Hey all I'm back with chapter 21. Again so sorry for the long wait but as I said in my authors note (now deleted) that I had writers block for a few weeks and it was crazy with school ending, graduation, and my certification exam.

I would like to say thank you to all that put me on their favs or alert after I posted that authors note. Also a big thanks to my beta Truth in the Moon. She is such a great help.

I haven't started chapter 22 yet, but will soon. Like I said I would like to cover a month in one chapter so they will be long, like this one, and may take longer to get out. Now lets get on with this chapter.

WARNING: Lemon, kind of small but its there. If you decide to skip it, you wont be missing anything.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Twilight Saga and never will.

BPOV

The next morning I woke up early. I just couldn't sleep, so I decided to get up and make cinnamon rolls. Everyone else wasn't going to be up for a few hours so I knew I had time to make them. Quietly slipping out of bed, I made my way towards the kitchen. I had planned on making cinnamon rolls, only I was going to make them the night before and just bake them the next morning.

As I was mixing everything, I had the radio on low in the background. Today was supposed bright and sunny. I hoped it would warm up a bit to melt some of the snow. We didn't have a lot, but it was just enough that I wanted it to go away.

I was in my element for a few hours and didn't hear anyone come in until I felt two arms wrap around me. Edward pulled me into his chest and nuzzled his face in my neck as I hummed in contentment.

"What are you doing up so early?" he asked, placing kisses along my neck and exposed shoulder.

"I couldn't sleep so I thought I would start on breakfast," I answered. I was rolling up the dough so I could cut them and place them in the baking dish.

"Smells good, do you need help?" he asked, leaning back against the counter next to me. I missed his arms around me, but I needed the elbow room to cut the rolls.

"Could you start on the icing for these," I asked sweetly, sliding him the recipe for it then finished putting the rolls in the dish.

"Sure," he replied, turning up the radio a bit more. I started swaying my hips to the music as I helped him make the icing. We started laughing quietly as Edward and I began to dance together in the kitchen. As we were dancing, he spun me around and dipped me. When I leaned my head back, I saw Jake and Leah standing in the doorway, smiling and laughing softly.

"Good morning, breakfast will be done soon," I said as I righted myself. Edward placed a kiss on my head and went back to stirring the icing.

"Do you normally dance in the kitchen?" Jake asked as he and Leah took a seat at the table.

"No, today was a first. I couldn't help it when she started swaying her hips to the music," Edward smirked. Jake shook his head and Leah smiled.

"How did you sleep?" I asked joining them at the table.

"Great," they both answered.

"What do you want to drink?" Edward asked as he started the coffee. "We have orange and apple juice or milk."

"Coffee is fine," Jake answered with a small yawn.

"Orange juice please," Leah replied.

"Me too please," I smiled. Edward got our orange juice for use as we talked. A few minutes later, the coffee was done for Jake and himself. As we were sitting there talking, the oven beeped signaling the cinnamon rolls were dong. As I was pulling them out, dad and Sue strolled in.

"Mmm, smells good in here," dad said as he and Sue sat at the last two open spots at the table. Edward got up to get the plates as I put the icing on the rolls. I carried the hot dish over to the table along with a serving spatula. Edward gave everyone a plate and napkin as we served ourselves.

"Mmm, these are good. Where did you get this recipe?" Sue hummed in appreciation.

"Internet, where else?" I smiled. Everyone chuckled at my answer.

We kept a steady conversation as we ate and drank.

Everyone had left by lunch time the next day. It was kind of a lazy Sunday anyways. Edward didn't have to work, so we just hung out at home, watched movies, and cuddled on the couch. Jake and Leah said they would be back down for New Years Eve. We would be at Alice and Jasper's.

The next few days went by at a marginal pace. Edward worked, and I worked on my book. I wanted to get it done so I could enjoy the summer. Not to mention Alice and Rose's upcoming weddings which were only a month apart.

