After dinner, Edward drove me home. As we pulled up to the house, he leaned over to kiss my cheek. "I'll come by later, before I head out. And I'll be back before you wake up, I promise." He was watching me closely as he spoke. I nodded and gave him a quick kiss before I jumped out.

I took a long shower, using no shampoo and scrubbing with a loofah as hard as I could, as per Alice's instructions. Afterward, I sat down to check my email to see if she had made any last-minute changes. Sure enough, I had one new message.

Bella, I got the tickets – I'm soooo excited! We'll arrive in the evening next Friday, so we'll have PLENTY OF DAYLIGHT for shopping. Love, Alice.

I frowned. While Alice screamed often enough in person, her emails weren't usually so excitable. Then her real message dawned on me – if we followed Edward tonight, he'd be hunting in the dark, and I wouldn't see much. I had to convince him to stay out longer, or maybe wait until morning.

I heard some leaves rustling outside my window. I closed my email just in time to see Edward slip inside. He darted toward me and before I knew it, he was the one in the computer chair and was holding me in his lap. He buried his face in my hair and inhaled deeply. "I'll miss you tonight," he murmured, holding me tighter. "But I'll be back before you know it."

"About that…" I began. "Hasn't it been a while since you've had a good hunting trip? I mean, you've been waiting as long as possible each time, and I know you're not going far enough out to get anything good. It's only been two weeks this time and you already look like it's been three."

As I rambled on, Edward slowly released me and shifted me in his lap so he could see my eyes. "Bella, have I… done something wrong?"

"No!" I said too quickly. "I mean, it's not that I don't want to spend the day with you tomorrow…" How was I going to get out of this?

His frown deepened. "I realize that we haven't given each other much space lately. I'll understand if you'd rather I-"

I covered his mouth with my hand. "Edward, there's nothing I'd rather do than spend every minute I can with you, and you know it. It's just… well, you do need to have a good hunting trip sometime. And I was kind of hoping to have some girl time with Alice tomorrow. I need her help on your wedding present, and I kind of need you to be far away for that part. I really want it to be a surprise."

None of this was really a lie. I still had no clue what to give him for a wedding gift, so technically, spending time tomorrow thinking about it was working on it. And I knew I was right about the hunting. I knew for a fact Edward hadn't anything better than local deer for at least two months, and it was starting to show. I could only hope I had given enough excuses for Edward to think Jasper's "observations" this afternoon had been justified. "Besides," I continued, "I don't want you to leave tonight. Couldn't you stay, and then go out in the morning?"

Edward gave me half a smile, and then stood up, still holding me in his arms. "I guess there is one benefit to waiting until tomorrow…" He carried me over to the bed and tucked me in.

I chuckled as he stretched out beside me. "It's true… besides, you'll only get to watch me sleep so many more times, you know." Edward dropped his eyes and we were both quiet for a moment. He still didn't like talking about my upcoming change, but at least he was no longer arguing with me every time I brought it up.

Instead of speaking again, he began to play with my hair and started humming quietly. I noticed it was the same tune from earlier today, but with a minor tone. I drifted off to sleep, wondering at the change.