I turned to Alice, worried now, but she didn't look at me. Her bad mood hadn't passed yet.

She went to sit on the hood of her Porsche, her face dejected. I followed, and leaned against the bumper beside her.

"Bella?" Alice asked in a sad voice, shifting over and curling up against my side. Her voice sounded so miserable that I wrapped my arms around her shoulders in comfort.

"Do you have to lay it on so thick?" Edward groaned.

"Yes," Alice shrugged.

"What's wrong, Alice?"

"Don't you love me?" she asked in that same sad tone.

"Of course I do. You know that."

"Then why do I see you sneaking off to Vegas to get married without inviting me?"

"Oh," I muttered, my cheeks turning pink. I could see that I had seriously hurt her feelings, and I hurried to defend myself.

Edward rolled his eyes at that, "She's just manipulating you."

"Hmph," Alice huffed. "No, I'm not. Okay, so I am, but that doesn't mean that I'm not hurt by this."

"And that we don't want a nice wedding for the two of you," Esme added.

"You know how I hate to make a big deal out of things. It was Edward's idea, anyway."

Edward rolled his eyes again.

"Doesn't she realize that you just said that because you wanted her to agree?" Alice sighed.

"I don't care whose idea it was. How could you do this to me? I expect that kind of thing from Edward, but not from you. I love you like you were my own sister."

"To me, Alice, you are my sister."

"Words!" she growled.

"Fine, you can come. There won't be much to see."

"Argh," Alice shuddered at that.

"You would rather go to Vegas, than not see them get married at all, though," Jasper reminded her.

"Yeah...but all that neon...argh," Alice repeated.

She was still grimacing.

"What?" I demanded.

"How much do you love me, Bella?"

Edward groaned at that as Emmett and Alice both laughed.

"Why?"

She stared at me with pleading eyes, her long black eyebrows slanting up in the middle and pulling together, her lips trembling at the corners. It was a heart-breaking expression.

"And she knows it," Jasper said fondly.

"Please, please, please," she whispered. "Please, Bella, please - if you really love me . . . Please let me do your wedding."

"Aw, Alice!" I groaned, pulling away and standing up. "No! Don't do this to me."

"If you really, truly love me, Bella."

I folded my arms across my chest. "That is so unfair. And Edward kind of already used that one on me."

"I'll bet Edward would like it better if you did this traditionally, though he'd never tell you that. And Esme - think what it would mean to her!"

I groaned. "I'd rather face the newborns alone."

"I'll owe you for a decade."

"You'd owe me for a century!"

"Ah, she agreed," Alice cheered.

"Not really," Edward said.

"I'm sure she will," Alice said.

"Oh, it's going to be a great wedding," Esme said excitedly. "I can't wait to see it."

"Er... you know this isn't really going to happen this way..." Edward said.

"Hush...just let me enjoy this," Esme scowled at him.

Her eyes glowed. "Is that a yes?"

"No! I don't want to do this!"

"You won't have to do anything but walk a few yards and then repeat after the minister."

"Ugh! Ugh, ugh!"

"Please?" She started bouncing in place. "Please, please, please, please, please?"

"I'll never, never ever forgive you for this, Alice."

"Yay!" she squealed, clapping her hands together.

"That's not a yes!"

"But it will be," she sang.

"Edward!" I yelled, stalking out of the garage. "I know you're listening. Get over here." Alice was right behind me, still clapping.

"Thanks so much, Alice," Edward said acidly, coming from behind me. I turned to let him have it, but his expression was so worried and upset that I couldn't speak my complaints. I threw my arms around him instead, hiding my face, just in case the angry moisture in my eyes made it look like I was crying.

"I'm not sure hiding your face like that is going to make it look any less like you're crying," Jasper chuckled.

"Vegas," Edward promised in my ear.

"Not a chance," Alice gloated. "Bella would never do that to me. You know, Edward, as a brother, you are sometimes a disappointment."

"Don't be mean," I grumbled at her. "He's trying to make me happy, unlike you."

"I'm trying to make you happy, too, Bella. It's just that I know better what will make you happy . . . in the long run. You'll thank me for this. Maybe not for fifty years, but definitely someday."

"I never thought I'd see the day where I'd be willing to take a bet against you, Alice, but it has arrived."

"Don't be so sure about that...even without being able to see everything, Shorty still makes good bets," Emmett grumbled.

She laughed her silvery laugh. "So, are you going to show me the ring?"