AN: Happy Birthday, Edward.

I've added new Photos to the Blue Moon Album and the link is on my Profile page. I'm sorry I haven't replied to all the wonderful reviews from last chapter, but I truly appreciate each and every one. I've been busy working on getting this chapter ready and I thought you'd all rather read this than an email from me. Please gather your thoughts as you read and let me know how the story is going when you finish.

Chapter 29: Always Something There to Remind Me

Angela and Ben were engrossed in conversation as the cable car approach and at first they didn't see us. The car came to a full stop and we stood up. Edward gracefully stepped down to the street and I heard Angela's sharp intake of breath. He put his hands on my waist and lowered me to stand next to him, as we turned to face the other couple, who like us, were so far from Forks.

"Hello Angela, Ben," Edward's velvet voice sounded as if it was the most natural thing in the world to run into the two of them here in San Francisco.

"Bella, Edward," Angela exclaimed, looking even more nervous than I felt.

"Hi Angela, Ben," I echoed Edward's greeting. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Yeah, it's a surprise," she agreed as Ben just nodded at us.

"What are you two doing here?" I inquired, as if I didn't already know, but deciding that the direct approach was the best.

"We just came down for the weekend. No one knows we're here. Ben has a cousin, Henry, who's going to UC Berkeley and he just graduated. He shares a house with four other guys, a block from campus, and the rest of them are already gone. So he said we could stay there, and we couldn't pass up an offer like that."

"No one knows we're here either," I said, smiling at Edward as Angela laughed. I let go of him and stepped closer to Angela.

I heard Edward say, "So, Ben, what have you seen so far?"

Ben replied, "We just came from the Comic Book Museum downtown. Have you been there?"

I relaxed, knowing Edward could easily deal with Ben.

"So where do your parents think you are?" I asked Angela as we took a few steps away from the guys.

"Visiting a girlfriend in Seattle. Where does your dad think you are?"

"A weekend camping trip with Edward's parents and Alice."

"Alice? Camping? Does your dad really believe that?" She was grinning.

"Yeah, he thinks she's brought a bunch of Bride Magazines and she's going to use the time away from civilization to force me into finalizing the wedding details, which he isn't too thrilled about anyway," I admitted.

"He probably wouldn't be happy about your getting married anytime. You're his only child you know," she said sympathetically.

"You might be right about that," I agreed, smiling as I reflected on how that wasn't his only objection but seeing no point in talking about his dislike of Edward.

"Bella, you are positively glowing. You aren't…"

"No, of course not, unless you believe in immaculate conception. I mean, Edward is very old fashioned, and we agreed to wait until after the wedding," I hastily explained.

She laughed again. "It doesn't sound like you want to wait."

"I go back and forth. I'm just so crazy about him, it's tough," I whispered, knowing he could hear me anyway.

"I know what you mean; Ben is just so cute. He's not as old fashioned as Edward, but he is shy," she sighed. "We've been having a great time in San Francisco though; we took the cable car from downtown to the Wharf and now we're going back to have dinner in Chinatown."

"I hope you get some good fortune cookies," I said, opening my bag and pulling out the fortune that said: 'Never let him go.' I showed it to Angela and said, "I just got this one at lunch."

"Very appropriate; are you going to try to work that into your vows?" she joked.

"No, but I'm actually looking forward to the wedding now," I giggled, tucking the fortune back in my bag.

"Wow, Bella, you are. When you first told me about it, you didn't seem totally thrilled, but you do now. What happened?"

"Edward happened. I finally realized I do want to be his wife, forever."

"But you were going to marry him anyway, even when you weren't sure?"

"I always knew I wanted to be with him forever, I just didn't know about being married and the wedding and all. You know I hate being in the spotlight and I can't stand the way people gossip," I stated darkly.

"You shouldn't let that bother you. Who cares what people like Jessica say? She's been jealous of you since that day Edward showed up in Port Angeles and took you to dinner. She always thought you guys had arranged that meeting, you know."

"We didn't, it was accidental. Has she already been gossiping about the wedding?" This was just going to confirm everything I had feared and I was beginning to get angry.

"No more than usual. You know Jess lives and breathes gossip, it doesn't mean anything. You bagged the most eligible bachelor at Forks High, geez, Bella, possibly in Washington state. You've got to expect her to talk about it, she's green with envy. Edward would never look twice at her."

I thought about that for a moment, and decided she knew what she was talking about. Somehow I had bagged the elusive Edward Cullen and I was proud of it. "I know you're right, and I don't care anymore, what anybody says. It's my life, and I know how I want to live it."

