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ENJOY!
10/11/2022
Chapter 14
EPOV
I was a little nervous today. I've known for a while now, that I wanted to propose to Bella, properly, but I didn't know when or how. Well, I knew how, but I wanted to make it perfect for her. She had been through so much; it was the least I could do, by coming up with the perfect proposal. I thought I wanted to wait until Christmas, which was only a week away, but I was too anxious.
Everything was happening in fast forward. Thanksgiving came and went; it was like it didn't even happen. We didn't pay too much attention to the holiday because it happened a week and a half after the accident. Everyone had a great day, regardless. All she wanted for Christmas was to get her cast/boot off for good so she could wear matching shoes.
She was so anxious; beaming at the chance to finally wear a normal shoe instead of the bulky, plastic, Velcro monstrosity that was attached to her leg. Her doctor said she could wear a regular ace bandage brace once the boot came off. So now, she was really excited about wearing pants because her clothes mainly consisted of skirts and those were causing her to get frost bite . . . so she claimed.
Her language had become quite colorful over the last few weeks, too. It started the day she went back to work. She had a huge vendetta against Jack Frost, "Fucking Jack Frost; Fucker has a death wish if he thinks he's gonna keep nipping at my nose. Before winters over, he's a melted snowman."
There was no way I could go without laughing at her, but that evil eye she gave me would stop me in my tracks.
Teasing her about her frozen legs was putting me in line with Jack Frost, for execution. She did get me back one morning while I was taking a shower. She dumped a huge bowl of ice water over my head claiming, "Pay backs a bitch and I'm the bitch handing out the paybacks."
Needless to say, since that morning, if I'm home before her, I try to make sure she has a nice warm blanket, a cup of hot tea and some warm sweat pants, waiting for her when she walks through the door.
Yeah, I'm whipped.
I'm also dealing with the fact that she's constantly complaining that her clothes aren't fitting anymore, so I decided that I would surprise her with a shopping trip to Village Maternity. They had maternity clothes, baby clothes, furniture and other baby gadgets that we could look at while we were there.
We made the decision to wait until she started her third trimester, before we bought any baby furniture, but my parents insisted that they would purchase the furniture for us as a baby shower gift.
Renee and my aunt Joan had already called first dibs on decorating the nursery. Alice was involved, also. She had been taking a weekly picture of Bella's side profile, to document her expanding belly.
She definitely has a little baby bump, now and I can't keep my hands off of her at night when we're lying in bed. She's less than a week away until she hits her four month mark. Considering how skinny she is, the bump is noticeable to me. She doesn't see it, though.
I couldn't wait to feel the baby move, and lucky for us, everyone was extremely excited about the pregnancy; even Charlie. He raves about becoming a grandfather every chance he gets.
So, for tonight, I planned to take her out for dinner; something that we don't normally do because Bella usually cooks for us. Oh and believe me, the woman knows how to cook. I think I've put on ten pounds since I first moved in with her.
I've decided to take her to La Isla, for dinner. It has a romantic and comfortable setting. I only hoped it wouldn't give too much of my plans away. My proposal was going to happen after dinner, in our own home. Alice was coming by, while we're gone, to set up some flame-less candles and spread some rose petals around our bedroom. I was hoping to get lucky, too.
At a quarter till two, my phone rang. It was the woman of my dreams. "Mmm. . . The love of my life; what can I do for you?"
"Hey you. Are you still available to come to my appointment with me?" She sounded a little tired. It was probably from her lack of sleep the night before. She was still having nightmares, but not as much as she was after the accident. She says they're mostly about the baby and her biological grandparents taunting her.
I smiled, "Of course. I'll pick you up in about twenty minutes, since I did drop you off this morning." I reached into the top drawer of my desk and grabbed my keys, "You still up for going out to dinner, tonight?"
"Yep; I can't wait. It's been a while since we've been out. Any particular reason we're going out?" She sounded more curious than I liked, but I was definitely not giving in.
"Nope. Can't I take my girl out? I just wanted to celebrate a little because you'll be boot free and able to wear pants," I said as I stood and grabbed my coat to head out of my office.
She giggled, "Ha, Ha, you're too funny for your own good, but yeah, okay, I suppose being boot free would be a good enough reason to celebrate."
