A/N: Thanks so much to all of you who've been reading, especially those who have reviewed. I've loved reading them and I've been touched by many of them. They truly make writing this worthwhile.

Thanks to MrsKatyCullen for betaing this for me.

Now I'll shut up because I know you've been waiting for Bella's answer.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Chapter 18

"Marry me, Bella."

Edward looked down into Bella's stunned face as his words seemed to echo around the room. The words had just burst forth from his mouth with seemingly no input from his brain. He felt as surprised as Bella looked. As the seconds ticked by though, his brain caught up and he realised the enormity of what he'd said.

He'd proposed to Bella. Asked her to be his wife.

The silence was deafening. Although it had been only seconds since the words had left his mouth, it seemed like minutes. Minutes in which Bella still hadn't said anything.

Rolling off her, Edward lay back on his pillow as he processed what had just happened. Was it just post-coital euphoria? Or did his heart just make him blurt out what he had unconsciously wanted anyway? As the seconds ticked by, the implications of his words took hold and Edward felt himself get more and more excited.

He turned his head to look at Bella, who wasn't looking at him. Yes! Yes! Yes! This was what he wanted. He wanted to marry Bella. Wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Hopefully have a family with her someday.

"Bella?"

Bella turned her head to look at him. She didn't know what to think. Had he meant it?

"Bella? Will you marry me?"

She sighed softly. "Edward, you don't have to do this. I know you didn't really mean it. It was just your orgasmic high. It's okay. I'm not about to hold you to it."

Bella sat up and got out of bed, putting on Edward's shirt before sitting back down. Edward put on his boxers, sat down and took Bella's hand.

"Bella, I meant every word, baby. I want to marry you," he insisted.

"No you don't Edward," replied Bella. "You're still feeling guilty about Sophie Clark. It has been a stressful evening. Stress makes us say things we don't mean sometimes."

"No! Okay, maybe I didn't plan to ask you tonight but I was going to ask you eventually. You know I was. And this has nothing to do with what happened tonight. It just has everything to do with the fact that I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

"Edward, you looked horrified when the words came out. I know, I saw it. I couldn't miss it as your face was so close to mine. I won't be upset, I promise."

"I wasn't horrified. I was surprised. My heart basically did what my subconscious wanted to do, without any input from my brain. But the instant the words came out, I realised that this is what I want. Please Bella, say you'll marry me," he pleaded, leaning forward and kissing her softly, his tongue tracing her bottom lip.

Bella could feel herself weakening. He only had to touch her and she was putty in his hands. But this was too important to be seduced into agreeing to something she wasn't sure he truly meant. Pulling back, Bella got up and stood looking down at his worried face.

"Edward, you know I love you but I don't want you to regret this tomorrow."

"I could never regret asking you to marry me. I love you, Bella."

Bella smiled. "I know you do. But marriage is a big step and it's not something that should be decided on when neither of us is thinking straight. I mean, don't you think it's too soon? We've only been together a few months."

Edward got out of bed and stood in front of her with his hands on her shoulders. "Don't you want to marry me?" he asked softly, his heart thumping in fear.

Reaching up, she cupped his face with both hands. "Oh Edward. It's not that. I'm just not convinced that the heightened emotions of today didn't have a part in it. I love you too much to hold you to something that you said in the spur of the moment. It would kill me if you realised tomorrow, or next week or in the next month that you regretted it or had changed your mind."

Edward shook his head. "I'm not going to change my mind, Bella. And no, I don't think it's too soon. I know that I won't ever want anyone else but you. You're it for me, Bella. I knew it after our first date." Bella could see the sincerity in his eyes.

Kissing him softly, she rested her nose against his. "And I don't want anyone but you either. How about we sleep on it, hmm? To make sure that you still feel the same in the light of day."

Edward nodded and kissed her again. She wasn't saying no. She wasn't saying yes either, though. "I'm going to ask you again, Bella. And I'm going to keep asking until you say yes," he warned her.

"Okay. I'll look forward to it. Let's go to bed."

Lying in bed, his arms wrapped around her, his voice whispered in the dark. "I will get you say yes."

Bella smiled into his chest and answered sleepily. "Probably."

o-o-o-o-o-o

Trying to be as quiet as possible, Edward got dressed. Bella was lying on her stomach, her mouth slightly opened as she breathed deeply in her sleep. When he was ready to leave, he knelt down beside the bed and kissed her cheek.

