A/N: Twilight is Meyer's. No copyright infringement intended.

Thanks for reading, and for reviewing.

The first part takes place at the beginning of their first term after the wedding. The second part takes place in the middle of the spring term a few months later.

EPOV

Bella carefully folded her blue flannel pajama pants and set them to the side. Then she shook out one of my blue T-shirts, folded it, and placed it on top of the pants.

Beside her, I was in charge of black. I folded my black pajama pants and her little black T-shirt and set them on the edge of my side of the bed. But I was paying more attention to her than I was to my chore, so I ended up having to refold her black sweater when I totally messed it up.

Usually, our laundry time was playful. We would jostle over empty patches on the bed to set up our color-coordinated stacks, or she would tease me about a particularly ill-folded article of clothing, or we both would laugh over missing socks, or I would taunt her when I discovered one of her more vibrantly colored bras in my pile. Unfortunately, there were no such discoveries tonight, and Bella seemed particularly distracted.

She had been quiet for a while. Her motions were automatic. Her eyes were distant as she chewed absently on her lower lip. That sight distracted me, like it always did. It drew my attention to her mouth, to the way her top lip was slightly too full to match the bottom one… and to the way I wanted to kiss that perfect imbalance.

I pulled my eyes back to the clothing in front of me and tried to focus on my chore. She was thinking something through. I could wait until she decided to tell me what it was.

We finished the laundry and put it all away without speaking. The silence wasn't uncomfortable, just unusual. When Bella wandered into the bathroom to get ready for bed, she still was lost in thought.

I went to the kitchen to grab a glass of milk while I waited for her to finish her shower. It only took her about five minutes. Then I heard the bathroom door open and the water running in the sink when she brushed her teeth. I rinsed my glass and made my way back to the bedroom right as she emerged from the bathroom.

I went through my nighttime routine quickly and returned to the bedroom. Bella glanced up at me from where she was surveying the books on her bookshelf. I moved to the bed and pulled back the covers. She came to join me as I slid into bed.

But once the light was off, she didn't immediately tuck herself into my side and rest her head on my chest like she normally did. Instead, she lay on her side with her head on her pillow, facing me in the dark.

I knew then that I was in for it. She only did that when she wanted to have a serious talk.

I rolled onto my side so I could see her face in the moonlight streaming through the window. She was studying me. Her fingers picked absently at the bed sheet between us. For a long moment, neither of us spoke. Then, finally, she began, "You had fun at the park today."

I frowned a little, wondering where this was going. "Yeah…?"

She hesitated. I couldn't figure out why she was so serious. We'd gone to the park in the afternoon. She had taken her sketchbook and sat on one of the benches to draw while I'd met up with some guys from my class for a quick, and rather chaotic, baseball game. Nothing remarkable had happened except Bella had finished some impressive sketches of the guys and I had earned a few grass stains on my jeans.

"I know you miss it," Bella whispered at last. Her wide brown eyes were searching mine when she went on, "The games, being part of a team…"

I frowned. Maybe I did miss it. But I had more important things in my life now. I had Bella. And we had just gotten married. Baseball wasn't a priority anymore. "I guess I miss it a little," I admitted. "But it's not important."

"Yes, it is," Bella disagreed. "You miss it. You should try out for the team at school."

Ah. Even in the dim light, I'd caught the flicker in her eyes. She felt guilty. She thought I hadn't tried out for the school team because of her. And in a way, she was right. But it was nothing for her to feel guilty about. I'd considered it, and I'd decided that the travel and training and practice time wasn't worth it when I could be with her instead. So I tried to tell her that.

"It would take up a huge part of my life," I began. "I'd have homework and practice and away games…. It would take away a lot of my time with you—"

"But it's something you want," she interrupted. "I saw you today. You were so happy." Her eyes were tender with the memory, but firm with her argument. It was beautiful to see. She continued confidently, "Edward, we're only going to be in college a few more years. We're going to be married forever."

I smiled broadly at that. Yes. We were going to be married forever. Thank God for that.

Bella ignored my reaction and stayed focused on her point. "And baseball season only lasts a few months," she added. "Training won't be a big deal." She paused then, and her eyes changed. A spark of mischief flared in their deep brown. "Besides," she said, a smile pulling at the corners of her lips, "your going out of state for the away games gives me a chance to really miss you."

I grinned widely at her sly expression. And the look in her eyes suddenly reminded me of something. "You just want to see me in the uniform," I accused.

"There's that," she admitted with a grin.

I shook my head on my pillow. "Okay," I surrendered. "I'll talk to the coach tomorrow."

With my promise, Bella immediately scooted across the bed. I flipped onto my back and held out my arm so she could nestle into me and lay her head on my chest. Her fingers twisted into the front of my T-shirt to fist the material as her legs tangled with mine.

