SM owns all things Twilight but I have enjoyed borrowing them for a little while to make this story my own.
All that needs to be said will be done at the end.
With a sad heart I label this story as complete.
It is short and sweet and may require a tissue or two but it says oh so much!
Chapter Thirty Five
"How are you holding up baby girl?" I ask Georgia as I walk into the kitchen of the bakery where she is currently working on a three tier cake.
"Pretty good all things considering." She says as she rubs her large belly. "Just tired, they kept me up again last night."
It is still hard to believe my baby girl is going to be a mama in two short months and to twin boys no less.
Georgia is more and more like Bella every day. Not just in the way she looks more like Bella now then me, but in her manners, her loving heart and a passion for life that matches her fiery red hair and Carolina blue eyes.
As she grew up she loved being with her granddaddy but she also loved being the kitchen with Bella. She had the passion that Bella does from the first moment she made her own pie at the age of seven and that passion has grown since then.
She worked all throughout high school in the bakery with Bella and once she graduated she came on full time. I would have loved to have seen her go to college just like Rory and Marley did, but Bella reminded me that she didn't go to college or culinary school either and that she did just fine for herself.
The only argument I had left after that would be that Bella had done more than fine for herself.
Georgia met Matthew Anderson her freshman year of high school when he was a junior and they have been together ever since then. The got married two years ago once Matthew had finished his education degree at Coastal Carolina University and came back to Charleston. He teaches 8th grade science and Bella and I both know that eventually Georgia will take over the bakery.
"Hey there Edward Matthew and Carlisle Charles." I say as I kneel down to the side of Georgia's belly. Yes I am still a belly talker and I hope using their full names will let them know granddaddy means business. "No more giving your mama a hard time. I know it may be a little cramped in there, but mama needs her sleep ok."
"Daddy." Georgia giggles and I swear she sounds just like Bella.
"What?" I ask standing back up.
"I swear they know it's you." She says as takes my hand and places it on her belly so I can feel them moving around. "They always react in some way when you talk to them."
"All three of you did too." Bella says as she comes through the back kitchen door.
I swear after thirty years of being together my beautiful wife still takes my breath away when she walks into a room, especially when she is wearing a wife beater, chef's pants and an apron covered in chocolate.
"There is just something exciting about your daddy's voice." She says as she walks over and kisses my cheek. "It has the same effect on me too." She says with a wink.
"Are you doing ok Georgia?" Bella asks.
"I'm fine mama. Just amazed you did this three times."
"Yes but I never had more than one in there at a time sweet girl." Bella says with a smile as she pats Georgia's belly.
"I really wish you would have let Angela do the cake."
"It wouldn't be the same coming from Angela." Georgia quietly says.
"I know my sweet baby girl. And it means the world to me and daddy that you are making this cake for us." Bella says as she pulls Georgia into a hug.
Georgia was working on a cake that looked just like the one Francesca had made for our wedding day. Our incredible children all got together and decided to throw a party for our 30th wedding anniversary. Georgia insisted that we have a cake just like the one we had all those years ago and that she be the one to make it.
In part she wanted to do so as a tribute to Francesca who we lost five years ago. My poor wife was devastated when Francesca passed away, but even in her grief she knew that Francesca's ninety six years on the earth had been filled with love, happiness and passion.
"What time are Marley and Bailey coming in?" Bella asks.
"They are supposed to be here around three." I say as I look at my watch. "I'm going to head back home and wait for them."
"Ok." Bella says with a smile.
"Bye daddy." Georgia says and it melts my heart that my twenty-two year old still calls me daddy.
I was in my office working on my syllabus for my summer classes when I heard Marley's voice calling out to me. Now that my kids were all grown up and out of the house I was teaching two classes each summer and really enjoying them.
"In my office darling." I say. I am almost through the door when I am met with the force of Marley's embrace.
"I missed you daddy." She says into my chest.
"I missed you too baby." I say with a smile on my face as I pull her into me tighter. My Marley girl was still a daddy's girl through and through even at the age of twenty-four.
Marley followed in my footsteps with a love for film. She graduated from UNC-Wilmington with a degree in film studies and stayed there afterwards, getting a job working for the North Carolina Film Commission office. She works with studios to get films made in Wilmington and other coastal cities scouting locations, researching historical information, setting up extras and catering and places for the actors, directors and other film crew to stay. It is a demanding job filled with lots of hours and egos but she says she loves every minute of it because she gets to be involved in something she is very passionate about.
