Sometimes I start a chapter and think to myself 'oh boy I have no idea how I'm going to get to 3k words on this one.' Then, suddenly, I have only half the plot points for the chapter written out but it's already at 5k because I got off track with little side conversations and random scenes.

All of that to say, nothing really happens in this chapter, but it's kind of cute. Twilight and its characters belong to Stephanie Meyer.

On the morning of Alice's party, there were somehow still more things to do to prepare, even though it felt like we had done far more than enough things throughout the week. Rosalie and Emmett tasked me with sorting the confetti by color because, apparently, Alice liked to have control over the color ratios, and the individual bags they came in were too randomized. Menial tasks such as this weren't so bad with a good soundtrack. I cranked up the volume on my record player, ripped open all the bags of confetti into a large pile in the middle of my floor, and began sorting by color into individual cups.

When I was about three-quarters of the way done, Alice skipped into my room," Hey Edward—," she froze in front of me. "What are you doing?"

Like little miss control freak didn't know. "I'm sorting the confetti."

"Why?"

In the next room over, Emmett and Rosalie burst out into uproarious laughter. I looked down at my progress in disbelief that I could really be that gullible. I immediately dropped the confetti out of my hands and brought them to my forehead, "For fun, I guess."

Alice wrinkled her nose, "Maybe you should talk to someone about that."

My fingers dragged down my face, "What's up, Alice?"

She lifted her tablet and clicked around on it. "What time is Bella going to get here?"

"I don't know."

Alice's arms flopped down to her sides. "How can you not know?"

"Just like this," I shrugged, stuffing the unsorted confetti into random cups.

"Edward!" she demanded with a stomp of her foot, "How am I supposed to spend my party carefree and cool if I don't know single detail of every single second of the entire day?"

"By actually being carefree and cool?"

"That's irresponsible," she snapped. Then, huffed. "Can you call her?"

I sighed. "She can't exactly speak over the phone, Alice."

Alice's lips tightened into a small line as she realized her minor faux pas. "Do you at least know if she left yet?"

I didn't even know if she had legs yet. "Bella knows to come to the house before the party starts. That's all I got for you at the moment."

Alice grimaced at me and clicked a few things into her tablet without breaking eye contact.

"Where do you want all of this?" I said, gesturing to the cups of confetti.

"Back garage. Jasper's going to fill balloons with it." Lucky guy.

"Okay. Can I do anything else to help before the party?"

"Yeah, can you go talk to mom? She's…" Alice dismissively wiggled her fingers towards the kitchen, "bustling and she needs to relax. We can't have everything look too set up, or we'll look like try-hards."

I never wanted to understand what any of that meant. "Sure," I agreed, anyway.

Alice went back to clicking around on her tablet and continued down the hall. After setting the cups of confetti on the first flat surface I could find in the garage, I went to look for Esme. When she wasn't in any of her usual spots, I was ready to give up. Then, I spotted movement in the backyard and found Esme hunched over one of the many coolers that held the food for the party.

"Mom?" I crept closer to her and could see that she was moving pieces of cheese around on a wooden board.

"...Yes?" she replied a beat too late.

"The Birthday Girl has officially requested for you to stop bustling."

Esme was still rearranging the board. "That girl is going to drive me insane. She watches one video on how to put together a charcuterie, and suddenly, she's the expert and not her mother who has flawlessly hosted countless events, and for designers no less."

I let Esme get it all out before trying again. "If you don't stop Alice will blame me for not stopping you."

Slamming the tin foil back over the board, she exhaled sharply. "Fine. Whatever." She accepted the hand I offered to help her stand and brushed her hands on her pants. "Would you like some lunch?"

I loosely pointed towards the kitchen with my thumb, "Yeah, but I can just make myself a sandwich. You don't need to..."

"No, no," she waved her hands at me, "Let me. It will give me something to do."

There was no use in arguing with her, so I followed her into the kitchen. I sat on a stool at the island and watched her pull out far more ingredients than I would ever use for a simple sandwich.

"Pesto?" I asked, inspecting one of the little glass jars.

"For basil mayo," she responded, taking it out of my hands. "Trust me, you'll thank me for this."

While I would have slapped some turkey on two pieces of bread and called it a day, Esme made two different spreads, cooked some bacon, and grilled the bread with olive oil because "fried bread tastes better than toasted, Edward."

