This Is Not My Life Chapter 34 Happy Halloween, a twilight fanfic

A/N: Before I forget, Bellamarie117 works faster and harder and sweeter than anyone else on the planet to beta these monsters for you all, making them intelligible. And she does all that ON TOP of writing her own fic, Take the Ice. So I had to make sure I remembered to thank her for once.

To brother: Shower scene, nyet. Ending scene of the chapter, nyet. For the love of God. Nyet, nyet, Soviet!

Chapter 34: Happy Halloween

BPOV

(October 30th)

I heard the front door slam and Lily come thundering through the house. Confused, I glanced up at the clock and was surprised to see it was almost six.

Crap!

I jumped up from the desk chair and rushed downstairs, my socks almost making me slip on the bottom steps. I found myself tangled in Edward's arms, looking up into his amused, yet slightly concerned face.

"You miss the cast that much, Bella?"

"No," I scowled, straightening myself and blushing as he looked me over appreciatively. It had been a writing day, the kind where I was still wearing my thigh-high socks and pajama shorts, and the way he was currently eyeing my legs made me want to skip candy-shopping and go straight to bed. With him.

And remember to lock the door this time.

"Busy day?" he smirked.

"As a matter of fact, it was," I huffed, pushing off of him and leaning over to hug Lily hello before turning to head back upstairs. "I'll be dressed in five minutes."

"I kind of like what you have on already," he called out after me.

Turning around on the steps, I smiled innocently at him, twirling my hair around my finger as I began to descend again. "I'm sure the checkout boys wouldn't mind it, either."

His eyes darkened instantly as he circled his finger around, motioning me upstairs to change.

"I win!" I shouted as I ran down the hall.

"So you've got your phone?" Edward asked Lily once more before he turned off the engine in the parking lot.

She nodded solemnly, pointing to her pocket. I held up my purse dutifully, where two cans of pepper spray and my TASER gun were tucked inside, along with my phone and an extra set of car keys to Edward's precious car. He smiled, appeased, and got out while I waited patiently for him to open the car door. Some of the many things I'd learned about him in the last month were: he opens all doors, pulls out all chairs, and would rather freeze than let me go without a jacket.

Edward, the Edwardian gentleman.

I snickered at my lame joke and gratefully took his hand out of the car, waiting for him to pull Lily from the car. It was an unspoken rule that for now, she remained in either his or my arms the entire time we were in the store. This time she wanted to be held by me, so I carried her inside, her face tucked into my neck. Edward stayed glued to my side, his hand rigid on the small of my back as we made our way to the candy aisle.

Lily loosened up around my neck when she realized where we were, looking around excitedly at the various bags. Remaining in my arms, she began pointing out all her favorites for Edward to toss in his hand basket. We cut her off at five, shuffling back to the front of the store to check out. We both breathed in relief once we were out of the store, the slightly claustrophobic feeling I always got when we were inside with so many people lightening the closer to the car we got. Once we were all buckled safely inside, Edward reached over before starting the car. He squeezed my hand tightly, giving me an understanding smile.

"Love you."

I leaned across the center console to kiss him quickly. "Love you, too."

"Eww!" came Lily's disgusted squeal from the backseat.

(October 31)

"Bella!" Lily whined. "Can we just go for a little bit and then Daddy can come when he gets home? Please?"

Count to ten. Count to ten. Deep breaths, Bella.

"Lily, for the last time, we cannot go trick-or-treating without Daddy," I said exasperatedly. "He'll be home from work soon and then we will go. Please stop asking."

"Can I call him to see if he's close?" she pouted. "I'm gonna miss all the good candy."

"'Cause that's just what you need," I muttered under my breath, grabbing my phone off the kitchen counter. "I'll call, okay? Why don't you go…check your crown? It looks a little crooked."

"Oh!" she gasped, running out of the kitchen and up the stairs, her seashells sprinkling glitter as she shimmied up the stairs in her mermaid tail.

I dialed him quickly, bouncing my foot irritably on the ground.

"Pick up, pick up, pick up," I chanted.

"Bella, baby, I'm sorry, I know I'm late. I'm almost done here; we had like eleventy thousand kids come in with food poisoning from Halloween parties today. I'm currently wearing my fourth pair of scrubs for the day. I'm on my last case now and then I'm out of here."

"Edward, she is driving me crazy. Can you give me a time?"

"I just need five mo-"

He was interrupted suddenly by a female voice. A female porno-sounding voice.

"There you are, Edward. Are you coming to the Halloween party tonight? I left an invite in your locker the other day, but I never heard back."

God, give me strength to not strangle this bitch through the phone. Thank you, Bella.

"Nurse Mallory, I have asked you repeatedly to call me Dr. Cullen. No, I am not going to the Halloween party. I am taking my daughter trick-or-treating with my girlfriend, whom I am speaking to right now. You're interrupting. Excuse me…Bella? Are you still there?"

"Yeah," I sighed. "So five minutes? Because she's begging me to take her now."

