Chapter 1

June 6

"I love him," I cooed into the face of my brand new puppy that Edward had surprised me with for our first anniversary.

"I love you," he said sweetly, resting his chin on my shoulder as I cuddled the new pup.

"Yeah, yeah, you're great too," I teased, "But you can't compete with this!" I turned and held Banjo up so that his face was level with Edward's. "Look at those eyes!"

"True," he conceded. "But I won't ever pee on the carpet."

I laughed and stood up on my tiptoes, giving him a kiss as the puppy stayed cuddled in my arms. Every time we touched, whether it was little or a lot, I felt the love between us, strong and perfect.

I had known Edward for sixteen years. When I was nine his family moved in next door and things started off rocky; he threw mud at me and I broke his skateboard. Okay, maybe I broke his skateboard first, but that didn't mean he had to throw mud at me. My mother had taken away cartoons for a week for wrecking my best dress. We avoided each other for months after that.

When I was thirteen everything changed. I got boobs and suddenly Edward didn't mind me so much anymore and when I turned sixteen I found out I didn't mind him so much either so I let him touch them. It hadn't been a purely selfless act; by sixteen Edward was already a charmer. His bronze hair and chiseled jaw seemed to appear overnight sending him from boy to man without any of that awkward stuff in the middle.

We were deeply in love by eighteen but we wanted to experience the world so we applied to colleges together and spent a year abroad at a school in France before settling in Chicago, a city that couldn't be more different from the sleepy little town we grew up in. We fought but we never parted and no one even tried to get in the way. It was clear for all around us that we were a team and there was no breaking us up.

When I was twenty three, he proposed. It was perfect and awkward and sweet and everything I needed it to be. Edward wobbled on one knee in the middle of a dimmed restaurant and shakily professed his love. I almost said no, just so I could hear him ask again but I didn't want to press my luck. We were married a year later in a small ceremony back in our home town. It was simple and homey and we loved it but we were both happy to return to our life in the city.

"Well now I feel bad, all I got you was a watch," I said as I placed Banjo on the floor and rolled a ball for him, he chased after it happily bumping it with his nose instead of picking it up.

"I love the watch, Bella," Edward said sitting next to me on the floor and looking at the new timepiece on his arm affectionately. "And the engraving."

All my time is yours.

I rested my head on his shoulder and I wondered how I got so lucky. The man next to me was just the topping to the perfect life. I had a good job, a nice home and a husband that loved me.

I felt invincible.

Edward grimaced and I placed my hand on his stomach. "Are you still feeling unwell?" I asked.

"Yeah, I made an appointment to see the doctor tomorrow. I'm sure it's just a bug going around."