I don't own anything. Pretty depressing thought.

9

epov

Before I even open my eyes I know exactly where I am. The scent of strawberries is filling my nose. The familiar figure of Bella is in my arms. I'm in heaven..

I bury my face in Bella's hair and snuggle with her, hoping to fall back asleep. I can hear people creeping around the house, preparing for the day. Something I should be doing.

I really need to get to my attorney's office. I'm filing for divorce today. Holy fuck. I'm moving in with Bella today. Wow.

If someone told me a week ago that this is where I would be waking up, that this is what I was going to do, I would punch them for being so damn cruel. But holy hell what do you know? It's real. I can feel the proof in my arms.

There's a quiet knock on the door and I can hear the door open slightly. I roll over to see my damn sister. I groan. It's an automatic reaction. I can't deal with Alice until I've had a few cups of coffee. She's just too damn perky.

She smiles at the scene of me and Bella cuddled up in bed and walks a few steps into Bella's, no I'm sorry OUR, bedroom.

"You need to call into work, Edward."

I nod and hold my hand out for a phone. Alice rolls her eyes and pulls her cell phone from her pocket.

"Bella needs to call work, too. Rosalie is on breakfast duty so it should be ready soon."

"Thanks, Alice."

She smiles and walks out of Bella's, sorry again OUR, bedroom. Alice actually managed a whole conversation whispering. Fuck calling work; I'm calling the Guinness book people or something.

You know what? It's a sign. It's going to be a good day. Fuck yes. How could it not be? I'm moving in with the love of my life!

I call off work then bury my face back in Bella's hair. Ahhhh... Strawberries. Nothing can ruin this moment for me, I'm so fucking happy.

"Wake up, bitches! Emmett's here to make all your dreams come true! And I do mean all your dreams! We just endured the battle of the bitches, now let's endure the battle of the bulge! Rosie, baby! You wanna help me with that?!"

I spoke too soon.

Fucking Emmett. Though that was pretty good. Too bad I'll never tell him. His head is big enough as it is.

Bella groans and rolls over, burying her face in my chest. She freezes.

She looks up at me wide eyed.

"It wasn't a dream?"

I smile crookedly at her.

"No, love. It wasn't a dream."

She beams at me and attacks my face with kisses. I laugh and pull back and cradle her face in my hands. Her long, brown hair is cascading around her face. Her big, beautiful, brown eyes are so full of life and happiness. Her gorgeous blush is gracing her cheeks.

And now I'm hard.

"Edward, I swear to God if you're in there defiling my baby sister there will be hell to pay!"

Bye bye boner.

Bella smirks and rolls out of bed while I roll my eyes. Cock blocker. I'm installing a steel door so Emmett can't shout through it.

Bella grabs her cell phone off of her nightstand and calls into work while I lay in bed and just watch her move around. She would never believe that she actually does have some grace, being as she is the clumsiest person in existence, but when she's not tripping she's extremely graceful.

And there's something about the way she moves. There's an air about her. People can't help but stop and stare when she walks by. And she's mine!

I'm the luckiest son of a bitch on the planet. I swear it.

"I'm going to go hop in the shower. Who has breakfast duty today?"

I smile at my angel. God she's so beautiful. How did I ever get so lucky?

"Rosalie."

I can see the obvious relief in Bella's eyes. Now I know Alice isn't the best cook in the world but there's a story behind that relief. It has to be Alice. She's the only one we couldn't teach how to cook. I can sit here and dwell that I missed this story, or I can ask her about it sometime and be happy we're together. I'm going with the latter, thanks.

Bella walks into her, no wait OUR, bathroom and starts the shower. I grab my black t-shirt off of the floor and put it on.

Walking into the kitchen in only my shirt and boxers, Emmett takes one look at me and glares.

"You mother fucker."

I smirk.

He knows that smirk. I play them all the time with it. They just don't know it. To them, it means I did something that will piss them off, something I find completely awesome and hilarious. I just like to fuck with them.

Emmett's glare intensifies while Rosalie grabs a hold of Emmett.

"Chill out, he's fucking with you. We would know if something happened. We all know Bella is a screamer."

I bust out laughing while both Emmett and Jasper pale. They actually look like they may be sick. Alice giggles beside me while Emmett hunches over, putting his hands on his knees.

"Flashback, dude. I think I just had a flashback."

Jasper nods at Emmett while Rosalie, Alice, and I keep laughing. God, I love fucking with them. Bella joins us about 10 minutes later and we all sit down to breakfast. I'm on my second cup of coffee which means I stopped wincing whenever Alice speaks.

