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

Author's note: I owe a special thanks to melanieintn for spending hours helping me to rid this story of spelling and grammatical errors, and taking her time to review after each chapter! Please review if you read, even one word lets me know if you like it or not! I don't want to be boring! I have been told that some readers have lost interest because there has been little angst in the story. Patience. Getting comfortable only ads to the drama later!

Chapter 32 Surprises

BPOV

Mom and I spent hours talking that evening. I knew I would see her at Christmas, but I also knew that it would possibly be one of the last times I would ever see her, at least if I chose to fake my death when Edward changed me. It was strangely comforting, discussing my husband, the baby, my new family. Renee had always been something of a child that needed to be taken care of and I had acted almost like the parent for years before Phil came along and I moved to Forks to live with Charlie. It seemed different now, like she was more capable.

Discussing some things, like sex for one, weren't nearly as awkward as I had remembered them and the more I talked to her the more I seemed to understand myself. Being with Edward was the right decision, he had always been the right decision for me and I realized that my mother knew this as well as I did. I did know what was right for me like she had always told me I would.

As we sat together in her room, I decided that I needed to take charge a little more, allow myself to be confident in my own decisions. Carlisle had explained to me that changes in vampires were rare, but that Edward had been changed irrevocably by me. Edward would always love me and he would always be overprotective and want to take care of me - it was his nature. I needed to step out of my box and allow myself to be the person that I knew deep down I was, to show some confidence in myself and come a bit more into my own before becoming a vampire made any other changes unlikely.

"Mom, Edward and Phil are in the middle of something on the laptop in my room, can I use your computer for a minute?", I asked her.

"Sure, sweetie", she said as she stepped to the computer at her desk and turned it on.

It took forever for the antiquated machine to boot up, reminding me of it's counterpart in my room at Charlie's. I used to go downstairs and get coffee while I waited for it in the mornings! What I needed to do didn't take advanced programing though, just the Internet. I stepped into my room to get my purse while I waited, I would need that little black credit card!

"Everything okay, love?", Edward asked as his attention left the screen he was watching over Phil's shoulder and he moved to hug me.

"Fine, sweetheart", I said hugging him back and kissing his lips, "I just needed my credit card. Mom and I are doing a bit of on line shopping."

He looked at me like I had spoken French, but he said nothing. He knew I wasn't a shopper and it was moments like this that I was thankful for my mind being closed to him. I would have to keep what I was doing from Renee as well since he could read her mind!

I had overheard Edward and his brothers discussing a concerts they had attended years ago and I knew Edward had not been to one recently. I checked concerts in the Orlando area for the coming weekend and came across a small entry for an impromptu concert that had just been scheduled for this weekend. It was at an apparently little known venue. It seems that the Hard Rock Cafe had built a small concert hall adjacent to the new facility at Univeral Studios Orlando, making it the largest Hard Rock Cafe in the world. Luck was with me and my confidence soared as I saw that Muse was playing there this weekend and tickets had just gone on sale this morning. I could purchase us almost front row for the six of us. I punched in my numbers and hit buy.

I pulled up the Hard Rock Hotel web site and checked the room availability. Rooms started at $249 per night. PER NIGHT! Wow, I wonder if I will ever truly become accustomed to having money. I looked a bit further to see that they had a special 7th floor that had concierge service and suites. Sure enough, there were three suites available for a Wednesday through Sunday stay and one of them had a piano. I booked all three. All three, 5 nights, and when the total came up, I tried not to look at it, though I noticed it was more than 4 figures! Deep breaths. It was okay, no one would care. Edward would probably not even notice, he would just hit pay when the bill came in.

No sooner than I had finished the reservations I felt my phone vibrate in my jeans pocket, seems it had received a confirmation email complete with pick-up instructions. I guess the new phone came in handy. As I read, the phone vibrated again - Alice.

"Bella! That's the greatest idea ever! Thank you, I love that band! And the hotel rooms are the greatest!", she trilled.

