Hello everyone!

I'm actually here with the chapter—imagine that! LOL ;)

But seriously, I wasn't hoping to wait this long before I uploaded it. It was simply that I had so much trouble with this chapter that I couldn't get it done.

Thanks to Chandrakanta for betaing this! She is seriously amazing!

Before you go on and read, if you would like to, here's the link to this story's banner: s1108 dot photobucket dot com/user/bexie25/media/Banners%20for%20Stories/OurChoicebanner_zpsc3e45744 dot jpg dot html?sort=3&o=0

Newcomers, if you haven't read A Choice you really need to. And if you didn't know already, and would like to join, there is a facebook group for this series. Here's the link: facebook dot com/groups/118639404965906/

Read, review, enjoy! ;)

The January sun in my eyes woke me up. With a deep breath and a slight frown of irritation because of the red I was seeing behind my eyelids, I opened my eyes and blearily looked toward the window, taking in the features of the room.

It was sunny today and I smiled. My back was bare to the surprising heat of the morning sun, the bed sheet only covering my lower half, barely concealing my ass. Through the thinness of the cotton sheet, I could feel Edward's hand resting on my lower back, his fingers splayed to cover both my ass and the small of my lower back, digging in slightly into the two dimples. The contrast of the heat of the sun on my skin combined with the ice-cold of Edward's hand felt incredible and titillating; it made my skin tingle.

I stretched as I inhaled again, and a low rumble made me turn my head, my cheeks brushing against the pillow under my head. I smiled softly at my mate as he looked into my eyes, his warm butterscotch ones so full of love. That same love, I was sure, was reflected in mine as I stared up at him.

"Hello, beautiful," he whispered, breaking the silence almost unwillingly.

I hummed and pulled myself closer to him, the muscles in my neck and shoulders straining. Edward's eyes flickered down to my chest and he licked his lips at the sight of my breasts pressed together as I moved. I smiled to myself, pleased, as always, that I could evoke such a reaction in him. I stopped myself from looking down to see just how much he might have reacted; I'd know soon enough anyhow.

When I was close enough, I pushed myself up to kneel in front of him. The sheet fell away from my body and my nipples tightened as the cool air hit my skin, my core aching as Edward's now-black eyes flickered down my body, landing and staying on my swollen lower lips. The rumble in his chest grew louder and I giggled to myself, biting my lip as I leaned forward slowly, teasingly. Wordlessly, I pressed the palms of both my hands against his cool chest and pushed. Edward smiled at my efforts; we both knew I couldn't actually push him down no matter how much I really wanted to. And I really did; it was one of the things at the top of my list of what I want to do after my transformation. Probably knowing what I wanted to do, after a few seconds of looking at me with that goofy, adorable smile of his, he lay back so I could climb onto him.

"Hi," I whispered back as I lifted a leg and slid over him, straddling him. Edward's hands flashed to grip my hips and I sighed as he began to rub circles on my hip bones. I exhaled and leaned forward, my breasts pushing together again as I braced my hands on his chest. I pecked him on the lips then pulled back quickly. Much too quickly for Edward, apparently, as that low rumble turned into a sort of growly sound and he threaded his fingers through the hair at the nape of my neck. He pulled me closer, and I moaned as our lips touched and the usual electricity that was always around sparked. We both smiled and cocked our heads to the side, moving closer as we deepened the kiss.

I hummed as Edward ended the kiss with one last nip at my bottom lip.

"Bella, my sweet mate, as much as I would love to lounge with you for a few hours," Edward whispered against my skin, rubbing his cheek against mine, "I am afraid our presence is required up at the main house. Alice called for us an hour ago, but one look at you and I couldn't bring myself to wake you up. You've been so tired lately."

I pouted at the thought of our time together being cut short, but, knowing I could do nothing to persuade him otherwise, I sighed and got up. "Okay," I replied levelly, slapping my hand over my mouth as I yawned once more, my eyes watering. "We better get dressed then."

I smiled at the low growl that Edward released as I got up, not caring to cover my stark-naked body, and walked into the wardrobe. I loved knowing that I affected my mate as much as he did me, but it did present a problem—his reactions were a huge turn-on and there would be no relief until later on.

"I'm gonna have a quick shower, baby," I called over my shoulder, walking back out into our bedroom, having grabbed an outfit off one of the racks on my side of the walk-in-wardrobe. I could feel the end result of last night's escapades slowly seeping out of me, and whilst I loved the reminder and I knew from Edward's blackened eyes that he loved the mark it made on me, I knew the practical thing to do was clean myself up.

