LTWYL- Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Edward

I lay awake again and gazed down at Bella and Eavan. It seemed to be a reoccurring thing for me. I ponder my life as the rest of the world sleeps around me. For once I only had good things to look back on…I was at home with Bella and Eavan; and by home I meant at home with them, because as of about six hours ago I live here with them. I knew that my patience would pay off with Bella, but it was really nice to know that I when I trust myself, I can prove that I truly knew her and didn't just make guesses about what she wanted or needed based on my selfish delusions. That to me was the hard part, learning about their habits and preferences, and understanding my girls so that we live a seamless life. I knew that one day it will be as if I had never been gone but in the mean time I just had to be patient and wait for it. Again with the waiting. Well at least I was doing it in a comfortable bed with my girls on either side of me.

When I closed my eyes instead of sleep, I saw images of Bella and me together. Together together. Oh my God that was indescribable. I couldn't help but chuckle now at her hesitancy but at the time I could see the real fear in her eyes. She was worried that I would not like her body after she had Eavan. I didn't tell her that I preferred her body now more than before. Before she was a little too thin, all the pills and booze kept her too 'up' and she never ate. Now she was perfect, all the right spots were filled out and her breasts…damn, they were nice before but now…yeah I already said it but perfect.

I think though that Bella surprising me tonight by asking me to move in with them, just made my entire life and well again I was speechless. I knew she was ready for the move, I saw it in her eyes. I also knew that Bella was strong enough to wait if she wasn't ready so I grabbed all of my stuff while we were at my mom and dad's house to pick up Eavan. I brought it all back with me and tomorrow we would spend time organizing it. I didn't have much but Bella had become a perfectionist when it came to her living space. The house was always clean and nothing was ever out of place. Well nothing outside of Eavan's toys that is. She only put those away when Eavan went to bed but the rest of the house was in order. It was a big change from the last time we lived together. I just shook those feelings out of my mind because we were two totally different people now, so it wasn't fair to compare us now to us then.

Bella always talked about the changes that I had made but she had made more changes than I could keep up with. She had matured and was so damn wise now. Not to mention her communication skills and the way she handles Eavan, was always spot on. Me, I could talk till I was blue in the face when it was at work but not at home so much, I still needed some practice with that but Bella really has things down pat.

Looking at her now allowed me to see so many characteristics of my parents and Pops and Gran as well. The decision to stay with my parents, I'm sure, wasn't easy to make but I'm so glad she did now. It gave her more examples of a stable home that she could model for our child and hopefully we would have more children in our future to practice on. That idea brought me more joy than I realized. This time I would certainly be around for all of it. You could count on that.

I pulled Bella's body closer to my side and kissed her wild array of curls on her head. I turned the other way and repeated the action with Eavan. Then I drifted off to sleep.

The next day I rushed to meet Eleazar, Irina and Peter to look at the building for the center. We had gotten the unofficial okay to proceed with our plans, all we had to do now was wait until all the papers were signed; then we could cash the check and begin to buy stuff to fill the space we found. I was more than excited to know that we would be working with kids that were in the same position I used to be in. I couldn't tell you how my heart swelled at the idea of being able to change someone's path just by being able to teach them to make healthy decisions. I had already gotten really attached to the kids I worked with so far and thankfully they would be able to come with us to the center.

After a few hours I headed home to Bella and Eavan. I had a notebook full of things that needed to be taken care of and I was sure it would take me forever to get some of these things accomplished. I stopped at a red light and looked around me, I was only a few blocks away from my old neighborhood. It would be so easy to take a right instead of going straight. To just stop by and see the guys but I knew that it was useless to do it. We would be light years apart from each other, we wouldn't have anything in common any longer and there would be no point in tempting myself with the old habits for a few minutes of awkward conversation. I did get the chance to see the auto body shop that I worked for at the next red light. It struck me how much my life has changed again. I guess that was one of those things that I would never stop seeing was the remarkable changes.

~~**~~**~~**~~**~~LTWYL~~**~~**~~**~~**~~

The next several months passed along as normal. Our life settled into a nice routine. Each day I worked on getting the center up and running, and spent time with Bella and Eavan. Bella continued to do photo shoots and work at Eavan's school. So life had settled in for all of us, until the day I came home and got the mail from the mail box. Things changed for us that day. In the mail that day there was a letter for Bella. A letter from Charlie Swan. I didn't open it, I waited for her to come home that afternoon and gave the letter to her.

