Chapter 14: Mr Romance Starts Plotting

Wow! What a week. Between RL and leaked BD pic chatter, the time has flown. I've been writing quite a bit: partly this, partly IH, and my independent novel. So, here ya go! Something from me, at long last. The next chappie of this will post soon, so don't kill me.

Got your persona in yet? Heh heh heh. I think there are 28 of you coming so far. C'mon. You can do better than that. There are over 1500 of you reading this story. Gimme more challenge!

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is merely coincidental. Opinions expressed are those of the characters, and may not reflect those of the author. Ivo belongs to me. And to Leah. Hands off or she'll tear you a new orifice. Grr.

Please go to my channel, youtubedotcom/jmollytwilight2, and pick the HHMH playlist to hear great music that I guarantee will enhance your reading. This chappie's vids start at #22:

'Following the Sun', by Enigma

Following The Sun, To Find The One
Who's Giving You The Wings To Fly
Following The Sun, The Golden One
Losing Sense For Space and Time

Can You Feel The Waves Of Life
(Can You) Hear The Sigh Of Love
Do You Believe In It ?

Following The Sun, Just For The One
Till You`ll Find The Door You Thought
Following The Sun, Like Everyone
Searching For A Sign Of Hope

Have A Look Up To The Sky
See The Billion Stars Above
'Cause (Maybe) On One Of Them
You`ll Spend Your Further Life..

Saturday, February 24th, 2014:

Ivo's pov:

"I don't know how," I plead. I am taking the opportunity, while Leah is in the shower, to fish for knowledge. I lean forward on the couch, anxious for answers. We speak at vampire pitch to further impede her hearing.

"Just ask her, Ivo. No big," Carlisle shrugs from one of the bar stools. Kaya is sitting at his feet again.

"How did you ask your mate?" I press, padding over to join them at the breakfast bar. I pull up a stool, too.

"Easy. I got down on one knee and said, 'Esme, I love you, and I want you forever. Marry me'," Carlisle tells me. He flips the page on his paper.

"Oh," I blink. "And she said 'yes' ?"

"Indeed she did. I was quite worried she wouldn't, but I needn't have been. She was nothing like Bella," Carlisle says, sneaking an amused look at Edward, who is sitting on another stool.

"Hah, hah. Very funny, yuk it up," Edward says, eyes rolling.

My eyes widen. If my heart could beat, it would fly right out of my chest. "Bella said 'no'?" I gawp. Perhaps Leah will say no, even though she told me she would accept me. Oh, no. Unconsciously, my fingers tighten on the counter top. Edward taps them with a finger, and I let go before I can spoil the furniture.

Edward looks irritated with his sire. But he turns friendly eyes on me. "Leah's not going to say 'no'. My timing was lousy. The first time I asked her was right after Jasper attacked her." My eyes get even wider. "Oh. Leah didn't tell you this story? She cut her finger open at her eighteenth birthday party, and I knocked her away from Jazz, into a glass sideboard. Cut her arm open all the way from here to here," he says, pointing from one end of his bicep to the other. "Bella's always had a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Anyhow, I was upset, and stupid, so I asked her as soon as I got her home. I figured if she were legally mine, I could run far away with her and nobody could do anything about it. It wasn't well thought out. I didn't have a ring or get down on one knee or anything. So, I kinda threw it out of left field and she said 'no'."

"And you ran away for half a year," Carlisle says, lips pressed together.

"That wasn't the only reason I left, and you know it. I didn't think my bond was reciprocated, and I thought she'd be better off remaining human if she didn't feel the same as me," Edward says softly, picking up a section of Carlisle's 'Globe and Mail'.

"But you came back, and asked her again, and she said 'yes', right?" I ask eagerly.

Edward's mouth twists. "Not exactly." He opens the paper and begins to read it.

My jaw drops. "You asked her again, and she said 'no' again?" To my confusion, Carlisle snorts.

"Well..." Edward sighs, running his hand through his hair.

