~Life in the Big Apple~

Chapter One

~Bella~

"This place sucks, this road sucks, New York sucks…" Ethan muttered as he stared sulkily out of the car window, his arms crossed and his bottom lip jutted out into a grumpy, though completely adorable, pout.

I would have sighed but I have been used to this for the past eight odd hours of traveling to Manhattan. Plus, I had been expecting it from the minute we stepped out of Forks – Ethan wasn't too thrilled to be moving away from Grandpa Charlie and Uncle Jake.

"Come on, Eth!" I attempted to cheer him up as I pulled my hand from the gear stick and placed it on his leg, patting it softly. "Show a little bit of enthusiasm – you're going to love it here and you know it." I smiled as I quickly brushed his soft, fair skin before turning back to the road.

"No I'm not." Ethan stubbornly answered as he humphed and pulled his crossed arms higher to his chin. "I don't want to leave Forks; I want stay with Grandpa Charlie and Uncle Jake."

I glanced, silently, at Ethan as I slowed the car down as I stopped at a traffic jam. "I know honey. You're going to miss them and I will too but think of it this way, you'll get to see your Dad, Rosalie, Aunt Alice and Uncle Jasper here – they're only a couple of minutes away from our new home."

"Dada!" I heard Annabelle's cute little squeal at the back of the car. I glanced through the driver's mirror and laughed as I saw my cute little daughter waving her hands excitedly as she bounced in her baby car seat. Her brown curls bounced with each movement and her chocolate brown eyes flaked with blue were wide and sparkling.

"That's right, Dada! And Dada is going to be waiting for us at our new home right now." I chirpily said as the traffic jam slowly began to move. I quickly started the car I had rented from the airport and gradually picked up speed again as I swerved a corner carefully, not before glancing at the name of the road.

Northdale Avenue. We were here.

"Take a look kids because this is our new road." I told them as I watched Jackson and Joseph scramble to the side of the car to gawk out of the window as they took in their new road. I smiled and glanced at Ethan who, even though trying to keep up his sulking façade, was also looking at his new road, his mouth cracked open ever so slightly.

As I passed several town houses which all seemed vaguely the same, I came to a stop at the side of the road behind a large moving truck outside with men loading out a large cream sofa. I sighed as I glanced into the truck, hoping Alice hadn't gone to over board on the house interior.

"Bella!" I heard a cheerful cry barely before I could undo my seatbelt. I saw a small, perky woman also known as Alice running towards the car with the biggest grin on her face; her black spikes bounced as she ran towards me. "You're here! You're here!" she squealed as she bounced on the spot watching me impatiently unbuckle my seatbelt and step out of the car.

The moment my foot stepped onto the ground, I was pulled into a tight hug by Alice as she squealed and laughed loudly in my ear, making me cringe.

Jasper and Rosalie came walking towards us, smiles on their faces as they watched the reunion.

After several odd minutes, Jasper finally came forth and pried Alice from me. "Darlin' give Bella some space, she's just been on a four hour flight with four hectic kids." He chuckled with his usual southern drawl.

Alice pouted but did as her fiancé said. "And where is my beautiful niece and nephews?" she angelically asked as she peered around my shoulder.

"Awuntie Walice!" Annabelle cried as she waved her hands over her head, gripping onto her chocolate brown teddy bear that had once been mind; Charlie had bought it me at three years old and since then it has worn out and frayed but Anna still seemed to adore it.

Alice dramatically gasped and ran around the car to Annabelle's side, opening the door and unlocking Annabelle's seatbelt before picking her up and into her arms. "Here's my beautiful niece!" she grinned as she placed a kiss on her small cheek.

Annabelle giggled and tugged on Alice's spikes. If it had been anyone else prior her nieces and nephews she would have glared and swatted their hands away, scolding how she had just done her hair or some sort. But Alice adored her nieces and nephews with every ounce of her heart and was the best Auntie they could ever ask for.

I laughed as I watched them bond with each other before helping Jasper get Jackson and Joseph out of the back of the SUV and onto the floor.

"Hey Bella," Rosalie kindly said to me and I gave her a friendly hug. Sure, there was still awkwardness between the two of us but I suppose, it would pass soon enough as time goes by. Maybe the move to New York would help it.

Rosalie was Jasper's cousin born in Rochester. She was also the girlfriend of the father of my children, Emmett Cullen. They had met shortly after mine and Emmett's break up around one and a half years ago. They met in New York where Emmett went to live just a month after our break up with a job offer in one of the best hospitals in New York.

Emmett and I were never married, and neither of us really wanted to. It was also something I was greatly thankful of – I don't think I would have wanted to get through a divorce at 22; it still seemed a little impossible that I'm 23 years old and a single mother of four children… Yikes.

