Seven months, seven whole months without him. Or Jake for that matter, or worse then him Alice and Rosalie. Seven months alone. Seven months of Charlie's annoyingly probing stares.

"Damn it Isabella! What on earth happened?" Charlie burst out during our breakfast. "You haven't seen any of your friends for seven whole months Bella! Not only them but Jake. Or for that matter Edward Masen. The way you carried on when he left for Europe and then when you found out that they said he was dead, I would have figured that I would have had to pry you away from his side with a wrench!"

I shrunk back into my chair away from his anger. His words unknowingly poured salt into an opened wound.

"Bella," he started again softly, "honey. I love you and can't stand to see you this way. Tell me what happened. What about Jake you two seemed to be getting close to each other? Or Alice Brandon and Rosalie McCarty?"

Jake's face the last time I saw him burned my eyes. The look said one thing betrayal. "They wouldn't want to see me Father. Any of them especially not Jake or," I passed to take a calming breath, "Mr. Masen." I closed my eyes against the onslaught of tears threatening to spill as I spoke his name. The image of his face burned worse then Jake's because it was his face burning with betrayal and anger and worst yet sadness.

Charlie sighed and got up from his chair. "Oh by the way you have a letter here it arrived early this morning." He looked at me one last time, "Well I have to go to work. Be good, go outside, do something." I thought I heard him mumble something about it being better when I was a nurse.

I got up slowly to do the dishes the letter was calling to me. Who would send me a letter? No one wanted to talk to me, not that I could blame them after the things I said. So it couldn't be anything important. Yet it still called to me. After finishing the dishes, I slowly picked up the envelope the writing immediately drew my attention. It was from Rose! I ripped it open to reveal an invitation and a short note.

My Dearest Bella,

I would understand if you were still angry with me. But Emmet and I would love for you to be our first child's, John Brandon McCarty, god mother. I realize that it is a lot to ask of you with our estranged relationship. But I still thin of you as a dearest friend and couldn't bring myself to trust anyone else with this responsibility. Because I know that you will love him as your own, if you would like to meet him. Please come to our party for him, whether you agree to it or not, I still want to see you desperately.

Love your friend forever,

Rosalie Lillian McCarty

The invitation was for a party in one week so their friends could meet their baby. I hadn't even known she was pregnant. It's amazing she still wants to be my friend even after what I said to her! I dropped the letter and ran out the door towards her house. I made it to the corner of her street before it started to rain and rain hard. By the time I got to her door I was soaked to the bone, though I couldn't bring myself to care. The whole time there it was amazing that I had only fallen once. At her door I knocked and tried vehemently not to look like a wet dog. A large man opened the door, whom I could only guess was her husband Emmet.

"May I help you, Miss? If you're looking for shelter there's a hospital a block done I could drive you there if you would like." He said. It looked as if he was trying not to laugh.

"Oh! I'm sorry my name is Isabella Swan, I'm a friend of Rosalie's. She sent me a letter today. I just have to see her. I'm terribly sorry for they way I look but you see I just ran out of my house and-"

"Hold it there! It's aright all you had to say is you were here for Rosie. Unfortunately she's out right now, visiting her parents. But she should be back soon." He said quickly interrupting my rant.

"Oh, I'm sorry to have bothered you would you tell her I came by." I whispered looking down. I started to walk away.

"Hey I didn't say you had to leave squirt. Why don't you come in and get dried off? You can wait for her here. I want to get to know the woman Rose says is the perfect god mother for my son." He chuckled and pulled me inside. After shutting the door he stared at my sodden look. "Hm. Let's figure out how to get you upstairs so you can change, wouldn't want you to catch a cold." He had his finger tapping his chin as he paced back and forth in front of my place in the entry way.

I burst out laughing he just looked so comical standing there, then the whole situation of my running nearly a mile in the rain to see Rose who wasn't even here. He stopped and looked at me then started to laugh as well. I don't know how long we stood there staring at each other and laughing but it most have been awhile since my teeth started to chatter.

"I got it!" he yelled jumping up and down like a five year old. "Now don't get mad or hit me or anything, but Rose'll skin me alive if I let you get the carpet wet and dirty." Then he did the most unexpected thing in the world, picked me up and carried me up the steps.

"What are you doing?!" I nearly yelled. "This isn't appropriate!"

"It's the only way I can figure out. If I let you sit there soaking wet Rose would have killed me but if I got the carpet dirty she would have killed me, so we both win now." He set me down in the bath room. "There. Now hold on one minute while I find something for you to wear, and a towel, or two." He chuckled as he walked out.

A few minutes later he came back carrying some warm fluffy towels and a robe. "Sorry about the clothes but that's all I could find you're a lot shorter then Rose."

"Thank you . You didn't have to do this."

"How'd you know my name? I never introduced myself."

"I figured that you had to be Emmet from the way she described you and the picture she showed me."

"Ah. Well I'll leave you to it." He said and walked away.

It took some effort to get the sodden clothes off then even more effort to try and warm up. What are the odds that I would get stuck in a summer pop up? It'd be just my rotten luck to catch a cold as well. I sighed, but it was worth it. I hadn't had this much fun in ages and ages. Finally after drying I put the rob on, it was still to long for me and not appropriate for me to be wearing in the presence of a man that was not my husband. But it was all I had. Slowly I walked down the steps and found Emmet in the living room with a fire made and blankets.

"Here, sit down on that couch and you'll get the most heat." After I sat down he piled the blankets on top of me.

"Thank you so much Mr. McCarty. You didn't have to do any of this." I smiled at him.

