Bella woke up to the sun shining brightly down on her face. She could feel Paul's arm sprung across her body. Bella laid there, allowing Paul to remain as he was and instead, she thought about what happened the previous night. The one thing that she is certain of, is that Paul and his friends are shape-shifters, meaning her twins will be shape-shifters one day, too. The other thing she has to think about is the fact that Paul is her soul-mate. She's still coming to terms about that.

This is the first morning in about a month where Bella didn't feel like she needed to throw up. She glanced in Paul's direction, which is still unconscious. Bella got up carefully so that she didn't wake him up, and went to go back breakfast. She walked into the kitchen, opened the fridge and took out some eggs and bacon.

Bella got everything prepared to cook, but before she could even put the first piece of bacon onto the frying pan, she felt two warm, strong arms snake themselves around her waist.

"I smell bacon." He muttered into her ear, still half-asleep.

Bella smiled. "I haven't even started cooking yet."

He kissed the side of her head. "I have sensitive senses. Some of the perks of being a shape-shifter."

"Wait, so you all have sensitive hearing?" Bella asked, frowning in wonder. There was so much she needed to know.

He half-grinned. "Yeah, we can hear from miles away. Let me show you." Paul walked over to the window and stuck his head out. "BACON!" He yelled at the top of his lungs and poked his head back in, shutting the window.

"What are you doing?" She queried.

"Just wait for it." He winked, counting down on his right hand from five to one. When his fingers curled down and only in finger remained, the door flew open. Marching in was Embry, Jared, Seth, Ben and Quil.

"Jesus, that was fast." Bella acknowledged in amusement.

"Everything about us is enhanced. You have to love that." Paul smiled.

"So where's the bacon?!" Seth asked, impatiently.

"I still have to cook it." Bella told them, and all their faces fell.

Paul put his arms around Jared and Ben. "Come on, guys. Let's clean out the guest room. It's going to be the twin's room and by the time we are done, the food will be ready." Bella nodded in confirmation.

"Ugh!" Quil groaned. "I knew there wasn't going to be free bacon!"

Ben sighed. "It's never free. We always have to work for it."

Sighing, all of them left the kitchen and went straight to the guest room. Despite being a little disappointed that there wasn't free bacon, they weren't going to pass up the opportunity for bacon anyway. Paul gave Bella a kiss on the cheek before following them.

After Bella made French toast, bacon and eggs, the boys still weren't finished cleaning to room yet. So, she got a plate out of herself and sat outside. She sat on the swing and thought about the upcoming family dinner that she didn't really talk to Paul about yet. She knew she could make him go because he would do anything for her, but she didn't want to discuss about her family anyway.

"What are you up to, my little gummy bear?" Embry asked, both Ben and Embry joining her on the porch with a plate of food.

"I thought you were helping with the room?"

"Oh, we're done. They're in there talking about what Paul wants to do with the room." Ben said, sitting next to Bella.

"Yeah, he wanted to make it bigger. Hey, is Paul good with people?" She asked them. Both of them stared at her incredulously. "Yeah," She sighed. "that's what I thought."

"Why did you ask?" Embry inquired.

"My family are having a dinner thing tomorrow night and they want to meet the father of my children." Bella half-whispered.

"Well, you'd have better luck taking me or Ben here and pretend that one of us is Paul." Embry laughed, biting into the toast.

"What about Paul's business? I mean, he has to be nice to people in order to have clients." Bella pointed out.

"Yeah, but he only does that for the money. Another big thing here is that you're his mate. If your family says the wrong thing or makes fun of you, they're as good as gone." Ben said, shoveling an egg into his mouth.

"I wouldn't mind him doing that to my dad, actually."

Embry and Ben stared at her like she had lost her mind.

"What?! My father and I don't get along, okay?"

"If you hate your old man so much, why bother going?" Embry queried.

"Because I told Mia that I would." She groaned. "I so wished I hadn't done that."

"Why don't you guys get along anyway?" Ben asked.

Bella sighed and shook her head. "He wanted me to be something that I wasn't. I think he wanted me to be more like my mom. He wanted me to find a rich guy who could take care of me."

