Can't Stand To See You Cry (Jacob)

Chapter 44

When she turned to look for Jacob, she found him on the ground, on one knee, with a ring between his fingers.  “There’s something I wanted to ask you…”

Renesmee gasped as Jacob lowered his head.  “I’m sure you think this is sudden...or I haven’t thought this through, but I have never been more sure of anything in my whole life.  Every single moment with you has led me to this point.  And I’m ready...no more hurdles, because we’ve surpassed them all, Nessie.  We’ve been through you finding out about the imprinting, your relationship with Seth, my accident, not being able to phase and everything in between.”

“Jake…” she sighed.

“Just hold on, Ness.  I swear I’m getting to the proposal part.”

Renesmee nodded and swallowed thickly.  Jacob reached for her hands and held them gently with his free hand.  “I love you,” he breathed.  “The day you were born, I got a tiny glimpse of what our life would be like.  And that vision seemed so far off all those years ago.  And in these last few months, I’ve gotten everything I could have ever dreamed of when you told me you loved me.  Obviously it hasn’t been easy...but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

Jacob lowered his gaze once more and when he looked up at her again, his eyes glimmered with unshed tears.  “Please marry me, Renesmee.  Please make all my dreams...all our dreams come true and say yes?” Jacob held up the ring for her inspection.

She took it and held it between her fingers and sighed.  It was a silver twisted band with tiny wolf profile and an emerald eye.  “Your eyes aren’t emerald,” she whispered.

Jacob stood and faced her.  “No, but yours are.  Especially when you feel passionate about something...or someone.  When you were very young, you got mad at your parents because they wouldn’t let me take you to this carnival in the city.  You threw the biggest fit and glared at them so hard.  I saw your eye color change that day...and I knew we were all in trouble.”

Renesmee gazed up at him questioningly.  “When did you buy this?”

Jacob wrapped an arm around her and began to guide her away from the cliff’s edge.  “I had it made for you...many years ago.  I guess I was pretty optimistic,” he chuckled.

“I didn’t know you wanted to marry me.”

They stopped walking and Renesmee looked down at the ground.  She saw a blanket covered with rose petals and a bowl of strawberries.  Jacob walked away from her and stretched out his hand and asked, “Will you sit with me?”

Renesmee nodded and joined him in their little picnic.  “I’ve always dreamed of marrying you, Nessie.  The first night we kissed, I told your dad I wanted to marry...not right away, but someday.”

Jacob held a strawberry to her lips and smiled. She pushed his hand away and furrowed her brow.  “I haven’t said yes yet.”

He laughed as he took a big bite of the strawberry and shrugged.  “It doesn’t matter.”

Renesmee stared at him, her eyes opened widely.  “So you don’t care if we get married or not?”

Jacob nearly choked.  “No...that's not it all.  We haven't discussed this before and I just sprung it on you, so I’m giving you all the time you need to decide.”

She looked down at the beautiful ring between her fingers and sighed.  “I don’t need time to think about it, Jake.”

His face fell when she handed the ring back to him.  “Nessie, please…” he begged.

Renesmee gazed up at him with tears in her eyes.  She raised her hand to Jacob’s cheek and cradled it lovingly.  She closed her eyes and shared her memory with him.