*EPOV*

Now that the timing was more certain, I needed to talk to Carlisle.

I waited until Bella laid quietly in bed, all sleep-talked out, before ducking out to see him. Now that Bella's dreams were officially numbered, I couldn't bear to miss a second of those brief windows into her unguarded mind.

I was still pondering over something she'd said tonight, 'Charlie's one of them,' when I found Carlisle and Esme together on the couch in the family room. Carlisle was rubbing the pale arches of her bare feet that rested in his lap as they watched the news together.

Esme meant to put her feet down at my intrusion, but Carlisle held tight to them, tickling them a little as he did. Esme giggled like a schoolgirl.

"Edward," Carlisle smiled even wider, ``It's nice to see your face around here. To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"I can come back if this is a bad time," I apologized for my interruption. "I wanted to discuss Bella's upcoming transformation. I assume Alice told you about her vision?"

Carlisle smiled good-naturedly. "Don't be silly. If it was a bad time, you'd know it," Carlisle teased, earning a playful swat from Esme.

"And yes, I heard. We all did. You must've missed Alice's little one-person parade this evening when you took Bella out for dinner. December 30th. It's on all of our google calendars, the wall calendar. And she stuck a save-the-date to the fridge, too," Carlisle chuckled.

I had to laugh at that. Alice was nothing if not thorough.

Edward, would you like me to give you and Carlisle some privacy? Esme thought graciously.

I smiled warmly at her and shook my head subtly and she relaxed back into the couch. I took a seat closer to Carlisle on the chaise side of the massive sectional.

"To start with...where are we going to take her to do this? It's been 70 years since we've had a newborn in the family, and the places we took the others are not nearly as unpopulated as they once were."

Certainly, there had to be a more preferable locale than Bella's suggestion of Antarctica.

"Why not Denali? We have property there...and family, and it's still relatively remote," Carlisle suggested.

I made a face. "Hard pass. They are going to have to do a lot more than show up at our wedding and apologize to get back into my good graces after their refusal to help us dismantle the newborn army. That will not be easily forgotten," I said with no small amount of bitterness.

"Besides, we left there in the first place because there were too many of us and we were attracting attention. But we're going to move back now that we're adding a newborn to the mix? That doesn't make any sense."

Carlisle couldn't argue with that.

Emmett walked into the room with a laptop under his arm. "I have a suggestion," he chimed in.

He opened up the laptop and handed it to me. "Rose and I would like to offer up a property that we designed and built for our own vacationing purposes and have yet to use."

"Admiralty Island," I read off the screen and skimmed over the details. Nearly a million acres of pristine wilderness off the coast of Southeast Alaska.

The paltry human population of a mere 650 was outnumbered three to one by the world's largest population of brown bears. My eyebrows raised with piqued interest.

"The natives call the area the Kootznoowoo Wilderness, which means...fortress of bears," Emmett said, practically licking his lips.

"And this property of yours is big enough for all of us?" I ascertained.

Emmett snorted. "When have you ever known Rose to do anything halfway? It's nearly as big as this place and was built on the uninhabited side of the island.

I couldn't see any faults with this plan. It was a far cry better than my idea of Northern Canada since polar bear populations were on a steep decline.

I handed the laptop to Carlisle.

"The nearest hospital is in Juneau. It would be a bit of a trek to get to work every day," Carlisle looked thoughtful.

"I could always ship over some equipment and start my own practice for the locals. "I bet they'd appreciate not having to be medevacked to the mainland for every emergency."

"Though, would that mean I wouldn't get a hot wifey week?'" Carlisle teased and leaned over to kiss Esme's smiling cheek.

"So...we're going then?" Emmett asked, not bothering to contain his excitement.

"I don't see why not," Carlisle answered after Esme nodded her approval. "A new adventure for a new daughter only seems fitting.

"Alice? Jasper? Any objections?" He asked in a conversational tone, turning his head toward their wing of the house.

They appeared as if they'd been present all along.

"It'll do," Alice growled, depressed by the shopping prospects.

