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Chapter 200
The Last Hours
Edward
"Well, how was it?", David asked me with a grin when we got back from the night's hunt.
He had obviously known where my brothers had abducted me.
"I'm not talking to you anymore. As a real friend, you should have warned me!", I countered. It made me very uncomfortable how I had comported myself on stage in that establishment, although Candy's gift was solely responsible for that.
"What are you afraid of? That I'll tell Bella?" he teased me.
Oh yes, exactly that!, I thought. If not intentionally, then accidentally, if he had had one too many glasses of whiskey or bottles of beer.
"Come on. What kind of stuff do you think I got up to at my bachelor party!"
I saw it in his mind and was ... speechless.
Would Sonya know about it? Probably not. He not only got drunk with his friends through various bars. No. He was also under various drugs and had danced in a similar bar even voluntarily and very lewd with the ladies. If one could still call that a dance. Each of the ladies had tried to drive him out of marriage or simply to make him forget it. And they had not been squeamish. That he did not have coitus on stage, in front of everyone, bordered on a miracle.
"How can you still look Sonya in the eyes?", I asked, stunned.
"With the knowledge that I would not have done all this sober in any case. Besides, their party was no less ... fun," he replied.
I turned angrily to Emmett and Jasper, grabbing them by the collar.
They had chuckled, which died down immediately.
"What is Alice doing in my house with my angels?", I asked them brusquely.
"If it makes you feel any better, there was no stripper or anything like that present!", Carlisle pushed himself between me and my brothers.
The latter immediately took to their heels.
I let my shoulders droop.
Did I see it all too exaggerated? Were my moral principles no longer up to date? ... Of course they were not. I was one hundred and twenty-three years old! And my principles were not a day younger! All in all, this thesis was supported by the smirks of David and Carlisle.
"Jake and Marcus are asleep?", I asked.
"Of course," Carlisle nodded.
"They were asleep as soon as they saw the bed," David added.
I was cited to the attic.
The most distant place from further preparations in the house.
"Why didn't you come with me when you already knew what they were going to do to me?", I asked David, who had started on his way with me.
"Emmett offered to me, but when I heard they were going to take Marcus and Jake, I declined. There are some things one should only share with your sons," he said meaningfully.
"Like how you've been going to a teen motorcycle class with Daniel lately, and you've been bribing Luces and Deacon with copious amounts of ice cream, so they don't tell on you," I dug deeper.
"Um ... yep ... Now tell me. What was it like? How was she? How badly did you behave?" he drilled after all.
"Well. Her name was Candy and she seduced me. On stage ...", so I began to tell after all.
By the time the three of us arrived in the attic, I had also finished my brief report, but just saw the lights being extinguished one by one in my house.
The ones in the twins' attic, in the kitchen, in our bathroom. I couldn't see more windows from here, but that was quite enough for me.
Sleep well, my angel and dream of me!
I typed into my cell phone.
Doo you draem abot mee to?
an answer came back after some time.
I laughed.
Grammar and spelling had apparently drowned in sparkling wine. Hopefully, my angel would not have a hangover tomorrow. Esmé would certainly have made sure, however, that both Bella and my daughters would not have drunk so much that they would still notice something of it tomorrow. In that respect, I was not worried.
All the time.
I answered.
I loev you perjury tan
Mmm ...? The first part was clear, but what was the second part supposed to mean? Perhaps the 'perjury' distracted me a bit too much to realize the meaning.
I love you too, my heart!
Would I ask her tomorrow - or rather later - times about it. She would certainly blush enchantingly again.
With Carlisle and David, I lay in the attic all the rest of the night.
We talked about this and that related to marriage. Discussed its importance to us, shared little anecdotes, compared it to my siblings' marriages or the hopes for Jake.
David, of course, fell asleep during this.
He was only a human. Carlisle was not my father, but that night was one of those that made me forget that at times. On the other hand, I could not imagine that my biological father would have sat down with me one night before my wedding and spoken to me so good-naturedly and openly.
I listened intently to my sons' heartbeats and asynchronous snoring sounds as I did so, lest I follow the thoughts of my siblings, who were busy three floors below us.
Despite all the concentration and the real will to let Alice surprise me, I had already noticed that they decorated the unsightly large hall on the first floor.
In the meantime, I had also mentally overheard a more precise guest list.
Orenda Young astonished me most of all. Well, I had known about her presence for several hours. When I had secretly looked for Bella, I had already noticed her, but I had not known who she was. It was a very nice idea of Alice's that the Native Americans should bring her. At ninety-eight years of age, she held a proud age at which it was quite reasonable to expect that mother and daughter would not see each other again if a meeting kept being postponed. But now they had the opportunity to do so.
The Latham family, on the other hand, surprised me only a little, but I was very pleased. And our friends from Alaska would also arrive. This was undisputed, but caused me considerable concern, which I also discussed with Carlisle.
For almost twenty years Irina had lived in the belief that Laurent's feelings toward her were not sincere. Why else had he disappeared? Now we - or rather Carlisle - had finally been able to tell Irina what had actually happened to Laurent. However, the unpleasant encounter between him and the Quileute wolves had been a very sensitive subject until now, although they knew about my connection to Bella, mother of such wolves. Moreover, we had not told them about my son until now. Sasha, the creator of the sisters Kate, Tanya, and Irina, who had been like a mother to them, had been destroyed by the Volturi because Sasha had created an immortal child.
This story had left a strong impression on the sisters, and we doubted that they would believe our word alone that Ced was not one of these dangerous creatures forbidden by law. Carlisle, however, was confident about their visit. Carmen and Eleazar were such compassionate beings. They would believe and understand us and convince the sisters. Carlisle was sure of that. I, on the other hand, basically expected the worst. It was just in my nature to worry all the time. Especially when it came to my family.
In order not to feel quite so useless, I insisted on preparing breakfast for everyone. After all, I would have the most experience in it and would not mess up the kitchen so that a complete renovation would be needed.
So they left the kitchen to me.
David's children were up early again, and I prepared the cocoa for each of them according to individual standards. Charlie was an early riser, so I soon had him sitting in the kitchen. A guest bed had been prepared for Billy in a room on the first floor so that he could move freely with his wheelchair. So he rolled into the kitchen shortly thereafter.
The three boys sat down in front of the children's program on TV.
I would check with David later to see if that was really common for them - on a Sunday morning. If not, I would probably add a little salt to the next cocoa.
Three of us talked about the day ahead.
Whether I was excited about what the planning looked like, and Billy asked several times when Ciara would get here.
"For that to happen, Jake would have to wake up to pick her up first, and I doubt that will happen very soon," I replied good-naturedly each time.
He told a little about earlier, when he had been in school with Cia - as he called her. Back then, when he still believed that one day he would be one of the proud protectors of the tribe. How pretty 'his' Cia had been then. He emphasized this word, which made Charlie and me smirk more and more.
Charlie teased his friend a little bit about that, but I wasn't listening.