Plus, Emmett wouldn't leave us alone if we walked up to the house smelling of sex.

"All right, darling," Edward said, stalking forward. He took the clothes from my hands and cupped my cheeks, kissing me fully and lovingly on the lips for a few seconds before he broke the kiss and let go of me. "I shall get breakfast ready for you and then whilst you eat, I'll take my shower."

I nodded. "Sounds good."

He smiled down at me. "Is there anything in particular that you would like?"

I bit my lip and thought for a minute. "Uh… no, I don't think so. Maybe just some banana toast? I really don't mind, baby."

"All right then," he said, pecking me on the lips once more and chuckling when I tried to deepen it, only for him to pull away. He kissed the pout off my face and walked out, mumbling under his breath. I giggled, loving that I could fluster him so.

I dashed into the bathroom, aware of how much time Edward had given me. I really hoped whatever they wanted wasn't that important, because I knew we'd be at least another twenty minutes, perhaps even half an hour if Edward wanted to go slow.

The heat of the water on my skin woke me up, and I showered quickly, washing hastily. I shut the water off quickly and was mindful to slow down when I hopped out and grabbed a towel. I toweled my legs and arms then grabbed a second and walked out to where Edward was in the kitchen. He looked up from the plate and walked over. He inhaled deeply as he made it to me, and purred a sweet "beautiful" in my ear. He took the towel from my hand gently and wrung my hair out. I smiled and leaned into his hands, sighing as the towel dropped to the floor and he massaged my head.

"Thank you," I said a few moments later, leaning up and turning my head to catch his lips at an odd angle. He smiled into the kiss, wrapping his arms around me.

"Enjoy, my love," he said, before he let me go and stepped back.

I smiled up at him in thanks again, and took the plate to the table a few feet away. I watched as his smile grew, a look of satisfaction on his face as he walked toward our bedroom, the towel he used for my hair in hand. He turned around the corner—off to take his shower.

I sat the plate down and stood there staring at it for a moment, debating with myself on whether to eat and then get dressed or get dressed and then eat. I decided on the latter and ran my hands through my now-dry hair as I padded to our bedroom. Toweling myself down once more, I threw it into the hamper in the corner of the room—a relatively new addition. My hair whipped against my back as I turned sharply back to the clothes, reaching for the red panties and bra, slipping them on quickly before I pulled on the dark grey-wash jeans and the sweet blue top I'd become particularly fond of. I grabbed the pair of flats I'd haphazardly stepped out of last night, quirking my lips as I found them disorderly coupled against the door. My breathing stuttered as I remembered our frenzy last night, and I moaned lightly before shaking my head and walking back out to my breakfast.

Edward was sitting out there in a towel and I swallowed, his appearance not doing anything to relax me after my own moment just a few seconds ago. He smiled at me, his eyes smug, cocky, and fucking cheeky as he took in my flushed cheeks and heated stare.

"Go get dressed," I said quietly, swallowing and licking my lips. I detoured to the fridge and got out the orange juice, needing to quench a suddenly dry throat.

He snickered as he stood up. In a blink, he was thankfully away in our bedroom and I took a deep breath. "Fuck me," I whispered under my breath.

"Any time, my sweet girl," Edward called and I huffed, shaking my head.

"Fuckin' incorrigible," I muttered as I sat down, setting my juice down on the table and picking up a piece of toast. I hummed in appreciation as I bit down, the crunch of the toast just what I had been craving.

"But only for you," Edward called again and I choked before quickly swallowing.

"Stop responding to my mutterings!" I called to him, exasperated.

He chuckled as he appeared sitting in front of me. He leaned over the table and kissed me. "Sorry, sweetheart."

"Yeah," I mumbled as I focused on eating.

We sat there—me eating and Edward watching—for a few minutes in relative silence, which was only broken by the sound of Edward's phone ringing. He answered it after only one ring, and I frowned as a look of agitation came across his face.

"Alice, we will be there within the next ten minutes," he reasoned, flashing me a smile and rolling his eyes. I chuckled as I heard Alice's phone-voice shout at him not to roll his eyes. "I am terribly sorry, dearest sister. But we shall be with you shortly—you can scold me properly then, all right?"

Edward shut his phone and turned it onto silent before tucking it back into the back pocket of his jeans. I took a chance to get an eyeful of him and smiled at the black button-up he had on. I fucking loved black on this man.

"What's this all about?" I asked to distract myself, getting up to put my plate in the sink. I walked around the island and turned on the water, looking up at Edward.

