WOW!!! 136 Yes to 20 No. You guys really are excited for these chapters. So! As promised, I'll post the two OLM chapters here and then I'll post the separate adult reader one-shot that details their "special" time together.

DISCLAIMER: The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creation of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer. All are human.

Reconnecting – Part 1

Bella's POV

"Edward, did we remember to remind Rose about giving Charlie his medicine?" I asked. "The doctor specifically said to make sure we gave him the antibiotics until they were all gone. And what about making sure she uses his blue bottle with the little dinosaurs at bedtime? I don't know how he can tell his bottles apart, but he knows and he only wants that one at bedtime or he gets fussy. And Raffe? Did we make sure he was in the diaper bag?"

"Yes to all of those," Edward said, laughing a little.

"Maybe I should call just to make sure," I suggested, not sure if I wanted him to agree or not. We were on our way to whatever surprise location Edward had picked out for us. I knew we were going to some sort of resort from the papers he'd accidentally left on the sofa, but I didn't want to peek too much and ruin the surprise of it all. And I was sure that if Edward picked it, it would be a fancy place with all the trimmings and I would love it. I just needed to figure how to be excited for the trip without missing my little man like crazy.

Edward sighed and glanced at me quickly. "Bella, he's only been away from us for twenty minutes and you're already anxious. Are you sure you want to do this now?"

"Yes, of course," I cried. "Edward, I want this weekend with you, just the two of us. And this right here is exactly why we need it. I have to learn to separate being Charlie's mother, being your wife, and being my own person. It was fine when all I was doing was focusing on healing and being there for Charlie, but I'm better now. I can do for myself and I want to start doing all of the things I used to do."

"As long as you're sure."

"I'm positive," I assured him, giving him a big smile. "So do I get any hints?" I asked, turning a little in my seat so that I could see his face.

"Ask a question and I'll think about answering it," Edward replied, giving me a quick smile before turning his attention back to the road.

"Um…is it an expensive place?"

"Define expensive."

"Would I consider it expensive?"

"Probably," he chuckled.

"Are we going to have fun?"

"Absolutely," he replied, sounding very sure of himself.

"What will be doing?"

"Nope," Edward said, shaking his head. "That question is too open-ended. I'm not going to give the whole weekend away."

"Um…are we spending all of our time in the room?"

"Not going to answer that one either."

"Oh, come on! How would the answer to that question give too much away?"

He turned toward me briefly, but it was long enough to see that his green eyes were sparkling—maybe he really was as excited for this trip as everyone kept telling me. "Because it would," he said, a hint of laughter in his words.

"Edward, have I told you lately that you can be highly infuriating when you keep secrets this way?"

He laughed openly and grabbed my hand, lifting it up and kissing the back of it. "Isabella, have I told you that you're entirely too impatient sometimes and remind me very strongly of Alice?"

"Oh, that's just not true," I argued. "Alice is so much worse than I've ever been. I might ask lots of questions, but never the same one twice. We both know Alice would never move on from the first question until you answered it."

"Well, that all depends on how much she wanted the information. If she's only feigning interest, then she'll move on to the question she really wants answered."

"I'm so happy for Alice and Jasper," I said, forgetting all about the trip and thinking of my family. "They're such great parents already and it's easy to see how much they both love the twins. I can't wait for the babies' personalities to start developing so we can see who they'll take after."

"Yes, it should be very interesting to see how many mini-Alice's we have on our hands. But how about we talk about something other than our family and our son for a little while? I haven't heard anything about you personally in weeks."

"Me?" I chuckled. "What do you want to know about me? I live with you and you see me every day. Or did you think some other woman was sleeping in your bed at night and making your coffee in the mornings?"

"You know what I mean."

"I'll trade you. If I tell you, then you have to do the same."

"Alright, but I promise you'll be bored."

"Never," I laughed. "I'm the boring one."

"Of all the things I consider you and your mind, boring is never one of them. So stop stalling and talk."

"I'm getting there, Tutor-boy. You really should be so impatient, you know."

"Still stalling," he said, singing the words a little.

I started laughing and Edward cracked a smile. "Even if I am stalling, at least you're being entertained."

"Yes, I do have that to be thankful for."

