A/N: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. I'm just playing mix and match with her characters.

1. Thanks for all the reviews!

2. Yep, this is another long one. If you're still reading this story, you know that this is how I roll LOL :)


New Business Guy, Chapter 12: Double Chapter

BPOV

After the volatile meeting with the chiefs, Renée, Phil, Emmett, and I spent our afternoon visiting and dining at the Space Needle. It pleased me to no end that Emmett seemed comfortable with my mom and stepdad.

"She's kinda pushy," he told me privately, "but other than that, she's cool."

Knowing how kooky my mom could be, I thought that his comments were a ringing endorsement.

Emmett needed to return to Maggie's, so we parted ways after lunch. The talk with the chiefs left me mentally drained and I wanted to go home and jump back into bed. However, I knew there would be no rest for me at all over the next few days. Additionally, I needed to complete one more task in preparation for Christmas dinner, and I knew a way I could kill two birds with one stone.

"I thought we might go to see your boyfriend Jeff," I said to Renée who grinned widely.

"Not that I'm surprised she has a boyfriend," Phil said, "but who's Jeff, and more importantly, is he bigger than me?"

My mom and I cackled.

"Jeff is the sales guy at Partition," I replied. "The store you paid a big chunk of money to for all my furniture."

"Gotcha," he replied.

"I'll see if he's in today," Renée said, already on the phone.

"What else do you need from there?" Phil asked.

"A small table and some folding or stackable chairs," I replied.

Phil nodded in understanding. "I thought you'd put the important people at the dining room table and the rest of us would eat around the sectional."

"First of all, you'd be at the table," I replied as he grinned. "You're important."

"Flattery will get you everywhere," he said as I laughed.

"Jeff's there and he said to come right over," Renée said excitedly. "He asked what you needed but I didn't know."

"Another small table and some folding or stackable chairs," I repeated.

Like Phil, she understood right away. "How many people are coming to dinner?" she asked.

"Fourteen," I replied. "The dining room table can seat six when it's expanded. We could spread out between the table and the sectional but I really want everyone to eat dinner together. It's important."

"It is," Renée said. "I'll help you set up."

"I didn't think there'd be so many," Phil said.

"It doesn't seem like it," I said, "but there's us, and Charlie and Sue. Then, there's nine people with Emmett and his family. He brought over one folding table, but that's all they had."

"It's last minute, but you could probably rent that stuff from somewhere," Phil said.

"I thought about that," I replied, "but with Emmett's family, Angie and Ben, and my friends from work, I figure it would be good to have extra seats on hand."

"You actually have a life now," Phil said.

"I do," I said, laughing. "So it stands to reason we'll use that stuff again. I could just go to Target or Walmart, but I knew mom wanted to meet Jeff, and this'll save time."

"And he'll find something that's high quality and stylish too," she said, interrupting me before she dialed Jeff again.

"Because our ass cheeks can only rest on the finest of folding chairs," Phil said snootily, rolling his eyes.

"I missed you, Phil," I said as I laughed.

"I missed you too," he muttered, causing me to laugh harder. "You don't even know."


Even with all the extra shoppers in the store due to Christmas, the rowdy greeting between Renée and Jeff drew attention. They took charge right away while Phil and I followed. When we passed a section with office furniture, I watched as Phil wandered into it and looked around with more than a casual interest. Before I had a chance to ask why, Charlie called me.

"I wanted to see if your mother really got there okay but I can hear her big mouth," he said as I laughed.

"She got here safe and sound," I said. "Are you sure you don't want to stay with us when you get here tomorrow? It's just for one night."

He laughed, and I did too. My mom would drive Sue nuts if they spent the night.

"Nope," he said. "I'm all ready. Got a nice little trip planned for Sue"

"What are you up to?" I asked.

"Nothing for you to worry about," he said. "I'll let you know when we get in tomorrow."

I turned my attention back to Phil.

"You just remodeled your office last year," I said. "Is she making you update it?"

"Nah," he said as he smiled. "I'm just getting some ideas."

He looked around to make sure Renée wasn't within earshot before he lowered his voice and spoke.

"I didn't want to say anything until it's definite, but I've been looking at office space," he said. "My businesses did great this year, and I need to set up an office outside of the house. I don't need much space but I definitely need a few meeting rooms."

"I'm happy it's going so well," I said. "I promise I won't say anything. She won't be happy about you not working from home anymore."

I really felt for Phil. My mom liked to be the center of his universe. This would not go over well.

"No, she won't," he said. "I want to hire an assistant too. Hell, I'd like her to do it but..."

I laughed rather loudly as he chuckled with me. "She is so not interested in working again. That's what she married you for."

"I know," he said. "But that would be ideal."

"And you'd better hire some sweet little old lady to be your assistant, or a guy, because she won't be happy with you hiring any woman younger than her," I said as I chuckled.

He groaned. "Exactly why I haven't said anything yet," he said. "And if I tell her I'm looking at office spaces, she'll try to take that over too."

"I'll pray for you," I said.

"I'm glad we have a few minutes alone," he said when he stopped laughing. "I wanted to tell you how different you are now."

"Different good or different bad?" I asked.

"Good. Definitely good," he said. "I was worried about you moving here. But as soon as I walked in the door Thursday, I knew you were good. You look so much happier. Not that you looked sad before, you just look alive now."

"That's how I feel," I said. "I miss home, but I love it here."

"I like Emmett," he said. "Good guy. You should see how he looks at you."

"I can see how he looks at me," I replied as he laughed.

"I mean from a male perspective," he said. "He's all in. I can tell. That's what you deserve, not some idiot like Mike. I ran into him a couple weeks back. He asked me about you."

"Mike wasn't that bad," I said. "He's just no Emmett."

"Understatement of the year," Phil said as I guffawed.

"What are you two plotting over here?" Renée asked, appearing right beside me.

"None of your business," I said. "Are you done? Did you find what I need?"

"I did," she said as she laughed. "Follow me."

Jeff and my mom, unsurprisingly, selected a beautiful set of stackable chairs along with a folding hideaway table and chairs set. Those purchases weren't all that expensive. However, Jeff had convinced Renée that I needed a ton of Christmas accessories for the dinner: serving dishes and plates, a centerpiece, and table linens. So I spent more than I'd planned, of course.

"You're evil," I said to him as I signed the receipt.

He laughed. "Just making your house a home, and your dinner perfect."


I woke up in a panicky state on Monday. It was Christmas Eve and thoughts of everything that had to be done in a day's time raced through my mind. However, a quick mental pep talk calmed me down and put me in motion.

After breakfast with Phil and an overly excited Renée, I called New Business. He hadn't spent the night, and unfortunately, he had to work today.

"Yeah, this sucks," he muttered when I reached him.

"You shouldn't be such a hot-shot salesman," I replied, earning the laugh I wanted. "Then they'd lower their expectations of you."

"And I'd be out of a job," he said with a chuckle. "Nah, I'm good. Just needed to vent. Are you going out today?"

"My mom and Phil are, this afternoon," I said. "They love shopping on Christmas Eve. Not me."

"Ma, Emily, and Gianna are already out in it," he said. "I should be done here by two. I'll come over then. We need to exchange our gifts and I doubt we'll have any time alone tomorrow."

I gasped. "Oh my god, I forgot to get you a gift," I said in faux shock.

"You better have something by the time I get over there," Emmett said as he laughed. "I want my gift."

"And if I don't?" I asked suggestively.

"Then I'll..."

He stopped when someone walked into his office and asked him a question.

"Sorry about that," he said when he returned.

"No problem," I replied. "I did get you a gift even though you're hard to shop for. It's not much but..."

"It's from you and that's all that matters," he said softly, causing me to grin.

"I better go start cooking," I said.

"Yeah, I need to go too," he said. "I'll see you this afternoon."

When I stopped smiling from my chat with New Business, I called Maggie. We settled on the cooking logistics for tomorrow which put my mind at ease. She'd come over in the morning to prepare the meats here, after their gift exchange and breakfast. That meant I needed to cook most of my sides and cakes today, which I'd planned to do anyway.

I'd wandered back into the kitchen as I talked to Maggie and when I ended the call, my mom and Phil were grinning at me.

"I miss you, but it's nice to see you so happy in your own place," Renée said warmly. "You look very much at home here."

"You really do," Phil said.

I smiled at them in reply, and then we got to work.

"We'll arrange the tables and do the place settings while you cook," my mom said. "This way, we won't have to worry about it tomorrow. Where's your ironing board?"

Only the prospect of showing off for people could make my mother volunteer to do housework. But I knew she'd iron those new Christmas tablecloths like her life depended on it to make the table look perfect.

"Thanks," I said as I showed her where it was. "It would be great if you could run all those new plates and forks through the dishwasher too."

"Done," she replied.

We worked on our respective projects, talking all the while. Around one, Angie and Ben arrived. Angie had asked me to bake two cakes for her to take to Forks, and they'd come to pick them up.

"What is this?" Renée shrieked as she grabbed Angie's left hand.

"It's what you think!" Angie shouted. "He proposed!"

Their high-pitched screams went on for the longest so I hugged Ben first.

"Congratulations," I said. "I'm happy for you."

"Thanks," he said. "Thought I'd make it official before I meet her family."

"Congrats," Phil said. "Hope you got some money saved up. Marriage is expensive."

"Correction," I said. "Marriage to my mom is expensive."

"That's enough from you," Renée said as we laughed.

Finally released from my mom's clutches, Angie hugged me tightly.

"I'm so happy for you," I said. "I'm assuming you said 'yes'?"

"I did," she replied as everyone laughed.

Angie and Ben stayed for almost an hour. I continued cooking while they helped Renée and Phil set up. They eagerly listened to the story of my meeting with the chiefs yesterday.

"If Carlisle's moving up to CEO, I bet you get a promotion too, babe," Angie said to Ben.

"Hopefully," he said with a grin. "Jake will probably take over for Carlisle as CFO, and the rest of us will probably split everything else. It'll be more work for everyone, but it should mean more money too and that never hurts."

The rest of the time, my mom and I tried to give Ben tips on dealing with Angie's family. Needless to say, we spent more time laughing than talking.

"They can't possibly be this bad," Ben said.

"Famous last words," said Renée which sent us laughing all over again.

When Angie and Ben left, Renée and Phil did too.

"We're going to see what trouble we can get into," my mom said as she put on her coat.

"Have fun," I replied with a chuckle.

"You could take a little break and come with us," she said.

"No, she's doing important work," Phil said as I laughed. "Carry on with your cooking, please."

