Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. They only thing that I do own is the plot and only that. The rest is owned by Stephenie Meyer, the Author of the Twilight Saga!
A/N: Hey people, thanks for the reviews even though I only got 4. Haha the responses were mixed but I enjoyed reading them so keep them going. x
Chapter 25: Paradise Falls
Edward POV
So it's been three months that we have been together. It's been intense at some points and slow at others. Every day the first thought and last thought in my head is that we are meant to be together. Today is our 6 months anniversary and we are holding a party. Well actually Esme is holding a party for both of us and accidently let it slip when she was talking to me but made me promise not to tell Bella. The venue is also a mystery so I don't know everything. So Bella is clueless. My surprise for her will be later on but for now Esme has sent both of us out to get groceries at 2 in the afternoon. Suspicious much? Naa.
'Edward what is going on?' Bella asked me when we entered the store.
'Bella I swear I have no idea. Look Esme needed groceries for dinner so we go and buy groceries for dinner. Alice is busy making her latest outfit; Rosalie is busy babysitting Alice and her own kids while Emmett and Jasper go bowling. Carlisle is busy making dinner with Esme so we are the only 2 left. Seriously what could be weird about that? I'm pretty sure dinner is needed every night because we are human beings and we need to have sufficient nutrition in our stomachs.' I answered her question. I rambled I know but she just shrugged noting that she's letting it go...for now. When I opened the folded up shopping list I was blown away.
Shopping List
5 bottles Tomato sauce
5 bottles Barbeque sauce
3 kg's Apples
4.5 kg's Bananas
2 kg's Tomato
4 kg's Cucumber
An alarm clock
3 cans Impulse deodorant
4 packs I&G fish
4 packs Steggles Chicken
3 family block's Chocolate
1 tin Milo
1 jar Nutella
2 jars Peanut Butter
3 tubs Ice cream:
Strawberry, Chocolate & Vanilla!
And lots of love!
Esme xx
I looked at the slip of paper again afraid that I might be mistaken or going blind or maybe hallucinating but nothing had changed. I looked at Bella and shrugged.
'Well looks like we have a handful to buy so we better get started.'
2 hours later
Well my trunk was full and I could tell the car had gained weight when I was driving. Bella was worried and kept looking at the slip, wondering what Esme would do with these things. I shrugged when she asked and made some excuse up that she liked to keep things that would last hypothetically a lifetime. It wasn't a complete lie, it was true. Esme did like to keep things that would last for a month or so but I didn't think these were the things she wanted to keep to last.
The major thought that struck my mind seemed largely obvious when I strained my mind about it. The anniversary party would be a major thing. Esme and Alice were crazy when put together so no doubt in my mind that all these unneeded items was for the party. But when I thought about it more I also came to a conclusion after making an equation. My family equals little amounts of food. Large groups of people that most are of unknown persons equals large amounts of food. Also my family's house equals small numbers of people attending. That did not fit my equation therefore they would have had to find someplace else to hold this so called 'party'. I doubted it was anything close to a party, it would be close to a wedding, but that was a good thing. Everything will fall perfectly just the way I would have wished for.
We drove close to home and passed by a Jewellers store. I decided to enter the store and find something for Esme. The Jewellers here knew everything about us Cullen's and we trusted them with everything we told them. It was only perfect to find something for Esme but at the same time for Alice and Rosalie. They had helped me through my roughest times and I had owed them my life. At least this minor gift would pay for half of it. The second half included Bella and I had something planned for them that were beyond belief and I only hoped it would be good enough. Of course I had bought Bella's gifts from here along with all my other ex-girlfriends gifts and all of them had ended it respectively. And slowly too but after the third girl I gave up until I met Bella.
'Edward! Where are we walking?' Bella whinged. I simply took her hand in mine and rubbed soothing circles into her hand.
'Bells I need your help, can you help me?' I asked her as we walked through the streets near the store. She nodded and I chuckled.
'Okay, we need to buy Esme, Alice and Rosalie gifts. Actually there is one more person but for now it doesn't need to bother you. I have already bought some for Carlisle, Jasper and Emmett but I'm no female expert so I need you opinion on what to buy. Can you do that for me please?' I asked as politely as I could. She nodded again and smiled widely.
'Let's do this!' she yelled but I hesitantly reminded her that people might be sleeping and we don't want to disrupt anyone and surprisingly she complied no questions asked.
