A/N – Here you are my patient loverlys!! I'm so very sorry that this chapter took so long, but what with my moving into the city, starting uni and work, I haven't had an awful lot of time to write. And then, for some reason, the second half of this really just wouldn't come! Bella was just refusing to tell me what happened (though I'm sure if I'd asked Alice, she'd have given me a very detailed account, but I definitely don't have the time to channel her at the moment) but I persisted and she, eventually, told me the highlights.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who reviews on my stories and encourage others – PLEASE REVIEW. I know that there are more of you out there, and I'd really appreciate to hear your views.

This chapter is dedicated to the wonderful Rebekah and Tiffany who were (amazingly) the only ones to take a stab at guessing my idea of Bella's power. Both of them picked up very crucial parts of it (Tiffany, you are much closer than you think!!) but they didn't quite get it. Edward gives you a little clue in this very chapter (though he doesn't know it, of course) so see if you can find it!!

If you don't know what I'm talking about, go read 'A first time for everything' and have a guess. If I get enough review on it, I might add more to it… Now, on with the show!

I'd finished my dinner and was sitting curled up on Edward's black leather sofa when he finally arrived. My head snapped up at the slight rattle of the doorhandle and I watched a beautiful smile spread across his face as his eyes fell on mine. That anxious ache that was ever-present when he was gone dissolved as he strode across the room and knelt on the floor beside me.

"What a pleasant surprise," he said softly, taking my face in his hands like he was handling a particularly fragile object.

"I missed you," I replied. His face inched closer to mine slowly.

"Hmmm," he murmured against my lips. "That's a very good thing."

And then he was kissing me. His gentleness still astounded me – how this granite hard creature could kiss me with such delicacy, while still managing to convey that same urgent passion that I felt, was incredible. As usual, he pulled away too soon and his eyes glanced briefly over the rest of my body, taking in my clothes. An amused smile lit his face.

"An interesting choice of attire," he commented.

I looked down shyly, remembering exactly what I was wearing, and blushed. His cool finger stroked the length of my hot cheek and hooked under my chin to pull my eyes back to meet his. Their bright honey depths smoldered at me, making the pit of my stomach erupt in sudden butterflies and my heart sputter erratically.

"I hope you don't mind," I mumbled. He momentarily flashed his teeth at me and moved in to kiss me again.

"Not at all," he told me, his lips brushing briefly against mine, then wandering across my cheek and down the length of my neck. "They look rather excellent on you… very sexy."

His fingers found their way under the shirt and were caressing the bottom of my stomach as he gently kissed my collarbone. I quivered at the pleasant sensation, but reluctantly wriggled away from him as his hands crept stealthily higher. He raised his face to look at mine, a disappointed pout playing about his mouth. The expression was positively heartbreaking.

"What's wrong?" he asked. His hands remained on my bare stomach, fluttering occasionally and making it difficult to concentrate. I took a steadying breath, his glorious scent calming my scattered nerves.

"I really should go to sleep if you expect me to fly across the continent and remain anywhere close to sane tomorrow," I told him, not a little breathlessly.

He sighed, unable to argue, and allowed me to slip into our giant bed. As I sank back into the soft pillows, I insisted that he sleep under the covers with me.

"But Bella – you'll get cold," he objected mildly. I let my bottom lip slip out into a pout of my own and patted the mattress.

"Please Edward?" I simpered. "I've already had go through an entire day without you near me, so I'd rather not have even a quilt separating us now."

He smiled sadly and slid down under the bedding next to me. I wriggled into the circle of his arms and rested my head on his shoulder, sighing contentedly before I quickly fell asleep.

oOo

Edward tenderly shook me awake in the early hours of the morning and I groaned in complaint, refusing to open my eyes.

"We're going to New York today," he reminded me. "You won't get jetlagged if you slowly adjust yourself to their time."

I cracked my eyes open groggily and glanced at the south facing window-wall. The sky outside was just lightening with the onset of dawn.

"What time is it?" I moaned, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. Edward chuckled.

"Five o'clock," he answered. "Would you like to watch the sunrise with me?"

I nodded slowly, struggling to sit up a little – I would certainly fall back asleep if I remained horizontal. Edward sat against the bed head and I leant against him contentedly. His arms were wrapped securely around my waist and his skin, from spending the entire night holding me, was almost warm.

When the sun had completely risen and I was finally fully awake, I went about getting ready to leave. As I dressed and ate breakfast, my stomach churned with excited butterflies. In eight hours, I would be in New York! Alice was nearly bouncing off the walls by seven o'clock.

"Time to go-o!!" she called shrilly. Edward sighed with resignation and rolled his eyes.

"What's wrong?" I asked. He smiled ruefully.

"Alice is the only one in the family who's really learnt how to quieten her thoughts effectively," he explained as we shuffled onto the backseat of Alice's shiny yellow Porsche, "but when she's excited like this, she forgets to do it. My head is full of her screaming."

