You all have such mixed emotions in your reviews.

Baker's Dozen

"Your what?" There was no way I heard him correctly. He has a child. A child that is more than half my age. How did he not tell me this?

"My daughter. You saw me with my daughter, Sophia. Sunday was her birthday. I promised her I would spend the weekend with her. She wanted to go to the carnival. I didn't even think. I should have told you sooner."

"So, wait, you have a daughter? Like an almost grown adult daughter?"

He laughed a forced laugh. "Yeah, I guess so. I don't like to think about that though. Her getting older is something I like to imagine isn't possible."

I sank back into the chair I had been in previously.

"I know we haven't been together long, but why didn't you say something? I get not wanting me to meet her, but not to even know she exists? What if I don't like kids, not that she's a little kid, but still. Maybe I'm being irrational on this, but I think I deserved to know."

"Fuck. I know. I really, honestly know." He dropped to his knees in front of me. "I know I should have said something. It's been a long time since I've been on a date with someone where it went past a first date. I'm just as new to all of this, Bella. Please, god please forgive me. I'm going to tell Sophia about you. I want you to meet her. I want to make this right. I feel so much with you. I can't believe I fucked this up."

"So, when you would leave abruptly? Did you have to get home for her?"

"Yeah. Or pick her up. Like the night we were, uh, you know, I had to pick her up at a friend's house. I know this probably has to look bad, but know, you are it for me. If you still want me, I'm yours. I shouldn't have kept this from you. Not after how serious things got."

"Edward, I just need a bit of time to really think about this. And I probably should get back to work."

He closed his eyes, running his hands through his hair. "Understandable." A pause. "Just don't shut me out, okay? Please talk to me so we can work through this."

"Yeah, okay. Promise."

He stood, holding his hand out to me. I accepted it and he pulled me to him, wrapping me in a hug. "I still never want to let you go. Don't make me," he murmured.

"Time, Edward. I need time."

He released me, a smile on his face. "You can't blame me for trying."

"That I can't. Now, I need to get out there."

"Talk later?" he asked, almost in a begging tone.

"Yeah. Later."

I walked out of the kitchen, leaving him there. I needed to get away before I gave into him without fully thinking this all over. I was really into Edward and I didn't want to lose him, but it hurt that he didn't trust me with the information of his daughter. Although, I can't say I would have been any different. Parents protect their children. I understood that. I couldn't shame him for trying to protect his child.

Alice looked my way as I joined her behind the counter. The customers were backed up.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. I get it."

Alice and I worked to get the line moving. At some point in time, Edward slid his way out of the kitchen and the bakery.

I knew the moment he left. I felt it in my heart.

I was thankful for the fact we were busy, because it kept me from allowing myself to break down over all of this. It was no lie, I was an insecure woman who was scared of being cheated on or lied to. Yes, he didn't lie, but he withheld something very major from me.

By the time the morning rush was over, I could tell Alice was itching to know what was going on. She was bouncing and her work was lacking its normal momentum.

After about five minutes of calm in the bakery, Alice looked to me, taking the cloth I was cleaning up with from my hands, forcing me to address her.

"So…"

"So what?" I asked.

"What happened in there?" she asked, pointing to the kitchen.

"We talked a bit."

"Did he have an excuse for being a cheating bastard?"

I couldn't help but chuckle. If only it were that easy. I shook my head, unsure how to even address this. "He says he wasn't cheating."

"Oh?" she said, cocking her head to the side, clearly unbelieving what I was saying. "And you believe that bull shit?"

"He said it was his daughter."

"That sure didn't look like a kid."

"He said she's fifteen."

"And you believe that?"

"I don't know what to believe. Or do. I mean you can't lie about having a kid. It's not like I won't meet her if I forgive him."

"True. So you going to forgive him?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. I want to. God, Alice, I want to. I really feel this intense connection to him, but I don't know. This is huge. I have so many questions. Where's her mom? What will she think about his dad dating someone who was in junior high when she was born? So much, Alice."

