Disclaimer: I own my original story.

A/N: There is some Italian in this chapter. (You will find the translation in the end notes at the end of the chapter). I don't know fluent Italian, so if you notice errors, please send me a pm so I can correct it.

~*LAST CHAPTER*~ Bella and Edward had some fun at the beach and had some nice quiet time on private property. It was all fluff and happy times. Now, it's back to work and back to… drama?

Chapter 11: Gray Colored Heart

The color Gray can be practical, timeless, and is one of the colors of wisdom. Gray affects us mentally and physically by causing things to be unsettling and/or expectant. It can also be associated with loss; however, because the color is between black and white, it is the color of compromise.

*~*~*~GRAY~*~*~*

Edward

WEEK TWO- Thursday

Buzz! Buzz!

A soft and delicate hand brushed against my thigh and there was a quick sleepy intake of breath. Her toes curled under the covers, but otherwise she wasn't bothered by the distraction. My phone was buzzing somewhere on the floor since I'd accidently knocked it over during the last snooze. I half leaned and half fell out of bed trying to reach for it. When my eyes were open enough to find the phone, it took a minute to realize it was a text message and not my alarm. I sat down on the floor, rubbed my face, and yawned to try to focus.

Text from Emmett: Yo! Why is your car still in the driveway? You calling in sick? Is Bella with you?

The time on my cellphone read just past 8:00 a.m., which meant I was incredibly late. I peeked up from the floor and enjoyed a few extra seconds of Bella curled up in the bed. It was quite a sight. The beautiful silhouette of Bella's body wrapped in the duvet—mine—and how her hip had been lightly pressed against my own just minutes earlier was enough to want to call in sick. She must have felt my eyes on her because she stirred from her sleep and I watched her pout while squinting through her sleepy eyes.

"Bella, I'm sorry to wake you, but I'm very late," I whispered.

"What?" she asked while rubbing her temple.

I just wanted to stay in bed. I was supposed to have awoken an hour and a half earlier. After my two day vacation, I had to get back to work. Reality was waking in my dark room with pounding rain on the roof and windows and a sweet girl pressed into my thigh. I had set the time at the exact moment I had to wake up and I was only going to rest my eyes for a few extra minutes. I was just too warm with her to bother with things like getting ready. Admittedly, I hit the snooze button a few or multiple times and must have turned it off.

"Oh no," Bella said. "I knew this would happen." I sat down back onto the bed beside her. She gave me the look that said, "I told you so!" I answered with my own nonverbal eye glance that said, "I know you did."

"I need to shower real quick. Do you want to join me?" I asked. "Save water, save time…"

She playfully punched me in my side and we both smiled. "So, you really want to be late, huh? I was about to answer, but she continued. "Or, actually… don't answer that. Tempting, but no. I'll shower at home."

"You sure?" I gave my best puppy-dog eyes impression.

She seemed to think about it for 0.04 seconds, before shoving me off the bed toward the bathroom.

Two days and nights off in a row does not a vacation make; however, I was able to wake next to Bella on both days. Not only that, but I got to spend some really enjoyable time with her. The weather had been perfect and I really couldn't have asked for any better. It seemed fitting that the day I had to get back to work was the day when the weather outside looked more like a dreary, rainy Washington day.

I had the speediest shower in history and when I got out Bella was dressed and sitting on my bed making a messy ponytail on her head.

"I called Alice. She and Jasper said they'd pick me up," she said. She paused for a moment. "She's already awake and I told her I'd wait for her on the porch. I just need your address and she'll plug it into their GPS."

"Hmm… I don't know… that's really out of their way," I responded. I took another glance at the alarm clock. If I were to leave immediately and drive a little faster than usual, I'd probably make it on time. It was at my insistence that Bella ended up staying overnight; I had to make it work.

"It was my fault that we overslept. I'll take you."

I had figured I'd get up extra early to take her home before I left for work; in fact, Bella was the one who brought it up that it wasn't a good idea. All I could think of was that I wanted her to stay another night, for the simple reason that I just craved her in my bed. It was probably not the best idea I'd ever had. I knew there was an important meeting I had to lead, and it would be highly unprofessional for me to postpone it since several board members had flown in especially to attend.

We practically raced downstairs and found Emmett and Rosalie reading the newspaper and having a cold cereal breakfast.

