Proposal

by Crazy-For-Books25

My take on how Edward should have proposed.

Alternate Proposal

I carry your heart with me(I carry it in
my heart)I am never without it(anywhere
I go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
I fear
no fate(for you are my fate, my sweet)I want
no world(for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

I carry your heart(I carry it in my heart) ~ Edward Estlin Cummings

I will never let you fall

I'll stand up with you forever

I'll be there for you through it all

Even if saving you sends me to heaven ~ Author Unknown

Marriage is that relation between man and woman in which the independence is equal, the dependence mutual, and the obligation reciprocal. ~ Louis K. Anspacher

I'm falling even more in love with you

Letting go of all I've held onto

I'm standing here until you make me move

I'm hanging by a moment here with you

I'm living for the only thing I know

I'm running and not quite sure where to go

And I don't know what I'm diving into

Just hanging by a moment here with you ~ Author Unknown

The hours I spend with you I look upon as sort of a perfumed garden, a dim twilight, and a fountain singing to it. You and you alone make me feel that I am alive. Other men it is said have seen angels, but I have seen thee and thou art enough. ~ George Moore

Happiness cannot be travelled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude. ~ Denis Waitley

Passion, it lies in all of us, sleeping... waiting... and though unwanted... unbidden... it will stir... open its jaws and howl. It speaks to us... guides us... passion rules us all, and we obey. What other choice do we have? Passion is the source of our finest moments. The joy of love... the clarity of hatred... and the ecstasy of grief. It hurts sometimes more than we can bear. If we could live without passion maybe we'd know some kind of peace... but we would be hollow... Empty rooms shuttered and dank. Without passion we'd be truly dead. ~ Joss Whedon

I never thought through love we'd be

Making one as lovely as she

But isn't she lovely made from love. ~ Stevie Wonder

Bella's POV

It looked like things were pretty much back to normal. As normal as they could be when you're surrounded by your future vampire family.

Alice and Esme were arranging the wedding, though Alice was going completely overboard. Edward was religiously holding up his end of our lopsided bargain. My dad had started to accept that I was getting married, although in the past couple of days I had caught some strange glances from him. I usually noticed these glances when he wasn't printing out the posters of the 'missing' Jacob and between the grumbles about my mum's reaction to the news of my engagement.

It certainly hadn't been what any of us had expected. Who could have guessed that my mum would be okay with the idea of me marrying Edward? After the hundreds of times she had told me that early marriage was the stupidest thing anyone could do. I certainly wasn't expecting her to say that 'things had pretty much looked sewn up,' back in April, when me and Edward had gone to visit her, both of us expecting it to be the last time I could see her before I was turned into a vampire.

Walking towards the meadow I felt a strange sense of happiness fall over me. I couldn't understand why I felt happy, I hadn't seen Edward for hours. Not seeing Edward for so long always left me slightly anxious, and not just because I was nearly always left with Alice. When that happened she always decided it would be fun to play Barbie Bella and it was fun.

For her.

I had been poked and prodded by Alice so much I was sure I was going to have bruises. Apart from Esme and Rosalie she had shouted at anyone who had tried to enter her room. It was typical Alice behaviour, buzzing around the room like a hamster on speed, while making me endure another makeover.

As much as I loved Alice she was sometimes really annoying when it came to things like shopping and make up. If Alice wanted to go shopping it usually meant that a new, Alice-esque outfit would suddenly appear in my closest. It's not like I didn't appreciate them it's just that they were always designer and that just wasn't me. I'd rather wear plain old jeans and t-shirt instead of wearing what Alice classed as casual wear.

Alice had dressed me in a white eyelet dress that had a pale yellow ribbon around the waist. I also had a white cardigan on. The whole look was completed with a pale yellow ribbon in my hair that also had some soft subtle curls, a light layer of make-up and a pair of flat, white shoes that tied around my ankles.

I knew that everyone was hiding something from me and it always scared me when I didn't know what was going on. I never had the guts to ask what they were up to though, I mean who would be able to ask a bunch of vampires to reveal the massive secret you know their hiding.

I had kind of guessed that Edward was up to something, but once again I was told nothing except that Edward had things to do and that I would see him later. They were the same words I had heard on the day of prom.

