A/N: I don't own Twilight.
Special thanks to my friends Gerri (super beta) and Rory (the best pre-reader I could hope for). Without them, this story wouldn't be what it is today :).
And of course, thanks to you for reading.
As you'll see, the teaser is kind of broken up now beyond what it was when I sent to you faithful reviewers :). That all happened in the editing room, and this chapter went through a lot of editing! Not to mention a couple of complete rewrites… I'm sure you'll forgive me though.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX: SURPRISE!
Bella
I knew that I should answer him verbally, but I wanted to give him more than just a simple 'yes.' I wanted him to see just how big a yes my answer was. I reached down and held his hands in mine, pulling him back to his feet. "Before I answer you, I want you to open the gift I got for you. Don't worry, Edward; you'll see we're on the same page. I promise."
The look on his face was nothing short of bewilderment. I suspected he'd been expecting an immediate 'yes,' and I wanted to give him that, but this way was going to be even more special for him… I hoped. As I stepped away from him, I chanced a glance around the room. Everyone was sitting together as couples; Esme and Carlisle, my mom and dad, Alice and Jasper, and Kim, unfortunately alone.
"Bella, what's going on here?" my dad asked in a clipped voice.
"Oh, have a little faith everyone. Dad, you'll understand in a minute." I was beginning to question my sanity for making Edward wait and obviously so was my father. Alice was the only one who knew my plan, and hers was the only face in the room that didn't resemble Edward's. She looked as giddy as I felt nervous. Although, with Edward standing there, still holding the ring box, I shouldn't have been nervous anymore. But I was. I was seriously second-guessing my decision to have not shouted my 'yes' from the rooftop, too. I should've said the word, and then given him the clock afterwards. It was too late for that now, though. I'd already gone too far with my delay to go back now.
I knelt down next to the tree and shuffled boxes around until I found the one I was looking for. I carefully rose back up to my feet, wrapped box in hand, and handed it to him. The expression on his face hadn't changed one bit, and I felt a little bad about making him wait, but I was pretty sure he'd forgive me after he saw the gift inside the box. I sincerely hoped so, anyway. He reluctantly closed the ring box and shoved it back in his pocket, and I came even closer than before to caving at the expression on his face. It was something along the lines of What's going on here? I wanted desperately to reach my hand into his pocket and pull the ring box back out, but this felt important to me; I wanted to give him the clock as my answer. The knowledge of what was inscribed on the glass was enough for me to hold my determination. "Please, open your present," I murmured. I took his hand and led him over to the plush recliner and pushed him down into it, then sank to the floor at his feet, watching him expectantly. The room was so quiet that I was sure you could've heard a pin drop, even though the floor was covered with plush, white carpet. No one was making a sound, not even breathing. Edward still hadn't made a move to unwrap the box; he was just sitting there in some sort of stunned silence. I implored him again. "Please. I promise you, it'll be okay."
He swallowed and nodded, blinked a few times, and finally turned his attention to the red paper on the box. He found a spot on the top where the paper was overlapped and taped, and slid one finger underneath, popping it loose. With the first step done, he seemed to gain some sort of resolve, and he quickly removed the paper from the rest of the box, depositing it on the floor next to the chair. He lifted the box up to eye level; there was a picture of the clock that was inside on the outside of the box. "What is this?" he asked quietly.
"Open the box," I instructed him, a small smile tugging on my lips.
He followed my direction, and when he pulled the clock out of the box and read the inscription on it, I heard his breath hitch. He blinked a few more times—almost as if he was holding in tears—and looked directly into my eyes. "Really, Bella?" He gave me his crooked smile, his eyes aglow.
I nodded. I wasn't as good at hiding my tears as he was, and they were flowing freely down my face. He rose again from the recliner and passed the clock to his mother, who was sitting on the loveseat next to his father. He made no move to retrieve the ring box from his pocket again. The expression on Esme's face turned from worry to relief to joy in a split second. She gasped and passed the clock to Carlisle. It made its way around the room, and by the time it had gotten back to Edward and me, everyone was beaming at us.