"I guess I can talk now," I said, leaning my head against the back of my seat. "I'm feeling pretty happy almost all of the time now. I'm able to be excited for everything I'm doing with Charlie, and I've finally reconciled in my head that it doesn't matter if this is the only time I'm getting to do it because I am getting to share these moments with him. I'm really excited for this weekend just because I get your attention all to myself and I can give that back to you. No interruptions or coded conversations, just you and me. I don't even care what we do so long as we're doing it together. Well, I take that back. You do have to take me out to dinner at least once. I have a new dress that I can't wait to wear for you."

"You went dress shopping for dinner with me?" Edward asked, looking shocked.

I found myself biting my bottom lip and just nodding my head, completely lost for words. It was a reaction straight out of the past, from the very beginning when Edward and I were trying to figure out how to let each other in. I wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing, but since Edward was smiling at me, I figured it didn't matter that much.

"That's what the big errand was that Rose and I had on Monday," I explained.

"I can't believe Alice let you go without her."

"Oh, she was involved through text messages and camera phone pictures," I informed him, getting him to laugh loudly.

"Well, then I guess it's a good thing I made dinner plans for tonight," he said, smiling at me.

"Perfect!" I chirped, shocking my own self with how excited I was to dress up. Edward was shocked too because he started laughing all over again. "Yes, I know I'm being weird."

"I like it, though," he said, squeezing my hand lightly. "You don't know how happy I am to see you excited and happy like this. For awhile there, I was worried I would never see you smile again."

"Edward, if I'd have thought for a second I couldn't pull myself out of my funk with your help, and Esme's help, then I would have gone to a counselor. There's no way I would have let myself just stay upset and depressed."

"I didn't mean to imply that you would, Bella. I'm just letting you know how I felt."

"Oh…Um…How else did you feel?" I asked. Getting him to talk about his own feelings in the past four months had not been something I'd been successful at accomplishing.

"There were a lot of things I felt, Bella. But that's all the past and I want to focus on our future."

"So do I, but I think we have to deal with the past to really enjoy that future. Just like I had to acknowledge what happened and every consequence of it, I think we should acknowledge everything you had to go through."

"We're not that far from the hotel, so why don't we save this for a later date? We're all alone until Sunday morning, so there's plenty of time."

"Fine, but I'm not going to forget."

"I know," he said, looking like he really wished I would.

We arrived at our destination not to long after and it definitely qualified as being Cullen expensive. Edward had booked us a spa suite at the Alexis Hotel in downtown Seattle, putting us close to Elliot Bay and Pike's Market. We would have a whole list of things to choose from if we decided to venture outside of the room—it just looked too comfortable and restful to ever leave it. It was as if they'd taken a day spa and fit it all into the room, making it just for Edward and me.

I didn't get to enjoy the room for too long, though. Edward had dinner reservations for us and we both needed to shower and dress. He wanted to be the gentleman and let me go first, but I wanted to keep the dress a surprise for just a little longer, so I made him go first.

And now I was trying to find a reason to stall as I stared at my reflection in the huge bathroom mirror. I was pretty sure I looked amazing with this gorgeous red dress, my hair neatly pulled back, and my make-up done…but I wasn't sure if it was enough to get a real reaction out of Edward. Everyone said he was just nervous, and I really wanted to believe that…But then why had he seemed like he'd wanted to avoid this weekend so much?

Maybe everyone was right and I was just reading into things. They'd said Edward had planned something, and here I was standing in the bathroom of the Alexis Hotel and that was definitely something. Maybe I was just projecting my own nerves onto Edward. Knowing me, that was entirely possible.

"Bella?" Edward called, knocking on the door. "I really hate to rush you, Love, but we do have reservations."

I took a deep breath as I walked toward the door and opened it. And I held that breath, waiting for Edward to say something to me. I wasn't sure what I'd been expecting to hear, but I knew it wasn't the words he actually said.

"Breathe, Bella," he instructed, taking my hands into his and leading me out of the bathroom. "You look exquisite, Love, and have no reason to worry."

There was a look in his emerald eyes that hadn't been there in so very long and the relief of seeing his desire for me washed through me so strongly that I actually stumbled a few steps before Edward righted me. "I guess a little of your clumsiness is still sticking with you," he chuckled.

"It's not my clumsiness that caused it. You were dazzling me."

"You really need to describe this dazzling thing to me, Bella. You accuse me of it so often, but I'm not sure what I'm doing."

