I watched Bella as she held Mason. It had become an advantage for both of us to have him here. Bella got to be with our son all day and I got to be with him at night. He seemed so much happier to have us both that his little emerald eyes actually sparkled.

It had been over a week since Renesmee's visit and I could tell that she missed her. We hadn't discussed the visit yet, because I was afraid to draw attention to the obvious similarities between the baby boy in her arms and myself. But I needed to know how much of her memory had been tapped.

I looked at her over my clipboard as she fed Mason with a hospital bottle. "Bella, I want to ask you about some things that you seem to be remembering recently."

She looked up at me, her brow scrunching in a way that let me know she was a little wary to do so. "Okay, what exactly do you want to talk about?"

"Anything you remember. I'm hoping that by looking at them more closely we might be able to get other memories to work their way out." I tried to explain my reasoning, because she didn't want to seem to talk about it. I wandered what it was that she was so afraid of saying.

Bella nodded. "That makes sense. The thing is, I'm not sure I remember anything. Sometimes I worry that I'm creating memories to make myself feel better."

I shook my head, "I've heard some of the things that you're remembering, and they're all pretty dead on. Just tell me about something. Talk about Mason." He was the first thing I thought about since he was in my line of sight. I realized almost immediately, though, that this may not have been a good idea. I was still hoping that she wouldn't notice our eyes.

Her gaze drifted to Mason and they stared at each other for a few moments before she spoke. "Mason wasn't born in a hospital. I didn't want to go to the hospital, so I forced my husband to do the delivery at home." Bella had spent far too much time in hospitals and decided that our son should be born in the comfort of our home.

I nodded to encourage her to go on. "He's quiet for a baby. Even more so than Renesmee who all my friends who had children at the time told me was the quietest baby they'd ever met. Obviously, she's picked up some of Alice's loud habits." I laughed at the mixture of annoyance and adoration in her voice.

"He's only been sick once, but it was the scariest moment of my life. Carlisle said that we were blessed that we didn't lose him. His temperature was so high." As small tear slid down her cheek as she pressed her lips to Mason's forehead.

"Why don't you tell me about Renesmee?" I gripped the counter behind me so tightly that I could feel it give a little under the pressure. I couldn't watch her cry when there was no way for me to comfort her.

She laughed, "Renesmee was an adventure from the very beginning. The placenta detached while I was bent over picking something up. Thank God we were already at the hospital. An emergency C-section was performed and she came out perfect."

She'd yet to look up at me from Mason's eyes, and it was probably for the best. Even though I hated not being able to see her eyes, she would be able to see that I hadn't composed myself yet form her tears. "She's only four years old and she's already got the eye of every boy in her pre-school class. She's had more flowers picked for her since she was born than dresses that Alice buys in one shopping trip." She shuddered slightly. Obviously, shopping with Alice was not a memory that she could block.

"Renesmee will only eat fruity pebbles for breakfast because Charlie told her she looked like Pebbles from the Flintstones. She's never even strayed to coco pebbles. She likes to sit in my lap and pretend that she's reading with me when I have a Jane Austin book in hand." The smiled on Bella's lips grew as she spoke.

"She was so excited when Mason was born, even though she wanted a baby sister. She would help me change his diaper and warm his bottle. She would sit in the nursery when she didn't think that I was around and tell him all about the world outside of his crib. I never had siblings, so I didn't know that the bond could be so strong."

"What do you remember about your husband?" I whispered, almost afraid to ask. If she didn't remember anything, it would absolutely kill me.

She looked up at me and there were tears in her eyes, "I remember everything, but nothing. I can't remember him, but I remember things about him. Things that he'd do or say. The way he'd act."

I waited quietly for her to continue. I wanted to hear something, anything that she remembered about how much I loved her. "I remember that he would hum to me each night before we went to sleep. It was always the same tune. Something he'd written for me when we were young. Though it'd become a rare occasion, I loved to hear him play the piano." Before med school, I'd wanted to do nothing but sit behind the keys of the piano with Bella and let my emotions fall on the keys.

"He had a way of making me feel so beautiful. I've always been so plain, but he looked at me in a way that made me forget, that made me feel like I might actually deserve to be with him." She had never been plain. She didn't know how many times in high school I'd caught one of the guys staring at her, or how many guys I'd knocked out in college because of the way they'd talked about her like they were going to try something.

