A/N: Ok, so it's been forever and I'm sorry! Work has been hectic and then there was Easter with the family…but enough excuses. This chapter is really long, so I've ended up splitting it in half. The second half will be shorter than the first but this was a good place to break it.

The picnic and proposal took a lot more than I originally planned, as did Bella's day at work.

Happy reading!

Chapter 34

We walked hand in hand the three blocks to the park and found Edward's family, along with Rosalie and Jasper in a prime spot to watch the fireworks from. Alice and Esme both stood and came over to hug us as we approached while Emmett and Carlisle continued unpacking the four picnic baskets scattered around.

"How much food did you guys bring?" I asked Alice as Edward went to greet his father and brother.

"Enough," she shrugged, turning to pull a six pack of beer and a bottle of wine from a cooler. "Real glasses!" she announced with a grin, handing one each to myself, Rose and Esme. She uncorked the wine and poured us each a glass, while Jasper reached over and handed the beers out to the boys.

We got stuck into the food then and it was amazing. Alice had always told me what a great cook Esme was and dinner proved it. There was a cold baked chicken and half a ham, along with four or five different salads and what was definitely home-made bread.

The sound of a voice on a loudspeaker drew our attention to the street behind us. We all turned to see a black open-backed Jeep driving along, with a guy in the back letting people know there was an hour until the fireworks.

"Emmett drives a Jeep!" Alice, Rose, Jasper, Edward and I chorused. Emmett rolled his eyes and Carlisle and Esme looked confused. Rose explained it to them and soon they were laughing along with the rest of us.

We spent the next hour eating dessert. In addition to my baked cheesecake there was a black forest cake and tiramisu. Alice opened a second bottle of wine and the boys opened a second six pack of beer. We were all relaxing when the Jeep came past again with a fifteen minute countdown, which earned another chorus of, "Emmett drives a Jeep!", much to Emmett's disgust.

We stayed facing the street, each of us girls leaning against our partners to keep us sitting upright. I stole a glance at Emmett and he looked a little pale, but I knew he'd be fine.

The fireworks started right on time and they were nothing short of spectacular. I kept glancing at Emmett out of the corner of my eye so I could grab everyone's attention at the right moment. Twenty minutes later, I saw him gently lift Rosalie away from his shoulder and reach into his pocket. I kicked Jasper in the butt to get his attention and motioned toward Emmett with my head when he turned around. He quickly whispered in Alice's ear and she turned towards Emmett as well. I elbowed Edward in the ribs and inclined my head in Rosalie's direction and Esme caught my movement and alerted Carlisle.

As the big finale of fireworks shot into the sky, Emmett knelt in front of Rosalie and opened a velvet covered box. None of us could hear what he said over the noise around us but the look of love in his eyes and the surprise on Rose's face was enough. He pulled the ring from the box and slid it onto her finger, never taking his eyes off her face. I could sense Carlisle and Esme, Alice and Jasper, and Edward all holding their breath along with me. A broad smile spread across Rosalie's face as she nodded once, almost imperceptibly, and then Emmett was on his feet, swinging her around.

"She said yes!" he boomed, audible even over the fireworks and the other people in the park.

Alice and I both squealed and jumped up, rushing over to hug Rose as soon as Emmett put her down. Carlisle and Esme embraced Emmett and then Rosalie, and Edward and Jasper joined in soon after.

"Champagne!" Alice declared, pulling a bottle and eight champagne flutes out of a second cooler.

Once everyone had a glass, Carlisle proposed a toast to Emmett and Rosalie. "May you be as happy together and Esme and I are!" he announced. We all raised our glasses and clinked them together.

"I also have a toast," Esme announced. We all turned towards her. "To Rosalie, Jasper and Bella – you have completed our family and made Emmett, Alice and Edward so happy!"

I blushed as Carlisle, Emmett, Alice and Edward echoed Esme with, "To Rosalie, Jasper and Bella!" and we all had another sip of champagne.

We all sat back down after that and chatted for a while before Alice and Jasper started packing up the food. I yawned and tried to hide it with my hand.

"Edward, you should get Bella home – she's been working all day and has to go in again tomorrow," Esme prompted.

"It's ok, I'm not that tired," I lied. I yawned again and Esme and Edward laughed.

"Go!" she said with a smile. "We'll take care of the cleaning up."

