A/N – -singing voice- It's an update!! Sorry this one took a little longer than normal, but it was a little bit hard to get out, for a strange reason. Not that this was really a very hard chapter… it's just filler/fluff really. But I kinda like it. Anyway, thank you to everyone who reads this story, and especially to those who review. Your words are my muse!!

I'd like to dedicate this one to Heath Ledger, who sadly passed away today. He was a great Australian actor (and so hottt!!) and it's such a tragedy that his promising life has been cut so short. Please enjoy, read and review!

25/01/08 - I did a bit of research, and I realised that going from Forks to New York is an even bigger deal than I was imagining and so, in the interest of realism, I've had to shuffle around my events plan for the story. As a result, a few minor details have been updated in this chapter.


I was still on my stomach when I woke in the morning, Edward lying by my side. I could feel stiffness remaining in my muscles, though the massage had definitely helped, and I moved slowly as I got up. Edward's eyes followed my every move intently, probably waiting for the slightest sign of pain.

"How are you this morning?" he murmured. I stretched experimentally, satisfied that the movement only twinged a little.

"Surprisingly good," I replied, smiling. His returning smile was brilliant – it lifted my heart to see; my favourite sight in all the world.

His lips caught mine and I found myself, for the millionth time, wishing that I could spend the rest of forever kissing him. We'd have to try that out some time after the wedding – once I, too, no longer had a need to breathe regularly. The thought made the corners of my lips curl up into a smile around Edward's cool mouth.

"I have to go," he whispered into my hair, when he had reluctantly released my lips. "Charlie's almost awake now… I'll be back in an hour or so to pick you up."

I pouted at him, feeling in a remarkably playful mood, and he chuckled at me, flicking my protruding bottom lip with a pale finger. He moved off my bed and towered over me.

"Whatever shall I do while you're gone?" I asked with mock distress.

"Fear not, fair maiden, for I shall return hither to thee with such haste that thine tender heart shall have but a brief moment to contemplate the pain of mine absence," he replied, managing to sound gallant despite the fact that he was whispering.

"I shall wait with baited breath, my lord," I declared quietly.

Edward's profile was dark against the slowly growing light outside. He chuckled and sped back to me, giving me one last kiss before he moved slowly to my window.

"I certainly hope not," he said, his eyes blazing. "I'd rather you were alive when I got back, than find that you had suffocated while I was gone." He looked over his shoulder at me once last time. "Really, I'll be as quick as I can."

And then he was gone. I rolled over and pressed my face into my pillow where Edward had been only moments before, inhaling the lingering sweetness of his scent. I smiled wistfully, wondering if I could ever smell this good. Then I giggled, remembering that I already did – to Edward, at least.

When the blanket of clouds in the sky had grown to the inevitable grey of daylight, I jumped out of bed. My back muscles wrenched slightly in response to the sudden movement and I winced. The pain was short-lived, though, and my oddly euphoric mood wasn't shaken in the slightest.

I hummed merrily as I went about my morning routine. Charlie seemed a little shocked when he came downstairs to find me smiling gleefully into my bowl of cereal so early in the morning.

"Good morning, Charlie!" I greeted in a sing-song voice that reminded me of Alice. Maybe she was finally catching.

"Good morning," he replied, getting his breakfast and giving me a strange look. I grinned at his wariness. "And why are you so happy?"

I shrugged, finishing the last of my Cheerios with a flourish of my spoon and then skipping over to the sink to rinse my dishes. A series of knocks on the door announced Edward's arrival to come pick me up.

"Door's open, Edward!" I called brightly, quickly drying my dishes.

"I seek a beautiful maiden in distress," he proclaimed, stepping into the kitchen grandly. "Are you one such?"

I giggled at Charlie's confused expression, then composed my face into an look of thoughtful consideration.

"That I might," I allowed. "And if I were, what wouldst thou propose?"

Edward snorted quietly at my choice of words, then strode through the room to my side. He gazed down into my face intently, the crooked smile that I loved best spread across his face.