"Bella?" he whispered, not wanting to startle her. It was Sunday morning after all and she deserved a sleep in.

She stirred as Edward brushed her hair back and gave her another kiss. "Hmm?" she groaned sleepily.

"Sorry to wake you, love, but I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to the hospital," he whispered as he stroked her cheek.

"Going to check on Sophie Clark?" she asked huskily.

"Yes. I want to be there if they do the scan today. I might be a while."

"Do you want me to go with you?"

Edward smiled down at her sleepy face. "No, love. You go back to sleep. I'll see you when I get back." He kissed her soft, warm lips. "Love you."

"Love you too. I hope she's improving."

"Me too, love. Me too."

As Edward drove to the hospital, his mind turned to last night's events. More specifically, about what he'd said after making love. Now, in the clear light of day, Edward got more and more angry with himself.

What kind of idiot asks the woman he loves to marry her straight after sex? He thought with dismay. No wonder Bella didn't say yes. As if she could take him seriously?

Edward imagined Bella being asked on how he had popped the question. "Oh, Edward proposed after we had sex." Arghh!

And now he knew he desperately wanted to marry Bella. He didn't care if they'd only been together a few months. She was the love of his life. And she deserved more than to be proposed to with a couple of blurted out words immediately after he'd climaxed. He was lucky she hadn't thrown him out.

He was definitely going to make a better fist of his next proposal.

Walking into the hospital, his mind turned to the matter at hand. Although he didn't feel the guilt he'd been feeling over Sophie Clark last night, he still felt a certain responsibility for her and he knew he couldn't rest until he checked out her condition.

He entered the Intensive Care ward and crossed to Sophie's bed. Ron wasn't there although there was evidence of his having spent the night next to his wife. A nurse was taking down Sophie's readings as he got there.

Edward could see that she was still grossly swollen. One of the drugs she was being administered was a diuretic in an attempt to reduce her fluid levels. The excess fluid was placing pressure on her heart and other organs and had to be reduced as soon as possible. That would, in turn, hopefully lower her blood pressure. What longer term effects she suffered, only time would tell.

"How is she?" he asked the nurse.

"She seems to be stabilising. Her blood pressure peaked during the night, and her dosages were upped which brought it back down a bit. It's been stable for the last few hours."

"What about the ketone levels?" These were the levels of protein in her urine, high levels of which signified that she was breaking down fatty acids in her body too rapidly.

"Those have lowered slightly."

Edward nodded. "Do you know if they are going to do a scan this morning?"

"As far as I know, the doctor is waiting for the radiographer to come in," answered the nurse.

"Where is Dr Singh?" asked Edward, referring to the head of Intensive Care.

"He's just taking a break. He should be back in a few minutes. Do you want me to contact him?"

"No, it's fine. I'll wait for him here. Is Mr. Clark still here?"

The nurse nodded. "I believe he's gone up to the nursery. He's been here all night. I believe some family members are on their way."

The nurse excused herself and continued on her rounds. Edward double checked all the IV lines and began reading her notes to see for himself what had happened during the night.

Dr Singh arrived and went straight over to Edward.

"I hear you were on hand when she collapsed," stated Dr Singh as the two men shook hands.

"Yes. She was at my father's house. I noticed that she was very swollen and was rubbing her head. I tried to convince her to come in but she kept denying she felt as bad as I know now she must have been feeling."

Edward was updated on Sophie's condition. "Will she be having a scan today? I really want to rule out any strokes."

"I'd like her to stay stabilised for a couple more hours before we move her," replied Dr Singh. "What, if any, long term effects do you think she'll have?"

Edward could only shrug his shoulders. "I really don't know. On one hand, I'm hoping the quick onset of the eclampsia means that it didn't have enough time to do too much damage to her organs but on the other hand, it could have the opposite effect and do a hell of a lot of damage."

"We'll find out more in the coming days, I suppose."

Seeing as how Sophie wouldn't be moving in the next couple of hours, Edward decided to go and do some work in his office, stopping by the special care nursery on the way.

Ron Clark was sitting next the humidicrib that held his daughter, various tubes and wires protruding from her tiny body. The man looked haggard and pale, his eyes red-rimmed from tiredness and tears. He turned as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Hello Mr. Clark. How are you holding up?" asked Edward sympathetically.

"Please, call me Ron." With a deep sigh, he rubbed his eyes. "Holding on, I guess. Did you look in on Sophie?"