"Ah-ha! He lives!" Emmett exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. He laughed at his lame joke and then said a formal, "Good morning, Bella."

"Good Morning, Emmett…. Rosalie," Bella responded with a timid smile. Rosalie looked up from the newspaper that she was reading and nodded.

"Shit, you are gonna be late, brother. I'm getting ready to head out, myself."

"Really?" I mocked, shaking my head. "But, seriously, thanks for waking me up. I swear I only hit the snooze button twice, but I must have turned it off instead."

"Nah, don't mention it. I just wanted to rag on your ass, since you are always," he paused and did air quotations, "Mr. On-Time."

I felt my face get hot. I never cared before, but it seemed Emmett was trying to get some sort of reaction from me when I was with Bella. I turned to Bella, who giggled but didn't say anything.

Rosalie cleared her throat. "So, Bella… Emmett and I thought it would be a good idea to take you home. I'm travelling that way to do some shopping, anyway."

"Rosalie, you don't have to—" I started. Rosalie turned to me and gave me a scowl.

"I want to. I miss my girlfriends and I need to do some girl-talking anyway. This house would be like a frat house if I wasn't here. Also, it will give Bella and me a chance to get to know each other better." She looked back to Bella.

"Um," Bella said, looking at Rosalie then back to her shoes. I liked that Rosalie was showing me that she could be mature. I also knew I completely understood if Bella could never get along with her. It really took me a bit to even warm up to her and I'd known her since high school. Rosalie was unforgivably rude to Bella and I didn't want to push it anymore. Bella had seemed to distance herself from Rosalie and Emmett at the bar. It was her call.

"I said I would take you, Bella," I whispered and gently rubbed her back.

Emmett grinned like an idiot and I wondered what was so funny.

"Please?" Rosalie whined. "Also, I'll bet if Edward leaves right now, he'll get there on time. He's a speed demon when he wants to be."

We were in a tug-of-war, but I didn't want Bella to feel pressured by Rosalie.

"Okay," Bella said after a few seconds.

I looked at her in surprise.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yes. You better get your cute ass moving. I know the meeting is important to you."

I don't know if it was the fact that she said that I had a cute ass, or the fact that she was willing to take an extremely long ride with Rosalie because she didn't want me to be late, but it made me smile like I was in a toothpaste commercial. She said nothing about girl bonding or talking with Rosalie, so I hoped it wouldn't be incredibly awkward for her. Even if it was my fault, it made me happy that she was doing something that she wasn't thrilled about—for me. I wasn't crazy about the idea, but I knew that Rosalie and Bella could be civil to each other.

I grabbed her hands, pulled her toward me and kissed her quickly on her lips, even though I wanted to pick her up again and take her back to my room and hide with her under covers. Her mouth tasted like peppermint and when she pulled away she crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue a bit at me and I saw a peppermint candy in her mouth.

Bella was wearing dark blue skinny jeans and a gray tank top. Her pony tail was a lumpy brown and auburn twist on top of her head, she had no makeup on but her chocolate eyes were bright, her lips the color of her blushing pink and she looked absolutely stunning and fresh-faced. Tanya refused to be seen without makeup for the time I was with her. And I was hard pressed to think of any other girl that allowed me to see them as they were made—natural.

Bella reached into the back pocket of her jeans and came up with something in her small hand. She passed it to me and I opened it up to see one unopened peppermint candy. She did the "come hither" with her finger and when I lowered my head down she whispered.

"Since I can't kiss you the way I want to in front of your brother, you'll have to pretend that you are tasting my peppermint mouth."

I raised an eyebrow and kissed her quickly on her freckled nose before opening the wrapper and putting it quickly in my mouth.

"I will," I whispered.

I never even knew I liked peppermints, but I had a brand new appreciation for them.

"I owe you breakfast, Pin—Bella. And I'll call you later!" I said, turning to leave.

Emmett raised an eyebrow, but didn't say a word. We both headed for the door to drive to work.

xxxx

"So… are you two getting serious?" Emmett asked as we walked outside of the house toward our separate cars.

I nearly choked on the peppermint that Bella had given me.

"I see the signs written all over your face, dude. I don't think this girl is going to be your usual fling."