We stood and collected our belongings. Alice came over to give me a hug goodbye. "I'm staying at Jasper's tonight since he has the night off, so I'll see you at home tomorrow night, ok? I was thinking we could go out tomorrow night, maybe dinner with mum and dad and then us kids can head out after?"

"Sounds good to me," I said with a smile.

We waved goodbye to the others and headed back to my truck. Edward unlocked the passenger door and I climbed in and leaned my head back against the seat.

"You look tired," he said as he started the engine and headed towards my apartment.

"I am," I admitted, not opening my eyes.

"How about I run you a hot bath when we get back to your place and you can soak for a while before bed?" he offered

"Mmm," was my only reply.

"Or I could just tuck you into bed?" he asked.

"Mmm hmm," I mumbled.

I must have dozed off because the next thing I knew, I was laying on my bed and Edward was taking my shoes off. I sat up slowly and he smiled at me.

"Hi there," he said, leaning over and giving me a gentle kiss.

"How did we get up here?" I asked, not sure I was even awake.

Edward dropped my shoes on the floor and came and sat next to me. "You fell asleep in the truck so I carried you up in the elevator," he said with a smile. "The deadbolt was a bit tricky with only one hand but I managed."

I smiled back at him and kissed his cheek. "I'm exhausted – do you mind if we just sleep tonight?"

"Sleep is never a bad thing Bella. As long as I have you in my arms I'm happy," He hugged me gently and then released me. "Now get yourself in your jammies and get into bed!"

He walked out of my bedroom and I heard the bathroom door close a few seconds later. I changed into my pyjamas and set out my scrubs and a long-sleeved t-shirt for the next day.

"Bathroom's all yours," Edward said as he came back into the room. I shuffled down the hall and cleaned my teeth and washed my face before heading back to bed.

Edward was already under the covers when I walked in and I quickly joined him, snuggling up to his side.

"I love you, Bella Swan," he whispered against my hair.

I reached across his body and pulled his left hand across his chest, intertwining our fingers over his heart. "I love you too, Edward Cullen," I mumbled as I drifted off to sleep.

All too soon, my alarm went off. The weatherman was predicting another fine and sunny day with a warm night as I slapped at the radio until it stopped.

"Morning grumpy bum," Edward teased, wrapping his arm around me from behind.

I grunted at him before burying my face in my pillow.

"Come on, it's not that bad. I'll make you breakfast," he offered.

"Mmkay," I replied, my voice muffled by my pillow.

I kicked the covers off and rolled over, smiling despite my bad mood when I saw his gorgeous face smiling at me.

"That's better – you're cute when you're grumpy, but you're downright beautiful when you smile," he whispered, leaning in and kissing me.

I kissed him back and pulled myself in closer to him, pressing my body against his.

"Do you have time?" he mumbled in my ear.

I quickly turned my head and checked the time. It was half past six, I needed to leave in an hour. "If you make my breakfast and don't join me in the shower, yes," I replied.

Half an hour later I made it to the shower and it was one of the quickest showers of my life. My hair went into the obligatory ponytail and I rushed back to my room, pulling on my scrubs and tying the pants and I headed to the kitchen. I walked in as Edward popped two English muffins out of the toaster. "Coffee's on the table," he said over his shoulder.

I sat and drank deeply from my mug, admiring his bare back and the way he looked in his grey sweats as he worked at the kitchen counter.

"Stop perving," he teased, turning around with breakfast. "Bacon and eggs, quick style," he announced.

He'd heaped scrambled eggs on the English muffins and placed two rashers of bacon on top of the eggs before putting the muffin top on. "Mmm bacon," I almost drooled as he placed one in front of me.

We ate quickly and I asked what his plans were for the day. "Study," he replied once he swallowed his food. "I figured since you don't have to work until tomorrow night, and Alice wants to go out tonight that I'd study all day today so I can spend tomorrow with you, then I can do some last-minute stuff tomorrow night after you go to work before the first part of the exam on Monday."

"Is the law that different?" I asked.

"Yes and no," he answered with a shrug. "I just have to make sure I'm across it all."

"You'll do fine," I said with a smile, standing and taking my plate and mug over to the sink.

"I'll clean up," Edward said, surprising me by wrapping his arms around me from behind. "You finish getting ready for work."

