It was 1922. It had been fifteen months; fifteen months since I had changed Esme; fifteen months since I had rekindled the love for her that had budded without my permission or awareness when Esme was a simple, adventurous sixteen year-old girl who fell out of a tree.
And now I was going to propose. I was going to ask the light of my life to be mine forever. I wished she weren't technically still married to another man, for I was very traditional, but Charles was an abusive husband and Esme didn't care for him. He had basically raped her. I was momentarily overwhelmed with rage at Charles. Rage only Edward had felt before we found Esme, rage that was new to me. I quickly stifled it with that self-control that had taken me so many painful years to perfect.
Ring shopping: A simple task, yet entirely difficult. Edward came along to help me pick out a ring. He would be my best man. Suddenly I remembered Edward's presence and the fact that he had heard the rage, burning out of control in my thoughts. This embarrassed me; something that had only began to happen recently. I was never embarrassed when it was just Edward and me; when I was no longer lonely, but still not whole. Esme had made me care about what others thought. I wanted to be perfect for her. Edward often mused that I was as flawless as a vampire could get, but I knew I was far from perfect, although I hadn't realized how flawed I was until I found Esme. She had changed me so much.
We finally made it to the jewelers. As I was doctor, money was not an issue, so I was free to spend as much as I needed on the ring. Edward had even mentioned that he wouldn't mind if I spent all our money on a ring for Esme. He wanted me to be happy, and my proposing made him incredibly happy. I knew he secretly felt condescending towards us for letting a single person have so much influence over us, but I knew he would find love someday. He too would be changed irreversibly by love.
It was very difficult to find a perfect ring for Esme. It had to be unique and special, just like her. I must have looked at hundreds of rings before I found the one. Finally, I saw it. It was silver with a grand square shaped diamond in the middle. A rectangle filled in with smaller diamonds surrounded it. Beyond that was an intricate lattice of tiny silver rings. The band had two rows of diamonds with a strip of silver in the middle. It sparkled magnificently. The perfection of it took my breath away.
Edward must have been listening because he came over and whispered, "It's amazing, Carlisle."
We paid, and I was ready. I was going to propose to Esme at dinner tonight. Would she say yes? I really hoped so. I didn't know what I'd do if she didn't. All I cared about was that she would potentially be mine forever.
We walked home silently in the cool September Oregon air. When we got home I decided I was going to be traditional and simply ask Esme to dinner. We did this at least once a week, but this was going to be extravagant. We were going to a restaurant in town, instead of hunting. Of course we wouldn't really eat, but I wanted this to be special and killing a deer is not special. Edward was silent, and I could tell he was thinking, but the content of his thoughts eluded me. Esme was walking downstairs as Edward and I walked inside.
"Hello, Esme," Edward greeted her politely.
"Hello, dear," I said
"Welcome back. What have you been up to all day?" Esme asked courteously.
"House calls," told her Edward evenly, "No blood, of course". Edward was a pro at lying.
"Esme, would you like to go to dinner with me? Somewhere fancy? With human food?" I asked, no longer able to wait.
"Of course," she answered simply and excitedly.
The next hours passed excruciatingly slowly until seven o' clock came. Finally the time had come. I had been practicing in my head for the last several hours. I held the door open for Esme and the host led us to a table in the back patio. It was warm for September in Oregon. Of course I was never cold, so it wouldn't have mattered, but if the patio had been closed, that would have been a shame, for I knew her ring would be even more brilliant in the pure white moonlight that perfectly matched her pale, radiant skin.
I helped Esme out of the jacket she wore over her dress, a purple flapper that most certainly would not have been acceptable twenty years ago, and into her seat.
We sat down and then I stood up and walked behind her to turn her chair. Then I stepped in front of her and kneeled down. She gasped and her eyes widened.
"Esme Anne Platt, I love you more than the world, more than life itself. You are my everything; the best thing that has happened to me in my almost 300 years. I don't know what I would do without you. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"
"Oh, Carlisle, of course."
I knew that if Esme could cry, she would have. I would have too, for that matter. Both of us would have been crying tears of joy.
Then I opened the ring box and she gasped as the moonlight sparkled off the million facets on the diamonds in her ring. It was brilliant. Not near as brilliant as her though, still brilliant, nonetheless. Suddenly, there was an uproar as the people around us clapped and hollered. I guessed that the reaction was delayed due to the fact that I said my almost 300 years when I looked less than a tenth of that. They wouldn't dwell on that, though. They'd probably think it was a figure of speech.
Then I was abruptly overwhelmed with emotion. She said yes. I couldn't believe it. I had hoped, but I was always doubtful. I wanted to scream with joy. I then looked in Esme's eyes and saw an extraordinarily happy expression. I saw in her eyes that she too wanted to scream with joy. This made me even happier. I realized this moment was the beginning of the rest of my life.