No infringement of any kind is intended. See you tomorrow.

In the middle of the night, I wake up in the most pleasant way. Instead of the previous lust-fueled encounters, though, this is pure love. Her hands and eyes are full of reverence as she touches me.

"Baby," I whisper, but she shakes her head.

"Let me do this, Bella."

I try to lie back and let her love me, even though everything inside wants to cover up. She rests between my legs, her mouth and lips and tongue and teeth and fingers setting a maddeningly slow pace. It's hard for me to believe, but the way she responds to my body makes it crystal clear that she enjoys giving me pleasure as much as I enjoy her body. I have no idea how long it will take my brain to wrap around that fact, but I'm glad she's going to keep trying to get it through to me.

As I come, I can feel the tears building and then escaping. By the time she's in my arms, I'm back in control, a content smile on my face.

"Sleep," she says when I reach for her, attempting to return her love.

"Are you sure?"

"Just let me give to you for now. I'll be selfish again in the morning."

We laugh quietly and wrap up in each other. It mystifies me how we can sleep entwined, but we do, and it's the best sleep I've ever had when she's with me.

My alarm wakes us up and I grumble, but slip out of bed, hoping to grab a quick shower before we go. When she slips in behind me, I slow down. We aren't too far behind my schedule, though, when we check out and hit Starbucks on the way out of town.

"Are we going where I think we're going?" she asks, pure excitement.

"Probably," I say, giggling.

"Ahhh!"

I take a deep breath as my heart skips a beat. The drive goes by so quickly, the car filled with our conversation and laughter.

"I can't believe we're here," she says as we drive by, looking for parking.

"I've known for so long that I wanted to bring you here. It was only a matter of time."

It's too early to check in to the hotel, so we park and walk back to the entrance.

"Two tickets, please." Once I have them in my hands, I turn to Jess. "Let me take your picture by the sign?"

She poses, beaming like the sun. Another tourist walking by offers to take our picture together, so I join her, and I think about how I want to hang the picture somewhere fun in our house. I never want to let go of the feeling I have.

"Ready?"

"You have no idea," she says, pulling my hand and leading me into the aquarium.

"Where do you want to go first?"

"Everywhere."

We spend hours wandering, most of the time with our hands linked. We stop for pictures in certain places and sit and watch the sea otters outside. We giggle at the penguins, assigning them personalities and animating them out loud.

Something about Monterey has always been calming to me, and there's no exception this time. I can't keep the smile off my face, or hers, and exploring each area is like a new experience through her eyes. As much as I can, I keep track of things as they happen, wanting to seal the memories into a special place in my brain.

In the gift shop, we buy a glass jellyfish to take home, and trinkets for the kids and Edward.

I can hardly believe the sun is setting as we walk to the car. We've managed to skip lunch, spending every moment we can soaking in the aquarium.

"What a fun day," she says. "Thank you."

"Group effort. Couldn't have done it without you," I say, backing her against the car for a kiss. "Let's go check in, then we can walk Cannery Row?"

"Sounds good."

In the room, she stands at the windows, having opened them. "This is going to be amazing tonight." She smiles. "Make love and fall asleep to the sound of the waves."

"I like the way you think."

Pulling her into my lap, I sit at the window, listening and feeling. I'm sad our vacation is almost over, just one last day back up in the city, but so grateful for the time we've had. The waves pound the shore and the winds pick up. When Jess curls against me more, I'm glad for the breeze.

"This room is hideous," she says, breaking the silence. We laugh and look around.

"I know, but the bed is comfortable at least, and there's a fireplace."

"And we're here together."

We finish watching the sun set over the water from the comfort of our room and each other's arms.

"I'm starving," she whispers, and a moment later, her stomach growls. "See?"

Laughing, I reach for her box of fudge and feed her a few pieces between kisses.

"Let's go explore and find someplace to eat. I didn't plan anything at all, so we're on our own."

She pulls my hand into hers and we walk out the hotel and back onto the Row. Before too long, we settle on a place to eat, more out of need than anything else. We order drinks and flirt with each other, stealing kisses while families around us stare a little too long. By the time our food arrives, we've had a few glasses of fun things and the people around us disappear.

"A long time ago, you asked me to marry you," I say, reaching for her hand. It's been something I've thought about from the moment she said the words to me.

"I did," she says, blushing, no doubt remembering.

I pull the ring Edward helped me pick from my purse. "Will you marry me?"

It's not as easy as my words make it seem, but it doesn't matter.