New Years Eve was a blast. Carlisle and Esme were doing their own thing. He had gotten them a hotel room at a fancy hotel and was treating Esme to a lovely dinner. Edward and I got to Alice and Jasper's around 6 p.m. We had brought some of the leftovers with us for dinner and a surprise for Emmett, but we would mostly just eat snack foods though out the night. Jake and Leah were meeting us there and then coming home with us to spend the night before heading out the next afternoon.

After we had eaten our small dinner, we sat down to play cards. We agreed to play Crazy Bridge.

It was kind of like Spades only that any suite could be the trump. You started off with one card then everyone said whether they would take the one trick. On the first round only one trick can be taken so if two or more players said they would take that first trick, someone would lose. Each round you got one more card. So depending on how many people you have playing you could have up to 13 cards in your hands. Then you would work your way back down to one card again. There was also a points system on the first round the person who go the first trick got 11 points. If everyone else said they would take zero tricks then they would get ten points, but if more than one person said they would take a trick the ones that didn't get their trick would get zero points. After that anyone who got their tricks got ten points. The person with the most points wins.

We were having so much fun. Except Emmett. When he wouldn't get the number of tricks he wanted, mainly when he went over, he would end up taking ours. This would mess everyone up, especially the ones that wanted tricks for that round. He didn't have very many points but he was certainly messing up ours.

"Emmett, you suck!" I shouted when he took the trick I wanted. I don't think he was really in it for the points, just to screw everyone up.

"Oh, squirt you know you love me," he grinned evilly.

"Not so much now Emmett, and to think I brought a surprise for you for dessert. Guess you won't find out now," I teased. I had made my chocolate chip bars for dessert. It had been a while since I last made them, and he loved them.

"That's not fair," he pouted.

"Then play fair and I'll tell you what I brought," I reasoned.

"Fine," he sighed.

I knew I could get him to play fairly; just offer food and he'll bend at your will.

After a few more round of playing, Emmett was whining about wanting his surprise. I finally relented and brought him the chocolate chip bars. His face lit up like a kid on Christmas morning when he realized what I was carrying.

"Oh my God, you should have seen you face," I laughed as I set a plate down in front of him and the rest down in the center of the table. Everyone grabbed one and began eating.

"Mmm, thef are fo good," Emmett replied with his mouth full.

"Emmett," Rose said smacking him in the back of the head. He swallowed and mumbled sorry while hanging his head. It was cute how Rose reprimanded him all the time. Esme loved that look he had on his face after Rose smacked him for something.

After we had dessert, we hung out and watched a movie until it was close to midnight. There were going to be a few boats out on Elliot Bay in front of Edward's apartment that were going to light fireworks off at midnight, so we would have a clear view from the living room windows.

As midnight got closer, the countdown started. We had the TV on and were watching the ball drop in New York earlier. They kept rerunning it throughout the night, so we had it switched on so we could hear the countdown. As I looked out the window, I could see the families and the couples standing on the dock waiting for the fireworks to begin. I was snuggled up to Edward as we looked out into the harbor. I looked over at my friends to see that they were standing in the same positions as Edward and I were. All the men had their arms wrapped around their women whispering their love in their ears.

I looked into Edward's eyes as the countdown was nearing 1. I could see the love he had for me, and I knew at that moment I would spend the rest of my life with him. He smiled and brought his hands up to either side of my face and leaned down to kiss me just as everyone yelled 'ONE, HAPPY NEW YEAR!' The kiss was slow and passionate. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he moved his arms around my waist to bring me closer to him. I didn't want our kiss to end.

He leaned back and whispered, "I love you, Bella,"

I smiled and said, "I love you too Edward, so, so much," then kissed him again.

/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/

January 4, 2010

We are in a new year! I can't believe I'm almost done with school. Only four months left. May is going to be a busy month. Alice and I will be getting ready to graduate and then the week after the ceremony is her and Jasper's wedding. We are going to be so worn out. I'm not looking forward to that month at all. Well, okay, so maybe I am – just for the fact that I'll be a college graduate.

