I know I threw you for a loop. Thanks for reading. Go on. I'll meet you at the bottom with an announcement!

SMeyer owns…I don't. Thanks Scorp for your assistance.

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37.

EDWARD

"You stupid fuck! Why on earth would ya think that was funny? My God, ya could have caused her to hit her head or have a stroke," I yelled at Felix.

"Dude, I'm sorry. I had no idea she'd fucking pass out. I'm in town for Peter's birthday, and I wanted to see you. When she answered this morning and made the comment you'd gotten engaged, and you hadn't even bothered to let your best friend know you were seeing anyone, I decided to prank you. How the fuck did I know she'd pass out?" Felix argued.

Felix Rhodes had been my roommate at Cornell. We spoke infrequently after undergrad because he transferred to Harvard to get his Masters while I stayed at Cornell. We were very good friends in college, but I hadn't seen him since he came to my graduation the year before. I vaguely remembered his brother worked for the FBI in Seattle, but I was surprised when I walked out and saw him standing in my apartment. His little prank had caused my fiancée to hit the deck, and I was worried about her. I was about to beat his ass all over the place, friend or not.

"Fe, I told you this was stupid," Peter complained as he sat in a chair looking worried.

Bella's eyes sprung open from her place on my lap as I sat on the couch holding her. When I'd walked into the living room and found her in Peter's arms, I took her and sat down, trying to get her to come back to me.

"There you are. Sugar, I'm sorry. My stupid fuckin' friend thought it was a great joke to pull on ya. He was just joshin' ya. I'm not in trouble for anything," I explained, seeing that cute little blush on her face that always flipped my switch.

She sat up and turned to look at Felix who looked half sick, and she cleared her throat. "That's a cruel thing to do to a woman who's pregnant," she snapped as she placed her hand on her stomach. I hid my face behind her head because I knew she was fucking with him just as he'd fucked with her.

"Damn! I'm so sorry. I had no idea…I haven't heard from Cullen for a couple of…Damn! Pregnant?" Felix asked. I pulled myself together and placed my hand on her stomach, squeezing her hand that rested there.

"If there's anything wrong with my kid, I'll hunt ya down and beat your ass," I added. I saw the blood drain from his face. A few seconds later, Bella burst into laughter. I joined her because we'd gotten one over on Felix Rhodes which was extremely difficult to do.

"You fucker," Felix bitched.

Peter laughed with us and extended his hand to Bella as she stood and adjusted her clothes. "Bella, I'm sorry about that. I let my dumbass brother talk me into it, but I had no idea you'd pass out. I'm Peter Rhodes, and it's a pleasure to meet someone who got one over on my little brother," Peter greeted with a warm smile.

Bella shook his hand and turned to Felix, planting her hands on her hips. I knew the boy was in for a world of hurt, and for a hot minute, I felt sorry for him…but not too much. "So, Mr. Rhodes, your idea of fun is to scare the shit out of your college friend's fiancée? That's a bit sadistic isn't it?" she scolded, causing me to cover my mouth again so I didn't laugh. I knew she wasn't pissed, but she was certainly letting him know he'd met his match, just as I had when I first laid eyes on the woman.

"I'm…I didn't…Um…I didn't expect," Felix stammered, which caused me to laugh like crazy. That's my girl.

"I bet you didn't. So, you guys have wives or girlfriends or, Felix, in your case, a boyfriend?" she taunted which caused Peter to laugh along with me.

"Hey, why would you think that?" Felix defended, standing from his seat in a side chair.

"Anyone who would pull a prank like that…or rather, didn't have the balls to do it himself so he got his brother to pull the prank, must do the tuck and roll. So, do you have a hard time finding dresses? You're tall, so I'd bet you have to get them specially made," Bella continued. I was crying I was laughing so hard, and Peter was as well.

Felix looked at her for a minute, and then picked her up and hugged her. "You're exactly the type of girl I'd expect Cullen to fall for. I look forward to getting to know you, Bellsy…you know, like ballsy only your name," he teased. I was quite happy my best friend from college, who I'd lost touch with, knew as well as me that I'd found the most incredible girl in the world.

