I grasped my father’s cold steely hand tightly as the lofty music of the Vide Cor Muem filled the air. I felt this union was as unique as the music I had chosen for my wedding march the
night before. I had spent hours searching online music warehouses, researching
the perfect song. I had almost given up and conceded to something generic, when
I stumbled across this one.

            The piece was taken from an aria in the Vita Nuova, which roughly translated meant, “The New Life.” I found it extremely fitting, and my father had
graciously found a soft, and angelic, version to play at this most special of
moments.

            I looked down the rocky, makeshift aisle we were about to walk down. The sand had been littered with ivory rose petals, that led to the spectacular, white rose and
orchid adorned gazebo. Our closest friends and family sat in thin, white, chivari
chairs, and turned expectantly in our direction as they rose from their seats.

            “You look beautiful,” my father whispered. I looked up at him, and my calm reserve wavered when I took in his expression. His face was slightly crumpled, into what I
imagined would be tears of happiness and joy, and I felt the familiar tingle
behind my eyes as the tears began to form.

            “Don’t make me cry,” I teased, trying to lighten the mood, “Aunt Alice will kill me if I ruin my make-up.” His mouth turned up at the corners, and a proud smile
stretched across his face as he adjusted the small bouquet of flowers behind my
ear.

            “No, we wouldn’t want that to happen, would we?” he said, matching my mocking tone.

            Earlier, I had been forced to sit through the entire day while Alice had been working to make me beautiful. The bridal tent had been teeming with people,
who specialized in nearly everything, from flowers, to lighting and food, to
facials, manicures, and pedicures, desperately seeking her final approval on
everything. While she worked, I was worked on. I had been wrapped, washed,
buffed, filed, and painted, within an inch of my life, before she gave them the
okay to stop. It was a very long and boring procedure, however, I had to admit,
that the end result was rather impressive.

            I hardly recognized myself as I looked into the mirror- after I had been carefully put into my wedding dress. I had won the argument of having my hair down and free,
rather than twisted into some overdone braided fiasco, but it had been curled
in to slightly tighter waves, and hung to the middle of my back. The sides were
slightly pulled back away from my face, and pinned behind my ear, with small,
and exquisite arrangements of orchids, that were strewn together by the same,
small, dainty pearls that matched the inset on my wedding dress.

My make-up had been professionally done, which looked much better than the day- to -day mascara and lip gloss I normally wore. The palette was very natural looking, but they had played up my dark eyes with shimmering
coppers and golds to match the color of the water on the setting sun They had
just finished giving my lips a glossy, apricot, hue, when my father had
come to get me to take our places before the ceremony.

We timed the entrance of my vampire family perfectly, as the sun, which had managed to peek out from behind the constant cloud cover, set behind the looming cliffs on the other side of the bay.
My father and I walked slowly, while the photographers feverishly took our
picture, to stand in this very spot, waiting to be cued by the music.

            My father’s voice broke through my reverie, bringing me back into the moment, as he took my hand and looped it through his arm, taking the first step towards the gazebo.
My heart swelled with the melody of the music as I took in Jacob, standing at
the end of aisle, waiting for me.

            He wore the tuxedo that Alice had ordered for him, minus the tie and the shoes, but he still looked glorious. The suit fit
him as if it was hand tailored for his massive frame, and the stark white of
the dress shirt was stunning against his deep cinnamon skin. His whole face was
glowing as he met my gaze. He took a deep, visible breath, before a wide and
sublime smile broke across his perfect face. I imagined the sheer joy and pride
of his expression was matched by my own, as my we made it to the end of aisle,
and my father gave me away.

            Sam Uley was the presiding tribal chief, and performed the ceremony in a similar fashion as Jacob had done on the beach, just days earlier. Jacob wanted to have a
traditional Quileute ceremony, and my family was happy to be able to return the
favor, no matter how small, to Jacob and his pack. His mother and father had
been married in the very same spot, years ago, and I loved the idea of
incorporating the tradition into our ceremony.

            The ceremony was similar to a traditional western ceremony, but instead of rings, we had the delicate, ornamental bracelets, which were tied around our wrists for
us, this time. Jacob and I insisted on the same vows we had originally said
to each other the first time, and again I wore tears on my cheeks when he said
his part.

            “Renesmee Cullen, the love of my life. I have loved you since the very day you were born. And I promise to love, honor, and protect you, from this day forward, until the
very last day of forever.”

            When it was time for us to kiss, Jacob first grabbed the top of my hand, kissing it sweetly, and then pressed his full lips lightly against mine for a long moment. Cheers
broke out amongst the guests as we were officially announced as Mr. and Mrs.
Black, and we made our way to the silk tents that had been set up further down
the beach for the reception.

            All the typical traditions were kept; we cut cake, threw the bouquet and garter, and danced our very first dance as husband and wife. The evening was perfect, and
neither of us could have asked for anything more at that moment. Jacob and I
had managed to dance ourselves into a corner, and were stealing kisses away
from the flashbulb cameras and the rest of the guests, when my father suddenly
appeared beside us, tapping Jacob lightly on the shoulder. He held a microphone
in his left hand, so naturally, I winced, knowing nothing short of complete
humiliation could come from this. He grabbed my hand, and led me out to the
middle of the dance floor, with Jacob in tow.

            “I’d like to start by thanking everyone for coming,” he began, speaking through the short burst of feedback in the microphone, “We are so very blessed to have such wonderful
people to call our family now, and Bella and I couldn’t be happier for Renesmee
and Jake.” He reached his arm out towards my mother, beckoning her to join us.

            She sauntered out onto the dance floor in a lovely fitted blue dress, her dark hair curled into soft waves, nearly to her waist, and she pulled her lips back in a
irresistible smile, showing her perfect teeth, as she took my father’s hand and
faced the two of us. My father wrapped his arm around her waist and gave her an
affectionate squeeze. She reached across his chest, taking the microphone from
his hand, and put it awkwardly to her mouth. I was stunned. My mother was never
one for public speaking, or being the center of attention.

            “We are so happy for you both, and wish you the very best,” she said. The nerves made her heavenly voice tremble, just slightly, but she kept going, despite her obvious
discomfort. “We know that you two didn’t have the chance to have a real
honeymoon, and we didn’t have time to put one together in such a short time,
but we hope this will suffice.”

            She reached her arm forward and opened her hand, revealing a small, solid gold plated ring, with one solitary key dangling from it. I looked at her curiously, but held my
hand out so she could drop it into the palm of my hand.

            “We think you will really like it. It is from all of us here- both families, and your brother’s, Jacob.” she said quietly. “We all took turns, working day and night,
to build it in time.”

            I stared up at Jacob in disbelief, and he wore the same stunned expression. I felt a new wave of tears well up behind my eyes, and spill over as I flung myself at my
parents, wrapping my arms around them in a three way hug.

            “Thank you! Thank you!” I exclaimed, as I felt Jacob’s long arm span surround us all, enclosing us in a ring of sweltering heat. My father kissed the top of my head,
and my mother put her hands on either side of my face, kissing my cheeks. Then,
they both broke away from us, and gently nudged us towards the door.

            “Well, go on now and see you new house,” my father insisted, “It is about a mile up the trail, just slightly off the reservation. You can’t miss it!” Another proud
smile stretched across his face as he watched us say our quick goodbyes and
leave the tent.

            Once we were outside, Jacob scooped me in up in his arms, and turning on his heels, we raced up the trail to our new home.

This was my heaven on earth and we had forever to live together in it. The hardship of our previous life was gone now. All of our fears were behind us, another chapter closed, and we only had
to look towards the many wonderful gifts the future had in store for us.

THE END