"Yeah, right, Tutor-boy," I snorted. "I'm not about to fall for that one. I explain what you do, you figure out how to do it any old time you want, and then I never have a clear thought in my head again. No, thank you."

He laughed and leaned forward, pressing his lips to my forehead.

"That's it? No hug? No better kiss?" I asked, trying really hard not to feel hurt.

"I wouldn't want to wrinkle your dress or mess up your makeup. We really do have to leave if we want to make our reservations."

"I'll buy that excuse for now, Cullen, but just know that it's not going to hold out for the whole night."

"Maybe I'm just giving you a gentlemanly excuse for my behavior."

"What would the non-gentleman side of you say?" I asked, holding his hand and walking toward the elevators.

"That it's taking a lot of self-control to keep my hands to myself and away from my beautiful wife," he replied. He leaned in and his lips ghosted over my cheekbone before lightly pressing against the shell of my ear. "You have no idea just how hard you are to resist."

"You could not resist just a little," I said as we stepped into the elevator.

He laughed and shook his head at me. "You overestimate my self-control."

"I don't think so."

"You never do." He spun me so that I was no longer looking at him, but at my reflection in the elevator's mirrored walls. "You also never admit just how breathtaking you are. How could any man not be moved by your beauty?"

"I thought I was the one that read the romance books," I replied, watching his hands in the reflection as they skimmed down my arms and wrapped around my middle, drawing me backwards and into his stony embrace. He smiled at me, knowing I was watching his every move and then swooped down, playfully biting my neck. "You really are quite irresistible, Love."

"Does that mean you'd rather order room service?" I asked, hoping just a little that he'd say "yes". I didn't want to ruin his plans, but I was also more than ready for some very private time with my husband.

"No," he chuckled, standing up straight and letting go of me.

"Then I guess I'm not completely irresistible. I'll have to work on that with Rose and Alice."

"Go right ahead," Edward replied, trying not to laugh again.

The elevator doors opened and a man stepped back to let us off. "Good evening," he greeted, smiling at me.

"Evening," Edward said curtly, pulling me closer to him once again.

The guy glanced at Edward for a second, decided he was nothing to worry over, and then smiled at me again. "I'm in room 402 if you decide you'd like some company tonight."

"Thank you, but I think my husband is all the company I'll ever need," I said, raising my voice a little to be heard over Edward's growls. As soon as we were out of the lobby, I started laughing. "You should have heard yourself," I giggled. "You sounded just like Emmett did that time Rose got hit on at the football game. You even growled like him! Growling! What is with that? Do you and Emmett think you're actually part bear or something?"

"I'd like to rip that guy to pieces for staring at you that way," he mumbled, glancing back toward the hotel. "He had no right to look at you that way."

"What way?"

"He looked at you as if he was going to eat you."

"Didn't Mike the Fly accuse you of that very thing once?"

"There's a difference. I was, and still am, completely in love with you. My look might be a little possessive, but it's still loving and not…not meatly."

"Meatly?" I snorted. "You and Emmett would make great vampires. Moody, broody, and always ready for a fight. Or maybe you'd make better werewolves."

"Wolves smell."

"You know that from personal experience?"

"Werewolves are like oversized dogs and dogs always smell, so it stands to reason that werewolves would smell as well."

"Thank you, Tutor-boy, for breaking down the smell factor of werewolves and dogs for me. How would I have possibly survived without hearing that little spiel?"

"You started it with the vampire thing," he pointed out, his lips twitching from his suppressed smile. He'd always enjoyed my sarcasm for some strange reason.

"You growled."

"Yeah," he chuckled. "I guess I did."

"You aren't planning to growl at every man that smiles my way tonight are you?"

"No, but if they get too close, I'll have to make sure they understand that you're mine."

"Oh, really? And how do you plan to do that?"

In a move so quick and fluid that I couldn't even register it, he spun me around, into his arms, and into a kiss so full of passion that my bones turned spongy and he had to help me stay standing. I wasn't sure if kissing me like this in public would actually keep guys away from me, but I was more than willing to test it out—strictly for research purposes of course. I squealed on the inside, so relieved and excited to see a spark of how things used to be between us.

At some point—I had no idea when—Edward has stopped kissing me. "Breathe, Bella," he said softly.

"Yeah," I sighed, not even having the sense to think of something more intelligent to say.

"Can you walk?" he chuckled, rubbing his thumb over my cheekbone.