"Good for you; you two deserve to be happy."

She didn't say anything else, but I could tell she was thinking after all we'd been through.

"We are very happy. This trip is to celebrate his birthday, and I've never had so much fun."

"I know what you mean; sneaking out of Forks kind of makes it even more exciting, doesn't it?"

I just nodded and smiled. She continued, "I'm delighted for you, getting married, going to Dartmouth. I expect lots of emails, I don't want to lose touch with you, just because we'll be on different coasts," Angela entreated me.

I instantly felt guilty, knowing any time spent with her was limited. "I want to keep in touch. You've been my best girlfriend since I came to Forks and I'm going to miss you."

"I'm going to miss you, too. Talking about starting a new school makes me think of the first day I ever saw Edward. Did I ever tell you about that?"

"I don't think so. What happened?"

"He was in my Spanish class, second period. The teacher made him introduce himself in Spanish and he had a perfect accent. I could tell right away he was smart, and of course good looking."

I nodded. That was impossible to ignore.

She continued, "When I got in line for lunch I noticed he was in front of me and he whispered something to Alice that was very rude but funny, about Lauren."

"That sounds like Edward," I smiled.

"Yeah, well, since Lauren was the prettiest girl in school, and he was already making fun of her, I figured he wouldn't be asking her out. I felt sorry for him because as smart, attractive and funny as he was, I knew there weren't going to be any girls he would find interesting, and I was right. He never looked at a girl 'til you arrived. You two were meant for each other."

I probably was glowing now. "Thanks for telling me that, Angela. I hope you and Ben are as happy as Edward and me."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Edward moving toward me and he said, "If we want to make our dinner reservation we need to be going now," as he flashed Angela a brilliant smile.

"It was great to run into you two," Angela said brightly. "Happy Birthday, Edward," she said as she winked at me.

"Thank you, Angela. I have never had a happier birthday," Edward said, sliding his arm around my waist and drawing me close to him.

We smiled and they waved at us as we turned to make our way back to the car. I stumbled at the curb as we neared the SUV, but Edward was there to catch me.

"Did you have a pleasant conversation with Angela?" he inquired lightly.

"You should know, I'm sure you heard the whole thing," I retorted.

"You are radiant; you become more beautiful every day, Bella," he said sweetly. "I am very pleased by what you told Angela about our wedding. So I 'happened,' did I?"

"Well, it's the truth." I blushed, thinking about how he made it impossible to be mad at him for eavesdropping. "Did you have a nice chat with Ben?"

"That boy is on cloud nine. He's got a weekend alone with Angela, rent free, and he spent the afternoon at a comic book museum. His life couldn't get any better. You don't need to worry; they will be discreet. They don't want to be found out any more than we do," he chuckled.

I smiled back at him. "Where are we going now?" I asked, giving in and acknowledging to myself that I was completely along for the ride.

"Just a quiet little spot where you can have a bite to eat before we start the drive back to Manka's," Edward said, smoothly winding though traffic.

In a few minutes we were parking directly in front of a small Italian restaurant named Incanto. I looked at the elegant hand-lettered name over the door and then at Edward. I pointed and said, "Does that have something to do with singing?" Edward rolled his eyes.

"Camera, please." I wanted to get a picture of that before we went in. Edward produced the camera from his pocket and smiled as I positioned him under the Incanto sign.

"Give it back to me, please. I want to get some pictures of you enjoying your dinner," he requested.

"Edward, no pictures of me eating."

"Humor me," he said as he gently removed the camera from my hands.

Exasperated, I entered the restaurant as he held the door open for me. The restaurant had a rustic but elegant Italian setting, with handcrafted stone, antique brick and woodwork, and framed 16th century Latin parchments hanging on the walls. A busy bar on the right was filled with people and their chatter blended nicely with the Chris Botti trumpet music wafting through the restaurant's sound system in the background.

The hostess, a cool blonde, flashed her brightest smile when she got a look over my shoulder at Edward. "Good evening, sir. Do you have a reservation?"

"Yes, the name is Cullen."

She glanced at her reservation book. "I see; your table is ready, please follow me." She had managed to ignore me as if I weren't there. She slowly proceeded make a seductive stroll to our table. If she thought Edward was enjoying her hip action, she was wrong. He held my hand and looked at me the entire time. He had been incredibly attentive all day.

She had led us to a table in the center of the dining room, near the bar, where most of the early evening action was taking place. I supposed it was a good table if you wanted to be in the middle of everything.