"Put her down, you jackass. Y'all hungry? We're goin' to a cookout," I offered.

"We don't want to…" Peter began.

"Are you married?" Bella interrupted.

"Um, yes, but my wife, Charlotte, is visiting her parents in L.A.," he answered.

"Fine. You're coming with us. We'll stop and get beer on the way," Bella announced. And that was that. My girl had given the order, and we three idiots followed her like she held the keys to the kingdom. I knew I'd follow her anywhere, but when the other two joined me, it reminded me why I'd asked her to marry me. She was fucking amazing.

##

"Wait, so why was he in his underwear walking around the quad?" Alice asked. I wanted to fucking throttle Felix. I thought we had an understanding that what happened in college stayed in Ithaca, but that fuck was spilling his guts, and I was ready to kill him.

"I was pledging a frat, and I got Cullen to come with me. The brothers didn't know he wasn't pledging, and let's just say Cullen was a little worse for wear by the time we got around to it that night. We pledges were ordered to strip down and run through the quad, and I guilted the weak ass into joining us. I had no idea he'd stepped on glass and was standing there in his boxers when the cops showed. I didn't go back for him, but I did bail him out. I think, Dr. Cullen, you got a call," Felix explained as he turned to my father who was laughing.

"I did, in fact. His mother flew up to New York and took him to church on Sunday morning, if I recall correctly," Daddy answered. Bella was lapping up every story, laughing the whole time, and I wanted to kick Felix out.

"I did, and after that, my son was a model student," Momma answered. Oh, if only she knew.

Felix laughed. "Yes, Mrs. Cullen, he was a model student, weren't you, Edward?" he taunted. That fucker knew Heidi had talked me into posing for her for an art project. I wasn't proud of it, but at the time, I was in a pussy fog, and hell, I'm glad the only thing I did was sit on a stool naked, holding an apple. It could have been so much fucking worse.

When Felix saw the picture hanging in the Art building, he dragged me over there and made me confess it was me. It was fucking awful, and how he knew it was me, I didn't know. The only thing she got right on canvass was my dick. I guessed it was because she spent so much time with it in her mouth. Definitely not something I was going to confess to Bella.

Felix was the one who clued me in she was only after my money because he'd heard her talking to one of her bitchy friends about rifling through my desk and finding out the size of my bank account. She'd mentioned to the friend she could put up with a lot of shit she didn't like about me because of the size of my trust fund. When I caught her in a lie about it, I dumped her ass immediately, just like I'd dumped Chelsea before her. I had not one nugget of remorse about it either.

Bella had no idea about the money, but I knew she wouldn't care if I was a billionaire or a garbage man. She loved me for the man I was, and I was grateful. After we were married, things would change, but until then, I'd keep shit close to the vest because she had enough insecurity to fill a dump truck. I wasn't going to add to it by telling her I could buy her a private island and still never work another day in my life if I wanted.

"Hell, look at the time, would ya? Fe, it's been great to catch up, and make sure I have your address so I can send ya a save-the-date. Babe, we need to get home. Don't ya have a test tomorrow?" I asked Bella who was sitting on my lap with a smile on her face. She knew what the fuck I was doing, and I was waiting to figure out if she was going to go along with me or not.

She laughed. "Actually, I do. I hate to cut this short, but I've got a deadline. Thank you, Rose, for having us over…" she began her good-bye. I was fucking relieved. I made my own rounds, and finally, after half-an-hour, we were on the driveway getting into the car.

"Cullen, you've got some colorful friends," Bella stated as I closed her door. She had no fucking idea, and I prayed he kept a lot of shit to himself. There was no guarantee because they'd hit it off, but I'd kill the fucker if he opened his mouth about some of the other shit. It wasn't criminal, and it wasn't regarding me hooking up. Hell, if I thought about it, he really had nothing that would embarrass me more than what Bella had already witnessed. Nothin' trumps a Barbie collection.

