Epilogue: In the End, Love

POV: Elisha "Elise" Clearwater-Call

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Certain things catch your eye,

But pursue only those

that capture your heart.

-ancient Native American saying

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Mommy made me put on this princess dress even though I'd rather be wearing my comfy, blue jeans and playing with Eva, Uncle Jake and Auntie Bella's daughter. But Eva is holding my hand, now, pulling me forward.

I want to be just like her when I'm bigger. She's very tall, grown up, and knows exactly what to do. She's a junior bridesmaid. I'm a flower girl and we're both wearing scratchy princess dresses. Like me, she has lots of yellow flowers in her dark hair. She carries a bunch in her hand, while I carry a basketful of tiny yellow petals.

Daddy tells me to sprinkle the pretty petals all over the white carpet for Mommy so she can walk on them and make the air smell pretty... just like her.

I know my daddy doesn't want a wedding. I heard him tell Mommy three nights ago, and every night since. They talk in the hallway outside of my room when they think I'm finally asleep.

I'm tricky because they never know I'm awake to hear them.

"Nothing good ever happens to me at weddings, Leah," he says in his deep, I'm not happy about this at all daddy voice, "Can't we just go to Vegas?"

"Embry, I want to have a real wedding with you. Please. A wedding on the cliffs."

That's what my mommy says using that voice. When she uses that voice, Daddy usually lets her have what she wants.

When I grow up, I'm going to learn how to use that voice, too!

Then I hear her whisper, "Last time it was in a church. Please, Embry, I want to get married on the cliffs with you."

And then he sighs a big sigh and grumbles, "Well, at least I don't have to dive!"

And then Mommy laughs a really big laugh.

They do this every night before they say, "I love you." That always makes me smile.

Then Daddy says some words I don't understand, something about man handles.

Anyway, I think Vegas sounds fun, too. Wolfe says there's pretty girls in Vegas, that there's lots of lights, and fun places to go gambling. Wolfe is Eva's big brother and I think I love him. I don't know what gambling is because they don't teach us that in kindergarten. I tried asking once, but my teacher frowned at me in a very mean way, and I didn't want to ask again.

So, I ask Eva about it and she says Wolfe is naughty and told me not to listen to him, that weddings are not terrible, and that my daddy will be just fine.

The sun is out today. Everyone was worried it would rain.

"It is Washington after all! The cliffs?! Of all the asinine-" Uncle Jake bellowed yesterday with a funny sounding sniff. He tweaked my nose when he noticed I'd been watching and listening. "Your mom, little Elise… she just likes living on the edge."

In the brightness of today, I look at Daddy standing near the edge of the cliff. The sun is just starting to set behind him. I hear the roar of the waves crashing below. I've watched Mommy dive from here before. But Daddy and I usually stay far, far away from the edge. Now they want me to walk toward the edge that they always tell me to stay away from!?!

I gulp.

Nurse Ariana is waving at me as I pass. She is the visiting nurse from the hospital who took care of my mommy when she came home with me when I was just a baby. Mommy was very sad because… that was also when my father died. With a smile I notice that Ariana seems to have a hard time ripping her eyes away from Uncle Jake.

I look at Uncle Jake standing next to Daddy. Both of them are a really, really long way away. My legs are wobbly because everyone is watching me and smiling… big toothy smiles. There are a lot of fashion models and fashion designers here, too. All of my uncles, the ones Daddy calls his wolfpack, keep looking their way. I know most of the women here because I get to stay backstage during the fashion shows as long as I behave. They're all really nice and they sure know a lot about my mom's love life!

I see Hayley, she's a sock model. She's wearing some cute ones today. Nikki keeps staring up at my Uncle Jake. In fact, the models can't stop looking at Daddy and his best man. Among them, I see Patty, Geenie, Ingrid "Izzy", Zoe, Raven, Katie and Nikki. I remember Mommy talking to these women when they came to a party at our house a few months ago. She was telling them the story of how Aunt Bella and Uncle Jake learned that they loved one another. I remember Zoe laughing and saying, "All I'm saying is, if he kissed me, I wouldn't punch him in the face!"

All of the ladies laughed and toasted their glasses in wholehearted agreement.

I suppose I wouldn't punch Uncle Jake, either. He kisses my cheek all of the time!

