Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight

*BPOV*

The rest of the day went by in a haze and before I knew it we were headed back to my significantly smaller house across town. Edward had called me several times, most while at the house with Rose, Alice and Esme.

(Flashback)

After finding the ring, Alice began babbling about planning events for me, and I just picked at my salad. Esme sensed the change in my earlier happy mood to one of confusion. She pulled me aside at one point "I'm sorry I have made you uncomfortable. If you knew how much he has cared for you all these years. Oh Bella, my son is smart about a great many things, but when it comes to his heart and opening it up to those who care for him, this he is clueless about. Especially when it came to you. Hel realized that he loved you when he was nine years old, but he didn't realize that he had to tell you until you told him you were leaving. Then it was too late and you were gone." We had walked to the den away from Emily, Jane and Alec as well as Rose, and Alice who was still fawning over Joey. I walked in to the den and looked up for comfort to the painting I had always loved, and found it gone.

I turned to Esme. "Where's the painting?" It had been replaced by some nature scene that I didn't like as much. Esme smiled, "Follow me." We ascended the stairs to the second floor. I noticed there were pictures from throughout our childhood all over the walls going up the stairway. Esme turned to me and looked very serious, "What I show you now is to remain between us. Alice and Rose haven't seen this; it was something Edward asked for after he graduated from medical school. He intended to come and tell you how he felt. To win you over and get you to move back with him." She opened the door to the room that was next to what had been Edward's and probably still was.

The room was beautiful. It had been one of many guest rooms. I had even stayed in it a couple of times. It was larger now though, and I couldn't figure out how that was. Esme had redecorated it in shades of green and cream. Positioned over the small fireplace in the room was the painting. It was the centerpiece of the room, and in various spots were pictures of all of growing up, there were several candid's of Edward and I. The furniture was a beautiful cherry wood set, a sleigh bed with head and foot boards, matching night stands, dresser, mirror and chest. The window had a bench built in with fluffy pillows on it, a bookshelf build into the wall. The bed was screaming for me to lay down on it, instead I just ran my hand across the quilt. I loved it; everything seemed to compliment the painting.

"Esme, it is beautiful." I said continuing to examine the room. There were cream colored roses on one night stand, and silk gardenias on a small table in another corner. My phone buzzed in my pocket I knew it was him before I even looked. "Yes Edward?" I said when I answered it; I took in the intensity of what it all meant. "So what's the plan for dinner? Did you decide what I'm either picking up or making for dinner?" He sounded happy, overly so. I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat, "you don't have to do anything, really. I don't want to put you out at all. And I had a late lunch at the house with Alice, Rose and your mom, so…" I felt overwhelmed, I was in a grand suite of a bedroom that was designed with me in mind and somewhere in the room next door was a ring bought with me in mind. "Bella, no getting out of this, if you don't tell me something that means that I am stopping and getting hospital leftovers before I leave here. So what is it going to be?" He chuckled. "I don't want you to go out of your way, really." I was looking at Esme who was shaking her head at me with a smile on her face. I sighed she was not going to help me here at all. He sighed, "Put my mother on the phone. I am assuming she is right there." I turned and looked at her again. "I, I how did you know I was still at the house?" I asked afraid he was here and would find us in this room. I didn't know how I was going to handle all that I had learned this afternoon, let alone be near him now.

"Just put Esme on." He said more directly. I handed her the phone, "He, um, wants to talk to you." She smiled and I thought she looked like she was plotting something. "Hello dear," she said very cheerfully. I don't know what he was saying, but Esme's side of the conversation was almost as impossible to follow with her ambiguous responses to him "Yes. Well of course. Would you like me to? Well I just might. I'm your mother and even though you think you know everything, sometimes I still know what is best for you even when you don't. Yes. Don't take that tone with me young man. Goodbye Edward." She hung up the phone and handed it back to me. She winked and said, "Well my son is not happy with me, and he is on his way home before heading to you house to talk." We looked out of the room and I turned to take one last look before she closed the door. I gathered up Emily and Joey said good bye to Rose and her twins. Alice was busily writing out plans for showers and other schemes. She promised to call me later if she didn't hear from me after Edward had left my house.

