Disclaimer: SM owns Twilight and its original characters.

A/N: Hi! Welcome back, and thanks so much for returning. Big thanks to my girl taylowendy for beta'ing this chapter for me. You rock honey! One quick note before we get started; Some had asked how Garrett already knew about Edward's possible new movie role. When Edward finally told Bella about everything he also mentioned he'd received an alert that a Hollywood gossip site had picked up the story so one could assume thats how Garrett had found out. *wink*

Home Again

Chapter 12

~Bella~

The flight back to L.A. was long and extremely bumpy. Bad weather seemed to be following us all the way to California, which was usually something I'd look forward to, just not when I was flying in the sky in a big metal plane.

The twins slept for the first half of our trip, and then Bree helped keep them busy during the second half by watching downloaded movies Edward had installed onto their shared iPad. I'd tried desperately to keep myself busy sketching, but the turbulent weather had made that insanely difficult.

As soon as we landed I was ready to get off the plane and get us home. My phone buzzed the moment we were in the car. It was a text from Alice inviting us all over tonight for dinner and cookie making. I let out a huff and pressed my body back into the leather seat of Edwards SUV.

"What's up, baby?"

"Alice wants us to come over tonight."

"Eh… what are you going to say? I have to head into the office for a bit, but I can probably be back by eight." Edward shared while keeping his eyes on the road.

"I don't know. I'll wait to reply. I'm sure she'll notice we're home within an hour of us pulling into the driveway. You know I'm not good at hiding stuff… She's going to know right away that something's up."

"Well, you can't avoid her forever."

Thankfully, I caught myself before uttering a blunt, 'no shit, Sherlock,' in response to my husband's more than obvious statement. Instead I whispered a soft, 'yup', and continued to stare out the passenger side window.

"Maybe you and the twins should have headed to New York for a few days, so you'd have had time to get over the initial shock of everything… before seeing her again?"

I shook my head disagreeing with him, "No, I needed to be home so I could use Mrs. Coupe's services and get some good doodle time in. James wants at least four more pieces to be done by the end of the month." I reminded him with a soft huff following my response.

When we pulled into our driveway I was relieved to see Alice's car missing from next door, although Garrett's was noticeably present. I saw Edward glance over in that direction for a few long seconds when we were unloading the kids out of their car seats, but he said nothing so I too remained silent. Once inside, I shuffled the kids into the playroom so I could start unpacking suitcases before Edward had to leave for the rest of the day.

I felt my phone buzz in my back pocket and reached in, expecting it to be a text from Alice, I was surprised to see it was instead from Garrett.

Messages- Garrett -Contact

Welcome home! Warning: Alice is on a mission to show off her new culinary skills with you and your family present tonight. Thought I'd give you a heads up. ;)

I rolled my eyes after reading his words and sent him a quick response letting him know she'd already dropped her dinner bomb on me, but that Edward had to work this evening. He replied back before I could even return my phone to my pocket.

Messages- Garrett -Contact

You're going to have to come up with something better than that if you plan on getting out of this. She spent all night looking for the perfect kid friendly recipe that the little hooligans would love.

My fingers made their way into my tangled hair and I tugged firmly at my roots. I was already feeling overwhelmed by the possibility of being unable to get out of this so I didn't know what to say. He was right. When Alice made her mind up over something, there was no getting out of it… unless hospitalization or death occurred. After a few long seconds of starring down at my screen, I sent him a short and sweet reply. I thanked him for the information, and then told him I had a lot to do before our little dinner party, and that we'd talk more later. That was my not so subtle hint that he needed to give the texting a break and let me get back to my motherly duties.

Just then Edward came into the room with his own phone resting comfortably in his hand but his eyes were on me. "Is there anything I can help you with before I head out? James is waiting downtown; I shouldn't keep him too long. You know how he gets."

"It sucks you have to go so soon. We just got home." I pouted after stuffing my phone back into my pocket to free up my hands so I could wrap my arms around him and press my ear firmly against his chest.

"I absolutely agree, baby. You know there's no other place I'd rather be than home with you and the kids, but you also know how quickly things can pile up when I go away for a few days. If I get started on it now, it means less late nights during the week." He reminded me before leaning in to plant a soft kiss against my lips.

