One chapter will talk about the past, one about the present until we reach the point where we began with the present. Confusing much? It keeps things interesting. ;)

Same disclaimer applies-Twilight belongs to S.M., but the idea of this story is mine.

Many thanks to my awesome betas and friends - TeamAllTwilight and m0t0b33. And to my newest help: Momma Laura.


Present time

As I start waking up, I stretch, rolling around.

The side Edward should be on is cold, but I'm not ready to wake up, so I snuggle with his pillow.

There are voices outside our bedroom, and I wonder who the heck is visiting us so early on a weekend day.

Then I remember what's today and shoot up, allowing a long shrieking sound to escape me.

Holy fuck.

"Good morning, sleepy head!" Mom exclaims as she steps into the room.

"Holy fuck!" I shout, this time out loud. "Where's Edward?"

Victoria skips in the room, dressed only in a bathrobe. "He's home, at our parents' house. Emmett and James kidnapped him earlier. I'm surprised you didn't hear him shouting."

"I slept like the dead," I say shocked.

"Yeah," she giggles. "Jimmy says you were drooling."

I narrow my eyes at her. "I don't drool." A lot.

"Bella, you can fight later. We need to get you ready!" Mom demands. "Go, take a nice bath, soak and relax, and then we can start."

God help me.

I hate being pampered and poked and prodded.

I take my time in the bathroom, making sure I'm as hairless as I've been a couple days ago after visiting that salon with Alice and Rose. As I rinse the raspberry shower gel off me, I idly wonder who is going to pack for our trip.

Edward refused to tell me anything and said it's taken care of.

When I step in my bedroom, I find it busy. All the women in the family are here along with Alice and someone I don't know.

"At last!" Mom exclaims. "Come here, sweetie." She grabs my wrist and takes me to the chair in front of the vanity—the special vanity Edward bought for me a few months after I moved in with him.

"Okay. Let's start, ladies! Oh, Bella, this is Mary. She usually helps me with the hairstyles for the weddings."

"Hi." I wave to Mary.

I relax in the chair and take my phone from the counter. Big mistake.

Everyone starts shouting that I can't do that while I'm being dolled-up. I hate that word.

The process of doing my hair and makeup is tedious. I can't stay still for longer than five minutes to save my life.

At some point, while I'm about to take the mascara from Alice to do my eyelashes myself, the door opens to reveal Sue, Dad's wife. I knew there was someone missing.

"Hi, Sue." I smile at her through the mirror.

"You look so pretty!"

"Stop making faces!" Alice moans. "I can't get this right."

I roll my eyes and settle back but keep my eyes on the moms. They're huddled up near the bed, talking in hushed tones. I see Sue taking something from her pocket, making Mom and Esme gasp and start gushing.

Gosh.

I don't feel much different.

It's a day like any other…with the exception that I'm going to marry my man in front of God.

Maybe I'll actually feel it more when I see the final result—me dressed in the gown, then see Edward at the end of the aisle waiting for me.

"Don't close your eyes!"

I jump, almost forgetting when I am.

"Sorry," I mumble.

"Done!" Rose declares loudly what feels like a year later.

"About time," I grumble and sit up, rolling my shoulders then looking at my face and hair in the mirror.

Whoa.

I had no idea my hair could behave. It looks super elegant.

And my eyes. Holy smokes.

"Thank you so much!" I exclaim. "Wow." I return my eyes to the mirror to make sure I saw it all properly.

"Now, the dress," Esme says softly, picking it up from the bed.

"What about you?" I wonder.

"We're done," she answers. "Just have to slip on our dresses. And they're getting their faces done now." She nods to my vanity where Rose took my place. Nice.

"Wait," I whisper and walk to the closet and extract a bag with nice lingerie I got at the shower.

It's a La Perla two piece, light blue, lacey, and see-through—perfect. I quickly put it on me while still in the closet, and then I put my bathrobe back on.

"What was that?" Mom asks suspiciously.

I smirk and untie my bathrobe, opening it.

Their jaws drop.

I hope it has the same effect on Edward.

"Now give me the dress and stop staring at my boobs," I mumble, feeling my cheeks filling with blood.

Mom holds the gown for me, and I slip it on, feeling all the hair on my body stand up.

Okay, I am finally feeling this.

My throat closes up, and a rush of emotion runs through me, making my eyes well up.

"You're beautiful, honey."

I smile, trying very hard not to ruin the makeup.

"Edward will grow old before he finishes unbuttoning all those little fuckers," Victoria quips from my right, watching my Mom working on the small buttons of my dress.

"We have all night." I shrug.

"And when he's done, the dawn will break, and you'll say thanks, now I'm going to sleep."

I snort. "It can't be that complicated," I protest, craning my neck to look at my back.

