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Summary: Honorably discharged Sergeant Major Edward Cullen meets widow Bella Black and her young son Seth. The ad says room for rent, but maybe they have more to offer each other than just space.

A/N: *WINNER* SMYPContest 2012! Thank you to my wonderfully talented beta SUNFLOWER3759 for being the best beta out there! I love you with all of my heart and couldn't have done this without you and your support! Just know that I really appreciate you and everything you do for me! Thank you to my pre-reader FemmeCullen for being so awesome and offering great feedback! Thank you to all who voted for me! It's a real honor! Everyone did so fantastic!

By your leave, Sir / Ma'am: Marine term definition – Stated when overtaking a senior officer in rank proceeding in the same direction.

Chapter One

September 21, 2011

The first day of Fall

Bella

The abundant green leaves on the trees outside our window were rapidly changing. Little by little, becoming ablaze, turning crimson red and fiery gold, and then just as quickly falling to cover the ground.

I close my eyes to the signs of what used to be my favorite season.

Fall now comes with a nip in the air that both chills and warms my heart. This time of year has since become a bittersweet memory.

I'm torn with thoughts of soft oversized sweaters, warm apple cider, and cuddling on the front porch swing. Now it seems that the sweater is itchy. The warm apple cider turned sour, and there will be no cuddling.

As I play with a loose string hanging from the sleeve of my sweater, I think about him, and how this was his favorite. He loved when I wore it.

I think about the last time he saw me in this sweater, and a painful smile forms on my lips.

It was the first day of fall.

The last day I saw him.

Almost six years ago.

"Babe, if you didn't look so good in this I would tear it off of you with my teeth, and wreck you on this countertop."

He may not have had a way with words, but he did have a way with me, and I missed it. I missed him. I missed him so much.

Lifting the sweater over my head, he watches as I fold it neatly and place it on a chair. It is his favorite after all. "The sweater's safe. You were say-" His mouth cuts me off, while his arms wrap around me to unhook the clasp of my bra.

We first met at sixteen, and I knew I loved him then. We married two years later when he decided to join the Marines. He felt it was his duty to follow in his father's footsteps, and I would have followed him anywhere. He was strong and courageous. I was so proud of him.

I am still so proud of him.

Leaving wet kisses down my neck he pulls the straps from my shoulders and it falls to the floor. His large, strong hands snake under the waist of my pants to palm me as he takes a hardened nipple into his mouth.

He had just finished basic training and was being deployed the next day. With only twenty-four hours left together, I took as much of him that I could get, and I took it as many times that I could get it. We touched and kissed all day and all night. We didn't sleep. We couldn't.

My chest heaves, pushing my breast further into his mouth and he flicks the sensitive nipple with his tongue. I gasp, and he lifts me to lay on the countertop, yanking the remaining clothing from my body.

He made love to me on that countertop.

On the floor.

On the couch.

On the bed.

He had always had a fantasy of taking me outside, and I made that fantasy come true in the early morning hours right out there on our front lawn.

I wished for the night to never end, but it did. The morning that he left was the saddest, most precious morning of my short life.

His bags are packed and sitting by the opened door. Dressed in his green and khaki service uniform, he takes my breath away. Bringing me close, he wraps an arm around my waist and cradles my face in his hand. He looks deep into my eyes. "When I come back I'm going to get you pregnant, Bells. Over, and over, and over again."

"Mom!" I'm jolted back to reality by my son; our son, Seth. He's the blessed result of my last moments with Jake, and I thank God for him every day. I don't know what I would do without him and his constant reminder of how that part of my life was real. I look at him and I know Jake's memory will never fade.

"Out here, Baby." I hear his little feet as he runs toward the front door. His shoe laces slap against the hardwood floor and I know what he wants.

"Mom, will you tie my shoes? I can't get it." His lively brown eyes are wide and questioning.

To look at him, you wouldn't know that he was mine, except for those hazel brown eyes and long black lashes. His native dark complexion is a stark contrast to my alabaster skin. His cropped black hair is soft and shiny. The depressed bridge of his nose enhances the size of his plump, pink lips. He has his father's lips, and I can outline the start of a strong jaw. He looks especially like Jake today.

"Yeah, baby. Sit down here beside me. Do you remember the words?" Nodding, he smiles up at me. "Okay, let's say them together."

"Build a teepee, go inside.

Close it tight so we can hide.

Over the mountain and around we go.

Here's my arrow and here's my bow."

With new found confidence, Seth does the other on his own while reciting the words I've taught him. He's a fast learner, like me, and heartbreakingly handsome, like his father. I know he'll go far in life with what we've given him.

"I did it! Look, Mom! I did it!" His enthusiasm reminds me of Jake, and my heart clenches, burns as I think of how proud Jake would have been of him, and I wish that he could be here. A boy should have a father to teach him these things. Jake should be here to teach him these things.

"Yes you did, little man! I'm so proud of you!" He lets me give him a hug, but breaks away before I would like.

He always does.

"Are you ready for school? Do you have everything?" I ask like I always do, receiving the same annoyed response he's given ever since starting kindergarten.

So grown, this one.

"Yes, Mom." He huffs, rolling his eyes; and that, he got from me.

Bending, I give him a kiss on the cheek, and he wipes it off.

My heart breaks, but just a little as we join hands and walk together in the direction of his school.

He's growing up way too fast.

Reapeat A/N: *WINNER* SMYPContest 2012! Thank you to my wonderfully talented beta SUNFLOWER3759 for being the best beta out there! I love you with all of my heart and couldn't have done this without you and your support! Just know that I really appreciate you and everything you do for me! Thank you to my pre-reader FemmeCullen for being so awesome and offering great feedback! Thank you to all who voted for me! It's a real honor! Everyone did so fantastic!