"I don't meet women for flings, Emmett. I've just have had bad luck with the women that I am attracted to or who are attracted to me. I don't want to jinx things. Bella and I are good together, and I will do my best to keep her."

"I can kind of tell. There's something in your eyes. You have this look…" He stops walking and looks at me with a weird face with a kind of softness in his eyes. I laugh because it is just so ridiculous and he's slowing me down. "I don't know how to describe it but, maybe like, remember when you got your first XBOX?"

"What?" I laughed and started to move again toward my car. "You're describing the way I look at Bella like the way I looked getting my first XBOX?"

"Yes, but it's not a bad thing though! I think it's a great thing! You're getting old and you know mom wants you to settle down and give up bachelorhood."

Yeah and she'd love for Tanya and me to get married so we'd be one big happy family. She still harbors bad feelings toward me for not trying to make it work.

xxx

The conversation shifted once we had parked our cars in our reserved spots. I'd managed to get into work in record time, but I was still late by about twenty minutes.

"I think I've figured it out," Emmett said as we were walking into the office.

Figured what out?"

"She didn't want to drink at the bar, she's having really bitchy mood swings, I haven't seen any girly products in the bathroom and this morning she threw up. When I tried to help her she shooed me away. She wanted to know if Bella was here this morning after I texted you. She was the one who suggested some 'girl' time with Bella. She's pregnant. She's gotta be pregnant, there's just no other explanation."

Besides the girly products, couldn't it also be that's just the way she always acts? Could it be that they are finally over the honeymoon phase?

He was physically there but his mind was far, far away.

We finally made it into the building and walked into the deserted elevator.

"That's great. But I seriously doubt that she'd go to Bella for that type of news. They barely know each other and haven't got off to the greatest start. She has Tanya and her other friends back home. I mean, I'd be willing to bet you some cold hard cash that Rosalie's just bored and needs a girl to bond with. And I hate to be a pessimist, but wouldn't she just go directly to you? Why hasn't she told you? Or, more importantly, why haven't you asked her?"

"Well, here's my theory," he started, shifting his briefcase from one arm to the other. "She wants to make sure she's certain, you know, since we've had so many disappointments. She doesn't want to get my hopes up. Also, her doctor's at home. I'm positive that she would want to share the news with family all at once, maybe by throwing some sort of party or something. She would not be shy with the news once she knows for sure. I'll give her a bit more time and then I'm just going to ask her, point blank. Also, last night she said she needed to tell me something important and then seemed to switch topics mid-sentence."

"Why do you think the topics switched?"

"She said this: 'I need to tell you something.' But then she paused and said that she thinks she wants to dye her hair."

"Huh?"

"Exactly! Would you call that important? Plus, she said she wanted to dye it brown." He rolled his eyes. "She loves being a natural blonde."

We made it up to the office and offered quick hellos to everyone.

"Well, I hope then that it's true. I really do," I said, slapping his shoulder just as we parted ways to head to our offices. "See ya later, man," Emmett said, enthusiastically. I couldn't tell if he heard me.

The thought had crept up into my mind, but I didn't want to give my two-cents because of the sensitive nature of what he and Rosalie had gone through.

Jessica's dull expression greeted me at my desk. "You're late." It felt so wrong to be bordered by walls and back to reality of having to work when I could have been in bed with Bella. I knew Jessica would be in a bad mood when I walked into the building. She had called four times and left three messages for me in a span of about 30 minutes as I was driving into work.

"You had two missed calls this morning; I let them go to voicemail. Everyone's here for the meeting. They are waiting in conference room two, and have been in there for about ten minutes. The intern is serving them coffee."

"Okay, great," I answered with a smile. My sarcasm didn't come across. She hurried off to a filing cabinet without saying anything further.

I unlocked my desk and started gathering the notes and talking points for the meeting.

I couldn't help but smile at the memories of my two-day vacation with Bella in her bikini, and taking her to the spot that always reminded me that life was so much different when it was untouched by the modern day bright lights and buildings and cars. I also remembered the following day when we were super tourists and hit up two museums and were yelled at in Italian by a museum employee when we walked into what we thought was a deserted room to make out.

I had to focus. I had a meeting to lead.

I looked at the caller-ID on the two calls that I had missed. One was an inter-office call from a colleague and the other was from…. Tanya?

