Hello again lovelies! Long time no see huh? I will simply apologize and hope there are a few of you out there who still want to read this story. Please check out the bottom A/N for a short note.

To my lovely beta, Jessica1971, thank you for all your hard work. Love you dear one.

Disclaimer: Still don't own it...despite how long it's been since my last posting that fact remains an undeniable truth.

A smile spread over Bella's face as he slid a hand around her waist, nosing the hair out of the away, kissing her neck. The morning sun filtered through the sheer curtains covering the window. Soft rays filled the room with a warm golden light.

Bella released a heavy sigh, snuggling deeper into the covers and his embrace, but didn't wake. Edward tightened his hold and raised his head just enough to check the clock on the bedside table. They would need to be up and out of the room shortly but there was still enough time to wake his fiancée properly.

"Wake up, beautiful," he murmured, placing a kiss to the sensitive area just below her ear.

Bella hummed, arching her back and stretching like a cat. He groaned at the feel of her round bottom fitting tightly against him.

"God, Bella, you have the most amazing ass." He ran a hand down to grasp one toned cheek in his hand. She arched, pushing her hips into his hand.

"You say the sweetest things," she said in a sleepy voice but wiggled her bottom. Edward nipped at the lobe of her ear, chuckling.

"That's me," he murmured, trailing kisses down her neck and pressing his teeth into the muscle of her shoulder. "Silver tongued devil to the very core."

"You're so full of yourself," she said, laughing, which quickly became a gasp when his hand slipped between her legs. The tip of a finger sliding inside as the others massaged the sensitive area around her opening. "Oh God …"

"Mm … no, baby, not God, just me," he crooned against her skin, kissing along her upper back. "I can promise to make you see God if you give me a few minutes."

He slid a hand around, down the inside of her thigh, lifting and draping her leg over his hip. Bella shivered when he nipped the bone at the nape of her neck. With the other hand, he continued to caress her from behind. Moving slowly, teasing her with tiny thrusts of his finger until she whimpered, swiveling her hips and arching her back, trying to get more from his hand. He slid the other hand up over her thigh, tightening ever so slightly as his own hips moved of their own accord in rhythm with his hand. Tortuously slow, moving by bare inches, he made his way up her torso to cup one breast.

He moaned deep at the sensation of the tip hardening against his palm. A sharp intake of breath caused him to smile as he rolled her nipple between forefinger and thumb, pulling slightly.

He made the trip back down her body, ghosting over her toned abdomen until the tips of his fingers grazed her cleft. Bella bucked against him, unsure where she would find what she wanted. All the while, he continued to work her into frenzy with the tiny strokes of his fingers from behind. She growled in frustration when he moved the one hand back to the outside of her arm, pushing gently.

"Put your hands above your head, baby," he said in a deep, sensual whisper.

When she complied, Edward wrapped his hand around her wrists, holding them in place. Removing his hand from between her legs, he grasped her hip, and gently rolled, moving with her until she lay beneath him on her stomach. A loud groan rumbled in his chest when he settled between her open thighs.

She squirmed, whimpering beneath him. He moved, thrusting his hips, just enough to slide along the wet heat of her, but not inside.

"Please, Edward. I need you," she begged.

"Oh, you have me, baby," he said, pushing the hair away from her neck so he could kiss her there. "Don't you know?" He scraped his teeth roughly across her shoulder and then soothed it with an open-mouthed kiss, causing Bella to moan.

"You own me, Bella. You're everything to me. Don't you know that?" He slid a hand between them, positioning himself at her entrance. Gently running the tips of his fingers over the curve of her bottom, settling them along her hip once again, Edward thrust forward slightly, allowing just the tip to slip in. He tightened his grip on Bella's hip, holding her still when she tried to push back against him.

"Please …"

"Do you, baby—do you know what you mean to me? How much I love you?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"Yes, I know, baby," she said in a breathy voice. "I know because it's the same for me. I love you so much, Edward. Please, I can't—don't make me wait any longer."

She cried out when he shifted his hips, sliding slowly inside. Edward caught his lower lip between his teeth, growling as he buried himself as deep as possible. Her firm bottom pressed against his groin, he kneaded the taut muscle of one cheek as he stilled, needing a minute to find a small amount of control.

