Happy Sinterklaas! Santa brought me Haribo gummy bears!

Chapter Ten: "First Real Date" Bella's POV

The week dragged on and on. Friday finally arrived, but of course it snuck up on me at the last minute. It didn't even hit me that it was indeed Friday until I was in my scrubs and rushing Emerson out the door.

"Ginger snaps!" I exclaimed, using Edward's kid-friendly curse word as I glanced around my living room. It was quite messy. How had I let this happen?

Emerson was lethargically eating a bowl of cereal, even though I had been reminding him that we had to leave. Glaring at my untidy apartment, I ran back into my closet.

I, of course, had not done the laundry. I had nothing to wear for my first real date with Edward.

"Tartar sauce!" I groaned as I ran back to the kitchen. "Emerson! We are walking out the door in three minutes!" I ran to the laundry room. Rosalie's dress I had borrowed was freshly laundered, seeming to be wistfully waiting on a night out on the town. Guess it will get its wish tonight, I mused, wondering if Edward would notice that I wore the same outfit twice.

Edward doesn't care about that. He doesn't have a ton of clothes, either. You've seen him wear the beige sweater a couple of times.

I smiled a little as I realized this. I shuffled to the living room to pick up a little. I gathered some of Emerson's toys, and a bit ticked off, I threw them into his room and closed the door. "We're leaving now," I said a bit sharply as I reentered the kitchen.

"But I'm not finished!" my baby complained.

"Too bad. You've been eating that bowl of cereal for fifteen minutes. Oh, and how many times did I ask you to move your toys to your toy box?"

"Why are you so mean today?" Emerson sighed. "I'm tired, Mommy."

"I'm tired, too, but I still pick up my stuff and eat my breakfast in a speedy manner. Come on, we're running late. Seriously, why are you so lazy lately?"

He rolled his eyes.

"Hey," I said, catching him just as he tried to run past me. "I don't appreciate that."

"I don't appreciate you being mean," he pouted.

"Emerson," I said testily. "I'm your mom, and I know I told you at least three times last night to pick up your toys. Now I have to come home from work and clean up. I do so much for you. Can't you help me out? It would really make me happier!"

He sighed stared at his feet, tears in his eyes. Of course I instantly felt horrible.

"Oh, baby, I'm sorry," I soothed him, stooping down and pulling him to me. "Mommy is just stressing out right now."

He wrapped his arms around my neck. "I don't like it when you're stressed out."

"I don't like it, either," I admitted. "But that doesn't mean I'm allowed to take it out on you. I'm really sorry I upset you, sweetie, but I do need some help occasionally." I kissed his cheek. "Come on, you can clean your room when I pick you up tonight. We're seriously running late."

I helped him with his coat and backpack. I was in the car, pulling out of the parking lot, when he asked me what we were doing tonight.

"You and Emmy are staying with Aunt Rosalie, remember?" I replied, trying to maintain my sweet "Mommy" voice so I wouldn't upset him further. "Edward and I are going to see a play."

"Oh, that's right," Emerson said in a considerably brighter tone. "Are you going to make yourself look pretty for Edward?"

I glanced at my son in the rearview mirror. "Probably."

"You don't need to. He thinks you're pretty no matter what."

"How do you know that?"

"Because you always look pretty."

I smiled. Finally, my sweet little boy was back. "I think you're biased, baby."

"What does that mean?"

"That means you only think I'm pretty because I'm your mommy," I explained.

He rolled his eyes, but this time it wasn't disrespectful, so I didn't say anything. "Well, if Edward doesn't think you're pretty, I'll beat him up."

I giggled. "Do you think Emmy is pretty?"

His face turned beet red. "Mom, I am not talking about that!"

I managed to drop him off at school and sign in to work on time. I was busy all day, but it helped keep my mind off the mess that was waiting for me at home.

