Chapter 10: Rae's family birthday party.

Rae has no idea what her father and I have planned. Imagining the bright, gorgeous smile on her face is making my day. Even while I'm waiting in the horrendous line at the grocery store, with all the fixings for a beautiful dinner, I'm tapping out a tune with my foot.

I think it's only fitting that I make a big spread.

I'm just happy we're both adult enough to handle this kind of situation.

I've grabbed a small cake and some candles from the bakery. I know it's sort of a cop-out, but to make it fair I am baking her birthday cake for the big party. A few bundles of flowers, to freshen up the house, and the rest of the ingredients for dinner, and I'm done.

As soon as I'm out of the market and home, I begin tearing into everything I have to do. There's limited time and I want Rae to be surprised.

The kitchen is like a perfect storm when I get going. There's a chicken roasting away. It's Rae's favorite recipe and it may be Edward's too, but that certainly isn't the reason why I decided to make it. Nope. Not even close. I shake my head until I convince myself.

Then, when I see what time it is, I throw the scratch made biscuits in the warming drawer to proof.

I wipe my floury hands on my apron and hurry upstairs to change.

While tonight would normally be like any other weeknight birthday—Rae and I celebrating ourselves, with dinner out and a cake with candles, then a party on the weekend to follow—it's going to be different with Edward here. And I want to clean up a little. It never hurts to look your best.

I slip on a deep blue blouse and my black skirt with some matching heals. Thanking my lucky stars that my legs are finally tan enough I don't need any nylons. After fussing my hair and makeup for a few minutes, I rush back downstairs to make sure everything is perfect.

The table is set, and since it's Thursday I know Rae will be walking through the door at half past six, thanks to soccer practice. Her text is right on time, telling me Katie is bringing her home and they're on their way.

But right after I set down my phone, there's a knock on the door.

I shrug and wonder who it could be.

"Edward?" I whisper.

"Hi, Bella." He gives me a beautiful smile.

"I thought you were coming at seven?"

"I just thought it would be fun to surprise Rae this way," he murmurs, looking a little shy. "If, uh, that's okay?" He cups the back of his neck, looking unsure.

I swallow and put on a smile, stand to the side and invite him in. "Of course it is."

My eyes assess him, taking in his green striped shirt and how yummy it looks stretched across his chest—and his tan dress pants look damn fine, too, accentuating all the right places. But I try not to ogle, I mean look, too much because tonight is about Rae...and not how much I want to lay my ex-husband out on the table and feast on his deliciousness.

"So, Rae's car..." He looks behind him where the door is still open. "I had thought we could put it in the garage, if that's okay?"

"Sounds good. I have to check on the biscuits. I'll see you inside in a few."

"Excellent."

Once he returns, we settle in together; it's odd how easy it's become. He goes right to the sink to wash his hands, and a moment later he's at my side.

"What would you like done? Tonight, I'm your slave." He throws me a wink.

I slap his arm and try not to smile. But I fail miserably. Damn, he's making this difficult.

"You can get the salad together, if you don't mind?"

"Sure, no problem."

We work well together, just like before. We practically dance around each other as we get things ready.

That is until I take the chicken out of the oven.

He's instantly over my shoulder, staring at the perfectly golden poultry, and I can nearly see him salivating at the sight of it.

He takes in a deep breath through his nose. "Is that...what I think it is?" He looks a little crazed with his eyebrow raised.

I laugh, staring at him and his goofy face. "Chicken dinner? Why yes, it is."

"Fuck no." He smiles wide, shaking his head. I'm a little taken aback; it's been a while since I've seen this side of Edward. While we've been communicating quite well for some time, it's never been this comfortable. "That's not just a chicken dinner; it's your chicken dinner, which means that somewhere in that delicious, golden looking bird is the crack you hide to make me addicted."

I can't stop myself from cracking up at his performance.

"God, Edward!" I admonish him, still chuckling, as I lay the perfectly cooked chicken on the cutting board. Secretly though, I'm beaming. I knew he would like the meal. Hell that was part of the reason I cooked it. But I never thought I would get that kind of reaction.

"Do you want me to cut the chicken or are you afraid I'll find your secret crack stash?"

I shake my head. "No, feel free, you can cut. And I assure you, you won't find any crack in that beautiful piece of meat."

He raises his eyebrows, and we both burst out in chuckles. I throw my dish rag at him and keep right on giggling.

"While we're on the subject of pieces of meat, maybe we should discuss that dream of yours?" he asks in a sultry tone, trapping me against the cabinets.

I swear my panties are like a rainforest right now.

My breath catches in my throat as my thoughts go rushing through my head.

But, as I'm about to decide whether or not I'm going to go for broke and kiss him, he leans down and whispers about his piece of meat, and I can't contain my laughter. It slips out, killing the tension that had built the moment before.

We laugh so hard at my wording that we miss Rae coming through the door. She's standing at the island staring at me and her dad.

The look on her face is priceless.

"Mom, what's going on?" She sounds worried.

I frown. "Nothing, sweetheart. Your father and I just wanted to surprise you for your birthday dinner."

"Surprise!" Edward offers sweetly.

She nods, looking at both of us again as if we're crazy. "Well, you've surprised me."

"Good." I hug her and wish her a happy birthday. "Go sit down. We'll bring dinner to you, birthday girl."

