The Jubilee Ball was being held in central Calgary in a grand 1920s style hotel, it was Art Deco in design and all of the features on the outside of the building were very square. The brightly lit windows were tall, with sunburst designs in the glass, and the floor of the covered entrance to the building had a detailed mosaic pattern of black and white square tiles covering it.

When we arrived both the hotel and the street outside were heaving with people, I searched for anybody I recognised, but the crowd was too big and I relished the privacy it afforded us. The noise of voices and laughter was incredible in the grand entrance hall. The wide circular room had a long stretch of marble reception desks to one side, and on the other was a wide sweeping staircase, the stairs were again made of marble with black wrought iron banisters running up the sides and middle. The overall impression was of walking straight into an Agatha Christie novel, which had always called up to me visions of such 1920s elegance.

The main feature of the entrance hall was a splendid black clock, dangling from a chain in the centre of the ceiling. It was square with 4 faces, almost like one you might expect to see in a railway station in an old movie. Beneath this was an enormous clear plastic box stuffed full of cash, obviously to encourage additional donations from generous patrons during tonight's events. As we passed it Edward casually added several hundred dollars to its total. The ball was foremost a charity event, marking the Golden Jubilee of the formation of the charitable foundation organising it, I had little interest in their endeavours, other than the magic they had worked this evening.

Edward and I had travelled separately to the rest of the family in his Alfa. I had still been unsure about attending this evening when we had got in the car together to leave, but by the time we had left Wendle behind I was already relaxing, and when we reached Calgary I was glad we had come. My conversation with Alice had done wonders for my frame of mind, and I had decided to go and find Emmett this evening.

It was wonderful having Edward to myself for once, and I held onto him tightly as he led me through the melee to the main ballroom. He looked magnificent in his black tuxedo, the way it contrasted against his white skin intensified his beauty and I couldn't bear to tear my eyes away from him. I was delighted to find that in the privacy of the crowd of strangers I felt like Mrs Cullen again, leaving Bella Swan back in Wendle.

I searched around the room for the rest of our family, but I still couldn't see any of them. Edward could see my concern, but simply smiled at me as he led me straight onto the dance floor and pulled me into his arms.

"God, I've been looking forward to this all day," He held me tightly to him as we twirled effortlessly around the dance floor. "You look utterly ravishing tonight Bella."

I had to admit I looked pretty good this evening, Alice had chosen me a beautiful cream gown, embroidered in gold thread with hundreds of tiny flowers. The shoulder straps were narrow, but elegantly cut, falling away to a dramatic neckline. I thanked God for the power of double sided tape, which was all that was currently sparing me from absolute mortification. When Ness had eventually returned from her mammoth telephone call, rather too pink and excited for my liking, she had insisted on being allowed to do my hair and makeup somewhat differently to how Alice usually did it. Rather than the curls which usually graced my hair, she styled in ramrod straight, flattening it into submission with blow dryers and staighteners until it looked like liquid glass running over my shoulders. She drew dramatic thick eyeliner around my eyes, which to my surprise made me look mysterious, almost like a modern Cleopatra. Altogether the combination made me look older and more sophisticated than I had ever imagined myself. I had taken it as a compliment when it had taken Edward a full minute after he first saw me to manage to stutter out how nice I looked.

When we first entered the room I had been instantly aware of the eyes on us, both male and female, and knew tonight we were not doing a good job of remaining low profile.

I only managed a little murmur of contentment in reply. I had spent the afternoon with Alice waiting to be with Edward, to touch him and to check he was ok. In the end I had almost driven myself mad with worry about him, cursing myself for the pain I had caused him in reaction to something that had not been either of our faults. The contrast between that and the utter contentment and comfort I felt being with him now was ridiculous, and I smiled to myself for being so melodramatic.

"What are you thinking Love?"

We had agreed that I would not shield Edward this evening as him being blind as it were, especially with Ness present, could pose a risk to us. Neither of us had deigned to mention yesterday's events, we didn't need to.

However now I pulled him in and showed him my thoughts which had made me smile. I showed him my conversation with Alice this afternoon in its entirety; I had never lied to Edward, and did not plan on starting now. I showed him my misery this afternoon waiting for him, how long it had been to me, and finally I showed him how happy I was right now in his arms. I was finding the more I pulled Edward into my shield the more I could feel him, almost physically in my mind. I showed him how he felt to me now and how much I liked it, his presence was a warm glow to me and I treasured it.

