A/N: These ladies make TLC the absolute best it can be: Charmie77, acireamos, SSHG316, SavageWoman and Irritable Grizzzly. I would probably look very foolish if it weren't for the expertise each of them brings to making this story awesome.
This is the second part of chapter 29, which became a chapter of its own. Therefore, readers, you get a bonus chapter :)
THAT'S HOW STRONG MY LOVE IS (Excerpt)
by Alicia Keys
I'll be the water you need
in the desert land
Just to let you know you'll always have my hand
I'll be the woman you need to be a better man
So you'll always know
Through the shake of an earthquake
I will never fall
That's how strong my love is
Like a ship through the storm
we can risk it all
That's how strong my love is
"Love knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything. Love still stands when all else has fallen." - Anonymous
"Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for loveis as strong as death, its ardor unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame." –Solomon 8:6
Chapter 30 – TLC – That's How Strong My Love Is
Edward was livid. He'd just spent an hour and forty-five minutes interrogating Jared Featherstone, Had it not been for Chief Black, Edward might have beaten him within an inch of his life; he was so damned infuriating. He wondered how Jared could be so different from Paul and his mother, Reisa. Jared delighted in pushing his buttons and had done so until they'd grown weary of his bullshit. Then he'd lawyered-up and was sprung shortly after noon.
Much as Edward suspected, Jared possessed just enough information to make him a person of interest, but there wasn't enough evidence to hold him. He had convenient alibis for each incident that involved direct or indirect contact with the stalkers. Edward wasn't convinced that Jared hadn't been nosing around in his life for the last several weeks. He would keep him on the suspect list until either the perpetrators were found, or he uncovered enough evidence or lack thereof to clear him.
Under the guise of needing it to corroborate some of his alibis, Captain Black had finagled a phone number from Jared where Reisa was staying with her sister in South Carolina. Edward was relieved that he would be able to call her now.
Rosalie had graciously agreed to pick Bella up for work and had taken his shift at the Center. Bella and staff were deep in the throes of the afterschool program when he arrived on the campus. She looked stunning in a burgandy sleeveless suit, the narrow skirt accentuating her curves. When he spotted her, she effectively pushed all thoughts of Jared out of his head and he assumed his Taps trick, so he wouldn't scare the children and embarrass his girlfriend when he went inside.
Bella and about eighty other pairs of eyes looked up as he entered the common room. It was as if she could sense the tension in him. Her eyes inquired, but then she smiled and nodded toward her office as she finished up. While waiting for her, he radioed Rosalie that he was on-site so she could return to her regular beat, but she wasn't having any of it. She called him on her cell.
"It's my girl's birthday, Cullen. Over my dead body will you be staying here until seven tonight. I'll sweep the perimeter until you take over, then I'll go across town until fourteen-hundred hours. I expect to see your happy ass leaving here when Bella's shift ends, capisce?"
"Actually, it's good you're willing to do that for us. Our reservation is at seven-thirty and we would have been cutting it way close. Thanks, Rosalie."
Bella came into her office and closed the door as he was hanging up. She cut to the chase. "Any earth-shattering revelations from Jared?"
She moved within a few inches of him and looked up into his eyes expectantly. With a sigh, he took her into his arms. "He enjoyed toying with us, and at first glance, it looks like he has alibis. Only good thing that came of this was securing a phone number for his mother."
"I think she'll be able to shed a lot of light on this situation." Bella squeezed him and laid her head on his chest. "This will come to an end soon. I can feel it."
An uncharacteristic wave of fear gripped him. "I certainly hope you're right, baby."
~888~
They didn't have live music on Mondays at Chez, but Edward was pleased with the soft mood music flowing through the speakers. While he watched Bella eating her duck roquette, he recalled giving her gift number twenty-one while they were at the Center. It was from his mother.
Elizabeth Masen Cullen had provided a scholarship fund to the Center for twenty-three years. Each year, one lucky child from the Center would receive a twenty-three-hundred dollar scholarship from the Paul Featherstone Memorial Scholarship fund until the fund was exhausted. Bella had been just as emotional about the gift as he'd been when his mother had broached the subject. When tears of joy ran down her cheeks, the children comforted her. It had been a very poignant scene.
Gift number twenty-two he'd given her after they'd taken a nap and just before they'd dressed to come to the restaurant. It was a Kindle with a gift certificate for twenty-three pre-paid books. She'd been ecstatic, given her love of literature.
"Do you know how many books I can carry around while I'm on vacation, now? I'm always torn about which ones to take. This will make it so easy." She threw her arms around him. "Thanks, sweetheart. You know me so well."