"That's my girl, although you had me confused there for a moment," my dad let out a little chuckle. My mom grabbed his hand then and shushed him, like she was in a movie theater and didn't want any distractions from the show.
Alice even snuck me a thumbs up sign when no one else was looking. I smiled and blushed. I could see she had her camera in her hand, ready to shoot.
"So, that's a yes, then?" Edward asked me.
"Yes," I replied. Edward kissed me softly on my lips; I heard Alice snap a few pictures, everyone's sighs of relief, and an outpouring of laughter and congratulations. I looked around and smiled at everyone and then turned back to look at Edward because these moments were ours in spite of the happy onlookers. I wanted to make sure he understood my actions today. "I'm sorry to have made you wait for my answer like that, but I thought there was no better way to show you how much I want to be your wife then for you to see my written words. You see, I've been waiting for weeks for you to ask; and I believed you wanted to, but then I was beginning to think you weren't going to, at least not anytime soon."
"So we've been planning this moment independently of each other for weeks, then, is that right?"
"Weeks? No, I only thought of this about five days ago. I kept thinking you were going to ask, but as time ticked by, I was frankly a little afraid that we were never going to take this step."
"Oh, Bella," he sighed, cupping my face in his hands and rubbing his thumbs across my cheekbones. "I've wanted this for so long. I've had your ring since your birthday."
"My birthday, really?"
"Yes, love, I've just been afraid. Not of making the commitment, but of spooking you."
"Stop," I interrupted him. "Look, I know that things didn't work out so well the last time I rushed things, but I was wrong then. I'm not wrong this time. The feelings I have for you far outweigh anything I've ever felt for anyone else. Ever. Now, are you actually going to give me that ring now or what?" I smirked.
"Oh!" he exclaimed. "I was so caught up in the moment that I forgot. I'm sorry." He reached into his pocket and brought out the tiny jewelry box, and this time when he opened it, he pulled the ring from its velvet bed and took my left hand in his. "Bella, just to be absolutely clear, we're getting married, then?"
"Yes, Edward, I believe we are."
Before he put it on my finger, he tipped it so that I could see inside the band. "I had it engraved; it seemed appropriate with the written word being the cornerstone of our relationship." I peered inside the band and read, You are my forever.
Tears flooded my eyes as he slipped the ring onto my third finger; it fit perfectly. "It's so beautiful Edward, I absolutely love it and love you. And I love that you were so worried about asking me… and did it anyway."
My eyes flicked back and forth between my hand and Edward's face until we were interrupted by the clearing of a throat from one of the others in the room. Jasper's voice rang through the room. "So, we're all thrilled for you guys, but are you quite done?" There was a teasing quality to his tone; Edward reached for my hands to help me up from my position on the floor and turned me around. I didn't even have a chance to step away when I was pulled by my hips onto Edward's lap. I giggled like a schoolgirl at the abruptness of the action as Alice snapped another picture.
"Oh, we'll never be done," Edward answered his brother, who laughed out loud at that. "But feel free to exchange gifts amongst yourselves. Don't mind us." He took my chin in one of his hands and turned my face toward his, pulling me in for another kiss. My lips took on a life of their own, moving against his; my hands wound themselves into his hair, and I forgot where I was. Until Edward whispered against my mouth. "Don't forget that we're not alone."
I blushed and pulled away, embarrassed at having nearly lost control in a room full of people. "Sorry," I mumbled.
"Don't be sorry," he said, and then dropped his voice to a whisper that only I could hear. "We'll celebrate properly at home later."
I smiled shyly, already looking forward to that. I forced myself to focus on the here and now, though. It was Christmas, and I was in a place I loved with all the people in my life that I knew I couldn't live without. Every single one of them was special to me, and I didn't want to get so caught up in my current life events that I neglected them today. So I kissed Edward once more—chastely this time—and then turned in his lap to face the room.
