I hope you all like this one. It's going to be a little slow.

CH. 9

My tears continued to fall as I watched the cruiser speed away. How could he just leave like that? I hadn't intended to spring so much on him at once. I buried my face into my hands, slid to the floor, and began bawling my heart out. There was so much going on at one time.

I felt strong arms gently lift me from the ground and carry me up the stairs. The tears had not stopped their persistent flow.

"Shh Bella. I'm so sorry. So very sorry. I shouldn't have left you to face Charlie by yourself. I even promised I would be there," Edward soothed me. For once I didn't try to stop him from blaming himself. I was too upset.

"B…but…what if…h…he…doesn't c…come b…back," I sobbed.

Edward rocked me back and forth, "He will sweetheart. He will."

I nodded meekly and continued to cry until I fell into a dreamless sleep.

When I woke up, it was morning again. I groaned and sat up. I could feel Edward's eyes on me from the rocking chair.

"Did he come back?" I asked.

Edward looked very worried, "Yes. Earlier this morning."

My shoulders sagged in relief, "Thank God."

"Come on Bella. You need to get a shower and get ready for school."

I sighed, "Right."

He kissed me softly, and then mumbled against my lips, "I'll see you at school.

Oh that's right. Edward wasn't allowed to be near the house according to Charlie last night. Again I nodded. In a second he was gone, and I proceeded to get ready for school.

At the bottom of the stairs I could hear Charlie in the kitchen. He was still here? I walked in quietly, "Dad?"

He completely ignored me. "Dad please say something to me."

Still he remained silent. The tears threatened to fall again. Now he was looking at me. The look in his eyes made me want to sob uncontrollably again.

"Dad please. I'm sorry that you had to find out this way, but please don't shut me out like this."

"Bella I have nothing worth saying to you," he said. Then he left for work.

I sighed for the umpteenth time that morning and went to my beat up truck.

School was uneventful today. No tests, no homework, nothing important. Edward worried over me all day. I worried over Charlie. None of my classes did I pay attention to. At lunch I didn't speak. At one point Emmett actually asked if I was okay. Of course I said I'm fine, but they all knew otherwise.

On the way home I kept trying to think of a way to get Charlie to understand. This would be so much easier if Carlisle was my father instead. My eyes went wide as a miraculous thought ran through my head.

What if I had Esme talk to him? I slapped my forehead at my obvious solution that took me forever to think of. I sped past my house and made way to the Cullen residence.

When I arrived Carlisle was just getting home. I glance at the clock; 5:00. Wow time flies! Anyway, I greeted him politely and we both entered the house.

"Bella?" It was Edward.

"Hey Edward."

"What are you doing here?"

I looked around, "Actually, I, um, needed to talk to Esme."

He looked confused but told me where she was. I marched into the kitchen and she was poking around the stove cleaning. I cleared my throat.

She glance up and smiled, "Oh hello Bella. How are you this afternoon?"

"I alright, but there is something I wanted to talk to you about?"

"Of course." She ushered me over to the kitchen table and had us both sit down. "Now what can I do for you?"

I took a deep breath, "Well Edward probably already told you that I agreed to marry him am I right?"

"Yes he told us. By the way; congratulations dear," she giggled.

"Thank you. Anyway, I ended up in an argument with Charlie because he found out about my tattoo, and I accidentally told him about us getting married, and now he won't talk to me, and I don't know what to do, and… and," I broke down at that point. All the stress and worry came crashing down on me.

Esme looked startled then sympathetic. She stood up and wrapped me in a motherly hug. I cried until my throat hurt. When I was through, she gently pulled away and said, "I'm so sorry Bella. Is there anything I can do?"

"Well I was kind of hoping you could talk to him for me. He might listen to you more than he will me."

She smiled at me, "I will talk to him."

"Really? Oh thank you Esme! Thank you," I hugged her again. She laughed and told me that I should stay here while she went to talk to him. I agreed. If I went, it would end up badly. I could feel it.

She quickly grabbed her car keys and made way to the door. Charlie should be home by now. It was already 6:30.

ESME POV

I completely understood Bella's frustration. It's hard when someone so important refuses to be a part of your life anymore. I agreed to her request and went to her house. Charlie's cruiser was in the drive way when I pulled up. With purpose, I made my way to the door and knocked.

When he answered I could tell he was not expecting to see me standing there.

"Esme what a pleasant surprise. What can I do for you?" he seemed tense. I wouldn't blame him.

"I was wondering if I could speak with you a minute if that's alright?"

"Of course. Come in, come in," he ushered. He brought me to the kitchen and offered me a drink which I politely declined. We sat down at the table and it was silent for a few moments. Charlie beat me to the punch.

