Confessions

The rain started to trickle down from the trees, and Edward decided it was time to leave. We had spent the past few hours in our meadow, lying in the sun like old times. I was glad we had this free time, although it gave me more time to panic about how Charlie would react. He signalled for me to climb onto his back, and I jumped on with a little too much enthusiasm. I started to fall, but Edward's cool hands locked around my waist before I hit the ground. He waited a minute for my heart to return to its normal pace, and then he took off at top speed.

He ran faster than I could ever remember, the scenery turning into a green haze. I remembered to close my eyes – I still needed to, even after all this time – and before I knew it, we had stopped in front of my truck.

"Open your eyes, Sleeping Beauty," Edward whispered, a smile in his voice. He set me down carefully, and I climbed into the passenger seat. I knew there was no point in arguing my way into driving, and it was evident that Edward still didn't like my speed. He turned on the radio, re-installed by Emmett, and we sang along to all the songs, almost forgetting the task that lay ahead of us.

The truck whined to a halt, and Edward was by my door before I had acknowledged that we were home. He lifted me out of the cab, and I saw the front room's light turn on. I could tell this was going to be harder than it should be.

"Be careful, take things slowly, and you'll be fine." Edward muttered in my ear, as we walked towards the door. "Do I look ok?" He joked, pulling at his shirt.

"No, you look perfect." I replied, fighting the temptation to laugh. One small giggle still fought its way through, and Edward smiled, pleased that I found it funny.

We reached the door, and Charlie opened it for us. At first he was at ease, but then he read my expression and he became concerned. He let us in through the door, and sat down on the sofa. I followed suit, letting Edward have the only chair, although I knew I would regret this decision. Charlie started off in a friendly way – he had gotten over his aversion to Edward since he left.

"Do you want to watch the game, Edward? The Red Sox are playing the Yankees. Edward sat fluidly, and I cleared my throat. I prayed that I would come out of this alive, and started gently, like Edward suggested.

"Actually, dad, Edward and I kinda have something we want to tell you." Charlie's face fell, and I took a deep breath. Whatever Charlie was thinking of now was amusing Edward greatly, I could tell that it was straining him not to burst out laughing. Charlie, however, did not notice, as his eyes were fixed on me. He waited for me to continue, and as I had no cue, I struggled a little.

"So… please don't take this the wrong way, but…" I stammered, and ran my left hand through my hair. Suddenly I realised this was a big mistake. Charlie's face was shocked, as were Edward's. Oops, I thought. I looked at Edward, and he nodded, telling me to wait.

"Holy Crow!" Charlie suddenly exclaimed one he found his voice. "You're… What? What the hell, Bells? I would have thought that your mother and my marriage would have taught you something." He whispered angrily, thinking that Edward couldn't hear.

"Dad, I told you not to take it the wrong way!" I watched Edward's eyes became alarmed, warning me to calm down. "Look dad, this is what I want. What we both want - and we're not rushing into it." Charlie's face became puzzled, and this time Edward carried on for me, sensing my panic.

"Bella's right, sir. She was very responsible about this, and I am very sorry that I did not ask your permission, but Bella did refuse at first, for some time to think." His sincerity rang in every word, and Charlie could not doubt him.

"Well, I'm glad you took time to think, Bells," He responded smugly, "but you're so young!"

"I know dad, but this is what I want now, and what I want forever." I replied, sneaking a look at Edward, who was verging on collapsing with laughter from my obvious hints.

"Well, as long as you're happy, I guess I'm happy, then." Charlie said, one he had calmed down. "When is it, then?" I stopped at this, wondering what his reaction would be. Edward came to my rescue once more, assuring Charlie with every word.

"We're not quite sure yet, but we thought August 13th would be nice, hopefully in the sun, sir." Now it was my turn to nearly burst out laughing. A vampire's wedding in the sun, wouldn't that be fun!

"That sure is close, how are you going to get everything ready in time?"

"Don't worry, dad, Alice is on the case – she already has everything planed out." More than you can imagine, I thought. Charlie's face lifted when I mentioned Alice, and I guessed we were nearing the end of this conversation.

"That's real sweet of her, and I'm sure it will be a lovely wedding. Well, congratulations, the two of you." Charlie concluded, squishing us both in a bear hug, much like one of Emmett's, but nowhere near as strong.

Edward bade his farewells for the night, and I went upstairs to wash myself up. I was glad that was over, but I still had Reneé to worry about. After our conversation in the hospital, I was worried how she would take it, but I knew that Phil would keep her at least a little under control.

