.

Chapter 61

Wedding Bells

Bella

I sat on an antique-looking designer chair in front of a huge mirror.

Alice, Esmé, Renée and Angela were in the hotel room scurrying around.

Esmé did my hair, an updo, with a few strands hanging down in beautiful waves.

Meanwhile, Alice washed off my face mask and started exfoliating.

I had no idea what she was doing all that nonsense for. I was a vampire, and my skin was perfect forever. Probably because of Renée.

Angela was already wearing her champagne-colored bridesmaid dress and talking to Renée.

"Where is the celebration actually taking place? And may I finally know where we are spending our honeymoon?", I asked impatiently.

Why did they have to keep everything a secret from me?

"You'll find out everything soon enough. You're just as curious as Em," she complained.

Esmé still took the re-sewn suits to the men this morning and then picked up Renée from the hotel.

Phil was taken care of by Charlie. Alice also sent suits to the two of them, of course.

She really left nothing to chance, and woe betide a tie that didn't fit the overall concept. That would destroy the whole wedding. At least that's how Alice saw it.

I rolled my eyes in annoyance as she spread a light layer of powder over my complexion.

"Alice, you know I don't need this," I whispered so softly that only she heard.

She chuckled as bright as a bell and just kept going.

My wishes were really not taken into consideration. I was just looking forward to finally walking down the aisle in my dress and holding Emmett's hand. I was looking forward to the honeymoon, even though we had no idea where we were going yet. At least Alice made me up very natural and 'nude'. She emphasized my golden eyes and that's when I noticed that the color of my eyes exactly matched the gold tone of the embroidery on my dress. Did Alice know when my eyes would finally be golden and bought the dress to match. The way I knew her, probably already.

When the hairstyle and makeup were perfect, the dress was put on me.

I felt very much like a Barbie doll, but I let Alice and Esmé have their fun. Of course, Alice was right. I loved the dress! It was sleeveless, floor length and had a straight cut neckline. The top was a bit like a corsage and had subtle gold floral embroidery. Before the dress went out a bit, there were two pale gold ribbons across the hips that met in the middle at a subtle brooch.

My mom had the original brooch specially exchanged for one of her grandmother's so that I had something old. New was the wedding dress, borrowed was the little bridal bag Alice gave me and the blue was the garter.

Alice, of course, chose the most killer bridal shoes she could find. They must have had fourteen-centimeter heels and were white like my dress. Probably no woman in the world would wear such things at her wedding.

But I was no ordinary bride. I was a vampire and could float across the carpet in any shoe or stand in front of the priest for ages.

So I put them on without a murmur.

Now everyone was satisfied with me, also put on their clothes, and got ready.

Downstairs in front of the hotel was a white limousine with a bouquet of roses on the front of the hood.

All the people in the lobby looked at us with wide eyes.

When we finally got into the car, the chauffeur lowered the black partition window and greeted us.

"Ladies," he said kindly, lifting his cap a bit.

"SAM?!" I shouted when I recognized him.

He put on a smile.

"My wedding gift to you. The boys kneaded me softly until I surrendered. I want to apologize for my behavior, Bella," he said, and I felt my eyes burning again.

Luckily I couldn't cry, or the makeup would have been ruined. I couldn't believe that Sam was doing this for me.

We drove about an hour to a cute little church in the middle of the countryside.

It was adorable. Unlike probably every other bride in the world, I was absolutely delighted that the sky was cloudy. Of course, Alice had predicted the weather perfectly. I could hear the chatter of the guests, who were all already seated in the church.

"It's time," Alice said briefly into her phone as she helped me get out of the car.

Charlie was waiting outside the church in a perfectly fitting suit. He looked really chic.

Renée and Esmé hugged me again and opened the door.

All eyes turned to me.

I would have loved to sink into the ground, but being the center of attention was part of a wedding.

Inside, I heard the organ music begin as Esmé walked ahead with Renée. Behind them came Alice and Angela, my two bridesmaids.

Alice practiced with Angela for five hours so that her walk looked almost as perfect as Alice's.

"Ready?", Charlie asked me, and I only nodded because I was afraid my voice might fail.

I hooked onto his arm and floated forward with him. An admiring murmur went through the crowd.

But it wasn't until I finally saw Emmett, in a suit with a bright gold tie, that I began to beam.

He couldn't hold back his smile and gave me the widest one he had.

Hello dimples! Never before has human speed seemed so infinitely slow. If Charlie hadn't held me by the arm, nothing could have stopped me from being in my future husband's arms in a second.

When I finally - after what felt like an eternity - got to him, Charlie delivered my hand into his.

He looked incredible in the suit. I had to smile when I thought about the last time he wore a suit - in Las Vegas.

I almost didn't listen to the priest and sank into his eyes.

The priest cleared his throat and equally jerked us both back to his speech.

"I ask you again, Emmett McCarty Cullen, do you take the present Isabella Marie Swan to be your lawfully wedded wife?", he repeated the sentence, as we had both missed the first cue.

I heard the guests chuckling and had to smile myself.

"Yes!" said Emmett with fervor that could almost get my heart beating again.

"Isabella Marie Swan, do you take Emmett McCarty Cullen, present here today, to be your lawfully wedded husband?", he asked me.

I gently squeezed Emmett's hand and looked at him in love.

"Yes," I said in a beautiful bell-sounding voice.

The loving smiles that spread across our faces couldn't be beat.

We finally put back on the white gold plain wedding bands we took off the day after Las Vegas and saved for today.

This moment was so perfect, so idyllic, that I wanted to keep it forever.

Apparently we missed the priest's text again, because I heard some chuckling and felt a grain of rice on my arm, which was clearly coming from Alice's direction.

We both looked somewhat apologetically, but amused, at the priest. He rolled his eyes, but looked no less amused.

"Well, kiss her already," he now prompted Emmett again.

And the latter lowered his head to mine. I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him back.

We laid down a kiss fit for a movie. He put his arms on my back and neck and I let myself fall backwards into his hands. He bent over me and kissed me again. I heard whistles from around the Quileute seats and ended the kiss with a smirk.

The guests clapped as we turned to them, and I could finally see who all was there.

There was the whole wolf pack sitting in a corner - Billy was there too. Then some of my old school friends had come and, of course, Mom and Dad, who were both looking at me with teary eyes. On the other side were the vampires. In addition to the Cullens, the Denalis had also come. At least, I suspected they were, since they also had golden eyes.

We walked out hand in hand and got into the limousine that was in front.

Sam came out of the church first and then sat down with us.

The other guests got into the other limousines parked in a row in front of the small church.

We drove for a while until I realized we were heading home. When we got out in front of our house, we could already see the lanterns and the flower arrangements in the back garden.

I saw Alice on her cell phone again when she got out, and that's when a string quartet started playing in the backyard.

Alice led us to the back of the bride and groom's table and told us to stop there so everyone could congratulate us.

She tried to give us an evil stare for a second for the botched stakes at church, but she couldn't help but smile happily.

After getting hugs and kisses from all the guests and taking pictures with everyone, we served some appetizers for the wolves and humans among the guests.

Then we were pulled onto the dance floor and a slow romantic waltz began.