Twilight – belongs to Ms. Meyer... just sayin'

I'm sorry for taking sooooo long. Real life, work, motorcycle trip with the family... but here is another chapter. I hope you like it.

Chapter 4

Due to the lateness of her registration, it was difficult to find open classes at night as we'd originally planned. Of course, we could have simply offered to make a generous donation and several professors would have found room for one more admittance into their classes, but Bella would have none of that.

"I already let you bribe my way in," she'd hissed at the suggestion, "Now let me just do it myself."

I could have tried to be persuasive, but my powers of persuasion were sadly lacking as of late. Besides, whenever it was light, she'd have to skip class and stay home with me. And I truly didn't mourn the loss of evening time that would have come if she'd taken a class every night. And, it allowed us to make up time with our miraculous daughter – time I'd stolen after the previous day's adventure.

"I feel guilty," Bella said when we arrived at home late into the evening, peering into our daughters room. She lay peacefully, wrapped around her favorite stuffed toy, a wolf Jacob had given her, her copper curls framing her sweet face.

I felt it too. I hadn't once thought of my daughter as I attacked my wife in the forest. This balancing parenthood with being newly weds was trickier then I ever thought.

"I don't think she noticed, though." Bella said softly with a hint of sadness. "Rosalie said they had a wonderful time."

I sighed, "We'll make it up to her tomorrow. You don't have a class until 6. Maybe we should take her out somewhere."

So, this morning, further thoughts of motorcycles were put on hold as we made plans to take Renesmee for a picnic and swimming in the nearby lake. While Bella got her dressed and packed swimming gear for us, my hand iched to make a quick call to Italy.

The phone buzzed as I picked it up.

Be patient! The text read. It was from Alice. I sighed and slipped the phone into my pocket. I just couldn't wait until we were taking short road trips, seeing the local sites, and just enjoying being together. We could even take Renesmee.

After a day of running through the local forest, hours of swimming and even a quick hunt with our daughter, we returned with only a few minutes for Bella to gather her things and head off to her night class.

"See you later, love." She breathed into my lips as she kissed me and I yearned for more. "Sleep well, Renesmee," She pulled her up and squeezed her tightly. Renesmee quickly reached up and pressed her hand to her head. Images of our day flooded through her mind.

"I had a wonderful day too," Bella said as she gave Renesmee a quick kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too." She replied softly and then leapt back to my awaiting arms and we both watched as Bella ran off into the forest. I sighed as I watched her go.

"Mommy will be back," Renesmee said comfortingly.

I turned my attention back to my miraculous daughter, comforting me. I shook my head in wonder. "Of course she will, Nessie. Now let's get you ready for bed."

There was only a brief battle of wills as both Rosalie and Jacob showed up at the door of Nessie's room to read her a bedtime story. Reading to Renesmee was the most miraculous experience. As I read Chaucer, Shakesphere, Dickens… complex and sometimes surprising images continuously flashed through her mind. It was like watching a movie in the making. I read until the images finally faded into the less precise, more opaque images of her dreams.

"You amaze me, Renesmee," I whispered into her hair as I kissed her forehead. "You are the most precious gift I never thought to hope for."

I waited there, watching her dreams until I heard Bella approaching through the trees.

There was a time when I longed for sleep – for the ability to drift off into oblivion and dream. All those nights, curled up at Bella's side as she murmured snippets from the events passing through her mind, I wished I could simply join her. Would we dream together, I'd wondered. Would she visit my dreams and I hers? If that had been possible I knew every dream would be of her.

Not anymore. It was the pinnacle of my joy that every night we fulfilled the dreams I couldn't ever have and I was thankful she no longer needed the long hours of rest. Still it wasn't enough. I groaned as the first light of day pierced through the window of our bedroom. Maybe today would be sunny, I thought hopefully.

Again, what a contrast. I had once hated the sun. Hated that it drove me into hiding, hated that it showed me for the monster I am, hated that it kept me from Bella. Now I longed for it and the excuse it brought to keep her with me.

"Don't be sad," Bella whispered as she traced a finger across the line of my lips. "We've still got two hours before I have to go."

