Thanks for the patience while I dealt with some RL mess. This story will be back to every two weeks, and This Place will post next week as I'm still working on that. Writing two weddings (one 1880's Colorado and the other 1960's New York) back to back is a little crazy, but I'm finding ways to manage and make them distinct. Huge thanks to Sunshine1220 for being my awesome pre-reader, and Mizzdee for her red pen skills and complete lack of mafia knowledge. It let's me know if something needs more explanation.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 11

I watched Isabella closely during Sunday supper at my parents' house. It was barely five o'clock and she was yawning. Though, she was nearly seven months along and her mornings started around four o'clock. Earlier in the meal Esme had declared the wedding planning complete with two weeks to spare. I hoped now that Isabella wasn't running around in between her mornings and evenings at the cafe, she'd be a little better rested.

Pre-Cana was complete and Isabella had Father Francis wrapped around her little finger.

As for me, I wanted the next two weeks to go smoothly for both of us, so I could call Isabella my wife.

When dessert was being cleaned up, I grabbed my coat and found my mother in the kitchen and kissed her cheek.

"You're taking off?" Esme asked.

"Yeah. My girl's tired. But I may need your help with something."

"What's that?"

"I've got a barely decorated house, and I'm about to be a married man. I'm going to talk to her about finishing it, but she'll need help."

"I'll be available whenever she wants to go," Esme told me.

"Thanks, Ma. I can always count on you."

I went out to the living room where Peter was talking a mile a minute and Isabella was trying to keep up.

"Hey, Peter, isn't it time for you to get cleaned up for bed?"

"But I'm talking to Auntie Bella." He pouted.

"I know, but I need to get your Auntie home so she can rest."

"Bye, Auntie." Peter threw his arms around Isabella and then hugged me. We said goodbye to the rest of the family and then made our way out to my car.

"How are you feeling?"

"My back bothers me after being up all day, and this little one isn't so little anymore." Isabella rubbed her belly as I opened the door for her. She slid into the seat and I closed the door, walking around to the driver's side.

"What did the doctor say?"

"That it isn't uncommon, especially since I'm on my feet during the day, but I need to listen to my body and know when to slow down."

"And when is that going to start?" I asked.

"I talked to Alice. She's going to do the prep work in the evenings for me. I'll still be doing the morning baking, but if I'm not going back in the evening, I'll be able to relax more."

"Good. Now, I hate to add to your workload, but I do have a job for you."

"What's that?" she asked.

"I want you to finish decorating our home. You've seen it. You know what is missing, and I want you to do everything you can to make it the home of your dreams. Esme said she'd help you in any way she could."

Isabella smiled. "That's a job I'll gladly take on, but I have one condition. Stay at your parents' house until it is done so I can reveal everything to you."

"Done. Do you think it can be finished before the wedding?"

"With Esme's help, I have no doubt."

I nodded, happy to give her the keys to my house if it meant she was happy with our home. I pulled up by the door to the apartment and gave her the spare set of keys I'd had made for her. She put them in her purse and then I lifted my ass off the seat so I could reach into my pocket and take out the wad of cash I had there.

"Here's some cash to buy whatever you want. If you need more, let me know."

Isabella looked at the bundle of cash and shook her head. "I can do anything I want?"

"Anything. But I'll ask not to repaint the living room bubblegum pink."

Isabella smiled at my teasing. "I wouldn't even paint a little girl's room that color."

"Then you're free to do whatever you like. Goodnight, my love."

"Goodnight, Edward." I leaned over to kiss her goodnight, savoring the moment before she left.

I watched her walk to the door, and after a moment, I drove off. When I got home, I packed a bag before going to bed. The house was clean, so I didn't need to worry about making anything more difficult for her.

The following morning, I drove to the bar and sat down at a table in the back. Aro was supposed to be arriving later, but until then, I was available in case one of our capos had some issue to bring to me.

