Once again, I don't own the characters. They belong to SM.

I walked to the door with thrill rushing through my veins. My heart was racing and I could almost swear there was beads of sweat on my forehead. My feet couldn't move quick enough as I boosted my walk to a power walk. After what felt like an eternity, the cool feeling of round metal was in my palm as I grabbed hold of the doorknob and turned it.

"Hi! Welcome! Come on in!" I greeted to Anya and her family. At first sight of her family, I was relieved. They looked like us, normal. There wasn't any sign of being a loon or serial killer. They were conventional.

"Hi, Bella!" Anya greeted with a cheery voice. She breezed past me in her brightly colored floral print sundress, her small family close behind. Her smile was as big as mine was. The smile put me at ease.

"Of course you know the kids, Kate and Garrett." She continued. How could I forget them? The vividly blonde hair, piercing blue eyes, pout-shaped lips, small nose, I couldn't forget it. Then again, I couldn't lie to myself either. Neither held a candle to Claire.

"And this," she said as she put her arm around the tall, handsome man standing next to her, "is my husband, Edward." I could've picked him out to be the father of their children in a heartbeat. They were literally the spitting image of him. He wasn't all that much, either. Sure, he looked about 6' tall, had golden locks of hair, and eyes as blue as the ocean, but something about him just didn't appeal to me. Maybe it was the way his red polo he wore with the khakis just didn't work for his pale color. He definitely needed some sun.

I held out my hand to shake his, and at the touch of our fingertips against eachother, an electric current broke throughout both of our bodies, igniting fires neither of us could comprehend. We both sat for what seemed like an eternity, confused in the electric jolt.

"I can see why you get the question about your kids a lot," I joked to her, trying to get the conversation back on track. While she laughed, I took the time to analyze her features. She was right, though. The kids have nothing from her. Perhaps it was a good thing. Anya wasn't exactly the most attractive person. She had some great attributes that I didn't have, mainly a butt and breasts. However, her dark brown hair didn't suit her shade of olive skin, which was covered in freckles. Her brown eyes looked more like beads, they were small and sinister-looking. Her lips were thin and faint and her nose reminded me of Michael Jackson. However, out of all that, I couldn't take my eyes off of her teeth. The very least she could've done was brush them, though that wouldn't help straighten them in any way, shape, or form. Regardless of physical features, though, this was my potentially new friend. I needed to keep it that way.

"I wasn't kidding, but I promise they're mine!" She joked back. She poked an uncomfortable looking Edward to get him to release a chuckle. It sounded forced, but at least he made a sound.

"This," I began as I led them into the living room, "is my husband, Jacob." As soon as Jacob and Anya locked eyes, a mass of emotions filled the air. Tension, rage, frustration, sorrow, it could all be felt at once. It was overwhelming, like someone sitting on your chest while you were trying to breathe.

"Jacob," I said, trying to break the obviously bad atmosphere, "this is Anya, Edward, Kate, and Garrett. Everyone, this is Claire." The gaze between Jacob and Anya broke and the atmosphere lifted. It was easier to breathe, easier to speak, easier to feel a bit more comfortable. Finally, I could heave a sigh of relief that things began to look a bit smoother for the night.

I sent the kids into the spare bedroom, soon to be the nursery but for now holding out as a play room, left Edward in the living room with Jacob, who was watching a baseball game, and took Anya into the kitchen with me so I could make the finishing touches on dinner. I drained the noodles, pulled out the garlic bread, and began mixing the alfredo sauce with the noodles before Anya spoke.

"Your house is amazing! Far better than ours." Anya talked while spinning circles, looking around in every direction. Her inspecting was interrupted by a howl from the living room.

"That was safe!"

"He didn't touch the base!"

"I bet you're one of those people that tries to triple stamp a double stamp, too!"

"What are you talking about?!"

"Dumb and Dumber!"

"Oh."

Anya and I looked at each other and laughed. Jacob was notorious for his yelling at the television during game time, but I'd never heard him yelling with anyone else. I'm sure it was normal, but I could almost make out real resentment in his voice. I asked Anya to get the guys and the kids as I set the table for us to eat. We all sat, served ourselves, and began conversation.

"So, Edward," I initiated, "where do you work? Anya said you have a pretty hectic schedule." I really tried to make it seem like I was interested, but you could clearly tell that it was a painstaking attempt at small talk, just one step above talking about the weather.