It was during one of her scouting location hunts that she met Bailey James. His parents owned a piece of land on Oak Island that Marley knew would be perfect for a movie scene. Bailey was enamored with Marley from the get go. He agreed to let her use the land if she agreed to go out with him. She turned him down of course. He let her use the land anyway, but stayed persistent in his courting of her so to speak and once the production was wrapped she finally agreed to go out with him. She once told me that she wanted to say yes from the first time he asked her out, but she wanted to keep things professional for the sake of the film. Once it was over she couldn't wait to tell him yes. That was three years ago and the two have been together since then.
"How is my gorgeous girl doing?" I ask as I pull away from our hug and look her over. With the exception of Bella's eyes she is still the mirror image of me.
"I'm really good daddy." She says. She looks down for a moment before looking back at me with tears in her eyes.
"He asked me daddy. This morning he asked me to marry him." She says as she holds up her hand to reveal an engagement ring.
I knew Bailey was going to be asking her soon. He had come to see me three weeks ago to ask for my permission.
"I'm so happy for you Marley." I say as I wipe her tears away.
"You knew didn't you?"
"I knew he was going to ask yes, not just when?"
"Does mama know?"
"No sweetie. I promised Bailey I wouldn't say anything to mom or anyone else."
"I hope we will be as happy as you and mama still are."
"I hope you will be too baby girl." I say as I kiss her forehead. "Now let's go see this fiancé of yours."
A few hours later I am standing in my bedroom trying to fix the bow tie on my tux. Our children insisted that this party be as much like our wedding day as possible. They had even rented out the roof of the Vendue Inn for the party tonight.
"Bella I can't get this stupid thing to work." I whined as I fought with it again for the tenth time.
"Quit your whining I'm coming." Bella says with a giggle. I feel her arms slide around my neck, her body pressed up against mine. I can tell that she is standing on her tip toes so I lean my body down a bit so she can adjust my source of frustration.
"There you go, handsome as ever." She says as she finishes the task with ease. I straighten back up to fix the collar around the tie straps as Bella runs her hands over my shoulders and down my back to get any last minutes creases out of my jacket.
"Just as handsome as ever." Bella says again and I can hear the smile on her face.
"Thank you baby I…" my words catch in my throat as I turn around and see the glorious vision in front of me. Bella is wearing an ivory strapless dress that flows around her body stopping just shy of her knees. There is a Carolina blue sash tie around her tiny waist. The dress is so similar to the one that she wore on our wedding day that my eyes become misty.
"Bella…I…I mean you…stunning." I manage to get out.
"Thank you baby. Alice made it for me."
"It's perfect Bella. Just like you." I say finally gaining coherency again.
"I think you may be a little biased dear. Fifty-three year olds are not perfect." She says with a shake of her head.
"My fifty-three year old is perfect and she will be even at a hundred and three. In my eyes Bella you are still the most beautiful woman on the face of this earth and considering how beautiful our girls are that is saying something."
"Oh Edward you still know how to be cheesy don't you." She says as she wipes tears from her eyes. "But that is one of the things I love the most about you."
"I love you too my beautiful wife!" I say with a huge grin on my face.
"Here silly man, help me put my necklace on." She says as she hands me the sapphire necklace I gave her our first Christmas together.
Her hair is up in a twist and I cannot help littering her lovely bare neck and shoulders with kisses before I finally clasp the necklace around her neck. The last kiss I place is on the vanilla bean heart tattoo that is on her back just below her shoulder. The initials of our children adjoin the outside of the heart and my initials are dead center in the middle of the heart. She may accuse me of being cheesy from time to time, but she is just as bad as I am, and I love her all the more for it.
"Are you ready to go my love?" I ask as I hold my arm out for her to take. She slips her shoes on, kisses my cheek and takes my arm.
Marley and Bailey have already left the house, going to pick up Alex and Jayden at Jayden's apartment to ride over with them. Jayden was just like her mother when it came to fashion sense and was working in the store with her mother as a designer. She has recently done the wedding dress of one of the President's daughters and was currently in high demand. Alex followed in Jasper's footsteps by going to The Citadel. He took it one step further, joining the Air Force right after he graduated and is currently living in Macon Georgia at the Robins Air Force base learning how to be a pilot. We are very lucky and grateful to have him home tonight and I know Jasper and Alice are as well.
When we arrive at the Vendue Inn the party is already in full swing. As we step off the stairs leading up to the rooftop bar, Rory greets us in the hallway.
"My goodness mom, you look just as beautiful as you did in the pictures of your wedding day." Rory says as he pulls her into a hug. Yes he is still a mama's boy and you can tell the sun and moon rise and fall in his mama's eyes to him.
"Oh my sweet boy I swear you get more like your dad everyday with your words." Bella says with a huge smile on her face.
Rory leans down and kisses her cheek before coming over and hugging me. At six foot six our twenty eight year old towers over both his mother and I. We knew Rory would be big, we just had no idea he would be this tall.