Alice . . . of course she would have seen. "What's the Amazon like?", I asked. I couldn't very well ask how the hunt for Anacondas had gone with my Mom in the room with me.

"Perfect, I'll tell you all about it when we arrive! We'll take a cab from the airport and meet you guys at the hotel late Wednesday! Miss you . . . and the room with the piano was the greatest idea ever for Edward, he'll love it!"

"I miss you, too, Alice! See you soon", I said. I knew I would never be able to surprise Alice.

"Oh and Bella, it's going to be sunny tomorrow, the only day till next week so enjoy the sun, remember to tell Edward to plan to stay indoors!"

"Bye, Alice", I said as I clicked off the phone and returned it to my pocket.

"Are they having a good time?", my Mom asked as she came to stand behind me glancing at the computer screen. I quickly deleted the window so that Edward would not find out from her what I had done.

"Yes, they are having a great time and they'll meet us in Orlando on Wednesday. Guess that means we're leaving day after tomorrow", I told her.

"Well what would you like to do tomorrow then, sweetie. Did you say that Edward needed to work?", Mom asked.

I clicked off the computer and stood to walk out of the room with her, "How about we just swim in the pool out back, we cold get lucky and maybe the sun will come out!"

"Phil, how about helping me with dinner", Mom said with a twinkle in her eye as we passed the door to my room. We looked in to see the guys just wrapping up and turning off the laptop. I noticed it was after 4, so the market had just closed for the day. They had been at it for hours.

"Sure, honey. Edward, thank you so much. I can't wait to see how high that stock of yours will go, $2.20 already, damn. You and Bella made over $700,000 in one day! That's just almost unbelievable!", Phil stammered.

"American free enterprise at its best, that's what they say, Phil. Remember though, I've studied the market intently and it took years to get good at it. We haven't made any money at all till the stock is sold, right now, we could still loose it all. We're just going on my best guess and that's all", Edward told him, "I just don't want you to think it's always a sure thing. Some of my trades are better than others."

~oooOooo~

EPOV

We would be in Orlando in a couple of hours. Bella was asleep. She had a habit of falling asleep when we drove, of course my having kept her up most of the night could have something to do with it. I just couldn't bring myself to separate from her, literally. She usually fell asleep after we made love a few times, but last night she just held me and stroked my hair and kissed me so softly while I continued to gently move in her for hours. Her skin was so warm, the result from a day in the sun with her Mom, no doubt, but the effect it had on me was astounding. I just could not let go of her.

I enjoyed our time with her family, playing putt putt golf, movies and swimming in the ocean waves. I had to keep reminding myself to act like I needed to breath, not to swim too fast, not to show too much strength or answer thoughts rather than spoken questions. As much as I might desire it, I was not human and I was reminded of that fact when the sun came out on Tuesday. I had to insist that I keep an eye on the business for the day to avoid any questions about why I could not come play in the pool with them. Not joining Bella as she relaxed in the sun by the pool was difficult for me, but then again, she was having some mom and daughter time that she would rarely ever have again and I joined them for a swim just as twilight began and the sun had set.

Setting up an etrade account for Phil had not been entirely boring. He caught on quickly and might actually do well on his own, with a little confidence. His account would become usable next week and I would need to give him a buy. He had taken $2,000 out of their savings to meet the minimum deposit requirement and I wanted him to have that back in his account as soon as possible. How large a tip I was to give him would have to be discussed with Bella. It was Bella, after all, that had nodded to me, telling me she wanted me to teach him. I couldn't help but chuckle as I remembered the total absence of thought yesterday when he and Renee watched Bella sell the stock she had bought the day before. It had hit $6.25 just as Alice had predicted and that meant that the $250,000 stock purchase had increased in value overnight making us just over 3 million dollars on that one trade.

