First, I would just like to say that I do not own Twilight or any of its characters. They are all the magnificent creations of Stephanie Meyer and her vivid imagination. Happy Reading!
1. Mirror Image
I paused, frozen, afraid, my hand on the doorknob. In the soft porch-light, the diamond ring upon my third finger glimmered brilliantly. His familiar hand reached out to take mine, its firm, cool grasp encouraging and comforting. At his touch, my eyes lowered to focus on our intertwined fingers before slowly tracing their way up to his face. There, Edward gazed down at me; his rich topaz eyes were patient and warm. My breath caught and although I had looked into that beautiful face countless times, warmth flooded my cheeks. My eyes quickly averted again to the diamonds upon my finger—now mere rhinestones beside him—before gaining the courage to meet his again. Edward flashed that crooked grin I loved so much and raised our joined grasps to gently press his lips upon my hand. With that, I breathed deeply—partly to regain any sort of mental clarity, partly to find courage—and turned the doorknob.
For a time, we remained in silence. Together, Edward and I stood—still hand-in-hand—in front of the living room couch. Seated upon the squishy piece of furniture, Charlie stared blankly, mouth open, from me to Edward and back again. I could have kicked myself. For weeks now I had carefully pondered and planned how I would break the news of Edward and my engagement to Charlie. I had decided on discussing the matter with him in a mature, calm manner. In all my nervousness, however, I simply ended up hysterically screaming at him, "We're getting married!" Even Edward had started slightly in surprise. Right after the words escaped—or exploded rather—from my lips, I instantly wished that I could somehow take them back, rewind, or at least just melt into the floor. No, instead I was now trapped in this maddening silence. Every muscle in my body braced itself for the fury to come, my eyes nervously glancing toward the coat rack, Charlie's gun hanging in its holster. Why hadn't Edward and I just worn red blindfolds on the way in? Standing before a firing squad would be better than this! Then suddenly a loud bellow shattered the stillness; I flinched, instinctively turning my face to the side and clenching my eyes shut. It was then I realized that the frightening sound had not been Charlie's chastisements but rather his thunderous laughter. Curiosity forced one of my eyes open. It was official…I had finally driven Charlie mad. For a while we watched his reverie, his face turning pinker with each guffaw. Maybe it was the fact that Edward and I never joined in on the laughter or perhaps the light had suddenly reflected off the very real engagement band upon my ring finger. For one reason or another, however, Charlie's jovial bellows slowly trailed away, his eyes widening with realization. In an instant, his once soft pink flush turned into a violent crimson; the vein on his forehead began to bulge. Lifting himself off the couch he began to advance towards us, his index finger brandished in the air.
"You can't be serious young lady! Y-you-you're not allowed to be serious! At least not like this you're not! No, not inmy house. This is ridiculous Bella, i-it's foolish, It's…"
Edward had shifted to reposition himself a foot or so behind me, his back against the living room wall. With each one of Charlie's reprimands I had taken a step back until I finally found the refuge of Edward's arms. Instead of wrapping them around me protectively as he usually did, however, Edward looped his arms under mine and encircled them around my waist. My hands immediately drifted to cover his. Everything was okay…I could endure anything now. The fury I had expected never ensued however. I watched in disbelief as Charlie's eyes affixed on something just above Edward's right shoulder before drifting down to focus again on us. His countenance relaxed, the crimson slowly fading away until his skin was a less threatening shade of rose. Charlie let out a gentle sigh.
"You really love each other don't you?" he murmured quietly, almost to himself.
For a moment I paused, wondering how I could somehow express undying, everlasting adoration into words that would not cause a father of an eighteen-year-old to have an aneurism. Failing at this task, I decided to merely nod solemnly and felt Edward's cheek brush lightly against my hair as he did the same. Charlie placed his hands on his hips, his eyebrows knitting together as he stared down at the wood grain.
"Let me make one thing clear." He declared, raising his eyes to look sternly into Edward's. "You hurt my baby, you in anyway break her heart…I'll break you."
I had to struggle to stifle a smile at the impossibility of that statement; I must have looked like I had a twitch as I forced the corners of my mouth to remain down. Edward did not even let off an ounce of amusement. He merely nodded again, his eyes sincere. Again, Charlie looked to the floor, hands on his hips, and let out a sigh.
"I still think you two are extremely young, and if I were you I would wait…" he started. "But…when should I get my suit ready for?"
"Edward?" I called softly over my shoulder in the darkness, my bed squeaking slightly beneath me. His cold arm wrapped lightly around my waist and pulled me closer as he lifted his cool lips to my ear.
"Yes?" he purred. For a moment, I lost my train of thought to the velvety hum of his voice.
"Huh?" I replied a little drowsily.
"Changed your mind have you?" he breathed, a devious note in voice as he kissed me lightly on the arch of my neck.
"W-what? N-No! Stop doing that!" I cried, attempting to scold him; the tone of voice that escaped my lips, however, was not even convincing to me.
"Stop what, love?" Edward whispered innocently as he continued to kiss his ways up to the hollow just behind my ear. Self control! Self control! I thought to myself in alarm. Be like a rock, Bella. Rock solid…solid like his strong chest. No, stop thinking that! Self control woman!
"You know exactly what you're doing Edward Cullen!" I exclaimed weakly, letting out a ragged, uneven breath. With that Edward chuckled behind me, pressing his lips to my ear once again.
"Just teasing," he whispered. That's an understatement I thought to myself.
"But I can dream can't I?" he finished before laying his head back down behind me on the pillow. "Now what did you want to ask me?" he inquired warmly.
"Didn't you think today was kind of easy. A little too easy maybe?" I managed finally after my thoughts finally stopped swirling around my head. Again, Edward let out a low chuckle.
"I feel kind of bad about that actually." He mused. At his reply, I quickly rolled over to face him. My eyes scanned his face, looking for some hint, some clue to what he meant.
"You can alter minds." I finally concluded breathlessly. I watched as Edward's expression became briefly confused before changing to complete amusement.
"More of your landmark theories I guess?" he teased, leaning in to kiss me lightly—and a little patronizingly—on the nose.
"Alter minds I cannot. I did take advantage of poor Charlie's most cherished yet hidden nostalgic memories." Edward began to explain. My ensuing silence signaled him to continue.
"Did you happen to notice the picture hanging just above us in the living room, Bella?"
Immediately I forced my memory to recall the living room wall and desperately searched through the hanging framed portraits. To my surprise, the photo came into my mind, as clear as if it were right in front of me. Charlie and Renee's wedding photo. I could picture the two of them, Charlie just behind my mother, his arms wrapped around her waist as she positioned her own hands over his. I recalled just how Edward and I had stood in the living room earlier today…a perfect mirror image. I gasped in realization.
"Edward! You're terrible!" I exclaimed. "Terrible…but brilliant." I finished.
Edward smiled warmly. "Anything for you. Now sleep, love. You're going to need your energy for tomorrow." He muttered persuasively. I finally gave into my heavy lids and nestled my head just under his chin, breathing in his sweet scent.
"Energy for what?" I mumbled into his shirt.
"We are meeting with Alice to plan the wedding." He reminded. I let out a groan of displeasure. Edward merely laughed lightly, and after kissing my hair began to hum my lullaby.