Chapter 10 (She Had a Birthday)

Chapter 10~(She Had a Birthday)


EPOV

There are a few things in this world that I know to be true; one of them being that I love kissing Bella Swan. Until recently, I had thought that it couldn’t get any better than that. As it turns out, I was wrong…very, very wrong. It would seem that touching Bella Swan while kissing her is infinitely better. I won’t go so far, this time, as to say that it is the best thing, but only because I can only imagine that finally getting to make love to her would be the best thing ever.

Another thing that I know to be true is that I am in love with her. Completely, totally, full-on, can’t even help myself, in love with her. I am done. There will be no one else for me. She is my baby girl and she will be for as long as she’ll have me.

I’m officially whipped. I’m not even the littlest bit ashamed to say it. I knew that my feelings for her were growing stronger by the day but watching her with my family, like she had always been a part of us, just helped me to fully realize them. Watching my sweet Ally lean against her and twirl her hair almost made my heart bust. I never thought there would be anything more special to me than the bond that I had with my Ally girl, but again, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Watching the two of them together almost dang near killed me.

I was so relieved that Bella trusted me enough to tell me about her past. I didn’t want there to be anything between us, and I knew that once we put all of our stories, all of our insecurities out there for each other, that we would be able to move forward. There was nothing that I wanted more than that.

She and I drove back from the lake Sunday after lunch so that she could have a little bit of rest time before going in to work early on Monday morning. The rest of my family was staying at the lake house to enjoy their last day of vacation. Normally I would have stayed with them and let Bella drive my car back home since it was a vacation day for me as well, but to be honest, I just couldn’t stand to be away from her.

She had agreed to let me do something to celebrate her birthday, so while she was working on Monday, I started making our plans for the following Saturday.

I called Jasper first because I needed his help with a couple of the gifts that I wanted to give Bella. Of course Sassy wanted to know what I was up to and why she wasn’t a part of it. Nosey little fairy. Once she caught wind of the fact that it was going to be Bella’s birthday, she decided that she and Rose would treat her to a morning at the spa. Ok, so I’m not getting a full day with my baby girl. Alice would need to have her tail whipped for that at some point. Something else I’d have to delegate to Jasper.

I was on my way to see Jasper now. Actually, I was jogging three miles to see him. For the last three days I had been spending more time with Bella after we both got off of work. We had started to fall into a daily routine of meeting at her house for supper, cleaning up the kitchen together, snuggling on the couch…which would lead to kissing on the couch, which would then lead to teenage touching on the couch. And that is what had me wound tighter than a damn drum and why I was running. I’m a man. Not a teenager. I have man needs and I’m what you would call ‘frustrated’. It’s killing me not to move things along physically with Bella. I know we aren’t completely ready for that, and I know the promise that I made to myself about waiting until I find ‘the one’. I don’t know what she wants yet in regards to that, but I know that I want her. I think she feels the same way because of our talk at the lake. But I need to be sure. I’m hoping that after Saturday night, I’ll be more certain. In the mean time…

“Did you seriously run all the way out here?” Jasper asked me while he played with his radar gun.

“Shut up you ass. When are you gonna get a real job and quit living out your Dukes of Hazzard fantasies?”

“Dude…you need to work out that meanness with Little Bell and not take it out on me.”

“That’s why I ran all the way here, genius.”

“Ahhh…still holdin’ on to that reinstated V-card I see.”

“Shut up,” I growled, running my hand through my hair. “Did you bring what I asked you for?”

He rolled his eyes at me. “It’s in the back. Alice took the liberty of finishing it for you. She said you couldn’t be trusted with the details, or some shit like that.”

It was my turn to roll my eyes, even though she was probably right.

