Sorry for the short wait there everybody! I know you don't want to hear excuses, so I guess it's a good thing my only excuse is LIFE. Major writers block was a slight problem too. Anyway, I suddenly had to type this out because I had a brilliant idea for my NEXT story. I'm not free enough to handle two stories so I'm going to finish this one up first. What can I say, new inspiration :) Thanks for all the reviews guys. Honestly, I was hoping this story would get 100 reviews tops by the end and look at me now! Almost 300! I could cry, seriously. Well now that I've wasted your time, enjoy the chapter :)


The second Renee came around the corner, her face fell into a grimace and she sighed heavily.

"Bella, not again."

I couldn't exactly be sure what she said though, or what anyone said for that matter. My heart was currently lodged in my head, beating deeply against my eardrum. I had to keep reminding myself that she didn't know about the wedding… unless Charlie told her.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" I choked out.

A look of pain flashed across her face. "Edward invited me. Do you not want me here, Bella?"

I took a moment to glare at Edward. He avoided my gaze, and smiled at Renee and Charlie.

"No, of course I want you here Mom…" It took a lot of work to keep the sharpness out of my tone. I couldn't believe Edward purposely put me in this situation. He knew that I was afraid to tell Renee. It would have been much easier over the phone where I couldn't witness her wrath.

Renee smiled warmly. "Well come in, come in," she encouraged taking the door from Charlie's hands that had since laid numb on the door handle. I peeked up at Charlie before following Renee into the living room. His expression stared warily after Renee as if anticipating her rage too. I gulped and carefully followed after her.

It took deep concentration has I stood on one foot and swung the crutches forward, pulling my body with them. The living room seemed so far away and Charlie's house never seemed bigger. We finally made it into the living room, Charlie quickly jogging ahead to snag a seat in the old recliner, ever so conveniently leaving Edward, Renee and I, all to sit on the sofa.

"So, Bella," Renee sighed. "What happened this time?" She pointed to my ankle.

Breaking to my mother that I was getting married, should not be done while explaining that I tripped over my wedding shoes. I figured that might be too big of a shock. "I tripped," I shrugged, blushing.

I heard Edward chuckle, almost silently beside me.

"You tripped?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. I forgot how hard it was to lie to Renee. She noticed everything.

"In shoes," I added carefully.

"What kind of shoes?"

I gulped. Was she doing this on purpose? Did she already know, and felt the need to torture me? I suddenly felt like I was in one of those old fashion movies, being questioned by a detective. The next thing I know, Renee's going to be behind a thick wooden desk, shining a bright light in my eyes, demanding my whereabouts everyday since I moved to Forks.

"High heels," I muttered. "You know I can't walk in those things."

She laughed lightly and then sighed. Her eyes brightened considerably and before I could stop her she launched into a story about the time I ran around our house in her red pumps, falling all over the place, but the whole time I was too stubborn to stop. I was five and ended up with a body covered in bruises.

When Renee was done embarrassing me to oblivion, Edward smiled at me and I let my face fall into my hands in a hideous attempt to hide my blush.

"So," Renee said suggestively, glancing back and forth between Edward and I. Oh god, this was it. "How are things going?"

I peeked at Edward out of the corner of my eye, through my lashes I could see him nod his head encouragingly. I glanced back at Renee, and noticed her shift uncomfortably. She was glancing back and forth, trying to figure out why Edward was nodding. She looked terrified.

"Fine," I squeaked.

"Fine?" She repeated confused.

I glanced at Edward quickly. He looked disappointed. "Yep."

I fiddled with my thumbs nervously, hoping Renee wouldn't notice my discomfort.

But like I said, Renee noticed everything.

"Bella, what's going on?" She asked, her voice raising to a worried yelp.

I moved my tongue around unsurely in my mouth, thinking of ways to start. I think you should sit down for this. No, she was already sitting and saying that might increase her anxiety. Mom, are you familiar with the sacrament of matrimony? No, definitely not. Mom, Edward and I have something to tell you. That was good enough, that's the best way to start, I suppose. Though I didn't think it would matter much how I began, she's just going to hear the word marriage and race out of this house, possibly faster then even Edward's capable of.