But she would still go.

"I know," Bella continued as he finger continued down the plains of my chest, pausing to circle my navel. "It's hard for me too – being away."

"Is it?" I asked softly.

"Of course." She replied, incredulous. "Every time it takes all my strength to run away from you. It's only knowing that you'll be here when I get back that allows me to do it."

Her finger was now trailing lower, "Besides, it makes it all the more precious, don't you think?" her head crooked to the side, her lips drew into a playful smile. And as she touched me all other conscious thought left.

An argument ensued as I approached the main house after Bella had left for the day.

"Listen Psycho-blonde!" Jacob was growling, "You tricked me out of a day just two days ago. Today is mine!"

"Yours to do what?" Rosalie shot back, "Do you even have a plan of what you're going to do?"

I could see from Jacob's mind he didn't. Just some general thoughts about being together – maybe going for a run in the forest, hunting, playing in the trees. An image of a recent tickle fight came to mind and though it was completely innocent, I stiffened. I wasn't nearly as accepting of the dog's claim on my daughter as Bella was.

"Hmph, I didn't think so," Rosalie smirked, victory in her eyes. For some reason that urked me almost as much.

As I passed through the door, a package caught my attention. Ah yes. I'd been waiting for that. I smiled as a plan formed in my mind.

"I'm sorry, but Renesmee is going to be with me today," I informed them both.

"I am?" I heard her musical voice from two floors up and, in a second later, I opened my arms to catch her as she flew through the air from the first landing.

"Yes," I chuckled, holding her close. "Would you like to see where Mommy goes to school?"

"Can I?" Her eyes got big as she tried to imagine what it would look like.

"Absolutely," I replied, ignoring the glower from Rosalie and the defeated look on Jacob. Well, perhaps I more reveled in, rather then ignored Jacob's defeat. "Mommy has a break between her classes. I thought we could surprise her."

She could have come home during her breaks, but the threat of a sudden break in the clouds without Alice around to provide up to the minute predictions, coupled with the lack of study time at home, had led Bella to the conclusion that staying on campus between classes was the best option.

Today, I had some new reading material I wanted her to review. Surely, this early in the semester, she could afford a break. It wasn't like she'd have any assignments due yet.

Esme eyed me as I brought Renesmee in for breakfast. Visiting Bella at school? She raised an eyebrow while she dished up three perfectly formed pancakes, decorated with chocolate chips in the shape of various smiley faces and set them before Renesmee. She tried to keep any further thought from me, but her general tone was a doubtful. I didn't understand. What could be the problem with me visiting my wife at school during her break? Wasn't that a perfectly normal, if not romantic gesture? Besides, Nessie would love it. And we could go for a walk around the grounds. Maybe she'd want to go eventually. At the current rate of her accelerated learning, she'd be ready for first year college material in a few short years.

Renesmee's learning still astounded me. Without any formalized curriculum or learning plan, she was already reading middle school books and enjoyed listening to the classics. From the start she'd learned about biology as Carlisle continued to monitor her development and test her abilities. He hadn't realized just how much she was paying attention until one day, at three months of age, she'd asked what the cerebellum was. Since then he'd made a more conscious effort to teacher her something knew everyday. Like the rest of us, he found her natural curiosity and thirst for knowledge was the only catalyst necessary for her learning. If we didn't teach it to her, she looked for her own answers.

It was 11:46 when we rolled into the parking lot at the Rockerfeller Center and made our way across to the entrance of Carson Building. I glanced up at the sky. The cloud cover wasn't a solid as back in Forks. We quickly got in the building and made our way to the Baker library at the other end of the building. I could taste her scent in the air as we passed through the large wooden doors. She'd passed by within the last ten minutes. I started to follow her trail when I heard her voice.

"No, sorry. I have plans with my family tonight."

"Perhaps tomorrow, then? Or maybe we could go get some lunch. You have to eat." The male voice sounded. As soon as my ears picked out his voice from the din, I could hear him, see through his eyes that were trailing from Bella's eyes to her lips and then further south. The quickening of his heart as he waited, hoping for her 'yes'.

