DISCLAIMER: The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creation of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The Cullen 'children' enjoy a surprise at their new home.

A Little Surprise

We'd been attending Dartmouth for nearly two weeks and she was finally enjoying her college experience. I was enjoying getting to feel like a regular student with Bella blocking me everyday. She was a little annoyed that I made her hunt more than normal because of this, but we had come to a compromise about it.

I was supposed to be working on a short essay for English, but I kept finding that my attention was not on my homework. It kept straying to my beautiful wife who was stretched on our bed just a few feet away from me. She was working on her math.

'Edward! Let's take a break.' Jasper

'We know you aren't really doing your homework even if Bella is doing hers.' Emmett

'Let's take the girls out and show them that surprise we've been saving.' Jasper

'Come on, Ed! You know you want to see Bella in her little outfit again.' Emmett

I snorted and Bella looked up at me.

"What?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.

"Nothing, love. Just an errant thought," I said, smiling for her.

'Liar!' Emmett

'Come on, Edward!' Jasper

"Bella, would you like to take a break for a bit?" I asked her.

'Finally!' Emmett

'I knew he would agree.' Jasper

"I'm nearly done if you can give me ten more minutes," Bella replied, smiling at me.

"Certainly."

I walked over to her and kissed her forehead. I went into our closet and found the clothing we would need for this little surprise. I headed into the bathroom and changed. I left Bella's clothing on the counter.

I returned to the sofa and picked up my essay again. The ten minutes passed very slowly as I waited anxiously for Bella to finish her homework. I was getting ready to go downstairs so that I wouldn't disturb her when she picked up her head and smiled at me.

"Done!"

"You'll need to change. I've put your clothing in the bathroom for you."

"Thank you!" Bella said, as she skipped toward our bathroom. She started laughing when she saw what was on the counter. "You really like this one, don't you?"

"You look exquisite in it, love."

"Will it be just the two of us?"

"No. The others are coming as well."

"Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise."

"Isn't it always?" Bella chuckled. She stepped out of the bathroom and posed for me. "How does it look?"

I ran to her and scooped her into my arms. She started giggling. "It looks remarkable on you." There were a lot of other adjectives I would have used, but we needed to get downstairs. "I love you, Isabella."

"I love you, Edward. Let's go find the others so I can find out about this surprise!"

I took her hand in mine and led her down the hallway. Our siblings were already waiting at the door.

"We all have our waterfall outfits on!" Bella pointed out. "Are we going swimming?"

"Possibly," I replied.

"Stop trying to pry the answers out of Edward, Picky," Emmett said, as he opened the front door.

"I was just asking an innocent question," Bella replied with a grin.

"Sure you were," Jasper said, rolling his eyes. He pushed Bella and me out of the house.

"If I really wanted to know, I could just ask your wife," Bella quipped.

"Ask her all you want. My Alice has been sworn to secrecy," Jasper replied with a huge smile.

"Alice, help your little sister out," Bella pleaded, hugging our spiky haired sister.

"Sorry, Bella," Alice sighed. "It's a really good reward for being quiet!"

"Piggy-back race!" Emmett yelled.

"Yeah!" Alice laughed, clapping her hands. She jumped right up onto Jasper's back.

Rosalie even chuckled as Emmett helped her onto his back. Bella looked a little hesitant and I smiled her favorite grin for her. She smiled back and climbed onto my back.

"ReadySetGo!" Alice yelled all in one breath. Jasper started running before Emmett and I were even ready.

"We haven't done this in a long while," Bella sighed against my ear as we ran.

"Why did you look hesitant?" I asked softly.

"I wasn't hesitant. I was just remembering one of the last times I got to ride on your back this way. It was the first time you took me to see the stars in Alaska. You were so wonderful to me that night. You made the whole night seem as if nothing had really changed. So much has happened since then."

"Yes. We've become closer. We've learned even more about each other. You've become more confident and independent and sure of yourself."

"And you've become calmer and much more forgiving of yourself."