He sighed. "Alice won't tell me, so I haven't the faintest idea. However, everyone else is there, including your father, so I have a small inkling it could be about the move." He glanced at me as he said that last part.

I tongued the inside of my left cheek, drying my hands with the hand towel, my eyes gazing upwards in thought. "Is Dad okay?"

Edward's expression cleared and he smiled, taking me into his arms in a second. "He's perfectly fine, sweetheart. If he wasn't, Alice would have told me upon my answering her first call. And I would never have allowed you to rest if he wasn't, for I know how deeply you care for him." He kissed my forehead as I exhaled shakily.

"Sorry," I said. "I just… I guess when you mentioned Dad there, I thought maybe there'd been a hiccup or something."

"Darling, your father's unfortunate encounter was over a month ago," my mate told me calmly but firmly, his cool breath tickling my ear. His hands moved to my hips, and his fingers drawing sweet, slow, relaxing circles helped me as I took another deep breath.

"I know, I just… every time I think of my dad now, I just remember Carlisle telling me he'd been shot." I looked down and blinked hard, dispelling a stray tear that Edward kissed away in an instant. I bit back a sob as I continued, "I just… that bullet was so close to his heart, Edward." I couldn't help but let out a sob, and instinctively I burrowed into my mate for comfort. Edward let his special growl for me loose as he turned me sharply and wrapped his arms around me, pressing his cheek against mine so I could calm further from the vibrations.

I took a few deep breaths, eyes closed, and only when I no longer felt so out of control of my emotions did I continued speaking. "We're so happy, Edward; everything is as it should be, apart from Dad's leg, and I guess I just feel as if I should be waiting for the other shoe to drop. Everything is just too perfect, too close to how I need and want it to be."

"Bella," he whispered almost inaudibly in my ear. He leaned back and looked in my eyes, his sweet, gentle, golden eyes piercing through my tearful, frazzled brown ones. He took my face in his hands and said, "You deserve happiness. I know that your past with your mother has made you feel as if you don't, or as if you couldn't possibly be that happy, but my darling, that is all I want for you. I know that this is hard, and I am truly sorry for all the pain that you have experienced in your life, but you are strong, my sweet. And if anything were to happen, be confident in our love, and in the fact that I would be there for you."

I nodded, willing back tears, unable to speak because of the lump in my throat. Edward leaned in slowly, causing my breath to stutter, and I licked my lips. When he was just millimeters away, his phone vibrated.

He growled, both of us knowing who would be so persistent, and in a blur, he'd answered the call. "We are coming, Alice." He ended the call and shoved it in his pocket, taking my face in his hands once again and slamming his lips to mine, swallowing my shocked gasp.

His tongue slipped into my mouth and I moaned, grabbing his hips and pulling him closer as our tongues battled. I gave in within seconds, moaning deeply, only to whimper when Edward's phone rang again. He ignored it; the only indication that he'd heard it was the sigh he released when he ended the kiss moments after the ringing ended.

"One of these days, I will kill her," he muttered solemnly against my lips. It was a vow. I giggled.

"No, you won't," I said with a chuckle, quirking a knowing eyebrow at him. He rolled his eyes and shrugged in a "what can you do?" sort of manner. With a snort, I pecked him on the lips then disentangled myself from him and walked around the island to pick up my bag. Edward had dashed to the door by the time I turned around, holding it open for me as he always did—another thing I loved.

"Do you have everything?" he asked me as I walked through the threshold and then waited for him on the footpath.

"Yep," I said, taking a deep breath. I was anxious to get up there and just know what was so urgent.

Edward gave me a sweet, comforting smile as his eyes flashed to my face. Of course, he immediately knew what I was feeling even though, since we'd reunited after our brief but horrific separation last year, our connection had regulated to the point where we could no longer feel the other's emotions or hear the other's thoughts. We both missed the intrinsic connection, but it comforted us when Eleazar pulled us aside and assured us that it would bloom to that degree, and possibly even further beyond, after my change.

Edward picked me up in his arms quickly and I squealed, recovering quickly to settle back against his chest. He pressed another icy kiss to my forehead and I smiled, closing my eyes as the breeze picked up and Edward starting running.

The run was much too short for my liking, as I loved the feel of Edward's arms, holding me or wrapped around me, whilst he ran. He slowed as we reached the house and I sighed and opened my eyes again, lifting my head from his chest. He let me down slowly and I righted my top then took his hand. We shared a smile as Edward let go of my hand, instead wrapping his arm around my waist as he opened the door and led me through.

"Everything is fine, darling," he whispered in my ear. "I was right; it's merely about the move and yours and Charlie's transformations, not about Charlie's incident. He's perfectly fine—just a bit impatient to see you, of course."