Moving to brace himself on one elbow at Bella's side, he began with a long, slow slide, followed by a deliberate thrust. His hold tightened around her wrists, keeping them in place as he moved out and finding that special spot inside Bella with every slide back in. He drove her higher, right up to the precipice of release, before pulling her back, only to send her right back to the edge once again.

Continuing that slow, thrusting rhythm, he felt Bella's body begin to tighten and flutter around him. Her hips arched back as much as possible with his weight pressing down on her. He squeezed his eyes closed, his body taut with the effort of holding off his own release burning in his lower abdomen, tightening his balls.

Knowing that he didn't have long before he lost his control, and feeling the building of Bella's orgasm, Edward released his grip on her wrists. He ran his now free hand down the center of her back. Her skin flushed with arousal, slick with sweat. His eyes followed the trail his hand made as it slid round to grip her hip, holding her more tightly to him. Edward continued to move with the same long, slow strokes.

"Touch yourself, baby," he said his voice little more than a growl.

Bella didn't hesitate, slipping a tiny hand to where their bodies joined. He groaned when the tips of her fingers brushed over his erection as he slid from inside her.

"Edward… I'm … Ah …" Her body constricted, tightening like a fist around him. The sensations kicked his own pleasure into overdrive and he quickly followed her over the cliff into the abyss.

"God … damn," he said, panting as he collapsed on top of her.

"I second that," Bella said, her voice muffled in the pillows.

He smiled but could do nothing more than nod his head on the bed at her side. His body was completely limp in a satiated stupor.

"Um, Edward?"

He grunted in response, his eyes closed and very close to sleep.

"Not that I don't love what we just did," she whispered, "because it was amazing, and don't think I'm not enjoying the fact that you're still inside me. But, um … you're kind of squishing me."

His lids snapped open to find her dark eyes, shining inches from his own. Instantly he rolled onto his side, pulling her into his arms. "I'm so sorry, baby. I didn't mean to smother you like that."

"It's okay. I wouldn't have said anything except I couldn't breathe."

Bella snuggled into his embrace, laying a hand on his chest just over his heart. A soft smile played at the corners of her mouth and Edward couldn't help but smile in response.

He kissed her forehead and asked, "What are you smiling about?"

Bella sighed and looked into his eyes then. "I was just admiring my ring and thinking about how happy I am. How happy you make me."

Edward brought his mouth to hers, kissing her because he had no words to express how that made him feel. He broke the kiss a few moments later to stare at the amazing woman in his arms.

"We're getting married," she said.

"Yes, we are," he said, matching her soft tone of awe.

He rolled onto his back, folding one arm behind his head and pulling her into his side. Bella rested her head on his chest and held up her left hand, admiring the ring.

"You like it." Although not a question, the note of uncertainty was evident even to him.

Bella shifted, rolling until she lay half on top of him, her chin in the middle of his chest. "Are you kidding? I love it." An incredulous expression colored her features. "Edward, seriously, it is the most beautiful ring I've ever seen. In all honesty, I don't think it would be possible for you to have picked anything I wouldn't have liked."

He smiled and released a sigh, running a hand through her tumbled hair. "I'm glad."

"Were you really worried I wouldn't like it?"

He hesitated, unsure how to respond. Unwilling to admit that, yes, he had been concerned. Although Bella seemed overjoyed with his choice in engagement jewelry, a tiny part of him wasn't sure. The only other time he had given a woman a ring he had not received such a joyous reaction. Heidi had been happy when he'd asked her to marry him, had accepted the ring, and seemed satisfied with his choice. It was only later he overheard her talking to one of her friends about how disappointed she was with the ring itself. A pang of guilt swirled in his abdomen. He felt horrible for comparing any detail of his relationship with Bella to what he shared with his ex-wife. There was not one thing about Heidi or that farce of a marriage that resembled what he felt or shared with the woman in his arms. The feelings were simply nothing more than his own scars from Heidi and his subsequent insecurities raising their ugly head. Although he recognized what it was, he couldn't stop feeling them all the same.

