I raised an eyebrow and looked at my cell phone for the time. I could manage round two. I pulled her closer to me and this time things were different. There was no sense of urgency. It was all about learning about each other. The kisses were less hurried and tenderer, passionate but tender. The way we touched one another was not like we were frantically grasping for something but more like exploring new places and learning new things. I became very aware of how her eyes sparkled in the moonlight that filled the room, the way her breath would catch when I did something that brought her pleasure, the way her teeth felt when she nibbled at my neck, the rise and fall of her pert breast and how they scrapped against my own chest as we danced our special dance. This time it was utter perfection, something that had to be attained with diligence and not animal passion. Bella responded to each kiss, to each touch, to every sigh and moan. She was a vision, a dream, a fantasy that had all come true. I never knew that I could ever feel this alive. Bella made me feel things that were new and foreign but something I would want to experience again and again.
Bella knew I was holding back. I could not allow myself to do all the things I would have liked to do as I knew I would surely hurt her. It was still all about me being in control, keeping that monster at bay. I had to keep all things in check while still enjoying myself and bringing pleasure to her. But I knew that once she became one of us, there would be no holding back. How much different would our time together be? How would it be once I knew I could give all of myself to her, lay it all out on the table? It brought me joy just thinking about how wonderful it would be once my Bella was a vampire. I never thought I would think that ever. I tried so hard to keep her from being turned and now it was all I wanted.
The air hung heavy with our love making. The aroma, the sounds, and evening our love were there almost tangible. As much as I enjoyed our last climax, this one was even more Earth shattering than the last due to we reached it simultaneously. My name roared from deep inside Bella's chest as I too screamed her name. It was almost a heavenly chorus. It was a song that only lovers sang and I thoroughly enjoyed it. But I looked at the clock and we had to go, time was running out. Charlie would surely ground her again if I was even a second late. I followed Bella to the bathroom and we showered quickly and dressed her back in her clothes from this morning. I made sure I did the same. No sense raising Charlie's suspicions anymore than necessary. By the time we were done it was 11:35.
"You're going to have to fly," Bella said as she jumped in my car.
"I know. But I didn't want to think about having to take you home. Bella, I don't think I can leave you. But then again that is nothing new for me," I joked as I drove at full speed.
"Then don't. Just drop me off, take the car back, and run back over here and wait until Charlie goes to sleep. Like usual."
"Except there is a change now. Things will never be the same. They will be better, much, much better."
"I agree. I can tell you that I have never been so happy. You make me so very happy."
"You make me feel alive, Bella. You make me feel like a real man."
"You are a real man, Edward. In every sense of the word," she giggled.
"Naughty Bella. Okay, let's try and not act suspicious with Charlie. And if you don't want him to know about the engagement, I might suggest you take the ring off."
"No."
"No? But I thought you didn't want him to know tonight."
"I don't want him to know but I don't want to take off my ring because you put it there. And that is where it will stay."
"Love, he is going to find out. Charlie is a police man and a very observant one. I think he will notice your ring."
"I'll deal with that when it happens."
"Bella, I don't think I can stand being away from you."
"Edward, take the car back and give Charlie an hour or so. Then you can come back here. I'll leave the window open as usual."
"Shall I walk you to the door," I said as I pulled in front of the house.
"Of course. I really don't care how much he growls," she said with a smile.
I walked around to her side of the car and opened the door for her. I gave her my hand and helped her out. We walked hand in hand to her door and I turned to kiss her before Charlie opened the door.
"Sorry," he said and quickly closed it.
"I will see you in an hour. I love you," I whispered in her ear.
"I love you too," Bella said as she walked through the door.
I drove my car back to my house and opened the garage door. There stood my whole entire family waiting for me. I got out of the car and decided to play with them.
"Hello, everyone. And how are you this beautiful evening," I smiled.
"Oh, come on, Edward. We are dying to know what happened," Alice said.
"You already know, Alice. You have seen it all."
"We know. But we want to hear it from you. To get Bella side of the story," Esme explained.
