A/N: This was originally going to be a one shot in a posting in and of itself but I decided to incorporate it into this story. Believe me it was quite difficult to come up with a situation where Bella would actually bet against Alice on but I think I nailed it. Edward POV in part 2.
Bella POV
I blame it on the champagne. That's definitely the only thing that could have made me delusional enough to bet against Alice. I lost…obviously. Wasn't it me that said "never bet against Alice"? So, here I sat on my bed waiting for the mischievous little pixie to arrive so I could "pay up".
It had all started out innocently enough. Edward and I went back to his house after our time in the meadow to bring the good news of our engagement to his family. Not that we needed to. Alice had already informed them. We were met by knowing grins as soon as we walked in the door.
Flashback
Emmett picked me up in a big bear hug and swung me around much like Edward had when I first told him my answer to his proposal. When he set me down, I swayed slightly feeling dizzy. Edward placed his hand on my shoulder to steady me before I fell down in an ungraceful heap on the floor.
"Careful Emmett. She's still breakable." Edward told him but there was no anger in his words.
"She's usually not this klutzy." Then Emmett came closer to me and took a whiff of me. "Bella, are you drunk?"
I look at him horrified. "What? Me? No." I responded. I only had 2 glasses of the delicious champagne. Surely that didn't qualify me as drunk.
Esme looked confused until she looked at Alice, who guiltily looked away but there was a slight smirk on her face.
"Alice. Bella is underage. What were you thinking?" Esme censured.
"I was thinking that she is always going to be underage so she might as well try some of the good stuff before it's too late."
But Esme couldn't stay mad for long. She was the next one to offer her felicitations. One by one each member of my new family congratulated us, even Rosalie although she wasn't quite as exuberant as everyone else.
"Bella" Alice said coming over to me with a pleading look in her eyes. "Best friend, sister of mine…"
"Maybe she has her own ideas of what she wants to so with her wedding Alice." Edward interrupted and I guessed he was reading her thoughts.
"Shush Edward. This is between us girls." She nearly growled back at him. "Now where was I? Oh... .can I please, please, please plan your wedding? I won't go overboard. I promise."
"Alice your definition of overboard and mine may vary quite a bit." I told her but I knew I would let her do it anyway. What did I know of wedding planning? I was only interested in the final result. Besides, I knew how much it would mean to Alice.
"Can we meet somewhere in between then?" She pleaded some more.
I rolled my eyes at her. "Okay but I draw the line at exotic animals, unidentifiable French food and want to give final approval for everything."
Alice jumped up and down excitedly, clapping her hands. "Thank you, thank you" She gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"Bella, are you sure you want to give Alice free reign?" Jasper asked. He knew his wife after all.
"I only want to marry Edward." I told him simply. "The rest is just window dressing." It was the truth and Jasper saw it as such judging by the serene smile on his face.
"Maybe your mom wants to help with the planning." Esme told me. "Mothers usually like to do that sort of thing."
Renee'! Oh my God. In all the excitement I hadn't once thought of how my parents would react. There was no way I could not tell them and it had to be soon. After all it took a lot of time to plan a wedding and we wanted to do it sometime in August. Crap, crap, crap.
"Bella. Love, what's wrong?" Edward asked concerned sensing my inner distress.
"My parents. What am I going to tell them? They'll freak out. I know it."
"Relax Bella. You will tell them tonight and it will be fine." Alice tried to reassure me but it wasn't working.
My breaths were coming faster and faster and suddenly I felt arms around me. It was Edward. "Breathe Bella" He said calmly and I felt Jasper's tranquil waves envelop me.
"Bella, I promise. Charlie won't react…much and your mom well she kind of has known all along so it would be no great surprise to her."
"You don't know Charlie and Renee…god, she's been telling me what a mistake she made getting married so young my whole life. There is no way they are going to take it well."
Alice suddenly got this look in her eye that I couldn't really describe. It looked very suspicious. "Care to make a bet?" She said.
"No Alice" Edward interrupted her. "Bella don't listen to her." He told me.
I usually wouldn't even conceive of betting against Alice but in this instance I knew I was right.
"Definitely." I told her.
"Okay then. When I win, I get to dress you up the way I want on Monday for school. No compromises."
"Fine and when I win, you can only play your Bella Barbie games with me when it comes to the wedding dress."
"Fine." She looked absolutely pleased with herself. "Deal?" She held out her hand.
"Deal." I said firmly and shook the hand she offered.
End Flashback
I should have known at the time. She looked so confident and everyone else save Edward, laughed. He told me later that she had been blocking him the whole time so he couldn't see or hear what was going in her head or else he would have tried harder to stop me. It wouldn't have worked though, I was being stubborn and I knew Charlie and Renee much better than she did. They would not take this lightly. So imagine my surprise when Edward and I sat Charlie down in the living room that evening to tell him, he barely batted an eye.