Aunt Bella, next to Aunt Felicia, doesn't look very pleased that all the pretty ladies are ogling Uncle Jake. I stifle a giggle because I notice Uncle Jake preening a little. He looks very proud and handsome. Good thing Aunt Bella's friend, JoeBob is sitting in viewing distance to her. JoeBob can always remind Aunt Bella that some very handsome men must have looked at her all of the time, too!

I keep my eyes trained on my Aunt Felicia, who is motioning for me to keep walking. She's very, very pretty. I like her because she doesn't pinch my cheeks. She treats me like a big kid, and she always knows exactly what I want.

I also know her secret! She likes my Uncle Seth. I saw them kissing once.

That's sort of gross!

I know lots of secrets, actually. I have a very special one that I'm not supposed to talk about. I know that I'm going to have a baby brother soon… before my next birthday! And I'm usually right about these things. Whenever I say something that comes true later, my Granny Chenoa announces to everyone in the room that I have the gift of sight. I don't understand what she means. How can sight be a gift since everyone I know can see? That doesn't make me very special at all! Everyone I know can see!

Anyway, Mommy laughed yesterday when I told her what I thought about Granny Chenoa and my gift. Later, when I whispered the secret about my baby brother in her ear, though, she smiled a funny smile, put a finger to my mouth, and whispered, "Shhh!" She hugged me close and told me not to tell anyone yet, that it was still too soon to tell. She even made me cross my heart as she pulled the seatbelt across my lap.

By the way, I'm in a booster seat and not a baby seat any more!

I stop thinking about all the secrets in my head and concentrate on getting to where I'm supposed to be.

I see a lot of people from overseas waving at me as I make my way down the aisle. I see Rima who is a dancer and an architect from Amsterdam who knows my uncles, I don't know how she does, but she seems pretty pleased with the view of the groomsmen in front of her. Cat is so very cool, and Julieanne Arc is here, too. Both hail from Australia and seem just as riveted as Rima. Even Jada is here. She makes me laugh because she always gives Daddy a hard time, muttering that he's so immature sometimes.

I don't know what immature means. I'll have to remember to ask her at the reception.

With each step, I look down both sides of my dress to make sure that I've sprinkled flower petals all around before I step forward again. I have one job, and Mommy says I should do it well. I see I missed a spot. I wave my hand, like I just learned I could do, and a bit of wind scatters the petals to evenly cover the white carpet. I'm pretty good at making sure all the spots are getting covered. Only, just once, I forget to sprinkle because when I look up, I see a little boy, my age, staring at me and it's all his fault that I forget because he won't stop staring!

I keep my gaze on him as I finally reach where I'm supposed to be, at my Aunt Felicia's side, up front, next to the trellis arch that they put up for my parents to stand under. The boy hasn't stopped looking at me. He has eyes the color of the forest and hair color, like Aunt Felicia's. I've never seen him before. He's standing next to my Granny Chenoa and a lady that comes to visit her sometimes when I stay with her. I think her name is, Aylen. The boy doesn't look at all like her, but the man beside her might be his daddy.

I tilt my head as I examine the blond man. If I squint my eyes a little and look at him in a certain way, he sort of looks like a picture of Father that Mommy gave me. People say I don't look a thing like my father, that I'm the spitting image of my mother.

What does that mean, anyway? Spitting is disgusting!

My father was Aunt Felicia's twin. He went to heaven, just like my granddad, so that man next to the little boy can't be him.

I am distracted from my thoughts when the music changes. I watch Mommy come up the aisle. I'm proud I look like her because she is very beautiful. Uncle Seth has his arm crooked so Mommy can hold on to him. It looks a little funny because she keeps gripping him, like she's going to topple over any minute. I don't know why she's crying. She should be happy! Today she's getting married to Daddy!

I frown and notice the little boy frowning, too. I wrinkle my nose and he wrinkles his nose, too. I giggle behind my hand and he giggles, too. I wriggle my index finger twice against my basket handle and watch the boy's tie do a little dance, surprising him enough to leave his mouth hanging in a big "O."

I giggle again. He frowns. I narrow my eyes at him and suddenly I hear what can only be the little boy's voice in my head.

"That's not funny."