When Edward noticed this, instead of sitting down he said, "Would it be possible for us to have that table in the corner, by the window?"

Since the restaurant was only about one quarter full, and that area completely empty, she smiled at him, shook out her long, blonde hair, and said, "Of course, wherever you'd like."

He smiled at me and indicated that I should follow her as she led us to our new table. I decided to tease him by trying to imitate her walk. This would be a challenge, given my propensity for tripping, but I walked slowly, swaying my hips as she did. I could hardly keep from laughing as we neared the table.

She suddenly spun around, expecting to see Edward following her, and instead, almost caught me copying her moves. I stopped short and felt Edward's hand steadying me in the small of my back.

I turned to look at him and he had his other hand over his mouth but his eyes were barely able to contain his mirth. I quickly looked away, afraid I would burst out laughing myself.

She set two menus down on the table and said, "I hope you enjoy your dinner. If there's anything I can do to make your evening more pleasant, please let me know." With another smile directed at Edward, she left us.

He held out my chair for me and as I sat down he leaned over and whispered in my ear, "You can walk in front of me like that anytime."

I started giggling as he sat down opposite me with his enchanting crooked smile lighting up his divine face.

"You are wicked, do you know that…" He made it more of a statement than a question.

I tried to play innocent. 'Whatever do you mean, sir?"

"You know exactly what I mean. Mimicking that girl's attempt at flirtation and doing it in such an enticing way."

He thought I was enticing? Maybe I should tip her. I should practice that walk more often… from the fireplace to the bed.

Our waiter arrived and said that meals at Incanto began with complimentary sparkling or still water because the local Hetch Hetchy water tasted great (they filtered, chilled and carbonated it before serving), and which would we prefer, sparkling or still?

Edward indicated that the choice was mine, so with him in mind I chose "Sparkling."

The waiter soon returned with our water and breadsticks and what he called an olive tapenade. I tasted the sparkling water and it was delicious.

"Would you mind if I ordered for you, Bella?" Edward inquired solicitously.

I was surprised, but figured he must have something in mind. "Sure, go ahead."

Edward asked for a bowl of minestrone soup and to see the dessert menu. I shot him a look of disbelief as I dipped a breadstick into the tapenade.

"The cheese course is part of the dessert menu here, but I think that's what you would like to start with," he explained.

"These olives are great," I murmured.

When our waiter returned with the dessert menu Edward glanced at it and ordered a cheese tray to be served with the soup, for us to split. The waiter then disappeared.

Since Edward had no dirty looks for the waiter, I hazarded a guess. I whispered, "Edward, is our waiter gay?"

"Yes, how did you know?"

"Well, not by the way he looks or acts. By the way you act."

"I wasn't acting in any unusual way," he quickly replied.

"No, not at all. You were nice to him. That gave me the idea that he wasn't harboring any untoward thoughts about me. Because, if he had been, you would have been looking like you wanted to take his head off." I had just meant that as a figure of speech but I realized with Edward it could be taken literally.

"You haven't heard the thoughts about you, Bella, and I hope you never do. If I look annoyed with someone it's for a good reason."

I wanted to roll my eyes but I didn't think he would appreciate it and he was probably right, especially considering my unpleasant encounter at the museum gift shop earlier today. So instead I said, "Is it just a coincidence that our waiters last night and tonight are both gay, or is that why you chose the Bay area for our getaway?"

He laughed. "It's just a happy coincidence, although it could have been a good idea. Not all men in the Bay area are gay. The bartender is eyeing you now, and there were a few at Manka's last night in the dining room who noticed you, don't worry."

"Oh I'm not worried for myself; I'm worried for them."

He shook his head. "You are either too nice or too naïve. Either way, dangerous."

I decided to ignore that comment; I was having too much fun. "This has been a day of new experiences for me," I said, enjoying another breadstick. "Is that what this trip is all about?"

"What do you think?" he replied mysteriously, taking my left hand in his right and giving it a light squeeze.

"I think you always have a lot more going on in that beautiful head of yours than you ever let me in on, Edward," I complained.

"You seem to be handling the surprises quite well," he observed.

"I decided to just give in and go with the flow," I admitted.

He raised his eyebrows. "Who are you and what have you done with my Bella?" he asked in mock alarm.

"It is part of my birthday gift to you, remember?" I smiled and gazed into his sparkling topaz eyes. "You've been to San Francisco many times, haven't you?" I asked.