It was still taking some getting used to not doing the work myself, but Aro was firm that I was a boss now.

My father walked in just before lunch with takeout from the diner. He sat at my table and I was a little curious about his arrival.

"I had an idea, but I wanted to broach it with you before I did anything," my father said as he took out our respective orders.

"What did you have in mind?"

"Isabella doesn't have a car. Now, I know driving is difficult in her current condition, but I wanted to get her a car as a wedding gift."

"What were you thinking?" I asked, intrigued.

"1965 Chevelle. One of the dealers is in arrears with us, and I saw a beautiful one in Tahitian Turquoise on his lot. Thought it would be a nice ride for my daughter-in-law."

"I don't have a problem with that, but make sure our mechanics look at it first. I'll be damned if he gives us a lemon to recoup part of his debt and Isabella is hurt in the process."

"Of course. Your mother left early this morning, something about having two weeks to do the impossible."

"I don't know why they think it's impossible, but Isabella is redecorating what is soon to be our home. So I'm moving into my old room for the duration."

"Ahh, that makes sense then. Isabella was adamant that they begin with the bedrooms."

"She can start wherever she likes."

We ate and chatted about some things with the business as well as plans for after the wedding.

"Isabella's due in about two months or so, so there won't be a honeymoon."

"Are you thinking of planning something for next spring?" my dad asked.

"I'd like to, but I'd have to speak to Aro. I know she's never been to Italy, so I'm hoping to take her there."

"It is funny you should mention traveling to Italy," Aro said as he came up behind us. "I'll be going there in a few weeks with Sulpicia."

"What's in Italy?"

"It appears Jane has found a suitable husband with my mother's help, so she's getting married at the beginning of July. We'll be there for about three weeks and then I'll be back right around when Isabella has her baby. That way you can take it easy with the two of them once the baby arrives. No one should bother you unless it is urgent."

"I was hoping you'd be open to that. Especially in the beginning."

"It is important for you to bond as a family. You've committed to raising this child, so I want you to be there to help. Sulpicia had a very rough few months after each of our kids, so Isabella may need the support."

"And I want to give it to her."

"Good. Come the spring, I'll arrange for you three to go to Italy for a month. The weather will be nice and there's a chance for you to show Isabella her heritage," Aro said. "Consider that one of my wedding gifts."

"Thank you, sir. That will mean a great deal to Isabella, and I know I'm looking forward to it."

Conversation drifted back to business matters and some upcoming deals we were trying to arrange.

That evening, I went to the cafe to check on Alice, but was surprised to see Isabella with her in the kitchen.

"I thought you weren't going to be working in the evenings anymore?" I asked, arms crossed.

"I was upstairs, but Alice was having an issue with this recipe, so I came down to talk her through it. I've been here about ten minutes," Isabella told me defiantly.

"Fine. I came to see if you wanted to go to dinner."

"Dinner's just come out of the oven upstairs, so if you want to join me, there's more than enough," Isabella offered.

"That sounds lovely."

Isabella offered a last bit of instruction to Alice and then walked over to me so we could exit the kitchen together. "Your mother called some woman named Rosalie and arranged for a few men to come by your house to paint a few of the rooms and make a few changes. I thought you should know."

"You'll meet Rosalie at the wedding, she's Emmett's wife. Was that all you did today?" I posed the question as we walked up to the apartment and she unlocked the door.

"No, we took care of that in the morning. The men were very helpful. They brought the paint swatches to the house so I could pick out what I needed to and discussed the shelving units I wanted them to build. They promised to be there tomorrow morning, so we'll let them in and then we can be on our way. If you trust who Rosalie is sending, I didn't think it was a problem. But if you want to have one of your guys at the house, you can make that call tonight."

I took a seat at the dining table while she worked on getting our dinner finished.

"I'll send Jasper to check on them, but I'm sure they're good if Rosalie sent them," I called out to her.

