*BPOV*

"Thanks for forwarding the birth announcement, Dad. Wow! Three and a half pounds at birth, so tiny! She's beautiful," I cooed as I stroked the embossed cardstock with my newborn (human) sister's photo.

Some time had passed since then; Renee had clearly waited until my premature sister filled out a little bit before having photos taken. But knowing her, she probably only remembered to hire a photographer way after the fact.

"What kind of name is Marathy, though?" I wondered aloud.

Charlie harrumphed. "Some cockamamie name she came up with by combining the name of her mother, Marie, with Phil's mother, Cathy. 'It sounded better than Maratherine,' he mocked my mother's slightly nasal voice.'

Charlie huffed out a noisy breath. "Boy, is she mad at you, kid! I think she expected that you'd offer to come out and help with the baby while she recovered.

"I said, 'Renee, Bella's in college, and newly married. She can't just drop everything now just because you had a baby. That's why you have Phil!' She didn't like that very much.

"Then she started going on about how you never used to be so selfish before you got involved with Edward, and I told her it was waaaay too late to hop on the Edward-sucks train," he repeated his earlier conversation with a self-satisfied chuckle.

"Dad," I reproved, a warning in my voice.

"Well, he does suck, Bella. He's a...well you know what he is," he laughed again.

"Then I guess I suck, too, Dad!" I snapped. There was a short pause and then we were both laughing, quietly at first but growing louder by the second.

"Thanks for covering for me. You don't have to do that, you know. I know I put you in an awkward position since you know the truth about me and mom never can. And I'm sorry about that…"

"If the alternative is being in the dark like your mom and never getting to see you again, Bells, I'll lie for you for the rest of my life. Renee stopped being my wife a long time ago. You're my daughter forever."

My throat tightened. "Thanks, Dad."

"Though, it was sure nice of Esme and Alice to fly out there and do up their nursery while Renee was in the hospital. Color me shocked that your mother wasn't ready for the baby when the baby came," I could practically hear Charlie's eyes rolling around in their sockets.

I thought to myself that the criticism wasn't entirely fair given the baby was delivered via emergency cesarean two whole months early. But knowing Renee, the baby could've been two weeks late and she wouldn't have been ready in time, so I let it go.

"They were happy to do it, I wish I could've gone, but I was stuck in Italy as far as they were concerned…"

"Ah, yeah. Heard about that. She got your postcard from Milan. But if you weren't actually in Milan, how did she get a postcard postmarked from there? Are the Cullens dabbling in mail fraud, now, too?" Charlie sneered.

"Esme mentioned something about a short layover..." I shrugged.

"A layover in Italy on their way to Florida. From San Francisco. Right," Charlie said with more than a little skepticism in his voice.

"If members of my family went all the way to Italy to mail a postcard to make my story seem more plausible, that should say something about how crucial it is that Renee believes the lies, wouldn't you agree?" I asked pointedly.

Alice's thoroughness was really just Alice having the excuse she needed to go to Milan for her own purposes, but Charlie didn't need to know that part.

"You know I love you no matter what, but you really got yourself twisted up in something nasty, didn't you? I almost wish it'd just been drugs! At least there's rehab for that," he muttered.

I snorted, "You know I love you no matter what, too, but kindly piss off with that! You don't get to criticize the life I chose when you are the doting dad to a couple of werewolves," I scowled into the phone.

"Well, that's just…GREAT," Charlie spluttered. He sounded like he was literally wrestling for words. Then his voice sounded further away like he pulled the phone away from his face. He groaned and muttered to himself, "What happened to my life?"

I couldn't help but smile sympathetically. Poor Charlie. He didn't ask for any of this.

"It got way more interesting than cobbler at the diner, fishing, and Monday night football, didn't it?" I mused.

"You can say that again!" he groused.

"It's kinda funny if you think about it. I mean, if Edward and I had never found our way back to each other..."I began, not lingering on the topic. It hurt too much to think about ."...You'd still be married to the supernatural, and I wouldn't be. I wonder how you would've tried to break it to me," I mused.