Thank God, because she hasn't shut up since we sat down. She's going all Captain Alice on us about where my shit should go. Maybe we can lock her in a closet while we move it all in.

"Well, while you're figuring out where all my shit should go, I'm going to head to my attorney's office. Damn, I don't have a suit."

Alice rolls her eyes.

"I swear you forget how awesome I am. There's a suit and some other clothes in your new closet in Bella's room. I took the liberty of getting it cleaned out and getting some stuff in there while I was waiting on Bella yesterday."

"But we didn't know we were going to get Tanya to admit everything. Hell, we didn't know I was moving in at that time."

Alice, once again, rolls her eyes then taps her head.

"I swear you underestimate my abilities."

I shrug. She's right, I do. I'm just so used to her knowing all I sometimes forget how she knows all. I give Bella a kiss and head to the bathroom. Once I hop in the shower I see that Alice already got that far, too. My shampoo and soap are both in here.

My little sister can be cool sometimes.

I shower and get in my suit, ready to head to the attorney's office. I walk out into the living room to find Jasper tickling Bella on the living room floor.

"Tell me!"

"NNOOOOO!!! SSSTTTTOOOOPPPP THAT TICKLES!"

"That's the point, shit head! Now, tell me."

Bella giggles, a light and carefree giggle.

"Alright, I'll tell you."

Jasper releases my Bella and Bella starts inhaling deep while Jasper smirks. I can't help but smile at the scene. She looks so carefree and happy. And I know it's because of us. We're both deliriously and blissfully happy.

"Ok, fine. It was Peter."

Jasper's eyes bug out of his head.

"You're fucking kidding me."

Bella laughs while Jasper keeps his shocked expression. What the hell are they talking about?

"Scouts honor, Jazz."

"That mother fucker! Sorry, guys. I'm bailing out on moving day. I've got some ass to beat and it's a five hour drive."

Alice comes marching into the living room, hands on hips and looking pissed. Uh-oh.

"Jasper Alan Whitlock! I'll be damned if you bail on us just to go beat Peter's ass for putting blue hair dye in your shower head when you were 13 years old!"

Jasper's body seems to lose all tension and becomes defeated.

"Pussy-whipped!"

Jasper glares at me, obviously ready to attack.

"You're not any better, dude. I seem to remember a time when Bella wanted whole-wheat blueberry pancakes at 3:30 in the morning and you went to the other side of Seattle to get the whole-wheat batter. Which, of course, led to the pregnancy scare of 2003."

I shrug.

"The pancakes sounded good. And now that's we're older we can tell you the truth."

Bella jumps up.

"No, that's ok. We don't need to talk about anything. Don't you have somewhere to be?"

26 years old and she's still scared of big brother's reaction.

"It's not a big deal, Bella."

She glares at me.

"Ok, what's going on. Tell me now."

Bella freezes when Emmett walks up behind her. Her rigid pose relaxes into a defeated stance and she sends me one last glare before turning to face Emmett.

"Nothing."

Emmett pulls out the Swan glare, causing Bella to start walking backwards right into me. I wrap my arms around her to help her feel safe.

"You want me to tell him, love?"

She nods and avoids eye contact with Emmett.

"Bella raided your stash and we were totally fried. She really just had the munchies for the pancakes. You all jumped to conclusions thinking she was pregnant. But since we were high, you freaked us out, too. End of story."

Emmett's eyes bugged out of his head.

"You raided my stash! Jesus, Bella! I thought you only smoked weed that one time!"

"Hey! What kind of cop-in-training smokes weed anyways?"

Emmett glares.

"The kind that's awesome."

I roll my eyes and release my Bella.

"I've got to go, love. I'll be back in about an hour, two at most. Will you be ok with Emmie?"

I can see Emmett tense behind Bella, while Bella faces me smirking. Revenge for upsetting my Bella, bitch. She nods and leans forward for a kiss. What was originally only supposed to be a goodbye peck quickly turned into one of the funnest games of tonsil hockey I've ever played.

I can hear the people in the room clearing their throats behind Bella but I pay them no mind. I don't care.

"Dude! Will you get off my sister?!"

I pull back from Bella laughing at Emmett. I look up at his horrified expression and keep laughing right along with Bella.

"That's what you get for all your 'going home to get ass' comments," says my angel.

Emmett rolls his eyes.