A few minutes later, Isabella carried in two plates of lasagna, with bread and salad. She darted out of the room again and returned with two wine glasses and a bottle of pinot noir. "All right. Now, I know your furniture is mostly new purchases, but I wanted to tell you that I've bought all new bedroom furniture. Esme told me that we could have it donated to a consignment shop that would give our portion of the profit to the church."

"Was it that bad?"

"They weren't awful, but I feel it is bad taste to start a marriage on a used bed." The way her eyes narrowed and the speed with which she brought the glass of wine to her lips let me know that she was jealous. Little did she know she had no reason to be.

"Isabella, that wouldn't have been an issue, even if we'd kept my old furniture."

"Maybe not to you, but I plan on being the only woman to have slept on our marriage bed." She practically growled the word bed, making me smile. Isabella was a touch possessive.

"That's what I'm trying to tell you. No woman has been in my house besides Esme and Alice."

"You've never brought a woman home with you?" She punctuated her question by stabbing at a piece of lettuce.

"No."

"I find that hard to believe."

Her continued questioning of me was beginning to piss me off. "Look, I'm not saying I was a monk, but I would go back to the girl's place. And even then, I've never actually ..." I trailed off, not sure how to tell her, but it didn't matter as she jumped in with her own thoughts.

"Don't be ridiculous. Are you seriously trying to convince me that you're a virgin?"

"I'm not trying to convince you of anything. I'm telling you outright that I am. I saw what sticking your dick in the wrong woman got you. Jasper gave me a front row seat to that mess and I wasn't going to make the same mistake."

Isabella gasped and threw her napkin onto the table. "I think you should leave."

She stood, walking briskly to her purse where she dug out the cash I'd given her and the spare keys to my house. When her shaking fingers moved to her ring finger, I stood and grabbed her hands to stop that movement. "Don't you dare take that ring off. I put it there and no one is going to take it off. Not even you."

"So you're happy to marry another man's mistake? Raise the bastard she got when she let him stick his dick in her?"

"Don't say that!" I roared. Her movements stopped and I was able to pull her into my chest. Her arms were ramrod straight at her sides, but at least she'd stopped trying to take off my ring.

"There's a difference between the type of girl you mess around with and the kind you marry. That bastard was an idiot not to see your worth, but it was my gain. You're the kind of girl you make a wife out of, and I'm not going to let you run away or try to push me away because you're scared. You're it for me, you understand?"

I felt her arms wrap around me as she fisted my shirt in both her hands. As soon as she had a solid grip, the torrent of tears began. I soothed her as best as I could and then moved her closer to the table. While she calmed her breathing, I put the keys and cash back into her purse and shut it. She sat down and picked up her fork, but didn't make a move to begin eating again. After a minute, she sat the fork back down.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice hoarse. "I shouldn't have snapped at you."

"When we're alone, you can yell at me if you want to. Just remember that when we're out in the neighborhood, we're a united front."

"I know," she hiccuped.

"No more tears. I'm sure the stress isn't good for the baby."

"Probably not, but I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop."

I reached over to take her hand. "That isn't going to happen. This is just the beginning for us."

We eventually picked up our forks to finish dinner and once it was over and the kitchen was cleaned up, I convinced Isabella to make an early night of it. If she was going to be shopping with my mom after an early morning at the cafe, she'd need her rest.

As the days went by, Isabella was busy and my mother enjoyed telling me that I would love the house when it was done.

What I really wanted was for this last week to be done so I could call her my wife.

Finally, two days before the wedding, my mother gave me the news I wanted over breakfast.

"You can pick Isabella up after you finish eating, your house is finished."

"Thank goodness. I'm ready to see what she's done."

It didn't take long for me to eat, and after a call to make sure Isabella would be ready when I got there, I picked her up and we headed to the house.

The first thing I noticed was that the outside of the house looked vastly different. It seemed that the crew she'd used inside also helped her with the exterior. The brick that had been beige was now grey and the door was jet black. She'd also had someone come out and plant bushes and flowers making it look much more inviting than I would have ever thought to do.