But alas, I had to step back into the apartment after five. I had less than an hour to make my apartment beautiful and to make myself beautiful. Oh, and to cook dinner…

I threw the noodles into a pot of water and pulled the jars of alfredo sauce out. Edward didn't exactly have to know that my sauce was store-bought. I basically hid all of my clutter in my bedroom and Emerson's bedroom. Somehow, I had accumulated all of this over the week, and I felt like a slob. I didn't bother to vacuum, but I sprayed the living room with Febreeze, which helped a lot.

I quickly dressed in Rose's dress and did my hair and makeup. I tried to scrub the counters and table as the pasta cooked. I steamed some broccoli and popped some garlic bread in the oven.

The doorbell rang just as I was mixing the broccoli and chicken in with the sauce. "Coming!" I shouted, checking my distorted reflection in the toaster. I had wrapped the cream-colored cashmere scarf Rose had given me around my neck, my hair curling over it. It looked dressy and wintery enough.

I tripped in my heels all the way to the door. I flung it open and nearly fainted. Edward wore a black suit with a white button-down shirt and a green tie that matched his eyes perfectly. He was gorgeous.

"Hi," he said a bit shyly before holding up a white rose.

"Hi," I replied, taking the rose and using his hand to pull him in. "Thank you so much."

He smiled and bent to kiss my cheek. "You look beautiful."

"You do, too," I blurted out before blushing. "I mean, um, are you hungry?"

He grinned teasingly. "I think I am rather hungry. Something smells delicious, by the way."

I closed the door behind us. "Thanks, sweetie," I said, the term of endearment dripping off my tongue before I could stop it. "I hope you like it."

We held hands as we walked to the table. I had already set the dishes and silverware out, with a glass of ice for him. "What do you drink?" I asked him.

"Water's fine. Can I help with anything?"

"No, just sit down and let me take care of you."

"I seriously don't think it's fair that you cook for me all the time," Edward declared as I brought the pot of pasta to the table.

"You can return the favor once you learn how to beat a batter until it's light and fluffy," I teased him, spooning out his noodles on his plate.

"Hey, I'm a fantastic cook." The pout on his face was adorable as he stared at me.

I couldn't fight it anymore. I wanted to touch him, to feel that spark that passed through us. I ran a hand through his hair, unable to resist. His green eyes blazed as he stared up at me, his tongue lightly wetting his lips.

I wanted him. For the first time in five years, I was seriously thinking about love and sex and intimacy and...fun.

But this wasn't the right way to start this relationship. Edward and I had completely different lives from other twenty-somethings. We had responsibilities and expectations from the most important people in our lives: our children.

Copulating with Emmy's dad probably wasn't the best idea for Emerson's budding relationship...

"Regardless," I whispered a bit huskily, my fingers tracing from his luscious hair to his clean-shaven chin. "I like cooking for the men in my life."

He gave me that crooked smile that always made my heart pound. "If we didn't have to be at that play in an hour..." he murmured, leaving a suggestive blank at the end.

I let out a jagged breath. "And if we didn't have-"

"Yeah, I know," he interrupted, his voice strained. "Bella, you make me feel..."

"Young again?" I guessed.

His eyes widened, as if my guess had stunned him. "Exactly," he said simply.

I finished serving his dinner. "Me, too," I said lamely as I sat across from him. "I feel like a teenager again."

"We've had to miss those years," he mused, reaching for my hand across the table. "But when I'm with you, it's like I'm getting those years back."

I smiled shyly, staring down at my plate as I served myself. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

He smiled dazzingly before letting the topic rest. He responded positively to my pasta, making a really cute purring sound as he sampled it. I kept his hand captive, tracing patterns on his palm as we ate. He smiled wryly at me and eventually started responding to my fingers. I giggled as our fingers intertwined and fought for dominance.

Finally, he won by wrapping his long fingers around my small hand and pulling it to his mouth for a kiss.

There was a certain electricity that flowed between us, that lit my nerves on fire and caused my hair to stand on end-but in a very good way. I couldn't deny that I already had major feelings for him, but I didn't know how to approach this delicately.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked me softly after my hand became dormant in his.