Also this month, or well in two weeks, will be mine and Edward's six month anniversary. I just can't believe how the time flies. We love each other so much that we've even talked about marriage. I know some people may think that talking about marriage to the first boyfriend you have ever had, and only after six months, may be a little soon, but it all just feels so right. I can't stand to be away from him. I have become so used to sleeping and waking up in his arms that when I'm at my apartment I have to sleep with the pillow vertically in the bed and snuggle up next to it to imitate him being right next to me. It hurts to be away from him for long periods of time, like when he has to work a long shift at the station. It helps that I talk to him on the phone and am able to stop by for brief periods of time. And I know Edward feels exactly the same way. Why else would we discuss marriage?

We haven't said anything to our friends and family about getting married sometime in the future. For one, Alice would scream in joy and I really quite fond of my ear drum. I'm not sure how dad would take it if we suddenly came home and were engaged. I can see that dad loves Edward like a son, so maybe he wouldn't have a problem with it. I'm just making sure all my bases are covered I guess.

Edward told me that for our anniversary he wants to take me out to a nice dinner and then come home and snuggle on the couch. That is our most favorite thing to do, snuggle. I love being held in his arms.

On to new things, Esme conference called Rose and I today about planning Carlisle's 50th birthday. I don't think it's going to be so much of a surprise for him as just a party. His birthday is the 31st of this month. It's a Sunday so that works out perfect that it's on a weekend. The three of us have concluded that we would rent a small hall and have past co-workers from the hospital he was at here in Seattle and close friends and family attend. Esme was even thinking about having Alice help decorate the hall. There were still some things we had to discuss yet but we would get them done soon so invites could be sent out. I have been thinking we should make a video showing Carlisle from when he was a baby up to today. That could be really fun, and Esme loved the idea. She said that she would come back down and help Rose and I work on it.

/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/

School had resumed this week, so I was busy working on my writing assignments. I loved that we had these short stories to do, it really helped define my writing style, and the feedback from other students and the professor was really helpful.

Jay and Aro have resigned to only give me one manuscript at a time now that school will be winding down, and I'll have finals to study for. I love that they are so accommodating with my schooling.

Alice had finalized her 'save the date' cards for the wedding this week so they could be sent out. She also had the invites completed too. Alice told Jasper that he, Emmett, and Edward needed to be fitted for their tuxes and have them reserved. Rose had picked her invites out that same time Alice was finalizing everything. Everything looked lovely. I loved the black detail on Rose's invitations. She told me that for the wedding cake, she wanted to get the same detail put on the cake. She said her cake was going to be red velvet covered in white fondant then have the black detail on the corner of the four square tiers. Alice was going also going to put the invitation design on her cake. She still hadn't decided whether she wanted the base fondant to be white or lavender. The whimsical detail would be the opposite color that the base fondant would be. Personally, I thought it should be just like her invitation, lavender base fondant and white accent detail. But that was just me.

I had started taking notes, in my head, about what I liked and would possibly have at mine and Edward's wedding. I think all this wedding stuff was going to my brain. Between Alice and Rose, I was starting to feel left out that I didn't have my own wedding to plan. Still, I needed to stop thinking about weddings and focus more on my school work. I couldn't sit here day dreaming about marrying Edward. I didn't need him finding out how much I thought about us getting married. I didn't want to scare him.

I was brought out of my musings by my phone ringing.

"Hello," I said

"Bella, it's Alice, I was wondering if you wanted to go to Hobby Lobby with me to get scrapbooking things with me. Rose is coming as well. I think she wants to see what they have for bridal ideas" Alice said in a rush.

"Yeah, that sounds fine. I have nothing to do anyways. Are you going to pick me up or do you want me to meet you there?" I asked getting up off the couch to get dressed as I was still in my PJ's.

"Rose and I will be there soon," she answered.

"Ok, great. See you soon," I replied then hung up.

After I got dressed, I sat back on the couch and waited for them to come. I didn't have to wait long before they were knocking on my door.

"Ready to go," Rose asked.

"Yep," I answered, locking the door.

We made our way out to Rose's car and then were off to Hobby Lobby.

"So, what are we getting there?" I asked after a few silent minutes.

"As I said I need thing for scrapbooking. I also wanted to see what they have in their wedding aisle. Rose thought that it would be good to see what they had too." Alice answered, turning in her seat to look at me.