(End of Flashback)

So here I was sitting on the floor playing with Emily and her Fisher Price little people while Joey was playing in his excer-saucer giggling away at his reflection in a small mirror attached to it. I was not totally listening to Emily as she babbled away about playing with Jane and Alec, it was clear they had had fun, and I was glad. Rose and I had discussed having more play dates. Esme even offered to watch both Emily and Joey for me when I worked my shifts at the Police station. I thought playing with children close to her age would be good for her, and I knew how close I had been with the Cullen's growing up and wanted the same for Emily. It was in the midst of listening to my little girl and thinking about the beautiful room Edward had created and the ring that he still had for me that the doorbell rang. I looked up at the door, and I knew it was Edward. Emily looked up too; she smiled and yelled "Grandpa Charlie!" as she ran toward the door. I followed her, and opened the door to see a flustered looking Edward with two bags with take out. Emily looked up at him and said "You aren't Grandpa Charlie!" He chuckled and got right down to be eye level with her, "You're right I am not Grandpa Charlie. I am Edward, and I am an old friend of your mommy's. Just like Alec is your friend." Emily gave him her biggest smile and turned to go back to her toys satisfied that he was safe since he knew Alec, and based on her constant chatter after we had left, if Alec said it was so, she would believe it.

I gestured for Edward to come in and offered to help him with the bags that he had. "Point me toward the kitchen." he said with confidence. I lead him through the living room and into the kitchen. "I like what you did with it."He said as he looked around the small room. I looked around for the first time really and noticed that Charlie and Sue had found all of my matching dinnerware accessories and had put everything out somewhere. "Charlie and Sue did most of it; the pattern was mine from back in New York. It's called Orleans." I was so nervous about him being here. I didn't know if he was mad about today, I never got to ask Esme what he had said to her. I watched him as he moved around my small little kitchen. He almost looked at ease, and even more so I liked how he looked here. Like he belonged here, and I tried not to over think that one. He turned and caught me watching him, "You going to stare at me, or help?" He asked and before I could answer Emily's small voice came from the doorway behind me "I a helper. I put napkins on the table. Mommy says I'm a good girl and her best helper." She walked right up to him and put her hand out for the napkins. He gave three and she walked over to the table and placed them at the spots she had designated for us. He opened the cabinets and found the plates, when Emily was done with the napkins he handed her the plates. The two of them quietly set the table and dished out what looked like Chinese.

Edward turned to me smiled and said "Are you hungry? I got your favorite." I sniffed the air, "Is that from Golden Gate?" my mouth began to water, Edward and I had lived off of take out from Golden Gate our senior year. He smiled as he placed Emily into her booster seat at the table. I marveled at her ease with him, she had never let her father do that. "Now what about the little guy, I heard he was nothing but smiles for Alice. I also heard she has plans for you, something about another shower. Man Rose is going to have to explain to her that she needs to ease up on those things. I don't think Emmett can handle another one." He walked passed me chuckling and returned with Joey in his arms. I was surprised how comfortable he was with both Emily and Joey, but then again he was an uncle to twins. He placed Joey in his high chair, and when Joey smiled he slid his finger across his gums and felt for teeth. "Okay buddy this is for you." He said placing a small bowl in front of him, and then scooping something from another bowl with his hand sprinkling it on the tray. "Mashed bananas and cheerios and when he is done, I'll bathe him since it will be my fault he got dirty." I smiled "Deal" I couldn't believe how well he was dealing with both of my children. It was almost how my life should have been, if things had gone right instead of wrong.

Dinner was delicious, Edward and Emily chatted the whole time. She told him all kinds of stories and he in turn listened and validated her comments. Joey was covered in banana but had eaten fairly well, and there wasn't a single cheerio in sight. When the table was cleared and both Emily and Joey were bathed and in bed Edward stood in my living room looking at a picture on the mantel and said "We need to talk." The lump was back, I knew dinner had gone too well and now this was the shoe dropping. Was it because of today; was it because of the things I told him last night? I could feel the panic forming. I sat down on the couch, when he turned to look at me I bit my lip. He walked over and sat next to me. His hand went to touch mine, and I saw that I was shaking and so did he. He took my hand and interlaced our fingers he lifted the two and turned my hand over brought it to his lips and kissed it.

