Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of the characters.

A/N: Thanks to katmom and Angelinia, who beta this story.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Honeymoon

Eventually Edward and Bella made it to the reception in the Cullens' house and were greeted again by all those that were invited to the wedding along with the people that were only invited for the party.

"Congratulations!" Jacob said hugging Bella and then Edward, grinning from ear to ear.

"Thanks, Jake," Bella chuckled. "I guess you're over being one of my maid of honors."

"Not really, seeing as the guys are still giving me flack about it." Jacob made a face.

"Well, at least the outfit looks good," Bella said.

"Naturally, I can make anything look good," Jacob smirked. He was wearing a silver tux that had somehow matched with Alice and Rosalie's dresses.

"More like Alice has a knack for making everyone look good," Edward commented. "I must say it was amusing hearing Rosalie's thoughts when she was standing next to you."

"You have to tell me about it later," Jacob chuckled, knowing he had annoyed the blonde vampire.

"Sure, but naturally as soon as my Bella was near I couldn't hear a thought that anyone else was thinking," Edward said, his smile was serene as he looked down at his new wife.

"I'll take that as my cue to go," Jacob chuckled. "Congrats again, you guys..."

The next to come to them was Tanya, Eleazar and Carmen.

"Edward, it's been too long," Tanya said, hugging Edward.

"Yes, it has," Edward said smiling, and then turned to Bella and pulled her closer to him, the smile widening on his face. "I would like you to meet my wife, Bella."

"It nice to finally meet you, Bella," Tanya said.

"Though after everything that Emmett had said about you it feels like we've known you for years," Carmen added with a kind smile that Bella returned.

"I wouldn't believe everything that Emmett says," Bella said feeling slightly annoyed.

"Hm, you have a point," Eleazar smiled. "I suppose we'll have plenty of years to form our own opinion of you." His smile faded as he took a deep breath, "I must say that I'm sorry about all the trouble we have caused you..."

"Eleazar, that had nothing to do with you, think nothing of it," Edward said before the other vampire could finish.

"But I told them where you were..." Eleazar started miserably.

"You, of all people, should know that as long as they wanted to find us, they would have," Edward said firmly.

"I have been telling him this for months now, but he insisted on blaming himself," Carmen said shaking her head as she smiled at her mate.

"We really shouldn't take up so much of your time, it looks like a lot of other people want to congratulate you," Tanya said and there was indeed a long line of well-wishers. "Hm... but before I go, I just have to ask..."

"What?" Bella questioned when Edward sighed.

"Sorry, Tanya, you're the only vampires we've invited," Edward said.

"Oh well, maybe one of the humans here will catch my eye," Tanya shrugged, though she looked a little disappointed about this.

"Well, congratulations again," Carmen said, and hugged Edward and then Bella.

"What did Tanya think?" Bella questioned before any well-wishers could reach them.

"Part of her hoped that we would have a mate for her here," Edward said. "Seeing as the last two times our families have cross paths her sisters got their mates."

"Oh," Bella sighed, feeling sorry for the strawberry blonde vampire. "I really wish we knew who her mate was..."

"As do I, but there's nothing we can do about that now," Edward sighed, but when he looked at Bella the smile was back on his face. There was nothing that could get to him today. After they had greeted all the guests there, which seemed to be most of the town of Forks and a good portion of La Push as most of the werewolves had decided to come to the reception (Sam had even shaken Edward's hand when he congratulated him about the wedding), though Paul had decided to avoid this, still not liking nor trusting the Cullens.

Bella had danced with just about every male that was there, and was very pleased that she didn't fall down once, even when she was dancing with the mere mortals. Edward, too, had to dance with all the girls, and when it came to dancing with someone like Jessica he had to keep his face blank so as to not to show the revulsion he felt from her thoughts.

All in all, Bella was happy when the reception finally came to an end, but that was mostly because Edward now had his arms around her. She almost wished that she had decided to forgo the real honeymoon and just head somewhere close by so she could be alone with Edward sooner, but she had been enchanted by the description of Isle Esme in the book and she knew that she and Edward only had this time to get away by themselves.

