Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise, I just use their creations to have my wicked way with them. No copyright infringement is intended.

As always, my beta The Real Teacher worked her magic on this chapter and made it look pretty.

Grace

~ Part eight ~

In the end, the answer was so simple I felt like banging my head against my desk for not thinking about it before and so, after making the necessary reservations, I set out that same night on the quest to gain myself a fiancée

I smiled, my nerves starting to take control of me as I picked Bella up from work – just as I'd done countless of times over the last couple of months, though this time we wouldn't be going straight home like we usually did.

This time we would be making a detour. A small but very important detour.

"Where are we going?" she asked as I turned the car in the direction of the beach.

I smiled, bring her hand to my lips and placing a gentle kiss on top of it. "I'm taking you out tonight."

"To the Spinnaker?" she gasped, her eyes wide with excitement.

I chuckled at her enthusiasm. "Yep."

"You're the best, Edward!" she cried, bouncing in her seat at the prospect of yet another helping of their amazing and very spicy paella.

I was onto a winner here.

Not surprising since my darling (hopefully) soon-to-be-fiancé had been craving spicy foods over the last couple of weeks and this restaurant happened to be her favorite spot to get it.

The restaurant, located on piers above the bay, had become some of a favorite of ours since it was very close to home and offered magnificent views over the San Francisco skyline while we ate.

"This is just what I needed," Bella sighed, sitting down next to me, both of us facing the bay as she wove her fingers through mine. "Thanks, Edward."

"You know I'll do anything for you, right?" I smiled, playing with a loose strand of her long, silky hair.

She blushed, obviously – like me – recalling our fight. "I do."

I hoped she'd remember that later on tonight, when I'd ask her another, even more important question..

Dinner was amazing, as it always was when we ate there, the food and the view of the sun slowly setting over San Francisco making us both mellow and happy and quiet.

"I'm almost falling asleep here!" Bella giggled, as I offered her another bite of my dessert. She'd polished hers off in the blink of an eye.

"How about we take a walk after dinner?" I offered, feeling rather smooth for working my plans for the after-dinner-event so effortlessly into the conversation. "The fresh air will wake you up."

Bella nodded. "I think that would be nice."

I quickly paid for dinner, waiting around while Bella took another bathroom break before we set off walking along Spinnaker Drive, taking a right to bring us up to Gabrielson Park and the Sausalito Yacht Club.

The atmosphere was perfect, just a hint of pink on the horizon painting the bay, the city and the fishing boats moored just off the coast in a very pretty light. Add that to the fact that we were currently alone.

"Edward?" I looked down to see Bella frowning at me. "Is something wrong?"

"No….nothing's wrong," I assured her. "I just…" Felt like a loser for being all tongue tied? Saw all of my carefully construed plans go up in smoke? Wanted to fucking kill myself?

"What?" Obviously I was doing a piss poor job at reassuring my girl as well because her frown deepening as she bit her lip, her free hand rubbing nervous circles into her belly.

"Oh, fuck it!" I grumbled, getting down on my knee. I was proposing right there and then if I'd have to act it all out in mime.

"Edward!" Bella gasped, her hand pressed to her chest. "What…"

"Marry me, Bella," I finally managed to choke out. "I promise to love you today….tomorrow…..forever."

"Yes." Her whisperer was so low that, had I not seen her lips move, I'd never have spotted it. "Yes. Yes. Yes."

I laughed freely, a ton of anxiety dropping from my shoulders as I slid the ring onto her fingers and pulled her into a hug, our baby enclosed between the two of us as I kissed her lips, pouring every single bit of what I was feeling right into our kiss.

My dad will be so happy," she chuckled, rubbing a little smudge of lip-gloss from my lips as we finally broke for air.

"Screw your dad!" I huffed. And I meant it. "Are you?"

"Ecstatic!" she giggled, pulling me into another hug. "I never thought I wanted to get married just now…..so soon after everything…..but now? I really want to be your wife even if…" She blushed biting her lip.

I pulled her chin up, forcing her to keep her eyes on me before she could look away. "What is it angel?"

"Is it really bad that I don't want to get married just yet?" she muttered, waving her hands over her stomach. "You know? Like this?"

"This wedding is going to be about what you want – what we want," I wrapping my arm around her shoulder as we slowly walked back to the car. "We're not going to let what everyone else thinks bother us so if you want to wait until after the baby is born, we'll wait until after the baby is born."

She smiled, leaning her head against my shoulder. "I love you, Edward."

I kissed the top of her head, feeling as if I could take on the world right then. "I love you too, angel."

Awww! Now all they need is a baby to make their happiness perfect, no?