Carlisle, ever the gracious host, passed out the gifts and when they'd all been opened, everyone offered their thanks to everyone else. Alice and Jasper particularly held my attention; they'd been a couple only as long as Edward and I, but their situation was so very different. The way they interacted was so… comfortable, it was hard for me to fathom that they'd known each other such a short amount of time.
Esme stood then, and excused herself to the kitchen to begin preparing for Christmas dinner. I wanted to follow her and talk to her about the possibility of using her gazebo for the wedding, but after the hard time I'd given Edward for agreeing with everything I suggested rather than being a part of the decision making process in the baby store the other week, I wasn't about to do one iota of wedding planning or preparations without talking to him first.
Everyone was chit-chatting all around me, but I was having a hard time focusing on anything anyone was saying. My mind was going a thousand miles a minute, thinking about all the wedding possibilities. Valentine's Day, or maybe early March. I wondered if it would be warm enough for an outdoor event by either of those days. Probably not. I started thinking about possible color themes, my favorite flowers, bridesmaids. I'd all but made a few decisions, or at least narrowed down a list of possibilities when Edward's voice brought me out of my reverie. "Hey, love, as much as I love having you sit right where you are," he kissed me softly on my forehead, "I'm going to go see if my mom needs any help with dinner. Can I get you anything while I'm up?"
"No, thank you. I'm fine, but I'll come with you," I told him, smiling and rising from his lap so we could make our way to the kitchen.
"No, honey, just relax, enjoy some time with everyone and I'll come get you if I need another pair of hands."
"Alright, if you're sure?" I sat back down in the recliner.
"Yeah, I'm sure. I'll be back soon. I love you, my fiancée."
"Love you, too." I smiled and blushed at his use of the word fiancée. I guess I'll have to get used to that.
As soon as Edward disappeared through the swinging door to the kitchen, Alice came practically running up toward me. "I've been waiting all morning to get a glimpse of your ring!" She grabbed my left hand and splayed my fingers out in front of her, examining the ring. "Oh my gosh, it's so… different." I couldn't quite read the tone in her voice. Alice was a very traditional girl, especially in regards to jewelry, and I suspected that she would have preferred a diamond solitaire. I loved my sapphire and diamond ring, though. I loved everything that it represented; first and foremost that he picked it out and being that Edward's favorite color was blue. But then the words he'd said during his proposal, something about it being…what? An eternity ring. I wondered what exactly that meant; I'd have to ask him later.
"I think it's perfect," I told her.
"It is, I agree. Blue's always been a great color on you, Bella. I hope you didn't take my 'different' comment to mean that I didn't like it. I do, very much. I just meant that I haven't seen one like it before. It really is perfect."
"Thank you," I told her.
"Well, come here, come here," my mother said from across the room. "I still haven't seen it yet, either."
I spent the next ten minutes having my hand ogled by everyone in the room, until finally, we all just relaxed into comfortable conversation about everything and nothing at all.
I found it difficult to focus on what any of them were talking about, though; against my better judgment, my brain found its way to thoughts of calla lilies versus carnations, roses or orchids…
x-x-x
Edward
"Mom?" She jumped slightly at the sound of my voice; fortunately she hadn't been near the hot stove, she was just reaching into one of the lower-down cupboards. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to startle you."
"That's okay, Edward. What are you doing in here? Help yourself to whatever you need; unless you came to offer me some help, but really that's not necessary. I've got everything pretty much under control. Besides, wouldn't you rather be out spending Christmas with Bella and everyone else?"
"Actually, Ma, I wanted to go over an idea I had with you. Do you have time to talk?"
"If you'll finish chopping the potatoes for me, I'll work on the dressing, and we can talk to your heart's content." She smiled at me.
