Dear Reader,

Thanks for hanging on in there; things will begin to move a little faster soon. Are you ready to meet another of Bella's new neighbours? He's very different to the lovely, helpful Jasper! Oh, yes … a teeny, weeny bit of excitement at the end of the chapter

As ever, all things Twilight belong to Stephanie Meyer. I'm merely messing with her delightful creations. No copyright infringement or offense is intended.

The Cullen Dilemma

Chapter Three

"I'm exhausted. I can't wait until half past two." I let my head rest on the table in front of me.

"Only a couple more hours to go, little one. Hang in there." Emmett gave my shoulders a quick rub.

"I know, Em. End of term is always tiring, but moving house on top of it…" My voice faded away.

"I really need a good holiday and instead I'm packing boxes and clearing out cupboards. I can't believe I've held onto so much crap."

"You're a classic hoarder, Swan."

"Not at all, McCarty. I'm just a damned good teacher, doing a damned good job. All the things I keep might come in useful someday."

"Oh, like the pieces of old bike you keep in a tea chest in your loft."

"How did you know about those?"

"I know everything, Swan." Emmett laughed. "Get rid of them; you're never going to use them."

"They'll be fantastic for design and technology sculptures."

"How many years have we been teaching now, little one?"

"Erm…around seven?" I hoped that if I gave a vague response, Em would let it go.

"Time for a new beginning, Bella. Ditch the shit. New house, fresh start."

"I'll think about it, Emmett. Promise."

"Good girl. Now, back to the grindstone. We've classrooms to tidy and kids to teach."

"Because after lunch on the day we break up, we're going to impart so much wisdom," I replied, sarcastically.

"That we are, Swan; that we are."

T-C-D

Not only did I think about what Emmett had suggested, I actually followed through with the idea. I hired a large skip and set about sorting through my life so far.

Things to keep went into neatly labelled cardboard boxes. Things in really poor condition were dumped in the skip. A final group of items were set aside for the local charity shop – I really couldn't just throw away things that someone might be able to use.

I was about half way through sorting out the loft when the alarm on my mobile phone pinged.

"Damn!" I looked at the pop up reminder. I'd almost completely forgotten my appointment with the site representative. She'd called to ask if I could go over the house to make a snagging list –any small jobs that needed to be done before I took possession. I was excited about moving, of course I was, but I had so much still to do.

Looking at the clock, I realised that I could just about make it on time if I left now. I'd planned to change out of my tatty, housework clothes and into something decent, but there wasn't time.

Thanks to a set of malfunctioning traffic lights, I was 5 minutes late.

My rep, Joanna, was chatting to a middle-aged man.

"You will make sure it's top of the range oak, won't you?"

"Yes, of course, Sir. All our oak…"

He cut her off. "I don't need a lecture, thank you. Just your reassurance that things will be supplied and fitted according to plan."

"Absolutely." Jo was very good at dealing with difficult customers. "I'll give you a call just as soon as the units arrive."

"An email will suffice," the man said in a rather snooty tone. "I'm a very busy man."

"Of course, Mister Masen."

"Masen-Cullen," he reiterated. "It's hyphenated. I'll be waiting to hear from you."

He turned and swept out of the office, but not before I noticed that he wasn't as middle-aged as he'd appeared. He'd possibly be quite attractive if he wasn't so unpleasant.

"Sorry, Bella." Jo apologised as she stepped towards me. "I wasn't expecting Mister Masen-Cullen today, but it was easier to deal with him than not."

"Poor you," I said. "I get the impression it's better to be prepared before dealing with Mister M-C, hyphenated."

"Definitely," she agreed with a giggle. "Are you ready to do your snagging list?"

"Lead on," I told her.

She grabbed a set of keys from the cabinet behind her desk and we set off down the site. There was a road and a footpath now. Most of the large machinery had gone, and the houses were recognisable for what they were.

"Looks different, doesn't it?" she asked.

My little house was pretty well complete, sitting a little way back from the road at the end of the cul-de-sac.

"I love it already." I almost squealed.

I started down my drive towards the back door.

"When will the fences be installed, Jo?"

"Later this week, but definitely before you move in."

"Great. They will be the concrete posts and kick boards, won't they? And 5 foot panels? I'm thinking of getting a dog and I want the space to be secure."

"Tomorrow at four thirty is fine." A distinctly male voice came from close by.

Walking into my garden space, I saw him; Mister Hyphenated himself, speaking into his mobile phone. He continued to speak while blatantly looking me up and down and not in a very complementary way.

"Until then." He closed his phone and walked past, only acknowledging our existence with a terse nod.

I saw the grimace on Jo's face.

"Is that?" I didn't need any more words.

"Yes, Bella. That's Mister Masen-Cullen, your new neighbour at number 8.

T-C-D

The snagging list was, thankfully, short. There were a couple of door handles needing adjustment and a piece of loose skirting in the kitchen.

Apart from that, the whole place looked amazing. The kitchen was practically my fantasy – I'd have to remember to thank Jasper when I saw him, the limed oak units were gorgeous.