The sandwiches were almost complete when Carlisle strolled into the kitchen. He regarded the mess in the kitchen with a knowing smile and immediately wrapped his arms around his wife. "I was sent down here to stop the bustling." Without breaking his hold on her, he pulled Esme away from the stove and towards the stools where I sat.

"I'm not bustling over the party," Esme griped, even though she put up no fight against Carlisle. "I'm bustling over Edward. He desperately needed lunch."

I rose my hands in front of me, trying to remain innocent in the situation.

Once he had her seated, he kissed her hair. "Can I make you a drink, love?"

Esme pouted, considering. "Mimosa?"

Carlisle's eyes crinkled in the corners. "Yes, dear."

"We can split a pitcher."

"Yes, dear," he repeated, already reaching for the carafe.

While Carlisle mixed their drinks and finished making the abandoned sandwiches, Esme turned to me. "When will Isabella get here?"

"Bella," I corrected, "And I'm not sure. She just knows to come before the party."

Esme leaned over the counter, "Alice told me about her… um…"

"Mutism?" I finished for her.

Carlisle's hands froze for a second, "Mute?"

"Um, yeah. Bella is physically mute—she can't speak."

Carlisle's brow furrowed, but then his features relaxed into pure amusement. "What a coincidence that you got assigned to write an essay on mutism right before you started dating a girl with the very same affliction."

I was wondering if Carlisle was going to call me out on that when he figured it out. I matched his bluff, "Crazy, right?"

He snickered and slid a plated sandwich and filled glass in front of Esme.

Esme waited for me to get my sandwich before taking a bite of hers. "We found a whiteboard Bella could use while she was here."

I looked behind me where Esme indicated with a bob of her head. Sitting on the counter was the whiteboard that used to hang on Alice's door. "Oh, um. Thanks."

Esme frowned. "You don't like it."

"No, no! We just never used a whiteboard before. I didn't even think of it."

"How do you usually talk to her?" Carlisle asked.

"Basic sign language if we can, but usually she writes everything down in notebooks."

"Oh, so you met her in your sign language class." Esme assumed.

"I'm not taking a sign language class."

"But you asked me to buy you all of those books… Oh." I had forgotten that I had asked Esme to buy all those sign language books for school. I felt my ears get hot as my mother put two and two together. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Does she know?"

I sighed. "She had a vague idea."

Esme clasped her hands over her heart. "Oh, Edward. You have to tell her! A girl needs to know when a boy becomes bilingual for her."

"She really doesn't," I disagreed.

Esme waved a stern finger in the air, "If you're not going to tell her, I will."

"Mom!"

"Dad!" Rosalie suddenly swung into the room. "Can you help me prove Emmett wrong?"

"You don't need my help to do that, Sweetie," Carlisle teased, already walking towards her.

Snickering, Rosalie dragged an unamused Emmett into the room and towards the window. She jabbed her finger at something outside, "Look."

Carlisle stretched his neck so he could get a better look over her head. "Is Mrs. Levinson collecting antiques again?"

"Gotta be," Emmett nodded.

"Emmett says it's from the Sixties, but I say it can't be newer than the Fifties," Rosalie explained.

Carlisle rubbed his chin and hummed pensively.

Rose tapped the glass, "Look at the bumper. I say it's a '55."

I hopped off my stool to take a peek at what they were discussing while Rosalie and Emmett continued to argue.

"Can't be that old. Look at the tires."

"People replace their tires, idiot."

"They can replace their bumpers, too," Emmett shot back, to which Rosalie rolled her eyes.

"It's a '53," I said, causing them all to look at me.

Rosalie brought her hands to her hips. "What makes you say that, Bumper Expect?"

I frowned at Bella's old Chevy sitting out there in the street. "I've been in it. Excuse me."

Pretending not to notice to askance expressions on my family's faces, I exited the kitchen into one of our garages. Bella's truck was parked in the street, so I had to jog all the way down our long driveway to get to her. When I peered into the passenger seat window, I saw Bella sitting in the cab, reading a piece of paper. She didn't seem to notice me, so I went around the back of the truck and tapped on the window of the driver's side. She jumped at first, but when she saw it was only me, she was immediately at ease. She manually unlocked the door, which I then opened, and she leaned out of the driver's seat to throw her arms around my neck.

I wrapped my arms around her to gently bring her out of the truck and set her on the ground. "How long have you been sitting out here, baby?"