"Us," I admitted, deciding to be bold. "What are we?"

He chewed slowly as he pondered this. Finally, he said, "What do you want to be?"

"I don't want to be just friends," I hinted, "but the idea of a relationship...scares me. I haven't done it in so long."

"I feel the same way," he admitted, "but we don't have to do it the usual route. We can move as slow or as fast as we would like. For example, I really want you to meet my family...and I'm hoping you'll want to meet my sister tonight. Is that too fast?"

I shook my head. "I would love to meet your family, since Emmy loves them so much. But we need to move slowly in…other things." I cocked my eyebrow to try to communicate what I meant.

"Believe me, I know," he agreed. "But if we're together, I would still like to be able to kiss you...anytime I want."

The look on his face was so adorable I laughed out loud. "I think we already do that, anyway."

"Maybe not as much as I would like," he admitted.

"I think we agree on that one, too."

He laughed softly. "What are we going to tell Emmy and Emerson?"

I sighed. I hadn't thought of that. "I don't know."

"We'll figure it out," he decided. "But until then, we need to make it to the theatre on time."

He helped me store the leftover food in the fridge and wash the dishes. I was scrubbing the pot while he stacked the Tupperware containers in the fridge. I suddenly heard him snicker.

"What's funny?" I asked lightly, still feeling giddy that we were somewhat "together."

He pulled out a chocolate pudding cup and a vanilla pudding cup. "Maybe I've been around a five-year-old for too long," he smirked, "but Bella, will you be my girlfriend? I'll give you some pudding."

I laughed as he offered the cups to me. I selected the vanilla and took his strong chin in my hand again, pulling it down to my level. "You are possibly the silliest man I've ever met, but lucky for you, I have a weakness for pudding," I whispered.

"I'm only sharing my pudding if you agree to be my girlfriend," he replied, sticking his tongue out childishly.

I laughed again at his goofiness. "Fine, I'll be your girlfriend, but you have to push me on the swings and you can't ever break my crayons."

He giggled softly—so beautiful—but pulled me close, wrapping his arms around me. "It's a deal," he said a bit intensely. "Thank you…"

I tilted his face down so I could press my lips to his. I have to admit I was a bit astounded. I was someone's girlfriend.

Not just someone's girlfriend. I was Edward Cullen's girlfriend.

I opened my pudding cup, peeling the aluminum off the plastic. I licked the pudding off of it before throwing it away and then I opened the silverware drawer. "Here's a spoon," I offered him.

"I kind of like vanilla," he pretended to pout as he ate some chocolate.

"Okay, fine, since you're my boyfriend, I'll share," I rolled my eyes playfully, sitting on the counter and giving him a big bite of vanilla. He tried to accept it with his mouth, but I smeared the pudding over his lips.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, dropping his own spoon on the floor. "That's not nice!"

I shrugged innocently. "Sorry, I slipped," I teased him flirtatiously.

"You're not a nice girlfriend," he joked, sticking his lower lip out at me.

I immediately started to act remorseful. "Oh, I'm not? I'm sorry, let me help you clean up…"

He was all too willing when I used my feet to pull him to me, and my lips carefully tried to chastely clean the pudding off his face. I think I made a bigger mess than before, though, but he didn't seem to mind. His lips responded to mine eagerly, and I found myself grateful that I hadn't worn lipstick. Our kisses were messy and sticky enough.

"I think that's as clean as you're going to get," I remarked, lightly nipping a bit of pudding off of his lips. My body felt like it was on fire as he rested his hands on my hips and nuzzled his nose to my neck.

"I have that feeling again," he admitted. "Honestly, you make me feel so young and carefree…I love it."

I kissed his cheek. "You do the same for me, so I'll happily return the favor. Uh, we're going to be late…"

He smiled at me. "You're right. Alice will kill me if I miss this production. Our parents were there for opening night, but I had a deadline to meet. And her boyfriend has been there every night, so I have no excuse for missing it. You'll meet Jasper tonight. We're sitting with him."