I was locking the door behind them when I heard my mom loudly exclaiming so I poked my head outside. New Business, holding little Austin, was on his way inside. Austin was clearly not in the mood for my loud, excitable mother. He clung tightly to Emmett when she tried to hold him. They talked a bit longer before they came inside.

"Now you get to see my house," I said to Austin who looked around the apartment with wide eyes. He stuck closely to his uncle as Emmett pulled his coat off.

"He gets a little clingy with me sometimes," New Business said quietly.

"I know the feeling," I replied as he laughed.

"Where is everybody?" I asked.

"Liam had to work today. He's still there," he said. "When I got to Ma's, the rest of them were there, deciding where they wanted to go next. But Austin wanted to come with me."

He leaned down to kiss me. "Whatever you're cooking smells really good," he said.

"Thanks," I replied as he looked around the room.

"That table looks great," he added, "and I like all these chairs. They'll be good for when we have people over again."

"That's what I thought too," I said, smiling at the thought of him planning future things here with our friends.

"I want hot dog," Austin said suddenly.

"How do you know I have hot dogs?" I asked as I smiled down at him.

"I want it," he said simply, causing Emmett and I to laugh rather loudly.

"I could go for some too," he said. "Do you want any?"

"No thanks," I said. "I've been tasting stuff all day. I'm not hungry. I need to finish slicing potatoes."

Emmett cooked hot dogs and baked beans while Austin - - who'd finally warmed up - - talked to us nonstop as we moved about the kitchen. They ate together while I continued work on the various side dishes I was making for tomorrow. When I came to a good stopping point, I joined them on the sectional.

"Do you think we should do them now?" I asked, pointing to the gifts around my little tree.

He nodded and I decided to give Austin his first to distract him.

"Austin, Santa left one of your presents here with me," I said. "Do you want to open it now?"

His little face lit up as he tore open the paper on the box I handed him. He shrieked in delight at the five play-a-sound books inside, then he dropped the box on the floor to hug me.

"I think he likes them," New Business said. "Look bud, you got Cars and Elmo..."

Emmett seemed almost as excited as Austin as they pressed the sounds on the books.

"Uh, those are for your nephew," I said as New Business guffawed.

He reluctantly pulled himself away and let Austin lose himself in the books. He pretended to read as he turned the pages and pressed the sounds, completely lost in his own little world.

"They must read to him at preschool because he doesn't sit still long enough for anybody to read to him at home," Emmett said. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," I said. "Just seeing his face was worth it. Let's do our gifts before my mom and Phil get back. Could I go first?"

"Sure," he replied.

I handed him the first of his two gifts. He dramatically shook the box with a big grin.

"Don't get your hopes up," I said.

He laughed loudly as he opened the box and examined the sturdy Nike gym bag inside of it.

"You wouldn't believe how many of these I go through," he said with a broad grin.

"Yeah, it's time for a new one," I said as I waved my hand in front of my face and scrunched up my nose.

"Thank you, I love it," he said as he kissed me quickly.

I took a deep breath before I handed him the next one.

"It's not much," I said.

I wrung my hands in my lap as he opened the box.

"It's perfect," he replied as he looked up and grinned. He took his time scrolling through the pictures - - all of me - - that I'd loaded into the digital picture frame.

"I didn't know what to get you," I said nervously. "I figured you could take that with you on the road."

The more he scrolled, the more nervous I became, and the more I babbled.

"I'm not a narcissist or anything," I said, "but I thought it would be easier to look at this instead of your phone when you're in your hotel room. Not that I think you should look at me all the time but..."

He stopped my rambling by pulling me into a deep, scorching kiss.

"This is perfect," he repeated. "The box says it can hold eight hundred pictures, so that means I get to take a lot more before my next trip."

He wriggled his eyebrows at me, causing me to smile, but I was still nervous about the gift.

"I'm sorry it's not more," I said. "I've just been so busy and I didn't know what else to get. You're very hard to buy for."

"I'm special. What can I say?" he remarked, which finally made me laugh.

"This really is the perfect gift," he said. "Especially now. I'm definitely gonna need this."

"More trips?" I asked somberly.

"Yeah," he said. "I had a long meeting with my boss and the regional VP today. They think I'm doing great and they want me to follow up on some leads I've developed and go to more conferences. I'll be gone a lot in January."

For the first time since we'd started opening gifts, Austin stopped playing with the books and turned toward us. Maybe he sensed the heaviness in the air from our conversation, but it was almost like he knew his uncle would be leaving soon.

Austin stood and climbed into my lap. I hugged him and we both stared at Emmett with sad expressions.

"Okay, I can't take it from both of you," he said with a weak chuckle.

"I guess we got spoiled this last month," I said.

"We did," he replied.

I sighed. "This really stinks, but I understand," I said.

"Eventually, I want to apply for a position with the company where I don't have to travel so much," Emmett said. "But I need to stay in this job for at least six months."

"I understand," I said, "you just started there. We'll make it."

"We make it," Austin said, causing us to laugh.

"Hey, Austin, I'll teach Miss Bella how to do this."

Emmett lifted his hands to his face around his mouth and blew out a breath, causing some sort of farting raspberry sound that sent Austin into a fit of giggles in my arms.

"I think I can do that," I said, repeating the action.

Apparently, this was the funniest thing Austin had ever seen because he couldn't stop laughing. He continued to giggle as he returned to his books.

With Austin distracted again, Emmett handed me his gift.

"I put your gifts from the rest of the family under the tree," he said.

"Thanks," I replied. "I'll send mine with you."

"I only got you one gift, so I hope you like it," he said, looking as nervous as I'd felt earlier.

I opened the box to find a white Seahawks jersey, in my size, customized with 'McCarty' on the back.

"Oh no," I said, "they misspelled 'Swan'."

Emmett threw back his head and howled with laughter.

"No, they didn't," he said with a gleam in his eye. "That's the right name."

"I love this," I said. "I'll wear it with pride, except when they play my Cardinals."

"Deal," he said.

We talked and read with Austin until Charlie called to let me know that he and Sue had arrived safely in Seattle and had checked into their hotel. Soon thereafter my mom and Phil returned.

"You are the cutest!" Renée gushed as she immediately plopped down on the floor to read with Austin. Phil was more concerned with my gift from Emmett.

"You still have your Cardinals jersey, don't you?" he asked with real attitude.

"Oh yeah," I replied as Emmett rolled his eyes.

"It's a shame you have such a shitty team to root for," New Business said with a grin.

"The Seahawks only just got good again, so you're not really in a position to be trash talking," Phil said, grinning in return.

Phil and I took turns insulting the Seahawks while New Business trashed the Cardinals in kind. The whole time, my mom stayed on the floor with Austin. When Emily called to check on her son, Emmett decided it was time for them to go.

However, when he tried to leave Austin's books here, the little guy was not having it.

"I want iss mine books!" he shouted.

"Damn, that kid's got a set of lungs on him," Phil said as I chuckled.

New Business caved, but he did manage to sneak away two of the books to leave here. I thought that was a great idea in case Austin got bored tomorrow.

I walked with them out to his car, and carried the bags with the rest of my gifts for the family. I chuckled when Austin whined in his car seat until Emmett gave him one of the books to play with on the ride.

"Guess I better get some more books to keep here," I said after we kissed goodbye.

"Yeah, I think you better. See ya tomorrow."

I watched them drive off, and smiled the entire time as I walked back inside the apartment. My mom was quietly looking through one of Austin's books when I returned.

"What's her problem?" I whispered to Phil.

"I think she's starting menopause," he whispered back. "She's been real broody lately. You're gone, and Marti just had the baby, and Lisa's daughter is pregnant too."

Marti and Lisa were my mom's best friends back in Phoenix. Marti was only a few years younger than Renée, but she'd spent a ton of money on fertility treatments to get pregnant.

"No wonder she's been on my case about marriage and kids," I said.

We stopped talking when my mom turned the TV off and walked into the kitchen.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"I'm fine," she said after a lengthy sigh as she poured herself a glass of wine. "I think I'll have a bath and think about my life."

"Soak away some of the dramatics while you're in there," I said as Phil guffawed.

Even Renée had to laugh. "I really miss you," she said as she smirked at me. "Smart-ass mouth and all."


I was so exhausted from all the activity of Christmas Eve that I completely overslept on Christmas morning. Had New Business not called me at ten minutes to eight, there was no telling when I might have woken up.

"Merry Christmas," he said happily.

"Merry Christmas," I replied.

"Whew, somebody needs a little more sleep," he said with a chuckle.

"Oh shut up," I said as I yawned. "Thanks for calling. I completely overslept. What time are you coming over?"

"I'm not really sure," he said. "Probably around noon."

"I hear the boys," I said with a smile. "They must have had a good Christmas, thanks to Santa uncle Em."

"Not just me," he said. "I'd better go. Austin wants to play. Ma should be over there soon."

"Okay. See ya soon," I said. "I love you."

"I love you too," he replied.

The thought of him playing with the kids around their huge tree put a giant smile on my face. I happily climbed out of bed to prepare myself for what I hoped would be one of the best Christmases ever.


Maggie arrived just after my mom and Phil had opened their gifts. She'd come in with a rolling cooler with the ham and chickens, as well as a tote bag with her slow cooker and spices. In less than fifteen minutes, she'd seasoned the ham and placed it in the slow cooker, then rubbed the two chickens with a ton of herbs and spices, covered the pan, and put it in the refrigerator.

"Sorry I'm in a rush, but I need to get to church," she said hurriedly. "I missed the early service."

She looked around the kitchen at all her spice jars and wrappers from the meat.

"Just leave all that," I said. "I'll clean it up. I appreciate you coming over to do this."

"No problem at all," she said brightly. "I'll be back later to put the chickens in. Everyone will be here by three."

"We'll see you later," I said as she hastily left the apartment.

"The lesson here is, never mess with little old church ladies," Phil said as we cracked up laughing.

"I have a feeling she's not a person you'd want to get on the wrong side of," Renée said.

"I've been on that wrong side and it wasn't fun," I replied with a grin.

"What happened to her husband?" Phil asked. "No one's mentioned him."

"He died a few years ago," I said. "He was older, much older, than Maggie. Twenty five years older. He had dementia, and Emmett and his sister and brother had a tough time growing up with him."

"That happened to my great grandfather," Phil said. "The family had to put him in a home."

"They didn't put Emmett's dad in a home," I said. "They all took care of him, Maggie and Emmett mainly, and they've all got a lot of issues about it. There's a lot of tension in that family."

"That's a lot for you to deal with," Renée said.

"It is," I said. "But I love him, so I'm doing the best I can."

"That's all you can do," Phil said. "We'll help you manage however we can. Just let us know."

"Thanks," I said as my mom hugged me.