"He was always so worried about me." She laughed. "I had a habit of finding something to trip over on a flat, stable surface. I could end up in the ER with no more help than my own two feet." She laughed again, it sounded so beautiful, even more so because she was talking about me, about us.

"One time, I…" She blushed as she cut off the story.

"One time you what?" I whispered tentatively.

Bella shook her head back and forth while looking anywhere but at me, "That's not a story I want to tell."

I watched as her blush deepened in color. I wondered if she was remembering the time that she decided to try to risk seducing me in heels. It had been early in our marriage, before she became pregnant with Renesmee. She'd walked toward me at my desk and ended up slipping and knocking her head on the side of my chair. Running her to the hospital in her negligee had been quite an experience.

I watched as she burped Mason and placed him back in the crib next to her bed. She looked back up at me and her eyes were filled with tears. "Why can't I remember him? I remember so much of my life. I remember living in Phoenix and moving to Forks. I remember my college roommates Jessica and Angela. I remember getting a job as a vet tech under the supervision of Dr. Embry Call." The tears were streaming down her face.

"I can remember everything we did together. I can remember the pain of the separation when his parents moved him here." She was practically yelling at me.

"I can remember dancing with him at Forks High's proms. I can remember what it feels like for him to hold me. I can remember him proposing to me in our meadow which we'd found on an afternoon when I convinced him to ditch class because he was getting too stressed out." I sat through her rage afraid to speak.

"I remember our wedding day. I was a mess until I saw him at the altar. My world finally fell into place as Angela's father pronounced us husband and wife. I remember making love to him every chance I had."

She dropped her head into her hands. Her body shook violently with the sobs that I could hear in her broken words. "But I can't see him. No matter how hard try he's not there". She pulled her face up to look at me, accusations in her eyes. "It's always you. When I try to think of my husband, I see you and it's driving me crazy. The dances, the proposal, the wedding, every touch, every kiss, it's always you."

I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. Alice had been right. Rosalie had been right. Emmett had been right. I had been torturing her.

I dropped the clipboard and was immediately sitting on the bed with her, not caring as it clattered to the floor noisily behind me. I wrapped my arms around her and claimed her lips. An electric shock rocked through me as her lips moved with mine. Our bodies knew each other. Our bodies called to each other.

Her fingers snaked their way into my hair and tugged lightly. I moaned softly into her mouth as she opened it to deepen the kiss. Our tongues met and my whole being came undone. I needed this, I needed her, and she was giving everything to me, not holding anything of herself back.

When my lungs could stand it no longer, I pulled back for air. "You are such a jerk, Edward," she gasped.

My eyes locked on hers. They were bright and clear. She was back, my Bella was back. "Please, say it again."

She smiled leaning her forehead against mine, knowing what I desperately needed. "You are such a jerk Edward Anthony Cullen." She sighed, "But I love you."

I leaned forward and nipped her bottom lip, which was swollen from out kiss, "And you, Isabella, are my life. I cannot and will not live without you. You have my heart, and when you leave, you take it with you. Without you, I'm nothing." I was still breathing heavily when I finished speaking.

I had to keep in mind that we were still at the hospital. Our bodies begged to be touched, to be connected, but I knew we'd be heard. I gently leaned her back against the pillow and kissed her forehead, trying to calm my body's response to her. "You should have done that a week ago, Edward."

I was so dazed I couldn't process what she'd just told me, "I should have done what?"

She laughed, "Kissed me, Edward." God, I loved the sound of my name coming off her lips. "The moment our lips met, everything came back. It was like a wall had been torn down."

She pushed a piece of hair from my forehead, "No, it was like lightning had struck, casting light on everything I couldn't see."

I took her face between both of my hands and placed a gentle kiss upon her lips, "I'll have to remember that for next time."

As I knew she would, she burst into a fit of giggles. I pulled her into my arms again and just held her. Though my body was begging for more, this was enough. I had dreamt for weeks of simply holding her. Of hearing her say my name.

"Edward?" I pulled back to look into her eyes without letting go of her. I wasn't sure I would ever let her out of my arms again. "Can we go home now?"

I smiled and pressed my lips to her forehead, to each of her eyelids, to her nose, finally taking her lips. "I think we have to, I can't take you here."

I saw the glint in her eyes and the devilish smile that my body knew all too well. She tugged at my tie and pulled out her most innocent expression. "Dr. Cullen, I'm in a great deal of pain." She looked into my eyes pleadingly. "I need your expertise to help me find relief."

I had to try and breathe. "I swear, Bella, you will be the death of me."