The instant we were in our normal sleeping positions, wrapped up together in electricity and warmth, my entire body relaxed. I dragged in a deep breath of her freesia and strawberries and pressed a light kiss to her damp hair. My eyes slowly drifted closed.

Everything was quiet for a long moment. Then Bella whispered into the dark, "I just don't want you to regret anything."

I opened my eyes to look down at her even though I couldn't see her face. I knew that she was apologizing for pushing so hard. And I wouldn't have any of that. My arm flexed around her to hold her tighter against me. "As long as I have you, there's nothing to regret," I whispered back.

Her body relaxed against mine, and I knew that she understood that I didn't want an apology. "I love you," she murmured.

"I love you, too."

She burrowed deeper into me and went still. A few minutes later, she was asleep. And a little while after that, she was mumbling against my chest as she dreamed.

The words "baseball" and "happy" came up a few times, making me smile. But when the word "uniform" appeared, I couldn't help but chuckle and kiss her hair.

She always had liked the uniform.

BPOV

God, I loved that uniform.

I wasn't sure exactly what it was about it that got to me. But I always felt my heart beat a little too hard when I saw Edward in his baseball gear. And this uniform affected me even more than his high school one had.

My reaction had a lot to do with the number he'd chosen to wear, I mused. Lucky thirteen. Our anniversary. And my birthday.

I shifted my weight, ridiculously anxious to see him walk out on the field. It wasn't like I hadn't already seen him in his uniform when he'd modeled it for me at home the day he'd received it. But since the initial few games of the season had been out of state, this opening home game was my first opportunity to see him wear it in an official capacity. I was extremely excited about my first chance to see him play on the college team… and my first chance to see him win.

The team hadn't lost yet. Not with their new star pitcher.

I grinned and glanced around. There were a lot of people in the stands. I was glad I'd gotten here early to stake out my place. The perfect spot to see and be seen from the pitcher's mound.

The irony amused me.

The only time I'd ever seen Edward play baseball on a team, I'd met my stepfamily in the stands and been mortified that they had so carefully positioned themselves to be in Edward's line of sight from the pitcher's mound. Now here I was, doing the exact same thing… because I knew that he'd be looking for me.

To make the irony even more complete, two girls around my age, one blonde and one brunette, both in Dartmouth T-shirts, sat in the row directly in front of me - and promptly began to discuss Edward.

I raised a brow as I listened. But I kept my mouth shut, wondering what I would get to hear.

"Have you seen the new pitcher yet?" the blonde asked as they settled in their seats.

"Yes. He is so cute," the brunette replied. Then she sighed dramatically. "Too bad he's married."

I bit back a snort as the blonde sighed, too. "I know. Why are the good ones always taken?" She reached up to tie her hair back into a ponytail. "Well, at least we can still look at him."

I considered that. I didn't mind their looking, I decided. Not anymore. A long time ago, their conversation would have fueled my insecurities. I would have convinced myself that Edward should be with a girl like one of them and not with me. But now, I was confident in who I was.

I was Mrs. Cullen.

As the girls kept talking, I realized that I probably should have been a little jealous… but instead, I found it rather entertaining to hear just how hot my husband was.

A few minutes into their discussion, the players started to take their positions on the field. I straightened, my eyes scanning for Edward. I spotted him immediately when he stepped out of the dugout.

He paused on his way to the pitcher's mound and glanced toward the stands, adjusting his hat and squinting a little in the afternoon sun. I wondered if he would spot me before he had to focus on the game.

He did.

Like gravity, his eyes were drawn directly to me. I watched his brows quirk as he cocked his head. I knew exactly what had surprised him.

He'd never seen me wear a baseball hat before.

I smiled and raised my brows at him as he continued to stare, his eyes roaming to the ponytail drawn through the hole in the back of my Dartmouth hat and to my exposed jaw and ears. His lips slowly curved into an enormous grin as he met my gaze again. Then he shook his head and turned to jog out to the pitcher's mound. When he turned back, he still was smiling as his eyes drifted back to me.

The girls didn't seem to have noticed the direction of his stare. They kept up a running commentary on various players throughout every inning, but the majority of their attention was centered on the "really hot pitcher" in the "really cute uniform."

After a while, I tried to block them out and focus solely on Edward's unbelievable strike-out ability. The other team barely managed to score one run in the first half of the game. And when he wasn't pitching, Edward still was impressive; he batted intelligently, placing the ball well to bring runners in to score.

I only knew a little about baseball, mostly tidbits inadvertently gleaned from the Mariners games Charlie had watched while I'd been in high school, but even with my limited knowledge, I knew that my husband was pretty freaking amazing at the game. I knew that his team was lucky to have him.

And I knew that he was having a blast.

Whenever he would look up at me, he already would be smiling. I could see in his eyes how much he was enjoying the game. So, even though I wasn't a sports fan by any means, I thoroughly loved every second of every inning. Because he did.