Thoughts had just entered my consciousness that really had no place here. My girls sneaked into the house and thought of excuses in case someone would catch them. Not very good excuses, as I realized with a smile. I wouldn't betray Becky and Leah to anyone, though.
Little by little the kitchen became fuller, and people helped themselves abundantly to the prepared breakfast.
Former wolves did not seem to discard their hunger with the last transformation.
"Good morning," I then heard David greet his boys in the adjacent living room.
It seemed to be common for him to be jumped on by all his boys at the same time. He had a headache, and his back was quite tense, but he enjoyed it and laughed at the top of his lungs. As a result, he toppled over with his children. Then he discussed with them since when breakfast was eaten in front of the TV.
So the kids had tricked me! The punishment followed on the heels, and I made new cocoa. With my secret ingredient.
"I wonder if it tastes good!" doubted Sam.
I explained the situation and he followed me, grinning.
"All right. But don't make a habit of it! You generally sit in front of the flicker box far too much for me already," David had lost the discussion.
"Fresh cocoa," I warbled happily.
David became uninterested and the boys came to meet me. They stout-heartedly grabbed the cups and directly all took a very strong sip.
"And you let them watch TV too?!", David then accused me at one point.
The salt showed a delayed effect. All three contorted their faces and were unwilling to swallow the liquid in their mouths.
"What's the matter? Doesn't it taste good?" I asked, quite disappointed.
They looked at each other pained, David peeked quite worried, while Sam was still grinning. They swallowed and said it tasted just great.
"You are quite miserable liars!", I then said.
David peeked irritated.
"That's what you get for trying to trick me!", I clarified.
David now understood the situation and laughed.
"What did you put in?"
"Salt!"
The kids peeked very embarrassed, and I took the cups from them again.
They were already afraid that they would have to drink it all. But I was not an ogre. Or an 'unvampire'.
I made up new cups and had to give my Scout's Honor that there was no salt in these.
Daniel was already bigger than his brothers. He demanded the promise that nothing, but milk and cocoa powder would be included, otherwise I would have to let him drive one of my cars.
Clever little fellow.
"This one takes after you, doesn't he?", I said to David when we were back in the kitchen.
"No, only on the outside. He got that deceitfulness from his mother!" he countered.
Truthfully, as far as I could say from Daniel's mother.
"Sonya is sneaky?", Seth had overheard.
He didn't know Sonya personally yet, but had heard quite a bit about her in the meantime. Through David himself, but also from Bella all these years.
"No, Sonya is not Daniel's mother," the two then began a conversation.
I delved into a conversation with Sam and Paul about their time after they had been wolves.
We knew they were both basically normal people today. Paul needed reading glasses. Their strength and conditioning were not supernatural, just what they added to it athletically. Injuries didn't heal themselves. I was interested in how quickly these changes appeared after the last transformation. Sam told of an experience. He had twisted his ankle not three months after he had shed the wolf. It hadn't been particularly bad. Even as a normal person, he would not have gone to the doctor with this trifle. He still felt it sometimes today, because he had not had it medically treated immediately.
"Excuse me," I murmured to the two of them and hurriedly ran to Jake's room.
An enraged Rosalie was on her way directly there.
We had a neck-and-neck race, only we were coming from different directions.
I jumped the last bit into the door frame and thus blocked Rose's way.
"You let them sleep!" A statement, not a request. I also growled subliminally at that. After all, this was about my children!
And she growled back with sparkling eyes.
"They don't play by the rules!" she thundered.
However, quietly, so that the children were not awakened.
Yes, that was a contradiction, which Rose also noticed the moment she said it.
We both smiled viciously, seriously, amused at her faux pas.
"Why are you so eager to wake them up and bring them back?"
"They have said they want to abide by it as much as anyone else."
"But they're young. They change their minds."
"We're young, too, and we stick to our agreements."
"So I'm a hundred and twenty-three. And you're, wait, let me do the math ...", I started to ponder. Well. She was a hundred and nine in all, I didn't need to do the math, but she hated it when people said it.
"Don't you dare speak it!"
"If you leave them alone!", I stated.
Rose hesitated.
"I stick to it absolutely voluntarily today that I won't see Bella again until later. I also promise you that I will not look for her in anyone's mind. But you let my children sleep!"
"Okay, but you send them over immediately when they're awake!"
"Immediately," I promised. "As soon as they are sufficiently awake for my feeling," I added whispering, when Rose had already turned around and was walking down the hall.
"Did you say something?" she turned again.
"No," I said confusedly. "Have you been hearing voices lately?" I asked, convincingly concerned.
Rose shook her head and continued walking.
Soundlessly I opened Jake's room door and took a quick look inside.
They looked so peaceful. Four of my six angels. Jake was lying on top of Becky. The fact that she didn't have trouble breathing under his weight, depending on how her wolf was lying, was amazing. Leah and Marcus lay a good bit apart and that absolutely unconsciously. Their legs were wrapped around the bedspread in a fighting fashion, otherwise only Marcus' hand was on Leah's. I was currently fascinated by the relation between the two of them. It was as if there was an invisible boundary between them that neither of them ever crossed, not even in their sleep, but both of them used this boundary to the utmost.
Soundlessly, I closed the door again and went back to the company.
My vampiric appendage was meanwhile also gathered in the kitchen, at least the male part of it. One discussed about the rest of the day, whether still any undertakings were planned.
Billy again asked about Ciara Young and her arrival.
It would still take a little time. So the first ones already set off for the swim. David and his children, together with Carlisle and Emmett. The ex-wolves were still hungry, Jazz had to do some last things according to Alice's instructions, Charlie and Billy were still considering and I would wait for my baby, who had been promised to me for the swim. I also had coffee to serve in due course. And those times were then initiated. Leah woke up.
I made fresh coffee for my kids and afterwards filled four cups.
Two black, one with milk, one with sugar. As had once been customary the vast majority of days.
My children also more or less jumped into my arms, but unlike David's, mine did so one after the other and not simultaneously.
I stayed with them as long as they drank the coffee.
It was nice to have a little time with them after all and hear their stories. To see their laughter. All four of them were hungry, though, so the girls left again.
"It's best to go through the front door. Some are already in the swimming pool and would possibly discover you. But be quiet. The wolves are in the kitchen with your grandfathers," I advised them.
I went ahead with some distance to be able to warn them if necessary.
Had been necessary, because otherwise they would have run into Sam, who was on his way to the basement.
But they reached the front door unnoticed, where the four of them said goodbye.
In the meantime, I caused a little trouble in the kitchen so that they wouldn't be overheard doing it.
With a very satisfied smile, Jake and Marcus then came to breakfast.
"Have you been kissed awake by dream fairies?" Charlie asked the two.
"Or why are you grinning so clearly?" continued Billy.
The boys smooted over that they had just slept very well.
The experienced men did not believe that for a minute, but smiling they said nothing more about it.
While they were eating, I finally got my baby back.
However, Ced did not have time for an extensive greeting. He had heard something about swimming.
Everyone then went down with him, even Billy.
We changed in the two locker rooms, and I was quite surprised. Billy managed very well on his own despite his limitation. Except for the fact that I was surprised that he seemed to want to get into the water.