"Deal." I walked over to the sink and turned on the water to start rinsing. "So, I just had this idea not even an hour ago, and I haven't worked out any of the details yet, so I'm a little nervous even bringing it up," I started. My mother looked puzzled, and for some reason, that made me lose my nerve. I sighed softly and traded the sink water for a cutting board and knife.
By the time I'd peeled and chopped half of the potatoes, I was no closer to knowing how this nugget of an idea of mine would ever come to fruition. I'd very nearly given up on the whole prospect when my mom spoke up. "I'm not sure it's fair of me to make you cut up those potatoes if we don't talk. That was the deal, as I recall. I'd talk to you if you helped." I knew she was teasing me a bit now, and it made me smile.
"I know. I'm just really second-guessing what I came in here to talk to you about. It's a huge undertaking I'm thinking of, and I just don't know if it's reasonable or not."
"Well, why don't you tell me, and I'll let you know what I think."
I nodded and began to speak. "Okay, I know this is crazy, but just stick with me for a few minutes, let me get the idea out there, and then you can ask all the questions you want, okay?" She nodded her head in silent assent of my request. "Okay, Bella knew that I was going to propose, she just didn't know when. And, well, you were out there; that was far from perfect."
"Well, I wouldn't go that far—"
I cut her off. "It just wasn't what I'd pictured, that's all. I want her to know that despite the delay in my popping the question, I want nothing more than to be with her. I kept her waiting for her proposal for far too long, so I don't want to keep her waiting for her dream wedding, too. And I know we don't have very much time left before our baby is born, and I think it is just as important to Bella as it is to me to get married before then. And another thing, her parents both work full-time, as you know and so does Alice, which means they don't have unlimited free time to take trips to Chicago whenever they want, not to mention the expense of the plane tickets, well let's just say, it would be difficult for them to have to make another trip to Chicago sometime in the next three months. So, I was thinking… they're already here… right now, so I want to get married before Charlie, Renee, and Alice go home."
"But Edward, they're leaving on the third; that's only ten days from now."
"I know." My mother's brow furrowed at my words, and I was convinced she was going to tell me to go jump in Lake Michigan. I'd deserve that reaction, too. What I was suggesting was crazy.
"Do you have a specific date in mind?" she asked instead.
"New Year's Eve," I told her. "And there's one more thing. I want the entire thing to be a surprise for Bella."
"Oh my… that's going to be difficult," she mused, causing my heart to sink. "But between the seven of us, I'm sure we can pull it off—as long as you don't want anything too outlandish." She gave me her own version of my crooked grin. I guess that's where I got it from.
"Thanks, Mom, I knew I could count on you to tell it to me straight. Now you were saying the seven of us, who specifically?" I questioned. My chest lifted again, and I was feeling a sense of enthusiasm for the first time since this insane idea had entered my mind.
"Well, all of us; your father and me, Charlie and Renee, Alice and Jasper, and you. No one's working this week because of the holidays. Well, your father might have to spend a few hours at the hospital, but no full days that I'm aware of. The only trick is going to be keeping Bella occupied without tipping her off that something's afoot. Especially since you're going to need to find out the kinds of things she wants and make sure you offer your opinion too, even if you really don't have one, because it will show you care. There are things she is going to want a say on like the venue, flowers, decorations, the food, wedding vows, well lots of things really, but there are things you can put your two cents worth in, too, like your tux and the tux for the fathers and for your best man or men—that is if you decide to have them in your bridal party. Bella will have to decide on whether she wants bridesmaids and what they will be wearing too. Oh and wedding bands Edward, you'll have to purchase matching wedding bands… something that will go with the engagement ring you bought Bella. Oh, there are so many things we'll have to discuss it more later. The bride is normally pretty heavily involved in wedding preparations. Are you really sure you want to leave her out of the plans?"
"I don't want to leave her out, no, but she has done so much to be with me and I want to do this for her. I think this would be an amazing surprise, a beautiful gift, one that I know she wants as much as I do. Do you not think we should do this?"
