A/N: I love your romance stories. The most memorable parts of a relationship are meeting them and those who are married, the proposal. So romantic. :)

Super important chapter that sets the tone for the rest of the story coming up.


A week after Edward, Charlie and I had all sat at the little kitchen table and eaten cheese pizza while talking things out, I felt like I was on cloud nine.

Edward was obscenely polite, shaking his hand and paying acute attention to every word that fell out of Charlie's tightlipped mouth. They watched Sport's Center together and Edward listened to all of the ridiculous basketball stories and strategies that Charlie spoke about, finally finding some sort of common ground to work on.

I sat by quietly and intervened when an awkward or tense moment came up. Edward had slipped that we had a signed basketball from a UCONN player in our apartment. Charlie's jaw hinged and unhinged while that sank in. He didn't mention me moving back in at any point, though.

A week after our cordial meeting Charlie and I had gone to lunch together once and spoke on the phone almost every night. He stopped saying Edward's name so tightly and asked with genuine curiosity how his studies were going.

If there was one thing Charlie respected about Edward, it was the fact that he took care of me even though he was struggling through school as an up and coming doctor.

The tension with Edward disappeared completely after that night. We were sickly attached at the hip, more lovey-dovey than we'd ever been in our relationship before. We laughed carelessly and he made me dance around the apartment to Frank Sinatra and Roy Orbison.

School, well, I learned to ignore the social aspect and focus solely and intently on school work.

I managed to pull my trig grade up to a ninety three and I was determined to get to ninety five if it killed me.

Which it nearly did.

Thanksgiving was on its way soon. The roads were lined with faux fall foliage around the lampposts and the sidewalks in town, turkeys were being shipped in by the truckloads and Renee called frequently to try and force me into going down to Jacksonville to see her.

Edward's parents were in the Midwest somewhere and his mother was begging for the exact same thing. I had to keep a hand over my mouth to stop the giggles when he let me listen in on a phone call.

A week before thanksgiving Edward approached me a bit hesitantly.

"Bella?" he asked.

"What is it, Edward?" I leaned up on my elbows in bed and put the book I was reading face down.

He climbed in beside me, cold from the air outside when he brought down the trash. He wiggled his way under the covers and I wormed my way away from his cold skin.

He took a deep breath. "My mom's coming down for thanksgiving."

"She's what?" I gasped.

I sprung upright and looked down at him incredulously. "My dad can't make it because they're short a couple surgeons at the hospital." He explained as if it made it better.

"We're going to my dad's," I stated.

"Yeah, I know, and I fully intend to keep that, but my mom bought the ticket last week and she was so excited about coming in to visit that I just—I couldn't just tell her no and deny her having a family thanksgiving."

"What about your father—"

"My dad's resourceful, he'll be fine," Edward leaned his head on my pillow and wrapped a thick arm around my waist to pull me down. "Are you mad?"

"No…"

"Are you okay with it?"

I hesitated. "What if she doesn't like me?" I whispered.

Edward didn't speak for a while. He didn't outright scoff and tell me I was insane or ask me how I could think that. He didn't have a cordial meeting with my mother on the best of terms and well, that didn't go too well either.

"She'll like you," he murmured after a while. "Just be yourself and she'll like you. She'll love you." He kissed my shoulder.

I nodded mutely while my brain swirled around different scenarios of her walking in the door and hugging me, or walking in the door slapping me.

--

The day before thanksgiving, Edward and I were running around the apartment and cleaning furiously at everything that looked even minutely out of place.

I'd spent the whole week organizing every book, CD, recipe paper and canned food alphabetically because Edward's mother was a neat freak. Even though he said she never forced it upon anyone else, I felt the impulse to fix every imperfection.

Edward was on break from school for two weeks so he'd prepared everything we could need for a thanksgiving feast.

We would have an early dinner at Charlie's around three before he went to the station for the night, and then around nine Edward's mom would come in from her five hour flight—to the apartment.

Sleeping arrangements were going to be hell.

--

"Overwhelmed?" Edward whispered in the dark.

"A little," I whispered back.

"Wanna know what'll make it better?" he asked with a suppressed laugh.

I burrowed closer to him in a vain attempt to roll off of the spring from the couch-bed that was in my lower back. "What?"

He muffled his laughs on the top of my head. "My mom's sleeping in our bed…"

I shoved him back from me and shook the images out of my head. "Ugh! You're such a boy!"

--

"Bella?" Esme asked from the kitchen table.

I turned to her, watching the way her perfect caramel hair was so… vivacious at nine in the morning.

Over the past week we'd spoken and made friendly chatter here and there, but nothing that would stand as us being the best of friend and giving me her blessing to continue on with her son.

She met my father, they smiled and made idle conversation, Charlie tried not to ask Esme what her son's problem was and why he was going after a high schooler, but it was a calm, peaceful meeting.

She got up every morning at seven AM and started to brew coffee and showered. She spent one to two hours working on her hair and clothing choices and by the time I got up Edward was making pancakes or waffles.

Not once in that entire time did she mention anything about our living arrangements or our plans. She asked about how we met, how long we'd been dating for, but I knew for a fact that Edward had told her those things before.

It made feel… like she didn't trust me.

It made me feel like she was waiting for her moment, biding her time, to say something to me.

I waited by the counter, watching her watch me in the quiet apartment since Edward had gone to check in with work about taking our last day off.

"Yes, Mrs.—Esme," she smiled at my slip up and circled the tip of her finger over her coffee mug's rim.

"Thank you," she murmured.