I reached behind his seat to get the bag. I took them out and looked over them for a few minutes. Jasper is a great photographer. It’s a talent he has that not many people know about. I had asked him to help me with some pictures to give to Bella. She had seen the field of tall sunflowers on our way home on Sunday, so I had Jasper to stop and take a few shots. The picture he gave me was really close up and completely perfect. The browns and yellows from the flower really stood out against the blue sky. It would be perfect in her bedroom. Pops had finally told me why he called her Sunflower before we left and I was going to reveal that to her when I gave her the photo. This one was really more of a house warming gift since she didn’t have much on her walls. Plus, I wanted there to be a way for her to remember my family no matter what the future held for us.

The next was a photo of Bella and I on the deck at the lake house. Jazz had pulled me aside and shown me this picture Saturday afternoon after Bella and I had gotten back from our paddleboat ride. I had seen her standing there alone looking out over the water just before sunset. I was standing behind her with my chin on her shoulder and she had tilted her head so that she was looking back at me. I ran my finger over the glass, tracing the features of her face. She was beautiful in every way and a picture just didn’t do her justice.

“Have you told her yet?”

“Huh?”

“Have you told her yet…that you love her?” Jasper asked, looking at me pointedly.

“How do you…”

“Seriously? How long have I known you?”

“We’ve been best friends for twenty one years. You know that.”

“Well, that’s where you are wrong. While it’s true that you are my closest guy friend, you haven’t exactly been my best friend since we were seventeen.”

I was completely confused. “What are you talkin’ about, Jazz?”

“I’m talkin’ about Alice. You know I’ve loved her for as long as I can remember. When we finally got together as a couple, she became my best friend. She still is. She’s everything and I think you know what I’m sayin’. Here…I’ll show you.”

He reached behind my seat now and revealed two more pictures. I laughed out loud at the first one. It was a picture of Bella and I asleep on the couch in the basement at the lake house.

“Who took this?”

“Sass.”

“Bella is going to kill her…after she blushes a million shades of red.”

While the fact that the picture had been taken was funny, the image was anything but that. I was lying on my back and Bella had her head lying on my chest. We were holding hands over my heart and I had my other hand tangled in her hair.

“Well, you will probably kill me for this one, but I couldn’t help myself. Don’t get mad because it really is an awesome picture.”

He handed it to me and what I saw warmed my entire body. It was taken at the same time as the first one, while we were on the deck, only this time it was when I had lifted her onto the railing and we were kissing. It was gorgeous.

“Now do you see it? It’s plain as day, Edward. That’s what everyone else already sees when we look at the two of you together.”

“I do see it. And Lord knows I feel it. She is eatin’ me alive, Jazz. I’m just not sure when or how to tell her. I mean, it’s only been what, like three weeks? Is that even normal?”

“There is no set time when it comes to fallin’ in love. It just happens when it happens, and when it does, you just grab a hold and don’t let go.”

“I’m not believin’ I’m sittin’ here getting love advice from Barney Fife.”

“Believe it brother. You ready to head back? I’ll give you a ride back to the house.”

“Yeah. You may as well. There hasn’t been a single car go by since we’ve been sittin’ here. Why are you shootin’ radar all the way out here anyway? You know nobody comes out here.”

“Had some readin’ to catch up on.”

“I think I’m gonna do a write in on the ballot for the next sheriff election.”

-x-X-x-

The rest of the week had been another busy one. Thursday night’s band practice had run longer than usual because of it being the first week of high school football games. We were working hard to fine tune the half-time show. Fortunately we were the home team this week, so I would still get to spend some time with Bella after the game.

We had decided that is when we would get together so that I could talk to her about my time in Nashville. I didn’t want to bring down our mood on Saturday by talking about it then since I had planned an afternoon of fun and a night of romance.

I told her to just wait for me at her house and that I would meet her there after making sure everything was returned to the band room and locked up properly.

When I got to her house she was sitting on her couch in her pajamas with her hair pulled up and her face washed, and it sounded like she was listening to music on her computer. She looked up when she heard the slap of the screen door closing behind me.

“Hey,” she said, smiling up at me.