"Yes I did. I see she's stabilising, which is good."

"Do you think she'll make it?" asked Ron, his eyes pleading. "I don't know what I'd do if she didn't," he said, his voice hoarse with emotion.

"I think she's got a good chance. We're doing everything possible for her. We don't know what, if any, lasting effects this may have on her, though."

"What kind of effects are you talking about?" asked Ron.

"Eclampsia can seriously damage vital organs. The main dangers are to her kidneys, liver and heart. Also, if she's suffered a stroke, there could be brain damage. Other effects can be eye damage."

"Oh God," cried Ron, his head lowering.

Edward squeezed the other man's shoulder. "We may be lucky and she'll have suffered no lasting effects. We won't know until she's had a scan and she's woken up. You need to stay positive, for her sake."

Ron nodded half-heartedly. "I suppose so."

"Do you have any family for support?"

"My parents are driving up from Seattle and Sophie's parents and sister are coming from Nevada."

"Good. You need loved ones around you at this difficult time. And how's your daughter?" asked Edward, looking at the tiny girl. Her colour had improved from when he delivered her.

"Doctor says she's got a good chance. She'll probably be here a week or two."

"That's good. Does she have a name?"

"No. Soph and I had a couple of choices but I'm waiting until we can decide together."

Edward nodded in understanding. "Why don't you go home and get a couple of hours sleep? We're taking Sophie for a scan in couple of hours. I doubt she'll be waking up today."

"Maybe. I'll see."

Wishing him the best, Edward went back to his office where he did paperwork until he was advised that the scans were going to commence.

It was nearly three in the afternoon before Edward emerged from the hospital. Instead of going straight back to Bella's apartment, he had a couple of stops to make first.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Bella had stayed in bed until late and had decided to thoroughly clean the apartment once she was dressed. It had been a while since she'd given it a good clean. While she worked, she thought about Edward's proposal the night before.

She had been shocked when Edward had uttered the words. Marriage had never been mentioned by either of them yet. They were simply enjoying what they had for the moment. Bella didn't doubt that Edward would propose one day, she just hadn't expected it so soon.

And she couldn't deny that her first instinct was to say yes. It had been on the tip of her tongue to say it until she saw the look of astonishment on his face. In that instant she'd realised that he hadn't meant to say it; not consciously, anyway.

She'd also known that she couldn't agree to marry him. Not then. Not when they hadn't come down from their lovemaking. And the fact that he'd been so upset about Sophie Clark didn't help matters. He was too emotional to be thinking straight. Bella simply couldn't bring herself to take advantage of that.

Like she'd told him, she would want to shrivel up and die if he changed his mind when he realised what he'd done. She didn't think she'd survive such hurt. No; it was better to say no now and wait until he was really ready to propose.

Bella recalled his threat to keep asking her to marry him until she agreed. She wondered when the first proposal would happen. She didn't plan to leave him hanging; when she was sure it was what he wanted, she would say yes.

The ringing phone drew her thoughts away from last night's events. Bella expected it to be Edward, letting her know he was held up at the hospital and was surprised to hear Alice's chirpy voice on the other end.

"Hi, Alice. You okay?"

"Sure I am. I'm ringing to find out how poor Sophie is? That was terrifying to watch," exclaimed Alice.

"I know, it's awful to see. Luckily, few pre-eclampsia cases progress to that stage."

"Are she and her baby okay?"

"Sophie's in a pretty bad way. Edward delivered a baby girl but she was in a poor state at birth. The paediatrician thinks she'll be fine but of course it won't be known if she suffered any sort of brain damage until she starts developing."

"Oh, the poor little thing. I hope she's okay."

"Me too. It's Sophie that Edward's worried about. She's in intensive care. Edward's gone in today to see her. I think they're going to do scans to see if she had a stroke or not. And they're worried about organ damage," replied Bella.

"Oh God, that's awful!"

"Yeah, it is. So don't you dare ignore the signs, Alice, or you'll have me to deal with!" warned Bella sternly.

"No, no. I promise I'd let you or Edward know if I was worried. Especially now that I've seen what can happen. I think Jasper would have me in hospital if I so much as had a headache!"

"Better safe than sorry, Alice."

"Yeah. What are her chances, Bella?" asked Alice.

Bella sighed. "I don't know. Maybe Edward will have a better idea today. They're doing all they can."