I took and deep breath and began, "Mom, Edw –"

I was interrupted by a ringing sound, coming from the kitchen.

"Oh!" She gasped. "The chicken!" She flew from the seat beside me and into the yellow kitchen.

The second she disappeared, I let out a strangled breath of relief. I glanced at Edward first, he was looking at me anxiously. I sighed and turned my head to peek at Charlie. He was looking down at his knees, shaking his head slightly. "You're going to have to tell her eventually, Bella," he mumbled, not meeting my eyes.

"I know," I muttered back, helplessly fiddling with my fingers.

Edward silently grasped my shaking hands and brought them softly to his lips. He pressed my palms together and kissed my thumbs gently.

I peeked at Charlie but he had his eyes closed and was massaging his temple. I felt horrible that I was the cause for his pain. I sighed and turned back around, only to be twisted into a limp puddle as I met Edward's golden gaze.

"You can do it, Bella," he whispered.

I shook my head numbly, "I can't."

He chuckled, "But you can. I know you can." Then silently, peeking at Charlie quick, he mouthed, "Alice."

I sighed. It did make me feel better that Alice saw me telling Renee, but then again, telling Renee was inevitable. Telling her, wasn't the part that frightened me, her reaction had me squirming as my head unleashed the possibilities.

"Dinner's ready!" Renee called from the kitchen.

Edward helped me up from the sofa and Charlie groaned as he removed himself from the chair. We all trudged into the kitchen like we were being led to the dungeons. Except Edward of course, who's walking could never be described as 'trudging'. He couldn't wrap his arm around my waist to keep me steady due to my swinging crutches of death, but he somehow managed to whisper an "Ouch," when I swung one a little too hard and whacked him in the shin. I stopped horrified, and Charlie continued past us, I could see a flicker of a grin on his face.

"Oh my god, Edward, I'm so sorry. I—"

"Bella," he laughed. He took one step closer so that his cool breath tickled my ear. "I'm indestructible. Remember?"

I shivered at his closeness and could feel my crutches start to wobble under my sudden weight. Edward smiled and held on tight to the crutches until I could become aware of my surroundings again. I took a deep breath and continued my journey.

We all took our seats on the various mismatched chairs in Charlie's outdated kitchen. Edward sat next to me, Charlie on my other side, and Renee was across from me. I felt Edward's hand nudge mine and I grasped it carefully. He squeezed lightly and I took a deep breath. Before words could slip out, Renee spoke, "So Charlie, how's it going down at the station these days?"

I swallowed my confession and peeked at Edward. He didn't seem surprised though.

"The station? Oh. Great, it's… great." Charlie seemed deflated as he stirred his corn around his plate.

I wondered how Edward planned to eat dinner. I peeked out from the corner of my eye. I watched as he brought the fork full of food up to his mouth. If I hadn't been so custom to it, I wouldn't have noticed when he quickly dumped the food over his shoulder, swiftly catching it in a hand behind his back. Moving his mouth in a chewing motion, he blindly crushed the food in his inhumanly strong fingers, turning it to dust.

I quickly put food in my mouth, praying that I wouldn't burst out laughing. He seemed so serious while doing his little routine that I wondered how Renee and Charlie didn't notice that he ate with so much concentration.

As the dinner prevailed I began to feel the shaky feeling in the air, the silence that hung like a glass plate above my head. I couldn't tell what was happening. Renee had seemed so concerned before, asking what was going on. Why was she suddenly avoiding it?

I took the opportunity to look around the little table, glancing at each person individually. My eyes fell on Charlie first, his face looking gray and sunken in under the harsh lighting in the diminutive kitchen. I hadn't noticed it before but he looked as if he hadn't shaven for a few days, an uneven stubble speckled his chin and upper lip. His hair was tousled, as if in a desperate attempt to make it look washed and combed. He looked about ten years older then the last time I had seen him.