She didn't make any moves, which probably meant she was out here for a while.

"Nervous?" I guessed.

She moved her arms from around my neck down to my waist so she could squeeze herself tighter to me. I took that as a yes.

"You are the bravest person I know. You can't tell me that you're going to let a family made up of the most harmless, weirdest people I've ever met be the one thing you're afraid of."

She nodded; I sighed.

"I promise there is nothing to be nervous about."

Releasing only one arm, she reached back to her truck and handed me a notebook that was already opened to a page of text. It was a numbered list of pre-written sentences, as if she guessed everything I was going to say and already knew her answers. Chuckling at the brazenness of such a thing, I kissed her hair, her temple, her forehead.

She held up four fingers.

I scanned the page. 4. What if they don't like me?

"You're charming and brilliant and beautiful. What's not to like?"

She reached up and tapped my throat.

"Those are all reasonable people in there. No one's going to care about that."

She flashed four fingers again and then three more.

7. You once said they were all perfect.

"I did say that." I said, reading over her head as she clung to me again, "But a huge part of their perfection is how nice they all are. Seriously, Bella, those people are so kind and welcoming, they almost seem unhinged."

Bella didn't shake with laughter or even move at all in response to my joke.

We stood there beside the truck for a long time as Bella found her courage. I tried to comfort her with silly anecdotes about each member of the family, but she did laugh or smile or seem to be paying attention to them at all. Eventually, I decided we had enough coaxing and I needed to push her into the waters myself. After one more encouraging rub on her back, I released her. "It'll be fine. Let's go."

She didn't look pleased, but she didn't resist as I took her hand and led her up the driveway, either. Her eyes grew impossibly large as we approached the house.

"I know. It's a lot to take in," I sympathized, for I had been in her shoes only a few months prior. "But I promise, the people inside don't match the house."

Praying that my family was astute enough to know not to overwhelm Bella, I brought her through the front door. I was instantly relieved to find no welcome party in the foyer and I led her towards the kitchen, the last place I saw any members of my family. Inside, Carlisle and Esme sat at the island, enjoying their sandwiches. Between them sat a pitcher of something a different color than the mimosas they made earlier. I wasn't sure if Esme changed her mind about the drink she wanted, or if they had already finished the first and were on to pitcher number two.

"Mom, Dad. This is Bella."

Dropping her sandwich onto her plate, Esme rose from her stool and rushed over to Bella. She took Bella's free hand into both of hers. "I am so pleased to meet you. I'm Esme," she glanced behind her, "that's my husband, Carlisle. You are absolutely adorable!"

Blushing, Bella brought her shoulders up to her ears.

"Beautiful, beautiful girl. And you're in the same classes as Rosalie?"

Bella nodded.

"And she's smart." Esme brought the joined hands closer to her chest. "Carlisle, she's smart!" she called out behind her.

"I heard, love," Carlisle answered, bemused by his wife, "I'm still right here." He stood behind Esme and placed his hands on her shoulders. "It's nice to meet you, Bella. What a fascinating truck you have out there."

Bella's face was now the same color as the truck itself.

"Oh, Edward, she is just too cute." Esme cried out. "How did you find such a treasure?!" They were definitely on pitcher number two.

"Just lucky," I grinned.

Esme pulled Bella close to her to whisper in her ear but spoke at normal volume. "Do you know he learned sign language just for you?"

Beaming up at me adoringly, Bella nodded. I was sure my answering smile was just as adoring.

"Isn't he the sweetest thing?" Releasing Bella's hand, Esme reached up and squished my cheeks hers. "And I picked him out myself!"

Finally free, Bella extracted her hand from mine as well so she could sign, "Is she drinking alcohol?"

"Oh, yeah," I nodded.

Esme looked between my face and Bella's hands. "What did she say?"

"She said you have a lovely home," I lied. Bella quirked her head to the side briefly, but when Esme turned to her, she did her best to offer an earnest smile and nod.

"Oh, thank you!" Esme clapped once. "As someone who owns a furniture company, that is quite possibly the best compliment I could receive! Would you like a tour?"

Bella looked to me for guidance, and I gestured for her to decide. She smiled at my mother and agreed to the tour.

"Yay!" Esme held out her elbow, which Bella laced her arm through, "Come with me!"

Looking back at Carlisle, we shared a shrug and a smile.

