Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or the characters. Thanks a million to my beta, CrystalRaindrop!

A Child of the Night — Chapter Thirty-Six

Previously ...

"But that's enough," I whispered, and I could feel my heart soaring. I turned around to face Edward, but not even a single word could slip past my lips before he caught me up in a passionate, searing kiss.

Finally he pulled away, and I knew he was happy. I could hear it in his voice! The joy saturated every word he spoke.

"I love you, Isabella. But ... is this what you want?"

I barely had to think about it.

Edward ... a family, with my Edward.

And I knew I wanted it more than anything.

"Yes," I whispered, and Edward held me closer than ever.

"Then that's all that matters, my love."

August 18th, Monday - 4:20 PM - Edward POV

I smiled as I reached over to gently caress Bella's warm cheek. She had fallen asleep half-way through the drive from the airport up to the college. I couldn't blame her. We'd had a long, rough day — both emotionally and physically. And, I grinned as I recalled, we had figured out that planes and Bella Cullen's didn't mix. She had gotten airsick almost immediately, and we had spent the remainder of the ride in the tiny, five-by-five restroom.

"Mmm ... Edward ... "

My grin grew as my angel whispered my name in her sleep. I slowed the car as I reached a stoplight, and as soon as I came to a complete halt, I reached over to gently brush my fingers across Bella's face once more. It was strange, really, how I felt so incomplete unless I was touching her. Even if I was simply sitting a few feet away, unless I was holding her hand I felt ... empty. It was irrational, and yet it hurt so much to be away from her.

"Bella, love," I murmured, and her eyes slowly fluttered open. I smiled, and kissed her forehead softly as the stoplight turned green. "We're almost there. Wakey-wakey time."

She smiled, and leaned over to rest her head on my shoulder. I wrapped one arm around her and ran my fingers through her hair as I continued to drive through the streets. I passed the college — was it really that big? It had seemed smaller the one time I'd seen it at night — and continued on toward the apartment that I had already made ready for my Bella.

" ... mmm ... there yet?"

I grinned.

"Are you awake, my Bella?"

"Mmm hmm," she mumbled, and I bit my lip to hold a chuckle in.

"Do you love me?"

"Mmm hmm ... "

This could get interesting ...

"What's your favorite color?"

"... blueeee ... "

I softly pulled my Volvo into a clear parking space in front of the small, one-story apartment building. The apartment was actually very pretty. It had an old fashioned look about it. All the doorways were rounded, and the walls were made of old, polished pine wood. The windows were very large, allowing a lot of unwanted sunlight into the house. But I could already tell, from just one glance, that they'd already been tinted — they looked exactly like the windows of my car.

I smiled as I shut the car off, and stuck my keys in my pocket before turning to face Bella. She grinned sleepily, and laid her head on my chest. I held her close, and chuckled softly. Her eyes fluttered closed again, and I kissed her forehead.

"What do you want to name our first son?"

"Edward."

Well. That was surprising.

"How about our first daughter?"

"Mmm ... how 'bout Teacup?"

I couldn't hold in the laugh that bubbled from my throat. My whole body shook with the force of it, and because I was holding Bella so tightly, so closely, she shook, too. She pealed one eye open to glare at me. I grinned, biting back the laughter that wanted so desperately to break free.

"I hate you," she announced. My grin only grew, and I was sure my eyes were sparkling with amusement. I kissed her forehead softly, and the glare slowly melted from her expression as I held her close.

"I love you," I countered, and she finally smiled. "Now, put on the hood to your suit, and let's go see our new home."

The smile that graced her perfect, sleepy lips only grew as I helped her into the sun-suit she'd so carelessly thrown into the back of the car once we'd climbed inside. I took her hand in mine, and we climbed, together, from the car.

Bella strained against my grip, trying to run toward the building. I chuckled, and towed her toward the trunk of the Volvo. "Patience, love. We have to grab our bags first."

She pouted, and began to dance back and forth on the warm asphalt. "Later, Edward! I want to 'see' the house! Please, please, pretty please!"

I chuckled at her enthusiasm, and as I shrugged, allowing her to win, I realized that I had laughed more in the last day than I had in a long time. Maybe it was the high from the fact that Bella and I were starting a new life together, or maybe it was happiness that still lingered from the news that we had been given only hours before.