And it turned out to be a really fun time in the swimming pool. Ced had a lot of fun with all the boys and men who seemed to be there just for his personal amusement. Whether it was floating on his slide with Emmett and Jasper, with Charlie and Billy in the bubbling side pool, with Jake and Marcus on the stairs with his various water toys, with David's kids on the swimming mat, with the wolves on the side of the pool, or with me and a bottle in a side room. Ced was thoroughly happy. Only my older son lay prone on the loungers at some point and looked wistfully out of the window.
Well, yes. Wistful he looked, but he wasn't in a melancholy mood. He had fetched two croissants from the kitchen shortly before, which he was eating, and looked down at our house on the riverbank. There was hardly anything to be seen from here, though; I had already figured that out a good hour ago, which is why he looked so gloomy.
"You'll see your star again in a minute," I teased him, throwing myself onto the couch next to him.
"I know," he merely chewed. "Excited yet?" he asked with a smirk when he had swallowed.
"A little bit," I lied.
"Are you thinking about how Mom is going to look? What dress Alice has conjured up for her?"
"Of course. That and many other things."
"Like what?"
"If it will change anything between us when we're married. Between Bella and me. But also between the two of us and, of course, Leah."
"What do you mean by that? What should change?"
"I don't know ... There are many different opinions about it. Some say it wouldn't change anything because you already lived together like a married couple before. Others say it feels more legitimate if you really had a spouse. There are relationships that go on happily and harmoniously for decades, but then, when they do get married, very quickly lead to a divorce," I reflected.
"But something like that won't happen to you!", Jake was very sure of that.
I couldn't imagine such a thing either, but when one thought about it, it made one pensive ... My thoughts were currently generally something ... out of joint. I thought too much and then also curious stuff. Was this part of the general excitement that everyone had told me about, that took hold of one just before the wedding?
Jake then had to get ready to pick up Becky's grandmother.
He pondered what he should wear that would be appropriate for the occasion and thought of his Armani suit in that regard.
"Alice has already hung something in your room for Marcus and you," I said, however. Alice was thorough, no matter what she did. Except for cooking.
Jake took the direct route across the pool and threw his baby brother through the water once again with - moderate - momentum.
Marcus would accompany him.
I went back into the water to my squealing baby, who was already paddling towards me.
Slowly, one by one, the men left the pool to get ready for the wedding ceremony.
"Lucky we're men, right?" asked Emmett wryly of my son, who just unfortunately didn't understand irony yet.
Accordingly, Ced peeked in confusion.
"We don't need hours to get dressed up! Shower, get dressed, done," Em explained his opinion in more detail.
Ced, however, couldn't do anything with the words 'dress up' and asked what it meant.
We tried to explain to him that women sometimes needed a very long time to dress up adequately for an occasion in order to be especially pretty then.
He did not understand. For him, the girls were always pretty. His mommy, Becky, Leah, but also the others.
"You'll be amazed, little man, how they'll all look now!" promised Emmett.
That made my baby quite curious, but still he wanted to stay in the water, although then also the last men disappeared. Ced didn't have me all to himself that often, he thought leaning against me.
So I frolicked with him some more. I swam a few lanes at vampiric speed while he sat on my back. We dove together for short stretches. He let himself drift over the massage jets into my arms. He tried to climb onto the back of a slightly larger rubber ducky. Without success, however.
I really enjoyed being all alone with my baby. Nevertheless, we also had to shower and get dressed. Bella would not marry me in swimming trunks and smelling of unpleasant chlorine.
Before the shower, though, Ced treated himself to a bottle of blood in my arms while we sat on a pillow on the floor in front of the window in his room again.
The sky was cloudy, but still quite bright. Seemed to be only a thin layer of clouds.
Then Ced and I took a very thorough shower.
Ced's room also had an adjoining bathroom, of course. It was always interesting when we men showered together. Today he had taken a liking to my toes, which he compared in great detail with his own. Ten pieces, both with him and with me. Truly incredible.
Ced crawled soaking wet into his hooded child's bath towel and happily waited for me to rub him dry.
I also combed the hair of both of us - to mark the occasion.
We looked at the result in the mirror.
Both with very skeptical expressions. So I tousled them to us both again. That was better, as we unanimously agreed.
We had just finished the elaborate hairdressing when I noticed a slightly stronger heart nearby.
"We're having a visitor," I said, throwing on my robe and wrapping Ced in his bath towel.
"Come in," I said even while she knocked.
I nodded at Leah's observation that we had just gotten out of the shower. I wasn't capable of much more for a long moment. My beautiful daughter looked stunning. This pink-rose colored dress was very flattering on her. Her skin looked silky soft through this hue and the cut concealed her height while the airy fabric hugged her figure. A black hairband with a few pearls matching the dress adorned her wispy hairstyle on one side. The jewelry with butterflies, which I had once given her at the jeweler, matched the overall picture perfectly.
"You look adorable, Little one," I said, moved, after turning her once in front of me so I could admire her from all sides.
She blamed the overall work of art on my talented sisters. The baby, on the other hand, she believed the compliment. Sometimes a human's mind was too complicated for me. Or was it because of the fact that she was a teenager? Or a woman? That was one of the things I would probably never get clarity on. No matter how long I would continue to walk on this earth.
I then got Ced ready while I talked to Leah.
"And what does marriage mean?" she asked.
"Marriage vows are a promise that you will make the person to whom you are thereby joined forever happy with all the means at your disposal. In good days and in bad." This is exactly what, in summary, pretty much all the husbands present had explained to me in detail over the past twenty-four hours. And this is exactly what gave me a headache. I was able to downplay my concerns, however, acting generally nervous until Leah left Ced's room with him.
I stared at the suit that hung on the shelf.
As soon as she pulled the door shut behind her, I dropped onto the low children's table.
Pulling my hair out and drowning in self-pity and guilt, I just sat there.
What was I doing to Bella by binding her to me forever?
I really startled when the door to the room opened.
Yes, there had been a knock, but I had somehow ignored it.
"Edward?" asked David on entering. He smiled, saw me, and his face became serious. "What's wrong?" he asked immediately.
"I'm getting married," I answered rather mechanically.
"A reason to rejoice ... don't you think?"
"Theoretically, yes."
"And practically?"
"I'm not sure if I'm allowed to do this to Bella."
"What are you going to do to her?"
"Well," I pondered vaguely. I didn't know how to explain my concerns.
"Do you beat her?"
"No!", I answered immediately. What on earth was he thinking!?
"Are you locking her up at home? Does she merely have to be there for you and no longer have a life of her own? Are you torturing her?"
He smiled in amusement, which only annoyed me.
"David!", I uttered angrily. What did he take me for!