However, I wouldn't regret it for the world. I always wanted children young, even from a young age myself. I grew up without brothers or sisters, so it was a pretty lonely childhood.

My mother, though still happy and stable with my father, was never a good mother. She never wanted children and to be fair, she made that perfectly clear throughout my childhood. I never blamed her one bit nor did I hate her, she was still a mother to me even if she wasn't perfect.

"Where's my boys and girl!" I heard Emmett's booming voice echo as he came into view, his large dimples showing as he grinned widely. His dimples had always been one of my favorite feature about him, prior of his corn-blue eyes and dark curly hair.

Emmett was great but I didn't miss him one bit. Sure, he's a great father to the kids. Partner on the other hand… not so great. Maybe it was because we were never meant to be but towards the end of the relationship he wasn't as sugar coated like he was back in the teenage years.

"Daddy!" All my kids screamed as they saw him, their faces lit up. Ethan, Joseph and Jackson all set of towards him in lightening speed and were at his side in a second. Ethan, being the eldest, got there before his brothers and launched himself into Emmett's arms.

"Woah, kid, your defiantly getting heavier – what's Mom been feeding you? Spinach?" he joked as he looked at me and smiled, I smiled back just as warmly thankful that the tension between us since our last visit had decreased; both of us were getting on with our lives and moving on.

I laughed as I came closer, ruffling Ethan's chocolate brown curls and punched Emmett's hugely muscular bicep. "Don't blame me. Blame your hulk form." I teased as I gestured his bicep. "Eth here, is Daddy's boy all over." I smiled down at Ethan who glanced up at his father and smiled in pride and happiness – that was nothing but a complement in Ethan's eyes. He wanted to be just like his father – a doctor.

"The moment his skin turns green, I'll know who to blame." Emmett joked along putting Ethan down on the ground at let Jackson jump into his arms.

"Mommy? Mommy?" Joseph asked, jumping around. "Can I turn into the hulk too? Can I, can I?" he repeatedly asked as he held onto my sleeve, pulling it with excitement.

"Yeah! Me too! I wanna be big and green!" Jackson chimed as he showed his nonexistent muscles on his bicep. The adults – Jasper, Alice, Rosalie, Emmett and me – laughed at Jackson as he smiled.

Jackson was the joker, a lot like his father. He took pleasure on being the practically joker and was set to be some sort of comedian when he was older – I blamed Charlie for that; from the moment he was three, Charlie told him he would be a comedian.

"Can I show Bella her new home now?" Alice whined like a child as she clutched onto Annabelle who was sucking her thumb idly while watching everyone with her large eyes. When everyone agreed, Alice skipped to my side and placed Anna in my arms before grabbing onto my jumper sleeve and pulling me towards the house.

"Hey!" a man called out to Alice as he held, along with few other men, a large mirror with golden rimming – it was beautiful and looked like it belonged in a palace of some sort. "Where do you want this?" he asked, adjusting cap on his head as the sunlight beamed down on him.

Alice glanced at the mirror; titling her head to the side in thought before saying "In the dinning area!" she called before tugging my sleeve, urging me forward again.

"A mirror in the dinning room? I really hope you haven't gone over board Alice…" I said as she continued to pull me towards my new home. "I told you not to go over my budget I gave you."

"Yes but you didn't say anything about using my budget, did you?" her river green-blue eyes twinkled with deviance making me instantly regret ever letting her put her in charge of the interior of my house.

As Alice continued to pull me along, I took in the large what sign with 'sold' in capital, red letters printed on it. I slowly took in the small, not to big and not to large, garden with freshly cut green grass and darker green trimmed hedges along the side along side the black bared fence.

My mouth opened, agape, as my eyes slowly marveled my new home. It was just as I saw on the advertisement in the real estate. The picture my real estate agent, Lauren, give no justice to the beauty of the town house before my eyes.

It was four stories tall, as where the other houses along Northdale Avenue, with lavender grey bricked walls and ivory, pure white double-hung slash windows on the outer sides with one, long, arch window in the middle that stopped at the rim of the shiny black, arched door.

"You like?" Alice asked knowingly and I nodded dumbly. "Well, you haven't seen anything yet – the inside is amazing, if I do say so myself." she chirpily said before continuing to pull me through the black fenced gate and up the small, narrow pathway. I continued to marvel the out side of the house as Anna continued to suck her thumb, her eyes beholding wonder.

I managed to catch a glimpse of a medium sized garage attached to the house with a sleek black garage door that matched the black door which I was pulled into only moments later by Alice.

Alice and I stepped into a long entrance room with white marble flooring. I gasped as my shoes hit the shiny surface, my eyes stared widely down on the floor that must have cost thousands or even millions of dollars to fit in. "Alice…" I breathed.