"I know this is all a lot, and I'm sorry you have been dragged into it all. If Sue and I had not gone into Alice and Rose's shop the other day…" He cut me off before I could finish. "If Sue hadn't taken you in there, then I wouldn't have a second chance right now. Not that I even deserve the chance, but I have it, and because of that I am going to be greedy." He was still holding my hand, his fingers now playing with mine the feeling sent shivers down my spine. I looked down and saw that he was tracing circles with his fingers on the back of my hand, they paying extra attention to my ring finger. "I did a great many things wrong over the years, and now I get the chance to try and do them right. I hope you will give me the opportunity that is. I would like the chance to take you out on Friday." He lifted my chin to look me in the eyes.

"So, do you have plans for Friday evening?" I tried to think of what to say, and then it came to me. "Yes, actually I do." He looked sad all of a sudden "Oh. Well then maybe another time?" I tried not to laugh at him, and his eyes got quizzical "What is so funny?" I shrugged, "My plans were with you, but if you want to cancel that's up to you." He his deep green eyes, widened and then he said in a tone that sounded like I could be in trouble "I'm not canceling. Now, for the rest of our evening, I have a couple of movies and popcorn in the last bag over there. You up for it?" He wiggled his eye brows at me. I laughed and got up to grab the bag. I tossed him the popcorn and looked at what he had grabbed. "Um, Edward did you choose these or did Alice?" I asked laughing at the choices. "I asked Alice to pick two, and then I grabbed two. I figured the variety would be good to chose from instead of everything being the same. Why?" He sounded nervous. "Oh don't worry. Here, this is a funny one from what I have heard." Edward came back into the living room with the bag of popcorn, as I put the DVD in. "What did you pick?" He asked. I laughed "Well Alice picked it, it was also the only one in a case, and so it would appear that we didn't have much of a choice. Unless you don't want to watch it at all and we can find something else either from my movies or on TV." I handed him the case. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. Edward laughed "Leave it to Alice."

We sat down on the couch next to each other, I sat with my legs folded underneath me and began watching the movie, at some point we had gotten so into the movie or at least I had that I didn't notice him put his arm around me and move me closer to him. I also did catch him rest his other hand on my thigh; it wasn't until I rested my head against his shoulder that I caught the hitch in his breathing. I turned to look at him and see if he was okay. His eyes were closed and his head was turned toward me, he seemed to be sniffing my hair. "Edward, what are you doing?" I asked. He didn't open his eyes; he breathed deeply and said "Violets. You used to smell like strawberries, but now you smell like violets."

He opened his eyes and looked at me, the color reminded me of rare emeralds, my mouth went dry he leaned in towards me and inhaled again. I stopped breathing, wondering what he was going to do. Anticipating the kiss that was coming I bit my lower lip. "That used to drive me nuts when we were in school. It always made me want to…" But before he could say it, he was doing it, he was kissing me. Edward was kissing me like I had dreamed of for so long. I sighed against him, his tongue tracing my lower lip, asking for permission, trying to coax me mouth open. My body responded to him, granting him entrance, taking down the walls that had surrounded me. I found myself pressing against him, his arm drawing me closer his other hand holding my thigh as if he was hanging on to me for dear life. As his tongue slid into my mouth and touched my own my body responded again, with a sound that I had never made before. I let out what sounded like a cross between a moan and his name, goose bumps spread across my entire body, and a shiver raced down my spine. Edward broke the kiss, breathing heavy and resting his forehead against mine.

