章 36: Chapter 36 - Proposal And Plans
Before long it was time to end my birthday celebrations so that I could go home. Esme boxed up the middle tier of the cake for me to take home; the rest of it went into their fridge for when I visited.
Edward took me home; kissing me goodbye before promising to come back before I was asleep. I went inside and Charlie whistled when he saw the cake I had bought with me. He helped himself to a slice as I told him some of my presents- the CD and necklace as well as the plane tickets. I thought it was best to leave out the motorbike, and the sound system for a car I wasn't supposed to have. He tensed up when he heard about the second set of plane tickets for Edward to accompany me, but to his credit he didn't comment, although I got the feeling that he was saving that particular argument for a day that wasn't my birthday.
I got ready for bed soon after, and after a call to Volterra to profusely thank my Volturi family for the birthday gifts I settled in bed to wait for Edward. As I lay there I couldn't help wondering if he was ever going to propose. I wasn't a very patient person, and it didn't take me long to decide that I had waited long enough. I was going to have to propose to him myself.
I spent the rest of the my time waiting for Edward's arrival by trying to decide on the best way to propose to him.
EPOV
I arrived home and helped Esme and Alice clear away all the party decorations and repair the damage to the walls from Bella's shield. I had just finished chucking out the wrapping paper when Alice froze. I immediately concentrated on her mind- wondering what the vision she was having would be about. I was shocked when I took it in.
Bella stalked into my room and faced me, hands on her hips. "I've waited long enough Edward, and since you haven't proposed it's my turn." She took both of my hands in hers. "Edward Anthony Masen Cullen, I love you and I want to spend eternity by your side. Will you marry me?"
I didn't get to see my reply- which I was sure would be an empathic YES before Alice's vision changed to Bella and I in our meadow. It was a sunny day and we were lying side by side as Bella slowly rolled to face me and asked me to marry her.
Alice came out of her visions grinning like a Cheshire cat. She shrieked with excitement and everyone came running to find out what she'd seen. "Looks like Bella is getting a little impatient with Edward and has decided that she'll propose to him since he hasn't gotten the nerve to do it yet."
Esme beamed in delight, "Oh that's wonderful news!"
Jasper and Emmett snickered, "Come on Edward, we had to propose to our wives- you'd better hurry up if you want to beat her to it."
I stood there taking in the meaning of the visions and soon I was grinning in delight. Bella wanted to marry me! I couldn't be happier, until I realised that I desperately wanted to be the one to propose to her. A plan quickly formed in my mind and Alice beamed at me. "Go on then Edward, go make Bella your fiancé," she encouraged me.
I didn't need to be told twice. I sped up to my room and retrieved the ring box holding Bella's engagement ring before jumping out my window and running off to Bella's house as fast as possible.
When I got there she was still awake, sitting in the dark and looking expectantly towards her window for me. When I appeared her face broke into a beautiful smile which I couldn't help but reciprocate.
Charlie was already asleep as I slipped into her room. "Hi," she breathed.
Her beauty took my breath away and I was suddenly eager to make her my fiancé. If I hadn't thought Alice would torture and then kill me for even thinking it I would have whisked Bella away to Las Vegas tonight and made her my wife.
"If you're not too tired love, would you like to go to our meadow for a little while- it's a nice night out," I offered.
She beamed at my suggestion and immediately hopped out of bed to put on shoes and a jacket, "Of course Edward, I can't think of a better was to end my birthday!"
I can, I thought to myself; thinking of the ring currently burning a hole in my pocket. I pulled her into my arms and leaped from the window to land silently on the ground beneath. She then climbed onto my back; heaving a contented sigh as she settled with her head resting comfortably on my shoulder.
I took off joyfully; eager to propose, especially as I had Alice's assurances and visions that all of my previous worries about her not wanting to marry me yet had been pointless. I was alternating between internally berating myself for not having proposed sooner, and revelling in the joy that soon Bella would be my fiancé.
When we got to the meadow Bella hopped down and looked at our surroundings in awe. It was a rare clear night in Forks, with only a few clouds scattered intermittently across the sky. The moonlight illuminated the meadow in an almost magical way. This was the perfect setting for my indented actions.