I smiled and began to tell them every little detail of the day: how she liked the cake and lunch, swimming, splashing, warming in the sun, the dinner surprise, how she loved the meal, playing her music especially her lullaby, and the proposal. On and on I went with each and every detail. While I was talking one of the four of my siblings would say 'that's great, Edward, but did you get laid'. I almost burst out laughing but I kept on talking and finally I spoke to Alice.
"For the record, yes, I did," I told Alice.
I thought Alice was going to attack me. She jumped at me and threw her arms around me. It took the rest of them a few minutes to discover why she was so thrilled. Then they all came running towards me and knocked me into the front of my car. When I heard the metal crunch, we all turned around and looked. There was a huge dent but rather than be angry, I laughed. I was too happy to care.
"I'll fix that, Edward. But I'm glad you finally got laid," Emmett said.
"Thanks, I think," I answered.
"Well, do we get details on that now? You told us all the other stuff," Emmett asked.
"Emmett," Esme warned.
"What? It's not like Alice hasn't seen it all already."
"Me? You may not believe me but I do block some things out in the house. I don't have to see everything. But a few details would be nice. I don't mean explicit ones," Alice said.
"I think what she is asking is did you enjoy yourself," Rosalie explained.
"Was it worth the wait," Jasper asked.
"Did you control yourself," Carlisle added.
"Yes to all three questions. It was like nothing I have ever known in my life, either of them actually. I feel whole, complete. I feel alive. Bella makes me feel alive," I explained.
"Imagine how it will be once she is one of us," Emmett added.
"I have thought a lot about that tonight," I said.
"When do you think you will change her," Carlisle asked.
"After she graduates I suppose."
"Did you mention the engagement to Charlie," Esme asked.
"No. Bella said she had just been ungrounded and didn't want to make him mad all over again."
"Well, Edward, it is too late for that. Charlie already knows," Alice said.
"What," I stammered.
"It looks like Charlie was asking Bella how her day was and then he began to tell her that he wanted her to spend more time with anyone but you and especially Jacob. And after several minutes of this, Bella got mad, showed him the ring and told him you proposed. Charlie went ballistic saying she was way too young and how could she marry you after what you had done to her. Bella told him that she loved you more than anything and that she would marry you whether he liked it or not. Then Charlie grounded her again and told her she could go to school and that was it. No visitors, especially you and she could not even call you. And if you called the house, you can't talk to her. Right now, she is crying in her room. That was a little harsh, don't you think."
"Damn it! This was what I was trying to avoid. Why does he have to be so difficult," I asked.
"Edward, you must see her father's point of view. Charlie is only thinking of the well being of his daughter. We both know that you love her and she you. And that you will take care of all of her needs and she will never want for nothing. But Charlie only sees his 17 year old daughter marrying her 17 year old boyfriend," Esme explained.
"She's right. You need to talk to Charlie," Carlisle added.
"Are you serious? Charlie will eat him alive. If Edward walked through that door, he would probably shoot him," Emmett said.
"No, he won't do that. But they're right. The only way to fix this is to talk to Charlie. I can see that," Alice said.
"Can you see Charlie actually sitting down and discussing this like adults? Or is he yelling at me and telling me how horrible I have been to Bella? Or saying that I don't deserve her? Because I already know all of those things," I fumed.
"It will not do you any good to get angry, Edward," Carlisle said.
"You must be calm and show restraint. Be the gentleman that we know you are," Esme added.
I looked at them and I knew they were right. I turned to see if Alice had an answer for me. She appeared to be focused on something out in the future.
"Well, it appears that he will discuss this with you but it is fuzzy on how exactly he will handle it. At least you know that Charlie will talk to you. Maybe you need to state your case to him, appeal to him as a father about to let his only daughter go. Tell him you don't plan on getting married until after you graduate or something. Charlie isn't going to shoot you, that I can see," Alice said.
"Yes, if he did it would open up a whole new set of problems," I explained.
"Incidentally why are you here and not with Bella," Rosalie asked.
"We are letting Charlie go to sleep. No sense in angering him anymore than necessary," I answered.
"How soon will Charlie talk to Edward," Carlisle asked Alice.
"Two days maximum. Or you could try to talk to him tomorrow, Edward," Alice replied.
"What do you think I should do," I asked my 'parents'.