I leaned against the counter, resting my head on the wall.

"Well, if you really care about him, you will find a way to make it work." Alice smiled at me as the door opened.

We both turned to look at the incoming customer, but instead it was a delivery man.

"Can I help you, sir?"

The man with a dark complexion and a shaved head looked between Alice and me.

"I'm looking for a," he looked at the card, "Bella Swan."

"That's me."

"Well, then this is for you." He set a box on the counter. "If you could please sign here as well."

I took the clip board he was handing me and signed my name where he pointed.

Once he left, I took the box and opened it. Inside was the most beautiful bouquet of red roses.

I knew who they were from before I pulled the card out.

Dearest Bella –

I know you asked for time, but I can't stop thinking about you.

The desire to come over there and pull you into my arms is beyond overwhelming.

I hope I can prove to you how much you mean to me. How much I want you in my life.

In both mine and my daughter's lives.

With all my heart –

Edward

I pulled the roses from the box, placing them into the vase that was in the bottom of the box.

I set them up on the top of the counter, wanting to be able to look at them.

I knew no matter how much time I gave myself to think about everything, I would still end up letting him back in. There was no way I couldn't.

Baker's Dozen

By the time I closed the bakery, I had received another five flower deliveries. If I could say nothing but one thing about Edward, the fact that he was persistent would be the top on the list.

Other than the flowers, Edward didn't make his presence known. Emmett and Jasper did come in for lunch, commenting on the beautiful flowers on display, but that was all.

Sitting in my apartment, donned in a tank top and sweatpants, surrounded by the half dozen arrangements, I held my phone, debating what to do. Did I call him? Did I make him sweat it out? Did I let it go and see what tomorrow would bring?

I honestly wasn't sure. I didn't want to fold, but I had so many questions. I had so many things I wanted to know about Edward that he hadn't shared before.

I wanted to know about the mother of his child. Was she in the picture still? So many things that I needed answered before I could move forward with him.

I twisted my phone around and around, wasting time. I leaned my head back on the couch, feeling insecure.

I closed my eyes, trying to get the mental strength up so I could call him. As I relaxed back after the days of emotional turmoil, I couldn't help but doze off. I was almost there, completely asleep, when the door buzzed, jumping me up from my relaxing state.

"Who is it?"

"Delivery," a female voice stated.

I pressed the buzzer, letting the woman in. I should have figured Edward would send more flowers. Or maybe it was chocolate now.

I waited by the door for whatever he was having delivered now.

There was a timid knock signaling the woman was there. I opened the door and looked at her. She was empty handed and she looked far too young to be delivering anything. She looked far too young to have a job let alone walking up to a stranger's door.

"Hi. Didn't you say you have a delivery?" I asked, very unsure of what was going on, or who this girl was. She definitely was a girl, not a grown woman. I cocked my head to the side, as she was silent in return. She looked mildly familiar, but I wasn't sure I had ever seen her before.

After a long pause on her part, she finally opened her mouth to speak. "Uh, yeah, I have a delivery. It's right here." She reached her hand to the side and pulled. "Dad, don't be stupid," she muttered.

Edward came into view. He looked like shit. Like absolute shit. But I guess I probably did too. It was only six and I was in my pajamas, hair pulled into a mess on the top of my head.

"Hi," he said quietly with a wave. "This is my daughter, Sophia. Sophia, this is Bella."

Baker's Dozen

I sat on one side of the couch. Edward was on the other side. Sophia had taken up residency on my balcony, texting on her phone. It took me a minute once I saw Edward at my door to understand what was going on. He wanted me to meet his daughter, and she was clearly all for it.

Sophia told me her dad said there was no way I would answer the door for him, so she came up with the idea to get me to let them in. I was glad she did. It was a breath of fresh air to see her, and to realize he wasn't lying, or making up some story to get out of cheating.

"She knew," Edward said, looking out the back door. His gaze on his daughter. We had been silent for the better part of ten minutes once Sophia left us to work out our differences.

