A/N: A huge thanks to my ladies, Paige, Sherry, Tiffany & Cristina for all your hard work!

I hope you enjoy this chapter. I also have 25 & 26 written, so I shall see you Tuesday & Wednesday.

As always, thank you for your reviews/favs/follows.

Chapter 24

"Where to now?" Edward asked, as we walked back to the car, his hand firmly linked with mine.

I shrugged. "This is your hometown, isn't it? Why don't you show me where you like to hangout? Where did you like to spend most of your time growing up here?" I asked, curious to find out more about my husband and what makes him tick.

Edward laughed. "I don't think you would enjoy my old hangout."

"Try me," I said, cocking my eyebrow at him. Whatever it was he had to show me couldn't be that bad, could it? Unless, I suppose he spent the majority of his childhood hanging around a strip club, but I highly doubted that was the case. Carlisle didn't seem like the type.

"Okay, you asked for it," Edward said, motioning for me to hand over the car keys.

"My car, remember?" I said playfully, clutching the keys to my chest.

"Do you want it to be a surprise or not?"

"Fine, but go easy on her, she's brand new."

About half an hour later we pulled up outside an abandoned warehouse. It was certainly not what I had been expecting. "Wow, you must have had an exciting childhood," I teased Edward, as he parked the car.

"I did warn you," he replied. I couldn't argue with that, he had warned me. I reached for the car handle, wondering what was so special about this place, that he would hang around here, but Edward caught my arm before I could reach the door. "Wait! Before we go inside I would like to give you another Thursday gift." I turned to face him, a smile spreading across my face. Another gift? Hadn't he given me more than enough already?

Edward reached inside his suit jacket and pulled out a small jewelry box. "I hope you like it," he said, as he handed it to me. "All the Cullen women have one. I thought it was only right that my wife had one too."

Inside the box was a white gold necklace, with a 'C' shaped pendant in a calligraphic font. The inside of the C was filled with a line of diamonds, it was beautiful, but what touched me the most was the fact that he had thought of me. He had wanted me to be included. "Thank you," I said, smiling genuinely at him.

"You're welcome. Here, let me help you put it on." I lifted my hair out the way and leaned forward so Edward could fasten the necklace around my neck. I admit being in such a close proximity to him was starting to do things to me. I found myself wishing that he would kiss me, but he didn't. "It looks perfect on you," he said, as he moved back to admire the necklace.

"So," I said, coughing, trying to relieve some of the tension in the air. "Why don't you show me what is so exciting about this warehouse of yours."

"Okay," Edward grinned. He led me over to a side door. The thing was old and rusty, and grunted like hell when he opened it. It certainly didn't sound as if anyone used it anymore. The inside of the warehouse wasn't much better. It was practically empty, apart from rubbish and a few crates that were lying about. I had to admit, I wasn't seeing the appeal of why he hung out here so much, or why he would even think it would be a great place to bring me.

"Wow," I said, for the lack of anything better to say.

Edward laughed. "We weren't all spoiled princesses," he said, grabbing my hand, "Come on." He dragged me over to the far corner where there were some old wooden crates and lots and lots of empty beer bottles. He sat five of them up on the crates and then pulled out his gun. "Target practice," he said, winking at me. "Let's see how good you are with a gun, Principessa."

"Ah, so basically you sat around all day drinking beer and shooting things?" I asked, following him as he moved back.

"Pretty much," Edward said, turning to grin at me. He handed me his gun and motioned for me to shoot the bottles. His presence alone was enough to make me nervous, never mind the fact that I was more than a little out of practice. I took my usual stance, legs apart, shoulders straight. I took aim and let out a deep breath, pulling the trigger. The bullet completely missed the bottle and went straight into the crate. I glared at the bottle, taking another shot quickly, trying to make up for my first mistake. That bullet also missed.

"Who taught you to shoot?" Edward asked, as he came up close behind me, his breath on my ear.