"Edward. When you talk about what you will be doing to Bella, I don't really follow that ... I just have a very vague guess about what's going through your mind right now. Namely, the same thing that goes through the mind of almost every man immediately before the wedding ceremony. But in the last few months I have learned something about vampires. You are not unlike us weak humans in the way of your sensations. You love, you have worries, you argue. Just like any of us. But you do it all much more intensely. When you love, you do it with your whole soul. When you quarrel, it borders on centuries of blood feuds. And when you are nervous, you are even more unpredictable than we humans are. Hysterical, irritable, absent-minded, restless, frightened, apprehensive, and so much more, some of which I don't even know the terms for ..."
"What are you getting at," I interrupted him.
He looked at me with a look bordering on scorn.
"You're just excited!"
"No ... I mean yes. I am. But it's not," I wanted to explain.
"What is it then, Edward?"
"I love Bella. More than my own life ... But I wonder if it's really right for her to marry me. By doing so, she is bound to me. To me and my eternal life. With that, I'm taking away her choice." I couldn't put it into words any better than that. I had always been bad company for humans. I was a monster and would remain so forever. With the wedding ring, Bella would give up the opportunities that a human life had to offer. She would follow me definitively. Into immortality.
"Well, that's not exactly what a groom would ask beforehand, but I'll blame that on your personal character!" opined David.
I looked at him confused.
"You tend to have dramatic appearances! And to dramatic thoughts!"
"Excuse me? ME?"
"One could say you invented the theatrical appearance, but then you're not quite that old," he amused.
"Nonsense!" I said with conviction.
He smiled, still exhilarated, but he sat down next to me on the table.
"This here is exactly what I was talking about just now. That you just feel everything more intensely than we humans do. You're nervous about marrying the woman who means everything to you. In order to have a plausible reason for your excitement, you're picking out the arguments that have always plagued you, but they haven't held up for some time. You are considering your old doubts. Your real question is whether you are doing the right thing. In general, because you no longer have any other doubts. But you already know the answer. You wouldn't have asked Bella to marry you multiple times if it wasn't what you wanted ... Bella loves you and she has made her choice. Married or not, you belong together. Even your stupid considerations can't change that anymore," he said completely calm and level-headed.
"But I take so much away from her," I uttered, however.
Silence.
"Yeah, maybe you should call off the wedding after all and disappear forever," he reflected after a moment.
Confused and quite startled, my head flew in his direction.
"After all, you're taking away Bella's chance to grow old lonely and bitter after all. It will also be best for Jake and Leah. The twins are grown up. What are they going to do with a father? Ced you take with you, of course. He belongs with you vampires. Bella is just the human mother. She'll forget she had another baby. Just like she almost forgot about you the last time. It totally worked out great then, too."
"Do you actually hear what nonsense you are talking?", I asked irritated.
"Why nonsense?" he shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm not going to call off my wedding after all!", I thundered.
"Then what are we talking about all the time?" he inquired.
He smiled so strangely.
"I love Bella ... or weren't you listening to me?! Bella, Leah, Jake. They are my family. I won't be able to spare any of them any longer than necessary without going down myself. And separate Ced from his mommy?! You're out of your mind!" I bawled out at him.
"Then maybe we should put you in your suit soon so you're not late for your wedding!" he smirked.
"My suit ... my wedding ...", I babbled confusedly.
I looked to the elegant suit on the shelf.
My suit. For my wedding with Bella.
Everything in me relaxed all at once.
I would marry Bella. Today. Doing what I had basically wanted to do for twenty years. Spend the eternity with her and it would start today.
I smiled.
"I'm about to get married!", I stated. Overjoyed.
"Yes, you are!", David stated and nodded sealingly. "Provided you're dressed by then!" he added with a smirk, though.
I nodded.
There was a lot going on in the house, as far as I could hear now. I paid attention to nothing in particular, only the general buzz of voices in my head was clear.
I went to the bathroom again; put on the boxer shorts that I had already put there and hung the bathrobe on the hook. Then I began to get dressed.
Every single piece of clothing that David handed me, I put on very carefully and deliberately. I would wear this distinguished piece only once. It felt a bit like a rite. Also because David was there. My best friend. Black cloth pants, an equally black belt, leather shoes, a white shirt.
I was still working on the buttons when David pulled something out of his suit pocket.
"It's not customary for the groom, but you're into traditions," he said, handing me a small box. "Your suit is new. These are old, blue, and borrowed."
I opened the box.
Inside were cuff links. They seemed to be very old. Maybe as old as myself. They were globes. The sea as a blue stone sphere and the continents were in silver. I recognized the slight variations from each other, which were because of the handwork. They had to be worth a little fortune.
"They're great. Where did you get them?"
"From my grandfather. He gave them to me just before he died."
"I'm sorry about that."
"It doesn't have to. It was a long time ago. At the time I thought I'd give them to Jake one day, because I hadn't met Sonya yet, and didn't believe I'd find her someday ... But now I have my own sons and I want them back afterwards!"
"Of course. Thank you for trusting me with them," I said measuredly and put them on. It was a little bit of a style break to pair the black suit with something blue, but I didn't really care right now. Alice could get all worked up about it all she wanted. I really liked the cuff links, and it went very well with a thought that was going through my head about Bella and our wedding ceremony: My wife, to the ends of the earth.
David held out the vest to me, which made me smirk.
When the suit had been hanging completely on the hanger, this had not been seen. The back of the vest, as well as the hinted pocket attachments in the front, were of the same lace pattern that Leah had on her dress. Which was also included on Becky's dress, as I had gathered from Leah's thoughts. Which I had also seen on Ced's adorable little bow tie. Leah would certainly be right, and Bella's dress would also contain that pattern.
David buttoned the jabot at the back of my neck and adjusted the shirt collar over it.
The jacket was at last in the row. It wouldn't make any sense otherwise, I thought with amusement. David was absolutely right. I wasn't afraid or worried about doing the wrong thing. I was plain and simple excited. Joyfully excited. Because it was about to be time that I vowed eternal love to my angel. That our relationship could no longer be doubted by anyone. At the same time, I had merely lost my way to my old familiar agonies of conscience to explain to myself this unusual nervousness. How grotesque.
"You look like you have something special planned today," David smirked as we looked at me in the mirror.
"Actually, I was going to give my girls their first very official dance lesson today," I waved it off.
"Well, are you dressed right for this? You're a little underdressed, aren't you?" he joked, and we laughed together.
But my laughter was gone immediately.
As far as the heartbeats of my two wolves were within reach, I paid attention to them, in order not to have to invade the privacy of their thoughts, to be convinced of their well-being. It had already become such a second nature to me in the meantime that I did not do it consciously any longer, I naturally followed their beat. Now they had both turned over. It was only a split second, but it was enough for the fatherly worry in me to listen briefly more exactly. My worry would be certainly only once again exaggerated nature. Just like earlier, when the young people in their festive attire had seen each other in the hallway for the first time. Thereby all four hearts were out of time ... But now my worry was not exaggerated, but bitter reality.
"Stay here!", I murmured to David, but promptly left Ced's room.
Very quickly I ran downstairs.
The last guests had arrived. Eleazar and Carmen and the sisters Kate, Tanya, and Irina. Irina had just growled at my children!
It took me only a few seconds for the way until I stood protectively in front of my wolves.
