Chapter Forty Nine: Fireworks
Levi Samuel Uley arrived May 18, 2017 at three in the morning. He weighed six pounds and seven ounces. Everyone was ecstatic about his arrival. We had to take turns going into the hospital room to meet him because there wasn't enough room. When he and Emily got the okay to leave the hospital, we had a celebratory bonfire.
Shortly after the excitement had ended with little Levi, the roller coaster started again. Leah had imprinted. She and I had been on the beach with me for a girl's day and a group of guys had been playing football. The ball went long and a guy came running after it. He didn't see Leah and crashed into her. They fell down and landed as a pile of entangled limbs. When they got themselves untangled the guy went to apologize and when he looked into Leah's eyes she imprinted. He smiled at her and asked for her number. They've been inseparable since.
Rachel moved in with Paul during spring break and had finished her classes online. She got a job as the librarian at the res middle school and loved her job. I planned to pursue a career in teaching and have already been accepted into Port Angeles community college that gave teaching classes. Embry was also accepted, but he was in the engineering program that was started a couple years ago.
Paul asked me a week ago to go to Port Angeles with him. I told him yes and had gone with him. The trip was peaceful and seemed irrelevant. We stopped at the hardware store and the Chinese place before Paul pulled into the jewelry store. As he parked I looked at him funny. He looked over at me with a guilty look.
"I'm going to propose to Rachel. I need your help to find a ring." He said before quickly getting out of the truck. I laughed before getting out and giving Paul a tight hug.
"You could have told me that and not taken me on errands." I said as we started toward the door. Paul shrugged with a smirk.
We walked into the store and I pulled Paul toward the counter. With my help and some from an employee, Paul found a beautiful ring with a vine design around the sides. It had a good sized round diamond in the middle. I knew that Rachel would love the ring if Paul had won it as a prize in a cereal box, so I wasn't worried.
After a lot of thought I finally sent a letter back to Bella at the address that was on the return address label. I told her that I had planned to take care of Uncle Charlie when she hadn't spared him a thought and that her change and marriage was nothing to brag about. Lastly, I told her to never contact me again because this was the only time I would answer it as kindly as I have. I had to mail it out of Port Angeles so it wouldn't be detected by anyone in Forks or La Push.
After a long week of testing both Embry and I were now happily high school graduates. Thankfully the ceremonies were at different times so we could attend each other's. Then Tiffany, Uncle Charlie, Embry and I went out to dinner.
Today was the 4th of July and the pack was having a bonfire on the beach with all of our families. It was coming up on Sam and Emily's first anniversary and the guys were all joking with Sam about it and about how much sleep he was getting with little Levi at home. Paul and Jared had gotten fireworks for later tonight. Uncle Charlie had been acting weirdly these last two weeks. It was like he was expecting something, like it was going to jump out and tackle out of nowhere.
When I had mentioned this to Embry, he had shrugged it off. It also seemed like Uncle Charlie was trying to get used to helping himself. He asked if he could start helping with dinner and the laundry. When I asked him why he simply replied that I was going to be busy with college and he thought it important to know how to cook for himself. He once again laid off the beer and started to eat healthier and this made me very happy, but also suspicious.
The fire was roaring and everyone was having a good a time. The women were all fawning over baby Levi while the older men drank beer and the younger guys played with a ball by the water. The children that were here played in the sand near their parents. Their giggles bring smiles to everyone's faces as they looked over at them.
"Hey, come with me." Embry whispered in my ear taking my hand.
"But the fireworks will be starting soon." I said.
"We'll be able to see them from the tide pools." Embry said with a smile. I smiled back and walked with him hand in hand to the tide pools. The sky was cloudless tonight; you could see the stars and full moon clearly as they shined brightly.
"Anna I know we haven't been together that long and that we just graduated from high school, but I can't imagine myself being happier than you being by my side for the rest of our lives. I would be the happiest man alive." Embry said before he dropped down onto one knee and pulled out a ring from his pocket.
"Anna Swan, will you marry me?" Embry asked with a pleading look on his face. Tears started to blur my vision and my hands covered my mouth. I nodded vigorously and quickly wrapped my arms around his neck. Our lips connected in a deep kiss as the first of the fireworks exploded in a show of color above us. We broke apart and smiled at each other. We stayed at the tide pools and finished watching the show before walking back to the party.
"She said yes!" Embry shouted as we got back to the party." The pack cheered and came to give Embry and I smacks on the back and hugs that lasted a while. The girls all gushed over his choice in ring. Embry stood proud as he received his pats on the back and congratulation. Soon everyone went back to the party and I went to find Uncle Charlie. I found him by the water's edge with a beer in hand.
"This is why you asked me to teach you to cook and run the wash." I stated as I walked up behind him. He turned and gave me a sheepish grin.
"Yeah. There's one thing I'm going to ask of you and Embry though." Uncle Charlie said, looking at me sternly. I nodded with a small smile.
"Don't go on a tropical honeymoon." He said with a sad expression before turning back to the water. I wrapped my arms around his neck and stood on my tippy toes.
"We won't." I said in a soft voice. I almost forgot that Bella's and Edward's anniversary is next month.
"I can't stand to bury anyone else that I love. Not for a while." Uncle Charlie whispered and I nodded into his shoulder. Uncle Charlie sniffed and nodded to himself before letting me go.
"Embry has something else he wants to show you. Tiffany said you two would spend the rest of the night at her house. I'll see you tomorrow." Uncle Charlie said before he nodded to Embry as he walked up.
"Thank you, Charlie." Embry said and put out his hand. They shook hands before smiling at each other. Embry led me to his truck and drove toward the edge of La Push. We drove till we were about five miles from the boundary line. We pulled into a driveway that I had never seen before that was hidden by the surrounding trees that led to a beautiful two story cabin a quarter mile into the woods. I gasped as it came into sight. Embry smiled as he took in my reaction.
"Sam had given me shorter patrols so I could work over time and make some more money. With some negotiation with the council I got this place for a good price." Embry said before getting out and helping me out of the truck.
"For now it's unfurnished, but I thought that you would like that because we could design it however we want." Embry said as we walked toward the house. There was a beautiful front porch that led to the front door. Embry pulled out a key and handed it to me to open the front door. When you walked in the door you walked into the living room. Embry led me around the house. It had three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a beautiful kitchen and back yard with a deck. It was like a dream house.
"I love it. How did you know that this place was here?" I asked, leaning into his side.
"I found it on my way home from patrol." He said and leaned down to kiss my forehead.
"I'm glad you did. I love it." I smiled before I kissed his lips.
This was the start of a new chapter of my life and I couldn't wait to see how the rest played out.
A/N: Anna's ring is a Three Stone Trellis Ring with Pear Alexandrites. Type description into google and it's the first image that comes up.