"I would proclaim my undying love for thee, then sweep thee off thine feet and carry thee away into yonder horizon, to be joined with me in sweet matrimony forever more!"

My hand flew to my forehead and I allowed myself to fall back in a theatrical swoon. As I expected, Edward caught me in his arms. His smouldering eyes seemed to pierce through to my very soul.

"If these be your intentions, noble sir, then I am the most beautiful woman in the world," I said, my heart skipping a beat.

"Indeed," he agreed.

He looked like he was about to kiss me passionately in that moment – I wanted him to. But a sudden grin flashed across his face again and he spun me to my feet, his arm wrapped securely around my waist. Charlie was still sitting at the table, a peculiar expression on his face.

A sudden blush flooded my face and I tittered a silly giggle. I'd forgotten that Charlie was there. Once the shock faded off his face, he rolled his eyes and chuckled indulgently, returning to his breakfast. I let out an inaudible sigh.

"What have you two got planned for today?" Charlie asked.

I shrugged and looked up at Edward expectantly. His arm squeezed me a little closer in response.

"I've got the rest of the invitations in the car that we need to post," he said, then paused to think. "And then we'll go back to my place where, I believe, Alice is planning to discuss and organise the wedding cake and music."

I didn't even have to repress a groan at the thought – the compulsion to was simply absent. I wondered again why I was feeling so light today.

"Well, I'm ready whenever you are," I said.

Edward smiled down at me, kissing me lightly on the nose. "I suppose we'll go then," he replied. "Have a good day, Charlie."

"You too Edward," Charlie answered with gruff politeness. "Be good, Bella."

I giggled and flitted to my father's side, impulsively wrapping my arms around him and planting a quick kiss on his cheek.

"See you soon, Dad."

And then I skipped ahead of Edward, out the door and into his car. I waited happily for him to join me, grinning when he slipped into his seat. He chuckled, amused by my strange mood and took my hand as he pulled out of our driveway and, once out of sight of the house, drove at his usually too fast speed through town.

We stopped briefly at the post office and Edward left me to wait patiently for him in the car while he quickly posted the alarming stack of invitations that had been sitting in the backseat. I watched as slid the envelopes into the post-box slot, a few at a time. He'd seemed a little anxious about me not posting them myself. Perhaps he was afraid that I might get my hand stuck… I snorted a laugh at the thought.

"What is so funny now?" he asked, jumping gracefully back behind the wheel. I shrugged, staring adoringly at his face.

"Nothing in particular."

He studied my expression, searching for the reason behind my unpredictably cheerful mood. I smiled brightly back at him, wondering if he was trying – futilely – to lift the reason right out of my head. Even if he could hear my thoughts, it wouldn't help him in this instance. I was just happy.

"Maybe I should have Carlisle check up on you," he announced eventually. "I think that bump last night might have addled your brains… either than or it got waterlogged."

I giggled at his reminder of what had happened the night before.

"How do you know that it wasn't your fantastic massage that did this?" I asked playfully. His brow creased in serious thought for a moment, making me laugh again. He was so absurd sometimes.

"Really Bella – why are you so happy today?"

I cocked my head at him impudently. "What's not to be happy about? I'm with the most amazing man in the world, who I am soon going to marry and spend eternity with. Wouldn't you be happy too?"

His answering smile was soft, and dazzling. It sent my heart into an absolute frenzy.

"Yes, I am happy."

I'd managed to settle down a little by the time we reached the Cullens' place. Standing in front of the tall white house felt like returning home. Well, I noted to myself as we mounted the stairs, they do say that home is where the heart is. And my heart was now, forever, in Edward's care.

For a change it was Esme that greeted us first when we walked – well, more like skipped today – through the door, though Alice wasn't far behind. Esme's usual sweet smile alighted on me, making my grin broaden again.

"Good morning Bella," she welcomed warmly, kissing me on the cheek. "You're in a good mood today, dear. Is there something special happening?"

I shook my head with a mock frown.

"No, I'm starting to think that it's got something to do with the fact that I've gotten through an entire week of wedding planning with Alice and I haven't once had a breakdown," I replied airily, leaning into Edward's side.

