The reception followed directly after the ceremony. Still clutching Bella's hand, I led her out the back patio doors to the yard, which had been decorated with still more flowers, ribbon and white cloth. A bar and a dance floor had been set up on the grass, and uniformed wait staff were ready with glasses of champagne for our guests. There was time now to greet everyone individually and chat. To my delight, Bella had relaxed completely, and no longer seemed to mind being the center of attention – at least for the moment.
Among the first to approach and speak to us were Seth Clearwater and Billy Black, Seth's mother, Sue, at his side. I had really come to like Seth. Similar to Angela Weber, his thoughts were prevailingly kind and optimistic, a welcome relief from the usual pettiness and banality that occupied most human minds.
Sue was nervous amongst so many vampires, which was obvious from the rigid way she held herself, as though ready to run if need be. Her thoughts also betrayed her state of mind. She was not particularly glad to be here, but had not been about to let her son walk into the vampires' lair without her. She also had a strong desire to support both Charlie and Billy. Her affection for both men was considerable; it would be interesting to see how that turned out.
Billy Black had an unusual air of contentment about him, but he seemed to be carefully shielding his thoughts from me. Of course, the pack had warned him of my ability. I might have been uncomfortable by this shielding, wondering if it portended something negative, but his contentment belied that. It were as if something very good had happened to him recently, but he did not want me to know what it was.
"Congrats, guys," Seth said with a smile, then surprised me by leaning forward to hug me. Other than Bella, of course, it was unusual in the extreme for a human – or in this case, a partial human – to willingly subject himself to physical contact with a vampire. I returned the hug with my free arm, grateful once again for his easygoing and accepting nature. "It's good to see things work out for you, man," Seth continued. "I'm happy for you."
I was touched by the sentiment, given what this day meant for his friend and pack mate, Jacob. "Thank you, Seth. That means a lot to me."
Pulling back, I looked at Sue and Billy beside him. "Thank you, as well. For letting Seth come. For supporting Bella today."
"You're welcome," Billy replied simply, still keeping his thoughts guarded. Sue's thoughts were rather less charitable than her son's, but I wasn't about to let it bother me. Her attitude was understandable.
Bella's friends from high school were next to speak with us. Angela Weber and her boyfriend, Ben, were clearly delighted to be at the wedding, and Angela spent several minutes squealing in admiration over Bella's dress. Newton and Jessica were with them, and I had to clench my teeth against the urge to backhand Newton upside the head. While Jessica's thoughts were grudgingly admiring of the wedding décor and Bella's appearance, Newton's were a snarl of the usual tedious fantasies. Although these were nothing new, the fact that the woman he was thinking them about was now my wife was. This and the fact that he was holding Jessica's hand while doing so doubled my usual irritation with him.
Oh, Edward…you look so…so… I caught, and glanced up to see Tanya looking at me wistfully, her sister Kate and their coven mates Eleazar and Carmen right behind her. Speaking of tedious fantasies…
I felt Bella's grasp on my hand tighten as Tanya hugged me. Obviously, she had understood immediately who this grouping of vampires was, and her eyes had widened as she took in their appearance. Of course she would overestimate their beauty, and underestimate her own in comparison.
"Ah, Edward. I've missed you," Tanya said aloud. Her hug was just a moment or two too long to be appropriate, and I had to maneuver away from her while still endeavouring to remain polite.
"It's been too long, Tanya. You look well," I replied casually, holding her at arm's length.
"So do you," she smiled as she looked into my eyes, seeming to forget a moment where she was.
"Let me introduce you to my wife," I said pointedly, enjoying the sound of the word rolling off my tongue. That was the first time I'd been able to say it since it had become true. My cousins all laughed slightly, not missing how much I liked saying that. Tanya still looked wistful, but at least her thoughts had moved from the fantasies and on to curiosity about Bella. "Tanya, this is my Bella."
Tanya turned her gaze from my face to Bella's. So this is the one who finally managed to capture Edward Cullen's attention…She's quite beautiful. She'll make a stunning vampire… I was grateful for the compliment, but winced just slightly at the last part. With Bella now mine – officially, unequivocally mine – warm and soft at my side, I didn't want to think for a moment about her ceasing to be human.
"Welcome to the family, Bella." Tanya smiled at her, shaking her hand. "We consider ourselves Carlisle's extended family, and I am sorry about the, er, recent incident when we did not behave as such. We should have met you sooner. Can you forgive us?" She was genuinely regretful that they had not come to Forks to help us with Victoria's squad of newborn vampires.
"Of course," Bella replied, sounding slightly out of breath. She had been holding it while waiting to see how Tanya would receive her. "It's so nice to meet you."
"The Cullens are all evened up in numbers now. Perhaps it will be our turn next, eh, Kate?" Tanya grinned at her sister. Neither of them endured any shortage of male companionship, but they both still longed for true love.
"Keep the dream alive," Kate sighed, rolling her eyes. She also reached out to shake Bella's hand. "Welcome, Bella."
