A/N: Thanks once again, guys, for continuing to read and review this little story. I haven't had a chance to get back to many reviews, but I'm working on a few other projects, and there just aren't enough hours. But I LOVE and READ and APPRECIATE all of them, and do try to get back to ya'll when possible. :)

We're almost done. One more chappy and an epi after this...

Betad by the lovely Michelle Renker Rhodes.

Most characters belong to S. Meyer. Major plot line belongs to J. Austen. The rest is all me. :)

A&A Ch. 35 (P&P Ch. 60)

The next morning, before the guys' arrival, Renee was a bundle of nervous energy. She awoke early in the morning, cooking and cleaning more in three hours than she'd done in the past three decades of her life. To Bella, all this commotion was a frightening omen to what awaited them once Edward arrived for lunch.

But Bella was happily surprised. Once Edward walked through that door, Renee's entire demeanor shifted from a blabbering, agitated nitwit to a reverently intimidated mute. Even to someone as foolish as she, it was plain to see that unlike his friend, Jasper, Edward would not be an easy-going, push-over who would sit back and grin while Renee rambled and ran dizzying circles around him. In fact, her awe for her future son-in-law was so great that as much as Renee was able to choke out was a welcome to her humble home, a bright smile, and congratulations on his upcoming nuptials to the daughter she swore had always been her favorite.

Edward received Renee's kind yet subdued words with the utmost grace - and internal gratitude for their brevity.

As for Charlie, he smirked as he watched his wife cutting Edward's steak for him, and moved in to whisper in Bella's ear,

"I'm so glad your mother is finally learning to value those who deserve to be valued. As for me, I personally appreciate every single one of the men who've touched my girls' lives this past year. Mike, of course, is my very favorite, but Edward and Jasper are close seconds."

Bella simply rolled her eyes at her father's continued teasing. No, her family would never change much. But when she looked at Edward, he winked at her, jerking his chin playfully at Renee, who continued slicing his steak with the utmost care. Bella held in a chuckle.

OOOOOOOOOO

Late that afternoon, Bella and Edward were finally alone.

Bella, Alice, Jasper and Edward had driven back to Seattle, where Alice and Jasper had gone on to the airport, while Edward had opted for a later flight so that he could spend some time with Bella in her small Seattle apartment.

Now, Edward and Bella lay on her small bed, kissing and touching languidly, thoroughly sated after the activities of the last hour. A couple of months ago, they had both agreed to save the main prize for their wedding night, but that didn't mean that they couldn't thoroughly enjoy one another in every other possible way between now and then.

Bella rested her head over Edward's chest, enjoying the quick beat of his heart eventually slowing to its normal rhythm. She was in a wonderful mood, created by Edward's presence, the relief of finally having told her family of her engagement, and the fact that said family hadn't embarrassed her too badly today.

"Why did you fall in love with me?" she asked, tracing her fingers over the plains and valleys on Edward's abs, playing with the wispy, blond hairs just under his belly button, making him groan deep within his chest. "I mean, I can understand you falling in deeper and deeper once you were there," she teased, "but how did you fall in love with me in the first place, and when?"

Edward smirked, kissing the top of her head, ghosting his hand up and down her soft, bare thigh.

"I can't determine the exact hour, or spot, or look, or the words you may have spoken to start it all. It was too long ago now, and besides, I was in the middle of loving you before I even knew I'd fallen."

Bella smiled, placing a soft kiss on his smooth chest. "You were immune to my beauty at first, I remember that," she joked. "As for my own behavior towards you, it was always bordering on insulting, and I rarely said anything to you without wanting to give you a rise."

"Oh, you gave me a rise, alright," he teased back. "Quite a few actually."

She laughed and bit his chest.

"Ow!"

"I'm serious. Tell me the truth. Did you like me for my cheek?"

"I liked you for both your cheeks," he chuckled.

"I'll bite you again, I swear!" she threatened, making him laugh harder. "Did you like the way I gave you lip?"

"I love the way you give me-"

"Edward." She opened her mouth threateningly right over his left nipple.

"Alright, alright!" he chortled. "Yes, I liked your smart-mouth. I mean, I liked the way you were always trying to stay one step ahead of me."