"You were, weren't you?" Bella asked, interrupting his psychological analysis of himself.

He shrugged. "I don't know—maybe—a little."

Bella pushed up on one elbow and moved until she lay fully on top of him. She brushed the tousled hair away from his forehead and ran her fingers over his scalp. Bending to kiss him between his furrowed brows, she quietly asked, "Why?"

Edward ran both hands up and down Bella's naked back, his fingers trailing along the groove of her spine. He smiled when she shivered. "It was a long time ago and another life."

Bella nodded, recognition of what he meant lighting her eyes. "I'm sorry. You deserved better, but you know what?"

"What?"

She giggled, holding up her left hand and wiggling her fingers. "It's my job now to show you just how a wife should treat her husband, for the rest of our lives."

That made him smile. "Oh, I really like the sound of that."

Their eyes met and he had the sudden realization that they were not making it out of that room on time. She lowered her mouth to his and all thoughts outside of the amazing woman in his arms—his love, his fiancée, his saving grace—fled on a wave of pure pleasure.

~O~

As he'd known they would be, they checked out of the hotel two hours later than allowed. He'd had to pay for an extra night's stay that they would not use. In Edward's mind, it was totally worth the expense to have some extra time with his soon to be wife. They had used that allowance to their great advantage.

Unfortunately, late in the day as it was, they had no choice but to skip breakfast and decided to grab lunch before leaving town. They found a quaint little diner on the outskirts of the city limits called Willy's Place. A hole in the wall at first glance, but if the number of cars in the parking lot was any indication, the food was good.

The mouthwatering scents wafting from the open door as Edward held it for Bella to precede him inside confirmed their initial evaluation of the food quality. The thick, rich smell of fresh brewed coffee mixed with the frying of a multitude of meats that were sure to cause the cholesterol and blood pressure of even the most healthy of patrons to skyrocket.

"Come on in," a heavy-set, petite woman called from behind the counter. Her short, white hair was styled in a way many women of a certain age seemed to wear; curled to the nth degree, then teased and combed into what resembled a nineteen-forty's football helmet.

Her smile was bright as she waved to the room at large. "Just have a seat wherever you can find one, I'll be with you in a minute."

She turned then, calling to a large man bent over an expansive grill in plain sight from the pass-through window. Obviously, the cook—Willy it seemed as that was the name the woman was yelling—was meticulous as even a glimpse of the kitchen revealed gleaming stainless steel everywhere.

Edward led Bella to an open booth near the back of the room and slid in the seat opposite her. She grabbed two menus and handed one to him before perusing the selections.

"Oh!" She looked up wide eyed, the excitement obvious in her smile. "They serve breakfast all day."

Edward chuckled. "Good thing. I wasn't looking forward to the day ahead when you haven't had the opportunity to gorge on breakfast foods."

"Shut up," she said, smacking his hand with her menu and laughing. "I like breakfast. I can't help it, there's just something about a huge stack of pancakes with butter and syrup dripping everywhere. And eggs, with cheese—" She groaned, closing her eyes, "—they're so good."

"Bella," Edward said in a choked whisper. "You cannot do that to me in public."

"What?" she asked, feigning innocence. She knew exactly what he meant. Her voice dropped into a low whisper. "Talk about eggs? Or was it the pancakes with the hot—" she leaned forward, folding her arms under her breasts, pushing them higher in the V-neck of her white t-shirt. Edward's eyes immediately shot to the view of her cleavage, "—dripping butter with the sticky, sweet syrup that I'll have to lick—" He glanced up just in time to see her run the tip of her tongue along her lower lip, "—off."

Edward scowled, taking a deep breath and shaking his head, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "You are so going to pay for that when I get you home."

"Promises, promises," Bella said, laughing as the woman who'd greeted them approached their table.

"My name's Ruth," she said. Her lined face was alight with a smile. "You two aren't from around here, are you?"

"No, ma'am," Edward replied.

"How'd you know that?" Bella asked at the same time.

Ruth chuckled. "Well, for one thing, I saw you ride in on the bike out there. We get a lot of folks passing through, especially this time of year. For another, Willy and me, we've owned this place for nearly forty years—I know the locals." She winked. "Come in town for the fair, I suspect."