Carmen and Eleazar stepped forward, and Carmen placed her hand over Kate's. "I'm Carmen, this is Eleazar. We're all so very pleased to finally meet you." Lovely girl, smells so wonderful… She thought, in typical vampire fashion.
"M-me, too," Bella replied a little awkwardly, still overwhelmed by the Denalis' appearance. I wanted to take her aside and explain to her in no uncertain terms that she was every ounce as beautiful as they were. No doubt about it. It never ceased to frustrate me that she simply could not see it, not even today.
Tanya realized that there were others waiting to speak with us – Charlie's human co-worker and his wife. The pair were staring at my cousins with wide eyes, also taken with their appearance. The wife, whom I had not met before, was wondering if she had stepped into a convention of supermodels. She was astonished by their unusual beauty but, like all other humans, her brain would not land on an otherworldly explanation for it. She simply assumed good genes ran in the family. I can't imagine how gorgeous their children are going to be, the woman thought, glancing back at me and Bella.
I suppressed a sigh at the idea.
"We'll get to know each other later. We'll have eons of time for that!" Tanya said with a laugh, gracefully leading her family away to give the other guests their time with us.
Alice had built all of the usual traditions into the reception agenda. We cut a four-tiered white wedding cake heavy with fondant flowers and mashed bites into each other's faces. Bella had considerately kept the piece she fed to me as small as possible without it being conspicuous, knowing that human food literally made me gag. She threw her bouquet over her shoulder to the group of unmarried women, somehow managing to direct it to her intended target, Angela Weber. When it was my turn to remove her garter, I wasn't surprised to see that she had already maneuvered it down from her thigh in order to modestly minimize the amount of leg she would be flashing at the crowd.
Oh, come on… Emmett thought from off to my left when he saw what she'd done. That's no fun at all! For his amusement – and, admittedly, to tease Bella – I pushed her dress up higher than necessary over her knee, letting my fingers trace sensuously down the length of her leg as I bent down to remove the garter with my teeth. Emmett and Jasper both laughed when Bella flushed red.
Bombarded by another random fantasy from the thoughts of Mike Newton while he watched this, I turned and shot the garter at his face, knowing that I'd launched it with enough force to sting. Perhaps a petty move, but comparatively harmless and extremely satisfying.
When it was finally time for our first dance, I was delighted to find that Bella was relaxed, settling contentedly in my arms as she let me lead her around the floor. It felt wonderful to finally be able to wrap my arms around her. I was vaguely aware of photographs being taken, but tuned out the crowd to concentrate on my bride.
"Enjoying the party, Mrs. Cullen?" I whispered to her, deciding to give those words a try. It was no surprise to me that they were just as satisfying to say as "my wife."
She laughed. "That will take a while to get used to."
"We have a while," I replied happily. Like forever. I couldn't resist leaning down to kiss her at the thought. This extraordinary creature was mine. Mine.
I was reluctant but knew it was traditional to relinquish her to her father for the next dance, while I went to dance with Esme. We were separated for some time after that as well, as we played dutiful hosts and made a point of speaking to and dancing with everyone we could. It felt somewhat odd to be the center of attention at what was primarily a gathering of human guests, after spending so many years trying to live unnoticed on the fringes of human society. I could tell that my family felt a bit of strain with it as well, although they were unwaveringly gracious with everyone with whom they spoke.
Esme in particular didn't seem to stop beaming, she was still so delighted with how everything had worked out.
Emmett was trying to remember what it was like to get drunk. He'd had his share of such experiences during his human life and recalled that he had rather enjoyed them, but was now finding the smell of alcohol rather nauseating.
Finally, I felt as though I had spent enough time being conscious of my social duties and could selfishly return to my bride. She was really the only one I wanted to spend time with tonight anyway. Fortunately, she was not far away, and she was dancing with someone I didn't care the least about offending: Mike Newton. He was only half-concentrating on his conversation with Bella in any event, the other half of his silly mind fully entrenched in yet another tedious and annoying fantasy about her.
I was gratified that she looked relieved when I cut in and sent him on his way with a look that made him feel guilty about his unsavoury thoughts.
"Still not that fond of Mike, eh?" she asked, though she was clearly amused.
"Not when I have to listen to his thoughts. He's lucky I didn't kick him out. Or worse," I replied archly.
"Yeah, right."
Even today, of all days, she still didn't believe she drew the kind of admiration she did from the opposite sex. It was truly incredible. And typical Bella. "Have you had a chance to look at yourself?"
"Um," she hesitated for a fraction of an instant, as though wondering why that would be relevant. "No, I guess not. Why?"
"Then I suppose you don't realize how utterly, heart-breakingly beautiful you are tonight. I'm not surprised Mike's having difficulty with improper thoughts about a married woman. I am disappointed that Alice didn't make sure you were forced to look in a mirror." Disappointed but not surprised. Any other woman would have been obsessed with checking her appearance every five minutes. Bella would have said it would only make her more nervous to do so.