Carlisle snickers. "Just how many times did you ask her, Dom Yawaruna?"

"A few," he mutters, without looking up.

"How many? How many seriously, and how many in jest?"

"Well, I asked her when I was flirting, and whenever I kissed her, and at every conceivable opportunity that-"

"How many?" Carlisle demands.

Edward rolls his eyes. "Couple of thousand."

"A couple of thousand?" I gawp. "Times?"

"Yeah, I mean, she thought I was just flirting, but when I asked her in all seriousness, she still turned me down."

"And how many times did you ask her, seriously, and get told 'no'?" I wince. If Leah turns me down, I am going to drop stone dead.

"Including the first time? Six times. Apparently, I don't learn very well, because I never used the ring, or the right words. Seventh time I did, and it did the charm."

"Superstition," Carlisle grunts. Edward ignores him.

I am still fixated on all the times she turned him down. "Six. Times."

Edward shrugs. "Bella's parents are divorced, and her mother was dead set against her marrying young. I was a little impatient for her to finish growing up, that's all."

"And the time you were successful, how did you propose?" I ask anxiously.

"Well, I figured I'd better do an over-the-top, bang-up job," he tells me. "I thought about it for ages."

"Over-thinks everything," Carlisle mutters, looking at his paper. "Except what might happen when one leaves one's mate, and how to ask a girl to marry him properly, the first time he decided to do it."

"Hey, I romanced the socks off her," Edward protests. "She said 'yes', didn't she?"

"Tell me what you said," I plead.

"Well, Leah knows what I said to Bella, so you'd better not copy me," Edward warns.

"I just want an idea," I declare.

"Okay. I told her that back in the day, I'd have courted her. We'd have gone for walks, and had iced tea on the back veranda, and I might have stolen a kiss or two, but as soon as I knew she was The One, I would have gone to her father, and asked for her hand. And then I said, 'Isabella Swan, I promise to love you forever. Every single day of forever. Will you marry me?', and she said 'yes'."

"You're so cheesy," Carlisle says, shaking his head.

"Bite me. Bella likes me cheesy."

I am worried. I have a girlfriend to propose to, and I suspect I will do better keeping it simple, but I suspect Leah will be hoping for something more ... cheesy like Edward said to Bella. I can hardly walk up to my mate and say, 'Hello, Love. Back in the day, I'd have exchanged cute looks with you across one of the big igloos, and brought you a nice, juicy piece of meat for dinner, along with a hide to tan, and maybe given you a kunik, and asked your father to let you be my wife'. It just doesn't sound as romantic, somehow. I am going to have to go with setting. If I can make the setting super-romantic, then surely I can use less words.

"Sounds like a plan, Ivo," Edward says, clapping me companionably on the shoulder. Greatly encouraged, I wait for my mate to be ready to go. Carlisle and Edward are already dressed in their jeans and freshly-laundered blue t-shirts. They're going to play-act at being Security for me and Leah tonight.

"Leech? Come help me with my hair, now?" Leah calls from the bathroom.

"Sometimes I wish I'd never let it out that I could do braids," Edward sighs, eyes rolling.

Carlisle cackles again. "Just wait 'til the wedding. Bet you'll be conscripted to do a lot of hair that day."

"I'm the Man of Honour. People can do their own hair," Leah's Umialik declares, opening the bedroom door. "Ah. Beautiful, Smurfette." He winks at me, and shuts the door. I debate going in to see her. No, I was told to stay out, so she could surprise me.

After what feels like forever, but is actually only forty-five minutes and fifty-three seconds, my mate emerges from the bedroom, and stops time. I sigh like a lovesick polar bear, and every cell in my body starts to tingle.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" she asks me, swinging her long, pooling skirt so that the satin swishes. The neckline fabric pools between her breasts, and gathers at the shoulders to pour down the back in a short cape that rather reminds me of the wings of a butterfly. The dress is the sea-foam green of ice in Baffin Bay, and contrasts perfectly with her warm cinnamon skin.