"Yes, ma'am," Edward said with a nod. Regardless of her harmless appearance, and the unlikeliness of anyone following them, the fact was they had no idea at that moment where Demetri might be. As much as he was enjoying the time with Bella without the pressures of the investigation looming like a giant pink elephant in the room, under the circumstances he wasn't willing to give more information than necessary.

Ruth's smile never faltered although he saw the realization that he wasn't going to elaborate dawn in her pale blue eyes. She pulled a pad from the apron draped around her ample waist and got down to business. "What can I get you two?"

Bella shot a look of confusion in his direction, before placing her order, smiling apologetically at Ruth as she did so. Ordering a double stack of blueberry pancakes, scrambled eggs, a side of bacon, orange juice, and coffee. For such a small woman, Bella could put away an insane amount of food. He couldn't help but chuckle, which earned him a narrow eyed glare and a kick in the shin under the table. Ruth blinked when he jumped, grunting in pain, but the smile stayed on her face.

"I'll just have what she's having," he mumbled. "Thank you."

Edward reached down to rub the throbbing area along his shin. Damn, if he didn't know better, he would swear the woman had fractured his tibia. Bella thanked Ruth as well and watched her walk away. When the woman was out of earshot Bella turned on him.

"What the hell was that all about?" she asked, her voice a sharp whisper as she leaned over the table toward him. "She was just being nice for Christ's sake. You were so rude."

He took a deep breath and straightened. The last thing he wanted to do was remind Bella about their situation, but there was really no way around it. Reaching out, he covered her hand with his own and looked into her eyes.

"I'm sorry if you thought I was being rude," he began. "That wasn't my intention, but … we don't know where Demetri is—" he winced when Bella gasped "—and I won't take the chance that he could be having us followed, if he's not doing so himself."

All the color had drained from Bella's face. Her eyes appeared black as her pupils dilated with fear. The adrenaline rush caused her breathing to increase. Her gaze darted around the room, never resting on any one person for more than a split second. Bella raised a hand to her throat, her fingers trembling. She was damn near having a panic attack right in front of him.

This was not how he'd wanted their day to start out; he knew she would be frightened, which was exactly why he hadn't said anything before now. He cursed under his breath.

"Bella," he said, squeezing her hand in an attempt to get her attention. "Bella, look at me."

Her eyes shot to his, her breathing coming in short gasps. "Baby, take a deep breath." He squeezed her hand again and she suddenly turned hers over, wrapping her fingers around his palm. Her grasp was incredibly tight as she looked at him and did as he asked.

Edward nodded. "That's it, baby. Just breathe."

"You okay, honey?"

Bella nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of Ruth's voice, but didn't release her hold on his hand. The older woman had returned with their coffee and juice. She looked between the two of them, the smile no longer in place.

"Is she okay?" she asked, looking to Edward with a small frown.

"She's fine, low blood sugar."

Ruth nodded. "Yeah, know how that is, been a diabetic for twenty years. It's no picnic. Here, honey." She sat their drinks on the table and pointed at the juice glass. "Drink some of that—it'll help."

Bella nodded and lifted the glass to her lips with a shaky hand. She clung to Edward; all the while she drank deeply.

Ruth still looked concerned but smiled at Bella when she lowered the glass and took a deep breath. "Your food'll be up in a minute. I'll make sure to tell Willy to put a move on with it."

Edward thanked her and watched Bella closely as Ruth walked away.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," she said in a rough whisper. "I think so."

They sat in silence for a few moments. Bella stared down at their joined hands. Her engagement ring dug into the side of Edward's finger but he wasn't going to complain.

"Do you really think he could be following us?" she asked.

Edward hesitated. He wasn't sure how much more to say to her, she was already so afraid but he'd promised not to keep things from her.

"I don't know," he answered. "I've been keeping an eye out since we left Denver, and I don't think so. But, honestly, I don't know."

He couldn't be sure of anything. After seeing the photos of himself and Bella taken when they had no idea anyone was near was more than a little disturbing. There was no way he would take a chance of something like that slipping by again, if he could help it.

