Once again, thank you all for the love and support. The way these stories have been received is amazing and I appreciate every review, fave, follow, and shout out. Mizzdee is all things wonderful and good, and she has a major crush on this man so here he is.

PLEASE READ! Quite a few people have asked if they need to read both stories, and I wanted to answer this here since many more might be wondering and not asking, or just saying, "ehh, they're the same, right?" Now, while the plot is the same, as they're companion pieces, as two separate people of varying ages and life experiences, (Bella is 24, Edward is 34 at this point in the story) they're way of approaching and thinking about things will be different. Also, they have lives that don't intersect all that much, especially in the beginning, so there are moments that will be missed, and some funny side characters that will only make brief appearances in the other story, because they're a friend or coworker of either Bella or Edward. I try to keep overlapping dialogue to only needed moments and I think you'll enjoy both sides. But choosing not to read both is still an option if you prefer. Just pop over to the other POV if there are questions about why either Bella or Edward acts a certain way in the opposite POV, because there's a good chance the answer will be there.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 2

"Esme didn't tell you?" I asked, astounded that Esme wouldn't have mentioned it with the work she had put into her room upstairs. After explaining that I needed a live in nanny during the week and that she had an entire floor of the house at her disposal, I gave her the contract and let her read it over.

"The biggest thing that I will enforce that will interfere with your personal life is that I don't want any unapproved male visitors staying here overnight. If it's a friend then just give me a heads up, and it shouldn't be a problem, but I don't want you to bring a date home unless I've met him and feel comfortable with him being in my house with my kids." Part of me was against the idea of her parading strange men in front of me, but I wasn't about to say that.

She agreed to that without an argument and read through the rest of contract before signing it. I gave her a tour of the common areas, watching her eyes light up a bit at the kitchen. The second and third floors were all bedrooms with the exception of the media room, so we were quickly on the landing for what would be her little apartment during the week.

As soon as she entered the room, she gasped, which let me know that Esme had in fact designed this floor for Bella. I refused to address her by anything less than Isabella, but it was clear to see that Bella was the perfect name for her.

I watched as she took in the floor, poking her head into the bathroom and closet, and spending a little extra time around the sewing area and desk. She turned and told me that Esme knew I was going to be hiring her based on how the space was decorated and then proceeded to ask about when the kids would go to visit Tanya.

I gave her a brief history and then we went back down the third floor where the kids were playing in the area set up behind the couches in the media room.

Bella began to say her goodbyes when Esme looked down at her phone. "Bella, you'll still be good for meeting us for breakfast tomorrow at ten before we all head to your ceremony?"

"Yeah, ten is fine, Esme," Bella said before Rosalie decided that she was going to embarrass both herself and me by being rude to Bella. I was livid when I heard her call Bella 'the help' and pulled her out of the room before we could even say goodbye to Bella.

"Rosalie, what is your problem? Isabella will be your nanny, and if you disrespect her on a daily basis then the only time you will be seeing the friends you make will be in school because you will be grounded until you can show that you deserve to be trusted."

"You're taking her side over mine? Nice, Dad," she sniped, but I stepped in front of her before she could try and walk away.

"I am trusting her to take care of you and your siblings, and that requires that I back her up on some things, including disciplining my eldest daughter when she's acting like a child. Your mother and I raised you better than this," I told her.

"Sure, throw Mom in my face right after you tear me away from her and Chicago. I hate New York and I hate you," she yelled.

Knowing that raising my voice wouldn't help; I decided to let her cool down. "New York will grow on you, Rosalie. And I hope that in time you can get over your anger towards me, because I miss the Rosalie that told me about her day and confided in me."

I walked out of her bedroom to see Esme and Carlisle occupying the kids. Alice ran over as soon as I closed the door to Rose's room and I swept her up into my arms. "I love you, Daddy."

"I love you too, Sweetheart," I whispered.

Esme excused herself to order takeout for dinner and I put Alice down for a nap as she'd fallen asleep as soon as she'd rested her head on my chest. When I went downstairs to spend some time in my office, Esme stopped me as I passed by the kitchen.

"I know this is hard on you, Edward, but things will get better. Bella will be a huge help with the kids and Rosalie will find a way to cope with the divorce. I'm leaving you with a set of takeout menus for our favorites so you'll be well stocked, but don't forget to go grocery shopping. I only got you enough for a few days."

"Thank you again, Esme, you went above and beyond," I told her and she gave me a hug as she turned back to my sparsely filled kitchen.

"I was happy to help if it meant that you and the kids will be in our lives on a daily basis," she said and I took the opportunity to get some work done downstairs.

Dinner was stilted that night, and the kids each went into their respective bedrooms to watch movies. I wasn't a huge fan of them having a TV in their bedroom, but Tanya had thought it was important, so I had told Esme to get them TVs and bluray players only, so if they wanted to watch TV it had to be in a common room, and only children's channels without me to unlock them.

I was surprised that the kids settled in so well, but it was after hours of unpacking my office, leaving the boxes that would go into my den for tomorrow, that I found Alice curled up in the center of my bed, her face buried in my pillow.

Understanding her need for comfort, I got ready for bed and curled up with her, allowing her to spend the night with me this time.