"Huh?" I responded, unsure where he was going with this.

"Sophia. She knew about us. She said she saw us at the movies together. Remember when we saw Great Gatsby and I thought I saw someone? I guess I must have seen her walk by, but I couldn't pick her back out in the theater, but she was able to pick me out. As well as you."

I thought back to that movie. We shared our first kiss in that movie and she had seen it all.

"She said she could tell I was happy. Something about a spring in my step."

"Sounds like you have a very intuitive daughter."

"Yeah, well, she takes after her mom, since I am clearly a box of rocks when it comes to relationships."

I sucked in a deep breath. I hadn't been sure how to enter into this topic, but I figured now was as good of time as any.

"About her mom, is she still around? Do you have joint custody? Will I have to deal with baby mama drama?" I gave Edward a smile, but he seemed to suddenly get even gloomier.

"Tanya, Sophia's mom, died when she was four."

My hand went to my face, covering my gasp. "Oh, Edward. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. I guess that's part of why I held back on telling you about her as well. It's been the two of us for so long. I wasn't even sure how she would handle me being with someone."

I moved across the couch so I was closer to him. I reached my hand out and took his in mine. "What happened? If you don't mind me asking."

"No more secrets. I can't keep anything from you if I want to make this work. I know that now. It may have taken a teenager to remind me of that, but I have heard the message. Loud and clear."

Edward paused for a moment, taking a few deep breaths. He went on to tell me about how him and Tanya met their freshman year in college. He was smitten by her, and she was by him. They rushed into things and Tanya ended up pregnant. They both wanted to finish school, but they wanted to do things right. When Tanya was six months pregnant, they had a small wedding and moved in together. Things were tight and Edward worked full time and was able to complete his studies. July fifth nineteen-ninety-seven, Tanya gave birth to the young adult sitting on my balcony.

Edward and Tanya made it work, even while caring for a young child. They were both able to complete college, getting degrees in Mathematics and Accounting. They had planned to open their own accounting firm. I now understood why he didn't pursue his white collar career.

"It was snowing out. Tanya was with her parents and her sister, Irina. It was supposed to be Kate instead of Tanya, but Kate got sick. You met them. Well, Tanya was in the back passenger seat. Her dad was driving. They were out planning Irina's wedding. Some guy lost control of his car in the snow and hit them. Her mom died on the spot. Her dad and her both made it to the hospital, but ended up dying a few days later. On Christmas day two-thousand-one."

"Edward." I didn't know what else to say. I pulled him to me, wrapping him tightly in my arms.

He sucked in a deep, ragged breath. "It's okay, Bella. Since her, I haven't felt alive, that was until you. You breathed life into me, something I had been missing for the last eleven years." He ran the back of his fingertips along the side of my face. "I don't want to lose you, Bella."

"I don't want to lose you either." I inched forward, unsure if he would want to kiss me with his daughter just outside, but he met me in the middle, placing his hand behind my head.

Our kiss was deep, but full of all the emotions that were spinning around between us. We broke apart, resting our foreheads on the others.

The door to the balcony popped open. "Get a room you two!" Sophia called, giggling. "Dad, can you take me to Shauna's? Her mom said I can stay the night."

Edward gave me a squeeze before letting me go. "I can't pick you up in the morning. Is she okay with you staying the day?"

"Yeah, or she can bring me home. Can I go? Please?" I looked to Sophia and she winked at me. This kid deserved more credit that Edward gave her.

"I could always pick her up," I said, very quietly, but wanting to help. Thinking that Edward had been doing this alone for so long tugged at me. He was like my dad. Devoted his life to his child.

"You have to work too. You have to work earlier than me for that matter," he said, smiling. "You can go, Soph. Give me a few to say bye and I'll take you."

Edward shuffled his feet at the door, not wanting to go. As much as I didn't want him to go either, I also wanted time to process everything he shared with me. I knew no matter how much thought I put into this all, he wasn't someone I was willing to give up – no matter what.