Authors note; beta'd by Frannie, all remaining errors are mine.

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"Take five!" Jared yelled, his tone sullen as Edward sighed and raked an unsteady hand through his already messed up hair.

Filming wasn't going well. In fact, this was an understatement. Edward was trying to get his head back in the game, but it was proving to be fucking difficult.

To make matters worse, the first scene he had to shoot was an action sequence that ended in a sex scene. Edward was finding it impossible to put enough enthusiasm into it to make it look believable, which was, in turn, frustrating Jared exponentially.

Bella was literally all he could think of. Edward's considerable talents seemed to be diminished by his obsession with her. He had to admit if only to himself, that his parents' worry over his career taking a hit because of his relationship with Bella may have some truth to it.

Edward had long since crossed the line between attraction and obsession.

All he could think of was her

His fiancée.

His Bella.

Even the thought of the pint-sized brunette who had turned his entire world upside down, made his gut tighten in anticipation and need. He wanted her more than his next goddamn breath.

Was it love?

Edward wasn't too sure. He had never been in love before, and he was frankly a little cynical about it. People used the word love as a very broad term, but it held little meaning to them. Edward had always used the relationship of his parents as a gauge as to what love was and he had always been disappointed by any comparison.

His parents had an ideal marriage, in his opinion. They had their ups and downs, quite literally, but they were always there for one another. Their passion for each other had embarrassed him when he had been younger, but now he found it endearing and special.

The ring he had bought just that morning was burning a hole in his pocket. Edward wanted nothing more than to put it on Bella's finger and announce his claim on her for the whole world to see.

It was a unique, blue diamond, which was a large oval in shape, flanked by smaller white diamonds. It was all set in white gold on a fairly thick band. Edward could already 'see' it on Bella's finger, his gut actually doing a flip in excitement. This had never happened to Edward before. He had never been so heavily invested in any woman.

Belatedly he realized that he was meant to be kissing the actress in his arms, not daydreaming about Bella.

The blond he was meant to be having 'sex' with scowled at him, she seemed personally affronted that Edward seemed so very disinterested in her.

She had heard stories about how flirtatious Edward Cullen was on set, and she had been eager to have a bit of fun with the leading man. But it now seemed to all be a lie, because the man she was working with, although gorgeous, was not interested in anything she had to offer.

She didn't realize that Edward had once been everything she had heard and more. But now, his devotion belonged to only one woman.

It took three more takes for them to do the scene to Jared's satisfaction. Edward sighed with relief as they moved on to the next scene in the sequence.

The day ended with production being on schedule. Jared was finally satisfied with the shoots, and he told them they would be done with filming within the week if they kept up their pace.

Edward had never felt so glad to finish a day of filming in his career. He felt emotionally drained and somehow unclean as if he had been 'cheating' on Bella. This was ridiculous because it was just a job to him, but the feeling persisted.

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It was much later that night when Edward went in search of Bella. He found her in the pavilion, which was literally the last place he had thought to look

She was seated cross-legged on the cushions, staring out at the rippling water of the lake. There was a half moon hanging high in the inky, velvet sky. Its reflection slithering across the surface of the water in strange patterns.

Edward moved silently and then stood watching Bella from his vantage point by the entrance. She was beautiful. Her long wavy hair falling down her back, her face pensive, hands clasped tightly. She wore a tiny halter neck top in cobalt blue and a pair of white slacks, which made a startling but pleasing contrast. She had kicked off her shoes to get more comfortable.

She seemed unaware of his scrutiny.

A long sigh left her lips, and her shoulders slumped somewhat dejectedly, as her teeth bit into her lower lip.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Edward said, at last, causing Bella to jump in fright.

"Edward!" she exclaimed, her soft voice sounded breathless.

Edward sauntered towards her, his hands slung into his pockets, a lazy smirk tugging at his lips.

"Good evening, beautiful." He murmured as he lowered his lips to hers in a soft kiss.

Bella's eyes slid shut momentarily at the touch of his lips on hers. She had missed him dreadfully all day.

Edward sat beside her, and he rested his arm along her knees, where she had pulled them up to her chest. Bella loved the casual intimacy of the gesture, and a thrill shot through her body leaving her deliciously breathless.

Somehow, she still couldn't quite believe that Edward was meant to be hers.

He was so handsome and sophisticated; he made her pulse leap every time he looked at her.

Edward leaned in and pressed another kiss onto her mouth as if he couldn't help himself.

Bella lifted her hands to his hair, her fingers tangled in the messed up, toffee-colored strands. She pulled him closer as she fell into their kiss with enthusiastic ardor.

