Bella felt as though time has stopped. Her ability to breathe stopped as well. She could only stare at Paul, who was down on one knee, his left hand holding up a small velvet box with a diamond ring nestled between two cushions. Her mind was whirling. How long was he thinking of this? When did he get the ring? Is he proposing because he loves her? Is it because of the babies? Or is it because of the whole Ellie ordeal?
She remembered to breathe, remembered to blink.
"I know it's not much, but..."
"It's beautiful, Paul." Bella commented, unaware that her eyes started to tear up. She wanted to blame the pregnancy influence on her raging hormones as the reason why she was so emotional, but this was her true feelings. She knew how they met; it wasn't like how the princess and prince managed to bump into each other and fall in love instantaneously. The way they fell in love was harsh; through hardships, mistakes, trial and error. But that's how it happened. That was reality.
Paul smiled at her. "Bella, I had this long speech rehearsed with the guys. And your sister even added a few things to say. But just you standing in front of me..." He smiled. "No words seem good enough to express my feelings towards you. You're more than I could have ever dreamed of. You're even giving me baby boys." The tears in Bella's eyes spilled over. "I just want to make you happy like you make me happy. That's all I ask for, that's all I ever wanted." He drew in a deep breath. "So, Bella Swan, will you marry me?"
Bella choked, nodding her head as Paul took her left hand, sliding the engagement ring on. She wrapped her arms around Paul's neck, crying freely. When she finally pulled away, they were both smiling.
Paul wiggled an eyebrow. "Are you sure you can handle being married to all this?"
"Oh I think I can. Question is," her smile widened. "do you think you can handle me?"
They both laughed, and Paul leaned in to kiss her. He swiftly picked her up, carrying her into their bedroom. He laid her gently onto the bed. "You're beautiful, soon-to-be Mrs. Lahote."
She grinned, kept grinning, as she pulled him by his shirt. He hovered over her, leaning down to kiss her lips. The size of her belly stopped them from being close. Bella was happy that the babies weren't moving as much.
Paul ran his hand through her hair, pulling at it softly. Bella let out a small moan as he deepened the kiss. She pulled him a bit, trying to feel close. Paul ran a hand down her body. It didn't matter how often they had sex, it always felt like the first time. They never lost the fire or passion. Bella snuck her hand under his shirt, and helped him take it off. Paul began kissing her neck, causing Bella to bite her lip.
Bella was beginning to get into it until Paul sighed angrily. Bella frowned.
"It's a good thing you're already pregnant. Otherwise, we wouldn't have time."
"Time?" Bella asked.
"Fucking cockblockers!" He groaned. The opening of the front door could be heard, and Paul was mouthing a count down.
When he reached one, that's when Bella heard it.
"Bella! I need to talk to you!"
Bella sighed, throwing her arm over her face. "I love my sister, but honestly, she has the worst timing."
Paul let out a small laugh. "Go see what she wants. I'm going to take a cold shower."
Paul gave her one more kiss, pulling himself away from her slowly. Bella watched him go to the bathroom. She slowly got up and combed through her hair. She left the bedroom and made her way down to the living room.
"Angela, what's wrong?"
When Bella was in sight, Angela ran to her and grabbed her hand. "Bella, we're leaving. We'll buy new things, we'll move somewhere. We just have to get far, far, far away from here."
Bella yanked her hand away. "What are you talking about? Why do we have to leave?"
Angela stopped, staring at her sister worriedly. "Bella..." She lowered her voice. "they aren't who they say they are."
"Angela, you need to calm down. You're not making any sense."
"They're werewolves!" Angela's eyes were wide, chaotic.
Bella's eyes widened, but not at the news. How did Angela figure this out? Did Embry tell her? If he did, why isn't he here to calm her down? Did she know about the imprint? Or was it something else entirely?
"What are you talking about?" Bella asked, playing dumb.