"Yes, but seeing it through your eyes makes it seem like the very first time," he said with enthusiasm. "I had no idea a cable car ride could be so much fun, but your delight when we would careen around a corner, the wind blowing through your hair sending your delicious scent rushing towards me, it was breathtaking."

I blushed and he brought my hand up to his lips and kissed my wrist. I felt my face redden even more and my pulse quickened as he held my wrist and inhaled deeply.

"How did you choose this particular restaurant, Edward?"

"I know you like Italian food, so I went to the internet; there's a website called Yelp dot com that has reviews and this is one of the top ten restaurants in the Bay area. I hope you like it."

"It's a charming setting; it feels like we're in Italy." A good part of Italy, where there was no royal family of vampires waiting for me. It almost seemed as if this day was about showing me the world without ever leaving San Francisco.

Just then the waiter arrived with the cheese course and bowl of soup. Edward reluctantly released my hand.

The cheese tray looked like something out of a renaissance painting. Luscious dollops of cheese were arranged on the dark green slab of marble amidst mounds of dates stuffed with almonds, biscotti, crackers, strawberries, grapes, and a small mound of fig paste. All the cheeses had little name cards, and the waiter suggest we start with the mildest cheese and work our way up to the most strongly flavored.

I was so interested in the delectable display in front of me I didn't even notice Edward had the camera out until I heard him take the first several shots. At least I didn't have any food in my mouth yet.

"No more pictures unless we're both in them," I warned him. He put the camera back in his jacket pocket, nodding with resignation.

I started with the goat cheese, Cevrin with Juniper Ash, and found it to be particularly good. The Langhe Robiola due Latti was a sheep's milk cheese and it was delicious smeared on a stuffed date. The Toma Maccagne Rosa, a tasty cow's milk cheese went very well with the savory biscotti and fig paste.

Between bites of cheese I tore into a large bowl of the delicious minestrone soup, which was perfect on this chilly day.

The whole time I was enjoying these delightful new flavors, Edward would casually shift a biscotti from one hand to the other, and lift his glass of water to his lips, so to the chance observer, it appeared that he was eating, too.

"You have no idea how pleased I am to see that your appetite has returned," Edward said, his voice smooth as silk.

"If you keep feeding me like this I'm not going to fit into my wedding dress but I won't take the blame for it. I never would have ordered all this food and I'm not going to face the wrath of Alice, either. I'm going to sic her on you, mister, so just get ready."

He chuckled. "You could stand to gain a few pounds, and you have nothing to fear from Alice, she adores you."

I snorted. "You think so? She's your sister, and you have her total loyalty. Don't doubt it for a moment."

He raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised by my words. "Bella, she is beyond thrilled that you are going to be her sister, too. I believe she would already take your side in any disagreement between us."

That made me remember when I tried to get Alice to discuss Edward's reluctance to change me, and all she did was tell me to talk to him about it. "Well you would be wrong, because that day she helped me put together the CD for you, I already tried to get some information out of her, and she flatly refused. She was on your side."

"Bella, you intrigue me." He leaned forward a bit to get closer to me. "What possible information would you want to know that she wouldn't tell you?"

I felt my face begin to burn and I immediately realized my mistake. This cheese was so delicious it was making me lose my wits.

"Um… it was just something… about the wedding," I finished lamely, pleased that I could come up with anything when put on the spot like this.

His stunning topaz eyes were gazing at me intently. "Bella, what is there about the wedding that Alice would possibly want to keep secret from you? You are the bride. It's your wedding, sweetheart." He leaned toward me even more, and ran his fingertips along my arm.

"Well… it… oh, I can't remember," I lied poorly, fighting to remain calm while his hand sent sparks shooting along my heated flesh.

"Bella," he breathed my name softly, eyes trained on me full force, "please tell me."

I closed my eyes and leaned back. I refused to let him dazzle information out of me, although it was fun to watch him try.

"There are some things about the wedding that are a secret from me, and some that are a secret from you, and that's all I'm going to say about it. Alice has her reasons, I'm sure," I said, hoping he would let it drop. I opened my eyes cautiously and looked at him.

He was still gazing at me and there was a small crease in his forehead. I quickly looked down at my plate and started to prepare another bite. He remained silent and I finally chanced a glance at him.

"I hope you don't believe for a moment that you have fooled me, Bella. You are still the most transparent liar, but also the most exquisitely lovely," his said in the most honeyed tone, no longer frowning.

