward was. They saw how he treated me, too, and everybody cooed over how we were the cutest couple. When they found out that I had a hard time going through with marriage with him, and they both screamed at me, "Are you crazy?! What's wrong with you!?"
Edward and I had gone through more than one counseling session together. It was good for us. We talked about the miscarriage, the trial, the things I hadn't told him about my time in Jim and Victoria's house. I had been afraid it would drive him away, but it made him love me more, somehow. I wasn't willing to let go of him at all. I even went through photo therapy at the clinic's insistence to see myself better- which was nude modeling. I had a panic attack and cried through my whole first session, although I only did implied nudity, not fully nudity. Then, cried some more and had a panic attack when I saw my pictures, but then I saw something I hadn't realized- I liked the curves in my calves. It was only a little thing, but I went through with more of it with the hope I'd like more of myself. As I did my photo therapy sessions, I reviewed my pictures and started to like and accept the way I looked more and more. I didn't like all of me just yet. I didn't show them to Edward, but I kept them, and the negatives, in a manilla envelope in my room. Maybe one day I'd be able to show them to the world. It was good to be on the other side of the camera and get that experience. I wanted to do more of it, though. Maybe one day show I'd Edward and see if he really liked it.
And today was my last day in the clinic. Edward promised a surprise for me when I got out tomorrow.
"So, are you going to go through with a wedding, now?" Gina asked.
"Yes, I am," I said. "You two will be there, won't you?"
"Of course," Gina said. "You can count on me. As long as I've been discharged."
"Me too," Alex said.
We came around the clearing and found the hot spring. We started to strip down to our bathing suits. I never wore a bathing suit without a tee shirt before. Now, I was standing there in nothing but bathing suit bottoms and a triangle top that I had ordered off of Delia's. I didn't have a perfect body, but it would do. Yes, I was still nervous about being underdressed in front of people, but it had finally gotten through my head how everybody, even people with supposedly perfect bodies, had issues with the way they looked. And a lot of people had said that I had a good silhouette to my figure. The first time I had tried on this bathing suit, I finally got up the nerve to show Gina and Alex what it looked like, I had kept my hands over my stomach. Gina kept asking me what was wrong with my stomach, and finally, I just admitted I was nervous about how it looked. 'But you've never had a full pregnancy, with your stomach completely stretched out! I've had three kids, I need a tummy tuck because of hanging skin!' she cried, and the next thing I knew, the three of us had stripped down to our panties and bras and were comparing ourselves in the mirrors. That was the first time I began to really appreciate that maybe I wasn't so bad looking as I thought.
Edward said he liked the way I looked, now. That was fine with me. I was getting at ease with it. It was also freezing out here, I climbed into the warm water.
"Oh, this feels so good," Alex said, climbing in behind me.
"I have a hot tub at home, I usually get in there in the buff," Gina said.
"Don't you have neighbors?" I asked.
"Yeah, I do," Gina said. "If they catch a glimpse, they worked hard enough to see it. We've got a pretty good cover."
"That would be fun," I said. "To hot tub with Edward."
"You have sex on the brain," Alex said. "And for good reason- none of have gotten any in three months!" The staff had warned me as I gained weight- that my libido would return in time, but I started taking longer and longer showers. I began to imagine my hands were his and they started taking on a life of their own. I had started dreaming of Edward- his naked body, sleeping next to him, how natural it had all once felt. I wished I wasn't afraid of him seeing the weight I was gaining. Would he accept it? Would he still love me? Slowly, my heart murmur went away, and my adrenal glands began to function semi-normally again, without help. I was having to take pills everyday to help regulate them, but there was a possibility they'd get better. Maybe. Maybe not. The smell stopped emitted from me. That was nice.
"I wonder if that's Edward's surprise for me," I said. "A vacation somewhere."
"Sort of a honeymoon?" Gina asked. "I think it's sweet that he's the only person you've ever been with."
"Don't you have to be married, first?" Alex asked. "To have a honeymoon?"
"Yeah," I said. "Who cares, huh? We pretty much are married, anyways."
"Married to a doctor," Gina sighed. "I wish I had been that lucky."
"We just are what we are," I said, referring to all of us.
Pushing the rolling cart down the hall towards Edward, he smiled at me. The Aston Martin was waiting. "Let's start the rest of our lives," I said.
