EPOV

"If her mother hasn't called yet, then why are you?" Dad greeted me, though I could hear the smile in his voice.

"I just wanted to check on her," I defended loudly over the music pouring out from Alice's reception.

"You do get that I'm a surgeon and helped raise you. Not to mention, I am the young cool grandpa to your own son," Dad reminded me as he checked off his lifelong list of accomplishments.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I hear you loud and clear," I sighed, pushing off the wall. "It's just that she's teething and miserable. I missed not seeing her last night."

"I get it, she's your girl, but enjoy a night out with Bella. With everything that has happened to her, she deserves a night out," he said sincerely.

"You're right," I agreed.

"Obviously, goodnight," he said, hanging up.

I let out a laugh at my father and his way of breezing through life unbothered. I decided to head back into the party when Alice stopped me in the doorway.

"Do you think Bella is enjoying herself, feels comfortable?" she asked, glancing at where Bella was dancing with Anthony.

"To my knowledge, yes?"

"I just want her to feel welcomed," Alice said.

"This is your wedding, don't worry about Bella, that's my job."

"I know that, but she's important to you and Tony. I get the feeling that she's here to stay," she murmured.

"I love that you care about Bella, really I do, but you just got married," I looked at my watch, "over an hour ago. Go celebrate with your husband."

She looked hesitant, but nodded carefully before going to find Jasper. This was the Alice I grew up with. This selfless girl wanted to brighten the lives of others in need.

All those years ago she found me on the curb after I decided to take a break from riding my bike. James had been having an off day and my mom told me not to go too far. She knew I needed a breather.

I hadn't wanted to go home just yet, so I took my break on the curb in front of what was Alice's house. This little sprite of a girl appeared in pigtails and two missing front teeth. She hasn't left my side since. So when she asked me to be a part of her wedding to Whitlock, I chose to endure it.

I made my way back to the table, the rest of the party was moving around the room. My eyes stayed on Ant and Bella. He was in hysterics over Bella's horrible dance moves, at one point she was showing him the running man. She loved him as much as I loved Charlie.

"Those two are quite the pair," Mom said sitting in the empty chair next to me.

"They are," I smiled.

"Your father texted me that I should take your phone away from you for the rest of the reception," she teased.

"I'd say it's pretty normal to check on a teething baby," I defended, watching as Alice and Whitlock now joined Bella and Anthony.

Whitlock looked surprisingly amused as Bella chatted animatedly with them. I saw the first champagne that Alice gave her when we arrived and then the second Rose slowly slid towards her not too long after that. She was working with a nice buzz from what I could tell.

They wanted her to have fun without the stress of everything else going on in her life. She'd be twenty in a few weeks and was robbed of a true college experience. I brought my beer up to my lips as we watched them.

"You are such a good dad," Mom said. "to both Anthony and Charlie."

My eyes met hers and she smiled. "I know the next few months are going to be challenging, but I'd give anything to keep the thought of Charlotte out of that monster's mind," I explained.

"I know you would, and I know that you will be with Bella every step of the way to make things right for that little girl," she said, squeezing my forearm.

I watched my mother stand making her way to the bar where some of her friends were. I wondered what she would tell them when they asked where my Dad was.

"Not much of a dancer?" Rose asked, taking the seat my mother just vacated.

I shook my head. Alice and Whitlock were now at the other side of the room, but now Emmett had joined his sister in what looked to be a dance-off.

"They look ridiculous," Rose laughed.

I nodded. "But Anthony loves it," I pointed out, watching my son cheer Emmett on at his attempt to breakdance. After he was done, Bella playfully shook Tony by the shoulders and told him to watch her by doing the "I'm watching you" gesture. She started the robot.

I snorted.

"She loves that kid," Rose murmured.

"He loves her just as much," I said knowing how close my son was to Bella.

"Charlie said Angela made it home," she commented. "I'm surprised she stayed as long as she did."

"Really?"

"I think Bella outgrew Forks in Junior High. She was always a quiet kid, but you could tell she was crawling out of her skin until she could get away. The first year we met Mike I was surprised, the kid was a carbon copy of Emmett. They looked nothing alike, but they had the same kind of legacy at Forks High.

Both on the honor roll, class Presidents, and football captains. I honestly couldn't see him and Bella having much in common. We came home for Homecoming her senior year and I could see her going through the motions with a life that wasn't hers."

"What do you mean?"

"The girl was popular but she could have cared less. She was known as Mike's girlfriend and did the traditions of the football captain's girlfriend such as decorating lockers and making signs of support, but Bella held no interest as she did it. I caught her reading during the game. She kept her book down, but I knew her pretty well by then to know she was bored out of her mind. She had to be there because she was on the homecoming court," Rose explained, she watched me with curiosity.

"Bella just existed in Forks. Angela was once a confidant, but I do think they would have drifted once they were both away at school. From what Charlie has told us, even though Jacob kept up with Bella's email and Facebook posts, Angela hadn't checked in with her for a while."

