I know—l missed posting last weekend. Had the viral, sweeties. Still recovering from it, as a matter of fact, but at least I am not feeling like a zombie anymore!

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Pre-read by the excellent TeamAllTwilight.

Chapter-38

When we entered the kitchen after our delightful afternoon, I felt a little sheepish. Not that we had done anything new—after all, we were not the first couple in the world to have married, or not shown our faces for hours together. Still, it was like affirming that we had been up to something; something too personal to be shared with other people. I wondered how newly-married couples faced their parents after a night of passionate lovemaking. I mean, we have had sex before, but it had been more of an experiment, a learning experience. Today however, we had known what we were doing, and I was eager to get back to our room and have Edward to myself again. Meanwhile, he seemed quite at ease, holding my hand and playing with my fingers as we settled at the kitchen table.

Esme was there, having a cup of green jasmine tea, the fragrance from the steaming liquid creating a pleasant atmosphere around her. She smiled at us as a proud parent would at her child for going on the stage for the first time and delivering a speech without any prompting. And when Edward slung his arm around me and drew me closer, she beamed like he had won the first prize. Even Mrs. Cope, busy at the counter shelling some peas, looked at us with an indulgent smile.

"Mom, Mrs. Cope, I had a call from Garrett today," began Edward, his expression so calm that he might have been talking about the weather report of the day. "He wants to come here and meet all of you, so I invited him for lunch tomorrow. Is that okay with you?"

Esme looked surprised but gratified. "Well of course dear, we would be very pleased to meet him," she assured him. "I will make sure Carlisle is here as well."

"Is Carlisle still going to the office?" I wondered aloud. "I would have thought he must have wrapped up everything by now."

"It's almost done," she replied, taking a sip of the fragrant brew and closing her eyes for a second in appreciation. "The paperwork has been completed. He had to take care of some last-minute things, that's all." She rested her chin on her free hand, looking wistful. "I can't tell you how glad I am he is getting out of this business. Growing up, I had seen this very life: I understood that it was not a wife's place to question her husband's decisions, so I never even tried to stop him. But every day I have passed as his wife, I have spent with a sword hanging over my head. I have been equally worried over police catching him somehow and his rivals having him killed. Now, finally I can breathe easy. Maybe we can go on a real vacation…"

Mrs. Cope walked over and put her hand on Esme's shoulder. "You deserve some good times, dear. You have been stressed out all these years."

Edward took her hand and squeezed it comfortingly. "Everything will be all right, Mom. Please don't worry. Oh, this vacation thing reminds me—may I borrow your island for a week or two? I would like to take Bella there for our honeymoon."

"Oh Edward, of course you may! That's a wonderful idea!" Esme seemed lit up with happiness, even as tears swam in her eyes. She got up and hugged both of us as if we had given her the best kind of news in the world. Were all mothers so emotional?

Rose and Emmett strolled in hand-in-hand. Rose raised an interested eyebrow at the scene, and Esme wasted no time in sharing the 'joyful' news. Emmett guffawed of course, slapping Edward's back as he stood beside his mother.

"When would you like to go, Edward?" asked Esme.

He shrugged. "As soon as possible, I guess. Garrett will let us know how much time we have before the promotions for the books begin."

"Books?" Both Esme and Rose looked puzzled by the reference.

"Yes, two of my books have been accepted by publishers—that's what Garrett called about, actually."

There was pin-drop silence for a second, and then everybody started asking questions, while Emmett whooped loudly and actually lifted Edward, holding him around the waist. In the midst of this happy mayhem, Carlisle walked in.

He stared at us as if we were a bunch of crazies, which was not really surprising, considering the noise we were making. Even Mrs. Cope, cheerful but quite stoic otherwise, was yelling at Edward that she always knew he was a genius. Esme looked proud enough to burst, while wiping her tears off and smiling widely at the same time. Rose was jumping up and down with joy, while Edward was laughing and shouting at Emmett to put him down. I think I was the only one who was relatively calm, but then I had already known for a few hours.

I could see he was trying to decide whether to risk bodily harm by approaching the chaos, but apparently he decided against it. At first he tried to attract Esme's attention by clearing his throat and waving to her—sort of, but it didn't do any good. Then he knocked his fist on the table, but the sound merely fell on deaf ears. Finally he turned to me, looking utterly helpless. I could not help a grin, thinking what his former cronies would have made of this ridiculous situation. Then I looked around for something unbreakable, picked up a frying-pan and banged it with a large metal spoon.

The resulting clamor was awful, but at least it had the effect of quieting down everybody. Then Esme noticed Carlisle standing in the doorway and jumped into his arms. Before the rest of us could do more than gasp at this unexpected action, she took Carlisle's face in her hands and planted a smacker on his lips, shouting—"Carlisle, our son is going to be famous!"