He hugged me and kissed me. "I can't wait."
"We're such cornballs," I agreed.
At our apartment, I had the energy to bring up my suitcases, although Edward helped. We unpacked my bags although we didn't talk a lot, we just enjoyed being alone together. We had just talked a lot over the past three months.
We occupied ourselves with separating the clothes that didn't fit me anymore from the clothes that did fit me, now. It was another thing about recovery that sucked- all your favorite clothes you got too fat for, making you feel like a giant loser. You had mixed feelings, going through it. I had stuck most of my too-small clothes into a garbage sack so I didn't have to look at them.
"So, what's the big surprise?"
"Huh?" Edward asked.
"The big surprise you promised me."
"Oh, I was hoping you'd ask me tomorrow morning," he said. "I have other things planned tonight."
"Oh really?" I asked, knowing there was nothing innocent about those plans.
"I've arranged a wedding," he said. "A week from Saturday."
"A wedding? Like, a real one?" I asked. "Who would be presiding? I don't have anything to wear!"
"Reverend Weber," he said. "And Alice took care of everything."
"Really?" I asked. He knew I trusted Alice's tastes. And I didn't care who presided, as long as Charlie was happy with it.
"She wants to show you everything tomorrow," he said. "It'll be an early morning, though."
"I really need to get in the shower, then."
"So, that's a yes?"
"Yes," I said, getting my shampoo and conditioner. "Of course. I said yes once, I never rescinded that."
"Can I… help you in the shower, Bella?" he asked, an eyebrow arching, grinning mischievously.
It had been almost six months since he had seen me completely naked. My body was completely different- I probably weighed in the one-tens now, probably more. This is the most I had ever weighed in my whole life. Well, he wanted to marry me. I might as well let him see me, as nerve-wracking as this was going to be.
"Yes," I said. I opened up the door to the bathroom, putting my shower things in the tub. I hadn't had a tub bath in months. He helped me take my top off. "How about a tub bath?" I asked. "I haven't had one in so long. We didn't have bathtubs in the clinic." He hadn't been allowed in my room at all, which had just about killed both of us.
"Okay," he said. He took my hair down. The ends tickled the small of my back. "I missed your hair." He kissed my hair and my bra came unhooked. The best part of recovery was having breasts.
I undid my jeans, not facing him. I felt my face burn as my jeans came off- for some stupid reason, I had worn a thong.
The worst part of recovery was having a huge butt, now.
I didn't want to let him think I was embarrassed. I wanted him to think I was okay with my body, because they had discharged me at the clinic, saying I was well enough to attend outpatient in town. That was one part of my body I hadn't learned to love in photo therapy, yet.
This was part of the "lie" of recovery- that you came out and somebody had sprinkled magic fairy dust on you and everything was all better. It obviously was not- rehab didn't work like that. It was a lifetime of deadly habits and trying to change them in a clean environment where I had no other distractions. I'd learned "tools" to help me "cope," (the magic words) and then, I'd go out into the real world, with distractions, and I'd try to live my life with my new tools to try to avoid my old bad habits until new ones were what I fell back on. My imperfections in my mind were a 1000 times worse than how Edward saw me. I went ahead and slipped out of the thong and started running the water- and looked at Edward over my shoulder- his face didn't turn in disgust- but a familiar expression was on it.
"Your ass is pretty tempting, Bella," he said. I turned back to the tub, not wanting to believe it. His hand cupping my hips as I bent over the tub, making me pause. Yes, this wasn't a joke- his hands were seeking me. "I've missed you so much." He turned me around as the tub filled up and kissed me. His kisses were long and deep- the private kind that we hadn't been able to have during the visits in the main room of the clinic. He pressed me against himself, I found my hands on his shoulders. "I want you," he muttered huskily between kisses, cupping my breasts, causing a unsolicited moan out of me. Yes, this was no joke- my body, for all the flaws I saw, he did not see them. He saw me- the person I was on the inside. I fought back happy, giddy tears as I took off his shirt over his head- he helped me with removing his pants and his boxer briefs. "You get in, first. I want to hold you tonight." I'd let him hold me forever.