I had absolutely no time to hear either of the messages. I straightened my tie, ran my hand through my hair and made my way to the conference room.

*~*~*~GRAY~*~*~*

Bella

Where is the alcohol in this place? Is nine a.m. too early to drink hard liquor?

"I really would like to do a bit of talking, Bella," she said, once the click of the entry door was heard to signal that it really was me and Rosalie.

"Okay."

"First, however, where are my manners?"

You have manners?

"Would you like something for breakfast?"

Depends. Does it contain poison?

"No, that's okay!" I said, a bit too enthusiastically. My stomach growled loudly immediately calling my bluff. Yay.

Rosalie shook her head. "I didn't say I was gonna make you breakfast, just that you're welcome to our refrigerator and pantry. Help yourself. I haven't taken my shower or put on my makeup, I need some time to get ready. Do you mind?"

"No problem. Actually, I'd like to shower too. We woke up in such a rush, I didn't get a chance."

"Great. You can shower in Edward's room. Let's meet back here when we're done."

When she turned to leave, my stomach growled again. I supposed it would be a good idea to eat in the event Rosalie planned to murder me. I found some strawberry yogurt and poured myself a bowl of cereal. As I crunched the cereal, I tried to remember all the worst-case scenario survival advice I'd learned from TV.

What the hell was I thinking? She wouldn't murder me. All signs would point to her and her hatred of me. It would be an open and shut case. But maybe, just maybe, she thought it was worth it. I chuckled softly, and then took out my cellphone.

Text to Alice: No need to pick me up after all. Rosalie is driving me. I'll text you when I'm leaving. Please send help if: 1) I'm not back in less than one hour after my text, 2) you get a call with screaming, or 3) You hear the code word: Hellllllp!

Text from Alice: Remember the best defense is always THE EYES. Go for her eyes! Love ya!

I giggled and after I finished eating, I headed upstairs to take a shower.

"Jesus. This place is a wreck," I muttered once I was back in Edward's room.

The room looked even worse than the first night I'd seen it. There were about two layers of clothing on the floor and as he'd left in a rush this morning, his closet was left wide open.

Edward could get away with being messy. He didn't have many flaws. In fact, as far as I could tell, having a messy room was his only flaw. His car wasn't messy, and he wasn't sloppy in his appearance. Or, maybe his flaw was his psycho sister-in-law.

I decided to make the bed, at least, since I had contributed to that part of the mess. It was such a shame for the room to be so disastrous. The space was just beautiful and the bed… god, that bed was great in more ways than one. Once the bed had been made, it seemed like such a shame for the rest of the room to be in such utter chaos. I shoved what I could into the closet and shut the closet door.

"Better," I said aloud.

But it wasn't enough. I started sorting the shirts and socks scattered in various parts of the room and put them on a pile on the floor. He would at least have a head start on a laundry pile. I gathered up the jeans and pants littering the floor and put them in a separate pile. Somewhere in the mess a pink piece of paper slipped to the floor. I picked it up but couldn't remember which pair of pants or jeans they came from. It took only a second to realize it was the "mystery" pink paper, I'd seen before. I shoved the slip of paper into the pocket of the first pair and went to shower.

While I showered, my curiosity began to build. It's nothing. Calling it a "mystery" was playing with my mind. It IS something. I have no business looking. I do have a right to know if I'm being played. I missed the signs before with James, it could happen again. But the thing I knew was that Edward was different. A somehow convinced myself that a peek couldn't hurt and so I came out of my shower with a resolve to do what my gut said.

I held the folded paper in my hand, the devil and angel fighting on my shoulders. And then, a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach; I knew I was horrible for letting curiosity and paranoia get to me, but I did it anyway. I opened it up in one fold. It looked like a bunch of gibberish. But it looked like beautiful written gibberish. It was handwritten in black ink, with fancy cursive writing.

Mi manchimolto,Edward. E 'incredibile cheabbiamo trovatol'altro,ancora una voltadopo tanto tempoè passato.Cominciamoda dove avevamo interrottoe saremofelici insieme.Non vedo l'oradi sentire da voi: 06 21 70 30 58 .

