The urge to protest immediately vanished and I shot Jasper a look. “Ya know, your going to exhaust yourself if you keep trying to manipulate me into feeling anything else.”

He shrugged his shoulders and grinned at me before turning his attention to Alice.

“C’mon. Edward is hunting right now, if we get her over there now we can avoid the task of avoiding him.”

“Wait!” I interrupted. “I thought Charlie… I mean that’s what Edward said. That Charlie was going to drive me..”

“Well,” Alice replied, “Edward is a man. He can’t be expected to understand the amount of time I am going to need to prepare you. You clearly need to be there much earlier than he planned. Don’t worry. I talked to Charlie about it. He will meet us there later.” She grinned. Apparently proud of how she thought this all through.

Jasper grabbed my suitcase and Alice grabbed my hand. Jasper needed to exit through the window since Charlie was unaware of his presence in the house and would require an explanation as to why he chose to use the window to enter instead of the door. Alice grabbed my hand and led me downstairs and out the door.

“See you there, Charlie!”

His response was too distant to comprehend it. We were already in the car speeding to the Cullen residence.

—————————————————————————————————————————-

I was strongly opposed to Alice’s high levels of incessant pampering, but I knew better than to resist her. She had spent the last two hours pinning the freed curls to my head in a random fashion and applying, removing, and reapplying different shades of make up. Most, I suspected, was for her own personal pleasure and satisfaction rather than for the benefit of my appearance.

“There.” She finally breathed.

She turned the spinning chair to face the mirror. I allowed myself to gasp slightly. Again, the effect was mostly for her satisfaction. She was as pleased with my reaction as I was to my appearance. She had turned me from ordinary to almost fascinating. I almost looked worthy to enter into “unholy matrimony” as he had so sarcastically put it, with Edward.

I met Alice’s eyes and thanked her.

She smiled. “Dress time.”

She pulled me out of her economy sized bathroom into the bedroom where the dress was laid out on the bed. The dress was pure, white silk. It had the tiniest hint of embroidery on the front and its simplicity was breathtaking. It was strapless and well fitting, thanks to hours of Alice’s readjusting. I glanced at the clock. It was nearly 1. I winced. Guests would be arriving soon. I hadn’t gotten to see Alice’s elaborate transformation of the back lawn. Oh well, I would see it soon enough.

If Jasper hadn’t been staying close and focusing on my relaxation, I would have felt very nervous just then. But I was forced instead, with no argument on my behalf, to maintain a composed and calm attitude. Alice sat down and grabbed my hand with her own. The chill sent a shiver down my spine and then I felt suddenly warm. Thank you, Jasper, I thought.

“Do you know the story behind this dress?” Alice asked.

“No… I just know that you got it for me. Which is a dead give away that it was probably very expensive.” I shrugged.

She laughed. “No, silly. I didn’t buy the dress.”

I frowned, confused.

She continued, “It was Esme’s dress when she married Carlisle.” I inhaled sharply, realizing the value and meaning behind the fabric in my lap. “I wore it when I married Jasper, and Rose wears it when her and Emmet get married.” She gestured to the fabric. “Its our way of welcoming you to the family as our sister, and in Esme’s case, her daughter.”

The tears welled up and Alice mumbled something about ruining my makeup. Jasper calmed me and sent away the tears before they had a chance to spill.

“Thank you, Alice.” My voice was a whisper.

Right on time, Esme and Rosalie entered the room and accepted their hugs and thanks from me. They all helped me dress and then stood next to me in the mirror, complimenting me gratuitously.

Alice turned me to face her and grabbed my hands again.

“Its time.”