Still new to this whole 'writing fanfiction' thing, so bear with me. Tell me what you think about this.

Disclaimer: I not Steph. Please don't sue!!

Bella finished applying her eye shadow and stood back from the mirror, getting a feel for the entire 'look'. Her hair, falling in soft ringlets to her waist, was perfectly volumized. Going to her closet, she heard the doorbell ring. Alice would get it.

The sixteen year old was so much more vibrant than Bella could have imagined at their first meeting. Alice had started off shy, but now, after only two months in a new town, she was opening up, and was even going on a date tonight.

Bella pulled on a pair of shorts and layered a few tank tops before slipping on her flip flops. She smiled, grabbed her cell phone, and went to the kitchen.

"Alice?" she called.

"Right here, Mom," Alice said, skipping up behind her, a tall blond boy in tow. Bella laughed.

"Who is this?" she asked.

"Jasper Hale," the boy replied, holding out his hand for her to shake.

"Hale," Bella said. "Any relation to a Rosalie Hale?"

"My sister," he answered. "I didn't know any of Rosalie's friends had kids. You definitely don't look old enough to be a mother."

"I haven't been one for very long," Bella laughed. Jasper looked confused.

"But Alice is sixteen." Alice laughed.

"But I'm adopted. Bella is only twenty-one." Jasper still didn't get it.

"Why would you adopt at twenty-one? Not that I'm not glad you did, but still…" Bella smiled sadly.

"For personal reasons. And I thought you two had a date?" Alice smiled.

"Bye Mom! I'll be back by nine!" Bella smiled at her rambunctious daughter. The tiny pixie like was bouncing up and down excitedly. Jasper was smiling at her adoringly.

"See you later, Honey," she said, giving her a kiss on the forehead. She watched as Alice skipped out of the house with Jasper and then sank down to the floor.

Personal reasons. Yes, that about covered it. Bella shook her head.

"I'm not going to dwell on that," she told herself. "I have Alice. And maybe one day, I'll adopt again. But for now, Alice is enough. That's all that counts." Bella stood and started to put away the dishes. She could do this. She could.

"I don't know, Rosalie," Bella said as they sat getting pedicures a week later. Alice was in school, escorted happily, yet sleepily by Jasper, and Bella had nothing to do, since Spring Semester had ended two weeks before. So she called Rosalie, knowing she was always willing to have a day at the spa.

"I thought I could handle the fact that it would never happen. But it's hard. I see Alice and I just wish I had been with her when she was a baby, or when she was a kid in elementary and jr. high school. She's sixteen and doesn't need me."

"Bella," Rosalie replied sympathetically. "She needs you. More than you could ever know." Bella sighed.

"And who would have thought my daughter would be dating your little brother?" Bella asked. "It's just too weird." Rosalie laughed.

"That it is. Ruby, please," she directed the pedicurist, who was holding out two bottles of nail polish. "Anyway. I have a date with Emmett tonight. But his cousin is also in town, and he doesn't want to leave him alone his first night in a strange town, so…"

"Aw, Rose," Bella groaned. "Why in the world are you trying to set me up on a date? I can't. I have to take care of Alice."

"Alice," Rose cut across Bella, "is sixteen and perfectly capable of taking care of herself for a night." Bella rolled her eyes and looked to Rosalie, who was giving her a puppy-dog face.

"Fine," Bella said, unable to resist. "But I'm not making any promises that I'll like him."

"Just give him a chance," Rosalie grinned. "That's all I ask." Bella shook her head. She had been duped.

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