"So, Bella," Jo interrupted my thinking. "How does 10 days from now sound?"

"To get everything finished?" I asked.

"To move in," Jo replied.

"Honestly?" I must have sounded a bit dazed and confused. "You wouldn't tease me about something like this, would you, Jo?"

Jo giggled at my reaction. "I'd never tease about business, Miss Swan. Congratulations!"

"Oh. My. Giddy. Aunt!" I exclaimed. "Got to go. Things to do; places to go; people to see. Thank you, Jo, so much. See you soon."

"I'll email you the final details, Bella."

"Thank you, lovely. That's amazing."

I dashed over to my car, got in, and closed the door, before screaming like a banshee – with excitement, of course.

T-C-D

"Thank you, thank you, thank you. " I couldn't thank Emmett enough for coming over to give me a hand with the sorting out.

As soon as I got back from the new house, I called Em and Rose to tell them the good news and they'd insisted on coming over to help out. Emmett was brilliant, fetching and carrying boxes and casting a ruthless eye over items I might well have kept if I'd been alone.

Rosalie, on the other hand, sat on the sofa allegedly sorting through piles of old photographs we'd found in the loft. Still, she had the perfect excuse – Baby Hale-McCarty was due in less than 2 weeks.

"Bella, why are you wearing a vest under your swimming costume?" She held up a photo of me, aged around 6 years old, arm in arm with the girl who lived next door.

I shook my head, but she wasn't giving up.

"Interesting costume, too. What's it made from? Is it crocheted?" She was smirking.

"Rosalie Hale, it is NOT crocheted. I think it was made from some kind of elasticated nylon."

"Wow, Bella! Who knew you were such a fashionista! But seriously, Swan, elasticated nylon?"

"You are such a snarky snitch, Rose. It's not as if I had any choice in it."

"Bella, be a grown-up – say what you mean. Call me a bitch, I dare you." Rosalie laughed.

"Nope. Not a chance. You know that I don't use bad language. I'd never forgive myself if I slipped up around the children."

"Hmm, I'm not convinced," Rose said. "But anyway, tell me about the vest."

"You're not going to drop it until I tell you, are you?"

"What do you think, Swan?"

I succumbed and caved under pressure.

"Well, you remember I told you I lived with my parents and my mum's mum?"

"Your nanna."

"That's right. Well, it's fair to say that, as an only child, they might have been a little bit over-protective of me."

"And?"

"Well, it was a hot summer, so all the local kids were in swimsuits or shorts. Problem was, my folks didn't want me to catch a cold so I was only allowed to play in my costume if I wore a vest underneath. I suppose they thought they were looking out for me, but they didn't realise it just made me stand out for the wrong reasons."

Rose's face was serious now. "Oh, dear, not good."

"It wasn't. It didn't help that I was a chubby child, and that my surname was Swan. I got a lot of teasing about being an ugly duckling."

I felt 2 large hands wrap around my waist and lift me up. Emmett spun me around at high speed.

"Dizzy. Em. Stop." I shrieked. "Put me down you big oaf." I pushed against his chest, not that it had any effect.

"Well, I had to do something to get you back on task. I saw you slacking, chatting away to Rose. I need help to look through these boxes."

I was grateful for Em's diversion. We worked on for another couple of hours and made significant progress.

"Hey, look at this!" Rose was waving something in the air. "Oh my god, Em, what did you do to your hair?"

It was a photo taken during our first term at college. Emmett's curly hair reached down his neck and over his shoulders.

"I was in my Marley phase, babe. I was trying to grow dreadlocks, but my hair just kept getting longer and curlier."

I giggled. "Do you remember the pipe cleaners, Em?"

"How could I ever forget? Oh, Rosie, I got Swan to twist them into my hair to encourage it to dread up, but they just got more and more tangled."

"So then I had to borrow some clippers and shave it all off."

"My poor Emmy." Rose said, unable to suppress the laughter in her voice. "From 'fro to bald in less than twenty-four hours."

I grabbed the box from Rose's lap and rifled through it.

"Here." I passed Rose another photo of Emmett, this one when he had a closely shaved head. "It was lovely; his head felt like a little coconut."

"Ahhh, so cute." Rosalie let out a massive yawn.

"And that is my cue to get my lady and my baby home," said Em.

I thanked them once again and returned to tidying. I fell into bed, that night, exhausted but satisfied.

I worked hard for the next couple of days, and I was feeling very pleased with my efforts. The loft was empty and the skip was full. There were several large bags and boxes, ready and waiting for the charity shop.

I packed as many boxes as I could into my little car and took them to the Cancer Research Charity shop. I'd just begun to pack in my second load when my phone began to ring. I glanced at the screen – Emmett.

"Hullo, Em."

Emmet sounded different. I began to feel worried.

"Em, what's going on? What's up?"

"Nothing, Bella…well, not nothing – everything." I heard him choke back a sob.

"Emmett, you're scaring me."

"Sorry, Swan, I'm just a bit choked. She's here. I'm a daddy."

AN: Ahhh, got to love a brand new baby! Wonder what they'll call her?