"Do you know the best change that has occurred in the past year?"

"I have an idea, but why don't you tell me?"

"My love for you has only grown."

"As mine has for you."

Bella and I were the first to pass through the bushes and make it to the surprise even with Alice cheating. Jasper and Alice were right behind us with Emmett and Rosalie at the rear. Jasper ran across the dock, still holding onto Alice, and jumped into the water with her. I let Bella down and she ran to the edge of the water. I followed after her and wrapped my arms around her waist.

"It's so beautiful, Edward," Bella sighed.

"It pales in comparison to you, love," I whispered, pressing my cheek against hers.

Rosalie made Emmett put her down. She very gracefully dove into the water. Emmett pounded across the dock and launched himself into the water, causing a small wave to float across the surface.

"Get in here you two!" Emmett laughed.

"Later," Bella called back.

"Why later?" I asked.

"I don't remember how to swim. I only remember …"

I knew exactly what she was remembering. Before she had a chance to really get herself worked up over it, I decided to take her mind off of it. I scooped Bella up bridal style and ran across the dock with her.

"Edward, let me down!" she laughed.

"I will!" I chuckled.

I swung my arms out and tossed Bella into the lake. She landed near Emmett, right where I was aiming. I dove in after her and when I came up, she was clinging to Emmett's shoulders and laughing. I swam over to her and took her into my arms.

"I granted your wish, love. I let you down," I said, winking at her.

"So you did!" Bella laughed.

"Do you like the surprise?" I asked.

Her golden eyes sparkled with happiness. "I love it, Edward."

"Let's see if we can get you to remember how to swim." I pushed Bella away until she was only holding onto my fingers. "Let go and see what you remember about swimming."

Bella let go and started to sink. I grabbed her wrist and pulled her up, into my chest.

"You have to focus. Your body is much heavier now. You'll sink straight down if you don't."

"Okay. Let's try that again," Bella said.

She pushed herself away and let go of my hand. She kept herself afloat by moving her arms and kicking her legs.

"Good, Bella. Now try to swim to me," I instructed as I moved further into the lake. "Remember! You don't have to breathe so there's nothing to be worried about."

"Except sinking," Emmett laughed.

"Emmett, you're not helping," I warned. Rosalie smacked him in the back of the head for me.

I watched as Jasper swam over to Bella. He whispered into her ear and she started smiling. Jasper looked at me and let me hear his thought. 'She's going to do fine.'

I nodded my head to him and smiled at my wife. "Come on, Bella." She took a deep breath and dove under the water. I waited for her to pop up.

She startled me when she came up behind me and wrapped her arms around my neck. "How's that?"

I pulled her in front of me and kissed her cheek. "Excellent."

"Now that Picky has the hang of this, it's time to play!" Emmett said. "Who's up for Marco Polo?"

"Emmett, you're it from last time," Alice chirped.

"It's a new game," Emmett whined. "Let someone else be it first."

"I'll give it a try," Bella said. "I don't remember this game though. How do you play?"

"Thanks, Picky," Emmett replied. "You just swim yourself over to the dock there and close your little eyes. Then you try to find us and if you aren't having luck, yell out Marco and we'll say Polo."

"Sounds easy enough," Bella said, as she looked up at me.

"I think that we should put in the rule that whoever is 'it' has to stop breathing," I told them. "Otherwise, Bella will smell us out."

"I hate not breathing, Edward," Bella whined. "Come on!"

"Edward's just worried you'll make him 'it' the entire game," Emmett remarked.

"You won't be 'it' that long," Bella pleaded. "You're the fastest so I know you'll get someone else right away. Besides, I might not even go after you."

"Fine," I relented. "But try to go after them, too."

"I will!" Bella said as she kissed the tip of my nose. She turned and swam away to the dock. We all moved around in the water while her back was turned to us. "Ready?" she asked. We were all silent, shaking our heads at her. She really didn't remember this game. "Marco?" Bella questioned.

"Polo!" we answered, trying not to laugh.