I continued to stand in the doorway just staring at her. I had missed her so much over the last few days. Going this amount of time without seeing her just wasn’t working for me. I needed her every day. I crossed the room to her and moved her computer out of her lap without warning. I picked her up and hugged the shit out of her. She smelled so damn good!

“Good Lord, I missed you to death baby girl!”

She giggled. “It’s only been a few days, Sugar. It can’t be that bad.”

I pulled my face away from her neck and looked into her dark chocolate eyes. “Are you saying that you didn’t miss me? ‘Cause if that’s the case, I gotta say, I’m a little hurt.”

She stared back into my eyes and said, “How ‘bout I show you instead?”

She pulled her legs that had been dangling in front of me, up and wrapped them around my hips and locked her ankles behind my back. She put her hands on either side of my face and rubbed her thumbs back and forth through my two day old stubble. She bit her bottom lip, trying to conceal her smile before she crashed her lips into mine. She didn’t waste any time licking along my bottom lip, begging to taste me, and I would never deny her a damn thing. Her mouth was commanding, something I hadn’t experienced with her yet, and she was setting me on fire. I felt that kiss from the roots of my crazy hair to the tips of my toes. I squeezed her ass, pulling her closer to me and letting her know every other place that I could feel that kiss. She moaned into my mouth, and if I would have been capable of rational thought, I would have thrown her back down onto that couch and ravished her. As it was, I was completely lost in her. I’m fairly certain that I’m the one who whimpered when she pulled away.

“Now do you believe that I missed you?”

“Ummm…I’m not completely convinced. Maybe you could try again?” I said while slowly kissing and sucking on her neck.

“Nice try Sugar, but we have business to take care of tonight that doesn’t involve you giving me a hickey! Stop that!” she giggled while trying to push away from me. “I cannot justify a turtle neck in Alabama in September, so knock it off. You could at least make that attempt where other people can’t see it.”

“Baby girl, you can’t say that shit to me. You know I don’t back down from a challenge,” I growled.

“Put me down. I made hot chocolate. Don’t you want to get this over with so we can move on?”

She was running her fingers through my hair, not realizing that she wasn’t exactly helping out the situation I had going on.

“I won’t put you down, but we can go get the hot chocolate. Then we’ll come back in here and have our talk. Wait…you do have marshmallows, right?”

“Lots of ‘em. I even have spoons that I dipped the ends in chocolate to stir with.”

Well if I wasn’t in love before, I sure as all dang am now.

-x-X-x-

“You have everything you need?”

“I have you and I have chocolate. I didn’t know there was anything else.”

“That was a good one. Who taught you that?”

“Shut up. It may be cheesy but it’s true.”

She giggled and kissed my nose. I just hoped that she didn’t think less of me after what I was going to tell her.

“Come on. Let’s just get it all out there. Do you need me to rub your head? Will that help?”

“Sure. But I want you in my lap. I want to be face to face. I swear I’ll be good and keep my hands to myself…for the most part,” I said, winking at her.

She narrowed her eyes at me, but I think she could tell that I just really needed close contact with her the same way she had needed it with me. She put her mug down and crawled into my lap. She put her hands in my hair and gave me a quick kiss on the lips.

“I’m ready when you are Sugar.”

I smiled at her. I loved when she called me that.

“Ok. When I was a teenager, all I ever wanted to do was go to Nashville and get a recording contract. I had big dreams and I knew I had the talent, but I was naïve. I just assumed that it would fall into my lap once I got there. When I graduated high school, I was still seventeen. I had to wait until my birthday to leave and that’s exactly what I did. I turned eighteen and left the next day. Mom and Dad didn’t really want me to do it. They wanted me to go to college first and at least get my degree before trying it out on my own in Nashville. Looking back, I think they wanted me to mature a little bit, and they were right. But I was as stubborn as the day is long.”

She laughed at that and tugged my hair. I rolled my eyes. She hadn’t even seen my stubborn side yet.