"Mom's alright?" I confirmed.

"Yeah, she's in a good place," Carlisle nodded, handing me Bella's whiteboard and the sandwich I had forgotten about. "She'll get sleepy after her next drink and take a nap."

I decided not to question any of that. "Cool."

Eating my sandwich, I trailed behind Esme and Bella. I had to admit, the tour from buzzed Esme was a lot more interesting than the one sober Esme gave me during one of our many video chats before I was able to move into the house. Where I heard the decision behind the mosaic tile in the backyard and the names of every chair in the house, Bella got to hear about how the clock sitting on the shelf in the living room was technically stolen from a back room at High Point Market because some designer was rude to a college-aged Esme.

Halfway through the first floor, Esme pushed open the glass door that led to the backyard. I watched Bella hesitate briefly at the sight of the pool, but Esme led her in the opposite direction towards the fire pit, where Alice and Jasper were putting up a few more decorations. Well, Jasper was putting them up while Alice was "supervising".

Esme introduced Bella on my behalf.

"Nice to meet you, Bella," Jasper noted Esme and Bella's interlocked arms with a wry smile. "And here I thought you were dating Edward."

My family laughed, and even though I couldn't see it from my place behind her, I knew Bella was blushing.

"I'm Alice," my sister skipped in front of Bella. "I could tell how much Edward liked you from the first time I heard about you. Rosalie only needed to say your name and he lit up with the silliest, dorkiest smile."

Bella had to cover her mouth with her hand to stop a giggle from escaping.

Alice regarded my shocked expression from her confession with zero sympathy. "Oh, relax, Edward. It's my job as a sister to embarrass you in front of your girlfriend."

"I really think you need a refresher on that job description."

Alice giggled; Bella reached back to give my arm a comforting pat.

Esme, Alice, and Jasper shared a few more pleasantries with Bella, mostly about the party that was about to start, until Alice announced that the time she allotted for introductions was over and she needed to get back to work. Back inside, we finished up the first floor and went up the steps to begin touring the second. Before we could start, we ran into Rosalie and Emmett leaving Emmett's room carrying a random assortment of objects, including a bundle of towels.

"We're going to get Alice's presents," Rosalie explained to Esme.

"Oh, wonderful! Thank you for doing that." Esme patted Bella's forearm that was still looped in with hers, "Let me introduce you to Bella before you go. Bella, you know Rose, but this is Emmett."

Bella offered my bear of a brother a tentative wave.

"What's that sign language for?" Emmett asked.

"It means 'hello'," Rosalie teased, but Emmett didn't get the joke.

"Oh, sick." Emmett waved back. "I already knew that one."

Bella turned back to me, grinning widely.

"We'll be back before the party starts," Rosalie said dismissively. She regarded Bella with an indiscernible expression, switched the load she carried from one hip to the other, and eventually offered, "It's nice to see you outside of class, Bella."

Bella held her hand to her chin and lowered it towards Rose. I started to translate the sign for Rose, but she stopped me, "Yeah, I got it." Then, to Bella, "Sure thing." Clearly finished with this particular conversation, Rosalie started down the stairs.

Emmett waved again, "This goodbye too?"

From my place behind her, I could see Bella's shoulders shake slightly. Thoroughly amused, she nodded and waved back at him.

"Man! Sign language is easy!" he loudly commented to Rosalie as he caught up to her.

We continued with the tour on the second floor, which was mainly Esme pointing to closed doors telling Bella whose bedroom it was. When we got to my room, we stopped.

"And this is Edward's room... Oh! I think I'm needed downstairs." She patted Bella's hand, "Edward will have to take it from here." And Esme began walking away.

"Slick, Mom," I called after her.

"Keep the door open," she called back over her shoulder.

When I glanced down, Bella was opening my door as wide as it could go, innocently adhering to my mother's request. Suppressing a laugh, I pulled her into the room by the waist. Instantly, she flitted to the bookcase and scanned the titles.

"Only these are mine," I told her, indicating to a small portion of books on the top shelf.

She quirked her head and waved her arm over the bookcase.

"They were in here when I moved in," I explained, "I guess Esme wanted me to appear well-read."

Bella frowned but went back to reading the titles. As she read, I walked over to my record player to switch out the upbeat music I was playing earlier to something a bit smoother. I felt Bella appear beside me. She pulled a record off the shelf and quirked her head to the side again; I figured she was asking if these belonged to me.