"You're quiet already, do you not like it?" Isabella asked, biting her lip.

"No, just the opposite. I was thinking about how I would have never thought to do this, but I love it. I'm just surprised that you didn't have them paint the garage doors black as well."

"They were going to, but the crew noticed some of the wood was rotting, so they're installing all new garage doors tomorrow. Sam is part of the team, so I knew you wouldn't mind him being here if I'm not."

I looked at her. "How do you know Sam?"

"I recognized him as one of the people who was sitting outside when Jimmy was on the loose, and that day you sent Jasper to check on them, he and Sam had a lengthy conversation. So I gathered he was here for a lot more than his ability to swing a hammer."

I nodded. "He's trustworthy. I'm glad you were able to spot that. Now, show me what you've done with the place."

Isabella led me to the front door and unlocked it. When I entered the house, it definitely felt different. The walls were a soft blue. It was something I'd seen in a lot of houses, but I was happy that she'd chosen something closer to a sky blue. The couch I'd chosen was gone, and it's tan replacement was now covered in plastic, and the chairs around the glass and wood coffee table were green. The largest change was the wrap-around shelf that was installed two feet from the ceiling. It had some vases and other little figurines already in place, safely out of reach.

"Keeping things safe from little hands?" I asked.

"Yes. Though the curio is something Esme said your father had saved for you. It was your mother's, as are the figurines and glass work that are inside." Isabella gestured to the glass cabinet and I walked over, vaguely remembering the thing from our living room when I was little.

"She'd be happy to see it all getting used. Show me the rest."

Isabella led me through the kitchen, which hadn't seen much change, but I was sure the decisions Esme had made were to her liking. There was some new artwork and items around, and I was sure she'd gotten us new dishes and cookware since I'd had none of that.

The dining room was one of the rooms she'd really made her own, but I was surprised by the mural that she had painted there. A small shelf sat below it, making it look like a window out onto a vineyard.

"Who did you find to paint that so quickly?" I asked, taking a step closer.

"I had the guys prime it, but I did the mural and the effect to make the rest of the wall look like stucco."

"You did this? Is there anything you can't do?" I turned to her, my amazement clear.

"There's a lot I can't do," she whispered.

"I've yet to see anything that matters."

She blushed at my comment but didn't respond. Instead, she led me to the master bedroom and I smiled at how she'd completely changed it. There was enough storage between the two dressers to hold our clothing, but the real surprise came when I looked at the partially open closet door.

"You've already moved your things in?"

"I thought it would be easier to do it now and only have a few things to pack the morning of our wedding instead of dealing with it afterwards."

"That makes me very happy. And I can't wait until you and I are able to make use of this brand new bed."

"Me either," she whispered. There was fire in her eyes and it made it quite difficult to resist her, but we'd made it all this way and I was determined to hold off for two more days. I broke the eye contact first and I heard her sigh as she spoke.

"There's still plenty left to show you."

Two of the other three bedrooms had been done plainly for potential guests, but the room next to ours was done in the nursery set she'd been eyeing when we'd gone shopping that first time.

"Esme took your old crib out of the attic at your house so it would be ready for when she watches the baby. She's over the moon ready for the day she gets to be a nonna again."

"Everyone is ready to meet this little bundle, but he or she still has a few more months."

"Two, and I'm ready for this pregnancy to be over." Isabella rubbed her belly as she spoke.

"Their time will come soon enough."

The master bathroom and the second bath had little changes beyond decorative pieces added, so we walked down the stairs to the basement.

I was not prepared for the changes down here. There had been a kitchen here, but it was obviously not to Isabella's liking as she'd torn it out and had new cabinets installed. I was amazed it had been done so fast, but I knew better than to question her or the crew Rosalie had assembled to do the work. There was a large island with a marble top that matched the counters and two ovens. An alcove that I'd not known how to use on the opposite wall had cabinets and shelves added, along with a bar in front of it. A much less formal family room, which had my couch from the living room, took up the rest of the space.