I could only nod my head at him, my mind still hazy from that great kiss. I really hoped there were more of those in store for us later on tonight.

"Good. The restaurant isn't far and it's a beautiful afternoon, perfect for a walk," he said, letting me go, except for my hand.

And he was right. It was a beautiful afternoon, with an almost cloudless sky above, painted in the blues and purples of an approaching sunset. The downtown area was busy and noisy, but I barely took notice, too lost in being with Edward to worry about anything else.

Okay, so I won't lie—Charlie was on my mind, but I wasn't worried about him at all. I knew Emmett would never let anything happen to my little man; he would look after my son just as he'd looked after me. There was nothing to worry about and I could just relax and enjoy a weekend with my husband. I didn't want to waste a second of this time with Edward, and I was determined that when we finally did leave for home, we would both feel reconnected to each other in every way possible. We both deserved that.

Edward's POV

Bella looked so beautiful tonight. No, beautiful wasn't even the right adjective for it. She was stunning, gorgeous, exquisite—and very much all mine. She was also happy, which was the most important thing to me. She was more like her old self every single day and I enjoyed getting to have my Bella back. She would never be exactly as she had been with all that had happened, but then again, I was forever changed as well. The only thing that mattered was whether or not we could love the new versions of each other as much as we had the old.

For me, it was an easy thing to do since this version of Bella was so close to the original. She didn't laugh quite as easily, and she wasn't as sarcastic or stubborn as she had been before, but she was just as loving and selfless as she always had been. And I still felt like I could tell her almost anything and she'd understand. The few things I wasn't sure about probably had more to do with my own biased view than how Bella would actually react, but some things were better left in the dark corners of my heart. It was a lot less painful to lock them away than to try and look at them.

Bella's soft voice immediately pulled me out of my thoughts. "Edward, I'd forgotten how lovely the downtown area can be at the right time of day."

"Would you like to know one of our activities?" I asked, smiling down at her.

"Like you even need to ask," she said. Her brown eyes were full of excitement as she peered up at me with her ruby lips pulled back in a wide grin.

"Tomorrow, right about this time, we'll be watching the sunset from Elliot Bay."

"How on Earth are you going to pull that off?" she asked as her eyes widened.

"I never said I would give away all of the details," I replied. I knew I was smirking, but I couldn't help myself. I loved seeing her so excited, and so open with her feelings. It was something that used to be normal for us, but had been missing for the last year.

A year…That realization struck me hard and it took a second for my heart to restart itself. When we'd first found out about the pregnancy, we'd just assumed life would be in an uproar for nine months and then the baby would come and life would go back to the way it had been. We'd been so wrong for so many reasons. Not that I would ever want to go back because I loved my son with all of my heart and I knew Bella felt the exact same way. I just wondered if Bella and I could find a way to reconnect and be more to each other than just Charlie's parents.

Luckily for me, my mind didn't get a chance to revisit any of the dark paths it had been stalking down lately since we'd arrived at the restaurant so quickly. It was an upscale Italian restaurant called Troiani, and it was only two blocks away from our hotel. It looked as though many couples had come here tonight, wanting to enjoy the romantic atmosphere of the place, and I hoped Bella would enjoy this selection.

I'd specifically asked for a window table, knowing Bella's love for people-watching had been on hiatus for a very long time. It was easy to see she loved it from the way her whole face lit up—that and the fact that she immediately started guessing where the people passing by the restaurant were headed off to for the night.

"Look at those two," Bella whispered, carefully using her napkin to point at a well-dressed couple passing just a few feet away. "They're spies on a mission."

"Really?" I questioned, trying very hard not to laugh.

"Oh, yes."

"Love, I think you've had enough wine for tonight," I teased. She'd maybe taken four sips out of her glass the entire time.

"You obviously didn't see what I saw," she replied.

"And what did you see?"

"Well, he had an umbrella."

"Yes, that clearly screams spy to me."

"Edward, there's barely a cloud in the sky. The only reason to carry an umbrella on a day like today is because you're a spy and it makes a handy weapon. You lift it up, conk a guy on the head, and boom, he's on the floor and out cold for you to do your spy stuff."

"Emmett has clearly rubbed off on you a little too much."

"And is that your explanation for her as well?"

"Her who?"

