Disclaimer: All things Twilight belong to the wonderful Stephenie Meyer and not to me… sigh.I also don't own Sleeping with the Enemy. The book belongs to Nancy Price and the movie belongs to Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation.

Sleeping with a Monster


Previously…

Could she be redeemed? I had to try. Try to purge the corruption from her, make her pure again and regain our love. Our reunion would be a sweet release after such a long absence – sweet as a lover's first kiss, yet with all the familiarity of rejoining with the woman that I knew inside and out.


Chapter 33 – Costumes and Carnivals


BPOV

I heard the phone ring, rousing me from my sleep. I felt Edward stir next to me as he fumbled on the nightstand trying to silence the ringing. I opened one eye and peered at the clock - four thirty in the morning. I grumbled and pulled the pillow over my head.

"Hello?" Edward's voice was low and rough from sleep. "Uh-huh… Mm…" I tried to tune out his incoherent conversation and fall back to sleep, but I felt sleep slip away.

Edward continued his conversation, becoming more coherent as he woke up. "Yeah… All right... I'm on my way." I peeked out at him from under the pillow as he hung up his phone and rubbed hands over his face. The covers had slid down around his waist revealing his glorious muscular chest. He turned to me and smiled when he caught me ogling him.

"What are you doing under there?" He sidled over and slipped his head under the pillow with me. I sighed happily.

"Just admiring the view." I gave him a sleepy smile. Edward snorted at my comment before pressing a trail of kissed along my jaw. Any vestiges of sleep quickly left and I felt my breathing pick up as I asked, "Was that work?"

"Mmmm," he mumbled against my skin as he started in on my neck, pulling me closer to him as he went. I knocked the pillow off our heads when I plunged my hands in to his hair, enjoying his morning worship.

Living with Edward was a lot different from staying over with Edward. In some ways, we fit together perfectly and in others, we didn't. When did our laundry, we quickly fell into a routine that would consist of me doing the laundry and piling our clean clothes on the bed or the couch. Edward would make quick work of it folding, hanging and putting away all the laundry. It was perfect. I hated the folding and putting away which he liked to do, whereas he hated the actual chore of sorting the clothing and keeping on top of switching out the loads of clothes, which was the part I liked.

On the other hand, my habit of never hanging up my clothes and piling them on a chair drove him nuts. Just as his habit of throwing his dirty socks and clothes in a pile on the floor of the closet instead of in the hamper drove me insane. However, it was certainly worth it and a far cry from the insanity of the last man I lived with. I would take Edward's pile of dirty clothes in the closet over James any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Edward brought his face back up to mine and kissed me deeply, passionately before he pulled away. Even though the room was dark, I could still see his features in the faint light of he alarm clock as he looked down at me. A smile brightened his face.

"You will be coming by this afternoon, right?" His voice matched the smile and I could hear the underlying eagerness.

"Of course," I smiled, but then quickly frowned. "Do I really have to wear a costume?"

"It's Halloween! Of course you do," He said in mock shock. His face flashed with mischief as he said, "There'll be trick or treating and candy… And you have to wear a costume if you want some of my special candy." Edward waggled his eyebrows at me suggestively causing me to giggle. It always reminded me of his brother.

"Really. So do you give some of this 'special' candy to everyone who wear's a costume?" I said innocently as I drew little circles on his chest with my finger.

"Nope," he said, popping the 'p' at the end. "That's just for hot English teachers."

"Dr. Cullen. Are you hot for teacher?" He gave me a wicked smile. He threw his head back laughing, giving me a wonderful view of his neck.

"I love a girl who quotes Van Halen," He growled lightly before kissing me hard. However, he groaned loudly and pulled away. "Argh. Stop tempting me woman! I've got to get to work." I laughed at his sternness and the fact that it was Edward attacking my lips and not the other way around.

"Then get out of bed!" I laughed and pushed him away. Edward smirked and made to grab me again. "And stop envisioning me in that Van Halen video." I playfully slapped his hands away.

"How did you…" Edward started but suddenly stopped when he saw my evil smirk and gave me a sheepish grin.

"How long have you been entertaining that little fantasy?" I snickered as his blushing face. Well, now. This is interesting.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he mumbled, unable to meet my eyes. "Time for a shower." He jumped out of bed and scowled as my giggles chased him all the way into the bathroom.