I looked around to find Emmett's jaw on the floor and Rose gaping like a fish. Carlisle himself looked completely baffled at his wife's overt display of affection. Only Edward seemed to be perfectly composed, accepting everything as natural. Then I watched as understanding dawned on Carlisle's face, and he stepped forward and embraced Edward, while his eyes turned glassy and his throat worked to control his emotions. I felt quite close to tears myself—I had never expected Carlisle to show his feelings so openly. Rose and Emmett were silent too, while Esme was trying to control her sobs. Suddenly there was a loud 'pop'. We turned back to find Mrs. Cope waving an open bottle of champagne, with glasses already arranged in a tray on the table.

"Let's have a toast!" she called.

"Um, Mrs. Cope," said Edward warily, "I'm not sure I should drink, and Rose and Bella are not twenty one yet, so—"

"Oh pish," she said, waving his objection away, "this is a momentous occasion, Edward. And I am not trying to make anybody drunk—just a sip in your honor, that's all. Esme, don't you agree we should toast to Edward?"

Esme nodded enthusiastically. She seemed as giddy as a thirteen-year old on sighting her favorite actor for the first time. "Yes, yes," she seconded Mrs. Cope, "let's have a toast! Carlisle dear, please do the honors."

Carlisle looked amused but complied with her request. Solemnly we lifted our glasses and congratulated Edward, who blushed but accepted them gracefully. As we took a sip of the sparkling, light-golden liquid, the bell to the front door rang loudly.

I carefully placed the fluted glass on the kitchen table and went to answer the door, smiling at the happy picture in the kitchen. When I opened it, I was surprised, but very pleased to find my parents standing on the other side. Both of them looked tired but very, very happy.

"Mom, Dad! How wonderful to see you here! I was just going to call you, but—"

Renee gave me a warm hug and looked at me as if she hadn't seen me for ages, instead of the day before. "Izzy, you didn't know we were coming here?"

I shook my head, but before I could ask anything Esme appeared at my side, apologizing sheepishly.

"I am so sorry Renee, I forgot to tell Bella you had called! I was going to, but then we heard Edward's news and—"

"What about Edward?" asked Charlie as Esme and I invited them inside. I realized that he knew nothing about Edward's talent for writing and sketching, let alone his graphic novels. Frankly, I had no idea that he would understand what a graphic novel was. Still, I could simplify it for him.

"Um, Dad, Mom, Edward is very good with drawing pictures and writing stories, and he has written these books where the whole story is shown through pictures. They are known as—"

"—graphic novels," supplied Charlie, obviously trying not to roll his eyes. "Bella, I am not that ancient; I know what a graphic novel is. Indeed, 'Watchmen' used to be my favorite, and I still have a few stashed away somewhere. True, I haven't read any new ones—"

The rest of the family was in the living room by now, and as soon as Edward saw us, he wrapped his arms around me from the back, resting his chin on the top of my head.

"Good evening Renee, Charlie," he said politely. "You are just in time to share some good news."

"Good news? It's wonderful news!" exclaimed Esme, while Carlisle shook hands with my parents, smiling all over his face. Who knew he could smile so wide?

"Edward's books have been accepted to be published," Esme continued proudly, "and the agent is coming to meet us all tomorrow. I am so happy!"

There were heartfelt congratulations from my parents, and another round of champagne. If we had any more toasts, we would be tipsy before we could go to bed. And I definitely did not want that—I had better plans for both of us; plans that did not involve falling asleep anytime soon, or any clothes, for that matter. I was sure that Edward was of the same mind, for he seldom strayed more than a foot away from me while dinner was prepared—my parents had not planned to stay for the meal but Esme just would not take a 'no', so they agreed to join us. It was a cheerful, almost boisterous time we had—chatting, laughing, and eating together. When I asked my parents, they admitted there were many issues they had to straighten, but they were sure they still loved each-other and were ready to work on forming a relationship—and that was the most important thing.

As we lolled on the comfortable couches and sofa seats after we had finished dinner and eagerly taken cups of steaming coffee in our hands, I was struck by the transformation my life had undergone in such a short span of time. I had the sweetest guy in the world to call mine, his family had truly become mine, with everyone drawing closer, and wonder of wonders—my parents were together. I felt truly blessed, and mentally uttered a heartfelt 'thank you' to God.

What could possibly go wrong with us now?

End Note: Yes indeed, what could go wrong? (Chilling music in the background)

I have two entries in the 'Age of Edward' contest, very different from each-other. Please go to the contest page, read the stories and review. And vote too, once it's time for that!