"And before you say anything, no I didn't have marble floor fitted in – it was already here when you bought it. How your real estate agent didn't mention the marble flooring, I don't know." Alice said lightly.

In the middle of the hallway was a large, grand even, staircase with white steps and chestnut banister paneling and golden banister. The walls were a pretty, soft mixture of olive green and cream.

The marble floor lead on through the long hallway and through passed a large white door and into a room which I only got a small glimpse of.

"That's the kitchen," Alice said, seeing where my eyes were targeted. "I'll show you that after I show you the nearer rooms." She told me with a smile before walking forth, holding my head and towards the first door.

"This is the closet," she showed me a large-ish, dark closet with coat racks and selves at the bottom and top. She closed the door soon afterwards and showed me to the next door. "And this is your office…" she opened the second door on the right and led me through.

The office was beautiful. It looked like it belonged it belonged in an English mansion in the countryside. The walls were made of dark mahogany wood with pale carpeted floor. There was one wall behind the large mahogany desk that was just shelves that was only half filled with books.

I looked at Alice who simply shrugged, "Dad suggested putting some non-fiction books in here. He said you liked variety." I smiled and made a mental note to thank Carlisle Cullen, Alice and Emmet's father. It had been almost years since I had seen Carlisle after his wife, Carmen, left him – my thoughts wondered with concern to Carlisle's health. He still wrote letters and replied to my emails when I sent him updates on his grandchildren – he, just like Alice, adored them from the moment they were born even if he wasn't around much like Alice and Emmett were.

"How is… Carlisle?" I carefully asked Alice.

Alice nodded. "He's fine… great actually. He's fallen in love again." She said with nonchalant and no bitterness within her tone.

"Is she nice?"

Alice shrugged. "Yeah, very nice actually – she's great for him."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Do you not like her?" I asked as I walked towards the desk and ran my fingers along the mahogany wood of the desk, feeling the smooth wood beneath my finger.

"No, Esme's nice… lovely in fact. It's just weird seeing Dad like the way he is now."

"And how is that?"

Alice sighed as she sat down on emerald green and black chaise longue, putting her feet up. "So… in love." She said with a disbelief shake of the head. "Sure, he loved Mom a lot but when you compare his love to his love for Esme… it pales in comparison, you know?" she asked and I nodded in understanding. "He's so happy. I mean, since Mom left Dad would brood in his office when he came home from his long-hour swift at the hospital but when Esme came into his life… he started being around us more, being a better father."

"That's good." I told her as Alice got up and began to walk into the next room, me trailing behind her.

I once again, marveled at the beauty of the next room. It was the dinning room. The men who were carrying the mirror were now placing the beautiful mirror at the end of the rectangle shaped room.

The walls were a deep midnight blue with one, longer, side of the wall with black and silver wallpaper in an orthotic design. And, the greatest feature of all was the beautiful crystal chandler hanging from the ceiling with silver frames and twirls at the tips near the bright crystals.

The chandler was hanging above a dark chestnut, polished dinning table that was only a few meters shorter than the room length. The table had at least twelve or maybe more seats with midnight blue fabric covers and chestnut wood frames.

"Yeah, it is. It's just a bit strange y'know? Good strange but still strange." Alice softly said as began to walk past the dinning table and towards the second door in the dinning room – a different one to what we entered in.

Alice next showed me the kitchen which was too beautiful to be was all a woman's dream come true, that's for sure.

The floor had the same white marble in the hallway with white walls and pristine marble white work surfacing. The cabinet's sky blue with shiny grey kitchen accessories and some cute cupcake containers and pastel color mugs hanging from a mug holder which, to my surprise, had all of our names on them. Sure, Annabelle still uses Sippy cups but I still thought it was cute as I looked at the pastel rose-petal pink saying 'Annabelle' in fancy, curvy writing.

"Look Anna," I whispered as I pointed at the mug.

Annabella, who was half dead in my arms, glanced at the mug tiredly once before putting her head back into my neck and dozed off once more, thumb still in mouth.

Alice laughed softly as she stared at Anna adoringly.

"So, when are you and Jasper planning having kids?" I said with a knowing raised eyebrow.

Alice spluttered. "W-What? J-Jasper d-doesn't want kids and I-I don't want kids."

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Alice, honey, you are really mocking how much I know you. You only have the soft look in your eye when you want something really bad but it can't happen. So, what does Jasper say?"

Alice looked downwards. "He said he doesn't want kids."

"Ever?"