##

"I was thinking of these for the flowers," Bella announced as she held up a piece of paper. I was reading research I'd done regarding an agriculture start-up with an organic recipe for livestock feed. It was catching on in the Midwest, and their profits were up substantially. They had found a way to keep costs down, and with the trend toward organic foods even for farm animals, they were the next up and comers, in my opinion.

"Love 'em. They're great," I responded without looking up. I really didn't care about the wedding. Well, I wanted to be married, but the whole ceremony thing and all of the pomp and circumstance around it was lost on me.

"So, you're on board with the Cannabis plants around the grounds," she commented.

"Honey, whatever you want. You just say the word," I replied as I squeezed her hand resting on my thigh. Unfortunately, her hand was dangerously close to my dick, and when she moved her hand to the right a little and squeezed it in return, she wasn't playing. I looked up from my research and saw she was holding up a picture of a pot plant, and she was…topless.

"Fuck!" I gasped, tossing the report on the floor. It was the middle of May, and we were planning a wedding…or Bella was planning a wedding. I'd left it up to her to plan it, but based on what I was witnessing first hand, I needed to pull a little weight. I knew she was taking finals for her on-line classes, and I was busy at work, but my job wasn't more important than her. I needed to wake the fuck up and see what was in front of me, literally.

I pulled her into my body as I reclined on the couch, rubbing my hands over her soft skin. "I'm sorry. I've been checked out on this whole thing. I'd say maybe pot plants aren't the way to go, unless you've got a habit I don't know about. I swear I'll pay closer attention. Why don't you hire…why are you tryin' to do this on your own? When Tanya got married, I swear, there was an army," I told her.

"Edward, your parents are giving us the venue as a wedding gift, and they had to bribe another bride with a fifty percent discount so she'd give up the 13th of August for us. I've got an assload of student loans to pay off, and even with saving all of my paychecks from working for Alice, I'm still going to have to pick up more loans for my summer tuition. I don't need an army, I just need you to give me an honest opinion," she complained.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone, scrolling through my contacts and hitting the button when I got to Rosalie's number. Maybe she could use her powers for good for a change?

"Hello?" Rosalie answered, actually sounding like she was in a good mood for a fucking change.

"Hey, it's me. You know a lot of people, right?" I asked. Bella was trying to figure out who I was talking to, but I tickled her until she got up from on top of me. Unfortunately, she put her top back on.

"That I do. Who do you need?" Rosalie asked.

"Um, I need a wedding planner, a realtor, and a furniture store," I requested as I looked at the space where our coffee table used to be. I still smiled about the way it met its demise. I never liked the damn thing anyway.

"She's finally going to hire someone? I've been bitching at her about it for weeks. It's a good thing you're a patient guy. She'd drive a Quaker to violence," Rosalie joked.

I was pretty stunned at her comment. "Hey, that almost sounds like a compliment," I responded with a laugh.

She cracked-up over the line. "Don't get used to it. I'll call you back," Rosalie informed before she hung up.

I looked to where my pissed-off fiancée was standing with her hands on her hips. I sat up from the couch so I had a shot at getting away before she strangled the shit out of me. "Now, sugar, you can get as mad as ya want, but we need help. You've got finals, and then you start summer school in June. You're workin' a lot of hours at the store, and ya don't need to worry about any of this other stuff. I'll help ya, but we need a professional, especially if we're gonna buy a house and new furniture," I announced. If I was going down, I was going down in a big way.

Her beautiful mouth opened and closed like a cute little goldfish, and I knew she was getting wound up. I was curious which thing was the one that would get me crucified. As I sat there, I decided just to go for broke. "Oh, and we'll take care of your student loans and shit. Don't worry about it."

When she lunged at me, I was over the back of a couch in a flash. She was seeing red, and I was laughing so hard I could hardly see. We did the bob and weave for a minute, and then she stopped to look at me. "Edward, we don't need to buy a house right now. We don't need new furniture. I can plan this wedding myself because it's not going to be elaborate.