"Okay, good. I'm headed out, right now. I'll see you in a bit. Love you." I closed and locked my office door.
"Love you, too."
I had already informed my assistant coach that I would be leaving early for Bella's appointment, so I didn't need to make any pit stops on the way to my truck.
Seventeen minutes later, I was pulling up outside Bella's office building. She was already waiting for me, "Wow. You made it here quicker than I thought. I just walked outside." She leaned across the console, an automatic gesture of kissing me.
"I'm as anxious as you are. I know you've been going crazy with that chunky plastic on your leg, plus, I keep getting bruises on my shins from where you kick me at night," I teased her as I reached across the console and took her hand, giving it a light squeeze.
A guilty look crossed her face, "I'm sorry. Why didn't you say anything?"
"I'm just teasing. You may have kicked me once or twice. I know you didn't mean to," I said, turning to give her a sincere smile.
We made it to the doctor's office about fifteen minutes later. We didn't have to wait long after she signed in, "Swan?" A nurse called as she stood with Bella's file in her hand. I couldn't wait until she went by Cullen.
We stood and made our way over to her. She led us to the room that said Casting Room.
Everyone must've been in a rush today because someone came into the room about two minutes later. "We just need to take the boot off and then head down to get x-rays. Dr. Dillinger will come in to see you once the x-rays are ready. He just wants to make sure that you've healed completely," she explained before she reached over and started undoing the Velcro.
It only took a minute to get the boot off. Bella cringed at the way her foot and leg looked after the nasty, cheap sock was pulled off. It looked emaciated, hairy and had quite the smell to it, "Whoa, is that normal? I mean for it to smell like that."
"Oh, yeah." The girl smiled. "Some are worse than others. I've gotten used to it over the years." The nurse cleaned up the area before she told Bella it was time to head to x-ray.
I waited in the room while they stepped out. I grabbed a magazine from the rack on the wall. And, of course, it was Sports Illustrated. Annnd. . . guess who's on the cover? None other than my brother. He had his arms crossed over his chest wearing his football jersey, so I decided to read what they wrote about him.
Throughout the story, they were boasting about him being traded and his move to Seattle. They also did an announcement of his impending fatherhood. That made me smile because they mentioned me in there, too. They explained that we were both due to be fathers in the summer.
I remembered getting the call to get permission to announce Bella's pregnancy in the article. They didn't name her, but she was okay with it. She said she didn't care who knew as long as she didn't have paparazzi knocking at our door at all hours of the day and night. I made a mental note to buy a copy on our way home so that she could read it.
A few minutes after I was done with the article, the nurse and a hobbling Bella, came back into the room. The nurse pulled some gauze from a cabinet and a bottle of alcohol, "Use this to clean your leg up real good. It'll stop some of the itching and ease some of the odor."
Bella giggled when she took the wadded up gauze from the nurse, "Geesh, I'm gonna need a weed whacker to cut these hairs off my leg."
"We can stop by Home Depot on the way home, to buy one, if you'd like," I said in a serious matter, but I meant it teasingly.
Forty-five minutes later, we were walking out of the doctor's office with a seal of approval from the doctor. She walked with a limp, of course, and they provided her with a brace that wrapped around her ankle. Thankfully, she was able to take it off at night.
The doctor explained that once she started physical therapy, complete range of motion, would come back in due time. He also explained that in some circumstances, he may have to, eventually, remove the screws that are still in her ankle. Apparently, sometimes they like to work their way out of the bone and try to come out through the skin. Bella and I both cringed, just thinking about it.
When we made it home, it was close to five o'clock. Our dinner reservation wasn't until seven, so I suggested a little pampering to Bella, "Why don't you take a nice, long hot bath with those fizzy things you use that make you smell so good. Our dinner reservation is at seven, so you have plenty of time for a soak."
"Gosh, that sounds good; I think I will. What will you do?" She asked while she was pulling her coat off and putting her purse down on the table by the door.
"I have a few phone calls to make." I reached for my cell in my pants pocket, "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, Emmett was on the cover of Sports Illustrated this month. I read the article; it's really good. They even mentioned me in there." I gave her a huge toothy grin before leaning down and giving her a kiss.