"Ever." Alice answered glumly as she looked at Annabelle sleeping on my shoulder with a sad, soft face. She reached up and put a chocolate brown curl out of her face. "Jasper grew up in a care-home for most of his life until Rosalie's parents adopted him – he didn't like care-homes and his bad experience with the children in there has decided for him that he doesn't want kids…"

"You don't know what Alice. He may come around." I softly said as I took her hand. "He probable didn't want to get married until he met you, Al." I grazed my thumb over the diamond on her engagement ring. "He loves you, Alice and I'm sure he'll do anything for you."

Alice sniffed and nodded before giving me a slightly awkward hug because of little Annabelle sleeping on me. "Thanks Bel. Come on; let's show you the rest of the house…"

Later that evening, all of us sat in my new living room eating of ordered pizza and Chinese alike. Alice and Emmett had an argument before hand on whether we'd have Chinese (Alice's choice) or pizza (Emmet's choice) and in the end, Jasper ended up snatching the phone from their hands before either one of them broke it and ordered both. This way, all of them were happy.

The kids had all gone to bed after dropping asleep watching Grown Ups. Emmett and Jasper thankfully offered to take the twins and Ethan while I took Annabelle to their new bedrooms. It was nice having some help taking the kids up to bed. Almost every Saturday, I'd let the kids stay up late after they beg and beg at me and when I let them they always end up out cold on the sofas snoring their cute butts off.

After putting them to bed, we spent the rest of the evening having adult night filled with laughter and catching up. I had to say I really enjoyed it.

"Oh, Bells," Emmett said as he finished off the last slice of pizza. "There's a guy at work, Edward, he's a single dad too. You and him should go on a date." Emmett suggestively said as he picked up a dumpling and popped it in his mouth.

I sighed and rolled my eyes feeling slightly annoyed and awkward at the same time. Although I was happily moved on, it felt weird having your ex-boyfriend and the father of your children try to set you up on a date. "Emmett, I've just moved here, let me have some time to adjust. Plus, I won't date any of your work colleges, it's just weird." I answered picking up the chopsticks holding noodles and put it on my mouth.

Emmett shrugged. "Suit yourself. But if you change your mind…"

"I'll let you know." I answered glumly. I doubt I would change my mind. Me dating doctors aren't a good idea, dating Emmett was a good example. Shifts were unhelpful and although the pay was good, you had to work hard for it which always ended up leaving you exhausted.

"So, Bella," Rosalie said, changing the subject which I was hugely grateful for. She focused her violet blue eyes on me and smiled, "When do you start work at New York Times?"

Back in Washington State, I lived in Forks near to Charlie while I worked at Seattle Times as a columnist. It was difficult, extremely so. Thankfully, Kate let me work from home half of the week while I came into to work on the days Charlie could take the kids to school.

In the end, after I got an job acceptation from New York Times it seemed a little more better of for me to move and be closer to home and the kids while I worked. I was only twenty odd minutes from the boy's school and Annabelle's nursery so it would be a lot easier for me to get to them after work when school ends and when they might need picking up.

"Well… Mr. Smith let me have a week and a half to settle in before I can start work, which is great."

"James Smith?" Alice asked curiously and I nodded. "James Smith is the editor of New York Times?" she asked in disbelief.

"He's junior Editor; he just edits my department which is then handed onto the senior Editor. Why?" I asked.

"James Smith is a nut job I tell you!" she told me frantically. "When I was doing Fashion Contour in college, the guy was practically obsessed with me! When I rejected him, he wouldn't leave me alone. When I finished college, he had no idea where I was after that – Thank God."

"He was that bad?" I asked in wonder and Alice nodded viciously.

"Be clear of him, Bella. Make sure he doesn't start stalking you." Alice warned me with a pointed finger.

"Don't worry," Emmett said as he thumped Jasper. "We'll scare him off before he starts anything, won't we?"

Jasper nodded in agreement. "Definitely. Nobody hurts or stalks Momma Bear here without getting away with it." He winked at me making me laugh.

The night continued on with continuous laughter and jokes as the clock ticked onto midnight, we all decided to call it a night and Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper and Alice thought it'll be best to let me settle in for my first night in my new home.

My new home… I sighed at the thought as I glanced around the now empty downstairs before starting the throw away the empty food as my mind drifted off to the aspect of how well my life could turn out here in New York.

Anything could happen here in the Big Apple.

A/N: Hello! The first chapter of my new story 'Life in the Big Apple'. I hoped you liked it. It's just something I've recently came up with, it's probably been done before but ah well. I haven't started doing a blog for this story, I'll see though.

Also! I'm in need of a beta for this story. If you know a beta or you are a beta interested in this story, please contact me! PM is fine! Thanks :)

Review!

Until next update,

VioletRose1234.

P.S. Totally expect a DILF Edward in this story :D!