"You are very biased, you know."
Maybe in some ways, but not about this. This was empirical fact. I sighed and stopped dancing so that I could turn her around to face the direction of the house, where the glass of the back wall reflected the lights outside and acted as a huge mirror. I pointed toward our reflection.
"Biased, am I?"
She seemed to focus on my image first, studying that for a moment before turning her eyes to her own. She looked like a fairy tale princess in her flowing white gown, skimming gracefully over the curves of her slender body. Her dark hair set off her perfect ivory complexion, and her warm brown eyes were glowing with the excitement of the day. They widened in surprise as she realized that the beauty looking back at her was, indeed, her.
So did I miss everything, Cullen? Or can I still get in a dance with the bride?
I had been so focused on Bella's reaction to her reflection that the thought took me completely off guard. Although I had spent decades learning not to react visibly when someone thought my name, I turned automatically in the direction from which it had come.
Jacob Black.
I think I made some kind of sound out loud from the surprise when I realized who it was, and that he had deliberately "called" to me from somewhere nearby.
Bella was going to be thrilled. The thought of her happy reaction made me grin in delight.
She was staring at me with wide eyes. "What is it?"
"A surprise wedding gift."
"Huh?"
Without answering, I whirled her across the dance floor, spinning towards the far side which edged the dark part of the lawn and the beginning of the forest. Since the outdoor lights didn't shine quite this far over, none of the guests would be able to see us, but there was enough of a glow to permit Bella's human eyes to see her surprise.
"Thank you," was all I could think of to say. I could only imagine how difficult it would be for me to make this appearance if I were the one in his shoes. "This is very…kind of you."
I'm here for her, he thought, and added aloud for Bella's benefit, "Kindness is my middle name. Can I cut in?"
Fortunately I had an arm around her waist, as I felt Bella sway on her feet in shock. "Jacob! Jacob!"
"Hey there, Bells."
She tripped forward in the darkness, but Jacob reached out to grab her just as I let her go. Without hesitation, she pressed herself against him and he clutched her to his chest. He leaned down to rest his cheek on the top of her head.
I hesitated for a moment, knowing that I should give Bella some time to speak with Jacob alone, yet reluctant to do so. Part of it was my continuing unease with leaving her alone with werewolves. Despite the fact that the wolves had supported us in the fight against Victoria and her newborn vampires, the truce between us remained a tenuous one, and I still knew that adolescent werewolves were inherently unstable.
But part of it, admittedly, was the remaining, nagging jealousy. She had almost chosen him.
Quickly, I shoved that thought out of my mind, annoyed at myself. She had just married me. She was still standing there in the dress, for heaven's sake. Surely insecurity on my part was as ridiculous as her worrying about…Tanya.
Except that I had never been anywhere remotely close to having a relationship with Tanya beyond our "family" ties. I had never kissed Tanya. And I had never even considered holding Tanya in an embrace like that.
But for Bella, I forced myself to take a step backward. This really was ridiculous. She had made her choice. "Rosalie won't forgive me if she doesn't get her official turn on the dance floor," I finally said.
Jacob was momentarily surprised by my offer to leave him alone with my wife, but Bella, with tears in her eyes, gave me a small, grateful smile. When I saw it, I was glad I had made the decision to give them this moment. It was the right thing to do. Hopefully she'd be able to find some peace where he was concerned. Without another word, I slipped back to the rest of our guests.
But I wouldn't be far away. I would try not to listen to their conversation, but I wasn't going to risk her safety, either. Thankfully, I could sense Sam and some of the other wolves in the forest, monitoring the situation with Jacob and Bella. To their credit, they didn't want to see Jacob do anything to upset the party, either…even though their primary concern was their pack mate's safety, given the number of vampires in attendance.
Coincidentally, the first person I saw when I returned to the crowd near the dance floor was, indeed, Rosalie. Emmett was a few feet away speaking to one of Bella's relatives, but Rosalie couldn't be bothered to try and make small talk with a human.
"I can't believe you willingly left her with that dog," she sneered, apparently having watched the whole scene as Jacob came out from the forest. It was too dark to see that far with human eyes, but of course her vampire sight would not have missed it.
I sighed heavily. "And what would you have had me do?"
"Start by telling him to get lost, maybe."
"He's an invited guest."
"She invited him?"
"Actually, I did."
Her eyes widened and she shook her head from side to side. "I'm not even going to try to understand why. Sometimes I don't get you at all."
I gestured toward the dance floor. May as well get in our obligatory dance if we were going to have this conversation anyway.
"Whether I like it or not, he's Bella's friend," I said simply, as we fell easily into rhythm with the song playing.
"From what I heard, he's a lot more than her friend." She practically spat the last word as she said it. "I don't know why you tolerate it."
"What if Emmett were to try and tell you with whom you could be friends? How would that go over?"
"That's different. I can look after myself."
"Don't tell me you're suddenly worried about Bella's safety?" I raised an eyebrow at her cynically.