My brothers and sisters sensed that this was something I needed to discuss with Carlisle and Esme in private. I hoped that what they said would not be as dreadful as I suspected it could be.
"Edward, I think you need to speak with Charlie, explain to him your motives and why you feel so strongly about Bella. Tell him about leaving and why you did and what you learned in your absence," Carlisle said.
"Let him know that you love only Bella and that there has never nor will there ever be anyone else. Tell Charlie your plans for your future with Bella, what you want to do with your life and that she is a part of that plan. Make him aware of the fact that she will always be taken care of and that you will always put her best interest first. Edward, I think when you talk to him you will know exactly what he wants to hear," Esme added.
"You could always just dazzle him," Alice whispered only to me.
"You're not helping," I told her.
"Edward, bottom line is that Bella will be 18 in a year and then she can simply make up her own mind since she will be an adult," Carlisle said.
"I had hoped to not have to wait so long before I was able to marry her," I said.
"I know, dear, but you have to be patient. When dealing with humans, we have to do so delicately," Esme added.
"All I have is time, I can wait. Thank you for talking to me. I will talk to Bella and see about setting something up with Charlie. I hate that I will only be able to see her at night now."
"Well, you will need to go to her house like you had planned on doing tomorrow because as far as Charlie knows, you do not know about her quarantine," Carlisle said.
"That's right. I could go by tomorrow. He'll probably throw me out and not talk to me. I am glad tomorrow is Sunday. At least if I have to go for so many hours without seeing her, I know the next day I can see her more."
"Just be careful. Charlie is fragile and you would not want to hurt him," Esme said.
Esme and Carlisle both hugged me and I turned to run back through the woods and then straight to her house. I stood below the tree under Bella's window. I listened to see if I could hear Charlie. He was snoring rather loudly but I could still hear Bella's sobbing over him. I stealth fully jumped to her window and crept inside. Bella was not aware of me until I lay in bed beside of her and pulled her to me.
"Don't cry my angel. It will be okay. I promise," I said as I tried to soothe her.
Bella looked up at me as tears streamed down her face. Her eyes were red rimmed from hours of crying. Her hair was matted to her face in clumps and she looked a mess, but still a vision of beauty to me. I took my hand and moved the strands of hair off her face and placed it behind her ear. I wiped the tears from her eyes and pulled her to me for a kiss. I thought this would calm her but it sent her over the edge. She laid her head on my chest and sobbed endlessly.
"Bella, I know what happened with Charlie. Alice saw it all. We will work around this," I explained.
"How? I am going to be stuck in this house until I die. Charlie is adamant about my spending time with Jacob. He refuses to believe that I am engaged to you and told me to take off the ring and he'd give it back to you. I refused," she said as she held up her hand to show me.
"Love, Alice has also seen that Charlie will talk to me about this but I have to plead my case to him. You know how convincing I can be."
"I know. But I hate the thought of having to wait so many hours before I see you."
"Well, Charlie does not know that I already know you are grounded again. So I can come over tomorrow like we planned. I am hoping he will talk to me."
"What are you going to say?"
"I am going to tell him the truth, up to a point. I mean I am not about to tell him that I am a vampire or anything. No, I want to tell him that I was thinking of a wedding after we graduate."
"We really have to wait that long?"
"I do not like it anymore than you do. But we have to realize that it may be the only way."
"No, it's not. Change me tonight and we can leave here."
"Bella, Charlie will come looking for me and my family if you suddenly are missing. Trust me; I have thought a lot about changing you. In a way it would solve all our problems and in another it would only open up new ones."
"So you do want to change me?"
"Desperately."
"Why the change of heart? I thought you were dead set against it."
"I was until I realized how badly you wanted this and that I actually wanted it myself. If you want to spend all eternity with me who am I to try and make you do it as a frail human. I am selfish by nature but I could not make myself take your life. That was until I truly understood that it was something that you desperately want. All I want is for you to be happy."
"And you are what make me happy. Imagine what it will be like once I am a vampire. You can stop holding back. You can let go and be free to express your love for me completely."
"Oh, I have thought a lot about that today. Explicitly thought about it actually."
I could feel myself begin to get excited and Bella noticed as well. She smiled at me.
