AN: One of my readers was sad that Edward wasn't in the last chapter. (Who could blame her, that's everyone's favorite part, right?) So, this chapter is ALL Edward!

As always, I own nothing and I can't even come up with something funny to put here. Sadness.

My beta, T, is the most awesome beta in the world, so be jealous, very jealous…

Chapter Twenty-Six: Travel

EPOV

It had been just over a month since Bella's release from the hospital, and she was pretty much back to normal.

I had been extremely busy at work, but that didn't come close to how busy I had been planning for the coming week. Bella knew we were going somewhere, but she didn't know where we were going or what we were doing.

I was taking her to Mt. Rainier. I had rented a cabin for us to stay at over the weekend. Our friends would be joining us on Tuesday, and we would all stay there until the next Sunday.

My mother and the girls had all been wonderful in helping me plan our getaway, though only my mother knew of everything that was planned.

I loaded my bags into the trunk of the Volvo and drove over to Bella's. Alice opened the door before I could even turn off the car. She was jumping up and down excitedly.

"Alice!" I hissed, "You haven't squealed, have you?"

"You know I wouldn't spoil your surprise Eddie," Alice teased. I scowled at the name, and mussed her hair. I smiled brightly when she scowled in return.

"Since she doesn't know about the extra time up there, I packed her some extra stuff," Rose whispered as she handed me several bags.

"I'm going to run these out to the car so Bella doesn't see them," I said, heading toward the front door. I rearranged the things in the trunk so that Bella's extra bags were hidden and left the trunk open.

Bella was downstairs with her bags when I got back in the house, so we said our goodbyes and climbed in the car.

Bella plugged in her iPod and got settled in for the drive. We stopped for a quick bite before leaving Seattle and ate on the drive.

I'd paid extra money to have the place stocked with food, so we thankfully didn't have to stop at a grocery store.

Thankfully, I knew what Bella liked so I knew what she would want to have, and our friends said that they would stop at the store on their way up for groceries and anything else that was needed.

We talked for nearly the entire three-hour drive. Bella was so excited to see her book published and had several ideas for new books. I'd had the girls pack Bella's laptop just in case she felt the need to write.

"Mt. Rainier?" Bella questioned, excitedly as we neared our destination. I nodded in response, and couldn't help the excitement that bubbled inside me when she smiled happily.

I stopped at the check-in building at the bottom of the mountain, checked us in, and confirmed that they were aware we would have six more people joining us on Monday.

With that completed, Bella and I headed up to our cabin.

When we pulled up, I immediately noticed that the pictures hadn't done justice for the place. It was spectacular.

Bella was nearly crawling out of her skin in excitement. I silently chuckled. For someone who hates to be surprised, she sure does like her surprises.

I handed Bella the keys to the cabin and grabbed the bags that we needed to have inside, leaving behind Bella's extra bags.

I followed Bella through the door and set the bags down in the entryway so we could explore.

We wandered through the entire cabin and then headed back downstairs. I took our bags up to our room as Bella relaxed on the couch. I was thankful that she realized I was going to do manly stuff, like carrying her bags whether she liked it or not. I was just happy she had given up arguing with me about it.

I settled next to her on the couch and wrapped my arm around her shoulders. She sighed happily and snuggled into me.

I dipped my head down and breathed in aroma de la Bella. As soon as her scent hit my nostrils a warm and peaceful feeling flooded my body.

I was right where I was supposed to be, my arms around the love of my life, Bella.

I was a mixture of nerves and excitement about what would be happening tomorrow. Tomorrow was the day that would make or break the rest of my life.

AN: I know, it's not very long, but it's better than nada. So what's happening tomorrow? Here's the link for the cabin, and we are going to pretend that it can sleep 8 instead of just 6! : )

http://www(dot)jasmers(dot)com/trillium2(dot)htm