"Fortress of bears? Sign me up!" Jasper drawled.

"Another convenient thing about Admiralty Island is when people go missing, they always just assume it was the bears," Emmett said, thinking about the possibility of Bella slipping.

It wasn't bad as far as contingency plans went, but I would move literal mountains before I let Bella slip up. I would never fail her again.

"'I'll talk to Bella about it as soon as she wakes up. I doubt she'll have any objections. Thank you, Emmett…and Rosalie" I added begrudgingly, whom I knew could hear me from under her M3 in the garage, "for your hospitality. I couldn't have picked a better place myself."

Rosalie mentally replied. It's the least I could do. But if your hot-headed newborn wife breaks my house, you're buying me a new one.

I laughed once in spite of myself.

I'll let the hospital know of my plans today. It shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. I was only here on a borrowed status since I knew we wouldn't be in New Hampshire for long. Carlisle thought to himself.

Emmett pumped a fist winningly in the air. "Hell yeah! But I get to tell Bella about the fortress of bears part. After all, I owe her a hunting lesson," his dimpled smile lit up his face.

The decision having been made, my siblings started to disperse to go make their own preparations. Jasper was the last to file out, singing John Denver's "Alaska and Me" in his rich baritone.

Seeing the sun start to rise over the horizon, I was starting to get anxious to get back to Bella. I didn't want her to wake and find me gone. The other questions I had for Carlisle would have to wait.

I nodded in farewell to Carlisle. "See you at breakfast, Esme!" I said before letting myself out.

*BPOV*

I'd slept fitfully the night before and woke up alone. Edward probably just went to chat with the family, I rationalized. It was still dark outside, so he probably thought he had more time. I had only but to say his name and he'd return to me.

But I wasn't going to do that. I was going to have faith that any moment now he'd come streaking through the door in all of his dazzling perfection with a smile and an apology for...what exactly? For leaving my side, I supposed. And then we'd go about our day just like any other.

Sixty-seven, no, sixty-sixdays now until my heart stopped beating. How strange to know the exact day of my death. Not only to know it, but to be eagerly awaiting it-while also being terrified out of my skull.

Not just a death, I reminded myself, trying to stay positive. A rebirth. In sixty-six days, Bella Cullen the vampire would be born.

I tried to imagine what Edward would look like biting into me. I tried to imagine the exultant butterscotch eyes that watched me walk down the aisle, but the only ones that came to mind were a murderous scarlet red.

The fingers of my left hand moved subconsciously to the slightly raised, cool-to-the-touch crescent-shaped scar on my right hand.

I remembered that tiny slice of agony and then tried to imagine how it would feel all over my body. For three days instead of three minutes. The thought of it made my palms sweat and my stomach clench.

But what was three days of agony for an eternity with Edward? It couldn't be worse than six months of thinking I'd lost him, that he didn't want me.

Whatever those three days wrought, I'd survive it, and then we'd finally be together as equals.

He'd never be able to push me away, or run from me, or go where I couldn't follow.

I'd be beautiful and strong and graceful. I wouldn't trip over my feet, and if I ever had cause to be embarrassed by something, my blush would never again give me away.

What would I do when I didn't have to worry about dying? What wouldn't I do? Jump off a bridge, no, a cliff, I grinned. Drive too fast. Surf a tsunami. Go skydiving without a parachute. The possibilities were endless.

I felt the mattress dip ever so slightly just before a cool hand molded itself to the side of my face. The pad of his thumb brushed softly over my cheekbone as he murmured his apologies. I closed my eyes and smiled, breathing him in.

"Good morning, love. Would you please tell me what is going on in that beautiful head of yours? I've never seen so many different emotions cross your face in the space of a minute."

He was sitting up, the smooth marble of his brow furrowed into an intensely curious expression as he peered down at me.

"Thinking about after," I said vaguely, not awake enough yet to be articulate. "Just trying to wrap my head around it."

Edward took my right hand in his and stroked over the scar. "I gathered as much," his smile was patient. "What specifically?"

