Thank you so much for your reviews! I'm so happy you're sticking with me. Let's get to it.
Thanks Scorp for your help on this one. You're truly a professional.
Usual disclaimer.
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35.
EDWARD
"You're gonna piss yourself," Tanya told me as I paced in the alley next to the store. I'd invited everyone I knew who was special to Bella, and I'd asked them to bring her a card that would lead her to what the hell I was planning to do because I'd been an asshole with my first attempt at asking the girl to marry me.
I'd sent them into the store, with Alice's help, singly or in groups. I didn't know what they'd written. Hell, they could have told her to run like hell in the other direction, but I had faith.
"I'm not gonna piss myself. Just send me texts regardin' the mood in the room. You know, you planted this idea."
"How the hell did I plant the idea?" Tanya asked with wide eyes.
"You told me how lame my ass was the first time, so I took it to heart and planned this," I responded. She looked at me and smiled, kissing me on the cheek.
"Little brother, you're one of a kind, and I think this is perfect," she responded before she walked into the store. I'd lined them up, and as I stood with Charlie Swan outside the store, I remembered his words from our fishing trip when I asked him for his blessing to marry his youngest daughter.
"I trust you'll see her for the special girl she is. She needs to know she's loved, and if you're being honest, I think you can do it. Make sure she knows it." I took that shit to heart.
My parents stood with me as everyone else went inside. "I think I wanna puke," I told my mother. She laughed.
"I know that feeling. I felt that same way when I asked this girl to marry me," Daddy replied as he wrapped his arm around my mother.
"So, um, you two go inside and give her the card after I...it's the one with the crest, right?" I checked for the hundredth time.
"Holy hell. Yes, you were very insistent, and we're not stupid. Is your guitar in tune?" Momma chided with a smile. I strummed a chord.
"You got the ring?" my father asked. I felt in the pocket of my jeans and found my grandmother's ring resting there. I'd taken it to a jewelry store and bought a bigger stone to set in it, but it was the ring my Grandma Cullen had given my father to give my mother. She gave it to me when I asked to have it the last time I'd talked to them. She'd sent it FedEx, and I'd taken it to the store to upgrade the diamond, nothing against my grandpa.
"I do. Is this too over the top?" I asked.
My parents laughed. "It's a little too late to think about that, ain't it?" Daddy chuckled pulling up his best Georgia accent as he and Momma walked into the store with a card of their own.
I stood there on the sidewalk alone and practiced the words in my head again, hoping to hell it wasn't as cheesy as I was beginning to think it was. After my parents went inside, I took a deep fucking breath and opened the door, strolling inside. I walked to where my beautiful girlfriend stood and swallowed down the bile I'd been fighting all day, exhaling and fingering the first chords.
Forever can never be long enough for me
To feel like I've had long enough with you
Forget the world now, we won't let them see
But there's one thing left to do
Now that the weight has lifted
Love has surely shifted my way
Marry me
Today and every day
Marry me
If I ever get the nerve to say hello in this cafe
Say you will
Say you will
Together can never be close enough for me
To feel like I am close enough to you
You wear white and I'll wear out the words I love you
And you're beautiful
Now that the wait is over
And love and has finally showed her my way
Marry me
Today and every day
Marry me
If I ever get the nerve to say hello in this cafe
Say you will
Say you will
Promise me you'll always be
Happy by my side
I promise to sing to you
When all the music dies
And marry me
Today and everyday
Marry me
If I ever get the nerve to say hello in this café
Say you will
Say you will
Marry me
(Train, "Marry Me," from "Save Me San Francisco." Copyrighted, 2009.)
After the final chords floated away, I took off the guitar and held it out to whoever stood on my left. I walked over to Bella and looked into her beautiful brown eyes and smiled. "Too much?" I teased.
My girl, hell, she didn't miss a beat. "Depends. Are we having a family reunion or is there something you're trying to get at?"
I laughed. "You're just…hell, I'm probably a damn fool for doin' this in front of everyone we know, but I'll chance it. If ya break my heart, I think I've lain in enough liquor on that cart to drown my sorrows. But, let's not jump to that conclusion," I answered.
I swallowed and took her hand in front of our families, her friends, and God, sinking down on one knee.
"Isabella Swan. You know me as well as anyone, even my parents. You know what pisses me off, and you know what makes me smile. You know I love you, and you know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, I'd go to hell and back for you…" I began what I was sure would be a rambling proposal because I wanted to be damn sure she knew I was sincere.
"Yes," she responded.
"Huh?" I asked.
"Yes, Edward, I'll marry you," she answered with a smile.
"Sweetheart, I didn't' get there yet," I whispered as I shifted on my knee because that damn floor was hard.
"Oh, that song where you begged me to marry you wasn't the proposal?" she teased. I could only laugh, which caught on around the store, because she was right, but it wasn't exactly the way I'd planned it.
Alice turned on music, and Emmett popped a cork, but I still needed to ask her properly.
