Dear Diary: August 11, 2013
Wow. I can't believe Carlisle let me write an entry in his diary. I really don't know what to say to that. I have to admit that ever since I first opened up to Bella regarding my dad's death and about how much of a bitch I was to the whole family when they were nothing but respectful toward me even when we were still 'mortal enemies', I've felt a lot closer to all of them.....well most of them anyways. Carlisle has always seemed so much higher than me. I guess that's one of the many reasons I didn't like the family back then. I wasn't a fan of people who were higher than me level wise. The ironic thing is that no one, including Carlisle, ever made me feel like they were better than me.
You know what they say, "When you assume, you make an ass out of you and me." The truth is that I made a total and complete ass of myself. I was a bitch because of everything that had happened to me and instead of sulking and getting over it; I just turned my bitterness toward other people. And it wasn't fair to them. I just wanted to put that out there before I actually tell everyone the story of what happened on my and Keith's special date on Rogue's Isle. Plus my new found alliance and kinship with Bella has made me feel wanted. I really, really appreciate Bella for forgiving me and opening her heart to me. She's an awesome friend to have.
So anyways, on day 10 of our 11 day trip to Rogue's Isle—which by the way, I felt honored to be even invited to come—I woke up that morning with an urge to go swimming. So I got up, careful not to wake up Nessie who was in the room next door. We were all in the main house. Then I put on my black one piece bathing suit that Alice bought me and headed toward the beach. I wasn't at all surprised to see Carlisle, Esme, Jasper, and Alice there. They all smiled at me and said good morning, a greeting that I returned. I looked at my watch and it was 7:00am. Then with a smile, I walked into the ocean. I decided that I wanted to swim the whole circumference of the island. By the time I had finished, the four that were on the beach, were gone. I later heard that Carlisle, Esme, Rogue, and Alexander went for another swim, this time in the pond by the big waterfall.
It took me about 45 minutes to do all that and it was a total workout. After which, I went back to my room to take a shower and get dressed. I was always a morning person. I would sometimes get up before the sunrise just to watch it. By the time I was ready, it was after 9am. The main house has a gym in one of the rooms with a ton of different equipment; and in order to get to the kitchen you have to walk past it. On my way to the kitchen, I heard someone running on the treadmill. As I glanced in, my heart seized. There on the treadmill, was the man who changed my life forever. Just looking at him made me blush because I had butterflies in my stomach and every part of me tingled. That's the effect my imprint had on me.
He was running very fast, his shirt was off so you could see every muscle as they flexed; he only had on shorts, socks, and sneakers. He had earpieces in each ear that were plugged to an iPod I knew was somewhere in the pocket of his shorts. How on earth did I get so lucky to have this God-like man as my own? He must have felt my stare because he turned his head and when our eyes met, I blushed even deeper. I was out of breath from just standing there and I wasn't even on the damn treadmill! His eyes lit up and he smiled the sexiest smile you can imagine....I thought I would pass out. Then remembering his mind reading abilities, I blushed again and looked down.
A second later, I felt his finger under my chin lifting it up. I gasped as I totally forgot about the Watchers' lightning speed. As he brought my chin up so that our eyes met, his gaze was smoldering. For a good few minutes as we just stood there, I totally forgot where I was. Then he bent down and kissed me! The best way to describe that is a combination of a comet and a meteor hitting each other plus a volcano erupting at the same time! That's how hot it was! When he pulled away and seeing how dazed I was, he smiled with satisfaction and said:
"Hey babe! So how was your swim?"
"I will not even attempt to guess how you knew about that. But it was very nice." He laughed.
"I'm glad. You should go have breakfast. I won't be around during the afternoon as I have some things to finish up."
"Why? Where will you be?" I asked curiously my eyebrows coming together.
"You'll see later on this evening." He said wiggling his eyebrows making me giggle.
"Can I have a little bit of a hint?"
"Nope."
"Great." I grumbled. He laughed again looking at my expression.
"It will be great, I promise."
"If you say so." Just then my stomach started to grumble and we both looked at it and started laughing.
"Ok little lady, off you go for some food. I want to finish my workout before I begin my day."
After another soft kiss, I let him finish his workout while, I proceeded to the kitchen, with a smile on my face. Even though I was never keen on surprises—another thing Bella and I have in common—I was excited to see what he had been cooking up. I was pretty sure that he could show me a pretty stick and that would make me happy. I didn't care what it was as long as I was with him. What a total ball of mush I've turned into! Ugh! Seth makes fun of me saying that I'm too mushy even for him! He should talk....when he's around Corin he's such a cheese ball!
I grabbed some cereal from the cupboard and milk from the fridge, plus a spoon and a bowl and sat myself down at the kitchen table. I finished my food in under five minutes and yawned. That's when I decided to go lay down by the pool and take a nap. As I walked out there, I saw Nessie and Jacob in the pool while Bella and Edward were laying on the lounge chairs nearby. Everyone smiled as I walked up. I took the lounge chair closest to Bella. She and I chatted for a while, while Edward read a book. Then at some point, I don't remember but my eyes closed and the next thing I knew I was being softly shaken awake.