With his help, I climbed into the middle of the bathtub, putting my hair up into a knot. It was so long now, I didn't even need an elastic. He grabbed a washcloth and climbed in behind me. I settled between his legs, carefully- he was a bit excited, so to speak so I had to be careful. I leaned back on him as he wet down the washcloth and washed off my shoulders. I settled onto his chest while he wrapped his arms around me. Yes, this felt right. I didn't care, suddenly, that I was beginning to get cellulite on the inside of my thighs or that my ass was too big for my tastes. I could be completely naked and vulnerable with him and he accepted me just like I was- he loved my faults. That was a completely foreign concept to me when I entered rehab this time- and I hadn't been able to wrap my brain around it. Now, I suddenly could. This was love. Maybe the early stages of love, we'd grow and change into old people together, it was difficult, but it was right.
I used my toes to play with the water faucet.
"So, do you still want to do that photography show?"
"Yes," I said. "I got some good stuff at the clinic. And, um, I toyed with the idea of writing a book about my life. Even if I never get it published, I've been told it helps."
"I've heard that, too," Edward said. "My Grandpa- my Dad's dad- went to Vietnam, and when he finally wrote down his experiences, he stopped having flashbacks. He had to read what he wrote to remember it before he died."
"I'd prefer that," I said. "I guess when the mind believes that it can let go, it does."
"Just don't write about me too much," he said. "I'd like a little bit of privacy, just in case somebody decides to publish it."
"Okay."
"Do you want to go back to school for that Ph.D.?"
"No, not really," I said. "Not right now. I want to try something different."
"Like…?"
"Like maybe motherhood?" I asked. "I accidentally got pregnant on birth control. There's a chance we could get pregnant if I didn't take it at all."
"Bella, before we do that, let's see a gynecologist and see if you can actually carry a child," he said. "Especially this soon?"
"I guess you're right," I said, thinking about how far I had to go, still. These things were not yet habits and I had no business having children until they were.
"I'd love to see you pregnant. Really pregnant," he said, kissing my shoulders lightly. He kissed the juncture of my shoulder and my neck- a spot he hadn't kissed in so long. I shivered.
"Can't we practice a little, first?"
"I'm all for practicing this time," he said, pressing a kiss to my ear, making me laugh. I felt his hands grip my breasts, rubbing my nipples lazily, and I moaned, softly. His hands felt perfect against me. "I love your new body. It's so beautiful. Don't ever put your clothes on when it's just me and you."
I sat up and rolled over on top of him and pressed a kiss to his chest. I had craved him so much in the last month when my sex drive reemerged- it had died for a long time, especially in the first two months, but the last month... he filled my thoughts, my conversations, my daydreams, my dreams... He moaned into my kiss as I slipped my tongue into his mouth. "Oh, I've missed you so much," he said, taking me by the hips. I knew exactly what he was doing.
"I missed you more," I offered as I straddled him seductively.
"I think I like baths, now," he said.
The bathroom floor was going to be covered in water in a few minutes…
EPOV
"Can't we practice a little, first?" Bella asked me as I kissed my favorite non-erogenous zone on her body.
Sex. Lots of it. With Bella. Score. "I'm all for practicing," I replied. I wanted to simply attack this body of hers, starting with her ass. Jesus, she had a gorgeous ass coming out of those hips. It was about like I imagined it, not quite as full, but if she could only gain a little more weight... Yes, I was an ass man, I had to admit, and Bella was going to bring out a monster in me. I had to hold back, though. I kissed her ear to distract her for a moment as I took her breasts into my hands. They were perfect breasts, now- they were round and plump on the bottom and almost ski-jump shaped on top. I ran my thumbs over her nipples that, despite the heat of the water, were hard. I never wanted to see her wear clothing ever again. "I love your new body. It's so beautiful," I muttered, feeling my cock jerk. "Don't ever put your clothes on when it's just me and you."
She didn't say anything- just a smile flitting across her lips- one that I had become used to- and she gazed at me from under those thick, long lashes. She rolled over in the water, and pressed a kiss to my chest, working her way up to my chin, then my mouth. Her kiss was sweet, hungry.
"I've missed you so much," I moaned as she spread her legs, pressing her wet sex against mine.
"I missed you more," she said in a low voice.
If she did this to me all the time, I'd take baths every night. My cock agreed wholeheartedly. "I think I like baths, now," I said, wrapping my arm around her lower back. Her swollen, pink lips parted as she pressed against my chest, tickling me with her nipples.
