Disclaimer: I got a cookie. No longer may I boycott you. The union called. (takes deep breath) idonotownanythingstepheniemeyerdoesandshe'samazingandedwards

amazingandbellasaluckybitch...Yeah. That about covers it.

THANK YOU!! YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE! MY ONLY SUNSHINE! (except the real one) YOU MAKE ME HAPPY (when you don't flame) WHEN SKIES ARE GRAY (what about when skies are blue?)

Albnal33: yeah...you mafia member you. Welcome back and thank you. EH! EH! I'm talkin to you! Whatsa happa wit you? Good luck inflicting that damage through computer lines and wi fi signals btw. Even so, I have reconstructed my bomb shelter from holographic wrapping paper and plastic cups. (lolz)

Taryn: Thank you very much. I hope to some day be a writer, so that meant a lot. Come again.

Angelfromhell: As in Lucifer?? LOL jk. Now, I'm just sitting here waiting around for God to strike me down with a lightning bolt...so if this comment suddenly disappears into ellipses, you'll know why. Awww... thanks, I'm touched that you made an account just so you could...

Kerssica: lazy jetlagged reindeer. They're just no good anymore. I think Santa spoils you. Lol. Jk. Itchy curse begone. I have some in my back pocket. STILL! IN! PRISON! Stop. Get here soon. Stop. Or else. Stop. I will pummel you into a pulp. Stop. With Fred's crochet mallet. Stop. Telegraph terminated...stop. Next chapter of NMB when I have time. Exam week. : ( LOVE YA GIRLIE, even though you suck.

Thr.fl.ed.stalk.: I abbreviated this time. All shall be explained in due time. Lol.. I feel like a sensai. Thank you, young grasshopper.

Em: TRANSFORMERS!! Tehehehehe. Phillip will protect me. No stupid llama. WRONG WAY! When you said 40 degrees i was about to tell you that you must be a lizard or something, bc where I come from, we use ye old farenheight system and that's FREEZING...but i forgot that the crazy australians use celsius. Have fun on your celsius measured, kangaroo filled, vacation.

Mattybabe: Yay, panda. I'm going to have a zoo by the time im finished. A llama named phillip, countless smirfs, a polkadog named larry, Bob, and Kerssicas a reindder if that counts. Now, a panda. Not to mention the fact that I myself am a turtle. Hmmm strange. Thanks for the cookie. Ly (brussel sprout)

Melody Cullen: As you wish. Lol. What's he smell like? Tide? Cedar trees? Pink elephants?

Ten past midnight: YAY i was worried everyone would hate me for dragging fairies iinto this mess I call a story. YAY!! You don't.

Social distortionist: lol. Impatient much? Im typing, im typing. Thanks again.

Eliane: oooo got it right. Thank you mucho. Im surprised. I always thought plot development wasn't one of my stronger points. I really like your name. It's pretty.

Shadow-wolves: Very interesting indeed. SO excited to write about that part. This storie's mind is mentally ill. It should be put into an asylum immediately.

SS: YAY nother person who doesnt deplore me for throwing fairies into the mix. Thanksssssssssss (Parlsetongue)

Nobodyparticular: I loveee it when people talk about their reactions. BREATHE THO BREATHE. The outhouse was good because it was my great aunts and she has a sign on it that says nobody particular when its empty and somebody particular when it was occupado. Lots of funny stories with THAT one.

Dazzledbyacullen: too lazy for dashes. And I'm glad you know what sidhe are. I'll have to explain them to everyone else on here I think. Thanks for the emotion. It made my day.

MeyaRose: That one kept me up at night. Lol. Flame or good? Flame or good? Thanks for the email explaining it tho. YAY! Faerie wars are the best kind. I mean if your going to have a war, you might as well have a FAERIE one. Ly

Shatteredlovebrokendreams: YAY thank you! PITCHFORKS sound like a brilliant plan, oh queen of typos. I bow to thee.

Shannon: Livestrong Edward, livestrong. Here, have a lance armstrong bracelet. Haha thnx

Jjrenee85: lol. Im reallly ecstatic that another person doesn't hate me for adding mythical creatures. Jamiaca, man, the island paradise, man. Jamaica with Edward, man...MAN!

Thefuturemrsedwardcullen: Take the paper bag and BREATHE! NOW! Kerssica is and i quote "jetlagged" at the moment, but when I get pandy, ill send him to you. Larrys looking for invx right now. And phillip is trying to find kerssica the jetlagged reindeer. The smirfs are just irritating, so pandys the only choice. Sadly, he's on backorder. To the bomb shelter it is then.