"I…Bella, I just can't. I'll wreck on the way home worrying about it. I'm sorry-"

"No, I know, Edward. I already told her that we had to wait for you. It's just, she's been dressed since after dinner and she's-"

"Is that Daddy? Is he almost here? Can we go? I wanna go. My crown is perfect. Does he have his costume on yet?" Lily bounced back into the kitchen, her pumpkin-bucket in hand.

"I get it, I hear her…I literally only need to sign my name on like two more forms and then I'm out of here. Hopefully there's no traffic, I should be there in less than fifteen, okay? I'm sorry she's driving you nuts, love…Tell her she needs to stop asking or she's not going to get to go at all, alright? Daddy says. I love you, Bella."

Like always, those three little words melted me, a balm on my irritation. "I love you, too."

"See you soon, love."

"'Bye."

Hanging up the phone, I faced Lily. "Alright, Ariel. Daddy will be here in fifteen minutes. He will change into his costume that is ready and waiting on the bed. Then we'll go around the block and come home to pass out candy to everybody else."

"Why can't we give candy now?" she whined. "We don't even have the light on."

"I know we don't, Lily," I gritted out. I need a break. Or a drink. "If we turn the light on now, they'll knock and Daddy doesn't want us passing it out until he's home. He said you need to stop asking or you're not going to get to go at all, alright? Please try and be patient. Do you want to play a game while we wait?"

She crossed her arms, rolling her eyes at me. "I'm gonna go play by myself." She stomped out of the kitchen to her room, leaving me rubbing my forehead to keep my growing headache at bay. I sat down uncomfortably in one of the kitchen chairs to wait for Edward, my long yellow skirt rustling all around me.

How the hell did Belle have dinner with the Beast in this ridiculously huge dress?

Some days, she was a perfect little angel. Some days, I wished for earplugs. Today had been one of those days. She woke up wanting to wear her costume all day, but I couldn't risk her messing it up before trick-or-treating. She wouldn't take a nap. She wanted Halloween candy for dinner. She'd been asking since lunch when Edward would be home.

Add on top of that the fact that Edward hadn't been able to answer his phone all day because he was so busy at work, which meant we couldn't go visit him for lunch, not that I could have taken her up to the hospital when she was acting out so much. My first instinct was to try and soothe her out of her bad mood, but Edward had explained to me that if I bent over backwards every time she acted bratty, she'd do it more and more just for attention.

So here I sat in the kitchen, trying to decide if having a glass of wine, even though I wasn't supposed to mix alcohol with my anti-depressant, was worth risking Edward's wrath.

Probably not. One fight per Cullen per day.

I drummed my fingers against the tabletop, trying to think of something to do while I waited for Edward to get here when something slammed upstairs in Lily's room, loudly. Rolling my eyes at myself for being a sucker, I stood and climbed up the stairs, knocking lightly on her door.

"Lily? Can I come in?"

I heard a muffled grunt from inside that I couldn't decipher, so I opened the door and came in anyway, hearing movements coming from her closet. Walking in, my irritation returned tenfold to find her packing up a suitcase. Her newest thing since Edward's return to work, which was all of a week and a half ago, was to threaten to move back to Esme and Carlisle's when she didn't get her way. She'd been warned repeatedly not to do this, but she was in rare form today.

"Lily? What do you think you're doing?"

She wouldn't even look at me, but I saw her nervous glance as she registered my sharp tone. She knew I'd never hurt her, but I didn't often raise my voice toward her. When I did, I meant business.

She recovered quickly, continuing to pack. As she placed her fairy wings inside her bag, she mumbled, "I'm moving away."

"No, you're not," I argued sternly. "Unpack that suitcase right now."

"No! I wanna move back to Nana and Papaw's. Daddy won't even miss me. All he does is work."

"Lily, that is ridiculous," I sighed, sitting down in the closet. "I know Daddy works a lot, but being a doctor is an important job. Today he helped a lot of sick little kids get better and you know he loves you. He would be devastated if you moved away."

She stopped packing momentarily, looking at me confused. "What's deb-a-stated mean?"

"It means he'd be so sad, he would cry everyday if you moved away. Because he loves you more than anything in the world, even when you yell and throw a fit over having to wait fifteen minutes to go trick-or-treating." I shook my head, standing up and straightening out my dress. "I'm going to go downstairs and wait for him to come home and change into his costume. If you're done having your tantrum by the time he's ready, we'll go trick-or-treating. If you're not, then you're free to stay up here and miss Halloween. But you're not moving anywhere. So unpack that suitcase right now. I mean it."

I walked out of the closet and her room, running straight into Edward. He looked concerned and a little bit tired as he braced my arms.

"Packing again?" he asked worriedly.

I nodded, exhausted.

He rolled his eyes, irritated, kissing my forehead briefly. I didn't want to eavesdrop, so I moved to walk past him when I heard him call my name out behind me. Turning, I cocked my head at him.

"You look beautiful," he said softly before ducking inside Lily's room.

I wandered into our room, smiling at his prince costume laid out on the bed. Carefully gathering my giant skirt and all its petticoats, I laid down, just wanting to rest for a minute. If it actually came down to grounding her from trick-or-treating, the tantrum would be epic.