She hesitated for a few seconds. To my surprise, I could tell from her thoughts that there actually was some concern there. She really was trying to make more of an effort to like Bella and treat her as part of the family – not so much out of good will on her part, but out of necessity given that Bella had now married into the family. And after a good deal of nagging from Emmett. I was touched to see the degree to which Emmett had gone to bat for us with his significant other. I knew from experience that it wasn't easy to get Rosalie to do anything she didn't want to do.
"I certainly prefer her to that pack of mutts," Rosalie eventually muttered. She was still unwilling to admit out loud any softening of her attitude toward my bride.
"Well, I guess I should be grateful for that much, shouldn't I?" I couldn't quite keep the sarcasm out of my voice.
"Believe it or not, Edward Cullen, I actually care about what happens to you. Whether you're happy or not. I'm not saying I wouldn't have preferred you to make a more…sensible choice, but here we are."
I was trying to decide how to reply to that small concession but was saved when the song ended. I could see Emmett and Tanya approaching us from the edge of the dance floor. Right. Tanya. I hadn't danced with her yet, either.
I took a moment to focus in and find Jacob's thoughts, to check on Bella. I couldn't hear his actual conversation with Bella from here with the volume of the music, but his sadness was easy to find in this crowd, otherwise overwhelmingly full of positive thoughts and well wishes. Looks so beautiful…can't believe she did this…can't believe she's tied herself to the bloodsuckers…would have been so much better off with me…
I couldn't suppress a sigh. It would be so much easier for all of us if he could move on. It would release Bella, and ease her conscience entirely if she could see him happy. If he would think clearly for five minutes, he would see she wasn't meant to be with him anyway. If she were, he would have imprinted on her long ago. Wouldn't he? I would have to ask Carlisle about that. He understood these wolves much better than I did.
"Mind if I get a moment with the groom, Rose?" Tanya asked pleasantly. "I haven't had a dance yet."
"Be my guest," Rosalie replied. Emmett had already taken her hand to lead her away.
I steeled myself for the next few minutes with Tanya, which were sure to be awkward in some fashion, even if she didn't say anything aloud. I liked her well enough as a "cousin", but her thoughts about me had always made me feel rather uncomfortable.
As we began our dance, Tanya moving as easily and gracefully as Rosalie, Esme and Alice had, she gave me a smile. "You've looked so happy today, Edward. It's so nice to see." Her tone was light, but there was wistfulness behind it. She was wishing that this was our wedding – that she was the bride.
"I know you know exactly how I feel about you, and always have," she continued. There really was no point pretending otherwise. "But I really am happy for you. I hope you know that, too."
Yes, she was sincere in that. "I do. Thank you, Tanya. I appreciate it."
"And I really am looking forward to getting to know your Bella."
She meant that, too. "I appreciate that as well."
There were a few moments of silence as we danced. She was filled with curiosity, her thoughts running through a dozen things she wished she could ask me about my relationship with this human woman. They ranged from – why her? what is it about her? – to wondering about the physical aspects. She and Kate had in the past always rather enjoyed the "company" of human men, but it hadn't generally turned out that well for the men involved, so much weaker than their female vampire lovers. I almost shuddered at her thoughts about what had happened to some of those men. That was all I needed, tonight of all nights. I gritted my teeth, hoping to God she wasn't going to actually ask me any kind of question along those lines.
While I was fretting about that subject, she managed to surprise me with the question she actually decided to ask. "Is it true that you intend to turn her yourself, Edward?"
I was so caught off guard that my expression must have been rather stunned.
"I mean…that's what Alice said." Her brow creased in concern. "I'm sorry…should I not have asked about that? Alice didn't give me the impression that it was a secret…at least not amongst us."
I managed to gather my composure quickly. "No…it's not a secret…" I said slowly. "But it's not the most joyous thing for me to think about, either."
"Why not?" She hesitated after asking the question, checking my expression once again. "I mean…I'm sorry if I shouldn't ask you that, but really…It's the only logical outcome, isn't it? Obviously, if you love her enough to marry her, you can't let her get old and sick and…die. You'd be alone again."
"There are other possibilities."
"I suppose, but none of them are reasonable in the situation, Edward. And Bella apparently knows that. Alice says that this has been Bella's wish since the beginning."
I gritted my teeth together again, almost wishing now that Tanya had instead decided to spend our dance telling me how much she loved me. As horrid as that would have been to deal with, this wasn't much better. "That's true…" I replied from between my clenched teeth. "I wouldn't do it otherwise…if it weren't entirely her choice."
"I can understand that, but since it is her choice, why do you look so…tense about it? Are you concerned you won't be able to do it properly? Because I'm sure Carlisle can help. Or you could let him do it. You know that he's able to."
"It was never my desire to get involved in Bella's life so that I – or any of the rest of us – could end it for her. The thought practically sickens me."