As I opened my eyes and squinted into the sun, I saw Keith standing over me. He had a smile on his face. I squinted at my watch and it said 4pm! Holy crap, I slept for 7 hours! I didn't realize I was that tired or maybe it was the fresh air. In any case, no one disturbed me. Bella was the only one left on the lounge chair. I had no clue where everyone else went. She smiled over at me. Just then Keith said:
"Wakey wakey sleeping beauty. I want you to go get ready, in an hour I'm taking you out for a special date."
The cobwebs in my head cleared instantly as my eyes lit up and everyone laughed at my expression as I all but scrambled off the lounge chair. I heard another laugh join the two that were near me; Alice's. She and Bella volunteered to help me get ready which I of course accepted graciously. The three of us ran into the main house nearly running Edward and Jasper over who looked at us like we lost our minds. We didn't stop, just giggled, and continued to my room. When I opened the door, I saw this beautiful coral dress lying on my bed with the same color espadrille wedges lying on the floor right beside the bed.
I looked at Alice who winked at me. Of course, Alice would know what was going on and exactly what to wear for the occasion. I put on the dress which was a very flowy summer dress that was shorter in the front and longer in the back. It was made out of this kind of cotton type of fabric and it felt incredibly comfortable and light on my skin. My hair–which I was growing out by this time–was a little past my shoulders so Alice quickly put it up in a beautiful French braid, while Bella helped me with the rest of the beautiful coral jewelry that was also laying on the bed. I put the espadrille wedges on and they were on low heel; perfect! Alice then applied minimal make up. Then I was allowed to look at myself in the mirror. I was stunned. Never thought that I could look that good. All the pictures from that day are below.
So at exactly 5pm I was ready. I walked outside where I knew Keith was waiting. He was wearing white khaki pants and a light blue shirt that really made his whole face glow as well as flip flops. As soon as he saw me, his eyes got really wide and he took a deep breath. He looked really nervous; hmmm wonder why? As I walked shyly up to him, I knew the rest of the family was watching us with smiles on their faces; they still had things to do. He held out his hand and I placed my hand in his; he then twirled me around in a circle, I blushed again.
"You look beautiful." He said softly.
"Thank you." I replied.
Then holding my hand, he led me away from the house to where the bungalows were. We were going to the other side of the island where there were no waves. At first, I thought he had set something up in one of the bungalows, but then as we continued through the brush and over the dunes to the beach, I knew it was something by the water.
When I finally saw it, I gasped. There, tucked away in a grassy area, not far from the water's edge was a small wooden table, on which there were these little lanterns with candles in them, there was also a full table setting with plates, forks, and napkins. Two mats lay on the sand next to each other next to the table; these would be in place of chairs. There were pillows on the mats to making sitting more comfortable. Then there were two sizable lanterns standing right by the water's edge. It looked like a painting of some kind; it didn't seem real.
Keith brought me to one of the mats and I sat down carefully rearranging the pillows to get more comfortable. He watched me with a small smile on his face; he himself went around the corner to where he was totally obscured from view and he brought out plates with food. It was a meal he cooked himself! He had made some of my favorite dishes; spaghetti and meatballs with marinara sauce and a Greek salad. Then he brought out two beautiful crystal flutes that I'd never seen before and a bottle of white wine that when I looked at the bottle was an Austrian Riesling. I didn't know much about wine, but I had overheard Rogue talking once and she explained that Austrian Rieslings were some of the best wine on the planet! Now wasn't it sweet for Keith to get us that kind of wine? So after he put everything on the table and got comfortable on his own mat, he served me the food and wine like a true gentleman and we dug in. Everything was to die for.
We ate in silence for a while and then as the sun started to set, started talking about the food, the trip, and how much fun we've had. I thanked him many times for making such a wonderful meal. After we were done eating that, he said that he also baked a chocolate cake with chocolate mousse inside. That's my favorite! But I didn't think I could eat any more food, so we decided to go for a bit of a walk to make room for the cake. He got up and helped me up by holding my hand. I nearly fell over once and we laughed. I said I was so full I could just roll back to the main house. I took my wedges off because the sand was still warm from that day's sun and I loved how it felt under my feet.
All the sand on all of the beaches was clean of rocks and there were even minimal sea shells around, so it was incredibly soft. I luxuriated in that fact as we stood by the water just marveling at the sunset. All of a sudden, he produced a single red rose from behind his back; the Watchers and their magic tricks....ugh!
Obviously surprised and loving it at the same time, I took the beautiful rose and put it up to my nose to smell it. A lot of roses nowadays don't smell at all but this one was as if he had just offered up a whole rose garden to me. As I breathed in the heavenly scent, my nose touched something hard and cold.
I drew back and frowned; clearly puzzled. I looked closer at the rose and there was something sparkling in there. Just then, Keith took my left hand into one of his own and with the other reached over and pulled the shiny, cold, hard object from the center of the rose. Before my usually quick brain had time to catch up to what was happening, Keith looked into my eyes and started to sink lower until I realized he was down on one knee! That's when it hit me; all of his running around, all the secrets, all the nervousness......he was planning this!
