Chapter 10

Life isn't perfect. It never is, but I think I've gotten pretty close.

It's the little things about Edward that get on my nerves. The leaving his laundry piled up next to his bed instead of put in the hamper that is only a step away. The way he likes to drink orange juice out of the carton. Of course, that bit of unneeded hair he's so attached to sometimes bothers me at random moments. Though even that is becoming another beloved piece of him.

I still would be fine if he cut it. If he wanted a box to keep it as a memento, I would gladly buy him one.

These things are minimal at best. Not even a big deal in the scheme of things. I even find them cute. I bet Edward could write a book about my faults, but he never comments on them. There's not even a hint of discontent at any of my more obnoxious behaviors, which is a nice change that I've become accustomed too.

He does tease me quite often. It's playful and light. That man knows how to make me laugh.

Never do I hear complaints about the way I take my coffee. There is never an endless discussion about the horrid way I fold my towels. Absolutely no withering glares when I want to watch sitcoms that make me laugh like a hyena.

That was another life with another man. How I never realized how stifling that was when I was living it is still a mystery to me.

It was stifling hot in this bedroom. Too hot to sleep. Edward's face was buried in his pillow, so I started braiding his mullet.

"What are you doing, woman?" He mumbled. It was hard to understand him, due to his head down position, but I was getting use to the way he pillow talked. Literally pillow talked, because Edward liked to sleep on his belly.

I continued to make tiny braids. "You'll look lovely with these teeny mullet dreadlocks. Do you have any beads? It would make them fancier."

"Stop it and go to sleep, baby," he stated. Edward's head didn't budge from his downy cushion. "We have an early morning."

"The garden center isn't going to run out of mulch, Edward."

That man was so obsessed with a certain type of mulch, he would be the only one waiting for the store to open. For some reason, he thought that everyone in town would buy it before he could. Edward was the local landscaper and worked on most of the yards in town. Unless our neighbors were crushing it up and sprinkling it on their yogurt like granola, I was fairly certain that Edward's wood pieces were entirely safe.

"Mulch is a hot commodity around these parts, Bella. That no good Felix will buy it up and use it on his farm just to piss me off. He's a damn menace!" Edward flipped over and pulled me under him. Our sweaty bodies were squashed together. His eyes were fixed onto my lips. "You got me all fired up, baby. I have a pretty good idea."

"Get off me? It's hotter than the pits of Hades in here! Emmett is the most useless repairman in the history of the world! You need to call someone else to fix this. Billy fixed my dad's." I licked his cheek. "You taste like salt, because of the sweat. Get off, buckaroo!"

"I'm going to kiss you senseless." He kissed me hard. Edward's hands traveled up and down my naked body. "I like your salt lips."

It was way too much like a sauna in that room for me to wear my usual oversized pajamas. Even worse, it was way too heated to make love to Edward. I squeezed his butt hard.

Edward gave a sexy growl and said huskily, "I knew you were a butt girl, tiger."

"That's true, but more importantly, it was a cue that I need you to move. I'm going back to the cool air that my father's working air conditioning provides. Please feel free to come join me and partake in the arctic blast. You'll have to sleep on the couch, of course, due to my father having an extensive gun collection."

"Your daddy loves me, sweet cheeks. He thinks I'm like a son." He pulled me tighter against him. Edward was jovial at first, but he became more contemplative. "Move in with me."

My brain became a panicked jumble.

I decided to defuse the situation with humor.

"This place is way too warm for co-habitation. Two bodies living in here might make the whole house combust with our scorching sexual escapades."

He didn't laugh. "That's possible, but I don't care. Move in with me."

Let's try rational discussion. It might be difficult, because Edward has lost his mind.

"We haven't been together that long. I rushed before and it ended badly."

"This is a whole different relationship, baby." He moved our bodies, so I was laying on his chest. His arms held me in a hug. "I'm not the douche you married."

"Eloquently put. I agree." I closed my eyes and blurted out. "I can't lose you, Edward Cullen. You are far too important to me."

My eyes met his and he kissed my forehead. "You love me, Bella Swan."

"I do."

"You're never going to lose me. I'm stuck to you like glue. I love you so much, girl, that I won't stop trying to get you to move in with me. After that I will badger you to burn your horrible, itchy sweaters. I will constantly ask you to marry me until you finally relent. Cullens never give up. I will never quit until you are mine, always and forever." He nibbled my neck and whispered into it. "Stay here with me. You're here every night anyway."

There were truth to his words. So many truths jumbled out of his mouth, that I knew that I agreed with him. We were two people in love. Relationships can take years to develop, but for us there was an instantaneous draw that just continued to flourish. Shouldn't you embrace it when you catch lightning in a bottle?

"The air conditioning—"

"I'll get Billy to fix it! Anything you want, my love." He was beaming.

I made him beam and it was infectious.

"We're going to be happy?" I just needed the reassurance. I didn't want the joy that he gave me to fade.

"Of course." His fingers found their way between my legs. "May I?"

"Always."

XXXXXX

"You two are nuts," My dad remarked. He picked up his cheeseburger and took a big bite. I watched him chew slowly as he examined first Edward and then me. Dad took a sip of his soda and added, "Absolutely bonkers."

