Fifty-One

E

Renee and Charlie are celebrating their thirtieth wedding anniversary this weekend, so Bella and I leave as soon as our shift ends on Saturday to make the drive to Forks. The plan is to stay for their party at The Lodge tomorrow night, and then spend a couple days with them before heading back on Wednesday. Ben will cover that night, and we'll go back on Thursday.

This will be our first visit since Bella brought me to meet her parents. Up until now, they've been coming out to Seattle to see us. My girl is nervous to run into her ex-boyfriend again. Unlike what happened at Charlie's birthday party, she wants the weekend to be all about her parents, free of drama.

Bella's been quiet since we hit the road, choosing to stare out the window, listening to the music playing softly. No humming or singing along in that slightly off-key voice that I love so much.

I turn the volume all the way down and squeeze her hand. "Are you excited to see your parents, baby?"

"Yeah." She sucks in a breath. "Yeah, it's been a while."

"But?"

"I'm not looking forward to seeing Jacob."

"Maybe he won't show," I muse.

Bella laughs humorlessly. "Doubtful. Billy will be there, and where he goes, Jacob goes. And Billy was the best man at their wedding, so of course, he'll be there."

Silence falls on us, and I wait until we're parked behind Charlie's cruiser to speak. "I won't let him upset you, baby. Not again."

She turns to me. "Just don't do anything stupid. Dad's the sheriff, but I doubt he could keep you out of jail if charges are pressed."

I kiss her knuckles. "You know I'm a lover not a fighter."

Bella giggles and tells me to grab the bags. Her parents are asleep, so we let ourselves in and sneak upstairs.

We both need to clean up after our shift at Rebar and the drive, so we take a quick shower together with plans to go straight to bed. We don't want to waste our visit by sleeping late.

Under the covers, I pull her against me and frown. "You're so tense."

"It's just stress and the long drive." She hums.

I ask her what I can do to help, and she grabs my hand, guiding it to the apex of her thighs. She turns her head and catches my lips.

"Please."

I toy with the waistband of her sleep shorts and ask her what she needs.

"Touch me, please," she begs.

Groaning, I find her slick with arousal and slip two fingers inside, rubbing her swollen clit with my thumb in time with my thrusts.

Bella buries her face in the pillow to muffle her sounds. It doesn't take her long to fall apart on my hand, and then she's struggling to get her shorts off as fast as she can.

Before they have a chance to land on the floor, I'm pulling my boxers down and thrusting into her from behind, covering her mouth in an effort to quiet her whimpers.

"Shh, beautiful," I whisper, moving fast because I know I'm not going to last long.

It doesn't help when she starts touching herself. That's my undoing, and I can't hold off anymore. I bite my lip and empty deep inside her while she tightens around me, milking my cock.

We catch our breath, and she gives a soft laugh, burrowing into my side.

I ask her what's so funny, and she grins.

"I think you just thoroughly fucked all my stress away."

After kissing her crazy, I nuzzle her neck. "Go to sleep, dork."

"Hmm. Thank you." She yawns.

"You're very welcome."

…

After a delicious meal and a heartwarming speech from a usually reserved Charlie, I sit back and watch Bella fawn over the pearl ring he presented his wife at the end. I don't even know what it looks like, the ring, because I'm only looking at my girl. She's so damn beautiful she makes my eyes hurt sometimes.

I don't know what I did to deserve this incredible woman who has chosen me over any other guy on the planet. Me to give her heart to. She's smart and quirky. Sexy and confident. Not afraid to ask for what she wants and works so hard to get it. She gives as good as she gets, if not more.

We've both been through things, some good and some bad, but it made us better people. I'd go through it all over again.

The struggle and heartbreak when Jess left me is nothing compared to how I'd feel if Bella woke up and realized the truth. That she deserves the world, not some old owner of a dive bar off the beaten path. She can do so much better than me. Yet it's me she comes to for comfort. Me who knows all of her secrets and aspirations. Me who she's chosen to love with her entire being.

l've said it before, and I'll say it a thousand times over. I am the luckiest man in the world.

"You look like you could use a drink." Charlie interrupts my musings and passes me a bottle of my favorite beer.

It's a small, insignificant thing that he remembered, but it still means a lot to me. I clear my throat and pull a chair out for him. As soon as he sits down he starts pulling at the knot in his tie.

"I hate dressing up for stuff like this," he mutters and turns to me with a smile. "The things we do for love, am I right?"

I clink his bottle with my own. "Cheers to that."

Scanning the room, I find Bella talking to her friend, Leah, from the diner and a tall Quileute man. They're laughing about something, and she looks up and catches me staring. With a wink, she returns to the conversation, so I turn my attention to Charlie, who's looking at me expectantly.

"I'm sorry. What were you saying?"

"You're a good man, Edward. I'll admit I had my reservations when Bella told us about you. As a father, it's not easy. Letting your little girl go off on her own. When she decided to move to Seattle by herself, her mother and I worried about her constantly. Imagine our surprise when we got the call that she was seeing someone and bringing him home to meet us."

There's a lump in my throat as he continues.

"Of course, I did my research and found out how much older you were and that you owned a bar. A bar that she worked at to boot. I'll admit I doubted that your intentions were good until I saw the way you looked at her. The way you still look at her."

"Charlie," I croak.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm glad she found you, Edward. I'm confident you'll take good care of her."

"Always, Charlie. I love her."

"I know, son." He gives a shaky laugh. "You know when you called about asking her to move in with you, I thought you were going to ask permission for something else."

I smile because I know exactly what he's talking about. The same thought has crossed my mind about one, maybe two million times.

"You know I'm a better man than that. When the time comes, expect a visit in person."

Charlie grins and claps me on the back, standing. "Good to know, Edward. Good to know. Now, if you'll excuse me, I think my wife would like one last dance before we call it a night."

I like his idea and drain my beer before setting out to find my girl.

She's at the bar, sipping a glass of sparkling water because she offered to be the designated driver for the evening.

"Hey, beautiful."

"Hi. I saw you and Dad talking." She quirks a brow. "It looked serious."

I shrug non-committedly. "Just man stuff. I haven't held you in my arms nearly enough tonight. Come dance with me."

Pressed together, we sway back and forth, and I bury my face in her sweet-smelling hair, inhaling deeply. We're both watching her parents. Heads close, whispering secrets, and looking just as in love as they do in the photos from their past playing on the projector in the background.

"Do you think we'll have that thirty years from now?" Bella asks softly, looking up at me with so much love my breath catches.

I kiss her and press our foreheads together. "I know we will, baby. Thirty years, fifty. No measure of time with you will be long enough."

Her eyes fill with tears. "How does forever sound?"