Days Like This

Chapter 34

BPOV

Almost two weeks passed and I still hadn't found the opportunity to discuss the Jacob situation with Edward. We were both exhausted by the end of the day and it wasn't something I wanted to spring on him at an awkward moment. It was putting me on edge, having this huge thing that I wasn't sharing with him. Most days, I was irritable and distant, at best. Other days, I was so overcome by some little thing he said or did that I would practically jump him. Juliet had a few early nights so he and I could get to bed early. And yeah, making love in his massive fucking bed in our own room was beyond expectations – even with total exhaustion.

I made a mental note to go see my gyno about birth control. A mental note, I snorted to myself. There was no fucking room for an actual note with Edward's posted everywhere. They were driving me crazy. Every time I walked by the fridge, I'd walk away with one on my arm. I found more than a few inside the fridge – probably having fallen off of my arm. When I discovered them invading the bathroom as well, I'd had enough and gathered them all up and condensed anything that I knew hadn't been done onto a few and tossed them all with vengeful glee. I couldn't live like this. It was a little annoyance but I knew it would build. I also knew he needed his sticky notes or he'd be lost. What he needed was a reminder station. I'd set that up before I ended up burying him in the backyard with little yellow Post-It notes marking his grave.

I got Juliet ready and grabbed the note stuck to the door with a grumble on my way out. I presumed this was supposed to go with him. It was a store list: milk, bread and 'things – you know'. No. I didn't know. How the hell would I know? I bought the milk and bread and a giant white board with markers and a little basket to keep them and his note pads in. I hung it by the door to the garage where he'd leave his shoes and keys – the most convenient place to help him along with his day. I felt pretty good about my ingenuity.

Until he arrived home. He said it was great, but his eyes told me otherwise.

"Okay. Spill it Cullen. What's your issue with the board?"

"Nothing! It's great. I'll get in the habit of having a look every morning. It'll be great."

"I sense a 'but'."

"More of an 'if'," he admitted. "It's just, I have to write it when I think of it. I won't be standing by the door, thinking. And if I have to wait to make the note, by the time I get to the board, I'll forget."

I arched a brow and crossed my arms over my chest. "Really? You can't write it where you think and then carry it to the board? That won't work for you?"

He shrugged. "I can try. It's just not how I've done it all these years. I'll work on it." His face lit up as he remembered something. "I left stuff in the car! Be right back."

"Now you can write it down when you come in! 'Remember to get the stuff from the car!'" I shouted out to him, half joking. I got an amicable extended finger and his sexy grin in response. He was okay with it.

"How did you get that thing home, anyway?" He called out from the kitchen once he was back inside.

"I can do anything when I have determination on my side." I watched him stare at the empty fridge door before he opened it and then watched him sigh as he picked up the milk I'd bought.

"You bought milk. Well, me too."

It was my turn to sigh. "Yeah, Edward. I bought milk. Because it was on a STICKY. By the DOOR. And I presumed that meant that we needed milk today. And so I checked and wow! Yeah, we needed milk. So I took the fucking note down and went and bought the things ON your LIST so you wouldn't have to! Only I don't have a fucking clue what 'things – you know' are, so you're on your own with that! I'm not incompetent, you know. I'm capable of going to the store when we need things. It's a block away!"

He stared back at me like I was insane, still standing at the fridge with a milk carton in his hand. It was made worse by the fact that I was hissing my words so Juliet wouldn't hear from the next room. "Bella, it's just milk. So we have two. No big deal. I didn't know what you had lined up today or I would have asked if you would be able to get it or if you wanted me to. Thing is, when I write it down, that means I'll do it. You don't have to worry about it."

"But you wrote it and then forgot it! The whole point of your writing it down, Edward, is so that you won't forget - so when you forget the note… well…" Okay, I sounded insane. Funny, I had found his little notes so endearing in the beginning and now it was making me a mad woman, ranting in our kitchen. I took a deep breath and focused on how cute it used to be.

Okay.

Calmer.

"I remembered the note after I got in the car but didn't want to wake Juliet coming back in. I wrote another." He pulled another damned sticky out of his pocket to show me. "Milk, bread, condoms… see? I do remember some things, sometimes."

Next thing I knew, I was giggling in his arms. "That's what 'things – you know' means?"

"Yeah. Like I'm gonna leave a note by the door that says 'Go buy rubbers horndog!' Get in that habit and when Juliet starts to read, it'll be pretty embarrassing. It's your fault we're out anyway."

"That's cute, Edward." All the sweetness of his notes returned and I gave him the most apologetic kiss I could. "Sorry I blew this up."

