A/N: So, I survived Thanksgiving! I deserve a round of applause!

Chapter 41

EPOV

I stood on the front porch and tried to brace myself. I knew that Bella's scent would be as tempting as always. I also knew that Jake was in that house somewhere just waiting for me to make a wrong move. Apparently he was in love with her, from what the three in the woods said. This however was a minor set back for me. I had expected Jake to protect her, not fall in love with her.

I raised my hand to knock but before I registered what was going on Alice had thrown open the door and her tiny arms were wrapped around my body. "Edward! I can't believe you're back." She said with excitement and joy.

I couldn't help but laugh at her optimistic attitude. "Yeah, it's a regular family reunion."

She smacked my arm lightly and then grabbed my by the shirt and pulled me into the living room. "Look everybody, Edward's here."

Everyone looked up except for Emmett who was on the floor playing with a… puppy? Alice's eyes must have followed my gaze because she butted in with an explanation. "Edward, meet your new daughter." She skipped over and picked up the puppy.

"Daughter?" I asked a little bewildered.

She nodded. "Daughter. Actually I guess you could say it's really Bella's daughter but I could add you in quickly."

I shook my head to clear all the jumbled thoughts. "What time is it, and where is Bella?"

"4:27 a.m. and she's in your room with Jake." Alice explained as everyone else continued to do his or her own thing.

"I see, and what is our deal on the whole James thing?" I asked and all of a sudden the rest of the family decided that they wanted to acknowledge the fact that I was in the room.

"Well, our nomads are somewhere north of here and James is a tracker. He's determined to keep Bella for himself. Jake has talked to the wolf pack and they are willing to help us in order to protect Bella." She paused. "Bella's father is in la Push with Billy Black and Bella is safely sleeping upstairs along with Jake."

I nodded. "Good, well I was coming from Seattle when I over heard the conversation of the nomads. It took all my strength not to kill him there."

Jasper placed a hand on my shoulder. "It's a good thing too. There were three of them and one of you. Plus you haven't an ounce of practice on fighting."

I turned to look at Jasper. "That's why I didn't attack them. I was being quite rational of course."

There were soft footsteps on the second flight of stairs and I looked around to see that I hadn't been the only ones who'd heard them. Less than a minute later Bella was sleepily descended the stairs to the living room.

She lazily rubbed her eyes and looked around the room. "What? You guys don't sleep?" She asked.

"Never." Alice replied as her perky self.

Bella blinked her eyes a couple of times and walked right between Alice and me on her way to the kitchen. "Just going to get a drink of water." She paused. "Hi Edward."

Her scent hit me like a ton of bricks and it was as if all the resolve I had build up was gone in a split second. My throat started burning and my skin started to tingle with an urge to reach out and sink my teeth into her soft flesh.

I kept telling myself to brace myself and my hands were clenched into fists. Jasper placed his hand back on my shoulder and I tried to distract myself. I opened my mind and Carlisle's thoughts popped into my head. Remember who you are son. He thought. Remember who she is.

I let my mind drift back to my prior thoughts on my life. In order to be with Bella I would have to learn to master this scent. I would gladly endure the pain for I was a machosist. I put this pain on myself and I was the only one to blame.

Bella disappeared through the kitchen door but then reappeared within seconds. "Edward?" She stared at me in amazement.

I nodded. "Did you miss me?"

She ran toward me as I opened my arms to her. I guess Jasper thought I had enough control because his hand left my shoulder. At the last moment Bella's foot got caught on something or another and her fragile body was thrown toward the hardwood floor.

I reached out my arms and her warm body fell into my embrace. "Edward? Is it really you?" She asked with sleep-clouded eyes.

I nodded. "It is."

She looked up at me with her big brown eyes and it seemed as if we were the only two in the room. "For how long?"

I lifted my hand to caress her cheek and she leaned into it. "Until you are safe my love." I whispered to her.

She laid her head on my chest. "Good thing I'm accident prone." She giggled.

"Jeez you two, calm it down. We still need to discuss the James issue." Emmett spoke up.