Our kiss deepened when she wrapped her arms around me and I didn't hesitate to reach down and cup her ass cheeks, lifting her up. She wrapped her legs around me as I eased closer to the breakfast bar in the kitchen. I sat her on the edge and rested my forehead against hers before I spoke, "As much as I wanna take you right here, right now, I can't; we have plans. I want tonight to be really special."
"What's so special about getting my boot off? It's not like you're proposing or anything." At her words, I was sure the look of pure shock crossed my face. I was also sure I looked really hurt. She seemed so nonchalant about her statement.
I moved away and turned my back to her. I felt her hand graze my elbow where she tried to get my attention, "Did I say something wrong?"
"No, you're fine. I just needed to get a hold of myself before we got carried away, that's all." I would make sure to ignore her questions and keep up with my plans for the evening. I wanted to do everything I could to make sure she didn't find out what was going on until she stepped foot into our bedroom later on in the evening.
I turned and smiled at her as she slid off the bar, "I'll just head upstairs and take a bath. You go ahead and make those phone calls." She stepped closer and wrapped her arms around me, "You sure you're okay? You seemed off there for a second."
I smiled down at her, "Yes, I'm fine. I just have a few things on my mind, about work. I just wanna have a nice evening with you without any interruptions."
Bella stayed in the bath for a good forty minutes before she climbed out all pruney and waterlogged. After she dressed in a nice knee length, midnight blue dress, light make-up and her hair kept down, we were finally on our way to the restaurant.
We made it with ten minutes to spare. We waited by the bar until our table was ready. It wasn't long before we were finally seated and looking over the menu, "Mmm. . .Everything looks so good; I'm starving." Bella said with wide eyes as she scanned over the food choices.
"Well, I'm in the mood for a good steak with some fresh veggies. How 'bout you?" I asked, glancing up to get a good look at, hopefully, my soon to be fiancé.
"I'm thinking something chicken. Probably the Chicken Marsala," she said, smiling up at me over the top of the menu.
Shortly after we finished our meal, we were approached by an elderly gentleman and his wife, "We're sorry to interrupt, young man, but I wanted to say that I'm a huge fan of yours and I'd like to complement you on your work that you're doing for the team. I read the article in Sports Illustrated about your brother and I also wanted to congratulate you on your new bundle of joy."
I reached to shake the man's hand. "Thank you, very much. That's very kind of you," I replied back sincerely.
He patted me on the shoulder before they turned to walk away, "You two have a lovely evening. I look forward to seeing the next game."
I quickly pulled a pen from the inside pocket of my jacket and scribbled my autograph on the cloth napkin for him, "Here, I'd like you to have this. They won't miss one cloth napkin."
"Oh, my word." His eyes grew wide. "Thank you, young man." He reached down and grasped my hand, again and vigorously shook it.
"You're welcome. You two have a lovely evening, yourselves," I told him. He nodded his head at me before they turned and walked away.
I looked over at Bella with tears in her eyes, "Hey, what's wrong?"
She shook her head, "I'm just so emotional. They looked so in love. Do you think we'll be like that when we're their age?"
"I would like to think so." I scooted my chair away from the table, "Let's go home. I'm ready for some alone time with my girl." I threw a couple of hundreds down on the table, not even caring about the bill. Our waitress definitely earned her tip.
My stomach started rolling with vicious butterflies. I was really nervous about what I was going say. Did I want to get down on one knee? Yes, I really wanted to do that. Should she be sitting on the bed when I asked for her hand? That, I didn't know. I guess we'll have to see how things turn out once she walks into the bedroom.
When we made it home, I knew Bella would head to the bedroom, first thing, to get out of her dress and put some comfy clothes on. I tried to be a little ahead of her to make sure Alice, did indeed, make it over and set up the room for me. I snuck a quick look while Bella was hanging her coat up. It was all ready for us.
When I stepped around the corner, from my inspection, Bella had just turned to walk toward the room, "I'm just gonna head upstairs and change." She rose up and gave me a small peck on my lips, "Aren't you gonna change, too?"
"Yeah, I'll be right behind you," I said, leaning down and giving her another small kiss.
I wanted to give her a few seconds, head-start, so that she could see the room before I entered.