Should've had that glass of wine.

The first couple of times she had been difficult with me, it had brought me to tears, making me think I must be doing something awfully wrong, that I was obviously just not cut out for this. It had taken not only Edward, but Siobhan and a talk with Esme to help me understand that this was what all kids did.

Siobhan had explained that after spending such an extended period with her grandparents, who admittedly spoiled her rotten, it was an understandable reaction. Edward had spent many late nights with me telling me stories about her terrible twos, and threes, and most of her fours. Esme had held my hand while I cried my eyes out, telling me how the first few times she had to discipline her babies, she too cried, until she learned that it helped them to actually be better, that they needed it, for security.

It didn't mean that days like today didn't still wear me out, though.

"Bella?" Lily's timid voice called out from the doorway. I sat up quickly, grimacing as the tight corset of my dress dug into my side. Edward appeared from behind her, his hands resting on her shoulders. "Can I come in?"

I nodded, motioning for her to come sit next to me, scooting over carefully so as not to mess up Edward's costume. He leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, as she walked over, her eyes downcast on the floor. She stopped in front of me, worrying her hands.

"I'm sorry, Bella."

"For?" Edward prompted.

She looked up at him, then darted her tear-filled eyes to me. "For asking all day to go trick-treating, and for being ugly to you downstairs and for packing my suitcase." Her lip began trembling as she kept apologizing. "I don't really want to move to Nana's."

"Okay," I nodded.

"Please don't be mad at me," she sniffled. "I love you."

"Lily," I sighed. "I will always love you, but that doesn't mean that I have to like when you act like that. You were really rude to me today, and it really hurts my feelings when you talk about moving away."

"I'm sorry," she cried, throwing her arms around my neck. I rocked her for a moment, letting her get it out, until Edward cleared his throat.

"Alright. Lily, I want for you to wait in your room, on your bed, until I change into my costume. Understand?"

She nodded into my shoulder, pulling away and walking quickly out of our room. Edward waited to see her enter her own before closing the door, turning toward me with an understanding smile.

"You gonna make it?"

I groaned, shaking my head and falling back onto the bed. "Edward, days like today make me wish we had a padded soundproof room. For her or for me, I'm not sure."

He crossed the room swiftly, shoving his costume aside to lie beside me. "A soundproof room, huh? We could make good use of that."

I laughed in spite of my weariness, playfully smacking his shoulder. "You are such a perv."

"Card-carrying," he grinned. He stroked my face, his eyes growing serious. "I'm sorry today was so tough on you, love."

"S'not your fault," I mumbled, rolling into his side, ignoring the hospital smell on his scrubs.

"Mmm," he sighed. "I don't wanna go. Let's just sleep. We'll just give her the candy we bought yesterday."

"Edward," I giggled, shoving him unsuccessfully. "A year is a long time to have to hear about how she had to miss Halloween. Up. Now."

"Fine," he grumbled. "I'm going, I'm going."

About fifteen minutes later, I was being kissed awake by Edward.

"Huh. I guess you really are a princess," he said with his crooked grin in place. "Arise, fair maiden. It is time."

About an hour later, we finally made it back home. What had begun as one trip up and down the block turned into more like three blocks, on both sides of the street.

"This is the best Halloween ever!" Lily declared.

Edward fumbled with his keys in the dark, muttering under his breath. "That's what she says every year. We could have just given her the candy."

I elbowed him, laughing as I picked up Lily. "Oof! You have so much candy you're too heavy to carry! I'm gonna have to eat it all! Gobble, gobble, gobble!" I chomped playfully at her hair as she giggled and squirmed in my arms.

"Dadd-ee! Bella's eating me!" she laughed.

He pushed the door open and flicked on the lights, turning around to us with a grin. "Oh, good! Save some for me, Bella!"

"Dadd-ee!" she squealed, writhing out of my arms and running into the living room. "Can we just put the candy outside? I wanna play instead."

He shrugged, looking to me. I murmured quickly, "It's only going to take two greedy eight-year olds to clean it out, but sure, I don't care."

He chuckled and nodded, running to the kitchen to find a bowl to dump the candy into. While he set it outside the front door, Lily started fiddling with knobs on the stereo.

"You should dance," she announced as the intro to Beauty and the Beast began playing through the speakers. Edward appeared from behind me as Lily settled herself into a chair, watching us dreamily, chin in hand, as he began to twirl me.

"What are you doing?" I hissed. "I just got out of a cast; I'm not in a rush to go back in."

He ignored me as he started to sing along, waltzing me about the living room, a cheesy grin on his face. I kept tripping awkwardly over his feet, turning around jerkily. I glared at him as he tried to hide his amusement, but I could see the laughter bubbling up inside him.

"Here, love. I have an idea." He gripped my hips and lifted me until my feet were resting on his, continuing to turn us around and around the room.

I rolled my eyes, unable to keep from smiling. "I feel like a little kid. I think we should just accept defeat. I can't dance."

"You're dancing right now. You just needed the right partner," he winked, picking me up at the waist and spinning me around in the air. Lily clapped joyfully, squealing as the next song began.

