Authors note; Thank you to all who reviewed the last chapter. I know I said that I would write two days per chapter. Well, I couldn't do it with this chapter as Edward is back from work and he surprises Bella in a lovely way. I needed to devote this chapter to him so that we can enjoy how wonderful he is! Enjoy.

Beta reader; Many thanks NatalieRB.

Disclaimer; I do not own Twilight.

COOK WANTED

Wednesday

It's Wednesday! I woke up in a really good mood this morning. As I got ready I thought about Edward coming home and being able to spend time with him. On the way down to the kitchen I began to think about cooking a straight forward meal that would not keep me in the kitchen all evening.

I put the coffee pot on and checked in the diary that there wasn't a last minute entry for any guests tonight. The page was blank. Great! I'll be able to put together a quick meal for later. I quickly laid the table before anyone came down.

Back in the kitchen I began to mix together the ingredients for pancakes, turned the heat lamps on and got busy cooking scrambled eggs and bacon. Once that was done I sat down for a minute and poured myself a coffee and toasted some bread.

Jasper was the first person to come downstairs. "Morning, Jasper. Did you sleep well?" I asked remembering how tired he looked yesterday morning.

"Morning, Bella. Yes, thanks. I slept much better last night." He answered pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"How did it go in Court, yesterday? I hope you don't mind me asking?" I asked, hoping I hadn't asked about something that he was not allowed to talk about. I began to cook the pancakes as we chatted.

He smiled and answered, "Of course not, Bella. I don't know what I was worried about yesterday morning. When we got to Court it was found that the other side had failed to disclose vital information so the Judge found in our favour. You can imagine the relief I felt at that news. The Senior Partner was very impressed with how cool I stayed, considering it wasn't my case in the first place. He's invited me and Alice to go to dinner with him Friday night." His face was beaming at this point.

"Congratulations Jasper! So, I take it you'll be offered a Senior Partnership soon?" I asked. I genuinely thought that he should get it.

"Well maybe not this Friday, but sometime in the future would be good." He answered. He was certainly much more relaxed today.

Emmett arrived in the kitchen, grabbing a plate as I poured a cup of coffee out for him.

"Morning, goddess. Jasper. You both alright this morning?" He asked, filling his plate.

"Yes, thanks, Emmett." Jasper and I replied. I smiled to myself, watching Emmett sit at the table and start eating without any hesitation. Jasper quickly filled his plate and joined Emmett at the table. I took the coffee pot out to them, certain that everyone would be down soon.

Sure enough the rest of the family gathered in the kitchen. Alice didn't look too well.

Morning sickness no doubt.

"Hey Alice, would you just like a couple of slices of toast this morning?" I asked. She didn't look like she could eat much else.

"Oh, Bella that would be great! I'm having a rough time with the sickness this morning. Up until now it hasn't been much of a problem but this morning. Ugh!"

Esme put an arm around Alice's shoulders and gave her a sympathetic hug. "Don't worry sweetheart. It won't last long. When is your appointment with the Doctor?"

"Tomorrow. Mom I still haven't decided whether or not to find out the sex of the baby. I'm thinking that it might be quite nice to let it be a surprise on the day. What do you think?" She asked.

"Well, there are advantages to knowing now. It would mean you can get the baby's room ready in the right colour. Or you could wait until he or she arrives and do all the decorating later. I could always organise for the room to be painted in neutral colours, it wouldn't make too much difference then!"

"That sounds like a great idea, mom. Why didn't I think of that? I must be loosing my mind or something!" She looked like she was going to cry at this point.

Esme hugged her again. "Calm down Alice. This is just the way things are at the moment. Once you've had the baby you'll be your normal organised self again. Don't forget, we're all here to help."

I handed Alice her toast and she made her way to the table. Jasper put his arm around her waist and kissed her gently on the cheek. He was going to be a great dad! Alice very quickly regained her composure sitting next to him.

"So, Bella! What time is Edward finishing work today?" Emmett asked. A large grin appeared across his face.

"He said he's going to be home by five o'clock, just in time for dinner." I stated in a very matter-of-fact tone. It was not that easy for Emmett to make me blush anymore. His grin disappeared when I turned to look at him calmly. I waited for Esme to select her breakfast and then chose my food. I glanced at the coffee pot on the table, it was almost empty so I decided to put another pot of coffee on.

