"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss each other." The officiant takes a deliberate step back as Emmett and Rose leap at each other, kissing exuberantly as we all clap around them. When they pull away, the county clerk officiant announces them, and we cheer before we sit down to sign our names to their license.

Because they're still planning to have a big party for everyone in a few months, Rose and Emmett duck out after all the paperwork is taken care of, and we say our goodbyes to Jasper and Alice before we have to take Chelsea to the airport.

She and I really bonded over the last couple days, and she's going home to no Sam in her life. She called him last night to make a clean break, and while I didn't tell her Edward's and my whole story, I told her enough. Chels is excited to be taking care of herself, and I can't wait for her to come back out to visit me.

We spend the rest of the weekend looking at houses online, and Edward starts making mental plans for what will move with him right away. Little do either of us realize that this weekend will be the last calm before the storm.

**BoU**

I've just gotten home from work, and as I'm changing my clothes, I hear Edward come in, calling my name.

"I'm in here," I call as I pull on some sweats and sit down on the bed. When Edward walks in, I can see how tired he looks, but there's something else. He has news for me.

As he sits down and immediately starts to remove his boots, I know he's trying to figure out how to tell me. "You got your orders, didn't you?"

He sighs, sitting up and turning toward me. "Yeah. I have to report to Norfolk in six weeks."

Crawling over the comforter to hug him from behind, I will the tears away. "That's not a lot of time. What do we need to do?"

Edward reaches up to grasp my forearms. "You're being the same strong Bella I love. You can be upset; we both can."

I let go of him so he can strip off the new khaki uniform he wears. He hangs his head as he drops it all into the laundry hamper, and I take in the sight of him in his boxer briefs, white undershirt, and socks. I haven't seen Edward look this defeated in a long time. Not since he showed up on my doorstep a year ago to drop off his housewarming present and I turned him away.

I reach into the dresser and pull out some Navy sweats and hand them over to him. "We knew this was coming. No amount of talking about it has prepared me for what I'm feeling. But I'm not going to break down now when you need to get everything figured out and you can focus."

I watch him dress before he pulls me into his arms, heavy with the weight of change. "I love you. That's the only thing that isn't changing."

"I love you too." I pull back just enough to look at him. "What do we need to do?"

As we make dinner, he tells me about scheduling movers and him being on leave as of tomorrow. "I'll be taking some time here, and then I'll head out to get my bearings and check into my new command. I'll have a week or so before I officially join the command out there, but I want to go early."

"That makes sense. How much stuff do you want to take with you? Are you going to drive?" I'm pouring us both glasses of wine as Edward plates dinner.

"Yeah. I've heard horror stories about the movers. I'd prefer not to use them at all, but I don't know what to do." He hands me a plate and grabs two forks as we sit down.

"I have some vacation time, like a lot. I don't want to intrude on your time, but I could help you drive out. Maybe rent a U-Haul?" I offer as we begin to eat.

"I was actually going to ask if you would drive out with me in my truck anyway. You could be there to help me settle on a place," Edward says, sipping his wine.

"You should pick your house, Edward. You're going to be living in it by yourself a lot longer than I'll with you." I take a huge bite and nearly choke when he speaks again.

"I know we've talked about this, but I know where I've landed. One day, I'm going to ask you to marry me, so I want you to like where we're going to live. I want you to know that it's our house, our home. When you move out there to be with me, it's where we'll plan our wedding and start the rest of our lives. Together." He reaches across the table for my hand.

I smile, linking our fingers. "Is that a proposal?"

"Oh, no." He pulls away from me to resume eating. "I was thinking of a Ferris wheel."

I laugh. "You're terrible."