Flashback
"Are you pregnant Bells?" Charlie had asked, his whole demeanor stiff.
"No Dad, it's not like that." I told him.
"Charlie, I realize that I should have asked your permission first but I did propose and she accepted. I love her Charlie, more than you can imagine. We'll both be going to the same college next year…I won't be separated from her again. I am essentially old fashioned." He gave a crooked smile. "And I want her to officially be my wife before we go. We are asking for your blessing."
Charlie shifted in his seat, looking uncomfortable but as far as I could tell he wasn't going to blow. However looks could be deceiving. This could be the calm before the storm.
"Can't say I didn't see this coming sooner or later." He said. "Just wish it were later, is all." He mumbled under his breath. He looked at me square in the eye then. "Are you sure about this Bella, about him?" I knew Charlie was asking mostly because of what I went through when Edward left. I knew Edward thought this too judging by his involuntary wince.
"Absolutely sure." I told him confidently. Charlie looked more closely at me trying to ascertain if I were telling the truth or not. Satisfied, that I was, he nodded.
"I have some money saved up…it's not much but…"
"That's not necessary Charlie."
"Dad, you don't have to." Edward and I spoke at the same time.
This seemed to anger Charlie more than anything else that we said. I chalked it up to male pride.
Charlie shook his head, disagreeing. "Now, Bella. You are my only child and I know I haven't been there much for you. Make your old man happy. Please let me contribute something."
I looked at Edward. He nodded silently his consent. This wasn't for me, this was for Charlie. "Okay Dad. If it will make you happy."
Charlie laughed then, deep, belly shaking laughs with tears leaking from his eyes.
"Dad?" I asked alarmed. Maybe he finally cracked. I knew this was going to happen. 'What's going on?"
He wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes. "I can't wait to hear what Renee has to say about this after you tell her."
All of the relief I was being to feel flew out of me with a whoosh like a deflating balloon. I felt Edward's hand making comforting circles on my back but it didn't do much good. Charlie handed me the phone with a grin on his face.
"You want me to call her now?" I asked appalled.
"No time like the present." Charlie replied.
I hesitantly dialed the number praying that she wouldn't answer and I could just leave a message. Fate wasn't on my side. She answered.
"Hi Mom." I said swallowing passed the sudden lump that formed in my throat. Edward was still making the soothing circling motions on my back.
"Bella Baby, it's good to hear from you. How are you?'
"Good, mom, I'm good."
"Bella? You don't sound like you. Is something wrong? Did you get into another fight with Edward? Did he leave you again?" Her voice was all sympathy as she shot questions at me like a journalist on crack.
"Uh, no Mom. Nothing like that. I, uh, actually have some pretty great news." At least I thought so. I had no idea how Renee would respond.
"You're getting married aren't you?" She asked. There wasn't even an inkling of surprise in her voice. I was momentarily stunned. "Bella, are you still there? That's it isn't it?"
"How…how did you know?" I asked her when I was finally able to form a coherent word.
"Oh, baby. A mom just knows these things. I had a sense about the two of you since he came back. He would be a fool to let you get away from him again."
"You're not mad? I mean all that talk about marrying young being a big mistake…?"
"For me, Bella. A big mistake for me. Anyone with eyes can see how you and Edward are with each other. And I know you. You don't make rash, impulsive decisions like I do. You've always been the adult in our relationship. If you're sure than I'm sure."
I didn't know what to say at that point. I was stunned speechless. After some more small talk with Renee, who very definitely wanted to be a part of the wedding planning, I hung up and stared at both Edward, who looked pleased and my dad, who looked just as shocked as I was.
"Alice won." I announced.
End Flashback
The doorbell downstairs rang and I knew Alice was here. I could hear Charlie grumble incoherently as he made his way to the door to let her in. I heard something come from his mouth that sounded like "ungodly hour" before he opened the door to give Alice a cheerful hello. It was an ungodly hour…5 am to be exact. Apparently, Alice felt she needed a lot of time to get me ready. Something that didn't sit well with my already fragile self esteem.
She burst into my door with a cosmetic bag in one hand and a duffel bag in the other.
'Good, you already showered and left your hair wet." She said giving me a once over. Then she peered at me more closely. "You didn't get much sleep last night did you?"
"No" I said derisively. "I kept imagining all the different things you were going to do to me."
She rolled her eyes at me. "Seriously, Bella. It's not torture."
"Feels like." I retorted with a snort.