I smiled at him, relieved that he was going to let it go. I knew I needed to talk to him about changing me; I still had a lot of questions, but this wasn't the time or the place. I hoped he would be more receptive to my questions, now that we had been so honest with each other and I felt even closer to him.

When the waiter came to check on our progress, Edward took a fleeting look at the menu again and ordered the Italian version of pudding, called Chocolate-Amaretto Budino, topped with a bacon-almond brittle and two spoons.

The waiter left and Edward said, "I would venture to bet that you've never tasted bacon-almond brittle before, have you?"

"Tasted it, no. I didn't even know it existed, but that goes for the cheeses as well. They are fantastic. This was a great idea, Edward," I gushed, wanting him to know how much I appreciated all the effort he had put into making this a memorable and fun weekend.

"I love to see you enjoying yourself," he replied, more light-hearted than I had seen him in a long time.

I hopped up and gave him a quick kiss. "Could you please excuse me, I think I need a human moment," I whispered.

"Try to avoid the bar; the bartender is desperate to offer you a dirty martini."

"You've got to be kidding," I said, sure he was teasing me.

"No, I'm not. He bribes the hostess to seat beautiful girls near the bar; that's why I rejected our first table and chose this one. I wanted to get you as far away from him as possible."

Now I didn't even want to glance at the bar to see what the bartender looked like. I made my way through the main dining room towards the Ladies Room but before I got there I passed the Dante Room. It was a small room, lined with wine bottles on each side and a massive, dark mural of what I assumed to be Dante's Divine Comedy on the back wall.

What did I remember about Dante? Something about the search for Divine Love… I knew Romeo and Juliet backwards and forwards but Dante escaped me. I would have to ask Edward about that when I got back to our table.

On my return trip I carefully skirted by the bar as quickly as I could, slipping through the dining room that was beginning to fill up, never looking in the direction of the bar. I didn't want to give the bartender an opportunity to see Edward in action. Fortunately our section was still empty except for our table in the corner and I was able to quickly make my way back to him.

When I sat down Edward immediately reached his hand across the table and I placed mine in his. I could see the lines in his face soften as he relaxed and rubbed his thumb back and forth on the back of my hand.

"Edward, did something happen while I was gone?"

"No," he sighed.

"You seem like something's bothering you," I ventured.

"Nothing more than the usual when you are out of my sight," he murmured.

"What do you mean?"

"I am always anxious when you are away from me. Look what happened at the museum this afternoon when you gave me the slip."

"You're not going to hold that against me, are you? I was just trying to surprise you."

"You surprised me, all right. Almost gave me a heart attack when I couldn't find you."

"You could see me almost all the way to the Ladies Room here."

"Yes, but the key word there is 'almost.' After you passed the bar you went out of sight and the bartender never took his eyes off you. On the way back he was contemplating pouring you a glass of dessert wine but as he watched you walk this way he caught a glimpse of me and changed his mind."

"I hope you didn't frighten him too badly."

"He'll live," he said shortly.

I briefly wondered if that outcome had ever been in doubt but quickly decided to change the subject.

"They have one of the nicest Ladies Room's here that I've ever seen; it's almost like a little hotel room. It's so plush; there's even a small sofa in there."

He smiled then and said, "This is supposed to be one of the best restaurants in San Francisco, so I would expect nothing less. So far there is only one thing I don't like about it here."

Since I knew it couldn't be the food he objected to I wondered if he meant the bartender. I raised an eyebrow and he continued.

"Even though this is a table for two I am too far away from you. I don't want to be sitting opposite you, I want to be next to you," he said, his eyes boring into mine.

I felt all the blood in my body suddenly racing through my veins as he stroked my arm and that made it difficult to sit still. I shifted in my chair slightly and wondered why it had become so much warmer in here.

"I feel moved to rework the seating arrangement," Edward said, releasing my hand and standing up. He stood at the edge of the table and gracefully slid the table so that it was parallel to the windows, then moved his chair next to mine and sat down. He made slight work of repositioning our glasses and silverware and then draped his left arm across my shoulder saying, "This is much better."

I pressed my body closer to him. "You don't think they will mind you redesigning their seating plan?" I whispered.

"I don't care if they do. They are lucky I didn't put you in my lap because that is where I would really like you to be," he said easily, kissing my temple lightly.

"We can leave now if you want, I don't have to have dessert," I suggested, not wanting to waste a minute in a restaurant if Edward wanted to be closer to me. I was all for that.

"Of course you must have dessert; do not be absurd. Sitting next to you like this is my dessert," he insisted.