Next I glanced at Renee, her short brown hair layered around her face as she stared contently at her mashed potatoes. She seemed to be shifting uncomfortably, and I caught her eye as she peeked at me, first from under her eyelashes and then to stare at me. Her brown eyes latched onto mine briefly before I could turn my head away from the gravity of her dark eyes.

Finally I let my gaze fall on Edward. He was still concentrating on his food pulverizing ceremony, but I could clearly see the worry lines edged in his granite forehead. I could be wrong, and they could be caused solely by his concentration, but I couldn't help feel like I was the reason they were there. I knew he planned this so that I could get the weight of telling Renee off my shoulders, a burden that's been whacking the back of my brain for the past week. He was trying to help, and I had been pushing the issue much too far.

I grabbed Edward's hand quickly, pulling it away from the table. He looked sideways at me, a surprised expression on his face. I glanced past his startled face to lock my eyes with Renee's once more. "Edward and I are getting married," I said loudly and quickly.

The symbolic glass plate above my head was shattered, and the pieces were in slow motion, sprinkling down, so close to my scalp I could almost feel it.

I held my breath as Renee's fork clattered against her plate, the sound seemed to ring on and vibrate the air as I stayed motionless, begging for even the slightest sound.

Renee stared at me, her expression shaken and I think I knew exactly how she felt. The room was probably spinning.

"You're what?" She whispered, leaning closer over the table, as if she honestly believed she had misheard me.

"I-I'm," I swallowed hard and glanced at Edward. He smiled crookedly and that gave me enough confidence to sky dive if I had to. "I'm getting married to Edward."

Renee let her back slump against the back of her chair, and I could see the breath knock out of her slightly as her eyes widened. "Married," she whispered, like the word was new to her tongue, a foreign language that she was having difficultly with. I saw her blink rapidly, her eyes trained on the grain in the table. Quickly, she peeked up at Charlie. "You knew about this?"

Charlie nodded glumly. "I've been trying to tell Bella, that although I was mad at first," he paused, hunching his shoulders in the effort of sharing his feelings. "I believe she's old enough and smart enough to make her own decisions. And I give Bella and," he paused again, "Edward, my blessing." I couldn't remember the last time Charlie called Edward by his real name. In the rare, painful occasions where he actually had to acknowledge his presence, he would refer to Edward as him, or grunt a 'hey.'

I stared at Charlie for a long moment, shock coating my features thickly as I relished in his acceptance. He was giving us his blessing. Not only was he tolerating my marriage, but he was giving me his approval. My heart swelled in my chest and I bounded out of my chair – as hurriedly as I could on crutches – and flung my arms around Charlie, kissing his cheek roughly. "Thank you," I told him. After a moment of hesitation, he embraced me himself, his hand softly patting my back.

I could feel the hot tears roll down my cheek immediately and I quickly pulled back to wipe them away with the back of my hand. I watched as Edward extended his hand to Charlie. I could have choked when Charlie shook Edward's hand, a small smile on his lips. My life was complete, my life was perfect, my life was amazing… I suddenly remembered Renee.

I bit my lip and carefully, and sat back down in my seat, taking my precious time before facing Renee.

The uneasy silence was back and I fidgeted in my seat. Renee opened her mouth, long before any words came out, she wrinkled her forehead in concentration as if trying to form the words correctly.

"You really love him, don't you?" She sighed finally looking down at her hands. Hesitantly she peeked up from under her long lashes, a smile on her thin lips, but that was all I needed. I jumped up from my seat ignoring my crutches, soon discovering that that wasn't the best idea. My ankle throbbed from my weight and began to give out under me. I had hardly even begun to fall when Edward caught me, his cold hands catching my waist swiftly.

A soft breath of air whizzed from my mouth before I heard Charlie whistle and choke out, "Nice reflexes."