Neither of them said anything for a few moments, thinking about the poor woman and her baby.

"I'll let Mom know. She was pretty upset last night."

"Yeah, well, it wasn't pretty to see."

Reiterating Alice's need to look after herself and to heed her body's warning signals, they hung up.

It was nearing 5 o'clock and Bella was just beginning to get dinner started when Edward came home. She was chopping vegetables when she felt Edward's arms encircle her waist, tilting her head to enable him to kiss the hollow of her throat.

"Mmm, hello."

"Hello, love," he replied against her skin.

She put down the knife and turned within the circle of his arms, taking hold of his shoulders as their lips met, brushing against each other sensually. Before things got too heated, Bella leaned back against the kitchen counter.

"How's Sophie?"

Edward let her go and sat down at the table. "We did the scans and it doesn't look like she suffered a stroke although there were a couple of spots of bleeding in the brain. They don't look too big though, which is lucky."

Sitting next to him, Bella handed him a cup of coffee and took hold of Edward's hand while he recounted the day's events.

"Her blood pressure's been stabilised and we're slowly getting it back down to an acceptable level. Bernard and I are worried about her kidney function though. With any luck, once the rest of her symptoms are taken care of, they'll go back to normal. We're keeping her in an induced coma for the next couple of days."

Bella nodded in understanding. "And the baby?"

"She's on a ventilator to help out her little lungs but Doug's fairly sure she'll pull through okay. She just needs to grow a little bit."

Edward ran a tired hand over his hair, dishevelling it even more than normal.

Running a hand over his brow, Bella leaned over and kissed his cheek. "You look beat. Why don't you go and have a nap while I get dinner ready?"

"I think I might. God, I hope we don't see another case like this for a long time," he sighed wearily.

"Me too. I know it scared Alice silly."

"Good."

With another light kiss, Edward went into the bedroom and slept for the next two hours.

o-o-o-o-o-o

The Monday clinic was on in ten minutes and Bella was preparing her equipment and checking her supplies in readiness. She was working with Edward today. As she worked, her thoughts strayed to the weird weekend they'd had. Life-threatening emergencies, proposals. Not your ordinary weekend.

Proposals.

There had been no repeat of Edward's proposal. Bella couldn't help the twinge of disappointment that Edward's silence caused and a part of her wished she'd said yes to him. The other part told her that she'd been right not to accept in those circumstances.

Admittedly, Edward had been exhausted last night, and after dinner they'd curled up together on the lounge for a while before going to bed.

Bella had been expecting a repeat of his proposal at least once during the night, but it didn't come. Despite his protestations, Edward had obviously had second thoughts about proposing.

She had to admit to herself that it was more than a twinge of disappointment. It was more like full-blown disappointment.

"Ready for the first patient, love?" asked Edward.

Bella nodded and called in the first patient. She put aside her disappointment and went to work. There were more patients than usual and Bella worked steadily for the next hour, helping Edward out with a couple of ultrasounds.

Towards the end of the clinic, a patient came in that Bella hadn't seen before even though she looked to be at least seven months pregnant. Looking down at the patient records, she saw that her name was Victoria Brennan and she was thirty weeks pregnant. Her address was listed as a trailer park on the outskirts of town.

"Good morning, Victoria. Is this your first visit here?" asked Bella, shaking her hand and getting her to sit down in order to get a history.

"Yes. We only moved to the area a couple of weeks ago. My boyfriend managed to get a job as a carpenter here." Further questioning revealed that Victoria and her boyfriend James seemed to have lived a somewhat nomadic existence for the last couple of years. James couldn't, or wouldn't, hold down a steady job and they travelled around where the work took them. As a result, Victoria's check-ups had been sporadic at best.

"Does this job look likely to last, at least until the baby's born?" asked Bella.

Victoria shrugged her shoulders. "Who knows? James doesn't like staying long in any place."

Bella looked at the other woman. She was quite ethereally pretty, with long, curly, strawberry blonde hair, blue eyes and lightly freckled, pale skin. There was also a faint air of nervousness about her.

"That's fine when it was only the two of you, but you've got a baby coming soon and it would be in both your best interests if you stayed put in one place until it's born. You're at the end of your pregnancy and it's vital you don't miss your check-ups. Moving around so much makes it difficult for us keep an eye on your condition and ensure nothing goes wrong."

Victoria looked down at her feet. "I know, but James…"

"Why don't you to talk to him and tell him you need to settle down until the baby's born? Bring him along to the next appointment," suggested Bella.

