Disclaimer: All the Twilight stuff belongs to Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended. I'm just playing in her sandbox.

Chapter 25 Isle Esme

BPOV

"All packed, Bella, are you ready to go yet?", the little spiky haired pixie asked as she appeared in the doorway of my bedroom. I had just come out of the bathroom and I stood there, still putting clothing into a suitcase for Edward and I as she stared awkwardly at me.

"What, Alice? What's the look for?"

"What are you doing?", she asked.

"Alice, what does it look like I'm doing. We're leaving in an hour and I just have to finish up packing for Edward and me."

She looked at me like I had just run over her puppy, stroking the side of the door frame absently with the palm of her hand as she kicked the point of one shoe nervously into the floor behind her.

This was quite odd behavior for her and it was starting to concern me. I moved to sit on the side of the bed and face her, my attention focused to her.

"What's wrong, Alice?", I queried, cocking my head slightly and trying to get her to make eye contact with me.

Edward appeared behind her in the hall and scooted past her in the doorway, commenting to her as he approached me for a kiss, "Its all in the trunk, Alice, but it's a miracle it fit. Maybe next time we should consider bringing a car just for the luggage if you're coming along. I don't even know how one person can need so many clothes just for a couple of weeks. Weren't you going to shop in Rio?"

"The suitcases are for you and Bella as well, Edward, not just for me", she said defensively, "I shopped yesterday and you have an entirely new wardrobe to bring with you to the beach!"

I plopped down on the bed looking exasperated at Alice as I exclaimed, "Is that why you're acting all upset, Alice, because you came upstairs and found me packing our suitcase? You didn't tell me you had packed for us you know, let alone shopped for us. How was I supposed to know, I was just getting us ready to go for heavens sake."

"Bella, you should know that I would have taken care of it!"

I looked at Edward expectantly, "Edward, is this why you haven't made any move to pack? I thought I was thinking ahead to pack for you as well, but you never even gave it a thought, did you?"

He smiled sheepishly and replied, "No, love. I never even considered packing, it didn't cross my mind. I guess I have been around the little faerie too long. Whenever we go anywhere, clothing just appears and it's done. I'm a guy, clothes don't matter to me. I suppose I don't even notice anymore that she takes care of it for me."

Alice looked as though he had slapped her. "CLOTHES DON'T MATTER! Have I taught you nothing in 50 years! Edward, as a brother, sometimes you can be a disappointment", Alice almost yelled with a shocked look on her face. She turned to leave, sticking her head back to look around the door at me. "Anyway, are you going to bring those, or are we ready to go?", she added eying the suitcase I was packing with disdain.

"Well, Alice, since I have already packed this . . . and since I know you didn't pack ANY of my comfy t shirts and shorts, I think I'll bring this anyway. At least we'll have some clothes that don't have designer labels on them", I said as I snickered to Edward.

Alice looked from Edward's face to mine and then back to Edward expectantly.

"Oh no, I'm not in the middle of this one", he said as I shut the suitcase and handed it to him, "I like sleeping inside with my wife, so I'll just take this to the car and wait for you both downstairs."

~oooOooo~

"Are they about ready up there", Jasper asked looking like he voiced the question in the entire family's minds as they all stood waiting outside my house.

"I think so, the fireworks seem to be almost over and Bella sent me down with our bag", Edward answered.

"Bag? What the hell? Oh . . . ", Jasper said, realization dawning on him, "Bella packed for you guys didn't she. No wonder I'm getting waves of surprise and disappointment from the house. Alice isn't used to someone else having opinions about clothing."

"Tell me about it. I'm just waiting here. They can sort this out between them, no use in my getting in trouble with either one of them", Edward added as he joined Jasper leaning on the fender of the car with his arms crossed.

Carlisle and Esme looked on, laughing at the two of us cross armed, waiting for our wives, absolutely terrified at the idea of having to enter the house to retrieve either one of them.

"How bad and ferocious is the vampire now", Emmett offered, "I'm pulling his vamp card if he lets the 110 pound human girl own him like this!"

Rose smacked him hard on the shoulder.

"What?", he looked at her like he honestly didn't know what he had done wrong.

