Moons, Magic, and Monsters

Chapter 16

"I can't believe you told Jasper!" Bella shouted even though she didn't need to. Edward kept his voice at a normal level. They were vampires after all.

"I didn't tell him. He used his ability."

"Can a person feel 'smothered'?" Bella asked.

"Absolutely," he said, lower than before.

"And you just didn't tell me?!"

"I did tell you, Bella. You didn't care. You didn't listen. You were very immature about the whole thing," he said honestly. He knew everyone was home and everyone could hear him. But he just didn't care.

"I'm immature?! I'm your wife!"

"You think I don't know that?"

"Well you certainly don't act like it!"

"This talk again? I-"

"Yes! This talk again. You're the one who wanted to be mature. But we can't talk about sex?"

"Okay, Bella, let's talk. I just didn't know you were so experienced. You've never mentioned it. But you were. I was a virgin and you weren't and I didn't know how to deal with that." Bella was quieter after that. Then the door to the house opened. Esme and Carlisle came in.

"Is everything alright?" Esme asked them. Bella disappeared with a bit of wind.

"I don't know," Edward admitted.

"Something wrong, son?" They all moved to sit down.

"We just keep fighting. Everything is as fight. And not fun fights. I worry I don't actually know enough about her. And I tried to talk but she didn't want to talk."

"She wanted to be physically intimate. Which is new to you."

"I thought it was new to her as well. but now I'm realizing we never even talked about it. I never asked her outright. I just alluded to myself. We spoke more about vampires than we did about each other. We share a love for classical music."

"you could go to the symphony together," Esme offered.

"Should a marriage be built off of it?"

"Start small. Learn each other," Carlisle said uneasily.

"Was it like this for you?" he read them both and nodded, "I'm starting to see so much now," he got up and went to his room.

Esme and Carlisle had no idea what to do. It felt like their family was falling apart. They didn't know why it had been that way. But they couldn't help but see the new addition as a slight problem. Luckily, Esme had a solution. They sat down with Bella and Edward. Esme held Carlisle's hand as he told them, "We think it would be best if you both went and spent time in Denali with Carmen and Eleazar."

"What? Why?" Bella asked, feeling judged. Edward immediately understood.

"They have the longest marriage out of the Olympia coven," Edward explained to her, "That has to come with ups and downs. They can help us."

"We don't need help."

"Bella, I can't keep going like this," Edward told her honestly, "If this isn't even the first year, I can't imagine five years of this let alone fifty or five hundred." Edward looked at her and he hated that he couldn't read her mind. Because he couldn't discern her feelings. And that alone bothered him. He didn't really know her.

"Okay. Okay," she said finally. Esme let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

Everyone in Forks were thankful for the absence of the couple. Months passed and a sort of peace settled in. Paul and Morgan were enjoying their time but as December came, it was finals. Morgan wasn't worried. She was just challenged for really the first time, which intrigued her.

Paul walked into the Swan house to see Morgan with her computer and papers laid out all over the table. She'd made copies of the library books so she could do homework at home. That way Paul wouldn't have to wait for her. "Hey love," she said, not looking up from the computer, "Pasta is on the stove."

"You act like I'm only here because you feed me," he said as he walked up behind her. She looked up with a smirk.

"Now you know it's at least forty percent," she said as he pulled her head back and kissed her.

"Seventeen is the most I will give you," he said. She smirked and kissed him once more. he went over and made a plate, leaning against the counter as he ate it, "Where is everyone?"

"Bonnie is with Jasper. They're going Christmas shopping in Port Angeles. Dad is at work. Tyler is with Leah," the two imprints were inseparable. Morgan thought it was slight dependency but could see that they both were affection starved and taking what they needed from each other.

"He's a cool dude. Sam was worried at first. But I think it also helps that his wolf is smaller. Clearly not an alpha."

"I don't know why he's worried about Leah. She's not his to worry about. She's Tyler's."

"I know. I know."

"Do you have any exes you worry about?" she asked him.

"Not even close. From the moment I imprinted on you, I could see other women were beautiful, but I just didn't care. Making you happy is more important. Because it also makes me happy. So I don't just do it for you, I do it for myself." She looked up from her computer again.

"I love you," she said and he smiled at her.

"I love you too." He put down his pasta and walked over to kiss her. Then he heard the door and stepped back. Charlie came in a minute later. They might have been separated but they both looked bashful as he came in.

"What did you do wrong?"

"What? Nothing, Papa Bear. Paul just got here and I've been studying," she said honestly but also very quickly.

"So you were just kissing. Ah. Okay. Well I'm gonna head over to Billy's."

"Okay. Do you want to take some food with you?"

"No, he warmed up one of your frozen lasagnas. You should charge for those things, Little Bear. Would help my grocery bill for sure."

"Oh Papa bear, I didn't even think. I'm sorry."

"I was just teasing. I'm fine."

"I can help," Paul added, "Sam had me helping on a job a couple months ago."

"I'm honestly fine. I promise," he said as he left to go clean up before dinner. Charlie didn't want to admit it, but he was actually happy they didn't get their own place. He could deal with knowing they were together if he could still protect Morgan and eventually the children that they would have. He hoped they'd never move out even though he knew it was unlikely.