Thanks to Twilightzoner for the validation.

Thanks to xrxdanixrx for betaing this chapter long ago.

Thanks to charmie for all her help.

Thanks to milehighhopes for her great words of encouragement and for agreeing to be another beta for me.

Ok, so I want to apologize that the wait was so long for this chapter. But school kicked my butt in the last half of the semester and I'm just now starting to feel like a human being again.

I promise that I won't take this long to update another chapter. But I can't promise that updates will come once a week like they were before.

Anyway, this chapter has been a long time coming and I hope you enjoy it.

I don't own Twilight.


Chapter Eight

Bella wanted to go home and soon. She was feeling the beginnings of a headache and her extra strength medicine was waiting for her in her medicine cabinet. But her plans for a speedy exit were dashed when her niece began to speak.

"Daddy, what are we having for dessert?"

"Well, I cooked dinner so Mommy is in charge of dessert," Emmett replied, standing up from the dining room table.

"Emmett, why didn't you tell me you wanted me to fix a dessert?" Rose huffed.

"I just assumed you would, I mean I fixed dinner. And how hard would it have been to bring something home from the bakery?"

"It wouldn't have been hard at all if you had just told me to do it," Rose exclaimed.

"Hey, why don't we just go pick up some ice cream?" Bella interjected. Dinner at her sister's house had been tense. When Rose asked Bella if she and Edward wanted to have dinner at her house with Alice and Jasper, Bella didn't think she was being invited to watch her sister and her husband bicker all evening.

"Yeah," Alice replied. "We'll go get ice cream while the boys clean up."

"Do you want to go with us to get some ice cream, Gracie?" Bella asked.

"No, I want to show Uncle Edward something in my room. Come on, Uncle Edward."

Bella and Edward had been married for two months now and every time Grace saw Edward all she wanted to do was spend time with him. Bella thought her niece might have developed a little crush.

"All right, we'll be right back," Rose called, as she and her sisters made their way out the door.

Bella and Alice exchanged a worried glance as they saw their sister stomp her way to Bella's car while muttering things under her breath.

"You're going to have to drive Bella," Rose said. "You're blocking me in."

"Okay," Bella answered.

As she dug around in her purse for her keys Alice leaned over to her and whispered, "What's wrong with Rose?"

Bella glanced up to make sure Rose wasn't within hearing distance before replying. "I don't know. She's been snapping at everyone all night."

"What's taking so long?" Rose yelled hands on her hips.

"Coming," Bella called.

The car ride to the grocery store was tense and quiet, except for Rose's occasional sigh of frustration.

Bella wanted to know what was wrong with her sister and possibly offer her some advice or at least be there to listen. But she was afraid that if she asked her what was wrong, Rose would then turn her frustration on Bella.

When Rose sighed for what Bella guessed was the five hundredth time, she convinced herself to say something but before she could Alice spoke up. "That's it, I can't take it anymore. What's wrong with you, Rosalie? And I swear if you say nothing, I'm going to climb into the backseat and kick your ass!"

Bella eyes grew wide and she peeked at Rose in the rearview mirror. Alice and Rose really used to go at it when they were younger and Bella had never been able to break it up. If they started fighting now Bella had no hope of stopping it. She found a parking space at the grocery store and waited quietly for Rose to say or do something.

"Emmett and I have been fighting. A lot," she finally said.

"What about?" Bella asked.

"Whether or not to have more kids, he wants a couple more but I'm not sure."

"Why not? You love Gracie and you're a great mother," Alice said, turning around in her seat to look at her sister.

"I just like things they way they are now, but Emmett doesn't want Grace to grow up as an only child. He hated being an only child growing up."

"That's what Jasper says too," Alice replied.

The car grew silent and when Bella looked up both of her sisters were looking at her. She could tell they were waiting for her to contribute to the conversation. "Oh, yeah, Edward hated it too." Bella had no idea what Edward thought about being an only child, or what he thought about any number of things, but she knew this wasn't the time to bring up her crappy marriage.

"He has a point, Rose. Think about what it would have been like if we didn't have each other after Dad died."

"That's what he said too and that's when we started to fight. I know he has a point but I just hate that he brought up Dad to make it. It's not like I told him to go get a vasectomy. I didn't even say no, all I said was that I wasn't sure."

"I'll just say this," Bella began. "If I didn't have you and Alice after Dad died, I don't know what would have happened to me. You guys are my best friends."

Rose sighed and nodded. "I feel the same way about you two. I told Emmett I would keep thinking about it but I think he wants an answer soon."

"It's getting late," Rose said after a moment of silence. "Let's get some ice cream and head back."

After dessert was finished Edward and Bella decided to call it a night. The drive back to their apartment was a quiet one. They said their good nights and headed off to their separate rooms.

