Chapter Thirteen : Bling bling and Babysitting

After conveying to Edward my reasons why marriage is an unnecessary step in my human life, I have spent the past two hours reinforcing it.

Edward was lying on his back on the bed and his feet on the floor, asking me intermittently, over and over again, "Pretty please?" Sometimes, he liked to vary.

"Please?"

"No."

"Preaseee?"

"No."

"Pwetty pwease?"

"Ugh, no!" I pulled the pillow I was trying to 'suffocate' myself with off my head and pulled into a kneeling position. I hovered over Edward's head, watching his face upside down.

"Read my lips: No."

"Read your lips?" he asked slyly. I turned my head to the side slightly, raising one eyebrow.

"Yes, read my lips," I repeated, confused.

He reached his hands up to grab my face and pull it towards his. He kissed me. I put my hands on each side of his face too, beginning to focus on his lower lip, when a small voice in the back of my head brought me back to reality. NO! it said. Don't let him win this one.

I pulled away, gasping.

"What is it, Bella?" he asked, bending up slightly and turning his body to face me.

"Nothing," I muttered.

"Okay, I might not be able to read you mind, but I know when there's something on it."

I shook my head childishly, keeping my mouth firmly shut. I didn't even trust myself.

He sighed, then pulled himself up to kneel on the bed. He was less than a foot away and eye level, breathing his scent all over me and capturing my with his intoxicating gaze. My breathing was interrupted and ragged. I blinked a few times to regain my head – and failed.

"So what was it you were thinking, then?" he asked magically, cocking his head to the side slightly, knowing he was dazzling me. If I had a cool head, I probably would have smacked him.

"How I don't want to wait till we get married …" I whispered, still 'intoxicated,' as he once put it.

"For what?" he asked, now stroking my knee slightly. Even through my jeans it felt wonderful. I was beginning to think that he didn't want to wait, either.

"To give myself … to you," I said, embarrassed.

"Are you not already mine?" His voice was still mesmerizing and I couldn't tear my gaze from his eyes.

"Not completely," I muttered, leaning in a bit.

Everything clicked. He suddenly understood what … what I wanted. He leaned back and even pushed me back a bit. I was closer to the edge than he thought and I tumbled off in a heap. It didn't hurt much, but woke me up to my senses.

"Bella," he sighed, still on the topic of my desires. "Bella, Bella, Bella," he whispered, pulling me up on the bed. I pushed him away, climbing off, ruffled.

"What?" he asked. "Please, sit."

"No," I said, stubbornly.

"Why not?" he asked.

"What's the point of a bed in a house where no one sleeps!?" I demanded.

"Rose and Emmett have a bed, and Jasper and Alice, and Carlisle and Esme," he tried to reason.

"And none of them sleep," I said.

"Nope," he confirmed.

"So what do you think they use those beds for, huh?" I asked defensively.

He didn't say anything. He made a weird face – I wanted to know what he was thinking so badly – but recollected quickly into a calm façade.

"That's different. I didn't mean anything like that, it's just –"

"You're tongue-tied," I said, incredulous and accusing.

"No …" He was caught.

"Then why would you get a bed?" I challenged.

"You sleep here often, do you not?" he asked.

"I have a bed of mine own I can sleep in, Edward. I don't need yours." I raised my eyebrow, showing him he was cornered – there was no way out.

We glared at each other for minutes on end, waiting for the other to cave in, to surrender. The whole time I stared, I focused – really focused – on his eyes. Their deep blackness made the guilt, the accusation he faced, ten times worse. It reminded me of trying to stare down a puppy.

"Edward," I sighed. He looked triumphant, like I was about to give in. "You need to hunt," I told him.

He was confused, surprised at what I said – he wasn't expecting it. He thought for a second. "Will you be okay?" he asked, knowing how likely I was to break down. I nodded, not having the voice to convey words that would send him away.

"I promise I'll be back," he said. I nodded again.

I sunk onto the bed, extremely sad. I didn't want to send him away, but I did. I was trying hard not to cry – not yet. Waiting, for him to leave, to miss my pain.

"Bella." A velvety cool voice whispered in my ear, making the hair on the back of my neck tingle and sending a shiver down my spine. I turned to look at him when he slid a hand over my eyes. I was about to question him when he hushed me.

"I love you, Bella, you know that, right?" I nodded. I felt him slide from kneeling behind me to the floor in front of me, all the while holding his hand over my eyes. I sat on the edge of the bed with my hands crossed in my lap, waiting. He was going to apologize, make up excuses, tell me it wasn't time, I knew he would.

He slowly slid his hand off my eyes and I gasped unevenly, the tears officially flowing.

"Bella?" he asked, uncertain of my reaction. He was on one knee, his hands enclosed, wrapped around something I couldn't see. I couldn't nod, I just cried silently. "Bella, I want to do this right, okay?" he asked, sternly. I managed to nod, whimpering nondescriptly.

"Isabella Swan, would you marry me?" he asked, holding out a black velvet box.