I step closer, and tip up her chin, and she smiles radiantly at me, her eyes like warm, melted chocolate. "I have never seen anyone so lovely." She shuts her eyes happily, basking in the compliment. I marvel at the intricacy of her hair. I would like to touch it, but I do not wish to spoil it. "How wonderful, Edward. How do you do it?"

"The freshwater pearls have to be wrapped around the hair with a fine wire that doesn't show. The bigger pearls are a necklace that's all twisted through around itself. The braiding and placement of the curls is relatively easy. It's much like knitting, or making fishing nets. That's where I learned to do it," he tells me.

"Knitting, tatting and braiding hair. I'm astounded you're not gay," Carlisle teases. My mate looks at them both with evident enjoyment.

"Men did it in your time," Edward protests, looking a bit defensive.

"That was 300 years ago. They also wore pink velvet, bows, brooches, ribbons, and lockets." Carlisle flips the page on his paper again.

"Stop teasing me, Dad. The girls appreciate these things. If you don't let up on me, I'm going to use a few choice words of which Mom would not approve. Then, when we go home, I will tell her that you want to learn how to do hair. She'll force you to do hers every day."

"Children are evil," Carlisle sighs, winking at me to show he is just teasing his son. "Why did I have you again?"

"Because before I came along, your life was monotonous and lonely," Edward says smoothly. "Don't complain. I gave you a granddaughter." His cell phone rings. "Hello? Thank you. We'll be right down." He pockets the phone, sliding off his stool. "The Limo awaits."

"In a moment," I murmur, going to my desk. I retrieve a square, blue velvet box, and present it to my mate.

"You shouldn't have," she says, lips parted anxiously.

"It is nice to have someone to give presents," I protest, opening the box for her. The necklace is a string of pearls, that have a triangular fringe of freshwater pearls lengthening to a point at the front. I fasten it around her neck and admire it. It makes her chest look... well, she looks beautiful.

She strokes it, eyes sparkling with tears. "It's ... perfect."

" For a perfect mate," I tell her, smouldering a little.

" You're the one who's perfect," she tells me, her lashes fluttering.

"Lord, I wish I'd brought Jasper. Let's go," Edward encourages us, trying not to roll his eyes. "You don't want to be late for your own Opening."

I get out my short opera cape, which is better to wear with the Hugo Boss tuxedo, and Leah beams. Carlisle and his son have already put on buckskin leather jackets. Edward helps Leah into her coat. I hope it will not squash her dress. I shall have to order a long cape made for her, perhaps two. One for summer, one for winter. Carlisle calls for the elevator, and Edward picks Leah up.

"I can walk now," she protests. "I'm a lot better than I was."

"Humour me. Save your strength," Edward frowns.

"Yeah, okay," she pouts, but by the time we get downstairs, she looks excited again.

"Leah! Ivo!" a high voice bellows behind us, and Kobe comes running down the hall, all excited. "There's a Limo out front! Is it yours? Dad and Marley are really slow. I got the zipper stuck on her dress and he's still trying to fix it." Leah and I exchange one of our looks. "Kendra and Bastion aren't here yet, she's babysitting us." Kobe suddenly takes note of Leah's kinsmen. "Why is he carrying you? Who are your friends? Hi, I'm Kobe." She eyes the chuckling males expectantly. "Oh, look! Here's Kendra!" Kobe rushes to admit Kendra and Bastion to the building. She jabbers to them non-stop as they try to get past her, into the lobby, grinning. Edward sets Leah down as our friends join us.

"People, this is my best friend Edward. He's agreed to be my Man of Honour. And this is his Dad, Carlisle. He's going to marry us. Right Carlisle?" Leah asks, beaming.

"Um, yeah?" Carlisle says uncertainly. Kobe squeals and claps her hands.