I froze in place¸ glancing down at Renesmee, and then around at the witnesses who were about to see one of their own splayed out in front of them as I threw him across the room.

"I, uh… have another class." She replied.

He chuckled, "Either you're twenty minutes late for your current class, or you have over an hour until your next one. Come on, eat with me. We can discuss the King Lear assignment." He reached for her hand.

Roused from my temporary shock, I pulled Renesmee to my side and quickened my pace around the series of book shelves to the table she was currently sitting at across from her about to be deceased classmate.

"Maybe some other time." She said, pulled her hand from his as I turned and saw them, finally with my own eyes.

"No better time then the present…" he pressed, leaning over, a confident smile on his lips that were about to meet the hard wooden surface of the table.

"Edward!" Bella jumped to her feet. Something flashed through her eyes that was neither joy nor relief. "Renesmee!"

I let her down to run to her mother who scooped her up and peppered her with kisses.

I glowered down at the boy who squared his shoulders, stood and matching my stare. "Edward, is it? You must be Bella's younger brother." He held out his hand.

I looked past him to Bella, standing there, holding Renesmee and staring back at me with an expression I couldn't decipher.

"I'm Charles Preston the Third," the boy continued, holding his hand steady.

I looked from Bella back to the boy and then to his hand.

"Charles is in my English Lit class." Bella said awkwardly.

I nodded and took his hand roughly, squeezing it a little harder then necessary. Charles acknowledged the pain, but didn't let it show on his face as he continued to return my gaze. I wanted to squeeze it into a bloody, pulpy mess. I wanted to yank his arm so hard, his head bounced off the nearby table while this limb detached itself from his shoulder. I then wanted to grab him from one of his remaining appendages and toss him into the tall wall of books twenty feet away at the end of the row and watch as the bones of his ribs snapped upon impact and his legs gave way as he fell to the floor.

"I'm sorry, Charles, but it seems I have a bit of a family emergency," Bella said hastily as she gathered he books and grabbed my arm. "See you later."

"I'll be looking forward to it," he said cockily and only the firm tug on my arm stopped me from rearranging his jaw.

"That cocky, self-absorbed, ambitious, piece of -" I started to sputter as we escaped into the college bowl and made our way toward a shaded park bench.

"Renesmee." Bella interrupted my tirade. "Are you hungry?'

She pressed her hand to show Bella the late breakfast she'd eaten not long before coming, focusing on the various faces Esme had made, one with a wobbly smile, another with an exaggerated upturned nose. Bella laughed, though the sound was hollow. Something was wrong.

"So what are you doing here?" she asked, glancing only briefly up at me, before focusing back on Renesmee.

"Daddy said we could come visit… and then he'd show me around the campus… and he has a book for you."

"Oh?" she looked back up at me then, this time her unusual expression was painted with curiosity.

"It just came in the mail…" I said handing her the motorcycle magazine. "There's an interesting article on page 48." I smiled innocently. The article bestowed the benefits of the Superbike, comparing it to other makes and concluding that for performance, there is no comparison.

"Thank you," she said coolly, taking the magazine from my outstretched hand. "Is that why you came? To deliver the magazine?"

"I thought I'd introduce Nessie to a college campus. It's never to early to start thinking of her future…" I proposed. It wasn't really a lie.

She nodded. "Well, thanks for dropping by. I have some reading to do and an assignment I want to get started on. See you at home?" she asked, again with the strange expression.

"Sure." I replied.

She turned to Nessie and gave her the warm send off of hugs and kissed I'd assumed she also bestow upon me. But instead she simply turned and quickly made her way back to the large double doors of the library.

I swallowed back the venom that had pooled in my mouth as I watched her go. The questions flooded my mind. What had just happened? What was that expression on her face and why wasn't she excited to see me? Why didn't she kiss me goodbye? What was with that Charles guy and why didn't she just tell him to get lost? When the door swung shut behind her I took Renesmee's hand and turned for the car. "Hey Nessie. Do you want to go find the city library?"