"Come, Mrs. Cullen, it's time for us to be going," Edward said to Bella as she gasped at his words. Mrs. Cullen, that's who she was now.

O

Edward smiled down at Bella as she rested her head against his shoulder during their plane ride to Rio de Janeiro. She was beautiful in the blue dress that his sister had made her wear. His sister knew him well, he didn't want his Bella to be too fancy; the simple blue dress highlighted all of Bella's natural beauty. Not to mention, it was definitely his favorite color against her skin. He found himself thinking about what was going to be happening soon and he felt a wave of nervousness hit him. He had some ideas now of what to expect, and yet he also knew that this would be a completely new experience, one that couldn't be imagined until it actually happened.

"Edward," she moaned in her sleep, snuggling closer to him.

This made his mind wander into some of his favorite memories of how far their relationship had progressed the last few months. Excitement filled him as he realized that they had arrived at the day he had been waiting for, but the nerves still pecked at him. Knowing the effect she had on him, he realized how easy it would be for him to lost control... all it would take is a second...

"Edward," Bella said, they were now in the boat heading towards the island. He could tell by her expression she didn't miss that he was worried. "What's the matter?"

"I'm just nervous," Edward answered with her favorite lop-sided grin as he reached his hand up to tuck a piece of her hair behind her ear. "You're so beautiful," he added in a whisper, not even realizing that he said this out loud.

"So are you," Bella said with an answering smile... shy and blushing but also awed, blowing him away even more. She reached up to stroke his cheek, and he closed his eyes at her touch. He could feel his worry slip away at her touch. He had nothing to worry about; there was nothing he could ever do that would hurt this angel before him.

He opened his eyes and was almost resolved to get out of the boat and swim it to the island so they could get there faster, but he didn't. He settled for staring into Bella's eyes, the opening to her silent mind. He understood then that she was nervous too, but excited. It was odd, he had been waiting for this moment for more than a year and a half, and now it felt like everything came so quickly and he didn't understand were all the time had gone.

"I love you," he suddenly felt he should say, his emotions overwhelming him at the intensity he felt for those words. His eyes were still locked on her eyes, and though he couldn't even see her mouth, he knew she was giving him the smile that always made it feel like his heart was beating again, his mind would empty and all he could do was stare at her.

I love you, her eyes were telling him, and it was unnerving how close it felt to actually hearing her thoughts.

He didn't look away from her until he smelled the sand, knowing that they were only a minute from the island now. As soon as they landed he picked up all the bags out of the boat as he picked up Bella as well, before running at top speeds toward the house.

"What's the hurry?" Bella asked her voice amused.

"I can go slower if you want," Edward said, his tone amused too. "I would do anything you want."

Bella's breath caught and she bit her lip, as a blush came to her cheeks. Edward, of course, wondered what she was thinking, but he didn't voice this right now. When they got to the house, he put the suitcases down, to open the door, and then he walked Bella across the threshold, a satisfied grin coming to his face as he headed towards the white room.

They didn't speak as he put her down; they just stared in one another's eyes. Again, Edward had the sensation that he could almost hear Bella's thoughts as he kept eye contact with her. It was like they were at the edge of her shield, trying to tell him how much she loved him. It was altogether overwhelming for Edward and he leaned down to capture her lips in a searing kiss that seemed to hold so much more than any they'd shared before.

O

Bella lay awake in Edward's arms. Her eyes remained closed, but he knew she was awake. She could feel that in the way his hands stroked her back. Still, she couldn't bring herself to move just yet, she was feeling so content. She didn't think it was possible, but making love to Edward had far surpassed her fantasies of this moment. She felt that they had connected on so much more than just a physical way, but their entire beings had collided. As she remembered the intensity of the love that had shown in his eyes, she felt her heart rate pick up, her breath became shallow and her eyes opened.

"Hm... what are you thinking?" Edward questioned her as she looked up at him; he had a smug smile on his face as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. She knew it was impossible, especially since she wasn't trying to let him hear her thoughts like she had been just a few hours ago.

"I take from your smile, there's no bruising," Bella said, blushing slightly about being caught.

His eyes turned a little worried as he looked at her fully, taking quite some time before his eyes reached hers again. "None as of yet."

