Chapter Two
"Best behavior, please."
"Come on, mommy," Alice encouraged, pulling at her mother's restraining hold on her arm. She had watched Ms. Rosalie's car pull into the restaurant's parking lot a minute ago and wanted to see the friend they would be having dinner with. "I hope she has long hair that I can braid."
"I already told you, Alice, it's a friend for mommy, not for you," Bella said, feeling a knot of insecurity bubbling in her stomach. Why had she let Rose talk her into this? Smoothing down her slightly frizzy curls, Bella tugged at her too-short skirt and pulled her sweater down over her hands. Had she known she would be ending the day at a sorta-fancy Italian restaurant, she would have dressed differently that morning.
A wave of nausea hit Bella when she saw Rosalie, her son Carlisle and a well-dressed man coming toward her through the parking lot. She distracted herself by straightening Alice's school uniform.
"Hi, Carlisle!" Alice cooed, reaching her hand up for a high five from the toddler. Carlisle happily smacked Alice's hand and reached his chubby arms out for Bella. Though Rose was Carlisle's mother, Bella took care of him every day, and seemed to have a stronger bond with the little boy than either of his parents. Taking the comforting weight of the child as another layer of camouflage, Bella looked over at the mystery man, shifting the child enough to free her right hand.
"I'm Bella."
"Hi, Bella," he said as he firmly grasped Bella's hand. "I'm Edward."
"There's my girl!" A booming shout startled Bella and she dropped Edward's hand as her cheeks flamed. Leave it to Rosalie's husband, Emmett, to ruin a perfectly good moment.
"Jesus, Emmett," Rosalie scolded, smacking him half-heartedly on the arm as he approached. Emmett was an intimidating man, seeming to tower over everyone around him. He had been a competitive swimmer in college, but no longer had the lanky look of a man who spent all day in the pool. Now he looked more like a brick shithouse. Next to Emmett, Edward looked rather small. Bella's shoulders slumped in disappointment. Standing at five foot nine, Bella had been hoping if the man of her dreams ever did come, he would be big enough to actually sweep her off her feet. Edward didn't look like he'd be able to sweep the floor.
"Let's eat," Emmett said as he steered them toward the entrance, "I'm starving."
A/N: Oh mah GAWD! So amazing to see so many familiar names in the reviews! I'm writing this more as a reminder of where I/we've come and where we are going. My (almost) husband is confused as hell as to why I'm doing this but I just HAVE TO! You all have been beside me from the birth of my last little one to my asshole ex-husband leaving me and the girls all alone, if only through author's notes. So why should I not share the happily (sometimes not so happily) ever after of my life? Working on chapter 10. Probably end up with three or so chapters a day, and yes some will be much longer than others.
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KK