"Nobody growls at the twins!", I hissed at her, growling viciously in the process.
Carlisle was already standing between Irina and the wolves, just as Emmett and Jazz had approached from the guest party because of the commotion. They just pulled the living room door closed behind them. Jazz immediately surveyed the situation, checked the feelings he was picking up, and exuded calm and equanimity.
Futile. With me, at least.
"Irina. We are guests in this house, and we want to behave accordingly with our friends!", Eleazar said very clearly, trying to be harmonic.
"You promised!", Carmen reminded her.
"Hello, Edward!" purred Tanya delightfully in between.
"Those aren't friends!" Irina spat, however. "They are dirty animals. They murdered my mate!" she jerked forward aggressively, but Carlisle got in her way.
Everything in her was longing for revenge for her lover. A revenge she had longed for since the knowledge that Laurent was no longer with us and had imagined in all kinds of methods of tortures.
"I'll destroy you before you know it if you touch my children!", I hissed menacingly, searching with my hands for my two wolves behind me.
They each handed me a hand, which I held tightly in mine.
Perhaps they also rather held me back with it. This was not conclusively clear to me. I would defend my children with my life, and I was far from being alone in this.
Em and Jazz stepped closer to us. Em directly to my twins.
He was concentrated and watched all our guests very closely. No muscle twitch escaped him, so he could react as quickly as possible. If necessary.
Jazz, on the other hand, was at vampiric peak performance. He recorded everyone's emotions, analyzed them, and weighed the readiness to attack in them. Jazz tried to calm everyone down. Especially Irina and me, who were growling at each other subliminally. He gave Em additional composure so that he did not perform a rash action. Carlisle inner calm, so that our head of the family did not lose control of the situation. To the twins he sent confidence and faith in themselves, so that they would not possibly begin to blame themselves in any way. For when they had actually only been growing in Bella for a few days. Be it for the situation right now. Garrett's omnipresent curiosity was enriched by Jazz to make him advocate a more detailed discussion of the circumstances before it would come to fisticuffs. To Kate, Jazz sent a little fear to make her hold back, especially with her own gift. She could produce painful jolts of electricity with a touch. He gave hope to Eleazar and Carmen. They were absolutely not hostile to us, but were only afraid that this would divide our relationship. In addition, Jazz laid out strategies for himself, which also changed again with each emotional change. He also listened carefully to the living room, where the many guests were gathered unknowingly.
Even Carlisle would protect his grandchildren, even if it meant destroying the friendship between our clans. Something Carmen and Eleazar were not willing to let this situation come to. They had come here as friends and wanted to leave as the same. Later. After the festivities. That's why they had already talked at home about this family constellation that included wolves, and had only taken Irina because of a promise she had made. That she would behave herself with us. But facing these wolves now made her promise fade into nothingness.
Tanya tilted her head slightly irritated at my words.
She considered my choice of words and took them apart letter by letter.
'My children'. She hadn't come here to mess with us either, but would do so if her own family's survival was at stake. If there really were riots here, even Kate would not be stopped by Jasper's gift. Just as he accomplished little with me. I did feel his influence on my emotions, but my protective instinct was hard to contain at the moment.
"Those two certainly won't have been involved in this, will they?" asked Garrett, after a long moment, pushing soothingly between us and pushing the fronts apart.
I knew him. He had been a nomad and was a longtime friend of Carlisle. The two were united by curiosity. About everything. Just before we left Alaska to start over here in Saco, we had met by chance in the woods when I had been hunting with Emmett. We took him to our temporary lodging with our 'extended' family, as we called the Denalis, and he had quickly made friends with the sisters. Kate and Garrett had become mates, so he knew the story about Laurent. More emphatically from Irina's point of view, though.
"Maybe it wasn't the two of them, but it was monsters like them!" insisted Irina on her point of view.
She wanted her revenge ... like Victoria once did. Victoria wanted to avenge one consort for the other. Bella for James. Irina wanted at least one wolf for her mate. No matter who those wolves were.
"Get Sam over here," I whispered, and Em promptly re-entered the living room, while Jazz continued his efforts to calm tempers.
"No!", Jake pulled on my arm.
At first, I didn't understand this reaction until I listened into my children's heads.
Twins! They thought the same.
'You can't sacrifice Sam!' muttered Leah in mental dismay, while she merely muttered a startled "Dad!".
"I don't plan to, Little one," I said, gently squeezing her hand. Not taking my eyes off Irina, I casually caught Tanya twitching with her eyebrows in surprise right behind her.
But Irina herself contorted her face as if she were disgusted.
Emmett returned briskly, and he had not only Sam with him, but Paul and Seth as well.
The Quileute pack was fully present.
"Sam. Do you remember the vampire Bella met in the clearing in the forest?" I asked.
"Sure," Sam answered as expected, and I asked him to talk about this incident, while prompting Irina to listen carefully.
"We know from Bella that his name was Laurent and that he had come to Forks for one reason only. He was supposed to find out for another woman whether Bella was still under your protection. But since he found her in the middle of the forest, defenseless and all alone, he forgot his errand and wanted to suck her dry. He even promised her to make it as painless as possible. We arrived just in time to prevent it."
"What other woman?" asked Irina, confused. And upset. And jealous!
"The one with the flaming red hair," Paul remembered very clearly from that time.
"Victoria," Seth answered.
"That's a lie! Laurent had nothing more to do with her. He had joined us and wanted to dispense with human blood," Irina doubted.
"One doesn't preclude the other," Garrett opined. "If an old friend asks me for a favor, why wouldn't I do it for him?"
"Besides, it was a very clever move on Victoria's part to ask Laurent, of all people, to do this little act of friendship," Jasper agreed. "Laurent came to you after he found out about you from Carlisle. You would have said on demand that he belonged to you, and we would have treated Laurent as a friend," Jazz explained in more detail.
"Wanting to drink from Bella might be something he should be forgiven for, though," Garrett reflected.
I sucked in the air sharply between my teeth and my children held me tighter by my arms.
Garrett raised his arms placatingly.
"Sorry, Edward. I merely wanted to express that this should not be detrimental to him as far as his words towards Irina are concerned. It is and remains our nature to feed on blood. You have said that your fiancée has quite a lovely scent for our kind, while Laurent was still at the beginning of his dietary change. He probably just became weak because the opportunity arose so favorably for him," he said to me calmly and I nodded.
Unfortunately, he was right about that.
He turned to face Irina.
"Accordingly, these events that the wolves have just reported do not speak against his will to renounce human blood, nor against the feelings he expressed to you," he summarized.
Irina thought about it, but then shook her head.
"But that only means that they admit to having destroyed my mate ... I demand satisfaction for that!" Irina continued to insist on her revenge, and looked at my children again, snarling.
My patience reached its end. It was not in my nature to let anyone live who threatened my children.
A growl came viciously from my throat, my muscles tensed, and the anger drove me towards Irina. But my children held me. They tugged at my arms, pulled me back with one arm each around my stomach, and finally stood in front of me.
Fear twitched in her eyes and her hands sprang away from me, which I did not immediately put into context.