It was nearing late summer and the wild flowers that surrounded me were in full bloom. I couldn't believe something this beautiful, that wasn't part of the meadow, or Edward, existed in Forks. They reminded me of the hot summers I used to spend in Scottsdale relaxing in my back garden with a copy of Pride and Prejudice, trying to make my skin look just that tiny bit less pale. My favourite way to spend my spare time. Before I had come to Forks and met Edward of course.

I had been dropped off at the trail and told to walk towards the meadow. Alice had explained that as long as I was careful and watched where I was going I should make it to the meadow without any problems.

I let my fingers trail over the tops of the closest plants so that as I walked they released their sweet, summery scent into the air around me like they were welcoming me home. I let out a sigh thinking about all the things that had happened since I had moved to Forks. All the twists and turns my life had gone through. My life had changed so much, in so many different ways I could never imagine going back to how my life was. I couldn't even imagine what my future would be like if I hadn't met or chosen Edward. I couldn't believe how much our relationship had changed since we first met.

I had always been glad that I had moved to Forks because it had led me to meet Edward, but there was a part of me that always wondered what if.

What if I hadn't moved to Forks?

What if I hadn't found out what Edward really was?

What if I had moved to Jacksonville with my mum and Phil?

And more importantly, what if I had picked Jacob over Edward?

But I couldn't think about that right now I had to concentrate on where I was walking. I didn't want to have a clumsy moment and fall on my face before I reached the meadow. Bleeding before I was meant to meet Edward was never good, mainly because it usually meant I would faint, but also because it's never a good idea to smell of blood before meeting your vampire boyfriend. This situation was made worse by the fact that said vampire boyfriend found my blood particularly sweet and irresistible. No matter how much he said that he was able to resist it I knew that the scent still affected him. Especially when he was thirsty.

A few days ago Edward had said he wanted to get my engagement ring cleaned. I couldn't understand why. I mean, yes okay it was very old, but I'm sure Edward would have looked after it.

I sped up slightly as I always did when I saw the familiar brightness that could only mean I was getting close to one of my personal pieces of heaven. The other piece being Edward.

As I stepped into the meadow my eyes instantly found Edward. His eyes were a buttery, burning gold; his perfect face almost severe with the depth of his emotions. And then, as he met my awed gaze, he broke into a breathtaking smile of exultation. He was standing at the opposite end of the clearing looking at me like he was worried about my reaction.

I couldn't fight the smile that broke across my face as I took some hesitant steps towards my own personal Adonis.

The gentle notes of my lullaby sunk through the fog that clouded my brain as I slowly made my way towards him completely speechless.

"Edward, what's going on?" I whispered barely able to form a coherent sentence.

"I realised that I never proposed the way I wanted to. The way you deserve." Edward said clearly nervous about my reaction to the scene that surrounded me.

"The last time I asked you this, our lives were surrounded by problems. I know that the first time I asked you had just stopped me from making, what would have been, the worst decision of my life. I also know that you were scared of losing me again, that's why I told you that no matter what decision you made I would support you. The other reason why I said that is because I wanted you to be sure of your decision, I didn't want you to feel forced into anything." Edward explained, as he walked towards me with a look of doubt in his eyes.

As we met in the middle of the meadow I noticed the engraving on the inside of the ring that rested against his marble palm. 'My love, My world, My everything'

"Bella, by giving you this ring I'm not just asking you to marry me, I'm giving you me and everything that includes. My heart, which you have filled with a love I never believed I would feel, my mind filled with all the amazing thoughts you gave me, and I am giving you something that you helped me find again, something that even though I thought I was a monster you made me open my eyes and see that I still had one, my soul."

I fought with the tears that were stinging my eyes. I knew that I had hurt Edward in so many ways since I had arrived in Forks, and knowing that he still wanted me after all that I had done made my heart swell with so much love I was shocked it didn't burst.

As Edward slipped on to one knee I couldn't stop the tears from spilling down my cheeks. "Isabella Marie Swan, I ask you again, the way I have wanted to ask you since I knew that I loved you, the way I have wanted to ask since I knew you were the one I wanted to spend eternity with, will you make me the happiest man alive by allowing me the honour of making you my wife?"