Bella nodded, "Okay. So, um, you're just being cautious, right?"

"Right. I'll always be overly cautious when it comes to you. I can't help it." Edward brought her hand to his lips, placing a kiss to the knuckle just above her ring. "And now that you're going to be my wife, it'll probably just get worse."

Bella shook her head, but laughed, which had been his goal. He'd wanted to be honest, not scare the hell out of her.

"Speaking of that subject," he began and immediately stopped when Ruth returned to their table with their food.

"Oh my God," Bella said with a genuine laugh of surprise as Ruth began setting their plates on the table. There was enough food before them to feed a small third world country.

Ruth chuckled. "Willy put a little extra on your plate." She gestured toward Bella's hand. "I noticed that rock on your finger, maybe that's why your blood sugars low? Lack of sleep'll do that to a body." She winked at Edward and turned, leaving them alone once again.

Edward pointed at the retreating Ruth. "See? That woman is way too perceptive."

Bella shook her head and lifted her fork, smiling. "Might as well give it the old college try, huh?"

He laughed and dug into his own meal. The scraping and clanking of silverware filled the air, mixing with similar sounds from the other diners around them.

"So," Bella said several minutes later, taking a sip of coffee to wash down a large bite of pancakes. "You started to say something before our food arrived. Something about this," she raised her left hand.

Edward nodded, swallowing and wiping his mouth with a napkin. "Yeah, I wanted to ask you about a date."

"A date?" Bella frowned in confusion.

"Yeah, um, I meant for the wedding. I didn't know how you felt about going ahead with setting a date."

"Can I ask you something?"

He cleared his throat, suddenly uncomfortable, "Of course."

"How do you feel about a short engagement?"

A smile began to curl the corner of his mouth. "How short are we talking?"

Bella smiled, reaching out to take his hand once again. "Really short."

"I like the sound of that," he said. "You already have something in mind, don't you?"

She nodded, releasing his hand and returning to her food. "Sort of ... I've always wanted to have a winter wedding. I don't know—" she shrugged, "—like a winter wonderland kind of thing."

"That's sounds beautiful. I like it."

Her head shot up. "You do?"

"Absolutely." He chuckled. "Bella, any type of ceremony you want is fine with me as long as at the end of it you're my wife."

She laughed. "Well that's kind of a given."

"What about the week between Christmas and New Year's?"

"Seriously?" Bella's eyes widened.

"Why not?" Edward shrugged. "My family will be in Denver, including my aunt and uncle, for Christmas. Christmas Day is Friday. We could get married on the Sunday after, if you wanted."

A wide smile spread over her beautiful face. "I think that sounds perfect."

~O~

Upon returning home from their impromptu getaway and subsequent engagement, Bella discovered that Edward had spoken to her father about his intentions. She was happy that her father approved and had given his blessing.

Bella couldn't believe the way her father and Edward had growled and hissed at one another when they first met. The situation was completely different from their parting interaction when they'd dropped her father off at the airport that morning. It seemed the fact Edward had not hesitated to stand up to her father had gone a long way in impressing her father to Edward's character. Their work together on the investigation toward capturing Demetri, which would continue even though Charlie would be back in Forks, apparently sealed his opinion. Charlie had reiterated his blessings along with congratulations, complete with hugging both her and Edward before entering the airport.

She laughed to herself and continued to thumb through the playlist on her iPod; never would she understand men. Her thoughts turned to the conversation with her mother from the day before. Her mother wasn't the slightest bit surprised and had actually expected the news.

"Didn't I tell you, Isabella?" she asked. "That's boy's nuts about you. I knew it wouldn't be long before he realized you were ready and that he shouldn't underestimate you"

"What do you mean by that?" Bella asked, frowning.

"Nothing really," Renee said airily.

"Mom, really, you can't say things like that and then say it's nothing. It's something, or you wouldn't have said that."

Renee sighed and Bella knew her mother was rolling her eyes.

"It's just that …" she began. "It was all over the boy's face the first time I saw you two together. But he admitted it to me back during the summer."

