Yes, there was a time jump. No there is no missing chapter, the previous chapter just failed to stay put so I uploaded it a second time. This is the second half of the last chapter. Please note, if you ask me questions when you are signed in as 'guest' I cannot answer you. Cheers.
It's Murder Sequel
Chapter 6
EPOV
The week before we reached our six month anniversary of our reunion, I knew we both wanted to step things up a notch and really make love. It had been long enough to both be sure this was forever, so why wait?
It wasn't as if we hadn't done it many many times before, and the memories were driving us nuts.
"God, I really want you to...I mean, what you just did was great, Edward, but I can't stop remembering that time you held me against the wall and secured me there by..."
"You mean, the time I 'nailed' you," I had laughed.
Sometimes in our sleep we'd start doing things without conscious thought and wake up when I was trying to enter inside her.
We'd gaze into one another's eyes and sigh, because if we actually completed the entire act in our sleep, neither of us could hardly be held responsible, right?
God, we were missing this so badly. It was so tempting to just relax the rules and make proper love.
Something still held me back and in the early hours as I lay there watching her sleep in my arms, I finally knew what it was.
I wasn't sure how she would react when I explained it to her but on that memorial day , I hit her with it.
She had baked us a 'happy six month anniversary' cake, and I'd bought flowers that were displayed in vases all around our bedroom.
I'd booked a restaurant for dinner for two that night, and she'd been shopping alone in a lingerie shop, and had hidden the bag of goodies she'd purchased somewhere in this room.
I put candles all around the bed, unable to count on the moon to send her beams in through the windows and create the perfect ambience.
Then I started feeling nervous.
There was no earthly reason to think she would turn me down but with Bella, you cannot just assume anything.
Dinner went well though I can't tell you what we ate. All I could think about was the night to come.
At first Bella just assumed it was just another romantic date but by the time she was merrily slurping down her chocolate mousse, she noticed I was sweating.
Just normal sweat, not blood like I imagined.
"Edward? Are you okay? What's happened?" she asked, putting her spoon down.
"We need to go home," I stuttered out nervously.
"Is anything wrong?" she questioned, alarmed now.
"No, no, nothing's wrong. We need to talk."
I wished I could have bitten my tongue and taken those words straight back when I saw the fear on her face.
"It's okay. It's a good thing. A really good thing," I assured her nervously. I have no idea why I was so uptight, because we were back and better than ever before and this was just a natural progression. She would agree.
Bella took the car keys from my hand and insisted she would drive so while she parked the car, I ran upstairs and lit every scented candle, then opened the little blue box I'd kept hidden, just to double check the ring was still there inside.
It was.
I heard Bella speaking to Siobhan, whom I had ignored and rushed right past, and I hoped she would not delay my Love from coming upstairs.
Bella opened the door and looked surprised at the candlelight, then she got it.
I mean, I was on my bended knee , with the ring box open, held up like an offering to the Gods, I guess it was instantly obvious.
She smiled and walked to my side and I pulled her hand so she'd sit on the bed.
"Isabella Marie Swan, you have made my life worthwhile. You have changed me from a man I look back at with shame and disgust, and I am a better man today because you gave me a chance to grow up and live an honourable life.
Would you do me the extraordinary honour of agreeing to become my wife?"
There, it was said.
Bella sank to the floor beside me and pulled me into her arms.
"There is nothing in the world that I want more. I would love to be your wife. I'm already your soul mate; your girlfriend, your lover..."
She grinned at that last one.
"Is this what you have been waiting for?" she asked. "Is this why we haven't made love again? Is tonight the night?"
I could hear the hope and excitement in her voice.
"Actually, I want us to wait until we are married."
Her face dropped a little then she laughed.
"Seriously? Then is there a preacher hiding in our closet?"
"No, but the paperwork is in place and Laurent and Siobhan are free this weekend, to be our witnesses. I know we should wait and let the family.."
"No, Edward. This is our time. This is just for us. They will understand."
"Then you will marry me on Sunday morning at the Registry Office?" I replied happily.
Usually it was closed on Sundays and the waiting list had meant it would be weeks before our turn came, so I had greased a few palms.
"Of course. I don't need anyone else there but you."
I sat back so I could see her face and I pushed the little blue box into her hand.
She looked confused, holding up her hand so I was reminded of the ring she already wore.
"Open it. I had this made to sit beside that ring. That one had a meaning, but this one is a traditional engagement ring with a traditional meaning. We need them both."
I took the curved, shiny diamond studded gold band and removed her first ring, and placed it on her finger, then put the other back as well.
She didn't yet know it, but the wedding ring in my bedside table drawer was also custom made to sit above these two rings.