"No, I think it's a wonderful idea. Really, Edward, I can't imagine a more romantic gesture. Your father taught you well." She smiled at me, and I could have sworn I felt the tips of my ears heat. "You must remember, however, that I'm not going to do all the work for you. This is going to be a team effort, with you in the driver's seat. It's going to be difficult, but well worth it, I'm sure."
"Yes, it will, if we can pull it off. "
"Do you have any ideas as to what she wants yet?"
"Honestly? Not really. We've talked about the fact that we want to get married for weeks now, well actually, ever since the weekend we went away together to that spa, remember? But we've never talked about the actual wedding. I know she likes purple, does that matter?"
"It's a start," my mom said, smirking at me. "I can work with purple. If that's all you know, though, you've got your work cut out for you."
"I know, it's just I really want to do this for her. Could you help me come up with the list of what I need to do…" I trailed off.
"What we need to do."
"Right, what we need to do. Then we can assign jobs to each of us and get to work right away. Ma, I sure hope I don't screw this up."
"Well, Son, we won't let that happen. I'm glad you realize, though, that there is a lot to do, but first things first. We can't come up with much of a list until you've talked to Bella, because if you want to make this her dream wedding, you have to know what her dream wedding looks like."
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense." I was suddenly feeling incredibly overwhelmed at the prospect of getting everything done in a week when I didn't even know what everything was.
"Don't worry, Edward. We'll make it happen. And you know, Son, there's no time like the present to get started. Let's fill the others in on what you're planning as soon as possible… sometime tonight. And you and I can get started gathering the information we need from Bella during dinner. You know, 'many hands make light work,' Edward."
"Yes, I may have heard that sometime before… and I think you may be on to something." I smirked as a plan began to creep into my consciousness.
"Yes, well, now that you have proposed, there is no reason why we can't talk about the upcoming event. We can ask Bella about what she would like… we just have to steer her away from setting an actual date right now."
"Right, because I don't want to mislead her, or ruin the surprise, so maybe we could make some tentative suggestions like, saying sometime before March, but then I could suggest that we don't set an actual date until this hectic Christmas-week is over, like not until after New Year's."
"That's great; I think that will work. Oh, Son, I do think this is going to be a fun week."
"Fun?" A sardonic chuckle left my mouth. "I don't know about that. I sure hope so, but regardless, thanks, Mom for agreeing to do this with me."
"You're very welcome." Just as I smiled back at my mother a memory from the night before Bella's birthday suddenly flashed into my mind. In this recollection, I had just turned to walk away, headed back in the direction of the house and left my mom and Bella together out in the gazebo in the backyard, and I heard Bella's voice drifting after me. It's the perfect place for a small, intimate gathering.
"Oh my God, that's it!" I exclaimed.
"What's it? What are you talking about Edward?"
"The gazebo. That's where she wants to get married."
"The gazebo?" my mom queried.
"Yeah. Your gazebo out back. And I'm pretty sure she wants to keep it small, our wedding, I mean, not too many guests this time. I mean, it would be perfect for the ceremony. We could have the reception in the house, and say our vows in the gazebo. We would need to rent space heaters and bundle up in long coats, but so what? Bella would have our wedding where she wants it… in your gazebo. What do you think?"
"Well, it's not really my decision to make. But I'd be flattered if you chose my gazebo for the venue. It's even white."
"I'm sure that's what'd make Bella happy, and you know what, the more I think about it… that's where I would like Bella and I to get married, too," I replied confidently.
"Okay, then, the two major things are decided; the date and the location. And we'll gather the rest of the details we need from your beautiful fiancée."
"That's going to be the hard part, isn't it?" I asked.
"No, now, we've already discussed this; it will be easier than you think."