"Tell me you missed me," she said running her lips across my chin.
"I did," I said. "I don't ever want to be apart from you, again."
"I'm going to ride you like no tomorrow," she promised, rubbing her own nipple for a moment, leaning her head on my shoulder. "Make up for lost time."
I gripped her head with both hands, water rivulets running down the sides, her hair falling from the bun she had twisted it into. "Gladly," I said. I had taken plenty of cold showers in the past... oh say, eight months? Her hand slid down my chest and cupped my testicles. She squeezed slightly. "Did you miss the boys?"
"Oh yes," she said, smiling, in a low voice. I grinned back. "Very much." I groaned as she slid her hand back up to my shaft and squeezed up. Her thumb flicked over the tip, causing me to twitch. She went back to pumping, her tongue running over her upper lip as she watch the bead of white semen ooze out. My breathing accelerated, as did my heart rate. I longed to be inside her, though. The last time we had good sex was before Alice's and Jasper's wedding. I took her hand off. "Bella," I said.
In a flash, she got up on her knees and took my penis in her dainty little hand, again. She flashed me a less-than-innocent smile and slid down onto it.
It was like being sheathed in hot, wet velvet, hotter than I remembered. I yelled out, my vision hazy from want. Her head flopped back. "Edward!" she moaned, her voice echoing off the porcelain walls. She began to grind into me, moaning, biting her lower lip, her eyes closed, her walls pulsing around me, water sloshing everywhere. I bent my legs to bring her close to me, she tumbled towards my chest, grinning. "Oh god, you feel so good," she groaned.
"Likewise," I said, gripping her hips, helping her to pump against me. I gripped her butt cheeks- they were so full, firm... yesssss... I squeezed and made her moan, then squeezed again, feeling devilish.
"Oh, oh, oh!" she moaned, bouncing up and down on my lap. Her breasts were flopping up and down. Like they weren't hypnotic enough before... Her body was going to be the death of me. I'd never get out of this apartment.
Her shrieks were enough for me to come- we had stopped having her come- but then, she came, right on my dick with me, her walls convulsing. "Oh God, Bella, no..." I hissed as I emptied into her.
She smiled. "Oh no, it's okay," she said. "It's alright, really. Nothing's going to happen, I swear," she got up off me. I sighed, leaning back on the tub. My now flaccid cock glistened with her juices.
"You're not on the pill, are you?" I asked.
"No," she admitted, blushing.
"Nice..."
She climbed out of the bathtub, I watched her ass from a new angle. Yeesh. I used to tease Emmett about his love of the ass. If he ever saw Bella's naked ass, I'd be in trouble. Normally, I was worn out after sex and normally fell asleep, but seeing her new naked body woke me right up. "It'll be okay," she said. "You'll make an honest woman out me soon enough," she said. I followed her out of the tub- I couldn't help it with an ass like that. There was probably a string of drool coming out of my mouth by now. She shrieked as I slapped her wet cheek softly with my open palm.
"'Love this," I muttered as the whelp began to turn red.
"You do?" she asked, rubbing her hip as I picked up a towel.
"Oh yeah," I moaned. I stroked the red area of her round butt where I had slapped it, soothing it. I had hit it a little harder than I meant to. I was just going to have to resort to pinching that amazing ass she now had.
"Is this what you saw in me when you first met me?" she asked.
"Oh please, Bella," I muttered. She backed up into me, her rear straight into my groin, standing on her toes. It hurt, I wanted her again so badly, my dick was rising painfully, she was snickering at herself.
"Are you sure?"
"You had no ass to speak off when I met you."
She laughed. "I want to make sure that girl is long-gone."
"Does ass-worship help?" I asked, pinching a generous amount of her cheek.
"I'm serious," she said, turning around to face me.
"Be honest with me," I said. "At all times. And we're going to be just fine."
"Do you want me to bend over?" she asked, grinning at me over her shoulder.
My cock was already at half-mast already, despite the fact that I was no teenage boy anymore. There was too much water on the floor. Damn. One of us was going to fall, we were so careless tonight. "Let's not do it in here," I said. "Bedroom."
"Will you be honest with me?" Bella asked, turning around. "Are we really getting married in a week?"