"They're all werewolved! Embry and I were together until that Seth guy showed up telling us that he needed to talk to Embry for a minute. They went to the backyard and I followed them. I stepped into the backyard and saw them turn into werewolves!"
"Actually, we like to refer to ourselves as shape-shifters."
Bella turned around to see Paul with wet hair, shorts on, and his arms folded across his chest.
Angela stepped in front of Bella. "You stay away from her. You're not going to hurt her or her babies."
"Why the fuck would I hurt her and my kids?" Paul frowned.
"I don't know!" Angela nearly shouted, exasperated. "You're probably just waiting to kill and eat her!"
Paul laughed. "Sweetheart, I might shift into a giant ass dog, but one; I would never hurt her, she's my entire life. And two, it doesn't work like that."
Bella stepped out from behind Angela, walking over to Paul. He welcomed her with open arms.
"He's not lying." Bella defended.
"He brain washed you, didn't he!"
Paul shook his head. "Okay, calm down before you give yourself a heart attack. Where's the dumb ass at anyway? He should be the one telling you about this shit and I should be in the bedroom with my lovely wife here-"
"Angela, let Paul go and find Embry. We'll talk about this." Bella suggested.
Paul looked at Bella, confused. She smiled, kissed him, pushing him to leave. He left without questioning.
Angela watched Paul go, turning back to glare at Bella. "You knew what they are?"
"Yeah, for a while now. Ang, I couldn't tell you." Bella added, noting the hurt in her sister's eyes.
"Bullshit!" Angela retaliated. "We tell each other everything!"
"It wasn't my place to say!"
"As my sister, it was your place to tell me!"
Bella pressed her lips together, shaking her head. "You have no idea. I wanted to tell you since the day I found out, but it's their secret. Not mine. The only ones who are allowed to know about this are the werewolves themselves, their imprints, and the Elders. That's why I was so happy when you finally got together with Embry because otherwise, you would have never found out." Bella knew she had already said too much, but she couldn't stand seeing her sister like this. Bella walked over to her, taking her hand. "Look, I'm sorry I never told you...but you're an imprint of a werewolf. Just like me. I won't go into detail, but I'll say one thing; Embry will never let anything bad happen to you. And Paul would never hurt me or the boys."
Angela looked down. She looked doubtful, but accepting. "How are you okay with this?" The fear was evident in her voice.
Bella smiled. "Trust me, the night I found out, I was in shock. I didn't know what to think or say. Embry was there to calm me down. So was Emily. It still took me a long while to wrap my head around this whole thing. But please, just talk to Embry before you run, okay?"
Angela looked up into her sister's eyes again. "Okay. I'll talk to him. But if I don't like what's going on, I'm gone, and you're coming with me."
Bella smiled. "Okay." She nodded. "Deal.
They hugged each other until they heard Paul coming back. "Like hell you're taking her away!" He exclaimed.
Bella giggled, pulling away from the hug. Paul walked into the house, Embry following closely behind. He looked like was about to throw up. Paul patted him on the back.
"Can we please talk?" Embry asked. Angela shot Bella a look, then nodded. They left without another word.
Bella sighed once they were gone. "Do you think they'll work it out?"
"They better." Paul sighed. "I'm not ready to go back to being best friends with my right hand." Paul teased, pulling Bella back into his arms. Bella hoped things will turn out okay. She really needed her sister in her children's lives.
Paul sensed Bella's unease. "Don't worry, they'll work something out." He leaned down to kiss her.
"Maybe we should go to the bedroom..." Bella said, tugging on his hand.
But Bella knew that Paul had a point. Everything will be okay in the end. Everything's worked out so far.
Yet, Bella still had that fear. A fear that haunted her because somehow, some way, in every single aspect of her life, something get fucked up.
There was always that fear that luck might run out.
Hey my little readers,
I know its been awhile. My life has been crazy the past ten months. So if you still with me and this story thank you so much. I'm going to try to update when I can. I hope everyone has a great holiday.
Love Allie
Editor/Beta: Moriarty's Diary