"I doubt James would want to come," grimaced Victoria. "I'll talk to him though."

Bella asked her to roll up her sleeve so she could put the blood pressure cuff on. As she did, Bella noticed a number of bruises on her arm; some faint, others much fresher. To Bella's trained eye the bruises looked like they'd been made by a hand.

Once Victoria's blood pressure and urine sample had been tested, Bella asked her to lie down in order to listen to the baby's heartbeat. When Victoria pulled up her top, Bella saw a large bruise, now faded, on the side of Victoria's swollen stomach. By now, the red flags were firmly being waved in Bella's mind.

"I'm just going to give your file to Dr. Cullen before you go in. He'll want to perform a more in-depth check up, seeing as you've been moving around so much. He'll probably also do an ultrasound. I'll only be a moment," said Bella, knocking on Edward's door. The last patient had left a few minutes ago so she knew he was free.

"Edward, I need to talk to you about the next patient." Edward listened intently as Bella related what she knew before telling him about her suspicions. "She's got a large number of bruises on her arms, both old and new and when I listened to the heartbeat, I saw a large bruise on her side. Edward, I think someone, most likely her boyfriend, has been abusing her."

Edward frowned as Bella detailed her fears. "They couldn't be from banging into things?"

Bella shook her head. "I doubt it. They look like finger marks, as if she's been grabbed tightly. It's the one on her stomach I'm worried about. What if she's been punched there?"

"We'll have to be careful how we broach the subject. She's likely to not show up again if she feels threatened. We have to try to gain her trust and see if we can get her to open up. I may schedule more frequent appointments so that we can keep an eye on her," said Edward.

"Should I mention it to Charlie?"

"We have no proof that she's been abused yet, but maybe you can get an idea from him on how to proceed. He's probably seen similar cases and might have some advice. I'll also speak to Chris and seek her advice. Can you call her in?" As Bella stood up, he asked her to sit in on the consultation. "Maybe together, we can glean some information."

As predicted, Edward did carry out an ultrasound on Victoria and saw the bruise for himself that Bella had mentioned. Bella saw his lips tighten as he caught sight of it. He also noted a deep bruise on Victoria's thigh.

"Ms Brennan, do you have some sort of blood disorder you haven't mentioned?" asked Edward.

Victoria shook her head, her eyes not meeting his. "No, why?"

"Well, I noticed a number of bruises on you," he answered kindly. "Sometimes bruises can indicate a blood disorder. The blood samples we took will determine that but I thought maybe you'd tell us if you already knew of anything."

Again, she shook her head.

"Can you tell me how you got those bruises, Victoria?" he asked, exerting all his charm. Bella could tell that Victoria wasn't unaffected, her hand going up and twisting a lock of hair around her hand.

"Um…I…ah…I'm a bit clumsy. My stomach seems to get in the way lately," she replied, shifting uneasily in her seat.

"Yes, that does happen." Coming around the table, he pulled up a chair next to her, deliberately keeping his face as open and friendly as possible. "You need to be careful, Victoria. Your baby depends entirely on you and it's vital that you stay well, and safe. It's not just about you now, you need to think about your child and what's best for both of you. Nurse Swan has told me that you move around a lot. I imagine that makes it hard to make friends, doesn't it?" he asked gently.

Victoria nodded, her eyes sad. "Yes," she whispered.

"Do you have any family?" asked Bella.

"No. I was in foster care most of my life. James is the only family I've got."

Edward nodded in understanding. In Victoria's eyes, being beaten by her boyfriend, having someone, anyone, was preferable to being alone, especially with a child on the way.

"Victoria, you can tell us anything. We will do everything in our power to help you, if that's what you want."

Sitting up, Victoria looked at them, panic in her eyes. "I don't need help. Everything's fine. I just keep bumping into things. It's hard living in a trailer when you're the size of a house."

Edward and Bella both recognized the need to back off, before they scared her away permanently. "Yes, I suppose so," said Edward soothingly, standing up and walking back to his desk. "I'm going to schedule your next appointment in a couple of weeks."

"Why?" asked Victoria suspiciously.

"I want to keep a closer eye on you seeing as I don't have a complete history of your pregnancy," he replied. "Okay?" he asked innocently.

Victoria looked at both of them for a few moments before nodding slowly.

"If you have any concerns before then, or you need to talk to someone, please don't hesitate to come in or ring," said Bella.