"It's ok Love, don't worry, I'm fine." He pulled away a little so our eyes could meet.

Are you sure? I was worried, Alice was worried, she's very sensitive about giving you false information about me these days you know. Last time it had almost cost us our lives, so I was glad she was being a little more cautious this time around.

"Yes, I saw it, but I know you. I trust you. These days if it's a bet between you and Alice, you win hands down, every time." He was smiling and looked so relaxed I couldn't do anything but believe him.

I leant up and kissed him as I extricated him from my shield again, I would miss him in my head, but we had agreed.

We continued to dance; swirling more gracefully than I could have ever imagined I would be able to before I was a vampire. However I noticed the floor was gradually beginning to clear and I realised that the other dancers might be becoming intimidated by our prowess. I slowed my step into something more natural, urging Edward to do the same to spare the human egos from too much bruising.

"Do you know what my favourite thing about dancing is Bella?" He spoke seductively into my ear, his cool breath making my neck tingle. He didn't pause for me to answer. "Despite being in a room full of people, we are completely and utterly alone." He softly kissed my throat as we continued to dance.

My face was nestled into his chest and I made a little hum of agreement. My stomach was full of butterflies and if my heart had been able it would have stuttered at his touch. The atmosphere between us was electric this evening, and feeling the entire length of his body against me while in such a public place left me feeling breathless. Our lips met for a moment before he twirled me around away from him. Almost immediately he was pulling me back into his body with a laugh. "Tease." I said in a whisper.

"We are in public Bella, there is such a thing as too much attention you know." He scolded me though his eyes were full of laughter.

Over his shoulder I suddenly spotted Ness across the room. She had come with Carlisle and Esme, which had seemed appropriate as they were supposed to be her parents to anyone we knew here. They were close by her, involved in a conversation with a large group of people. I assumed they were from the hospital, Edward had mentioned that most of the people at this event were the "highfliers" of the city and that many of Carlisle's colleagues were going to be here.

Ness was where my focus was at this moment though. She was in the arms of a boy of about 15, who was gazing at her adoringly as they danced, somewhat haltingly. He was a little taller than her with blond hair and blue eyes. His build belied his age, and he could have passed for much older to someone without vampire senses to ascertain the truth. Most importantly though; Ness looked happy. She was gazing into the eyes of this boy with the unmistakeable look of a teenager under the thrall of first love. My stomach lurched at this thought; little did the boy she was dancing with know that she was in fact only 5 years old.

Edward caught my stare and followed my eyes. "And there he is, I must say I don't know what she sees in him." He was frowning slightly in Ness's direction.

"You knew about this?" As we spoke we had worked our way to the side of the room, to allow us to watch more closely without being observed.

"I suspected. She's been guarding her thoughts for the last few days, I'd figured it couldn't be much else other than a boy." Edward's expression was a picture, I knew he must be struggling as any father does to see their little girl with their first boyfriend, but he had the same problem as me having had only five years to get used to the idea.

"Can you hear his thoughts from here?" I hoped he wasn't thinking anything inappropriate about Ness, for his sake.

"Yes I can, they're full of Renesmee. He thinks she's magnificent." He seemed to relax a little, I hoped that meant he hadn't heard anything to the boy's detriment.

"Poor Jake." I couldn't help myself, seeing Ness dancing with someone else reminded me of my friend, and how much he would be hurt to see her right now. We hadn't heard from Jacob since the move, I had figured he was allowing Ness her freedom and hoping she would come back to him in her own time.

Edward shrugged "Jacob's heart is no longer your concern, Bella."

It was harsh, but true. As Ness had grown my friendship with Jake had gradually been transferred to her, my feelings towards Jacob were now more motherly than anything else. I looked back with irony at my initial horror at being his "mother-in-law", realising that that was what I had been expecting to become up until a few months ago. Maybe I still would be, Ness was still figuring herself out, and something inside me told me that Jacob would still figure in the answer, when she worked out what that was.

Edward was watching me. His eyes seemed a little unsure for a moment, until I took his hand and we began to make our way back to the dance floor. Suddenly Alice and Jasper materialised in front of us.

"Bella, isn't it beautiful?" Alice also looked stunning this evening. She was wearing a tight fitting deep purple crushed silk dress, it finished at her knees and with it she wore black knee length boots. The effect was rather more gothic than was her usual style, another change guided by my daughter, but it suited her. I wondered vaguely if Ness was beginning to rival Alice in the style stakes.

