Chapter 10

"I love you," he said as he tightened his arms around me.

I woke up with something lightly fluttering up my side. I stirred a bit and it stopped. After a couple of seconds it continued where it had left off. I didn't know what it was until I felt a hand brush across my stomach. I smiled lightly before I opened my eyes and turned my head slightly behind me to find Edward finishing the trail of kisses on my shoulder.

He smiled at me but continued to trail the kisses up my neck making me giggle lightly until he reached my lips. I kissed him back lightly and pulled away to smile at him, "Good morning…again."

He smiled and lightly pecked my lips, "Good morning love."

I turned my head forward and looked right at the window. He lightly placed his chin on my shoulder and wrapped his arm around me, "In a matter of hours you'll be Mrs. Edward Cullen," he whispered to me.

I smiled as I watched the birds outside the window flutter around each other and peck each other on the beaks, "Would you believe me if I said I've been wanting that since I was in second grade?"

"Yes," he sighed, "I just wish I had been in love with you that long. My life would have been more exhilarating and simple with you in it."

"We have each other now," I told him as I took his hand in mine, "That's all that matters."

I turned around onto my back and looked up at him. He was propped up on his elbow looking down at me. His hand stayed on my stomach delicately, "Have you ever doubted in your mind that you loved me?" I asked him.

He shook his head, "No, never."

"Are you…mad that I have?" I asked.

He shook his head again, "No. I understand why you did. And I'm sure that if the situation was reversed and you had left to go somewhere for two years I would have doubted it as well."

"Especially if your mother kept repeating it to you every single day," I reminded him.

He looked into my eyes intently, "Your mother doesn't like me much does she?"

"Why do you ask?" I asked.

"Well it seems like she was trying to convince you that I was bad guy and that I didn't love you. Which is completely wrong by the way," I smiled, "And even when she saw that I was back she wanted you to go out with the guy that I saw leaving her house yesterday."

I pursed my lips, "I don't know if she likes you. Although it seems like she doesn't ha?" I asked. He nodded, "I don't care if she likes you Edward. And you shouldn't care either. The only people you should worry about liking you are me and Carlie."

"Do you like me?" he asked.

"No…I don't like you I love you. There's a huge difference," I told him.

"Do you think Carlie likes me?" he asked.

"She loves you that's for sure. Even before she met you she loved you," I reached up and lightly brushed the hair away from his eyes, "I don't think you have to worry much about her liking you. I guess what I was trying to say is that you have to learn more about her."

"How do I do that?" he asked curiously.

"Just spend as much time with her as you can. Trust me you don't get bored with her…that reminds me…she also got something else from you other than your looks and stubbornness," I told him.

He smiled down at me, "Really? What?" he asked.

"She can play the piano," I told him.

He looked down at me surprised, "Did you give her lessons?" he asked.

"Nope…my mom bought her a small piano and she just started playing. Her fingers just ran over the keyboards and she was playing a melody in seconds."

He grinned down at me, "Aww my little Mozart," he gushed.

I smiled with a small chuckle before I reached up and kissed his lips, "We have to go pick little Mozart up soon." I sat up and wrapped the blanket around me.

"Where you going?" he asked.

"I'm going to take a shower," I paused to turn and look back at him, "You're welcome to join me," I said with a seductive smile.

He got off the bed and followed me into the shower.

I put on my favorite blue jeans that fit my curves perfectly and a teal blouse that was a bit more low-cut in a v than any other shirt I had. I threw my head back–I had just finished blow drying my hair–and ran my fingers through my hair a bit.

I moved my head to the left as I shook the hair with my fingers a bit on that side. A pair of strong arms wrapped my around my waist making me straighten out and look into the mirror. Edward smiled at me before resting his chin on my right shoulder, "You look beautiful."

I smiled at him before I grabbed my engagement ring from the counter and slipped it on the right finger. I twirled around in his arms and wrapped my arms around his waist, "Good because this is what I'm wearing when we get married."

He leaned close to me; his lips just centimeters away from mine, "Are you ready to go pick up Carlie?"

I looked into his eyes lightly, "I'm ready when you are."

He smiled, "Good," he pulled away making me pout a bit. He didn't kiss me. He chuckled lightly, "I'm saving that for the 'I do's'" he told me as he took my hand in his.

I looked at him and noticed that he wasn't wearing a tuxedo, "Is that what you're getting married in?" I asked.

"Yeah…seems like tuxedo's give me bad memories too," he stopped walking and turned to look at me with a confused expression, "Didn't we find James having sex with Lauren the same night that he…?"

I nodded lightly, "I wasn't scared of Lauren that night…I was scared of James. At first I was disgusted that he didn't have enough with me and then I got scared because I thought he might want seconds."

He gently placed a hand on my cheek, "I should have never taken you with me."

"I wanted to go Edward. I was scared to stay alone. That's how the whole mess started," I told him as I leaned into his hand. "What triggered that memory anyways?" I asked curiously.

"Well when I mentioned bad memories about the tux I remembered about the dress which made me remember James and Lauren for some reason," he said a bit confused by it himself.

His hand slid down to my shoulder. I bit my lip with a slight nod to my head, "Anything else you want to know before we leave?" I asked him.

"Did your friends know you had a crush on me?" he asked.

"Yep," I said with a smile.

He looked into my eyes hesitant and sternly, "What?" I asked.

"I was just wondering…did you ever think that if you hadn't been raped that we would have never gotten together?"

"Sometimes," I told him truthfully. "So is that it?" I asked.

"Not even close," he replied truthfully, "One of these days I want us to just…talk about everything."

I was confused by the timing, "Why now? After so many years?" I asked.

"I didn't want to send you back into that deep depression back then. That's why I didn't ask a lot of things. But now that it's been almost a decade…I'm hoping it'll be easier for you to talk about it. And I really, really want to know everything. Everything you felt. Everything you thought. I had so many questions when I found out," he told me as he took my hands in his.

I nodded at him, "Okay…one of these days…I'll tell you everything," I sighed out.

He smiled at me before he cupped my face in his hands, "Umm…I thought you were saving this part?" I asked with smile.

He smiled back before he moved his lips towards my forehead and kissed it lightly, "I am."

"Are you ready to go?" I asked with a small chuckle.

He smiled at me, "Yep," he said before he entwined his fingers with mine. "Do you want to eat first?" he asked once we were downstairs.

"I was actually gonna ask you if you wanted to eat out? We have to go to the store to buy Carlie that movie she wanted anyways," I told him as I started for the door.

"Okay…what time do you want to get married?" he asked.

"Well today is Sunday so we'd have to inform the pastor first so that he can tell us a good time," I told him before I locked the front door behind us.

"Do you take Carlie to church?" he asked as we got into my car.

"My mom usually has her on Sundays so she takes her," I said as I started the car.

"Why does your mom take her every weekend?" he asked.

"My mom worked that arrangement out after I had Carlie for a couple of weeks. It was just too much pressure and stress for me to handle. My mom noticed so she offered to take her every weekend," I said with a shrug.

"How do you think your mom is going to take our news?" he asked.

I sighed but never looked at him, "I don't know." I really don't. That woman goes to being the best mom in the world to the worst in seconds.

A/N: Review please!