I turned and stretched up to give him a quick kiss and then headed back to the bathroom to clean my teeth. Edward was still in the kitchen when I came back.

"I made you lunch," he said, looking at the floor. "There were no leftovers so I made you a salad sandwich." His face was bright red.

I tilted his chin up and gave him a sappy smile. "That is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me," I told him softly. "And it means I don't have to eat cafeteria food!"

I was out the door five minutes later and at the hospital ten minutes before my shift started. I headed to the nurse's station to find Jessica sitting there. This should be interesting, I thought to myself. Before I had a chance to speak, Jessica looked up.

"Good morning Doctor Swan. How are you?" she asked.

I caught myself before my jaw hit the floor and replied, "I'm fine thank you Jessica, how are you?"

"Fine thank you," she replied. "Doctor Mallory has called to say she's running half an hour late, would you mind taking the critical patients this morning?"

"That's fine," I said, taking the five charts she handed me. I quickly flipped through them and prioritised them for rounds.

"Morning Doctor Swan," I head Dr Taylor call from behind me.

I turned and smiled as the blonde attending came to a stop at the nurse's station. "Hi Doctor Taylor," I replied.

"Did Jessica let you know Doctor Mallory will be late this morning?" she asked, rolling her eyes.

I smiled again. "She did, I have the five critical cases here," I said, indicating the charts in my hand.

"Let me know if you need any help – I'll take the five non-critical cases with Doctor Mallory's interns and get them started," she said, taking the other charts from the counter.

My interns had all arrived by eight so I handed over the charts. "Five new cases today guys, all classed as critical. I'll give you fifteen minutes to go over them and then we'll round, ok?"

They all nodded and I turned to head to the locker room for my water bottle when I heard my name being called.

"Doctor Swan?" It was Dr Dart Ellis, my one female intern. I'd asked her about her unusual first name on her first shift with me and she'd rolled her eyes, telling me it was a long story.

"Yes, Doctor Ellis?" I walked over to her.

She looked quickly over her shoulder at the retreating forms of Drs Smith and Campese. "Well, I just wanted to say, well, we all really enjoy working with you and Doctor Whitlock. We were wondering if there was any way that we could avoid working with Doctors Mallory and Newton?"

"Did the boys put you up to this?" I asked with a smile, leading her over to a couple of chairs against the wall.

She blushed and smiled. "They thought it might be better, coming from me, since I'm a female," she admitted.

"Have either Doctor Mallory or Doctor Newton done anything inappropriate?" I asked.

"Only when Doctor Newton asked Roger…I mean, Doctor Smith, to do something on his own," she replied.

I thought for a minute before replying. "I don't think I can have you specifically assigned to myself or Doctor Whitlock, so I suggest you guys work hard for all of the doctors, regardless of who they are. I've been nothing but impressed with the three of you in comparison to some of the other interns, and I hope that's a reflection on the fact that most of your training has come from Doctor Whitlock and myself."

"That's fair," she said. "I'd better go read those charts so the boys don't show me up!"

I smiled as she walked away, pondering her concerns. I decided to raise it with Dr Taylor later on in the day if I got the chance.

Fifteen minutes later I rounded up my interns and we went to the first patient. I introduced myself and turned to my interns. "Who's presenting?" I asked.

Doctor Smith stepped forward, opening the chart in his hands. "Monica Dwyer, age twenty seven, third degree burns to seventy percent of her right hand. Treated last night in the burn unit, moved to trauma this morning for rest and observation. Ms Dwyer is a haemophiliac so grafting is being delayed while the burn unit researches the safest way to undergo the procedure."

"Very good Doctor Smith," I praised with a smile. "Treatment?"

"Low dose morphine, dressings to be changed six hourly, check-up by burn unit staff every eighteen hours," he read from the chart.

"Thank you Doctor Smith," I said. I turned to the patient. "Ms Dwyer, Doctor Smith is going to take care of you for the rest of today, please don't hesitate to let him know if you're experiencing any discomfort."

She smiled and thanked us all. As we left her room, I took her chart from Dr Smith and made a few notes. "She's all yours," I said with a smile, handing back the chart.

"Thanks Doctor Swan," he replied. "Could you please observe when I do the first dressing change?"

"Not a problem," I told him as we walked into the next room.