Edward's heart and head swelled to ginormous proportions. He might just pull this off, after all. He would present her with the Corinne Bailey Rae concert tickets over dinner and then when they returned to the condo after dinner, he had a tiny cake for two, a bottle of champagne chilling in the fridge, and his great-grandmother's ring cleaned, sized and waiting; ready to go on the fourth finger of Bella's left hand.
He was enjoying a lamb tarragon pasta, and smiling like the cat that ate the canary, when Bella looked up from her salad. "What are you thinking about?" she asked, taking a sip of wine.
"Oh, just how beautiful you look tonight," he lied smoothly, and then defaulted with a tease. "I think I like this silver number even better than your white ballerina dress last night."
"That was not a ballerina dress," she protested. "You men are hopeless when it comes to women's fashions."
"Yeah, our job is to enjoy it while you're wearing them, and pray that we're lucky enough to take them off at the end of the day."
"You kinky, kinky boy," she whispered with a sexy grin.
He leaned into her and whispered back, "Ms. Swan, you have barely seen a fraction of the depth of my kinkiness. The things I'd love to do with you, and to you, someday."
"Is that a promise?" she challenged.
His virginal preacher's daughter never ceased to amaze him. "You are a depraved man's dream come true. And yes, I promise to follow through when you make an honest man of me."
"I'll be happy to make an honest man of you since you've been so thoroughly re-virginized."
"Re-virginized?"
"Yeah, you've been dating a woman with a vow of abstinence, and helping her to keep that vow. Your virtue has been restored."
"Okay..."
"And I want to be your first."
He did a double-take, but recovered swiftly. "That will depend entirely on how you take the final two gifts I'm going to give you tonight," he said. "In fact, in order to ensure your compliance, please raise your right hand and repeat after me, Ms. Swan."
She played along and did as she was told.
"I promise," he prompted.
She repeated, "I promise."
"To accept the final two gifts for my birthday from my very handsome and sexy boyfriend."
She laughed loudly before she could catch herself.
"That is not what I just said. Come on, get to repeating, Swan."
She stifled her laughter. "To accept the final two gifts for my birthday from my very handsome and sexy boyfriend."
"Without whining, complaining, or resisting them in any way."
She gasped. "I do not whine! I might complain-and resist."
He raised an eyebrow and she capitulated and mumbled the words. "Without whining, complaining, or resisting them in any way."
"And I will reward him with my lips and hand, accordingly."
"You have a dirty mind, Officer Cullen. Does your Captain know this about you?"
"I can assure you that there is nothing, and I repeat nothing, even remotely dirty about what I have planned for you later, Ms. Swan."
He tried to convey how much he loved her with his eyes and she must have believed him, because she repeated the final words, and leaned in for a kiss. She tasted of duck, salad greens, vinaigrette, and Pinot Noir. Absolutely delicious.
~888~
Edward quickly set out the cake and champagne on the breakfast bar while Bella was freshening up, and the ring was now in his pocket. He put on the Sia CD on that she'd returned with on Saturday. She and Rosalie had gone to what used to be the dollar theater on Sharer Road. Afterward they had gone and bought the album, because they'd heard the song in the movie, Eclipse. Since Saturday, Sia was growing on him, he supposed.
Within the hour, Bella could very well be his fiancée. He became lightheaded with anticipation, or was it nervousness? He had to sit down. When Bella entered the room, having kicked off her heels, but still wearing what he had dubbed her silver "fuck me" dress, his slacks tightened considerably. She would be the death of him before he could even ask for her hand in marriage.
Taking a running start, she leapt into his lap. He caught her to soften the impact, but when her tush connected with his package, he grunted. "Oomph!"
She wound her arms around his neck and peppered his face with kisses, punctuating almost every word with a kiss. "You." Smack. "Have made." Smack. "This." Smack. "My best." Smack. "Birthday." Smack. "Ever!" Smack. Smack. Smack. Her final kiss was on his lips and she used her tongue to deftly part his lips. He groaned, her forwardness making him so hard he was in physical pain.
The dress made her slippery as an eel in his arms, but he held onto her, careful not to let her fall. They kissed so deeply it was as if they might devour each other. Bella emerged for air and his lips went immediately to her throat, and down along her collarbone. She moaned and wriggled, sending frissons of pleasure through him that made him so greedy for her he couldn't do the formalities first. Champagne and cake would have to wait.
He stood, hoisting her onto his waist, her legs clamping around him as the tiny dress rode up her thighs. Their mouths connected again like magnets. He opened his eyes, so he could maneuver through the room without running into the furniture and carried her, cupping her bottom to keep her from falling.