"Bella needs to get back to sleep." I put in. I didn't want her down here when they were discussing all the ripping of body parts. Besides, she didn't know what we were, what I was.

"Give it a rest Edward, she knows." Rosalie rolled her eyes at me.

I looked back to Bella who had her hand on my chest. "You know?" My voice was barley a whisper.

She nodded. "I do, and I don't care."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. All the anger and frustration swirled around in my head causing a quick loop of no self-control. "How can you not care? Aren't you aware that at any moment I might loose control?"

She placed her warm hand on my cheek and I leaned into her hand. "You won't hurt me." She whispered. "It's not that you cant. It's that you don't want to hurt me."

Her words made my heart flutter. "I'm taking Bella back to bed. She needs her rest and we can discuss our actions in the morning."

Bella gasped as I picked her up bridal style and walked toward the staircase. She smiled and this time it reached her eyes. "I can walk you know."

BPOV

He clutched me tighter. "Yes, but not very well."

I rolled my eyes at him and wrapped my arms around his neck. "I'm going to ignore that little comment. Only because I missed you so much."

He placed a sweet kiss on my forehead. "I missed you too, for what it's worth."

He stopped moving and his right hand left my body to find the door handle. "It's worth everything my love." He opened the door and we walked into a room that I didn't recognize.

"Where are we?" I asked looking around the room.

He shrugged. "Somewhere on the second floor. I thought it best to not return you to my room. I don't think Jake would appreciate me being this close to you."

I placed my head back on his chest and inhaled deeply. His scent was intoxicating. I felt as if I were taking my first breath of air. "Will you stay?"

His amber eyes met mine and my back hit the cool mattress. My arms never left his neck and he started to pull away. "Just let me take off my shoes."

I immediately missed the contact although my eyes started to droop. "Edward?" I asked him just to make sure he was still in the room.

"Yes?" He asked as he slid into bed wrapping his arms around me.

I laid my head on his chest and snuggled deeper into the covers. "Nothing." I yawned sleepily.

His chest vibrated with laughter and he ran his hand up and down my arm. "Go to sleep love, you're tired."

I shook my head. "I'm not tired, I want to hear about what's been keeping you busy for the past couple of months."

He sighed. "Fine, but if I tell you will you go back to sleep?"

I nodded. "Sure."

"Well, after I left Tanya's place I headed to Dartmouth. There I proceeded to get my degree in graphic designs as well as my teaching degree." He explained while looking up at the ceiling.

I smiled. "When did you decide to become a graphic designer slash teacher?"

He shrugged. "I'm not really sure. I guess it was when Alice called." He paused and my head moved up and down to the rhythm of his breathing. "I'm taking night and day classes."

I closed my eyes and listened to the sound of his breathing. "Mhmm, I got a kid." I whispered.

He chuckled. "Yes, I've met her." He paused. "Are you going to sleep?"

I nestled closer to his chest and her ran his fingers through my hair. "No, just resting my eyes. What was it like at Dartmouth?" I asked him.

He ran his fingers over my face and they traced perfect patterns over and over. "It's definitely not Forks. But all in all, Dartmouth isn't that bad. I still can't believe that I have the chance to go there."

Of course he would rather be at college than to be stuck in the dreary town of Forks Washington. "Are there any pretty girls there?"

Edward shook his head. "There are pretty girls everywhere Bella, but none can compare to the way you look right now… in my arms."

"How can you stand this?" I asked him as I reached up to touch is face.

Edward kissed my fingers. "Enough questions for tonight. Sleep my Bella."

I yawned and snuggled into his chest as he wrapped a fleece blanket around my shoulders. For the first time in months I felt as if I could breathe. I loved that Edward could make me feel this way. I closed my eyes knowing full well that I wouldn't have any nightmares to stir me from my dreams of Edward.

A/N: Okay, sorry this update is really late. I have an excuse though… I rewrote this chapter three times trying to get it to play out the way I wanted it to. I updated my website so be sure to check it out! My update schedule will hopefully be postings of this story every other day. I will try to update my other story whenever I have time.

Review… I worked extra hard on this chapter!

Kayla