"Come and sit down, Bella. Emmett's nearly finished. He can see to the coffee when it's ready." Carlisle instructed me. He pointed over to my seat and made sure that I sat down. I couldn't help but smile at his thoughtfulness.

"Bella, you are going to cook something that won't take up too much of your time in the kitchen aren't you? Somehow I don't think Edward would appreciate getting home and you're too busy to even say hello." Esme said, looking up at me.

Emmett quickly got up and took the empty coffee pot to the kitchen, returning to the table with the freshly made coffee.

"Don't worry Esme, I'll organise something that will take up the minimum amount of time later on." I noticed Emmett's face look slightly shocked as I spoke. "Don't worry, Emmett I won't be serving up a snack, it will be the usual three courses. You're stomach will not even know the difference!" I assured him. He smiled back at me and Rosalie chuckled.

We finished breakfast and I cleared the table and said goodbye to everyone as they left for work. The house fell silent.

I began to think about the evening meal. I had gone to the fishmonger's on Monday and had put a selection of fish and other sea foods in the freezer. I decided to cook a very large fish pie.

I took out three different kinds of fish and half a bag of King Prawns, leaving them to one side to defrost. I then prepared a selection of vegetables and put then in a bowl of water so they wouldn't dry out. I had decided on making a cold watercress soup for the starter, getting everything together and began chopping and cooking the vegetables, adding all the other ingredients and of course the watercress, finally liquidising the whole lot and decanted the soup into a large jug and let it cool a little before putting it into the fridge. I made up a batch of dough for rolls and set that aside to prove.

I had just washed my hands after making the dough, when the phone rang.

"Hello, Cullen residence."

"Oh. Hello. Is that Miss Swan?" A man's voice asked.

"Yes, it is." I'm not quite sure if I know this voice.

"Ah. Miss Swan. It's Mike Newton speaking." Oh, right!

"Yes, how can I help? Is there a problem with the order?" I couldn't think of any other reason why he would be ringing.

"Oh, no. There's no problem with that. It's just that I was wondering if you needed somewhere to decorate the cake when it's ready."

"I'm not sure what you mean, Mr Newton."

"Oh, please call me Mike. It's just that I have a spare room here at the bakery. It's clean and has a table and a sink with running water. I doubt very much if you have anywhere in the house that you'd be able to use when the time comes to decorate the cake. I was just trying to think ahead."

"Well, I think that's actually a really good idea. I would love to keep it a surprise, as much as possible for the couple. If you're absolutely sure that's okay? I just don't want to get in your way."

"You will absolutely not be getting in anyone's way here. What do you say Miss Swan?" He asked in an eager tone.

"Well, then, yes! Thank you so much for thinking of it. It would solve a lot of problems for me. I should find out in a few weeks as to what the decorating will entail, so I'll contact you nearer the time." I replied,

"Okay. I'm just glad that I was able to help out. Nice talking to you Miss Swan. Speak to you again soon."

"Yes. Thanks again Mr Newton. Goodbye."

"Goodbye then." He replied.

I put down the receiver and thought how helpful Mr Newton was. If it meant that I would need to use the spare room for anything in the future, I would have to sort out some kind of payment for doing so.

I turned my attention back to making the dessert for this evening. I looked in the fridge for a bag of cherries that I had bought on Monday. I sat down on a stool and began to prepare them to make a cherry crumble. I could basically get this ready now and then it could cook during the time that we would be having our first and main courses. Fortunately I had some Mascarpone cheese to accompany the crumble and would add a little fresh vanilla to it to enhance the flavours.

Some time later with the cherries ready, I put them in a dish and poured a measure of Kirsch liqueur over them and left it to rest. I then made the crumble mixture and left that in a covered bowl for later. Everything was more of less ready now. I would only have to spend the least amount of time cooking later.

I quickly made myself a sandwich for lunch and a cup of tea. The weather was actually quite good today, so I decided to have lunch outside on the bench in the garden.