While I took stock of what more I needed to do to prepare for dinner, Phil kept us laughing with outlandish stories about some of his Christmases growing up.

"You can't have a holiday dinner without some kind of fight," he said as we laughed. "So don't be surprised if some shit goes down today."

I continued cleaning up in the kitchen, steadily laughing, until someone knocked on the door.

"Merry Christmas," said Sue and Charlie when I opened it.

I was too busy hugging them to respond as they stepped inside. It certainly seemed longer than a month ago that I'd last seem them.

"Oh, let him go, you just saw him at Thanksgiving," Renée said when I clung to my dad.

"God, give me strength today," Charlie whispered as I let him go. I cracked up laughing.

Phil and Sue had already introduced themselves when my parents hugged each other.

"It's been a long time, Charlie," my mom said as she looked him up and down.

"Not long enough really," my dad said, smirking, as we all laughed.

"See what I mean, Phil? Do you see?" she said.

"I'm sure he's just kidding," Phil said as he shook my dad's hand. "Good to finally meet you."

"You too," said Charlie.

"Bella, I love your apartment," Sue said as she looked all around. "It's much bigger than I expected."

"I love it," I said. "I have Angie to thank for it though."

"Looks like a whole different place from when I was here," Charlie said.

"I did a great job with the furniture, if I do say so myself," Renée said loudly.

"We know you bought the furniture," Charlie said. "Don't get your panties in a twist about it."

I bit my lip to keep from laughing, while Sue and my mom smiled at each other awkwardly. I thought it best to keep them all in motion.

"Let me show you the rest," I said as I led Sue and Charlie down the hall.

"I really like this," Charlie said when we got to the master bedroom and he looked around at the wax pine bedroom set.

"This would look great in the new house," Sue said as she ran her hand along the dresser.

"I think so too," Charlie replied.

"New house?" I asked.

"We didn't tell you at Thanksgiving because it wasn't finalized yet," Sue said excitedly.

"But we're getting a place together," Charlie said with a smug grin. "A nice little house right on the Sol Duc riverfront."

"It's perfect for us," Sue gushed. "You'll love it."

I screamed a little and hugged them both.

"How nice," my mom said tightly.

Phil rolled his eyes behind her and it was all I could do not to laugh. We all knew what this meant: she'd be pushing Phil to buy a new house too. She would not be outdone by Charlie.

"Are you keeping your old house?" I asked my dad.

"No," he replied. "I'm selling mine, but Sue's keeping hers."

"I have a little place in La Push," she said. "My sister and my niece have been staying there with me, so when I move, I'll keep it in the family."

"Have you really thought about this, Sue?" I asked seriously. "Do you understand that he'll spend all his spare time fishing now?"

"I have," she said with a big grin. "I'll be right there with him."

Renée mumbled something and left the room.

"I knew that would get her," Charlie whispered to Sue as they laughed together.

"You two behave," I said. "Are you hungry?"

"No, we had breakfast not too long ago," Sue said as we re-entered the kitchen. My mom had already poured herself a glass of wine.

"But I'll have to eat something before three," Charlie said

"I gotcha covered," I said. "I made a big bowl of tuna salad. I'll make some sandwiches soon."

"I love this kid," he said to Phil who laughed.

"Did you cook all this?" Sue asked as she read over the 'menu' I'd placed on the breakfast bar.

"Not all of it," I said. "Maggie, that's Emmett's mom, is doing the roast chickens and the ham. I'm doing pot roast. It's in one of the slow cookers now."

"I love your pot roast," Charlie said happily as my mom rolled her eyes.

"Thanks," I said as I grinned at him. "Yesterday, I made the stuffing, corn pudding, scalloped potatoes, mashed potatoes, spice cake, and German chocolate cake. The only thing I have left to do is the roast asparagus and I'll do that this afternoon."

"My mouth is watering," Sue said.

"Emmett's sister-in-law is making rolls from scratch," I said. "His mom's boyfriend is making green bean casserole and his sister is making mac and cheese. And mom and Phil bought pies: cranberry apple and eggnog custard. So we should have plenty of food for everyone."

"We brought a bunch of different sodas and a case of beer," Charlie said. "I'll bring 'em in soon."

"Because what would Christmas dinner be without beer," said Renée, her voice laced with sarcasm.

"Says the woman drinking wine first thing in the morning," Charlie retorted.

"Stop it right now you two," I said in warning to the both of them, even though Sue and Phil were shaking in their efforts not to laugh.

"Just having a little fun," Charlie said with a smirk.

I honestly didn't know how my parents had ever gotten together.

"Do you need me to help with anything?" Sue asked.

"Yes," I replied. "I need you and dad to help open your gifts."

After Charlie poured himself a glass of orange juice and Sue got a bottle of water, we settled around my little tree and exchanged gifts.

"This is beautiful, Bella," Sue said as she put on the bracelet I bought her. "It reminds me of the rocks on the beach."

"That's exactly what I thought of," I said happily. "I hoped you'd like it. It goes great with that ring you have on too."

"It does," she said as she held up her hand so we could all see the large ring she wore on her left ring finger. The gold ring was shaped like a big teardrop, inset with mother of pearl. It was unusual, but very beautiful.

"I did a pretty good job picking that out, you gotta admit," Charlie said.

"You picked that?" I asked, surprised.

"I did," he said with pride.

"I'm impressed," I said as he laughed.

"I absolutely love it," Sue said.

"If you keep wearing it on that finger, people will think you're engaged," I said with a chuckle. "You know it doesn't take much for talk to start in Forks."

The look she exchanged with my dad told me everything I needed to know.

"No way!" I shouted as I jumped up and looked between them.

"Way," Sue replied with a grin. "We're engaged!"

I hugged Sue again, then turned to hug my dad.

"How wonderful," Renée said as she quickly tossed back her glass of wine. "Congratulations."

"No wonder you were so secretive about the hotel and your plans," I said.

"You should've seen our hotel room," Sue said as she smiled and shook her head. "It had a beautiful view of the Sound. It was very romantic."

My mom looked positively furious that Charlie had all this good news; Phil was doing everything he could to keep from laughing at her.

"Congrats, old man," I said.

Charlie laughed as he hugged me. "I couldn't let Sue get away. Not many people would have me."

"Congratulations," said Phil.

"Thanks," Charlie said. "Sue doesn't really celebrate Christmas, but she promised Bella she'd come here with me. The time just felt right to do something special."

"I was very surprised," Sue said.

"I'll bet," said Renée. "I wouldn't have known if you hadn't said something. That's not a very traditional ring."

"No, it's not," Charlie said.

"But it's perfect for me," Sue said. "I like that it's different. I don't concern myself with following the latest trends."

"Obviously," Renée said.

"Charlie knows exactly what I like," Sue said. "That's all that matters. Not everyone needs to be flashy."

Phil and my dad both coughed a little as my mom and Sue faced off.

"Must be something in the air," Phil said quickly before any more words could be exchanged. "First Angie gets engaged, now you two."

"I hadn't heard about Angie," said Sue with a grin.

"Ben proposed yesterday," I said. "It'll be all over Forks by the time you get back."

"I heard he was coming to visit," Charlie said. "Poor guy."

"I tried to warn him," I said as they laughed. "That reminds me, I need to call Angie. Can you all play together nicely until I come back?"

"Just go," Renée said as everyone laughed.

"We'll go get the drinks out of the car," Charlie said as he stood to leave.

I left them and went to my bedroom to call Angie. She answered immediately.

"Seriously, I could freaking kill Angel and my mom right now," she grumbled.

"Merry Christmas," I said as she laughed. "What did they do?"

"They asked Ben how much money his family is worth," she said. "Who does that? It's like they're trying to run him off."

I couldn't talk for laughing, so she kept talking. "He's doing great though, he politely told them to mind their own business. Now, he's out back with my brothers; they're asking him if he hunts."

"Tell me they didn't show him the guns," I said, laughing so hard I was near tears.

"They're headed to the shed now," she said as I cackled. "I'd better get out there."

"Okay," I said, still chuckling. "I'll ..."

"Oh, one more thing," she said suddenly. "Ask your mom if she wants to hang out with me tomorrow."

"Hold on. I'll ask."

I called for Renée who quickly appeared.

"Angie wants to know if you want to hang out with her tomorrow," I said.

"I'd love to," she said excitedly. Angie had visited me several times over the years in Phoenix; she and my mom were pretty close.

"She says she'd love to," I said to Angie, before a thought occurred to me. "Will you drop Ben off at work and use his car tomorrow? You said yours was dead."

"We could take the rental," Renée said as I frowned at her. I wanted to hear Angie's response; I had a feeling I knew the answer already.

"No, I won't be dropping Ben off," Angie said with a giggle.

"What will you be driving?" I asked.

"I'll be driving my new car," she shouted excitedly.

"Did he buy it?" I asked.

"No," she said. "I wouldn't let him buy it outright. But he put a big down payment on it, so my monthly payments aren't bad at all."

"Wow," I said. "What did you get?"

"A Nissan Pathfinder," she said. "We got it Sunday."

"Isn't that a little big for you?" I asked, already knowing what she'd say.

"It won't be when we start having kids," she sang happily as I shook my head and chuckled.

"Did you drive it to Forks?" I asked.

"No, Ben drove his car here," she said.

"Well, enjoy the rest of your time, and don't kill anyone," I said as she laughed.

"I make no promises," she said. "Tell Renée I'll be there to get her between ten and eleven tomorrow morning."

I ended the call and relayed the message.

"Did she take the whole week off?" my mom asked.

"She teaches, remember?" I said. "She's on winter break until after New Year's."

"Oh that's right," she said. "Did Ben really buy her a car?"

"He made the down payment," I said.

"He seemed like a nice guy," she said. "I hope it works out for Angie. You both deserve to be happy."

"Thanks," I replied. "Now when we go back out there, you stop being difficult with Charlie and Sue."

"I'm not doing anything to them," she said.

"You doth protest too much," I said as she laughed.

"I mean, they seem perfect together," she said. "What's not to like? She's earthy and homely, he's earthy and homely."

I cracked up laughing. "She's gorgeous and you know it," I said.

"If she wants old fuddy duddy Charlie, more power to her," she said dismissively.

"That's the spirit," I said, still laughing. "Come on. Let's get back out there."

We re-joined the others just as the front door opened and Emmett walked in with Liam and Austin.

Nobody seemed happier to see New Business than my dad.

"Good to see you again," Charlie said as he jumped up from his seat and clapped Emmett on the arm.

"You too," Emmett said as he grinned.

"C'mon in, Liam," I said, "we don't bite."

He looked more nervous than I'd ever seen him, but he smiled and took his coat off.