I stare at him with big saucer-like eyes and he's smiling at me in that smarty-pants sort of way.

I see the man with the blond hair look at the both of us interacting. I watch him bend down. I can hear what he says without trying too hard.

"Stevie, stop that!"

At the reprimand, I watch Stevie try to be good. He stands up straight and everything. I mimic him by standing up straight, too. He frowns at me. I turn away and pay attention to what's happening with my parents. I sigh happily as Mommy finally makes it to the top, next to my dad.

The bald man with the loud voice, who is in charge of the ceremony, says lots of pretty words that I don't understand. But this all takes a really long time and my legs want to move because they've been still too long. To keep from fidgeting, I look out to the audience, distracting myself. I try to identify some of the guests.

Oh, there's one of my mommy's close friends, Kei Kat and she's wearing a beautiful emerald green dress!

She brought her two-year old niece who is in a dress as fluffy as mine! I see her best friend from Canada who has been trying to teach me French while they've been staying with us. All three love Uncle Jake, almost more than me. Kei even dragged her sister, who's holding a big book that has a black cover, to the ceremony. Kei's sister keeps softly asking her why they've come to Mommy and Daddy's wedding, saying she'd much rather be at the wedding of some other man named, Harry Potter.

"Sis, read that and you'll know all about my friend, Leah. Maybe when you're done, you'll understand that she's not a minor anything," Kei whispers patiently back at her, motioning at the book in her sister's hand. Kei also suggests that she keep her eyes on all of my uncles and mommy's gorgeous designer wedding gown. Kei waves at me. I smile and wave back at her. Her sister points at me and mouthes, "Who is she?!" Kei, shakes her head at her and says exasperated, "Just read the book, then I'll tell you about the little flower girl!"

I see Davii who works with Mommy and Aunt Felcia at GirlieWolf. He's the one who's in charge of managing all of their international fashion shoots. He knew my father and told me once that he thought my father was a very good man. Davii met him at a dig in a small California town and my father introduced him to Aunt Felicia. That's how he met Mommy.

Zuxy Q. is a designer who Mommy knows from school. Zuxy is from Mexico and was friends with Mommy and Daddy when She and Mom were in college. She once yelled at my mommy for choosing my father, Stefan, first. Zuxy stayed friends with Daddy when Mommy was with Father. She'd tried to get Daddy to see reason, telling him that he deserved more than the way my mom was treating him. But then, she started working with Mommy later on in life when Mommy was married to Father. Mommy blurted out her whole story over too much drink and though Zuxy understands that it's all finally worked out, she still worries for Daddy. I heard her once tell him that he needed to grow a spine where Mommy is concerned.

I don't know what that means, but I am just five years old, after all. I heard Daddy once tell Uncle Jake he sometimes had to agree with Zuxy, though.

Besides Ariana and Kei, Hilja is a close friend of my mommy's from before when Father was alive and is also one of the people Mommy goes to when she needs to talk about my father to someone. Amena is my father's friend. She worked with him during a lot of his digs. She told me that she started really getting to know Mommy when I was still in her belly and Father started getting very sick. Father's lawyer, Beauty, from New York is here, too, she's gotten to know Mommy and Daddy very well since she's in charge of a lot of things that used to be my Father's.

Tashay is Daddy's friend from an MBA program in Texas. Rakikel from Brazil is my daddy's friend from when he was in the environmental program. She knows my Granny Chenoa, too. I think Dee knows Daddy somehow, but for sure she's Aunt Rachel's best friend. Dee's looking at Daddy funny, in a way I don't really like. On the other hand, Uncle Seth can't seem to decide who to rest his eyes on, Dee or Aunt Felicia. Aunt Felicia's not looking very happy about that either.

As I'm thinking about this, someone grabs my hand and suddenly I'm pulled between my parents.

Daddy holds Mommy's hand and then he takes mine before he says, "Leah, I am ready to take the leap today. I choose you to be my wife, and you, Elisha, as my daughter. I promise to love you both through good times and bad, to care for you in sickness and in health, to nurture you, and to grow with you throughout all the seasons of our life together."

And then Mommy, who is still crying, says, "Embry, I am ready to dive into our life together. I choose you to be my husband. I promise to love you through good times and bad, to care for you in sickness and in health, to nurture you, and to grow with you for as long as we both shall live. I love you for the love you show Elisha and me every day."

