Rising Moon - A Twilight Fan Fiction

Chapter Three - The Bridal Party

Chapter Three: The Bridal Party

The bed was too cold when my eyes fluttered open. The space next to me was empty; Jacob was gone, whisked away for his own wedding preparations, and I'd been too asleep to even notice. Glancing towards the clock, I couldn't help sighing at the numbers flashing there. It was just passed five in the morning; the sun wasn't even up, but the countdown to my vows had begun.

The chaos downstairs was too loud for me to fall back asleep. It buzzed and roared at my ears, and I knew I wouldn't have been able to doze off. Aunt Rose was barking at someone for getting muddy paw-prints on the driveway outside; the wolves were forcing Jake into his tux; Dad and Uncle Jasper were being bossed about by Aunt Alice, who was trying to get yet another decoration just perfect -- it was too much to handle, and I wasn't even out of bed yet. The only person I didn't hear participating in the din was Mama, who should've been down there either yelling at the men with Alice or laughing at Jake.

I threw the covers off myself and let my feet touch the cool, hard wood of the floor. This was my last morning alone in this bedroom; my last morning alone forever. I reached for my slippers, scrambling back into bed as a pair of moon-white hands held them out to me. My eyes widened, teeth bared in a growl as I froze on the mattress, blinking at the surprise guest in my room.

"Good morning, Mrs Black," my mother said with a small laugh, offering a hand to help me out of bed. "I didn't mean to scare you, Renesmee."

I let her help me up, sliding my slippers on as I gave her a playful glare. "I hate it when you do that; you were watching me sleep again, weren't you?"

She smiled guiltily, starting to make my bed as I reached to pull the thick comforter back into place. "I couldn't resist one last night. Your father was up here for awhile, too, after Sam and Seth dragged Jake off."

"I'm not going to be gone for that long, Mama," I said, shaking my head at her and setting my pillows where they belonged. "You won't even have time to miss me."

"It won't be the same without you around here," she said and wrapped me into a tight hug. I slid my arms around her, resting my head on her shoulder. Already, it felt like we were saying goodbye.

"Oh stop the tears, Bella," scolded Aunt Rose, waltzing through the door with Aunt Alice behind her. "Enjoy the fact that we won't have dogs around for a few weeks. It won't smell like mud and dirt for awhile."

Mama laughed, keeping an arm around me as she turned to face her sisters.

I rolled my eyes at their joke, staring down all three of them suspiciously as they hovered in my room.

"So," I began, looking directly at Aunt Alice, "how much torture do you have planned?"

Aunt Alice let off a high-pitched laugh. "It won't be all that bad, I promise. Just a little pampering to turn you into our perfect bride."

I shot my mother a plea for help, but she just shook her head and went over to Rose, who was now fussing with the salon's worth of heat tools she'd moved into my bedroom for the day. "Let her take a shower first, Alice. I want her hair nice and clean before I work on it," Aunt Rose said over her shoulder.

Aunt Alice sighed in her dramatic fashion. "Fine, but be quick about it, Ness. We've got a lot to do."

"Yes, ma'am," I smiled, happy for the few moments of human time. I reached for my usual shower caddy, frowning curiously as Mama handed me a gift-wrapped basket filled to the brim with new toiletries and bathroom goodies. Fancy shampoos, a fluffy bathrobe, and some strong-smelling soaps were arranged carefully inside, along with candles whose scent I could already pick up outside of the clear plastic surrounding them. "What's this?" I asked, blinking up at her.