"Not a problem. Thank you for helping me out with the board and condensing my scribbles the way you did. I noticed. And it's a big help. I'll do my best to get them to the board from now on. Are we okay?"

"I feel like an idiot, but yeah, we're okay."

"We can make it up to each other later. Because we've got things… you know…"

I smacked his ass playfully and shoved him towards the living room. "Go see Juliet. She has something to say to you. She's been practicing."

He gave me a kiss and took my hand as he pulled me along behind him. "Hi Sunshine! How's my girl?"

She dropped her toy and stood up, promptly falling back on her bum. It didn't deter her any. Her smile remained, showing all four sparkling teeth and her arms went out to him. "Uuuh-pah!"

"You want up? You got it Sunshine! That's wonderful!" He scooped her up happily as she clapped her hands together. "Can you say it again for me?"

"Uuh-pah!"

He laughed and gave her a squeeze. "She claps for herself, that's precious. And a two-word vocabulary… there's no stopping her now!"

I didn't tell him that we'd been working on another. That would be a surprise; I hoped a well-timed surprise.

"We need another date night," I mumbled against his chest later on in bed. Worn out from the day and the double-header we'd just had, another day had passed without telling him what Charlie had started for us. I came to the conclusion, it couldn't happen under normal circumstances. Anything of importance, we'd need a night to focus on relationship things, not worrying about who's picking up milk and who's changing Juliet's diaper.

"I'm up for that!"

I took a peek under the sheet. "Liar," I teased.

"Give me five minutes." He waggled his eyebrows. "Seriously though, a date night would be great. We spend less time together now that we live together. It's weird."

"You noticed too, huh? Well, it's fixable then. Alice said she'd watch Juliet on Friday. That's your early day, right?"

He let out a wide yawn. "Yeah. Um, I was thinking… how would you feel about waiting until next week? More importantly, how would you feel about a weekend date? I'm off until my Sunday night at the hospital. If not the whole weekend, at least an over-nighter? There's a place one of the doctors raves about, in the mountains. I've been wanting to take you there. Would you leave Juliet with Alice for the night?"

I gave it some consideration. "Maybe your parents could take her?" I trusted Alice for a few hours, but her patience and attention span on anything longer, besides Jasper and shopping, was sorely lacking. Juliet would be more comfortable with Esme and Carlisle, I thought.

"Yeah? They'd love it! I'll see about reservations too! This is exciting." He held me close and kissed the top of my head. "You know what this means?"

I chuckled, tilting my head back to kiss his chin. "A full night of sleep?"

"Sleep? Sleep! This means hotel sex, baby!" He reached down to give my ass a squeeze. My body responded accordingly.

"You uh… you'd better stock up on things, in that case. You know…" I grabbed another from the box before dipping below to help him rise to the occasion of a third round. Hotel sex definitely piqued my interest. I wondered what that would be like. He seemed most vocal during oral, but it was still muted. Would he let loose in a hotel, completely away from Juliet? This would be a practice session. His soft moans made me smile as I licked and lapped happily. What I really loved was the guttural gasp he'd make when I sucked. It was such a turn-on. I prolonged it to tease him just a bit. I got the gasp I desired and an 'oh fuck!' to top it off. Lovely, Edward. Keep moaning, baby.

The arrangements worked out perfectly. Alice and Jasper were taking Juliet out to the zoo and then dropping her off at Esme and Carlisle's. She seemed to have relaxed on the teething; happy with four, she showed no signs of another erupting in the next week. Edward secured our room at the resort and we were like giddy kids on Christmas Eve as we packed.

And like horny teenagers when we arrived. We tested out the bed before we even unpacked or looked at the service guide provided. Edward could provide me with every service I needed anyway.

"I noticed you wrote a doctor's appointment on the board," Edward commented out of the blue. My leg was still thrown across him. Though he was sticky and deflated, I didn't want to break the contact. What the hell made him think of that now?

"Um… yeah. Edward, why are you thinking of the board right now? Hotel sex – remember? That's what we're here for."

He grinned and slapped by butt affectionately. "Done for the time being. I do have other things planned for us as well. You know, for our down time."

"Such as…?" I batted my eyelashes at him.

He cupped my face and gave me a warm, soft kiss. "You'll see. So, about the doctor… is it a check-up? You'd tell me if there was something wrong, wouldn't you?"

"Of course!"

"Bella, I'm just going to come right out and ask and we'll be okay either way… is there a chance you might be pregnant?"