Million wasn't a number that humans could grasp easily and Renee's knees gave way as she plopped down on the bed in our room when she realized just how much money Bella had made. Good thing none of them had any idea of the actual family gain, Cullen Investments having purchased 12 times the amount of stock and therefore a tremendously higher profit. I picked the companies that I thought were profitable, or would be, and Alice watched specific ones for me waiting for potential. The combination of my having spent ten years reading the minds of investors and brokers on Wall Street and the ability Alice had to predict the future made it possible to find several of these tremendous opportunities for profit each year. We invested in many other stocks though, to keep from arousing suspicion, and occasionally even hung onto one to sustain a loss. All in the interest of seeming normal, human.

I had been caught off guard just after the trade when Bella literally sprung up from her chair at the desk and jumped into my arms with a force that would have knocked a human male down. I caught her easily as she wrapped her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck, kissing me as though we were alone. "If this is the response I get when you profit in the market, love, you can do all the sales from now on", I had told her in between kisses. I took a deep, unnecessary breath as I headed towards Orlando, remembering that kiss . . . the little human girl definitely owned me.

Bella had told me that Alice called and that they would meet us at the hotel. What she would not tell me, however, was what hotel. I was so unused to anyone being able to surprise me, to keep things from me. It was a wholly foreign feeling, and one I wasn't sure I would ever be comfortable with, though Bella loved it. She was obviously quite pleased that she was able to make me crazy like this and apparently she was going to wait till the absolute last minute to let me in on the details.

We arrived in Orlando and I pulled over to get gas at a station that was located kind of in the middle of all the theme parks. Seaworld and Universal Studios were just down the street and Disney and all the associated parks were about twenty minutes away.

"Bella, love. Bella", I softly whispered in her ear after I had filled the car with gas. "Bella, we're here", I said as I kissed down her neck and allowed my hand to grasp her to me.

"We're where, sweetheart?", she asked still groggy from her long nap.

"In Orlando, love. I have no idea where I am supposed to go. You are going to need to tell me the name of the hotel or at least where we are going or I guess we can just sit here at this gas station and wait on the plane to arrive with my family", I tried to taunt her. Sometimes it drove me mad that I couldn't read her mind. I was so used to knowing the thoughts of everyone around me.

'Wait, I'll go to the airport and wait, then at least I'll know I'm in the right place and Alice will find us when she lands", I said with a smirk, knowing it would goad her into telling me.

"Hard Rock Hotel. Take us to the Hard Rock Hotel at the entrance to Universal Studios", she coyly told me.

She had made reservations. I thought the trip had been planned by Alice, but after giving the valet our car and the bellman the suitcase, Bella walked to the front desk and checked into our suite. We followed the bellman into the elevator as he used a special key to access the seventh floor where we would be staying. I eyed Bella as she smiled from ear to ear and squeezed my hand in hers. I tipped the bellman after he put our case in the bedroom, never taking my eyes off the baby grand piano that sat there in the suite she had gotten for us.

"Bella! God, how did you know? How did you know I had been missing my piano these last few weeks? I never said anything about it I . . . "

She cut me off, her lips on mine.

"I love you, Edward. Play. I'll go and unpack us", she told me and left me alone to walk over and sit on the bench.

I played for a long time, Bach, Chopin, some of my favorites, then her lullaby, of course. What she wasn't aware of was that I had added to it, continued the story if you will. I wrote the addition during the course of several nights in our new home in Highlands, nights that I had been able to tear myself way from her while she slept peacefully upstairs in our bed . . . in our home.

She noticed. She noticed a lot more than I ever gave her credit for and I was just beginning to understand what a complicated creature my wife really was. She came out of the bedroom and stood behind me as I played, her arms around my neck and her chin resting on my shoulder. The sun was making an appearance as it started to set and the view through the floor to ceiling windows was amazing. I was playing the piano . . . I was with my wife who had her arms around me . . . and she was pregnant with my child. I wasn't sure it got much better than this, but I had been wrong about a lot of things. As I finished the lullaby, I smelled her salty tears and felt one drop and land on my shoulder. I grasped her hands that were on my chest as she started to unbutton my shirt slowly, taking care with each button.