"I think we might be witnessing said breakdown," Edward teased. I poked my tongue at him.

"So, Alice," I looked to my tiny soon-to-be-sister brightly, "what do you need me for today?"

"Actually, Bella, I was wondering if you could help me with a bit of cooking, dear," Esme cut in. "I thought it might be a good idea to try a few simple dishes for practice to begin with so that I can build myself up to the big day."

"And we can talk about food and the cake and music while you do that," Alice added enthusiastically. I nodded.

"Sounds great," I consented, and we all trouped into the kitchen.

Esme had half a dozen or so cooking books, propped open to a variety of different dishes, scattered across the pristine marble counter. I scanned over them – they appeared to be picked at random. Recipes for everything from chocolate cake, to fettuccine carbonara, to chicken enchiladas stared up at me. I fished out the Italian book from amidst the mess and handed it to Esme.

"Pasta might be a good place to start," I told her. "Almost everyone can cook pasta." And then I giggled, a recent memory floating to the surface. "Except Charlie, of course."

Edward chuckled with me, obviously remembering Charlie's almost inedible attempt at spaghetti bolognaise. Esme stacked the rest of the books in an out of the way corner of the bench-top, then read over the recipe instructions.

"So, where do I start?" she asked, her brow furrowed. I glanced over her shoulder.

"Well first, you need to gather together all of the ingredients," I told her. "Carbonara sauce is made up of your everyday basics, so you should have ev…"

Esme's face fell and I trailed off with my sentence as the problem dawned on me. Of course – with nobody in the household needing to eat, there was no food. I tried hard not to laugh, but the resulting smirk gave away my amusement.

"I… suppose I should go down to the store?" Esme asked hesitantly.

That sent me over the edge. I sniggered, laying my hand on Esme's arm for support. My stomach was beginning to hurt from all the laughing.

"You can't go to the store Esme," I tried to explain. "It's Sunday – they'll all be closed." Her disappointed expression suddenly cut short my amusement, and I quickly gave her a hug.

"I might be able to help though," Alice suddenly piped up. Her eyes were twinkling as she danced past us to open the refrigerator door.

There was an assortment of foods lining the gleaming shelves. I was amused to notice that, as well as eggs, milk, meat and other such perishable foods, there was also flour, sugar and half a dozen tin cans. It was obvious that Alice had had no idea which foods needed to be kept cold and which didn't, so she'd played it safe by piling them all in.

"I had a vision after you and Edward left early, Bella," Alice explained brightly. "So I went grocery shopping!"

She seemed immensely proud of herself. I could imagine tiny little Alice prancing up and down the isles of the local Thriftway, haphazardly throwing random items into a trolley. Edward surprised me by laughing.

"It's not often you see a vampire in a grocery store," he chuckled. "I'm surprised you didn't terrify the staff half to death, Alice." Alice poked out her tongue and returned to her wedding folder.

"Well then," I said, clapping my hands together purposefully. "Why don't we get started?"

Though Esme had the advantage of vampire speed, it took her twice as long to cook the simple meal as it would have if I'd done it. Patiently, I explained how to perform each task required, demonstrating when necessary. Apparently cooking had changed rather drastically since the early 1900's – which made me wonder how Edward had managed to teach himself what he knew of the art. I suspected that a mixture of late night cooking shows on the TV and watching me cook had something to do with it.

As I helped Esme, Alice chattered non-stop about the culinary aspects of the wedding. We decided that a simple three-course meal would be sufficient for the rehearsal dinner and, with only minimal resistance, I maintained that a range of finger foods were all that was required for the short reception. I knew that the fact that she would be expected to eat was the major reason that Alice did not insist on a post-wedding feast.

The cake, it was eventually decided, would be a simple three-layered mud-cake with white icing and a small bunch of colourful freesias on the top. Alice had argued that there aught to be the traditional bride and groom wedding topper, but I refused – I couldn't imagine anything more tacky.

We had moved on to the topic of music when Esme finally finished.