She was baffled by the fact that I viewed it that way, since she, like Emmett, had never minded being what she was. She was about to ask me to explain that to her, but everything in my mind was suddenly blocked by the thoughts of Jacob Black, so forceful that it were as if he were standing next to me screaming in my ear: NO! THEY CAN'T! HE CAN'T! HE'LL KILL HER! I WON'T ALLOW IT! I'LL KILL HIM MYSELF FIRST!
For a fraction of an instant, I thought he was thinking about Bella being turned into a vampire, that being the subject I had just been discussing with Tanya…but then I caught the context of his reaction: frenzied, scattered images of Bella and me together, wrapped in each other's arms, kissing…then Bella bruised, broken bones…
She must have said something to him about our plans for our honeymoon. About the bargain that we had made. And he knew enough about my kind to realize the implications…and to anticipate the worst.
"Sorry, Tanya, excuse me…" I managed to mutter, and was across the dance floor in a flash, probably faster than any human eyes had even noticed.
When I reached the spot near the trees where I had left Bella with Jacob, I saw that he had her upper arms clenched in his large hands, his face twisted with rage. Her facial expression was surprised – but also frightened. "Ow, Jake! Let go!" she was saying, as quietly as she could to avoid attracting the attention of our guests to this darkened corner. Despite her quiet tone, her heartbeat was racing.
When I saw him shake her, it was all I could do to keep from pouncing on him and ripping his shoulder from its socket. I don't know what allowed me to refrain from doing it, other than the certain knowledge that no matter how frightened Bella might be at the moment, she would hate me if I did. More importantly, I also knew that at a sign of aggression from me, Jacob would phase and Bella would be far, far too close to him when he did.
"Bella! Have you lost your mind? You can't be that stupid! Tell me you're joking!" He hadn't noticed me arrive, he was so focused on her and his anger, as he shook her again and tightened his grip on her arms.
"Jake – stop!" she gasped.
"Take your hands off her!" I growled, using every ounce of self-control I had to fight my own inner impulse to violence. I was vaguely conscious that both Emmett and Jasper were somewhere behind me. They had seen me disappear from the dance floor, and Jasper had sensed something was wrong. I heard snarls from the darkness of the forest, but couldn't have cared less about the dogs also surveying the scene.
At some point, Seth Clearwater had also come up from behind. His voice was calm, trying to reason with Jacob. "Jake, bro, back away. You're losing it." He was wondering if he should phase immediately himself to try and avert what could easily become a bloodbath.
Jacob, however, was still frozen with Bella's arms in his grasp, his eyes wild and staring at her.
"You'll hurt her," Seth whispered. "Let her go."
I was about to use up my very last shred of patience. "Now!" I snarled.
Jacob suddenly released his grip on Bella, and I swept her out of the way and behind me in the blink of an eye. Just as quickly, I crouched into a fighting stance, waiting for his next move. Two wolves had stepped out of the cover of the trees and now stood between us, clearly trying to keep us separated.
Jacob's thoughts were so tangled and furious – and, admittedly, full of concern for Bella – that it was hard to make out one thought in particular. Seth stepped over to him, wrapped his arms around Jacob and tried to tug him toward the forest. "C'mon, Jake. Let's go."
"I'll kill you," Jacob Black finally managed to choke out, glaring at me with hatred as intense as I'd ever felt from anyone. "I'll kill you myself! I'll do it now!" I saw him shudder, usually the initial sign of a wolf about to phase.
As if he scared me in the least, mangy dog. Who was he to interrupt my wedding and accost my wife? For the first time, I was ready to disregard Bella's feelings entirely and put an end to Jacob Black and his interference. I felt nearly as savage as I had felt with James in the ballet studio.
I ignored it when Sam, in his wolf form, growled. "Seth, get out of the way," I hissed, still focused on Jacob, my own head clouded with rage. It would give me pleasure to rip this dog limb from limb.
Seth gave Jacob another yank toward the forest. "Don't do it, Jake. Walk away. C'mon." Sam followed and shoved Jacob's chest with his massive black head.
In another instant, the three of them were gone.
But I didn't miss Jacob's parting thought, finally clear through the jumble in his head that had been a mix of human anger and a werewolf about to phase to animal form: You hurt her, and I will hunt you down and kill you, I swear. The rest of the bloodsuckers can tear me apart if they want. But I will get you.
I don't take kindly to threats and never have. I had a very dark moment of fighting the urge to chase him into the trees and finish this once and for all. Bella's friend or not, he could not continue to think he had the right to intervene in her choices and our lives. I would not spend the rest of my existence dealing with him and his inability to control his emotions.
Two things made me wrestle myself under control.
The first was Carlisle, and the tenuous peace he had spent so many years crafting between us and the wolves so that we could co-exist in relatively close quarters.
The second was, of course, Bella, now trembling at my side. Like Bronte's Heathcliff, not only could I not bear to see her upset by the loss of him – or anyone – I could not escape the knowledge that Jacob's reaction had been born, at its essence, of deep-seated concern for her safety.
