Postcards

Chapter 21

A/N: We're down to the wire here, folks.  We've got 2 regular chapters left and then the epilogue (which I'm currently working on).  A huge thanks to all of you for reading and a massive thanks to my beta, Heather, for making sure those pesky commas are in the right place and for her great ideas.

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"Prom is almost here!" Alice squealed through the phone, and I rolled my eyes at her exuberance.

"It's still a good month away, Alice," I told her as I looked at Edward while shaking my head.

We were snuggled up on the couch at my house, relaxing on a Saturday afternoon, while my dad was out fishing with Carlisle.

"I know! And that's no time at all. We still have to get dresses and shoes, and we have to decide on a hairstyle and what makeup to use. We have to go shopping and soon."

Edward snorted out a laugh when I let out a loud groan, and I swatted him on the arm as I agreed to go shopping with Alice the next day.

"Oh, and tell my brother he'd better ask you and soon," she said before hanging up.

"I was getting around to it," he promised me before asking me if I'd like to be his date.

"What? No promposal?" I teased, laughing when he made a face. Some of the promposals we'd seen around school had just been ridiculous, and I, personally, felt the whole thing was dumb. I was relieved that Edward hadn't gone that route.

"I'll save my proposal for something far more important down the road," he told me as he placed a kiss on my lips.

"Wait, what?" I asked because I wasn't sure I'd heard him correctly.

He ran a finger across my cheek as he gazed into my eyes.

"I love you, Bella Swan, and I hope to marry you some day," he told me, and my mouth dropped open as my heart felt like it was about to burst out of my chest.

"You love me?"

He nodded. "Very much so."

I threw myself into his arms before pressing my lips to his in a heated kiss. I couldn't believe it. He'd actually said he loved me.

"I love you, too," I said in between kisses.

The rest of the afternoon was spent kissing and groping and saying I love you as often as we could. We were eventually interrupted when I heard my dad's car pull into the drive.

We smoothed our clothing and our hair and pretended like we were watching the movie that was on the TV, but I was pretty sure the cheesy smile on my face was going to give things away.

"You're in a really good mood," Dad commented later that night as we ate dinner.

I nodded my head as I shrugged, but Dad just kept looking at me, and I finally blurted out that Edward had told me he loved me. I braced myself for the whole "you're too young to be in love" speech, but all he said was that he already knew that Edward loved me.

"Just wait a few years to get married," Dad said.

"Well, damn, there go my plans to get hitched at the courthouse next week," I teased.

"Ha, ha. And no babies right away either. Go to college, get married, and then have babies," Dad said in a stern voice, but I knew he'd support me no matter what I did or what happened. Although, I did like that plan. College, for me, was a must. It was something I desperately wanted to do, and I knew that Edward was college bound as well.