"Oh, so you have mommy and daddy issues, huh?" Everybody's eyes turned towards Paul and Jared, who were both standing in the doorway with their plates of food.

"I-I never knew my mother." Bella stammered.

"Why?" Paul asked, sitting next to her.

"When I was baby, she brought me back home with a note tucked in my carrier saying she didn't want anything to do with me. I guess she didn't really care anymore."

"How can someone do that to a baby?" Jared asked, angrily.

Bella looked away. "I don't know. I think that's why my dad hates me so much. Before he got married to Angela's mom, he was busy with his contracting business. He never had time for me." Bella looked back at Paul, to see that his eyes were red.

"Wait, your dad owns a contracting business? What's the name of it?" Quil questioned.

"Swan Counteract. Why?" They all groaned a few broke into minor chuckles. "What?"

"Your old man hates us, gummy bear." Embry said. Bella frowned.

"Well, hates Sam, mostly." Jared interjected.

"Why?" Bella asked.

"Uley Counteracting. Does that ring a bell in that pretty little head of yours?" Jared informed.

Then it hit her like a ton of bricks. Sam was the guy who kept taking contracts away from her father around the reservation and the rest of the area. In fact, he took most of the jobs away from him. For years, Sam was her hero because he made her father's like a living hell - something she thought he deserved.

"Oh my god, I think this is the best day of my entire life!" Bella squealed. Paul narrowed his eyes. "Angela and I always wanted to meet the guys that pissed off my dad better than we ever can."

They laughed. "Well, he lives four houses down the road." Quil smirked.

"Wait, why are we talking about your dad anyway?" Paul asked.

Bella sighed. She knew she had to tell him at some point.

"I have a family dinner tomorrow night. They want to meet you." She said, silently pleading for him to just play along.

"Do I have to, baby? I'm not good with meeting people's families."

"Please? if you don't, it would be like me going into a room of lions wearing Lady Gaga's meat dress."

He heavily sighed. "Fine, but if your dad says anything to piss me off, we are leaving."

"You're not going to have enough time to even get to the table." Embry teased.

"Fuck that. More like two minutes, they probably won't even make it to the door." Seth added, laughing hysterically.

After they all finished breakfast and had finished cleaning up, the guys left to get things ready for the bonfire for that evening. Bella really couldn't wait. She had never been to a bonfire and been around all the werewolves all at once.

Bella was ready to get into the shower when her cell phone started to ring. She looked at the caller ID and picked up.

Crap, Bella thought. I can't tell her about the werewolves. Shit. Fuck, I'm a horrific liar!

"Hey, Ang, what's up?" Bella asked, trying desperately to sound fine.

"Sup, my little slut? Everything's good."

"I'm fine, to. Better than fine, great, even."

"Uh-huh," Bella could practically hear Angela roll her eyes. "what's really going on? You sound nervous.

"It's nothing, really. Nothing's wrong." That's when Bella's voice jumped an octave.

"Wait, I bet you I know what's up. You told Paul about the family dinner and he doesn't want to go, right?"

Bella sighed. "Yeah...at first. I practically begged him to come and thankfully he caved."

"Good!"

"So why did you call?"

"I just wanted to see how you were doing. It's not like I can walk down the hall and check on you anymore."

"Yeah," Bella acknowledged. "I remember when I could just shout and you'd come running."

"Remember that I'm coming next week and staying with you for seven days!" Angela squealed, excitedly.

"I can't wait."

Fuck, how am I supposed to cover up the secret for a whole week? Bella thought, internally sighing.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow night. I love you."

"We love you too, Ang."

Bella abruptly hung up the phone and closed her eyes. She hated lying to Angela like that. Technically, it wasn't lying. She just didn't tell her the entire truth. And they never lied to each other, not even if it hurt the other. Yet, there Bella was, hiding a huge secret. It isn't her secret to tell...is it?

After a few minutes of deep thinking in the shower, she stepped out and got dressed. After changing, a wave of exhaustion overwhelmed her and she decided to lie down and take a nap. The next thing she knew, she was being woken up by a soaking wet Paul, wearing a small towel wrapped around his waist. Bella bit her bottom lip as she shamefully ogled his body.

