Edward's hand was a comforting weight in mine as I held my phone to my ear. The call rang out and with a tight frown I lowered the phone, pressed redial and brought it back up to my ear again. This time there was an answer.

"Hey sweetie, what's up?" Renee spoke happily down the line.

"Hey mom," I smiled happily over at Edward as I spoke. "I've got some news."

"Well, go on then! Don't leave me in suspense!" she jested.

"You remember Edward?" I asked,

"You mean that boy you wouldn't stop sending me emails about." Renee teased.

Edward raised his eyebrows and smirked at that and I resisted the urge to shove him off the leather day bed we were relaxing on. Which I thought was very mature of me.

"Yeah, well – he proposed. We're getting married!" I announced.

I waited for the gasp of surprise, or for the squeal of excitement. But I didn't get any of that, just … silence. For a second I thought the call had cut out, but a quick glance at my cell phone screen told me otherwise.

"Mom?"

"Does he know?"

"Know what?"

"That you're a werewolf." The words weren't unkind, or said with malice, but rather with deep motherly concern – although whether it was concern for me, or for Edward, I was unsure.

I watched Edward's face shift from one of delighted anticipation, to one of confusion – I was sure my own face mirrored his.

"Uh … yes?" I didn't mean to sound so unsure of myself. "He's known for a while now."

"Good, that's really good, Bella. And he's okay with it?" Renee asked anxiously.

"Yeah, of course!" I stressed, and then before I could think better of it I added, "I mean, he's kinda in the same boat, so he understands everything."

My eyes widened in panic as I realised what had just come out of my fucking mouth. For fuck's sake I couldn't keep it together for one minute could I?!

"Oh," Renee stumbled, "You mean he's like… like you?" she hedged.

I looked at Edward, silently begging him with my eyes to help me. He just smiled at me, all love and gentle affection. An unspoken trust that I would say the right thing, and that he would completely support me regardless of the outcome, his love was unconditional and his faith in me was unshakeable.

Ass.

"Well… no… he's not a werewolf, but he's not exactly human either." I mumbled.

"God, I didn't know there was anything else, what is he?" she demanded. Her voice wasn't hostile, or angry, there was no heat to it, only worry – only fear. Fear of what? Fear for who? Uncertainty roiled through my mind, swirling up my feelings like a boiling stormy sea, white-wash waves blanketed my thoughts and made it difficult to think. I looked over to Edward, and like a guiding light his steadfast bearing and calming aura showed me the way – even though he was just sitting there in silent support, it was enough to calm my mind and allow me to articulate a response.

"I can't actually tell you, but it doesn't matter either way. I love him, and he's going to be my husband." I stated resolutely. "We don't have a definitive date yet, but I was hoping you and Phil could make it – we were planning sometime in October." I knew that it was quick, a little over 2 months, but neither of us wanted to wait – besides, vampires worked fast, and Alice was a relentless party planner.

"So soon?"

I shrugged, even though I knew she couldn't see me. "Yeah well, we want a fall wedding and don't want to wait too long." Virginia in the fall was truly breathtaking, the way the leaves changed colours and erupted into a blazing wildfire of reds and oranges was a sight to behold – as if nature herself was putting on a show, it was vibrant and enchanting, like something out of a fairy-tale. And while I hadn't spent a lot of time dreaming about my future wedding as a little girl, I would be lying if I said I hadn't thought about it at all – and the bewitching wilderness of Virginia in the fall fit perfectly into the fantasy wedding that Little Me had dreamed about.

There was silence again, this time it caused anxiety to pull at my chest and worm its way up my throat. I sat and waited, my heart in my throat, and my free hand holding Edward's in a white knuckle grip.

"Bella," Renee began, her voice soft and coaxing. "I was going to wait a few more weeks to tell you, but I guess now is as good a time as any." There was a heavy pause, meaningful and significant in ways I didn't understand. Not yet. "I'm pregnant."

"Congratulations!" I crowed. I was very happy for her, but still confused about what that had to do with anything.

"Yes, well with that in mind I don't think we'll be making it to the wedding." Renee continued, her voice was sad and apologetic, but whether it was because she was actually upset about being unable to come to my wedding, or because she was upset at the idea of possibly upsetting me, was unclear.

"What are you talking about? The wedding is only a few months away, you couldn't be more than four months pregnant come October, you'll still be able to travel." I frowned in confusion.

"I just don't think it's a very good idea." she cajoled. "Both Phil and I are human, and Phil has no idea about any of this stuff and I just want to keep him safe from all of that."

The burning anxiety in my chest was replaced by ice. Cold and hard. My frown fell from my face. "Forget it." I said impassively.