Bella started dinner and I ran Eavan over to my mom and dad's house. I made excuses about mom wanting Eavan to help her make cookies. I knew it was wrong to lie to her but in this case I would come clean with her when I delivered the letter and I hoped she would understand. When I got back Bella had the table set and dinner waiting for me. I decided to eat with her and feel her out before I told her about the letter. We chatted about our day and I told her about the progress of the center. She told me about the wedding that she had to shoot this coming weekend. When dinner was done and all cleaned up, I knew it was time to talk to her. I poured her some wine and took her hand to lead her into the living room.

"Bella, I got the mail today. There was something for you." I handed her the letter. She sat her wine glass down and as she took the letter. Her face showed her confusion as she looked at the names. She opened it and gasped after a few seconds of reading it. Tears sprung to her eyes but she kept reading, she shuffled pages and read in silence. When she was finished with the first page she handed it to me without even looking up at me. I took it and began to read myself. It was from Charlie Swan, he lived in Forks, Washington and he claimed to be Bella's dad. At least he thought he was.

He went on to tell the story of falling in love with Renee while they were both on vacation in Daytona, Florida. The spent the week together and had sex several times. Charlie tried to keep in touch with Renee but she just stopped contact with him several months after their meeting. He tried to find her but came up with nothing. After a few years he gave up and stopped thinking about her, he married and lived his life. One day at work as the chief of police they were playing around with the tracing computer and Charlie on a whim put in Renee's name. He saw her info and death as well. When he checked further to find out details he saw Bella's info. He counted up the time and realized that it was too much of a coincidence, so he made a phone call to Renee's mom and she confessed everything. He had decided to contact Bella to tell her that he was sorry that he never knew about her. He wanted to change that and wanted to know if she would be interested in getting to know him.

By this point in time Bella is sitting in shock. "What should I do?" Her voice sounded so weak and scared as she threw the letter on the floor and climbed into my lap. I wrapped her up in my arms and just held her. I gave her a few minutes to think about her options. Bella liked to hear my opinions but I knew that she would want to make this decision all on her own as well.

After a few minutes Bella sat back and stated that she wanted to meet with him.

Her eyes were a mix of scared but hopeful at the thought she was about to speak of. "His story sounded reasonable and I know that Renee's life was fairly crazy especially during that time when all she had was herself to worry about. So he might not have known at all like he said."

"I don't think it would hurt to meet him and find out. I mean what do you have to lose, right?" I tried to be hopeful with her but I knew deep down inside that if he hurt her in any way at this meeting then I would kill him for it. "Did he leave a number for you to call him?" I suggested.

"Yeah, he did. I will give him a call tomorrow. It will give me time to decide what I want to say to him." I nodded at her, I would allow Bella to decide how to handle all of this, let her make her choices and support her in whatever she decided.

We brought Eavan home and put her to bed, and then Bella and I quietly climbed into bed with each other. I offered her comfort and stability along with unconditional love. It was my turn to support her.

The next day I went into work and was assigned a new client. Jake. Jake was eight years old and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Jacob's mother shot herself while he was on his way home from a friend's house. She had terminal cancer and didn't want to suffer any longer; she didn't want her family to have to take care of her so she put herself out of her misery; not realizing that Jake would be the first one home to find her. Jake found her and held her body in his arms for three hours until his dad got home and found them. He watched her as the life slowly drained from her body and her heart finally stopped. Needless to say he blamed himself for her death. He felt like if he had just came home sooner then he would have been able to stop her. Jake withdrew into himself and only drew pictures. He never spoke; his communication was just through his pad and pencil.

Jake became my main focus and I worked with him and taught him how to use sign language to communicate. It was slow but he definitely showed progression. He would use his signs for about twenty different things that he wanted or needed now. It only took a few months to get him to that point.

The very next day all of my hard work with Jake was belittled. Eavan came to work with me for a few hours while Bella worked and mom took Gran to the doctor. A little before lunch mom would pick her up and I could finish out the rest of the day. Today also happened to be the day that Jake decided that he would have a tantrum at school, which forced his dad to pick him up from school and bring him in for an emergency session. I sat Eavan off to the side and allowed her to play with some of the teaching toys while I talked to Jake; but when Jake walked into the room the only face he saw was Eavan. Eavan talked to him as best as they could with Jake's limited knowledge of sign language but it was enough. Enough that for the first time he left with a light shining in his eyes and he murmured one simple word as he walked out, 'thanks'. I wanted to be hurt that the word was directed towards Eavan and not me but I couldn't be. Whatever helped Jake was alright with me. It also made sense that he was comfortable voicing his farewell to someone that couldn't hear him. No pressure there for Jake. It was a small step but it was a step.

