The next evening when I got off from my shift at the hospital, I went straight to pick Edward up from Esme's. Edward and Jasper opened the door for me, greeting me with hugs and smiles. "Daddy!" Edward exclaimed jumping into my arms. He was wearing his green long-sleeved dress and looked completely recovered.
"Hi Uncle Carlisle," Jasper greeted politely, standing back a step from the door.
"Hey Jazz. Where is your auntie?" I asked ruffling his hair.
"In the kitchen making dinner. I asked for pie, but it was a no go," he replied leading the way into the house. Needless to say, the boy loved pie.
"How do you feel Tink?" I asked leading the boys into the living room and placing my hand on Edward's forehead to check his temperature.
"Better: I don't have to pee all the time anymore," he replied. "Can I go back to school tomorrow? Tomorrow is art day and I don't want to miss that."
"Sure can Tink, just as long as you promise to go see the nurse and call me if you feel sick again."
"Okay Dad. Have you seen this movie Jasper was showing me? It has the guy who plays Will Turner in it, only now he's an elf!" he exclaimed pointing to the paused television set. Sure enough Lord of the Rings, the first one, was paused on the screen.
"Yes, but I had no idea that you would like it Tink," I answered.
"I didn't. But then Jasper explained what was going on to me, and Legolas is so cool and they journey to go see the other elves…" Edward trailed off as Jasper pushed play on movie.
Seeing as the boys were once again engrossed in their movie, I headed to the kitchen to find Esme slaving away on a roast with all of the fixings. "Smells wonderful," I said coming up behind her and wrapping my arms around her, before kissing her just below the ear.
"Thanks. Dinner will be ready in another ten minutes," she said pulling away from me to stir the gravy.
I stayed in the kitchen and asked about her day with the boys, while I watched her cook. Edward had not been too much of a pain when she was working this morning. But she got more work done after she picked Jasper up from school, because he took over entertaining Edward. The two of them had spent the entire afternoon going over that movie, bit by bit.
As she talked, I kept thinking back to the comment Edward had made in the car the night before: that the four of us should move in together. I wanted to talk about it in private, so I waited until after we finished dinner and the boys went back to their movie to bring the subject up. "Listen Esme, I've been thinking about what Edward said in the car yesterday about us moving in together," I said as we were loading the dishwasher.
"Oh," Esme replied startled. "What have you been thinking about it?"
"Well, it was a good idea. You and Jasper moving in with me would make a lot of sense. I love having the two of you around and spending time with you and we see each other almost every day anyway. My house is plenty big enough. You could remodel it for me and have room for your own office.
"Our boys get along like brothers and it would give them someone to play with. With one, they are always bored, but two can entertain themselves. And it is good for them to know that they are not alone and there are other boys out there that are different. Sick days and working off hours would be easier in a two parent household.
"But most importantly, I love you with all my heart and never want to be apart from you again," I concluded taking her into my arms.
"I love you too," she replied kissing me.
"That being said, I do not want you to move in with me: we are not married and it would look very improper to our boys. We need to set an example for them."
"Oh, okay. I thought you were going to go the other way with that speech," she said pulling back from our kiss.
"Oh I am," I said bending down on one knee and pulling out the small ring box I had in my pants pocket. It was my mother's ring, so when I decided to ask Esme this morning, I retrieved it from my safe for tonight. "Esme Anne Platt, will you marry me?"
"Yes!" she screamed as tears fell from her eyes.
I slipped the ring with the large solitaire diamond onto her ring finger, took her hand in mine, and kissed her deeply and passionately. "I know this is happening quickly, but I already know that you are the only one for me. You are the only one I want to spend the rest of my life with. I want to grow old with you by my side as we watch our boys grow up into strong men," I said breaking the kiss.
"I do too," she said before once again pressing her lips to mine. "You are the only man I ever want to kiss for the rest of my life."
"Gross!" Edward exclaimed as he and Jasper walked into the kitchen, effectively killing the moment.
"Why are you crying Auntie?" Jasper asked.
"Well Uncle Carlisle just asked me to marry him. I'm crying because I'm so happy and we are going to be a real family," she replied picking him up and setting him on the counter.
I did the same with Edward, setting him down right next to Jasper as he asked, "Are you sure about this Dad? You know I love Mom and all, but you don't have to do this just for me."
"I'm sure Tink. I told you: I'll deal with the relationship with the girl, you only need to worry about your relationship with your mom," I reassured him. "I think I'm going to like having a wife."
"Well I think it's romantic!" Jasper exclaimed hugging Esme. "And we can move into the great big house and live happily ever after."
"But he has to kiss her!" Edward retorted.
"And what is so wrong with kissing me young man?" Esme asked leaning over and stealing a kiss from his cheek.
"Nothing Mom. Not when you do it like that: but Dad has to kiss you on the lips. That's icky," he answered.
"My parents used to kiss like that," Jasper defended.
"Mine too, but still!"
"Well at least we won't have to worry about Edward kissing girls or boys on the lips anytime soon," I said, making sure to keep it gender neutral.
Edward turned bright red in response to my comment and exclaimed, "You won't catch me kissing an icky girl! Girls are moms."
"And boys are dads," Jasper countered, as if Edward's reply made sense to him.
"Whatever; just don't do the kissing in front of me!" Edward exclaimed crossing his arms.
"There is going to have to be some kissing in front of you Tink," I said leaning over to give Esme a kiss.
"Ew!"
"Yes, in the wedding ceremony, the two people getting married have to kiss," Esme informed him, again trying to keep it gender neutral.