"These were all in here, too. Although, Esme did buy those with me in mind."

She shoved the record back into place and began touching various objects and trinkets Esme decorated the room with, asking the same silent question. My answer remained the same for all of them. Growing frustrated, Bella picked up the whiteboard I had tossed onto the bed when we got in here. She wrote something and handed it to me. What belongs to you?

I looked around the room. "Uh… not much," I admitted.

She held up her fists with her thumbs touching at fist height at pushed them outward. Permanent. She was reminding me of the conversation we had on her father's boat where we admitted our struggles with permanence. I knew this was my room to fill with my things, but it was hard to look at a bedroom as something other than a temporary spot for me that would be filled with another kid after I relocated.

"Yeah, I know. I'm working on getting used to that."

Her brow puckered. I smiled at her concern.

"You'll just have to help me add some personality in here. I'll start with a picture of you," I walked up to her, grabbed her shoulders, and spun her around. I leaned down so I could rest my chin on her shoulder, taking in the sweet scent of her hair on my way down. I brushed the air in the front of her face with my hand. "I'm thinking an oil portrait, six by eight feet, along that wall. In a solid, gold ornate frame."

She shoved my head off her shoulder, wordlessly telling me I was being ridiculous.

"You're right," I agreed, "If I make it that big, I might as well turn your picture into wallpaper. Cover the whole thing."

Fighting a smile, she shook her head and turned into me, so she was leaning against my chest. Her graceful fingers crawled up my chest and clung to the collar of my shirt. Realizing what she wanted, I grabbed her hands in mine, "One second." Quickly as I could without spoiling the mood, I led her out onto the balcony. "This," I sat down on one of the wickers chairs and her into my lap, "is the one spot in the room where no one can see us from the hall."

Bella peered around my neck, realizing that she couldn't see the door from where she sat, meaning anyone who looked into the door couldn't see us.

Grinning as wickedly as she could with a face as sweet as hers, she pressed her lips to mine. I eagerly accepted the kiss. It had been far too long since I enjoyed the pure pleasure that was kissing Bella—and the last time was only yesterday. As I trailed my fingers down the length of her spin, her lip quivered against mine. Realizing that was going to be the closest thing to a moan that I would get from her, and I repeated the action so I could appreciate the small movement the second time around.

We continued to kiss until Alice's obnoxiously loud voice broke us apart. "Mom! You said they were in here!"

Still balancing Bella on my lap, I leaned around the wall that blocked us from Alice's sight and threw her the universal what-the-hell look.

She had the decency to briefly look ashamed before she called out again, "Never mind!"

Looking painfully attractive with her flushed cheeks and swollen lips, Bella scowled at the interruption. She hopped out of my lap far too quickly, causing her to stumble and fall into the railing along the balcony. I steadied her as I stood, and we reluctantly met Alice back in my bedroom.

"How can I help you?"

"I actually had a question for Bella," her voice jumped up in pitch when she said Bella's name. "A couple of girls came over early so we could all get ready for the party together in my room. Would you like to join us?"

Unsure, Bella glanced down at her dress.

Alice's mouth popped open in a little 'o'. "Not because you're not already dressed," she backtracked, "you look super cute. But, just to hang out."

Again, Bella looked askance of me—we were going to have to work on this habit—and, again, I gestured that it was up to her.

Lighting up, Bella happily went towards Alice. I was barely able to hand Bella the whiteboard before they were out the door. Alice was already chirping away about the things in her closet that would look great on Bella and how happy she was that they were the same size. I was reluctant to be without Bella, but I guessed it was good for her to hang out with my family without me. I decided to take the opportunity to get ready for the party myself, since I didn't have the time before Bella arrived and I was still sporting grey sweatpants and a t-shirt. After a shower and quick shave, I spent far too long trying to remember if Bella had better reactions to specific shirts over others but couldn't think of any. A green button-down was always safe, so I went with that. I emerged from the closet fully dressed just in time to hear my phone buzz on my dresser. I checked and saw a string of texts from Alice:

Come get Bella.

Not bc of anything bad.

I think she misses you.