I smiled at the euphoric feeling I had as I snuggled back down into the covers. I closed my eyes and allowed my mind to wander. Having a man that truly adored me and treated me with such love and respect was mind blowing after James and sometimes I felt a little disoriented. I attributed this sensation to all the memories and repressed feelings coming to the surface as a result of my visits with Dr. Colton. Once Lillian had a better picture of the 'ordeals' I experienced during my marriage to James, she increased my visits to three times a week, promising to scale back once we made some headway in facing my fears.

After that first session with Lillian, I felt vulnerable, again. But I knew it was because I was letting someone else into my secret world. It was also because, unlike Edward and everyone else who knew my story, she would be the one to know everything. I still wasn't sure how I felt about that. In a way is scared the crap out of me. I have always a private person.

During our second session, Lillian warned me that many of my fears would manifest themselves throughout the week. She said I would start to see things that would remind me of James and certain circumstances from the marriage and she stressed that I not read into them. Therefore, when I came home and saw a few items of red clothing I owed grouped together in the closet, I sucked in a large calming breath to ease the sudden panic I felt. It reminded me that James preferred that color on me above all others. But, as I looked around the closet and noticed that some of Edward's clothing grouped together by color, I realized it was probably one of his little quirks. Edward was the one, after all, that hung up our clothing. I chuckled at the thought, glad I had a man who took such good care of me.

If I thought James was here, I soon realized, my fear was unwarranted. That first 'incident' happened a little over week ago and since then, I have noticed several 'reminders.' Of course Lillian was right, it was just my fears manifesting themselves. James had not jumped out of the closet or pulled me into the bedroom. I can't deny that I was still anticipating a response to my desire to get a divorce. He hadn't responded yet, but his lawyer did indicate they were putting together a countersuit, which told me James was still mad. But, maybe not revengeful enough to physically come after me. I was a little worried what the countersuit would entail, but my lawyer assured me that we were prepared and there was no sense in stressing over it until we knew what it was.

But still, Edward wanted to make sure we knew were James was, so we called Carlisle…

Edward pulled me down on the couch next to him and smiled at me. He dialed his cell phone and put it on speakerphone as he set it on the coffee table in front of us. Then he grabbed my hand just before Carlisle answered on the third ring.

"Hello?" Carlisle's voice made me long for his and Esme's company wistfully.

"Hey, Carlisle. It's Edward. How are things in Miami?" Edward chuckled nervously.

"Edward! Good to hear from you. We're doing great. How are things with you? How's Bella?" Carlisle's fondness for his nephew was evident.

"Hi Carlisle. How are you and Esme?" I interjected with a grin.

"Bella! It's good to hear your voice. Esme's wonderful. She'll be sad she missed your call. So what do I owe the pleasure of a call from the both of you?" Carlisle's voice held a hint of amusement.

Edward chortled before he cleared his throat and grew very serious. "We need you help."

"Anything. What can I do?" Carlisle's offer held no hesitation.

I bit my lip and looked at Edward hesitantly before he gave me an encouraging nod. "Ah, I filed for divorce from James." I paused, waiting for his response.

There was a long pause before Carlisle responded. "Well… What prompted you to do that, if you don't mind me asking?"

Edward and I looked at each other for a moment before Edward answered for me, "Bella has decided she needs to be free of James completely." I could still see the apprehension in Edward's eyes when he spoke of my divorce.

"I think I need closure. Besides, James already knows I'm alive. So what started out as a way to reclaim myself again, has sort of turned into a preemptive strike," I added with a wry smile.

"What! How does he know you're still alive?" We were so caught up in the drama of James; we completely forgot to keep Carlisle and Esme in the loop. I felt bad.

"We're pretty sure James hired the private investigator that was snooping around Bella's home town the same week we were there to visit her father's grave." Edward's face was chagrinned telling me he felt just as bad as I did for our oversight.

"How do you know it was James?" Surprisingly, Carlisle didn't seem to be upset with us.

"The investigator was from Miami. Have you ever heard of Larry Redding?" Edward continued, wrapping his arms around me and kissing the top of my head.