"You just wanted an excuse to inspect my body," Bella grumbled and Edward smirked at her.

"Maybe," he said, he was still stroking her back and the look in his eyes, similar as they were before and yet a little different. They seemed more lust filled than before. All of this caused her body heat to rise as she moved so she was now straddling him and she put her hands on either side of his face and kissed him deeply.

O

The next time that Bella woke up was to find Edward walking in the room with a tray full of food, including scrambled eggs. Bella smiled at him, as he set the tray in front of her before joining her in bed. She leaned against him, it was slightly warm in the house when he wasn't around but with him there everything was perfect. She ate her breakfast slowly, it was excellent of course.

"So, do you think I'm pregnant?" Bella questioned after Edward put the tray back in the kitchen and returned within three seconds. Her hands went to her stomach as she looked down. Her expression was hopeful, and yet a little worried.

Edward sat behind her, covering her arms that were still on her stomach, and resting his head on her shoulder. "Yes, I do believe you are. However, if you're really worried I would be happy to increase the chances that you are."

Bella chuckled as she turned in his arms so she could kiss him. "I suppose if we must..."

O

They were pretty sure she was indeed pregnant after the first day because of how much she ate for dinner, not to mention the colorful dream she had. However, they still took the pregnancy test that they had packed with them, smiling with pride when it turned out to be positive. Still, they spent the first week of their honeymoon mostly in the white room, though they made small trips to the ocean and other nearby places. After a while, Edward did manage to convince Bella to explore the island more completely, and she was happy about that. She loved seeing the natural habitats of this place thrive, swimming with the porpoises and the turtles and all the other entertaining things the island had to offer.

However, her favorite part of being out of the house was that she got to see Edward in the sun, his skin sparkling and reflecting multiple colors. It was nice that he didn't have to hide here, that he could enjoy the sun in the open with her.

It was two weeks after they had gotten there and they had decided to stay out on the eastern beach that night, just staring up at the stars. They were beautiful, with no lights or clouds getting in their way. As she looked up into them she felt completely at peace. Edward woke her up when it was close to the time that the sun would rise, and she watched as the sky started turning lighter, the stars starting to fade into the background. The sun seemed to have risen out of the water. The golden light on the surface of the water seemed to lengthen until it reached them. She turned to look at Edward then; his skin was glittering, but not quite as strong as normal. She continued to watch him as the color brightened with the sun, it was curious to watch every shade he turned, seeing as each was breathtaking in its own way. She couldn't take her eyes off him.

"Did you know," Edward started to say, his eyes were on the sun, a smiling pulling on his lips, "the first time I heard your heartbeat... you showed signs of waking up... that it was also at sunrise?"

"No, I didn't know that," Bella said, reluctantly turning her head towards the sun. It had made its way completely out of the water. It was beautiful, but still it didn't hold a candle to Edward.

"I remember thinking then that it was like the sunrise of my life," Edward said smiling still, now turning to look at her. "There were beautiful parts in it before, like the stars and the moon, but so much of my life was covered in darkness. I couldn't make out the details of all that there is in the world..."

"I thought you could see perfectly in the dark," Bella pointed out.

"I know you miss Emmett, but there's no reason for you to act like him," Edward rolled his eyes, and she chuckled. "I was speaking metaphorically and as if I had human eyes."

He turned back to the sky his eyes fixed on the sun, and continued his explanation as if there were no interruption.

"I could smell the dawn coming when my family was reading the books about you," he said softly. "It terrified me at first, I had no idea what to expect when the sun was going to rise, how much my life would change. I was terrified of what would happen if I stepped into the light and yet I've never wanted anything more in my life.

"The sun seemed to break the surface when I first heard you waking up, things started to take shape but there still was so much unknown, so much for me to discover. As time went on things become even clearer and I was sure that the sun would eventually rise completely and I would know everything there is to know, about you, about myself, about everything.

"I realize now that I was wrong about that," Edward said, looking back at her, his smile seemed to show his pleasure. "As long as I have you, my life will be an eternal sunrise. There will always be something new to discover and I can't wait to take that journey with you into the unknown."