"It's beautiful. I love it. I love how they meld together like one ring," she said in awe.
"Like we meld together into one person," I murmured, kissing her hand.
Somehow, despite how much we both wanted to celebrate that love properly, we managed yet again to refrain.
At one point Bella leapt from the bed and stood against the wall, letting it hold her up as she gasped in air trying to calm down, having barely managed to stop at petting, and once I myself had to move away before her delicious aroma messed with my head and took away all control.
"Soon, soon," I whispered as we got into our usual sleeping position, with me spooning my body around hers. "It will be so worth waiting. Once upon a time making love was reserved for married couples, and that's the way I want it to be for us. I want a plain gold band on that finger the next time I enter your body."
xxxx
Sunday morning saw me waking up alone in a cold, inhospitable bed, but Siobhan had insisted if we were holding out consummation until after the ceremony, then we would be doing the whole nine yards traditionally.
Bella slept on the downstairs sofa, and I managed to get down there before she awoke, so I was the first person she saw when she opened her eyes.
"Edward," she sighed sleepily, opening the quilt that covered her and letting me inside the covers.
I held her tightly but chastely, and kissed her a thousand times before we detected the sound of Laird stirring, and I had to sneakily bolt back to the staircase.
I was halfway up when I heard Siobhan murmuring about "Today is the day. I'll take Edward's coffee up to him, he must not see you until the actual ceremony."
She gasped out loud at the attic conversion.
"You two are probably going back to Forks once this school year ends, right? You have to do your residency thing in that hospital?"
"I do," I agreed.
"So, I am putting my name down to rent this room as soon as you leave."
"No problem. I hope you and Laurent will love living up here as much as we do."
She insisted on bringing my breakfast to me on a tray, and I ate hungrily. For me, the nerves were gone.
Asking; putting myself out there, on the line; letting Bella decide if I was trustworthy again, had been the hard part.
Today was just the icing on the cake.
I showered and dressed, having decided against shaving because Bella liked my stubble so much, and she would be a little disappointed if she didn't get to feel it against her thighs tonight...
I breathed in deeply, thrusting the window open so the cool air could calm me down.
Tonight.
Tonight would be the best night of my existence because I would be making love to my wife.
I would be a married man.
One who fully intended to keep his vow to love only her, now and forever, and keep myself for her alone.
"So, don't you feel cheated? No bachelor party?" Laurent asked as he handed over my new suit.
"Until Bella let me into her bed, my whole life was a bachelor party," I replied. "I shall not miss those days one bit. She showed me how much better life could be, and in a way, it was good I got to that point first, of knowing exactly what I wanted before I managed to sell the idea to her.
I needed to spend those months longing for her to love me...they were a test. To see if I'd just give up and stop trying, or if she truly was the only girl I would ever want in my arms ever again.
They say old habits die hard. I would have hated myself if she'd been willing more quickly, and I'd had any doubts that monogamy was my dearest wish.
I'm glad I had that period of time to truly get to know myself."
"Married life is actually pretty sweet," Laurent admitted as he preened himself in the mirror.
"And you have been married a whole week so I should listen to you," I joked.
"Sometimes a week can change a man forever. I always adored Siobhan but while Luke was living here, she never gave me a second thought.
His leaving was my salvation.
I've never been so happy to find out one of my friends was a complete coward who snuck off in the middle of the night with his bit on the side. I knew he would never ever be faithful to Lucy. He doesn't have it in him. There will always be just one more girl he needs to be with..."
"Have you heard from either of them?" I asked.
"Sure. Lucy emailed me. Sadly I was right. He lasted a whole three months before she caught him with her cousin.
She's left him and is living back with her Mom. Completely predictable ending to that marriage. Relationships begun in deception so rarely work."
"Well, they do say when a man marries his mistress he creates a job vacancy."
"So true. It amazes me that a woman would cheat with a man who is taken, then be surprised when she is in turn cheated on by him. I mean, the clues were there."
We finished dressing and he checked that everything about my outfit was perfectly in place.
We arrived at the Registry Office first and he tugged at his tie nervously when the girls were running late.
"Hey, you should be the nervous one," he said ruefully.
"I trust my Bella completely," I replied, standing up as the outer door slammed shut, and peering over the internal balcony.
Bella looked like an angel.
She floated up the stairs towards us and Laurent pulled me away, inside the room, to stand and wait.
Siobhan was juggling the baby and her bag and our wedding rings in matching blue boxes, and Laurent smiled and stepped forward to help her.
I put my hands out and took Bella's, and kissed her gently, then placed my forehead against hers.
"Ready?"
"So ready," she replied.