"What's it like? When Seth and Leah are going at it, do you break them up by shouting "Quit pulling your sister's tail?" I asked, giggling.

"Nah, Leah's too quick for Seth to catch. But man, you wouldn't believe how much I spend on flea meds," Charlie quipped.

Peals of laughter erupted from my chest. I laughed so hard, the soft piano music coming from the other room broke off mid-note and Edward came to see what the hilarity was all about.

"God, I miss you, kid," Charlie sighed, the sound of his own laughter still evident in his voice.

"Miss you, too, Dad. So much. Let's plan another visit soon. Or you could always come here! It's only a two-hour flight from Sea-Tac," I offered.

Sensing that my phone call was wrapping up, a grinning Edward said, "Hi Charlie!" loud enough that my dad would be sure to hear.

"Tell your husband hey for me," grunted Charlie in response.

His tone wasn't exactly friendly, but he was trying. And honestly, after everything that had come to pass, cordial was better than I could hope for, so I didn't give him too hard of a time about his surliness.

"Charlie says hey," I repeated, though I knew Edward had heard. "Ok, Dad, I'll let you go. Just wanted to check in and say thank you for sending Marathy's birth announcement." I couldn't say the ridiculous name without wrinkling my nose like something smelled bad. Edward was fighting a smile at my expression.

"Oh! And keep an eye on the mail for plane tickets. If Sue isn't comfortable coming with you, bring Seth! We miss that kid!"

*EPOV*

Wolf stink. Lovely, Rosalie thought from where she was in the newly-built garage, changing the oil of Emmett's jeep. Annoyed, she ratcheted the socket wrench she was using even faster.

Underneath my sister's ire, there was an undercurrent of jealousy. Bella had something else Rosalie was envious of. Friends.

Though Rosalie had no affection whatsoever for the wolves, she missed having the camaraderie of real friends—girlfriends that flocked to her and hung on to her every word the way they used to when she was human.

She loved Esme and Alice, of course, but it wasn't the same. She was bound to us out of convenience and out of fear of being alone.

Over the years, familial bonds began to grow, a grudging love for us. But none of us except perhaps Emmett were people she would have spared a second thought for if she were human and had other options.

Her one other option was a house full of stunningly beautiful blondes in Denali. Her vanity was so pervasive that she stayed here with us, people she didn't particularly like because at least as a Cullen, no one would ever doubt who was most beautiful. Until Bella entered the picture, that is, I smirked.

"I hope you didn't rush off the phone on my account...my apologies for interrupting. I couldn't help myself when I heard you laugh. The sound of it was far more beautiful than anything I could produce out there," I murmured, glancing over my shoulder in the direction of my piano in the next room.

"Flatterer," Bella chided with my favorite smile, the one she wore when I knew without a doubt she'd be blushing if she still could.

Bella stood up from where she sat cross-legged in her favorite overstuffed reading chair, the lone remnant from her library that hadn't been relocated to the main house. (Besides the hundred or so of her favorite books that she couldn't bear to be parted from.)

I smiled unrepentantly. "You're my wife. Showering you with my undying admiration is part of the job description."

Bella rolled her eyes at me. Warm, golden wheat fields I could get lost in for eternity, so beautiful and alluring that I hardly missed the deep pools of milk chocolate. In the same motion, she wrapped her arms around my neck and stood on her bare toes for a kiss.

She tasted like what she used to smell like to me, though without the hellish burn. I could never get enough.

When I finally pulled away with a wet smack, Bella pressed her full, luscious lips together in the same way she did when she tasted something extra delicious. I chuckled.

"So what did Charlie have to say, if you don't mind me asking?" I added courteously.

"Nothing too revelatory. Renee is mad," she said with no inflection in her voice whatsoever. Though I didn't miss the slight tightening of her eyes, the only indication that this hurt her.

