Chapter One: My Night with the Masens
It's been a year since Rosalie and Emmet's wedding, and everything was an absolute mess. It was almost impossible to recognize them now.
After being blissfully wedded and with a baby on the way, disaster struck the Hales when Rosalie miscarried her baby after three months. The doctors told them that there was nothing she could have done and that these things really do happen, but Rosalie had refused to accept it. She and Emmett were devastated. The loss of the child had almost torn them apart, but they were slowly trying to recover.
Meanwhile, Alice had thrown herself at her career and was just now reaping the benefits of being single again. Nobody could have seen it coming, the day Jasper suddenly left town without a word or note to any of his friends. All Alice got was a phone call from him telling her he was fine and that she shouldn't worry about him. She would have loved to dwell on it, but her career in Vogue just came first. Now after a year of hard work, she was now the Fashion Editor, working directly under the Editor-in-Chief. Alice had to admit that the whirlwind of clothes, designers, events and the high life of her work was a wonderful distraction. She consciously chose to no longer think of the boy who stole her heart.
Just before Jasper's disappearance, Alexa had called Bella to announce that she was moving to Paris for a job-it had nothing to do with Edward, she reassured her sister. She just needed time to be alone.
And like before, it all started with a phone call.
Bella was at the library, adding to her extensive literature for her graduate thesis when Alexa called. It was at the most inconvenient hour for the both of them, but this was a call that had to be made.
"Alexa," Bella said in a soft voice. "What time is it there?"
"I honestly have no idea anymore," she said, sounding incredibly bone-tired, as she seemed to be since she came to Paris. "I'm just calling to tell you the flight details."
"Right, of course," Bella said, sitting up and posing her pen over her paper to write as Alexa told her the flight details. Bella noticed that she kept saying 'we' and 'our', but she thought nothing more of it as Alexa sighed. "So how is he?"
"He's stable, which is good," Bella said, rubbing her hand to her face as she did when she was stressed, "But he really wants us both to come home. Edward isn't completely satisfied with his progress so they're still running some tests."
"Oh my god," Alexa said. "I know we were supposed to expect this, since he's a cop and all, but-"
"I know," Bella sighed. Chief Charlie Swan seemed determined to stay in his position until he died, and he nearly had at a bank heist that ended in a shootout downtown. The perpetrators were caught, but there was a moment where Bella thought she had lost her father. Now seemed as good a time as any to go home.
"I'll see you at the airport then," Alexa said, wanting the conversation to be over. She and her sister were on okay terms, but Alexa had been pulling back since she moved to Paris. Not that Bella could blame her. After all, Bella was the one now currently dating Alexa's ex-boyfriend. Still slightly guilty about the way her sister had bowed out of Edward's life just for her, Bella didn't push it, and said goodbye. She knew finishing her work was impossible now, and looked up just in time to see her favorite guy walk into the library at 5:30pm sharp with the promised Americano in hand.
"Hey," he said casually, kissing her on the lips and slipping the Americano into her hand like it was a bribe. "My parents called, they're already on their way to the restaurant, so we should get going too."
"Okay, I'll just pack up my stuff and we can go," Bella said, unconsciously smoothing her hair and her shirt at the thought of meeting Esme and Carlisle. Despite Edward's reassurances and Emmett promising her that they were perfectly nice and normal people, Bella wasn't exactly looking forward to meeting them, given the way she and Edward started. But since he had insisted and because she loved him, she agreed.
"Uhm Edward," She asked as he was driving to the restaurant with the biggest grin on his face. A grin, she had noticed, that had been a permanent structure on his face ever since he'd asked Bella to meet his parents over dinner. "Did my sister ever meet your parents?"
Edward chuckled and shook his head. He had known that Bella was going to go down that road at some point this evening, thankfully it wasn't during dinner.
"Well..." he said, pretending that he hadn't thought about this already. "Alexa and I dated for five years. She met my parents quite a few times then."
"Can you give it to me in numbers?"
"Does that matter?" Edward asked, feigning frustration, which was difficult since he was in such an exuberant mood. "Bella, if my parents weren't okay with us, they wouldn't have invited us to dinner. I love you, and we just have to stop feeling so guilty over your sister."
Then Bella was silent, which Edward took as a sign that she was in agreement with him. When they first started to go out, they had agreed that they were on the page with each other. They were in love, the kind didn't feel like it wasn't going away and so they just had to keep that in mind whenever they (namely Bella) felt bad or guilty. Edward's conscience was clear, Alexa had chosen to break up with him so he could be with Bella and they were on good terms. He worried that Bella would always use that as a crutch to prevent herself from being truly happy, the way she did when Mike Newton didn't marry her three years ago. He was trying to pull that crutch away by showing her what being truly happy was like, except it was a little difficult, given everything that happened to Rosalie and Alice. But Edward was hopeful, the kind that Bella needed.
They made it to the restaurant at 6pm on the dot (Edward had a habit of always being on time, which Bella secretly admired) and after smoothing her dress over her one last time and an assurance from Edward that she was beautiful, they were led to their table, where Bella first laid eyes on Esme and Carlisle Masen. Edward greeted his parents, and they both turned, their eyes glowing and their cheeks flushed with absolute happiness. Bella had to step back a little, finding it kind of unbelievable that there were people who seemed glad to see her. They rose up from their seats accordingly, and Bella realized that their warm, generally loving aura reminded her so much of Edward's.
"Mother, Father," Edward said, because of course he addressed his parents that way. "This is Isabella Swan, the love of my life." He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close. "Bella, these are my parents, Esme and Carlisle Masen."