"You can go ahead and call it a smart-mouth," Bella chuckled. "That's exactly what it was, and I know precisely why you enjoyed it. You were tired of all the pompous respect, of all the submission and compliance and sickening attention. 'Oh, Edward, I love your library, Oh, Edward, Pemberley is so gorgeous, Oh, Edward, you type so quickly, Ooh, Edward, let me service that for you.'" Bella mimicked the constant words of praise from Tanya to Edward that she'd been privy to during her stay at Netherfield. "Yeah, I can imagine all of the ways she wanted to service you," she sneered.

Edward broke out into raucous fits of laughter, wrapping his arms tightly around Bella.

"I don't remember her ever offering to service me."

"I may have paraphrased a bit, but the intent was clearly there. Anyway, you'd had enough of women who were always saying things and doing things and thinking things just to get your attention, and here I come along. I caught your attention because I was the total opposite. Had you not really been a great guy deep inside, you probably would've hated me for the way I acted towards you."

Edward listened to his fiancée's speech with loving amusement, stroking her soft curves, kissing her hair, over and over.

"Yet despite all the effort you went through to hide the great guy deep inside, you were always so gracious and fair with me because in your heart, you thoroughly disliked those who so eagerly flattered you. There, I've saved you the trouble of accounting for why you fell in love with me, and really, all things considered, it makes perfect sense. I mean, you really didn't know much about me, about the type of person I really was at the time, but who ever thinks of any of that when falling in love?"

Edward snorted, shaking his head. He snaked his hands under Bella's arms and lifted her up, turning her around so that she hovered right above him.

"I did know about the type of person you were. What do you think it said of you that you stayed in a house full of women who kept taunting you for days and days simply to take care of your sick sister, while never once losing your patience?"

Bella shrugged. "It was no big deal." Her eyes widened playfully. "But by all means, treat it as a wonderful quality of mine. Turn everything I say and do into proof of my wonderful personality, and in return, I'll keep teasing and taunting you to keep you on your toes. So here we go." She sat up over him, enjoying the feel of his body under hers as much as she knew he enjoyed feeling her over him. "I've been wondering something else for the past few months." Edward quirked an eyebrow playfully, reaching up and grabbing her hips, trying to sway her back and forth, but she remained steadfast. He smirked and let her continue. "When you came back to Forks before New Years, why did it take you so long to speak to me? Why didn't you immediately tell me what you were thinking?"

"Why didn't you?" he countered. "You were all quiet, never meeting my gaze. You gave me no encouragement."

"Because I was embarrassed and mortified."

"So was I."

"You could've tried to hold a serious conversation with me after New Year's dinner."

"A man who felt less than I did may have been able to."

Bella sucked her teeth, bouncing in frustration, but as she was on top of Edward, it just made him grin lustily at her.

"I'm trying to have a serious conversation with you here!"

"Then I'd suggest not bouncing over that," he said, jerking his chin down while half of his mouth quirked upwards.

Bella released a huff of feigned annoyance, but she couldn't fully repress a grin. "Fine! And I suppose I can accept that previous answer, but I can't help wondering how long that misunderstanding would've continued if you'd been left to your own devices. When would you have finally spoken up if I hadn't spoken up first, if I hadn't thanked you for helping out Jess? I mean, what's the moral of our story if our happily ever after arises from broken promises?" Edward frowned, not entirely following her logic.

Bella once again lowered her body over his, resting every part of herself over every part of him. She tried to control the way her breathing quickly sped up, the way her heart-rate spiked because she really did want to get to the bottom of this, but it was becoming more and more difficult to think.

"What I mean is," she said, gazing into his patient green eyes and trying to maintain her train of thought, "you asked Emmett not to tell me what happened, and Emmett asked me not to tell you that he was the one who told me. So we owe our current state of bliss to the fact that no one can keep a promise."

Edward smiled indulgently. Gripping her gently yet firmly, he turned them over so that now Bella was under him. He traced her soft lips with one finger, delaying his need to taste them so that he could put her constantly working mind at ease.

"You don't have to get yourself so worked up, Love, at least not over that. Our happily ever after will have a great moral: the triumph of good over evil. You see, my Aunt Jane's efforts to separate us were the actual catalyst to our impending union. We don't owe our present happiness to your inability to keep a secret, because I wasn't about to wait any longer. As soon as I left your house after ringing in the New Year, I cursed myself to the deepest pits of hell and decided to come get you early the next morning. Then my aunt arrived, and her visit showed me that I had to get to you even earlier than I'd already planned to and resolve everything once and for all.