"Yes Alice, have you seen Ness?" I glanced over to where she was still dancing with her new friend.

"Of course, I've been waiting for him to come along." She winked at me.

"You saw this and didn't tell me?" I was exasperated, between my sister and my husband I should really be getting some advanced warning on things like this, so why did I always feel left in the dark?

"You know most things are best left to happen as intended Bella, you wouldn't have wanted me to spoil her fun now would you...." There was no arguing with her, I cursed my shield, wishing I had some better super power to make me a bit more aware of what was going on around me.

I caught Jasper watching me smiling, and I smiled back. He and I shared a common annoyance, both having spouses who were always a step or two ahead of us due to their abilities, and he was amused by my frustration.

"Have you seen Emmett and Rosalie, I haven't spotted them yet?" I was looking around the room, even in such a crowd it should be possible to spot Emmet, especially as Rosalie wouldn't be able to help herself from showing off on the dance floor.

Before Alice had a chance to answer Edward grabbed my hand and started to pull me towards the dance floor again. "I'm sure they'll be here soon Bella. Come on, I liked it better when I had you to myself."

I only just had time to give Alice a quick wave before she was gone.

The music had changed tempo to a slow waltz, and Edward and I danced as close to each other as courtesy would allow. I felt like I was in heaven in his arms and I considered the fact that my life seemed to have switched back to fairytale again in such a short space of time. The evening had a magical feel about it and, as I swirled and twirled around the room with him, all I could think about was how much I adored this wonderful man.

"What are you thinking about now Love?" His voice was a little huskier than usual.

"I'm thinking about how much I miss my wedding rings." I looked up at my empty ring hand on his shoulder. I missed the beautiful diamond engagement ring that had once belonged to Edward's mother, and now belonged to me. I missed the way it caught the light and the weight of it on my hand. My hand felt empty without the precious symbol I had worn for five years, and had not expected to be without ever again. I knew where it was of course, tucked away safely in a safety deposit box in Seattle, along with mine and Edward's wedding rings. Neither of us had wanted to take any risks with them and had come to an unspoken agreement that these, our most priceless possessions from our real lives in Forks, would be put away where no unexpected accident or loss could befall them while we could not wear them.

He looked down at his own naked hand and said "You could wear your engagement ring; I think we could get away with claiming to be engaged at seventeen." He smiled shyly at me and I could see that he would rather like that.

"Would I get another proposal?" I giggled as he suddenly twirled me around before catching me back in his arms.

"If you would like, but where......hmmm." He pursed his lips together in faux concentration. "Paris maybe? Or Venice?"

I scowled at him and he quickly backtracked.

"Maybe not Italy..... Vienna? Vienna is beautiful in the winter, or London?" His smile was unrestrained now "Somewhere special this time, somewhere beautiful."

"But you already know the answer, where's the fun in that?" I was teasing him; I could entirely see the fun in that.

"Bella, it will be so much fun now I know the answer, I can assure you." He ran his nose down my cheek to my jaw and kissed his way to my ear lobe. "I would love to take you to Europe, we could spend a few months travelling around, start in London, move on to Paris, Barcelona, Bruges, Vienna."

"Have you been to all of those places?" We had not really travelled in the last 5 years because of Ness, and we had not ventured outside of the continental US since our honeymoon. My only European jaunt remained our brief but memorable trip to Volterra.

"Some of them, but it doesn't matter. I've never been there with you, so it's like I've never even seen them at all." He spoke softly and I imagined how wonderful it would be to see the world with him.

"What about school?" He was punctuating our conversation with kisses under my jaw and, although I was playing coy, I would have followed him anywhere right then, forgetting school in a flash.

"I've been thinking about that." He stopped kissing me and met my gaze again.

"What about it?"

"Let's drop it and go. Soon. We could spend a year or two in Europe, the come back and try out the living as grown-ups theory." His eyes sparkled with excitement at his plan and I could feel his breathing pick up waiting for my response.

I was in danger of being swept away by his enthusiasm, so I stopped to think about this idea for a moment. Calgary clearly wasn't working out for us. Both Edward and I had spent too long living separately from the rest of the family to go back to the routine of playing at being High School kids again, and to be honest I was already missing my own home. Living with Carlisle and Esme again was lovely, but I felt like a house guest.