"Yeah, I want to work more on this wedding stuff. June will be here before I know it. I also want to see what they have for photo albums. I just want to put all the wedding day pictures in one album. The other pictures like bachelorette and pre-wedding pictures can in another one," Rose explained.

"So in the actual wedding album, it's going to be all the pictures from the ceremony? You aren't going to have anything from getting ready the day of or the anything from the reception?" I questioned. I thought she would want to have all the things that happened on that day in one album. But I guess that's just what I would do.

"No, I'll have those types of pictures in there. Just not all of them, you know the special ones. Like us getting ready, me in my dress and you guys in your dresses. Also Emmett getting ready, him in his tux and the guys in their tuxes. Then the actual ceremony, our first dance, cutting the cake and a few other favorite pictures from the reception. The others will be in another album." She explained as she pulled into a parking spot.

"Ok, I was just wondering if you were going to have other things from the day of in there," I clarified.

We walked in and they both grabbed carts. I just followed behind them. Alice knew exactly where she was going. Walking around, I thought about looking into scrapbooking. I don't think I would go crazy like some people do. Just get an album and put a few backgrounds around the pictures and get some stickers of fun sayings; something like that.

I followed them in and out of the aisles as they got their scrapbooking things. I looked at the merchandise and thought of what I could possible do with the pictures I had. Most of mine were on the computer still, but I could print them out and then do fun things with them. I was a few aisles over looking at albums when I saw one that had a design all over it that resembled Rose's wedding invitations. I grabbed it and took it to show Rose.

"Hey Rose, look what I found," I said, waving the photo album back and forth.

"OH MY GOD That is perfect; it's, like, the same design!" she said excitedly.

"I know that's what I thought," I smiled widely.

We had also found some scrapbooking paper that had similar black and white designs on it. Rose figured she could use some of them in the other albums of pictures from the reception and other wedding happenings. We wrapped up our trip to Hobby Lobby quickly and went back to Rose's apartment to work on the video for Carlisle's birthday.

/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/

I was getting ready for our anniversary date. We had decided to go to P.F. Chang's. We had never been there but we also wanted Chinese for dinner. After dinner, as we had planned, we would come home and watch movies while cuddling on the couch. It may seem like a boring night, but I'm not the type of person that has to do extravagant things or go out all the time. I love nice, quiet evenings at home. Well, Edward's apartment. I practically had everything over there and consider it home. The only things I had at my apartment were some clothes, school stuff I didn't need to cart everywhere, and some personal belongings that could stay until I moved in with Edward in June.

I had decided to wear dark wash skinny jeans with knee high boots and a dark blue blouse to dinner. I adjusted the necklace Edward gave me for my birthday. I always wore that necklace; I never took it off, well, except to shower. I left my left my hair down and put some curls in it. For my make-up, I had brown eye shadow, a thin line of eye liner on my top lids, black mascara and pale pink lip gloss. Looking at myself in the mirror, I thought I looked pretty good.

We both decided to exchange our gifts once we were home from dinner. I had gotten him a new watch; it was waterproof. I figured he could wear it at work without having to worry about it getting ruined. The watch he had was a cheap one.

"Bella, you ready to go?" Edward shouted from the living room.

"Yeah, just a sec," I yelled back. I grabbed my ¾ length sleeved sweater in case I got cold.

I walked out to the living room to see Edward on the couch in dark wash jeans and a green shirt that brought out his eyes. The sleeves were rolled up to his forearms. He looked up when I walked further in the room.

"You look beautiful," he said giving me a small kiss on the lips.

"Thank you, you look handsome as well," I said after the kiss.

We got our coats and made our way down to his car. The restaurant wasn't very far from his apartment, so we didn't really talk. We pulled in and parked in no time. He came around and opened my door.

"Reservations under Cullen," Edward said as soon as we got inside.

"Ok, we'll buzz you when your table is ready," the hostess said, handing him the buzzer and checking our name off.

We went and sat on a bench in the waiting area together. I was looking around at all the design of the lobby area. It was very neat with all the Chinese artifacts. We weren't sitting there long before the buzzer went off. We got up and followed the hostess back to our table. We looked over the menu while waiting for our server.