The woman officiating cleared her throat and we all got into position, and I didn't refer to my handwritten notes once as I said my vows that I'd been writing for months now.
Bella cried at my words and could barely speak out loud as she said her own vows in reply, and all in all, it was perfect.
Siobhan helped Laird hand over our rings and I slid my final symbol of unity onto the hand of the only woman I have ever truly loved.
She shakily placed my ring on my finger and that was it.
Mr and Mrs Edward and Isabella Cullen, for eternity.
xxxxx
I'm so glad we had some uncomplicated nights of pure bliss before real life stepped in and pulled us from our bubble.
Finding out Rose and Emmett would need a third person to make their dreams of making a family come true was a blow, but nothing money could not overcome.
Some women chose to carry babies for women like Rose.
I didn't judge them at all. What better gift could anyone give a couple than to hand them their own genetic child, when all hope of them achieving that themselves was gone? I was mentally compiling a list in my head of where to begin the search for this selfless creature when Bella spoke.
"I want to do it. I want to carry Rose's baby. I owe her that much."
I should have seen that coming.
While Bella and I have moved past that blasphemy of a time, she still feels she owes Rose something for what that woman endured for her.
I immediately started arguing, but I could see Bella was absolutely determined, and confronting her head on would never achieve my intended purpose of making her slow down; consider the possible repercussions, and ponder an alternate option.
"Obviously you two need to talk, so go somewhere and do that. We'll get a cab back to the hotel. This is some pretty heavy stuff, but thanks, Bella. I love you, and this offer just makes me love you even more," my brother said, taking my wife into his own arms. "Don't worry if you change your mind. Like Edward said, there are women out there who would do this for us. For a fee."
Bella nodded and I took her hand.
"We will leave you two to finish up here and see you tonight at dinner."
I glanced over at Bella as I drove. She was smiling to herself, then frowning, and looking up at me.
I pulled in at Golden Gate Park and we walked in silence for a while, until we found a bench to sit on.
"May I speak first? You know I have this massive debt to repay to Rose, and I always assumed there would never be anything big enough to do that. I want to level up the scales, and be as good a friend to her as she has been to me. How do you thank someone for voluntarily taking my place with that man? And then, the result.
It was so unfair.
She got punished for her good deed.
There was nothing I could do for her then, but now...
Now, Edward, I could make things right again. I want to do this. I think I need to do this or I'll never be free of the knowledge of how much Rose paid for my mistake."
"I understand, truly I do," I replied, taking her hands. "Bella, I get it. This does seem like what would probably be the only way you truly could make up everything to Rose. I agree. But naturally I'm worried. Maybe it's selfish of me, but I'm currently neck deep in books on obstetrics and all I've read about how common it is for disasters during pregnancy and childbirth occur...
I don't want you to ever be at risk again. I need you."
"And I need to do this. So, I guess we compromise."
"Bella, I'm not seeing a possibility here for us to compromise. You either carry their baby or you don't. You do have the money I put into your account for your half of the loft apartment; so if you want to foot the bill, you could afford it. Or you could be involved by helping to find someone to do this for them."
"I want to do this myself or it would not be me making a personal sacrifice like Rose did for me. But as you are worried about that pregnancy taking away my chance to have our baby, think about this. Why don't I have our baby first?"
I considered it.
It was a reasonable compromise.
"Okay. But first we look into all the possible complications of the procedures you will go through to be their surrogate, and you have to agree if things look too risky, you promise to be reasonable and maybe not go ahead."
"Fine," she replied. "I promised to never again do anything reckless. I will keep my promise. If it looks too potentially dangerous, I will use that money to pay someone else. But you have to agree to support me if I choose to go ahead."
"It's a deal," I agreed. That had been easy. I wouldn't admit I would be researching the fuck out of surrogacy and it's pitfalls and potential dangers, but that was just me.
And Bella had just agreed to have our baby first.
"So, when do we begin making our own child?" I asked casually.
"It is still our honeymoon," she replied with a grin. "There's nothing quite like a honeymoon baby to celebrate a marriage."
xxxx
Rose and Emmett looked worried when we got home, but Bella and I explained what we had agreed and they both backed our decision completely, without hesitating.
Rose wanted a little time to assimilate if she could handle watching somebody else carry her and Emmett's child, and anyway, after all the tests she'd just endured, she needed a break before starting drugs and injections to prepare her body to undergo egg collections.
And I could see she wanted the security of us having our own child first, just in case.
"There's little point Bella having our baby if it ends her own chances of motherhood, then I'd be all shattered for letting her put herself in that position, and the two of us would go on and on forever, trying to repair the damages we had done one another," she pointed out.