We were sitting across from him in a booth at Jane's. I thought a large plate of greasy food and plenty of witnesses would be safe bet.

"You pregnant, kid?" My dad asked.

My mouth dropped open, as did Edward's. I blurted out, "God no!"

"I want grand babies someday," Dad admitted. "But I don't want them anytime in the near future."

I wanted to faint.

Edward grabbed my hand and looked concerned. "You want to have my babies, right?"

"Is it a deal breaker?" I asked looking overly worried. If only I had a video camera to document this exchange. It would be hysterical for the future generations.

"It's okay, I guess. Our babies would be beautiful. Eyes as brown as bark and hair the color of coffee," he sighed with misty eyes. "I will be happy regardless."

My dad knew what I was up to and groaned. He muttered, "My kid is a smart ass."

"They might be a redheads and blind as a bat like me. I will say that your description of my brown features was quite poetic. I would have used mud and sludge," I teased. He looked even sadder. I had to fix this. "I want kids with you, Edward. Someday."

"I wasn't talking about tomorrow. After we're married." He wrapped an arm around my shoulder with a big grin. He added, with a lick of his lips, "We'll need practice."

"Lots of practice." I squeezed his upper leg under the table.

He moved my hand onto the mound on his pants. Edward whispered into my ear, "That hand needed to go higher."

I giggled loudly and my dad threw a french fry at my head. "Dad!"

"I could hear you, Edward! Son, you know I have a sensitive stomach and groping my daughter is going to give me the runs." Dad threw another fry at Edward.

That was unneeded knowledge about my father's digestive issues.

My father continued, "I think you should sit over here with me, young lady! You aren't using your head! What about poor Angela? She's staying at the house without you. I feel like she's another daughter, but it ain't proper."

I heard a crash and saw my best friend stare at a broken stack of plates surrounding her feet. Angela was as surefooted as a drunk frat boy. Jane just came up and gave her a hug. "It's okay, kiddo. I think you should fill up the pepper shakers."

It was probably safer.

"Dad, I refuse to sleep on the couch and Angela is a kicker!" I explained. "Staying with Edward is the best for everybody as long as Billy fixes the air conditioning."

Garrett stuck his head over my shoulder from the booth behind Edward and I. The creeper. "I can agree that my Angela is a kicker. It's a pretty hot vision I'm having of Ang kicking you, Miss Bella."

Edward slapped Garrett on the back of the head.

My dad started to bang his head against the table.

"Dad, stop it!"

"I wouldn't worry about it, Chief. Angela is moving in with me, so you won't have to worry about any kicking games between the girls," Garrett stated. He glanced over at Angela with a loving expression. She was attempting to pour pepper into the shakers. Most of it was missing the mark and landing on the bar. Her loud sneezes filled the bar. "Isn't she adorable?"

My dad sighed. "You're all a bunch of love struck fools, but also a bunch of good kids. All of you deserve to be happy. Boys, I'm warning you. If these girls cry, I will have your heads on a platter. You hear me?"

Edward and Garrett looked properly frightened about my father's words.

"Did I hear about sensual girl kicking? Can I join in?" Jane skipped over. Her lesbian discussion radar must have been on. She took one look at my dad's face and cackled. "Calm down Chief. You know you love the girl love."

"Please just let me eat, people!" Dad pleaded.

Jane continued laughing and sat down next to my dad. "I owe you a beer, old man. Sorry to embarrass you."

"Beer would be good." He smiled good naturally.

"Do you have any organic beers, Janey?" A beautiful woman came up to the booth. Her hair was strawberry blonde waves. She wore a tie-dyed Earth Day Rocks tee-shirt and a pair of cargo pants that looked slightly dirty. Strands of wooden beads hung around her neck. "Hey gang!"

"Tanya?" Edward gasped. His grabbed me tightly. "What the hell happened to you?"

This was the wild woman that everybody told me about? There was no way this was her. She was the picture of inner peace. Where was the Vegas dancer?

"I met an amazing woman named Zahira at a truck stop outside of Reno. We talked about finding our truth. My truth was traveling to Africa and finding love with Zahira in the jungle. We're no longer together, but she made me find out who I truly am." The woman took Edward's hand. "My friend, I used your penis to try and discover who I am. I never needed that organ for fulfillment. I am truly sorry for using you."

Edward just said, "Oh."

"You're a lovely woman." She took my face into her hands. "I see the twisting tendrils of love between the two of you. Namaste!"

Jane rolled her eyes. "Why are you back, Tanya?"

"Aro Volturi is polluting the waters around here and must be stopped!" She raised a fist in the air. I watched as she looked Jane up and down with an appreciative glance. "Want to save the world with me, beautiful?"

The gorgeous Tanya had some great moves that she was now using on her former boss. Jane was speechless. I was ecstatic.

"I'll be damned. That explains why she just laid there the whole time we had sex." Edward said to me. "I definitely got a sexy upgrade when I found you."

That's my boy.

AN: I like Tanya as a lesbian. Thanks for reading.