Calm down, Bella, get a hold of yourself...oh fuck, who am I kidding? Damn, I'd tap that ass so hard. Bella thought.

"Hey, it's time to wake up. The bonfire's going to start soon." Paul told her.

"Why are you all wet?" Bella asked, still half-asleep.

Paul frowned. "I just took a shower. I had patrol, remember? I didn't want to smell bad tonight."

Bella was still too distracted staring at his body to even listen to what he had to say. Her mouth hung open slightly. She did, however, hear him laugh.

"What are you staring at, sweetie?" He asked.

Bella forced her eyes to look elsewhere but she was dazed. "Oh, um, uh nothing. I was just trying to wake myself up."

She climbed off the bed right as Paul walked up to her. He pulled her into his arms and spun her around, so that her back was pressed up against him. "Baby, there's not point in lying. I can smell you anyway." He murmured into his ear, sending shivers down her spine.

He trailed kisses up the length of Bella's neck and playfully nipped at her earlobe before turning her around again to kiss her lips. The kiss was soft and gently, but as impatient as they were, it turned into a passionate, hungry kiss. Bella's hands found their way to his chest and snaked themselves around his neck, her hands knotting themselves into his slightly damp, black hair.

Paul swiftly picked her up and placed her back down onto the bed, his right leg between both of hers. He kissed her neck, kissing and sucking it gently. Bella could feel Paul's hardness pressed against her through the towel. Paul helped Bella take off her shirt and threw it onto the floor. His hands selfishly caressed her body and travelled up, his thumb teasing her hard nipples that were hiding behind her bra. Bella moaned softly. She really couldn't believe that Paul was hers. Bella pulled Paul's towel away from him and immediately took him in her hands. He groaned and thrust slightly. Suddenly, Paul jumped off of her, growling. Accidentally, he pushed her off the bed and onto the clothes. Instinctively, she grabbed her shirt and pulled it over her head.

"Paul, what the fuck!" She yelled.

"Those motherfucking cockblock-" He was cut off by Embry and Ben kicking down the bedroom door.

"Oh fuck, Paul, put something on!" Embry shouted, covering his eyes.

"Why don't you get out of my damn house?!" Paul hissed, putting pants on.

"Sam sent us to get you and Bella and we just wanted to see if we could hitch a ride?" Ben asked, hopefully.

"Wait, where's gummy bear?" Embry interrupted.

Bella shot her arm up, revealing her location.

"Oh!" Embry and Ben said in unison. "Sorry, man, we didn't know."

"Yeah, right you could hear us, you fucking assholes." Paul cursed.

"Is it even safe for the pups if you have sex?" Ben quizzed.

"Yes!" Bella yelled, frustrated.

"Okay then...come on, Embry, let them dress up. We'll be waiting for both of you in the truck." Ben said, pulling Embry out of the room.

Bella heard the front door closed before getting to her feet. She looked at Paul, who, unfortunately, had his pants on.

"Well, that was fun, wasn't it?"

"One thing you should know is that the guys who don't have sex do not knock on doors. That's why they love to cockblock the ones that do."

"Why?"

"Because we are family." He laughed. "We are one big family. We like to pull jokes on each other. I remember this one time, Sam, Jared and I duct taped Seth and Embry to a tree while they were sleeping." He smiled.

"Wow." Bella commented, putting her clothes on. Bella sighed, not really wanting to have clothes on. Paul wrapped his arms around her and kissed the side of her face.

"This is not over. When we get back, we'll have our fun." Paul said, making Bella grin.

When they all arrived at the beach, all of them were already there. The music was playing, the kids were running around and the food was already cooked. They walked over to where the others were standing.

"Hi Bella!" Emily greeted, hugging her tightly.

"Sorry, she had a little bit to drink before we got here." Sam excused his wife's too-friendly actions.

"Brings back memories, doesn't it, Bells?" Jacob teased.

"Ha ha, you are so funny." Bella smacked him. It actually hurt her more than it hurt him, but she pretended it didn't.

"How are the pups doing?" Liz asked, touching Bella's baby bump.

'They are doing well, but I feel like eating all the time. It's annoying." Bella complained.