I rushed home to tell Bella, she rejoiced and celebrated with me. It was so comfortable between us, she knew what I need and I knew what she needed. The simply things in life were the most important to us now but it was no less thrilling to celebrate it either way.

~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**LTWYL~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~

Within the last six months I had passed several milestones. Bella and I both had been clean and sober for five years. Eavan celebrated her 5th birthday, and the center was approaching it's second anniversary. All of these things brought me joy, immense joy but nothing would bring me joy like this weekend. I hoped anyway. I had planned to take Bella away on a weekend trip, or so she thought. Actually we were going to stay in the house I had just bought for her.

We were driving around one afternoon, just joy riding. We passed this house that sat up on a hill. It was covered entirely in gray stones, with lots and lots of windows. It had a for sale sign in the front with a number to call for info. I tried to get Bella to call about it but she was too scared to hope that we might never end up with something like this. I knew better, I could see the light shining in her eyes when she looked at that house and I made it my mission to make it hers, as soon as humanly possible.

We walked around the yard and saw the incredible tree house that I could imagine Eavan playing in. We saw the huge back patio that was laid out in the same grey stones as the house. I saw all the windows, Bella peeked in at the kitchen and almost cried. It was her dream kitchen. On a whim I tried the back door knob. It was open. So we wandered through the house, getting more and more excited as we went.

There was a bedroom for Eavan with a built in bed, the front was made to look like a house with the opening like the front door that lead to the sleeping part. The side had stairs that led to a top section where she could play with her dolls and things. The big bay window that looked out onto the massive front yard had a bench seat that was surrounded by book cases. Finally a place to put all of Eavan's books, she has so damn many of them.

What would be our room was done in a Moroccan style with a silky green curtain suspended from the ceiling and draped down the walls like wallpaper. It created a cozy atmosphere to the room, while the French doors made it look larger with all the light flooding in from the back yard. Our bath was a massive room with white tiles and a large porcelain tub that Bella fell in love with.

But our favorite part of the house were the two large eaves that extended past the rest of the house on the top floor. The eave that was over our bedroom was painted white with a bookshelf built over a massive chaise lounge chair and around the large picture window. The lounger was large enough for both Bella and I to lie down comfortably, it was basically a small bed. Not only were the walls painted white but almost everything in the room was white or light pale blue. It made you feel like your own little piece of heaven way off on the corner of the top floor of the house. Across the narrow hall was another room that was painted a darker color with a hammock type swing in there and small tiny white Christmas lights all around it. It faced the setting sun so a golden red glow lit up the room. This side was obviously meant for the kids and the other side was meant for the parents.

Bella had tears in her eyes as we walked back out to the car. I could see how much she loved it, and I wanted to get it for her. I never said a word just in case but I swore to myself again that I would make sure this house had her name on the deed as soon as I could. It was the perfect family home with a slight edge to it that matched both mine and Bella's personalities. We could spend the rest of our lives in this house easily.

It only took me a month and a half to secure a mortgage and it was hard to do without Bella knowing what was going on. I wanted to surprise her, I had no doubts that she'd love it so I thought she would like to see that I could do something romantic for her. I cooked us a meal and dropped it off on the way to take Eavan to Rose and Em's house. I moved around all the things I had placed in our heaven room as Bella had dubbed the room in the eaves. I also lit a few candles as I called Bella's cell phone.

"Hey babe, I need help." I could hear her moving around in the kitchen at our current house. I hoped I had caught her early enough that she hadn't started any real parts of dinner.

"Sure, what's up?" I heard her lick her finger as she spoke. It made my dick hard to picture the innocent little digit as it slid into her warm, wet mouth.

"I have a flat tire, can I have you come and get me?"

"Sure, where are you?" A pot clanged as I'm sure she was taking it off of the stove to prepare to leave.

"Let me give you the address, I don't remember how exactly I got here. You know me, I took the scenic route this time again." I chuckled as Bella groaned. I was notorious for taking the scenic route and then not knowing exactly where I was and how to get home; but Eavan and I loved the trips we ended up on. In fact one such trip found us this house so I don't think she would ever complain again about my trips.