He stunned me with that one. An ill-timed snort escaped me.

"I'm only asking because we have taken a couple of chances and your moods seem up and down… I know you're under a lot of stress lately and it could be that. But it could be hormones, too. You haven't had a period lately, have you?"

Shit. He was serious. "Since that last time we…? Yeah, a light one. Edward, I know I've been moody but it really is just all the changes we're going through. Maybe a little bit of hormones thrown in. That's why I'm going to see about the pill. I'd like to be regular and sane again. And I do prefer you bare, if we're being completely honest." I thought being playful might lighten his mood. We had other, more important things to discuss than a pointless worry over a pregnancy that didn't exist. His cheeks flushed as his eyes darted away. Adorable.

"Sorry about that. I had this stupid idea… idiotic thoughts planted. I'm gonna kill Emmett."

Emmett? What could he have said? "Oh god… of course Rosalie would have told him about Tanya and the… your baby. What did Emmett have to say?"

"Nothing of intelligence. Don't worry about it. He hasn't said a thing, if Rose did tell him. He'd know not to, anyway. This had nothing to do with that." He gave the top of my head a quick kiss and moved out from under me. "Seriously, just forget I said anything. I'm starving! Do you want to go out or will we order room service?"

"We should… go out? I guess. But make it an early night?"

"Perfect! I'm gonna grab a quick shower. I'm sticky."

I stared thoughtfully at Edward as he gave me a wave from the bathroom door. He couldn't wait to get away from me. It was more than embarrassment over his blunder. Did he think I was lying? Trying to trap him? Was his old ghost coming back? He seriously thought I was pregnant.

Oh. My. God.

I sat straight up. He thought I was pregnant! He's disappointed! Oh Edward…

I let my hormones take over briefly and shed a tear for this man who longed for his own baby. And then I took control back from the estrogen and recalled why I'd wanted to make it an early night. I hoped it would make up for the disappointment.

He was waiting patiently, sexy smile in place when I emerged from the bathroom made-up, wearing a dress and heels. He gave me a whistle as he spun me around to take a look. "Nice legs Swan. You look positively gorgeous. Come on. I want to show you off!"

There was never a need for anything more than eye make-up around Edward. He could always make me blush. "Remember though… early night. I have a proposal for you."

And the look was back. Somehow, I had disappointed him again.

EPOV

For a relatively smart man, I could be incredibly stupid. I didn't seem to learn my lessons.

1) I should have told Bella the very first time she put her lips on my enthusiastic dick that it was not a good method of foreplay for me. That was a finisher. Particularly with Bella. She had a technique that drove me insane! It was nothing I'd ever experienced. I couldn't even look at her for more than a few seconds when she was down there without my balls strongly protesting my warning to not spit at her. Repeatedly. It was tense. And then there was the manoeuvre she did with her tongue swirling over the sweet spot as she sucked that blew my fucking mind! My balls detested me for not letting them do what came naturally to them. It shouldn't be problematic, having a girlfriend who gave the best damned blow job… ever! But it was an immense, colossal problem because for whatever reason, it made her hotter than ever to do that and nothing satisfied her at that point other than a rather aggressive pounding.

Dear lord. I knew I would meet my maker while the ecstasy of the fore-mentioned act occurred. Not a horrible way to go, mind you, but I'd hate to leave Bella that way.

2) I should NEVER talk to Emmett about anything involving females that could lead to him explaining that gender to me in great detail. As if he knew. But I knew he didn't get it… and I was still dumb enough to listen. That puts him one step higher on the intelligence scale, I figured.

As if the possibility of pregnancy hadn't entered my mind a few hundred times since he went on about my sister's hormonal rages a couple of weeks earlier, he had to dig the hole deeper still – relating another Lucky Garrett and Horny Kate story. I nodded and laughed at the appropriate times, showing just enough interest to not alert him that I'd tuned out the personal details. Kate was like my sister too. Ew. There's no stopping Em on a roll.

My stupidity came into play with an innocent quip about women getting horniest at the most inopportune times. That, in turn led his brain to instruct his mouth to shout out, "Hey! Maybe Bella's pregnant!"

That was all I needed. My fervent thoughts had dug a trench but hearing it? The seed was planted. Deeply. Everything led me to believe the possibility was great ever since he verbalized it. And I didn't know how Bella would feel about that. I didn't know if Bella had even considered it herself. What I did know, was that Plan Bella had to be stepped up.