"You think her trip here was out of guilt," I stated.

"Or peace of mind that she was really okay. I know that Bella was pissed at your mother and her dad for telling Angela where she was."

"I think they thought it would help... I don't think Bella needed Angela as much as Angela needed to see that Bella was okay. I mean she is taking a semester off and dumped her boyfriend out of fear of what happened to Bella happening to her," I said with a sigh.

Rose's perfect eyebrow arched in surprise. "That is a new development. It makes sense why the Weber's were so insistent she see Bella."

"Wait, what?"

"Her parents practically begged Charlie to put Angela in touch with Bella. That's why he got in touch with your mother. They thought if Bella could show she was okay, then Angela could move on with her life."

It made sense why they both made the decision they did. They knew Bella could handle herself but wanted Angela to see reason.

"What you're telling me is that they were surface friends," I stated.

"I think most of her friends were. Edward, Forks is a very small town much like her brother, she wanted to escape," Rose declared.

"Hey," Bella said, looking between us.

I held out my hand to her, not only did she take it, but she also took a seat on my knee facing her sister-in-law.

"Well, if it isn't the dancing queen gracing us with her presence," Rose teased.

Bella moved her arm to casually rest around me and the chair. "I think Anthony tired me out," she huffed out a breath.

I glanced over to see my son and Emmett were now having a dance-off of their own.

"He's going to sleep well for Mom and Dad tonight," I pointed out.

Her head moved to rest on my shoulder. I snuck a kiss from her.

"You two are grossly sweet," Rose said, making a face.

Bella grinned lazily at her. "I should call your dad," she said to me.

"I uh… already did. Charlotte is great," I mumbled.

Bella's smile said it all, and this time she was kissing me.

She pulled away grinning at Rose. "Did you hear that, Rose? He called to check on our girl."

Rose smiled softly, reaching to squeeze Bella's hand. "You got one of the good ones," she said as she stood, saying she was going to dance with her man.

"Did your dad give you a hard time?" Bella asked.

"You know he did, but I wanted to see how she was doing since she had a rough night last night," I explained, earning a hug from her.

A slow song came on causing Anthony to groan. "Want to dance with me?" I asked.

Her cheeks flushed before she gave me a quiet "yes".

I pulled her close to me, wrapping my arm around her waist and taking her hand in mine. We swayed as her head rested against my chest. "Are you having fun?" I asked her.

"I am, Tony is a real riot."

"I think you've made today easier on him."

"Me?"

"Yeah, he's gaining a new step-dad… I think before, we realized Alice was with Whitlock, but now the dynamic is officially different."

"Is it weird for you?"

"Only in the sense that Alice and I would do a lot as a family unit with Anthony. We've had a few years of adjusting to solo vacations with him though."

Bella suddenly got quiet as her head laid against my chest.

"You've gone quiet on me, Bell?"

"Do you think Charlie will feel like she's missing out on having a family?" she asks quietly.

"Charlotte will only ever know the family that she will grow up with. I can't predict the future but that little girl will know she is loved. As long as she has that, she won't feel like anything is missing. When she is old enough to understand, you tell her the truth, take it from there," I murmured in her ear.

"Edward?"

"Yeah?"

"Is it too soon for me to say that I love you," she whispered.

"No," I breathed out. "Because I'm right there with you… I love you too, Bell."

She lifted her head from my chest as I lowered my mouth to hers. The moment was ruined as I heard Alice squeal as she danced past us.

"Talk about timing," Bella giggled.

I laughed steering us away from a nosy Alice.

The rest of the wedding passed in a blur. Anthony leaned tiredly against me as Alice threw her bouquet. "This is the end, right?" he mumbled.

I brushed his hair back. "Yeah, then everyone is going to say their goodbyes."

"Gram and I leave after I say bye to Mom?" he yawned.

"Yep," I answered.

Bella and my mom were heading in our direction. I stood lifting Ant into my arms knowing he was dead on his feet.

"I'm going to take him to say bye to Alice," I told them.

Bella's hand reached out rubbing Ant's back.

"I'm going to have the valet get the car," Mom said, smiling warmly at us.

"Walk with us?" I asked Bella.

She nodded walking beside me as I carried my gangly ten-year-old. We heard the cheers near the doorway the closer we got. The nice thing about the reception being held at this small exclusive inn was that we were the only wedding party here and most of the guests were here for the wedding.

I leaned against the staircase as Alice and Whitlock said their goodbyes to a small group of her family. She spotted me, squeezing her aunt's arm before making her way toward us.

Her blissfully happy smile was trained on our son. She balanced herself on my shoulder as she reached up to kiss Anthony's cheek. "I'm going to miss him," she sighed.

"You know you'll Facetime him every day," I said, nudging her.

"I know but this is the first time I'll be away from him longer than a few days. I feel like my heart is being ripped out," she said, her tears shining.

