Author Note: Thanks for embracing this story!

Many of you are still unhappy with Edward for his stripping! You bet he'd hate it if their roles were reversed!

Today's title was tougher! Only four got this one: MIRosebud, astonmartin823, sherylb, and a Guest.

Thanks again to moosals and NKubie for pre-reading. Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.

Chapter 38: Every Rose Has Its Thorn

Lying on my stomach, I'm awakened on Sunday morning by soft, wet kisses down the length of my spine. I stretch like a cat, sighing as smooth fingers tickle my sides. "Ready?" Edward whispers, spreading my legs apart.

"Mmmm…" I moan, before reality slaps me in the face. "Wait!" I struggle to turn over, then look up at his confused face. "We used the last two condoms last night."

"I'll pull out," he promises.

"You know… that isn't the most reliable method of birth control. And besides…" I trail off, unsure about bringing this up now. It's not like it hadn't occurred to me before, but I've done a pretty damn good job of tamping down my fears.

"Besides what?" he whispers, leaning down to lick around my navel. I squirm, trying hard to stay on track.

"We… we were apart for five weeks…" I begin.

"Five long—" he stops, kissing my right nipple, "—horrible—" another kiss on my left nipple, "—lonely weeks." Grinning at me, he drops a kiss onto my lips.

"How-how lonely?"

"What do you mean?" he asks, brow furrowed.

"I mean… you… didn't sleep with other women when we were apart, did you?" I ask, trying not to sound anxious.

Edward sits back on his heels, staring down at me. "You think I cheated on you?"

"No! It-it wouldn't have been cheating. We were broken up." I almost want to say "we were on a break," but if he's too young to get the Friends reference, I may scream.

"My heart was still with you, baby. I don't think I even looked at another woman the entire time."

"Really?" How could he not look at the women he was giving lap dances to?

"Yes, really," he assures me.

"Ok." I let out a long breath. "Um, I was thinking of getting an appointment with my doctor to see about some other form of birth control — the pill, maybe."

"So no more condoms?" he asks eagerly.

"I knew you'd like that," I chuckle. "But until then, we should probably hold off on having sex until we can pick up another box of condoms."

"Seriously?" he pouts.

"We shouldn't press our luck, you know?"

Edward groans, and I take my eyes off of his face long enough to realize he must be painfully hard. "That doesn't mean we can't… do other things," I add, licking my lips. I really do love his cock.

His face lights up as he grabs my hand, pulling me into a seated position. Smirking, he lies back, then motions for me to turn around. "Come ride my face, Bella."

Oh yeah.

Once we've showered and dressed, we get into Edward's car, headed… well, he won't tell me. "It's a surprise," is all he'll say.

Eventually we arrive at Crossroads Park in the northeastern part of Bellevue, where it's the second day of their annual Strawberry Festival. Edward wants to stop first at the classic auto show, so we can vote for our favorites before the 1:30 deadline.

Hand in hand, we walk through the rows of classic cars and then cast our votes before stopping for lunch. After we've eaten, we pass by the carnival games and he insists on trying to win me a stuffed animal. I can't control my smile as I watch him concentrate, trying to toss rings over the tops of glass bottles. In his khaki shorts, tight t-shirt, backwards baseball cap and sexy shades, he looks every bit like a teenager trying to win a prize for his young girlfriend.

Ten minutes later, I'm hugging my prize as we walk away from the games. "What is he?" I ask, laughing at the neon lime green cube shape with two tiny arms sticking out of the sides and two legs dangling beneath him.

"It's a dice, see?" he points out the black dots on each side. "Better than the pink snake, right?"

"Definitely," I agree, laughing again. I hate snakes.

The highlight of the Strawberry Festival seems to be their strawberry shortcake. They even have a shortcake eating contest at 2pm, though both of us pass on entering that.

I shake my head at the huge dollop of whipped cream on Edward's bowl, but I still think he lost weight during our separation, so I won't begrudge him the calories. I pass on the whipped cream for myself, however — though he would probably be more than happy to help me work off the extra calories.