"Oh," replied Edward as I caught him off guard. "I work on a lot of boats on the river. I'm gone a lot of the time. It sucks, but the pay is good." He paused to take a bite of his dinner. "This is really good pasta. Two thumbs up, even."

"He's not one for two thumbs. Usually he sticks to one." Anya explained. I was grateful that she did.

"Jacob works on a lot of airplanes, checking the breaks and such. He tried to be the person who shot chickens at the window, but apparently that was full." That got a laugh, but it was the truth. Jacob tried the easiest route first, but when that didn't work out he found a well-paying job and took that.

"So, is Jacob gone a lot, too?" Anya asked me with a twinge of something in her voice that I couldn't quite put my finger on. Her eyes seemed to shift back and forth between me and Jacob many times, but I figured she was still trying to get comfortable in the surroundings.

"Yeah," I replied. "You would think that they'd keep him stationary most of the time, but he does a lot of business trips and long days. It really cuts down our time as a family." I looked at Jacob. He locked eyes with me momentarily before dropping them to his plate as he filled his mouth with colossal bites of food.

"Oh?" Anya responded, seeming somewhat curious. "That must be hard on you guys. How do you keep it going through all of that? I know we've had some rough times. Actually, we were just on the brink of divorce not to long ago. How do you..well..do it? Isn't there some sort of trust issue there? Any sort of doubts between each other?" As she was speaking, she looked into my eyes with a cold, piercing stare. Something about it seemed so evil, but I couldn't place my finger on it.

"I trust Jacob with my life. I have no reason to doubt him. I never will. He has free reign to do what he pleases, but he knows the boundaries and I trust him to keep his vows to me. It's that simple." My reply seemed so bland and textbook. I couldn't barely get anything but that out with Anya looking at me the way she was. I shifted my eyes from her stare to my food, realizing that I barely touched it since we had began talking.

I began eating small bites, but I could feel Anya's eyes bore into my head. The feeling put knots in my stomach, but I kept trying to eat. Every now and then, I'd glance at the children for a smile. They would eat, alright, but not without putting the noodles on top of their heads. Every now and then, they looked like dreadlocks. Either way, they were very content with eating on their own, which just made it even harder for me to pay attention to them without looking like I was trying to keep out of an awkward conversation.

"Jacob? You're not talking much. What's wrong?" I asked in a state of confusion. I really didn't get it. Usually, Jacob would at least attempt some small talk to humor me. Tonight, he was being uncomfortably silent at dinner.

"Oh, it's nothing," he replied. "I've got a ton of stuff going on with work. It's been pretty hectic lately. They're talking about another business trip and I'm trying to make sure I don't have to go. I need to be here to help you get ready for the new baby."

Jacob's voice filled my ears like velvet, once again reminding me how lucky I was to have a husband as caring as he. Though we hit a huge rut, he was still there somewhere, the man I married.

"Jacob, if you have to go then you have to go. It's just part of the job description." I know my voice was understanding, but it always tore me apart inside when I knew he had to leave. Anya was right. It was hard. It wasn't so much the trust part, but the rules. Jacob insisted that I stayed at home because of the men that lived around us. He always told me that he trusted me, but not them. I never understood that, but I obliged so we wouldn't argue over anything. It was tough, but I managed. After all, I was his wife.

Jacob smiled at me with warmth behind it.

"I don't get why you're always so understanding about this. I can't for the life of me begin to know why you stick around. I'm sorry you're left alone a lot." He looked at me with sheer sorrow, like he was apologizing for something more. Something, but I had no idea what about.

"Oh gosh, you guys are like a Hallmark movie!" I had totally forgotten Anya was there in our mushy, gushy dialogue. I felt bad that I was ignoring her, but something in her voice made me not feel TOO badly. I hated that I couldn't pick up on any of this.

"Oh, sorry Anya! I'm being rude." I apologized to her. I really did feel bad that I wasn't acknowledging her being there.

"No, no it's okay. I like seeing this. Maybe this is what me and Edward need, some more open communication. I love how you and Jacob are so open about things." There it was. That certain change in her voice. It drove me up a wall.

Dinner after that was simple and sweet, full of conversations between all of us ranging from the kids to what was new in the theaters. It went on for about an hour, but I could never get the knots out of my stomach. Something wasn't right, but I tried to keep myself oblivious.

Once everyone was finished, Edward excused himself to have a cigarette. The kids went back to the toy room to play. Jacob helped me bring all the dishes into the kitchen. Anya waited in the living room with the television turned on, watching some sort of reality show. I began cleaning up and Jacob joined Anya in the living room to watch some television.