"Thanks," he said as my parents came over to greet them.

I had to chuckle at Sue, who was practically drooling at the sight of New Business.

"Hey," I whispered to her, "you're an engaged woman. Snap out of it."

She laughed. "You are one lucky girl," she said. "Those pictures you showed me did not do him justice. Wow."

I picked up Austin who'd come to stand near me; he seemed a little overwhelmed by all the people.

"What did Santa bring you?" I asked.

"Toys and shirt and pants," he said shyly.

"Since you've already been here, will you help me show uncle Liam around?" I asked.

He nodded, and I rescued Liam from my mom who was talking his ear off.

"This is a nice layout," he said.

"Thanks," I replied. "Did you have a good Christmas?"

"I did," he said. "Thanks for doing this. All the family's excited. Nice to do something different for a change."

"My parents haven't seen each other in years, so I'm excited too," I said as we returned to the kitchen.

"Not to be greedy," Liam said. "But what can I eat that's not for the dinner? I'm starving."

"I was going to make tuna salad sandwiches," I said.

"Sounds good," said Liam, giving me a thumbs up.

"I want tuna too," said Austin.

"Does he eat that?" I asked Liam.

He snorted. "He eats everything," he said. "And he's probably hungry because he was too busy playing with his toys this morning to eat his breakfast."

"I play my toys," said Austin as I laughed.

I plated quite a few sandwiches on a few types of bread, and also put out the small veggie platter I'd prepared last night, along with some potato chips and dip.

"Right on time," Charlie said when he saw the food. Phil wandered over right behind him.

While my dad talked to Liam and Phil, I wiped off Austin's hands and face and took his sandwich, a juice box, and a Christmas cookie over to the coffee table. He dove right into his lunch, and just like last night, Renée got down on the floor and talked with him while he ate.

"There's sandwiches and a veggie platter if you want some," I said to Sue and Emmett.

"I'm afraid they might mistake my hand for food if I get too close," Sue said warily as she looked at the hungry guys gathered around the breakfast bar.

"You did a great job on everything," New Business said. "Everybody's happy."

I leaned over and rapped my fist on the coffee table.

"Knock on wood," I said as they laughed. "Let's just hope it stays like this."

Harry was next to arrive with his casserole in tow.

"Merry Christmas," he said brightly.

"Merry Christmas to you," I replied as I hugged him. "It's always nice to see you out of uniform."

He laughed deeply. "Even lifers like me get a break every now and then. Where's Maggie? She's not answering her phone."

"She said she was going to church," I said.

"Oh that's right," he said as he stepped inside.

I took his coat and casserole and introduced him to my parents.

"Everyone this is Harry, Maggie's boyfriend."

They all greeted him and he eagerly shook everyone's hand.

"Do you have family in the area?" Sue asked. I wondered that too; it seemed like he'd have been with them instead of here if he did.

"I do," he said. "I just came from my daughter's place. When my ex-wife showed up, it was time for me to leave."

"Don't do it," I said to Charlie who was clearly about to make a joke. He laughed at me, then turned to Harry.

"Did I hear Bella say you're not in uniform?" Charlie asked.

"You did," he said. "I'm a cop. Seattle PD."

Sue and Renée groaned as I laughed.

"You don't say," Charlie replied eagerly. "I'm a cop too. In Forks."

"He's the chief of police, actually," I said, "but he doesn't like to brag."

Charlie beamed with pride. "Why should I brag when you do it for me?"

Harry laughed his booming laugh and began talking with my dad, who'd settled in at the counter again next to the plate of sandwiches.

"Boy, they look good," Harry said looking at the plate.

"Help yourself," Charlie said. "There's plenty."

"Mountain Dew?" I asked Harry with a smirk.

He laughed. "No, I'll take water if you don't mind. I'm cutting back on the soda."

I handed him a bottle of water as everyone talked with him. I made space for Harry's green bean dish in the filled-to-bursting refrigerator, then decided I'd better change into my 'good' clothes since it was almost 12:30. While in my bedroom, I texted Christmas greetings to Alice and Jasper, then returned to the living room where Gianna, Kim, and Henry had come in and made themselves at home with the others.

Everyone appeared to be enjoying each other's company as they talked and got to know one another. I could only hope it stayed that way.


After checking my pot roast, I floated between all the conversations around the room. First I sat with Phil, Liam, and Emmett.

"What do you do, Liam?" Phil asked.

"I work for Ateara," he replied. "It's a big warehouse distribution center."

"Commercial?" Phil asked.

"Yeah," Liam replied. "We store and transport for different clients. I'm one of the dispatchers. I schedule the drivers, assign equipment, keep track of everything in my area."

"He gets to yell at people all day, so he loves it," Emmett said as Phil and Liam laughed.

"I use a place like that back in Phoenix," Phil said.

"You have a business?" Liam asked.

"I have three franchises," Phil said. "A UPS store, a dry cleaner, and a nutrition-supplement store."

"Do you have kids?" Liam asked.

"No, I never wanted any," Phil said. "And I can't really count Bella. She's always been more mature than me or her mother."

"That's the truth," I said as they laughed.

"Is Kim your only child?" Phil asked.

Liam nodded. "Yeah," he said. "I'm saving up bail money cuz I'll be kicking some ass when the boys start coming around. I already know it."

Phil howled with laughter as Liam chuckled.

"You think he's kidding," Emmett said as he shook his head. "He's not."

I moved over to Charlie and Harry who were, of course, talking about their respective police forces.

"I'm retiring in March," Harry said. "I can't wait. It's time. Past time."

"I don't see me doing it for more than a few more years myself," Charlie said. "I used to think I'd get bored in retirement, but a buddy of mine just started doing fishing charters. He's making good money doing that. I've helped out a few times and I loved it. Now I see there's plenty I can do to keep busy if I want to."

Harry nodded. "I've been off the canine unit since they retired Champ, but I loved training the dogs," he said. "I'm definitely getting back into that. Too many people let their pets run wild."

"You could start by getting Champ to stop jumping on people," I said.

"It's not my fault Champ sees you as a suspect, Bella," Harry replied with a chuckle.

"She's never been good with animals," Charlie said, laughing at me.

I chuckled and moved on to the next conversation, where Henry and Kim were asking Sue about her heritage while Gianna looked on, alarmed.

"I apologize now for anything offensive they might say," Gianna mumbled as she shook her head.

"Are you Native American?" asked Henry.

Sue smiled. "Yes, I am. I'm Quileute."

"We went to Tillicum Village for our field trip last month," said Kim. "Do you live there?"

"No," Sue said, chuckling. "But I've visited there. I live in a place called La Push. It's right by Forks, where Bella's from."

"We went to the Burke museum and I saw all the Indian arty-facts for our field trip," said Henry proudly.

"I've been there," Sue said. "They have beautiful exhibits."

"We saw some artifacts on our trip too," said Kim.

"You two have to come visit me," Sue said. "I can show you a lot more."

Henry and Kim turned to me and Gianna eagerly.

"Your uncle Em promised to visit my dad," I said. "You two can come with us sometime, if it's okay with your parents."

"Take 'em," Gianna said as Sue and I cackled. "Anytime you want, just take them."

Maggie and Emily arrived at about one, rounding out the guest list. They'd both met my mom, and Emily had seen Phil outside of the holiday party, but neither one had met Charlie or Sue. I introduced everyone.

"You'll be fine," I whispered to Emily who looked extremely nervous. "It's just my family."

"I know," she said as I rubbed her back. "I just need to get adjusted. I don't get out much, as you know."

I laughed and she smiled a little. "Come on," I said. "I'll show you around."

When I turned to lead her down the hall, I noticed that all of the McCartys had gone silent as they watched her. I had to remember that even though she'd warmed up to me, Emily had serious anxiety issues and I needed to give her a little time, like she said.

"This apartment is so nice," she said when we reached the master bedroom.

"Thank you," I said. "I see you're still putting your hair up. It looks great."

"Thanks," she said as she sat down on the edge of the bed and took a deep breath. "I loved those earrings you gave me for Christmas. They were beautiful. I wish you hadn't spent so much."

"You don't know what I spent," I said as she chuckled. "I thought they'd look great on you. Thank you for my pictures of the boys. I put two of them up on the bookshelf and I'm taking the others to work."

Emily had framed several pictures of the boys as a gift from them to me for Christmas.

"I don't have much money," she said. "But I thought you'd like them. My boys really love you."

"I love them," I said. "The pictures and the boys."

She looked much calmer now as she sat and took in her surroundings.

"You can stay in here for a little while if you want," I said. "I can bring you something to drink or something to eat."

"Everyone's been raving about your Christmas cookies," she said.

"I'll bring you some," I said as I stood to leave. Before I reached the door, Liam knocked then poked his head in.

"Are you okay?" he asked his sister.

"I'm getting there," she said as she let out another breath.

He stepped inside, followed by New Business who shut the door.

"Ma's mad at us for bringing Austin here in his play clothes," Liam said, rolling his eyes.

"I had a Christmas sweater and his nice slacks and good shoes all laid out for him," Emmett said, mimicking his mother perfectly.

"His clothes are clean, that's all that should matter," Emily said as she shook her head. "Nobody else even cares."

"She wanted everything perfect for today and we already fucked up," Liam said as he laughed.

I slipped out of the room then without them even noticing. I was starting to realize why Maggie and my mom, who were talking and laughing together when I reached the kitchen, hit it off so well. As different as they looked outwardly, they were both far too concerned with appearances. It was fascinating.

I decided to bring Emily a bottle of water too so I took one from the fridge. As soon as my hand touched the cookie jar though, I attracted an audience.

"Can we have some?" asked Kim in a whisper. Henry had already looked around to see who might be watching. Maggie was still talking to Renée, and Gianna and Sue were talking in depth as well.

"I want cookie," said Austin.

"Shhh," said Kim as Austin giggled.

"Come with me," I said as I grabbed the whole cookie jar, along with the bottle of water and some napkins and took off down the hall. They followed, and we arrived in the master bedroom, giggling and laughing like we'd gotten away with something really big.

"Thanks," Emily said as she took the bottle of water from me. She pulled Austin up onto the bed with her; Henry climbed up too after he took his shoes off. I wrapped cookies in napkins and passed them out.

"Austin had a cookie with his lunch," I said as he snatched one away from Emily. "I'm not sure if you want him to have any more."

"It's fine," she said as she picked up another one and took a bite. "These are really good."

"Iss good," said Austin with crumbs all around his mouth.

Liam and Kim sat together eating their cookies in the armless accent chair in the corner, one of the 'accessories' Jeff had insisted we needed.

"Look at you two being so nice to each other for Christmas," I said to them with a smirk.