We repeated the process with all five new patients. The first three were assigned to the intern who presented, the last two I made group cases as the patients had multiple injuries.

After rounds my interns dispersed to run tests and generally provide patient care. I checked in at the nurse's station and was pleased to see that Jessica's shift had ended and Eric was in. We chatted for a few minutes until Lauren arrived.

"Bella," she said with a nod of her head.

"Doctor Mallory," I replied. "Doctor Taylor was rounding with your interns this morning."

"Are you telling me how to do my job?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not at all," I said calmly. "I just thought you might like to know where your interns are."

"Well I don't," she spat back.

I tried to cover my smile as I saw Doctor Taylor coming up behind her.

"Is there a problem, Doctor Mallory?" she asked sweetly.

Lauren looked like she'd been slapped in the split second before she turned around. "No problem, Doctor Taylor. Just checking the board," she lied.

"Right, well, come with me and I'll fill you in on your cases for today. And since you're forty minutes late, I expect that you'll work back this evening to make up for lost time and set a good example?" Dr Taylor phrased it as a question but we all knew it was non-negotiable.

Eric and I laughed quietly as they headed off down the corridor. "I'm going for a coffee, want one?" he offered.

I said yes and he headed off towards the elevators. I placed my interns names next to their patients on the board and then turned around and picked up the phone to call Edward. I stopped myself though because I knew he was studying. Maybe later, I told myself as Dr Smith headed towards me.

"Doctor Swan? It's time for Ms Dwyer's first dressing change, would you have five minutes?" he asked.

"Of course," I replied, following him to Ms Dwyer's room. "When did she last have pain meds?"

"The morphine was administered ten minutes ago," he told me. We entered the room and he washed his hands thoroughly, then he quietly explained to Ms Dwyer what he was going to do and told her to stop him if she was experiencing any major pain. She nodded and smiled and he gently removed the dressing, working slowly and carefully. Once it was off he gently examined the area before applying a fresh dressing. He smiled and told her he'd be back to check on her shortly before throwing the old dressing in the waste container and washing his hands again.

"You did really well," I told him as we walked out of her room.

"I had a good teacher," he replied with a smile.

We went our separate ways and I retrieved my coffee from Eric. I spent the rest of the morning overseeing different tests and procedures for my interns. I ate my salad sandwich and smiled as I remembered Edward's embarrassment at having made it for me. I picked up the phone at the nurse's station and gave him a call.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Hey baby, how's the study going?" I asked.

"Hey! It's going well – I've got through a lot – just having some lunch," he replied.

"Me too – my sandwich was so good. Thank you!" I told him.

"You're welcome. Anything interesting going on there today?" I couldn't believe he actually sounded interested.

I gave him the basics of the cases we had. "Pretty normal for the day after the fourth, really," I finished.

"I miss you – I can't wait to see you tonight," he said.

"It's only been five hours! How are you going to be when you go back to Chicago?" I joked.

"I don't want to think about it," he said sadly. "Be safe?"

"Always," I replied with a smile. "I love you."

"Love you too. Bye," he said and hung up.

The afternoon seemed to drag on. Every time I looked at the clock it felt like each second was an hour. Five thirty came and we rounded on our cases again. I updated the charts for the incoming residents and placed them back at the nurse's station.

Ten minutes before six Dr Newton came up to me. "Doctor Swan. I'll be taking over your cases this evening."

I quickly explained each case to him, making sure to go over when dressings were changed last and when pain meds and antibiotics were administered. He seemed to be listening which was good and he thanked me for leaving the charts in such a clear condition.

I said goodbye to my interns and stuck my head into the office the attendings shared to say goodnight to Doctor Taylor. I grabbed my bag from my locker and almost ran to my car.

Traffic was light and I made it home in near record time. I walked in the door to find Edward and Jasper playing cards on the coffee table.

"Heyo boyos," I sing-songed as I closed the door behind me.

"Hey Bells," Jasper replied as Edward stood up to welcome me home.

"Bella! Shower! Now!" Alice's voice commanded from the hallway.

"Why?" I called back, cuddling back into Edward's arms.

"Because we're meeting our parents for dinner at seven and then going out afterwards. Move!" she giggled.

I shrugged and slipped out of Edward's arms. "Can't argue with the pixie!" I said as I headed for the shower.