It was a long afternoon waiting for Bella to get home. After we'd found the library, took out a library card and let Renesmee pick out twenty-seven books, I'd allowed Jacob to take her on a run through the forest. I returned to our house and waited… pacing the floor, waiting… reorganizing my music shelf, waiting... rearranged the bedroom furniture six different ways and then put it back the way it was, waiting… and then, finally resolved myself to the simple act of sitting motionless in the burgundy leather wing-back chair in the living room, waiting.

The silver phone vibrated in my pocket. I slipped it out and flipped it open to read the text from Alice.

You shouldn't have gone…

I flipped the phone shut aggressively. Thanks for the warning, annoying pixie. If she knew so much why didn't do something useful, like tell me what I did wrong.

The phone vibrated again.

I could see you wouldn't listen anyway.

I flipped the phone shut again and considered throwing it at the wall.

It buzzed again.

Bella is going to be there in four minutes. Now… just listen to her!

I sighed and returned the phone to my pocket. Great advise, Alice.

I was waiting in the living room when she came through the door. Clearly something was wrong with what happened today, but I was completely oblivious as to what. What was wrong with wanting to visit my wife?

She eyed me warily as she came in, depositing her book bag and slipping out of her Alice approved footwear. She hesitated momentarily, as if she was unsure what she was going to do next until, finally, she took a seat on the sofa across from my wing-back chair and stared back at me.

The silence was maddening.

A part of me wanted to lash out, to make accusations I knew were untrue, to question her on this Charles Preston, and why he would think I was her younger brother and not her husband, and how she could possibly be anything other then delighted to see me at school. Alice's warning made me pause.

"Please, Bella… help me understand." I finally murmured.

Her face softened slightly as she huffed out a breath of air she'd been holding since she sat down. "Why did you come to the school today?"

"Because I missed you and I wanted to see you… and to bring you the magazine."

Her expression hardened. "You thought you needed to deliver the magazine? It couldn't have waited until I got home?"

It could have… but mostly I wanted to see her. "And I wanted to take Nessie on an outing…"

There was a long pause and suddenly the injustice of it – that she would be upset with me when I'd found her in the library with another man – boiled up in me and I suddenly seethed, "Who's Charles Preston the Third?" I said harshly, perfectly mimicking his cocky, arrogant voice.

"I told you today." She replied coolly, "He's in my English Lit class."

"That's not what I mean and you know it," I shot back.

"What does it matter who he is?" Her lips were pursed and the crease was firmly indented between her eyes.

Was there more to this boy then? This conceited little ass who dared to call me her younger brother? Younger. I snorted.

That was a mistake. Bella jumped to her feet and glared down at me. "That's it, isn't it. You don't trust me? You came to the school to check up on me? Don't you know me at all?"

"What am I to think when I come in and see this… idiot hitting on you and you…"

"Graciously try to refute his advances? Yes Edward, what are you to think of that – we clearly must be having a torrid little affair that began, oh, what two days ago?" She rolled her eyes, crossed her arms and glared down at me.

I knew I was the one being an idiot. The knowledge didn't seem to matter. Venom still boiled under the surface of my skin. The images of him looking down on Bella, how he looked at her, what he saw, through is eyes flitted through my mind. I uselessly closed my eyes against then and fought for some measure of control.

She was right. This wasn't her fault.

There was a long pause as I prepared to do what I had to do to make this right. Finally I took a deep breath and replied, "No. I really didn't think anything was going on. And I didn't come to check up on you. I just… really missed you while you were gone."

Bella's expression softened and the crease became much less pronounced. "I missed you too. But Edward, you can't come visit me all the time. I'm trying to get all my reading and work done during those breaks so that when I am home I don't have to try to stay away from you. You know that I want to do well."

I sighed and rubbed the back of my head. I knew all that. But still, now that I knew guys like Charles were lurking around that place, ready to pounce…

"You know I can handle myself, right?" she said softly.

Of course she could handle herself. She was a vampire. She could have pulverized that boy in an instant. It would only have taken the slightest flinch of her newborn fingers to break a limb, or remove a key piece of his anatomy.