Irina

It was obviously a note addressed to Edward, that much was certain. "E 'incredibile"had to mean incredible and "tempo è passato" time passed? The number, I believe was Italian or at least European, and the name at the end was definitely the person who wrote it. If it was a name, it was a very unusual one. I'd never heard of anyone with that name before. I folded the paper back up and shoved it back into one of the pockets. I wasn't panicking. I was glad not to know anything more about it. It wasn't my business and since it was written in Italian, even more reason to let it go.

I will not dwell on it.

I headed back downstairs and expected to see Rosalie, but she hadn't come down yet. I got immersed in a game of Angry Birds until Rosalie finally emerged.

She came out looking like a fashionable Barbie right down to the expensive shoes and salon-perfect hair. The only thing I noticed was that her eyes looked a bit red.

"Um, so can we talk about some things while I drive you home?" she asked, timidly.

"If you're going to talk to me as a person, yes, but if you're going to be rude or threatening, I think it's best that we not talk," I answered.

"Deal."

Text to Alice: On my way home. Pray.

Alice to me: Timer set.

We drove a few minutes with no talking. I decided to break the silence. She no longer intimidated me; it probably because I knew she was vulnerable.

"Okay, so are we going to talk or…" I mumbled.

"I don't know how to tell him," started. "I don't even know what I'm confessing to? Cheating? The pregnancy? The fact that I'm not sure if it's Emmett's or not? It's not one thing, it's multiple things. I tried to tell him and all I could think of is that there are a thousand ways that our relationship could end and only one way we'd even make it through this. I think he's getting suspicious. I know I'm pregnant. I mean, it could be his. I don't know… I just don't know what to do. And Tanya said…"

She was wearing sunglasses, even though the sky was dark with rain clouds. I couldn't see her eyes and I think that might have been the point. Her words grew increasingly panicked. Two tears slid down her cheeks. Our conversations always had a weird muddled energy that was a mixture of madness and awkwardness. We could scream at each other or cry, it was just so intense. Every time I'd experienced a fantastic moment on this vacation, something equally upsetting had drawn me away from it.

"Tanya said…" Another tear, this one rolled off her cheek and over her chin.

I was so totally over hearing about Tanya this and that… I disliked her already and I always believed that everyone deserved a chance to get to be known without external third party information or gossip. I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. But everything that Rosalie had said about her made me wish she was not in the picture at all. So maybe this was a flaw of Edward's after all. I waited to hear what the absolutely perfect Tanya had to say about the situation and more importantly, why was I still being drug into Rosalie's mess?

"Tanya said Emmett doesn't need to know about my fling with… the guy. She said he will never forgive me because he's that stubborn—just like Edward. She says that we both wanted a baby and we've worked past our problems, we deserve to be happy."

It puzzled me for a good minute. Tanya wanted her to lie. Is that really the right decision? I let my mind dictate the words without really thinking. And what did she mean that Edward was stubborn?

"Look, Rosalie. No offense, but I'm a bit stunned that you seem to want my opinion. "

"I just think that now that you know… having an outside observer might be able to give me unbiased advice?"

"I guess I can understand that. I don't know about your fling or how long you've known the other guy or if Emmett knows him. I can't tell you what you need to do. The only thing I can do is give you my personal opinion. If it were my best friend in your situation…. I'd tell her that it's important to be honest. What if the guy told someone or what if Emmett found out by someone other than you? How would he feel? Wouldn't that be worse? I can tell you from personal experience how it is to be on the other end of your situation. It brings up lots of anger for me; personally, it made me feel like a complete idiot. But I also can't say how something like this impacts a marriage."

And then… a lump in my throat and what felt like huge rocks being dropped into the pit of my stomach. I had been telling her to be honest when I was going to pretend that I didn't let the pink note with the fancy handwriting get the best of me? Who was I to be in any sort of position to be giving my opinion on the situation? And again, the nagging at the back of my brain, bringing up the bad memories, the insecurities, the stupid doubts about my past relationship were resurfacing. Forget Tanya. I was tired of being me. I was my own worst enemy. And, not only that, I knew something that would hurt Emmett, which could in turn, hurt Edward. There was no use. I had secrets from him and I would have to confess in order to clear my conscience. But when?

Rosalie began speaking again and unbeknownst to her, I was raging a war inside my own head. I was a terrible girlfriend and girl-friend.