I sat and relaxed on the bench, listening to the soothing sound of the fountain. The sun suddenly made an appearance from behind a large fluffy white cloud. I shut my eyes and tilted my face up in the direction of the sun. That was the only thing that I actually missed about not living in Phoenix. The sunshine. I thought for a moment about my new life here in Seattle. In just a few short weeks my life had changed completely. I had a fantastic job working for a lovely family. I was now involved in a wedding that was going to happen in just a few months time. I had grown in confidence since getting this job. As yet I had not once felt bored with the job and of course I had met and fallen in love with the most amazing man I had ever met! Surely my life could not get any better! These were the kind of things I had always dreamed about and now they were actually happening.

The sun's warmth on my face suddenly disappeared. Another cloud must have covered it again. I opened my eyes and jumped, almost falling off the bench. There was Edward, standing in front of me, blocking out the suns rays. As I composed myself and began to breathe properly again I took in the sight before me. He looked amazing. With the sun behind him, his hair shimmered with various tones of bronze. His eyes were smiling at me and so were his lips. I didn't say a word and neither did he. It was another moment that I needed to commit to memory.

He leaned down and kissed me gently on my mouth.

"I missed you so much, I just couldn't stay away any longer, Bella." He said, only moving his face an inch away from mine. His breath fanned over my lips as he spoke, making my spine tingle and my stomach twitch. It felt like such a long time since we had touched each other. I reached out my hand and cupped his face.

"I hope you didn't get into trouble at work for coming home early." I said in almost a whisper.

"We weren't that busy this morning so I managed to get someone to cover me. No problem." He leaned in towards me again.

This time the kiss was a little more forceful. He held the back of my head with his hand and snaked his fingers through my ponytail. His tongue tasted delicious. I could feel all the tension in my body ebb away. I hadn't even realised that I was so tense. Not having him around did that to me. I knew that now. But I don't mind. I love that feeling because it shows me how much I need him.

He put his other arm around my back and pulled me up from the bench, still kissing me. I reached up on my toes to deepen the kiss. I had now forgotten how to breathe.

Edward pulled away from our kiss for a moment. "Breathe, Bella. Breathe." He said smiling. I hoped that he would never stop having this affect on me. It felt so good.

"I need to ask you one thing." He looked deep into my eyes.

"Okay." Was all could say.

"Can you be away from the kitchen for the next, say, two hours?" He asked, his eyes turning a dangerous green.

"Ummm, definitely." I replied.

He took my hand and picked up the plate and cup from the bench and led me back into the house. He put the plate and cup on the breakfast bar quickly and then led me upstairs to his room. He shut the door behind him and stood looking at me for a moment and then reached for the binding in my hair, taking it out and letting my hair fall freely.

"You are so beautiful, Bella. I've missed you so much." He said, taking two steps towards me.

I reached up with my hands to hold his face and kiss him tenderly. My hands travelled up to his head, my fingers finding their way into his hair, finally fisting it to hold him closer.

He made short work of taking off my apron, undoing my jeans and finally reaching for the hem of my t-shirt, slowly moving his hands up the side of my body and round to my back, undoing my bra. I pulled away from him, slipping off my shoes and wriggling out of my jeans. He reached forward but I stepped back. I wanted to take my t-shirt off. He kept his eyes locked on mine as I slid the t-shirt up my body and over my head. I let it drop to the floor, soon followed by the bra.

I walked toward him and began to take his clothes off item by item. His breath hitched as I unbuckled his belt and made short work of the button and zip. I pushed the trousers down past his hips, taking the boxers down with them and he stepped out of them as they hit the floor. His shirt was next. I made sure that I kept my eyes on his, feeling for the buttons as I undid them, working my way from the top to the bottom. He shut his eyes for just a moment as I pushed the shirt down his strong shoulders, trailing the cloth down his arms and finally letting it float to the floor. I gave a small smile thinking of the mess we were creating in this very tidy room.

Taking his hand I led him to the centre of the bed, he had no choice but to follow. He positioned himself between my legs. I certainly had his full attention now. Taking his eyes away from mine, he gently reached out and caressed every part of my now heated flesh. His touch was so gentle, goose bumps formed as his fingers made their way down me. My back arched as his fingers reached the hem of my lacy underpants. A small smile came to his lips for a moment. He then slid the lace fabric down my hips and away from my legs. He moved forward on his hands, hovering over me. He leaned into me, not quite touching my body with his. His patience was astounding. Our kiss this time was hungry and forceful, our tongues fighting for dominance. His body was now firmly pressed against mine. My need for him was so obvious now as I wrapped my legs around his waist pressing my heels into the small of his back. As he entered me, I moaned into his mouth, holding his face again to deepen the kiss. I was finding it hard to breathe and had to pull away for a moment as my first orgasm washed over me. He smiled at me relishing the feeling of my core throbbing around him.