"Just hush you big idiot, or you're going to think you are on this trip as a single man", Rose threatened.

Without consulting even one brain cell and showing absolutely NO intelligence whatsoever, Emmett reacted by saying, "All right! Now you're talking!"

It was the first thing he thought, but it should never have been the first thing he said. Rose moved to the other side of the car and asked if she could ride to the airport with us.

"Damn it", Emmett said almost to himself, "I need to watch what comes out of my mouth!"

~oooOooo~

EPOV

The ride to the airport in Atlanta was uneventful . . . and quiet. Alice and Rose drove Alice's car to the Airport in Atlanta while Emmett and Jasper rode with Bella and me in the Volvo. Jasper wasn't in trouble with Alice, but she was certainly not wanting to spend time with me since I made the comment about clothes not mattering and I hadn't backed her up about the suitcase with Bella. Silly faerie, like I would ever go against my wife about clothing!

The flight on Delta to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, was a nonstop leaving just before 10 pm, but it arrived just before 11 am the next day so the weather forecast was important. Alice had seen that tomorrow would be overcast in Rio and there would be no problems with our being out mid day. I hated these long flights, 10 hours on a plane full of humans was not an easy thing to tolerate, especially for Jasper.

Bella had a late night snack along with a glass of champagne before we asked the stewardess for pillows and blankets. We ended up making out like teenagers under the blanket most of the night, much to the amusement of my siblings.

"Edward, why is that guy holding a card that says Cullen?", Bella asked as we came into the main terminal area of the airport, once we exited customs.

"He's here to drive us to the hotel, love", I told her.

The gentleman with the sign took our cart of bags from us and motioned for us to follow him to the limo. Bella looked at me in disbelief.

"A limousine, Edward?", she looked at me like I was out of my mind.

I just shrugged, "Of course, that way we can all ride together and still have a vehicle large enough to accommodate the luggage."

I didn't see the big deal, but then again, I was used to being met by a limo driver. What I was not used to, however, was the overwhelming memories that this airport held for me.

The last time I had been here, less than a year ago, my world was upside down. I was lost. I had been without Bella for over six months. I could barely form a coherent thought, much less an intelligible sentence. I wondered how I was even able to purchase the ticket to Houston, it was no wonder that the reservation agent had a hard time dealing with me, I couldn't have been making much sense, let alone my appearance. I had Alice to thank for reminding me to go and purchase new clothes rather than wear the cobweb covered ones I had been wearing for weeks. I should be more appreciative of Alice, really. She stuck by me during all the insanity and kept me somewhat presentable. I guess I really should not have told her that clothes didn't matter back at the house. I hadn't meant to hurt her feelings. I really should apologise to her.

"You're forgiven, brother", Alice said putting her arm around me and kissing my cheek.

"Alice . . ."

"It's alright, Edward. I saw the apology you were going to make to me and the flowers and I love them! You're forgiven and you're welcome as always," she said squeezing my neck before flitting off to grab Jasper and point to something excitedly in one of the store windows.

"Copacabana Palace, please", I told the driver once we were all in the limo and he had managed to stuff all the suitcases in the trunk and front seat.

"Edward! The Copa? You are really going all out on this, aren't you", Rose commented.

"I just thought since you were coming for us, we could at lest make sure you had comfortable accommodations. They had a three bedroom suite available and I thought it would work for all of us now and there would be room for Carlisle and Esme when they arrive next week. I thought Bella and I would stay here with you guys for a night or two to see the sights in the city!', I explained, if she wants to.

"That sounds like fun! I have never been out of the country before and everything here looks so different!", Bella exclaimed as she watched the scenery outside the window intently.

Our progress slowed to a standstill as the limo stopped in traffic, pedestrians crowding in on all sides.

"Edward, what's the problem? The crowd around us is filled with excitement and . . . lust!", Jasper asked as he stared out the window, amazed at the vast numbers of women trying to get close to the hotel.

"They all appear to be trying to see some movie stars that are staying here, that new film, Twilight, one of that series I think", Edward explained, "at last that's what all of these people are thinking about!"