I briefly checked the cause of this fear in their minds, hoping to have another reason to destroy Irina. But Jake and Leah were afraid of me. Of the eyes sparkling with anger they saw in my face. This fact shook my very core. My children ... were afraid ... of me. Of their dad. That was not allowed to be!
I squinted my eyes and lowered my head.
I was sorry that they had seen me in such a state. My only excuse was that they meant my life and I saw it in danger.
"Sorry," I murmured, taking their hands in mine as I looked my children in the eyes again.
They nodded understandingly, even without me offering my apology.
Carlisle put additional a hand against my shoulder, admonished me with it for rest.
We had already come this far; I shouldn't ruin everything with a thoughtless gesture.
So he took the floor.
"You've already gotten your retribution, Irina, although you don't realize it!" said Carlisle level-headedly. "So Laurent came to Forks to check on Bella. Without success, as the wolves have confirmed to us so far. Consequently, since he couldn't report anything to Victoria, she went to Forks herself," he said, making an inviting gesture to the wolves who had witnessed it at the time.
"Victoria kept coming. As soon as she noticed us, she ran away. Over and over again," Seth said.
"At first, we had no idea what that was about. Why she kept coming back. She had gotten to know our pack and it didn't make sense to us that she would just keep trying," Paul recalled of the time back.
"It was only from Bella that we learned the background of her constant appearances, when she found out what it was about the wolves and that we were those wolves. What we didn't realize at the time was that these irregular visits of hers had only one reason ... She was testing us! She tested our attention, our number, our reactivity, our limit. So she knew how big her army would have to be to get past us, to finally get Bella after all ... Bella was the only target Victoria had! And for that she came back with a whole army!", Sam summarized the events of that time.
"An army," Irina said tonelessly.
This was by no means the first time she had heard all this. As far as I was informed, Carlisle had tried to explain all this to her when my family had been with them in Alaska a few weeks ago on the occasion of Eleazar's birthday. But the subject was difficult, and Irina was stuck in her opinion. To that extent, she hadn't paid too much attention to Carlisle's words after it was clear that Laurent hadn't come back to her because of a lack of love. But now she stood before those who had been there.
"Like the ones from the South?" asked Carmen.
She and Eleazar had not attended the conversation between Irina and Carlisle, as there were many guests staying with them who needed to be properly taken care of.
"This is against our laws!", Eleazar stated in response on the matter.
He had lived with the Volturi for a long time and knew the Guard very well. Out of love for Carmen, he had once asked for his release.
"Do you want to discuss this out with the Army leaders down there in person?" asked Jasper.
"Renounce," Eleazar commented.
This statement made the vampiric corners of the mouths of some of us twitch in amusement.
Everyone present was familiar with Jasper's creation story.
Mine did not flinch. I still silently apologized to my children for feeling fear of me, just looking at them gently. They were almost smiling again.
"We were able to protect Bella's life and wipe out Victoria and her army. But we paid a very high price for that," Sam returned to the topic, not understanding the casual amusement due to what appeared to be any vampire armies.
Irina's eyes twitched curiously in his direction.
"Eight wolves were the number of us who went into battle at that time ... Only the three of us returned," Paul murmured, pointing to Seth, Sam and himself.
"My sister was among them," Seth said softly, seeing his lifeless sister before him in his mind.
"Among the victims was Jake and Leah's father as well," I said quietly and gently now, continuing to just look apologetically at my children.
Irina was defeated, she just didn't know it yet.
She had looked back at my children in the meantime, but her look changed visibly. It became compassionate when my wolves turned to her.
"We never got to know him," Leah confirmed.
"He didn't even know we were on the way," Jake added.
"I'm so sorry!", Carmen expressed her compassion and approached the twins.
They joined hands.
Eleazar, Kate, and Garrett also came closer.
Irina took another long moment. She watched in silence as condolences were offered to the other three wolves and inquiries were made about those who had fallen in battle.
How young they had been, how brave and courageous in fighting newborns. One was shocked that Victoria had resorted to such an army just to kill a human. Eleazar pointed out that the Volturi would undoubtedly have intervened if they had known of such an action. If they had, it would not have come to this. The wolves would have undoubtedly done the right thing, although the price was high. Only after Jake and Leah said they had their names from fallen wolves did Irina drop the last of her hostile attitude. She regretted what had happened.
"It must have been hard. For Bella, who raised you alone, but also for you, since you didn't have a father to look up to," she murmured in the end, even ashamed.
"What it was like for Mom, I don't really know. It certainly wasn't easy. Sure, we always wished we had a dad, but actually, we weren't necessarily doing badly," Jake smiled hesitantly.
The memories that my children had gotten from the old pack, and that were revived by the short narration, could not be pushed aside so quickly. With none of the wolves. But they were practiced in dealing with their memories and did not let themselves be dragged down by the incidents that could no longer be changed.
"Besides, now we have a dad who makes up for all those years," Leah said, and I thanked her with a kiss on the temple for that praise.
Tanya. I had completely blanked her out - in the last few minutes.
She took note of this gesture with a sound that was somewhere between horrified and contemptuous.
"That's nice to hear," Irina smiled tentatively.
It was my children who bridged the last step and reached out to her.
"Now that we've settled our differences, please step right in and I'll introduce you to the other guests. After all, the only reason we've come together today is to celebrate a wedding," Carlisle said elatedly.
They nodded in agreement and good humor and followed Carlisle into the living room.
"Where did you leave David anyway?", Leah asked me.
"I forgot that one upstairs," I just remembered.
Emmett would get him.
Tanya was still standing in the hallway waiting for a greeting from me, which she felt was her due.
She also made no secret in her thoughts about what exactly she expected from me.
So I hugged her. Briefly.
"You look handsome, Edward ... As always!", she said emphatically charming and sensual.
As usual.
Her fingers brushed along my jacket collar. Playfully and knowingly flirting.
"Thank you, Tanya. You look very graceful as well," I replied truthfully. "But do you think it's appropriate to keep bothering me with your advances. If I may remind you, I'm about to get married."
"Your bride will be able to handle a little competition, won't she?" she asked, smiling charmingly.
"Bella has no competition," I clarified.
"It's hard to break old habits," she said, sighing theatrically.
However, I believed her.
"You lost the game, Tanya. My only question is whether you are a good loser or a bad loser," I told her my considerations.
"We'll see," she teased me, but immediately smiled conciliatorily. "I came here with the intention of welcoming Bella as a new member of the family in an exceedingly friendly manner. After all, we have the same taste," she winked at me, gave me a suggested kiss on the cheek and followed the others into the living room.
However, Jake and Leah were still leaning against the door, looking at me with quite incredulous and annoyed expressions.
"You had a thing with that one?" asked Jake directly.
Bad tempered. Very bad tempered.
"With this spawn of perfect beauty?" added Leah.
Also bad tempered.
"Is she?", I first dug deeper.
They both nodded.