“For the first year I took gigs in bars and did open mic nights. Anything I could do to play and try to get some exposure is what I did. When I got there I thought I could just get an appointment with one of the record execs or send in my demos,” I sighed. “I quickly learned the word no, but that didn’t stop me. I kept on playin’. When I had been there for about a year, a woman approached me after my set at one of the open mic nights. I was mainly playing covers, but had also included one or two of my own songs. She introduced herself to me as Jane Wilson and told me that her family was in the record business and that she thought I had real talent as well as the right look. I recognized her last name and asked if she was related to the famous record producer. She said that he was her dad and she invited me out for coffee so that we could talk more about what I was looking for.”

“I told her about my dreams of getting a record deal, recording my own songs and making it big. She told me that she had all of the right connections and knew that she could help me to become the next big thing. Needless to say, I was blinded by the promise of stardom. She set me up with more open mic spots at some of the well known places downtown. I even got to play one night at The Bluebird Café. I basically did what she told me to do and went where she told me to go. She was older than me by about ten years and hadn’t asked me for any money for her helping me, so I trusted her. In hindsight, I think she was just out to prove something to her dad. Over time we grew to be friends and then eventually my hormones won out and we started sleeping together.”

Bella’s hands stopped their scratching. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. I did the same thing because it truly was one of the stupidest things I had ever done in my life. She opened her eyes again and stared into mine.

“Are you sure you want to hear all of this?” I asked her.

“Yes. Everything out in the open. No hiding. You promised. I’m a big girl. I can take it.” She snuggled her face into my neck and gave me a kiss, letting me know to continue.

“Jane finally got me an appointment with some of the execs at Sony. After two meetings, they offered me a contract. They wanted me to agree to two albums. I was fine with that part, but when I asked them about recording my own songs, they balked a bit. They said that they liked my sound, but wanted to rework my lyrics and the music. After I heard some of the changes, I couldn’t even recognize them as my songs. I was a kid and was extremely proud. I wanted it my way. In all of the time I had been working in Nashville, I had never taken it into consideration that in order to make it, I’d have to do things their way. By this time, I had been in Nashville almost two years and it was all really wearing on me and my ego. I felt like I had worked so hard and that I deserved the chance to show what I could do creatively. I didn’t realize that it can take years to earn that kind of clout. I also thought that Jane would stand up for me, but she never did. We basically couldn’t agree on anything and I’d had enough, so I walked. I was disappointed and beaten down and had absolutely nothing left to give.”

“I told Jane that I needed a little time to think before deciding what I wanted to do next. When I went to her apartment the next week to talk to her, she answered the door in a slinky robe and some guy came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her and asked, “Who is it, baby?” She just smiled at me and said, “Nobody. Absolutely nobody.” Then she shut the door in my face.”

“That weekend I packed up all of my shit and came home. Of course my parents welcomed me with open arms. That’s just who they are. I talked to mom and dad and told them that I was done chasing pipe dreams in Nashville and that I wanted to go on to college and get a music degree. It wasn’t until I was back in school that I decided that I wanted to teach.”

“In the first couple of weeks at ‘Bama, I went to several frat parties, trying to figure out where I fit in. I was pretty drunk one night and went home with this girl. I think I was still trying to get over everything that had happened in Nashville. It was stupid…just a stupid one night stand. I felt like total shit about it and about myself. I knew better. I knew that wasn’t who I was. I had slept with three different people, none of whom I loved. That was when I decided that I wasn’t going to sleep with anyone else until it was who I’d spend the rest of my life with. I mean, yeah, while I was at school I went out on a few dates, but nothing ever went beyond a kiss at the front door. No one fit. No one ever felt right.”

I felt Bella stiffen in my arms. She sat up and looked at me in confusion.

“You said you had slept with three people, but you only mentioned two. Who was the third?”

I chuckled because I didn’t know whether to be embarrassed or to just think it was damn funny anymore.