I giggled as Alice, hearing Edward's complaint, stuck out her tongue at him over her shoulder. Edward shrugged unapologetically. The drive to the airport didn't take as long as it would have if an ordinary person had been driving. I deliberately paid little attention as we went through the usual process before we boarded the plane – I did not want to know how much of a fortune this trip was costing.

The flight was long, though uneventful. We were in first class, and I was pleased to note that the food served at lunch wasn't half as awful as what I'd come to expect from my previous flying experiences.

It was afternoon when the plane finally touched down. I shifted in my seat uncomfortably as the air hostess at the front of the plane relayed the generic arrival message, I was impatient to get off the plane.

My legs were numb from sitting still for so long, so when I quickly stood to move down the aisle I wobbled and nearly tripped. Edward caught me with his arm around my waist, chuckling slightly in my ear at my clumsiness and I sniffed. He kissed me briefly on the cheek.

"Sorry, love," he apologised. I rolled my eyes, unable to ignore the over-contrite expression on his face.

"Never mind," I mumbled.

Our luggage took a surprisingly short time to come around on the conveyor belt and Edward took our shared suitcase, carrying it like it only weighed two pounds. As we walked, with the rest of Edward's family, through the terminal and out onto the street, I caught a few women eyeing him appreciatively and I sighed.

His arm tightened a little around my waist and I looked up to see his reassuring smile. He kissed me soundly on the lips, before whispering huskily onto my mouth.

"Only you, my love. There's only ever you."

I kissed him again and I felt him suddenly grinning against my lips. I pulled away and his eyes flickered briefly. I followed his gaze to a girl my age, leaning against the wall near the doors. Her arms were crossed and a frustrated frown was on her face.

"Why are all the decent guys taken?" he relayed to me in a girly whine. "I wish my boyfriend would kiss me like that, surely its not that hard to learn how to be a little more romantic sometimes. I mean, look at the way he's staring at her!"

I giggled as we moved through the revolving doors and into the streets of New York city. I looked around, my eyes wide. It was overcast, of course, but there was a heaviness in the air that seemed to have nothing to do with the cloud cover. The buildings were old, though still in good repair, and there were people everywhere.

Esme, Carlisle, Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper and Alice were already loading themselves into a pair of cabs and we moved over to quickly join them. I ended up slightly squished in the back between Edward and Emmett, Rosalie calmly sitting in the front, ignoring the cab driver's useless efforts at flirting. Eventually, he seemed to get the point and asked, a little curtly, where we were headed.

"The Plaza hotel, please," Rosalie answered, smiling dazzlingly at him.

I watched in fascination as we drove, slowly, through busy city. We were soon surrounded by toweringly tall, shiny buildings. Hundreds of people crowded the sidewalks, all jostling for enough room to move around each other and the multi-lanes of cars were packed onto the roads bumper to bumper.

Eventually, we reached the hotel. I gawked at the ornate and expensive looking façade that was the front of the Plaza, too stunned to move until Edward half dragged me to the door, which was held open by a smartly uniformed doorman.

We entered a huge reception area which, if it was even possible, was more lavishly expensive looking than the front had been. Carlisle was already checking us in at the counter and Alice, Jasper and Esme were all standing off to the side together, their cab having arrived before ours. We moved to join them, shortly followed by Rosalie and Emmett, who'd been overseeing the unloading of our luggage.

Alice giggled at my expression.

"Isn't it fantastic?" she asked proudly. Obviously this had been her idea too. I didn't know what to say. The thought of how much money this must have cost made me feel a little sick, so I just nodded numbly. Rosalie laughed gently.

"She's speechless," she murmured. Esme patted my arm affectionately.

"Don't think about it, dear," she advised me. "You're here to have fun, you needn't worry about anything else."

Carlisle joined us at that moment, along with a hotel staff member. Edward brushed a lock of hair away from my face, and his cool touch was comforting enough to bring me out of my daze. I smiled tentatively up at him and he returned it with his best crooked smile.

"Are you ready to see our room now?" he asked, that beautiful grin still in place. I took a deep breath.

"Sure."

Everyone else was headed for the elevator and we followed, all of us barely fitting in when the elevator arrived. Our guide looked uncomfortable and I held back a giggle, feeling sorry for the young man – his instincts were telling him that it wasn't good to be crammed into this small space with seven vampires. It still bewildered me that other people were so uneasy around the Cullens.

"Is he going to be alright?" I whispered to Edward, who gave me a curious look.

"He'll get over it," he answered. "How did you know?"

I smiled slyly. Obviously the guy had been thinking about how unnerved he was, and Edward had been listening.

"I can't read minds," I teased, "but he does look very awkward."

"How is it that I am always surprised when you get into one of your perceptive moods?" he murmured, nestling his face in my hair lovingly. I shivered as his cool breath tickled my neck.