In their minds, they placed Rosalie next to Tanya, with my sister losing that little comparison. Of course, Tanya was decidedly pretty and graceful, which was in the nature of a vampire, but that it was so outstanding had not occurred to me. Bella was the epitome of beauty to me, but I admitted that this only reflected my very subjective opinion. I had never been able to find anything special in blondes. With only one exception, and her name was Emma.
"But no," I then explained. "Tanya and I are connected only by a rather familiar friendship. My continued disinterest in love and passion contradicts the existence she has led so far, which has been characterized by a very long series of affairs. It fascinated her that I did not want to know about her advances, although I did not have a mate. Over time, this simply led to these playful overtures. It is merely a game on her part; she is not serious."
It was the absolute truth. Tanya had no intention of behaving improperly toward me or Bella, however, Tanya had been playing this game with me for almost a century, and vampires had a hard time with change. Tanya was pleased that I had found my soul mate. She was only surprised that my mate was a human, but even more surprised at how deep the connection was between me and Bella's children.
"It had better not be!" I was threatened twice.
I stood in front of them and put both of them a hand on the cheek.
"You are my family, and I will never do anything to hurt either of you in any way!", I promised. "Except change Bella," I added, though. That would hurt. A lot, in fact. I had promised it to Bella, and I would stick to it. Even if it would actually be the completely wrong thing to do considering her innocent soul. Well, this was an endless discussion!
We embraced each other smiling, during which I heard Esmé and Carlisle leisurely directing all of our guests to the ballroom.
"And are the groomsmen nervous yet?", I asked.
By their own admission, they weren't a bit. However, I heard the somewhat faster beating hearts of my children. Mine probably would, too, so fast that it would almost burst with joy, if I still had a beating heart. Esmé had left the living room with Ced, so I entered to greet the rest of the guests. I had not yet had a chance for the Latham family and Becky's grandmother.
"So Becky got her grace from you," I then stated to Ciara Young.
She smiled.
"And from you, Jake has his charming ways, which are out of place with me," she remarked glibly in response.
"We're not related by blood, but what do you mean by out of place?"
"Jake has picked up quite a bit from you, though," she stated.
She was a lovely lady and I liked her when she immediately offered to be address by her first name. I led her down the long hallway on my arm. Jake and Becky had already walked ahead, however, they stopped at a room on the way. So did I.
I knocked politely on the door.
"Yes," it croaked behind it.
Slowly I pushed open the door.
Orenda Young stood in the middle of the room. Her walking stick in one hand and Becky at her side, her other arm linked arms with Jake. She was very excited. Emily stood closest to us, still blocking Ciara's unobstructed view, but she already suspected something without believing it.
"Good afternoon. I'm Emily Young," she offered her hand to Ciara.
"Emily. My older sister Celina's granddaughter," Ciara said softly, ignoring the hand.
Instead, she put a hand to Emily's cheek, looked into her eyes, and surveyed her from head to toe.
Already with a joyful tear in the eye.
"And you're so pretty," she stated and the two embraced each other.
"Here's someone else who wants to get to know you better, Granny," Becky said from the background after a long due moment.
I had approached Ciara a little, holding her a little by one arm after she had breaked seizingly away from Emily.
She wiped at her eyes, but immediately saw who Jake and Becky had in their midst.
"Ma ...?!", Ciara stated questioningly, actually losing her balance a tiny bit.
"Where have you been roving around all these years!", Orenda was about to launch into her usual biting tone, as I already knew from various thoughts, but hadn't quite managed it.
It had become rather touched and overwhelmed. Tears of joy immediately set in for both ladies and they fell into each other's arms. Further supported by Jake and me. Emily and Becky also cried sentimentally that mother and daughter had found each other again. Through their tears, they whispered with emotion. Where Ciara had been all this time, how Orenda was doing, what a magical creature Becky was, that Ciara was sorry she had run away without a word and never contacted her again. They had a lot to talk about.
Of course they did. For so many years they had not seen or spoken to each other. It had been almost fifty years since Ciara had left La Push without a word.
But Esmé came looking for the missing guests.
And the groom. The second most important person of the day. The bride, of course, was in first place!
Orenda then returned to her tone of voice and asked me who I was in the first place.
I had not introduced myself to her, which I immediately made up for amiably. So I led her down to the ballroom, while Orenda told me clearly that I had to treat Bella, who was supposedly like a daughter to her, obligingly well. I also had to have respect for the twins. They were Quileute wolves.
We reached the ballroom, and I was as amazed as the people around me.
Alice had outdone herself. Actually, we didn't use this large room because it was rather dull despite Esmé's renovation. Besides, we didn't really need a room of this size. Outside it was the middle of winter, but this room was prepared in such a way that you felt as if you were entering a spring garden. Light and airy canopies were stretched under the ceiling, hiding the unadorned chandeliers and illuminating the hall with only soft light. There were flowers everywhere. Mainly white, but overall it was a natural mix of many colors. On the walls and the ceilings. In the area towards the entrance stood round tables, where the flower decoration looked as if it had just flowed from the sky onto the table. Behind them were benches arranged in rows that formed a wide aisle in the center. This was lined with flowers and ribbons.
At the other end were three vertical continuous rows of windows, each about three and a half yards wide. All with large doors in them. They started below us in the swimming pool, continued up the entire height of this ballroom, Esmé and Carlisle's dressing room above us, through the game room with the pool table, up to the glass attic. In front of the central window arrangement was now a red-carpeted podium and a generous flower arch that encompassed the entire elevation. Made of mainly white and red roses, but also other colorful spring flowers scattered as if at random. It looked fabulous, with the snowy idyllic landscape in the background. Like a little enchanted forest in which we were standing.
Orenda on my arm as well as Ciara, Jake, and Becky behind us had taken a few moments to internalize the sight.
We took mother and daughter to one of the benches and the rest of the Quileute also looked for a seat after Billy rolled up next to his Cia.
I had something to do before my wedding ceremony would begin. I had to do it immediately so that during the process - or even any second - there would be no more complications and disputes.
So I searched with my eyes for my baby, who was very busy with Emma. They had found a balloon that needed to be batted back and forth.
My task was to explain to the Denalis that Ced was my baby. My biological offspring, not my immortal child! If I had created an immortal child, the sisters would not hesitate to immediately report this violation of our laws to the Volturi. Without the opportunity to have it explained by us. It was perfectly fitting that they were paying attention to the two children right now and were amused by their play.
I went to them who were still standing in the back of the room.
"Those two are cute," Carmen said delightedly.
"The girl seems to belong to Sonya. They have the same eyes and the same hair," Kate reflected.
"From David, she has the dimples in her cheeks, although you don't see them as clearly on him," Garrett said.
"The baby is strange," Eleazar reflected.
Eleazar had a gift. He could recognize in other vampires - and only in vampires - the manner of their talent, if they had a special ability. In Emmett, he had once diagnosed childlike carefreeness. It wasn't a real gift, of course, but Emmett's most salient quality, which almost approached the intensity that a supernatural ability held.
"Why?", I pretended ignorantly.