I opened my mouth and the noise was added to the cry. I couldn't keep control.

"Please?" he asked, playing off our earlier conversation. I laughed wetly and nodded unwillingly. "This means you have to accept a gift from me, Bella. Can you do that?" I shook my head and he smirked. "Promise I didn't spend one dime on it. That better?"

I couldn't control my thoughts. My head was spinning and I could hardly breathe, choking on tears. He sighed slightly and, in what seemed like a slow motion replay, opened the box that was as velvety as his voice.

I waited for the moment where I was momentarily blinded by the shine of the conspicuous rock, like in the movies. It didn't come. I saw a simple gold band, the face containing one diamond surrounded by five little diamonds on one side and a golden swirl on the other, set in which was another five littler diamonds.

I breathed slowly, the tears slowing and the noise gone. I reached my hand out towards the accursed thing and stroked the side of it lightly. Edward's face went from a depressive frown to pure joy at my acceptance.

"It's lovely," I sighed. He reached his empty hand out to pull it out of its little velvet niche. I drew back.

"Please, Bella," he asked. "Do it for me." He didn't play fair. He knew, after those words, I had to comply.

I sighed deeply and closed my eyes. I felt him slide the cool metal onto my finger and I counted to ten. Then, I opened my eyes.

It really wasn't that terrible – not that I'd ever let him know that. I moved my hand a bit to see the light sparkle off the diamonds. It remind me of him, when he sparkled …

"It was my mother's," he said quietly. I looked up in shock. It was so beautiful, so old, so Edward.

We leaned into each other and he kissed me passionately. No matter how much I hated to admit it, the whole idea of marriage wasn't that bad. I mean, I get Edward for eternity, after all. That's not that bad. Not at all.

He pulled away and rested his head against mine, panting and still holding the back of my head.

"I have to go," he said, and he pulled away in a snap.

"Wait," I called after him.

"Esme, Rose, and Jasper are waiting. They're coming hunting with me."

"I love you," I said. He smiled very big, showing his triumph and fled out.

I sighed, reappraising the ring. It wasn't bad. Plus, he didn't waste any money on it. It was his mother's. It was beautiful. However, I still wasn't ready for it. I slid it off my finger, noticing how it was a perfect fit, and placed it gently in the box. I then closed the box with a small snap and sighed.

Edward was gone and I was getting married. This was going to be just awesome. I got up, placing the box on a side table, and walked out of his room to find my babysitters.

I slowly made my way through the halls and down the stairs, feeling like everything around me was surreal. This was it. I was going to marry Edward. I was going to join him, his family.

I got no further than half way down the main stairs when I heard a large squeal and saw a flash of black that dragged me down the rest. I came to face an overly eager Alice. Emmett got up off the couch and strided over.

"So?" Alice asked. When I didn't answer, confused, she grabbed my left hand and lifted it up to examine it closely. Emmett bent over to see the empty finger, too.

"Shing, sparkle, sparkle," Emmett said. Alice glared up at him.

"Where is it?" Alice demanded.

"That's one rock you got there, Bella. Alice, don't you see it?" He was laughing but Alice smacked him.

"Ok, fine, be that way," Emmett murmured, rubbing his arm where she hit him.

"Where'd it go?" Alice demanded again, getting angry. "I saw it happen, so spill!"

"He gave it to me," I told her. "But I put it back in the box for now. It's too much all at once."

She looked upset at something, then began thinking. Emmett wandered away as I waited for whatever was brewing inside Alice's head.

"Bella?" Alice asked, almost uncertainly. It looked like she was trying to measure my expression.

"Yes?" I asked, just as uncertain.

"Will you –" she began, then took a deep breath. "Would you let me do your wedding?" She rushed the words out, looking up at me eagerly like a child in a toy store.

I groaned. "Alice."

"Oh, please, Bella! It's almost the only human experience you'll allow yourself to have before you're changed and you won't let me have fun? Please?"

I sighed, thinking about it. It would make Alice happy …

"Yes!" she screamed, already seeing it. She ran off, skipping up the stairs to begin a new torture I brought upon myself.

"You're gonna die," Emmett sang, referring to Alice's keenness to go overboard.

"Thanks," I grumbled, sitting next to him on the couch. I didn't pay attention to the TV.

"C'mon, you're gonna be my sister!" he said, trying to cheer me up. "I know that's the real reason you did it. Edward means nothing, right?" he joked.

I laughed. "You know it, Emmett."

( Disclaimer : I do not own the Twilight Saga or any of the characters present in it. )

( AN : I personally think I could have done better on this chapter, and yet I can't. Oh well I'm satisfied. And yes I know this chapter is rather out of character for the rest of the story, having much more humor than any of the others combined. But just wait, I can bring the morbid! Oh yeah, and the "Shing, sparkle, sparkle," is from Spongebob haha. Again, on rereading this one a couple weeks later, I think it's pretty ok. Idk what you think, though … )

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