I sighed. "Well, we did cancel on him last night." We were now in the habit of having dinner with Dad every Friday night, but last night, just as we were supposed to go, Edward had a moment—at first, he wouldn't tell me what it was, though I suppose that was because he could hardly speak past whispering my name and a "mine." I took it upon myself to pull away from Edward for the few minutes so I could call Dad to cancel, apologizing but not explaining. Edward's patience was quite thin by that point.

I giggled as we entered the room, and I saw for myself just how truly impatient my father was. Dad's leg was in a cast, but he still moved to get up when he saw me. Thankfully, before his leg hit the floor, Esme was at his side, admonishing him, a hand on his shoulder to stop any further movement. He winced and scowled up at her, but she raised an eyebrow, her lips quirking.

"Dad," I said in a reprimanding tone of my own. Edward let go of me and I hugged my father, leaning down. "You know doc's orders—no moving."

"Yeah, well," he mumbled before sharp, narrowed, brown eyes that were identical to my own settled on my face. "Alice said you'd be here over an hour ago."

I smiled. "Edward wanted to let me sleep in a little, and we took our time getting ready. Edward was sure there was nothing wrong, so he assured me there was no hurry."

"No hurry?" Charlie huffed. "I wanted to see my daughter since I didn't get to last night."

I bit my lip and sighed, unable to help feeling a little guilty; first we blew him off last night and then we took our damn time to show up this morning. "Sorry, Dad," I replied softly, my forehead creasing. I had to admit the way he said it made me feel terribly selfish. "I didn't even think of that."

He shrugged and looked away, making me smile at the gruff temperament he displayed when faced with emotions he deemed uncomfortable. "It's all right," he said, glancing at me. "Y'here now."

I smiled and sat down next to him, turning to Edward, who was hovering around us, and pulling him by the hand to sit with me. He chuckled and lifted me in his arms, sitting back down with me on his lap. I blushed and peeked at my dad, who had looked away. Even after the past few months, he wasn't exactly used to the amorous affection Edward and I—as well as the other three mated couples of the family—often displayed.

I had once tried to talk to him about it after Jasper and Alice had together tried told me it was a good idea. But when I opened my mouth and started to explain, he wouldn't have it. He often said that he didn't really want to know about what business I got up to with my superhuman boyfriend, and to be honest, I kind of agreed with him.

Some part of me, however—and this was later confirmed by Edward—wondered if perhaps half the reason why he was so squirmy about it was because it reminded him of Renée… before she went postal. I knew some part of her had never truly gotten over my father—they were each other's first loves after all—and that'd had some influence over her decline.

It was so sad, though. To think that a love that had just come about too early in a couple's life had ruined one and scarred another was… well, it was fucking miserable. I found myself thinking about it a lot after Edward had confirmed it, and every time I clung to him.

My only hope was that my father would find his mate after he's turned, and that will heal him. I sighed; one could only hope.

"What was so important last night that you couldn't come anyhow?" Dad asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked over at me. "That was one rushed phone call, Bells."

Emmett guffawed and my head snapped around in his direction. I raised an eyebrow in warning, Edward letting an angry loose, low growl in his throat, to back me up as he pulled me closer to him. He pressed a kiss against my shoulder and I relaxed against him and sighed, turning back to Dad who looked away awkwardly.

"Guess I don't wanna know," he grumbled under his breath.

I felt a twinge of guilt. "Dad, I'm so sorry," I said, reaching forward to grab his hand. My face was red right up to my hairline I was so damn embarrassed. I knew Edward was glaring at Emmett right now, and I could hear and feel the hint and vibration of a growl. I glanced back at him, thankfully catching his eyes and that simple second-long contact was enough to calm him down.

I turned back to Dad, who was watching me curiously. When our eyes connected, he grumbled "it's fine" and shrugged. He cleared his throat awkwardly and looked away.

I sighed softly to myself and then turned to Carlisle. "I'm sorry. Uh, Edward said this was about our transformations and the move? Is something wrong?" I bit my lip to keep the multitude of questions that were hanging off my tongue from escaping. I knew I'd feel better if I just let them speak.

Simultaneously, I felt Dad squeeze my hand and Edward my waist. My eyes flashed to my father's face, but he was still looking away, unable to look at me. I swallowed and looked around at Edward.

He smiled down at me.