What? I stared at her for a moment and after a while she drew her eyes downward to watch the murky brown depths of her coffee.

"Um, for what?" I asked.

She sighed, stretched her arms out in front of her. "Well, there's a lot. I was worried about Edward coming out here when he first told us—his father and myself—he was so desperate to break free from home and become independent, it worried me, really." She smiled and shook her head. "And for turning my little boy into a man."

I flushed; I could feel the blood rise from the bottom of my feet and leave my legs tingling numb as it all rushed to my face. Oh dear God.

"I'm not—I don't think—" I babbled.

Esme's brow crinkled and then her posture shot upward even more. "Oh! Oh no, not like that—I mean, yes, in a way, but that's not what I mean. I have no interest in my son's sex—" I died, "life."

"Uh-huh."

"What I mean is, oh, how do I put this?" she placed a finger over her lips and glared at the table in concentration. "Edward's always been friendly, and it's a quality that everyone loves about him, but, well, he's been just that; friendly." Her palms went flat on the table as she rolled with her idea. "It may seem kind of obvious, boy and girl, but Edward's never really… distinguished between the two—I don't mean it like that, he obviously knows the difference, but—"

"Personality and socially wise you mean?" I cut off Esme's rambling.

"Yes! That's what I was getting at. The company's been the same; he gets that from his father. I was insanely jealous when Carlisle and I started dating, he had so many women around him and he never paid any special or different attention to them."

"Except you?"

She smiled. "Except me."

"You don't need to thank me, though, Esme. I should be thanking you for raising someone as amazing as Edward." She laughed loudly like it was a joke. "No, really, I've never been so sure of anything like I'm sure of Edward. It's like whatever comes barreling at me, it's okay, as long as I have him by my side."

"Glad to know I raised him right. And I know you probably get enough grief for it as everything is, but if you're happy, well, I don't see what's wrong with it." She smiled radiantly. "But, I can tell that your dad misses you, and Edward would always be here for you no matter what."

I hoisted myself up onto the counter and stared at the tile of the floor. "I know," I murmured. "I just can't leave unless Edward is really okay with it, I would come across as so ungrateful and—"

"You left your home, your father, your mother and I'm assuming school isn't so hot either, for Edward. You're both working yourselves like dogs and you're more stressed than any young couple should be." Esme lifted the little printed schedule with our work timeslots on it.

"It's worth it," I argued lightly.

"Of course it's worth it, if you're both still here and you're both still working this hard for each other I have no doubt it's worth it."

"I'm afraid of miscommunication."

Esme peered up at me and her sad smile was so genuinely knowledgeable my blood froze. "It's going to happen sooner or later, and I think it might have already happened. Bella, look where you two are, not that I mean either of you any disrespect, but you're eighteen and things like bills are something that you shouldn't be worrying about."

"I know, I know, but Edward and I—"

"You'll still have each other," she interrupted. "You wouldn't be leaving him, you wouldn't be casting him off, you'd be doing the responsible thing."

I ran a hand through my hair. "I know, God I know. I have this whole thing figured out, but sometimes I think about it so much it's hard to put into words."

"Just try to express it the way you think about it."

"I guess… I mean, we'll always be here for each other. Edward would still have to work, maybe an hour less, but he'd still have to go to school, he'd still work, and I shouldn't get to take a break if he doesn't. In the end I'll always be here for him, and he'll always be here for me. It's the one place where we can access each other easily. If I moved out… I wouldn't be able to see him as often."

Esme pursed her lips and smiled a bit. "You're being a bit too self-sacrificing here, almost to a point where it is starting to become selfish. Think about your family, I know they must miss you, if it were happening me I'd be furious at whoever was taking my child away from me and I'd do anything to get them back. Unfortunately Edward seems to be the villain in this scenario." She sighed. "I'm not trying to judge you, it's the last thing I want to come across as doing, but you're pushing yourselves too far."

She reached across the table and motioned for me to sit down with her. I didn't hesitate to get off the counter and saunter over to the chair across from her. Esme grabbed one of my hands and looked into my eyes.

"Bella, I came down here with the intention of convincing Edward to make the decision of pushing you back home, but I can see that in his heart it's what he wants." I felt my mouth pop open. "I can't get these damn words out right, but what I mean is, he wants you here, and he loves you, but this isn't what he imagined for you."

"Oh," I mumbled.

"He's always been the boy who does the right thing, and he's very loyal."

"Too loyal."

"Just… think of him, Bella. I know he's afraid you'll leave, but it's for the best." She smiled. "Carlisle and I are paying for school, and he's taken the initiative to pay for his extra classes that aren't required, but he also pays for this apartment. Trust, me it'll all work out."

I let out a breath of air, and I suddenly felt like the bad guy. Esme's light brown eyes were sad and pleading and it was all for the safety and happiness of her son.

"Alright," I whispered. "I'll go back with my dad."

She stood up and I followed her initiative, and then she shocked me by pulling my arm until she was wrapped around me—hugging me.

"Thank you for making my son so happy." She murmured, her voice thick with emotion.

I hugged her harder, silently thanking her for being accepting, for looking out for Edward. The front door swung open and Edward slipped off his jacket as Esme and I parted. She grabbed her luggage from the floor and Edward waved to me as he walked out the front door to take Esme to the airport.


Stoically Stitched has been nominated for an Indie, so when you get chance go over to http://theindietwificawards (DOT) com/vote (DOT) aspx and vote for Stoically Stitched in Best Indie story by Established Author We Know and Love.

A/N: Don't forget to review!