The Girl Who Was Taken (Renesme Cullens Twin Sister)

Eighty-One

Today was the wedding day. It took all winter and spring to plan. Paul and I didn't mind though, we stayed cozy inside until the snow melted, and saved up money to buy a house of our own. As far as I was concerned, we were already married, and after Carlisle helped me fix together my identification paperwork to prove I was a real human person who resided in the US now, I kept the offer on the table to just go down to the court house and sign the paperwork already. But Paul agreed with the tribe leaders and Carlisle that a proper wedding ceremony was in order to bring a thorough treaty among our people.

"You said it yourself," Paul insisted, "We're sworn enemies designed to kill each other. But this marriage is going to put up a truce. We can't keep this war going forever. If you think about it, I've been fighting it since I was sixteen, Sam's been fighting it for longer, and he's looking to retire soon. His children are getting older, and he wants to age with them. And as far as we know, we don't start aging normally until we stop phasing, and according to Carlisle, you're not going to age at all, so that means you and me are going to live forever, and that before I know it, I'll be pack leader."

"What does the rest of that have to do with getting married to me?" I asked.

"I'm just thinking about the future. I want to make sure I do the right thing by my pack. Act like a leader before I am the leader."

"Okay, fine. We can have a big ass wedding," I gave in to him. "But. You realize it's going to be huge. Like ginormous. I don't think you realize how many damn vampires I know, or how many at least know me, and they're all going to be horrendously offended if they don't get an invite. Like, I was basically a princess for most of my life."

"Okay your highness," he said with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes at him, "But really, you understand how big this thing is gonna to be, right?"

"No, you're right. We should have the wedding off the Res, keep all your blood suckers away from our home turf."

In the end, and with a little too much input from Renesme, our wedding was held at Eberle Barn, about a two-hour drive from La Push. Even with everything Renesme had on her own plate with her orphanage project, she made time to fly over and plan every last detail. We were in the spacious barn, pinning garlands and fairy lights up all around. I was at a table wrapping the two pieces together, and she was climbing up on a beam of the barn to hang one up. She paused for a moment, looking out over the barn, and asked quietly, "Is it okay that I designed your wedding exactly how I always imagined mine would be?"

I put the garland down on the table and looked around with her. It was starting to get dark outside, so the light didn't filter in through the arid walls anymore. The floor was covered in clean sawdust, and the tables were spread out with white sheets and all the flower arrangements, ready for tomorrow morning. The dishes would be put out for the meals tomorrow to keep them dust free. "It's beautiful. It's not like I ever imagined what my wedding would be, so as long as you're cool with not being able to use it if you ever get married someday."

She nodded, she went back to fixing the garland into place, then she spoke again. "I put so much thought into this wedding design. Back before I even hit puberty, you know? Because back then I always thought I'd be marrying Jacob. Everyone thought it. It just seemed like the next logical step."

I twisted garland and asked what I'd been wondering for the last year and a half. "Are you ever going to marry Jake?"

She put her hands down, stopped working as she thought, then looked up at me. "I met a girl."

That made me stop my work too and look up at her. "Like a girl-girl? Like an important girl?"

"Yeah... I like her."