How It All Goes Down
Engaged
- The wedding bells are ringing for Bella and Edward. With the big day just a few days away, Bella drives through Forks in her "engagement gift" from Edward – a fancy Mercedes. She's embarrassed when people admire the car.
- Passing through town, Bella sees "Missing" posters of Jacob that Charlie put up all around town. She calls Seth to see if he has heard from Jacob, but all he knows is that Jacob's off running around the Canadian wild.
- Bella flashes back to the day when she and Edward told Charlie about their engagement. At first, he assumed that Bella was pregnant. She assured him she's not and Edward explained that, since they're going off to college at Dartmouth together, he didn't want to live "in sin" with Bella, but be a gentleman and marry her first. Charlie gives his blessing, but insists that Bella be the one to tell Renée. He obviously expects Renée to throw a tantrum over her daughter getting married at eighteen.
- To both Bella and Charlie's surprise, Renée was not surprised. On the contrary, her motherly instincts told her it was coming. She even alleviated Bella's fears of acting irresponsible and immature: "You've never been a teenager, sweetie. You know what's best for you" (1.166). Soon after, Renée flew to Forks to help Esme plan the wedding.
- Bella's mind returns to the present. She reflects on her sacrifices in marrying Edward and starting a life with him. Except for her human family she doesn't miss anything – well, except for her physical cravings for Edward. She longs for him to fulfill his promise of a making love to her during their honeymoon: "I wanted the complete experience before I traded in my warm, breakable, pheromone-riddled body…" (1.204).