Bella fell asleep that night thinking about her sister. She knew that Rose and Emmett would work things out because they loved each other. And she hoped that one day she would be lucky enough to feel that kind of love for herself.

It was really early and Bella wasn't in a good mood. She was never in a good mood this early. In her opinion it was unnatural to get up before noon, so being up before seven was disgusting.

To make matters worse she was on her way to the bakery, which meant she was going to have to deal with Alice--happy, giggling, humming, skipping, Alice. She had been worse than normal lately since she and Jasper had moved out of their apartment and into a new house.

Bella groaned as she pulled her hair back into a knot and trudged into the kitchen.

She looked over towards Edward's room and noticed his light was still off, meaning he was still asleep.

"Jerk," she whispered to herself.

Since they had been married, she had always been up before him. He wasn't working, and Bella wasn't really sure what it was that he did all day.

She yawned and poured a bowl of cereal and a glass of juice. While she was eating, her phone rang. She let it go to voicemail when she saw it was Alice. Anything she wanted this early in the morning couldn't be good. When Bella finished eating, she washed and put away her dishes and headed out of the apartment.

She took the long way to the bakery wanting to prolong her torture as long as possible.

When she arrived at the bakery, both of her sisters were already there, as usual.

"Good morning, Button!" Alice called as Bella walked into the kitchen.

"Yeah, yeah," Bella mumbled as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

"So, Bella, do you and the hubby have any fun plans tonight?"

"No," Bella grumbled, taking a long sip of her coffee.

"Good," Alice squealed. "We're having a sleepover at my house tonight, just you, me, and Rose. Jasper is going out of town for some kind of workshop, so I'll have the house all to myself. How does that sound?"

A sleepover with her sisters actually did sound like a lot of fun. She smiled for the first time that morning and said, "That sounds great."

The rest of the day went by quickly. Bella tried to call Edward several times throughout the day to tell him not to expect her home that evening, but she kept getting his voicemail. She finally left him a message telling him she was staying at Alice's and that she would see him tomorrow.

When Bella and her sisters got to Alice's house, they ordered a pizza and found a cheesy movie to watch on TV.

They laughed and joked most of the night. It felt good to be able to spend this time with her sisters. The three of them hadn't spent much quality time alone together outside of the bakery after the wedding.

Bella had been waiting for a time to talk to her sisters about the state of her marriage. Even though she didn't want to ruin the good mood of the evening, she couldn't think of when she would have a better opportunity and this was something she desperately needed to talk to her sisters about.

"Guys, there's something I want to talk to you about," Bella said quietly.

"What is it, Bella?" Rose asked.

"It's about Edward and me."

Bella proceeded to tell her sisters everything. She started at the beginning with the phone call and meeting at the coffee shop. She told them about how Edward slept in the guest room. She told them that the only significant amount of time they had spent with each other after the wedding was when they spent time with their families. Bella told them she didn't know what to do.

By the time she had told them everything, her head was in Rose's lap and she felt exhausted.

Neither of her sisters said anything for a long while. Rose stroked through Bella's hair and Alice chewed on her fingernails.

"Well, say something!" Bella demanded.

"Okay," Rose sighed. "What have you tried to do to work through your problem?"

"What do you mean?" Bella asked.

"I mean, what are you doing to change the situation?"

"Nothing, I've been giving it time like everyone said I should."

"Well, honey, that's not working. So, maybe it's time to try something else."

"Okay and that's what I'm asking. What should I do? What should I try?"

"Ask him out," Alice replied.

"Like on a date?" Bella asked.

"Yeah, I mean ask him if he wants to go out to eat or something or to the movies. Do something fun, just the two of you."

"I don't think that will work," Bella sighed.

Rose momentarily stopped running her hands through Bella's hair. "How will you know unless you try?"

"But I don't-" Bella began.

"Look, Button, it doesn't have to be today, it doesn't have to be tomorrow, hell it doesn't even have to be this week, but you have to try something else. Do you really want to spend the rest of your life like this?"

Bella thought about it. No, she didn't want to spend the rest of her life like this. She knew Alice had a point, but in the back of her mind the thought that Edward hated her still lingered.

She decided to think about it and told her sisters so. It wasn't like this idea had an expiration date. "And when you're around him, try to be yourself," Alice added.

"What do you mean try to be myself?" Bella was confused. If she wasn't herself around Edward then who was she?

Rose sighed. "I've noticed it too, Bella. Whenever you're around Edward you sort of clam up. You hardly say anything. It's like you disappear into yourself whenever he's around."

Bella thought about it, and she could see where her sisters were coming from. When she was around Edward, she did tend to get quiet, but so did he.

"I'll think about that, too," Bella said.

The sisters sat around quietly talking for a while after that before deciding to go to bed early.