"Oh, how I've missed you, Edward. Welcome home, my love." I smiled at him and traced my fingers along his jaw line and down his throat. I reached up to him and kissed the warm pink flesh of his chest. His patience had happily left the room as he set a steady pace, kissing me all over my face and fisting my hair. He groaned as another orgasm coursed through me causing me to dig my nails into his back.

"Bella. Oh, God, I love you. I … don't… think…I can … hold… on… much … longer." A moment after he said the last word, the urgency in him took over and we reached our high together, both struggling to breathe. He collapsed onto me, panting close to my ear, his breath fanning over my neck.

I held him, tightly to me, trying to regulate my breathing and heartbeat. I hated to think about anything other than him but I did have to check the time. As he rolled over onto his back staying very still, with his eyes shut, I quickly glanced at the clock.

I only had about ten minutes before I had to get into the shower and get back downstairs and make sure the dinner was ready on time.

I rolled over onto my side and stroked his chest and stomach gently. He twitched and shivered slightly.

"I'll have to get into the shower in a minute. The kitchen is calling my name," I whispered and kissed his shoulder. "You stay here and rest. I'll see you in a little while." He didn't answer. He had already fallen asleep. I shifted the comforter to cover him up so he wouldn't get cold and I had a quick shower. I dried myself off and towel dried my hair. I got dressed and brushed and retied my hair. I quickly picked up his clothes and put them on the chair, quietly leaving the room to go back to the kitchen. Duty calls!

I cut up the fish and cooked the pieces in the milk mixture with the prawns, herbs and black pepper. I began layering the fish and vegetables in the large oven dish. I made the sauce and poured it over the fish and put the cooked potatoes through the ricer. I put a thick layer of the potato over the fish, sprinkling some grated red cheese over the top. The main course was ready to put in the oven when the family arrived home. I quickly turned on the oven to heat up to the right temperature.

Finishing the dessert, ready to be cooked, I put the cherries and juice in an oven dish and covered it in the crumble topping, adding a little brown sugar to the top. This was also ready for the oven when the family came home.

I switched on the kettle to make myself a much needed cup of tea and put the dough balls into the oven. I had about ten minutes now, before the family was due home. I used this time to set the dinner table and wipe down the countertops and make sure that the kitchen was tidy.

Just after five o'clock they all arrived home within minutes of each other.

"Is Edward home yet?" Esme asked with a large smile.

"Yes, he's upstairs catching up on some sleep." I answered.

"Good. You'll wake him when dinner is ready, won't you, Bella. He needs a good meal inside him, I'm sure." She added, giving me a hug.

"Yes, I will Esme. It's a cold watercress soup to start so I don't have to worry about it spoiling." I answered.

I took the rolls out of the oven and let them cool down on the wire rack and put on a pot of coffee. I put the fish pie into the top part of the hot oven and slid the cherry crumble into the bottom of the oven to cook gently. I made my way upstairs as everyone was getting ready for dinner and went to wake Edward up. He stirred as I entered the room. I sat down on the bed, next to him.

"Everyone is home from work and I'm going to be serving dinner shortly." I said in a hushed tone. I stroked his chest with my fingers, relishing the chance to touch him again.

"Okay, I'll just have a quick shower and I'll be down before the soup is on the table." He said, making it sound like a challenge.

"Okay, Edward. You're on!" I stood up and began to walk out of the room. I saw him get out of bed and dash into the bathroom, in my peripheral vision. I smiled to myself. By the time I shut the door he was in the shower. I decided to be kind and took my time making my way back to the kitchen.

I took out the soup from the fridge and gave it a good stir and poured it into the tureen. I carefully added some Greek yoghurt in a swirling pattern, making sure that it just sat on the top of the soup. I put the rolls in the bread basket and took them out to the table. I returned to the table with the soup just as Edward sat down at the table. The whole family laughed as they saw the pleased look on his face.

"Don't tell me you set a challenge, Bella?" Emmett said loudly. "I haven't seen Edward move so fast out of water, for a long time!" Emmett added, slapping Edward on the back and making Edward wince.