"Oh. Well, yes, I've heard of him. He's quite good. And he's got quite the reputation as well." I cringed a bit when I heard this but quickly snuggled into Edward, hoping to disguise my reaction.

"Yes. Our own little investigation revealed that as well," Edward's answering chuckle lacked enthusiasm.

"Bella? How is this filing for a divorce preemptive?" Carlisle asked curiously.

"I've declared myself alive. James just can't come after me and kill me without him being the prime suspect anymore." I gave Carlisle the same information Jasper and my lawyer had given me in separate pep talks, telling me I was doing the right thing.

"So what can I do to help?" There is was, that sincere offer to help that told me he would do what ever I asked.

"We need to know if you can keep subtle tabs on James. You know, just check every couple to days to make sure he's still in Miami," Edward answered. "If you think he's left the area, just give us a heads up. Maybe a little advanced warning that he might be coming."

"Sure. I think Esme and I can handle that." Carlisle's willingness to help me, still, was astounding.

"Good, just don't get too close," Edward warned.

"Don't' worry. We have no desire to get to know the man." Carlisle chuckled.

"Thanks, Carlisle. I really appreciate it," I said sincerely.

"Tell Esme we love and miss her," Edward added with a smile.

"Will do and be careful, you two." Carlisle sighed.

"We will. Bye," Edward said before we hung up the phone.

I looked at Edward and he cupped my face with his hands. The look in his eyes held the fierceness of his love for me as he whispered, "Soon, Love, this will all be over and you'll be free."

Thus, for the past two weeks, we have received daily calls from Carlisle and Esme letting us know that James was still in Miami. It surprised me what a sense of calm these little calls gave me, just knowing that he was staying away from me. I could feel the tension start to ease and Edward started to back-off a bit with the over-protective stance. He still insisted that I spend the night at Alice or Rose's place on the nights he worked, but he didn't insist on someone being with me if there was a gap in our schedules that left me alone. Of course, that was if the gap was less than thirty minutes, but it was a start.

The bed sank next to me, and I felt Edward's lips on my forehead bringing me out of my thoughts. I opened my eyes and met Edward's gaze. He caressed my cheek and said, "I'm heading out. Will you be okay?" I could see the worry on his face at the thought of leaving me a lone.

"I'll be fine, sweetie. I have to get up in about an hour anyway to get ready for work." He worried about me so much and I couldn't stand the thought of him fretting over me.

He picked a strand of my hair and wrapped it around his finger. "I know. I just don't like you being alone."

"It's only a couple of hours, and then I'll be at work and surrounded by people." Edward sighed and his shoulders slumped a bit. "He's not here, so stop worrying. Besides, you just had a state-of-the-art security system installed," I added, seeing his disheartened face.

He let out a gust of air, signaling that he was trying to let this go. "Please call me when you get to work, and if you suspect something's wrong–" he started, but I cut him off.

"I know what to do. Okay?" I could see my boyfriend's propensity to want to guard me from harm coming out again and I smiled.

"I love you. Be safe," Edward said before he kissed me softly.

"I love you too. I'll see you this afternoon." I smiled and touched his cheek with my fingers, trailing down to his jaw.

After he left, I fell back asleep until my alarm went off an hour later. I yawned as I stretched and rolled out of bed with little or no grace. I stumbled towards the bathroom for a shower yawning again and feeling the effects of Edward's early morning wakeup call.

I turned on the shower, stripped off my clothing and got in letting the hot water wake up my sleepy body. Once I was finished, I turned off the water and grabbed a towel, drying myself quickly before I stepped out of the shower. I glanced up at the foggy mirror and found a message from Edward that only revealed itself when the steam from the shower performed it's magic on the glass. It was one word and I found myself smiling.

Soon

It was something he had said to me on several occasions and I knew exactly what he meant. Soon I would be free of James. Soon I would be free to pursue any future I wanted with Edward and not have to feel guilty that I still belonged to another legally.

I quickly got ready for the day wearing a pair of grey pinstriped pants, a dark green silk blouse with short sleeves and a pair of low black heels. I went into the kitchen to get some breakfast when I saw two of the three dishtowels on the rack folded neatly and lined up perfectly. I felt the faint shudder of fear roll through me as I shook my head and laughed at my reaction to dishtowels. Dr. Colton's reminder popped into my head making me realize that I was probably the one who lined up the towels – a vestige of my former ways manifesting itself again.