"First off it's Emmet. Second of course I did any friend of Rosie's is a friend of mine. And I think this is the start of a great friendship." He smiled and slid down into a chair.

"Then call me Bella. And I couldn't agree more." I paused and looked around me, "What were you doing before I showed up looking half drowned?"

"Actually I was calling Mr. Cullen. He's a buddy of mine, well my brother-in-law. He is supposed to be coming by along with his girl. They were going to entertain me. Especially Alice, that's his girl."

"Alice is coming here?!" I squeaked.

"You know Alice? Well that makes things easier."

"I also know Jasper, we are all great friends, or were. I don't know if Alice will want to see me." I sighed, tears came to my eyes.

"Why not?"

"I told her and Rose I hated them and never wanted to see them again. It wasn't true I was just angry at myself and hurt! I could never hate them!" I sobbed.

"Hey, hey. It's alright Bella. Please don't cry. Please! I know they don't hate you! I'm so stupid for not making the connection, of you being the Bella Swan. They both will be so happy to see you, you'll wish them gone again. Shh, don't cry squirt, it's alright." He came over and gave me a big bear hug.

"Cant—breath!"

"Oh sorry! But don't worry!"

"Thank you Emmet, you're sweeter then I expected." I smiled at him. He only gave a loud laugh.

"Well thanks squirt!" he got up and went back to his chair. "So um, not to pry or anything, and you don't have to say anything I just want to know if I need to hurt someone. What happened with Edward Masen?"

It felt like I was being stabbed as he said his name, how stupid of me to forget that he was a friend of Edward's. "Umm, well, he…I." I paused to take a deep breath you have to get over this Bella, he's not coming back this time. He doesn't love you anymore. "After I found out he was dead, well months after, a friend of mine, Jacob Black, started to come by and visit me and take me places. I always thought of it as just a friendship, the night before Edward came home, he proposed to me. I hadn't given him an answer, I knew what I would end up saying but I couldn't bring myself to loose him as well. SO I told him to let me think on it. I suppose he took that as a definite yes to his answer. The next morning when Edward came to the door I was expecting Jake. It was like a dream come true seeing him there, in the flesh. The love of my life, was back from the grave." I stopped to gather breath; I was in close danger of sobbing. Saying this story felt like knives were stabbing my entire body repeatedly. In fact I think I would have taken the knives to this pain.

"Bella you don't have to continue if you don't want to I should never have pried." Emmet said softly.

"No I need to say this, I need to get over it. I can't live as a recluse forever." I paused again, "He proposed to me right then and there, I still have his ring." I pulled out the ring I wore on a chain. "I know I shouldn't have it, that I should give it back to him but I can't bring myself to do it. Anyway, I of course without a moments thought said yes, even with thought I would say yes to him. I would do whatever it was he wanted of me without thinking twice about it. But Jake came right then and saw me with Edward, not only saw me with Edward saw me kissing Edward. It wasn't like he didn't know about my love for Edward, but I think it broke his heart seeing that. When I saw him I ran to him and tried to talk to him but he wouldn't let me explain.

"When I got back to Edward with tears in my eyes, I think he thought I was untrue to him. He yelled at me, and left, walked away without looking back to me. I have lost him three times and this time I won't get another miracle. When Alice and Rosalie found me on the porch they made me tea. After they told me they knew he was alive I got angry, and blamed them for the whole situation. For the past seven months I have spent all of my time mourning for it all." Try as I may a few tears escaped, "I am so stupid!"

"Aw, Bells you are anything but stupid. Anyone would have acted like that and Edward is a stubborn ass, excuse my French, for doing that to you. He should have known, in fact he did know that you knew he was dead. I mean after he figured out who you were. He is the stupid one for getting mad at you. Trust me." Emmet said softly while looking into my eyes.

It was impossible to doubt his sincerity, he meant every word that he said to me and always would I think. "You're a good man Emmet, a very good one."

He laughed again, "Thank my momma for that! She all but skinned me for being anything but that." I laughed at his horror struck face.

Someone knocked on the door in the middle of our laughter, "I'll go get that stay here. I don't want you to get sick, I'd hate to see what Rose'd do to me." He shook his head frightened, which made me laugh all the harder. Who would have thought that this big, no huge man would be terrified of his mother and of his wife? No I couldn't blame him for being scared of Rose. She could be very terrifying.

"Emmet McCarty how do you have in there? Who?" I could hear Alice's voice yell. I wanted to get up and run to her so badly, but seeing the state I was in probably wouldn't help wither of us out.

"Ow! Alice stop it! That hurts! Alice ow! Go look for yourself. It was this beggar woman that came to the door I was being nice." He said.

I laughed imagining his face and then Alice's livid one.

"Bella?! Isabella Marie Swan is that you I hear in there?!" She yelled running into the room.

"Hi Alice." I said sheepishly.

She screamed and the next thing I knew she was on top of me hugging the life out of me, "Oh Bella I am so sorry! Please forgive me for not telling you it was a huge mistake I should have just told you! Please tell me you don't hate me I can't live without you! Life isn't fun anymore. I can't even shop!" she said this all so fast I had to really listen to catch it all.

"OH Alice! I've missed you so much! It was my fault, I shouldn't have gotten mad at you and Rose! Please forgive me!"

Soon both of us were crying and hugging each other, then we were laughing at our own foolishness. "Bella what happened to your clothes? And why in God's name is there a fire in July?"

"I got caught out in the rain, coming to visit Rose." I said laughing.

"What will I do with you?" she paused and looked at Emmet, "And you! How could you not tell me immediately that Bella was here?! I am so going to tell Rose!"

Emmet looked sick to his stomach.