I'm watching a band on the distant stage when suddenly Edward reaches out, tapping me on the nose. He's grinning when he pulls his hand away. I make cross eyes as best I can, then realize he put whipped cream on my nose!

"Edward!"

He giggles like a girl, still grinning at me. "Your own fault for not paying attention."

I pick up my napkin and am reaching up to wipe it off when he grabs my wrist. "Uh-uh. I'll do it." I must turn as red as the fruit in my bowl when he leans forward, very thoroughly licking the mess off my nose with his tongue. The very same tongue that gave me two orgasms this morning.

Scowling, I wipe off his saliva, keeping one eye on my cheeky boyfriend as I finish the rest of my delicious strawberry shortcake.

Next, I take on Edward — and lose badly — in a game of miniature golf, before we head back to the Family Fun Arena, where he convinces me to act like a kid again, playing games and going on the handful of rides.

"Want to ride a pony?" he asks, rocking back and forth on his heels.

"Is that some sort of sex euphemism?"

"No," he laughs. "I'm not just a pony." Indeed.

"Then I think I'm about 30 years too old for that."

"You're not too old for anything, Bella," he says softly, brushing my hair behind my ear.

I smile up at him. I don't know that I'd agree, but… I haven't had this much fun since my day at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk last summer. This festival has been going on as long as I've lived in the area — hell, since the 1920s — and I've never been to it before.

"How about we check out the vendor booths?" I suggest.

Edward groans a little, since there must be close to 100 different booths. Walking through them, I pick up a couple of things, while he tries not to look too bored. Just like pretty much all of the men we pass by, I note, so it's not really an age thing.

The last musical act of the day is a bluesy folk-rock band, so after getting Edward some ice cream, we stand to watch them play. He's behind me, his arms around my waist while he nuzzles my neck, scratching me with his stubble. He sways us back and forth, and I can't help smiling with happiness.

I try to tamp down that annoying part of me that wants to point out that our little bubble has to burst sometime. I still haven't told anyone that Edward and I are back together. I'm just… done with putting up with my friends' bullshit. Our relationship is no one else's business. If we're happy, then that's all that matters.

I yawn as I turn off my alarm an hour earlier than usual on Monday morning. Someone kept me up too late, thanks to the new box of condoms we bought yesterday evening after the festival.

There are only two days left in the second quarter though, so it's an especially busy time for me at work. By 8am, I'm on my fourth cup of coffee.

It's a crazy, hectic day with stocks taking a beating. Both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones drop well over 1% throughout the day in heavy trading. Once the markets have closed for the day, our boss calls us all into the conference room for a debriefing.

"Is it hot in here?" I ask Jessica, taking my jacket off as we choose seats around the large table.

"I'm ok," she shrugs. "You look kind of flushed though."

"Maybe I'm coming down with something," I agree. "I've felt a bit off all day."

I try to listen to what my boss is saying, but I continue to feel worse and worse as the meeting progresses. When I feel a sharp pain in my lower abdomen, I get it — my period is here. I hate the idea of drawing attention to myself by leaving early, but I need to get back to my office; I always keep a tampon in my purse.

As stealthily as I can, I stand up, gathering my jacket and moving to the doorway. I grab my purse from my desk drawer and start walking down the hallway to the ladies room, when a sharp pain causes me to double over. "Shit," I mutter. I've never had cramps this bad before.

I continue on, but the pain seems never-ending and I start to feel dizzy. I reach out to the wall to steady myself, but another cramp sends me to my knees.

"Bella…" The panicked voice sounds like it's coming from a tunnel. Fuck, it hurts, I need to lie down…

A/N: Yes, an evil cliffie. Update on Saturday.

Yes, the stock market really did have a bad day on June 29, but not as bad as later in August.

Some of you had wondered what else Edward may have been up to during their separation, and Bella finally asked him. No other women!

A fun day out for them, but now what's wrong with Bella?

Ummm… the next title is really tough to hint for lol. The only real hint I can think of would be too easy (at least I think so). But it was a #1 hit in the mid '80s.