I heard her gasp when she pushed the door open. Her hand went to her mouth to cover up her small sob that escaped. My heart swelled at the vision in front of me.
When I entered the room, she turned toward me, "Edward, this is beautiful. You didn't have to do this just because I got my boot off."
"I didn't, but I do have another reason for it, though." Her eyes grew wide at my words. I think she was starting to catch on as I stepped further into the room, closer to her. I already had the ring in my pocket, so I didn't have to retrieve it from anywhere in the room. It's a 2.5 carat Tiffany Novo. The band is platinum and graced with tiny diamonds around it. Only the best for my girl.
My breathing accelerated the closer I got to her. If I didn't do this soon, I was sure I would start hyperventilating and puke all over the floor in front of her.
When I got down on one knee, immediate tears sprang to her eyes, her hand covering her mouth, again, "Are you . . .?"
"Just let me get this out before you wear my dinner on your feet." She nodded, agreeing with me.
I took a few deep breaths before I spoke, "First things first, I would still be doing this even if we weren't pregnant, okay." She nodded at me, again, "Isabella, you captivated me the moment I laid eyes on you. I fell in love with you the moment you said my name. My heart tries to beat outta my chest every time I'm close to you and I never want those feelings to end. You've become my best-friend, my lover, the mother of my child and now I would love more than anything if you would become my wife. Will you please marry me?"
She flung herself at me and wrapped her arms around my neck, "Oh God, yes, Edward. Other than our baby, I want nothing more. I love you so, so much."
"I love you, too and I know this is out of order, but I really wanna get married as soon as we can," I said, pulling back to look into her beautiful eyes.
She smiled like the Cheshire cat, "You really don't wanna wait, do you?"
"No. I'd marry you tomorrow if we could get away with it, but I'd like for my family and yours to be involved. We don't have to have anything huge, unless that's what you want, but then we'd have to wait a while for something like that to happen. I wanna see you in a beautiful wedding dress and dance with my wife to our favorite songs, in front of everyone. Think we can do that?" I was still nervous. No so much after she gave me plenty of reassurance about the wedding and getting married as soon as we can.
We eventually got up from the floor and made our way over to the bed. Our eyes were kept on each other as we slowly started taking each other's clothes off. I was going to be making love to my fiancé, tonight.
Over the next few weeks, things were a stream of activity. We announced our engagement and my mom, Renee, my Aunt Joan, Alice and Bella, immediately started preparations for our wedding. It was going to be held at my parents' house on Bainbridge Island. Two huge tents would be used. One would house the ceremony and the other would be the reception area.
We were mainly inviting only close friends and family. A few people from my mother's law firm and some colleagues of my fathers were also attending. It was still really cold out, so we made sure there would be heat lamps to warm the tents. Bella had asked Alice to be her Maid of Honor and I had asked Emmett to be my best man.
Charlie seemed to ease up on me quite a bit since he learned of our engagement and the fact that we would be married before the baby is born. If we could have gotten married the night I asked her, we wouldn't have to deal with all the ruckus.
As far as dresses went, Bella said she was fine with choosing from one of the bridal shops in town. She didn't need anything too extravagant; comfort was her main goal because she needed a dress that would hide her growing belly.
We decided we would be getting married the second weekend in January; giving us time to plan for something extra if needed.
Christmas came and went. Emmett was out of town, so Rosalie was spending large amounts of time with us when he was away. Bella didn't mind the company and we definitely had the room for her to crash at our place anytime she wanted.
Charlie had been away to another undisclosed location during Christmas. It was the first Christmas he missed with the family. Gracie and Alex were okay with it because they knew that Charlie would make up for it, tenfold.
Bella had taken a week off work so that she could spend that time with her mom and her siblings, but at times during the night, I would find her typing away at her laptop.
Two things happened during that first week of January. 1) Bella was served with a court summons. She was being sued by her biological grandparents; a wrongful death suit. Her mom was also involved. They were trying to overturn her inheritance from her biological father's death. We knew something, eventually, would happen considering they hired that, low life, private detective to locate her. We just didn't know when or what.
The second thing that happened, Bella got a strange visitor at her office, from a gentleman claiming to be her brother. His name was James Dwyer.
