“I’m proud of you, Bella.”

“Thanks, dad.”

“I know your all grown up now and all…..but don’t be afraid to visit your old man after you take off on your new life.”

That hit home.

I bit my lip. “Sure dad, I’ll keep in touch.” I promised. I could still call him and write to him without putting him in any real danger, right? It sounded promising enough for me.

The song came to an end, and I kissed Charlie on the cheek quickly. He smiled and handed me back over to my husband as the next slow song began to play. That was more like it. We twirled and spun without my feet barely even touching the ground.

“Alice said you were confused about the suitcase.” He whispered in my ear.

“I was…. I mean, I am.” I raised my eyebrows.

He frowned. “Bella, have you really not figured it out?”

I chuckled. “You know I suck at acting. I couldn’t pretend to be this confused even if my life depended on it.” He knew I was right.

“Did you think you were going to get out of this without a honeymoon?”

I had not thought of that. My jaw dropped slightly. “Honeymoon?” I groaned. “Where to?”

“That,” He chuckled. “Is a surprise.”

“Damnit.” I responded.

The rest of the evening flew by in a blur. It was very late before the crowd started dispersing. I hugged everyone and knew that I would likely never see them again. The hardest goodbyes were Renee and Charlie. I promised to write and call and hoped that they wouldn’t be too upset when I cut off communication completely. They would be fine, I kept assuring myself.

When everyone was gone, I helped Alice clean up a little bit. She was so fast, that I didn’t really get the chance to do much assisting. It only took about a half of an hour for this family to accomplish what would have taken a normal family days. Normal was so overrated, I decided.

Esme and Carlisle were the first to approach me. I realized that after the wedding, I hadn’t really gotten the chance to hug everyone. I hugged them now.

“Welcome to the family.” Esme gushed. Her happiness was unmistakable.