CBWR? Chapter 36

Dun dun dun dun! (That's supposed to be the wedding march).

Holy shit, could that woman lie.

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Chapter 36

I was going to get married.

To my slave.

Well, ex-slave, really.

I mean, she wasn't anymore.

My slave, that is.

She was going to be my wife instead.

God, this was fucked up.

I fiddled with the ring in my pocket – recently purchased on Jasper's insistence. I wouldn't have even thought of it. I just went into the store and asked for the biggest one, but Jasper nudged me and pointed to a beautiful, delicate one with rows of small diamonds circling the larger one in the center. It was perfect for Bella's petite fingers. There was a matching wedding band for me somewhere in Jasper's clutches.

At the courthouse, we approached the side of a really large room with a roped off partition where people could stand in line to get married. A chunky bald man sat flatulently in his chair as he pulled various papers out of his desk drawers and fiddled with a bunch of ink stamps. As he gathered up the paperwork, he bitched under his breath about needing a real office.

"You'll need to sign here," the magistrate told me. "And you fiancée will have to sign as well."

"She'll be here soon." Jasper was as helpful as always. Chunky glared at him.

I filled in all that I could, which was most everything except Bella's name and signature, and handed all the paperwork back to the magistrate. He went over it, stamped it a couple of times, and then leaned back in his creaky office chair.

"There are others waiting," he said, indignant. "If she isn't here soon-"

The door opened behind us, and I turned to see first Alice – in her usually black-on-black ensemble – then Rosalie in a bright red dress with little spaghetti straps, and…Bella.

Bella in an extremely short, light blue dress with ruffles wrapping around her body in the most deliciously suggestive way. Her arms were totally bare, with one shoulder also completely naked, and the skirt was high enough to expose most of her beautifully shaped thighs. Her hair was tied back in a long ponytail collected high on her head, and she carried a small bouquet of wildflowers.

I almost wished I had put on the tie, or at least tucked my damn shirt in.

I could only assume by the smirk on Rosalie's face that she had given Bella a little coaching on the whole wedding thing, especially when Bella practically skipped up to me, ducked under the ropes, and placed a kiss on my cheek.

"Missed you," she giggled and looked from me to the magistrate. "Sorry I'm a little late. He's used to it, but…"

She giggled again, flipping her ponytail off of her bare shoulder.

Holy shit.

I didn't even recognize her.

"Identification, please," The magistrate said curtly. Bella pulled out the driver's license I had just handed to her that morning, before everyone else showed up.

"Isabella Cullen?" Chunky questioned.

"That's me," she said. She actually sounded very believable. "But I go by Bella, not Isabella."

"Most people wait until after they are married to change their name," he said as he looked up from his desk at her.

Fuck.

All her identification had her listed as Cullen – Jasper had made sure of it. How in the hell had I not thought about that before we were actually standing here? My stomach flipped over and I was afraid I was going to lose breakfast.

While I freaked out inside, Bella's hand slipped into mine as she handled everything with grace.

"I know!" she exclaimed in this new, sing-song voice I had yet to encounter before this moment. "Isn't that bizarre? We tried to figure out if we were related when we first met, but we're not at all – thank God – at least not as far back as my mom could track it. After he proposed, I figured it was just destiny."

Holy shit, could that woman lie.

I just stood there and tried to keep my mouth from dropping down and having a little cuddle with my shoelaces.

"Makes the paperwork easier, too," she went on. "I won't have to have my name changed on everything."

"Humph," the magistrate huffed. "I suppose that's true."

"Destiny," Bella said with a big, goofy grin. She reached over and ran her hand along my jaw. "Right, Edward?"

"Whatever you say, baby." I was completely awestruck.

The whole "ceremony," if you could call it that, consisted of Chunky saying "do you want to marry this man" followed by "do you want to marry this woman" and me trying to get two words out of my face without passing out. I was doing all right, I thought, once I managed to croak out "I do," until he said the final five words.

"You may kiss the bride."

I felt the blood drain from my face.

It was one more thing I hadn't considered.

I should have…but…well…I didn't.

Fucking sue me.

My eyes darted over to Bella's, and she was looking up at me with her head cocked to one side and that same goofy smile on her face, but it wasn't in her eyes. Maybe it would have been enough to fool Chunky and the other bystanders, but I could see the hesitation…the worry. Of what, I wasn't sure exactly. Did she think that I would hurt her here, in the middle of the fucking courthouse? Or was it just the memories in her head of what she had endured that I would never be able to understand.

I hadn't kissed her since she went down on me, that very first night. My tongue darted over my lips, I reached over and touched the edge of her jaw, and then leaned in. I looked at her eyes once more as they fluttered closed, and I placed my lips lightly against hers.

It was incredibly brief, because I backed away immediately. But during the brief moment our lips touched, my stomach churned and my chest clenched. I was hard to breathe for a second, and though I knew I had to – I did not want to stop.

I opened my eyes again, and I could see the relief wash over her face the instant I moved away. It was followed by a far more genuine smile and the slightest tinge of pink in her cheeks. I smiled back at her and rubbed her knuckles with my thumb.

Ten minutes later, we walked out into the crisp, clean sunshine that can only follow a rain shower, hand in hand as Mr. and Mrs. Edward Cullen. There were still plenty of people around, smiling and saying congratulations to the newly wedded couple they had never seen before. Rosalie snapped pictures, and Emmett threw fucking rice at us as he guffawed at the whole situation. I slipped my sunglasses out of my pocket and over my eyes, looked over to my…my wife

I had to be dreaming, right?

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Chapter End Notes:

It's no dream, dear Doofus.

I kept waiting for someone to ask about her ID for the marriage license in the last chapter, but I don't think anyone did...