After Phil had called that day with news of her mother, Bella came back from her girl's shopping trip and had not wanted to discuss her mother. At all.

I felt dreadful about that, of course. Like the one time she leaned on me with her grief, I had failed her. I was sure I wouldn't have to wait long before I was given another chance, and the next time she wept in my arms, I wouldn't be so selfish as to attempt to assuage my own guilt with my pathetic apologies.

I would endure it, like Jane's fiery glare, because the last thing she needed while coping with the painful estrangement with her mother was to also bear the insufferable burden of my guilt.

Quick to change the subject, Bella added, "Charlie was being unintentionally funny. I was laughing so hard because he was complaining about how much money he spends on flea meds for Seth and Leah," she said, laughing again as she retold it to me.

I couldn't help but laugh, too. Charlie's sense of humor was dry and sharp, so much like Bella's. It was refreshing to not be on the receiving end of his barbed wit for once.

"I think Charlie coming out here is a wonderful idea," I said sincerely.

Anything to take her mind off her mother. Quality time with Charlie, the one parent she didn't have to lose, would have to ease at least some of that heartache, wouldn't it?

"He won't stay here, though," Bella huffed. "He wasn't sure if Sue would want to come but knew for certain she'd insist on him staying at a hotel. Especially if Seth comes with him...It's insulting! Does she really think I'm capable of hurting Seth? Or my own father?"

"We're all capable of that, love," I reminded her in a pained voice. "She was there when you told your father every sordid detail of what happened to you when you mingled your fragile human life with ours.

"Can you really blame Sue for not wanting her husband and child sleeping in a house full of vampires knowing that something as insignificant as a paper cut could trigger a murder?" I asked in a gentle but pointed tone.

Bella sighed unhappily. "No, I guess not," she grumbled. "But I still think it's a tad hypocritical for them to be so judgemental! The wolves hunt animals just like we do! If we're bloodsuckers then they're flesh-eaters," she said wrinkling her nose in the cutest way. "And that's kinda worse if you think about it."

I smiled and tucked a wayward strand of chestnut hair behind her ear. "That's up for debate," I teased and then changed tack.

Placing one hand high on the side of her throat, I stroked my thumb over the silk-covered steel that was her cheekbone. My silent heart swelled in my chest as she leaned into my touch the way she always did.

"Now that you're off the phone and I have your undivided attention..." I murmured, my lips inching ever closer to the smooth, pale porcelain of her face. My hands snaked around her waist. Placing my palm on the small of her back, I nudged her closer to me.

So gently that my lips just barely grazed her skin, I kissed my way up the delicate line of her jaw and purred in her ear, "I was wondering if I could take you out on a proper date. It's been too long, Mrs. Cullen. I've been neglecting my husbandly responsibilities."

She laughed once. "That's funny. I don't feel neglected," she opened her mind to me as she remembered writhing around on top of our silk sheets as I pleasured her the previous night. Or was it the night before? The scene would've been very much the same.

I groaned and held her tighter against me, letting her feel how affected I was by her. "Unfair," I growled.

Bella's hands moved from my chest, under my arms, and around to my back where the fingertips of one hand curled into the hair at the nape of my neck while the other slid sinuously down my back to where I felt it invade the back pocket of my jeans. She gave my left ass cheek a playful squeeze.

"And where are you taking me? Dinner and a movie?" she asked with a skeptical little snort.

"Actually, yes," I smirked and somehow summoned the willpower to remove myself from Bella's arms, though I kept hold of her hand and tugged her out the door in the direction of the garage.

"You mean right now? I'm not dressed!" she protested, looking down at her casual sweater dress, leggings, and ballerina flats ensemble.

"You are perfect, just as you are," I said earnestly, my eyes smoldering into hers.

"If you say so," she muttered.

*BPOV*

We didn't go far to hunt. The woods around our house were rife with black-tailed deer, which weren't particularly tasty, but at least I was able to keep my clothes tidier than if I'd been hunting the mountain lions that were known to prowl these parts.