They both laughed.

"He's a good dad when he's not mad," Kim said as everyone laughed.

"She's a good kid when she's not getting on my nerves," Liam replied to more laughter.

"I wonder where I'll sit?" I asked as I grinned at New Business who sat on the other side of the bed from Emily.

"I would make a joke about how much weight this bed can hold, but I don't think that would be a good idea," Emmett said as we all cracked up laughing.

"That would've been a very bad move for you," I said as I climbed up and sat on his lap.

"So your friend doesn't live here anymore, right Miss Bella?" Kim asked with a big grin.

"That's right. She moved out," I said.

"So you're here all by yourself?" asked Henry, barely able to stifle his laughter.

"What are you and your cousin getting at?" I asked as Kim and Henry giggled. "Let's not play games."

"I can see uncle Em's shoes in your closet," Henry said.

"Do you live with Miss Bella now?" Kim asked.

"Sometimes I live here, and sometimes I live with your grandma," Emmett said as he grinned at them. "Is that okay with you two detectives?"

Henry and Kim fell out laughing.

"It's okay with me," Kim said when she settled down.

"Me too," Henry said before he turned more serious. "But Grammy might be sad."

"Grammy will just have to understand," Emily said in her quiet voice. "We're all going to move out eventually."

I felt Emmett turn to look at her, and Liam and I did too.

"I like it there," Henry said, his eyes wide with concern. "I don't wanna go back where we lived before. I wanna stay near Kim."

"I know," Emily said as she hugged him. "If we leave, we'll stay in Seattle. I won't move us far away again."

"You promise?" Henry asked.

"I promise," she said as she kissed him on top of his head. "I moved where your daddy said we had to move before, even though I knew we shouldn't have. I won't do something like that again."

I certainly didn't know Emily as well as her brothers, but I got the distinct feeling that her words held a lot more meaning than it seemed on the surface. Maybe I should've let it go, but I couldn't.

"Emily, have you met someone?" I asked.

I felt Emmett's whole body go rigid against mine; Liam looked frozen in place as well. Even Kim's eyes had grown wide.

"Yes, Bella, I have," Emily said.

Even though she'd responded to me, Emily looked back and forth between her brothers. She didn't seem afraid though; she was resolved. I was glad I brought it up, so I pressed.

"Is it the guy from your therapy group?" I asked.

"Yes," she said, finally looking over at me. "I'm surprised that you noticed. You were only there the one time."

"I noticed," Emmett said curtly. "He walks out with you every week. When were you planning to tell us?"

I rubbed his arm and squeezed his hand to try to calm him down. If I was Emily, I'd have been afraid to say something too.

"I don't know," Emily said. "The smallest thing turns into a giant argument with us. You know that. We've been trying to figure out when to bring it up."

"We?" Liam asked gruffly, his voice rising. "What's his name? Who is this guy? How long has this been going on?"

Before she could answer, I decided to speak up on Emily's behalf. Emmett was still rigid, and Liam looked like he was getting angrier by the second.

"Emmett and Liam, please calm down," I said firmly. "I don't blame Emily one bit for being afraid to tell the family. But she's old enough to make her own decisions."

"And look how it worked out last time," Emmett said harshly.

"I was eighteen and desperate to leave home when I ran off with Tim," Emily said. "This is not the same thing. I'm a lot stronger now."

"You can't just bring random dudes around the boys," Liam said, trying to keep his temper in check.

"I know that, thank you," Emily said. "And he's one man, not random dudes. The boys are my whole world and I want them to have a good life. Nothing's more important to me than they are."

"Is he gonna be our new dad?" Henry asked.

"Not right now," Emily said as she smiled at him. "But he might be someday. Don't worry. He's nothing like your father. He's a very nice man and he works very hard."

"And he's getting counseling," I said as a reminder to her brothers. "It's always a good sign when people admit they need help."

"Which means he's already got problems," Emmett said as he glared at me.

"Brett's in therapy because he works at a bank and it was robbed," Emily said. "It really traumatized him. He loves his job, but he had to get help to be able to keep going back there. Not everyone there has my kind of issues."

"How long has this been going on?" Liam asked, sounding less agitated than before. New Business was breathing heavily but his body had relaxed a bit.

"He was in the group when I started in March," Emily said. "We've been friends since then."

"Almost a year and we knew nothing about this," Emmett said, shaking his head.

"You could've at least told me," Liam said.

"I've been taking my time getting to know him," Emily said.

"Have you been on a date with him?" Kim asked. "You're always at home."

"We've been on a few," Emily said. "But mainly we talk on the phone and at the sessions. Sometimes when I said I had doctor's appointments, I really went out with Brett."

I felt Emmett turn to look at Liam who was shaking his head.

"Do you really like him, mom?" Henry asked.

"I do," Emily replied. "I think you and your brother would like him too. He doesn't have any children and he really wants to meet you."

"I wanna meet him," Henry said with conviction.

"So do I," said Emmett tightly.

"What're we gonna do about Grandma?" Kim asked. "She's gonna be mad. Really mad."

"Kimmy's right," Liam said. "And we all know it."

"Before everybody goes falling in love with this guy, we need to meet him," Emmett said. "Ma's gonna be mad, but I'm sorry she has a right to be. You can't just spring this on us after everything that happened to you before. You should have told us..."

"When should she have told you?" I asked as I turned to face him. "When would you all have listened to her? I haven't been in this family long but I've seen enough. There's too much yelling and not enough listening."

"There's too much fighting," Kim said quietly from her seat with her father.

"And arguing," Henry said sadly.

"Iss yell all da time," Austin said.

Just like yesterday, I realized that the little guy understood more than I thought.

"Even the kids can see it," I said. "So I ask you again? When would have been a good time for Emily to bring it up?"

"You made your point," Emmett said angrily as he glared at me again. "But we need to meet this dude if he's gonna be around the kids."

"Damn right," Liam said.

"He wants to meet the family," Emily said. "I'm the one who hasn't let him because I'm really not in a position to rock the boat right now. What if mom gets mad and puts me out? I don't think she'd do that, but you never know. What if she threatens to take the boys? Nothing's worth that."

"I agree that the family should meet him," I said. "Honestly, if he could come to dinner today, that would be ideal. Maggie wouldn't make a scene with all my family here."

I looked at Emmett and Liam who were again staring at each other.

"What do you think Emily?" I asked. "Would he come today if you asked him?"

"Definitely," she said. "But I don't want to ruin dinner. Mom's not going to be happy about this, no matter who's around."

"That's an understatement," Liam said with a dark chuckle.

"Why don't you let me talk to her?" I asked. "You stay in here and call him, and I'll go out and talk to her."

"I can't ask you to do that," Emily said.

"Miss Bella is the only person that gets you guys to be calm," Henry said. "She can do it."

"Henry's right," Kim said. "It's better with Miss Bella around. And we should meet this man because I don't want anything bad to happen to Henry and Austin."

"Nothing bad's gonna happen to them," Liam said as he hugged Kim to him. "We won't let it."

I stood up so that I could face New Business.

"What are you thinking?" I asked. "I don't want you mad at me. You know I'll be respectful to Maggie. But this needs to happen."

Everyone stared at Emmett who glared back at me. New Business was not happy with me right now.

"Fine," he said. "But I'm coming with you."

He stood and followed me to the door, then turned back to Emily.

"I'm trusting you," he said tersely. "You're about to bring this guy around the kids and into our house and Bella's. He better be on the up and up. Because if he's not..."

"He is," Emily said. "He's a good guy."

As soon as we shut the bedroom door behind us, New Business turned on me.

"Just so you know," he said with blazing eyes, "I am really fucking furious with you right now."

"Just so you know," I said with a chuckle, "I really don't fucking care. Emily's thirty years old and she has a right to date, no matter what mistakes she made with her ex."

"We don't even know this dude," he replied. "Now Ma's gonna get all upset. She has high blood pressure, in case you didn't know."

"If she minded her own business and stopped trying to control everybody, maybe she wouldn't," I replied.

"Her kids and grandkids are her business," he shouted.

"And her kids and grandkids have a right to live their own lives," I said. "We know two very important things about this guy: first of all, he works at a bank. Last time I checked, they don't let hardened criminals handle people's money."

"You don't have to be a hardened criminal to be a shitty person," he said.

"That's true," I said. "But we also know that he's in therapy. He's under the care of trained professionals. Whatever issues he has, he's getting help. That's a good thing."

"What's going on?" asked Renée as she sauntered down the hall. "Is this our first lovers' spat?"

I laughed and walked toward her. "Had to happen eventually right?" I asked. "We'll live."

"Good," Charlie said. "Don't start fighting til after we eat all this food."

I laughed and searched the room for Maggie. She'd already seen Emmett's expression as he'd just walked up behind me. The look on her face told me that she knew something was very wrong.

"Maggie, could we talk to you?" I asked. "It's kind of important."

"Should we all go ..." Gianna started to ask.

"You might as well stay," I said. "We're all family."

Phil sensed that something was wrong and he turned the television off. Emmett and I sat down on the sectional and Maggie sat down on the angled part right next to me.

"I'll just sit here in case Maggie needs me," Harry said as he sat beside her.

Phil, Renée, Gianna, Sue, and Charlie all left the living room to sit at the dining room table.

"Bella, you're making me nervous," Maggie said as she looked between me and Emmett. "What's wrong?"

"I won't drag this out," I said. "We've been talking with Emily and Liam and the kids."

"I wondered why you all ran off," she said, chuckling nervously.

"We started talking," I said, "and in the course of the conversation, Emily told us that she's been seeing someone."

"Yes, she sees several therapists," Maggie said. "She's always had bad nerves."

"I know she sees the doctors," I said. "But that's not what I mean. Emily told us that she's been dating someone for the last year. A man from her therapy group."

Somebody in the dining room gasped, probably Gianna. Maggie's face hardened.

"You can't be serious," she said as her eyes flickered between Emmett's and mine. "Not after Tim left her and the kids like he did. Em, is this true?"

"It's what she said," he replied. "She didn't just come out and tell us. Bella dragged it out of her."

"I had to drag it out of her because she was afraid to tell you and the family," I said.

Maggie stood. "I want to talk to her right now," she yelled.

I grabbed her hand to try to calm her. "Maggie, please," I replied. "Calm down."

I quickly glanced over at the table and Gianna was whispering with the others, probably trying to explain why such a seemingly normal thing was such a big deal in this family.

"Who is this guy?" she shouted. "She can't possibly be thinking about bringing him around those boys. I won't have it. Not in my house. She needs to worry about getting herself together instead of looking for a man."

