A/N Hello everybody, and welcome to chapter 20! This is a quickie... but I think the quality is better than previous chapters, so in my opinion, you should read it! Some of you may be wondering, how on Earth did her quality get better? The credit goes to my favorite new beta reader: lolafalana!!!!! Go check out her stories as soon as you finish this chapter... or better yet, go now, then come back to this chapter. They're really good, you won't regret it! ;)

Thank you to everybody who is still reading this, even though there were a few rough chapters there. I'm sorry if you didn't like what I did with the story... but I guess I can't please everybody. I apologize for everything but the plot... So anyway, this chapter is set 3 days after the last chapter. For those of you who are keeping track, that would make it a Wednesday and Bella woke up from her change on Sunday morning. (And FYI if you want a timeline for the story so far just let me know, I've been keeping it written down so I don't get mixed up, but sharing is caring, so let me know if you want a copy).

Disclaimer anybody?... I don't own Twilight because I'm not StephEnie Meyer... Did you know that was spelled with an "E"? Look it up! (Just not in my earlier chapters hehe)

On with the story:

Chapter 20 – EPOV

It was dark and rainy outside and I completely abhorred the idea of abandoning my dazzling fiancée, even for a few hours, but errands had to be completed if we were to have our wedding within the week, which Alice had insisted upon. Mostly we had to do some shopping downtown because we didn't have the necessary decorations for "the wedding of Bella's dreams" as Alice like to call it.

I shot one last glance out of our bedroom window at the dreary skies before I slipped on the shoes my Bella was holding out to me, and then made my way down the stairs. I had only agreed to leave and accompany Alice downtown because I still needed to pick out the perfect band to give Bella for our wedding this weekend.

Our wedding.

I could hardly believe it was happening so remarkably soon. Mere weeks ago I had been despaired by the thought that I would be destined to walk this Earth alone for the rest of eternity. And now I realized that there was a distinct possibility that I was one of the happiest creatures on the entire planet. However, I constantly wondered and worried that perhaps this was too quick. Maybe this would be uncomfortable for Bella?

Admittedly, I had never been too familiar with her views on marriage. It was not a subject we heavily discussed during her previous life in Forks. At the time it had been uncommon for teenagers or even humans in their young twenties to wed, and now it was even more unusual. It seemed society had grown even less accustomed to the idea of settling down and committing to just one person. It was somewhat disturbing really, but I had seen cultural trends come and go. I was just glad to be able to say that the love Bella and I had was timeless.

Being an old man trapped in a seventeen year olds body made me more than ready to wed. Nevertheless, I had to admit I was a bit surprised when Bella agreed to marry me when I so abruptly asked her during our first hunt. I wasn't certain how much she remembered from her previous lives, but this time around, she had only known me for a matter of weeks, and she was still so young, and everything had happened so fast. Of course marriage was something I wanted desperately for our relationship, but in retrospect I realized that it would have been a good idea to at least have a ring to offer her when I proposed.

My thoughts wondered toward my mother's ring; one of the few family heirlooms I had from my human life. It was now nestled elegantly on Bella's flawless finger. The image made me smile. Hearing my thoughts, Bella allowed an affectionate smile to curve her perfect lips.

"It really is stunning," she whispered.

"It's all right," I disagreed, "But I don't believe I could refer to anything as stunning with you in the same room." Her disbelieving smile was still luminous. It did more than light up her countenance, it lit up the entire room. My breath caught for a moment as I stared at my sweet goddess. More beautiful than Aphrodite on the outside and simply beyond any kind of metaphor within, I loved and adored everything about her.

"I heard your thoughts just a moment ago," Bella mused after a moment while we stood in the living room. We were waiting for my shopping companions, Alice and Carmen. "And I wanted to explain something."

I felt my smile grow with that statement, because I had just decided that I rather liked having Bella in my head. As of late, it was a more pleasant place to be then it had been in all my existence. Though Bella reading my thoughts was only second best to me reading hers, I liked that she was now able to tell me what she thought in regards to any uncertainty of mine as soon as I thought about it.

"It's about why I accepted your proposal without question."

As I waited expectantly for the coveted explanation, Alice and Carmen joined us in the living room. Alice was anxious to leave so we could make it on time to the openings of the stores that were not typically twenty-four hour locations. She knew better than to interrupt any conversation in which Bella was giving me insight into the inner workings of her mind, and of that I was more than grateful.