Once we entered the store I asked Bella to do Rose and Alice while I found something for Esme. And she just ran to the corner of the store and started to look at the displays.
Bella POV
Once Edward informed me of my new mission I enthusiastically ran to the displays and concentrated on each intricate detail to see if something was suitable for either Rosalie or Alice. It seemed to prove difficult after a while but I happily completed a half hour's worth of concentration before I found the perfect items.
For Alice I found an intricate piece of white and yellow gold necklace. It was a dragonfly pendant with a white gold chain holding it. The frame was white gold along with the dragonfly's main body. Inside the wings it had ornate yellow gold twirls and made it look sophisticated but not overly done. On the top of both of the top wings followed a strip of elaborate diamonds that sparkled at every angle. Personally I thought it would be perfect for Alice and I loved it.
For Rosalie I found something that matched her perfectly. It was a beautiful White and Yellow gold pendant of a rose that had only 3 petals. It was held together by a white gold chain that had a little circle after every centimetre of metal. The rose had 3 layers. The base layer had white gold petals and inside was carved with intricate loops and twirls. The next layer on top had small yellow gold petals that sat perfectly on top and in shined like the sun. On the very last layer, white gold had been framed into a shape of each petal except in a smaller size and in the very centre where all petals were connected lay an exquisite pearl. Overall the 2 necklaces were magnificent first-class items worth 2 very special people that had a very special place in my heart.
Once Edward saw these 2 necklaces he loved them. He told me whether I liked something and that I should keep looking around but I just shook my head saying that I didn't need anything at the time being. He nodded understanding me and went to the salesperson to get the two necklaces along with Esme's gift.
Esme's necklace held a lot of love in it. It was a matching necklace and earrings set in sliver and it was absolutely dazzling. The chain looked like they were 2 joined together by unique diamonds that just sparkled in colours I hadn't known. The chain was like this all the way round until it reached the pendant which was permanently attached. The pendant was of a beautiful butterfly although the colour hadn't changed, it was still silver. Inside the butterfly every surface had a diamond and from the centre of the butterfly 2 different lengths of diamonds dangled. The earrings were much the same but had an extra 2 diamond strips from each side dangling, and they were also of smaller size. It was very genuine and I admired Edwards taste in jewellery. It was fascinating.
Edward POV
I had everything ready now. Esme's gift along with Alice's and Rosalie's chosen by Bella. I loved both of them and made a mental note to make sure that all of them knew that we had both chosen each gift. Now for the very last thing to do was getting each gift placed into a superbly decorated gift box and wrapped with a piece of ribbon. One last thing was left and that was choosing Bella's gifts. I was still looking for the perfect item and I wanted a complete set of everything; bracelet, earrings, necklace and finally ring. Yes tonight I was planning on proposing to her. I knew that she liked silver or white gold but she always thought yellow gold stood out too much on her so I looked for something that she might like. After about 10 minutes I found the special set that had my mind revolving.
It was exactly what I wanted; a full set and I loved it. The main item on all of the things was a White gold love heart studded with diamonds all round. From the inside of the heart, a strip of white gold studded with black diamond's cam down. It was simple yet sophisticated and I knew it would be good enough. The diamonds were simply what I have explained, the necklace was also the same in a larger shape and the chain was studded with diamonds. The bracelet was also like that but the ring was designed a little bit differently. It had the heart and it was tilted to the right a little bit. Through it was a strip of white gold studded with black diamond's that went the whole way round. It was elaborate and simplistic at the same time but it shined like the rainbow and it would suit Bella perfectly. I asked the salesperson to also wrap this one along with the others and I paid for them all with my credit card. Once I finished and collected all my items in a plastic bag I grabbed Bella's hand and we left the store. Once we got into the car we drove home. We were officially one hour late and we had to hurry. Of course it was still only 6 o'clock but we still needed to get everything ready. I got out of the car once we reached my house and went to the front door to open it when I noticed a note.
Edward & Bella,
We are all at Grand Meadows Hall and we would like you to come. Bring all the groceries with you, we might need some food. Sorry for any inconvenience.
Esme & Cullen's
'Bella I need to bring some stuff from my room, I'll be back okay?' she nodded and I ran to get the gifts for everyone else. I had even brought some for my nieces and nephews. They were all wrapped and in a nice bag. Once I had everything along with both of my camera's both being Sony I left.