After finishing breakfast and gulping down my coffee, I grabbed my costume for this afternoon and my things for school and left. I was running late which wasn't a good thing when one plans to leave a little early.

As I pulled into the parking lot of the school, I saw Mike Newton getting out of his car. Not wanting to have to make conversation with him while I walked into the school, I flipped open my phone and called Edward to let him know I was safe.

I grabbed my things and balanced them on my hip as I locked my car, waiting for Edward to answer his phone. Mike spotted me and waved, walking towards me just as Edward answered the phone. I returned Mike's wave with a polite one of my own before I turned my attention to Edward.

"Hi Love. Is everything okay?" I know it had only been a couple hours, but I felt like I hadn't heard his voice in days.

"Hi Sweetie," I said loud enough for Mike to hear as I tried to lag behind him. "Everything's fine. I'm just walking into to the school now."

"Thanks for calling me. Oh, um… A realtor contacted me about the rental. She has a couple of clients who are interested in it as an investment. She wants to come by tomorrow morning." I remembered him mentioning something about an investor earlier in the week. I glanced up at Mike holding the door of the school open for me. I mouthed a silence 'thank-you' as I walked past him.

"I see. You're going to sell my rental right out from under me," I teased. I didn't mind if he wanted to sell it. Even before I moved in with Edward, I spent more time over at his place anyway.

"I have to have some way of making you stay with me once you're free," Edward joked back, his voice had a carefree quality. It made my heart lighter knowing that he was able to joke about our situation and not fret over it all the time.

"Like you'd need to do that to get me to stay," I laughed back, trying to ignore Mike who was keeping in step with me and eavesdropping in on my conversation with Edward.

"What time will you be here?" Edward sounded melancholy.

"Hm… Sometime around four thirty. Will that be okay? I'll just change into my costume there." I wasn't sure what I could do about his mood.

"Okay." There was a brief pause and I could hear the garbled voice from the PA system at the hospital, before Edward said, "I'm being paged, Love. I'll see you later and thanks for calling. Love you."

"Love you," I said back and hung up the phone.

"Was that the boyfriend?" Mike all but sneered next to me, reminding me of his presence.

I took a deep breath, reminding myself to be nice. "His name is Edward, and yes. That was him."

"I couldn't help but overhear… Is he really selling your rental right out from under you? Because if you need a place to stay, you can always crash at my place." Mike looked hopeful. I was completely astounded at this man's tenacity and inability to take a hint.

I smiled sweetly at him before I delivered my bomb. "That's really nice of you, Mike. However, I don't need a place to stay. Edward's selling the house because I moved in with him a few weeks ago. Plus he's almost done with his residency and he wants to get out of the rental business." Mike's answering smile was plastic, at best, as he grumbled something about needing some supplies and stalked off in the other direction. I sure hoped Jessica wasn't still dating him. He really was a jerk sometimes and if he was still pursuing me while dating her, it just proved that he didn't appreciate her.

The rest of the day seemed to drag on endlessly. It was obvious to me that my students were not into their work. It was a Friday, it was Halloween and they wanted to be anywhere but here. Knowing that most of them would probably ask for an extension on their assignments due on Monday, I gave them the gift of an extra day. Most of them seemed of appreciate it.

Eventually the school day ended and I finished up with the rest of my work. As I came out of the school, I found myself smiling as I usually do. As I drove to the hospital, a feeling of happiness swept through me at the new life I had built especially now that James didn't seem intent on carrying out his threats to kill me. It seemed as if the sword hanging over my head was gone. Of course, until the divorce was final, I still had to be cautious. But, I found myself encouraged the longer James went without retaliation.

I found a decent parking spot at the hospital and made my way inside as I sent Edward a text message. I slipped into the restroom and changed into my costume. I quickly plaited my hair into two braids behind my ears and put on my hat and boots. I came out of the bathroom with my bag and costume props to find Edward standing there, the perfect counterpart to my costume. We both laughed at each other, this being the first time either of us had seen the other one in full costume.