"Maggie, sit down," Harry said with authority. Maggie looked at him, clearly stunned that he'd spoken to her like that, but she sat back down.

"Look how you're reacting," Harry said. "And you wonder why she was afraid to say something."

"Somebody has to think about those boys," Maggie shrieked. "Their father just left them and now she's bringing some new guy around. What is she thinking?"

"Maybe she's thinking that she wants to be happy," I said, slowly losing my cool. "Is that so wrong?"

"Look Ma, I'm not happy about this either," Emmett said. "But we need to meet this guy and check him out before this goes any further. She's calling him now to come over here for dinner."

"Here?" Maggie yelled. "We're all just getting to know Bella's family."

"Which is why I thought it would be the perfect time for everyone to meet him," I said. "I was the one who suggested she invite him here."

"You may think you're helping," she said to me. "But you don't understand."

"Help me out then," I said with attitude. "What am I not understanding? What am I not getting about a thirty-year-old woman not wanting to spend the rest of her life stuck at home?"

"Emily is not you," Maggie said. "She's different. She needs a lot of help."

"She's getting help," I said, my voice rising. "And forgive me for saying it, but I think you, Emmett, and Liam should get some too. There is such a thing as family counseling, you know."

She shook her head at me and chuckled darkly.

"I knew this was coming," she said. "I knew you'd get my son's hopes up, then tell him he's not good enough."

"Don't you dare twist my words around like that," I shouted, finally losing control of my temper. "I love your son, and there is nothing wrong with him. But for some reason, he feels responsible for your whole family, and yes, I think he should get some help for that."

"That's enough," Emmett yelled. "That's enough. Bella's right, Ma. We could all use family counseling. Do you know what the kids said in there? Kim said she's tired of the fighting. Henry said we're always arguing. Austin, who's only three years old, said we yell all the time. That's not good."

There were several gasps from the dining room then. It did sound really bad when he put it like that.

"Fine then," Maggie said as her voice shook. "We'll all go to counseling and the doctors can blame me."

"Therapy is not always about fault or blame," Harry said as he put his arm around her. "It's about coping so that you can live the best possible life and move forward. I've been around this family a little while now and I know you all love each other. But every last one of you could use some counseling. Not just Emily. That's a fact."

I didn't realize that I was shaking until Emmett started rubbing my arms to calm me down.

"Ma, I'm just as concerned... and nervous... about Emily and this guy as you are," Emmett said. "But it's happening whether we want it to or not. Now that I've had a little more time to think about it, I think Bella's right. Today's as good a day as any for us to meet him."

He then turned to the others at the dining room table.

"Is everybody okay with Emily's friend coming over?" he asked.

Gianna, Sue, and Phil nodded.

"I think it's a great idea," Renée said.

"We got two cops, plus you and your brother here," Charlie said. "I think we can handle him."

I chuckled at my dad, who smirked back at me. I really loved that man. Now that the worst seemed to be over, I needed to keep things calm.

"Maggie, I apologize for raising my voice," I said.

"I'm sorry for what I said too," she replied as she started to cry. "I know you love my Em. I'm just scared you'll hurt him."

"He's it for me, like I told you before," I said. "You'll believe it in your own time, I guess. There's nothing else I can do to prove it. I'm going to get Emily now."

She nodded as Harry whispered to her and smiled at me. A timer went off in the kitchen and Gianna jumped up to get something out of the oven.

New Business grabbed me and hugged me before I could turn. "It makes me sick that you're right all the time, but I love you anyway," he said.

"So you've just admitted that I'm right all the time?" I asked.

"You heard me," he said as I turned to leave.

The master bedroom door was wide open, meaning that they'd all heard what was said.

Henry and Kim ran up and hugged me immediately.

"That was scary but you did good," said Kim.

"You make a good team with us," Henry said.

Austin lifted his arms for me to pick him up. When I did, he hugged me and kissed my cheek. Then he squirmed to get down, giggled, and followed his brother and cousin down the hall.

"Thanks for getting me sucked into family counseling," Liam said with a smirk.

"You need it more than anybody," I said as he chuckled then turned serious.

"Em's right," he said as he shook his head. "When the kids say that shit, it's a problem."

"I can make us all an appointment," Emily said. "I've been trying to get everyone to go; my therapist said a long time ago that we needed it."

Liam nodded, and left the room.

"Well now you have me to help you nag them," I said as she hugged me.

"Thank you," she said. "I'm so happy you're in the family now."

"Just know that you can talk to me about anything," I said. "Even this new guy. He is coming, right?"

"Yeah," she said. "He's on his way."

"You'd better go talk to your mom before he gets here then," I said.

We walked down the hall and she joined all of her family who were huddled around Maggie on the sectional talking together. All except Gianna, who was making the dough for her rolls in the kitchen.

"Holy fuck," she whispered. "One Christmas with you and all hell breaks loose."

I cracked up laughing as I pulled the asparagus out of the refrigerator. My parents gathered around the breakfast bar as I prepared my last dish.

"Leave it to you to get mixed up with a crazy family like this," Charlie said as he grinned and shook his head. This caused me to laugh harder.

"The whole time, we were sitting there like, 'Okay, she's dating. What's the big deal'," Phil whispered to more laughter.

"I like Maggie," Renée said, "but I was about to let her have it when she shouted at you like that."

"You went full Charlie Swan on her," Sue said, chuckling along with my dad.

"You seem too mild mannered to have much of a temper," Gianna said to Charlie.

Sue and Renée both laughed loudly. "You have no idea," Sue said. "When he gets mad, look out."

"If people would just listen to us and do what we say, we wouldn't have to get like that," I said with a grin.

"Exactly," Charlie said as we all laughed.


Emmett, Emily, Liam, Maggie, and Harry as well as the kids talked together for quite some time in the living room while Gianna and I prepared the meal.

"I can honestly say in all the years I've know them, that's the longest I've seen them talk without arguing," Gianna said as she looked over toward the living room.

"I can believe it," I said.

"It's almost time," Gianna said as she looked at the clock. "All that's left is my last batch of rolls and we'll be ready."

I walked over, stood in front of the door, and spoke to the room at large.

"Dinner's on schedule to start at three," I said to the delight of everyone. "So wash your hands, loosen your belt buckles, and do whatever else you need to do."

They all laughed as they scrambled into action.

"What can I help with?" Sue asked as she dried her hands on a paper towel.

"You could put some ice in a big bowl and line up all the sodas and drinks next to it on the breakfast bar," I said.

"Done," she replied.

"I'll slice up the ham," Harry said.

"Wasn't somebody bringing a booster seat for Austin?" I asked. "I don't see it anywhere."

"I'll get it," Emmett said. "It's in my car."

"Mom, can you start arranging these dishes and platters on the table?" I asked. "And be careful, they're hot."

"You got it," Renée said.

"Can we help with anything?" Kim asked after she and Henry returned from washing their hands.

"You two can keep Austin busy while your uncle gets his booster seat," I said.

"She means get away from the kitchen," Gianna said as they giggled and led Austin to the living room.

"I'll cut up the chicken," Maggie said happily, her earlier mood long gone.

"Uh, hey, everybody," Emmett said awkwardly when he returned. "I think Emily's friend is here."

We all stopped what we were doing as Emily walked to the open door. Her friend hadn't come alone. Two older people, likely his parents, stood behind him looking at all of us anxiously.

"Come on in," Emily said nervously to her friend. They all stepped inside and Emily shut the door behind them.

"Hi," her friend said brightly as he hugged her. "Finally."

Emily smiled back at him. "Finally," she said before she turned around to face us. "Everyone, this is Brett. My... boyfriend."

It dawned on me that it was my house, so I hastily made my way over while everyone stood around in stunned silence.

"Hi Brett," I said as I shook his hand. "I'm Bella."

"I've been wanting to meet you," he said with a warm smile. "Thank you for all you've done. These are my parents, Mary and Waylon."

"Hi," I said as I shook their hands.

None of the McCartys had yet to move, so I stood beside New Business.

"This is Emily's younger brother Emmett," I said. "I'm his girlfriend. There's a ton of people to meet, so that should help clarify things."

Brett and his parents chuckled and New Business finally came to and shook their hands.

"Nice to meet you," he said quickly. "Let me introduce the rest of the family."

I was glad he took over because Emily was clearly overwhelmed. But I could sense her relief that her secret was out. While I hung up their coats, I watched the rest of the introductions with great amusement and tried to figure out why Brett looked so familiar to me. It wasn't just that I'd seen him that day when we picked up Emily from therapy; he reminded me of someone.

He was a little shorter than Emily, and they shared the same thin, slight build. He had dark sort of shaggy hair and large bright eyes. That's when it hit me: Brett looked very much like the actor who played Frodo in the Lord of the Rings movies. He also bore strong resemblance to both of his parents, especially since all three of them wore matching Christmas sweaters. However, whereas Brett was quite thin, his parents were both quite stout.

I turned my attention to Liam and Emmett to make sure that they behaved themselves. However, I should have been more concerned about the reactions of the kids.

"It's nice to meet you," Henry said as he shook Brett's hand. "You better be nice to my mom, or else."

"Be nice," said Austin with his best mean face as he stood behind his brother, pointing his little finger at Brett.

"I hope you treat aunt Emily good," Kim said with a stern face of her own. "If you don't, my dad and my uncle Em will have something to say about that, and you'll be sorry."

"I will," Brett said, stunned like the rest of us by their comments. "I promise I'll be good to Emily. I care about her a lot."

My mom and I caught each other's eye and snorted with laughter which set off a chain reaction around the room. The kids didn't care though, they continued to stare at Brett warily.

"This... relationship... is a complete surprise to me," Maggie said as she stood between her burly sons, "but it's nice to meet you. You seem like a nice young man."

"Thank you," Brett said.

"Okay we can talk over dinner," Charlie said loudly. "Let's get this show on the road."

That set off another round of laughter.

"I guess I'll say grace," I said as the room went quiet.

"Lord, we thank you for bringing all of us together for this meal. Some of us traveled a long way to get here, some of us didn't even know we'd be here at all when the day began, but we're here, together, because of your will. Thank you. Amen."

"That was beautiful," Mary said.

"Thank you," I replied as everyone began finding seats around the table. "Did you have dinner already?"

"My sister always has a Christmas brunch," she said. "We were still over there when Emily called Brett, but we wanted to be here to meet everyone. We hoped you wouldn't mind."

"Not at all," I replied.

Because we hadn't done place settings for the three extra people, there was a bit of a dispute about what to do about the seating. Finally, New Business stood and laid down the law.

"It's our place and we can make the rules," he said loudly. "Me, Bella, and Gianna will sit here on the barstools at the breakfast bar. We can hear everything just fine. It's not a problem."