"Yes," I said. "As long as you want to."
"Oh yes, Edward, I want to," she said, her voice lowering, her hand on my chest. "Come on, this ass needs riding, doctor, this is a medical emergency!" she cried, smacking her butt with her hand, turning towards the door.
"In a minute," I said. I picked up a towel and began to mop up the floor just enough that it wouldn't mildew. It would give me enough of a break that it wouldn't hurt when I came.
"Edward! Hurry! I need you!"
"Just a minute, love," I replied. I pulled the drain to the tub. There was a box of condoms in the medicine cabinet- I had bought them yesterday in anticipation of tonight. I stuck them in pocket and found her in the bed room, laying across the bed.
"I missed you so much," she whispered, gazed up at me through her lashes, a lazy smile on her face. She reached up and pulled my mask down and kissed me. I fell onto the bed with her, grinning.
I simply could not take it any further after we made love three times in a night and then, to top it all off, I brought her off once more with my hand. By then, we had exhausted ourselves. As I went to sleep, I berated myself for making her orgasm four times in a night. She'd be a sobbing mess come early morning. I tried so hard to keep awake while she floated into dreams, her long, thick lashes closing, waiting for her mutterings in her sleeping, for the sobs, the screaming but before I knew it, I was having a dream about a strange, abandoned house, and I was chasing Bella through it. I could hear her, and she was running, afraid of something, I could not tell and she would not tell me. It scared me that something was after her. I found her in the top floor, in the attic, sitting on a trunk of some kind, smiling at me, knowingly. "It's going to be alright now, Edward," she promised. I realized she was pregnant, her face full, her lips rosy and her hair swinging down her back. She reached for me, smiling and I realized she was holding a child- the one we lost- and it was sleeping. I hugged her, and looked down at our baby. She put it in a bassinet, where I knew it would stay- forever. And it would be here, with us, forever, just fine.
I woke to our naked limbs tangled together, snarled in her mahogany hair. She was still asleep but the lifting of my head woke her. She lift her own head, her eyes crossing for a moment, trying focus. She grinned when she realized it was me holding her. "Hi," she muttered lazily.
"Hi," I replied back. She propped her chin up on her elbow, staring and me, smiling, not saying anything. We were a smelly, sticky mess of come and sweat- there was even some in her hair and on her chin. She pressed a kiss to my chest.
And it dawned on me, we had spent a beautiful night together- it was like the first time all over again, only better, because of lack of physical caution- making her come, finding something to hold onto- and she had woken up in my arms, grinning at me. No nightmares. She no longer had a foot stuck in Jim and Victoria's hell hole, being dragged back in by her anxiety or her eating disorder- she was mine. Yes, that was part of her past, but she was no longer living it. I'd put up the fight of my life to keep her.
Like she had said at Emmett and Rose's wedding, she could be a photographer, a daughter, a best friend, a graduate student, a mother... and most important to me, she could be my wife. Her life was open to whatever she wanted to do. She was free. Finally.
Morning breath be damned, I wrapped my arms around her, sliding her up my chest, and kissed her. She kissed me back, fiercely- yes, the wedding was the right thing to do. We were in love. We'd make it work.
"Edward," she whispered. I felt her hand encircle my shaft at the base, it was almost unnecessary it was so stiff. "I love you," she whispered.
"I love you more," I said, gripping her hips and sitting her up. She took me in, gasping, her eyes rolling back into her head as I filled her. We were each other's other half. We belonged together.
BPOV
After a week of planning and an emergency fitting from Monique Lhulliuer's design shop, I stood in the back of the Lutheran Church in Seattle. I had had several emergency phone calls to my therapists at the clinic about the wedding cake- Edward and I decided I only had to eat a bite, that was it, not a whole piece.
The song Blackbird was playing in the chapel, in honor of my mother. It wasn't a huge wedding, but it was big enough for us. Charlie offered his arm to me. Will walked down the aisle holding Wendi's hand. Wendi couldn't have been any less interested- she wasn't dropping the flower petals at all. Angela went down the aisle, first, then Alice.
"I can't believe I'm giving you away, Bells," Charlie said. "I never thought it would be this soon."
"Dad, it doesn't mean I'm going to see you any less," I promised. "It just means you're gaining a son."