Alice POV
We were in the Grand Meadows Hall and I must say it was HUGE! It's taken Rosalie, Jasper, Emmett and I all day to decorate this place and get it ready. We left the house at 7 in the morning and we finished everything at 4 this afternoon. Getting this hall decorated and ready included putting roses on every surface of the wall, throwing petals on the floor everywhere, draping fabrics from the stage, putting in tables for the guests and getting the cooks that worked here to cook everything perfectly. I wanted this to be special and I even got reporters here to make sure this got in the local paper. I had called photographers here to take professional pictures for our album. This ceremony had happened to all of us without any of us knowing and now it was Edward and Bella's turn.
I smiled in the dark as we waited for them to arrive. They had taken their sweet time and when I heard the car pull up I shushed everyone. All of Bella's family was here too, her siblings, parents and Phil. It wasn't only the Cullen's family. Nope it was the majority of our neighbourhood and everyone that had received an invitation. We had a couple of hundred people here and I knew it was going to be the best. We had also hinted in each of the invitations to bring gifts for Edward and Bella but you didn't have to. We only wanted to show our love for them and all of us had brought them a gift and placed them on a large table. We were a happy bunch here and we just waited quietly for the moment.
'Edward, why is everything dark?' we heard Bella murmur and I quietly laughed. No time to falter know Alice. As the door opened and Edward turned the lights on we all jumped out from behind the tables and yelled.
'SURPRISE!' All of us screamed and I could tell we had scared Bella because she was a metre behind Edward breathing heavily and laughing. Edward was also smiling and I ran up to Bella.
'Happy 6 month Anniversary Bella!' I hugged her and she was still shaking with laughter.
'Thank you so much Alice. This night is going to be one to remember but I need to ask a favour. Can you transform me into something more formal and pretty?' she asked. Transforming Bella? Any day. Without saying anything I dragged Bella to the secret bathroom that I found and I sat her in the chair in front of the mirror. I knew this would happen so I came prepared with a couple of dresses on my rack and all sorts of makeup and accessories. I dragged the rack to her and showed her the dresses.
'Pick one Bella so I can match everything.' I said smiling. She looked through all of them and finally chose an elegant dress. It was a grey-green colour and it was ground length with no straps. On the top it had sequences around the sweetheart neckline and it continued around. Another piece of material was sewed on from the upper stomach and it was gathered up there and then draped. The draping material was a couple of layers and it looked beautiful when she put it on. I gave her low heels since no one would see them but if someone did they would only see the front. They were also sequenced and the colour matched with the dress. When I put her make up on I chose special colours. Her eye shadow was a mixture of black and grey and made her eyes stand out well. I gave her light foundation and blush and she chose light pink lip gloss. Her hair was pulled up into an elegant bun and I gave her a side fringe along with a couple of strands of hair dangling from each side. She looked beautiful and when she saw herself in the mirror she smiled widely.
'I love you Alice! Thank you so much, I owe you my life.' She hugged me and left to go outside. When we left the bathroom to meet everyone I saw that Edward had changed into a suit and he looked like a smart gentlemen. All the men were wearing suits and all the females and little girls were wearing beautiful dresses. I went up to the stage and called everyone's attention.
'Good evening everyone. Thank you for attending this ceremony tonight. Tonight we are celebrating a happy couple's anniversary. Edward Cullen and Isabella Swan celebrate their 6 month Anniversary tonight and I would like to call them up here to say a word.' I sat next to my family on a table after I left the stage and watched Edward and Bella speak.
'Good evening everyone. Well what can we say? 6 months already and still counting. Bella and I have been through things that separated us and tore us but now that we are together again I would like to say something to Bella.' I saw Edward kneel down on one foot and everyone gasped.
'Isabella Marie Swan. In the last 6 months we have been the best of couples and every day I have fallen more and more for you. I promise to love you everyday of forever and I promise to keep you safe. Isabella Marie Swan, will you marry me?' he said and I could see Bella on the verge of tears.
'Yes!' she whispered and we all got up and cheered. We cheered for her and for my lovely brother that never deserved anyone better than her because she was simply the best. He got up and twirled her but I thought that something was missing. He had a bag near him and took out a nicely wrapped box. And I could only guess it was the ring.
Bella POV
Edward took out a nicely wrapped box out of a small bag that contained nothing else. He opened it and I saw the jewellery inside and gasped.
'Edward what is this?' I whispered.
'This is my vow to love you forever and ever.' He whispered simply and I leaned up and kissed him passionately. The crowd went wild and I just laughed as I broke away from Edward. Inside the box was a whole set of everything and I just looked in awe. Edward gave me the box to hold and firstly took the necklace out. I leaned my head forward so he can put it on for me and he did so.