Alice's room was filled with several small clusters of girls chatting and getting ready. I spotted Bella sitting cross-legged on the floor, facing away from me. Two girls sat on either side of her, reading what she was writing on the whiteboard sitting in her lap. Behind her, another girl was plaiting a tiny braid along the top of her head next to a matching one. Alice was at her vanity, applying make-up to a girl. When she noticed me, she called Bella's name, nodded to where I was standing in the doorframe, and winked. Bella whirled towards the door. The second our eyes met, she got up on her knees to get a better look, causing the whiteboard the fall to the ground. The girls surrounding her giggled.

I held out my hand, "Will you come back downstairs with me?"

She began to stand but stopped. Flushed with uncertainty, Bella looked down at the whiteboard—presumably holding an unfinished conversation—and back at me repeatedly.

One of the girls giggled and elbowed Bella lightly in the ribs. "Go to your man, Bella."

Hand still outstretched, I tried to make my smile as alluring as hers always were, "Please?"

It worked better than I expected; Bella got up so quickly to get to me, she nearly stumbled back down to the ground. Laughing fondly, one of the girls to her side steadied her, while the other one handed Bella the whiteboard she had nearly forgotten in her haste.

"Bella," the girl who was braiding her hair tugged on her sleeve, "sweatshirt." Bella looked down like she suddenly remembered she had it on. The girl took the whiteboard from Bella, helped her out of the large hoodie, and handed back the whiteboard.

When Bella turned back to face me, my jaw literally dropped. "Holy shit," I marveled. The entire room erupted into laughter.

Alice had dressed Bella in white, wide-legged pants that made her gorgeous legs looked like they went on forever and a teeny white top that left her shoulder bare and most of her narrow waist exposed.

She was… Honestly, she was too much.

I was fully enraptured as Bella excitedly rushed towards me. Still entranced by the sight of her, I hardly noticed that she had led me back to my room. In the center of the room, she did a couple of spins, giving me a good view of every gorgeous angle of her. I softly shut the door to give us a bit more privacy and took the whiteboard from her and tossed it onto the bed. Placing my hands on her hips, I held her still to drink her in. Her hair was out of her ponytail and flowing freely down her back, but the two tiny braids on the top of her head kept it out of her face, the way she liked it. Her face was bright and beautiful like always, but it was somehow… shinier.

I skimmed the waistband of her pants with my thumbs. "Let me get a good look at you."

She shoved the front of her hand into my face, wiggling her fingers.

"You painted your nails?"

Her answer was more finger wiggling. I held her hand still so I could expect it. Her nails were still pink, but I assumed this was better somehow. I kissed the tip of her pointer finger. "Lovely."

She bent down and wiggled her fingers next to her toes. "Matching toes?" I guessed. She beamed, confirming that I had guessed correctly.

Next, she put her hands on either side of my face and brought it down to her eye level, so I was staring directly at her eye. I had no clue what she wanted me to notice. "New… eyes?"

She fluttered her eyelashes.

"Eyelashes! New eyelashes."

She released me and moved her index finger past her nose. Fake.

"Fake eyelashes," I corrected myself. They looked exactly the same as her normal eyelashes, but she seemed pleased with them, so I guessed I was, too. "They're beautiful, baby"

She was smiling so big, I could help but smile back, but my smile immediately faltered when she lowered the waistband of her pants, revealing the lacy top of her underwear. I wasn't sure why she was showing me them, but her eager expression told me I was supposed to be excited for her. "They're great!" I moved her hand with mine, so her pants went back into place. "Maybe don't show those to other people," I suggested, softly.

Grinning apologetically, went over to the bed so she could scribble something down on the whiteboard. I sat beside her so I could see what she wrote. I never felt more human before.

A wide smile spread across my face. "I'm so glad."

I leaned down to kiss her, but she put both hands on my face, stopping me.

"What?" My question was muffled under the heel of her hand.

She removed her hands from my face to stack her fists on top of each other and flicked her wrist. Ruin. Then, she held up her hands to her face without touching it. She didn't want me to ruin her makeup.

"Is your neck safe?" I checked.

She tilted her chin up and gave her neck a little pat. Pausing briefly to chuckle at her action, I pressed my lips under her jaw. Without removing my lips from her skin, I wrapped one arm around her waist and another under her legs, bringing her ever closer to me. Before my kisses could mark her creamy skin, I sat up, but still held her against me. Her chocolate eyes were dark and hungry, practically begging for more. Unfortunately, we would have to wait until later for more, because we had a party to attend.

"Ready to go be human?"