Despite his limited visibility, they made it into the bedroom without incident, and he deposited her on the bed. She raised herself to her knees and, not taking her eyes off him, wriggled out of the dress, pulling it high over her head and tossing it to the floor. He was out of his shoes and shirt quickly and was unbuckling his belt. Clad only in a grey lacy bra and panty set, she walked on her knees to the edge of the bed and reached for his belt, pulling him toward her. He had unbuttoned and unzipped by the time she got into the waistband of his pants and pulled them down. His boxers were tented and he ached to be inside her. As if she could read his mind, she forced his boxers down and leaned over so that her mouth was on him and she began working her magic. She licked and sucked until she worked him into a frenzy.
She did this amazing tongue swirl with an immediate strong sucking draw that made him weak in the knees. Grabbing the headboard with one hand, he steadied himself while she continued her assault on his manhood. The tightness that usually preceded his release attested to the impending mind-blowing orgasm he was about to have. He continued caressing her shoulders and massaging the feminine musculature of her upper back. This was by far the most intense blowjob she'd ever given him and she seemed hell-bent on making him remember it.
He grabbed a handful of tissues off the nightstand, when she took another strong draw, but he was stronger and pulled away, burying his tip into the tissues as he experienced the most powerful explosion since they'd been enjoying their orgasms. She let him go and collapsed on the bed, struggling to hide her disappointment, but he could see it there in her eyes through the self-satisfied smile she flashed at him, and the pout that she couldn't disguise. He still couldn't bring himself to come in her mouth, even though she'd insisted on more than one occasion that she wanted to try. Discarding the tissues, he slid in bed beside her and pulled her into his arms.
"Bella, baby, please try to understand."
"Understand what, Edward? That you still think I'm too good for you?" Her nostrils flared angrily.
"You're special to me—and yes, probably a better person than I'll ever be."
"No, I'm not. I am a real woman with the same feelings and desires as any other woman. I just happen to practice a faith that eschews pre-marital intercourse. If I choose to perform fellatio on my boyfriend, shouldn't he be happy that I want to try to swallow his manly essence?"
She was so adorable, considering what she was angry about, and he couldn't help but laugh.
"What's so funny?" she demanded.
He tucked her hair behind her ear. "You say everything so properly. Fellatio. Manly Essence. It's blow job and jizz, Bella."
After a few seconds, she laughed, too. "I don't know. It just sounds better and more romantic when you say the proper terms—to me."
"Which is why I know you won't like swallowing," he said softly. "You're a lady, through and through. You are exactly who Charlie and Renee raised you to be. I don't want to try to change that."
"I thought guys liked girls to swallow because they think it's hot."
"That may be true for some, but swallowing won't add or take anything away from the experience for me."
"Really?"
"Really." He moved over her, caging her body between his arms. "Now on the other hand, I love tasting you when you come." She giggled and he nuzzled her neck, and then worked his way down her torso. He cupped her breasts and even through the lacy bra, he could feel her nipples go rigid. He began a circular caressing motion, which elicited a stifled moan.
His hands went under her back to unhook her bra, and she rose up from the bed. Letting it slip down, she pulled her arms through and then tossed it aside. Edward ducked his head and took one of her rosy nipples and warm brown areola into his mouth. As he suckled her breasts, he reached down and hooked his fingers through her panties, dragging them down her legs, his mouth following and licking a trail from her breasts to the insteps of both feet. Bella's moans almost rivaled Sia's as the music swirled around them.
Moving back up from her feet, he gently parted her legs and buried his face in her. Bella shuddered as he used his lips and tongue to begin teasing her most sensitive flesh. He caressed her from her hips up her sides, and found her breasts again, as he stroked them with his fingers while tasting the sweet delicacy that was her arousal. He licked and sucked until she was arching her back rhythmically with every thrust of his tongue.
"Oh, Edwaaaaarrd," she moaned and fisted her hands in his hair, holding his head as if she was afraid he would stop if she let go. He grinned and concentrating on her clitoris, he began to stimulate it horizontally rather than vertically. When he placed his fingers just below her entrance, he could feel when she was ready to have an orgasm. She was perilously close, so he quickened his pace with his tongue while simultaneously stroking her nipples with one hand, a thumb on one nipple and his pinky on the other. He felt her tighten, and suddenly she convulsed and screamed his name, lost in her own pleasure. He smiled, then slid up and took her breasts, first one and then the other, in his mouth and sucked as they rode out her orgasm together.