Just then our waiter appeared. "May I see your left hand?" he inquired, looking at me. I glanced at Edward but he was merely smiling so I placed my left hand on the table.

"I thought so. You had to be either celebrating an engagement or be on your honeymoon and you look a little young to be married," he said, chuckling. "This table gets moved around like this all the time by couples. I've told the owner he should just leave it like this but he's stubborn. Would you like some wine with dessert tonight?"

"No, thank you," Edward replied, frowning slightly.

The waiter took that as his cue to leave and I took it as my opportunity to find out why he was frowning.

"Okay, what was the waiter thinking that put that frown on your face?"

He sighed. "It's interesting to me how you can be so selective in your observations. I display the slightest frown and you're all over me, yet you can be pursued by a madman and not pay him the slightest notice. You never cease to amaze me."

"Am I never going to live that down? Just tell me what the waiter's problem was."

"He was on an errand for the bartender who doesn't give up easily. Even after he confirmed that we were engaged he was still trying to offer you wine."

"Why are guys so dumb, as if sending me a drink is suddenly going to make me interested in him?" I huffed, resting my hand on his leg, hoping that would soothe him and I felt his body relax. "Oh, well, that's not important. I only have eyes for you, anyway. This has been such a lovely day, Edward. We did so much stuff I feel like we've been in San Francisco for a week. I loved the play and the Japanese garden; the best has been seeing all these things with you."

"So you are not sorry we didn't stay in bed all day?" He sounded almost disappointed, which gave me hope.

"Well I would never complain about that, but I think today was spectacular. I can't believe the way you arranged all this stuff and kept it a secret," I said, beginning to rub my hand back and forth on his thigh. The fabric of the expensive gray Italian wool slacks was so soft over the muscles of firm thighs; he always looked good no matter what he wore.

"It has been my pleasure to see you relaxed and happy," he said, smiling down at me.

"It's easy to be relaxed and happy when I'm with you and I always want to be with you. You are my own personal Greek god, you know. I can't decide which I like better, your impressive chest and your strong arms, or your long, lean legs with those powerful muscles. It must be from all that running you do…" I mused, feeling those muscles under my hand.

Edward closed his eyes and stopped breathing for a moment. Then he put his right hand lightly on top of mine and stilled its motion. "I think it's best if you stop doing that, Bella. I am trying to be a gentleman, but I want you so badly right now that it hurts," he whispered in my ear.

I didn't dare turn my head to look at him; I wouldn't have been able to control myself. I leaned forward slightly and stared at the ring on my left hand, willing a wedding band to appear in its place. My intentions in cataloging Edward's physical charms had been innocent; I just loved looking at him and being close to him. I didn't realize it would set something off inside of him. I filed this away for future reference.

Edward raised my right hand and pressed his lips against my palm. Now I wanted him just as badly as he wanted me.

"Are you sure we can't just skip dessert?" I gasped, feeling like it was hard to breathe.

"We are not going to rush anything, Bella," he said softly.

"You are awfully good at delaying gratification, Edward. I could use some lessons," I complained.

"There are all kinds of things I would like to teach you," he said seductively.

I did look at him then, unable to resist any longer. His eyes were flickering and it wasn't just from the candlelight on our table. I was finding it hard to sit still any longer and I could see how being in his lap seemed like a very good idea.

"Are you sure you don't want to slip into the Ladies Room with me? You could push the sofa up against the door…" I trailed off, blushing and unable to believe these words were coming out of my mouth, but it seemed like a good idea and I thought I would give it a try.

He smiled widely and said, "Just how close did you get to Rosalie during your little CD mixing session? She and Emmett are famous for that trick."

I gulped. "Rosalie is a bit of an inspiration," I allowed.

"I am going to have to have a little talk with her when we get home. She goes from barely acknowledging you to corrupting your morals. I am not sure what to make of this."

"Don't tamper with our relationship; she's just beginning to treat me like a real person and I don't want you to spoil it," I pleaded.

"Alright, my little temptress, but I think perhaps after we are married we may give Rose and Emmett a run for their money," he said, unable to hide the satisfaction in his voice.

I felt a shiver of anticipation rush through my body. The next few weeks were going to be torture if we kept going on like this. I contemplated dousing myself with some of the ice cold sparkling water this restaurant was famous for but rejected that idea after a moment. If Edward wasn't ready to leave the restaurant right now I decided we needed to talk about something else; anything else.

"Have you seen that giant mural in the next room?" I inquired conversationally.