"Pssst!" I heard from behind the kitchen door. I jumped. That was not what I was expecting.

"Come here for a second. I need to talk to you about something." The voice said. I looked out the window and felt foolish. It was Edward.

I opened the door and a cool, soft, April breeze welcomed me outside. The smell of fresh cut grass filled the sweet, night air and I took it all in. I could never get used to this.

"Listen," Edward began in a slight whisper. "I don't know if you were picking up on the weird feelings at dinner tonight, but I was."

"Well, yes, I did feel something odd. I just don't know what it was." So I wasn't the only one. Someone else had felt it, too. That's good. Maybe I'm not being paranoid.

"You need to keep an eye on Jacob. Really. I know you guys trust each other and that's all fine and dandy, but at the end of the night when he's not home, you don't know if he's gone or not, do you?" Edward's voice was full of concern.

"Well," I replied, "no..I guess I don't. It's all paid for on a company card, so I never see the bills. All I know is that he has to travel a lot and I understand that. I'm not just going to jump all over him because he has to leave." I was beginning to get a little offended. Edward just met us tonight. How dare he say things like this!

"Okay, I know I'm sounding rude, but please hear me out." His eyes were filled with pleading. He wasn't trying to be obnoxious.

"I'm listening," I told him. I really was listening, but I was growing a bit impatient.

"Anya has been acting really off the past few months. She used to be friends with a lot of the women from around here, but then it seemed like out of no where they began to shun her. Hell, they don't even talk to me anymore. Not even their husbands! They just look at me like they feel sorry for me. I didn't think anything of it until I found our last phone bill in the trash. It was almost $1,000! I tried looking up all our information online, but our passwords were all changed. I had them E-mail me a new password, but when I tried logging into our E-mail account, THAT password was changed, too." He stopped to take a drag of his cigarette. "And now Anya won't even come out for a cigarette with me. She's too busy with her damn cell phone, texting all the time and talking to someone when she thinks I'm asleep."

"So, what are you getting at?" I asked Edward. I was still impatient, but I couldn't help that my curiosity was peaked.

"I think Anya is cheating on me." Edward told me with tears in his eyes.

"Oh, that's too bad!" I said, placing a hand on his shoulder. I never knew how to act in these situations. I'm potentially the worst woman as far as affection with adults goes.

"That's not the worst part, Bella." His voice was shaking.

"Okay," I said. "So, what's up?"

"Haven't you seen the way she was looking at your husband? Didn't you notice the tension between her and Jacob? I had suspicions before that she was cheating on me with some men from the neighborhood, but recently she's been a lot more thorough with everything. When I'm gone, I try to call her but she never answers or, I swear, ignores it and puts me straight to her voicemail. Have you noticed a change in Jacob?" His voice was still a mere whisper, but it sounded volumes louder.

What Edward was saying could put it all into perspective. All the recent business trips, the alienation that began taking place, the dreams, everything. No, I wouldn't believe it. Not my Jacob.

"Edward," I began, "listen. Jacob's my husband and I trust him. Anya is your wife and you should trust her. Hell, if you really ARE suspicious, you need to confront her about it."

"Well…I'd rather talk to you about it first. Bella, I'm pretty sure Jacob is cheating on you. And what's even worse is that I think he's cheating on you with my wife."

Another breeze kicked up, this time much stronger as it seemed to linger in my hair, almost as if it was a sign. Could Edward REALLY be accusing my husband of cheating on me at my own home after I had invited them over for dinner?! This is ridiculous! Who is he to do this?! What right does he think he has to make these types of accusations?! He doesn't know Jacob, he doesn't know me, and he definitely does NOT know any details about our life.

"Okay, Edward. I'm going to go inside and completely forget that you're trying to be a jackass. Good night." I threw the door open, secretly hoping to hit him with it. I stepped back inside the kitchen and finished cleaning up all the plates. I began making my way into the living room when I stopped dead in my tracks at the hallway opening to the things my ears were hearing. I couldn't hear it fully, but bits and pieces broke through the television that seemed to have been turned up.

"…Nice cover…"

"…Got to say it…"

"…No, there's no way…"

"…I do, but…"

"…I can't do it…"

"….the kids…"

"….lost cause…"

Again, props to KristineMcCarty. She's my favorite. 3
Reviews and shaith? Amazing.