"Happy Birthday, baby," he murmured against her lips and then kissed her tenderly. He gathered her into his arms to cuddle until they both felt ready to continue their celebration, but Bella had other ideas. When she began kissing him again, he responded, unable to resist. It was as if their bodies were primed and on autopilot. He didn't grow alarmed until their kisses once again became passionate to the point of pain, and the hard proof of his desire pressed insistently against her abdomen. Bella shifted in his arms, and his manhood slipped of its own volition to where it naturally wanted to be, throbbing there painfully. With one thrust, they would be one, but this time neither of them was pulling away. Usually, one of them was levelheaded enough in times like this to stop, but it was as if they were both lost in a wave of desire that demanded to be quenched.
Although he was literally aching to be inside her, he knew that she would regret it immediately afterward, and as a result, he would too, and then there would be no undoing it. With a stifled groan, he dragged his lips away from hers. "Bella, we have to stop—if we give in to this temporary weakness, you'll regret it."
Cupping his face in her hands, she shook her head. "No, I've never felt anything so right in my whole life. I want you to make love to me, Edward."
A spasm of longing lurched inside him. He was flabbergasted. Bella had just said what he would have given anything to hear from her when he was the old Edward. However, now that he had changed so much, it was just the opposite. Especially now, when he wanted to ask her to marry him. They could honor her commitment a few more short months until they were married, couldn't they? As much as he wanted to cave and accept all that she was offering, he couldn't allow her to get this close and not keep her vow.
"Bella, there is nothing I want to do more than make love to you, right now. Hell, I've wanted to since the moment we first met, but since we've been together and I understand the depth of the commitment you made and why, I just couldn't..."
"I waited for the one, and you're it. I'll have no regrets tomorrow, except maybe losing this opportunity tonight. It's my gift to you, because I know we're committed to one another."
She kissed him then with a ferocity that zapped all rational thought from his mind and they were lost. It was as if the room began to swirl around them and he feared he was dangerously close to forgetting everything, including his name. Until those soft hot lips had touched his, he hadn't understood the depth of the raging desire that had been concealed behind her normally prim exterior. He kissed her again, and their breathing was like panting as they gorged themselves on their kisses. Finally, it was going to happen. After all the months of steel control, he clearly couldn't resist now. He lifted one of her legs and hitched it around his hip. Then with anxious fingers, he touched her between her legs and found that she was ready.
Bella had given him total control of her body, and he struggled to grasp the enormity of what was about to happen, but it was too much. He felt as if he might explode and fall apart if he had to stop now. Hearing himself make noises that no other had ever elicited in him, he was fighting the urge to fall, but she was making it almost impossible for him to catch himself. He'd had sex, and a lot of it, in the past, but this would be different. He would truly be making love to a woman for the first time—a woman who would be giving him the most precious gift he could ever receive. Somehow, in such a short time, he'd fallen deeply in love with this complex and beautiful woman. She had to love him that same way too, if she was willing to break her vow.
Suddenly, he pulled away and instantly felt chilled. "Wait," he whispered raggedly, forcing the word out of his mouth. For a moment, Bella looked crestfallen, but gorgeous nonetheless. He quickly reassured her with one word. "Protection."
"Oh," she said, coloring deeply with embarrassment.
He kissed her blush away and sat up to forage in the nightstand for a condom. He found a box, which was mysteriously light and when he opened it, as he suspected it, was empty. He held the box aloft and didn't recognize his voice when he gave her the news. "I suppose making love tonight is a no-go, baby."
"Not necessarily," she urged. "The CVS on North Monroe is open twenty-four hours." She looked furtively at the clock on the nightstand.
Edward hesitated. Maybe this was fate telling them this was a bad idea. Bella rose up on her knees and wound her arms around him from behind. He felt her nipples grazing against his back and he hardened infinitesimally. He did want her—badly. However, he didn't want her to be plagued by the nagging regret of breaking a promise she had made to God.
He exhaled and uttered a sentence that didn't agree with his libido. "This is a mistake, Bella. This is a decision we need to make soberly, not in the heat of passion. Your vow is too important to break without giving it some serious thought."
"But..."
He turned to face her. "I love you so much. I don't think I could take it if you were disappointed in me, or yourself, and wound up regretful after we did this. I would never forgive myself for allowing you to succumb to a moment's passion and lose something you've been saving for a very special man and special day in your life. Of course, I want that man to be me, but I guess my point is: we have time."
As he uttered those last words, the look in her eyes morphed into understanding, and hot tears coursed down her cheeks. He felt like a cad as he took her into his arms.
"Baby," he soothed, "what's wrong?"