Giving them a faint smile, Victoria walked out of the surgery.

"Poor girl," said Bella, rubbing her forehead wearily. "No family, no friends. She's totally dependent emotionally, and probably financially, on her boyfriend, who beats her up because he know he can. I'm going to tell Charlie."

Edward took her hand and squeezed it tightly. "Until Victoria accuses him, Charlie's hands will be tied."

"Surely something can be done? Can't police do something if they suspect domestic violence? Hasn't the law been changed?" cried Bella.

"I don't know. Speak to Charlie about it. In the meantime, we have to keep stressing to her that she needs to do the best for her baby. She seemed very receptive when we spoke about its needs. Maybe that's the way to get through to her," he mused.

He cupped the back of her head and gave her soft, gentle kiss. It made Bella feel instantly better. "We'll do our best to help her Bella." Bella nodded, gave him another kiss and went back to work.

Suddenly, Edward not asking her to marry him again didn't seem so bad when she thought about Victoria. She made up her mind to speak to Charlie today.

She had lunch with Sue after the clinic ended, Edward saying he had to go to a meeting. It was after lunch that she noticed Sue was acting strangely. She kept looking at Bella, smiling secretively, then trying to look normal.

"Are you alright, Sue?" asked Bella as they sat at the nurse's station that afternoon.

"Yeah, why?" asked Sue, her voice dripping with innocence.

"You're acting weird."

"Weird? I'm not acting weird," denied Sue vehemently.

Bella shook her head and continued her paperwork. The first inkling she had that something was going on was when two delivery men walked into the unit, carrying two dozen red roses each.

Gazing at the beautiful roses, Bella was wondering who the lucky woman was that was getting them. She assumed it was one of the new mothers on the ward.

"Are you Bella Swan?" asked one of them. Bella nodded, confused.

"Here you go," he said, putting them on the desk and motioning for his companion to do the same.

"Are you sure these are for me?" asked Bella, looking at the profusion of blooms that now covered the desk.

He looked at his delivery sheet. "If your name is Bella Swan, then yep, they sure are. Enjoy."

Bella looked dazedly at the flowers, their overpowering scent filling the room. Staff, patients and visitors were coming out to look at them, exclaiming on their beauty.

Bella could only assume they were from Edward. She saw Sue grinning widely. "Do you know anything about this, Sue?" she asked suspiciously.

"I was meant to make sure you were here at this time," replied Sue, her eyes dancing.

"Why?"

"You'll see."

She was looking intently at the roses, breathing in their delicious perfume and didn't notice movement behind her until someone cleared their throat.

Startled, she turned around, her jaw dropping as she saw Edward. He was dressed in his tuxedo, a red rose in his lapel.

With a huge grin on his face, he took her hand and pulled her to her feet. Bella was still too dumbfounded to say anything. She was completely unaware of the interested audience behind her.

Suddenly, Edward went down on one knee, took her hand in one of his; the other held a small velvet box. Bella was dimly aware that she was probably gaping like a fish.

Clearing his throat nervously, Edward opened his mouth to speak. "Bella, I'm sorry I stuffed this up the other night. You deserve so much better than that. Bella, I know we haven't known each other long but I feel like I've known you forever. I never dreamt that I would find someone who fills my soul, who makes every day seem like a new adventure, who I want to spend every day of my life with." He looked deep into her tear-filled eyes and gave her a loving smile. "Bella, I love you with all my heart. Will you marry me?"

It seemed that every female in the room sighed as one at the romance of the whole thing, although that went unnoticed by Bella. All she was aware of was Edward as he opened the box and held it out to her. Inside was sparkling, pink-tinged diamond solitaire set in rose gold.

Edward looked up at her, his face looking more worried as the seconds ticked by without a word from Bella. "Bella?"

Pulled from her trance, Bella gazed into Edward's brilliant green eyes and felt her own fill with tears. No wonder he hadn't said anything last night. He'd obviously planned this.

Reaching down, she took his face in her hands, threading her fingers through his hair. She gave him a watery smile. "Yes, Edward. I'd love to marry you," she whispered.

Neither of them noticed the clapping and wolf-whistles around them as he stood and took her in his arms, their mouths meeting with love and passion as their kiss sealed their promise.

o-o-o-o-o-o

A/N: Hope you liked that. I liked Edward's second proposal much better - ah, where can I get me one of those?