Dear Diary:                                                                September 14, 2013

          Remember how I said in the previous entry that Bella and Edward went off to Switzerland for a little pre-birthday trip so the rest of us can finish up Operation Movie for Bella's birthday? Well they're back! And it's Bella's birthday so it's time to reveal her present(s) to her. As soon as the car arrived in the driveway and the two of them got out; the whole family was waiting. And by whole family I mean all the Cullens, the wolves, all of the Watchers, and the Denali clan! Bella took one look at everyone and knew something was definitely up. Her eyes narrowed at Edward first who just smiled like everyone else not giving anything away.

          She then glanced at me, Esme, Rogue, and finally Leah who grinned and nodded her head enthusiastically. Well that must have been an encouraging sign to Bella because she relaxed a tad. We all knew Bella hated surprises but this one was totally worth it. Before we headed toward her and Edward's cabin, she came up and hugged the Denali's as they were the only visiting members of the family. Then with Edward picking up their bags, everyone headed toward their cabin. Bella was walking between Edward and Leah; neither said a word.

"Oh come on! Can I at least have a small clue? You guys are acting like the CIA!" Bella protested.  Rogue giggled at that one as she actually worked with the CIA at some point.

"Be patient Bella." I said with a smile.

"Yeah it's only a little bit further." Leah said encouragingly.

"Fine." Bella mumbled. Everyone was anxious and excited with anticipation.

          As we got to their cottage and walked inside, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. At least not at first. Then Bella said:

"Wait, why does the floor seem hollow? It never made that sound before when you walked on it." We continued to smile.

        Then Edward nodded toward the back of the cottage.  She looked at us and kept walking. That's when she noticed a door in the wall where there wasn't a door before. She looked at us very puzzled and turned the knob which opened the door. There were stairs that led down; the stairs were carpeted beige as was the whole knew section of the cottage. As Bella walked cautiously down the stairs, she stopped at the bottom and gasped. Her eyes were as round as saucers and her mouth was somewhere on that carpeted basement.  We had all by that time trouped down the stairs and stood in our designated spots.

        What Bella was now staring at was an in-house movie theater! The theme was very Middle Eastern chic. Colors were navy, brown, and beige. There were couches and loveseats that were of textured brown leather that you could recline in. There was also a big screen in front that you could cover with a sheet when you didn't need it and a very modern DVD projector standing behind all of the couches so it wouldn't be very obvious.

        We then turned her around so she could see the rest of the room as it was separated into a few sections. On one side was a sizable popcorn machine that looked very old fashioned yet fit with the décor of the place. On the other side there was a large bar with bar stools. The bar was totally made out of light marble and reddish-orange glass. It was very contemporary looking.  Now you remember those crystal champagne flutes that Bella and Edward were given on Rogue's Isle for their anniversary that I mentioned were part of Bella's birthday present? Now each set of flutes was displayed in the bar area above all of the bottles of alcohol on colored glass shelves. Bella gasped as she understood that part.

        We were nowhere near finished; Leah and Edward then turned and walked her around the stairs and the wall to yet another portion of their new basement. Bella's eyes couldn't get any wider and her mouth was all but dragging on the ground by now. She had tears in her eyes. This last room had a floor to ceiling bookcase filled with all of her favorite books and a very large comfortable purple chair/bed thing. The rest of the walls were filled with old fashioned movie posters so both rooms would tie in together.  Now it was time to explain who did what and finish with the presents. I spoke for the Cullen family first.

"Ok well that's it for the basement now we'll explain who did what and give you the rest of the gifts." I said with a smile.

"The—there's m-more?" Bella stuttered.

"You betcha!" Seth said with a huge grin.  Bella shook her head but couldn't utter any more words as I continued:

"Ok well the movie theater was fully constructed by Alice, Jasper, Rogue, Alexander, Esme, and I. So that's our gift to you. The popcorn machine is from Amy and Peter. The bar area is from Rose and Emmett while the massive bookcase is from Edward and the chair/bed thing is from Leah and Keith."