"I'm excited," I admitted. "But here, this might work better than my method of cleaning your face." I ripped off a paper towel and wet it under the faucet.

He snickered, wiped his face free of pudding residue, and then ran it over my sticky mouth.

"So much for makeup," I sighed.

"I like you without it," he revealed. "So does Emmy."

"Good, because I hate wearing makeup," I replied, kissing the corner of his mouth. "Come on, I don't want to meet the wrath of Alice."

He gave me a quizzical look as we walked to get our coats. "Have I told you about Alice?"

I shook my head. "Not much. Why?"

He sighed as he helped me into my coat. "I guess I should warn you about my family. You'll meet Alice tonight, so I'll start with her. She doesn't think before she speaks, she isn't shy at all about sharing her opinion, and she tends to be…very open."

"Open…" I repeated. "What do you mean?"

We walked outside and I locked the door behind us. "Alice will probably hug you, kiss you, demand to know everything about our relationship, and offer to design our wedding," he winced.

"Wedding," I said slowly, feeling suddenly uncomfortable.

"Not that I'm even thinking about marriage," he said quickly. "That's ridiculous. But Alice…rushes things. She's been trying to find a mommy for Emmy for years now."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "So how can I impress her?"

"Just be your usual charming self," he informed me, opening the passenger door of his Volvo. I ducked in the car and waited for him to climb into the driver's side. When he did, he took my hand. "Is this too much, too soon?" he asked worriedly.

I shook my head. "No…I can handle it."

"And I mentioned the rest of my family," he said wearily. "Okay, so they have already been planning an event for you and Emerson to join. Are you familiar at all with Sinterklaas?"

"Familiar with what?"

He chuckled as he pulled out of the parking lot and began to explain the idea of the fun-sounding holiday. Finally, he finished with, "We're inviting you and Emerson to join us at my parents' house…but it's usually an overnight thing."

I raised my eyebrows at him. "Like…we would be spending the night?" I asked, my quiet tone revealing my uncertainty about this.

"Yeah," Edward replied gently. "But you and Emerson could have your own room…you wouldn't be expected at all to sleep in a room with me, even though it certainly wouldn't be frowned upon."

I chewed my lip as I thought about this. The whole event sounded like fun, and I knew that Emerson would love to have a sleepover with Emmy. Plus I was kind of excited about being introduced to Edward's family as his girlfriend. But I didn't want them to think poorly of me, like I was used to spending the night with guys…especially since they would already have an opinion of me since I was a twenty-one-year-old mom of a five-year-old.

"Does your family judge others?" I asked Edward softly.

He gave me a funny look. "What do you mean? Do you think they'll dislike you because you have Emerson?"

I simply stared at him.

He rolled his eyes and squeezed my hand. "Bella, sweetie, haven't you noticed that I was a teenage parent, too?"

"Well, yes, but—"

"My family may be loud, overbearing, and nosy, but they aren't judgmental," he promised me. "Besides, Emmy and I talk about Emerson all the time. Mom, Dad, Alice, and Jazz are all really ready to meet both of you. Mom has seen pictures of you."

"So they won't look at me as a floozy or a charity case," I verified.

"Never," he promised me, leaning over to kiss my forehead. "I would really love for you to celebrate Sinterklaas with us, but I understand if you don't feel comfortable yet."

"Let me think about it," I told him.

"Okay," he said cheerfully. "Oh, and Bella?"

"Yeah?"

"They're all happy to see me smile more. You already have quite a good reputation in the Cullen family."

That made me feel better.

The play was in a large theatre, and it looked like it was attracting quite a crowd. I was shocked when Edward led me down to the front row, where a handsome blond man sat.

The man's eyes lit up when he saw us. "Hey, Edward," he greeted my boyfriend happily, shaking his hand. "Is this the famous Bella?"

