Disclaimer: I own nothing

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 9:

EPOV:

I pulled up at the park, jumping out of the car just as Bella was passing through.

Her face lit up as soon as she saw me, and to my surprise, there were no leashes in her hands. I ran up to her giving her a slight hug. "What, no dogs today?" I asked, pulling away.

"I was kind of upset about Shane being gone and Roy only had five dogs today anyway because of the agility competition downtown, so, he said he would walk the five by himself and I could leave." A dazzling smile covered her face, highlighting her beauty even more.

"Well in that case, would you like to come back to my house with me? I was going to invite you over to dinner, but since apparently we don't have dogs to walk, why don't we just go now?" I thought of Shane and I knew it would make Bella insanely happy. "Plus I have a surprise for you." I gloated, putting my arm over Bella's shoulder. Bella jumped slightly as my arm came in contact with her shoulder and I noticed that she tensed slightly. I was worried she didn't like it, but she began to relax in a few seconds. I hoped my move wasn't too forward.

"Alright, but are you sure that your family will like me?" She looked up at me, her bottom lip taking up residence between her teeth. I could tell she was nervous.

"Of course, they're all curious to see the girl who has caught my attention. Plus, I've never had many friends, so they'll love you anyways!" I looked down her, and to my surprise I saw her face fall slightly when I said the second sentence, but she didn't say anything so I decided to ignore it and ask her about it later if I either of us broached the subject.

I pulled her over to my car, opening the door for her like I have countless times this week, it was truly becoming an automatic thing now.

We didn't talk the whole way there, but it wasn't an awkward silence. I knew Bella was just nervous about meeting my parents. The only thing that would be worse would be if we were dating.

Honestly I wouldn't mind dating Bella; I just wasn't sure how she would react. I mean, sure we've hung out and gone out to dinner as friends, but it could never have been considered a date. I really liked Bella, as more than a friend, but I didn't want to ruin our friendship by voicing my feelings for her.

When we pulled into my driveway Bella's hand started shaking in her lap. I decided showing her Shane first would probably help. I quickly pulled out my phone as we skidded to a stop, telling Bella to wait a moment. Meanwhile I sent Alice a text telling her to put Shane out back. I knew he wouldn't run away.

As soon as Alice sent me the confirming text message, I went around and helped Bella out of the car. "Ready for your surprise?" I asked, brushing a stray hair out of Bella's face, not even realizing I was doing it until she blushed.

"No, as you know, I'm not much for surprises." She said this as a slight groan.

"C'mon, I promise you'll love this one." I grabbed her hand, leading her around to the back.

"Doubt it." She mumbled, I couldn't help but chuckle.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as we rounded the corner of the house. The big black dog came bounding towards us and all but jumped on Bella in his excitement. I watched Bella as she patted him on the head and rubbed his back. I could tell that Shane loved the attention from Bella.

I was momentarily distracted by a movement in the corner of my eye. I turned away from Bella and Shane for a moment to see Alice at the window smirking at me before she turned and disappeared. A sudden impact jolted my attention back to Bella. I wrapped my arms around the torso who had 'done a Shane' and had practically pushed me over. I looked down at Bella as she hugged me tightly, resting her cheek on my chest.

I stroked her hair and held her close while she asked, "What's he doing here? Did you adopt him?"

Her passionate gaze sent my mind spinning for a moment. I registered the excitement, shock and happiness in them and then answered her while giving her a crooked smile. "Yeah…I know how much you love him and now you can come over anytime to see him…" I told her, hoping that she would like the idea.

"Really?" she asked before she broke our eye contact and looked down at Shane who was running around us in the vain attempt of getting our attention.

I tightened my hold on Bella slightly and told her that she could come over when ever she wanted to see Shane. Thankfully, my tighter hold on her had the desired effect as she turned back to look at me and gave me a heart melting smile. Unfortunately, as they say, all good things must come to an end. This applied when Bella released her hold on me and went to fuss over Shane once more.

We spent the next five minutes petting Shane and just talking about my old cat that I had once owned. Finally I decided it was time to introduce her to the family. I started leading her towards the door. Bella, out of nervousness, started straightening her white cami tank and smoothing her light blue jean capris. I lifted her chin up to meet my face. "Don't fret, you look fine." After the word came out of my mouth I nearly slapped myself. Couldn't I think of a better word than fine?

I opened the door, only to find my entire family standing in the living room. Bella grabbed onto my arm, walking slightly behind me, I knew from our frequent conversations that she did not enjoy large crowds of people.

"Bella, these are my parents, Esme and Carlisle." They stepped forward shaking Bella's hand with the polite 'nice to meet you' and 'glad to have you here.' I moved further to the left. "This is my older adopted brother Emmett, his wife Rosalie, and this is their daughter Olivia." I motioned to the blond two year on Rosalie's hip. "This is my older adopted sister Kiara, her husband Joshua, and their two four year old twins Kyle and Joshua." Bella nodded her recognition to each of them, waiting to meet the last two people in the room. "And this is my other older adopted sister Alice, and her fiancée Jasper." I swept my hand around the room. "Everyone this-" I motioned to Bella, "Is the lovely Bella."

We spent the next few hours with my family in the back yard. Bella had agreed to stay for dinner and was currently playing with Kyle, Joshua and Shane. I was surprised that Bella was just as good with children as she was with dogs, it was like she had her own special touch.

My thoughts were pierced as my mother elbowed me in the side, I turned to glare at her as she hissed at me, "Ask her if she wants anything to drink."

I got up and walked over to Bella, coming to sit right next to her on the grass. "Would you like anything to drink Bella?" I asked, trying once more to be the gentleman my mom taught me to be.

"Do you have a Cherry Pepsi?" She asked timidly, if I learned anything in the past week, it was the fact that Bella did not like asking people for anything.

We spent the rest of the evening talking and joking. And, to my joy, Bella seemed to fit right in with my family. I resolved to ask her on an official date when I took her home.

I had been so deep in my thoughts I hadn't noticed that Bella was asking me if we could leave. I apologized for zoning out and then we got to the car and headed towards her home.

And, as usual, she wouldn't let me take her all the way home, no matter how much I pleaded. As she prepared to get out of the car I took a deep breath and prepared to make my move.

AN: You'll have to wait to see her answer!

Thanks to my wonderful beta BookMe, you rock!

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