"Hi," Bella said shyly, tucking her hair behind her ear. "It's nice to finally meet you both."
"It's nice to meet you too, Bella," Carlisle said, giving her a warm smile. "Please have a seat. I hope you don't mind that we ordered for everyone."
"Oh, not at all," Bella said, thanking Edward for pulling out a seat for her.
Now what the formalities had been exchanged, Esme immediately pounced on Bella. Much like a cheetah would ounce on its prey, only this one was kinder. She blinked, and there were appetizers on her plate. Edward's doing. The man never seemed satisfied with her eating habits and insisted she at something other than guacamole and coffee. Bella usually protested, but she secretly enjoyed the attention.
"Bella we've heard so much about you!" Esme exclaimed. "Edward tells us you're getting a graduate degree from the university?"
"Yes, I was actually working on my thesis before we came here," she said, after swallowing down the Roka Salata salad, which was actually pretty good.
"Can I ask what it's about, or is there some kind of jinx to it?" Esme said as a waiter took away her salad plate. "I remember when Edward was in college, he had a lock placed on his door when he was working on his thesis."
"I was working with cadavers and studying patients naked photos, Mom, I thought you would be uncomfortable with it," Edward said, sipping his water. At this, Esme just laughed.
"Please darling, I'm married to a doctor. I'm used to people dropping trousers and showing us their eczema at dinner."
"Do they really?" Bella asked, almost spluttering on her food as she held back her giggles. Carlisle laughed as well. "Ah yes, I remember Billy Mason's infamous Butt Eczema. I've hardly been able to eat duck confit since then."
The other three in the table erupted in laughter, and Bella actually felt herself relax. Emmett was totally right about Edward's parents being "one of the cool ones."
"Carlisle, that is hardly proper dinner conversation," Esme said, playfully shoving his arm, in which he feigned pain and made her laugh even more. "I was just asking Bella about her thesis. Go ahead, dear."
"Mm," Bella said, wiping her lips. "It's a study on the paintings during the French Renaissance in Europe. I'm getting my masters in Art History, so..."
"Oh, Art History!" Esme exclaimed. "Carlisle and I just came back from Paris, right darling? We wanted to stay in the Louvre forever. Is there an artist in particular you're studying?"
"Francois Clouet," Bella said. "I'm still trying to find evidence that some of the royal family's portraits were by him."
"Oh yes, Clouet was the one who painted Francis I, am I correct?" she asked,looking at Carlisle like Francis I was just one their friends. "It was very stately. Alexa had a reprint of it in her flat. The reds of the background were so deep and intricate too."
Edward choked very uncharacteristically into his soup, which made Carlisle raise an eyebrow and Bella accidentally bit her lip.
"You...saw my sister?" she asked, unable to hide her surprise. In the year that Alexa was in Paris, she had expressed no desire of inviting anyone. Renee had wanted her to come home for Christmas, but Alexa had begged off, saying that a flight from Paris to the US was next to impossible. Bella, still guilty over Edward, didn't volunteer to visit either. So Esme's revelation was an understandable surprise.
"Yes, she was with us during the whole length of our Paris trip," Esme confirmed. "She didn't mention anything to you?"
"No," Bella said a little sadly as the the entrees were served. Carlisle coughed and picked up his fork. "Lets talk about less complicated things. Can someone please explain to me why everyone is uploading their seizures on Youtube and calling it a Harlem Shake?"
Just before dessert was served, Bella excused herself to go to the bathroom. Esme made sure she had stepped into the restroom before it was her son's turn to pounce on her.
"Did you really have to mention Paris to Bella, Mother?" Edward asked, running a hand through his hair. "I didn't even know about it."
"One has to stay connected with family, darling you know that," Esme pointed out and Edward was about to ask what she meant when Carlisle laughed.
"Esme, he hasn't asked her yet."
"Thats not what I meant," she said. "But when do you plan to ask her, Edward?"
"I don't know," he said, actually looking nervous for the first time in a long time. "She said she doesn't like big, romantic gestures, but I'm looking for the perfect time. Do you like her, Mom?"
Esme sipped her drink and smiled. She reached across the table and took her son's hand. "She's a lovely girl, Edward. She looks at you with nothing but love."
"In the really old days, we'd call that a keeper," Carlisle said. "But take my advice, son. Girls like that don't need the perfect time. They already know you're the one they want because they chose you."
A few days after their dinner, Edward asked Bella to marry him while they were lying in bed together, on a night so cold that their entangled toes still shivered. He gave her a ring, an ornate, beautiful ring from his grandmother and she could do nothing but tear up and say yes. It was a bit of light on an otherwise dark year, and Bella couldn't believe that she was actually this happy.
The following day, still giddy from the night's events, Bella came to the airport in a very chipper mood. She'd only been standing at the waiting area for a few minutes when the gates of the airport opened and she saw Alexa coming out and pushing a luggage cart, her eyes scanning the area for Bella, who smiled and gave her a small wave. Alexa smiled back, about to go to her when someone called her from behind.
"Look who's all changed and ready to go to Forks," Jasper said, walking to her and bouncing a small baby, no more than five months old, on his hip. "Can you tell Mommy to stop being so stubborn and let me carry the luggages sometime?"
Alexa brought the baby into her arms, giving the child a kiss on the forehead. Then she looked up at Bella. "You want to say hi to Auntie Bella, Charlie?"
Bella dropped her keys, her happy mood suddenly vanished.