Edward's cheeks flushed in a blush. "This is my Bella," he grinned dopily. "Bella, this is my future brother-in-law Jasper, even though they haven't made it official. And Jazz, this is my girlfriend."

"We've all heard so much about you," Jasper said, pulling me into a friendly hug. "Emmy, my 'girlfriend,' talks about you and Emerson quite a lot. I sometimes get jealous of Emerson."

I laughed lightly. "I've heard a lot about Uncle Jasper from Emmy, too."

Edward pretended to shake his head disapprovingly. "I just can't keep my daughter away from the older men."

We laughed. "It's nice to meet you," I told Jasper as we sat down. Edward held my hand and made small talk with Jasper while we waited for the curtain to rise. It finally did rise, and the play began.

I was a total Shakespeare nut, so I loved the production. Alice, who played Helena, was beautiful with unruly hair (like Edward's) that was the color of charcoal, and with fair skin that was exactly like Edward's ivory pallor. She was also a fantastic actress.

Finally, the play ended. I felt a bit regretful that it was over because the production was just that good. But Jasper led me and Edward through a nondescript side door, and after skipping up a staircase, I found myself backstage.

It was chaos back there, but Alice Cullen was at a dressing table, taking her stage makeup off with cold cream. As soon as she saw our reflections in the mirror, she gasped and jumped up.

"Oh my god!" she exclaimed happily. "I finally get to meet the famous Bella!"

I wondered just how famous I was.

"Alice, control yourself," Edward said softly. "Bella, this is my little sister Alice. Alice, this is my girlfriend, Bella. Please don't cut off her air supply when you hug her."

Jasper laughed as Alice did hug me, and I have to admit that she nearly did cut off my air supply.

"I noticed you in the audience," she babbled. "And I thought, 'That can't be Bella! She's too beautiful for my brother!'"

I blushed and laughed nervously while Edward said, "I agree."

"It's nice to meet you," I told her.

"Oh, Bella," Alice sighed dramatically. No wonder she was an actress. She hugged me again. "You don't know how much my family already loves you. All we hear about from Emmy is 'I wish Bella and Emerson could come over' and 'Bella makes better hot cocoa than you, Aunt Alice' and 'We made snowman named George at Emerson's house!' And then all we hear from Edward is 'I wish Bella would call' and 'Maybe I should call Bella' and 'Bella loves Shakespeare.' You're practically a celebrity!"

I laughed again while I glanced at Edward, who was currently sporting flaming cheeks. "Thank you, Alice. I have heard a lot about you and your family as well."

"I can't wait to tell Mom that I met her!" the beautiful girl sighed dreamily. "Oh, Bella, where did you get that fabulous dress?"

I tried not to snort. Alice was obviously extremely scatterbrained. "I'm not sure," I admitted. "I borrowed it from a friend."

"I think it is Badgley Mischka," she mused, staring at it. "It's gorgeous. You're gorgeous. Of course we already knew that from Edward."

Edward coughed uncomfortably. "Alice, are you finished?"

"No," Alice started to say, but she caught on quickly. "I mean, yeah, I guess I'm finished. I have to go take care of some things anyway. Bella, I'll see you at Sinterklaas, okay?"

"Okay," I said, a bit dizzy from the whirlwind that was Alice Cullen. She grabbed Jasper and ran toward someone else.

"Annoying, isn't she?" Edward murmured.

I shook my head. "Maybe stunning is the better word."

"If Alice reacted that warmly to you, then you'll have no problem with my parents," he promised me, keeping an arm snaked around my waist. "Maybe we should leave before she thinks of another embarrassing Edward fact."

I laughed. "I'm glad to know I've been talked about," I said as we walked back into the auditorium.

"Yes, well, you and Emerson are both completely covered," he muttered.

I smiled and stood on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek. "Don't be embarrassed. I like it."

He gave me his crooked smile before bending down to peck my lips. Yum. "You know you just agreed to see Alice at Sinterklaas, right?"

I bit my lip. "Uh, yeah, I guess you're right. So what should I bring?"

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