DISCLAIMER: The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creation of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

IMPORTANT NEWS: Go to Stephenie's website and check out the official pictures of the Cullen Family!!!! If you look closely, you can see the gold colored contacts!!! Weeeee!!! Also, if anyone hasn't heard yet, Breaking Dawn will be released on August 2nd! Guess we'll have to continue entertaining each other until then. I'll write the story and you send me the review - even exchange! LOL!!!!!


AUTHOR'S NOTE: Bella receives a letter.

The Letter

I stared out of the kitchen window, looking over my mother's newly planted flowers. The weeks seemed to be passing quickly and it was already the end of the first week of October. The Denali Coven had returned home days before, much to my relief. I wasn't sure how much more I could take of Irina's glares and Tanya's not so subtle hints to Edward.

At least I had Halloween to look forward to. Alice and I had already started secretly plotting on how to get everyone to celebrate the holiday. I found myself wishing in vain, once again, for time to slow down. I wanted these days to last as long as possible. No matter how hard I tried not to worry or think of the summer, it was all I seemed capable of doing.

"Bella," Esme called.

I turned and smiled at her. "Hi, mom! What's up?"

"Is Edward home?" she asked.

I furrowed my brow in confusion. "He's hunting with Emmett. Why?"

"You got a letter in the mail today, Bella. I wasn't sure if you would want Edward to know about it." My mother handed me the envelope.

I looked down at the return address and gasped. "Why?"

"You'll have to open it to find out. I know Edward doesn't always understand your need for privacy in some matters so if you want this to stay between us, it will."

"I think I'll read it before deciding. If Edward comes home before I get back, please tell him I'm walking in the woods."

"Do you want me to keep him here, dear?"

"No thanks, mom. I'll smell him long before he reaches me." I winked at her and touched my nose.

She smiled and nodded.

I headed out the back door and into the woods, going in the opposite direction from where I had seen Edward and Emmett disappear. I walked for awhile, staring at the address on the envelope. I didn't really have any place in particular I was going. I came across a nice outcropping of rocks and decided to sit down on them. I scrambled my way up and stared at the envelope some more.

I took an unnecessary breath and slowly opened it. The paper inside had obviously been torn from a notebook. I smiled, wondering how much of a rush he'd been in to get this out before changing his mind. I unfolded it and stared at the paper. I was surprised it didn't have the scratch-outs and ink blots like his last note did.

Hey, Bells!

I know you're dead and all, but something told me you'd still be able to read. That was a joke, Bells. Smile! So I checked up on Charlie for you. Didn't know if you were having Alice do it or not. I get points for using her name, right? He's doing a little better now. He actually cracked a smile when Billy's team lost the game. I really like his girlfriend, Melanie. She can give Emily a run for her money with the cooking. You should have seen her face when I put away half a chicken and nearly all the sides by myself. Billy slapped me in the head for being a pig in front of her. It's a good thing he's never seen how we eat at Emily's.

The pack's doing okay. Paul finally imprinted. The girl's name is Layla. She's from the Makah reservation. She's pretty cool. It's really funny to watch her calm Paul down. He's been working hard on his anger issues since meeting her. Sam's only had to knock him upside the head a couple dozen times lately! Leah's still a pain. Seth is just as confident and cocky as he was after the battle. Quill and Embry have just about eaten their weight in food ten times over and still don't show it. Quill got to visit with Claire for a little while last week. It's so weird! But then again, I'm sure it'll be a lot weirder once Claire is older and ready to be told. Emily finally picked a date for the wedding. Sam is really looking forward to it.

So I thought some more about what you said in the clearing. Actually, I didn't think about it. I just sort of found myself living it. I imprinted, Bells. Her name is Amber and she just moved to LaPush with her family. She's a year older than me, so I clearly still have a thing for older women. Ha!

So I was walking down at First Beach and there was this brown haired girl sitting on the tree there. For a moment, I thought it might be you, but then I remembered that you stink now and I would have smelled you. Just joking, Bells. Promise! So I walked over to her and introduced myself. She told me her name was Amber and that she had just moved here.

We started talking about hobbies and I told her about my car and our bikes. She told me about her own project car. It's so sweet, Bells! It's a '69 Camaro. The car's rust colored right now, but she plans to paint it black. So while she was telling me about the car, she looked up at me and smiled and that was it. I had this feeling, like I never wanted to leave her side, like it would physically hurt me if I did. That way you used to hold onto yourself suddenly made sense to me, Bells.

I'm not saying that I agree with your choices. I still wish you would have stayed human, even if you stayed with him. But I understand why you wanted to be his equal and be with him forever. I have to get going. I'm taking Amber to meet the rest of the pack soon. I hope Leah's in a good mood tonight.