She kissed my neck as she continued opening my shirt, her hands caressing my chest as her soft lips nibbled my ear, my neck, my collarbone. I reached behind my head with one and to hold to the back of her neck as she continued, sliding the shirt off of me, leaving it still tucked into the top of my pants. I turned to face her, as she sat on my lap, her hands cradling my face to her a she ever so softly kissed my lips. I reached for the hem of her shirt and she lifted he arms, allowing me to pull it off over her head, tossing it somewhere behind me as my hands returned to her back, holding her to me.

I kissed her harder now, but she pulled back slightly, softly stroking my chest with her hands and placing soft, gentle kisses on the corner of my mouth. Oh so softly sucking my top lip into her mouth as she kissed it gently, nuzzling my cheek with hers and hugging her arms around me, tracing soft circles on my back and shoulders. She laid her hands over mine, gently squeezing and encouraging me to caress her. My breathing increased and I started to squeeze with more intensity. She responded by pressing my hands tightly to her and stopping them from moving, kissing me ever so softly on the lips and cheek. Though I had to pay close attention to even notice that she was trying to still my hands, her strength so irrelevant compared to mine, I was so in tune with my wife I noticed everything. I was beginning to get the idea.

She stood and held out her hand to me. I took it and without a word, followed her into the bedroom. Bella stood in front of me and ran her hands up my chest and to my neck, kissing across my chest from side to side. She then, never taking her eyes off mine, loosened my belt, undid my pants and let them drop to the floor. I stepped out of them as I slowly pushed her shorts down for her to step out of as well, leaving us both standing by the bed totally naked. I scooped her up bridal style, kissing her lips softly as I ever so slowly crawled on my knees across the bed, placing her down in the center.

She pulled me to her, her arms around my neck and nuzzled the side of her face against mine, our bodies touching from head to toe and the light sunburn on her skin making her feel impossibly warm. I lay beside her as she continued to kiss me so softly it was like she was running a feather down the side of my face and as her hands traced soft circles over my chest, my side and everything else in between that she could reach, never varying her same soft, slow pace. Her roughest touch was slight to me, but now this tiny little slip of a girl was insisting on a very slow, very gentle, very loving pace. She was bringing me back to us, causing me to loose the frenzy that I had been unable to settle the last few times we had made love . . . taming me, if you will.

The beast that was the far end of human within me had needed to be settled, focused. Though I was a vampire and my strength was formidable, this small fragile human was forcing the human side of me to take back over, at least for now, so that I could maintain my gentle movements around her, with her, at least till the baby could be born. This was her reclaiming me, the human in me. I have no fucking idea how she knew what to do, what I needed, but out of the blue, she always found just the right thing.

She had put me in front of a piano, brought me back to my music, to my center, to her . . . and given me back my control, at least for a time. I ghosted my hands over her as I kissed her lips, allowing all the love that I had ever held for this woman to flow through me. I slowly ran my hands over every inch of her from dragging my fingers through her soft mahogany tresses, down her smooth neck and shoulders and along the curve of her hips and down her toned thighs. I took her calf in my hand and hitched her leg over my hip as I pulled her to me in slow, gentle movements, never varying the pressure on her skin or the speed of my movements, mimicking what she had been doing and continuing to stroke her all over.

It was as though there was no intent, no resolve to make love, our bodies just found each other.

There was no wild thrusting, no harsh movements.

Slow, painstakingly, agonizingly slow . . .

The only difference was that it wasn't agonizing. It was perfect.

The slowness did not frustrate me, it soothed me.

My movements did not wait to gain momentum, but moved with the surety of gravity.

I was not rushing towards a goal, but reveling in the completeness of the moment.

It was unlike anything I had ever experienced. It wasn't loud, there were no growls or snarls coming from me . . . she didn't scream my name. It was more our bodies becoming one, folding in on each other and reforming. It was more amazing than anything had ever been.

My wife had effectively stopped the gradual slipping of my ability to control the beast in me. It was no longer her blood that held a danger for her where I was concerned, but the ability to control my strength around her. I wanted her, needed her so badly, so completely that I had been in serious danger of really loosing control.