"I'm so sorry," she sobbed. "I should have had more willpower than that."
He cupped her face in his hands and swept her tears away with his thumbs. "It's okay. We're supposed to bear one another's burdens, right? When you're weak, I'm strong, and when I'm weak, you're strong for me."
"And I'm supposed to be the person of faith in this relationship? Looks like you've been paying attention at City of Hope. I'm glad, or you'd be on your way to CVS right now."
"No, I think you would have come to your senses before I was out the door, but I figured we'd save some time if I talked you down. Besides I have another gift for you."
She dragged a hand across her face, wiping away the last of the errant tears and sniffed appreciatively. "Oh baby, you've given me so much already. You really should take it back."
He hedged. "I don't know. I really didn't pay anything for this one and I think you'll really like it."
"Really?"
"Yes," he said soberly. "Now wash your pretty face and join me in the kitchen for cake, champagne and your final gift."
~888~
Edward lounged at the bar in the kitchen drinking a double-shot of scotch. Considering what just almost happed between them, he needed a stiff drink. He wasn't sure if he was being noble or if he'd been a fucking idiot to turn her down. As he thought about it, though, he came to the realization that it was because he loved her more than life itself, and that meant protecting her even from herself when he needed to.
Now it was time to pop the question that he'd been holding in all day.
He ran his hand over the ring box in his pocket and grinned. He couldn't wait to see it on her finger. She would be his fiancée within a few minutes. After he heard the shower go on in the master bath, he knew she would be a while, so he took his time icing the champagne again. Once that was done, he plopped into a seat at the bar enjoying his Glenlivet, and waited rather impatiently for her to emerge. He thought fleetingly about joining her, but their showers together usually turned into extended make-out sessions that were so hot and slippery, he found it difficult not to just slide into her and take her against the shower tiles.
He was lost in his ruminations when the intercom buzzed. It was the night door attendant. Edward answered in a jovial mood. He was so excited about what was about to transpire, he wasn't upset about the lateness of the call.
"Officer Cullen, Ms. Swan's father is down here. He has a rather urgent matter he must speak with her about. May I send him up?"
Edward felt like a fucking deer in headlights, but what could he do now except be a man and face Rev. Swan despite how things might look. He hesitated only a millisecond. "Um yeah, go ahead and send him up."
He had less than a minute or two before Charlie would be knocking on the door. Thankfully, he'd slipped his pants back on, but nothing else. He sprinted into the master bedroom to grab a shirt. Bella was still in the bathroom. He knocked, but the water was still running and there was music playing.
Edward had barely stepped into the closet, dragged his shirt back on and sprinted back out to be ready to receive Rev. Swan when the doorbell rang. He couldn't imagine what had brought him to the condo tonight of all nights. He doubted that Charlie was paying a visit to wish her happy birthday again before the time expired.
He was a few feet away from the door when the bell rang again, so he opened the door quickly. There stood Charlie with an unreadable expression on his face; Edward gathered underneath was part surprise and part disappointment, or something similar.
"Rev. Swan," Edward said smoothly in greeting. He'd be damned if he was backing down from the Reverend tonight. He and Bella were not horny teens caught doing something they shouldn't be.
"Edward," He replied tightly. Charlie seemed to be noting his casual state of dress, the absence of his shoes, and his wrinkled, half-buttoned shirt.
Edward flushed involuntarily and stood aside to allow him to enter, ushered him over to the living room and gestured toward the sofa.
"Please have a seat. Bella should be out in a few minutes."
"Had she already gone to bed for the evening?" Charlie asked as he sat down.
Edward hesitated. How should he answer that question? If he said no, Charlie might wonder what was taking her so long to come out; and if he said yes, he'd assume they had retired for the night together.
"Um, no, actually she's changing. After we got back from the restaurant for her birthday dinner, I wanted to cap off the evening with some cake and champagne." Then he figured the hell with it. He should let her father know his intentions were honorable, albeit not entirely. He pulled the little black box out of his pocket, flipped it open, and shoved it unceremoniously in Charlie's face. "And this."
A muscle in Charlie's jaw twitched. He looked at the ring and back up at Edward. "So, what you're saying is, you were going to ask for my daughter's hand in marriage without so much as a nod in my direction?"
"I didn't know that convention was still practiced," Edward said, his smirk exhibiting his renewed confidence.
Edward opened his mouth to say something else, but then Bella breezed in clad only in a short red negligee with a tiny matching robe, courtesy of her last trip to Victoria's Secret with Rosalie. Edward felt like he might swallow his Adam's apple, and Charlie's face turned almost purple.