His height as well as his incredible basketball skills helped him get a scholarship to play basketball for none other than the North Carolina Tarheels. When current coach Tyler Hansborough came to our house to recruit Rory I thought Bella was going to have a heart attack. She was a huge fan of his from his days of playing at Carolina calling him one of the best that ever was. My sweet, normally calm wife went completely fan girl over the man and I swear he left with 20 pounds of sweets. Rory of course was embarrassed but I think deep down inside he was tickled to death at the same time. Each of the four years Rory played in school he made sure to ask Bella to send some goodies his way to give to "coach". Turns out Coach Hansborough became a fan of Bella's as well.
I always thought my wife was very enthusiastic about watching Carolina basketball before Rory played but that was nothing compared to how she was watching him play for them. Yes she was that mom, yelling loudly at the refs, at other players and even sometimes at coach. Rory and he both took it in stride and loved her for her exuberance. Marley and Georgia refused to sit beside her at games though and I always had to play the buffer. I will admit to getting a little worked up at times myself though. It really is different when it is your child playing out there.
While in school Rory met and fell in love with Giavanna. She was a cheerleader for the basketball team and I think it was love at first sight for both of them. With her auburn hair and big brown eyes she reminded me a lot of Bella and it didn't surprise me in the least the Rory would marry a girl was a lot like his mom not only in looks but in her gentle sweet nature as well.
They have been married for six years now and have two amazing children, Elizabeth Renee named after their great grandmothers and Sophia Isabella named after their grandmothers. Lizzy and Soph as we call them were five and three respectively. Lizzy looked just like Giavanna and Soph could have been Rory with curly long hair. They were perfect and I now knew why Carlisle loved being a grandfather so much. Of course I think he likes being a great grandfather even better.
Rory had taken parts of both of mine and Bella's passions and merged them into one. From Bella's love of words and my love for teaching he became a professor of literature. After completing his masters degree at the College of Charleston, they offered him a position at the school. I couldn't be prouder of him if I tried and seeing his name as a professor listed right after mine makes me beam!
"Gia is going to let the DJ know you guys are here and they will announce you as soon as the song is over." Rory says with a smile on his face. "Everyone is already here and Emmett of course has been trying to sneak over to the cake and take a piece. Charlie has Emmalyne guarding the cake keeping him at bay." Rory finishes with a laugh.
Emmalyne Cullen was the beautiful ten year old daughter of Charlie and Jessica and the absolute apple of her grandfather's eye. Emmett would give her the world if she asked him too and we all knew she was well aware of the power she held over him.
"If anyone can keep Em at bay it would be Emmie." Bella says while rolling her eyes at her crazy brother's antics. Growing older did not necessarily mean growing up to Emmett. I knew Rose had to love him with all of her heart, hell we all did, to put up with him sometimes.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, if I can have your attention please. I would like to announce the arrival of our happy couple. I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Edward and Isabella Cullen on their thirtieth wedding anniversary.
Rory opened the door to the outdoor bar and Bella and I are met with applause, cheers and love.
We are greeted first by Esme and Carlisle, who even in their eighties are just as vibrant and alive as they have always been. Carlisle's hair is now white and his ice blues eyes are crowded with laugh lines. Esme's hair is silvery grey and her skin is as soft as a baby's. And yet they are still one of the most beautiful couples around.
"Thirty years is a long time son, congratulations." Carlisle says as he pulls me into a hug.
"Not as long as fifty five is dad." I answer him. Carlisle's eyes still get a little misty now when I call him dad as do Esme's when I call her mom. I started it shortly after we took our family trips to Charlotte and Greenville. I know mom and dad would have wanted it that way.
"You'll get there my boy, I have full faith." He says as he looks over with admiration at Bella and Esme who are locked in an embrace.
We are greeted by the rest of our family and friends and we spend the next few hours mingling around greeting everyone like we did thirty years ago.
I watch as my family huddles together in different areas of the bar. Addy, who is also pregnant with her first child, is standing next to her husband Marcus. They are talking with Georgia and Matthew. I am sure they are comparing pregnancy stories. Alice, Rose, Jessica and Gia are all admiring Marley's ring, while Emmett, Charlie and Rory are talking with Bailey. I am sure there was some good natured 'be good or else' going on there.
Bella is dancing with Carlisle while Jasper dances with Jayden and Alex dances with Esme.
It is a perfect moment surrounded by my family in various moments' happiness.
After dinner is served and the cake is cut and before our 'second first dance' as Marley called it, I stand from my chair and clink my glass to get everyone's attention.