"Just trying to imagine it. What it will be like to be bitten…" I said, reaching up and skimming my thumb along his lower lip.

"...To burn." Edward tensed but said nothing. "And then, afterward, all the crazy stuff I'll do when I won't have to worry about dying," I finished with a grin.

Edward groaned. "Going to see how many times you can give your poor husband a heart attack, hmm?" He chuckled and kissed me on the side of the head.

"Something like that," I laughed and nodded. "Maybe we should go skydiving now, so that I have something to compare the experience to afterward," I tapped my chin and waited for the glare.

He didn't disappoint. "Nobody as disaster-prone as you should ever be allowed to jump out of a plane," he scowled.

"Too bad," I teased. It might've been fun if I was strapped to you and not some instructor," I said, waggling my eyebrows at him. I snickered at his piqued expression and could tell he was reconsidering.

"Speaking of after, that's what I wanted to talk to you about before you go up to breakfast. Do you mind if I claim a few minutes of your human hour to talk over some particulars?"

"Of course not. I only need a human minute today. Be right back," I said as I padded off to the bathroom to relieve my bursting bladder and to quickly brush my teeth.

"Alright then, hit me with it," I said crawling back into bed and into his arms.

"The reason I wasn't here when you woke," Edward began, his eyes apologetic, "was because I was finishing up a very productive conversation with the others about where we'll go after we get back from Christmas in Florida."

My eyes widened, alert now. I listened intently.

"Emmett and Rosalie have generously offered the use of their property on Admiralty Island. It's the seventh-largest island in the United States, off the coast of Southeast Alaska.

"It is largely uninhabited other than a very small population of natives that live on the opposite side of the island."

When he saw the concern in my eyes about nearby humans, Edward rushed to reassure me. "Not to worry, love. They will be far enough away that they shouldn't be in danger as long as we're careful, and we will be.

"But you can't very well learn to control your thirst if you don't know what a human smells like. Learning to do that means exposing you to the scent in a safely-controlled environment, and we can do that there," he confidently assured me.

"And besides that, the hunting options are...impressive. Much better than penguins, trust me," he smiled crookedly.

"Well, that sounds fine if you think it will be safe. I wasn't married to the idea of Antarctica or anything, I just really, really don't want to hurt anybody," I fretted.

"Of course not, love, and we're going to do everything in our power to make sure that doesn't happen," Edward crooned in his most soothing voice, though it didn't escape my notice that he made me no promises.

I felt his lips on the top of my head, and then the pressure of his cold stone hand pass over my ear as he stroked my hair from root to tip.

Always the practical one, I muttered, "I knew going to Dartmouth was a bad idea. Think of how much easier the move would have been if we were already living in Juneau."

"And miss seeing your exquisite face framed by the colors of New England in the fall? I'd never allow it," his lips smiled into my hair. I sighed, content.

"Ok, so that answers the 'where' question. I've only got about 150 million more," I hyperbolized.

Edward squared his shoulders a bit as his arms tightened around me. "Hit me with 'em. Now's the time to ask."

I felt the blood rushing to my face. How long had I waited for an invitation like that? But now everything that I could think of to ask felt inconsequential or just downright embarrassing.

My heated face was instantly cooled by the backs of his fingers. "You're blushing? Bella, this is torturous. Please, whatever it is, just ask."

"I was just wondering…" I chewed on my lip, stalling for time as he stared at me with his unshakable curiosity.

On the spot, I couldn't think of a single other question to ask him other than the one I was most curious about. And it was as embarrassing as it gets.

"You were just wondering?" Edward prompted, an impatient edge to his voice now.

"I guess I was just wondering if there were any experiences that maybe you wanted to have while I was still human," I shrugged uncomfortably.

Edward's face went blank. "I'm not following you."

I tried to avert my eyes but the granite hand under my chin wasn't having it. I looked down at the pale hand that cupped my jaw instead. "What side of the fence do you fall on about...period sex?" I cringed, wishing a large sinkhole would open up under me and swallow me whole.