Chapter 19

Leaving the hospital – definitely a bad idea. I was gasping, the air exiting my lungs nearly as fast as it entered them.

My husband was going to war. It was strange to think that way, like that sort of thing only happened to the girls in flannel dresses with hot-rolled hair in old black-and-white films, waving their lover's ships away with tear-stained handkerchiefs.

"You're coming with me!" I shouted.

His eyes widened, taken aback by my outburst.

Was I being noble? Not at all. Selfish? Maybe. Did I care one bit? Hell no; I was a desperate woman.

"Bella, I'm going to be fine," he assured, rubbing what-were-supposed-to-be-comforting circles on my cheeks with his thumbs.

"You don't know that!" I yelled back, gripping his hands with my own. "You can't know that!"

"Alice..." he began.

"The slightest decision could change everything."

He scowled. "I can handle it."

"You don't even know what you're up against."

The next few seconds passed in excruciating tension, human vs. vampire in a staring contest for the history books. Of course, he, with his lack of tears or need to blink, won hands-down.

"Gah!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands up.

I blinked furiously. Where was the Visine when you needed it?

He smirked.

I glared. "Don't smile at me. I'm mad at you...and FYI, know that I'm going with you wherever you go – wherever you go."

I glanced up to check his expression. My words had hit their mark...just not the one I intended them to. His hands were tense, stone cuffs on my forearms. His features were livid, jaw clenched, eyes wild.

"Bella, you will not..." He looked away to compose himself. "After I'm...if I...You will not do anything stupid."

The commanding intensity of his voice was startling. "If I have to lock you up somewhere..." he gave me a rough shake. "Do you understand?"

I looked confused. "This was the plan to begin with," I said.

Edward looked appalled.

"You were going to change me after the wedding, remember?"

Visibly, the muscles relaxed, melting into relief.

What, I thought, could make changing me pale in horrific comparison...Ahhh...DYING me. Edward thought that I meant that I would kill myself if he died...which was true, but judging from his reaction, he was clearly not prepared to handle that tidbit of information.

"That might actually be a slightly, and I do mean an exceedingly slightly," he added with narrowed eyes, "considered suggestion if this battle were in a year or so. There's no time. You'd barely be out of the pain stage, or might not be at all. And even if you were, you wouldn't be prepared. Too new and..." he paused, looking at me sympathetically before continuing quietly, "bloodthirsty."

Defeated, I sank back down into my seat. "How much time do I have left with you?" I whispered.

"Forever."

I gazed up at him with tortured eyes. "Before..."

The pain in his face equaled that in mine. "Tomorrow."

"And tonight," he continued.

I inhaled swiftly, like I was about to start weeping again, but I simply didn't have the energy to work up tears. "Then let's make it count."

He smiled for me. The dazzling-factor was significantly decreased though because it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Anything. Whatever you want to do."

I shot him a mysterious smile before climbing over the center console to the wide seat in the back of the Volvo. Sitting on one side, I patted the leather beside me for him to get his big (sexy) vampire butt back there.

He cocked an eyebrow at me before acquiescing to my demand. With perfect grace, he lithely slid beside me...eyebrow still raised.

Slowly, I ran my hand up his arm, stopping it at his shoulder. I could hear his quick intake of breath, right before I gazed deeply into his golden orbs.

"Can you just lie with me?" I asked.

His expression softened, features changing from skepticism to something entirely unfathomable, bottomless. "Of course," he whispered, brushing his lips over the crown of my head.

Ever so temptingly slowly, he stretched out his legs and lowered his back to the fabric. I was sitting on the edge, looking down at him in awe. The top four buttons on his shirt were undone, exposing his statue-perfect chest. He looked like a Greek statue right now in the position he was lying in. One knee up, one arm above his head, the other dangling off the edge of the seat.

My mouth was open, gaping at his perfection. He smirked, then took the hand dangling over the side of the leather and used it to lift my chin, thus closing my mouth and ending my ogling. Then, with the same hand, he patted his chest like I had done to the couch earlier.

I blushed and struggled to keep my mouth closed. I jumped on him, burying myself in his granite body.

He chuckled. I mumbled an insult into his chest.

He only laughed harder. Then, he wrapped his arms around my back and pulled me to him.

"Out of all the things we could have done..." he murmured.