"What would we do about Ness?" She was clearly revelling in her new life in Wendle, and I would've been sorry to do anything to disrupt that.

"She needs to stay here and go to High School, and to be honest I feel like I've shared you for long enough."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise at him, I knew he loved Ness as much as I did and I wasn't expecting his response.

"You know I can be a selfish bastard when it comes to you Bella." He laughed, "But I do think it would be good for her to stay here, we can come back and visit, and she can join us for holidays, think about how time in Europe would expand her education."

"When would we go?" I could feel excitement building inside me. The thought of having Edward to myself, for months or even years, in some of the most romantic places in the world was undeniably attractive.

"You want to?" His face was a picture, the delight lighting him up from the inside and I knew then that I would do anything that made him this happy without question.

"Definitely."

"Yes!" At this he picked me up and spun me around half a dozen times.

When he finally put me down and pulled me to him again we were both laughing uncontrollably, in both relief and excitement. I rephrased my question "When shall we go?"

"Well, we need to hang on for a few weeks, just to check everything's ok here." His face became wary for a moment and I knew he was trying to avoid talking about yesterday's events. "So, maybe we should go after Christmas, have the holidays here, or maybe go and spend some time with Charlie, then start in London in January."

"Wouldn't you miss Carlisle, the family?"

"I would, we would, but as I said, we can visit." He was grinning from ear to ear, and I did not doubt he was delighted by our new plan. "Anyway, I can't think of anything better than it just being the two of us for a while. Do you realise we never got any time as just newlyweds? They will be fine without us, they all will."

"I know they will." I wrapped my arms even tighter around my husband as we danced around the room. My mind was filled with all the places I wanted to see. I thought about the Louvre in Paris, the Tate in London, all of it made even more perfect by being there with him. His excitement was catching and I started to wonder what Christmas would be like in London.

I suddenly realised that Edward had danced us towards the end of the ballroom. He led me through a hugely ornate archway into a dining room laid out for dinner. A large buffet was being provided for guests, and most of the tables were filled with people eating and drinking. Standing to one side of the room I spotted Carlisle, Esme, Alice and Jasper, Edward led me over to join them.

"I thought you two were never leaving that dance floor!" Alice was holding a half full glass of wine and was smiling broadly at me. I vaguely wondered what she had done with the other half of the wine.

"We thought we'd give everybody else a chance for a while." Edward was still grinning, dazzling in his delight at our plans made this evening.

Alice continued to speak, but I was immediately distracted when I realised that Carlisle and Edward were having a surreptitious conversation. They were both working hard to conceal this fact from me, but I had immediately recognised the tiny signs that Edward was responding to unspoken words from his father.

I continued to speak to Alice, not betraying the fact that I knew they were attempting to deceive me. I knew this could only be about one thing, and I understood that Edward would want to protect me from whatever was happening for fear of my reaction.

"Shall we go and powder our noses Bella?" Alice cut into my train of thought.

"Sorry?"

"I need to fix your makeup, what has Edward been doing with you all night?" She began to drag me away, but I recognised this for what it was; a ploy to get me out of the way. Edward was leaving; most likely something was happening with Emmett and Rosalie.

I allowed Alice to lead me out into a corridor to the side of the dining room, it was quieter out here and we had room to walk easily without brushing past people all the time.

I followed Alice to the bathroom door, and then stopped as she pushed it open. "Oh shoot!" I said.

"Bella?"

"I forgot my bag, I checked it with my coat and it has my lipstick in it."

"You can use mine."Alice had paused at the door and tried to pull me in with her.

I deliberately made no decisions about my plans for after I left Alice. She didn't look concerned so I could only hope that she hadn't seen what I was about to do.

"No, it won't work with my dress, I'll just be a minute." I slipped away, purposefully deciding to go and get my bag.

As soon as I was out of her sight I changed direction and headed towards the exit, as fast as I could in such a crowded building. Once I was outside I slipped into the shadows and ran towards the Alfa. There was a chance he would have already beaten me to the car, but I suspected he would have given Alice a minute or two to get me into the bathroom before he made his own exit.

At full speed it was only seconds until I reached the Alfa and I was relieved to find I hadn't missed him. I settled myself into the passenger seat, and waited for Edward to arrive.

A/N – I have never been to Calgary, although I have family there! The hotel I'm describing is actually one of my favourite buildings in London.