"You could have done worse," he admitted, offering me his arm. I had forced him to come to terms with the things that Edward had to admit on the stand while I was in treatment and there was an uneasy peace currently between them. "You two are such cornballs, I can't imagine a better match. He better treat you right. Or, I might have to discharge that gun I've been keep in my nightstand for twenty-five years."
"Da-ad!"
"I'd do anything for you, regardless of if you're married or not," he said.
I smiled it as the Bridal March began to play. That was our cue.
There doors opened for us, and I saw Esme and Liz both stand up in the front pew. I could see Edward waiting at the end of the aisle flanked by Emmett and Jasper, at the end of the long church, filled with people that, for the most part, which I loved. Rosalie was sitting on the groom's side, trying to keep Sarah quiet. Hopefully, it would be me one day with the baby. She offered a small smile to me as I passed by. Maybe one day, we'd be real friends. We were on the right path. I saw Thea Nicky and Theo George standing on Edward's side, grinning at me. They both spit in my general direction when I passed.I couldn't help but smile while a few people were shocked. I knew what it meant.
I was so happy, tears were blurring my vision. They had insisted on bringing pasticcio, spanikopita, and around 600 dolmathes for the reception, despite the catering. Thea had even read coffee cups at my bachelorette party the night before.
Edward's eyes never left me. Charlie stopped, and kissed me on the cheek. "I love you, Bells," he whispered. I saw tears in my father's eyes before he kissed me.
"I love you, too," I whispered back. He squeezed me in a hug. A single tear fell down his cheek. Although I was grinning like an idiot, happy tears were lining my face.
"Your mother's very proud right now," he said where nobody could hear it but me.
That's all Charlie had to say to me to get me to start crying- but they were happy tears- I was proud to be Renee and Charlie's daughter, especially right now. Renee was with me right now. I nodded to Charlie. He leaned over and kissed my cheek.
"Who presents this woman in marriage?" Reverend Weber asked.
There was a pause, and I looked at Charlie. His lips were a thin line and tears were gathering in his eyes "I do," he said, almost inaudibly. I stepped forward. And that was it symbolically it- my father was no longer the man in my life. He let go of me- and went to the first pew to join Esme and Carlisle.
I looked at Edward, and in the corner of my eye, I saw Emmett wiping away tears. Sob sister. Of course, Emmett was crying. I loved Emmett- the big, tough guy with all the muscles was sobbing at our wedding. Wouldn't this be a story about our wedding day? Reverend Weber gave a quick opening homily since there were children at our wedding, we wanted it short. Then, he went straight to the vows. I heard a sniffling sound behind me.
"Edward Anthony Masen, do you promise to love, honor and cherish Isabella Marie Swan in sickness and in health-" there was a giggle from my bridesmaids that went on to the groom's side. Well, it was kind of funny. Angela was laughing, but tears were streaming down her cheeks. Alice looked back at her, and I saw Alice lose it, completely. "in good times and in bad, for better or for worse, until death do you part?"
"I do," Edward said, slipping the ring on my finger. I saw Edward's chin wobble, his eyes filled with tears, but they didn't flow over. Great. Everybody in the wedding party was crying except Jasper. I smiled.
"Isabella Marie Swan, do you promise to love, honor and cherish Edward Anthony Masen, Jr, in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, for better or for worse, until death do you part?"
"My baby," I realized the sniffling behind me had been coming from Charlie, and he was quietly sobbing in the front row. I almost let go of Edward's hand to run over and comfort Charlie, but I knew I couldn't at this moment. I'd be letting go of Edward, and I couldn't. I had to let go of the codependence I had with Charlie. Yes, this was another step. I heard Esme shushing him, like a small child. Charlie and I had to let go of each other. Just a little bit.
"I do," I said. I put the ring on Edward's finger, grinning.
"I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may now kiss the bride," Reverend Weber said. Edward helped me lift my veil and kissed me. "Ladies and Gentlemen, may I be the first to present to you Doctor and Mrs. Edward Anthony Masen, Jr." The audience clapped. There was a giggle in the audience.
We saw that Wendi had dumped out her basket of flower petals at Angela's feet. I saw Charlie, with actuals tears streaming down his face. Aw, Dad.
The wedding march started again, and Edward and I started down the aisle to our life together.