Maybe, though ... maybe it was just because I loved the woman in my arms more than anything, and that she was the one that made me happy. Her smiles made me happy. Her soft laugh, and her beautiful eyes made me happy. She made me happy. Everything about her was so beautiful! And she was mine, in the same way that I was hers.

It was staggering. It was beautiful.

And as we walked, together, into the building that was our home ... I was ... happy.

5:00 PM - Bella POV

The wood floors were so soft under my bare feet, and the walls were cool to the touch as I let my fingers dance over them. I smiled, and I walked slowly through the one bedroom apartment that Edward and I called ours.

It was beautiful, really. The soft curtains flowed through my fingers as I traced the outline of the large, picture window in the living room. It almost completely took up the front wall, and, I was sure, flooded the house with warm sunlight.

I smiled, and padded across the floor through the rounded opening that led to the kitchen. Edward followed right behind me, holding my hand and smiling against the soft skin of my neck as I explored.

The kitchen, as all apartments did, had come with only the most necessary items — a stove, a dishwasher, and a refrigerator. There was a tiny table with two chairs in the corner, and in another, a wooden rack that held dry foods. The cupboards already held plates and pots and pans, and the drawers held silverware.

The bathroom was very small. A single, stand up shower and a sink decorated one wall, and the other sported a toilet and a towel rack. Edward pointed out that the walls were pure white, and that the shower curtain was a light green and decorated with gently twisting vines and leaves. I was sure it was very beautiful. I smiled, realizing that, one day, I would be able to see it.

"And this is our bedroom," Edward murmured quietly, his lips right up against my ear. I smiled, and briefly wondered if he had already gotten a bed. But then my bare feet hit into the soft mattress that decorated the floor, and I burst into happy laughter.

"An air mattress, Edward!? Oh, I love you!"

He chuckled, and wrapped his arms around me from behind. My body shook in his embrace as his gentle chuckles turned to full laughter. Soon, I was laughing with him from the irony of it all.

"I thought you would like that. Besides, a bed is one thing I didn't want to pick out without you. It needs to be one hundred percent Bella approved, too."

And then he grinned and pressed his lips to my soft neck.

"Want to help me test it out?"

My heart began to beat hard in my chest, and I was sure that my cheeks were flushed with embarrassment. Edward confirmed my assumption as he turned me around in his embrace.

"Your cheeks are the most delicious shade of red right now," he murmured, and he captured my lips in a passionate kiss. I melted in his arms, and allowed him to love me in the most intimate of ways. Every touch, every kiss, made me feel so alive. The blood raced through my veins, hot and fast, as I quickly reached the peak that I'd only ever experienced with Edward. He held me afterwards as I shook in his arms. My whole body seemed to have turned to jelly. And the fact that he never seemed to stop touching me didn't help in the least! His hands were everywhere. He gently brushed them up and down my arms, and let his fingers dance soothingly across my collarbone. His lips kept coming back to tease mine, and in that moment, I felt more loved than I ever had.

"Mmm ... " I breathed, smiling as I hummed in content. I could feel Edward smiling against my lips as he pulled my flushed, naked body closer to his. I wrapped my arms around him, and laid my head on his warm, bare chest. "I love you," I whispered, and he kissed me again.

"I love you more."

I grinned, and bit my lip to hold in my chuckles of amusement. "Do not."

"Do so."

"Do not."

"So."

"Not."

"Edward! We're fighting like children! And besides, we both know that I love you more. You can't deny it."

He grinned against the soft skin of my shoulder. When he spoke, his words and the vibrations of his mouth against my skin sent shivers down my spine.

"Oh, really? Shall I show you how much I love you?"

I just nodded my head, too dizzy, too completely possessed by the man before me to respond.

He gently kissed my shoulder, and then he trailed hot, open-mouthed kisses up my neck. I shivered from the sensations, and as his lips began to trail toward my lips, I turned, eager to meet his with my own. But he chuckled.

"Nuh uh," he whispered, almost as if he was rebuking a child. "Not yet."

"Edward," I breathed, and though I'd meant to sound firm, I was sure it came out as more of a gasp as he moved to take the lobe of my ear between his teeth.