Edward chuckled and sat me back down in my chair, carefully leaning behind me to fetch my crutches. I smiled at him and immediately returned – with crutches this time – to hug Renee. I kissed her cheek and hugged her tight, my mouth near her ear I whispered, "Yes I do, very much."

She laughed softly and pulled me back to brush the hair out of my face, she measured my expression for a minuet before speaking. "This goes against everything I've ever told you Bella, and I really do wish you would wait, at least until after college, but," She took a deep breath before glancing back and forth between Edward and I. "I think you're smart enough to make the right decision. I give you my blessing."

The tears streamed down my face freely now, my delight over flowing my body, and I was sure that if Jasper were here he would be writhing on the floor from so much emotion.

"Well?" Renee asked exasperated.

I looked at her questionably.

She grinned, "Aren't you going to show me the ring!?"

I laughed and held out my left hand, flaring it, just like I had in the abandon hallway of the mall, except now it was different. Now I felt proud of the ring, worthy even to flare my hand, for the whole world to see. Renee's eyes bugged out and she ran her thumb over the precious jewel, surely wondering how she hadn't noticed it before. "It's beautiful, Bella," she gushed.

"It was Edward's mother's."

Renee glance at Edward and he nodded, smiling crookedly.

Renee hugged me one final time before running her forefinger beneath her lashes, "Look what you did, Bells, making me tear up," she scolded halfheartedly. I laughed and Renee stood up. "I should really get going, I promised Phil I'd leave early and make his it to his game Sunday night in Florida. I spent all morning all over Washington in a feeble attempt to find Phil's 'long lost' sister, as he requested. "

I raised an eyebrow.

"Don't ask," she sighed.

We all stood up and walked Renee to the door. Edward secretly kissed my cheek on the way there, I smiled and leaned against him as his arm wove around my shoulder. Renee opened the front door, letting the warm air circle the entrance way. "Thank you for having me for dinner Charlie," she said.

Charlie nodded, "Anytime, Renee."

"Thank you for inviting me Edward," she smiled up at Edward.

"Your welcome Mrs. Dwyer," he answered politely.

"Oh, call me Renee!" She insisted.

He smiled and I hugged his waist.

"I love you. See you soon, Bella," Renee winked. Soon after, she disappeared into the darkness.

I put the crutches in one hand, supporting myself on one foot as I leaned into Edward. He pulled me closer to his side. Charlie left quickly, either as a way to avoid seeing his daughter engage in any sort of physical contact, or to give us privacy, I wasn't really sure.

Edward kissed my forehead and I closed my eyes. A smile was etched on my lips that refused to go away. "You are amazing Isabella Marie Swan. Simply amazing."

He kissed my lips softly.

"I did it," I whispered after a while, meeting his warm golden eyes.

He grinned, silently picking me up off the ground, his hand grasped in my hair, pushing my lips harder against his own.

By the time he pulled away I was breathing heavily. "Charlie," I managed to whisper.

"I'll be back when he's asleep," Edward promised, smiling as my lip slipped into a pout.

He opened the front door, bending down to kiss my cheek. "Goodnight, Bella," he said a little louder. "Goodnight Chief Swan," He called down the hallway.

"Have a nice night, Edward."

I dropped my mouth, stunned as I heard Charlie's reply. It wasn't a grunt, or a quick wave, he actually said, have a nice night, Edward. I was suddenly relieved that I had these crutches to keep me from fainting.

Edward grinned, turned to leave and then turned back to kiss me once more. He pulled back, and then leaned forward again, pecking my lips a few more times before I stopped him, laughing quietly. "The sooner you leave the sooner I can convince Charlie what a long day it's been and he should really get his sleep."

Edward grinned, and leaned even closer, I was about to object, but instead of kissing me, he whispered against my lips. "Reason number nine why I love you. You're bravery, something I know will never change, even when you're no longer human."

By the time my head regained it's position on my shoulders and I had taken a breath of the warm June air, clearing my head of Edward's intoxicating scent, he was gone. I was left staring out the door, at the hypnotizing stars, relishing in the tender twilight.