"Hey look, they have a special for two. All we have to do it choose our soups, starter, entrees, and desert," I mentioned when I turned one of the pages.

"That's actually cheaper than it would be if we got all those separate." Edward said just as our server came over with our waters.

"Welcome to P. F. Chang's, what can I get for you to drink?" he asked ready to write what we said.

"Glass of red wine," Edward asked. I nodded my head in confirmation. "We'll both have a glass of red wine," he responded.

"Great, are you ready to order? Or do you need a few minutes?" he asked.

"Just a few minutes to decide," I answered. We hadn't really seen what we could choose from for the 'dinner for two.'

"Sure, I'll be back soon," he said then walked away.

We both looked at the menu to decide what we wanted. We had two choices for soups, egg drop and hot and sour; we both chose egg drop. Then we had to choose one starter and chose vegetable dumplings. Next was our entrées, Edward chose Mongolian beef while I chose the sweet and sour chicken, figuring we could share. Lastly was desert, which we guessed we would have to take home with us. The deserts were 'American' style. I chose to have the chocolate dome that was served with fresh berries and raspberry sauce. Edward chose to have the New York- Style Cheesecake that was also served with fresh berries and raspberry sauce. Once the server came back, we told him our order.

Throughout dinner we talked about me being almost done with school and working full time. I would be at the office more than at home, but that didn't bother me at all. Edward told me about the service award dinner in March. It was where the firefighters and EMT's got their pins for another year completed to add to their 'formal' uniforms. Edward had asked about how things were coming along with Carlisle's birthday party. I told him Rose and I were working on the video while Alice and Esme were settling the decorations and catering.

After we were full we asked for our dessert to be put into take home boxes as well as the rest of our entrées. Dinner was scrumptious, and I would love to come back here again sometime. When we got home, we put the food in the fridge, got comfy in our pajamas, and settled into the couch. As always when watching a movie together, I was laying against Edward's chest as he was leaning against the back of the couch. The first movie for tonight was A Walk to Remember. Then we would follow that up with Edward's choice of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. As we were watching my movie and it got to the scene where Landon gives Jamie a gift bag I remembered we hadn't given each other our gifts yet. I stopped the movie once the thought came to me.

"What did you stop it for?" Edward asked as I got up from the couch.

"We forgot to give each other our anniversary gifts," I said with a shrug. I hoped he liked the watch I got for him. I looked back as I made my way to our bedroom to get his gift. Edward looked scared and was kind of frozen when I looked back at him.

"Yeah we should do that now," he said shaking his head a bit. I just turned around and went to the closet where I had hidden his gift. I came back out and sat next to him on the couch. He looked more calm since had left the room to get his present.

"Here open yours first," I said smiling and handing him the square box.

He tore the paper off and opened the box. He had a big smile on his face so I sighed in relief that he at least liked it.

"It's water and shock resistant so it can take some wear and tear," I said as he examined it.

"It's perfect, thank you. It looks like it'll last me a while too," he commented as he pulled everything else out of the box. There instructions on how to set the alarms; it had 4 of them.

"That's another reason why I chose this one. I looked on Macy's website before I went with Alice and Rose for our Christmas shopping. One person said they had that watch for two years and nothing has gone wrong with it and I guess they do heavy labor or something because they commented on it being shock resistant," I explained, loving the reaction he had to it.

He set everything on the coffee table. He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. 'What was he so nervous about?' I thought. He stood up and then pulled something from the pocket of his pajama pants. I looked up at him and smiled. He slowly got down on one knee and opened the box he had in his hands. My hands flew up to my mouth while tears pooled in my eyes as I realized what he was doing.

"Bella, ever since I met you at Alice and Jasper's I knew we were going to have something great, and I wasn't wrong. After being together a short time, I realized how much in love I was in with you. It only grew as our relationship began to grow. I can't think of anything better than to spend forever with you. Bella, will you marry me?" he asked, optimistically.

I nodded yes and then threw myself at him. I wrapped my arms around his neck. "YES! Yes, I'll marry you," I practically shouted, with tears running down my face. I pulled back and kissed him hard.