"I love your soft gasps," he whispered, and he sucked gently on the sensitive skin that was still revealed to him. "I love your lips. I love your tiny hands, that reach out to help everyone around them. I love your cute toes," he whispered, and I giggled as he kissed each one. He stretched up once more before taking my face very tenderly into his hands. I knew, without having to see, that he was staring directly into my eyes. "I love your beautiful eyes, and how they see everything, yet at the same time see nothing. I love your cute little nose," he said, and he kissed it. "I love your beautiful, kind, sharing heart. I love how you think nothing of yourself, and how you're always thinking of others. I love how you would give everything that made you happy simply to make someone else happy. You are beautiful, Isabella, and I love you more than anything."

I hadn't realized that I'd been crying until Edward took my tenderly into his arms. He kissed my tears away, and I grasped myself closer to him. I knew that no words I could possibly say would be able to affect him the same way that he had affected me. So instead, I said nothing, and showed him with my actions and my tears as he slowly, gently, made love to me once more.

"I love you," I finally managed to gasp, and I let my eyes flutter closed as he brought me into a whole new world.

7:45 PM - Edward POV

I smiled, and held Bella closer than ever. She wiggled in my grasp, though, and giggled before leaning up to kiss me softly.

"Take a walk with me?" I asked quietly, and she nodded without saying a word. I stood from the bed — er ... air mattress — and reached out a hand to help Bella up, too. She smiled, and pressed her soft, warm body to mine for one brief moment before frowning.

"Um ... Edward?"

"Yes, love?" I asked, and I smiled as I pulled on my jeans without even bothering with boxers.

"We ... um ... never brought our bags in, huh?"

I paused, and then grinned, letting my greedy eyes rake over Bella's beautiful body once more.

"No, but I happen to like you without clothing. How about we stay like this forever?"

She frowned, but I could tell she was trying to hold back a grin by the way she bit her lip. "I like that idea, too. But I don't like the idea of any other girl seeing you before I do. Dress, mister."

I laughed, and pulled a T-shirt on over my head. "Already done. And ... " I moved closer, until Bella was in my arms once more. She simply had her panties and a bra on — the shirt she was holding dropped from her shaking hands as I moved closer to her. "And I don't like the idea of any other man seeing you, ever. You're mine, and I'm not sharing."

She shivered in my arms, and her eyes fluttered closed once more. I grinned, and pecked her on the cheek before stepping back.

"I'll be right back, love. Let me run and grab our bags while you get ready. I don't want you outside without a sweater on."

She nodded, and staggered forward a step, unsteady. I grinned wider, and placed my hands on her shoulders. "Sit, please, before you hurt yourself."

She managed a glare through her dazed state, but sat down as I'd asked. I chuckled to myself as I walked out to the car. I reached into the pocket of my wrinkled jeans, and pulled out the keys. I grabbed the bags from the back seat, and then relocked the doors after popping the trunk. I was rather proud of myself, actually. I'd managed to grab every single bag in one trip.

As I was heading back inside, though, I heard the soft ringing of a cellphone. I knew it wasn't mine — I didn't have that ring-tone — so I reached into Bella's bag to grab her's out. I grinned as I remembered giving it to her. She hadn't even put up a fight! It was staggering, actually.

I flipped the phone open, and pressed it to my ear.

"Hello?"

I had expected it to be Alice, or Charlie. Maybe even my mother.

But I didn't expect it to be her.

"Bella?"

I stiffened as hervoice washed over me, and my duffel bag fell to the ground before I even noticed. I froze, and my heart stopped beating in that moment.

"Renee," I hissed, and I clenched my hand tightly around the phone. "What do you want? To hurt Bella again? I'm sorry, but I won't allow that to happen. Ever again."

"I simply want to talk to my daughter. And you have no right to tell me that I can't!"

"Like hell I don't," I growled. "She's my wife. I will not let you hurt her like you hurt her before. She's happy now, Renee. She doesn't need you coming back into her life and screwing everything up. Please, just ... let her go. You were never there for her before. Why ... why now? Why now, when she's so happy? Why not before? Why not fifteen years ago? Why did you leave in the first place?"

There was a long pause, and when Renee spoke again, I very nearly wished I could take my words back.