The limo driver had to answer a few questions, as did I when the officer came to the window. It was one of those times when I was glad that my Portuguese was fluent. When we finally made it past the mas hysteria that they called fans, we registered and moved to our suite. The hotel was everything it was supposed to be, elegant and roomy with an amazing view of the ocean and parts of Rio. Our suite took up the entire end of one floor, so we could see East to the ocean as well as North to the city and West to the mountains.

~oooOooo~

I stood put on the balcony looking at the cross on the mountain in the distance as the sun set. We had spent the day touring old churches and admiring the architecture before returning to the hotel for Bella to have dinner and the rest of us to change and get ready to go out to the clubs for the evening.

I couldn't help but digress to that time, months ago, when I had looked at this same cross in the distance with very different thoughts running through my head. I had scoffed at it as it mocked me, a soulless creature of the night damned for all eternity to walk the earth in agony. I had nothing and I thought I deserved nothing. I had even refused to get a hotel room for myself there, choosing to climb into the attic of an abandoned building on the far side of town and lie there, stationary to the point of having cobwebs form across the entire exposed side of me and rats chew on my shoes. I laid there without moving for weeks and would have continued to lie there had it not been for the ringing of my cell phone, the insistent pixie determined to rile me up to the point of answering the phone. My need for Bella won out in the end and it forced me back to some semblance of reality, it forced me to go and find her.

"What are you thinking about so hard, sweetheart?", Bella asked as she walked out onto the balcony and put her hand on my shoulder, snuggling close to my side.

"You", I said as I turned, encircling her with my arms and putting my chin on her shoulder to breath in her delicious scent at my favorite spot just under her ear. She looked at me, knowing I was holding back and I added, "And I was remembering how you saved me from myself here."

"What do you mean, Edward? You are the one who saved me, remember?", she said as her lips brushed against mine and her tongue sought entry. I kissed my wife with every fiber of my being. I didn't care that my brothers and sisters might walk in on us, I didn't care about anything other than her at that moment. I had left Forks, left her to protect her, to save her from me and and the dangers that my world brought to her, but in the end it was she who had done the saving.

She had convinced me of my soul by showing her love for me in so many different ways. Her blind faith in me was unending and it left me with a hope that I had never felt before. If we were truly one soul divided in two bodies, soul mates if you will, than I had no choice but to believe, as she and Carlisle did, that I had a soul, because I had seen hers.

We spent the evening enjoying all the flavors of Rio, the bright costumes of carnival, the majestic old Spanish architecture that was everywhere in the old historic portions of the town, the lively conversation and music in the streets along with the street vendors. It seemed kind of unnecessary to go in to a club, like we would be missing out on the very essence of the city unless we remained in the open, vibrant streets that were alive with people and music and dancing. We found a table for six that was on a slightly raised balcony over the street and Bella had dinner while we each ordered drinks. It seemed almost magical here and it wasn't long before we all wanted to head off to the hotel, or to walk on the beach for some time alone with our mates.

Bella and I entered the hotel for the evening to an onslaught of flash photos being snapped all around us, the photographers apparently mistaking us for the movie couple that was staying there. After accepting their apologies, we headed up to our room. No one was there yet and I took the opportunity to pick my wife up bridal style and hurry into our bedroom to ravish her before anyone else got back, taking full advantage of the privacy to allow all the noises Bella would feel too self conscious making once they were here.

Bella returned from her morning 'human moment' in the bathroom. She had been having more and more of these even in the middle of the night, but the fact that I never needed use of the restroom made her times there stand out, so I really didn't give it too much thought.

"Edward, would you mind if we went on to the island today instead of seeing more of Rio?", Bella asked me as she crawled under the covers and wiggled her naked body closer to me. The sun was just coming in our windows as the morning broke over the ocean, the colors and breeze filling our bedroom.

"Are you not enjoying Rio, Bella?", I asked as I propped my head up on my elbow so that I could look at her face.

"Oh Edward! I love Rio! It's just that, well, we have never been really alone for very long. Other than a couple of nights at your house in Forks, we have always been near family. Not that I don't love family Edward, I really do, but . . . "

I stopped her sentence by covering her lips with mine and pulling her close to me, "I want what you want, love. We can always see some of the city after we spend time on the island, if that's alright with you. I don't want you to miss anything, but I really can't wait to be with just you. I've been trying to share, but I want you alone and naked where no one else can disturb us for days at a time."