"Bella, you make so happy. Here," he said grabbing the ring out of the box and sliding it on my finger. I gazed at it and it was beautiful. It had three bands, each with tiny round diamonds on them. The center was comprised of four square diamonds to give the illusion it was one big diamond. Those four center diamonds were surrounded in smaller square ones.

"It's beautiful, I love it," I breathed, kissing him again. We got lost in each other as I sat there in his lap on the floor. We finally had to take a break for air.

"When do you want to tell everyone?" he asked as kissed my left hand and looking up at me through his lashes.

"Oh God, what is my dad going to say." I paled when I thought of that. Dad surly wouldn't be happy that we got engaged so soon.

"He already knows. I asked his permission at Christmas. He and my dad came into talk to me after I got home from work and I was upset about losing those people in the fire, remember?" I nodded. "After we talked, I asked Charlie for his permission," he finished.

"Wait, is that why you three came out of our room with smiles and dad was patting you on the back?" I asked as I thought back.

"You saw that?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes, I was worried about you so I was watching your every move," I explained. "So only my dad and Carlisle know you were going to do this today?" I asked as I looked at my ring again. I couldn't stop looking at it. I still couldn't believe we were engaged. This was the last thing I thought and expected him to do.

"Yes, they are the only ones that know," he replied, sitting on the couch again. "What are you thinking?" he asked, no doubt seeing the wheels turn in my head.

"Let's not tell anyone. Let's see how long it takes for them to see me wearing this," I said waving my hand in front of him.

"You are evil, and I love you for it," he said leaning in for another kiss.

"I know, and I love you too," I replied.

I leaned back onto the couch as he continued to kiss me. The movie was long forgotten. Our lips were moving in sync as he ran his hands under my shirt. I felt him graze the underside of my bra and his thumbs glide over my nipples. I arched my back and moaned into his mouth. He pulled out of the kiss and he grabbed the hem of my shirt to bring it over my head. He leaned back down again to capture my lips as I ran my hands up his back under his shirt.

We laid their kissing and removing clothes every so often. Soon we were both naked and he was positioning himself at my entrance. He pushed in, and we both moaned at the connection. He bent forward and kissed me again as he began moving within me. I ran my hands up his back and threaded my fingers in his hair at the base of his neck. He brought his right hand down to my thigh to hitch it higher on his hip, causing him to move deeper in me.

"Uggh, deeper," I moaned as I move my hips in time with his. He shifted again at the same time I shifted up higher on the arm of the couch.

"Oh babe, ugg," he grunted. He sucked on my neck as I nibbled his ear lobe. His thrust became more urgent as we were both nearing our climax. "Almost there, baby, cum with me," he grunted again.

"Me too, just a bit more," I moaned. A few more thrusts, and I was seeing stars. My orgasm triggered his as he fell over the edge after me. He gave a few final thrusts and then nuzzled my neck.

"God, I love you so much," he declared. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed behind his ear as I came down from my high.

"I love you too. That was amazing. We seriously have to have couch sex more often," I giggled and felt him smile into my neck.

He pulled back and kissed me softly. "That can be arranged," he said smugly. We laid there for a few more minutes before we dressed back into our pajamas and finished watching the movies. Round two could wait a bit as I still needed to recover from that intense orgasm. Plus, I would rather continue in bed where we have more room.

The next morning I called my mom to tell her about our engagement.

"Hello," mom answered.

"Mom, it's me, go on the web cam. Edward and I have something to show you," I said excitedly. Edward and I were sitting on the couch with the lap top on the coffee table.

"Alright just a minute, see you in a few," she replied and then hung up.

I was already on and waiting for her to sign in. A few seconds later her picture came up on the screen.

"Okay, so what did you want to show me?" she asked taking a sip of her drink that looked like was iced tea.

"This," I said bringing my left hand in front of the camera.

"EEEEK, OH MY GOD, your engaged! This is so exciting. When did you propose?" she said smiling and bouncing in her chair.

"Last night. No one knows except Charlie and my dad. We, or I should say Bella, wants to see how long it takes everyone to notice that we're engaged," he said nudging me with his shoulder. I just laughed and shook my head.