Uncle Jake gives Daddy the pretty ring he showed me yesterday and he puts it on Mommy's finger. She does the same thing to him. They both put a very pretty matching bracelet around my wrist. Now they are both crying. They start crying even harder when I whisper at them to stop crying.

I shake my head.

Silly… both of them. They're supposed to be happy!

Aunt Felicia draws me beside her and I tug at her dress. She bends down.

"Why are they so sad?" I ask her, perplexed. "Is Daddy right? Is this the something bad that is happening to him at this wedding?"

"No, Elisha, darling," Aunt Felicia replies with a watery smile, "they're very, very happy. Look they're kissing, now! See how happy they are?"

I nod, but my attention is caught by the blond boy who's now sticking his tongue out at me.

Hey! I didn't do anything! Well, not really!

I squint my eyes at him and scowl.

Just you wait, I think, planning my revenge.

When it's finally my turn to go back down the aisle, I stop in front of Stevie. He smiles at me as he approaches the center aisle.

Good thing I'm last to go down, because no one really notices what I'm doing, except Eva.

Granny Chenoa smiles at me. I smile at her, and then I promptly kick Stevie in the shins. He lets out a yelp and tries to kick me back. I see his dad grab his collar. Eva grabs hold of me by the waist, but I'm still swinging at him. I'm swinging so hard that the flowers fall out of my hair. Eva half carries me to my parents.

"I hate that boy," I whisper into Eva's ear. I'm hugging her madly, crying now, too.

"Oh, Elise, you don't even know him." Eva turns and we both watch the little blond boy pick up one of the little yellow posies that fell from my hair. I feel her smile against my neck as we both watch him look both ways before bringing it up to his nose, then carefully place it in his shirt pocket.

Something funny twists in my chest.

"I don't think he hates you, Elise," Eva says quietly, patting my back and giving me a quick kiss on the cheek. She stops abruptly and I turn, finding myself being lifted into my daddy's arms.

"Time for pictures with my two beautiful girls," he says happily, his other arm around my mommy's waist. He turns to me and says, "Did you know, Elise, that this is the best wedding I've ever been to?!"

My tears swiftly turn into smiles as I look into their joyful faces.

"It sure beats Vegas!" I announce happily. Everyone stops and stares at me in shocked silence, and then they burst into loud laughter, like I'd made the funniest joke ever!

From my perch on Daddy's arm, I catch the little boy's green gaze.

I stick my tongue out at him.

To my great surprise, I hear Stevie's voice in my head again.

"Best not to do that, Elise, your face might freeze that way."

I laugh because Mommy tells me this all of the time. I see the twinkle in Stevie's eye as he winks and smiles back at me.

"I'm sorry about teasing you before. Let's play when you're done, 'kay?"

I nod at him, offering forgiveness as quickly as most five year olds do. I then turn to follow the photographer's directions.

As I smile, and smile, and smile between flashes of light, I keep a watchful eye on the blond boy who is sitting close by.

Stevie doesn't seem to notice my gaze because he's busy looking at the flower he's pulled out of his pocket...

just waiting for me to come and play.

Author's Note:

To all of you without first names attached to your lovely profiles, I have not forgotten you.

fairy-tale romantic, you're one of models. Cuz of the Fame, guess whose best friend you are?

RachelxMichelle, Love3good, Psychokillerhoney (even though your avatar and name freak me out! ;)), NoMonstersNoMagic, LoveIt123, YourLastFirstLove, AllzStar, jadeesmjk, Brinkyfly45, Team Jacob Always, Fused twilight, and MsBookWorm7 I've counted you among the models making moon eyes at both Jake and Embry.

McLovin09, myfavoritewolf, Raybanlover, your eyes are all for Jake, TheRealSlytherinPrincess and mosa wildcat your eyes are all for Embry,

Shadowgrl (who reminded me at chapter 3 to mark the story as unfinished!) and meggels13 you're all prepared with the tissues, leading the models with the model-perfect, happy tears sort of crying and carrying on when Embry and Leah finally say their I do's (^_^)

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR FANTASTIC SUPPORT OF THIS CALLWATER STORY…

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you in the States.