"He did?" That surprised Bella to no end. Sure, Edward had told her for weeks, actually since the second month they were together, that he was going to marry her someday, but still, for him to admit as much to her mother was a shock.

"Well, not in so many words," Renee admitted. "It was during the festival. You know, when you performed for the first time? Oh, you were so beautiful, Isabella." She sighed before continuing, "It was in his eyes, honey, when he looked at you on the stage. He wouldn't actually say the words, said you were so young and he wanted you to be sure. I enlightened him on the fact that he should give you more credit for knowing what you wanted."

Though Edward hadn't given her due credit at the time, he had finally realized the error of his ways after the charity ball. Bella shook her head, still smiling. Things between them had not taken steps but leaps in the right direction.

A movement from the corner of the room brought her around. Remi was alert but not yet on his feet. She followed his gaze to see Alice standing in the doorway.

"Hey." She waved. "Come on in."

Alice glanced at Remi, then back to Bella. "You sure?"

"Yeah, he's not going to bother you. See," she gestured to where Remi was already relaxing on the plush pillow bed they had brought into her studio for him. "He's not even paying any attention."

"Yeah, right," Alice mumbled under her breath but entered the room anyway.

Bella snorted, shaking her head. "What's up?"

"Nothing, really," Alice said. "I just haven't seen you since, you know," she waved a hand indicating all the craziness that had been going on recently with Bella's life. "I just wanted to make sure everything was okay. How you holding up?"

"I'm okay," Bella said, shrugging.

"Are you sure? Because I'm pretty sure I'd be a nut case right about now. So, you know, it's okay to say that it's getting to you."

Alice placed a hand on Bella's forearm, looking at her with a concerned expression.

"I'm okay, but thank you." Bella smiled.

"Okay." Alice nodded, sliding her hand down to take Bella's in her own. Her eyes grew wide and she jerked Bella's hand up to take a closer look. "Oh my God!"

Remi made a low rumble of disgruntled misunderstanding and Bella waved a quelling hand, muttering a command.

"When did he ask? Why didn't I already know this? You didn't call me—I can't believe you didn't call me." Alice glared at her for a split second before looking at the ring once again. "This is gorgeous. I mean, Edward has really good tastes, but still … wow."

Bella laughed and extracted her hand from Alice's grip. "Thank you. Yeah, it's beautiful, isn't it? He did a great job."

"I can't believe it! I knew he would finally grow a pair and do it but, oh my god, he actually did. Did he ask while you guys were out of town?"

"Yeah." Bella smiled, looking down at her ring, running her thumb along the smooth platinum band. "We went down to Pueblo. The fair was in town. He got down on one knee in the middle of the midway." Her smile widened and her eyes burned, her throat constricting with memory of the moment. "It was … amazing."

Alice pulled her into a tight hug, squealing in delight. "I am so happy for you guys. Have you set a date?" she asked, releasing her hold only to keep her hands wrapped around Bella's upper arms.

"Yeah. December twenty-seventh."

"Of next year?"

"No, this year."

The blankness of Alice's expression was comical. "You're kidding, right?"

"No." Bella's brow furrowed.

"That's like a little more than three months from now."

"I know," Bella said.

"Are you pregnant?"

Bella's jaw unhinged, her eyes widened in shock. "What? No! Why would you—" She stopped, taking a deep breath and trying to regain a measure of calm. "No, Alice, I'm not pregnant. Is it so hard to believe that Edward and I just didn't want a long engagement?"

"I'm sorry," Alice said with true regret in her eyes. "I shouldn't have asked you that. I was just shocked I guess. He just moved in a few days ago."

"It was more than two weeks ago," Bella mumbled.

"Can I ask you another question and you not get upset? I don't want to put a damper on the occasion, because I'm really happy for you two, but as your friend and Edward's, I feel I need to ask."

Bella hesitated for a moment, and then finally nodded.

"You're not rushing into this because of what's going on, are you?"

Bella sighed. That was a question she expected and could answer honestly. "No, the timeline has nothing to do with all of this craziness with Demetri. Edward and I know what we want. We're living together already, there isn't a point to waiting. We just want to start our lives together as a married couple."

"Can you plan the wedding with that time frame?" Alice continued. "I mean, it's only like, three months."

