Chapter 11

Two chapters, one night, our net finishes tomorrow so now we're just using it up :D

Bella awoke the next morning to a knock at her door. Groaning in frustration at yet another interrupted sleep she grumbled her way to open the door.

"Hello?" she asked tiredly, her annoyance showing through in her voice. Looking up she saw a young man, barely twenty, holding a parcel and a clipboard.

"I have a delivery for a Miss B Swann?"

"Speaking."

"Oh great, I just need you to sign here and then I'll be on my way." He handed her the clipboard.

"Thanks" she said, signing the form and handing it back.

"Here you go, have a lovely day." She took the parcel from his hands and waved him off.

As soon as he was out of sight, she went back into the apartment and tore open the box. She laughed in delight as she saw the framed poster inside it.

"Just in Time." She thought realising Emmett's birthday was tomorrow. "I'd forgotten about the agreement" she chuckled to herself, thinking about how stupid it was to forget the reason why she was even talking to Edward.

"Oh. My. God. Is this what I think it is?" Emmett exclaimed as he ripped the wrapping off Bella's present. They were all sitting around the dinner table taking turns to give Emmett the various gifts. He was still skeletal in figure, but his face was slowly regaining the plumpness it used to have.

"Yes it is indeed!" Bella replied beaming, walking over to hug her little brother.

"Thank you so much! How on earth did you manage this? How much did it cost? Do you still talk to him?" he questioned, every thought running through his head coming out his mouth.

"You're welcome and one question at a time! I have my ways and don't think about the cost." she said evasively.

"You didn't answer my last question." Emmett eyed Bella suspiciously and Bella squirmed, trying to think of a way to answer the question to Emmett's satisfaction, without actually answering him.

"Who wants cake?" interrupted Phil, sensing his step-daughter's discomfort. He had only officially been her step-dad for about a year now, and he already viewed her as a daughter, love showing in his eyes as he gazed around at his family at their dinner table.

"Me please!" agreed Bella, throwing Phil a thankful look for getting the spotlight off her. "I'll just get it ready" she rose and Phil followed her into the kitchen.

"I know I am not your real Dad, and I can never replace him so don't take what I have to say the wrong way," Phil began as Bella got the caramel swirl cake out of the fridge. Bella looked up sharply.

"Just hear me out. I wanted to let you know that I am here if you want to talk and I respect that you don't want to discuss your relationship with Edward. I just would like to tell you that I think you are a wonderful, beautiful young lady and you deserve the world. I feel like you are my daughter, and I have already told Emmett this, I know you rejected the notion in the past, but I would be honoured if you called me Dad." he stepped forward and kissed her on the forehead and went to rejoin his son and wife.

Bella stood in the kitchen smiling at the emotion Phil displayed, Dad she corrected herself mentally, wondering how he worked out that there was something going on. She thought about this intently but was disrupted when she remembered the cake. She lit the candles and walked to out sing and celebrate. She placed the cake in front of Emmett and whispered in Phil's ear,

"Thanks Dad."

Bella stayed the night at her parent's house with Emmett, laughing into the late hours of the night before everyone retired to bed. She walked around the living room looking at all the photos, the old ones of her and Em playing on swings, the various stages of tooth gain and loss, her high school graduation and the more recent photos of her Mum and Phil -Dad she corrected again- the pictures of the wedding, family dinners. Her mother looked so happy, she had always liked Phil, but seeing how happy her mother was in these pictures something clicked inside her, she realised that even though he had always been 'Phil, my step-dad', for ages he had been much more than that. He had been a true father. With that comforting thought fresh in her mind, she went up to her old childhood bedroom and slept peacefully.

She left early that morning, popping her head into Emmett's room to say goodbye. She passed through the kitchen and grabbed a piece of toast off her mother's plate and promised to catch up soon. The train ride home was uneventful and Bella was relieved to finally get home. The first thing she did after she walked in the door was to purposely stride straight over to the computer to e-mail Edward.

"There is no place like home!" Edward thought as he relaxed into a lounge after a long day of training. He turned on the TV to watch the news when he noticed the date. "Emmett's birthday!" he thought as he scuttled over to the computer to put his plan into action.

Opening facebook, he typed in "Emmett Swann" to the search bar, it took him about five minutes to sort through all the results but he found the person who he thought matched the descriptions he had received from Bella. He added him as a friend and sent the message:

'Hey, is this the brother of Bella?'

Within five minutes he had received a reply.

'Yes it is, why?'

'This is Edward Cullen, I am using an alias. I am a friend of your sister, I really like her and I was hoping to get your help to get her to go on a date with me?'

'Nice alias, no one will figure THAT one out. Thomas Rock –snort-. Sure, what do you need to know?'

'Shh, I was 17 when I created that account. Umm… just the little things that she would like? When is her birthday?'

'I am 15 and I know that is a dumb name. She likes flowers, in particular Daffodils, and her birthday is three weeks next Friday.'

'That's great to know. That should be good to get me started thanks. I also have a plan which needs your help. How are you feeling?'

From there on the conversation continued, varying from BMX techniques, to Emmett's issues with Rosalie and finishing with what shows are good on TV. After the conversation ended Edward checked his e-mail, smiling as he saw one from Bella.

Dear Edward,

I got your poster thanks! Emmett absolutely loved it, we had a fantastic day. It was full of revelations. He told me all about asking out Rosalie Hale, his long time crush, and Phil asked me to call him Dad! How have you been?

~ Bella

Edward's heart was lightened as he read the e-mail, revelling at how open she had become with him in the few short months they had known each other and he hoped he was worthy of such trust.

Deciding not to follow their usual routine, Edward typed in 'Sydney Florists in Campbell town' and dialled the number of the first name that appeared on the screen. He chose a large arrangement of Daffodils and got the lady on the other line to write down the message.