"Dad?" She closed her eyes and swallowed convulsively, then pulled the robe closed. She kept her eyes trained on her Dad, seeking to gauge his expression and didn't notice him quickly flipping the jewelry box closed and depositing it back into his pocket.
Her face was devoid of makeup. All she wore was a bit of lip-gloss and she looked uncannily like she could be in high school again.
She spoke to her father again, this time her voice was unusually high. "Dad! What brings you here this time of night? Is everything all right? Mom and Nana are okay, right?"
Edward could tell Rev. Swan was trying to keep his temper in check. He wished he could read minds, because he desperately wanted to know what his holiness was really thinking. Charlie stood up as Bella entered the room and addressed his daughter. "Hey, baby girl. I didn't mean to interrupt, the uh, celebration for your birthday and all. Everything is fine now. We—your mother and I thought you should hear this from one of us personally. Your Nana is in the hospital over at Capital Regional Medical Center."
"Why?" Bella clutched her Dad's arms as he tried to keep his voice, and her, calm.
"She had an angina attack, apparently. She and Ira were together at her home about and an hour and a half ago when it happened."
Edward and Bella looked knowingly at one another.
"So, Deacon Wilson acted quickly on her behalf. That's good, huh?" Bella nodded as if to encourage Charlie this was exactly how it was.
"Yes. He thought she was having a heart attack, but it wasn't that severe."
"So she's going to be fine, then?"
"Yeah, they're keeping her overnight for some tests, but the doctor was almost certain it was just a garden-variety angina attack."
"I'll go change. We should go over there," Bella said, looking anxiously at Edward. He started toward the hallway to retrieve his shoes and keys, but Charlie held Bella fast.
"Actually, Ira's staying there with her overnight and I dropped your mom off at home before I came over. She was a bit put-out that your Nana chose the Deacon to stay, but was actually secretly relieved. She's got an early day in court tomorrow and needed to make some preparations."
"Oh," was all Bella said. Then she seemed to realize that she hadn't played the gracious hostess. "Would you like some cake?"
Charlie, playing the part of the gracious guest, refused. "No, thanks. I'm going straight to bed when I get home, so it probably wouldn't be a good idea for my sensitive stomach." He moved to the door, Bella and Edward on his heels. "I should be getting along, then."
When he was a few feet from the door, he turned to seek out Edward's eyes over Bella's head. "Edward, why don't you walk me out? I parked down the street again. You can never be too careful this late downtown."
Bella giggled nervously. "The ex-cop being protected by the current cop. You guys are hysterical."
From the look he gave him, Edward knew Charlie had something he wanted to get off his chest and the liquid courage swirling through his system wouldn't allow him to be nervous about it, either. "I'll get my shoes—and my gun," Edward said pointedly, and disappeared down the hallway.
~888~
Edward kissed Bella on the cheek and dutifully followed Charlie out to the elevator. Charlie was about an inch shorter than Edward was and he sort of reveled in having that small advantage. He figured the Reverend wanted to chastise him about being at the condo with Bella in a state of near-undress and all that it implied. They entered the elevator without a word and stationed themselves on opposite sides of the car. At first, Charlie just studied him. Edward was just beginning to get uncomfortable, when he spoke.
"Edward, I'm sure you know I had a hard time accepting the way you came into my daughter's life and stole a part of that light that she once only had for me, and I believe I'm finally comfortable with that idea because I know how much you care for Bella."
Edward nodded solemnly, his eyes never leaving Charlie's.
"I just want to share a personal story with you, if I may, because I don't want the two of you to make the same mistakes her mother and I did."
"Okay," Edward agreed. "Why don't we talk in the lobby? It's most likely deserted now."
"Yeah, it was pretty empty when I came up." Charlie cleared his throat nervously, and stroked one end of his mustache. He often did that when he was deep in thought.
They were quiet once again when the elevator came to a halt and they got out. George, the night doorman piped up when he saw Edward come out of the elevator with Charlie.
"I apologize, Officer Cullen. I don't know how I missed this when you came in earlier, but I have a piece of mail for Ms. Swan."
"Mail?" Edward was curious, and walked over to retrieve it. It was a non-descript-looking business-sized letter with just Bella's name typed neatly across the front. Edward took it by its edges and examined it.
"Do you by chance know who might have delivered this?"
"A rather androgynous-looking fellow in a baseball cap; average height, with a slight build. He was painfully shy, but said it was a special delivery for Ms. Swan," George said.
"Thanks." Edward took the letter and walked with Charlie into the Lobby.