"Little Mermaid! Dance with me, Daddy! Dance with me!"

He kissed me quickly, sliding me off of his feet and bowing deeply. I curtsied back and stepped aside for Lily to cut in, falling back onto the couch to watch him spin her and twirl her around the room. It never ceased to amaze me that no matter how many hours he'd been working at the hospital or how exhausted he was, he always found the energy to make her smile like the way she was now, at least once a day. Even on the nights when I had to take his socks off in his sleep after he collapsed into bed.

When Under the Sea came through the speakers, Lily squirmed out of Edward's hold and ran over to me, yanking me up from the chair.

"Let's all dance, Bella!"

"Yes, ma'am," I saluted. We danced about the room, looking like crazy people I was sure, a combination of the Twist, Disco, Jitterbug, and Macarena all mixed together. When Edward attempted the Running Man, I burst out laughing, tripping over Lily until we were a heaping mess of giggles on the floor. Looking up at her, I cocked my head and grinned. "Well, hello again Little Thing. We've got to stop meeting like this."

She snorted, her giggles out of control. "I'm a giggle monster! And a Little Thing and a chef and a princess and a baby and a big girl and a mermaid! I'm so many things, Bella."

I nodded, fixing her crown atop her head. "I know. And I love every single one." She beamed at me as I looked up at Edward, who was watching us with a faraway look in his eye. Quirking my eyebrow at him in question, he shook his head, snapping out of his thoughts. He smiled, helping us both up.

"Alright. It's after nine. It is officially past bedtime for all giggle monsters, little things, chefs, princesses, babies, and big girls."

"And mermaids!" Lily added brightly. "Do I hafta go to bed?"

"You do," he nodded. "So one more piece of candy, then brush your teeth, then bed, okay?"

"Can I have five pieces, since I'm five?" she asked hopefully. When he shook his head, she pursed her lips, accepting defeat. "All-right."

He looked at his watch again, tapping it thoughtfully. "I wonder…do you think you can do all of that in fifteen minutes?"

I raised my eyebrows, shaking my head. "Oh, no. No way. She couldn't possibly do all of that in fifteen minutes."

"Can too!" she argued. "Watch!"

The next twenty minutes were a blur of bedtime routines as she quickly scrubbed off her glitter and brushed her teeth, putting her pajamas on backwards in her hurry to beat the clock. Two rounds with Mo Willems, and she was tucked in and snoring before we turned off the light. I kicked off my gold heels the second we were inside our room.

"Get this God-forsaken dress off of me," I moaned, sure I would have indentations in my skin for days from this stupid costume.

He chuckled behind me as he began to unzip me. "With pleasure."

Rolling my eyes, I held it up with my hands and moved away from him. As tired as I knew he was, he apparently still had a little bit of energy left to be playful. Stepping out of my dress, very carefully and very slowly, I set it over the back of a chair, ignoring the feel of his eyes on me. Walking into the bathroom, I called out over my shoulder, "I'm going to take a shower really quick. I need to get all this makeup off…Coming?"

"God, I hope so," he muttered, appearing right behind me, his jacket tossed haphazardly on the floor, ripping his shirt over his head quickly. I reached inside the door to turn on the water, barely having turned back around before I found myself pressed up against it, his body hard against mine.

"I thought you were tired," I breathed, even as I helped him push his pants down. The slick material got tangled up around his ankles and I couldn't help but laugh a little as he struggled to kick them off. He glared at me playfully, opening the door behind me and pushing me inside, stepping in right after me.

"I'm not tired. I'm fucking exhausted," he corrected, pressing me up against the cool tile. "But my brain forgot to pass the message along to my dick, and he has got a mind of his own when he sees you naked, baby."

As much as the idea of shower sex sounded amazing, I knew he was beyond exhausted. He had shadows under his eyes and his pupils were dilated from lack of sleep. Thinking quickly, I gave him a shy smile before I kissed him.

"I'll tell him for you," I whispered against his lips before dropping to my knees.

His hands went to my hair immediately, careful not to pull as I took him in my mouth. He was trying not to thrust against me, but all I wanted was for him to find his release, to ease some of the tension radiating from his entire body. When he moved his hips slightly, I moaned around him, bringing my hand up to help me.

I heard his palm hit the tile wall hard, the smack and his loud groan echoing in the steam-filled space around us. His gasps became louder the faster I sucked on him, rolling my tongue around his head as I felt it swell.

"Bella…fuck…I'm…I'm…" He let go, releasing down my throat, his body jerking above me in spasms as he slowly came down. When I stood, he kissed me immediately, beginning to trail his fingers down my body. It took all of my willpower and self-control to do it, but I halted his hand, bringing his palm up to kiss it softly.

"It's okay, Edward. Let's just clean up, okay?"

He furrowed his brow, confused. "What? But you…"

I smiled gently, shaking my head. "I know. But you have to be back at the hospital in less than seven hours and we need to sleep."

"But I want to make you feel good," he argued.