We worked out the few details that didn't matter as much; who of the seven we thought would be best at what job, for example. I was even fairly confident in who Bella would choose as her bridesmaids (Alice and Kim), and I definitely knew who I wanted as my groomsmen—their male counterparts, Jasper and Jared. First thing tomorrow Mom was going to speak to our minister and his wife, Reverend Liam McAlister and Mrs. Siobhan McAlister, to see if they were available to join us on New Year's Eve. Even though I knew we could probably find another minister if we had to, it would be so wonderful if Reverend McAlister could marry us because he'd known our family since Jasper and I were kids; he even presided over Grandpa's funeral. So mom was going to take care of that and I decided I would take the men out to get fitted for our monkey suits and they could help me pick up the space heaters, too, while we were at it. First thing Monday morning, I'd go see my boss, Dr. Snow, and Bella's boss, Jacob Black, and tell them the situation, invite them and their spouses to our wedding, and ask for a week off from work from each of them so Bella and I could have our honeymoon. Which reminds me, I'm going to have to figure that out, too, and book it pronto. I'd worry about that one in a few days.
So on Monday, after a trip to see our bosses, I made plans to return to Aro's Jewelers to purchase the matching platinum wedding bands that would look perfect with Bella's eternity ring. I still remember Aro pointing them out to me when I went to pick up Bella's ring, suggesting that they would work well together. I'd told him at the time that I would keep them in mind for when I needed to take him up on his suggestion. Then I would be off to the courthouse to pick up the marriage license, which we wouldn't be able to actually sign until after the ceremony, but it would be one more thing off my mind. My mom said the other things that really can't wait are lining up the caterers which means deciding on the menu, ordering the flowers, the ladies' attire and the cake; all of which we need Bella's input on, and the sooner the better.
Before my mother sent me to inform everyone that it was only fifteen minutes until dinner would be served in the dining room, we'd put the complete list of things that we'd need to find out from Bella and everything else we needed to arrange, in writing. "You should rely heavily on Alice, too," my mom suggested. "I've only just met her, but she seems like the exact right person to help figure some of these things out. In fact," her voice turned thoughtful, "between Alice and Renee, I wonder if you couldn't knock a few of these questions off the list without needing to ask Bella at all." That idea had some merit. Not that I was looking for the easy way out, but I knew that even without the job of asking the questions, I was in for a busy week. "Don't forget to ask for help, Edward. That's going to be vital during this whole process. I know you can be a very headstrong, independent man, but I just don't see this coming together the way you want it to unless you let the rest of us help you."
I knew she was right, on both counts. I didn't particularly enjoy asking for help, but I didn't see any way of pulling it all together on my own, either. "I'll remember that, Mom. In fact, I'm going to start after dinner; I'm going to arrange a game of pool downstairs for the guys and when I have them down there I'm going to tell them the plan and maybe we can come up with some ideas for getting some of these things done without Bella getting suspicious of our covert operations."
"Okay Edward, and when you are doing that I'll try to spend some alone time with Alice and Renee… as long as I can get them away without drawing attention to the fact from Bella. You never know; an opportunity might present itself…"
"Mom, thank you again for being willing to entertain the idea."
"Oh, Edward, of course." I pulled her in for a hug.
"So, we're decided then. We're really going to do this?"
"We are decided. We're really going to do this. We're having a surprise wedding here in a week!"
A/N: Thanks for all your support. I truly appreciate everyone who takes the time to read my story! If you review, I'll send you a teaser of the next chapter :).
There's a link to the gazebo picture on my profile if you're interested in seeing that.
And before you mention it, yes, I know that just signing the wedding certificate the "day of" isn't realistic, but for the sake of fiction, I'm going to run with that anyway. So keep that in mind, okay? Thanks.
And, there are a few things I want to remind you of again. You're probably sick of hearing them, but I'm going to say them anyway. Check out my collab story, Sexual Healing, with my friend Caz. Also, we've started a blog for the story with teasers, our bios, and character bios and interviews coming soon. Last but certainly not least, if you haven't had a chance to donate to the FADV and you're able, please go do that right away! Links for all of these things can be found on my profile.