“Um…it’s actually someone you know.” She widened her eyes and waited for me to keep talking.

“It was Lauren and we were seniors in high school.” I contorted my face waiting for her reaction.

“Lauren…like Lauren that I work with? Lauren?”

“Mmhmm.”

So many emotions were running over her face I could barely keep up. First I saw surprise, then jealousy and then confusion. That was the one I was waiting for.

“Wait…isn’t she…?”

“Yes. She would be more interested in you than me now.” Bella started laughing so hard she was shaking. “Look, she dated guys in high school. We only dated for about three months. I was not her last test run, if you get what I’m sayin’.”

“Oh Sugar! That’s just too much. I don’t even think I have words,” she said while still laughing in my face. I just poured my heart out to this woman and she’s laughing at me. Time to pull out the big guns.

“You’re mean, you know that?” I said, giving her my best pout.

“No sir. Put that thing away. You know what the pout does to me.” She leaned forward and pulled my bottom lip between her two teeth. Goal accomplished.

“Mmm…that’s so much better than you laughing at me.” I attacked her mouth and neck, just needing as much physical contact as I could possibly get.

I hated thinking about my time in Nashville. It made me feel completely stupid; like not only was I a failure, but a quitter as well. I didn’t usually dwell on it because I loved the life that I had been living since coming back home. This is where I belonged. The only thing I had been missing was this girl who was kissing me so good she was making my toes curl.

She pulled away panting and leaned her forehead against mine.

“It’s getting late and Alice said I had to be ready for her to pick me up by eight tomorrow morning. I think we’d better call it a night.”

Not excited about the prospect of leaving Bella, I frowned. She slid off of my lap but then held out her hand to me.

“Come on. Let’s go to bed.”

She didn’t need to ask me twice.

-x-X-x-

Bella had returned from her spa time with the girls just after lunch. She didn’t look completely happy and relaxed like I expected her to, but she said she had fun…for the most part. I had no idea what that meant, but I didn’t think I should pry.

That afternoon I took Bella to the county fair that was in town. I wanted us to have some relaxing fun together. The day we spent out on the four-wheelers was one of my favorite days ever, and I wanted to recreate that kind of atmosphere between us. Last night had been kind of heavy for me and I needed to blow off a little steam.

We went to the animal tent where she cooed over every animal there, laughing the entire time. She was so beautiful and so carefree. I hoped that I could always make her feel that way. We rode every single ride there. She had no fear and that was just something else that I loved about her. She was up for anything; a perfect match for me.

I made sure that she tried the must-haves from the food vendors as well. There was no way I was letting her leave without an Elephant Ear or a corn dog from ‘The Corn Dog Man’. We stood in line for that damn corn dog for a good thirty minutes. I was used to it because I did it every year. She didn’t think it would be worth it. She was completely wrong. Partly because the whole time we waited, I stood behind her with my arms wrapped around her and nuzzled and kissed every bit of skin that I could get my lips on. Well, any that I could get to that was acceptable for public displays of affection. After she took the first bite of her corn dog, she was sold on ‘The Corn Dog Man’. The Elephant Ear pushed her over the edge. It was fried dough sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar; I had no idea what made it so good, whether it was their recipe or just the sentimentality of it. This year, I think it was just getting to enjoy it with my baby girl.

I took her home so that she could shower and change and so that I could as well before putting the finishing touches on her birthday supper. I had planned to take Bella on a picnic, but the rain clouds were coming in as had been predicted. I was glad I had a back-up plan. I moved the furniture in my living room around and laid out a blanket in the middle of the floor. I placed candles in the fire place and on the mantle and the end tables, lighting them as I went.

Just as I finished I heard a knock on my screen door. I picked up the bouquet of sunflowers that I had bought earlier in the morning on my way to greet her at the door.

“Why are you knockin’? Get in here woman.” I bent down to kiss her as she stepped into the living room.