"Then finish washing up and cuddle me to sleep," I traded. "That's what will make me feel good tonight."

"Are you su-" he broke off into a yawn, solidifying my resolve.

I laughed, kissing him again. "Yes, I'm sure."

We washed and dried off quickly, slipping into t-shirts and boxers before crawling into bed. He double-checked his alarms before pulling me close to his body.

"Come see me for lunch tomorrow?" he murmured, already half-asleep.

"Okay," I smiled, snuggling into his arms.

"Love you…Bella," he slurred, asleep before he could hear me reply.

"I love you, too."

(November 1)

"Are you gonna pick me up today, or is Daddy?" Lily asked as we walked hand-in-hand up to Esme's door.

"I'm not sure," I answered hesitantly. "I only have a few thousand more words left for this chapter stuck in my head, so if I can get them out, I'll probably be done before Daddy. So, maybe me? But I can't promise."

She stopped walking, gaping at me. "You have a thousand words in your head? That's so many!"

Laughing at her, I rang the doorbell. "It is a lot. If I pick you up today, do you want to see how many words are in your head and write a new story?"

She nodded as Esme opened the front door, beaming at both of us. "There you are! I was wondering when you two would be making an appearance. Was somebody being a sleepyhead this morning?"

Lily ran past her to the playroom, shouting behind her, "Bella's a sleepyhead!"

Grinning bashfully, I raised my hand. "Uh, yeah, sorry, that was me. Lily was up at eight, but I convinced her to snuggle with me for a couple of hours until I could pry myself out of bed and make breakfast. So she's just eaten and now I'm on my way to meet Edward for lunch at the hospital."

Esme smiled understandingly. "I remember the days of stolen minutes in between pages. When was the last time you two had a date?"

I shrugged. "Does meeting with Siobhan count?"

She shot me a look, shaking her head. "Why don't you let Lily come over and have a sleepover on Saturday? You two can come over and get her in the morning or afternoon. Or wait until the family dinner, even."

I bit my lip, unsure. "I don't know, Esme. I feel like I should check with Edward first…"

She smiled slyly. "Or…you could surprise him. I remember my younger days with Carlisle, and Edward is very much like his father. He won't have a problem with it and even if he does, you can always blame it on me."

I debated over it internally, unable to deny how nice a night alone sounded. Lily hadn't been away from us overnight since we'd moved out of Esme's. Blowing out a long breath, I prayed I wouldn't regret this.

"Okay."

I made my way through the hospital corridors, determined to find Edward's department without any help. I turned around the millionth corner, trying not to grin like a lovesick teenager when I finally found him, leaning against a counter, a hand in his hair as he scribbled away furiously at the forms in front of him. His stethoscope was hanging around his neck on top of his white coat, a contrast to his dark blue scrubs.

I have my very own McDreamy.

As if he could sense my presence, he looked up, his entire face lighting up when he saw me. I lifted the bag of sandwiches I'd picked up on the way over, waving them at him. He began to nod, when suddenly his face fell as a woman brushed past me and approached him. I'd never had the…pleasure of seeing her before, but the rigid set of his jaw and the tiredness in his eyes spoke volumes.

God, give me strength to not strangle this bitch in person. Thank you, Bella.

Steeling my shoulders, I continued walking toward him, my smile still firmly in place. She had dropped a folder on top of the forms he had been working on, pointing to something on a chart.

"I just wanted to double-check before I administered this dose, Edward," she smiled, batting her eyelashes and twirling a lock of hair from her ponytail.

He rolled his eyes, not even glancing down at the form. "Then could I suggest, Nurse Mallory, that you ask the doctor who ordered the medication? We don't even work in the same department and this isn't my patient. And it's Dr. Cullen." He looked past her to me, causing her to turn around to follow his line of vision.

Her brow furrowed in confusion for a second before she gaped openly at me. "Aren't you that author woman? The one that was kidnapped?"

If looks could kill, Edward would have struck her down with the fire in his eyes. I just stared blankly at her, amazed at her lack of tact. Breathing deeply, I nodded stiffly. "I usually just go by Bella, though." Looking to Edward, I smiled. "Are you ready for lunch?"

He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Nurse Dum-dum again. "Wait…you two know each other? You're…friends?"

Huffing in annoyance, Edward stepped around her to reach me, placing his arm around my waist, splaying his hand across my stomach. Her eyes widened at the display, looking confused and horrified. As fun as it would have been to shove my tongue down his throat in an attempt to mark him as mine, this woman just wasn't worth my time. I'd heard the stories about her from Edward, all about her quest to land herself a doctor husband. It wasn't even just Edward. Any single doctor in the hospital was fair game. But I didn't need to mark my territory. We knew what we were to each other and she'd probably never get the hint anyway.

Sighing heavily, I leveled her with a bored stare. "I don't think what we are is any of your business. Excuse us."

Edward shoved her folder aside to pick up his charts, his arm remaining tightly locked around me. He turned and guided me away, neither of us bothering to look back at her, even though a small part of me, probably the part that spent a lot of time with Lily and Emmett, wanted to at least turn around for a second to stick my tongue out at her.