"Bella I don't mean-"

"I said forget it, Renee." I bit out. "Consider the invitation revoked. Good luck with the new baby." Before she could formulate a reply, I quickly hung up and turned the phone on silent so I could ignore any attempts to call me back. I only barely controlled the urge to furiously lob the cell phone at the wall.

"Are you alright?" Edward asked softly, his voice was gentle and calm, a total opposite to the fury that was bubbling under my skin.

"Can you fucking believe that?" I seethed. I stood up and began to pace around Edward's room. "Did you hear what she just said?" I asked incredulously. It was a stupid question, of course he had, hell everyone in the fucking house had heard the conversation. "Keep him safe?" I scoffed, "As if I'm dangerous – as if any of us are dangerous!"

As I passed Edward in my furious pacing he caught my wrist, which stopped me dead in my tracks. The force of being suddenly pulled short caused me to fall awkwardly, and Edward acted instinctively, catching me around the waist and pulling me down onto his lap. I ended up sitting over his lap sideways, and it was the perfect position for Edward to cocoon me in his arms.

"It's okay, Bella. Everything is okay." he cooed.

My feverish fury melted under Edward's gentle words and tender touch and quickly transformed into a bone deep sadness.

"It's not okay." I mumbled morosely.

Edward's arms tightened around me. "Maybe not." he agreed softly. "But it will be."

I sighed as I nuzzled into the crook of Edward's throat, my arms around the back of his neck as I took comfort in his scent. Edward's chest rose and fell with each breath he took, but otherwise he was silent – and yet the unbeating silence of his vampiric heart was a comfort to me. "I don't understand how she could say that." I muttered.

"To be fair, we can be rather dangerous to humans." Edward said with a sigh.

I pulled back just enough to look at Edward in the eye, my hands still clasped together behind his neck. "Don't." I scowled. "Don't try and defend her. Renee doesn't know you, doesn't know anything about you – any of you. She doesn't know what you are, or anything. She based her opinion solely on what she knows about me – me and my dad. That's it. By saying what she said, at best she admitted that she doesn't trust my judgement, and at worst, is concerned that I could be a danger." I stared into Edward's eyes, daring him to argue with me.

Edward bent his head slightly until our foreheads touched. "We don't need her there anyway." he admitted, "We've got all the family we need, right here." Edward closed his eyes, I followed his lead, and when his lips pressed against mine in a loving kiss, all my anxiety and anger evaporated.

XxXx

The plans for the wedding were really taking off. Invitations had been sent out on ivory parchment to the Denali's in Alaska, as well as Jess and Angela. All in all it was going to be a pretty small affair, with all the werewolf stuff happening before the humans arrived for the actual ceremony, other than the exchanging of swords, which was a bit of weirdness they would just have to deal with. If asked we all agreed to say that it was an old family custom from Charlie's side, which wasn't even a lie so it was perfect.

The only downside to everything was just how overwhelming everything was. From the moment I woke up until the moment I went to bed, I was constantly working on the wedding with help from Alice, Rose, and Esme – the design for my dress, the design for the bride's maid dresses, the flowers, the cake (why we even needed such a big fucking cake when a majority of the attendees couldn't eat it was beyond me) the music – there just seemed to be an endless list of decisions to be made, and it all added up to being able to spend less and less time with Edward.

Of course, Edward had noticed the growing tension, and after dinner, before Alice could corral me into another wedding planning discussion, he snuck me out of the house through the underground tunnels. I was grateful for the reprieve from yet another debate over the difference between Mulberry purple and Wine purple – they were both purple! And they both were really pretty colours! Don't get me wrong, I was excited for the wedding, excited to be getting married – I, like pretty much every girl, had spent at least some time thinking about their future wedding. I just didn't realise how much planning went into it.

Edward held open the hidden escape hatch for me like the gentleman he was, and as I climbed out of the tunnel I gasped at the sight before me. We were in the stables, and there were candles placed around the area which lit it up beautifully, and from where I stood near the tunnel entrance I could see up into the hayloft. There were more candles up there, along with a large fluffy doona and what looked like every single throw pillow from the house. I scurried up the ladder to see the book I was reading was up there, as was Edward's.

I felt an arm curl around my side as Edward pressed a kiss to my temple. "I thought you could use a break from Alice's scheming." he whispered.

I turned to grin up at him, "This is perfect, thank you." I reached up to press a quick kiss to his lips before I flopped down on the mountain of pillows Edward had collected. "Did you steal all of Esme's throw pillows?" I giggled.

"Maybe." Edward shrugged nonchalantly as he lowered himself down with much more grace than I had. We quickly arranged ourselves so we were comfortable – Edward laying down, propped up by a dozen pillows, and me tucked under his arm. The position made it a bit awkward for Edward to turn a page when necessary, but I wasn't going to relinquish my snuggles for any reason.

