I spent that night in Edward's guest room. We still hadn't defined our relationship, but we had set boundaries. We both agreed that we'd gauge Mason's reaction to everything before we advanced.

Edward had taken me to work, promising to see me the next night. We decided we'd face Alice together. We had to tell her about the incident at the clinic as well as our decision to try to start something between the two of us.

I must have had a big goofy smile on my face, because Jane pounced as soon as I walked through the door. "Car left in the parking lot over night, wearing the same clothes as yesterday, and slightly late to work. Why Dr. Swan, are you taking the walk of shame?"

I rolled my eyes. "I spent the night at a friend's house. I was attacked yesterday and he didn't want me to be alone. It was rather silly, but he's always been overprotective." I had mostly told her the truth. I was such a terrible liar that it was best to keep as much fact as possible.

"When were you attacked?" Gianna was standing in the doorway, looking at me in shock. She held a chart in her hand, so I must be later than I thought.

"When I was leaving last night." I stood up and took the chart from her. "I don't want any girl leaving alone anymore. If you're going to the parking lot, do it as a group. That shouldn't really be a problem sine we usually leave at the same time."

Jane and Gianna nodded, both watching me carefully. They seemed shocked, more so than I had been. I looked up at them and smiled. "Everything's fine guys. No one but the guy who attacked me walked away with injuries. Trust me. I just want us to be a little more careful."


The time that I spent without Edward and Mason passed slowly. I was tempted to call Edward and ask to see them, but I didn't think that would be the smartest idea. I needed to be slightly stronger than that.

Of course, when Edward rushed to my door before I came to a complete stop at Alice's house, I knew he'd missed me just as much as I'd missed him. He opened my door and pulled me into his arms. I relaxed happily falling into my home.

"Edward!" Alice called from the door. "I understand that you're excited to have Bella back in your life, but you are by now means allowed to hog her."

Edward chuckled and pressed his lips to my hair. Then he took my hand and we made our way back up to the house. "Sorry, Alice. But I think that I have every right to hog her. If I remember correctly, she was my friend first."

Alice stuck her tongue out at her brother. Then she took my free hand and dragged me away from Edward. She plopped me down on the couch and sat next to me. "Okay. We have an hour before Edward has to go to work. That means that you two need to spill."

Edward sat in the chair closest to the couch since the couch had somehow filled up. Jasper was sitting next to Alice and Mason was trying to crawl into my lap. I kept my gaze on Edward, though I spoke to Alice. "how much do you know?"

She huffed, "There was some kind of incedent and you spent the night. Edward hasn't told me anything else, and he won't let me ask Mason." She crossed her arms over her chest like a little kid who felt they were being scolded.

I nodded to Edward. He could tell whatever story he was most comfortable telling in front of Mason. I didn't know how Mason would react to either the details of the attack or the fact tht Edward and I were going to try to make an 'us'. Mason seemed to like me just fine, but kids of divorced parents usually held out hope that Mommy and Daddy would get back together. My mother had been married to Phil for nearly a year before I'd given up.

"Well," Edward said tentatively. He looked down at Mason, who was now holding Buzz close to his chest and just watchin his father from my lap.

Edward took a deep breath and then continued. "Mason and I were going out to dinner a couple of nights ago. I was driving by Bella's clinic when I saw a man push a gun into her back." Alice gasped. She looked like she wanted to do something, something to protect me. But she stayed in placed and waited for the rest of the story.

"I pulled into the pariking lost across the street." He looked at me pleadingly. "I would have pulled directly into your lot, but I wanted to keep Mason safe. I wanted him out of sight."

I shook my head, "Edward, that was never a question. I would have killed you if Mason had been put in danger."

Alice nearly growled, "Just get on with the story."

Jasper placed his hand on Alice's shoulder. "Relax, Darlin'. They're getting to it. You just have to be patient." Alice wasn't a patient person, but she tried to calm down.

Edward nodded, "Once I was sure that Mason was hidden. I had him lay in the floor of the car," I nodded, that explained why he wasn't in his car seat. "I grabbed the jack from under the passenger seat and ran for her." He shrugged. "I knocked him out as quickly as I could."

Alice was sitting there with her moth open. "That's it. You just knocked him out?"

I turned to glare at her. "You wanted him to do more? Alice, are you nuts?"

Alice shrugged, "It just seems anticlimactic. All that build up and worry, and all he did was knock him out. You could have told me that over the phone."

I rolled my eyes and Edward checked his watch. "Alice," he said. "you know that's not all that you want to know about."

She jumped in her seat, happy demeaner returning. "You're right. So tell me."

Edward and I both looked at Mason. Jasper sighed and stood up, clearly understanding. "Hey, Mason. Where'd you hided Woody? I feel a little homesick, and I think a cowboy could make me feel better."

"Okay," Mason slid from my lap and dashed up the stairs, Jasper close by in case he tripped.

Edward looked at me, as if trying to determine how I wanted to say it. I looked at Alice, "We're not exactly sure where we stand at this moment, Alice. We don't want to jump into something and have Mason feel that his world has been jerked around."

Edward nodded, "Mason seems happy having Bella around, but it would ruin everything if he suddenly rejected her."

Alice seemed to be deep in thought. She looked up at the stairs, not really paying attention to either of us anymore. "Mason's going to accept it. He loves Bella."

Edward took my hand and smiled at me. "I know that," he said. "But I don't want his opinion to suddenly change abou her. I want him to feel that he can trust Bella not to rip us apart."

