Lacunar
"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time."
– Thomas Edison (1847-1931)
40. Infinite
She stared at her enthralling husband as her lips parted to let out a surprised giggle.
"You're wounding my ego," Edward snickered. "Give this poor boy a chance."
Bella stood up and curtsied, playing along.
"I haven't danced since our wedding night," she said, looking around at the swaying couples.
"Follow my lead," Edward murmured and shyly pecked her on the cheek.
"How did you even get in?" Bella asked. She was impressed, finding his stealth to be a thrill that she looked forward to.
"I didn't know Elizabeth Cope still worked here," he chuckled. "She let me in after I gave her a convincing story about wanting to see my stunning wife. I couldn't believe she recognized me. Technically, she was a new teacher when we were seniors. So maybe it wasn't that long ago."
"It feels surreal- the way time flies. Someday, these kids will teach here while I'm on the brink of retirement. Someday, our lives are going to zoom by without us even noticing."
Bella hadn't registered the gentle tickling of her tears until Edward gingerly wiped them away, erasing her meaningless concerns. He traced the silvery tracks left on her cheeks with his lips as he pressed loving kisses to her skin.
"Growing old together has always been something that you've wanted," Edward reminded her. "I'm never letting you go until death decides to bite me in the ass."
"Maybe death can bite me in the ass too," Bella suggested with a laugh.
"Firstly, no one is biting your ass," he stated sternly. "And secondly, I think it's the hormones talking again."
"Yeah, the emotions always run high when you surprise me like this," she said with a loud sniffle.
"Remember back when I was that shy kid who asked you to the school dance?" Edward said, smiling. "Jessica Stanley had really encouraged me to ask you out."
"That's because she wanted Mike for herself," Bella pointed out. "It's weird because everyone wants to leave high school after they graduate. Yet, here we are... constantly reminded of our dramatic years at school."
"There are certain things that I don't ever want to leave behind," Edward mumbled. "There's a lot of things that I can't afford to forget."
Something hard in his pocket bumped against Bella's leg.
"Oh, I forgot. Here's your corsage."
He took out the small bouquet of neatly-packed flowers from the box. Tying the corsage around her wrist, Edward gave her a proud smile.
"You're not as smooth as you used to be," Bella joked.
"I was never this smooth."
"You're smooth in bed," she remarked, knowing that she was giving him a massive ego boost.
"Want to visit the bleachers?" Edward whispered cheekily.
"I bet it's occupied."
"Don't worry, I'll scare them away."
He was distracted by the many observations that he made as he strolled across the school grounds. He spoke to his wife about what had changed since he'd last seen the place. Bella found his inner-chatterbox to be very endearing.
After yelling at two kids to go somewhere else, Edward waved her over. It was not a zone for youthful strangers. Instead, it'd be a sanctuary for the revival of old memories- ones that never seemed to erode over time.
"Thank you, Edward," she said, stepping closer. "Thank you for asking me to the dance. Thank you for being my husband. Thank you for being so wonderful."
"You're getting emotional again, beautiful wife," Edward chuckled as he kissed Bella's nose. He bent down so that he was facing her stomach. "Stop making your mama so emotional."
"Edward, he can't hear you at ten fetus weeks," Bella said dryly.
"Prometheus can hear me. Can't you buddy?"
"We're not calling our child Prometheus." Each word was enunciated slowly.
"Your mama's growling at me so I better not get her any more worked up," Edward said before he stood up.
"How come there's a random blanket, over there?" Bella asked, pointing to the item as if it were a two-headed dog.
"Because I placed it there," he smirked. "And those kids were ruining my surprise."
"I can't deal with more surprises," she said, pretending to faint against his chest.
Edward held Bella's hand as he laid her down on the soft material. Lines of shadows and splatters of light ran across Bella's face. He was struck with a heavy sense of admiration as he stared at his beloved.
"I don't know what kind of cheesy crap you're trying to pull," Bella mumbled impatiently.
"I've always wondered what would've happened if I had the nerves to properly kiss you that night. Maybe Prometheus would have greeted us a lot earlier," he whispered softly as he placed tender kisses across her neck.
"But that would have changed a whole series of events," Bella responded. "We wouldn't be the same people. We wouldn't have learned everything in the sequence that we did. So naturally, our course of action would vary as well."
"But maybe, I wouldn't have transformed into him. Into that Edward."
"I love every side of you," Bella whispered, feeling her chin tremble. "We fall down, but we rise again. So please stop hating what you did in a past that has already been stored in a forgotten shoebox. That box only collects trivial memorabilia of the unchangeable. Everything you do now means the world to me."
"You're my life, Bella," he said, sealing his declaration with a promising kiss. "You are the dream that I never wake up from."
As Edward removed the silky dress that glazed over her skin, he continued to pepper the right amount of kisses. Bella held onto his neck as he traced her breasts with his tongue, making them hard with an eagerness for more. He dived between her legs and brought her endless releases until she begged for him to stop so that he could arrive at the intersection of their love.
Entering her slowly, Edward knew he was returning home. As her core rocked with a passion that only her husband knew best, electric sensations were imbued. He sprinted after a release that he loved sharing with his wife. The speed of their actions quickened until she was clenching every muscle in her body with a scream of his name. In that moment, she witnessed the teaser of a fulfillment that she knew she would see until the end of time.
They floated back, descending from their visitation to bliss.
"Were you trying to combine our first times together?" she asked knowingly.
She could remember her nights with him so clearly, displaying a road that she'd walked on with her very own feet. That night when they'd talked, under the bleachers. And that other night when they'd first made love. Knowing that a galaxy surrounded them and moonlight helped their awkward fumbling.
"Yeah," Edward murmured as he reconnected his lips with Bella's.
"Some view," she giggled as they looked at the rows of seats above them. "Where is the starry night?"
"Are you saying you're not seeing enough stars, love?" he asked, nibbling on her earlobe.
"Perhaps, dear husband," Bella whispered. Once again, Edward started his mission of delivering her stars without a telescope.
She knew that moments became memories in the blink of an eye. The earth didn't stop for love or death, and it wasn't going to stop for them. Perhaps they would carry their flaws like brave scars from the battlefield or they would bury them like fragments of a nightmare that would only exist behind closed eyes.
She could feel the strength of her husband and his recovery, knowing that it had somehow saved her as well. What had started off as a mystery for Edward also became an imperative search for Bella's own insight. It'd taught her aspects of herself that she'd been too scared to confront. It'd illuminated beauty behind the ugliness of pain. She could feel the disappearing ache that had tortured them both. Its burns sizzled under the water, allowing nothing but hazy smoke to signify its transparent existence. Flawed human beings, they were and always will be. But perseverance was a sacred remedy that worked wonders when Effort was present.
Love and happiness would come hand in hand. A life that was filled with stumbles and a winding road would be a life worth living for, especially next to the person who she linked arms with- in lifelong commitment, and in matrimony. She could hear the serene plucking of the harp as she arrived in a tree-arching avenue of acceptance. The regrowth of hope was blossoming with every inhalation, every touch and every smile. As they relied on honesty in their everyday communication, they both understood that nothing was too late to save. It had simply been their willpower to do so- breaking down the brick walls of pride.
She knew that with each step they took, they would write a story for themselves that depicted the strength of resilience.
As they relived a moment that had once existed only at the beginning of their forever, the memories of their love entwined to form the coiled spirals of an Infinity that symbolized what had happened and what has yet to come.
.
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