"I hope so. We don't want a huge spectacle. Edward's family will be in town for the holiday. My mom is working on reserving Stonebrook Manor. She's worked with the staff there on several charity events in the past, so she thought she might be able to call in a few favors."

"Oh, that place is gorgeous," Alice said, an excited edge to her voice.

"It really is, they have that outdoor chapel—"

Alice gasped, her eyes widening. "Tell me you're not thinking of having the ceremony outside. It'll be the middle of winter, for Christ's sake."

Bella laughed, rolling her eyes. "I know that. They have heavy white canvas drapes that enclose the chapel if needed. They'll use these big portable heaters so it's not that big of a deal to have it there, regardless of the season."

"Really?" Alice asked. "Huh, I didn't think about that." She shrugged. "So, do you think your mom will be able to get it?"

"I hope so. I mean we'll figure something out if not, but …"

"But you really want it to be there."

Bella smiled, nodding. "Yeah, I really do."

Alice clapped her hands and did a pirouette before pulling Bella into another tight embrace. "I'm so happy for you. You really deserve to be happy after everything you've gone through. You let me know if there's anything you need help with, okay?"

"I will. Thank you," Bella said, returning the hug just as enthusiastically.

The sound of giggling proceeded the scuffling of tiny feet and Bella pulled away to see her next group of girls staring wide-eyed in Remi's direction. She sighed.

This was her first day back to work since everything had gone to hell in a hand basket nearly two weeks before. Edward had been serious in his insistence that Remi accompany her everywhere. He even went so far as to make a trip to PetSmart the day before and buy a dog bed just for the studio.

"Come on in, ladies," she said, smiling and crossing the room toward Remi. "Go ahead and take your positions, then I'll introduce you to my friend."

"I'll catch up with you later," Alice called and slipped out with a wave goodbye as the girls did as instructed.

For the next ten minutes, Bella explained Remi's presence in the studio. The girls had a million and one questions. Without going into too much detail, Bella did her best to answer them to their satisfaction.

Several hours later, Bella had finally dismissed her last class of the day. Exhaustion didn't even begin to describe how she felt at that moment. Unfortunately, she couldn't even go home right away as she had another appointment with Dr. Rodgers, her psychologist.

"Come on, big guy," she called, taking her iPod from the dock and stooping to grab the duffle bag at her feet.

Remi stretched his long legs in front of him, rolling his back with a loud groan before slowly walking across the room to where she stood.

Bella laughed and placed a hand on his head. "I couldn't have said it better myself. Let's get out of here."

Almost out the door, Bella stopped at the sound of someone calling her name. She turned to see Tia, one of the high school girls Tanya had recently hired as a part-time receptionist, waving to her from the hallway.

"Isabella, wait," she said. "You had a delivery."

"A delivery?" Bella asked, crossing back to the desk.

"Yeah," Tia repeated, rifling through a stack of papers. "The courier dropped it off during your last class." She held out a plain manila envelope. "I just signed for it. I hope that's okay—I didn't think I should disturb you."

"Yeah, no that's fine. Thanks." Bella frowned at the envelope in her hand. Her name sprawled across the front in bold, block letters. She turned the envelope over looking for a return address or any other notations but found none. It was thin and judging by weight alone, it felt as though it were empty. With a deep breath, she broke the seal and held it over the palm of her hand, shaking out the contents.

A photo slid out and her blood turned to ice. It was black and white and though grainy, she recognized the scene instantly.

In the photo, she stood before Edward on bended knee as he held her hand while sliding the ring onto her finger.

Bella flipped the photo over, not wanting to believe what she was seeing and gasped. On the back, in the same block letters as what was on the envelope, were the words: It seems congratulations are in order.

Thank you all for your patience. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. The story is written and I will be posting until its completion over the next several weeks. Thanks again to all those who have stuck with me and the story.

Follow me on Twitter bellasundrstudy. You can also find me on Facebook under: Savannah Yarbrough and google+ at bellasunderstudy . You can also check out my blog at .com (without the parenthesis, of course)

xoxoxoxo

Until next time ...

bellasunderstudy