Alice turned her gaze back on us. "What exactly does that mean? You're just going to be friends until you figure out how Mason's going to react?"

I shook my head, "Of course not, Alice." Edward squeezed my hand reassuringly. "It's just that we want to not throw it in his face that we're trying."

"That means things like sleepovers are currently off limits," Edward added. "Whenever Mason's around, I want him to see Bella as something more than my girlfriend."

Alice got up and went to her kitchen. When she came back she thrust a piece of paper at Edward and I looked at it and realized that I recognized it. It was te picture that Mason had drawn in the police station. He had intended to show it to Edward when we got home, but he'd been so tired that he'd nearly passed out. Edward's brow furrowed. "What's this?"

Alice crossed her arms, "That is a piture that your son drew. It's a picture of you two and him. I really think the message is pretty clear."

I shook my head, "Alice, just because he likes having me around, doesn't mean that he wants me around all the time. And it certainly doesn't mean that he wasn't me to be romantically involved with his father."

I leaned forward, closing my eyes and rubbing my brow. "Alice, this isn't really something that you'll understand, but I've been the daughter of divorced parents. And when they start dating again, it really sucks."

Alice huffed and I looked back up at her. "Mason is not like other children. He will accept you. I really think that you two should listen to me. You're just dragging out the inevitable. You two will be together. The longer you take to admit it, the longer you delay your happiness."

"Ali?" Jasper's voice was coming down the stairs. I wanted to kiss him for his forwarning. "Mason wants to watch Toy Story with Bella. He said she promised."

I stood up and smiled. "That's right. I did promise." Mason came bounding toward me. Of course he tripped. I snagged him midfall and carried him over to his father who was getting ready to leave.

Edward ruffled Mason's hair and kissed his forhead. "Be good for Aunt Alice, Jasper and Bella. I'll be back to get you in the morning."

"Kay, Daddy." Mason wiggled out of my arms and ran back to Alice who was looked at me pointedly.

I rolled my eyes and walked Edward to his car. When we reached it, we stood there awkwardly for a moment, neither wanting to make the first move. Edward looked up at the house. "Do you think she's right?"

I shrugged, "It's quite possible. She has an uncanny ability of being able to predict things."

Eward took my face in his hands, lifting it so that he could see into my eyes. "I want her to be right. I hate the fact that so much time has been wasted."

I covered one of his hands with my own and gazed up into Edward's emerald eyes. "If we do this right, we won't waste anymore. We just have to do it slowly. No matter how well Mason has taken to me, he's still going to have it in the back of his mind that you and Tanya might get back together someday. Trust me. No matter how we do this, he'll resent my interfering with that, even if only for a little while."

Edward kissed my forehead, "I don't deserve you. You are far too understanding of this situation."

I was going to argue with him, but he cut off all words. His lips descended upon mine and I simply melted. His hands slid around to the back of my head, tangling into my hair. My hands found their way up his back and gripped his shoulders tightly.

He nudged my lips open with his own. I breathed in his hot breath and our tongues clashed. One of his hands fell from my hair down to the small of my back and he pulled me up where I was standing on my tiptoes. My grip on him tightened even when I didn't think it could.

My breathing was becoming so ragged that I wasn't sure oxygen was reaching my lungs. But I couldn't find it in me anywhere to really care. My head was starting to spin when something in Edward's back pocket began to beep. He pulled his lips from mine and I whimpered. He didn't move any other part of his body from mine. I was pressed so tightly to him that I could feel him growing hard between us.

The beeping device began it's antics again and Edward's grip on me loosened. "Hospital," he panted out.

I nodded, having just as much trouble getting control of my body as he was. "You should go," I whispered. I tried to tell my limbs to unwrap themselves from around his body, but I couldn't seem to find the part of my brain that controlled those actions.

For the third time, the beeping began. Edward seemed to be coming out of his daze slowly. He lowered me so that I wasn't pulled nearly off my feet anymore. His arms didn't disentangle from my body, though. "It's the first time that I've truly had you in my arms. I'm not sure I can let you go."

An exasperated chuckle escaped my lips. I took a deep breath and pulled my claws from his shoulders. I slid my arms down his back and hugged him closer to me for a moment. He leaned down to kiss the top of my head. "Tomorrow's Friday." He said into my hair. "Do you have any plans?"

I shook my head, "Did you have something in mind?"

A chuckle rumbled in his cest. "Well I have lots of things in mind." I rolled my eyes. "But I have Mason so I'll have to stick with the PG ones."

He rubbed his chin across the top of my head, "What do you say about going to see a movie and dinner? The movie will be a kid's movie and we'll have to go somewhere with a kids' menu." He sounded unsure, like he was still questioning my willingness to have Mason around.

I turned my head up and kissed his cheek. "As long as you're talking about a kids' menue for Mason and not making a joke about my heights." He laughed and I smiled. "Then it's a date."

He leaned down to press a chaste kiss on my lips before finally letting me loose. Then he pulled a pager out of his back pocket and rolled his eyes. "They're so impatient sometimes." And with a knee weakening crooked grin, he got into his car and left.

I walked back into the house to find everyone waiting for me. Alice had gotten Mason into his pjs already so that if he fell asleep during the movie we could put him to bed.

Alice raised her eyebrow at me and Jasper looked like he was trying to hold in laughter. I looked in the mirror and groaned. My lips were swollen and my hair was an absolute mess. I turned to glare at both of them. "Not a word."