As the tears slipped down my cheeks all I could do was nod knowing that all the words in the world would never be enough to tell Edward how much I loved him, with every single inch of my mind, body and soul.

After slipping the ring onto my finger Edward led me to a blanket that I hadn't noticed earlier. It was laid out off to the side. Realising I hadn't paid proper attention to my surroundings before I looked around and noticed several other things.

There were several candles dotted around that would give the meadow a subtle, romantic glow when lighted.

After making sure I was comfortable, Edward started feeding me the food he had prepared. I loved that he seemed to have a romantic streak and that he used the way he was raised to work out how to give me everything he thought I deserved, but I couldn't help but wonder why he felt the need to propose to me again.

I finally plucked up the courage to ask him. "Edward, why did you propose to me again?"

"The main reason is that I wanted to give you a proposal you would remember for eternity, but I also felt that I never really proposed the way I should have, the way you deserved to be proposed to. This is my way of showing a tiny snapshot of what I'm prepared to do to show you how much I love you."

"That's nice but not completely necessary, I will always remember how you proposed no matter how extravagant or romantic it was. So long as I get to spend the rest of eternity married to you nothing can change that." I stated telling him in my own way that he had gone over-the-top and spent too much money on me.

"Answer me this than, love. If I hadn't have done this which proposal would you have remembered the most?"

"That's easy. The first one."

"The one where you thought I was joking? Really?"

"Yes. Even though the other one was pretty good."

"Oh, you mean the one where you reluctantly agreed to marry me if I promised to sleep with you before you become a vampire. Because to be honest If I had never of done this," he said gesturing to everything around us, "I think I can safely, I would have spent the rest of eternity regretting it."

"Really? Why?"

"Because to me the others weren't proposals. Answer me this, when you were little and you imagined what it would be like when your future husband proposed, did they more resemble this or the other two?"

"I guess I can see your point." I reluctantly agreed. "But it still wouldn't matter to me how you proposed because at the end of it I still get you for eternity. It would never have mattered how much you spent to give me the most extravagant, romantic proposal possible, because when it really comes down to it all that does matter is that you gave me your ring. Your ring that shows the rest of the world that I am yours, and that I love you enough to want to spend forever with you, and only you."

As I explained myself I could see his eyes fill with all the love he held for me, as well a small hint of understanding.

When I had finished all the delicious food Edward had prepared, I leaned in for a kiss, not expecting it to be as good as it was. When we separated Edward laid back on the blanket and pulled me onto his chest. We lay there in total silence and watched as the sun's rays peeked through the clouds as it was setting. The colours that streaked across the sky were beautiful, the different shades of red, pink, and orange merged to make the perfect backdrop to the end of a perfect day.

We were so wrapped up in the bubble that surrounded us that we didn't notice the time till it started to get really dark.

I was curious as Edward rose and lit the candles before pressing a button on the remote I hadn't noticed laying at the edge of the blanket. As the fairy lights that were wrapped around the trees burst to life Edward bent towards me with his hand out.

"Dance with me?" He asked a tiny hint of begging in his voice.

"Edward you know I can't dance." I said as he pulled me to my feet.

"But how else are we going to practice for the wedding?" He teased pulling me into his arms, kissing me gently on the lips. As he pulled away I could see all the love he had for me shining brightly in his eyes.

As we started dancing to Clair de Lune we sunk back into our bubble of bliss. However it wasn't long before the inevitable rain penetrated our bubble forcing us to separate and dash into the trees. Edward threw me on his back saying that he would come back and clear everything up as soon as I was back home.

"Thank you." I whispered against Edward's neck whilst he ran through the forest. "I never thought I would be happy that you would do something like this for me."

"Bella," he murmured as he finally stopped to place me in the Volvo. "I will always do things like this for you. I want you to be as happy as possible. No matter what it takes I will work as hard as possible to make you as happy as you feel right now. I promise. I promise to make you as happy as you've made me. I promise to make you see how wonderful you really are. I love you Isabella Marie Swan."

"I love you Edward Anthony Cullen."