Bella turned around and called out again. "Marco?"

"Polo!" we said back to her.

She smiled and started moving to the right toward Alice. My sister tried to quietly move under the water to swim away, but Bella heard her. She sped through the water and grabbed Alice around the waist. They laughed together as they turned in the water.

"Bella looked like a little shark when she attacked Alice that way," Emmett laughed. 'Maybe I should start calling her Mako or Sharkie.'

"No, Emmett. Bella has enough nicknames," I warned.

"Alice is it!" Bella sang, as she made her way over to me. "I like this game."

"I'm glad. But you have to swim away now so that Alice won't get us both," I told her as I kissed her forehead.

"So. That wouldn't be so bad," Bella said, as she wrapped her arms around my neck.

"Alice, no cheating this time," Rose cautioned.

"Jasper already asked me to play nice," Alice replied. "But thanks for letting me know where you are!"

"Crap!" Rose grumbled as she tried to swim away.

Bella laughed as she watched our sisters chase each other around the lake. Alice finally grabbed a hold of Rosalie's ankle.

"Yeah!" Alice sang.

We played the game until the sun started to set. Rose and Alice decided they'd had enough. Emmett and Jasper decided to leave with them in hopes of shared showers once they got home. Bella wanted us to stay to see the stars come out.

"Look at the way the sky's reflecting on the water," Bella said softly, as we swam toward the dock.

I helped her out of the water and we lay side by side on the dock, looking up at the sky.

"Has the sky changed much since you've been alive?"

I took her hand and locked our fingers together. "A few stars have died, a few have been born, and satellites now orbit around the Earth. Other than that, the sky is fairly consistent."

"Some cultures used to believe that if you were a hero, the gods would put you in the stars so no one would ever forget you. I read that in one of Jasper's books a few months ago." Bella was quiet for a few minutes, before speaking again. "What do you think would happen if a vampire went to the moon?"

I chuckled at her question. "They wouldn't be able to. They'd never pass the medical exam for NASA."

"What if they went to Russia and paid all that money to get into space?"

"I don't know. I assume they would just walk around. It's not like we need to breathe."

"I know that part. I was talking more about the gravity part. Humans are so weightless when they're up there. I just wonder what it would be like for a vampire."

"Would you like to see the moon, Bella?" I chuckled.

"Not me. Only from right here in your arms. If I went up there, I'd probably fall and break the moon or something."

"Fall and break the moon?" I laughed. I lifted Bella and set her on my chest. "You are absurd, Bella. I doubt you would break the moon."

"You never know with me," Bella chuckled.

"We should definitely keep this conversation between ourselves. If Emmett gets wind of it we'll all find ourselves on the way to the moon. He'll want to go just to see if you can fall."

"And you'll be there to catch me if I do," Bella whispered as she leaned in to kiss me.

"Always, love," I told her, as I pulled her to me and pressed our lips together.

Bella rested her head next to mine and whispered into my ear. "Edward, I have something new I want to experience with you."

"What's that, love?"

Bella giggled nervously. "Skinny dipping!"

I reached up and untied her top.

"Hey!" she fussed. "I could have just been teasing. How do you know I was serious?"

"It's too late to take it back," I chuckled. "I've already pictured it in my mind."

"Are you sure we're alone?"

"Positive."

Bella sat up and let her top fall into her lap. "I think you have some more clothing to remove, Mr. Cullen."

"I think you're right, Mrs. Cullen!" I wrapped my arms around Bella and quickly jumped into the water with her.

"What are you doing?" she laughed.

I reached down and slid her bikini bottom off, tossing it onto the dock. I smiled at my beautiful wife and kissed her nose. "Just making sure you don't change your mind."

"Hmmm … swimming around with my perfectly beautiful and very naked husband or heading home to finish more homework? What should I choose?" Bella said, tapping her chin with her finger. She smiled and wrapped her arms and legs around me.

"I'm hoping for the first," I replied.

Bella smiled and kissed me. I took that as a 'yes' to option one.