"That's important information. I'm a sex God and it is my responsibility to spread the word."

I can't breathe I'm laughing so fucking hard. He's so serious about it. Like he actually believes that. Bella looks horrified and I can see Alice and Jasper laughing right along with me behind Emmett.

"Ok, I'm out before I die of suffocation. I love you, Bella."

Bella smiles wide.

"I love you, too."

I leave and head towards my attorney's office. How the hell is it possible for my life to be so god damn perfect right now? I just hope to God nothing goes wrong. Like Tanya being at the house when I go get my stuff. That would suck.

I meet with my attorney and his reaction surprises me. He actually said, "about damn time." Was it that obvious that I was unhappy with Tanya? He told me he'd take care of everything and that things should run smoothly so I left his office with a big smile on my face.

Hopefully this shit can be settled soon so I can marry Bella. It's long overdue.

I head back home, that's right HOME as in the home I share with Bella. The house that both Bella and I live in. Our home. Holy fuck this is awesome.

I walk into the house with a big smile on my face. I look around the living room to see some shelves cleared off. Somewhere we can put our pictures. It's our perfect world. I can hear laughter coming from the direction of our bedroom so I walk back only to see Alice sitting on Emmett's stomach with her arms crossed and Rosalie, Jasper, and my Bella sitting on the bed laughing.

"Sure you wanna sit there Jazz? You may not wanna sit in any of my special juices."

Jasper's eyes bug out of his head while he jumps up causing the rest of the room to laugh at him.

"I thought I went over this this morning. Bella is a screamer."

Bella's expression is a mixture of shock and horror as she stares at Rosalie.

"You went over what?!"

Rosalie sits there all nonchalant while she replies to Bella.

"Edward here decided to make Em believe you did the dirty last night which, of course, set Emmett off. I kindly informed Emmett that you did no such thing because we would know since you're a screamer."

I don't think I've ever seen Bella's face so red.

"I don't know who I'm more mad at. Rosalie or Edward."

I pout at Bella and she lessens her glare at me.

"Definitely more mad at Rosalie."

Rosalie scoffs while I pump my fist in the air. I've still got it. Hell yes.

I change in the bathroom then Emmett, Jasper, and I drive separately over to my old house, Tanya's house, whatever, to get my stuff. Jasper apparently picked up boxes while I was out so that will save us some time.

When we get to the house Tanya's car is gone. Hallelujah. We pack up shit as quickly as possible, concentrating on mostly clothes and belongings I can't let go of.

Jasper has to talk me out of taking my fooze ball table. Bastard.

We're finally finished and we're all sweaty and gross but atleast it's done. I stare longingly at my piano. I want to take it so badly but I have no way to do that right now. I'll make arrangements once I get back home. I nod with my new decision and walk out of the house without looking back.

When we arrive back home we start unloading boxes while Alice stands on the couch directing traffic.

"You think we can lock her in a closet?" I whisper to Emmett.

"Dude, you're a fucking genius. I swear if you weren't with my sister I'd kiss you right now."

Emmett looks so serious. Alice must really be aggravating him. After I put my box down I walk to the kitchen and grab a few beers for the guys. That should loosen Emmett up. I know I could use one with terror Alice running around.

Bella walks into the living room and rolls her eyes at Alice but doesn't say anything. She doesn't really even look bothered.

"How can you not be irritated to death right now?"

Bella shrugs.

"It's Alice. She was 10 times worse when I moved in here."

Oh God my poor baby. I want to hold her to help her rid of such a terrible memory but she seems to have recovered.

"Bella, I wanted to talk to you about something."

Bella looks a little scared so I offer her a small smile to ease her fears.

"I wanted to bring my piano here. But that means we would have to clear a space for it."

Bella smiles wide and extends her hand to me. Confused, I give her my hand and allow her to lead me down the hall that has Rosalie and Emmett's bedroom. I haven't really explored the house yet, so I have no idea where she is taking me. She leads me to the end of the hall and opens the last door. She stands off to the side, allowing me to enter before her.

I walk into an empty room with a gorgeous view of the two acres behind the house. The light was pouring into the room, illuminating it. Perfect.

I turn to Bella and smile wide while I grab her and spin her in circles.

"Please tell me this is what I think it is!"

Bella giggles while I keep spinning us.

"This is your new piano room."

I bring her in and kiss her deeply. This woman is so amazing. Her very presence lights up my soul. And for her to do this for me. Wow. I mean, she's already saved me from an awful marriage that shouldn't have happened to begin with. She's accepted me back into her life, no questions asked. She's having me move in with her. And now this.