"And, last but not least, you're not paying my student loans. I'm not marrying you so I have someone to support me financially. I'm marrying you because I love you. You're a wonderful man who's supported me emotionally since I met you. That's what I need from you," she stated emphatically.

I walked from behind the couch and stepped in front of her, taking her arms and wrapping them around my neck. I pulled her closer to me and settled my hands on her ass. "My love, I know you're not marryin' me for my money. Hell, ya don't even know how much I have. It's never been a big deal to me because I make a decent salary, but the fact is the money's there for things just like this. My grandparents gave some to me and some to Tanya, and I only used a little of it for college. The rest of it's just sittin' in an account waitin' for me to have a reason to use it. I finally do," I explained as I looked into her brown eyes. I saw the damn waterworks gearing up, but I was smart enough not to comment.

She buried her face in my chest, and I felt her shoulders shaking as she cried. I moved my hands from her ass to her back and began to gently rub up and down her spine, kissing the top of her head. I hoped I was comforting her, but at the end of the day, the woman had to know while I'd let her tell me what to do for the rest of my life, there were a few things on which I wouldn't budge. She wasn't the only stubborn mule in the family.

##

"You're taking off?" Emmett asked as I stood at Maggie's desk waiting for copies of a report I'd prepared for him on "Organic Alternatives." I was high on the company, and I hoped Emmett would be as well.

Everything was going great, especially since we'd hired the wedding planner, Lauren Yorkie. It was convenient her husband was a realtor as well. They were a nice couple, and while we toured some of the houses he thought would be perfect for us, Bella and Lauren ironed out wedding plans. Everything was a hell of a lot calmer.

"Yeah. We're goin' to an Alumni get-together at a bar in West Seattle tonight. I want Bella to meet some of my friends from college who live in the area. She's not exactly thrilled about it, but she agreed to go. Felix will be there, so she'll know somebody," I replied. Not exactly thrilled was a fuckin' understatement.

She'd pitched a good ol' shit fit when I told her I wanted to go. She'd even tried to play sick that very afternoon to get out of it, but I reminded her of the shit I'd put up with from her friends on the reservation when we went to visit her folks, and she finally agreed to go.

Emmett laughed. "Oh, that explains the strange message I got from Rosalie. She told me to bring home Chinese because Siobhan had taken the girls to the park so she could talk Bella off the ledge and try to help her find a dress for tonight. Any ex-hook ups gonna be there?" Emmett asked with a smirk.

There were only two girls in college who I hooked up with, but I thought they both lived on the east coast, so I wasn't too concerned about it. "Naw. The two girls I fu…dated in college live back east," I answered as Maggie rounded the corner with my booklets.

"Well, I hope you're right," Emmett replied as I handed him the analysis to review over the weekend.

"Yeah, me too," I responded as I shoved a copy of the report into my messenger bag and hurried off to meet Bella at The Walrus and the Carpenter. The invitation mentioned the back deck had been reserved, so I expected there was going to be a pretty decent turn out.

I hadn't had the opportunity to attend any of the Alumni events since I'd moved to Seattle, and I was looking forward to it. I wanted to show off my girl, and I wanted her to have some fun because she'd been far too stressed of late.

I was happy Felix was going to be there because I hoped he could help me make Bella feel comfortable. Some of the people we went to college with were pretentious fucks, but they weren't our friends. Felix, Alec, Demitri, and I were nothing like some of the preppy dicks we knew. I prayed everything went smoothly.

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No arrests…no embezzling…no insider trading. I realize that the charges would have been handled by the SEC, but I wasn't going for accuracy, exactly. Kudos to those of you who picked up the inaccuracy.

So…I have an announcement. "Come Home" has been nominated for Fic of the Week over at "teh-lemonade-stand-.-com (Remove dashes and mush it all together. This site is awful with websites. It is "t e h" instead of "t h e".) If you loved the story, please go vote. I think the voting ends tomorrow, but I just found out about it. I'm truly honored, and if you nominated me, thank you so very much!

Thank you for reading. (The happy hour is a lot of fun, IMHO)

Till next time…xoxo