"Edward, as much as I would love for you to show me explicitly, I am afraid the frail human is a little sore from our prior activities. Not pain just over worked muscles. Would you object to holding me tonight because I am really tired?"
I pulled her to me as I wrapped the blanket around her. I softly kissed the top of her head. "No, love. There is nothing I want more."
I began to hum her lullaby. I knew this would put her to sleep and she needed to rest since we had been so active today. I happily listened to her sleeping. Tonight she was quiet, not speaking for once. I could spend every waking hour watching her. She made me happy. Bella made me feel content, at peace in the world. Her body was soft and warm. Her hair was in tendrils cascading across her back. Her breath was even and calm. Her heart beat softly against her chest. I loved her with everything that I was.
It was early in the morning when I heard Charlie moving around. I needed to leave because I heard him headed to Bella's room so I cautiously leaped out her window and hid high in the tree. He walked in the room and over to Bella. She was sleeping and I heard Charlie thinking that he might have been too hard on her. That maybe he should have listened more to her. He thought that he could not fault her for falling in love so young. He and Renee had been exactly the same way. Maybe Bella knew what she was really getting into with Edward. Maybe he should talk with him. But then he did a 180 and thought that he had been right. That was when I heard the door open and he left. I jumped back into Bella's room and climbed in bed beside of her. She started to stir.
"Morning, Edward. Is Charlie still here," she asked.
"No. He just left," I answered.
"How was he?"
"Well, that is hard to say. Charlie kept wavering back and forth between good and bad mood."
"Really? About what?"
"Charlie said he wondered if he had been too hard on you. He wondered if maybe you were right about me. And then he changed his mind and said he was right and then he left."
"What do you think he will do now? Do you think he will talk to you?"
"Well, Alice said he does. Who knows when it will be? She says that it is still fuzzy. I hope he will change his mind, I can't be without you."
"And I don't want to be without you either. If I am, I'll be miserable. I will be absolutely miserable. I hope he changes his mind; he has to change his mind. I'll go crazy. Do you think I should talk to him?"
"No. Probably not. That would just anger him more. I think I should talk to him. Maybe today. I wonder when he will be back."
"If he has gone fishing, it will probably be later tonight. You know, I could call you when he comes back and you can just drive back over here. And set our plan in motion."
"That works. Now what would you like to do?"
"Let me get a shower and we can go from there."
She climbed off the bed and grabbed her robe and walked to the bathroom. I heard the water come on and I lay back and relaxed. I thought about her under the water, it cascades down her naked body. I sat there a total of 10 seconds before I started taking off my clothes and headed to the shower to join her.
"Edward Masen Cullen! What do you think you are doing," Bella yelled as I got in the shower behind her.
"I wanted to take a bath. I'm dirty you know," I smiled her favorite crocked smile.
"Only in your mind, Edward, and that does not require soap."
"Okay. So, I couldn't stand it another second. I kept thinking of you here in the shower all alone and I knew I had to come and keep you company."
She turned to face me and I melted.
"Well, since you are in here, why don't I give you a bath?"
"I suppose so. If that is what you want to do."
I was so relaxed with her hands running across my chest, over my thighs, up my arms. My body tingled and my mind shut down and I was mush. This is probably why I did not hear Charlie coming up the stairs. When I did I jumped bare naked out the bathroom window and back up into the tree. I heard Bella snickering.
"Bella, I need for you to come down to the kitchen when you are dressed," Charlie said.
"Okay, Dad," Bella answered.
Once I heard him go back I climbed back into the bathroom. She had gotten out of the tub but left the water on.
"I guess you want to rinse off," she kept laughing.
"It was your fault that I never heard him come up the stairs. Go on, Bella."
"No I have to stay here until you finish. Charlie will get suspicious."
I hurried and finished. Then I followed Bella into her room. I watched her dress and smiled. She turned and saw me staring.
"If I am not mistaken, this is how we got in trouble in the first place," Bella said.
"Yes, I suppose. What should I do," I asked.
"Why don't you stay up here and listen. Maybe he'll change his mind. You never know about Charlie."
"Okay. I'll be quiet and wait. But only for you."
She smiled and walked out her room, closing the door behind her. I sat on her bed and listened.