"I guess…"
"And you will have to be there young man, because I want you to be my flower boy," I said pointing at Edward's chest.
"Me? Really?" he asked surprised.
"Yes you. But we will have to go shopping for a flower boy dress…" I trailed off suggestively.
"And we will have to get a tux for Jazz while we are at it: I want him to be my ring bearer," Esme said looking at Jasper.
"Really? I get to be in the wedding too?" he asked surprised.
"Yes: I could not forget my main man on my special day," Esme answered hugging Jasper.
"But then I can't ask him to be my best man… Oh well, I guess I will have to go with my runner up," I teased. "Good thing Charlie likes me."
"What about your cousins? I should probably ask the four women to be in my bridal party: I don't have any female relatives left," Esme said.
She must have seen the pictures of us all from Thanksgiving and mistaken my elderly cousins for my age, given how young they looked. "Well it's up to you, but they would probably be more comfortable sitting down, as they are getting up there in years. I think you should meet them first, before the wedding. Edward and I are still on to go to Alaska for Easter; you and Jasper are welcome to come if you can get away," I offered.
"No, I have a big meeting set that week. I'm just finishing the museum project, but then I have nothing lined up but to work on your place until that meeting the day after Easter. I really need that gig so I have work this spring," she replied.
"I know: why don't I ask them to come down here for Easter? We can still spend the week together, but they can meet you and spend time with you on the days you are off. Plus I can watch Jasper for you."
"Are you sure Dad? They give nice presents, but they are kind of creepy and I don't want them to scare Mom off before you trap her into the marriage," Edward said.
"What makes you think I'm trying to trap your mother into marrying me Tink?" I asked.
"Why else would two people get married?" Edward shrugged.
"Because they love each other," Esme answered and Jasper started giggling.
"What's so funny young man?" I asked Jasper.
"It's because they want to have sex!"
Esme, Edward, and I both gasped. Jasper was still giggling when I asked, "And what do you know about sex?"
"Married people do it in a bed," he said shrugging in between fits of giggles.
"Do what?" Edward asked perplexed.
"I don't know, but it's dirty like farting," Jasper replied giggling.
"And how do you know about this?" Esme asked.
"I saw it on TV and asked Peter."
"Is it dirty like kissing?" Edward asked Jasper.
"It starts with kissing, but Peter said it's dirtier."
"How does Peter know all of this?" I asked Esme.
"I don't know, but I'll ask their grandparents. Peter is a bit older: he is going to be eleven in two weeks. He probably had sex-ed at school."
"Jasper, when did Peter tell you this stuff about sex?" I asked and he stopped giggling.
"I told you, when we were watching TV on Thanksgiving. Am I in trouble?"
"No, you aren't in trouble. We're just concerned because you know all of this and you are only seven," I reassured him. "Now let's go out to celebrate! Who wants pie?"
"I do!" Jasper exclaimed eagerly.
"I want ice cream!" Edward exclaimed.
"Well we can get both pie and ice cream at the shop down the street. Let's go," Esme replied.
The four of us put on our coats and walked down the block, hand in hand, to the little mom and pop shop on the corner. They sold their own ice cream, which they made right in the shop, and the boys spent twenty minutes looking through the glass at the process. Plus, they sold homemade pie, so Jasper was happy.
And with the boys entertained, Esme and I had time to ourselves to talk about wedding plans. We had been together just five months, but we did not want to have a long engagement. So we decided on a date in October, thinking that it would give us plenty of time to plan the wedding. And her best friends from out of State would have to fly in, as well as our respective families.
Plus our families had not even met, so we would have to work on that. Esme would meet my family this spring when they came down for Easter, so I suggested that we all go to Texas this summer to meet hers. I was sure Edward would get a kick out of seeing a rodeo, riding a horse, and seeing real Texas sun shine- they just do not make it right up north. So I thought a summer vacation was just what our new family needed.
Esme thought a vacation in Texas was a great idea, so we agreed to both look into taking the time off from work. We would have stayed up all night deciding on wedding plans, but it was a school night and we needed to get the children to bed. We each had to go home to our respective houses, without getting the chance to celebrate our impending nuptials in the bedroom. This was exactly the kind of thing I was hoping to avoid by a marriage.
So at seven O'clock, I strapped a sleepy Edward into the car for our trip back to Forks. He was asleep by the time I finished the hour drive, so I carried him in and laid him down on his bed. I did not want to disturb him to change him, but he had not brushed his teeth yet. And he did eat pie and ice cream for dessert, so I brought a glass of water and his tooth brush and toothpaste into his bedroom for him. I woke him up just enough to make him take the brush from me.
Once he had spit back into the same cup of water, I sat it down and quickly stripped him. I slipped a nightgown over his head, before finally letting him lie back down. His eyes were closed even while he brushed, so I was not sure if he would even remember this in the morning. Then I cleaned up the mess I had made in his room, putting the dirty clothes and toothbrush away, before heading to the living room to make a few phone calls.
The first person I called was cousin Eleazar, but he quickly passed the phone around to Irina, Kate, Tanya, and Carmen. They each congratulated me and wished me the best. They also all agreed to switch our plans for Easter and fly down to meet my bride to be. Tanya and Kate even offered to plan our entire wedding for us, which I declined. I would ask Esme if they could help, but that was her decision to make, not mine. A wedding should be the bride's to plan and make into her dream come true.
The second call I made was to Charlie, who readily agreed to be my best man. He was extremely happy for me and Esme and said that he would not miss my wedding for the world. He really was my best friend. I would have to ask Esme to find a place for his Bella in the wedding party. Now all that was left was to call all of my old med school friends and my friends from the hospital.