"Is it suspicious that someone would leave mail for Bella here?" Charlie asked as he sat in an armchair.
Edward sat on the sofa and laid the envelope carefully on the table in front of them. "Yeah, it's concerning. We purposely left her mail going to her apartment in hopes that no one would trace her here."
Charlie grunted. "Huh."
"Well, looks like someone knows she's here now," Edward said, stating the obvious.
"Maybe it's a birthday thing," Charlie said hopefully.
"We'll see," Edward said determinedly. "I'll take it back up when we're done."
"Aren't you gonna look in that thing first—make sure it's safe?"
"You don't think Bella would be mad about that, do you? I'm trying to get her to marry me, Rev. Swan. I don't want her pissed at me tonight for opening a seemingly-innocuous piece of mail."
"She'll get over it. I say we open that sucker," Charlie insisted.
"Okay, but not until you tell me what you wanted to talk to me about."
"Fair enough." Charlie sat back nervously in his chair and began. "Edward, I resisted acceptance of yours and Bella's relationship in the beginning because I was in denial that she had finally found in you what her mother and I found in each other. Both you and she have convinced me otherwise, and considering the scene I just witnessed between you two, I just wanted to share Renee's and my story with you because I think it would be helpful for you to know. Bella is as stubborn as her old man, and she's so smitten with you now she'd never listen."
Edward nodded, and he continued.
"Renee and I got together in the early eighties, although we'd known each other since we were toddlers in the sixties. My father was a Presbyterian minister, and my mother a nurse who raised me to be as color-blind as one could be during those times. Our parents were friends and wherever there was a cause of equality to be championed, my parents were there standing right alongside the Rev. Daniel and Emily Higginbotham." He smiled, obviously lost in the memory.
"Renee and I danced around the attraction we had for one another while we were teenagers. We both dated other people and tried to move past that growing thing between us, but to no avail. It wasn't until she was in college at FAMU*, that I had the courage to move to Tallahassee and pursue her outright. I was a police officer in my little hometown in the Pacific Northwest, and she was on a fast track to becoming a lawyer. Not only was she smart, but extremely beautiful. She was a dancer when the Marching 100 was a little bit more daring than other bands."
"I'd say they're still a little more daring," Edward interjected with a smile.
Charlie smiled in kind. "You're probably right about that. Anyway, I approached Renee's father and told him off—pretty much like you stood up to me about Bella—because he was afraid that a relationship for us would be untenable, even in the post civil-rights era of the eighties. Renee and I didn't give a damn about that."
Edward's eyebrow rose imperceptibly when he heard Rev. Swan utter a swear word.
"We were in love and we wanted to be together, and as far as we were concerned, nothing was going to stop us. Eventually, her father gave us his blessing and we dated openly. It was difficult sometimes for us, even then. Our friends were cautious, and strangers were sometimes belligerent and downright ugly, but we just handled each situation as it came up and continued to love one another, regardless of what the community at large thought of us. I know you young people might find it hard to believe sometimes, but we know what it's like to be in love and to want to express it in every way possible. Renee was everything to me and we struggled the same way you and Bella are right now."
Edward shifted uncomfortably, but didn't interrupt again.
"Try as we might, and as committed as we both were to being faithful to wait until we were married, we didn't reach the mark. By that time I was convinced that I had been called into the ministry, we had already breached our promise of abstinence several times. However, we repented and moved on with our lives and were married the year Renee graduated. We were so excited to be married, and anxious to start our family even though Renee was in law school.
"We both dreamed of having our children while we were young so they could grow up with us, so to speak, but our first three tries were met with failure. Renee had three miscarriages before Bella came along, and then she was so sick when she carried Bella we almost lost them both. I blame myself for not having enough willpower to resist when we were young and foolish. Much like David experienced after his indiscretion with Bathsheba, I believed our difficulties conceiving were somehow related to breaking our promise to God, but my bride didn't and still doesn't agree with me.
"God gives us a lot of grace Edward, which is what I try to impart to my parishioners, including those of you in my Bible Study on Wednesday nights. However, He left his Word as a guide to show us how to live, and Renee and I strayed from that, but we were sincere in our repentance and God showed us mercy by finally rewarding us with a beautiful daughter. We would have loved to have others, and as a matter-of-fact, we borrowed Angela from her parents in Malta for most of her High School life some years after we realized we couldn't.
"I truly believe that when we decide to follow God, His Holy Spirit resides in us, and our hearts should be His and not divided. Anything we do that he has advised us, for whatever reason, not to do, grieves him mightily. That's why the church views sexual sin so seriously. When a man and woman come together, they are joining their spirits, and God is right there in the midst, but our actions drive Him out if we are in sin, because He is holy and won't reside with us in it.