"I don't know how much I'm going to enjoy seeing a movie if I have to hold my breath the whole time," I said anxiously, knotting my fingers together in my lap in the passenger seat of the Volvo.

It wasn't so much the holding my breath part that would be bothersome as much as the burning. I swallowed convulsively at the thought.

I had asked if we could ride our motorcycles there, reasoning that we'd get there faster if we could weave through the ever-present traffic of the gridlocked city streets. But Edward had jutted his lower lip out in the most devastating pleading expression I'd ever seen and I couldn't refuse him. Such a cheater!

Edward squeezed his hand that was resting on my thigh. "Don't worry about a thing, love. I've handled it." I looked over at him with a curious expression. What did that mean?

As we drove up the congested Van Ness Avenue that gloomy late afternoon, I watched with interest as the buildings crawled by my passenger window.

We passed by the impressive City Hall, a huge building that occupied two full city blocks. With its wide pillars, huge gold-embellished dome, and the sculptured mural above the gold-trimmed doors carved with figures that looked like angels or gods, the building looked older than the city itself. Like it belonged in Paris rather than the much younger City by the Bay.

On the corner of Geary & Van Ness, we passed by a busy restaurant called The Original Tommy's Joynt, with people milling outside the door. It touted itself for its world-famous sandwiches and sports satellite TV.

I couldn't help thinking it looked like a place Charlie would appreciate. I would have to take him there when he visited.

Then, just as Edward hung a left on Sacramento Street, my eyes widened as we passed by a large storefront called "Guitar Center." Edward followed my gaze and smiled wildly.

"Why don't we stop in there after the movie? We can get you a couple new guitars to get you started. I can even teach you a few pointers to give you a headstart before classes resume in the Fall!" he suggested excitedly.

"Okay," I agreed easily. "But I only need one guitar, Edward," I rolled my eyes a little at his overzealousness. It was sweet and just so Edward to want to buy me an entire music store when I took an interest in learning to play the guitar.

"Don't be silly. You'll at least need two. One acoustic and one electric. And maybe you'll want to learn to play bass…Then there are amplifiers, cabinets, pedal effects. It was a good thing we took the Volvo! We'll need the trunk space..."

I laughed and shook my head. "So what movie are we seeing?"

"You'll see!" Edward grinned broadly, his voice dripping with eager anticipation.

A short time later, after parking in a public lot a half-block away, Edward tugged my hand down the street until we were standing in front of the marquee for an old, seemingly forgotten movie theater.

Edward stopped at the box office for our tickets and then escorted me inside the aging building.

We walked past the concession stand and went straight to the theater.

It wasn't hard to find because this cinema only had one screen. And if the marquee was to be believed, we'd be watching one of my favorite Turner Classic Movies: Roman Holiday.

Vogue Theater, San Francisco's oldest movie theater, was itself like something out of an old movie. The auditorium was small, quaint. There were crimson velvet curtains on either side of the screen and also cascading down the walls in deep red pleats. It smelled of popcorn and red vines though we were the only souls there.

As we took our seats in the back row, just below the bright light of the projector, the opening credits began to play.

"That was clever!" I remarked. "You picked an old black & white theater because there'd be fewer people. I wonder how this place stays in business, though, if it's empty like this on a Friday night..."

Edward chuckled. "It's only empty because I bought every ticket. I chose this theater because I guess I was feeling a bit nostalgic. I used to play piano at a theater just like this, back before movies had sound," he shrugged, looking a bit self-conscious. Maybe even a little embarrassed.

"I hope you don't mind," he added quickly, eyes flashing back up to mine from his lap, where he was studiously examining the back of his hands.

I gaped at him momentarily, like I always did whenever he casually brought up memories from the world he belonged to a century before I was even born. What must my world be like for him?

Recovered, I untangled his hands, clasping one of them within my own, and told him not for the first time, "I like old things," and smiled at him meaningfully.

