A/N: Big thanks to Tiffany, Paige, Sherry & Cristina.

And to all of you for your wonderful reviews x x

Chapter 22

I opened my eyes to find Edward standing over me. He had a smile on his face, which was not unheard of, but certainly unusual. I wondered what the hell he was doing in my room and why he was waking me at this ungodly hour.

"Happy Thursday," he grinned.

Oh, yeah, that… my birthday. I had almost forgotten about it. I guess that was wishful thinking on my part. I had made it perfectly clear to everyone that I didn't want to celebrate it. I had hoped that they would listen, but Edward waking me up at this hour suggested otherwise.

"I already told you that I didn't want to celebrate it," I moaned, rolling away from him and covering my head with a pillow, hoping that he would take the hint and leave me alone, but of course, Edward wasn't going to make things that easy. He grabbed the pillow from me and tossed it to the other side of the room.

"I have no idea what you are talking about. I'm not celebrating anything. I merely came here to wish you a Happy Thursday."

"Yeah, well, now that you've said it, you can leave me alone and let me go back to sleep." I tried pulling the blankets over my head, but Edward had a hold of them and wouldn't let them budge. I glared at him.

"I want you to have breakfast with me."

"I'm not hungry."

"Please," he pouted. I'll admit, he did kinda look cute, but I didn't want to get up. I didn't want to face the world today. It was too soon, everything was still too raw.

"No!" I protested, tugging on the blankets, wishing he would just go away.

"I'm not going anywhere until you agree to come down and have breakfast with me."

"Fine! Wake me up in an hour."

"I want you to come now."

I sighed. "Are you going to be this annoying for the rest of our lives?"

"I'm sure I'll have my moments," he said, extending his hand to me, "as will you. Now, will you please come and join me for breakfast?"

"Fine," I snapped, "but only so you will leave me alone, and then I am going back to bed straight after breakfast."

"As you wish."

I took Edward's hand and allowed him to pull me to my feet. I straightened up my shorts and tank top, making sure I wasn't revealing anything that I shouldn't be, before following him downstairs. I was shocked when I walked into the kitchen. Edward had decorated the entire room in balloons, banners and bunting, all saying, Happy Thursday. He had clearly gone out of his way to give me a special day, but at the same time trying to respect my wishes of not celebrating my birthday. "I didn't realize you liked Thursdays so much?" I stated, as I looked around the room.

Edward seemed relieved by my comment, a big grin filling his face. "My family are all about Thursdays. In fact, it is tradition for us to exchange gifts on a Thursday."

"I'm afraid you've caught me at a disadvantage, I didn't know. So, I never bought you a gift."

"That's okay. You can buy me something next Thursday."

I nodded, tears filling my eyes as I walked over to one of the dining tables. It had been laden with food. It had every kind of breakfast food you could think of.

"I wasn't sure what you would want," Edward said, coming up behind me. "Therefore, I got you a bit of everything."

"You certainly don't do Thursdays half ass," I said, turning to him and smiling. "Thank you," I whispered. For some unknown reason I found myself more than willing to play his game. He had gone to a lot of effort and as long as we didn't use the 'b' word, it felt a little easier.

"You're welcome," he said, pulling out a chair and offering it to me. I sat down and eyed the food around me. I didn't know where to begin. I finally settled on pastries, followed by fresh fruit, orange juice, and a round of coffee. I didn't normally eat so much for breakfast, but it seemed a shame to let it go to waste.

"Had enough?" Edward asked as I sat my mug down.

"Yes, thank you."

"I'd like to give you, your first Thursday gift now, but you are going to need to put something a little warmer on, because it's outside."

"What is it?" I asked, a little excited.

"Go and get dressed, then you will see."

I practically ran upstairs to my room and pulled on a pair of yoga pants, trainers, and a hoodie, coming back down the stairs mere seconds later. "Okay, show me."

My excitement seemed to please Edward. He took my hand in his and led me outside to where a shiny, new silver car was waiting for me on the driveway.

"You bought me a car?" I gasped.

Edward smiled. "I hope you like it."

"As Thursday gifts go, it's a little extravagant, but, yes, I love it, thank you," I said, letting go of his hand and walking over to the car. I ran my hand along the smooth paintwork, looking at the back of the car. It was a Lexus RC 6. I didn't know much about cars, but I knew enough to know that a Lexus cost a small fortune. "Though," I said, smirking up at him, "I have no idea how you are going to top this next Thursday."

Edward laughed. "I enjoy a challenge. Would you like to take it for a test drive?" he asked, waving the key in the air.

"Can I?"

"Sure, but until this threat is over I don't want you driving it alone. Okay?"

"Okay," I mumbled. My excitement diminishing a little, even though I knew he was right. It wasn't safe for me to be out there alone. "By the way, did you, uh, find out more about Jacob Black?" I asked, wondering if he had. We had flown home the night of the funeral, and nothing more had been said about either Jacob or Rosalie giving me the Valium. I was grateful for the later, but I was still curious about Jacob. I knew it wasn't as if Edward would just let it go. I wanted to know what he planned, but I also knew it was unlikely he would share that information with me. Most men didn't discuss their business with their wife.

"It's your birthday, we're not discussing this."

"I thought we weren't celebrating that?" I asked, cocking my eyebrow at him.

Edward sighed, running his hand through his hair. "Can we please not argue today of all days?"

"I wasn't arguing," I pouted.

"Here," he said, walking over to me and placing the car key in my hand, "let's go for a drive."

I took the key from him and walked around to the driver's side. We both got in at the same time. I took several minutes to fix my seat and mirrors, before starting the engine. I smiled as the car purred to life. I had never had a thing for cars, but this one sounded like a lion roaring and I had to admit that it was awesome.

"The car is fast, so just be careful," Edward said, as I put my foot on the gas and accelerated forward, perhaps a little too fast.

I saluted him. "Careful is my middle name."

"I would also prefer it if you kept both hands on the wheel. You crashed my car the last time, remember?"

I rolled my eyes as I pulled to a stop in front of the gate. I waited for the guard to come out of his guardhouse and open it. "You could always get out if you don't feel comfortable with my driving," I stated, knowing that he wouldn't.

"I didn't say I didn't feel comfortable, I just don't want you to get hurt. It would also be nice if you didn't wreck the car on the first day."

"I'm not going to wreck the car," I said, glaring at him a little, though I know he was only toying with me. Two could play that game. I put my foot to the gas and floored it out of the driveway, the tires screeching as we went. "Hold onto your seat Grandpa," I laughed, though Edward didn't appear to see the funny side.