"Wait, I want to hug my sixteen-year-old daughter," Edward says, wiping off his hands quickly on a towel and crossing over to her. "You make me feel so old. Now, get over here."

Rae blushes and hugs her dad, and I snap a picture on my phone. I see him whispering something to her, and I have no idea what it is, but her bright smile is all I need to know.

I sigh, thinking how the whole scene is adorable and I'm really thankful we did this.

Edward and I hurry to finish and serve the food, and I can tell Rae is beyond happy. That glorious grin that she inherited from the man sitting across from me is spread out on her face, and I have to take a deep breath to stop myself from tearing up.

This. Having all of us at the table together, again, as a family, is a sight for sore eyes and makes me feel so incredibly good.

I watch carefully as both Edward and Rae gobble down an astonishing amount of food.

"Hey guys, thank you," Rae says. "I'm glad you're both here. Jackson said his parents are going to come to my other party. That you can meet them." Her toothy grin makes me want to gag.

But Edward and I both suck it up and nod. I stuff food in my mouth so I don't have to respond; Edward tells her he's looking forward to it like any good father would.

Dinner is delicious, and I receive compliments from both the birthday girl and her father.

"No seriously, Mom, that was, like, one of the top five dinners," Rae says, beaming.

"Really Bella, that was simply amazing," Edward says, after taking a sip of his wine.

"Okay, you two, pipe down. It's time for cake," I tell them, heading for the fridge. They stay at the table and talk while I place the candles in the cake and begin to light them, but I can't get the little suckers to stay lit.

"Here, let me help you," Edward says, taking over. He slides his arms around me and leans over my shoulder, while he does the job I couldn't. I gulp when I feel his closeness. I've found myself doing that a lot lately. It helps, I guess you could say; it's a coping mechanism.

He lights them, gives me a light squeeze, carrying over the cake, while I get my camera out and start a countdown.

Edward and I, in our tone-deaf voices, belt out the "Happy Birthday" tune while our daughter laughs and watches. I capture a few good pictures and wait for her to blow out the candles.

When all of it's captured on film, we eat some cake, but my all-grown-up daughter knows what's coming. So when she finishes her piece awfully quick, I smile.

"Well, Edward, thanks for coming over," I begin to say. I've got my most serious face on, and as Rae looks down at her plate and frowns, I wink at Edward.

He grins, before wiping it off his face. "Thanks for having me, Bella, this was wonderful."

Emotion catches in my throat as I stand to hug Edward.

"Rae, why don't we walk your dear old dad out to his car?" I suggest.

"Okay," she says softly.

And as we walk out, I hit the garage door button, showing off the well-hidden present.

"What?" Rae gasps, seeing the bright red ribbon wrapped around it. "Really? Seriously guys?" She screeches and her happy squeals continued to flow as she makes her way over to her gift.

I chuckle and shake my head as I stand there with Edward. He slips his arm around me as our teenager officially goes nuts, looking over every awesome aspect of the car.

Edward tosses her the keys and she hops inside, playing with all the buttons and getting familiar with the whole thing.

"Is this really for me?" she yells, hanging her head out the window.

"Yes, sweetheart, it really is!" Edward calls back. "Happy birthday!"

I nod, and blow her a kiss.

"She loves it," he whispers down at me, with this smirk that says I told you so.

"Tell me about it. She's going to be fawning over that thing until she gets her license."

We stand there, watching her until she has a question, to which Edward is more than happy to answer.

That night, before bed, I decide to load the pictures from our little party on to my computer.

As I'm watching them flash by, I click on previous albums. Before I know it, I've gone through a good clip of pictures; ones I've either taken or scanned on to the computer. After another couple clicks, I'm back to when my baby was four and Edward was still living with us.

I notice how much the house has changed. More importantly, though, I realize how much we've changed. But something that doesn't seem to have changed is the way Edward and I look at one another.

Even during the divorce, while we were still living together, there's a picture from Christmas that year. A candid, probably taken by my mother, who very much thought we were insane for breaking up. In the picture, we were laughing, and looking at each other the same way we were this evening.

I rest my forehead in my hand and think back to that time, to what really happened, why we ended up where we did.

I shake my head as I think about some of my former friends' comments.

"I told you as soon as you popped that kid out, he'd be gone."

"Oh honey, it's the sex, you've got to make yourself available."

Or, one my all-time favorites.

"Just meet him at the door with a whip in your hand. Spice things up!"

The truth of the matter was, though, none of that mattered—Edward and I simply grew apart.

It's amazing how things change, people change, over time... He still has his business and it's prospering more than ever, but he's around a hell of a lot more now.

Rae's lucky. She had one of the best outcomes of a broken home. We made it work, for her.

But as I look at those pictures, I wonder what would've happened, what could've been, if we had tried again after Edward came back.

Tonight seemed as easy as it had been when we were happy. And that happiness, that easiness, combined with all the feelings that never faded away completely, made other thoughts come flooding into my mind. All the what ifs.

I close my laptop and slip into my bed.

I'm tired.

I'm tired of thinking about the past.

I'm tired of analyzing the present.

Because I've no idea where to go from here.

The next one is a big one. Sorry for the delay! I'll see you soon! Maybe tomorrow? *shifty eyebrows*