About 15 minutes later I realised that Edward hadn't moved in a very long time, which meant he couldn't have been reading. With a confused frown I twisted to look up at him, only to catch him staring at me with a look of adoration. "You're staring." I murmured.

"You're worth staring at." he replied.

"Smooth." I snorted.

I closed my book and placed it off out of the way, making sure it wasn't too close to one of the many open flames. I wriggled around until I was laying more on side than my back so I could look up at Edward more effectively. "This is nice." I sighed happily, "Thank you."

"You're welcome, sweetheart." Edward crooked a finger under my chin and tilted my head so he could capture my lips with his. It didn't take long for a simple kiss to become heated – it had been over a week since Edward proposed and since then we hadn't had a single moment alone together. With his hands on my hips, Edward used his strength to manoeuvre me until I was straddling his hips, I used the height advantage to plunder his mouth with my tongue. Edward groaned into my mouth as his hands ran up and down my sides in a fevered caress. Then, he reached up and grabbed one of my breasts, fondling it firmly as he bucked his hips upwards – which made the hardness of his cock impossible to ignore as it brushed teasingly against my core.

I pulled back with a gasp, and Edward took the opportunity to place kisses up and down the length of my throat. With firm hands, Edward grasped my hips, pulling them downwards as he rolled his own hips upwards – I moaned at the sensation and at Edward's unusual boldness, and was answered by Edward groaning against the side of my neck. Emboldened by Edward's forwardness I pulled away so I could look at Edward – so I could ask for something I couldn't stop thinking about. "Wait," I gasped out breathlessly.

Edward stilled. "Are you alright?" he asked, immediately worried.

Edward's unrelenting concern made my smile, "I'm fine." I assured him. "I just… I wanted to ask you something." I mumbled quietly, already I could feel the burn of a blush spread over my face.

With an amused smile Edward brushed his knuckles over my cheek, "Anything."

"You don't even know what I'm gonna ask."

"Then ask." Edward sounded just a little bit breathless, which was crazy because he didn't even need to breath.

I shuffled backwards a little bit until I was straddling Edward's thighs, and then glanced downwards towards his crotch, I looked back up at Edward with hooded eyes and asked, "Can I… see?"

"See?" Edward repeated huskily.

"You… your…. Cock." I stumbled and Edward groaned at the word, "Can I see? I wanna see you." I mumbled shyly. The earlier courage was fading and I felt stupid for asking – this was probably taking things too far, Edward was old fashioned, he wanted to wait until we were married, and he had been so generous with everything so far, he obliged my desires and gave and gave and gave and still, I kept asking for more. It was like Edward could sense my inner turmoil because he cupped my cheek with one hand and caressed my cheekbone with his thumb.

"You're thinking too hard." he murmured softly.

"How would you know?" I muttered.

Edward laughed and moved the hand on my face to the back of my neck, pulling me towards him until he could crash our lips together. I could feel the smile on his face as we kissed, and I relished in the way our tongues danced together, pulling and pushing as I tried to explore the expanse of his mouth, only for him to push back and try the same. We were two very dominant people, and it was like a dance, or a sparring match, a never ending give and take as we each tried to get one up on the other and take control of the kiss, only to relinquish the control as easily as we had taken it when the other demanded. Using the hand still on the nape of my neck, Edward pulled me away from his lips, red and shiny from our almost violent kissing he smiled up at me. "Yes," he murmured.

I bit my lip and pulled away further, resting back on Edward's thighs I considered his crotch like it was a puzzle I needed to solve. Don't get me wrong, I knew what dicks looked like – I was a teenager with an internet connection and a supernatural sense of curiosity – but I didn't know what Edward's dick looked like. And I really wanted to. I reached down and managed to undo the button on his jeans, then I pulled down the zipper and looked up at Edward. He was smiling at me, his eyes blown wide with lust, his breathing was heavy and when he looked at me he nodded jerkily, "Yes." he repeated.

I curled my fingers around the waist band on his jeans and tugged them, Edward helped me along by lifting his hips so I could pull his jeans down enough to expose his boxer-briefs. They were a dark navy blue with a black band and I could see the outline of Edward's hard cock straining against the fabric, a tiny wet spot was already darkening the fabric. At the sight, I felt arousal rush through my body, setting it on fire and causing me to feel light headed in the best possible way, my stomach swooped wildly and I felt a gush of wetness between my thighs – and if the way Edward's nostrils flared, he noticed it as well. All awkwardness and uncertainty fled my mind as I was overwhelmed with lust, and I tugged down Edward's underwear with enough force to tear them slightly at the seams.