Besides, the dog was right: the "bargain" I had struck with her was ill-advised in the extreme, to say the very least. It was insanity, and I knew it. It was only my inability to say no to her and whatever passed for hormones in my body that had caused me to agree.
I heard Bella mumble something to the remaining brown wolf, and struggled to gather myself together.
"It's all right now, Bella," I murmured to her.
The wolf gave me a long look and I nodded once to indicate that I would not follow the other three. It made a snorting sound and turned to follow their path into the trees.
"All right," I muttered, more to myself than to Bella, still working on regaining my self-control. I looked over at her, staring back and forth between me and the dark forest. "Let's get back."
"But Jake –"
"Sam has him in hand. He's gone."
"Edward, I'm so sorry. I was stupid –" Her eyes were wide with distress, and glistening with the beginnings of tears.
I shook my head. "You did nothing wrong –"
"I have such a big mouth! Why would I…I shouldn't have let him get to me like that. What was I thinking?"
I reached up to stroke her cheek with the backs of my fingers, trying to convey a sense of calm I hadn't yet achieved myself. "Don't worry," I told her simply, unable to think of much else to say about the incident, given my knowledge that Jacob had been completely right. "We need to get back to the reception before someone notices our absence."
She looked doubtful, shaking her head. She took a deep breath and clenched her fists, as if trying to get herself back under control as well. "Give me two seconds."
After about five seconds, she smoothed the front of her wedding gown with her palms. "My dress?"
I smiled wryly. Of course, she looked as magnificent as she had before. "You look fine. Not a hair out of place."
Two more deep breaths. "Okay. Let's go."
I wrapped my arms around her and carefully led her back to the dance floor, where I spun her once and resumed our dance as though it had never been interrupted. A quick scan of the minds of the guests told me that no one other than my family had noticed our absence, or anything resembling a conflagration. Okay, bro? Emmett thought, frowning slightly in our direction. I gave a quick nod, and he and Jasper, still poised at the edge of the dance floor, started to relax.
I turned my attention back to Bella. Although her heart had been pounding, it was gradually settling back to its normal rhythm. "Are you –"
"I'm fine," she replied quickly, before I could finish the question. "I can't believe I did that. What's wrong with me?"
Of course, she would blame herself. She was the least culpable of any of us. "Nothing is wrong with you," I told her. It was me. Jacob, too, but mostly me. While it was really none of his business, I was the one who knew better than to have agreed to what I had with Bella. And she would be the one to suffer the consequences. It was beyond tolerance.
"It's over. Let's not think of it again tonight," she said, clearly trying to convince herself as much as she was trying to convince me.
But it would be difficult not to think of it again tonight. Tonight was our wedding night. While it would take us a day's travel to get to Isle Esme, the moment she expected me to uphold my end of our deal was fast approaching.
"Edward?"
The images that had gone through Jacob's mind earlier flashed back through mine: Bella and me together, wrapped in each other's arms, kissing…then Bella bruised, broken bones…
I squeezed my eyes shut against the mental picture and leaned my forehead to rest against hers. "Jacob is right," I said softly. "What am I thinking?"
"He is not," she replied instantly. "Jacob is way too prejudiced to see anything clearly."
No, that was a better description for Bella. She was too optimistic to understand what she had asked of me, of the consequences…Because I had gotten over my all-encompassing thirst for her blood and she had no understanding of exactly how hard that had been, what it had taken and what it still took, every single day…she thought I was exaggerating the difficulties. "I should let him kill me for even thinking…" I muttered to myself under my breath.
"Stop it!" she stated firmly, grabbing my face between her palms. When I opened my eyes, she was staring back at me. "You and me. That's the only thing that matters. The only thing you're allowed to think about now. Do you hear me?"
That was what I was thinking of. But I didn't want to sour this day, of all days. She was right that now was not the time or the place. I sighed. "Yes."
"Forget Jacob came. For me. Promise that you'll let this go."
I looked back at her for a moment, wishing, as always, that I could read her thoughts, if only for a moment. She didn't understand what she had asked; she couldn't understand. Yet her expression was so earnest, pleading with me with her eyes. I couldn't let Jacob Black and my own second thoughts ruin this day for her. For us. Perhaps it was selfish of me yet again, but I had waited too long.
"I promise," I finally replied. I would uphold that promise, too.
"Thank you," she relaxed again and smiled, settling back into our dance. "Edward, I'm not afraid."
I knew from her eyes that she was telling the truth, but part of me wished that she had a little more fear…a more realistic sense of the situation. But perhaps I was filled with enough fear for us both. "I am," I whispered.
"Don't be." Her voice was firm again. "By the way, I love you."
I knew from her eyes that she was telling the truth about this, too, as incomprehensible as it still seemed so much of the time. "That's why we're here."
Enough seriousness, for heaven's sake…I got from Emmett as he strode up to cut in. He and Jasper must have been watching us, because I also felt one of those waves of calm settle over us. I glanced over Bella's shoulder to see Jasper a few feet away. He grinned and winked. Not for the first time, I wished I had a bottle of that calm to take with me to the island. Or a case of such bottles.