“Edward,” she gasped after looking around the room. “What have you done?”

I wrapped my arms around her waist from behind and brought the flowers in front of her. She gasped again.

“I made us an indoor picnic. I hope you don’t mind. I know you needed to be close to home in case you got called into work. This is pretty close to home, right?”

She leaned her head back on my shoulder. “You are absolutely right. This is very close to home.” She turned around in my arms. “This is too much! Thank you!” she said, giving me another mouth watering kiss.

I broke away from her, but only because I didn’t want our supper to burn.

“These are for you my lovely. I thought they were appropriate considering your new nickname.”

“They’re perfect! Thank you.”

“I have a vase we can put them in. Come on. I’ll let you take a peek at what I’m going to feed you.”

I led her into the kitchen and sat her down on a bar stool.

“It smells fantastic. I didn’t know you could cook.”

“I don’t know if cooking is the right word for it. Plus, I had help with some of it.”

“Well, the suspense is killing me and I’m starving. What are we having?”

“Fondue.”

“Seriously? I’ve never had fondue before!”

“I thought it would be fun. Alice used to do this all the time before the kids came along. Now she doesn’t have as much time to entertain. I needed something that would be easy to eat picnic style, and since it was going to rain and we would be inside, she suggested this. I hope that’s ok.”

“I’m sure it will be. How long until we are ready to eat?”

“I think we’re good now. Go have a seat and I’ll bring it all in.”

-x-X-x-

We sat in my living room in the candle light feeding each other for at least an hour. It was insanely sensual and it really set the mood that I was hoping for tonight. When we were full, I removed everything to the kitchen and grabbed the gifts and my guitar on the way back into the living room. I knew how I felt about her and I had picked a song to play for her that I had hoped would let her know exactly what those feelings were. I speak so much better through music and I knew she would understand what I couldn’t bring myself to say just yet.

I joined her where she was sitting in the middle of the blanket, sipping her wine.

“Oh my gosh. What are you doing? I don’t remember giving you the ok on presents,” she said, scowling at me.

“That’s because I was smart enough not to ask baby girl. So shut your trap and accept these gifts in the manner in which they are given…please.”

She rolled her eyes at me. “Fine. But just know…there will be pay back.” I chuckled at her.

“Ok. First I’m startin’ with what is more of a house warming present. You know…welcome to the neighborhood and all that.”

“You’re so weird.”

“So you’ve told me. Now open it.”

She took the large package and carefully removed the ribbon and paper. Her eyes widened at the photo.

“Oh, Edward! Where did this come from? It’s gorgeous!”

“Actually Jazz took that. It’s a hobby for him that not many people know about. After we saw the wild sunflowers on our way home, I called him and asked if he would stop and take a few shots on their way. I also thought it would be a way for you to remember this crazy Cullen clan…later on.” I didn’t dare say ‘once you left’ because if it’s up to me, she ain’t ever leavin’.

“Would you like to know why Pops named you Sunflower?”

“Absolutely! He is the cutest thing ever, I swear.”

“I think I may be offended by that statement, but I’ll tell you anyway. He said that sunflowers are bright and cheerful; bold yet comfortable. Their delicate petals are like rays of sunshine which bring about feelings of warmth and happiness. It’s also associated with adoration and longevity. He said every bit of that either described you as a person or how you made others feel, particularly me. I thought it was just because of your eyes, how they are dark brown in the middle, like chocolate, but have flecks of gold around the outside. It would seem that Pops is a lot deeper than I am,” I laughed.

I looked back at Bella and she had a lone tear streaming down her face. I raised my hand to wipe it away from her cheek.

“Aw, don’t cry baby girl. Don’t you like it? I can keep it if not.”

“Sugar, I love it. I have no words. I just…” she said, shaking her head and then leaning her cheek into my hand.

“Well the next one ought to cure those tears. Jazz told me Alice took this picture.” I handed her the next wrapped package.