"It would kill me if Emmett found out about my 'thing' with Royce. That's the problem. I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't. Emmett will be devastated if I tell him I cheated when we were apart. It will make him ecstatic to know that I'm pregnant…if he doesn't know that there's potential for the baby to not be his. There are so many emotions that are involved and I'm not supposed to be stressed. It's not good for the baby. I'm starting to get sick and just about any kind of scent is making me nauseous. I was able to hide the sickness so far but it's happening more often and not just in the mornings. And I should be on my period. And my clothes are feeling a bit snug. And, I'm obsessed with looking at my belly in the mirror." She says each statement in rapid, almost frenzied bursts. "I could swear that I already see a tiny bump that must be impossible for anyone to even see. And I'm… excited yet frightened. Does that make sense?" She takes a deep breath and doesn't wait for me to answer. "I've wanted, or, we've wanted a baby for so long. I want Emmett to share in the excitement… but am I allowed?"

Her last question lingered and I frowned. So why did I feel so terrible?

"I wanted to let you know that I need just a little bit more time. I'll do it after Edward's birthday. Please don't say anything. We don't need to drag Edward into our mess. I know it's unfair to have told you all this about me. I know that we've had this crazy start, and things and actions can't be unsaid. I feel like in some ways, telling you was my best decision. It has been somewhat freeing. Now that I've gotten these feelings out of the way, someone that is outside of my close circle, I feel like I have the right tools to help me talk to Emmett."

I could feel the sincerity in the words for the first time. It finally didn't feel like her words were laced with double meaning or threats or protection for herself. Maybe it was because there was a lot at stake, but I believed her. I had to keep my mouth shut and let her handle it. She wasn't my friend; she didn't claim to be, nor did she have to be, but at least I felt we were at the same communication level.

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

The next ten minutes were filled with pop music and me staring off into the gray yet gorgeous Italian sky and scenery. Periods of intermittent rain changed the gray clouds into dark oil puddles on the streets and foggy windows clouding my vision.

Just as we were driving down the last street before getting to Alice's place, Rosalie surprised me. I had already begun to think that we were done talking.

"Edward isn't into surprise parties or making a big deal about his birthday," she said suddenly.

"I didn't think he was either." I nodded. "He has a very easy-going personality."

She pulled up right outside my building and at the same time pushed her sunglasses on top of her head. She turned to look directly at me. I noticed her eyes still had a trace of redness in them.

"Yeah. At work you should see him though. He's a shark. Anyway, Emmett and I have worked up a low-key house party. We'd like to invite you and your friends. He'll give you the details later."

"I'd be happy to be there. I'll ask Alice and Jasper. Thanks for the ride."

"Thank you, Bella."

I nodded, gave a polite smile, and took one final glance at her before getting out of the car. A sort of half-smile appeared on her face. Her shoulders were tense, but there was a bit of a shift in her body-language. Her face looked a little less pale, her cheeks had a bit more red to them, and a bit of relief washed over her face in the second I looked over at her. She almost looked like a different girl.

xxxxx

Alice and I had planned to go shopping ever since I'd discovered that Edward's birthday was coming up the following weekend. When I got home, I recapped the previous day's events with Alice. We joked about Rosalie "kidnapping" me, and then I told her about the party. She said that she'd loved to go and was sure Jasper would too. We waited a while for the weather to clear and then decided to get an early start to shopping.

We drove a short distance from where they lived to an outdoor shopping mall. The goal was to look for something for Edward's birthday. My mind was momentarily refocused away from my stupid relationship past. I had to live in the present. The present was Edward. I had a couple of gift ideas, but mostly I just hoped to come across some inspiration in one of the shops. We'd only managed to go through a couple of clothes stores while I tried out some new dresses, skirts, and blouses. I didn't know what we'd be doing, but I wanted to be prepared anyway.

I made the mistake of asking for gift advice.

"Sexy lingerie? You could surprise him with some really slutty looking number. Or, like fuck him in like an elevator or something. Oh! Oh!" Alice claps. "Sex toyssssssss! I know the perfect shop! I could call them for you!"

"God Alice. Call them? Are you serious?"

"Dead serious. When you are home by yourself in military housing with a bunch of other girls by themselves, during long stretches of time, you've gotta explore the ins and outs of the city. We went into basically every shop. Jasper was glad to move because he says my shopping habits have decreased and he said those places near base were just trying to get us to spend all of our money. Anyway, tell me your ideas and I'll try to steer you in the right direction."