"Okay, give me five minutes and call me back, I've got to get my shoes on and grab my keys." Her voice was winded and I knew she was already rushing around to get out the door. My heart lurched at the amount of love she showed me every day in big and small ways. This one being a perfect example, she would halt dinner and rush out to get me in the middle of God knows where to help me get home. I couldn't love her more and I hoped the small little ring in my pocket made her as happy as she made me.

I called her a few minutes later and she was already on the road so she punched the address in her GPS system, which is exactly what I wanted anyway, as she began her trek towards me. I hung up with her on the pretense that I didn't want her talking while she drove because of the rain, but it was really so I could go back inside and light all the rest of the candles for her.

Her car approached hesitantly and I saw her face peering up at the house while she leaned as far forward as she could in her seat. When she stepped out of the car I took her hand and lead her around the back to where my car was parked. I opened the back door of my car and pulled out an overnight bag for us and tugged her hand again to get her to follow me. Bella looked back and forth between her car, my car and the driveway as she stuttered in shock.

"Www…what are you doing?" Her feet quit moving and she yanked my arm when it reached the end of hers. "We can't go in there, people must live her now, the 'for sale' sign is gone. Come on, let's get your car fixed and we can go home." She pulled away again but I expected it and held a firm grip on her hand.

"It's okay, baby, I asked for permission from the owners and they said yes. We get to stay here tonight." Her eyes shone with joy yet hesitancy at the same time.

"How? Why would they agree to that?" I stepped back to her and kissed her temple.

"Because they are good people and they recognize true love when they see it, now come on." One last tug was all it took to get her to step back up onto the porch with me this time.

I used the key and unlocked the door, ushering her inside as it had begun to lightly rain again. I set our bag down on the floor beside the door and we shed our coats and shoes. I tugged her arm and when she tried to speak again, I shushed her by placing my finger over her lips. She followed without any further questions until we reached the third floor. When she saw our things placed around the room she began to cry. I pulled her to me and wrapped her in my arms for a brief second and once again kissed her forehead. Her tears were a gently sweet type until I hit my knee in front of her and then she began to cry in earnest.

"Oh my God, Edward." I took her outstretched hand.

"Bella, I can't begin to tell you how much of an impact you have had on my life. You brought me passion and devotion in the midst of our crazy lives. You gave me a daughter and held on to our love while I was unable to be there for you. You took my hand and made sure that my life was everything it was supposed to be after I came back to you." I wiped a tear that fell slowly down her cheek. "I love my life, I love our daughter but most of all I love you. I promise to love you every day of forever and want to know if you will you do me the extraordinary honor of becoming my wife?"

Before I even finished the statement she was pulling me up to her and kissing me with a passion I had never seen from her before. I returned that kiss and hoped and prayed that her kiss was her way of saying yes to me. When we finally separated I slid the small gold ring onto her third finger. It didn't have any diamonds, it was just simple gold. It was molded into the words 'marry me', Bella nodded as I slid it onto her finger.

"It isn't your engagement ring. I wanted you with me to decide about the ring you would wear as my wife for the rest of your life, so I bought you this one instead and I figured we could go tomorrow before we pick up Eavan to buy you a real ring." Her tears began again. I kissed them away as they fell.

"You are too good to me." She whispered. I shushed her because she had that backwards; she was too good to me. "One question?" She felt my nod as she had her face pressed against my chest and my chin brushed against her forehead as I did it. "How did you get the owners to let you do this here?"

I pulled away for this answer. In fact, I sat her down on the chaise lounge and I sat beside her. "It was really easy, see you and I now own this house. I signed the last paper today." Bella's eyes became so large that I was afraid that they would fall out of the sockets in her face.

"You what?" I was afraid for a few second that she was angry until she threw herself into my arms and began to shower my face with kisses.

"I talked them into a few things being left here as part of the deal. I'll show you the rest tomorrow but right now I think we should have some dinner then we will enjoy our secluded room."

I fed Bella and she fed me, we laughed and talked all through dinner. My heart was at peace in this moment. Until Bella laid aside the dishes and pushed me down onto my back to kiss me fully.

Her sweet mouth opened and invited my tongue in, so I pushed it against hers. It never failed to amaze me how warm and sweet her mouth was. Almost as warm and sweet as her pussy was. I moaned as I thought of being inside her. I pushed my hand up under her white t-shirt and brushed the black bra aside. Her nipple instantly hardened against my hand. I loved how responsive she was with me.