"Bella and I would like to thank each and every one of you for coming out to celebrate our lives together. I know that many of you were here with us thirty years ago and it means the world to us that you could join us again today. It also gives me great joy and pleasure to see all of the new faces that have joined us and to know that we have more on the way. As I look at my friends and family and I think about mine and Bella's life together, I am reminded of a movie that I once taught in one of my classes called Life as A House. It's a movie about a man who upon learning he is dying, begins to tear down and rebuild the house that his father lived in. He enlists the reluctant help of his son and the two of them began to build their own relationship as they build the house together. As the house goes up and the relationship with his son improves, he begins to see his own life as a house. Thinking about my own life that way and when I reflect on my life as a house it begins with the rich soil and history of the city of Charleston. A place I have loved my whole life, even when I was away from it for entirely too long, it was always there for me. The foundation of my life as a house was laid by Edward and Elizabeth and Charlie and Renee. Although we may not be able to see them, they are always there holding me up." I pause for a moment raising my glass to the heavens.
"The floor of my life as a house was laid by my mom and dad, Carlisle and Esme." I say as I turn my attention to them. "They have been there to support, to love me and keep me strong. With their hearts they have given me everything and have provided me with a floor that I cannot fall below."
"The four walls of my house are my brothers and sisters, Alice, Emmett, Rose and Jasper. It is neither adoption nor marriage that gave them the titles, but caring warm hearts that did and they give me structure." I say giving my attention to the rest of my family. "My wonderful nieces and nephews, Charlie, Jessica, Emmalyne, Addy, Marcus and their little one to come, Alex and Jayden are the bricks that give my life as a house strength."
My breath catches as I think of the next part, before resolving my strength to continue. "My beautiful children Rory, Marley and Georgia, the loves of their lives Gia, Bailey and Matthew and my granddaughters Lizzy and Soph and my grandsons Edward and Carlisle are the windows to my life as a house. Through them I see the world and all of its beauty. Through them I see the future and the best that life has to offer. Through them I see love reflected back at me."
I give me full attention to the beauty that stands beside me, tears rolling down her face. I take her hand in mine and bring it to my lips. "And the thing that holds my life as a house together is my gift from above, my Bella. She is the roof of my house that protects me from the elements of life. She keeps me warm and safe, she gives me shelter in the storm and she holds me all together. I would not be where I am today, would not be the person that stands before you now if it wasn't for my beautiful angelic Bella."
"Edward." She says as she squeezes my hand.
"Thank you Isabella Cullen for marrying me, for loving me, for giving me the three best gifts in the world. Thank you for giving me yourself, all of you, for the breath in your life, for the love in your heart and the soul in your body. With all that I am I love you."
I pull Bella into me and kiss her gently at first but then I let the passion that still burns inside of me take over and I deepen the kiss. I can feel the wetness of her tears on my face, hear the cheers and cat calls of our family and friends around us but nothing else matters at that moment, nothing but the feel of her lips against mine, the warmth of her body against mine and the love of her heart against mine.
The DJ begins to play Lay Down Beside Me and I pull away from Bella just enough to ask her to dance with me. We walk over to the make shift dance floor and begin the same slow waltz, in the same location that we did thirty years ago. I hold my beautiful wife in my arms reveling in all that is Bella. I look out into the smiling faces of our family and see the love that I have for them reflecting back at us. My bridge standing tall and proud in the distance watching over us as we share this moment.
"I love you Edward Cullen." Bella whispers into my chest.
"I love you Isabella Cullen." I whisper into her ear.
This life that I love started with a bridge but it ends with a home.
A/N:
This story is dedicated to the memory of my beautiful niece Jessica who we lost six years ago in a car crash a month after she turned sixteen. I love her as if she were my own and writing this story had been very therapeutic and healing for me in a way. Thank you for letting me share that therapy with you. My Jessie girl is also the reason why a Jessica in my stories will never be bad. I have no problems with others doing it; I just can't do it myself.
There really are no words that can describe all of the love that I feel when I read the reviews that you have graced me with. It amazes me still to this day that my words can affect others as they have and I love that you all have shared this journey with me.
Bridges had been nominated for three Sunflower Awards, best Edward, Bella and Carlisle. Voting begins May 4th running until May 25th. Thank you so much to JLS0823 and anyone else who may have nominated my story. Please be sure to check it out at the link following, : /thesunflowerawards . blogspot . com/p/nominations_21 . html.
Life as a House (2001) – directed by Irwin Winkler and starring Kevin Kline and Hayden Christensen. It is a sad and beautiful movie about tearing down and rebuilding of so many things in a few people's lives.
For those who have championed this story through recs on their own stories, word of mouth, nominations and just amazing reviews I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
For all of my southern connection girls I love you dearly and share a Cheerwine with you!
To all of you I give my undying fandom love and wish you all the passion that life has to give. This journey has been wonderful and I thank you again for sharing it with me and I hope to see you along the way on other story journeys!