"I was scared."

But I didn't. Instead, I spoke softly, and whispered the words that I was sure, if anything, would make Renee understand.

"I was scared, too. So scared, Renee ... you have no idea. And I won't lie and say I haven't made mistakes. My stupidity nearly cost Bella her life! But I stayed, and that meant more to her than anything. Even if I disagreed, even though I though she would be better off if I left, I stayed ... because she wanted me to. As unfathomable as it is, she wants me! She wants me by her side. And as long as it makes her happy — as long as I make her happy — I'll stay. And ... and you should have, too."

"Edward ... "

But I couldn't allow her to continue.

"I have to go now. Bella's waiting for me, and I don't want to worry her. I ... I'll talk to her. If she wants to talk to you, I'll have her call. But please, don't call back." I paused, frowning. "How did you get this number, anyway?"

Renee paused on the other end, and she sighed deeply. My heart ached for her. I knew that, though the things she had done were horrible, she wasn't horrible. But eventually, she spoke, and I was pulled from my thoughts. "I called Charlie, and he gave me her number. I have to admit, you're a hell of a lot more polite than he is." She paused, and laughed bitterly, though still sadly. "I had to very nearly threaten him to get thus number. And ... I understand. I won't call back. But please, talk to Bella. I just ... want to hear her voice."

I smiled sadly.

"I will. Goodbye, Renee."

"Goodbye, Edward."

I clicked the 'end' button, and stared at the phone for a few brief moments. But then a beauitful, happy voice broke me from my thoughts, and I smiled.

"Hurry up, Edward! I'm cold standing here in just my undies!"

I looked up, grinning brightly, to see Bella's head sticking out the door. I laughed, and grabbed my duffel bag off of the ground before running to her. I stuffed her phone back into her purse, and entered our home. I dropped all the bags on the kitchen floor, and swung Bella up into my arms.

"And we can't have that, now can we?" I asked, and then I kissed her. She giggled, and brushed her tiny body against mine. I groaned, but she giggled and pulled away.

"Not now, Edward! I want to take that walk you promised me. Where are we going?"

She looked so innocent, and yet so beautiful, as she stood in the middle of the bright kitchen. And as I watched the happiness dance in her eyes, I knew I couldn't mention the phone call I'd just shared with her mother. Not now. Not when she was so completely happy.

So instead, I handed her the duffel that I knew was hers. She danced out of the room with it, and just a few moments later, danced back in. I laughed.

"You're going to trip if you keep bouncing around like that."

"Oh, shush, Edward. Don't ruin my moment. And you never did tell me — where are we going?"

I grabbed her hand in mine, and tugged a sweater on over her head. The sweater was mine, and much too large for her. But I liked it one her. It claimed her as mine in a material way.

"I'm going to give you a tour of the college, love. Classes are running right now, so there's barely anyone roaming around. It's a perfect time to show you where we're going to build our futures."

She smiled brightly at me, though her cheeks flushed a deep red. I chuckled, and kissed her softly. "Ready?"

"Is it dark enough for me?"

I nodded, remembering the blanket of darkness that I'd stood under only moments before. "Yes. Now, if you're ready ... "

She squealed happily, and tugged me out of thr door. I caught her around the waist, and spun her in circles as we laughed together.

When we were still, though, she stumbled into my embrace, and smiled as she hummed in contentment.

"I love you," she said, and I smiled as I buried my head in her hair.

"I love you, too."

In that moment, my world was perfect.

But at the same time, I was so blissfully unaware of how soon it come crashing down around me.

Wow. Foreshadowing much? Lol. Yes, drama is about to come back. Big time! Also! Within the next chapter or so, where will be a time skip! While I think the idea of seeing Bella and Edward in college ... I can't do it well. I have never gone to college, so I would just be dragging it out, and I believe that woudl ruin the story. You'll like my other ideas better, anyway, I promise!

NOTE: Is this getting boring? I won't change my outline no matter what; I simply want to know what you guys think. It this getting stupid/boring?

See you on THURSDAY! ... maybe!

Please Review! ( I also accept Anon. reviews. So you don't need an account to review. )

NEXT CHAPTER:

"Hey, Mom? It's ... it's me."

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