"My body may look sixteen to you," Bella began with her soft, musical voice, "but like you, my mind is much older. I've known that I loved you for years now, ever since I started having those dreams. But all of my memories returned to me after I was changed, and with remarkable clarity. All the love we shared when I met you in Forks and all the love you still hold for me now are blindingly obvious. As is the realization that I can never live without you again.

"While I may have had a different view on marriage while we were in Forks, in fact I'm rather certain that I was against the idea of a young marriage because of my mother, Renee," she added with a slightly faraway look in her eyes, "I haven't had the opportunity to be tainted by too many societal norms this time around. After all, the last few years of my life have been spent in a hospital, and before that, I rather wished that Stephenie had married, so that I might have been able to meet my father."

I heard Carmen's internal musings, her thoughts utterly wrapped around the idea of being trapped in a hospital for years without a family. I could certainly relate to her uneasiness, it did not sound pleasant. Upon the Denali's arrival three days ago, Bella had explained not only her first life, which had been a mystery to me at the time, but her second and third. Carmen had a compassionate heart, and she detested the fact that Bella had faced such hardships in her most recent life. Never having stepped foot in a modern hospital herself, Carmen had listened with a mix of horror and pure curiosity as Bella explained the logistics of the current medical systems and her thoughts on the yet-to-be improved hospital food.

"And how long has Esme been a nurse now?" Carmen questioned while looking from me to Bella. The statement may have seemed random to someone who couldn't read minds, but Carmen had been thinking quite a lot about both Carlisle's and Esme's involvement in the medical field of late. Many years ago it had been just Carlisle working in the hospitals, and Carmen had easily overlooked the idea of entering a similar field because nobody had the same restraint as Carlisle. Once Esme began working as a nurse, Carlisle's restraint became no less impressive, but somehow more attainable in Carmen's eyes. Perhaps she too could work at a hospital one day.

I chuckled lightly at Alice's outrage because yet another subject had been broached while we stood here in the living room discussing topics hardly related to the wedding at all. And I smiled again as thoughts of the imminent wedding filled my mind. Though the idea of marriage may seem superfluous for two vampires - who are immortally tied to each other as mates - the old fashioned gentleman in me simply screamed that I accomplish at least something right in our relationship.

That brought us back to the reason I was attending this shopping extravaganza which would force us to separate. I needed to purchase a wedding band and I hoped to find one that not only complimented my mother's engagement ring, but represented our love. It was certainly possible to order one online, but as with the rest of the wedding decorations, we would be picking them up in person in order to keep any potential deliverymen away from the house. We didn't want to test Bella's incredible self control. Again the gentleman in me was relieved that another tradition would be upheld and I would be picking the ring out myself, in person.

Alice and Carmen were assigned ring duty on Bella's behalf since Bella was unable to go herself, but last night they had discussed and compared visions of rings which Bella would like to give to me. Once again they had asked me to take a quick run away from the house so that Alice could think about the ring and not give away the surprise.

Bella walked us out to the car and gave Carmen a hug and Alice a kiss on the cheek. When it was my turn for a goodbye, I received yet another breathtaking kiss which would have left the human Bella's heart pounding and her lungs gasping for air. I loved her antics then, and I loved her, quite possibly even more, now. The all too common use of the word love never did suffice in explaining how much she meant to me. Perhaps one day I would be creative enough to come up with a word more powerful than love to show the world that what we had together was greater than life, greater than death, even greater than fate.

Those were my thoughts as I drove my Volvo away from the house, leaving my Bella alone in the pouring rain and dark skies which swirled overhead. It was different this time, though – I'd return. I would never attempt to abandon my love again.

Thinking back on previous lives, I remembered how I once found the rain storms and dark skies of the windy city of Chicago to be very beautiful. At this particular moment I was at a loss to find their beauty, because Bella - my rain goddess - stood beneath the storm, watching us leave. All of the beauty that she captured in that moment had left nothing for nature.

"I more than love you, too," she sang just as I made my way out of hearing range. I probably wouldn't have heard it at all if my Volvo hadn't been so silent.

A/N Againnnn... Thank you so much for reading. You have two options now, either go to Lolafalana's site and start reading a story or leave me a review (preferably one that says how glad you are that I contracted a beta). Since I'm nice, I'll give you a third option: both! (I know, how sweet of me!) Chapters 21 and 22 are in progress right now, and they will have plot! I said it, plot! See you next chapter! :)