"Well I think we'll have to call it a draw, as I've just set the soup on the table the moment you sat down!" I announced watching him as he tried to regain his normal breathing pattern.

Emmett looked at the soup as Esme filled each bowl. "Hey this is green!" He exclaimed.

"Yes, Emmett. It's watercress soup. And before you state the obvious, it's cold." I stated, sitting down at the table next to Edward, who seemed to have recovered from running down the stairs.

Emmett's face was a picture. His eyebrows had arched up as high as they could go and his eyes were almost popping out of they sockets. As everyone else around the table began to eat the soup, he tentatively tried a spoonful. He smacked his lips together and took another mouthful.

"Hey, Bella! This is really quite good. Watercress you said?" He looked over at me for confirmation.

"Yes, watercress. Very good for you." I replied. I quickly finished my soup and left the table to check on the main course. The pie was ready. Edward brought out all the empty bowls and spoons from the table and put them in the sink. He quickly returned to the table having seen what the main course was. I lowered the heat on the oven, so that the cherry crumble would not burn, and put the oven cloves back on to take the large fish pie out to the table and set it down on the trivets.

"Ooooh, Bella that smells lovely." Carlisle gushed. He smiled at me and motioned for me to sit down. I dutifully did.

Very little was said as we ate the pie. I was amazed at the concentration involved in eating a portion of fish pie!

Once I had finished eating, I went to finish the dessert. I took the cherry crumble from the oven to let it cool slightly. I added fresh vanilla to the Mascarpone cheese and gently folded it into the mixture and took the glass bowl out to the table, returning to the kitchen with the now empty pie dish. I carefully went back to the table with the dessert and set it down.

"Wow, Bella! That looks so good." Esme seemed very excited about the dessert. "Cherries are my favourite fruit. How did you know?" She added.

"I didn't, Esme. The cherries looked so good, I couldn't help but get some." I smiled over at her. "I hope you like it, Esme. Be careful though." I looked around the table now to make sure everyone heard me. "Cooked cherries hold the heat for quite a while. Unlike the soup, Emmett," I glanced over to him, "This is very hot!" Emmett just rolled his eyes at me.

We chatted easily and seemed to be quite happy to end the evening having our coffee at the table. I explained to Alice the phone call from Mr Newton. She was a little surprised that he had rung but agreed that it could work out to be a good arrangement.

Alice also told me that she would be giving me a list of people who had rung her enquiring about the wedding planning services that she offered.

"I'll bring home the file for you to look over tomorrow. You'll need to contact the people this week with prices and if they're happy, arrange meetings with them as soon as possible. Is that okay, Bella?" She asked, looking anxiously at my face.

"No problem, Alice. I'll look it over tomorrow evening and then make some calls Friday morning." I replied, smiling at her confidently.

Edward looked at me with a wide grin on his face. He leaned forward and kissed my cheek. "Have I told you recently how wonderful you are and how much I love you, Bella?"

I sat fiddling with the ties of my apron, having noticed the grins on the faces around the table, resulting in a slight blush invading my cheeks. "Yes, but not in so many words and only a few hours ago, actually." I replied, surprised at just how brave I was to give that reply.

Emmett and Rosalie chuckled and looked at Edward. I stood up at this point, smiling sweetly at Edward and began to clear the table. He followed me out to the kitchen and put a pot of coffee on. As I loaded the dishwasher he stood behind me and snaked his arms around my waist following all of my movements. The loading took longer than usual as I was enjoying the close proximity of him just a little too much.

When the coffee was ready I pointed over to the other side of the kitchen to him. He nodded and got the tray ready and took it all into the dinning room. We sat down again to enjoy the final part of the evening with each other.

My day was coming to an end and Edward helped me to tidy the kitchen. We said goodnight to everyone and made our way upstairs.

As we snuggled up to each other, I whispered to Edward, "I think you are wonderful Edward and I love you, very much?"

He kissed my lips gently and held me close to his chest, humming my lullaby to me as I drifted off to sleep.

End of Chapter

Authors note; Umm, I do hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please let me know by reviewing. Alice is going to have her check up with the doctor in the next chapter. I will get some ideas together tomorrow, for the next chapter. Thanks for reading. Take care.