I carried her off to the side and looked into those goddamn brown eyes that had mesmerized me the first time I'd seen them. "Now, all kiddin' aside. Bella, will you marry me?" I asked as I held out the ring.
She didn't' even look at it. She kissed me and smiled as she pulled away. "I'll marry you. I'll walk through fire for you. I'll beat the hell out of anyone who threatens you, and I'll support you in anything you want to do in your life. Yes, Edward Cullen, I'll marry you," she responded as she held out her small left hand onto which I slipped on the ring that sealed her to me forever.
I felt a peck on my shoulder, so I turned to see Momma and Daddy had walked over. We both turned to see them hold out a card to Bella.
She laughed. "Another one?" Momma smiled and kissed her cheek.
Bella opened it, and I saw the family crest on it. She flipped it open and the sentiment was simple.
Dear Bella,
Welcome to the family. We knew it was right from the beginning.
Now, are you a Braves fan or a Cubs fan?
All our love,
Carlisle and Esme
Bella laughed heartily as I let out a breath that relaxed my whole body. I got the girl, and she was fucking incredible.
##
We partied at Alice's store until the wee hours, consuming gallons of alcohol. My parents and Bella's parents were staying at Rosalie and Emmett's house because, hell, we just got engaged and there was no way we weren't going to rock the house.
"Okay, ya'll. We'll have everyone over to our place soon…except you guys. Y'all eat too damn much," I teased Bella's friends from the reservation. They were actually a great bunch of guys as I found out when we'd been to Forks after Easter. They threatened various forms of torture they would subject me to if I hurt Bella, but they seemed to accept me, and I was grateful because I knew how much they meant to her.
Jacob and Quil, surprisingly, were the most vocal because Bella had been quite supportive of their relationship when they first announced they were together. I promised if I did anything to hurt her, I'd just drive out to the reservation and surrender. Charlie laughed when he heard their threats, especially when Quil issued a disturbing, "We might have our way with you before we kill you, but we'll kill you just the same." Unfortunately, I was pretty sure he was serious about it, thus the involuntary clenching of my ass at the time.
I heard Bella cackling as she talked to her friends, Jess and Kim, and while I wasn't exactly happy about hunting them down, I knew I needed to speak with them if Bella was going to be friends with them again. "Ladies, are y'all havin' a good time?" I asked as I wrapped my arm around Bella's shoulders and kissed the top of her head.
"We are. This guy, Bella, he sent us texts from your phone to meet at the coffee shop on campus. After he told us what horrible friends we were and what a wonderful thing you'd done for your sister, we felt like hell. How'd you meet this guy?" Jess asked with a smile.
"Actually, everyone! Can I have your attention?" Bella yelled. The place became quiet, and I knew my girl was a bit liquored up because she wasn't really one for speeches , but on the other hand it would bode well for me when we got home.
"Thank you all for coming and helping my beautiful fiancé," Bella announced as she took my hand and squeezed it, "with this elaborate proposal. Some of you know how Edward and I met, but you're all important to me, so I'm going to tell you the whole story. Even Em and Rose don't know part of it. Edward came to the house for a cookout when he started working at JPM-C," she began. She told it all, right down to the intervention Dr. Weber and I staged at a McDonald's of all fucking places. Everyone laughed at all the right places, and I wanted to fall through a crack in the floor because of my own stupidity. As the story drew to a close with the recounting of my support throughout the pregnancy, I was feeling a little better about myself.
"And, that brings me to the reason we're all here. This incredible, loving, wonderful man has shown me nothing but love and support through a lot of sh…stuff. I am truly honored he's asked me to marry him, and I'm so happy you were all a part of it," she announced as she stepped in front of me and kissed me.
Everyone clapped, and it was time for me to say something. "I'll admit, I'm no Inspector Clouseau, but y'all know her…," I began.
"Inspector Gadget," I heard called out by my own sister. Sometimes she's a bitch.
"Inspector Tool," Emmett coughed, which earned him a one-fingered salute from me.
"As I was sayin' before I was rudely interrupted, y'all know her, and proposing to the woman was a tall order after I messed up my first attempt. Thank ya, Alice, for all your help in settin' this up, and thanks to all of you for your help as well. It's incredible we have so many people in our lives who wanted to be here," I responded.
Everyone clapped, and we all began helping Alice clean up the store so we could leave. It had been a great party, and I was a happy son-of-a-bitch we were celebrating.
Once things were cleaned up, I turned to my girl and smiled. She was a little on the bent side, and I wanted to get her home because I knew she was in need of a big glass of water and a long night's sleep. "Come on, sugar. Let's go home," I suggested. She kissed me sweetly, and when I carried her out of the store, she giggled the whole way home.
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You all knew what was going down, you little smarties! I hope you believe I did him justice. I thought it was sweet. You remain the ultimate judges of whether I was on the mark.
Thank you for reading.
Till next time…xoxo