'Thank you.' I whispered and I knew I was close to tears at this point. I wasn't going to cry though. Alice had spent hard work trying to make me look perfect; I wasn't going to ruin it. Next Edward placed a bracelet on my wrist and I looked at all the shiny diamonds. They shined just like Edward and I laughed quietly. He also placed the earrings in my ears and I sighed at the relief that I had taken out my other ones yesterday before I slept. And last but not least there was the ring. It was so nice and I simply smiled at the beauty and love it held. I hugged Edward tightly and kissed him briefly before turning to the crowd and saying a few words.
'Well I would like to thank everyone who came tonight; I would like to thank Esme, Carlisle, Alice, Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie for accepting me into the family; I would like to thank my parents, siblings and Phil for coming tonight, it's much appreciated. I would like to thank Edward for loving my unconditionally and asking me to marry me. I would like to thank the lovely people who gave the gifts over there, they are much appreciated and I owe you all forever. And lastly I would like to thank Alice for making me look perfect for the best night of my life. I guess I love you now as a best friend and a sister-in-law. Thanks to everyone!' I said. Edward now spoke.
'I want to give a couple of gifts to everyone. I'm going to call you out and I want you to come up and take you gift please. Esme! Carlisle! Emmett! Jasper! Rosalie! Alice! My Nieces and Nephews now. Clare, Beau and Jessie! Bree and Riley!' he said and I just smiled and clapped like the crowd. Edward continued speaking.
'My family are the people who woke me up from my depression, who made me smile when I was down, who made me angry when I was annoyed and who pushed me into the mud when it was raining. Thanks Em for that by the way. Anyway I wanted to show you people just how important family is and how much they can do to your emotions.' I could see the Cullen's smiling as the opened their gifts. The men got their favourite cologne and the women got jewellery. I smiled and took Edward's hand.
'Edward you are one special person. And you're all mine!' I laughed and kissed him once again before walking off the stage.
'Bella I have a couple more surprises for you but you're just going to have to wait. Let's eat cake!' I laughed and we walked to the cake and I cut pieces for everyone and placed them in the plates supplied. The last person took their piece of cake and I took mine and Edward's and we walked to the Cullen's table.
'Edward I want to go see my family. I'll be back.' He nodded and I walked to my families table.
'Well hello. Uhm how are you?' I said awkwardly. We hadn't talked in a long time and I just stood there. Renee came and hugged me tightly.
'Congrats Bells! I'm glad you got what you wanted and I'm glad you are happy.'
'Thanks mum.' I said and patted her back.
'Well thanks for coming everyone. Elliemay, come with me!' I told her and she ran up to me and I hugged her.
'Congrats Bella. Edward's good for you.' She said.
'Aww thanks Elliemay; well let's go get you some food.' I went to Edward and asked him if he could get the food out and he said he and 'the guys' can do it and I nodded. Everyone was dancing but me and Elliemay just sat at an empty table and talked.
'So how's school?' I asked her.
'Meh, it gets really hard in some areas and easy in others but some people in class just don't shut up! But other than that it is okay. My friends are always there for e when I need them and I think I'm a good friend.' She said with a bright smile. I laughed.
'Of course you're a good friend. Ah well I think I'm going to go see Edward now.' She nodded and I walked away.
'Thanks for that. You know what? I love you.' I whispered and kissed him again.
'I love you too. I think it's time we leave. I have a surprise for you.' He took my hand and we walked out.
A/N: Sorry for the late chapter. My laptop crashed then my internet stopped working and now I'm hooked to the Commonwealth games! You have to agree though Australia is dominating, especially in the pool. The Leisel Jones and Geoff Hugil and Eamon Sullivan! And Lauren Mitchell in Gymnastics and she's only 18! :D
The Jewellery along with Bella's dress is on my profile or will be soon so you can check them out there.
Today's question is: Who are you going for in the Commonwealth Games, who's your favourite competitor and which is your favourite event? Thanks for the reviews and continue please. I think the story is near ending now and I don't think I'm planning on doing a sequel. I travel in a couple of months for holidays and won't be back till January 2011 so I'll probably just write a story but not upload it so I get a head start when I get back. Thanks and here is my answer:
Australia; Lauren Mitchell; Swimming and Gymnastics and cycling equally!
Fatema xxo