Unforgivable Lacerations

Chapter Fifty-Eight

After Edward and I returned to the house, full of excitement, the family congratulated us- especially a static Esme who was, somehow, more hyper than Alice. Edward later informed me that Esme had been waiting for him to marry since they met nearly a hundred years ago.

Unsurprisingly, Alice soon came bounding into the lounge, where I was sitting on Edward's lap- talking and watching the morning sun- and asked to plan the wedding. To which I answered, "Well you are my maid of honor."

That earned another squeal.

Due to me being a new vampire -or not having any other friends or family- it would just consist of the Cullens and Denalis- who I was enthusiastic to meet.

After an hour of firing questions, the wedding was to be held in the back garden at dusk, apparently to "set the mood"- Alice's words, obviously, not mine. Garrett, a new member of the Denalis, as he was Kate's mate, was contacted by Alice- unbeknown to me when I was transitioning- and asked if he would be happy to legitimize the wedding by legally being a priest.

It took everything in me not to scoff at the thought of a vampire- known for being similar as the devil- as a priest.

*_*_*_*_*

Do you think she would mind? I wrote on a piece of paper to Edward. Mother's Day was around the corner, two days actually, and I had the idea of buying Esme a large bouquet of flowers. I thought of Esme like a mother, especially after she helped me with overcoming my fear- and a weird guilt that used to consume me whenever I touched a man in any sort of way. I wanted to say thank you, and I needed Edward's opinion on if she would mind me getting flowers. I didn't want to put her into an awkward position.

Since Esme was in the house, we were writing notes to each other like children in fourth grade.

Esme would love it, she already thinks of you as a daughter. Edward replied in his gorgeous script underneath mine. I nodded and mouthed a 'thank you' before walking over to the computer- modified because of the temperature in the house, which was abnormally cold now that we didn't need heating- and typed the local floristry into the browser.

Edward swiftly walked over and watched as I chose the bouquet, fiddling with my hair with his fingers. I didn't know what her favorite flower was, but when I bit my lip and looked up at Edward he simply wrote.

Lilies and daisies are her favorite.

Smiling, I turned back to the screen and ordered the largest batch of blooming daisies, ice lilies, sweet cherry tulips and powder pink roses. The theme of white, pink and red. After, I deleted the search history- just in case- and grasped Edward's hand in mine, kissing it as I briefly prayed Esme would like the flowers.

*_*_*_*_*

Later on in the day, I found myself outside of Carlisle's study, knocking on the door even though he could hear me approach. I had asked Edward before, if we could go for a run, leaving the family- apart from Alice, probably, unknown to what I had been thinking about.

The two of us ran for ages until I asked Edward something that made him smile widely, giving me the strength to what I was going to do now.

"Come in, Bella," Carlisle called. Nodding once to myself for silent reassurance, I gently opened the door, careful not to damage the copper handle with my new strength.

"Hi, Carlisle," I greeted as I stepped inside. I closed the door quietly and walked over to Carlisle, biting my bottom lip as my nerves increased. Carlisle was tapping away on his keyboard at his desk lazily when he looked up with a smile. The tapping instantly stopped as he gave me his full attention.