"I recognize a gift ... No ... Rather, there are even two, which he unites in himself. I have never seen this before in the three hundred years of my existence ... But he is not of our kind. That is fascinating."
"You're already talking like Carlisle!" amused Garrett.
"And what talents do you recognize?", I inquired.
"I can't quite put my finger on it, which again is fascinating. On the other hand, perhaps this is because he is still a baby. He probably doesn't even know that he has extraordinary gifts, which is why he doesn't knowingly use them, or maybe he just doesn't realize that they're available to him ... It definitely has to do with a protective shield, but also with an ability that deals with thoughts," he visibly made an effort to uncover Ced's secret.
However, I found it very intriguing that he named a protective shield. Was this the reason why I could not hear Bella's thoughts? Because she had a shield around her, even as a human? And Ced had gotten this shield from her? Well, I knew of protective shields of various kinds among our kind, but never had I seen them be constant. Whoever was blessed with such a gift had to actively use it to protect themselves and/or others.
"But he is not an immortal child?", I stated questioningly, continuing to feign ignorance.
"He can't be,'" insisted Kate, who had already looked more closely at this basic possibility because of Eleazar's statement.
"I can hear his heartbeat, even if it seems a little fast," Irina agreed.
"The rose-colored cheeks wouldn't be possible with one, either," Tanya added.
For a moment, our Alaskan friends were silent, and they listened very carefully to my son's heart. They also noticed the warmth in his surroundings through his body temperature. They were sure that this baby had to be human, although he almost had the beauty and gifts of a vampire child. They just lacked any explanation for it so far.
"Who are his parents? I would like to talk to them," Eleazar burst almost with curiosity.
"Please continue to remember your just made determination that he can't be a vampire child!", I asked quietly.
They all looked at me confused, I took two steps forward and called for my baby.
"Daddy!" my son stated excitedly, crawling toward me.
Emma and the balloon immediately became unimportant. If it was about swimming, I probably would have had worse cards. That looked so cute, the way Ced was crawling across the floor. The long ends of his tailcoat bobbed over his bottom. He stayed sitting a little in front of me, marveling at his daddy. From the feet, to the unfamiliar elegant suit, to my eyes. Arrived there with his eyes, he smiled and stretched his little arms towards me.
'You look great!' he immediately thought, touching me on my hand.
"So are you, my darling!", I answered truthfully and gave him a kiss on the forehead.
I turned to our friends.
The sisters had already taken two steps back, hissing. Carmen clutched herself to her husband's arm. Garrett just stood there and smiled.
"What have you done, Edward!" asked Tanya whispering and overly dismayed.
"Remember that you had already established what he is not. Now I ask you to let him show you what he is," I asked our friends imploringly.
Garrett stepped toward the two of us.
"I'm too curious what that means exactly," he explained, giving Ced a brash pinch on the cheek.
'Show Garrett who your parents are,' I asked my son, who continued to touch me.
"Garrett," Ced said clearly, looking at him and taking advantage of Garrett's all-too-close hand to put his fingers on top of his. He showed him what he always showed first. His first memory, right after he was born. How he saw his parents.
'That's incredible ... And Bella survived that unharmed?' went through his mind.
He just saw it from Ced, but he couldn't really believe it. Rather, he assumed that we probably had to transform her afterwards. But would she then already be able to show enough self-control to get married today in the midst of people?
'Yes. Bella is still human,' I explained through my own thoughts, showing fleeting memories of the days that followed. That Bella had recovered quite quickly from the delivery.
When Garrett realized that he could now hear me, he backed away, startled.
"That's crass!" he said, but smirked. "Did I just hear you think at the end there?" he asked cautiously, just to be on the safe side.
We talked in whispers about Ced's gift, with the others becoming curious. They listened attentively.
I also briefly explained that while everyone except the children knew about our secrets - where Charlie lacked all details and terminology - not everyone was aware of Ced's gift.
Carlisle joined us while Charlie left the room.
He would pick up my bride, I thought in anticipation.
Carlisle and I reported some of Ced's special features.
The sisters gradually approached very hesitantly - but quite curiously - and let Ced show them his parents.
I also admitted that I had briefly suspected that Bella had cheated on me with David because I thought it impossible that she could be pregnant by me. But Bella and Ced had very emphatically proven us wrong.
Our friends could live with that in good conscience. No law had been broken.
"Ced is a strange name," Carmen said after a moment, when she then also had Ced in her arms and had seen through him that he was a half-vampire.
Ced contorted his face disapprovingly at Carmen's remark, however.
"His full name is Charles Edward David Swan, but we just call him Ced," I explained.
Then, finally, the time had come.
Everyone was asked to take a seat and I was summoned forward to the podium.
In one fell swoop, I was nervous again. But this time I knew that it was only the joyful excitement. It was a really strange feeling when I thought about it now. Somehow funny, this tingling in my stomach.
I put Ced in the front row to Becky and Marcus.
Becky looked gorgeous, so did Marcus; his suit fit very well.
Sue was sitting there, too, and had left room for Charlie.
In the front pew of the other side sat my parents and my siblings.
Jake and Leah walked up to the podium with me and - it was rather rude of me - I finally extended my hand even to the clergyman and greeted him.
He took it with humor that he had not got to know either the bride or the groom beforehand.
I sorted myself for a moment, straightening Jake's suit.
My son looked fabulous.
Leah straightened mine, Jake pinned a red rose to my lapel.
Alice, who had just appeared and was mentally reciting the Bible in Latin, handed me Bella's bridal bouquet.
If this arrangement would pass as a bridal bouquet anywhere on this planet. Two red and one white baccarat rose had been arranged with a bit of fern and the long stems wrapped with white and red ribbons. Very modern. It looked very pretty. However, they were artificial flowers, which made me wonder about my sister. There were real flowers lined up all over the room, only the bride was supposed to have fake ones? I would probably still find out what that meant.
I breathed deeply.
I was ready. More than anything else in this world, I wanted to marry Bella now. For the rest of eternity!
I turned to the guests.
Music started softly and my children linked arms with me on the right and left. So we waited for Bella.
I closed my eyes so I wouldn't see Bella too soon.
I didn't want to ruin the sight of my goddess by making too many rash assumptions when she walked through the door but was still partially obscured by tables, decorations, or guests.
I breathed calmly against the tingling in my stomach. I listened all the more in return.
Not to thoughts. Too great was the danger of accidentally following Charlie's when he looked to his daughter at his side. Or to catch the thoughts of a guest when one had Bella in view. But I heard the approaching footsteps. A pair of legs was in a particular hurry, walking down the long hallway. There was a little panting, which made me wonder.
"Brandon," Jake smirked at my side.
I recognized Bella's usual stride, and he was still far enough away.
So I nodded to Brandon with a friendly smile while he went to find a seat.
Bella came closer and I closed my eyes again.
She came closer and closer with Charlie. The music changed a little. The guests rose and turned toward the door. My bride entered the room. An impressed murmur rang through the rows.
It took another eternity, far too long, until Leah whispered, "Now, Dad!"
I opened my eyes.
There she was. My bride!
Thank you for reading!