"Bella, I want to take this slow. Do it right, like I should have before. I am not going to lie to you, in fact flat out; I am telling you right now, I have been in love with you for most of my life. Please just listen before you say anything. Because I need to not regret telling you this, but after talking to Esme this afternoon, I think you might already know. And if you don't I need you to hear it from me before some deranged pixie find out and deems it her right to tell you." He sighed, I knew what was coming, but I sat silently with my head against his. "I loved you for so long; I don't know why I never told you back in school. I think I wanted you, well both of us to have a chance to see other people before we were together because I knew we would last and the others wouldn't. I didn't want you to miss out on things because of me. I didn't think it was fair. I hated it though. Seeing Newton stare at you all the time, listening to the retelling of dates, hearing how he tried to feel you up at homecoming. I was so glad that you turned everyone down for prom. I, I, I guess I always thought that you knew I was there waiting for my chance. That when we went away, that I would finally have it. That once we graduated I would propose, and after med school we would have the wedding of our dreams. I guess I planned it all out in my head, but I forgot to tell you the plan. And because of that, I lost you. Bella, I don't want to lose you again. This time, my only plan is to take it a day at a time. I won't push, however you want to handle it, I will take it. Also, because well like I said I don't want my sister to do it for me, there is this." He reached into his pocket, my heart stopped all together.

"I bought this for you after Prom; I was going to give it to you after graduation. And well, you know what happened. I actually went to your house before you were supposed to leave for school, I climbed the old oak and into your bedroom window. But you were gone. I kept it, hoping that one day you would come home, maybe at Christmas break, or when school let out. But you never did." I closed my eyes listening to him, realizing that I had been so stupid, so wrapped up in myself and how I hated that I was his backup, but here he was telling me that he only did that so that I would not regret having only been with him. He didn't put the ring on my finger instead he placed it in the palm of my hand and closed my fingers around it. "This was supposed to be my promise to you…" I opened my eyes, and then opened my hand, and then opened my mouth at what was before me.

"Edward this is not a promise ring…" I said as I stared down at my hand. It was an engagement ring, a Tiffany's engagement ring. I couldn't speak, but then he did. "I decided that you needed better than the promise of a teenage boy who was too stupid to tell you how he truly felt. You needed the promise of a man, who loved you more than life itself. Bella, I don't want you to say yes, not right now. We have a lot to get you through first. We have a lot to get us through first. But I need you to know, that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to be with you until I take my last breath. I told you I learned my lesson. And unless you tell me no, that it is never going to happen, this ring is yours." He let out a ragged breath; he hadn't opened his eyes yet.

The movie was over and I was trying to find the words for what had just happened. I was fighting back the tears, but this time they were good ones. He loved me; he had always loved me, just as I had always loved him. So I said it "Edward, I left because I loved you and I thought you didn't love me the same way. I didn't come back, well because I loved you. I thought that you would have found someone, and been happy and I couldn't stand the thought of that so jealousy for someone who didn't exist kept me away. I settled for someone that I shouldn't have, because I loved you, I took beating because he knew that you still had my heart whether you knew it or not. I came home because I needed to be in the one place where I had once been happy. I never dreamed that I would come back and have you here like this, but deep down I had hoped. I drove here praying that you still be around, that I would have my friend. I never dreamed of the chance for more. I came back because I love you still." I sighed and he finally opened his eyes, the emerald green held something more again. They sparkled like the diamond on the ring in my hand.

"I have something else for you, but I had to give you the ring first. This is so that no matter what, until you are ready to wear my ring on your finger that you know you have my heart forever." He opened his hand and down dangled a huge crystal heart on a chain. He placed it around my neck, and then looked at me. I touched the heart with the hand that wasn't holding the ring, and then I looked back at the ring. "Can I keep it? Or do you want to hold on to it until…well, I don't know what to say. I am assuming that you plan on proposing at some point. Unless that was, I mean…um…" I was tripping over my own words. I couldn't stop looking at the ring. My fingers twitched with wanting to try it on. With the idea of this being on me forever, that if I hadn't left this would already be on me. "Bella, I want to be able to do this all right. But when have we ever done anything the way that we were supposed to? If you want to try it, see if it even fits, if you even like it on. You can." I fumbled with it, afraid to damage it, it looked like it cost a fortune, and I had never owned anything remotely close to this. "Here let me, so in case I don't get the chance later I can say I put on you at least once." He let out a nervous laugh and slid the ring on to my left ring finger. I looked at it, it was perfect and I began to feel the tears fall. I looked up at him, and he appeared to be holding his breath. "Edward, when the time comes and you want to ask, I know my answer." I held his face in my hands and he closed his eyes again, leaned against my forehead again and let out the breath he had been holding. Before either of us could say anything further his phone rang. He didn't move, and it stopped. "It wasn't the pager, whoever it is can wait." He said almost breathlessly, he leaned in to kiss me. It wasn't like the last one; this had the promise of forever in it. The promise of the ring on my finger and the pendant I wore, the promise of his love. His phone went off again, then stopped then started again. He let out a growl, and when the phone rang a fourth time we both knew who it was. When it stopped this time we thought that she had given up, but were proven wrong when my phone rang. He grabbed it and spoke in a tone I had never heard from him before "MARY ALICE HALE, DO YOU MIND!" I couldn't hear her, but I could only imagine her being upset that he hadn't answered her calls, "Alice, I am trying to admire the beauty of the woman I love, and the way she makes a diamond ring sparkle. Now if you don't mind I want to finish kissing her like she deserves. I will tell her to call you tomorrow when she is free, because she will not be that way for the rest of the night!" and with that he hung up my phone and turned it off, then he grabbed his phone and did the same. "Like I said it wasn't the pager, anything else can wait."