We arrived at our floor at that moment, the elevator doors opening with a ding. The young man showing us to our rooms rushed out as soon as he could and made his way quickly down the gold and red corridor. He motioned to the four doors at the very end.

"These are your rooms," he said. "They are all of similar layout – one bedroom with an ensuite, a fully contained kitchen and living room. You have the key-cards." He managed a brief smile. "I hope you enjoy your stay at the Plaza."

With that, and a small bow of his head, he left. Jasper sighed with relief.

"Thank goodness he's gone – I was starting to get nervous of you all myself," he muttered. I noticed Alice move closer to Jasper's side, inconspicuously twisting her arm around his.

Carlisle, who had been looking at the cards in his hand speculatively, looked up and smiled at his children and I. He fanned the cards out and held them up.

"Shall we chose a key at random to decide on which room we'll have?"

oOo

Of course, the room was expensively decorated – everything was a crisp white, in an elegant French style, with generous accents of gold. The bathroom was especially ornate; white marble tiles glinted dully in the light of a gold chandelier and the silver-veined marble washstand and bathtub were both freestanding, sporting clubbed feet and faucets that looked like they were made of real gold. But it was the bed that stunned me the most.

This bed made Edward's seem small and simple in comparison. The dark wood of the four-poster frame, which was solidly thick but gracefully carved, contrasted strikingly with the otherwise light décor. The mattress it supported was like a giant marshmallow and wispy white material draped over the posts, billowing at the faintest stir in the air.

After I'd dragged Edward around to help me examine every painfully elaborate nook and cranny of our room, he called for room service. The food arrived half an hour later on a gold cart.

It was all too much.

On our first day in New York, we went shopping. All day. And I swear, Alice dragged me into every single shop in Manhattan. Most of the expensive boutiques had nothing for weddings, but Alice still managed to force me to try on a mountain of clothes at every one. As I modelled each outfit she would make me stand still in front of her for a second and her eyes would go momentarily blank, before she'd point out the items for my keep pile and the ones we wouldn't by buying.

"But it's too tight!" I objected when Alice insisted on a short pencil-line skirt of which I'd barely been able to do up the zip. "Why do you keep getting the clothes that don't fit me – it's a complete waste of money!"

Alice rolled her eyes and pulled my head down so that she could reach my ear. Even though her lips were so close that they were brushing against my skin, I could only just hear her words.

"They're for later," she breathed. "Your body will be a little different once you've changed into a vampire. Trust me – you'll thank me soon enough."

But dead feet, endlessly trying on outfits and the growing mountain of ill-fitting clothes were the least of my problems. All of this – as horrible as it was – could have been bearable, and possibly almost enjoyable…

If I'd been with Edward. But I wasn't. Somehow, Alice had convinced Edward that he was to go with Rosalie and the other guys for their suit fittings while she, Esme and I went shopping and Alice had her fitting for her bridesmaid dress. The dress that she had finally decided on didn't come in a size small enough to fit her – Alice being so much closer to the build of a child than your average woman – and so the designer had insisted that she come in for a fitting so that her dress could be specially made. Of course, it hadn't taken him much to convince her.

I got her back for separating me from Edward after we'd returned to the hotel. Safe with Edward once more, I wasn't really upset with her, but when she insisted that we 'all' eat dinner in the hotel restaurant, I just couldn't resist. I agreed that it was a good idea – but she had to actually eat.

It was entertaining to watch her disgusted expression as she slowly forced down a Caesar salad, and the smirk on Edward's face told me that her thoughts were just as hilarious. She was particularly bothered when I allowed the rest of the family to simply break up their food and scatter it in the pot plants next to us.

It was even funnier, however, when we called a waiter over to clear our plates and make way for dessert. Though Alice's salad had only been a very small serving, she had only managed to eat half of it and the waiter noticed.

"Did you not enjoy the Caesar salad, madam?" he asked discreetly as he piled our dishes onto his cart.

"It was quite pleasant, thank you," she lied. Edward snorted very quietly as she struggled to smile winsomely at the man.

The waiter nodded silently, and soon moved away to bring out dessert. When he returned, he presented her with a larger chocolate mousse than she had ordered, a great smile spread across his face.

"Compliments of the chef – he is very sorry that you did not fully enjoy your main course."

It was very hard stop myself from laughing hysterically, and it was probably a good thing that Edward was staring very determinedly at the far corner of the room. I don't think I could have contained myself, even for as long as I did, if I had caught his eye.

Needless to day, Alice was put out with me for the rest of the evening, as she was forced to eat the entire glass of mousse while appearing to enjoy it. By the time we all headed up to our rooms, it was surprisingly late – we'd spent a lot of time chatting about our shopping experiences during the day, and the Cullens regaled me with some of the many amusing moments that had come up during Rosalie's and Emmett's weddings over the years.

So, it was with great relief that I curled up against Edward in the colossal bed in our room. I fell asleep almost as soon as my eyes were closed, to the sound of Edward gently humming my lullaby.