This was fast and hard, no matter how much I wanted it to be slow and loving, I just couldn't stop myself from rushing through it. Bella apparently didn't mind because she was in just as much of a hurry as I was to pull off my clothes and toss them to the ground. When we were both undressed she jumped up and flew into my arms. I grabbed her and pushed into her body all in one motion. She wrapped her arms around me and held on tightly.

My legs already felt weak at the full weight of the emotions that were swirling around inside of me. I loved her with all of my heart and now she had agreed to be my wife. I mean I know that people have the option of divorce so it is never a permanent thing when people get married but to me it was a big deal. I never saw myself without her and to know that she loved me enough to commit herself to me in that way was overwhelming.

Our intertwined bodies collided with the wall and I held Bella pressed there for stability. Also because it freed my hands up so that they could roam her body at will. I needed to touch her while she kissed me along my neck and shoulders. She always told me that my shoulders were sexy and I guess she showed it almost every time we make love because she always pays close attention to that area. Not gonna lie, I love it, it makes me feel all fuzzy inside with butterflies in my stomach and shit, but I love it.

Bella made her way back to my mouth and I kiss her deeply. I pulled back to make sure she understood how much I loved her. "I love you so much, Mrs. Cullen." We both smiled a joyous smile that showed the exact emotion running through the both of us. I kissed her again, harder and with more passion. My tongue pressed against hers as we both moaned our pleasure. Her head dropped back and she sighed when I hit the right spot inside of her. I could feel the evidence of her arousal running down both of our legs as I slipped easily in and out of her body.

The new angle felt so good but I knew I could do better so I moved us both to a different position. I stopped for a few seconds and slowly moved each arm so that they supported Bella's knees at each of my elbows; opening her up to me so much more and allowing me to slip in at the just the right angle, the angle that makes her make that half moan, half growl noise that I love.

Before I'm even all the way back inside of her she does the moan, "Oh fuck yeah, right there, fuck yeah." Her head falls back and I feel her spasm all around me. It's just light small flutters so I know that she isn't ready to come yet but she will soon. I dipped my head down and begin to kiss her again at the hollow spot where her shoulders and neck meet. My lips attach and suck lightly there, I knew that it will leave a mark on her but at this point in time I don't give a fuck. She's mine, she wears my ring, she had my baby and hopefully in the future she will have more for me. We are it, we were meant to be together. Nothing tore us apart, not drugs, not alcohol, not jail, nothing.

Her moans picked up at the same time the fluttering inside of her gets quicker, telling me that she is getting close. "Oh God, you're gonna make me come so hard, don't stop please, please don't stop." I braced my knees against the wall and use the leverage to push into her deeper and harder. Two strokes later and she came all over us both, her body teasing mine into following right after her. It wasn't a hard sell at all, I would follow her anywhere she lead. My head dropped to her shoulder and I shuddered against her as I spilling into her.

The next morning we gathered our stuff, walking through the house and talking about some of the changes we want to make. Then we make our way to the jewelry store, Bella isn't all that ready to go but I am. I want my ring on her finger so that it is announced to the world. Of course Bella chooses the smaller diamonds and I direct her towards another cabinet of rings. She looks them over and all at once her eyes light up. I can tell that she has found the one. I glance over the case and really only like one ring in there but it's her hand so I will accept whatever she chooses. When her slender finger pointed out my favorite I smiled and nodded at the sales lady. Bella chose an antique white gold setting with a round diamond and smaller sapphire stones that ran along the band of both the engagement ring and the matching wedding band. I was stunned at the thought of it on her finger and I knew that I wanted her to have it. I took the ring from the sales lady and slipped it on her finger and kissed her hand. It was perfect, I didn't ask the price, I didn't care, I just handed over my credit card to pay for it.

We headed to Em and Rose's house to pick up Eavan, we were more than ready to tell her all of the good news. Bella's phone rang and she answered it, I could hear bits and pieces of the conversation and knew that it was Charlie. They had been talking almost daily since she got that first letter. It was nice to see her relationship with him grow. They both loved each other so much you could see it when they were together. Bella's face changes and worry passed over her. "Oh, well let me ask him." She turned to me. "Charlie says that he and Sue are going to take two weeks off and want to come and see us as part of their trip. They will be leaving August the 10th. Do you have anything going on for those two weeks after that?" I just shook my head and pulled the phone away from her ear. I had something that I wanted to say to Charlie anyway.