"Well, ladies, we will let you socialize. We men are going to get more beer and talk about how you all get on our nerves." Jared said, walking off.

"Men," Bella sighed. "you can barely live with them. And it sucks because it's illegal to kill them..." Bella said, making all the girls laugh.

"We heard that!" The guys shouted in unison.

"Crap, forgot about the hearing." Bella said.

"Don't worry, it will take a little time to get used to it, honey." Liz draped an arm around her.

"So, Bella, how did it go last night?" Emily asked.

"It went okay. He told me I was his imprint."

"How did that go?" Kim asked.

"I told him I needed time to wrap my head around it."

"We were all like that except for Kim. She was in love with Jared since she was ten." Emily giggled.

"Really?" Bella asked.

"I guess I always had a thing for boneheads, but he never talked to me. Until we were sixteen and he was pushed into my locker. Then he stared at me for a while. I had no idea why, but afterwards he asked me out on a date and I said yes. We've been together ever since." Kim told her.

"Wow, I guess this imprint thing is bigger than I thought it was."

"It's a pain in the ass!" Emily shouted, who started to sound drunker than she did ten minutes ago.

"Sam imprinted on her when he was still dating her cousin, Leah." Liz explained.

Bella pursed her lips. "I'm guessing it didn't go well."

"Not really, but everything fine now. Leah met a guy and they have a family, so everyone's getting along again." Lilly replied.

"This imprint thing is a pain in everyone's ass." Kim sighed.

"For the guys, too?" Bella queried.

"They hate it the most. They go from thinking about themselves and others, to putting this random girl they just met at the top of the list." Liz interjected.

"Yeah, plus they can't have a real relationship with a girl because they might imprint at a random time. That will end up really badly if they don't imprint on the person they are in a relationship with. On top of that, they don't even know if she will say yes or not after they tell them that they are soul mates."

"Wow, I never thought of it like that." Bella stared down at the sand.

"Yeah, Paul was like a lost puppy dog when he couldn't find you at first. He went up to that bar every night to find you. Sam, Jared and him took days off to go up and look for you."

Bella pressed her lips together. She had been trying so hard to not go back to that bar, because she didn't want to face the man who's also the father of her children. And she never realized that he was desperate to find her. She really needed to talk to him about the imprint thing.

Bella excused herself and went to look for Paul. She saw him talking to the guys and walked up to him.

"Hey sweetie, did you get bored with the girls already?" He asked, taking a sip of beer.

"I kind of need to talk to you for a minute. Come and take a walk with me?" She asked.

He nodded and took her hand. They walked along the shoreline until they came across a very large rock to sit on. He sat down and pulled her onto his lap.

"What's going on, baby?" He inquired.

"What happened during the month that you couldn't find me?" She started.

He frowned and stared off into the ocean, remembering the experience.

"That was hell on Earth for me. Bella, I could sense when you were mad, sad and happy. I could feel your pain from so far away...and I couldn't help you. I was ready to go door to door just to find you. Then the day you came to my work, I felt a sense of relief and I knew it was you. It felt like the missing part to my puzzle has been found." He explained, trying to find the right words to use.

"I'm sorry. I know why were you were so upset and I'm sorry for last night...I shouldn't have reacted like that. I never thought about how you would feel about all this." Bella began to cry quietly.

"Bella, look at me. This is a lot to take in. I told you I would wait for you to make up your mind and if you don't want me, then we will just be friends. But I will always be there for you and our babies no matter what."

She looked into his eyes, and then it all tied together. She felt that special feeling...the feeling where you have your life together and the perfect person to share it with. She felt complete.

"I'm sorry, now I know why you were so upset and I'm sorry for last night. I shouldn't have acted like that. I never thought how you felt about all of this." Bella started to cry.

"Paul?"

"Yes, baby?"

"Thank you for not pressuring me."

Paul grinned. "I will never do anything you don't want me to do. I won't make you do anything you don't want to do. When you're ready, I'll be there for you."

She could tell Paul was going to say something else, but she decided against asking. She wanted to cherish this moment - both of them under the orange and pink evening sky.

This is how she wanted life to be.


Edited and Beta'd by: Moriarty's Diary

HEy guys, I hope you like and thank you for reading.