Don't expect a lot of letters or anything from me. It's too much like homework. But if any other life altering things happen, I might send you a note. I guess it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if you wanted to write me, but just be careful. Charlie still comes down to fish every Saturday. Keep on enjoying the afterlife there, Bells! Tell Eddie I said 'hi'!

Your favorite werewolf best friend,

Jake

I stared down at the letter, my brow furrowing. I couldn't quite grasp the whole concept of it. And then I started to giggle. Small giggles. Just little pieces of sound and breath. It quickly ramped up into guffaws and full blown laughter.

I fell off the rocks and held my chest as I continued to laugh. Was he on drugs when he wrote that? I snickered to myself, remembering how Edward had once told me I was his drug. I wondered if Amber was Jake's. I snorted and started laughing loudly all over again.

"Bella?" I looked up to see Jasper standing over me, grinning down at me. He was obviously feeling my humor.

"Hey, Jazzy!" I giggled. "What brings you out here?"

"I could feel and hear you from the house. What's got you so tickled?"

I waved the letter at him as I sat up, crossing my legs underneath me. "I think it might be a practical joke. If it's not, I think someone needs to be drug tested." I watched closely as Jasper read over the letter.

He looked at me and smirked. He dropped down beside me and handed me the letter back. "You found that humorous enough to laugh your little head off?"

"Didn't you?" I asked.

Jasper shrugged. "I really didn't know him that well. I knew his very presence drove my brother insane, but that was about it."

"I still can't believe I never realized how jealous Edward was of Jacob. It seems so clear now," I mused.

"That's why they call it hindsight, Bella."

"Fun-ny!" I said, poking my tongue at my brother.

Jasper pointed at the paper in my hand. "So about this letter … what exactly was funny?"

"Opening it up with the whole 'you're dead' comment was a totally Jake thing to do. Picturing Billy slapping him without hurting himself is pretty funny. I broke my hand the one time I hit him! Meeting his imprint on our tree was pretty entertaining, too! I guess I find it all so funny because he was so determined that it was never going to happen to him. And upgrading Edward from 'leech' to 'Eddie' is hilarious in its own way."

"I doubt Edward will agree with you," Jasper chuckled. I shrugged. "Are you going to write him back?"

"Not this time. The only response I can think of is 'I told you so' in giant bold letters. Neon pink for the color, too!" I started laughing all over again, picturing Jake opening up such a letter.

"Are you okay, Bella? This almost reminds me of the night Alice and you made us do Karaoke."

"I'm fine!" I assured him, patting his shoulder. "Speaking of that night! Are you ready to become President of the EBA fan club yet? You know I've been saving that job just for you!" I lifted my head up as I caught his scent. "Well, Jazz, this has been fun, but if you don't want to be emotionally overloaded, I suggest you run for home right … about … now."

As I finished the last word, Edward stepped out of the trees.

Jasper spun around to follow my line of sight. "I'll see you later, Bella," he said as he jumped up. He leaned down and kissed my forehead. "Thanks for the warning."

"Anytime, big brother!" I chuckled.

I watched Jazz take off into the trees. I turned back toward Edward to find him sitting next to me.

"What are you two doing way out here?" Edward asked.

"Just chatting. I actually came out here alone, but Jazz was sweet enough to come and check on me."

"Why?"

"I had a bit of a laughing fit." I handed Edward the letter.

He took it, but kept staring at me.

I nodded toward the paper. "It's from Jake. Jasper didn't think it was as funny as I did. I'm curious to see how you feel about it."

I saw his eyes tighten at the mention of Jake's name. It wasn't as bad as it used to be, but still more than I liked. Edward lowered his head and read the note quickly. When he looked up at me, his face showed pure disgust.

"Why does everyone feel the need to shorten my name?" he whined.

"You are such a baby!" I said, taking his face between my hands. I kissed his lips quickly. "Besides, don't you think it's better than the alternatives he usually reserves for you?"

"Hardly," Edward muttered.

"So did you see what I would find funny in it?" I moved so that my head was in his lap and I could see his face perfectly. I took his free hand and traced the lines on his palm.

"He's nearly as bad as you with the vampire jokes," Edward chuckled. "I imagine the mental image of him getting smacked was funny to you. My nickname, of course. But nothing to elicit the type of emotion that would send Jasper after you."

I shrugged my shoulders. "Like I told Jasper, I find it funny because he was so sure it wasn't going to happen to him. You heard his thoughts and spoke with him, Edward. He spent so much time convincing himself that I would forever be the only person he could love."

"It was nice of him to let you know about Charlie's well-being."

"Yep. Very much like the old Jake."

"Will you write him?"

"No. There's nothing to reply to. I don't think he'd appreciate me telling him that I told him so anyway. Besides! I'm sure he considers reading too much like homework as well."

"It wouldn't bother me if you wanted to write him back."