Bella grinned wryly, playing with Edward's hair. "I'm sure your Aunt Jane would just love to know how simply invaluable she was in finally bringing us together, because you know how much she enjoys being of great service. So why did you come to Forks before New Year's then? Was it just to sit in my house and brood, or did you have another plan?"

Edward moved his mouth to Bella's neck, kissing along her collarbone and enjoying the way her skin prickled and her breath hitched.

"My real purpose all along was to see you and find out if I could ever hope to get you to love me even a fraction of the amount that I loved you. But what I told myself was that I was also there to help Jasper along, in case he needed help clearing things up with your sister, in which case, I would've confessed my entire part in keeping them apart and let her hate me instead of him."

"Thank God that wasn't necessary," Bella gasped unsteadily, her eyes heavy-lidded from the sensations Edward's mouth was producing all along her neck, behind her ear, across her cleavage…

"But back to your Aunt Jane-"

At this, Edward stopped his ministrations and looked up at her.

"Really? You want to keep talking about my Aunt now? Now?"

Bella kissed him softly, holding his gaze. "I've just got one more thing to ask you, and if I don't ask it now, I know I'll be way too tired and dazed afterwards to ask."

This answer appeased Edward. He raised a brow and waited.

"Did you invite your Aunt to the wedding?"

"After the way she spoke to you that night? No."

Bella nodded. "You think you'll ever have the nerve to tell her that we're getting married?"

"It's more a lack of care than a lack of nerve that's stopped me, but yes, I suppose I should at least let her know." He sighed and suddenly lifted himself off of Bella, bringing her up with him and settling her soundly yet gently next to him. "Give me a minute." He reached for his cell phone, which lay on Bella's nightstand, scrolling through his contacts until he reached his aunt, and then opened up a text message.

Just then, Bella's own phone vibrated, indicating that she had a text message. She reached for it.

"I'd love to sit here and look over your shoulder at what will probably be an epic text exchange, and offer you my services at typing for you lest you get tired, as another young lady once did, but Emmett just texted me," she grinned, holding up her phone, "and seeing as you'll most likely be quite occupied yourself for the next few minutes, I'll leave you to it."

Hey, Little Cuz, how's it going? Edward still there?

Hey, Em. Yes, he's still here. He'll be leaving in a couple of hours.

Oh, alright. Just wanted to make sure that we were still hanging tomorrow night. I texted him, but he didn't respond.

We've been busy.

TMI, Little Cuz. I don't need to know the particulars.

Oh My God, Emmett! I didn't give u any particulars! Mind outta guttah plz!

LOL! The smile on that guy's face every time he comes back from Seattle is particulars enough. He's a great guy. I'm glad u guys are so happy together.

And I'm glad u and he have such a lovely bromance going on, LOL. Seriously, Em, I'll never be able to thank u enough for taking me up to Ithaca last winter, and I promise that u can come swim in our in-ground pool whenever you want, stay as long as u want, and treat my future home like your own because Edward and I both care about u so very much!

:)

One smiley face won't do, Em. I'm the happiest woman in the world! I'm sure other women have thought so in the past, but no one has ever meant it as much as I do. I'm even happier than Alice. She giggles; I laugh out loud.

ROTFL

Just then, Bella felt a smattering of soft, wet kisses against the nape of her neck. She arched her back while Edward's arms snaked around her waist, pulling her down over him.

"I'm done with my texts, Bella," he whispered in her ear. "Now do you want to remind me where we were?"

Bella closed her eyes, her heart-rate accelerating, and breathed out heavily through narrowed lips. She held the phone high above her head.

"Let me just say bye to Emmett."

Edward chuckled. "Tell him I said hi."

Edward says hi, but yeah, I'll give u TMI now and tell you that "hi" is about all he's got time to say to you right now. ;) TTYL!

And with that, Bella flung her phone aside, vaguely hearing it land over the rug with a thud, and turning around over a thrilled Edward, straddled his hips.

"Let me show you exactly where we were."

And other than low moans and groans, those were the last sounds uttered in that small apartment for a long while.

OOOOOOOOOO

One hundred and forty miles away, at that same moment, Charles Swan was writing his own text message to Jacob Black:

Jake, don't know if you've heard yet, but Bella and Edward are tying the knot in June. Give the Senator my condolences, but if I were you, I'd start kissing Edward's ass over your Senator's. From what I hear in the news, she better not hold her breath for a re-election. Take care, Kid. Charlie.

A/N: Thoughts?

Like I said, one more chapter and an epilogue…

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