Chapter 40 — The Everything I Am
Love is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weaknesses.
Ann Landers
Edward's POV
For the first time since arriving at the bar, I took a good look around. I didn't recognize the place. Sure, I had seen the drawings Esme had drawn, but they didn't do justice to what I was seeing. Gold and silver fabric was hanging down from the ceiling. White candles of various sizes were placed throughout the bar along with various flowers, including mistletoe and poinsettias. It was magical. I smiled. How my mom and sisters pulled this off in such a short time amazed me.
The buzzing of a phone had me turning my attention to Emmett. His phone should have been off per Bella's and my wishes. I glared at him.
"Chill, it will be off by the time the ceremony begins," Emmett said, answering his cell. "Hello?" He was silent for a few minutes, listening. "Are you sure?" Again silence. "He'll be glad to hear it. Thanks!" He hung up and showed me he was powering down his phone.
"That better have been important," I remarked, crossing my arms across my chest.
Emmett wasn't fazed. "Once you hear what I learned, you'll be happy I didn't have my phone off yet."
I huffed, waiting.
"All members of the Black gang have been rounded up. Half didn't know who Bella was and couldn't pick her out of a photo lineup. They weren't told why they were being questioned," he said.
"And those who held her captive?" Jasper asked.
Emmett smiled. "They denied it but said they are not interested in her. They told my partner Jacob was obsessed with Bella. Further, they said they were protecting her from Jacob the whole time, and they were afraid what Jacob would do to the one who helped her escape."
"So, that means?" I asked.
The smile fell from Emmett's face. "Bella will have to identify those who held her. She'll possibly have to testify, but I'm going to do all I can to prevent that."
A weight had been lifted off my shoulders with Emmett's news. "Good," I said, rubbing my hands down my pants. While Emmett was on the phone, Malcolm had headed to the back hall.
"Take your place by the altar, Edward," the priestess said, coming up to my brothers and me. "You two, near the back hall entrance."
The piano piece I played during Bella's birthday dinner began playing once I was standing near the bar top where she and I had met ages ago. After taking a deep breath, I turned and faced those gathered. Rosalie had just emerged from the hall and was being escorted by Emmett toward me. They parted, standing on either side of the altar. Alice and Jasper soon joined them, as did Angela and Carlisle.
The music shifted to the song Bella and I had first danced to, and all gathered stood, blocking my view of the doorway. If it wasn't for the calming feeling I experienced every time Bella entered a room, I would have rushed down the aisle. Despite the reassurance she was walking toward me, I had a momentary panic attack. The moment Bella appeared on Malcolm's arm, my breath left me. She was a vision in silver and white. A Celtic princess.
Bella's POV
A smile spread across my face the moment I saw Edward. I had thought he was kidding when he told the guard his plans on wearing a kilt when he and I wed, but there he was, dressed to the nines in the Cullen colors. My gaze drifted to Carlisle and his brothers. They, too, stood proudly in kilts. Tears sprang to my eyes, and I wished I had a handkerchief to dab them with.
My eyes met Edward's again. The smile didn't fall from his face as he reached up and pulled the pocket square out of his jacket, holding it out to me. I accepted and quickly dashed the moisture away.
"I love ye, lassie," Grandfather whispered, kissing my cheek before placing my hand in Edward's. "Lad, you'll answer to me if anything happens to her."
The priestess held out ribbons, and Grandfather took them. I thought this was a little strange. The handfasting happened at the end of the ceremony, not the beginning. I said nothing as I took hold of Edward's hand. There had to be a reason the ribbons were being used now.
Grandfather finished wrapping the ribbons around my and Edward's clasped hands, leaving them unknotted. "May the blessings of the ancestors be rained down upon this union," he said before going to stand by Esme.
Together, Edward and I faced the priestess. She motioned for those gathered to sit. "Welcome friends, family, and loved ones. We are all here today to witness Isabella Marie Swan and Edward Anthony Masen Cullen join hands and be bound together by their love, now and forever. Today is a day to celebrate the love of Isabella and Edward. They are two people who are the halves of a whole. Two souls coming together to form a single being. Two hearts beating in a single rhythm. Today we join in our support of them as they offer themselves to each other. We celebrate their love, their joy, and their expectations." She moved forward, placing her hands around ours, bowing her head.
Edward and I bowed our heads.
"Let us now pause to establish ourselves in the consciousness of the Holy Presence as we pray. We acknowledge Thy Presence and Thy Power, Blessed Spirit. We give thanks that these two souls have been drawn together by divine appointment and will be held together by the power of divine love. We rejoice that through this mystical union, these two, now become one, will experience soul satisfaction and fulfillment, and that your blessing, Dear God, is upon them and that your love is expressing through them now and always. Amen," the priestess said. She released our hands and stepped back. "Isabella and Edward have opted to write their own vows. Edward?"