She didn't see him that day. She requested that he leave a number where she could contact him. I wasn't sure if he had an agenda against her and was in town to taunt her, along with the horrid biological grandparents, but Bella was curious to know. My only concern was if he were a threat.
We agreed and set up arrangements to meet him the Thursday before our wedding. Bella said he seemed nice enough on the phone and was highly curious if he looked at all like Phil. She wasn't even sure who was older, her or him.
That lead us to where we are now. Steelhead Diner in Pike Place Market. We were seated in a corner booth; Bella munching on chili cheese fries while we waited. We were early for that very reason; to feed our little offspring.
As Bella lifted her hand to shove another bite into her mouth, her breath hitched. I followed her line of sight and saw a light brown haired man, being lead toward our table. I didn't know what Phil looked like, but judging by Bella's reaction, I'd say he looked just like him. He didn't look much older than Bella.
When he approached, I stood to greet him, along with Bella, "Hi, Isabella." He shook her hand first. " And I know you're Mr. Cullen; it's great to meet the both of you." He seemed very polite.
"Hi, James, it's nice to meet you, too. Have a seat. I was busy stuffing my face. I can't help it, I'm eating for two these days," Bella said as she patted her stomach before she took her seat again.
James smiled at her, "I've heard all about it; congratulations. I'm a huge fan, by the way, Mr. Cullen."
"Please, call me Edward. I appreciate your politeness to us." I waved my hand toward our waiter, "Could we get another menu please and another Iced tea for my fiancé?"
The waiter smiled and nodded, "Sure. I'll be right back."
Bella cleared her throat, "I'm gonna cut right to the chase. Why contact me now?"
"Well, I got wind of the situation going on with you. My mom works for the county clerk's office, in our hometown, back in Florida. My main reason for contacting you now is because I didn't know I had a sister until recently and I wanted to show my support for you during all this. Our wonderful, biological grandparents are horrid people and I want nothing more than to see them fall into the pits of hell, where they belong."
Bella's eyes were wide with his words, "Wow, I don't know what to say other than thank you."
"Oh, you're very welcome. I was brought up as an only child and my mother married my dad when I was three. I always wanted a sister or brother and now I have one." James went on to explain more about his upbringing, causing more questions to be brought out.
Bella reached for her drink and took a long, drawn out gulp. After she sat her glass back down, she nodded, "I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but how in the world did your mother get away from Phil?"
"My mom and Phil dated in high school and when she became pregnant with me, he beat her. She told me that she nearly miscarried me, but thankfully the doctors did everything they could and here I am." He smiled widely at the both of us, "My mom just wanted Phil gone from our lives, so they made a deal which ended up with Phil leaving town. The evil grandparents paid her a visit in the hospital and gave her an ultimatum. They offered her $50,000 to not go to the police and to abort me. That was how it was explained to me. All I know is, I'm glad that I grew up not knowing those people." James smiled up at the both of us, again, "So, do you mind if I ask when your birthday is? I'm dying to know how much older I am from you."
Bella giggled a little, "I'm twenty-five. My birthday was this past September."
"Well, it's nice to meet you, baby sister. I just turned twenty- seven this past August. How weird is that?"
Bella nodded, chuckling, "I know, right." She smiled over at him. "It's nice to have an older brother. I've been the older sister for a while now. My mom remarried after she moved us back here and I have a younger brother and sister. . . Gracie and Alex."
"I'd love to meet them someday." James took a sip of his drink. "So, I hope we can get these people to go away."
"I agree, but I can't help but wonder why you carry the Dwyer name?" I asked. I was a little weary of that small issue, but my curiosity was getting the better of me, "And did your mom take the $50,000?"
James shook his head, "No, she didn't take it. She just wanted him gone and away from us. And as far as my last name, my dad had wanted to adopt me for years, but they never had the money to do it. My mom regrets giving me Phil's last name. She thought if he found out, he might have actually wanted her back, but she said she was dumb and naive."
"You could always change it now, as an adult." Bella suggested.
"I've thought about it and I've already established a name for myself with Dwyer. Thank goodness it isn't associated with the likes of those wretched people."
We continued talking for a while longer; making plans to invite James to our wedding. He graciously accepted and claimed he wouldn't miss it for the world.
All in all, our meeting with James was a success.
Thanks again,
Reason