"Took a peek in the Dante Room, did you? Did the mural frighten you?" he asked.

"A little bit. I'm just drawing a blank on Dante," I said sheepishly.

"Okay, Dante in a nutshell." He thought for a moment and then said, "He used poetry to mix philosophy and theology to ponder humanity's fundamental questions: Why are we here? How should we live? What happens after we die?"

"Oh I see, a slacker. Why didn't he try to deal with something important?" I deadpanned.

He smiled. "You have to remember that he was writing about these matters in the thirteenth century; he basically came up with the concept of Courtly Love, love at first sight, love as a reason for living. That was a radical concept back then."

"And it's not a radical concept now?" I asked.

"Yes, I'm sure it is for some people, but then so is the concept of marriage," he paused, "for some people."

I rolled my eyes. "It's all about today, Edward, it's not about 'til death do us part. Really, you of all people should know that."

He continued, "Well, here's something that maybe you can relate to with Dante. The soul was understood to be the principle of activity in living things, and Dante said that when the attention of the soul is completely drawn to a power such as sight or hearing, then time passes unperceived."

"How do you figure that relates to me specifically?" I asked, uncomprehendingly.

"Well, when I'm watching you sleep I am so completely drawn in by you that I am unaware of time passing. The night goes by like the blink of an eye," he said, smiling.

And what will you do when I no longer sleep all night, I wondered to myself. Then I blushed, thinking of a possible way we could pass the time, once I was no longer the fragile human who must be protected.

I looked up and saw that he was looking at my flushed face with a particular gleam in his eye. Was he beginning to be able to read my mind or had he just spontaneously had the same thought? I decided to find out.

"What are you thinking right now?" I asked.

He looked like he didn't want to answer at first, and then said, "Do you want me to be honest?"

"Of course," I was really intrigued now.

"Well, it's not the most pleasant thought…" he paused, as if waiting for me to stop him. I continued to look at him expectantly.

"I was just remembering the opening stanzas of Dante's Inferno. To paraphrase, it begins:

Halfway through the journey we are living

I found myself deep in a darkened forest,

For I had lost all trace of the straight path.

How hard it is to tell what it was like,

How wild the forest was, how rugged

To think of it still fills my mind with panic.

It is so bitter that death is hardly worse."

He stopped and looked like he was remembering something painful. I recognized the look because it probably mirrored the look on my face, too. Neither of us would ever forget that horrible day, worse than death for both of us, but I knew we had to get beyond that.

"Oh, did he take his girlfriend into the forest and abandon her, too?" I asked lightly.

"No, but I thought about this poem often when I was… away," he said bitterly.

I reached over and touched his hand. He immediately picked up my hand and held it to his cool lips.

As much as I longed to be with Edward forever I was still a bit apprehensive when I thought about all the unknowns my future held, and I thought about things that had driven us apart in the past.

"Edward, as happy as I am that we are together now, I still have some questions about when we were apart. I'm just trying to understand what happened so it never happens again."

He groaned. "What do you want to know?"

"I know that when you lied to me you did it because you thought I would be better off without you. I understand that you thought that, but what led you to that decision?"

"You don't remember when my brother tried to kill you?"

"Of course I do, but I didn't hold it against Jasper. It was my own stupid fault."

"It wasn't your fault. It is not your fault that you are human and we are not," he said in a low tone.

"Please don't say that, Edward."

"It's true. When we are suddenly exposed to blood flowing like that instinct takes over and we lose control. I could not even blame Jasper. It was my fault that I exposed you to that kind of danger. Just by being close to me you are in danger."

"I understand that. But there were other ways we could have dealt with it; I could have just not spent so much time at your house for example."

"That would not have solved the real problem, it would have just delayed the inevitable."

"I still can't believe you could just walk away from me like that."

"That's because it was an incredibly arrogant thing for me to have done; you would never do something like that. I decided what was best for both of us without even consulting you. I have played God in the past and you would think I would have learned from that mistake," he said pensively.

"Please promise that if anything horrible happens you will talk to me first, honestly, before you do anything."

"What horrible fate are you imagining now?"

"I don't know; I don't have anything in mind. I just see that because of a stupid paper cut I almost lost you forever. Perhaps I'll trip getting out of the car and you'll start to have thoughts that are not good and you need to share them with me before you charge off in some direction that will ultimately hurt one or both of us."

"I just want to spare you from any pain."

"I love that about you, but I'm stronger than you think; and the worst pain would be losing you. I see you and Alice having private conversations in front of me, and you and Carlisle. Is it wrong for me to want to be a part of them, especially when they concern my future?"