My only issue was his fan club.

Ignoring them was not working. I debated moving, but I didn't want Edward to wonder where I'd gone. So I stuck it out, occasionally humming "Clair de Lune" or one of Edward's compositions to myself to block out their conversation. And a little while later, I had something else to preoccupy me as the game neared its end.

Edward had asked me to meet him on the field as soon as the game ended. I'd agreed, but I figured I would stand off to the side and wait for him to meet me rather than actually go out on the field itself. I didn't want to intrude, and the idea of walking out onto the field with all those people around freaked me out, anyway. I hoped Edward wouldn't be disappointed if I adjusted my promise.

I watched him throw the third strike for the second batter. One more out and the game would be over. The two girls glanced up at me as I abandoned my seat and walked past them to exit the bleachers. They probably were wondering why I was leaving only a minute or two before the grand finale.

I had a better vantage point in mind.

I carefully made my way out of the stands and to the entrance of the field the way Edward had shown me. I stood there for the last pitch.

Strike three. Game over.

I could see the smile light up Edward's face. His teammates swarmed the pitcher's mound to surround him in celebration. I watched, hanging back, and listened to the cheers of the crowd as my husband was mobbed by his friends.

He lost his hat in the crush, so it was easy to keep track of his unruly bronze hair as he wove through the throng. It only took him a minute to break free of his team. He emerged at the edge of the group of men, and his eyes lifted and scanned. They immediately landed on me.

My enormous smile was a mirror of his. I could feel his excitement across the field, see it shining in his eyes. Then he was sprinting toward me, and I raced to meet him halfway, all my shyness and hesitation forgotten.

We practically ran into each other. I jumped at the last second, and his arms wrapped around me to catch me as though we'd choreographed the move. He held me off the ground, crushing me to his chest so tightly I could barely breathe. But I didn't care as I threw my arms around him and squeezed right back.

I felt him bury his face in my neck. His breaths were coming in pants against my skin as he rode out his adrenaline. I turned my head to press a kiss to his hair. "Congratulations," I murmured.

"Thank you," he murmured back, his voice deep. And I knew that he was thanking me for much more than my congratulations. He was thanking me for talking him into joining the team. For giving him the chance. For giving him… this.

Slowly, he set me back on my feet, but he kept his arms tight around me. I smiled up at him and tenderly smoothed his damp hair back from his forehead. His eyes never left my face, even as his team started to break apart behind him.

And notice us.

I heard one of the guys comment, "Must be Bella."

Another guy snickered. "Ya think?"

My smile grew slightly amused. Apparently Edward had mentioned me. Then the first guy remarked, "She's kinda hot."

The blush was immediate. And so was Edward's low growl. I felt it rumble through his chest, and the sound of it, dark and primal, made me shiver even as I laughed. "Hey," I protested as his arms flexed possessively around me. My eyes lifted to the bleachers and to the two girls who had been sitting in front of me. They looked sort of shocked, and I knew that they'd realized that I'd been right behind them the whole game. I grinned a little smugly as I turned back to my husband. "I had to listen to two girls talk about how hot you are for the last two hours. Take your turn."

His expression slowly relaxed, even if his arms didn't loosen. "Really?" His eyes suddenly glinted. "They think I'm hot?"

I smacked his chest. "It's just the uniform. Don't let it go to your head."

"Hm. I have heard that girls like the uniform." He grinned down at me. Then his eyes lifted and darkened. "And I really, really like this," he murmured, reaching up to straighten the hat I'd nearly lost when I'd jumped him.

I smiled and turned my face into his palm as his hand drifted down to cup my cheek. "I thought I'd show a little team spirit."

Edward's eyes were on his hand as his fingertips trailed along my exposed jaw to my ear and slipped around to the back of my neck. He gently wound my long ponytail around his hand and gave it a light tug. "Lee is wrong," he said firmly. "You're not kinda hot. You are very. Very. Sexy."

"You think so?" I replied casually even as my heart started to slam a little harder.

"So beautiful." Then he suddenly yanked my hat off and covered my mouth with his.

The whoops and taunts of his teammates filtered through a minute later. I broke away from him and burrowed into his chest to hide my flaming face. But I was smiling widely when he held me even closer and yelled something back to the men. As their teasing died down, he pressed a soft kiss to the top of my head.

"I have to go back to the locker room," he told me quietly. "Meet with the coach." He leaned back so he could return my hat, carefully working my ponytail back through the hole. "Wait for me at the car?"

I smiled as he finished adjusting my hat. When he lowered his eyes to mine, I gave him a light squeeze. "Don't keep me waiting long."

His expression changed from tender to impish in half a second. He dropped a light kiss to my lips and stepped back. I grinned to myself as he all but ran to catch up with his team as they finished their post-game routine and filed off the field. When he was gone, I headed for the parking lot to wait.

For my really hot pitcher in the really cute uniform.