I had finally done it. I had made Edward "Heard It All Before" Cullen speechless. My sinkhole wasn't coming nearly fast enough as I watched his mouth open and close twice, trying and failing to form words.

"Nevermind. I take it back. Stupid idea," I stuttered, scrambling to put the genie back into the bottle.

Edward took my hand and made me feel just how not stupid my idea was. "Not stupid, Bella," his normally silken voice sounded gravelly. "Just not safe...There's only so much I can ask of my control," his eyes pleaded with me to understand.

Oh. Well, I could live with that as long as he didn't think I was sexually depraved or something.

Feeling the telltale backache that could only mean one thing, I said, "Well, then you better make love to me one more time before I send you off on a hunting trip," I hinted.

Edward's grinning mouth disappeared against the skin of my throat. "It would be my very great pleasure, Mrs. Cullen," his velvet voice murmured in between small kisses underneath my jaw.

"But you don't have to send me away, you know. I'm happy—more than happy to stay here with you and see that you're taken care of. I don't know if you've heard, but I have an excellent bedside manner," he purred.

Edward made quick work of the buttons on my pajama top and dipped his head to kiss the skin between my bare breasts before returning to my lips.

"Oh, I've heard, alright," my smiling voice was muffled by the glassy smoothness of his lips. "A little too good. That's why I'm sending you away. So I don't ask too much of your control."

Edward made a sound between a groan and growl, "That is so unfair."

I snorted in amusement, enjoying the role reversal. "Do I always have to be the responsible one?"

This earned an actual growl. "Just for the next sixty-six days...and then neither of us have to be responsible ever again," his head dipped back down to take the stiffened peak of my breast into his mouth as I gasped.

Edward slid the silky fabric of my pajama shorts down over my hips, which I raised so he could slide them all the way off.

He groaned to find me pantyless underneath. Then my breath was forced out of my chest with a whoosh as the strong hands on my hips flipped me over onto all fours. His wide-splayed hands slid worshipfully over the well-rounded curve of my bottom.

I could then feel the cool contours of his chest pressed up against my back as he held himself over me, his lips were right at my ear.

The tickle of his icy breath on my sensitive skin made me shudder against him, and the little wiggle against his rock-hard erection trapped between our two bodies made him suck in a sharp breath.

"I'm afraid I don't have the time I need to worship you properly if we are going to be on time for breakfast. But I hope you'll accept an IOU, with interest," he breathed, reaching a hand between my legs as he entered me from behind.

"Yes," I cried, both in reply and in response.

There was something so wildly erotic about making love in this way in which I couldn't see him, I could only feel him. It made every touch and every whispered endearment that much more powerful.

Edward's practiced fingers brought me effortlessly to a toe-curling orgasm seconds before he tensed and groaned out his own release.

Lithely rolling over onto his side next to me, Edward gathered me into his arms as our ragged breathing decelerated to a more normal rate.

My stomach growled then, cutting through the early morning quiet. "Breakfast time for the human?" Edward asked, an amused chuckle in his voice.

Later, up at the house, Esme was sweet enough to pretend not to notice our tardiness...Emmett not so much.

"Well it's nice of you two to finally show up," Emmett grinned like the cat who ate the cream. "And don't you look chipper this morning!" he guffawed.

Esme popped him one upside the head in reproach for his lack of discretion.

Rubbing the back of his head, Emmett's smile never faded. "Thanks for letting me tell Squirt here about the fortress of bears, Edward. I didn't think you'd be able to keep your mouth shut," he grinned.

I looked back and forth between my husband and brother-in-law as Esme loaded up my plate with bacon, eggs, and fruit.

I raised a crisp piece of bacon to my lips, but the breakfast meat seemed to freeze in mid-air as I blanched. "Excuse me. Fortress of what?"

*A/N* I don't think I've wanted a semester of college to finish so badly since I myself was a college student! Thanks for reading and reviewing! Your feedback and suggestions are giving me life during this pandemic! Can't wait to hear what you think! Anything you want to see Bella do in her final days of humanity? Drop me a line!