"I'm so happy for you two. Congratulations!"

We talked for a few more minutes before Edward had to leave for work after her congratulations. She asked if we had set a date yet. Funny she had asked that because we decided last night before we both fell asleep that we would get married August 22 of this year. When she asked why that date, I told her it would have been a year since we said "I love you," to each other. She awed at that. Once I signed off, I got ready for school.

Wednesday and Thursday passed quickly. Friday, Rose, Alice, and I were driving up to Forks to meet with Esme to work some more on Carlisle's birthday party. Rose and Alice were ridding up together. I would meet them up there after my class ended at 3, arriving just in time for dinner. When I left school on Friday, I remembered I forgot a few party things at Edward's apartment so I stopped and got them. On my way back to the interstate, I would be driving right by his station as it was just a block away, so I figured I could say a quick goodbye.

I pulled in, parked, made my way up stairs. Luckily, they weren't out on a call. I walked into the living room to see a few of the guys playing video games.

"Bella, what are you doing here?" Edward asked from his seat on the chair. He was watching Emmett and James duke it out on the Wii.

"I forgot a few things at your apartment for the party and figured I had time to stop by and say goodbye since I won't be back until late Sunday night," I said coming over and sitting on his lap.

"Well it's a pleasant surprise," he said giving me a chaste kiss.

"Bella, what is that on your hand?" Emmett shouted.

"What, this?" I asked innocently, pointing to my engagement ring.

"Yes, that. It looks like an engagement ring," he said, staring me down.

"Well…it is," I said with a big smile. He got up and ran over to me, picking me up off Edward's lap and swinging me around.

"You're officially going to be my sister!" he boomed. Everyone else was smiling or laughing at his antics.

"Yep, sure am. Don't say anything to Rose. I want to see how long it takes for everyone else to see it. I'm sure Alice will notice right away when I walk in your parents' house tonight for dinner before working on Carlisle's party," I explained shaking my finger at him after he set me back down on the ground.

"Sure, no problem," he said taking his Wii controller.

I said goodbye and quickly made my way out to my car. I called Esme when I was on the ferry to let her know I was on my way and would be there in a few hours. She told me that Rose and Alice would be there within the hour and not to rush. Once I was off the ferry, I quickly made my way to Forks. I did have to stop in Port Angeles for gas though. A short hour later, I was pulling up to Esme and Carlisle's. I got out and grabbed my stuff for the party which was only my laptop, notebook, and the box of pictures we had used for the video. I knocked and let myself in.

"Hello, I'm here," I said as I set my things down in the living room with the other party items.

"Back here," Esme called from the kitchen.

"Hello, family," I said when I entered. I was waiting for Alice to scream bloody murder once she saw me. It wasn't like I was trying to hide my hand. Only she wasn't the one that screamed.

"OH MY GOD, HE PROPOSED!" Esme shouted. Yep, Esme was the first to notice. She had looked up from the pot she was stirring on stove top on the island. Alice and Rose had their backs to me and quickly turned around when she screamed.

"What, when?" Alice asked excitedly bouncing her way over to me and giving me a hug and a tight one at that. Rose and Esme hugged me next as I answered her question.

"On Tuesday, after our anniversary dinner. We were watching a movie when I remembered we hadn't exchanged our gifts. I gave him his first. He loved the watch by the way. Then he got up to get my gift from his pocket and got down on one knee," I explained as I took a seat at the breakfast bar. They stood around me holding my hand and fawning over my ring.

They asked if we had set a date yet. I told them we did and when it was. They then asked why I chose that date and I told them my reason. They all awed just like my mom. I had a feeling I was going to be answering the 'When did he do it?' 'How did he do it?' 'Did you set a date?' and 'Why that date?' a lot. I had better get used to it. We ate dinner and then worked on some more details for the party. Rose and I had scanned all the pictures in so all we had to do was put them in order and set music to them. That was what we did that night – picking out music and putting things in order.