"You're monopolizing the bride," Emmett joked. "Let me dance with my little sister. This could be my last chance to make her blush."
I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, and relinquished her hand to my brother. I saw that Alice had joined Jasper, and didn't mind the idea of a few minutes with them to see if I could reclaim my earlier good mood.
Alice smiled tentatively when I approached, reaching out to take both my hands. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to see ahead and warn you that that dog was coming, Edward. It's so frustrating not to know what the wolves up to, I can't even begin to tell you."
"It's okay, Alice. It's been dealt with." I shrugged, but doubted that my attempt at nonchalance had been convincing.
"Well, thank you for not ruining my party by starting a war."
"Don't worry, I wasn't inclined to ruin the party, either."
I could feel Jasper doing his best to lift my spirits and alleviate my anxiety, but it was probably more difficult than usual. Alice sensed the effort, and looked from his face to mine with a frown. Edward…I know what you're worried about…You know I didn't want to say anything about it, and I still don't…But for what it's worth…I don't see anything bad happening on your honeymoon…Nothing but joy. You know what I mean?
I looked at her for a moment, grateful for her tact and for her assurance. Making an effort to take her words to heart – she was almost never wrong – I nodded. Nevertheless, I was glad for the distraction when Carmen and Eleazar ambled towards us for a chat.
It was another hour or so before I was able to extricate myself from dancing and talking with more of our guests and claim my bride once again. Thankfully, I felt much better by then and had managed to focus on the well-wishes, which re-fortified my earlier sense of overwhelming happiness. That was the important part, I told myself firmly. The rest we would deal with.
I had even found a way to reassure myself that Alice was right, nothing terrible would happen. Since the only thing I had promised Bella was that we would try, I could call a halt at any time I felt things were getting too dangerous. I hadn't killed her when the urge had been overwhelming so many months ago; I wouldn't hurt her this way, either.
I wouldn't.
I clutched Bella to my chest tightly as we danced, relaxing into the feel of her soft body in my arms.
"I could get used to this," she murmured happily as her footsteps followed my lead. It was obvious that she had also managed to shake off the earlier unfortunate incident.
"Don't tell me you've gotten over your dancing issues?"
"Dancing isn't so bad – with you. But I was thinking more of this." She pressed herself against me even more closely, filling me with a sense of delightful warmth. "Of never having to let you go."
My heart skipped lightly, joyously. She was mine, and she was as happy about that as I was.
"Never," I agreed. Suddenly overcome with the urge to kiss her, I leaned down and brushed my lips over hers softly, then back again. She exhaled, her sweet scent filling my nostrils. I kissed her again, gently, slow but building in intensity as we both got lost in a long, wonderful moment.
Despite the fact that other couples were dancing around us, I had managed to tune them out and had kind of forgotten that we were still in the middle of the dance floor until I heard both Alice's thoughts and voice at the same time, somewhere near my elbow: Oh, for…Can't that wait? "Bella! It's time!"
Bella's hands were around my neck, and had dampened somewhat as she had sunk into this kiss. Her heart had picked up speed again, not with anxiety this time, but with what I knew was the force of her desire. I was rather enjoying the feel of it pounding against my own chest, and spurred it on by kissing her harder. Every increase in intensity was met with an increase in her heart rate.
Edward! "Do you want to miss your plane?" Alice grumbled. "I'm sure you'll have a lovely honeymoon camped out in the airport waiting for another flight."
At the moment, neither of us cared. We could stay right here in Forks, in this exact spot.
I pulled away from Bella a fraction of an inch. "Go away, Alice," I muttered, then resumed the kiss exactly where I had left off.
"Bella, do you want to wear that dress on the airplane?" she demanded.
When we continued to ignore her, Alice started to play dirty. Oh, no you don't, Edward Cullen. I worked too hard on this. "I'll tell her where you're taking her, Edward. So help me, I will," she said in a low, irritated voice.
The one thing that would get my attention, and she knew it. She knew how much I wanted to keep it a surprise. I turned from Bella slowly to glare at Alice. "You're awfully small to be so hugely irritating."
"I didn't pick out the perfect going-away dress to have it wasted," she retorted, and snatched Bella's hand from its place at my neck. "Come with me, Bella."
To my amusement, Bella pulled back, still clinging to me with her other hand. She stood on her tiptoes to kiss me again, but wasn't strong enough to hold on when Alice gave her an impatient tug, dragging her toward the house. She looked back at me wistfully as the guests around us, having noticed the scene, chuckled with amusement.
"She has more fire in her than I gave her credit for," Emmett teased. He and Rosalie had been dancing right next to us. I hadn't noticed they were there. "I wasn't sure, since she's been fighting you off all this time. Or maybe you were fighting her off?"
"Emmett, behave," Rosalie scolded, mimicking Esme. She rolled her eyes at me. "You may want to do something about the lipstick on your face, Edward."