He led me to the elevators, hitting the button and running his hand through his hair agitatedly. "I don't think I've ever wanted to hit a woman before today," he mused, his jaw still clenched. When the door opened, I pulled him inside, tugging his lab coat to bring him down to me so I could kiss his irritation away. When he pulled back, his eyes were slightly calmer. "You are one graceful swan, Bella. I'm pretty sure even my mom would have decked her when she-"

I placed my finger on his lips, smiling when he kissed the tip. "I don't care about her. She can say and think what she wants, as long as she keeps her hands to herself. You're mine."

He pinned me against the wall of the lift, the hand not full of charts wrapping tightly around my waist. "I love it when you get possessive, Beautiful."

"Well, you are," I whispered, just to get a rise out of him. He began to drop his head down to kiss me again, when the doors dinged and opened, causing us to jump apart. He chuckled lightly as he guided me through the cafeteria, finding an empty table in the corner.

I groaned as I looked out the window. "Ugh. It's pouring out there. I'm going to get so wet."

He smirked, waggling his eyebrows at me as he tossed his charts aside. "I like you wet."

I swatted at him before handing him a sandwich. "Eat your lunch, perv. How long do you have?"

He shrugged as he inhaled his lunch. Passing him a bottle of water, he chugged half of it down before answering me. "Depends. The longer I take now, the later I'll have to stay. It's not really up to me today, though. I'm waiting on a patient to come out of surgery, so I'll likely be paged soon. Otherwise, I'd be giving you a tour of the on-call room," he grinned mischievously.

"Ooh, baby," I deadpanned, rolling my eyes. "A quickie in a bunk underneath sleeping interns. You romantic, you."

"Would you rather be in a bunk above sleeping interns?" he asked, his lip twitching.

"Seriously, Edward, stop. I'll swoon, right here in the cafeteria."

He grinned, finishing the last of his sandwich and then eyeing mine enviously. I slid it over to him, ignoring his protests.

"I'm not even hungry. I just ate breakfast an hour and a half ago. Take it."

He furrowed his brow in confusion, opening it grudgingly. "An hour and a half ago?"

I wrinkled my nose, embarrassed. "We slept in a bit. And by 'we,' I mean me. Lily and I cuddled in bed for a couple of hours and then I took her to Esme's."

He chuckled, barely even bothering to chew before he swallowed.

Resting my chin on my hand, I watched him wolf down the entire sandwich in less than two minutes. "Hungry, dear?"

Wiping his mouth with a napkin, he shrugged bashfully. "A bit. Forgot breakfast this morning. So, am I picking her up today?"

I slipped my hand into his on top of the table. "I don't know. Can I just send you a text later? If I finish up my chapter in a reasonable amount of time, I should be able to do it…"

"Yeah, but if you slip into your zone, you might completely forget what day it is," he smirked. "I'll call you when I'm about to leave, alright? You can tell me then."

I bit my lip, feeling my face heat. "I don't forget what day it is," I mumbled.

He pushed aside the wrappers to lean on the table. "Uh…yeah, you do sometimes. And it's adorable. Especially when you wear those crazy socks and your glasses."

I flushed even hotter, trying to hide behind my hair as I looked out the window. He reached across the table, tucking my hair behind my ear.

"Don't ever hide that pretty face from me. I don't get to see it enough as it is. I lo-" He was interrupted by his beeper and he grimaced apologetically as he checked it and stood, already picking up his charts and tossing his trash away. "I've got to run, love. I'm so-"

I shook my head, smiling up at him. Standing, I gave him a brief hug, walking with him as we headed back to the elevators, waiting for one to come and take him away. Before he stepped inside, he kissed me, murmuring against my lips, "I miss you."

Laughing, I kissed him once more before pushing him inside. "I haven't even left yet."

He frowned, shaking his head. "That's not what I meant."

Feeling more confident than ever in Esme's suggestion, I smiled at him. "I know. I miss you, too. I'll see you tonight. I love you."

"Love you back," he smiled weakly as the doors closed.

Date night is definitely on.

(November 2nd)

Lily: tucked in and already sleeping at Esme's.

Dinner: cooked, ready and waiting in the warming drawer.

Dessert: baked, ready and waiting in the refrigerator.

Movie: check.

Bathtub: ready.

After bathtub outfit: check. Thank you, Rose.

Now all I needed was Edward. He'd called about half an hour ago to ask if he needed to pick up Lily and I had sidestepped his question, simply telling him it was 'taken care of.' A jingle of keys in the lock made my heart begin to thump in anticipation, which was ridiculous, given that this wasn't even really a date, but it was the first time I'd tried to do something for him, just from me.

I walked out of the kitchen and my smile froze on my face as I saw him trudge through the door, kicking his shoes off and tossing his keys on the table. He looked so worn out, I didn't know how his eyes were even still open. And he had a wadded up bag of trash from McDonald's in his hand.

Oh boy.

He noticed me standing there and gave me a tired smile. "Hey, love. What'd you guys have for dinner? It smells great. I had to stop on the way home or my stomach was going to eat itself."