I showered, brushed my hair through, and pulled on my slacks and t-shirt, and walked back into my room. There he was, my future, sitting on my bed like an archangel. I lay down next to him and cuddled into his chest.

"That went better than expected." He admitted, his cool breath blowing on my face.

"Didn't Alice tell you it was all going to be okay?" I questioned, wondering why he seemed so surprised.

"Not exactly, she saw Charlie sort of blowing his top and stopping you…" He replied reluctantly, his voice trailing off at the end.

"Oh, well I guess we found a good time to tell him."

"I guess so." He responded, pressing his face into my hair.

I woke early, nervous about the day ahead. Now we had told Charlie, it wouldn't be long before the whole of Forks knew. We had to warn Reneé today, or she would surely find out from someone else.

"Good morning, sleepyhead." Edward's quiet, velvet voice came from the corner of my room.

"Morning," I replied, "What time is it?" Before I could look at my alarm clock, Edward was by my side whispering to me.

"About six o' clock – Charlie's not quite left yet, so we need to keep it down. What do you want to do today?"

"Well, we have to tell Reneé…" I grimaced at the thought "and then I'm guessing Alice will probably need me for something or other."

"You guess right – Alice wants to go shopping for Bridesmaids' dresses – she already knows how many you want. I, however don't – Who are you going to have?"

"Well, personally, I don't know either at the moment - um… I guess Alice, Esme and Rosalie."

"Sure?"

"Yeah, they're all like the sisters I never had, they look after me so well!"

Edward suddenly pressed his finger to his lips, and in an instant, he was gone. Charlie peeked into my room, and I realised a second too late. I couldn't pretend to be asleep, so I tried to greet him normally.

"Morning dad." There, that sounded normal enough – for me anyway.

"Morning, Bells – wow, that is some ring! I didn't get a proper look at it last night. I hope Edward didn't spend too much on it!" He responded, staring at my hand. I had completely forgotten about it – it was almost feeling normal now.

"No, it was the ring that his father gave to his mother." I replied, internally swooning at how romantic it seemed.

"W-o-w, that is romantic." He muttered, and I heard a faint chuckle. "Anyway, I'll see you later – I'm going fishing with Billy."

As soon as the door had clicked shut, Edward was next to me once more.

"I need a human minute!" I said quickly, running out of the room to clean myself up. I looked almost like a vampire, but nowhere near as beautiful. There were huge circles under my eyes, but they really were from lack from sleep. I was also as pale as anything, even more than usual. I tried to fix all of this with foundation, and brushed through my hair, but it didn't make much difference. I pulled on a pair of jeans and my favourite top, and ran back to my room. I pulled Edward to his feet – Not an easy task – and ran as fast as I could without tripping down the stairs. I came to a sudden stop in front of the phone, and took a deep breath.

"A little help?" I pleaded with him.

"Same as Charlie, but let her talk, that's what she's like." He replied simply.

"Okay, I can do this…" I sighed and dialled my mother's mobile number. It rang three times, and then I heard a click and my mother's panicky voice came out.

"Bella? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine; mum it's nothing serious – really –" I stammered for the right words. "But I have something to tell you…" This was so much harder over the phone. I stopped for a minute, contemplating how to put it.

My mother's voice came down the phone suddenly then.

"Are you engaged or something, Bella? Spit it out!" She joked, slightly calmer. Oops.

"Well… yeah. Sorry?" Edward laughed, and I threw him a stern look.

"What? Bella, what on earth are you thinking? You're so young!" Her voice was back to more alarm now.

"So were you, mum!"

"Exactly, that should have taught you something! Wait – is there another reason behind this? I won't be mad if there is honey, but there's always another choice." This set Edward into a huge round of hysterics, and he had to step outside. With my security blanket gone, I started to panic a lot more.

"Of course not, mum!" I replied, truly shocked, but there was no hiding the slight humour in my voice. "Edward and I just love each other very much, and so we decided to get married, that's it."

"Oh, well, I guess that's okay then." She was easily pleased. "And, congratulations." She failed in masking her relief, but I was glad she wasn't dragging this out any longer.

"Thanks, mum. Anyway, I've got to go, Alice is going shopping with me later, and I need to get ready. Bye, I love you, mum."

"See you soon, hon."

At that exact moment, Edward returned with a huge grin on his face. He wrapped his stony arms around me, and I was safe.