"So why didn't you tell that… Charles Preston the Third to take a hike?"

She let out a burst of air. "Listen, Charles is a jerk and an idiot who only got in because of a generous donation from Charles Preston Jr." she cringed, likely thinking that didn't make her much different. "and he's happy to buy his way through school, but I'm not. And, unfortunately, he was assigned to my study group and so I'm trying not to make waves."

I swallowed and nodded. The thought of that… boy in her group was tough to reconcile myself with. But Bella was right. Making waves with someone with political ties to the school would mean she would have to flex her political weight and that wasn't something she was willing to do.

"I get it," I finally admitted, "I'm sorry… and as much as I miss you, I'll try to stay away."

Bella laughed, "That's good, because I seriously thought you were going to commit murder today and that wouldn't look too good on my college record." And though her tone sounded disapproval, her eyes flashed with excitement and sensuality that I couldn't resist. I jumped up, my arms finding their way to her body, my lips finding their way to hers. She caught me and, with a twist, I found myself flipped over onto the sofa with her hovering over me.

"Have I ever told you how sexy you are when you're jealous." She said in a low husky voice. She wasn't touching me, but the electricity flowed from our bodies as if she were touching me with a million tiny points all at once. I moaned as she finally leaned in and nipped at my neck.

"Is that what that emotion was today at the library?"

She laughed huskily. "A little of that, a little fear you'd actually go through with the threats your eyes were making, and some annoyance…" She lowered her head and traced a path with her noise from my left earn along my jaw and down to the hollow of my throat where she tasted me. I tried to reach for her, but in an instant she had me pegged like the other morning before her first class.

"You seemed to like this the other day," she raised an eyebrow as she had me trapped.

"I wasn't too happy where it led."

She laughed, "Well, I wasn't either…" she leaned in further, brushing her chest against mine and I could feel her breasts through the thin fabric. "I was thinking it would be fun to try again… when we had more time."

I reached as far as I could to touch my lips to hers, but she continued to hover just out of reach. And then, with a quick shift, she brought both of my arms over my head and held them with one hand, freeing the other. The venom sped through my veins in anticipation. With her free hand she reached down and took a hold of my shirt. With a firm grasp it was suddenly shredded and tossed to the floor beside the sofa.

"Hmmm," she murmured taking in my bare chest. I struggled to free myself when I saw her lick her lips. The waiting was the sweetest torture and I wanted to pull her to me… to do something. But she was still too strong for me. "You're quite the specimen," she said as she continued to examine me under the microscope of her gaze. She leaned in again and continued her journey from the hollow of my throat down, inhaling along the way. And then I felt her tongue as she followed the trail back up to my mouth.

Her kiss was nothing like the sweet kisses of our courtship. These were hungry, and a little violent, and filled with promise of much more to come. "Thank you for the magazine." She said when she pulled away.

Huh? Oh yeah, the magazine… "Did you like it?"

"Hmhm" she replied. "It gave me some ideas…" she smiled and leaned into my ear, "Of some other activities we might like to try, once we find what we're looking for."

I moaned as she temporarily lifted her shield and showed me exactly what she was thinking…

"Chaps?" I asked as the picture was suddenly gone, lost behind the shield of her mind.

"I saw a picture in the magazine." She said sweetly. "It was… inspiring."

I racked my brain through what I'd seen. Unfortunately, I'd purchased it purely for the one article and hadn't taken time to read it cover to cover. I'd have to do that… soon. But right now, Bella was going to have to take this to the next level or I would going to spontaneously combust. I laughed at the phrase.

Bella cocked her head to one side at my expression.

"I was just thinking, if we don't proceed soon, I'm going to spontaneously combust… though it would be own fault wouldn't it? Payback and all."

She smiled and leaned it, "We wouldn't want that." And with a few quick movements, the rest of our clothes were discarded in shreds on the floor. With a growl, she landed on me and we were joined as one as she kissed, and licked and bit her way along my neck and chest. It was mad and frantic and… amazing. And before we were done, we'd ended up rolling across the hardwood floor, knocking over a couple floor lamps, an end table and a book shelf in the process.