Whitlock came up behind her pulling her into his arms. He whispered something to her and she nodded sadly. She touched Anthony's face causing him to stir. His eyes opened slightly.

"I love you, Tony and we'll see you when we get back," she murmured.

"Love you too, Mom," he mumbled, hiding his face in my neck.

Alice laughed.

"Hey, give your mom a hug and kiss bye," I nudged him.

He grumbled doing as he was told. Alice needed this. After her tearful goodbye, Whitlock whisked her up to their suite and I carried Ant out to Mom's car.

Once he was buckled in, I kissed his head saying good night to him. He mumbled that he wanted to say night to Bella. She replaced me in the backseat giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Mom pulled me into a hug letting me know that Dad texted her that Charlotte was sleeping and not to worry. He also said that only Bella could contact him. I rolled my eyes as she laughed and patted my cheek.

After Bella said her goodbyes to my mother, she linked her arm with mine and I led us to our room.

When we made the decision to get a room I made sure Bella knew there were no expectations. As we stood in the elevator, Bella held my hand in both of hers resting the side of her face against my bicep. I squeezed the hand interlocked with mine.

In front of the door, I reached for the key card I received when we checked in before the reception, slowly opening the door to our suite I heard Bella's gasp.

"This room is beautiful," she murmured.

The room was clean with crisp whites covering the walls and furniture. Bella walked around taking in the room before opening the balcony doors. The choice to have the reception at this inn in Sausalito was a good one. We had a great view of the water and it helped that we were basically on the water with privacy.

It was dark and the Golden Gate bridge was noticeably in the view from the doors. Bella hadn't come back in so I went to her. I noticed her dress, shoes, and panties laying in a pile just outside the doors.

"If you would have been a moment longer, I was going to come after you." She said leaning against the glass railing, smirking at me.

The bay breeze blew around us making her already loose hair fly out of its pin's hold.

She walked up to me tugging at my tie, then my shirt was unbuttoned next. I squeezed her hips pulling her closer to me.

"Are you cold?" I asked her.

"Although it is chilly, I think I'll survive," she giggled, tugging my shirt off.

I let her finish her mission to undress me. "I thought this would be sexier, but you were really layered up," she said, scrunching her nose.

I laughed pulling her into my arms. She kissed over my heart before looking up at me. "Feeling lucky?" she asked.

"I'm naked out on a balcony, how lucky are we talking?" I teased, wagging my eyebrows.

She moved her arms around my neck to pull me down. "Fuck me?" she whispered in my ear.

I pulled back so I could kiss her. She dragged me backward by our attached lips until she hit the outdoor couch.

Though we hadn't had sex yet, I was hyper-aware of what she did and didn't like when we were fooling around. Bella once told me she loved being bent over and fucked from behind, but after the trauma of Jacob assaulting her as she was being pinned while lying face down, she now tenses even laying on her stomach.

I knew that I couldn't hold her down at all or touch her wrists, even holding her down by the hips was a no. Her breathing would change and I knew she was no longer with me but locked in that house all over again.

She admittedly told Kate that her preference was rough sex. The fact that she couldn't even handle the type of intimacy that she preferred or craved, without feeling that she had something wrong with her for liking it was what gutted me the most.

Lost in my thoughts, I almost jumped when her small hand started to stroke me, hovering over her I leaned down to kiss her. My fingers met her wet folds. After a few strokes, I plunged two fingers into her quickly to curl them toward me.

Her cry was loud, but her new grip on my biceps, and surprised smile, let me know she was okay. After repeating my movements a few times she pulled out of her frenzied response.

"Tell me you have a condom nearby?" she asked breathily.

I leaned down reaching for my pants. My glasses slid down slightly, but Bella pushed them up as I fished the condom out of my pocket.

She grabbed it from me quickly rolling it on.

"Ready?" I teased her entrance.

"Fucking put me out of my misery," she moaned.

So I obliged, filling her hard and fast. Her fingers dug into my sides and back as I moved in her. When I moved to kiss her she shook her head with a smile maintaining eye contact. As much as I wanted to touch her, I kept myself balanced with both hands beside her.

The eye contact is what made this different for me; it was like Bella was looking into my soul. There was no hiding, only a true connection between the two of us. The closer she clutched me to her the closer I knew she was.

"I need you… deeper?" she breathed out.

"Okay," I grunted simply.

I shifted, hooking her leg around my arm plunging into her from that angle. When her arm held mine pulling her leg toward her I laughed. "Deep enough?"

"Yeah," squeaked out wide-eyed.

She came first and I followed. I gently let go of her leg rolling off to the side of her to catch my breath. "I'm going to clean up," I said as I climbed over her.

She stopped me, pulling me in for a kiss. "Thank you," she murmured.

I brushed my nose against her before I kissed her again. I knew going forward that she was mine and I would do what I could to make sure she felt nothing but safe and happy.

A/N: Great appreciation to CoppertopJ for betaing!