"I don't want to talk about any songs," I persisted. "That's Edward's area of expertise – and want it to be a bit of a surprise."

Alice rolled her eyes at me as Esme dished up a serving for inspection and tasting. The small bowl of long flat noddles, coated in the thick creamy carbonara sauce looked and smelled delicious. I picked up a fork and twirled some pasta onto it and bit down on the wad. I chewed thoughtfully, playing Esme just a little bit.

"Well?" she asked.

I let a smile spread across my face as I swallowed and twirled some more fettuccine onto the fork.

"It's perfect," I praised. "Could you do this for main corse, do you think?"

Esme's face lit up and Alice clapped excitedly. I suspected that I wouldn't be eating take-out whenever I stayed the night.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing in the living room, talking amongst ourselves about random things. The boys organised to go hunting the next day and, because of my slightly downcast expression at those plans, Alice insisted that us girls were going to have a play around with different ideas for my hair and make-up.

With those plans and that tight, though slightly smaller, bubble of happiness still encasing my heart, Edward drove me back home for the night. I cooked a simple dinner, and Edward and I stayed downstairs to watch a game with Charlie. I hadn't seen Edward and my father get along for such a prolonged amount of time since Edward and I had first started officially dating. It was nice to know that Charlie might even come to like my fiancé before we left forever.

oOo

Edward left to go hunting in the very early hours of the morning. He obviously tried hard not to wake me, but I was aware of his absence the moment he left my bed. I rolled over and sighed.

"Edward?" I muttered sleepily. It was still dark and I couldn't see him.

Something cool stroked my crumpled cheek. I sighed again, leaning my face toward his cool hard hand. I heard a ghostly chuckle, and his lips briefly brushed against mine.

"I have to go now love," he murmured. "You have a good day with Alice."

I groaned quietly in response and he chuckled again. He kissed me one last time, then left without a sound. I laid awake, listening to the quiet patter of rain outside before I slipped back into a restless sleep until morning.

Alice was there to greet me when I woke up again. She bounced around the house happily chirping about the fun we were going to have without the boys around. I smiled good naturedly as I got dressed and ate my breakfast.

"I still can't decide if we should curl it or keep it down and straight," Alice was leaning on the counter in the kitchen. "You're hair is so nice and long, but it would seem such a pity to do nothing with it – it just wouldn't seem special enough."

Charlie grinned affectionately at her. It had always perplexed me how Charlie could be so fond of Alice, even when he'd been vehemently upset with her beautiful brother.

"I'm sure you'll work it out, Alice," he asserted. "You always know what will work just right."

"Oh, that reminds me!" Alice exclaimed. "Esme wanted me to ask you – we need to take care of dresses and suits for everyone. Would you object very much if we took Bella to New York for a couple of days?"

I looked at Alice sharply. She hadn't mentioned that she was going to steal me away to New York. I'd just assumed that Alice would take care of that without my help. Obviously, I was wrong.

Cautiously, I took in Charlie's reaction. He was looking a little dubiously at Alice, who's pixie face was shining with an expression of utmost confidence. After a moment, Charlie shrugged.

"I suppose I can't really stop you anyway," he admitted with resignation. "Are you sure that you need to go all that way, though? Surely there's somewhere a little closer to home."

Alice shook her head impishly. "I've already ordered the dresses from a designer over there – he wants us to come for a quick fitting, and I supposed we should take care of suits and the rest while we were there – make a little holiday of it."

Charlie nodded. "When will you all be leaving, then?" Alice's eyes twinkled.

"I arranged the fitting for Wednesday afternoon their time," she answered brightly. Charlie choked a little on his mouthful. My own eyes had widened in horror. "The flight leaves at 8:35 tomorrow morning and we should get there sometime in the afternoon. We'll stay in a hotel and spend a few days shopping and site-seeing, then we'll fly back Saturday evening and should be home around dinner time. We'll be paying for it all, of course."

"Well," Charlie spluttered helplessly. "I suppose you have it all worked out." He turned to me thoughtfully. "You've sure picked a generous family to marry into, Bells."