It would have been funny, it would have caused us to laugh but we were both distracted by the new expanse of flesh on show. Edward's cock was big, bigger than I had thought based on what I had felt, easily 7 inches it stood proudly. The head of Edward's cock was reddened with his arousal, and what interested me the most was that he was uncircumcised. In all of my internet 'research' circumcised cocks were the norm, but then again Edward was born a long time ago so I supposed that this should have been expected.

"Bella?" Edward rasped,

Edward's voice broke me out of my daze and I realised I had just been sitting there, staring at him like an idiot. "Can I… can I touch you?" I whispered.

Edward groaned, "Fuck yes. Please."

My breath hitched in my throat, causing me to whimper softly at Edward's words. I reached out tentatively and wrapped my hand around the shaft of Edward's cock. I had no idea what I was doing, and I didn't want to hurt him or do something he didn't like. As soon as my warm hand curled around Edward's thick cock he groaned, his head falling back against the pillows as he scrunched his eyes closed. I slowly tugged downwards, moving Edward's foreskin down to expose the full head of his cock, the motion caused Edward to moan and buck his hips up into my fist. The head of his dick was darkened with arousal, and as I firmly squeezed the base of his cock I was captivated by the small dribble of pre-cum that leaked from his slit. I was suddenly struck by the overwhelming desire to bend down and curl my tongue around the bulbous head of his cock, to know the taste of him, to learn how it felt to have the heavy weight of Edward's cock resting on my tongue. That would have to wait for another day, a day where I felt braver than I did right now, because as much as I wanted to run my tongue along the rippling vein on the underside of Edward's cock, I was much too shy to ask. So, instead I just repeated the motion, carefully watching every reaction Edward's body gave me, my eyes darted between his cock and his face as I catalogued every sound he made and every subtle shift of his body.

"Like that?" I whispered shyly.

Edward blinked his eyes open and looked up at me. One of Edward's hands came and curled around my own, "A little bit harder," he groaned, "I'm not going to break."

I huffed out a laugh and let Edward show me how he liked to be touched. His long fingers tightened around my hand, forcing me to grip his cock firmly, much tighter than I would have thought. Edward moved my hand up and down a few times before he let go with a gasping groan, "Yes. Like that. God." he moaned.

I followed his instructions, moving my hand up and down his cock, slowly moving faster and faster until Edward was moaning wantonly with each breath. I watched as a small pearl of pre-cum beaded on the head of Edward's cock and the sight made me shift and rub my thighs together as lust coiled deep in my core. Edward began to fuck up into my tight fist, his breath coming in desperate pants and whines. "God, Bella. Yes." he moaned. "I'm close. Please. Don't stop." he panted as he desperately rutted up into my hand. I felt Edward's cock twitch in my hand, I looked up at Edward's face to see him watching me with dark hooded eyes. He reached up with a trembling hand and held my cheek in the palm of his hand, "Fuck, you're so beautiful." he gasped as he continued to thrust his hips up in time with the movement of my hand. I felt another twitch from Edward's hard cock, and a moment later Edward was cumming. With a groan that bordered on a shout Edward erupted over my fist, his eyes shut tightly as he shivered with the intensity of his orgasm. I blinked down to watch as thick streams of cum spurted from the tip of Edward's cock and dribbled down over my hand – I continued to slowly pump Edward's dick as he rode out the pleasure of his orgasm. Eventually though, Edward reached down and gently grasped my wrist, pulling my hand away from his cock.

I watched as Edward caught his breath for a moment before he opened his eyes to look up at me with a slow, dopey, smile. "That… that felt amazing." he breathed.

I beamed proudly at the praise, "I'm glad." I quipped. I pulled my hand up and gazed at the mess covering my fingers. "It's a lot messier than I thought it would be." I mused.

Edward barked out a laugh and tugged me down for a quick kiss, "You're ridiculous." he chuckled. Edward quickly shucked his jeans and slightly ruined boxer-briefs, offering them to me as a way to clean away the mess on my hand, I blushed slightly as I did so – which was ridiculous considering what I had just done. When my hand was as clean as I was going to get, Edward used the ruined underwear to wipe the drying cum from his crotch before he quickly tugged his jeans back on. Edward looked up at me, his eyes still dark with desire as they travelled over my body, "Is there anything I can do for you?" he asked huskily.

Another heated blush covered my face, I bit my lip and shook my head shyly. "Just… hold me for a bit?" I asked meekly.

Edward smiled adoringly, "Anything you want, my love." he vowed, opening his arms for me to snuggle into. I took the invitation and quickly cuddled up to Edward's side, resting my head on his chest, I melted into his embrace. Even though I was still more than a little horny, I was also dead tired, and with the soothing comfort of Edward's arms, it didn't take me long to fall into a deep slumber.