I tried to plaster a believable smile on my face as I waved my hand in the direction of the kitchen. "Just this Italian dish I wanted to try. Don't worry, there are plenty of leftovers for you for tomorrow. I actually just need to put the rest away really quick. Do you want to get comfortable on the couch?"

He nodded, almost drunkenly, pausing to kiss me on his way to the living room. "You look really pretty today, baby."

I smiled back, more genuinely this time, kissing him once more. "Thanks. I'll just be a minute."

He moved past me and I hurried into the kitchen, pulling the plates out of the warming drawer and covering them to place in the fridge.

It's a good thing I munched while I cooked.

It took some maneuvering to find room next to the bowls of Crème Brule and fruit salad, but I fit them in eventually, grabbing a water bottle before walking out to join him on the couch.

"I got a movie for us to watch if you're not too ti-"

I'm pretty sure he's too tired.

He was hunched over on the couch, asleep sitting up. Snoring slightly, he even had a tiny little bit of drool in the corner of his mouth. I covered my lips to keep in my laugh at his sad state, shaking my head at myself and all the plans for the night that had just gone up in smoke. Sighing, I set my water on the table and sat down beside him.

My poor McDreamy.

Noticing the time on the clock on the wall, I saw it was barely eight. Not wanting him to spend his day off tomorrow nursing a stiff neck, I tried to nudge him gently, whispering his name in his ear. He didn't even open his eyes for a second, completely dead to the world. I kissed him lightly before I covered him with a blanket and headed upstairs to change out of my dress.

I rolled my eyes at the lingerie laid out on the bed, picking it up and laying it over the back of the chair in the bedroom. Slipping out of my dress and into one of Edward's t-shirts quickly, I shivered as the air hit my bare legs. I grabbed a pair of my 'crazy socks' and pulled them up my legs, blowing my hair out of my eyes, annoyed. Snatching a pencil off the nightstand, I whipped my hair into a bun quickly, ramming the pencil through.

Given that all of this had taken less than ten minutes, I truly had no idea what to do with myself. I briefly contemplated writing, but dismissed it just as quickly. I'd gotten plenty done yesterday and I wasn't in the mood. Settling into bed, I decided to read for a bit before trying to wake up Edward again.

A soft touch on my cheek as something was moved from my chest stirred me and I jolted awake, disoriented. I blinked my eyes, adjusting to the light as Edward's face slowly came into focus. Straightening the glasses still on my face, I sat up quickly, looking around for a clock.

"What? What's going on? What time is it?"

He smiled gently, pushing me softly back down. "Shh, love. It's okay. I'm sorry I woke you. Go back to sleep."

Shaking my head, I slid back up the bed to sit again. "No, no, I'm awake."

He chuckled, wiggling the pencil in my hair. "Bella, it's midnight." His smile slowly fell as he eyed my face closely. "I woke up downstairs and couldn't find you anywhere. I opened the fridge to get a drink and I saw…" he trailed off, looking questioningly at me, a tinge of hurt creasing the corners of his eyes.

"Would you believe it's just the leftovers?" I asked hopefully.

He raised an eyebrow disbelievingly at me and then looked pointedly at the lingerie still hanging on the back of the chair. "And I suppose those are just your new pajamas?"

I crinkled my nose. "Yes?"

He sighed. "And the reason why Lily is at my mom's, instead of sleeping in her bed where I went to find her and kiss her goodnight is…?"

I gasped, paling. "Oh, Edward. I am so sorry. You must have been freaking out when you couldn't find her. I never meant to fall asleep; I was going to tell you over dinner…"

He shook his head, smiling slightly as he ran his thumb over my lips. "No, I came in here first and saw the bathroom. Between that and dinner, I had a pretty good idea. I just called to make sure I was right."

Pulling on the pom-poms attached to my socks, I smiled weakly. "Surprise? Are you mad?"

"At you? No," he scoffed. "I'm a little pissed at myself for falling asleep on you like that when you obviously had such a big night planned."

"It's okay," I shrugged. "None of that stuff is going anywhere and neither am I. We'll have other nights. You were really tired. I'd be surprised if you've slept more than five hours a night since you started back at the hospital."

"But," he began hesitantly, "I don't have to work tomorrow. And Lily's not here to wake us up at the break of dawn."

I bit my lip to keep from smiling, eyeing him shrewdly. "Are you going somewhere with this?"

He shrugged a shoulder and smiled that cocky, crooked grin. "I'm just saying…I'm feeling very refreshed from that nap, albeit a little stiff from sleeping on the couch like that. That bath you planned is sounding like a pretty good idea."

Unable to keep the excited smile off my face, I felt my face heat. "Yeah?"

He nodded, leaning back to eye me up and down. "But I don't think we can do that just yet."

Confused, I scrunched my eyebrows at him. He grinned wickedly at me for a second before leaning closer to me now, his eyes focused on my lips as he spoke softly.

"Because…your hair is a mess with that pencil stuck in it….you're wearing your glasses…and those fucking crazy socks with the weird toe things…and I want you. Now."