Esme texted me the address for Norma's the next morning, which was their favorite breakfast place, and the location of our celebratory meal with Bella. I got the kids to dress for the occasion, which was easy with Alice and Jasper, but Rosalie was grumpy about it until she saw the new dress Esme had gotten her to wear for the graduation. Esme knew her fashion sense, and my daughter's flair for dramatics, so the dress was a big help to getting us to the restaurant on time.

We walked over to see everyone at the table already, so we settled in and began looking at the menu. The kids discussed the food while Esme and Bella talked about her moving in and Carlisle caught my attention.

"We have to play some golf while the kids are visiting Tanya. It's been ages since I've had you out on the course," Carlisle said and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Taking the doctors spend all their time on the golf course joke a little far, aren't you?"

"You're just mad because I can beat you with nothing but a putter and a nine iron," he teased.

"In your dreams old man," I shot back as Jasper asked a question that silenced the table.

"When are we meeting your mom and dad, Bella?"

I watched as tears wet her eyes, and with a brief glance to Esme she answered him with a grace well beyond her years as she explained that her father lived across the country and couldn't make the trip and that her mother had passed away. The table was quiet for another minute before Tia offered Bella a bit of comfort and conversation was resumed.

The chatter continued until the check came, which I handled without even looking at the slip, handing over my credit card so we could begin the trek to Brooklyn.

I signed the slip when it returned and then we left as a group to get our cars and head to the graduation. It wasn't that long of a drive, only about thirty minutes, and thankfully they had plenty of side streets where we could park. We walked onto the campus and with no one paying me much attention I was able to look at Bella a little closer.

She was wearing a turquoise form-fitting dress with a ruffle around the waist and black heels. It was mid-thigh in length and did dangerous things to my long dormant libido. I tried to look away, but as we milled around outside the sports complex where the graduation was being held, waiting for them to let us find seating, my eyes kept finding Bella.

Two of her classmates came over, dragging her away so they could line up with the rest of their class and before I could look away Carlisle grabbed my arm.

"Edward, I know that look, and if you have a brain in your head, you'll stop before you even start. Because it isn't just your life you'll be screwing with if you go after her. It is all of our lives. Just say no," Carlisle ended his chastisement and I sighed, having lost sight of her in the crowd, there wasn't much point of thinking about it now.

"You don't have to worry, Carlisle. She's beautiful, but my kids' happiness is more important and I can see that they love her already. It's just the fact that I've gone without for a while, but I promise you nothing will come of it."

"Nothing better come of it," Carlisle muttered and I rolled my eyes at him.

We found a set of seats and Esme was already pulling out things to occupy the kids. It was brilliant and I wish I had thought of it, but leave it to her to have a doll for Alice and a book for Jasper along with the iPads that the girls had. Rosalie was playing on her phone so I started texting Tanya to let her know how things had worked out yesterday.

Met with Esme's nanny and hired her. She's great with the kids and is very capable.

She texted me back a few minutes later.

Capable? Esme told me all about her. Once you're all settled and she has a routine have her call me.

I looked at the message for a minute, curious about what she wanted to talk to Bella about.

Should I be worried about what you might have to say to my new employee?

Her response was immediate.

Relax, Edward. I just want to give her some tips for dealing with the kids and set up a Skype date so I can chat with them once a week.

Feeling bad for assuming she would cockblock me from 800 miles away, I answered her back.

Of course, I'll put her in touch with you. Have to go, we're at her graduation and it's starting.

With a final reply, Tanya said goodbye.

Her graduation? She's younger than I thought. Talk to you soon.

Turning my attention to the stage, I sat through the graduation, only looking at my phone a few times during the long speeches. When it came time for the students to walk across the stage, we all let out a hearty cheer, Rosalie excluded as she sulked in her seat about having to sit in the crowded bleachers on such a hot and sunny day. If it was the beach she would be in love, but since it was someone else's celebration, and a person she wasn't fond of at the moment to boot, she wasn't shy about her groaning.

After the ceremony, we met up with Bella long enough to congratulate her and speak a few words. Alice walked right up to her, and Bella lifted her without hesitation, causing me to smile at how well this was going to work out. Of course, I had to remind myself to call her Isabella as I congratulated her, but did tell her to call me Edward. Hearing my first name roll off her tongue was a temptation I would have to live with, because the 'sir' and 'Mr. Cullen' business would get old fast.

Her friends came over and Esme and Carlisle congratulated them as well as Bella introduced us. She informed me that the two were a couple and asked if Ben would be allowed to spend time at the house as he was one of her closest friends and not someone she would ever look at romantically. I was glad to hear that, seeing how close they were, but also happy that she was giving me a heads up that he would be around the kids like I had asked. It seemed that Bella was very thorough and thoughtful.

At the mention of meeting the Pastor I balked, but her friend Angela explained that Bella was referring to her father, who was taking the group out for dinner to celebrate their graduation.

We said goodbye and I piled into the car with the kids, making the executive decision to order groceries to the house so we had a chance of eating anything besides takeout. Though that would be a problem, because we didn't have any real cookware in the house either. With that thought, I resolved to have Esme do some shopping for my kitchen.