“Oh my word! I knew something was up with her when she was asking me all of those questions at breakfast! That little sneak!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Before you came upstairs, she kept asking me how I slept the night before, but she wouldn’t say anything else. I knew she must have been down there and seen us at some point. Oh well, no matter. I still love it. It’s adorable.”

“Yes it is. We look good sleepin’ together.”

“Perv,” she said, even though she was grinning at me. I was having to keep the images of us not exactly sleeping together at bay for now. The result of those thoughts would be difficult to hide.

“This is the last of your house warming gifts. Then we’ll move on to your birthday gift.”

She growled at me. She’ll have to get used to being spoiled.

She unwrapped the last picture frame and just stared at it. I had put the pictures of us on the deck in one of those bi-fold frames. She ran her fingers over our features the same way I had when I first saw them.

“Jasper?” she asked in a quiet voice.

“Mmhmm. Is that okay? I didn’t know he took them until later.”

She took a deep breath and looked up at me with tears in her eyes.

“They are breath taking, Edward. I’ve never…I just feel…full looking at them. I can’t explain it.”

“Maybe I can help with that. Open this one. This is your birthday gift from me. I wasn’t sure what to get you, but I really hope you like it.”

She took a deep breath and dug into the bag. I had gotten her a silver necklace that had a hand stamped disc in the front that said ‘where words fail, music speaks’ and had a musical note charm hanging from it as well.

When she pulled it out of the tissue paper and held it up, the tears that she had held back from looking at the pictures finally fell down her gorgeous face.

“I’m not always good at talking about serious things, but I can usually find or write a song that helps me get my meaning across. I hope you like it.”

She launched herself into my lap and kissed the fire out of me. Her hands were pulling at my hair and I was sure my lips would probably be bruised in the morning. I could not have cared less if they were. I loved this woman and I wanted to give her everything. This would just be the start.

“You are too perfect. You are an absolute dream! No one has ever done anything like this for me. I don’t deserve this. It’s too much. You’re too much,” she said, looking back and forth between my eyes as she held my face in her hands.

“You do deserve it. You deserve this and much more. Don’t you know? I’ll give you anything, everything. You are my best friend…you’re my more.”

She wrapped her arms around my neck and squeezed me with everything her little body had. But I had one more thing I wanted to give her before we got carried away.

“As much as I love bein’ in this position with you, I have one last thing.”

“Edward…” she groaned.

“It didn’t cost anything and it’s not even my own words, but I think they are perfect. So you just sit right here in front of me and listen, ok?”

She moved off of my lap and I picked up my guitar from where I had left it on the couch earlier. I began to strum the chords to a song from one of my favorite artists.

Lying here with you

Listening to the rain

Smiling just to see the smile upon your face

These are the moments I thank God that I'm alive

These are the moments I'll remember all my life

I found all I've waited for

And I could not ask for more

Looking in your eyes

Seeing all I need

Everything you are is everything to me

These are the moments

I know heaven must exist

These are the moments I know all I need is this

I have all I've waited for

And I could not ask for more



I could not ask for more than this time together

I could not ask for more than this time with you

Every prayer has been answered

Every dream I have's come true

And right here in this moment is right where I'm meant to be

Here with you here with me



These are the moments I thank God that I'm alive

These are the moments I'll remember all my life

I've got all I've waited for

And I could not ask for more



I could not ask for more than the love you give me

'Coz it's all I've waited for

And I could not ask for more

I could not ask for more

I hoped that my words weren’t too much too soon. I meant every single one of them and I could only hope that she felt the same way about me. I loved this woman and I knew that after tonight, it wouldn’t be long until I flat out told her the words that were filling up my heart.

After stilling the strings, I looked up at her and smiled. Her expression was soft and her eyes were smiling as much as her beautiful mouth was. She handed me the necklace and turned around in front of me, holding up her hair so that I could put the necklace on her. She never spoke. I kissed her neck where the clasp closed.