"Hey Charlie, how are you?" He responded but I didn't listen to a word he said, now that I had him on the phone I was suddenly nervous, hell I wasn't this nervous last night when I asked Bella. What was the deal with me? "Well I have a confession to make and may need to ask your forgiveness for something."

His voice cut me off before I could say anything else. "Is everything alright Edward?"

"Everything is fine. I just wanted to ask your permission to marry Bella. I mean I jumped the gun and asked her last night but I wanted you to know that I still feel like I should ask for your blessing as well."

His nervous chuckle released the tension in his body and he replied, "Of course, son, it's about time you made an honest woman out of her. You both have my blessing." Bella was about to bounce out of her seat to know what he said so she grabbed the phone away from me as Charlie was still speaking. She talked to him for a little while longer and she hung up as we pulled into Rose and Emmett's driveway. It looked like my mom and dad were here as well. Figures, it's hard for them to be away from the grandbabies for any length of time.

After all of the hellos were exchanged and we were seated at the table, Bella removed her hand that she had been using to cover her ring. I held her left hand so that it was put right out there front and center. Eavan actually was the one that noticed it.

Mommy, did daddy buy you that ring?

All at once the house erupted into shouts and hugs and kisses. Everyone started to talk all at once and Eavan stood off to the side caught up in the mix. I turned and pulled her into my lap and tugged on Bella's hand so she turned to face us as well. She knelt down so that Eavan could see both of us. We touched her ring, then I explained what was going on to Eavan.

Bug, daddy bought this ring for mommy today. I asked her to marry me, so we can be together for the rest of our lives because I love her with all of my heart. Do you know what that means?

She nodded and her hands began to explain.

My friends all have mommies and daddies that have the same last name, will you have the same name now?

We both just laughed and nodded yes, Eavan's face broke out into a large grin and she hugged us both. She only had one question.

Can I wear a big pretty dress?

Bella nodded yes and she went off to play. I wish all of life was that simple. We would have it made.

The girls began to discuss wedding plans and all until an interesting idea came up. My mom suggested that we have the wedding while Charlie and Sue were here in town. It was a great idea since he had a hard time getting time off because he was the Chief of police. So Bella got on the phone and made the call to him. He thought it was a great idea as well. So in three weeks we were getting married. I wasn't worried, I knew we could do it. Bella looked a little stressed all of the sudden.

We all decided to drive back to the house to show all of the others as well. Alice and Jasper called to tell us they would meet us there. So once again we stood in our big empty kitchen and discussed wedding plans. Alice had it all under control and seemed to think that she could get it all done.

That night as we went to bed, Bella's phone chirped. I picked it up, it was announcing a reminder that she had a doctor's appointment tomorrow. "Hey, honey, are you sick?" I called into the bathroom at her.

"Nah, yearly girlie exam, that's all." She spit the toothpaste out and rinsed her mouth. "I'm glad you brought that up. It's time to take my IUD out, it's been five years. So what would you like me to do about birth control?" She bit her thumbnail. I hadn't seen a nervous Bella in quite a while.

"What were you thinking?" I knew I didn't want to use condoms, not after being in her bare but I wasn't sure that she was ready to not use anything. I was, but it was hard to tell if she was.

"Well, we said we wanted more kids right?" Her face looked hopeful.

"We did." I left it at that short and sweet.

"So would it be so bad if we opted to not use any birth control? It would probably take a few months to get pregnant anyway so if we started now, then…" She left her sentence hanging in the air between us.

I sat and pretended to think it over. I mean really what was there to think about, Bella pregnant with my child, the answer was hell yes. I let her sweat a little longer. I dropped my head dramatically against my chest. "I guess so I mean, it would be nice to have more."

"I mean I can get something less permanent if you'd like to wait awhile longer."

"Nah, it's okay."

"Are you sure?" I had to put a stop to her misery.

I tilted my head up and allowed the grin to show. "Abso-freaking-lutely!" I jumped up off of the bed and grabbed her around her tiny waist. We swung in circles as I kissed her face. "I want lots and lots of babies with you, so don't you dare tell them you want anything. You hear me?"

That night Bella lay awake with me and we talked about all of the things that usually ran through my overactive imagination at this time of night. Funny how when we talked them out together all my problems seemed to almost solve themselves and that left me plenty of time to snuggle next to Bella and sleep. And that's what I did!