"You're just as bossy as my daughter," Renée said as everyone laughed. "No wonder you two get along."

Finally, everyone settled in around the table and loaded their plates. I attacked my food like I'd been stranded in the desert without access to a meal. The stress of the day had clearly worn me out. I didn't like to toot my own horn, but all the food I'd cooked turned out great. But in truth, all the food tasted amazing.

My mom caught my eye again and smirked at me as she nodded her head toward Brett's parents. For people who'd supposedly eaten already, they piled more food on their plates than anyone. I smirked back at my mom and we continued eating. Everyone took turns commenting on the food.

"These rolls are so good," I said to Gianna. I tried to keep from moaning as the buttery bread melted in my mouth.

"Thanks," she said. "I love this asparagus. I've never made it before."

"I like it too," Kim said. "We never had it."

"That was Phil's request," I said. "I don't make it often."

Phil grinned at me as he kept right on eating.

"What's this corn dish?" Harry asked. "It's really good."

"Corn pudding," I said. "One of my coworkers in Phoenix used to bring it when we had potlucks, but this is my first time making it. I'm glad you like it."

"I'm not much of a ham person, but this is delicious," Sue said.

"It's easy," Maggie said. "I make it in the slow cooker."

"I think the macaroni and cheese is wonderful," Brett said as he grinned at Emily.

"I like everything," Henry said happily.

"I need to pace myself so I have room for dessert," Liam said as he rubbed his stomach.

My dad said nothing; he was too busy stuffing his face.

I was about halfway through my first plate when my phone rang.

"Be right back," I said as I reluctantly left my plate.

"I hate to bother you," Angie said. "But I'm calling to keep Charlie and Sue from getting stuck in traffic like we are. There's a bad accident on 101 and it's shut down in both directions in one spot. Are they leaving tonight?"

As that was the main road into Forks, I was glad that she'd called.

"They were," I said as I ran back to the dining room.

"Dad, Angie says there's a bad accident on 101 and it's shut down in both directions where they are," I said.

He immediately stood up. "Let me talk to her," he said. He took the phone and stepped into the hallway.

"Do you have to work tomorrow?" I asked Sue.

"No, we're both off until Friday," she said.

"That traffic will be messed up all night," Renée said. "You should stay here tonight. There's plenty of room."

"Take that olive branch," I said to Sue. "It's the best Christmas gift you'll ever get from my mom."

Everyone howled with laughter as Renée slapped my leg.

Charlie gave me my phone, then pulled out his own and walked into the living room. From the sound of it, he'd called one of his officers to get more information and make sure everything was okay in Forks.

My phone rang again, just as I was about to sit back down.

"I wasn't done talking to you but Charlie hung up on me," Angie said indignantly as I laughed.

"Sorry," I said.

"Is everything going okay at the dinner?" she asked.

"Yes," I replied. "There's a lot going on."

"Ooh, cryptic," she said with a chuckle. "I'm sure Renée will tell me all about it tomorrow. I'll let you get back to dinner. Bye."

I ended my call and returned to the dining room. I saw several empty plates, so I cleared some of the empty serving dishes and refilled them with the food being kept warm in the oven. Gianna put out more rolls.

"We should probably start slicing the desserts while we're in here," Gianna said.

She laughed when I looked longingly at my plate of food.

"You can reheat that," she said as I laughed.

"Speaking of dessert, I have a surprise for you," I said. I pulled down the box on top of the refrigerator in which I'd hid the almond pound cake I'd baked for her.

"Oh my god, I freaking love you," she said when she saw it.

"I didn't want to tell you I'd make it in case I ran out of time, but I made it yesterday when I did the others," I said. "It's all for you to take home. You kept raving about the other one."

"That was called dropping hints," she said as I cackled.

"I'll feel guilty about taking the whole thing since we have extra people," she said. "Just give me half to take home. But make the half more like two-thirds."

Again we laughed as we readied the desserts.


All the guests lavished me with praise once we finished dinner and dessert. Well, New Business kind of forced them to.

"I know a lot of people helped put this dinner together," he said, "but nobody did more than Bella. I had my doubts, but you pulled it off. I just wanna say on behalf of everybody, thank you."

I could feel my face flush as he hugged me tightly.

"Trust me," I said with a grin, "he wasn't that happy with me a few hours ago."

Everyone fell out laughing before they all thanked me individually.

But we knew there was more serious conversation to be had between Emily and Brett's families. Emmett set up one of his video games in the living room to keep Kim and Henry busy so the adults could talk. Austin entertained himself with his play-a-sound books.

I took charge as everyone sat around awkwardly.

"I know that everybody will offer to help clean up," I said. "But we all know that it's important that your families talk. Dinner was nice, but we didn't even know about Brett until a few hours ago so I know some people still have concerns. My family can help me clean up while you all talk."

Brett, his parents, and the McCartys all agreed. They took a little break to put their dishes in the kitchen, use one of the bathrooms, or take a stretch outside.

"You're very good at taking charge," New Business said as he hugged me from behind.

"Somebody has to do it," I said as I spun around to face him.

He leaned down and kissed me quickly, which earned us teasing from Liam and Gianna.

"You two are ridiculous," I said.

"We're not the ones in here sucking face," said Liam.

We laughed with them until most everyone had re-assembled around the table. I gave instructions to my parents as the families began to talk.

"Phil, you take out the trash and recycling," I said. "Dad, you load the dishwasher. Mom and Sue, you put together some to-go plates in the containers I just put on the counter. I'm going to try to make some space in the refrigerator."

"And whatever your job is," Renée whispered, "be quiet so we can listen in."

My parents began their tasks without complaint as Brett's family and the McCartys finally started talking.

"Brett's been telling us he's been seeing someone for months now," Mary, Brett's mother, said.

"We wondered why we couldn't meet her or her family," said his father, Waylon. "We knew he met her in therapy, so we knew she had some issues, but we just couldn't understand what the harm would be in meeting her."

"The last year was very hard on us," Maggie said defensively. "I've been trying to keep the family together as best I could. Maybe I've been a little overprotective with Emily."

"That's understandable," Mary said. "But I'd like to know from Emily what exactly happened with the children's father. I don't like the idea that he's out there somewhere. He could come back at any time, and where would that leave my son?"

"I wondered the same thing," Sue whispered to my mom who nodded.

"What happened to Tim - - their father - - is a long story," Emily said. "I wouldn't even bother to tell it to you, but I care for Brett and you're his parents and you should know."

"Emily means so much to me," Brett said as he reached over and held her hand. "I really want us to work because I don't think anyone will ever understand me like she does. That's why I gave her the bracelet."

"What bracelet?" Emmett asked.

My family and I gave up all pretense of what we were doing in the kitchen as we watched the scene at the table unfold. Emily pulled back her sweater sleeve to reveal a beautiful silver bangle bracelet adorned with an open heart at the end.

"I think that's Tiffany," Renée whispered like I knew what she meant.

"This was his Christmas gift to me," Emily said with a smile. "It's so beautiful."

"So are you," Brett said.

New Business and Liam looked at each other and rolled their eyes in very brotherly fashion.

"Our life growing up was hard, very hard," Emily said. "My brothers can tell you. Our dad was older and he had dementia. I lived in constant fear of him."

"Oh stop it," Maggie said. "He never hurt you. He loved you."

"This is how Emily feels," Harry said to her. "Don't dismiss that."

Maggie sighed and crossed her arms.

"My dad was a big man," Emily said. "He was as tall as Emmett, and as big as Liam. Mom's right, he did love us. But when he got sick, he was very unpredictable. My brothers could handle him and be firm with him, but I'd always been nervous and anxious anyway, and he terrified me."

"Emily, stop this," Maggie said again. "It wasn't..."

"Ma, it was hell," Liam said as Gianna rubbed his back. "Stop trying to sugarcoat what we went through."

"Nobody blames you," Emmett said quietly to his mother. "But we had it bad. You did too. Emily's right."

Maggie removed her glasses, picked up a napkin, and dabbed at her eyes. Sue and my mom reached for napkins as well.

"Tim's family had their own problems," Emily said. "Both his parents were alcoholics. He basically raised himself. In high school, we had a lot of classes together and we were both sort of outcasts, so naturally we connected. I was always awkward and nervous, like I said; it's why I never learned how to drive. My nerves are too bad."

"I have a sister like that," Waylon said. "Social anxiety disorder is what she has."

Emily nodded. "My dad got worse and worse when we were in high school. Sometimes he'd wander the neighborhood talking out of his mind. We were bullied and teased all the time because of it."

I could see both Emmett and Liam tense up at her words; I probably should have gone to comfort New Business, but it was like I was frozen in place, mesmerized by her words.

"Tim was my only friend outside of my brothers," Emily said. "He already had a job in high school, and when he told me he was getting his own place and wanted me to move in with him, I jumped at the chance to leave home. Liam had already moved out. I hated to leave my mom and Emmett. But they could handle daddy. I couldn't."

It was obvious that the kids were listening in as well, as no noise could be heard from the video games or books. I looked over at them: Kim and Henry sat huddled together, with Austin sitting on Kim's lap.

"My mom was angry that I left, but she had her hands full with my dad," Emily said.

"I couldn't stop her," Maggie said as she wiped away her tears, "but I worried every day. I hoped she'd make it, but I knew that boy was bad news."

"It started out okay," Emily said. "I basically was a housewife, even though we weren't married. After a while, we both decided we wanted a child and we had Henry. Things were going okay. I was very stressed and nervous with the baby, but I managed."

I saw a few tears fall down New Business's face as well. Finally able to move, I sat beside him and placed my hand on his back. He smiled down at me sadly.

"Tim had an aunt who lived in Port Angeles and he'd lived with her for a little while when he was growing up," Emily said. "She died and left him her house, and he decided he wanted to move there. It was fine with me because I'd never traveled anywhere and by that time, I didn't see my family all that much anyway."

Liam, Maggie, and Emmett hung their heads a little.

"I had a really hard time adjusting in Port Angeles and I started going to an anxiety group there," Emily said. "The therapist was really worried about me and put me on antidepressants. They weren't supposed to interfere with my birth control but they did. When I got pregnant with Austin, that was the beginning of the end."

"He didn't want him, did he?" Liam asked.

"No," Emily said.

"We didn't see you guys much, but I never once saw him hold Austin," said Gianna, who wiped tears from her eyes.

"He completely ignored him," Emily said. "He started a new job and a lot of the guys he worked with were really rough types. Tim started spending a lot of time with them. That made me more anxious. I knew then that he wasn't the same guy I'd known in high school. We'd been growing apart but I didn't know what to do. I certainly didn't want to go back home."

