Chapter 56 – Gifts of Time
Bella
Emmett was acting like a kid on Christmas morning, as he pulled us into the living room and directed us to sit on the sofa behind a huge pile of gifts. Everyone filed in and found seats, waiting for us to begin opening them.
"Thank you so much, everyone. We had no idea. I thought for sure we were going to be forced into dodging strangers' body parts tonight. I'm so grateful you didn't put us through that!" I said, and Edward agreed. Everyone laughed at that, and then we got busy opening gifts. There were many beautiful and useful things, and everyone had been so generous.
I was taken aback when I opened the gift from Esme and Carlisle. It was a photo album filled with pictures of the Cullen and Masen families together, from when Edward's parents had still been alive. There was also a tiny white suit for a little boy, a little frilly white gown for a girl, and a toy doctor kit that looked well played with.
"This is the outfit Edward was blessed in at church. Elizabeth passed it to me to use with Emmett, and I've kept it all these years," she said, holding the little suit in her lap. "Elizabeth and I bought the blessing gown together, planning on sharing it when we had our daughters. Unfortunately, neither of us got to use it, but I kept it in hopes that our boys would have daughters who would."
As I looked at the toy doctor kit, she laughed. "That was Edward's first introduction to the world of medicine. Carlisle bought it for his sixth birthday. Edward's father, Anthony, hoped Edward would want to follow in his footsteps and go into the family business with him, but Edward already knew he wanted to be a doctor by then, and he talked Carlisle into getting it for him and teaching him how to use it. He was so cute and excited to practice his brand of medicine on anyone who was willing to sit still for it. I don't know how many rolls of toilet paper and bags of M&M's we went through, as he bandaged Emmett up and medicated him," Esme giggled.
"Hey, I even let him think he beat me up a few times, just to get him to heal me with his M&M's!" Emmett teased Edward, smacking him on the arm.
"Well, you did need the toilet paper, because you were such an a…" Edward stopped himself before he said it, getting the mom brow from Esme, who was pointing at the girls. "Sorry, Mom," he grinned sheepishly at her, as the room erupted in laughter.
Alice and Rose were next, and they handed me two boxes, the first being a fancy one I recognized the logo on as soon as I had it unwrapped, and a second one was from one of their favorite shoe shops. "You can open the second one now," Rose instructed, "but I'd save the first one for when you two are alone, preferably on your honeymoon," she winked, and I could only imagine the embarrassing goodies they had put in that box. Opting not to give my dad another heart attack, I nodded and set that one aside, opening the other one to find a beautiful pair of new shoes to wear with my gown.
There was one last gift, and when Edward sat it in my lap, I could feel how heavy it was. It was from my mom. I opened the box to find two of my mother's most prized possessions. Inside were a huge, ancient cast iron Dutch oven that had been well taken care of and a large old well-seasoned skillet of the same type. I remembered my grandmother telling stories about them when I was small, as mom cooked the best pot roasts and cornbread ever in them.
"Mom, are you sure you want to part with these right now?" I asked, surprised and honored that she would give them to me. Edward looked confused, so mom explained to him the significance of the pieces.
"My great-great-great-grandmother got these when she was a new bride, and they were her most important tools. When they left their home and traveled west across the plains to homestead, she would bury the Dutch oven in the ashes of the campfire with dough inside to bake bread. She used them herself until her oldest daughter married, my great-great-grandmother, and then she passed them on. They've been handed down through the generations to the first daughter upon marriage as a tradition. Now, it's my turn to pass them to you, Bella. Use them well, and may they continue on down the line to my first granddaughter, and beyond."
I was in awe, as I literally held two pieces of history in my hands. My history. I felt a great sense of pride, honor, and responsibility at being handed down these symbols of the chain that linked me to a long line of strong, capable, and fruitful women. I would use them proudly and honor the memories of those women. Without them, I wouldn't be here, and I could feel their presence very strongly now as they were remembered. I truly felt as if I was surrounded by their love and protection.
Emmett and Jasper loaded our gifts into their cars, wrapping up a perfectly wonderful evening. However, I knew I was going home alone, which had me on the verge of tears, not to mention a little nervous. I had gotten used to sleeping next to Edward, so I doubted my sleep tonight would be as peaceful as it normally was. Edward pulled me into his arms, also looking distraught at the prospect of spending the night without me. We had become so much a part of each other that spending nighttime separated was actually painful.
"I'll be there tomorrow, Bella. This'll be the last night you'll spend as a single woman, so you'd better enjoy it while you can." He tried to flash me a smile, but the sad look in his eyes gave him away.
"I'll miss you, too," I said, and then we kissed each other one last time before saying goodnight. My heart left with him when he walked out the door with Emmett.
