Hey all.. I hope everyone who lives in New England (like me) is preparing for the blizzzzzard heading our way. Going to be a big one, so if you're in the northeast, be safe and stay off the roads! :) Happy snow day! ... and thanks again for all the reviews and for continuing to read the story.

p.s. - if anyone's bored and snowed in, here's a link if you want to see chapters 1-50 in pictures. go to the regular you tube site then type in: watch?v=4wIIry7EggE in the browser after the you tube URL. (just went through a video class, felt inspired) LOL, so fun!

Chapter 77

Alice couldn't bring herself to stop smiling, and Edward was the only one who knew why. He nodded with approval at his sister's thoughts and smiled just as wide. Everyone else was dying to know what she had seen.

Jasper grinned, "What'd you see?"

She looked at him with a closed mouth smile and shrugged, then looked over at Edward. Bella stared at him, "Are you going to let it out or what?"

"Who does it have to do with?" Masen asked, "Anyone here?"

She shook her head, still smiling.

"Leah? Jacob?"

"Nope," she said, enjoying her secret.

"Alice, you can't leave us in suspense like this," Esme said.

"Alright," she looked at Edward, "Tell Bella."

"Tell me what?"

"You like Sue, right?" Edward smiled.

"You're not going to tell me that they're going to have a baby now, are you?"

Edward and Alice burst out laughing, "No, silly," Alice said, "But..."

"Did Charlie propose?" Emmett guessed.

They all turned and looked at him. Alice nodded.

"He proposed!?" Esme asked, excited.

Bella looked stunned, but her voice was filled with approval, "Are you serious?"

"Yes!" Alice exclaimed.

Bella looked up at Edward, "Good for Charlie. I can't believe he did that."

"They're a good couple," Carlisle said, "They really love each other."

"Hold up," Emmett said, "We got that Charlie proposed, but did she say yes?"

Everyone looked to Alice, "Of course she said yes."

"He's going to become a member of the Quileutes," Renesme told them all, "He was talking about it the other day."

"What?" Bella asked, "He told you that?"

"Sue mentioned it the other night, too," Esme said, "Sorry I forgot to tell you, Bella."

"Oh, it's fine. I'm just used to homebody Charlie keeping to himself. He's definitely made his rounds into the social world these days," she smiled, "I'm happy for him."

"No Alice," Edward said, shaking his head.

She put her hands on her hips and looked at him.

"Don't you hate it when he does that?" Renesme asked. She smiled at her father and he smiled back.

"Yes Edward," Alice said back.

"Yes, no what?" Bella asked.

"Alice is already running through wedding colors and themes."

Esme and Rosalie looked at each other and shared a laugh.

"I doubt Charlie will want a big extravagant thing," Bella told Alice.

"Oh, I know their style," she explained, "I have some good ideas that will fit them just right... if they let me help in the decorating that is."

"Tell your dad to run," Jasper said. When Alice glared at him playfully, he gave her a series of rapid kisses on the cheek until she laughed and pushed him away.

"Wow," Bella said, letting it sink in, "Charlie's getting married again," she looked at Edward, "We have to go over there. Congratulate him."

"Oh, I don't know if that's such a good idea, Bella," Alice said. Jasper followed up her words with a wink.

"Okay, eww," she said with a smile.

Edward continued grinning, "We'll go over tomorrow."

"I have to call Sue," Esme said.

"Leave them be," Carlisle said with a smile, "Give it some time to sink in."

"Well, first thing tomorrow then."

"I'd suggest sending them to Isle Esme on a honeymoon, but that might be weird since the headboard is in pieces," Emmett smiled at Bella.

Renesme made a disgusted face.

Rosalie hit Emmett, "It's fixed. Leave Bella alone."

"Oh, I wasn't talking to Bella. I heard it was rebroken after Carlisle and Esme's trip." He raised his eyebrows.

Masen put his hands over his ears, "I'm leaving."

Carlisle shook his head.

"Now you scarred Masen for life, Emmett," Jasper told him.

"What about Renesme?" Renesme said about herself, referring to the previous comment about her parents.

"Oh yeah, you too," he said with a laugh.

"Should we pretend we don't know?" Bella asked, "I don't know if I'll be able to do that."

"We can go over tomorrow, I'm sure Charlie will tell us before we have the chance to ask."

There was a silence in the room before Emmett broke it, "Well, it's nice to get some good news. Now I'm going to watch my show. Paul let me borrow those DVD's."

Rosalie made a disapproving face and reluctantly went with Emmett.

"What show?" Alice asked.

"The Walking Dead," he said with a laugh, "I guess it's some joke the wolf pack had about us. Paul came clean, and it's actually a good show."

Rosalie shook her head, "No, it's really not. Carlisle, can you ban this in your house? For my sake?"

He laughed, "I've never seen it, so..."

"Oh, the first five minutes will put you right on my side," she said jokingly, but still looked like she wanted nothing to do with it.

"It's fiction, babe," Emmett said, "Just entertainment."

"It's about blood lusting zombies," Jasper said with a laugh.

"Oh, that's the joke," Bella said.

"I'm going to have to talk to Jake about that one. It's not funny." Renesme said, smiling.

"Oh, the dog is about to be in the dog house," Emmett said as he left with Rosalie dragging her feet behind him.

"Blood lusting zombies, huh," Esme said, shaking her head with a smile, "Nice."

"We're blood lusting vampires," Jasper said, "So, we're okay."

A deck of cards caught Edward's eye, "Anyone want to play cards?"

"Texas hold 'em?" Jasper asked.

"Whatever you want," he told him confidently.

Alice shook her head, "It's not fair playing with you, Edward. You know all of our cards."

"Not Bella's," he said with a laugh.

Carlisle and Esme flipped on the TV and started browsing the stations. Masen reappeared in the room after hearing Edward's suggestion to play cards and joined where they were all gathering around the kitchen table.

"I've never played," Renesme said, referring to Jasper's game suggestion.

"You'll pick it up," Edward told her. He started explaining the rules. Masen listened intently.

"Edward always wins," Alice said.

He laughed and began dealing the cards.

Esme put her feet up when they settled on a movie, "I'm so happy for Charlie and Sue."

Carlisle nodded, "I am too. I'm glad they found each other." He looked over at the group at the table and smiled.

"I wish it would just stay like this all the time; no conflicts, no interferences from the Volturi..." Esme said, "This is... perfect."

He put an arm around her, "I know. I'm thinking it'll stay this way for a while. But if there's one thing that comes from confict, it's that it brings us closer. It makes us who we are, and reminds us of what's important."

She nodded in agreement, "Yeah, you're right," Esme looked at him, "It scares me a little sometimes, though."

Carlisle kissed her forehead and the two of them focused on the movie.

Emmett walked in the room to see if anyone wanted to watch his show before they started, then noticed the classic scene in Titanic of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet on the bow of the ship that was playing on the living room television. "Titanic!" he exclaimed, "Come on, guys. That's worse than what I'm watching in there."

"This is a good movie, Emmett," Esme told him, "You and Rosalie should come watch."

"I'll come watch," Rosalie's voice came from the other room.

Renesme's eyes were suddenly glued to the flat screen as the two of them shared a long, romantic kiss.

"Oh no," Emmett said, "Nessy's corrupted. She has Leo fever."

They all laughed and got back to what they were doing.

"I think it's a good movie," Carlisle whispered to Esme.

"I heard that," Jasper's voice came from the table, drawing a few more laughs.

A peaceful, easy feeling lingered in the house, and Esme hoped with everything that it would remain that way.