I purchased her ring and knew she would love it. I hoped she would love it. I hoped she would accept my proposal, let alone The Ring! A weekend in a mountain resort would be the perfect place to get down on one knee and beg her to put up with me and my sticky notes and forgetfulness despite the reminders, for eternity. I told no one.

Emmett watered the sprout the morning we were leaving. He stopped by my office to give me some hair thing that Rosalie had promised to let Bella borrow. "So… you gonna bring a pregnancy test with you?"

I stopped at a drug store on the way home. One instant home pregnancy kit to go, please. Then I stopped at a different store to buy condoms, because it just seemed ridiculous to purchase both at the same time and location.

I envisioned a late, sleepy morning with the woman I loved more than anyone. Then a lazy day out before a romantic dinner. I would take her back to our suite before proposing because I had a feeling she would hate a public display. I would also hate a public rejection and since I had a pretty good track record with Bella rejecting me, I didn't dare risk it.

Second thoughts hit me once we arrived at our love nest – not about the proposal itself, but the timing. If Bella was pregnant, that would change things. What I most wanted was for Bella to feel comfortable about either and/or both baby and marriage. Which to deal with first… if I proposed first, I could face possible rejection because, knowing Bella, she wouldn't want to accept and then spring a pregnancy on me. I decided to deal with that possibility first, because really, if Bella knew me at all, she would know that there's no way I wouldn't make it all right if we were having a baby together. I'd have her ring there with me already, so she would see I had every intention of marrying her because it's what I want, not out of obligation.

Yeah. Good plan.

Until I asked about the possibility of a baby… and she dashed all hopes of that being true. Shit. I hadn't even realized how much I had hoped it was true until she denied it. I gave myself a lecture in the shower, warning myself to not fuck up the most important weekend of my life over something I had imagined. There was no baby. So what? I was here to ask Bella to be my wife. That was the most important matter at hand. If I had Bella and we never had a baby together, I'd be alright… just as long as I had Bella and my Sunshine. Please say yes…

Then she threw my Weekend Plan for another loop, announcing a proposal of her own. What the fuck, Bella? I had a PLAN… and I was supposed to be the one proposing, not her! I talked myself down again, over dinner. What did it matter, really? If we truly were co-planning Plan Bella, then did it matter who proposed? Did it matter if it didn't happen after a full nice day in the mountains together… if it happened the first night instead…

My new, modified Weekend Plan sprung to mind and I felt better. Much, much better.

"What are you smiling at?" Bella slid over in the booth and pressed up against me. "You look a million miles away, in a happy place. Can I join you there?"

I smiled even wider and gave her a soft kiss. "My happy place is anywhere you are, my love." I stole another kiss, unable to resist watching the blush spread across her cheeks. "Care for dessert?"

She shook her head and looped her arm through mine. "I don't want to leave feeling bloated. This was just enough. Unless you want something…"

I motioned for the bill. I did want something, but I couldn't get it at the restaurant. We took a short walk before returning to the resort to let our food digest.

"We should call in to check on Juliet when we get back," I suggested. "If we leave it too late, my folks will be in bed too. I bet they have a full day planned for her tomorrow."

They were all still up – Juliet, included. Bella cried when her baby called out to her over the phone. Great job, Mom and Dad, I see where I grew from. Nothing kicks off a romantic marriage proposal like an idiot inquiring about a suspected pregnancy followed by a teary phone call. While Bella was finishing up, I poured two glasses of wine that we'd bought while we were out. I wrapped her in my arms to comfort her and then passed her a glass.

"You think I should?" She hesitated with the glass to her lips.

"You'll be getting rid of all of it before you actually nurse again. It'll be fine. Enjoy it. Relax."

"I should change…"

Before she could dash off, I pulled her in for a lingering kiss. I could taste the wine on her – mixed with her own sweet taste, it was extremely enticing. I deepened the kiss and she returned it with hunger that matched mine. We were both breathing heavy when we parted. Foreheads pressed together, I stroked her cheek tenderly.

"I adore you Bella. Everything about you."

"You're kind of perfect yourself." Her voice was husky and so fucking arousing it was difficult to concentrate. "I should have a bath… I can see this going places and I don't feel clean…"

A bath? Now? Running my hands through my hair, I glanced outside. The sun was almost set and it casted a beautiful glow through the window of our suite. I had an overwhelming feeling that now was the time. If I wanted to beat her to it, I had to get the proposal out before she disappeared into the bathroom.

"You're fine." I planted kisses down her throat to keep her with me longer. "Tasty. Have a nice soak afterwards. Maybe I could join you."

"Yeah?" She smiled up at me, exuding a combination of shyness and sexiness. Fuck. So appealing. "I've never actually had a bath with someone before. You?"