Carlisle cleared his throat, and Edward and I broke our gaze. My head snapped around and I looked at my vampire father figure, who was smiling understandingly and calmly. "Everything is perfectly fine, Bella. Please do not worry. But I am afraid the move is going to have to be postponed and we'll have to relocate to somewhere else. I called this meeting so we could decide when and where that would be."

I nodded, breathing in deeply before letting the breath out slowly. "All right. But I am curious as to the whys."

Carlisle nodded. "And for that, I'll hand over to Alice." He looked toward her and came to Esme's side, wrapping his arm around her.

I, too, looked over at Alice, who was standing up with Jasper, his arms wrapped around her waist. Alice was leaning against him, and he against the window. Alice smiled a small smile at me, but the crease of her forehead did nothing to reassure me. "I can't really say for sure. All I know is that our futures become… fuzzy… if we move to New York as was planned."

I frowned. "Fuzzy in a bad way, you mean? And as for the time, do we need to move before we had planned to—as in, in the next two weeks—or do we need to stay here longer?" I asked her, my frown deepening. I had to admit that I did not know much about how Alice's gift worked, but I knew enough to know it was very strange for our futures to become fuzzy and for her not to be able to see anything that would cause that fuzziness. A thought bubbled and I had to speak it, looking between my mate and my best friend as I did so. "Is it possible the tribe is involved—the wolves?"

"No," Edward said before Alice could. I looked up at him, and he smiled down at me, his fingers—resting over my arm—caressing my skin calmly, soothingly. "We've had no contact with them since they found Jacob, and neither has Charlie. We have no reason to believe they're involved, darling."

"Besides," Alice interjected, "with them, my vision would go blank—not blurry."

I nodded. "I understand," I said quietly. "I'm sorry," I apologized, smiling at her. "I just don't like not knowing."

Alice laughed. "And neither do I," she said, before her smile fell from her face and she huffed. "But I can't see a thing," she grumbled. I looked away as Jasper bent down and ran his nose along her bare shoulder. I was sure he was purring and releasing his mate growl to calm her.

"Alice?" Emmett called quietly a few moments later. "Uh, you never answered Bella's question—do we have to leave sooner or later?"

Alice sighed and I looked around to her once again. "From what I can see, either is fine. However, I've seen that Carlisle has brought another idea forward, and I think I see us going with that."

"And what's that, honey?" Esme asked, craning her neck to see her mate.

Carlisle rested his head on his mate's shoulder. "I've recalculated the dates, and I think it is best if we postpone the move so Charlie can recoup properly. I'm not saying anything will go wrong, but he could always need more time, with his age." He glanced apologetically at Charlie, whose face was red as he shrugged it off.

"I understand what you're saying, and I think you're right," my father said gruffly. It was my turn to squeeze his hand, and he turned to me. "Bella, you know you're the most important person to me. And I want you to be happy—that's all."

"I know, Daddy," I said softly, smiling at him. I swallowed thickly against the lump in my throat and drew in a deep breath before hugging him with one arm.

Rosalie cleared her throat and our moment passed. Everyone looked to her as she spoke. "So, where are we moving to now?"

There was silence as everyone considered her words. Finally, it was Esme who brought forward the first idea. "Perhaps Chicago? I am not sure what Bella and Edward have decided for the dates and times of her change, but I think it would be rather special if Bella were changed in the town her mate was born, grown, and changed in."

I instantly fell in love with the idea. Esme was right; the idea was terribly romantic, and now that the idea had been presented, I found myself unable to think of doing anything but. Looking up at Edward, I smiled when I saw he was as overcome as I was with emotion. He leaned down at pressed his lips to mine, and my eyes closed, my breath stuttering. My hand moved to the back of his hair and I sniffled, my throat still tight.

He broke the kiss and leaned his forehead against mine. "I'll take that as a yes, my love?"

I swallowed and nodded. "Yeah," I croaked horribly, cringing at the sound of my own voice. I turned toward the rest of our family, and I knew from their soft, caring faces that they knew how important this was.

"Well then," Rosalie said smoothly, a small smile on her otherwise expressionless face. "I guess we're moving to Chicago."

So as you read from the second word of the chapter, we're currently in January. It's within the first week of the month.

I wasn't actually planning to finish the chapter there, if I'm being honest with myself, but when I wrote that line, it just seemed like such a solid finish to the first chapter of this sequel. I hope you agree.

I really hope this chapter met your expectations. It took me a long time to actually get this chapter finished—I began this chapter a few months ago, in 2013. I thought it would never happen, but after a month of not even looking at the chapter, I opened it up and took a few paragraphs away to rewrite it. Then it just flowed.

I'll see you all in about 3 weeks!

Please review,

bexie25