"The female spy," Bella said, looking a little exasperated with me. "She had a scarf over her head and huge, dark sunglasses on. It's too late in the afternoon to need sunglasses and the day isn't windy enough to call for a scarf, so she was clearly trying to disguise her face."

"If she's a spy, why doesn't she just wear a wig and contacts?"

"Everyone wears a wig and contacts these days and facial recognition software can ignore those and get a good match. The scarf and sunglasses hide enough of your features so that the software is rendered useless."

I bit down on my tongue a little, trying to make the urge to laugh go away. If I started, I wouldn't be able to stop and I would be too loud for this restaurant. Bella just shrugged at me and started nibbling at her food.

With a deep breath, I felt in control enough to attempt a question. "Bella, what have you been watching while Charlie naps?"

"Nothing. I usually do our laundry then. But I was reading one of Carlisle's spy books a few weeks ago. Anyway, I was thinking that it would be really neat to take a family vacation when Charlie's a little older. Em and I did the camping thing with our parents, but we never actually did a real big vacation. I think that's something I'd like to do with Charlie."

"What brought that thought on?" I asked, always curious to figure out how my wife's mind worked.

"Tourists just passed by."

"And you know they were tourists because?"

"He had a camera around his neck, she had a fanny pack on her waist, and the two kids were fighting over a map."

"It's amazing how much you observe in just a few seconds."

"You always have told me I was much too observant," she said, doing a really bad imitation of my voice.

"You're completely absurd."

"Another thing you enjoy telling me."

"I also tell you that you're beautiful, lovely, and irresistible, but you don't seem to believe those as easily."

Her cheeks flamed and she dropped her brown eyes from my face, staring down at the tablecloth instead.

"I thought you wanted to know if I still found you desirable, but when I tell you, you get shy on me."

She quickly lifted her eyes at my words. "Who told you that?"

"Just a couple of birds looking to help."

Bella sighed heavily and nodded her head, as if she was accepting something in that head of hers.

"What are you thinking?"

"That you and I have both been so focused on what has changed that we haven't been able to really accept the few things that haven't. I still love you with all of my heart and want to be with you every second of my life. I'm pretty sure you still feel the same way about me."

"I do," I promised her. "I love you, Isabella. I'm still just as thrilled to have you as my wife today as I have ever been."

"So if we still love each other that much, then can't we be reasonably certain that any changes to our personalities, our viewpoints, and what we consider to be important won't have any bearing on our ability to still be best friends and make our marriage work?"

"Are you worried something's wrong with our marriage?" I asked, feeling a little stunned, both at Bella opening up so willingly and at her actual words.

"I honestly don't know, Edward. You've been focused on being my caregiver, while I've been focused on being Charlie's mother, and I think somewhere in there, we forgot that we were just supposed to be Edward and Bella. I would love to think our marriage hasn't been affected by all of this, but I think that would be foolish of me. If we've both changed as people, doesn't that automatically mean there needs to be an adjustment to the marriage as well?"

"Not if we both still want the same things. We've always had differing views on how to get there, and that's never really mattered because we've always wanted to get there together. Take your vacation idea for instance. I think it would be great if we went to the Grand Canyon together as a family, but I bet you have somewhere different in mind."

Bella smiled and that worried look faded just a little. "I do. I think we'd enjoy a trip to Italy."

"And if I were to say we should take a trip with the entire family, I bet you'd agree that we'd end up with plenty of stories just from having Emmett along."

"I would," she agreed, laughing a little. She reached across the table and put her small hand on mine. "I'm not worried so much about our marriage, at least not yet. I'm more worried that every time you look at me, you still see the version that I was when I first came home. I worry that you don't see I'm healthy now, and that I really am happy."

"Maybe I see it, but want it too much to just blindly believe it."

"So don't believe it blindly, then," she said, sitting back and smirking at me. "Enjoy the visual proof you have before you right now, and then we'll both enjoy the physical proof later on tonight."

I smiled at her, hoping she couldn't sense just how nervous I was about later. Bella seemed to expect that we would just easily pick up our physical relationship where it left off nearly six months ago, but I wasn't so sure it would be that easy—for either of us. Still, I would try for her.

Don't worry about Edward seeming a little hesitant still; it's just nerves. These are two people who haven't really had time to be alone together in six months and came very, very close to dealing with one of them dying. But it will all work out in the end b/c I write it that way! LOL