/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/

It was the night of Carlisle's birthday party. Alice, Esme, Rose and I had been setting up the hall all day getting the decorations and center pieces just right. The cake was going to be delivered soon. Carlisle had chosen to have two candles instead of 50 actual candles. So the cake had a big 5 and 0. Both Edward and Emmett picked up an extra shift so they could have tonight off. Alice and I made sure that we had our homework and midterm stuff done so we didn't have to worry about cramming later in the week. Rose was her own boss so she could do as she wanted.

Dad and Sue would be coming down tonight also. Carlisle's parents would also be in attendance; this would be the first time I'm meeting them. I wasn't really nervous; Edward told me they would love me. Apparently Carlisle had told them all about me. The rest of the guests were Rosalie's parents, Jasper, Carlisle's past friends from Harborview Medical Center, and his friends from Forks Hospital. We had put on the invitations 'In lieu of gifts donations can be made to The Make-A-Wish Foundation.'

Before we knew it, guests had started to arrive. Carlisle was there to greet them at the door. Edward and Emmett were already here and manning the donation table. By now everyone that was close to us knew about mine and Edward's engagement.

Rose and I were walking over to our boys when they suddenly got up and ran for the door. We followed them and realized they were greeting their grandparents. Well, I guess now would be a good time to introduce myself. I thought as we both walked over. As we approached, Edward spotted me and a smile lit up his face. He held his hand out for me to take.

"Grams, Pop, this is my fiancée, Bella," he said introducing me. He loved calling me his fiancée, he would say it any chance he got. I had to admit, I liked calling him that too.

"Nice to meet you both," I said giving them both a small hug.

"You certainly live up to your name, you are beautiful," Pop said.

I blushed and quietly said, "Thank you,"

Rose gave both of them a hug. Edward and Emmett went back to their post while Rose and I escorted Grams and Pop over to where they would be seated. Once everyone arrived, Carlisle thanked everyone for coming. We sat down for dinner and everyone talked and got to know each other before the fun began. Once the plates were cleared away, we wanted to give the guests time to digest their dinner before we brought out the cake. Rose and I got up on stage and presented the video we had made.

"So, to celebrate Carlisle's fiftieth birthday, Bella and I made this little slide show for you so everyone can see how you've grown and become the amazing father, husband, and doctor that we all love. And, of course, to embarrass you just because we love you," Rose explained, smiling devilishly.

"Both Rose and I would just like to say that we couldn't have asked for a better future-father-in-law. Happy Birthday, Carlisle," I said, grinning softly at him.

We gave Carlisle a kiss on the cheek before we started the video. I went back to my seat by Edward. He had his arm on the back of my chair, and when I sat down, he pulled me in for a side hug and kissed my temple. The video played, people laughed at the funny pictures, and awed at the cute ones. The very last picture was one taken at Christmas. All six of us were in it; Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, Rose, Edward and I. Carlisle and Esme stood behind the couch, Edward and Emmett were sitting on the couch with Rose and me sitting next to them. They both had and arm around our waists.

After the video finished, the cake was brought out. We all sang happy birthday. After cake the dance floor was open. Edward and I shared a few dances, and Rose and I both danced with Carlisle. A few hours later the party was over and it was time to go home. We didn't have to clean up as the hall they had their own cleaning crew. I thought Carlisle had a wonderful time. He thanked Alice, Rose, Esme, and I for all of our hard work. We told him it was nothing and that we loved him. Soon after, everyone said goodnight. Dad and Sue were staying with us for the night seeing how it was really late to be driving three hours back to Forks. Carlisle and Esme were staying with Rose and Emmett.

I was so exhausted from dancing and having fun, that I couldn't wait to get home and crash in bed with Edward.

So what did you all think? Leave a review and let me know. Ohh go check out my photobucket album for pics related to this chapter!

Question for you all, do you like me skipping a few weeks ahead and doing an overview on the less important things in those few weeks, or would you like me to explain more with dialogue? Let me know by PM. It will certainly help with getting the next chapter started. Seeing how I'm going to have each chapter cover a months time, the next one would cover February. So I was thnking about starting with Valentines day and doing an overview of the first week or so. I want your opinions please.

Thanks a million,

Alli.