I walked slowly towards Bella, who was still standing in the middle of the meadow absorbing our surroundings. She turned to watch me curiously as I neared her. I ran my hand nervously through my hair before slowly getting down on one knee and simultaneously withdrawing the ring box and opening it. Bella gasped and her eyes lit up with excitement as she smiled down at me. I smiled back and drew a quick, unnecessary breath of air. "Bella, you are my life now- the very reason for my existence and I promise to love you forever- every single day of forever. Will you marry me?"
Her smile got even bigger as happy tears trailed down her face. "YES!" she shouted before exuberantly throwing herself into my arms. I smiled back exuberantly and kissed her; certain that I had never been this happy before in my entire 109 years of existing.
BPOV
I woke up the next morning; a bright smile adorning my face as I realised that last night hadn't been a dream and I was in fact engaged to my own personal Adonis. "Good morning," I said happily to my fiancé, who had his arms wrapped around me and was smiling down at me with his mesmerising golden eyes. He smiled back. "Good morning my beautiful fiancé."
After our customary good mornings, I got up and got ready for school while Edward left to get his car. I was thankful that Charlie had already left as I wanted to tell him about my engagement with Edward there.
Edward arrived back with a bouncing Alice. "Oh Bella! Please, please please let me plan your wedding?" she begged, bringing her full pout and puppy dog eyes into play. I chuckled,
"Alice, we haven't even set a date yet- although I was thinking that maybe it would be best to wait until after graduation next year. I looked at Edward for confirmation. He nodded, although I could tell that he really wanted to marry me as soon as possible. However, I had a plan, and it involved a proper honeymoon, which we wouldn't be able to have until I had finished school.
"Oh, okay, that gives me at least eight months to plan it," Alice beamed.
I cocked an eyebrow at her, "I don't recall saying you could plan it Alice. What if Edward and I want to go to Vegas?" I somehow managed to say it in a perfectly serious tone.
"WHAT?!" Alice roared, "Absolutely not! That is unacceptable. You will be having a proper wedding and I will be planning it!" She looked furious, although her expression softened as I burst out laughing and Edward joined in.
"Just kidding Alice, of course you can plan my wedding, that's the maid of honour's job after all."
Alice's smile could power a small city, "Really? Oh Bella thank you!" She bounced excitedly as we finally entered the car and headed to school. Edward drove one-handed, with the other rubbing gentle circles on my hand. I focussed on his touch and drones out as Alice prattled on about wedding plans from the backseat.
As we neared the school I reluctantly slid my beautiful engagement ring off. Edward looked at me in confusion, hurt apparent on his face. "Is there something wrong love? Do you not like it? I can get you a different one if you want?"
I rolled my eyes at him, "Of course I love it Edward!" I really did. The ring had been Edward's mothers, and was white gold with slanting rows of diamonds on its oval face. "I just don't want to wear it today until I've told Charlie myself- you know how fast Forks gossip travels. If anyone sees me wearing it this morning Charlie will know before I can tell him myself," I explained as I carefully treaded the ring onto my necklace. It lay against the diamond heart charm under my shirt.
As we entered the school, nobody seemed any wiser, thankfully, although I was well aware that when I wore my ring tomorrow Edward and I would be the subjects of much gossip and speculation. No doubt they would wonder if I was pregnant and Charlie was forcing Edward to marry me. I laughed at the thought. Edward bent down, "What's so funny?" he whispered in my ear. I removed my shield and showed him my thoughts. He chuckled softly.
"It never ceases to amaze me what human minds come up with."
The rest of the day passed normally, and we were soon pulling up outside the Cullen house that afternoon, my engagement ring now securely back on my finger. As soon as I entered the house I was inundated with congratulatory hugs on my engagement. "Welcome to the family officially little sis- you can't get rid of us now," Emmett joked. I just smiled at him.
"We're glad Edward finally proposed, even if we had to tell him to man up and do it before you beat him to it," Jasper chuckled.
I looked at him curiously. "What do you mean?"