"I realize this is a lot for you to take in, and I don't mean to butt in where my opinion is not welcome. I just wanted to share this with you, because I believe you are a man of integrity, and despite my un-Christ-like treatment of you in the beginning, you still grew to love my daughter like Christ loves his Church, and I truly appreciate that, Edward."
Edward cleared his throat. "Thanks for sharing with me what I know is a deeply personal story for you, Rev. Swan. I'm grateful that you felt I was worthy to hear it. I can't begin to say that I understand all of what being a man of faith entails, but I've learned a lot since I've been attending your studies, and I'm still learning. Just watching how Bella lives every day has taught me a lot as well. I will always keep your story in the back of my mind as I continue to love and cherish her, hopefully from this day forward. That is, if you would give us your blessing." Edward waited expectantly for Charlie's response.
After what seemed like an interminable amount of time, Charlie finally stood and offered Edward his hand. He took it and they shook hands vigorously across the coffee table.
"Even though it's kind of an afterthought, you do have my blessing to seek my daughter's hand in marriage."
Edward was so ecstatic that he skirted around the table and threw his arms around the man he realized would soon be his father-in-law. Charlie only seemed a little chagrined about that unexpected show of emotion. When they both stepped back nervously, Charlie spied the letter on the table.
"So, are we opening that now?"
"Oh yeah," Edward said. He borrowed a letter opener from George and opened it under Charlie's watchful eye, then slid the letter out of the envelope. Careful only to touch the corners of it in case he needed to preserve some fingerprints, he laid it open on the table. What they saw made both their mouths fall open. Someone had snapped some grainy pictures of Bella, taken with something like a camera phone, and they were printed all over the paper. There were also words, obviously printed from a computer: "Officer Cullen Can't Save You!"
~888~
E/N: Quite a few of you were curious as to the other 24 gifts Bella received for her birthday. Here's a rundown for you, which I originally wanted to include in the previous chapter but it got too freaking long for me to do so.
Bella's Birthday Gifts:
1) Starbucks Gift Card for twenty-three Lattes
2) A Gift card from Bella, Bella Restaurant
3) An Alisha Keyes Unthinkable Video
4) The complete C.S. Lewis Signature Classics
5.) A Nina Simone CD
6.) A Langston Hughes Poetry Book
7.) A Nicole Nordeman CD
8.) A Blue Ray Disc of the movie "The Princess Bride"
9.) A DVD of the movie "Splendor In The Grass"
10.) A Blue Ray Disc of the movie "An Officer and a Gentleman"
11.) A Blue Ray Disc of the movie "Avatar"
12.) A "Grey's Anatomy" Season DVD Set
13.) A CD of Edward playing Debussy & A song he wrote for Bella
14) A white gold cross on a white gold chain (engraved on back "Faithfully yours, Edward)
15.) A leather-bound Bible engraved with "To: Isabella Marie Swan I love you like Solomon loved his Beloved," Edward Anthony Cullen"
16.) Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair by Pablo Neruda
17.) Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue Gift Set
18.) 23 Red & White Roses
19.) A massage at Bernice at Betton's Salon and Day Spa
20.) A Kindle w/ 23 prepaid books
21.) An annual $2300 Featherstone scholarship for one child at the Center for 23 years (c/o Elizabeth Masen Cullen)
22.) Corinne Bailey Rae Concert Tickets (11/8/2010)
23) A gorgeous cushion-cut diamond engagement ring with micro pave diamonds set in platinum (picture on profile).
*FAMU – Florida A & M University
Recommendation:
I haven't rec'd anything or anyone in a while and wanted to do so this time because I've found a truly awesome writer, artist, musician, and friend in bettigefecht who writes "Your True Colors", which she describes as a "Twilight fanfiction of sorts." I view it as a story for mature women in the fandom who appreciate a multi-media approach to fanfiction. Betti has not only written the story, but she has illustrated each chapter, and written songs for it, as well. So, If you'd like to see a story truly come alive, that features the sexiest Rob/Edward look alike in the fandom and his lady love, a truly original character, give "Your True Colors" a read, and browse her websites while doing so. Many authors in the fandom know Betti already by her truly unique red, black and white artwork, and as such have been recipients of her creative talent. Check out her banner site as well:
http :/ your-true-colors dot blogspot dot com/?zx=ce08f12a9bdf41
http :/ banners-by-betti dot blogspot dot com/
http :/ bettimusictwilight dot blogspot dot com/