"Edward will get me all wrapped in a red bow, but I need to get him something that can be opened in front of actual people."

When presented with the question, my ideas sounded lame once I had to announce what I was looking for.

"Well since he works in business, I was thinking maybe something for his office?" But, I know… it sounds boring, I just was kind of hoping I'd see something unique and say, that's it," I said. "And we just started dating and so I want something that is simple but at the same time, isn't. Does that make sense?"

"No."

She looked at me with what could only be described as her "what the hell?" stare. And no, she wasn't joking.

After three more hours and about five stores later, I was at the end of my rope. I was beginning to think that Edward was gonna get a handmade sex coupon book with things like: "redeem for one blowjob" and "one costumed fantasy w/ choice of sex toy!" We headed back to a long walk to her car. Along the way, I saw a young man set-up with a small table. He was working furiously on paper using an easel and paints. As we passed by, I took a quick look at his art and it was all very stunning. One thing in particular caught my eye. It was a picture of a gondola sitting in water with a beautiful bridge and buildings behind it.

"Oh my gosh, Alice. These paintings are beautiful. I think I have an idea for Edward's gift."

Luckily the man knew English and we had a bit of a chat. I would come back the following day and pick it up a customized gift. It would be absolutely perfect and it turned out to be affordable. Double win.

I just had one more thing to do. Tell Edward that I opened his note. He had to know that I'm still highly suspicious of men. I had to tell him that I was probably untrustworthy. I had to make up my mind: was this going to be B.E.B. (before Edward's birthday) or A.E.B. (after Edward's birthday). It seemed like I was going to have a dilemma myself.

*~*~*~GRAY~*~*~*

Edward

The meeting was a big success. My time-off actually made my vision for the company clearer than ever. The company was growing, and we were having one of our best financial years ever. As I sat down back at my desk, to analyze some more information, I went back to checking my messages.

The first voicemail was from my colleague. They had found some new office space and wanted to see about getting it approved. I called Emmett to see if he could deal with it. It was going to require another out of town trip and I wasn't up for more traveling.

The second voicemail was from Tanya.

Hey Edward, sorry I'm calling your office phone, but I wanted to make sure you didn't ignore my voicemail. I wanted to make sure you got my text about Emma's surprise? I'll call you later on your cellphone too, just in case you don't get this message. Anyway, just want to let you know that your mom and dad are flying in. Oh and um, that's not Emma's surprise. I just spoke with Esme and I offered to tell you. They have some business to attend to and then they'll spend a few weeks of vacation time there. Esme said they'd arrive on Monday at around 6 p.m. Once you speak with her or Carlisle they can let you know for sure. Since Emma won't be able to give you her birthday gift herself, Esme has offered to bring it for her. She worked very hard on it. You are going to absolutely love it! Okay, well anyway. We'll talk to you later then.

I put down the phone slowly. No. No. No. No. I loved my parents but they were all about snooty extravagant parties and inviting people that I don't even know. They had parties just to have parties and since my birthday happened to be happening the weekend of their arriving, I probably wasn't going to escape with my little quiet birthday dinner. I was looking forward to a small gathering of people where it would break off pretty early and then I'd hoped to have flown under the radar to sneak Bella away back to the houseboat for some of our own celebrating.

*~*~*~GRAY~*~*~*

A/N I fully anticipate to have lost half my readers due to the lateness of this chapter. I'm truly sorry. I haven't deserted this story. Now that my work hours have changed, I should go back to a regular posting schedule again. I really love my readers and it would rock if you let me know you're still out there by reviewing. Time got away from me during Nov/December and when I was finally ready to post, something else happened. Some of my twatters know why I've been MIA. Life is fragile. Let the people that you love, know that you love them.

** Note from Irina, Translates roughly to: I miss you very much, Edward. It's amazing that we found each other again after so much time has passed. Let's start where we left off and we will be happy together. I look forward to hearing from you: 06 21 70 30 58.

Irina **

THANK YOU to all my twatters whose thoughts and prayers during my time away, really meant so much to me. Thanks for your support.

Thanks as always to LovelyBrutal and piperann for editing. I own my own mistakes.

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With love from Texas ya'll,

xoxo

Lo