"I suppose you are here because of Bella and Edward," he muttered.

"Partially, but mostly because I don't understand why you are shunning your own daughter because she has fallen in love?" I questioned him.

His eyes lowered, "I don't want to, but there are so many things that I wish I could have done differently when I was with Renee. I just don't want to see my girl get her heart broken again. I wouldn't be able to bear it. We were so young when Renee and I married and look how we turned out."

"Do you honestly think you can keep Bella from being with Edward? You could ship her off to Florida and it wouldn't make a difference Charlie. She loves Edward with all her heart and he loves her. I'll have you know that it took several tries on Edward's part to get her to agree to marriage. She took you and Renee into consideration before agreeing to marry Edward. He literally had to beg her even though he knew he was on bad terms with you. Bella is torn right now because she wants to be with Edward, but the one person who's opinion really matters is ignoring her and refuses to look at everything that has happened between them so far!" I was yelling at him now. This man was just as stubborn as Bella.

He looked defeated, "She really cares that much about what I think?"

"Yes Charlie. And he refuses to give her what she wants until their married, or so I've heard. That might have changed recently."

"What do you mean "what she wants"?" he asked.

"Bella wants a better physical relationship with Edward, but Edward refuses to give her that until their married. Edward has nothing but the deepest respect for Bella."

To my shock, Charlie actually blushed a little bit. Then he sighed and a smile broke out on his face. "I guess I've made a pretty big fool out of myself huh? Goodness, I'm going to have to make this up to them somehow."

I laughed, he was finally accepting this, "Just give them your blessing and you'll have saved Bella from worrying Edward to death."

He laughed too as we walked to the door. "Thank you so much Esme for opening my eyes. I just hope Renee will be as easy to convince."

"I do too Charlie. Well I better get back. I bet Bella has paced a hole into the floor at home."

"She's at your house?" he asked.

"Yes. It was Bella who actually asked me to come hear. She was afraid that if she came with me, it would not have gone so smoothly," I answered.

He laughed again and shook his head. "I guess I'll be seeing you Esme. Tell Charlie I said hey."

"I will. Thank you for listening."

"No thank you for talking some sense into me."

And I was gone; headed back to where a very worried family waited.

BELLA POV

Oh my god! I am about to officially go crazy with worry. I hope this actually works. I had been pacing back and forth for the past twenty minutes.

"Bella relax. Everything will be fine. Trust me," Alice's voice rang out.

I looked at her, "Really?"

"Yes really. Now go see you distressed boyfriend before his head explodes with worry."

I smiled, "Thanks Alice."

She just waved me off as I dashed up the stares. I rapped on Edward's door and entered quietly. He wasn't there. Then I heard the shower going. Oh! I lie on his bed and waited for him to emerge.

A few moments later, a soaking wet God came from the bathroom wrapped in only a towel. Heat pulled between my legs at the sight of him. How can someone be so perfect and be mine? He must have noticed my problem because he gave me one of those crooked smiles.

"Like what you see?" It was the same question I had asked him before.

"Mmmhmm. I hate to say it, but Adonis must be cursing you right now."

He smirked and a devious look appeared in his eyes that shot sparks through my blood. He slowly began to stalk me across the bed as the heat became a blazing inferno.

"Beautiful," he whispered before he kissed me in what seemed to be like ages. We moved slow as usual, softly trailing our hands over each other's bodies. Our kissing became more intense as the time ticked, and I found myself on my back, naked, with a very sexy vampire between my legs. His tongue gently probed my entrance as I moaned his name. Then his tongue was inside me, twirling rough but yet gentle circles.

"Edward," I moaned. This felt amazing!

He continued to torture me until the fire became too much to bear, and I was screaming for him to bring me release. His tongue was replaced be two of his fingers as he brought me closer to the brink of insanity. Finally, I lost it. Screaming my pleasure throughout the house. I'm sure everyone heard it.

When I came down from my high, Edward was grinning at me from ear to ear.

"I love hearing you scream my name," he growled sexily into my ear. I groaned again and was about to flip us over when I heard Esme enter the house down stairs.

I hopped up and put my clothes back on quickly, only tripping once, and ran to meet Esme. When I reached her I could tell something had happened, but wasn't sure if it was good or bad. Then her face broke out into a fabulous, relieving smile, and I screamed happily and jumped into Edward's arms and readily kissed him on the lips.

I would make things up to him later, but right now I wanted to celebrate my engagement with the rest of the Cullen family.

Okay, so I know this ch. was a little shorter, but Charlie is cool now. Edward's control is building and so is Bella's. Can their stroke of good luck keep going or will a certain someone get in the way? Next chapter up soon! REVIEW PLEASE!