"Well Edward's been thinking about proposing for a while now, but last night Alice had visions of you proposing to him, so Emmett and I told him he'd better hurry up if he didn't want to look like a wimp for the rest of eternity." The whole family was soon laughing at Edward, who I could tell was slightly embarrassed.
"It's oaky Edward, at least you were actually planning to propose to me," I reassured him.
While I was there I called Volterra with my news, putting them on speakerphone so that everyone could talk to them. "Uncle Aro I'm engaged!" I yelled excitedly as soon as they answered.
"Congratulations! That's wonderful news Bella!" he exclaimed. He was backed up by congratulatory comments from the rest of my Volturi family. "It's about time that boy made an honest woman out of you," Uncle Caius grumbled.
I gasped, "Uncle Caius! It's not like that." I blushed a deep red and the Cullen's snickered softly at my expression.
"Don't think that just because I was born over a millennium ago that I don't know what young people are up to these days," he warned.
I hadn't believed it was possible for me to become any redder, but apparently it was. "Okay, well we're going to go now, goodbye everyone, goodbye Uncle Caius," I said sweetly before quickly ending the call and burying my head into Edward's chest. Emmett and Jasper were outright laughing at me now, and I was soon forced to join them as Jasper pushed his feelings onto everyone else.
Before long Edward and I left. I cooked up a nice dinner for Charlie, hoping that the smell of his favourite meal would soften the blow I was about to give him.
Edward and I positioned ourselves next to each other on the couch as we heard Charlie's police cruiser pull up outside. I was nervous. I hadn't been nervous about telling my Volterra family as I knew that having already met Edward they would be happy for me. But knowing Charlie's own experience with Renee, I was unsure of how he would react to the news that his teenage daughter was engaged.
We heard the front door open and the sounds of Charlie hanging up his jacket and gun. "Bella?" he called.
"We're in the lounge Dad," I answered, thankful that I had been able to keep the nervousness out of my voice.
"Oh hi Edward," Charlie greeted him gruffly as he came into the room. He seemed to notice the tense atmosphere and he studied us suspiciously. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong dad," I tried to reassure him but my voice cracked. He raised an eyebrow at me. Edward proposed and I accepted dad, I'm engaged," I rushed out in one quick breath before leaning into Edward and waiting anxiously for a reaction.
Charlie's face remained blank and I got steadily more nervous. Casting a worried glance at Edward I saw the tiniest of smirks forming at the corners of his mouth. Finally Charlie burst out in laughter. "Oh Bells, you should have seen your face!" he crowed. I looked at him confused. "I saw this coming a mile away," he explained, "and Edward here asked for my blessing months ago." My jaw fell open in shock as I looked back and forth at the two laughing males.
"It wasn't very nice of you two to let me get all worked up over nothing," I grumbled petulantly.
Still snickering, "You still have to tell your mum though Bells- I'm not gonna have anything to do with that." Suddenly my nerves came back full force.
"Yeah Dad, I was thinking that Edward and I could use those plane tickets one weekend soon to go visit and tell her in person," I explained.
He nodded thoughtfully, "That would probably be best," he admitted.
Before long Edward had to leave and Charlie and I had dinner.
Sure enough, the next day as I entered the school, the diamonds of my engagement ring glinting under the fluorescent classroom lights, the rumours began to spread. Edward had a harder time ignoring them than I did due to his mind reading, but we managed quite well- only telling Angela and Ben that Edward had proposed and we would be getting married after graduation.
That afternoon Edward kissed me goodbye before leaving- he was going hunting for the night with his brothers and wouldn't be back until after school the next day.
That night as I lay in bed trying to will myself to sleep without Edward I heard my window gently slide open.
Much to my disappointment, it wasn't my bronze haired vampire back early from his hunt. Instead it was a golden haired one. I sat up in bed, pleasantly surprised by her visit. "Hi Rose, what brings you by at this time of the night?" She smiled hesitantly.
"Hi Bella, I wanted to talk to you when Edward wasn't around- he wouldn't like what I want to discuss with you." I propped myself comfortably up against the pillows on my headboard and motioned for her to take a seat. Bypassing the rocking chair, she sat down tentatively at the end of my bed. I was curious about what she wanted to tell me. It was unlike Rose to sneak into my room while Edward was gone- normally she was one to take the direct approach and damn the consequences.