A shit ton of small buttons. All I hope is that Edward will have the patience to undo them. I'll commit homicide if he rips my dress. Then I'll turn up on the news as a crazy bride murdering her husband over something as trivial as a wedding dress.

Giggling to myself, I smooth the front of the dress.

It's so lovely.

I'm really happy I lost so many hours searching for it. It's so worth it.

"This is for you." Sue offers me a small box. "Open it," she urges me, smiling.

With shaky hands, I pop the lid and find a pair of beautiful pearl stud earrings.

"Something old." Sue winks at me.

"Uh, wow. I don't know… Thank you!" I hug her tightly. "I guess I already have something new and something blue," I add giggling.

"These can be something borrowed, too," Sue tells me quietly.

"Nope!" Vic shouts. "I have that one prepared."

I turn to look at her surprised.

To my utter shock, she takes off her snowflake necklace and puts it on me. "It completes the look nicely."

"Vic, you shouldn't…"

"Don't worry. I know you like it. Besides, it looks better with your dress. I don't need anything for mine."

When everyone is ready, we head downstairs and to the awaiting cars.

We're lucky Phil, Mom's husband, could pull in some strings and use the team's town cars. I don't need a limo.

Esme's on the phone with her husband, Mom's on her phone as well. Actually, everyone is so I take the opportunity to slink away, into the kitchen with my own phone. Glancing at the door, I dial Edward's number.

He answers promptly.

"I had a feeling you'd call," he says amused.

"Sixth sense, much?" I joke. "In my defense, I'm left out."

"Tell me about it. Oh, fuck!" he shouts. "No, Em. Noo. No." There's a long pause, making me wonder what the hell happened. "Really, sister?" Emmett's voice mutters in my ear. "Can't you wait another hour?"

Then I see my girls in the doorway, frowning. Awesome.

"Bye," I hiss to Emmett and hang up. "I didn't see him! I just heard him," I explain. "You were all busy."

"You can talk with him, sweetie; just don't ruin the surprise."

I snort. "And to think I almost tried the dress on for him a couple months ago," I mumble, without realizing.

"You, what?" All of them shout.

"I didn't actually. I got distracted by him in his tux."

"Don't worry," Alice says quietly. "You wouldn't be the first bride to show her dress to her husband before the actual wedding. I had a few couples that came shopping together."

I could have been one, but with such crazy family…not a chance in hell.

On the drive to the church, I get a mass of nerves from being crammed in a small space with emotionally unstable mothers.

Why do I have to ride with them?

I wish I'd joined the girls in the other car.

"Mom, can you let go? I'm nervous as it is. Stop sending your emotions my way." I shake my hand free. "Please. I'm getting married, nothing too horrible from what I hear."

"Oh, Bella!" She throws her arms around me, knocking me into the door and starts us giggling.

"Totally blaming you if I get a bruise," I mutter, rubbing my poor elbow.

She immediately starts fussing, but I stop her, waving my hand.

The ride to the church seems endless. My feet are bouncing uncontrollably, and I'm just dying for a cigarette, but I know I can't smoke.

"We're here!" Esme declares when the car stops.

Oh.

I look out the window and see a lot of people—some I recognize from work, other must be their respective dates, or simply friends of our families.

My door opens, and I see a hand with a nice suit covering their arm.

Grinning I look up only to see it's my Dad. Ugh.

"Hi, Dad," I try to sound cheerful.

"Did you really expect Edward to escort you inside?" he asks amused.

"Well, I could only dream."

He helps me out, chuckling. "You look stunning, sweetheart."

I smile shyly, hooking our elbows. "Let's do this."

"You got her, Charlie?" Mom asks from the other side of the car. "We're headed inside."

"Go on. I'll bring her in a minute."

"What?" I ask, searching Dad's eyes. Then I realize we're about to have a father-daughter moment.

"Bella, sweetie-pie." He cups my cheek.

Don't do this, I beg him mentally.

"I never thought I'd live to see the day you got married. I have to say, I've been skeptic at the beginning—Edward didn't seem good for you."

"But he changed your mind once you met him. You realized what a marshmallow he is inside that tough shell?" I giggle.

"I couldn't have worded it better." He hugs me again. "But if he does anything to hurt you, I still have my gun."

"Shut up, Dad. Just take me to my man." I grab his elbow again and steer him to the church. "Besides, it's cold out here."

"You wanted a winter wedding," he points out.

"It snowed last week, and it looks exactly how I thought, but that doesn't mean I have to stay out here. I can enjoy the view from inside."

He chuckles as we step inside the church.

This is it.

I'm going to leave this place as Edward's wife, in every sense of the word.


Check the pictures in my FB group - Addicted-to-romione-bedward Fanfiction