Maggie sobbed then and Harry whispered something to her.

"By the time I had Austin, Tim had already started distancing himself from us," Emily said. "When we came back here for daddy's funeral, I was so miserable I thought about staying in Seattle. I really did. But I didn't want to live back at home in that house if I could help it, and I didn't want to impose on Liam and Gianna, so I went back."

"Tim was a lot different at the funeral," Emmett said. "We all noticed it."

"He'd definitely changed for the worst," Liam said.

"We thought about asking you and the boys to stay with us," Gianna said. "But we knew you wouldn't. Now I wish we'd have said something."

Gianna broke down in tears as Liam tried to comfort her, which caused Maggie to do the same. Brett's mother wiped her eyes too.

"Nothing was ever the same when we got back," Emily said. "It was over, it was just a matter of who would end it first. I'd actually made a friend, a neighbor down the street, an elderly woman who lived by herself. She told me all the time that I needed to leave before something bad happened. Tim was definitely doing some shady things by that point and I knew she was right."

"Was it you who left him then?" I asked, unable to remain silent.

"No," Emily said. "I planned to. I made up my mind. I put all my important papers and things into a bag so I could be ready to leave. But Tim left first. I took Austin to the doctor's one day and when I got back home, everything of value was gone. I never for a second thought we'd been robbed. I knew it was Tim."

My mom let out a sob at this point and Phil wrapped her in a hug.

"I took my bag and went down to the neighbor's and she called the police. I didn't want her too, but she said it was important to show that he'd left us. She went with me to meet Henry at the school bus and we went back to her house, not ours. As young as he was, Henry seemed relieved."

Henry ran over and hugged Emily then. "I hated it there with him," he said. "He wasn't like he used to be. He didn't want us anymore."

I started crying then, and I didn't think there was anybody in the room who didn't at least have watery eyes.

Emily held Henry and he sat on her lap and leaned against her. Maybe the kids shouldn't have been here to listen to all this, but sadly, there wasn't much that these kids hadn't heard or seen.

"My neighbor asked me to live with her, believe it or not," Emily said with a smile. "She was very lonely. But I knew I needed to come back home. It was the best thing for the boys. I called Emmett and he came and got me."

"So that's how you knew where Port Angeles was," I said to Emmett.

He nodded. "Yeah," he said.

"It's a beautiful place," Emily said. "I think so anyway. I'd love to go see my friend someday. We write each other every now and again. We wouldn't have made it without her."

"You can stop by on the way to visit us," Charlie said with a smile as he looked at Sue.

"I'd love that," Emily said as she finally started to cry.

"I don't mean to make things worse here," Mary said, "but aren't you worried about the father coming back?"

Henry looked up in alarm but Emily held him tightly. Brett's father spoke before Emily could.

"I'm sure you could do something to end his parental rights, especially since he abandoned the children," he said. "I'm no lawyer, but I know someone who went through something like that recently."

"We have a great lawyer for Emily and she's working on it," New Business said. "Because it's the legal system, shit takes forever, but she's already filed papers or motions about it. But apparently, it's really hard to completely take away a parent's rights here."

"The lawyer told us that if he ever did show back up, there's basically no chance he'd even be allowed to see them because of the way he left," Maggie said. "Emily wasn't even working. He was their only income. It's been over a year now and nobody can find him. He completely abandoned them and that wouldn't look good in court at all."

"He can't take us?" Henry asked.

"I won't lie to you and say that he can't," Emily said. "But I'll put it like this. It would be really really really really hard for him to even get to see you. And that's a lot of reallys."

Henry smiled and hugged her as I dabbed at my eyes. I had no idea all this had been going on. One more thing on New Business's giant plate of responsibility.

"Especially since both boys are in counseling because of it too," Harry said. "The courts are supposed to consider how the child's life would be affected if the parent were back in it. Things are a little different if Emily meets someone who wants to adopt the boys, but that's getting ahead of ourselves."

"Me and Henry were worried about his dad coming back to take him away," Kim said.

I hadn't even noticed her walk over with Austin as she sat beside her mother and pulled Austin onto her lap again.

"I should have told you more," Emily said to Henry. "But I didn't want you to worry. Looks like you were worried anyway."

"There's not enough talking in this family," Gianna said, still crying, as she hugged her daughter. "And that needs to change. There's too much anger and not enough talking."

"That's why Emily was afraid to tell us about you," Liam said to Brett. "If she'd told us, I guarantee it would have been the fight to end all fights. Ma would've yelled at her to think about the boys instead of herself. I would've yelled at Ma that Emily needs to live her own life, and Em would've yelled at me not to yell at Ma. That's what we do. It's completely fucked up, but that's what we do."

"We're in no position to judge," said Mary as she smiled sadly at her husband. "We have our own share of family drama with some of Waylon's family and mine. That's why for the most part, we keep to ourselves. It may have made Brett a little sheltered but at least there's a lot of love in our house."

"I'm thirty-two and I still live at home with my parents," Brett said, looking around at us nervously. "So yes, I'd say I'm sheltered. But I know I can't live there forever. It's not good for any of us. It's one of the reasons Emily and I connected. We had a lot in common."

New Business and I smiled at each other. It was one of the things that had connected us too.

"What do you do for a living, Brett?" Charlie asked.

"I'm an assistant branch manager," he said. "I work for Bank of America. I have a good job and I'm a decent guy, but I've never been very good with women. I'm too shy. I probably should've seen a therapist years ago, but I was embarrassed, I guess."

"Sad to say, there is a stigma attached to seeking counseling, especially among men," Harry said.

"There is," Brett said in agreement. "But when our branch got robbed, I knew I had to do something. I love my job and I didn't want to let fear force me to find a new one. My therapist helped a lot and he recommended the anxiety group. I never would've met Emily if I hadn't gone for counseling. I think she's a great person. I can't tell you how happy I am that we don't have to be a secret anymore."

"I'm happy this has happened too," Waylon said. "He's our only child and he's a great kid. When he told us he was dating a woman with two kids, we were afraid it would be some gold digger out for his money. I know it's a mean thing to say, but that's what we thought."

"We had some thoughts about Brett too," Emmett said as he and Liam burst out laughing. Maggie and Harry chuckled too.

"I was worried about the boys," Maggie said. "I didn't want them around another loser. But I should have trusted Emily. She's stronger than I give her credit for. I'm sorry."

She started crying and sobbing again.

"Thanks, mom," Emily said as she reached out and held her mom's hand.

"This was a really good talk," I said quietly to Emmett.

"Yeah, it was," he said. "All thanks to you."

"I get shit done, what can I say?" I bragged as he laughed and kissed me on the lips.

"I know this was a shock for everybody," Emily said, "but I want to thank my mom and brothers for actually listening. Brett's important to me. We're not saying we're getting married or anything right away, but we're committed to getting to know each other better."

"I'm so happy this worked out like it did," Brett said. "Our families all getting together like this. It's a great Christmas gift."

"I still have some concerns," Maggie said, "but I agree this was a great start. Thank you for coming to meet with us on short notice like this."

"We're the lucky ones," Waylon said. "The food here was ten times better than at my sister-in-law's."

That comment effectively generated much laughter, and relieved much of the heaviness in the room.

"All that talking made me hungry again," Harry said as he scrounged around the kitchen for more food.

"Help yourself to whatever you see," I said to him.

I walked over to Maggie who was quietly listening to her grandchildren talk. I stood behind her and draped my arms around her neck.

"I'm proud of you future mother-in-law," I said as everyone chuckled. "I know it was hard for you hearing some of that, but you did great."

She laughed as she patted my arm. "You are one tough cookie," she said. "I might have underestimated you."

"You just remember that the next time you try to nag us about marriage and kids," I said as I let her go.

Brett, Waylon, and Mary smiled at me before Mary turned her attention to the kids.

"What schools do you go to?" she asked them. "I used to teach third grade."

Kim and Henry readily told her about their schools, teachers, and classes as the rest of us talked amongst ourselves and nibbled on more food well into the evening. At about eight, someone knocked on the door.

"I don't know who this could possibly be," I said as everyone stopped and turned to it.

I opened the door to find Angie and Ben, both of whom looked disgusted, tired, and exhausted.

"Feed us please," Angie demanded as she stumbled inside. "We don't have anything good to cook at home, we've been stuck in that car for seven freaking hours, and everything's closed."

"We're begging," Ben said tiredly. "We've been stuck in the car so long because of the traffic, we don't think the food we brought home is safe to eat."

"Come on in, there's plenty left. No need for begging," I said as I took their coats.

I'd just turned to introduce them when Mary and Angie saw each other and screamed at the same time.

"Angela!" Mary shouted as she stood and raced to Angie.

"Mary!" Angie yelled in reply as they grabbed each other and hugged.

"Okay, this seals the deal," Mary said with a blinding smile. "Anybody who knows Angela is good people."

"How are you here?" Angie asked.

"Brett's dating Emily," Mary said as Angie's mouth fell open comically.

"I didn't know you had a boyfriend," Angie said to Emily who laughed harder than I'd ever seen her laugh.

"Neither did we until today," said Liam with a chuckle.

"Mary used to be the assistant principal at the school," Angie said to me.

"She just retired last year," Waylon said as he grinned at Angie.

Angie obviously knew him too, and Brett. She ran over and hugged them both.

"I take it you're not with Eric anymore?" Mary asked as she looked at Ben.

"No, we broke up," Angie said. "This is Ben, my fiancé."

"Good," Mary said. "I didn't like Eric for you. As the kids say, this young man is an upgrade."

That sent everyone laughing again, Ben most of all.

"This is too much," Angie said as she shook her head. "I need to pee, then eat. I'll be right back."

There were so many people here, I couldn't remember who Ben had or hadn't met before, so I just introduced him to everybody.

When everyone settled back around the dining room and kitchen to talk to Ben and Angie, Emily and Brett slipped off to the living room with Austin and Henry to talk in private.

"Look at that horrible dude around your nephews," I said to Emmett with a smirk, "what are we gonna do about him?"

He pinched me on my ass. "Don't get cocky, Madam Bad-Ass," he said as I cackled. "Just be happy it all worked out."

"I am," I said as I squeezed his cheeks with my hand and kissed him on the lips.

"I really really really really am."


A/N:

1. I apologize for the delay in posting! I lost count of how many versions of this chapter I wrote. I like how it worked out though. I hope you do too :)

2. The parental rights legal issue is a difficult one to research; I tried to explain the process as best as I could understand it.

3. I'll be putting a picture of Sue's ring and Emily's bracelet in Chapter 12 on the blog (link in profile).

4. As always, thanks for reading and let me know what you think!