"Thank heaven for that," Edward smiled a lopsided smile and squeezed my hand.

"You didn't have to buy out the theater, though. I could've managed." I grumbled with my usual pragmatism.

"It's not just for your comfort, love," he reminded me, tapping a finger to his temple. And I could hardly fault him for that.

As we sat in the dark, empty theater watching the dashing Gregory Peck fall for the beautiful and charming Audrey Hepburn, I could feel the same palpable electricity coursing through my body as when a human version of myself sat in tense silence next to Edward's stone form when Mr. Banner would show informative movies during biology class.

At one point, halfway through the film when the tension got to be too much, I leaned over and whispered, more out of habit than out of fear of being overheard, "We are all alone in here, we could…" Edward's steel grip on my wrist halted the progress of my wandering hand.

"Patience, please, Bella. I have a romantic evening planned that I'd much rather we didn't spoil by getting arrested for lewd and lascivious behavior," he glowered with mock disapproval, though the faint smile forming at the corners of his mouth gave away his amusement.

I rolled my eyes. As if we'd get caught when he could hear the minds of anyone who decided to walk through the doors. But if he had something else planned, I supposed I could be patient.

I wondered how patient he could be when I started making a few plans of my own. Out loud (to any nearby mind readers, that is).

Edward groaned and shifted in his seat as I thought about what I planned to do to him once I got him alone somewhere that wasn't quite so public.

To his credit, he made it all the way through the end of the movie. Though he did not wait for the house lights to come back on before he was towing me toward the exit.

"You are going to be the death of me," Edward muttered as he brusquely opened the passenger door to the Volvo and waited for me to get in. I snickered as I climbed in and he shut the door behind me.

When the car jerked to a stop in just a few short blocks, I was confused but then remembered our impulsive plan to go to the music store.

"Edward, we don't have to do this right now If there are other things you have planned..." I hinted, now just as anxious to be alone with him as he seemed to be with me.

He grinned wickedly. "Oh no, you don't! You can't dangle a trip to the music store in front of me and then take it back! It won't take long."

And then seeing my obvious disappointment, he smiled sweetly and cupped a hand on the side of my face and crooned, "Patience, love. And then we'll have all night." Slightly cheered by this, I smiled and leaned into his hand.

"I'm holding you to that," I growled and threw open the passenger door with a bit too much gusto. We both flinched as the bottom of the door scraped loudly against the tall sidewalk.

I grimaced. "Sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it, love. That's what beater cars are for," Edward smiled and shrugged. "If we'd taken the Aston Martin, it'd be a different conversation," he said laughing without humor.

I was sure my thoughts were etched so clearly on my face that he didn't need to hear them in my mind. Did he consider a Volvo to be a beater car?

That time he laughed with real humor in his voice.

"Shall we?" Edward asked, appearing in a flash at my opened door, elbow extended. I slipped a hand through the crook of his arm and let him help me to my feet.

Once I was standing on the sidewalk next to him, Edward gently lifted the door by the handle so that the hinges creaked with protest but no more paint was scraped off the bottom of the door against the pavement. He then shut and locked the doors.

Inside, I stood staring at the wall of guitars, mouth agape. There were hundreds of them. How did one choose?

"Still only want just one?" he arched a knowing eyebrow in my direction. I ignored that.

"How do I choose?" I breathed, eyes still locked on the wall of guitars.

Edward chuckled. "It's sort of like that wizard movie you love so much. 'The wand chooses the wizard.' Go see which one chooses you," he said, giving me a little nudge.

I picked up several different guitars, feeling the bulky mass of them pressed against my body and tucked under my arm. I strummed the strings listening to the minute differences in sound and tone, though, being the novice that I was, I didn't really know what I was listening for.

My eyes kept being drawn back to the same instrument, though. Unlike all the others, it was laser-etched with a beautiful baroque design, almost like a henna tattoo.