She stood up and held out her hand, waiting for mine. She pulled me up and started walking toward my bedroom. I was doing my best not to get my hopes up. She led me to the side of my bed and pushed me down so that I was sitting on the edge.

“Wait here,” she said so low it was almost a whisper.

She went over to my dresser, opened up a drawer and pulled out one of my t-shirts. I watched as she walked over to the bathroom and closed the door behind her. I was doing everything in my power not to lose my shit as I sat there waiting on her. A few minutes later she opened the door and stood there in nothing but my shirt and her panties. Happy birthday to me!

She walked over slowly to me and pulled on my hands so that I was standing in front of her. She lifted the hem of my shirt, tugging it over my head. I swallowed hard, letting her lead this. I’d never be able to stop and I had no idea how far she wanted this to go.

She reached over to my bedside table where I had my iHome and selected a playlist. When the first song came on, my eyes rolled back in my head. She just smirked at me, having every reason to. She had me figured out.

She unbuttoned my jeans and pushed them down my hips and to the floor where I kicked them off. Outside of being in our bathing suits, this was as unclothed as we had been together. I’ll say it now…her wearing my t-shirt was so much better than her in a bathing suit. She pushed me back onto the bed and motioned for me to sit with my back against the headboard. Her silence was only heightening my physical response to her.

She crawled up after me and climbed onto my lap and straddled me. My heart was pounding in my chest. I wanted to touch her and taste her and get completely lost in her.

When she slid higher on my thighs, all of her soft parts lined up perfectly with all of my hard ones. She was trying to kill me. I was nice to her on her birthday and she was going to kill me.

She ran her hands through my hair and clasped them behind my neck where she continued to twirl it.

“I know what I want to say, but I’m not sure I have all of the right words for it just yet. You have completely filled my heart sugar. It belongs to you, if you’ll have it.”

I couldn’t believe what she was saying. This is what I was waiting to hear from her.

“Are you sayin’ that you’ll be mine baby girl? Please tell me that’s what you want, that you’ll only be mine from now on.”

“That’s what I want, and I want to show you.”

She rocked forward as she kissed me. My eyes closed and I groaned into her mouth. Nothing had ever felt so damn good. I slid my hands underneath her shirt, stopping just below her breasts, but rubbing my thumbs back and forth just below the swells there.

“I want to see you, to taste you. Can I do that?” I all but begged.

She was already so lost that all she could do was nod fervently. I looked into her eyes one last time to be sure I had her permission. I lifted her shirt slowly, revealing more of a present to me than any I had given her tonight. Her skin was slightly golden from the time we had spent in the sun together and her hardened peaks were rosy and waiting for me.

“Gracious you are beautiful.” I leaned in and traced first one, then the other with my tongue before placing opened mouth kisses all over her chest and neck. She drew her hands up and down my back and shoulders, feeling every muscle there. She continued rocking above me and I was certain there had never been a more glorious sight. Her whimpers were driving me crazy as all of my senses were now completely consumed by her.

I thrust my hips with every swivel that she made, seeking that friction that I had been longing for while I continued to tease and tug at her nipples. I could feel that she was hot and wet through the two remaining thin layers and I knew I wouldn’t last much longer. She whispered my name just as her body tensed and she dug her nails into my shoulders. Two more thrusts and I followed behind her, groaning her name in a blissful release like I had never known.

I continued to kiss all over her collarbones and the top of her chest as we regained our breathing. Her once closed eyes opened and looked into mine. I could see it. Love. Completion. Home.

I wanted to tell her that I loved her. The words were begging to spill from my mouth…until the song changed. It was no longer songs of love, but more like words of lust coming from the speakers.

She grinned at me. I at least had the decency to blush at having been found out. This was the playlist I had made of songs that reminded me of Bella. Some were soft, some were seductive, all of them were sexy and everything that I thought about her.

“So do you wanna tell me about this playlist? I noticed it was named Nightingale.”