"Gentleman, this is our good friend Kendra, my bridesmaid, and her son Bastion." The humans and vampires shake hands. "And this is our friend Kobe. She takes care of Kaya when Ivo travels, and she's going to be my Junior Bridesmaid."

"Well, you're going to look much better in your pink dress than I am in mine," Edward winks.

"I dare you," Leah says, smiling wickedly. All the humans start cackling.

"Smurfette, you should never, ever dare me to do anything," Edward smirks.

"Now there are going to be bets," Carlisle sighs, eyes rolling. "Very nice to meet you, Kobe."

"You too, uh..."

"Carlisle."

"Carlisle. Are you sure you're his father? You don't look old enough," she asks warily.

"I'm adopted," Edward shrugs.

"Hi," Marley says rather shyly, her hand in Daniel's. He looks smart in his tuxedo. Marley has on her usual ski jacket and a very short black dress. The greetings are affected, and then Marley pulls Kendra aside to give her about a million instructions on how to take care of Brody.

"Marley, I'm a Mom. Brody will be fine," Kendra tells her.

"But I've never left him before, except during the day with Ivo," Marley whines. "He's asleep, but he might wake up later, and if he does-"

"His milk is in the fridge. I know. Now go have some fun, girlfriend," Kendra tells her. "Come on, Kobe. Bastion and I brought cookies."

"Cookies! Peanut butter chocolate chip like last time?" Kobe squeals.

"You know it." Kendra looks at Marley and Daniel. "We won't wait up."

"Thanks," Marley says nervously, and peeps up at Daniel.

"Let's go folks. Time waits for nobody," Edward commands, picking Leah up again. He addresses the humans. "Now, Ivo has acquired himself a stalker, so I am going to go first, and carry Leah. My Dad will escort Ivo next, and then he'll assist you two into the car, okay?"

"A stalker?" Marley frowns, her eyes turning worried again.

"Pretty scary," Leah murmurs.

"Nothing's going to happen, Fluff. Let's hurry, though, okay?" Edward says, and I can tell that he is Listening for anything odd. Finding nothing, he nods, and Carlisle opens the outer doors to the building. The Limo driver opens the back door, and Edward slips Leah in. She lifts her skirt to slide along the seat, then Carlisle marches me in, and I crawl over to sit next to her. Marley and Daniel are right behind me, and they claim the seats opposite us. Then Carlisle takes the short seat at the back, and Edward joins him, pulling the door shut.

"I can't believe we're in a Limo," Marley smiles, and Daniels eyes turn soft.

"There are drinks in the minibar," Edward suggests.

"Oh, it's only a five minute ride," Marley says, shaking her head.

"Not tonight. We're laying a false trail to foil the stalker, just in case she follows the Limo. As far as we know, she hasn't found out where Ivo lives, but there's no sense in making it easy for her to find out. Remind me to tell the driver not to tell anybody," Edward says. "Champagne?" Daniel, and Leah accept, and Edward pours two flutes for them. "Pop for you, Marley?"

"Yes, please," she affirms.

"What's this stalker like?" Daniel frowns.

" She's about thirty. Caucasian, malnourished looking. She's about five-four, and her eyes are grey. She may change her hair to foil us, so we shouldn't count on that as an identifier," Carlisle says.

"What's she done?" Daniel frets, looking at me.

"Not much yet," I answer.

"She's made some highly disturbing remarks, and claims to be Ivo's girlfriend," Edward says, lips thin, "and she's very jealous of Leah."

"We'll have to be cautious if anyone asks about you," Marley tells me.

I nod, watching my mate enjoy the city lights. The lustrous pearls she wears catch the light, and shine pink and blue. Our driver takes us on a trip down Yonge Street, and our companions discuss the various musicals and plays that Toronto has on offer. After about half an hour, the driver turns, and makes his way to the ROM. He lowers the screen between us. "Where would you like me to drop you?" he asks.

"Directly outside the front entrance, thank you, Moaz. We won't get out until someone is there to meet us. First, I'll get out and surveil the surroundings to make sure the stalker is not present," Edward tells him.