It had been three and a half weeks since Bella and her sister's sleepover and nothing had changed with Edward. That was largely due to the fact that Bella hadn't taken any of her sisters' suggestions. But like she told herself before, she had plenty of time to work out what to say to him.

"Aunt Bella," Grace called. "Will you read me a story?"

Emmett and Rose were on a date so Bella had volunteered to babysit. "I sure will. What would you like to read tonight?"

Grace dug around in the bag she brought with her to Edward and Bella's apartment and presented Bella with a book.

"Oh, this is one of my favorites," Bella told her niece as she took Love You Forever out of her hands.

Bella and Grace settled down on the couch and Bella began reading. She loved spending time with her niece. Reading to her was one of Bella's favorite things to do. Gracie was always such an attentive audience.

When the story was finished, Bella had no problems reading it to her all over again. When the second read through was done, Bella felt a pair of eyes watching her. She looked up to see Edward standing in the doorway.

"Hi," she said.

Edward raked a hand through his hair and Bella noticed he seemed nervous. "Hey, I'm sorry if I'm interrupting."

Bella shook her head. "No, we were just reading."

"Hey, Uncle Edward," Grace called. She jumped off the couch and ran to give Edward a hug.

When she arrived at Edward and Bella's that night, the first thing she wanted to know was where he was. She actually pouted when she found out he wasn't home.

Edward picked Grace up and spun her around in a circle, while Gracie giggled. When he stopped spinning, Grace whispered something in his ear. Edward glanced at Bella before smiling at Grace and nodding.

Bella didn't know what their little exchange was all about, but watching her niece interacting with Edward tugged on Bella's heartstrings, a lot.

"Can we watch a movie now, Aunt Bella?" Grace asked.

"Sure," Bella said.

"Come on, Uncle Edward," Grace said, tugging on Edward's arm. "Please watch the movie with us."

Edward looked to Bella to see if that was all right, and Bella smiled at him, so he joined the girls on the couch. Not long into the movie, Grace climbed into Bella's lap and fell asleep. Edward and Bella sat in silence and watched the rest of Finding Nemo while Grace slept.

When it was over, Edward got up to turn the movie off, but instead of leaving the room like Bella expected him to, he came and sat back down on the couch.

It was quiet for a moment before Edward spoke. "Did you, um, have a nice day today?"

"It was okay," Bella whispered, shifting Grace around in her lap. "What about you?"

"It was fine. I'm still looking for the perfect place for the restaurant."

Bella nodded her head. She had no idea he had started working on the restaurant.

They were quiet for a moment longer while Bella shifted around again.

"Do you want me to take her?" Edward asked quietly.

Bella shook her head. "It's okay. I've got her. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to hold her like this. She's getting so big."

Bella smoothed Gracie's blond curls back from her face and glanced over at Edward. He was watching her closely and looked away quickly when he noticed Bella watching him.

For some reason, at that moment, Bella could hear Alice's voice loud and clear, "Ask him out."

Bella swallowed and felt her heartbeat quicken. She was miserable, and it would make her life so much easier if she and Edward were at least getting along. She thought about the many times she had caught him staring at her and wondered what it meant.

But then the negative little voice in the back of her head reminded her of the Edward she first met a few months earlier. Was it possible that his opinion of her had changed that dramatically, especially when you considered the fact that neither of them had spent much time together?

Look, the worst that can happen is that he says no, Bella told herself. Just do it and you'll know, once and for all. She took a few deep breaths and glanced over at Edward.

"Edward," she called quietly.

"Yeah," he responded.

"I was, um, wondering if maybe… if you'd maybe like to go out with me sometime." As soon as the words were out of Bella's mouth, she wished she could take them back.

Edward's eyes got big and his mouth dropped open.

Oh, crap. Now I've scared him, Bella scolded herself.

"Yeah," Edward gasped. He cleared his throat and continued. "I mean, I would really like that, Bella."

"Oh, okay," Bella breathed.

They sat quietly watching television until Emmett and Rosalie arrived to collect their daughter.

When Rose and Emmett left, Bella and Edward said their good nights and went to their rooms.

As Bella got ready for bed that night, she couldn't believe it. Alice was right. She was going on a date with Edward.


I know you're probably upset that you didn't find out what's going on with Edward in this chapter but there is a reason for that.

If you found out why Edward acts the way he does in this chapter then that would have meant the story was almost over. But since I have decided to extend the story you're going to have to wait to see what his deal is. And I think a majority of you ladies would rather have a longer story and wait for the big reveal than to have it all end now.

The next chapter will be the first date. And things will start to pick up for these two from there.

Stop by the forum and tell me what you think. I'll more than likely be posting teasers as we get closer to the next chapter since the wait will be longer.

Thanks for reading! And thanks for all your patience.