BPOV

We reached the docks early morning, having said good bye to his family and discussed how we would keep in touch. Alice was watching and she saw no trouble, no signs of Victoria. In fact, she could see Victoria shadowing Jacob, waiting for a clue as to where we were. Thank God she didn't see Victoria as a threat to Jacob.

We walked nearly to the end of the long dock and Edward stopped at a beautiful deep blue Chris Craft speedboat that was docked there. The term speed boat was indeed appropriate for this craft as it looked like it would literally fly across the water with what appeared to be not one but two inboard motors.

I marveled at his prowess in getting the boat ready to leave the dock. I had never heard Edward speak of an interest in boating, or even the sea but he was certainly more than just proficient as he moved to open and stow the cover, check the engine and remove the lines tethering us to the dock.

"Ready to go, love?", he asked as he put our suitcases in the boat and held his hand out for me to step in.

"More than ready, sweetheart", I said, brushing my lips to his as I let my hand trail across the front of his jeans.

"You, Mrs. Cullen, are becoming quite forward!", he said raising one eyebrow as I sat in the passenger seat beside him.

"Not forward, Mr. Cullen, I just have a hard time keeping my hands off my husband. He is so gorgeous."

Edward looked down shyly and I knew that if he could blush, it would be happening. As bold as he tried to make himself out to be, my husband was not experienced at showing or receiving open affection or physical familiarity. He was exactly as new to this as I was, he had just been waiting 90 years for it to occur. He cut his eyes back to the controls, his emotions under control again and all business. He got the boat away from the dock as though he had done it his entire life and we headed out to the open sea. If my geography was correct, the next body of land out there was Africa, and that was on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

When we had been flying over the waves for almost an hour, I had to ask, "Are we there yet?"

He laughed at my childishly phrased question, putting his arm around my shoulders and murmuring something about being there in just a few more minutes. About the time I looked over the horizon again, a small rough area on the sea began to show itself. As I looked more intently and we closed the distance towards it, it became clear that it was a small island, well, maybe not so small. The closer we got, of course, the larger it appeared. We pulled to a dock on the North side of the island and one of the most beautiful homes I had ever seen came into view. It was two stories tall and appeared to be made from rough hewn timbers and glass - mostly all glass!

Edward docked the boat and picked me up in his arms, carrying me bridal style towards the house. He paused to open the unlocked doors saying, "Welcome to Isle Esme, love".

It was amazing. Absolutely amazing from the vaulted sky lit ceiling in the great room, to what appeared to be loft bedrooms. I was soon to find out as apparently, that was where my husband was headed with me in his arms.

Edward laid me in the middle of a huge white canopied bed with the breeze from the ocean gently blowing the curtains as well as his hair.

"I love you", he said as he crawled up my body on all fours and settled himself down beside me with his lips at my ear. He trailed kisses from my ear along the line of my jaw till he got to just the edge of my lips, kissing them softly as he reached to caress my cheek with his hand. He kept peppering kisses along my neck and collar bone as his hand trailed down my neck and came to a halt over my heart. Though his body was colder than mine, it felt like fire everywhere he touched.

"I'm sorry we didn't have a proper honeymoon the first time we made love, sweetheart", he told me, his beautiful molten gold eyes lined by long dark lashes and on fire with the emotion they conveyed.

"I would have carried you into this house and placed you on this bed covering you with kisses and slowly unbuttoned your clothes, like this . . . "

"And gently, for the first time, I would have held you the way you deserved", he told me as his mouth trailed kissed down towards my now exposed breasts.

"Then," he said, removing his shirt as he kicked off his shoes and unbuttoned the top button of his jeans, "I would have done my very best to make you understand what you mean to me, how much I love you . . . "

"And I would have removed the rest of your clothes and kissed every single inch of your body", he whispered as he did just that.

He kissed me passionately as his tongue danced with mine.

"I would have taken care to bring you pleasure, making sure everything would be as comfortable as possible for you when I finally made love to you", he said as I arched my back and screamed his name.