With a half-smile, I pulled a handkerchief out of my pocket, and tried to get the lipstick off as I left the dance floor. I supposed it was a good thing Alice had used a light shade on Bella today.
Charlie was waiting for me off to the side. He had the remnants of a glass of champagne in his hand and a contemplative expression on his face. I knew immediately what he wanted to say, and braced myself to let him say it. I could tell he already felt uncomfortable about it, but needed to get it off his chest.
"Quite a party your family puts on, Edward," he said gruffly, trying to work himself up to the speech he wanted to make.
"I hope you enjoyed it, sir."
"'Sir'? You're going to have to stop with that, now that you're my…son-in-law." He had a hard time getting the word out, but then gave me a rueful smile. "Sorry. That's going to take some getting used to. I didn't think I'd be wrapping my head around that one for at least another ten years."
"That's all right." I waited for him to continue.
"Listen…" he began, after a somewhat awkward pause. He took another swallow of champagne. "I just want to say…while I certainly thought I'd have more time before I walked my daughter down the aisle and I know I've been kind of…tough on you in the past…I know when she's happy. That's all I've ever wanted for her, and I know that she is. She's ecstatic, in fact. And that's because of you. You're a decent kid…well, man. Bella loves you, and I can see how much you love her. So…I wanted to welcome you to the family. I'm glad to have you. Renee's probably too busy crying, or I'm sure she'd say the same."
I knew from his thoughts how very difficult it was for Charlie to express his emotions, and appreciated his effort. While he still had his doubts – or at least, some residual concern – he meant what he had said. "Thank you, s– …Charlie. That means a lot."
"I also know you'll take care of my Bells for me. She'll always be my little girl. So I'm entrusting her to your care now. Understand?"
"Of course. You don't have to worry about that." No, that was one thing Charlie would never have to worry about. She would never be safer than when she was with me. Super-human senses and physical strength would always be handy in that regard.
"And even after you guys go away to New Hampshire…you'll make sure she visits her old man, right?"
I hesitated for a fraction of an instant. That one was a little more difficult to promise. So much would depend on how Bella handled her transformation. Charlie was yet another reason why that was so difficult to contemplate.
"Absolutely. My parents will want us to come home often, too," I finally answered.
"Okay, then." He cleared his throat and straightened his spine. I could see tears glistening in his eyes, and looked away so that he could feel comfortable that I hadn't noticed. In this light, no one but a vampire would have.
After another brief moment, I discerned that he had said everything he was going to say and that it was time for me to give him a minute alone. "Um…Sorry, Charlie, but I think I had better go change. Alice has us on a tight schedule."
"Of course, of course…" he harrumphed. "You go on. I'll talk to you when you guys get back from wherever it is you're going."
I smiled and headed for the den, to ditch the tuxedo for something more appropriate for hours on an airplane.
I had barely finished when I got Alice's signal that it was time to go retrieve Bella for our departure. We're coming back down, Edward. My appointed place was at the bottom of the staircase, where someone had already had our guests come in to gather and see us off.
When she appeared, Bella once again took my breath away.
Alice had chosen perfectly, of course: a silk jersey wrap dress in the deep blue that best set off Bella's colouring. Her hair had been let loose from its pins, and now hung in gentle waves over her shoulders. Her rapturous smile made her eyes sparkle. Renee had an arm around her and Alice held one of her hands, but Bella scarcely seemed to notice that she was once again descending the treacherous stairs in front of a crowd.
She reached for my hand as soon as she got to the bottom tread, but her eyes were scanning the crowd, searching. "Dad?"
I cast my mind out through the people and quickly found him at the back of the throng. "Over here." I led her in his direction, where he stood near the rear wall, behind everyone else. His eyes were still glistening, and now looked a little red around the rims. I waited as they said their goodbyes, and had to catch myself to keep from nodding an assurance when he shot a final thought in my direction: He better keep her happy, and keep her safe.
The crowd parted to let us through to the front door. I wrapped an arm around Bella's waist. "Are you ready?"
"I am," she replied simply, confidently.
We paused for effect on the threshold while I kissed her once again for the benefit of the crowd. Applause and a shower of rice followed us to the car, Emmett doing his best to make sure as much of it as possible bounced off my head. He was satisfying himself with that rather than mentally teasing me about the wedding night. Thankfully, he knew that I had enough to fret about in that regard.
Once Bella was in her seat, I got in the other side, shaking my head a little at what Alice and her henchmen had done to decorate my Aston Martin. The rear window was sprayed with something white to spell out, "Just Married", and the rest of the car was covered in flowers, ribbon and Prada shoes.
She leaned out the window to wave goodbye, and I took her hand as we sped away. "I love you."
She turned to smile at me, and leaned her cheek against my arm. "That's why we're here."
I kissed the top of her hair and then hit the gas, ready to celebrate with a burst of speed. The roar of the engine picked up, but it wasn't enough to drown out one last sound emanating from the forest: a long, plaintive howl.