Edward captured Bella's hands and held them in his as he pulled back slightly. He reached into his trouser pocket and withdrew a small, black velvet box, and Bella's eyes instantly widened before they rose to meet his gaze shyly.

Edward slowly got off the seat and slowly sank onto one knee in front of Bella, his gaze electric and amused.

Bella blushed for the first time in her life, unsure of how to act, her heartbeat frantic.

Edward smiled at her, holding her gaze mercilessly. Her heart literally skipped a beat, as the heat of his gaze turned her belly to molten chaos.

"Bella...will you marry me?" Edward asked, his voice deep and heated. "I promise to spend every moment of our forever loving you."

It was the closest Edward had ever gotten to saying that he loved her.

Edward opened the small velvet box to reveal the perfect ring lying on a bed of darkness, and Bella gasped softly.

Edward didn't wait for Bella to reply, he lifted the ring out of its box and slid it onto her finger.

Bella remained silent, her wide eyes sparkling with unshed tears, as she examined the dazzling ring on her hand.

She had already said "yes" although it hadn't seemed real until this very moment.

She couldn't find the words, so she flung her arms around Edward's neck, holding him tightly.

Edward drew back and kissed Bella, his mouth lingering over hers with heart-breaking tenderness and the ever-present heated passion.

"Mine." He whispered roughly against her mouth.

Bella nodded; her eyes shut. "Yes, yours, all yours."

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Charles Swan was less than thrilled to learn of his daughter's engagement. In fact, this was an understatement of massive proportions.

Bella had hugged him the moment he had stepped through the door of Edward's fancy old manor house at precisely seven-thirty that evening. Although she was slightly hesitant about how to act with him, Bella undoubtedly remembered him as her father, and this pleased him no end.

Bella's eyes had sparked with a luminous joy, which made her unbearably lovely, her face backlit by her exuberant happiness, as she told her father of Edward's proposal.

She shyly held out her hand towards him, showing him the magnificent blue diamond sitting on the third finger of her left hand.

This was only the second time Charles had seen her since he had discovered that Bella was very much alive, and already Edward had stolen her away from him.

Charles immediately felt anger instead of happiness at this most unwelcome revelation. Cullen was effectively taking his daughter from him all over again.

And the timing couldn't have been better, for Edward. Charles had been about to ask Bella to go home with him the next day.

Edward's eyes had met his over Bella's head, and a silent battle was waged between the two men: the battle for Bella.

It was not right that he, her own father, should have no time with her! Aro had stolen her childhood, and now Cullen was threatening to take her away for good.

Charles saw red.

He forced a smile for his daughter, determined not to be 'the bad guy' in this scenario. Charles pretended to be pleased for her, although anger rose within him to dangerous levels.

Aro was dead, just as he should be, the blood was on his hands, how easy would it be to do the same to Cullen?

That evil thought percolated in his mind as he listened to Bella's happy news.

The fact that Bella was obviously madly in love with Edward didn't factor into Charles's semi-formed plan.

The fact that Bella would never forgive him never crossed his mind.

All Charles Swan could think of was taking his daughter home.

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Joshua was beyond thrilled when Edward and Bella told him their news.

His little face lit up, and he hugged them both tightly.

"Does this mean we're really going to be a family?" he asked excitedly.

Bella kissed his cheek softly. " Yes, it does." She looked at Edward, silently asking him to tell Josh their other bit of news.

Edward lifted the little boy onto his knee, holding his closely. "You're going to be my son, buddy. I'm going to adopt you – that is, if you agree?"

"What does 'adopt' mean, Edward?" Josh asked.

"It means that you'll be my son."

Joshua stared at Edward open-mouthed, his eyes quickly filling with tears. "You want me?" he sniffed, his voice breaking. "Forever?"

Edward smiled at the boy and hugged him. "Yes, I want you forever. How do you feel about being Joshua Cullen?"

The little boy reached up and hugged Edward even tighter, tears now running down his face. "I feel so happy." He whispered. "My prayers came true."

Bella kissed the back of his head, her nose buried in his curls. "You prayed for this?"

Josh sniffed and wiped at his face as he pulled back from Edward. "Yes, from that first time I saw you kiss Edward, I asked God to make us a family, and he listened to me..."

Bella met Edward's gaze shyly over the little boy's head.

"Yes, he did." She smiled.

Joshua suddenly grabbed at both of them, pulling their faces beside his own. "I love you both." He whispered fiercely, hugging them as tightly as he could.