The driver pulls up to the front of the museum, and Edward gets out, shutting the door. There is a shadow of movement behind a car parked at the curb in front of us. "There!" I bellow, she is there!" I howl, pointing. In a flash, Edward and Carlisle are gone, and my frightened companions cringe in their seats. Even Leah looks afraid, because she cannot phase. "Do not fear, our kinsmen are trained ..."

"Soldiers. They're trained soldiers," Leah finishes. "If anyone can catch her, they can."

"Is that how they disappeared so fast?" Daniel frowns, looking everywhere for a sign of the Cullens.

"There are security guards inside the doors, using walkie-talkies," Marley frowns. "Do you suppose Edward and Carlisle told them about the stalker?"

"Likely," I murmur. I am going to be late for the Opening thanks to this woman, who does not know how idiotically she is behaving.

"There!" Marley exclaims, pointing. Carlisle's fair blond head is visible, moving down the street at top human speed. The humans kneel up on their seats to watch him run. "He's so fast," Marley declares. "How does he do that?" Then, he's gone again. All falls quiet, and we sit and wait.

Suddenly, the back door opens, and the humans jump. "Sorry," Edward says, reaching his hand out to Leah. "She gave us the slip. Quite the evasive girl. If I didn't know better, I'd say she was one of us."

"A soldier?" Daniel frowns.

"Yeah," Edward says, prevaricating quickly. "Or someone else with special training and abilities." He gives me a meaningful look, lips thin. An inaudible growl resonates in my chest. Edward lifts Leah and marches briskly to the heavy glass doors. The glass peak of the remodelled building stretches high above our heads. A pair of security guards open the doors, welcoming us. Carlisle accompanies me, then goes back for Daniel and Marley. We all hurry into the lobby, past metal detectors, the heels of our dress shoes loud upon the dark tile floor.

"Welcome, Mr Iluak. We have orders to escort you to the party," the tall, lanky guard says respectfully.

"Please wait, I must inform you that Mr Iluak was followed here by a very dangerous stalker," Edward says, halting their movement. "She has made threats on the life of his girlfriend, Miss Clearwater, here, and today, she made known her intention to abduct him. Mr Iluak has produced a sketch of her that is highly accurate. Please note the accompanying list of details, and be careful that you do not admit anyone like her to the building."

"Why were we not informed of this sooner?" the grey-haired, muscular guard frowns.

Carlisle takes over. "This is the first opportunity we've had. She only made moves that were clearly threatening this afternoon. My partner and I shall escort Mr Iluak, Miss Clearwater and their friends to the party. We ask that you secure the main entrance. Are any other entrances to the museum open this evening?"

"No," the grey-haired guard replies. "We are actually just waiting on you, and your guests, Mr Iluak. Everyone else seems to be here." He waves his admission list at us.

"You will have to be very careful when people slip out and in of the building this evening," Edward warns. " Be attentive when people pop out for a smoke. This woman avoids tracking expertly. We suspect she may have some sort of combat training."

"Oh, boy," the older guard says, putting his hands on his hips. "Perhaps it won't be secure enough for us to keep Mr Iluak and Miss Clearwater safe. There's a patio outside the room they're using for the party. Anybody with strength and determination could get in."

Edward and Carlisle sigh, staring at each other. Edward shakes his head. "It's probably too late. We lost her outside the south corner of the museum. She could be anywhere in here, if she got in through the patio."

"Maybe we should go," Carlisle suggests.

"No," Leah says firmly. "If this woman wants my Ivo for herself, she's never going to make a move in public. I promise you, I won't go anywhere by myself. Not even to the bathroom. Ivo? Do you promise, too?"

"I promise, but I hold you to your promise, Leah," I caution her. "I cannot lose you."

"You'll never lose me," she smiles. I offer her my arm, and she takes it, looking at me with pride. I return her smile, and escort her to the elevators.