He covered my body with his then, capturing my lips and stealing all the air that whooshed out of my lungs. His hands were everywhere, playing with the edge of my socks around my thighs, teasing my panties, tugging at my shirt. When he moved his mouth down to my neck, I was finally able to gasp out, "You're making my glasses foggy."

Verbal filter: lost.

He chuckled against my skin, lifting his head up. Taking my glasses off gently, he shook his head as he pulled the pencil out of my hair, shaking it loose behind me. "You are so fucking adorable."

Before he could move to kiss me again, I ripped his scrub top off, making his hair even crazier. He aligned his body alongside mine, kissing me fluidly and thoroughly. He pushed my panties down far enough for me to kick them the rest of the way off, his hands moving to my center immediately. His kisses moved down my neck and jaw as he pushed his fingers into me, going straight for the spot that made me surrender to him completely.

"I seem to recall owing you for the other night," he murmured. "And, if you take into account interest, I believe I have some work to do."

He worked me up to the edge with his hands, then followed quickly with his mouth, teasing my oversensitive skin into a frenzy before I exploded again. As soon as he sat up, I ripped my shirt over my head, already panting and sweating. He stood, his movements lithe as he undressed before me, his eyes dancing over my body. I started to reach for my socks but he was on me again before I could, rolling us over until I was straddling him.

I ground myself down on him shamelessly before he raised me by my hips above him. His eyes were blazing and he clearly couldn't wait any longer. I sank straight down on him, my eyes rolling shut as I took him in as deep as I ever had. His hands slid over my legs on either side of him, up my sides, pausing to caress the lily on my ribcage before settling on my breasts. I moved above him fiercely, never able to get enough of him. He'd just given me two orgasms, but I was still as hungry as ever for more.

He flipped us suddenly, landing me on my back as he kissed me desperately. Pulling back, he stared down at me with a wild look in his eye. "We're alone," he groaned. "And you're not making near enough noise for me. I want to hear you scream, Isabella."

I cried out as he thrust into me hard, almost pushing me up the bed with the force. My hands were twisted in the sheets by my head as I writhed underneath him, words and moans falling from my lips with no thought. He was relentless, his hands sliding over my slippery skin, tugging and teasing, stroking and caressing. I was suffocating in his touch, keening so hard when I came that my throat felt hoarse. A cross between a growl and a roar ripped through him as he stiffened, gasping above me for moments or hours afterward while I, too tried to recover.

"New rule," he panted. "At least once a month, we make time to do this."

"You want to only have sex once a month?" my sex-addled brain blurted out confusedly.

Laughing breathlessly, he grinned down at me. "No. We have the house to ourselves at least once a month. So we can do that. Repeatedly. Loudly."

I moaned softly as he pulled out of me, unable to move as he collapsed beside me. "Rain check on the bath. I can't move. My legs feel like jelly."

"Uh-uh," he disagreed, pushing himself up. He picked me up swiftly, carrying me to the bathroom and setting me on the counter. "We've stolen many showers, but I don't think I've ever gotten to curl up in a bath with you, and I can't pass up on the chance since we don't have to worry about little fingers under the door."

I laughed as he started the water, holding up the bottles of bath salts and bubbles confusedly.

"Just pour in about a cup. They smell good and soothe your muscles."

He shrugged, dumping some in and then walking back over to me, slowly peeling off my socks. I blushed, realizing how ridiculous I must have looked. As if he could read my mind, he smirked at me, throwing them on the floor. "Never knew I had a sock fetish before you, love."

I laughed as he lifted me from the counter, setting me into the bath and turning off the water before climbing in behind me. Smiling, I settled into the warmth of his chest as I played with the bubbles in front of me.

"I feel like I'm in a scene from Pretty Woman. Oh my gosh! Wasn't his name Edward, too? And he played piano!"

He snorted behind me, wrapping his arms around my torso. "Your mind is a mysterious place sometimes, Beautiful."

I rubbed my hands over his legs, up and down, just to feel the connection, enjoying the quiet, comfortable silence. We stayed in the tub until the water turned cold, drying each other off and slowly redressing into our comfort clothes, the lingerie long forgotten. We fed each other dessert in between laughs at his favorite Mel Brooks movie, making love once more before falling asleep on top of each other on the couch in the early hours of the morning.

A/N: Review for a teaser. Next chapter is the last regular chapter. *gulps and hides from the flying tomatoes*

FGB Update. You're probably tired of hearing about this, but I just want to make sure everybody knows you've still got some time to sign up, and it would be nice if you've filled out the form and pledged or however it is that it works, if you could let me or Monamour have a good idea of what outtake you'd like to see.

Want to hear the fight where Edward gets told to shut his condescending, primeval, chauvinistic mouth? Or the makeup sex that came after?

Their first time after the cast came off?

Want to hear about the first time they forgot to lock the bedroom door?

I'm offering up any POV, from any chapter, pretty much any prompt. And I'm writing a bunch. Let her know, folks, let her know.

Fic Rec:

I Don't Believe in Vampires by lazykate. AU, and faaan-tastic. She's got and outtakes story, too.