Edward pulled me into a hug before he said, "Come on, little lady. Let's mosey on over to the children's area." He completely butchered the southern cowboy accent he was trying for, but I loved it all the same.

As soon as Pam saw us, she busted up laughing. "Well hey there Woody, Jessie. Aren't you two the cutest things I've ever seen?" I smiled at Pam who was dressed as Raggedy Ann. Most of the staff had dressed up as characters from various children's books or movies.

Apparently going as Woody and Jessie from Toy Story II was a hit. Edward assured me that the kids would love our costumes and judging by their reactions as we walked into the common room where the carnival was setup, they were not disappointed.

The room was crowded and full of children and parents all in costume. The noise and excitement level in the room was off the charts and everyone seemed to be having a wonderful time. I spied a familiar face in the crowd and immediately recognized Claire.

As soon as she saw me, she squealed and ran over to give me a hug. "Bella!" Her high voice attested to the fact that these kids were going to need some sort of sedation tonight to get them settled down for bed. She launched herself into my arms and buried her face in my braids.

"Claire Bear!" I pulled back and looked into her excited face. She looked tired and a bit drawn, but very happy. I glanced up at Edward in concern and he gave me a sad smile acknowledging the change in her appearance from the last time I had seen her.

"I missed you. Are you going treat-or-treating? Do you like my costume? Mommy said I look like a real princess." Claire kept of rattling of questions and tidbits of information, not waiting for my reaction. Edward laughed as she pulled me towards the fishing pond over in the corner. Her Belle costume from Beauty and the Beast looked darling on her.

"Honey, you really to make the perfect Belle. Is Beast going to join you?" I was amazed I could get a word in edge-wise.

"Yeah. Uncle Jake said he would dress up as my Beast. He promised he'd be here. Do you know when he's coming?" He face held all the innocence in the world as she asked a question she was sure I would have the answer to.

"You know, honey, I don't know when he's coming, but I'll let you know if I see him. Okay?" I reassured her.

She smiled and said, "Okay. Hey, I want to do the bean bag toss." Claire grabbed my hand and all but dragged me over to the next attraction. For the next twenty minutes or so, Claire monopolized my time and I was happy to oblige. Every once and a while I would catch Edward watching me with a goofy grin from the ring toss booth he was manning.

As Claire and I wandered over to Dr. Edward's booth for the third time, I caught a glimpse of a large man in a rather furry costume. I took a closer look as saw that it was Jacob in the beast costume. He looked adorable. I leaned down and tapped Claire on the shoulder before I pointed out her uncle to her. She let out an ear-piercing squeal as she dashed over to Jacob and hugged his legs.

I looked back at Edward who was smiling warmly at me. "What?" I questioned, suddenly feeling a little bashful from his expression.

"You're really amazing with her, well with all kids really." I guess he had been watching me more than I thought.

"I guess that's a good thing then, since I'm a teacher," I quipped back suddenly feeling warm inside and not quite understanding why.

Edward laughed quietly and said, "Yeah, I guess so." He put arm around me and hugged me into his side. After another thirty minutes at the carnival, it was time to trick-or-treat.

As the kids filed out to make the rounds to get candy from the staff and the rooms of the other patients, Edward pulled me over to the nurses' station so we could hand out his candy to his patients. For the next two hours, we handed out candy to the children of the pediatric wing, as well as their families. By the time we were done, I was beat, and I could tell by looking at Edward he was even more so than I was.

Since neither one of us felt like cooking, we stopped off at a restaurant on the way home to grab a bite to eat. As soon as we walked into the house, we got ready for bed and collapsed for the night, exhausted and happy in each other's arms. Life was good.

A/N: Thank-you for making the last chapter my highest reviewed chapter to date – 53 reviews. I'm so feeling the love. And because you have been so kind to review, from here on out, if you leave a signed review, I will send you a preview of the next chapter!

I also think it's fair to warn you that this is the last of the fluffy chapters. I know, I know – that was a big hint that the drama is about to start. ;)

Now it is time for me to plug a new story by my good friend blackgem88. It is called 'Trial By Fire.' It's a good Edward and Bella story so… Give it a shot!

Thanks again for continuing to read and review SWAM! – SavageWoman