*EPOV*

I can't believe that I just told my sister I had basically proposed to Bella. When I got home from the hospital I entered my room to find the drawer where the note from Bella and the ring I bought open, clothes in a pouring out of it. Someone, Alice I assumed had found the ring. I went to the drawer and reached the back where the velvet box was. It had been moved, "MARY ALICE!" I yelled and she came bouncing into my room. I held the box up, and she screamed. "I knew it; you are going to propose to her! Oh Edward, I am so happy for you!" I growled and said to her "Does she know about this? Clearly someone went through my drawer and found it, does she know?" Alice seemed unmoved by my anger. "Edward, she knows but she doesn't. She hasn't seen it, though I think Esme showed her the room. Why do you assume that I don't know everything or that at times that I don't know them before you do?" She smiled at me. "Just ask her Edward. Just tell her how you feel and ask her."

Before I left for Bella's I stepped into the room next to mine, I thought of her and what I would say to her when I got to her house. I looked t the painting that she had loved for so many years, thinking of how greedy I had been in wanting to hide it way, that like my heart it had belonged to her. I decided then what I would do, that I would give it to her. Give her my heart and all my love as I should have so long ago.

And now I had her pinned on her couch, like an angst driven teenager, making out with her. All I wanted was to touch her. Hold her, love her the way I should have for all those lost years. "Bella," my voice was rough, my heart was pounding and I didn't want this to go any farther if it wasn't what she wanted. She looked up at me, her chocolate eyes melting me instantly; she seemed to know where my thoughts were going. She reached and hit the power button on the remote, I moved to help her and she hopped up off the couch. I grabbed her waist and pulled her back to me, my arms felt empty without her, "where are you going?" I asked in a playful tone. With that she did something I didn't expect, she crushed her mouth to mine, and grabbed at the waist of my pants. As fast as she had done it she hopped off and run toward the stairs laughing. "What are you doing?" I asked sensing that she was playing some kind of game; I looked down and then back up at her trying to determine what had happened. She laughed and then waved her hand at me, the gleam of the diamond she still had on stunned me and then I saw what she was holding. "Bella…not funny." She had a teasing look on her face when she said "You better come and get it then. Or hope that it doesn't go off." I hopped off the couch and over the love seat and in three strides was at the stairs grabbing for her. She squealed and ran up the stairs. Taking them two at a time I was behind her in seconds and reached her before she got to the door to her bedroom.

"Where are you going with my pager?" I asked as I pinned her against the wall in the hallway. "Isn't enough that you are running around with my heart all the time, now you had to have my pager?" I teased her and raised her arms over her head kissing her neck where the chain holding the pendant lay. She released my pager and a soft moan at the same time. I looked up at her, not wanting to wait the babies. Took her wrists with my free hand and pulled her into her room. "Now where were we?" I asked as I set my pager on her nightstand and began to kiss her neck again.

Sorry it took so long for me to update, this ended up being much longer than I had planned. I am also working on another story that I will put up within the next few days. The next chapter for this one is coming, probably tomorrow. I hope you liked this one. I also posted pictures of the painting, ring and necklace on my profile. Thanks for reading. :)