Alice POV
This was going to be fun. Bella had played so easily into my hands. It was child's play really and I silently congratulated myself for my well thought out plan. I looked over Bella assessing the options as she looked at me warily.
"Okay." I finally said clapping my hands. "Off. Everything off."
A blush rose to her cheeks as she stripped down leaving on her bra and underwear.
"I said everything." I told her.
"Even…"
"Yes, yes." I was digging into my duffel bag to find what I needed. "We'll be sisters soon, no room for modesty here…ahh got it."
I showed Bella what was in my hands. She gulped eyeing the lacy blue thong and the matching lacy blue push up bra. "You want me to wear that?" She pointed at the beautiful garments as if they were rags. I was almost insulted.
"Every great outfit needs the proper foundation. One-No one wants to see your panty lines…hence the thong and two- this bra is perfect to show off your attributes in the top I picked out for you. Now get moving Swan." I said in my best drill sergeant impersonation.
"Yes Colonel Cullen." She responded with a smile and a salute.
After the underwear, I had Bella wiggle into black Capri cut, low rise skinny jeans that were so tight they could have been painted on. She had lost a lot of weight after we left but I was glad my assumptions on her size were correct.
Next came the top at which when I handed it to her she eyed it disbelievingly. "Uh, Alice I don't think this will fit. It looks a little small."
"Oh Bella. It's supposed to be that way. It cuts just above the navel. Here look" I said putting the top over her head. It too was tight. The blue was the exact shade that Edward liked on her. It was a flutter sleeve corset top with a scoop neck that exposed the top globes of her…ah...attributes. It barely qualified as a top bit the effect was devastating even before the make-up job.
Bella looked down at herself and frowned. "Are you trying to drive Edward crazy?" Then she looked up and must have noted the satisfied expression I was making. "Oh God. That's it isn't it?" She looked appalled. "You are trying to make him crazy. This whole bet thing was a set up"
I was pleased she got it so quickly. "Now Bella. I still haven't paid Edward back from when he insisted we leave. I just wanted to make him sweat a little…not that he actually can sweat but you get the idea."
"And to think I fell right into your little prank. I can't do this Alice" She groaned.
"Of course you can." I said cheerfully. "Besides you lost the bet. You can't stiff me."
"Fine" She said grumbling "Do your worst." I knew I could get her when I threw her own honor code at her.
After she was dressed, I started on her hair, nails and make up. She couldn't be wearing her engagement ring with her nails looking like they did. I gave her a sexy smoky effect to her eyes and her lips a deep red pout. I flat ironed her hair to complete the look.
Pulling out a pair of low heeled shoes, I gave them to her. "I was looking at the stilettos but I didn't think you'd appreciate a broken ankle." It was killing me that she didn't have the proper footwear but I wanted revenge against Edward without having Bella get hurt in the process.
"Thank goodness for small favors." She replied.
When she bent down to slip the shoes on her feet, I noticed that the top of her thong was visible over her jeans. "Uh, Bella…you might not want to bend down so much at school today." I told her.
"Why?" Her expression was suspicious. Dare I tell her? No, that would make her even more self conscious.
"Never mind." I said shaking my head. " Here let's get a look at you." I eyed her from all angles. "Wait…I forgot one thing." I reached in my bag and found the small fake diamond stud I was looking for.
"What's that?"
"This is a belly button ring. Faux, of course since you don't have a piercing there." I inserted the accessory and took a look at my masterpiece. "Perfect! Go look in the mirror."
Bella gasped looking at her reflection. Could she see what I saw? She was transformed into "sex" personified…well as much as she could get away with in high school. Edward was going to go nuts. I wanted to shout with glee.
"Put on this trench coat." I said handing her the black coat.
"You just did all this to me and now you want to cover it up?"
"It's for maximum effect when you reveal yourself. Trust me."
She was hesitant but did as I asked and grabbed the purse I gave her along with her backpack.
"Ready?" She asked a little impatiently.
I looked at her suspiciously. Something was off. Of course! "Bella, hand me your bag." I held my hand out. She gave me the purse. "Not that one…your backpack."
"Why?" She asked cautiously. She hesitated too much so I took it from her. Opening it up I saw what she wanted to keep from me. Bella watched horrified as I pulled old jeans and a sweater from the bag.
"No Bella…you will not be changing your clothes at any time today." I told her satisfied that I thwarted her efforts to outwit me.
"You are one mean pixie." She said as we headed down the stairs.
"You remember that." I told her smugly.
Edward would be waiting for us at the school unaware of how I transformed his fiancé. I couldn't wait to see his reaction. This was going to be the most fun I have had all year.
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A/N – Flutter Sleeve corset top by Victoria's Secret and Black Skinny capri's by Guess.