From a distance, the swirling pattern looked random, abstract. Like something I would've doodled on a notebook. But if you looked carefully, the artful loops and swirls formed flowers, feathers, butterflies, and at the bottom, a little sparrow carried a stalk of wheat in its tiny beak.

As I felt the weight of the glossy mahogany body in my hands, I noticed that since it was just slightly smaller than the other guitars I'd already looked at, it fit more comfortably in my arms.

And because the fretboard was slightly narrower, my small fingers were able to reach the strings with more ease.

The tone was so rich and warm that my noisy strumming somehow sounded better on this guitar than it had on the others.

Edward read the specs from the laminated tag attached to its neck, nodding and muttering to himself words like "dual-action truss rod" and "sealed die-cast tuners."

"Acoustic-electric, even. So you get the best of both worlds," he raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips with an expression of approval. "Do you like it? How it feels? How it sounds? It looks great on you," he breathed, as he took a step backward to get a better look at me.

"Best of both worlds? Does that mean I can get away with just one?" I asked hopefully.

In truth, of the dozens of instruments I had held and strummed, this was the only one that I couldn't bear to put back on the wall. He seemed to recognize that in the way I gently cradled it against my body.

"May I?" Edward smiled and asked, holding his hands out for the guitar. I handed it to him and waited expectantly; I'd never heard him play any other instrument besides his piano.

Edward spent a moment fiddling with the tuners and then he was opening chords to my lullaby filled our corner of the large musical emporium. He was brilliant, of course. His fingers glided over the strings with perfect rhythm and grace.

The rich, warm twang of the guitar morphed the achingly familiar melody into something different. Something hopeful. It was more like the tune that played during the credits of a romance ending with a happily ever after instead of a tragedy. If I wasn't already sold on the guitar, I was then.

"Oh, yeah. That's the one," I whispered, nodding decisively.

*EPOV*

After stowing Bella's new baby in the trunk with an array of other equipment and instructional books for beginners, I drove us to our final destination.

It was well after-hours at Coit Tower. There was only one armed guard stationed at the locked front entrance near the elevator lobby. We wouldn't be taking the elevator to the top.

We crept stealthily around to the backside of the concrete tower that sort of resembled a 200-foot chess piece, a rook to be precise.

I craned my neck backward to see the top of the tower.

"You can't be serious!" Bella whispered loudly.

I grinned impishly. "Watch me first, and then follow me up."

Sinking down into a crouch, I exploded off the balls of my feet to land on a thick branch at the top of a nearby Monterey cypress tree. And before the bough had a chance to stabilize under my sudden weight, I leaped again, this time aiming for the wide open-air roof at the top of the tower.

Easily finding my target, I landed with a quiet thud on the balls of my feet in the middle of the observatory. I dashed to the window to wave at Bella down below.

I chuckled when she ground her teeth and muttered under her breath, "You've got to be kidding me!" But in a flash of movement, she was airborne. I heard the cypress branch bow and creak in protest when she landed on the same one I had.

And then a fraction of a second later, she was falling through the open-air ceiling and landed softly on her feet in front of me.

"See? Easy," I smiled, still not quite used to her new gracefulness.

Bella blinked a few times, her eyes adjusting to the soft, flickering light of hundreds of white candles placed all around the circular room. Music crackled softly from the tiny wireless speakers we sometimes used on hunting trips.

White and red rose petals were scattered over the floor, and in the very center was a picnic blanket and two large square floor pillows meant for lounging.

"When did you..? How did you..?" she breathed, her golden eyes were wide and shining in the firelight.

I smiled, pleased at her reaction. "I had some help," I admitted with a shrug. "We're going to have to carry it all out of here when we leave, though," I warned.

Before I could say anything else, Bella's arms were around me and her lips were on mine, urgently trying to convey her appreciation for the meager gesture.

I kissed her earnestly for a moment, trying to convey my appreciation for her. And then after a few more soft pecks, I pulled away and said, "But you haven't even seen the view yet!"