"I think this beats out anything else I could have done...anything anyone else could have done, in fact." The butterflies in my stomach kept reminding me of it.

He contemplated a moment. "I can't imagine Mike Newton enjoying it, but..."

I made a face. "Worst mental image EVER! In the history of the world, Edward!"

He snickered.

I glared. "It think I'm going to be sick now."

He tsked. "And Esme just bought me this shirt."

I wiggled my eyebrows at him. "You could always take it off, you know."

Edward shrugged, then moved his long fingers up to undo the next button. I gasped. "You're really going to do it?"

He shrugged again, prior to looking up at me with a sexy glint in his eyes. "Unless you would like to..."

I grinned. "Any time. Any place." I undid the buttons on his shirt one by one, taking care not to reveal any of his smooth skin till I was finished. When I got near the bottom, I looked up and noticed that his eyes were closed tightly, in what seemed to be deep concentration. I took notice of where my hands were, resting lightly above the waist of his jeans. With a smile, I undone the last button, letting my hands linger before moving them back up to grasp the now-unconnected edges. I brushed the fabric aside, then let my hands wonder down the smooth contours of his pale chest, down to his abdomen. He was glorious. I ran my fingers lightly across his toned muscles, and they trembled ever so slightly. With something deep in his chest that resonated somewhere between a growl and a purr, he grabbed my hands and yanked me back up to where I was lying on top of him.

I pouted.

"Pushing. It." He uttered through clenched teeth.

"Can't. Help. It."

Edward rolled his eyes and pulled me to him. "Stay up here."

I snuggled my face against his neck. "Not a problem."

"Oh," I started, propping myself up to look at his face. "There was something I've been wondering."

"Shoot."

"What was Emmett doing to you up stairs?" I asked. "At your early bachelor's party."

Edward winced. "You don't want to know."

I kissed his jaw. "Oh, yes I do."

"If you must..." He sighed. "He replaced my CD's, and was forcing me to listen to them."

"Replaced them with what?"

So quietly that I had to strain to hear him, he muttered, "Lil' Jon."

I howled with laughter. "Rap...Emmett...made...you listen to rap?!"

Solemnly, he nodded. My sides were hurting from my laughing.

"I can still hear it!" he exclaimed in irritation.

Laughing, I removed myself from him and leaned over the console. After turning the key one click, so that the engine hadn't started but the car was still on, I clicked play on Edward's CD player. Debussy's "Reverie" filled the vehicle.

"Better?" I asked.

"Much."

Satisfied, I returned to my position. "So...was it uncensored?"

Cringing, he nodded.

"Learn anything?" I teased.

He opened one eye to look at me. "Gave me a few ideas."

The shock must have registered on my face, for Edward's twisted into a big smile. Quickly, I brushed it off. "Speaking of that particular subject, are we still...you know...going to?"

"I'm afraid we're going to have to take a raincheck."

"A raincheck?" I demanded. Did he actually just tell me to take a raincheck on sex?

"Bella, we won't have time."

"Oh, come on," I objected. "It's not like it takes that long."

Edward smirked. "When it's done right, it does." His voice became low and rough. "And I intend to do it very, very," His lips were grazing my ear. "Very right."

Shivers rolled down my spine. I couldn't speak after that. What could I say? I was much too caught up in my fantasies, so we just lay there for a while, listening to the mingling music of the rain and the piano playing.

Later. Much, much later, I spoke again. "So, I guess our bachelourettes/bachelor's parties are canceled, huh?"

He looked at me sadly and nodded. "They're having a sort of...family meeting about our situation right now."

"Shouldn't you be there, too?"

He looked away.

Answer: yes.

"We can go."

"We?"

"I told you I was coming with you today, and anyway, I want you to be as prepared as possible."

He looked hesitant.

"As long as you take me, I don't care where we go," I told him.

He sighed. "All right. If it's what you want to do."

He checked my face. "It is," I assured.

Reluctantly, I got back into the passenger's seat. Edward, shirt now buttoned, followed me and started the car. As he drove away, I looked out the side mirror and memorized the place, praying that these weren't the last peaceful moments we had together.

A/N: AWWWWWWW!! And yet TEARRRRRR!! Jeeze louise...TWENTY THREE reviews since i last updated...THANK YOU!! SO MUCH!! MAKES MY DAY!! Lyall Keep it up. What in the world will this meeting be about? I just had to give them a cute little fluff moment before...well, you'll see.

O and by the way, ACCIO EDWARD CULLEN!