"My father," I mumbled in embarrassment.

"He didn't do a very good job of it," he stated. I opened my mouth to defend my father, but I didn't know what to say. "What's the point in carrying a gun around if you can't use it?" he asked.

"I can use it," I snapped. "You're just making me nervous. Do you need to stand so close?"

Edward ignored my little outburst. "Your legs aren't wide enough," he said kicking them further apart, "and your arms aren't in the right position either," he said, readjusting them with his hands, though he didn't remove his hands when he was finished. "Now take a deep breath, think about the target and when you're ready, I want you to pull the trigger."

I took a deep breath, focusing on the bottle. I fired the gun. The bullet clipped the side of the bottle, smashing it into pieces. "I did it," I said, turning to Edward and smiling.

"You did," he said, cupping my face, "but you need to practice more. Your hold is sloppy and your aim is shit." I frowned at him. He wasn't supposed to be so brutally honest. "I can teach you if you like."

Although his honesty bothered me, I nodded because I did want him to teach me. I wanted to be able to defend myself properly, but not only that, I enjoyed spending time with him. I enjoyed it when we didn't fight every second.

We spent an hour or so at the warehouse shooting bottles before Edward said it was time to get home. I wasn't looking forward to returning home. I was worried that we would slip into old habits, but he seemed fairly excited about the idea, which made me wonder if he had something else planned.

As soon as I entered the house I heard the sound of something whining. I looked at Edward, wondering what was going on, but he gave nothing away. I followed the sound into the kitchen, where I saw Marcus sitting on the floor with the most gorgeous, little puppy I had ever seen.

"You got me a puppy?" I exclaimed, not even waiting for Edward to answer as I ran over to Marcus and snatched the dog from him. He was a mixture of white and a golden brown, it kinda reminded me of a husky. "He's gorgeous," I exclaimed.

"He is actually a she," Edward stated, coming over to my side. "She is to be your guard dog. She'll protect you when I'm not around. Marcus is going to train her for you. I don't want you spoiling her or undermining his training."

"I won't," I said, shaking my head and then placing kisses all over the puppy. She was simply adorable. I even laughed when she licked my face. "What is she, a husky?"

"No, she's an Akita," Edward said, his own face filled with amusement. "They make excellent guard dogs. She'll protect you with her life, but they don't do well with strangers."

"Does she have a name?"

"No, I thought you would like to be the one to name her."

I lifted the dog into the air, so we were face to face, as I stared at her, wondering what to name her. "What about Lucy, or Bailey? Maybe even Angel?" I said, looking at her, but none of those names felt right. "Oh, I know. I'll call you Princess." Yes, Princess sounded like a perfect name.

Edward laughed, but Marcus didn't seem as impressed. "You can't call the dog Princess," he moaned.

"Why not?" I protested. "I think it's appropriate."

Marcus looked at Edward as if looking for backup, but Edward just laughed. "She can call her dog whatever she wants. After-all it is her dog."

"See," I said, smiling at Marcus. I handed him the dog as it started to whine. "I think Princess needs to pee." Marcus walked away mumbling as he carried the dog. "Thank you," I said, turning to Edward. I appreciated him backing me up.

Edward leaned over and placed a kiss on my head. "I think Marcus is going to enjoy walking Princess."

"I think so too," I said, looking outside to see the two of them together.

"When Marcus comes back in I'll send him to pick up dinner for us. I'm afraid I need to have an early night. I have a plane to catch first thing in the morning."

"Oh, where are you going?" I asked, taking a seat at the breakfast bar.

"I have a meeting in New York."

"Can I come?" I asked. I didn't relish the idea of being back in New York, but I didn't like the idea of being left alone either. "Perhaps I can visit with some friends?"

"I don't think that's a good idea," Edward frowned. "You will be safer here. I'll be as quick as I can. Marcus will stay with you."

"Okay," I sighed, feeling like our bubble had already begun to burst.