Alice squealed with excitement and I smiled ruefully at my father – she'd given him absolutely no room to argue in the slightest. I almost wished that he had. Though, I was definitely excited to visit New York.

We left shortly after that, and I went to my day of Barbie-doll treatment with a feeling of inevitable resignation. It actually wasn't as bad as I'd been anticipating. I sat in the vanity chair in Alice's colossal bathroom as she, Rosalie and Esme flitted around me.

Once one look was completed, they'd all stand back to take it in for a moment, then a camera would flash in Alice's hand and it would all come off again for the next experiment.

We giggled and chatted like only women could, and even Rosalie was amiable. It seemed that she'd finally accepted that I wasn't going to change my mind and was determined to make it up to me for her previously horrible behaviour. I had a feeling that we would grow to be quite close with a little bit of time. There was something in her dark humour that reminded me very much of Edward, and it was comforting.

I was surprised, when I was finally allowed to stand up from my perch and leave the bathroom, to find that it was growing dark outside. I'd spent an entire day without Edward, and the passing of the time had almost been effortless. I sighed, realising that it was probably time to go home – I would need my sleep if we were going to be flying out to New York in the morning.

"I suppose you better take me home, Alice," I told her, wishing that I could stay the night instead. Alice's face went blank for a moment, then she grinned.

"Perfect!" she exclaimed. "I'll go call Charlie!"

It took me a moment to catch up, then it dawned on me what she meant. She was going to organise me staying over. A heavy weight, which I'd barely registered was there, lifted slightly. Alice was back quicker than I could believe.

"He said that it's okay," she announced. "I have some clothes that I bought for you the other day that you can take with you to New York, so I told Charlie that we wouldn't need to pick anything up."

"Do you know when the boys will be home?" I asked, trying to be casual. Alice wasn't fooled – she smiled knowingly and patted my hand.

"They'll be another hour or so," she told me. "Why don't you have a shower and I'll help Esme cook you something for dinner."

And she waltzed off downstairs, leaving me alone in Edward's room. I'd never been in his room by myself before, and I felt a strange curiosity creep over me as I surveyed it. My eyes fell on his wardrobe and I grinned. Now would be the perfect opportunity to have a poke around in the elusive Edward's stuff.

I got up and walked quickly to open the door. A modest collection of neat clothes hung in their steel hangers and a line of simple yet expensive looking shoes sat on the floor. I was a little disappointed at how bland it was, though I wasn't sure what I'd been expecting from perfect, orderly Edward. A box full of secrets was just a little obvious, I realised sheepishly.

I scanned over the outfits before me, recognising surprisingly few of them – I was always too distracted by his face to notice his clothes. Randomly, I pulled a sleeve up to my face and deeply inhaled his scent, which clung to the soft fabric. I pressed it to my cheek and sighed. Despite the wonderful day I'd had with my future sisters and mother, I missed Edward sharply.

Reluctantly, I dropped the sleeve again and went to shut the door. Esme would be finished dinner soon, and I really needed a shower. Then a sudden idea hit me. I didn't have my pyjamas with me, and I didn't really care to find out what Alice might have for me to wear – but I could wear some of Edward's clothes instead. I giggled at the thought.

Quickly, I pulled one of Edward's more comfortable looking shirts off it's hanger and, after a little searching, found a pair of cotton boxers. With my makeshift PJs, I made my way to the bathroom and had a warm shower. The water was soothing as it slid down my back.

When I finally got out, I quickly dried off with one of the fluffy white towels stacked neatly in a cupboard. I eyed the folded clothes that Alice had left on the bench for me, taking the underwear but leaving the silky nightdress untouched. Instead I slid my arms into Edward's shirt. It was a bit long on me, but I rolled the sleeves up to my elbows so that I could use my hands.

I surveyed myself briefly – it actually looked quite good. Wistfully, I pulled the collar to my nose, again breathing in his smell. With that, I skipped downstairs, feeling anxious to see Edward. I hoped he came home soon.