"I thought you'd like a space where you could have people over that was away from the family on the main floor, but when I'm doing some heavy duty cooking, I'd have more space and a place for the kids to play." She smiled.

"Kids, huh? You see us filling up all of those spare bedrooms?" My voice dropped down as I said it and I was rewarded with a blush on my Isabella's cheeks.

"I've always wanted a big family. I hated being an only child."

"Well, I -" My sentence was cut off by the shrill ringing of the phone. I walked to the end table and answered it. "Hello?"

"My boy," Aro said, "I need to speak to you briefly before the festivities begin. You're meeting your brother and the men at the bar?"

"Yes, we should be there around seven. What time did you want to meet?"

"I'll come by the house now. Is the principessa there?"

"Yes," I replied.

"Excellent. I want to speak to her as well."

"Come to the side door, you can see all of Isabella's hard work for yourself."

"Perfect. I'll be by shortly."

The line went dead and I turned to Isabella. "Aro is on his way, he wants to speak to both of us."

"I'll get started on something for lunch. Come upstairs when you're done."

I sat around, waiting for Aro, and true to his word, he was here in about twenty minutes.

"Isabella made some big changes down here. Very nice."

"She definitely turned it into a home."

Aro nodded and sat down on the couch, which I joined him on. "I've purchased both the Moretti's house and your brother's. The sales are final and I'm going to redo them and sell them. I've spoken to Vito and Rosalie about it, so they're on board. But with that, I've got an offer for you. The cafe and the apartment above it, you've been handling that for me, so I'm giving them to you. Sign this paperwork and they're all yours."

I took the document Aro pulled out of his inside suit pocket and signed where it was indicated. He took the document back and promised to get me a copy once his lawyer had handled everything.

We went upstairs and I was smiling as Aro looked around. Isabella came out with chicken caprese sandwiches and some water. Once we were all seated, Aro turned to my bride-to-be.

"Before all the well wishes and gifts begin, I want to tell you about my wedding gift. Next spring, when your little one is a little older, the three of you will be spending a month in Italy. You can plan it with Gianna, she'll handle everything and bill me."

"Aro, that's too much," Isabella responded.

"Nonsense. It is my gift to my godson and his bride. Edward told me he wanted to take you to Italy and I will make it happen."

"Thank you, Aro, really," I said.

"Yes, thank you, Aro. I've always wanted to go to Italy," Isabella gushed.

After lunch, Aro left and we cleaned up before I took Isabella back to the apartment.

"I'll see you tomorrow at the rehearsal dinner."

"I can't wait."

With Isabella safely at home, I took care of a few things before my bachelor party at the bar. I arrived after dinner and was immediately ambushed by my brother and Emmett, who were in charge of this little get together.

We drank and I was forced to listen to their stories as they imparted their advice. I didn't think I needed it, but it didn't stop them. I gritted my teeth and finally reminded them that, as their boss and Aro's second, they shouldn't be disrespecting me. That quieted the room a bit.

I was smashed when we called it a night, grateful that I had my father to drive me home. He'd sat around but hadn't given any pointers, so I was assuming that was what the car ride was for.

"How come you're not telling me how I'm supposed to fuck Isabella?" I slurred.

"First off," my father growled, "don't disrespect Isabella that way. I don't care that you've been drinking. Secondly, I think you know what you're doing, you've just been picky. There's nothing wrong with that. Treat my daughter-in-law well, that's the only advice I have for you."

I sighed. "I need to apologize to her."

"For what you just said? No you don't. She doesn't know, you didn't mean it, and you're drunk. You'll only wake her up and confuse her. You will see her at the rehearsal dinner and then, in a day and a half, she'll be your wife."

"Thank fuck."