"Liar!" I chuckled, tapping his nose with my finger. "You'll get there one day, but you aren't there yet. Besides, we both know that if I wanted to write him back, I would. But I don't, so I won't. And if you know what's good for you, you won't write him back either."

"I had no plans to! He called me 'Eddie' for God's sake!"

"Aw, but Jake's just letting you know he tolerates you now, Eddie!" I laughed.

Edward glared at me for a second then smiled wickedly. He grabbed my sides and started tickling me, setting me off on another round of laughing. "What if I start calling you 'Izzy'? Will you find that funny?"

"I find that I'll kick your butt as soon as you finish teaching me how!" I laughed.

"Isabella, you are completely absurd," Edward said, pulling me into a hug.

"And you wouldn't have me any other way," I sighed, wrapping my arms tightly around him. "Did you enjoy your time with Emmett?"

"Yes, actually. We came up with some more ideas on how to present our track idea to Esme."

"What are some of Emmett's ideas?"

"Well, the one I keep shooting down the most is sending you in to ask for us. He's convinced himself that Esme will allow you anything you ask for."

"I think you should start calling Emmett the absurd one! I might be the baby of the family, but if Esme doesn't want a track in her backyard, then there won't be one!"

"I agree, love," Edward said as he kissed my forehead. "That's why I told him we need to have Rosalie sketch the inside and outside of the building. That way, we can prove to Esme it will blend in. I also told him we need to build it further away. It would probably be best to leave some trees blocking it from the house."

"Those are good ideas, husband."

"Thank you, wife."

I pulled on his shirt collar, bringing his face to mine, and gave him a quick kiss. "Let's go exploring!" I announced, jumping up to my feet. "We haven't searched this side of the yard yet."

"Okay," Edward said as he stood.

I took the note, folded it and stuck it in my back pocket. I twined my fingers with Edward's and we started walking deeper into the trees. "So I was thinking about what you said last week about the castles in England."

"And?"

"And I really think that's something I would enjoy doing with you. But I don't want to spend the entire summer away from everyone. So if we could maybe spend a month or six weeks alone and then finish out the summer here with everyone else, I think I would really like that."

"That shouldn't be a problem at all."

"So who gets to drive in England?" I asked, smiling up at him.

He pulled me in front of him and kept me walking.

"You know I'm probably going to fall soon with you making me walk backwards."

"You know I won't let you fall," Edward replied, grinning at me. "And as for the driving, I think you should just sit back and relax since it will be your first true vacation with me."

"I bet you do!" I chuckled.

"Would you be opposed to climbing on my back?" Edward asked, grinning at me.

"Hmmm …" I said, pretending to consider his offer. "Well …"

His smile faltered some.

I laughed and kissed the tip of his nose. "If you'd hurry up and turn around, it would make it a lot easier for me to get on."

Edward chuckled as he turned and leaned down some. I jumped up onto his back and locked my legs around his waist. I rested my arms on his shoulders as he stood up. I planted a soft kiss on the nape of his neck. I knew how much he liked that.

"So what made you decide to have me climb up on your back?" I asked.

Edward shrugged and that made me laugh. I never understood how he could manage to do with me on his back. If I tried that, I'd probably drop the person or something.

I kissed his neck again and he sighed happily. "I think you just wanted me here so you could get me to kiss your neck," I said sweetly.

"How quickly you've discovered my secret agenda, love!" Edward joked. "Would you like me to put you down, now that you've figured me out?"

"No. That's okay. I don't mind."

We explored the woods in companionable silence for another hour. Edward chose to walk at a human pace so we would have more time together. For no particular reason at all, I had a sudden urge for us to change direction.

"Edward, go left."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I just want you to go that way."

"Alright."

Fifteen minutes later, Edward stepped out of the trees and we found ourselves in a little meadow. It wasn't nearly as big as the one in Forks, but it had that same safe and secluded feeling to it. It was too far into the fall season for there to be flowers, but the grass was tall and golden colored.

I slid down from Edward and walked out into the field. I leaned forward, letting the tall grass tickle my fingertips. "I bet it's really beautiful in the spring and summer," I said, turning to face my husband.

"With you standing in the middle of it, it's absolutely stunning right now," Edward replied.

The late day sun broke free of the clouds and filled the small area. I smiled, closing my eyes and turning my face up to meet the heat of the sun. I opened my eyes and looked down at my arms, shocked once again to see them sparkling.

Edward moved to my side and took me into his arms, pulling us down into the tall grass. He took my hand and held it much the same way as I had done to him on that first day in the meadow in Forks. We sat quietly and marveled at the beauty of each other.

"Edward, I love you."

He smiled and leaned towards me. "I love you, too, Bella." He closed the distance between us and kissed me sweetly just as the sun began its daily descent into twilight.