This was the moment I had been fearing. More than the wedding, more than the change I would soon be having. I was so nervous to tell Charlie and now that the time had come I decided I better just do it. The fact that I had no idea how he would react scared the daylights out of me. I had only come to one conclusion of how he would react. Bad. Not bad, horribly. I saw him freaking out over the whole situation. I had tried to build my confidence that this could be done but there was no luck. So I figured I better get this over with.
Edward and I had already been sitting in the car for several minutes and I am sure Charlie was wondering what was going on. I had seen his cruiser in the driveway but that just overwhelmed me even more. I could feel my heart racing, not the way it did when Edward was near but the way it does right before you are about to throw up. I reached to open the door but I found a cold hand gripping my wrist.
"Are you sure you are ready to do this? I don't want to force you into anything. You are the most important thing to me, I just want you happy," Edward reminded me. I had no idea what to say. I could be totally honest and tell him that I was totally against this marriage deal but I knew how much it meant to him. I could see the pain in his eyes as he tried to tell me that we didn't have to do this.
"Yes Edward, I have never been more sure of anything in my life except for how much I love you which is the reason I want to do this. I want everyone to know that I am yours forever and longer... eternity," I wanted him to believe me, I just hoped my voice sounded as strong as I hoped for.
"Okay," was all he said to me as he released my wrist to let me open the door. I reached for the handle and saw my hand shaking, I hoped Edwrad would not notice. I heard his door open and shut, and found my door opening and his hand ready to pull me out of the car. I quickly stepped out of the car and was pulled into an unexpected hug.
"You have no idea how much I love you Bella Swan," he murmured in my ear. I pulled away from him releasing all of him except for his hand. As we walked to the front door I saw to the television on in the other room. A game. I should have expected to see Charlie watching the game, I don't know why it surprised me.
"Hey Char-Dad, how are you?" I planned to ease into this but I could feel myself shaking and Edward squeezed my hand tighter for support.
"Good, Bells. Edward," I grimaced as I saw how he quickly put on a grim expression as he noticed I was not alone.
"So Dad, Edward and I have some exciting news," I prompted I hoped he would let me finish before he started making any guesses, " we are engaged." I saw the color of his face flash through the rainbow. He settled on a flushed red color, which reminded me much of myself when I was embarassed. I quickly reached to brush the hair from my face and saw his face turn to a bright purple. I realized my engagment ring had just flashed before his eyes.
"Let me see it," Charlie said quicckly trying to end the silence. I pulled my hand out hoping he would think of like breaking it or pulling it from my hand. Instead he just propped up my hand and examined the intricate design of the ring.
"Dad, are you okay?" I was getting worried he still hadn't made any real comment to my engagement annoucement. I then heard Edward chuckle next to me, I had totally forgetten he was there. I tried to make my eyes piercing though I doubt it worked but Edward stop giggling immediately and his face went solemn.
"Are you entirely sure about this? I can see how much you love each other but I still cannot get over how forgiving you are of him, but I guess that happens if it really is true love. Congratulations, Bella and Edward. You have my blessing and I would love to attend your wedding and hopefully walk you down the aisle. You are a lucky man Edward." I stared at Charlie in aww. Had he really just said that he approved of my marriage?
Finally Edward chimed in, "I realize how much Bella means to you Charlie and I hope you see that she is my world and I cannot stand being away from her. I love her more than anything in the world. I would die for her, I would jump in front of a bullet to save her." At that I had to laugh. Charlie looked at me suspiciously and I saw Edward wink at me from the corner of my eye. This had gone so much better than expected. I turned to leave but then whirled around planning on giving Charlie an unexpected hug but instead I tripped over the rug and was falling head first towards the ground. I felt two cold arms grab at my waist pulling me to my feet.
"Sorry, I guess the floor wanted to say congratualtions as well, I do spend a lot of time with it so it's to be expected," I said quickly to overcome my humiliation. Then Charlie flashed his crinkly eye smile and Edward gave me my favorite crooked smile and I realized this was it. I had chosen my path and now I would actually start taking it.