She's the best person I know.

I nuzzle my face in her neck and whisper that I love her. And I mean it with every fiber of my being. Bella means everything to me. She's so beautiful and kind and forgiving and just.. she's my angel.

After Bella's surprise even Alice can't irritate me. It's just not possible. Bella and I keep sharing smiles while we unpack my stuff. I'm just so happy it would take death to wipe the smile off of my face. But if I were to die now, I could honestly say that I would die a happy man.

It's amazing how much a woman can change things. My priorities have completely flipped. My lifestyle. My outlook on life. Just one smile from her can change my whole world and I wouldn't trade this, trade her, for anything.

Once we get the majority of my stuff unpacked, we call it quits for the night and lounge on the patio drinking beers. We sit here laughing and joking around, soaking in the sunset until Bella calls us all to attention.

"Edward, we've got a surprise for you."

How the hell can she have more surprises for me? What have I done to deserve this woman? I can see the rest of the gang smirking while Bella beams at me.

"Love, you don't have to give me anything. I don't need anything else now that I have you."

Bella blushes lightly and smiles.

"Thank you. But this is something we all agree you deserve."

I look around to see my friends, my family, smiling happily at me. What have they done?

"What is it?"

"Well, as a gift to you from all of us for finally coming back into our lives we did something. Something big."

The anticipation is killing me. What could they have done?

"What?"

"I called the bank earlier so everything is arranged."

I look at her in confusion. The bank?

"Huh?"

"Your practice, Edward."

My practice? What?

Oh. My. God.

"Are you telling me that you guys got me my own practice?!"

The whole gang smiles widely at me and nods.

"No fucking way! I mean, how did you.. what did you.. oh my god I'm.. what?!"

The group laughs but Bella quickly stops to explain.

"One thing you never got that you've always wanted is your own practice. To get out of corporate America. To help people. Now you can. We called the bank and took care of it."

I jump out of my seat.

"You did what?! I mean how? Like that's a lot of money! And like what?!"

I'm so fucking shocked right now. They can't be serious. I mean, they can't just give me a practice, can they? They look so serious and happy. Like this is real.

"You guys aren't joking are you?"

Bella steps forward and grabs my hands.

"No, Edward. We're not joking. We all know how important this is to you. And we want you to be happy. Don't worry about the money, we all combined resources so it really wasn't that big of a deal. Now, all you have to do is go to the bank, sign the papers, and find yourself a location."

I grab a hold of Bella, pulling her in for a hug. I can feel tears welling up in my eyes. I figured that now that I have Bella back the crying shit was over with. Guess not.

"You guys really did this for me?" I whisper.

"Yes, we really did."

I release Bella and pull back to look at everybody.

"Wow, you guys. Just wow. I never expected.. wow. You didn't have to do that. And I know it's a lot of money. Thank you guys so much. I don't think I can really express how thankful I really am. Wow, you guys I love you all so much."

Bella pulls me in for a side hug while the gang all yell out their own I love you, toos. Even Emmett.

I could see tears in all of their eyes. These are the best people in the world. I swear it. And not just because they got me my practice, but because everything they've done they've done it because they love me. They knew this was my dream and they did what they could to make it come true. That's what you do for people you love.

I go around the group hugging them and thanking them individually. Emmett gets me more emotional than anyone else managed. He claims he got something in his eye to make up for the crying then stalks off to the bathroom to take care of it.

I settle into a chair, pulling Bella in my lap. I become mesmerized by the way the breeze flows through Bella's hair. How it carries her scent. The way the setting sun shines on the side of her face, illuminating her pale skin. The spark in her eyes every time she looks at me. The love I see pouring from those eyes.

"I love you." I whisper.

She smiles softly and replies in the same whisper.

"I love you, too."

I give her a soft kiss and rest my forehead against hers. Wasn't it just days ago we were in this very spot doing this very thing? Only she was sad and scared. And if I'm being honest with myself, I was, too. I was scared to death that I would lose my chance with Bella.

But now, we're here. We're together. Happy. We're starting our life together. Nothing can bring me down.

"Uh.. Edward? Tanya is at the door."

I turn to Emmett. Fuck.

Thanks to my beta justme317. She takes a lot of time out of her day to help me out with this.

So there ya have it, folks! Chapter 9! I know cliffies suck, so I'll update soon, I promise.

Let me know what ya think!