        I checked off my fingers as I went around the room and those whose names were called smiled and nodded. Next came the Denali's; all three women had something in their hands; it was Tanya who spoke for them.

"Ok on behalf of all of us from Alaska, we wanted to get you something practical and something you could actually use and fits your style as opposed to what Alice may buy you." Alice stuck her tongue out at her as the rest of us laughed at that one; Tanya continued: "Marcus and I got you a suede jacket, while Carmen and Eleazer got you a very traditional Alaskan jacket, and Kate and Garrett a leather one with some fur. All three were made in Alaska."

          As their names were called, they each walked up kissed and hugged Bella before presenting her with her 3 new jackets. She was wobbling so Leah quickly fielded them from her arms before she dropped them. Becoming a vampire did nothing for Bella's clumsiness especially when she was surprised. Lastly, everyone whose names were not previously called came up. I counted them off again.

"Lastly, what would a movie theater be without any movies right? Well we couldn't have that, now could we? John and Maria got you Casablanca; Kim and Michelle got you Jane Eyre; Jacob and Nessie thought The Secret Garden would be something fun for the whole family to watch; Corin and Seth got you your very favorite Wuthering Heights and Charlie and Sue sent a quilt that she made for you herself to use when watching the movies."

"That's it! You can breathe now, Bella." Jasper said with a grin looking at Bella's face. It was absolutely priceless.  (photos of everything are in the album)

          As we watched Bella get her bearings on everything and everyone; Alice, Esme, Rogue, Amy, and Corin went to the bar and plucked the crystal flutes off their shelves and handed them out to people standing there. Then Edward opened a bottle of Martini & Rossi champagne. The popping cork finally snapped Bella out of her trance. It bounced off the ceiling and missed Rogue and Nessie by a few inches, both of them dodging out of its way with a giggle.

"Holy crow......I.....I....really don't know what to say. This is......beyond.....anything I could have ever dreamed of. I......am absolutely speechless." Bella managed to stammer out.

"You can always just say thank you and it'll be enough." Jacob said and everyone laughed.

"Thank you aren't even adequate words. This is so much beyond that." Bella said.

"Thank you very much?" Nessie volunteered to more laughter. This time Bella laughed too.

"Yes, thank you all very very very very much! I love absolutely everything. Yes I actually love a surprise for once." More laughter.

"I'm just glad we finally showed her and gave everything her; she wouldn't leave me alone in Switzerland. I'm starting to think she learned all that pestering from Alice. Congrats shorty.....she's actually picked up one of your lovely talents." Edward said with a wink at his wife.

"Not the one I would have preferred." Alice grumbled to the continued giggling from everyone in the room.

"How about a toast?" I finally said getting everyone's attention back to the present.

          We all stood in line while Edward poured champagne into each beautiful crystal flute then went to stand by our respective mates. The basement was big enough to fit us all comfortably that we didn't have to feel like we were squished into a sardine can. Actually we made it so spacious that you could fit another group of us if you had one. Just to make it so it was large but yet still felt homey. We didn't want it to seem like a massive theater you'd find in a mall or something.  So once everyone's glasses were filled, Edward lifted his glass toward his wife and said:

"You have made me the happiest man in the universe. You have made each of our lives so much richer by being with us and just by being you. We all love you completely, totally, and unconditionally. Happy Birthday Bella!"

"Happy Birthday Bella!"

        Everyone said loud and clear and we all clinked our glasses. Then we all drank some wonderful champagne and decided to make Bella's new movie theater useful by watching a movie. Everyone got comfortable as Bella picked The Secret Garden to watch so it would be family friendly.  Bella sat on a seat with Edward under her new quilt as the lights went out and the movie started.

        And isn't that just the best way to end any birthday; surrounded by friends and family who love you? I totally agree.

~Carlisle Cullen