He moved to place his body over mine. I held him to me, my fingers tangled in his hair, tracing circles on his back, grabbing his butt and pulling him to me in every way possible to encourage him but I was mesmerized by his voice and his words. My heart was beating double time and my breaths were ragged.

He looked at me with unfathomable longing. "Then I would have completed us both", he said as he made love to me as though it was the very first time. We moved together for a very long time, sensing and feeling every part of each other. As the passion built I thought my heart would rupture in my chest and my body would burst into flame and I still would not have cared. There was nothing in the world but us, moving together as one, drinking each other in completely but never fully enough. We came together, at the same instant, his roar deafening in its ferocity. Edward loosing control was the most glorious sight I had ever seen and it never ceased to amaze me . . . his head thrown back, face drawn, teeth clenched and every single muscle in his body flexed at exactly the same instant.

God I loved this man.

He let his weight rest on me as we watched the last traces of sunlight disappear over the water, content in each others arms.

~oooOooo~

I awoke in the night, Edward's arm over my chest and his body pressed tightly to mine. He seemed to be sleeping and I was able to get out of bed without disturbing him and run to the bathroom. I spent the next few minutes bent over the toilet throwing up. Edward heard me, of course. He was thee instantly holding back my hair and finding a damp washcloth to wipe my face and neck with.

"What's all this, love?"

"I just feel very nauseous, sweetie. That's all. It will go away", I told him as I stood in front of the sink. I turned to face my husband, to get him to see that I was indeed alright.

"Maybe we should go and see one of the doctors in Rio, just to make sure."

"Edward. Do I have a temperature?"

He felt my forehead with his lips, "No, just the right temperature, love."

"Is my breathing okay and my blood pressure?"

He put his arms around me, "Yes love, everything is just perfect", he said as he nuzzled his face into the hollow of my shoulder.

"You have not one but two medical degrees, right?"

He pulled away just a bit to look into my eyes while his fingers traced patterns on my naked back, "Yes, love. You know this, what are you getting at?"

"I'm just trying to get you to see that I'm fine", I said as I kissed his lips. Let's go sit down, sweetheart.

I led Edward by the hand back into our bedroom, still naked from our escapades earlier in the evening. We sat, facing each other on the huge white bed and I took both of my husbands hands in mine. He looked so worried, so unsure of what I had to say to him. I had to do this just right, I knew he would be shocked, but I had already bought the drug store tests. Four times.

I wanted to be alone with him when I told him, I wanted to be totally alone out on this island so that I could calm what I knew would be an almost panicked vampire. I leaned forward and kissed his lips, and gathered my nerve.

"Edward . . . the baby and I are just fine."

It was as though my words didn't register, as though they had somehow become lost in the air over the distance they had to travel to go from my lips to his ears. I leaned in and whispered in his ear, "Sweetheart, we're having a baby. I know you said it wasn't possible, but I'm pregnant and you are going to be a daddy!"

"A baby, Bella? . . . A baby . . . you and I . . . but . . . but it's not possible. I wish it was, but it's just not possible, love!"

"Edward, my period is late, I'm nauseous, food tastes different to me than it did a month ago, I can't possibly get enough sex no matter how many times we make love and I throw up in the middle of the night. I'm pregnant, sweetheart."

He didn't breath, he didn't move. He became still as only a vampire can, his eyes focusing on nothing, starring straight ahead where my eyes had been when I told him. I heard his phone ring, I could guess that it was Alice and I was right.

"Alice, is something wrong?", I asked her.

"Bella, I was just about to ask you that!"

"Have you seen anything with Victoria, or is she still stalking Jacob to find me?, I asked as I stroked Edward's cheek with the back of my knuckles.

"No, no. Nothing new with Victoria, no problem from her right now. I called because I thought I saw something, I just . . . "

"Alice, I'll fill you in as soon as my husband comes out of shock from me telling him. Let me share this with him, first, then we will call you, ok? I just answered the phone in case there was a problem."

"So . . . there is no problem Bella?"

"No, Alice. Unless you see a problem with Victoria, everything is just perfect, well, if Edward hasn't turned to stone!"