Edward turned and accepted the ring from Carlisle before facing me again. The ribbons fell to the floor as he lifted his hand to brush my cheek with the backs of his fingers. There was a brief murmur from those gathered but none moved to wrap the ribbons back around our hands. They didn't matter, and the priestess knew the reason.
"Isabella, as I stand here before you, my eyes looking so deeply into yours, I see all of the things I fell in love with. As I stand here before you, my heart beating so loudly in my ears, I find myself so lost for the right words to say. As I stand here before you, this ring in my hand, it makes me remember how complete you make my life. With every smile, every embrace, every tear you've ever wiped from my face. It makes me remember how blessed I really am, how I can't ever thank the gods above enough, for allowing you into my life. It makes me remember every laugh we've ever shared, every hard time we made it through together, and every beautiful moment there is to come." He took my left hand in his slipping the ring down the length of my ring finger. "Isabella, I give you this ring, my heart, my soul. I give you the everything I am today as I stand before you. I promise to love you, protect you, be with you forever, and cherish every moment as if it were the last moment on earth. Isabella, I love you. Let it be known, that with this ring, I'm promising to be here for you for all eternity, 'til death do us part."
I dabbed at my eyes once again. Angela tapped my shoulder, and I turned toward her. "I think you need this," she whispered, showing me the ring.
I gave Angela a watery smile, accepting the gold band. Taking a moment to gather my thoughts, I turned to face Edward again. "Edward, words fail me. From the moment I first saw you, in this very bar, the future didn't seem so bleak." Edward's forehead furrowed, and as I reached to touch his face, the words I needed to say flowed into me. I took a deep breath and began once more. "Edward, I love you. You are my best friend. Our love is so strong, and I believe our love can do anything. So today, I commit to give my life to you in marriage. You have taught me what it is to truly love something more than my own self. I commit to you that I will love you forever. I will give my life for you. And I promise to always protect your life with mine. I will celebrate with you in times of great happiness and I will not just stand by you, but carry you during times of life's greatest sorrows. I will cherish your health, but one day, when it fades, I will be with you in any sickness or weakness you face, from now until the day that I die. One day, we will celebrate great riches, but even if those perish and we are left with nothing, I will always stand by you, and you will always be taken care of. I will never give up on our love. Edward, I prayed for you before I ever met you. You're the answer to every prayer I have ever prayed. You are the only one for me, and from this day forth, I will forsake all others and be bound only to you." When I was done speaking, I slipped the ring on his left hand.
The priestess smiled, stepping forward again, clasping our joined hands in hers. "Today, we ask that the infinite light of the divine shine upon this union. In that spirit, I offer a blessing to this ceremony. Blessed be this marriage with the gifts from the east—new beginnings that come each day with the rising sun, communication of the heart, mind, body, and soul. Blessed be this marriage with the gifts of the south—the light of the heart, the heat of passion, and the warmth of a loving home. Blessed be this marriage with the gifts of the west—the rushing excitement of a raging river, the soft and pure cleansing of a rainstorm, and a commitment as deep as the ocean itself. Blessed be this marriage with the gifts of the north—a solid foundation on which to build your lives, abundance and growth of your home, and the stability to be found by holding one another at the end of the day. Isabella and Edward, these four simple blessings will help you on your journey that begins today. However, they are only tools. They are tools which you must use together to create the light, the strength, the infinite energy now and forever of a love you both so richly deserve."
Esme and Grandfather joined Edward and me. Esme had a white candle in her hand which Grandfather lit, and Esme lit the one Grandfather held.
"Above you, below you, forever surrounding you shall be the pledge you make to each other today. It is the pledge of the truth and purity of your every breath, the constant friendship of your hearts. The passion and fire of your spirits and the deepest love your souls have to give. It is the pledge of all that is within you. The only true pledge that one heart can offer to another," Esme said as she and Grandfather held the candles out for us to take.
"You are now as husband and wife, offering yourselves and all that has come to pass to each other, towards the creation of your future and to all that is yet to come," the priestess said as Edward and I lit another candle. "Your two hearts now beating as one, your two souls now deeply joined anew—walk forward together, forever hand in hand. May your marriage be a lifelong celebration of love. Now that the rituals are complete, you have made your promises and exchanged your rings. May your lives together be filled with love and laughter. By the power vested in me as an officiant and the laws of Washington, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Edward, you may kiss your bride."
Edward leaned in, cupping my cheek. "I am truly blessed," he whispered as his lips brushed mine in a whisper of a kiss. Pulling back, he winked at me. "Don't run." He drew me into his arms, kissing me again.
I giggled. "Never again," I whispered against his lips.
A/N: A short epilogue is in the works.