"I'm going to tell you my story," she explained. "I know Edward hasn't told you it, and it isn't a happy story," she warned. I listened sympathetically as she told me the horror story that led to her transformation. When her story ended I hugged her, attempting to soothe away some of the pain that reliving her past had brought up. "So you see Bella, I lost my chance to have children. Now please don't misunderstand me, I'm not trying to scare you off becoming a vampire, but I do think you need to thoroughly thing through the consequences before it's too late." He face was serious and I could see how strongly she felt about this. "While I would love to have you as a sister, I don't want you to later regret becoming one of us. This isn't the life I would have chosen and if you choose this you will never be able to grow old, live a normal life and have children," she explained.
I smiled, touched by her thoughtfulness. I decided that it was time to reveal my plans- it wouldn't hurt to have an ally for when I told Edward what I wanted. "Thank you for your concern Rose. I understand, and believe me, having grown up with vampires, I am well aware of the consequences of becoming one," I reassured her. "What you probably don't know is that I know more about vampires than even Carlisle, and while female vampires can't have children, male vampires most certainly can with human females." Her eyes opened wide in shock and disbelief. "I haven't told Edward yet, but it is my plan for us to have a half-vampire child before I am changed."
"Half-vampire child?"
"Yes, they grow extremely fast and reach full maturity at around seven years of age, after which they are immortal and don't age. They have beating hearts, drink blood and eat human food, and are almost as fast and indestructible as full vampires," I explained. As she processed this I hopped out of bed and retrieved the books that I had stolen from Aro's library a few months ago. The books detailed Aro's visit with the Volturi guard to the Amazon a few decades ago and their encounter with some hybrids and their father. From the father's thoughts Aro had gleaned the logistics of human mothers carrying vampire children. He realised that due to the nature of the child, the mothers needed to drink blood in order to survive the pregnancy and would need a caesarean a few days before the baby was due if planning to keep the mother alive. Of course the vampire, Joharran, had not done that because he hadn't cared enough, although he had noticed the pregnant mother's cravings for raw meat, and the fact that the babies were far more developed than human ones when born.
I gave the books to Rosalie and she quickly read through them. Just before she got through them another feminie vampire figure slipped through my window. The pixielike figure stared at me with wide eyes. "I had to come and see if my vision was true. Is it really possible for you and Edward top have a baby?"
"Yes it is," I stated confidently, "I'm planning on it." I motioned towards the books Rosalie was reading and Alice picked up the first one. They both sped through the books as I waited patiently for them to finish.
When Alice was finally finished her first words were, 'Edward's not going to like this."
I sighed, "I know he'll be worried, but I really want this and with Carlisle around I don't think it will be anywhere near the risk it was for those Amazonian women." We all knew that Edward wasn't going to like the fact that none of the mothers had ever survived before. "Besides, I was planning on having Edward change me straight after the birth, so the venom will heal any injuries I get while pregnant and giving birth. I'm sure you guys can help Edward take care of our baby for a few days while I'm changing." They both nodded.
"Well I think it's a wonderful idea," Rose stated. "I'd be more than happy to help you Bella." I smiled in thanks at her. "Auntie Alice," Alice mused, "oh this is going to be wonderful," she squealed in excitement and hugged us both. I smiled; glad to have at least two family members on my side. I was sure that the rest, minus Edward, would be fairly easy to convince. Edward however, would be difficult. Not only was her not going to like the 100% fatality rate of the previous mothers, but I was sure that with his restrictions on our intimacy now, while we were still at the kissing stage, he was going to be very hesitant about the idea of us being intimate while I was still human. "Guys, please make sure Edward doesn't find out yet- I want to tell him myself in the next couple of weeks so that we can prepare for it after the wedding," I explained. They both promised to keep it out of their minds while Edward was near.
They left soon after since I needed to get some sleep before school tomorrow. I remembered to put the books back in their hiding place under a lose floorboard before crawling back into bed and falling soundly asleep. That night I dreamed of Edward and I with children- a little boy with emerald green eyes and brown hair, and a little girl with my chocolate eyes and Edward's bronze hair.
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