My face heated up with shame and arousal. "Um… not like this. I'm pretty sure my mom stuck me and my sister in together when we were babies. This… totally different." I shuffled my feet and felt my face grow hot, suddenly nervous. How would that work? I always heard about it. They did it in movies all the time, but I'd never actually attempted to fit in a tub with a woman, let alone try anything romantic. I shouldn't have mentioned it. Bella pulled my hands from my hair and brought them to her lips.

"I think it's perfect that we would have our dual bath initiation together."

Her cheeks were reddened as well. Better that we both be a little anxious than me make an ass of myself. Normally, I wouldn't care – I just wanted Bella to have a memorable proposal night. Me, drowning in a mountain resort bathtub was not the sort of memory I wanted her to leave with. If we both had nerves, we wouldn't attempt anything too rambunctious. I glanced back at the orange hue that was fading from our view.

"Edward? What's wrong? You keep looking outside. Expecting someone to scale the building and turn up on our balcony?"

I shook my head with a grin as I reached for her hand. I picked up my wine glass and motioned for her to grab hers as well. "Let's finish this first."

We sat close to each other on the couch, taking small sips and casting sideways looks at each other occasionally. "Okay, as long as we're not ravaging each other at the moment, I wanted to talk to you about something. I've been wanting to ask you…"

"Bella!" I stopped her short. I knew it was rude, but I couldn't resist. I had taken her ring from my pocket and palmed it. It felt like it was burning a hole through my hand. "I'm sorry. I'll let you talk, I just have something I wanted to say to you first. I have to get this out. Do you mind?"

She arched a perfect brow and curled her sexy legs underneath herself before grinning at me. "By all means. Get it out."

I giggled. Not a chuckle, not a laugh – a giggle. I clenched my eyes shut and steeled myself to be mature about this. Be a romantic man, not a nervous kid ogling her legs. But did they have to look so smooth and shiny? They seemed to go on for miles. I never understood how such a tiny woman could have legs so long and sexy. I loved how they felt wrapped around my waist…

The last of my wine got drained from the glass in one deep swallow. I cleared my throat and my wicked thoughts, calling on maturity. "Bella, I'm really glad we have this time together. It's rare, to spend time alone like this. I'm not complaining… I love our days at home too. You, me and Juliet. I wouldn't change any of it. These months we've been together have been the happiest days of my life."

"Me too, sweetie. Me too." Bella reached for my hand and gave it a squeeze. Her eyes glowed with our mutual love.

"You know, that first time you came to my apartment, I… I never wanted you to leave." I chuckled as I choked up. "Your scent… you and Juliet… it filled my whole apartment and made it feel like a home for the first time."

"Oh, Edward…"

"When you were gone, and eventually, your scent left as well, I thought – if I could just have one more day like this – the three of us hanging out… And then there was. And I wanted one more day. And another and another." I paused to simply enjoy the sweet smile on her face. "Bella, I don't ever want a day without you. I live for you and Juliet. I know I said that I could never understand Romeo and Juliet dying for each other, but I honestly had never felt that kind of love. I get it. I have that love now and I get it. I still think they were far too young and it's just preposterous to even think about killing yourself over a teen romance…"

"Don't go off on my Shakespearean love again, Edward…" Bella laughed and shook her head at me.

"I'm done." I placed my hand over my heart. "I swear, I'll never mention it again. My point is, the love I feel for you and for Juliet is real and I've been waiting my whole life for it. Every day when I get to come home to your beautiful faces, I thank God I was the doctor on duty the day you gave birth. Every day, I want to take care of you and protect you and make you smile, hear you laugh. Every day, I want you to know how much you both mean to me. I've tried to do that, but honestly, I don't know if I could ever fully express how much I love you."

I slid my thumb inside my clenched fist, pushing her ring back and forth with thumb and pinky. Please say yes…

"You'll never know how utterly and completely… hopelessly in love I am with you." I slid off the couch, still grasping her hand as I dropped to one knee. My eyes never left hers as they did my pleading for me. I caught the small gasp she made. "Bella Marie Swan, I love you with all my heart. Will you please do me the greatest honour of being my wife? Will you marry me?"

A/N ~ Sorry this is late - please forgive. Portions of this chapter went through a dozen frustrating re-writes. *hugs* to Shug and Ginny for helping me get to a happy place with it last week. :D

As Plan Bella takes form, DLT is winding down... hope you all enjoy the last few chapters. And THANK YOU ALL for reading. XX ~ SR