Oh my God! This can't be happening!
I know my eyes were bugging out of my head and my jaw was probably somewhere on the ground near his knee as I stared at him with absolute shock. It seemed like forever before he started speaking. I think he waited until my brain caught up with everything else because he could see the wheels in my head going full throttle.
"Leah, I know you are very shocked by all of this but I wanted to do it here as opposed to back home because this island is truly magical and it's a very special place. Ever since I first laid eyes on you, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. You are a beautiful, intelligent, strong willed woman whom I have come to consider a part of me. You mean the absolute world to me and I love you more than I can ever express or show you. Being your imprint is an absolute honor. I want to spend eternity with you, will you marry me?"
As he was speaking, tears were running down my cheeks. I really hope Alice put waterproof mascara on me! This was really happening! He just proposed! He wants to marry ME! Spend the rest of his life with ME and not anyone else! I lightly pinched myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming. Just then I noticed the ring and it looked familiar. He saw me looking at the ring and he spoke up to explain:
"I did it the proper way; I flew to see your mother and asked for your hand in marriage. She gave me her blessing and then she walked over to a jewelry box that was sitting in the living room and opened it; she retrieved this ring from there. It was her engagement ring. The one your father gave to your mother when he asked her to marry him. She told me that this ring has been passed down through the generations in your family. I was very honored to receive it and very glad at the same time because I hadn't bought a ring yet and now I didn't have to. She knew you would love it. She had always planned for it to be yours one day; as the oldest child; it was your heirloom."
"This was my mother's???"
I gasped as I looked at it and started crying harder as I remembered how much my mother loved that ring. My father gave it to her. My father; who was now looking down at me from those stars above. I looked up at them myself now as if looking for my father's guidance or a sign of some sort. Just then, I saw a shooting star. It was very bright and I closed my eyes briefly. I knew it was my father giving me his blessing as well. After I opened my eyes, I knew I was sure of what I wanted to say.
Keith was still down on one knee holding the ring, waiting patiently for me to answer him. He knew I would react this way so he just stayed silent where he was. His eyes were so full of love and promise; it took what little breath I had left away. So taking a deep and shaky breath, I looked at him and said:
"Yes."
"Yes????"
"YES!" I shouted this time laughing at his expression.
He slid the ring on my finger before I even noticed what happened and then he jumped up hugged me and lifted me off the ground spinning me around in circles while we both laughed. After he set me down, we kissed for what seemed like eternity! I looked at the ring that fit my finger perfectly and knew without a shadow of a doubt that I would never take it off; unless a miracle of some sort happened and I was able to have children.
The ring itself was white gold with beautiful rocks around it in what looked like the eyes of a snake looking into a crystal ball. It's hard to describe but I did provide the photo for you below. I couldn't stop staring at it and at him. I couldn't believe all of that had just happened to me.
"Are you ready for some chocolate cake now?" Keith asked bringing me back to the present.
"Oh yeah....I totally forgot about that.....yes I think I can fit some cake in here somewhere.....it's a good thing Alice got me a loose fitting dress." I said as we both laughed.
We then walked back over to where the table was and I sat back down on my mat as he went around the corner to bring out the cake he made as well as a bottle of champagne so we could celebrate our engagement properly! It took another hour or so to get through the cake and champagne....well about 1/4th of the cake....we decided to bring the rest back for the others; it was really that big. What Keith did do, was get some icing from his treasure trove behind the bush and write on top of the remainder of the cake "SHE SAID YES!"
After that, we left our little hide away and walked back to where the main house was. The only thing we took with us was the cake and my shoes; Keith said he'd come back later and clean everything up. I felt like I was floating on cloud nine. As we got back to the house, everyone had come back from their day time activities and were milling around. When they saw us they stopped, we walked up to everyone and without a word put the cake on the table in front of them; they crowded around and as soon as they read what was on the cake, a lot of eyes were bugging out and people were gasping. I showed them the ring.
The mind readers aka the Watchers and Edward as well as Alice already knew so they just walked up to us and hugged us while congratulating us. Everyone else soon followed suit. Then Esme, Bella, and Alice brought more champagne from the kitchen as well as glasses for everyone and they toasted to our engagement.
Our engagement!! I'm engaged! Can you believe it??????
I still can't wrap my mind around it! As I'm writing in my notebook here outside overlooking the water, I find myself lost in thought thinking to how far I have come. I went from a happy kid to a bitter teenager to a bitter young adult to a very humble and happy adult. I've learned so many lessons and I've let go of all of my ghosts. And none of it would have been possible if it wasn't for my parents, brother, the other wolves, the Watchers and the Cullen's. I looked at the ring now sitting comfortably on my finger; it's as if it has always been there. I then looked up into the night sky just as another shooting star went by.
Thank you daddy. I love you so much. I'm happy now and know I'll be alright; I'm complete. Rest in peace always.
-Leah
~Carlisle Cullen