Chapter Eight: Heart of Darkness - Part Forty-Nine - How to Court Your Wife in Seventeen Syllables
Apologies for the late review. Between work and a few health issues I haven't had that much "leisure" time lately.
That's quite a choice Marcus had to make, and at the hand of his mother!
Poor E, still no break in sight for him. Is it bad to find it ironically funny when Hezekiah tells him the sacrifices he made (I.E. Bella and the bloodlust he feels for her) could have been different?
He cant somehow take comfort in that Marcus's mom seems fond of him though. Although with his lack of good luck, it would probably be better to keep an eye (or both) open. Just in case. Oh, and that's too bad that his shield seems to faulter at times.
And what's that business of waking up without his bride by his side? *pouts* Life's unfair. Shouldn't B have put he rlife on hold while he was asleep? The nerve of that girl!! *end sarcasm*
And uh... the awakening of long lost bodily functions got to be... confusing indeed. AT least he is potty trained. Phew! hahaha
Good little chat E&B had in their not-quite-yet-marital bed. We learnt an interesting thing or 2 there.
Major LOL at the "Bestiality with a squirrel" part!
The 2nd chat between our favourite heroes didn't go down quite as well, did it? So much for nature having a calming effect. Douglas and Grace to the rescue though. Thank God for small blessings. B is not that easily swayed. CCE truly needs magic helpers in his bridal quest.
Skeevy proved to be a good ally to CCE in this chapter. A good level-headed uncle too. Poor Bella, fearing and feeling like she is going to be let down and abandoned again. If only she let herself be convinced that Edward would never let that happen. Anymore. Cos he did. He's an idiot. In love. But an idiot still.
A leopard never changes its spots. So true as far as the denali-educated newborns are concerned. At least they did sho some restraint towards their new mates and the audience around them. Some.
Ah! The Marcus helpline... How much does he charge you think? lol Edward should have the number on speed dial these days. Wisdom often comes from the ancients (Marcus won't be cross with me for making such a statement will he??) Will it hit home that CCE needs to forgive and love himself (I didnt mean THAT way!! Geez... That would be between him and himself... and a few spirits too probably and... Ah! I give up lol) in order to make progree with his Dear Little Bottlecap? That and also that relationships need work (wasn't that lesson covered and supposedly learnt in a previous chapter? I guess we'll put it down tot hat not-100%-vampire-anymore business ;) )
Hehehe Lingerie expert SSE about to strike again! LOL With his favourite accomplice of course. But shhhhh! Let's keep that quiet. It's a provate matter. All for his Peach benefit. Ummm his Peach's Peaches... uh... yeah...
Loved the whole "since I was the man in this relationship, and everything negative was my fault" part :p Im evil lol
Cute, heartfelt, sincere moment between CCE and Bella in the attic. He's trying, that's for sure. No one can take that from him. OK, he still sometimes put his foot in his mouth, but he's trying...
Oh, and 3 loud cheers for the public announcement of the not-so-fake-real engagement to the family. While CCE was all about the "taming a wild animal" approached, Bella settled for the "rip the bandaid at once" tactic. LOL Effective!
Awesome chapter, hun! As always :)
Looking forward to the next developments of this great adventure!
Author's Response: Hi there hun, I don't care when I get feedback as long as I get it. :) And I'd much rather you read when you have time and feel well enough to do so. So no worries. Really. You come first. :) And I found it all kinds of amusing that Edward had to learn the hard way that there is a huge difference between personal sacrifice and sacrificing something for the tribe. I wanted to use his sacrifices as a dual-edged weapon of characterization of sorts. They show on one hand how important Bella is becoming to him. But on the other hand, they also add in roadblocks to that relationship. And then there's the additional benefit that the fact he goes so far overboard and chooses things that inconvenience him but have no bearing on the welfare of the tribe....I wanted to show how he's coming out of his self-absorbed phase in bits and pieces. I liked the idea of him waking up and her not being there. And her being with another family member having a chat. I wanted to give Edward and Emmett a chance to bond. And I most definitely wanted to give Edward and his Father a chance to once again show the evolution of their relationship. Edward has started trusting his family bit by bit.
To me Bella has had a really harsh lesson of late about family. I had a hard time putting myself in her place and finding out when she's in high school that much of her life has been a lie. And also finding out how people she loved made decisions on her behalf - ones that impacted her tremendously without ever giving her a vote in the matter. Kinda wanted to set that up there so she already has a complex by the time Edward comes back into her life. I liked that Skeevy appealed to logic rather than emotion - to her sense of fairness. He knows that time will have to be the proof. But he also knows that people lied to Bella for years without her knowing and that Bella has to develop trust in her instincts again. When you find out that the people you loved the most were the ones who lied to you - then how do you know in the future WHO is safe to trust? That's Bella's deal.
That point you made about forgiveness. To me it's something that will hit him in phases. If you go back and read Lies Dreams and Schemes (wait about two weeks or so because I'm re-editing the front end at present), you'll see a conversation between Edward and Carlisle that is really important. Carlisle is underscoring the importance of what Marcus just told Edward. So Edward's having this "oh heck" *face-palm* moment as he walks up the stairs and starts his flashback to the HOD arc. Marcus planted the seeds, and Carlisle watered the plant so to speak.
I wanted to extend the joke from the newborns must die chapter about how everything is the fault of the man - so says Emmett. Rosalie, too.
I'm delighted that the attic scene has been so well received. I wanted to have him propose to her yet still have that ambivalence going on so we can see the two of them as they learn how to trust and love. I also wanted to pick up where Heartbeats and Lullabies left off with Edward looking at his possessions in trunks he'd never had the courage to open. I liked the idea of the attic being the one place that Edward and Bella could count on to be private and alone and not stuffed with Lost Coven vampires as the house is teeming with them at present. Makes writing a courtship all kinds of awkward. And I'm also happy you enjoyed Bella's attitude about their engagement. Something to keep in mind is that Bella is avoidant of conflict. So to me her flat out announcing it, really is a way to avoid conflict because she's telling Charlie in front of an audience. He can't bellow at her.
Going back to writing now. :)
Many, many thanks for spoiling me so.
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