"Again, your perception where I am concerned is amazing. I cannot hide anything from you."

"Oh, I think you can. You have surprised me over and over in the past two days."

"But you have enjoyed these surprises, haven't you?"

"Yes, this time has been wonderful. I feel so much closer to you. And I want to stay that way. You've got to let me in, Edward. No more secrets. There are things I need to know, things you have to tell me."

"This is all part of the process I have tried so hard to avoid, but I guess you are right. The time is coming when there are things you must be told about. How can you be so brave, Bella?"

"Because I have you by my side. As long as we are together I can face anything. Please don't be sad, Edward. That's in the past and we've made a lot of progress since then. I've learned, for example, that if you told me you had the bubonic plague and had to be quarantined, all I would do is stick to you like glue."

He rolled his eyes, but I saw a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth. "You know I can't get the plague."

"Yes, but I wouldn't put it past you to try to use it as an excuse," I teased.

He feigned shock.

I continued, "You are never going to be able to leave me again. I would track you down. You could run, you could hide, you could dye your hair and change your name. It wouldn't make any difference. If it took forever, I would find you. That's how much I love you and always will. I belong to you and you belong to me. End of story."

He was smiling that impressive crooked smile and his gorgeous golden eyes were shining at me. "No, Bella, my love. Beginning of story. Our story will have no end. I thought I knew what it was like to be alone before, because I was always the outsider in our family, the one without a mate. It did not bother me; I had never felt the need to put someone else's happiness before my own. I was selfish and pleased about it. I did not have to consult anyone about how I spent my time; I could come and go as I pleased."

He brought my hand to his lips and softly kissed the skin next to my engagement ring.

"Then I fell in love with you and everything changed for me. You filled my thoughts and all I wanted to do was be with you. I can never forgive myself for throwing away everything we had. I found out what it meant to be truly alone and when I think of how you suffered… words cannot express my grief, Bella, but I vow I will do everything I can to make you happy 'til the end of time."

I struggled to hold back the tears that I felt just behind my eyes. His sincerity was unmistakable. "I believe you Edward, and that goes double for me," I said softly. "You are my rock." I moved my hand up to caress his smooth, handsome face and he brought his lips closer to me, whispering in my ear, "You are my everything."

He leaned over and kissed my temple again, pressing his lips against my skin and holding me there. When he let go of me I smiled up at him and he lightly ran a fingertip across my cheek. I was so full of love for him I felt like I might burst.

Just then the waiter arrived with the chocolate pudding. Edward picked up a piece of the almond-bacon brittle and placed it against my bottom lip; I slowly opened my mouth and he put it on my tongue. I let it melt. Salty, sweet – I was in bacon heaven. I took a spoonful of the pudding and then a bite of the brittle; bittersweet, my favorite flavor, so reminiscent of Edward.

"Shall I send your compliments to the chef?" Edward asked, a look of amusement on his face.

I was letting another piece of the brittle melt on my tongue so I merely smiled. He threw his head back and laughed. Then he took the spoon out of my hand and prepared another bite for me. I opened my mouth and let him feed me, which seemed to give him an inordinate amount of pleasure.

After I devoured the last spoonful of pudding I said, "This weekend has been a real gift for me, in every way; a total surprise, but a good surprise. Maybe I'm mellowing in my old age," I said, shooting him a provocative look.

He took my hand in both of his and held it tight. Outside the window, the dim light was starting to fade to darkness. It was twilight, Edward's favorite time of day.

"Shall we start back to the Lodge?" I asked.

"Your wish is my command," he quickly replied.

I rolled my eyes and whispered, "As if."

I hope you will review now and let me know how it's going. I want to give a big thank you to everyone who added Blue Moon to their Favorite Stories List. That really helps spread the word and I am so appreciative. Big hugs all around for my lovely readers.

Like most of the places mentioned in this story, Incanto is a real restaurant, and one of SF's best. The cheese plate is even better than it sounds. You can see the restaurant by clicking on the link on my Profile page.

My beta, Ranma15177, has three great stories going right now, and you all should be reading and reviewing them. There is a link to her on my Favorite Stories list, and she's recently added new chapters to Conversations with Emmett and Making A Home. Her action/adventure fic, Escaping Sol, is a real thrill ride. If you aren't already on board, I urge you to scamper over there and check it out.

I'd like to express gratitude to my other beta, not done baking, a wonderful writer herself, for the valuable contributions she has made to this story.