The top of the tower had a 360-degree panoramic view of the city's most famous landmarks and tourist attractions.

From one window you could see both the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges. From another window, you could see the eerie shadow of Alcatraz Island and the old abandoned federal prison where Al Capone had famously been incarcerated.

From another window, tourists could be seen driving down the eight hairpin turns that made up the famously crooked Lombard Street at all hours of the day and night. The Transamerica Pyramid. Pier 39. From up here, you could see everything.

"Oh, Edward! This is incredible! If this is what one of your 'exclusive vampire tours' is like, " Bella gushed, using air quotes, "...then I regret turning down Paris when you offered to take me to the top of the Eiffel Tower!" she giggled with wide eyes as she stared down at the city lights.

I smiled into Bella's sweet-smelling hair as I stood behind her, arms wrapped around her waist, my chin resting on top of her head. "That offer never expired," I promised, kissing the crown of her head and then spinning her around to face me.

If anybody driving westbound across the Bay Bridge had cared to look up, they would have seen our silhouette passionately kissing in the window... That is until we'd had enough of being vertical.

With my lips still locked on hers, I walked slowly backward until I could feel the floor pillows at my heels. Not nearly as gently as I should have, I whisked Bella off her feet and had her completely bare and lying on the cushions in seconds.

The blinding speed of my movements had scattered the rose petals in every direction. Several of them were still fluttering back down to the tiled floor, landing around her face and in her hair.

I picked up one red rose petal between two fingers and slid it along her petal-soft lips. Wherever the rose petal touched, I followed it with my lips, tasting the sweet floral essence it left behind.

First her lips, then her chin, then the long, elegant line of her throat. Her collarbones. Her sternum. And when the rose petal grazed over the pebbled peaks of her nipples, Bella gasped sharply and tangled her fingers into my hair, forcing my lips back to hers.

After that, the flower petal had been forgotten as I acted out with perfect recall, down to the last moan and lash of my tongue, every little fantasy Bella had thought of during the movie we'd watched earlier that evening.

And as a man of my word, it had taken all night. If we hadn't had to clear out at dawn before the morning tours resumed, I would have stayed up in that tower forever making my wife scream and shout her love from the literal and proverbial rooftops.

As it was, the wicks on the candles were done long before I was.

We scaled back down to the ground just as the sun broke over the horizon, each carrying a cushion down to the ground. The rose petals were still fluttering back down to the earth long after we had jumped down from the sturdy (but regrettably sappy) branches of the cypress tree.

"Um, Edward, where's the car?" Bella asked the obvious question as I stood dumbly on the curb staring at the spot where I had parked the Volvo.

Somewhere in the recesses of my mind, I remembered hearing a statistic that in San Francisco, if your car goes missing it is ten times more likely to have been towed than stolen.

It took but a second to see the bright red "Tow Away Zone" sign that I hadn't seen the night before because it had been obscured by a large, apparently illegally-parked RV.

And there, on the side of Telegraph Hill Boulevard, I groaned a word that I normally never said in the presence of a lady.

A/N It doesn't get much more San Francisco than that! 😂 Hope all my American readers are enjoying a wonderful Labor Day weekend! Today I picked the blackberries in my backyard that were the very inspiration for SMBP. The first chapter of which was published a year ago next week, very coincidentally on Bella Swan's birthday. A whole year, guys, and I'm still going strong! What a trip!

Speaking of trips, I'll be going to Forks on Friday for the Forever Twilight in Forks festival! I'm so stinking excited! But it might mean a bit of a delay getting the next chapter out. But I'll do my best.

Finally, whenever I refer to Bella's lullaby in my fic, I am always referring to Yiruma's "River Flows In You." If you want to hear what I envisioned Edward playing in the music store, check out Sungha Jung's version of River Flows in You on youtube.

Til next time, lovelies! Thank you as always for reading and reviewing, I can't wait to hear what you think.