I let out a sigh and nodded my head. He was right, as per usual. He did always get super busy after a get-a-way, but it was always worth it to have those days away with him.

"I'm pretty sure we're stuck having dinner with Alice, but I'll keep you posted."

"Sounds good, love you, Care Bear. I'm going to go say bye to the kids, and then I've got to take off. I'll have my phone on me."

"Oh, you always do," I mumbled to myself as I watched him leave the room. "You always do."

An hour later I was busy in the laundry room sorting colors versus whites when I heard the sound of a car door slamming. After standing on my tippy toes to glance out the crescent shaped window that looked out onto the driveway, I saw Alice's car parked directly behind mine.

No, no, no, no! I thought to myself just as I saw Bree zooming by at full speed. Before I could stop her, she was rounding the corner of the hallway to open the front door.

I wasn't sure what I'd expected to happen. I couldn't hide from her forever; all I could do was try and act as normal as possible around her until she decided to really let me in on her seemingly disappointing reality.

"Hello, my Aunt Alice. We're back from Florida. It was a fabulous trip! All of my princesses surprised me and met us there. Did you know this? They were all there!" I heard Bree explaining with her hands raised high above her head after I'd joined them at the door.

Alice let out a soft laugh and bent down to give my step-daughter a short hug; knowing she wasn't one to enjoy physical affection from anyone except her father and I or her brother and sister, my friend kept their embrace nice and short. "Oh I'm so, so very glad you've returned to your kingdom on the ocean! I've missed you terribly fair princess!" Alice insisted with a smirk hiding behind her serious expression. I smiled over their interaction and stepped forward to give my best friend a warm hug of my own.

"Yes, yes, we have returned." Bree did a quick curtsy without looking towards either of us, and then took off back towards the play room without uttering another word. My best friend took a step back and crossed her arms in front of her with a playfully serious expression now spread across her face.

"You haven't returned my texts, lady! Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, sorry. I've just been busy trying to get things re-organized, while also keeping the kids from killing each other," I slightly lied with a forced smile. She eyed me for a few moments, and then nodded her head, thankfully believing my legitimate excuse without challenging it.

"Well, I've hardly heard from you! Did you have a nice time? How was the show? The YouTube video I found was pretty good quality. I think it was one of their best sets yet!"

"Um ya-yeah. It was great. Really, really good!" I stuttered, and then mentally smacked myself in the head.

Alice narrowed her eyes and once again crossed her arms in front of her chest, "But?"

"But nothing. I just think I'm officially starting to feel old because it wasn't how I remembered it... I mean, being in a crowd like that, and getting pushed around while trying to enjoy my drink and night out away from the kids. It was just... Disappointing."

In more ways than one.

"Aw, well then, we most certainly need a girl's night out so I can show you that you're certainly not getting old, you've just matured honey! Now, about dinner?"

I stood there racking my brain for a proper excuse to decline her invitation, but nothing was coming to me.

"I figured I'd have it ready by five, since you guys have been living on east coast time for the last few days. Will that be okay? I just got back from the store picking up everything I'll need. So you can't say no, Bella. I won't allow it!" Alice insisted before reaching out to pinch my cheek playfully. I watched her scan our surroundings while she waited for my response, and then let out a soft huff from between my lips. It would be totally unlike me to say no. I knew that. But I also knew how fresh in my memory everything still was, and that it would be beyond difficult for me to act normal for a long period of time without her figuring out something wasn't right.

"Edward had to go into to the office to take care of a few things; I'm not sure when he'll be back. I was just going to order Chinese and call it a day. It's been a long and exhausting weekend, Alice."

She shook her head, not accepting my lame attempt to turn down her dinner invitation, and let out a soft laugh, "Nonsense! I bought everything I need to make homemade mac'n'cheese and chicken tenders, the kids favorites! Please let me make you guys dinner, pretty pleassssse!"

"Since when do you cook?" I questioned with a surprised smile taking over my face.

"I needed a new hobby."

No, what you needed was a distraction.

She couldn't fool me, not with what I knew.

"Now that Jasper is moving out here, I'm trying to be more domesticated. Being in the kitchen is actually kind of fun! Last night I made a pork roast with fresh vegetables and gravy from scratch! It was delicious, just ask Garrett!"

Realizing there really was no way to get out of this, I waved my hand giving in and let out an exasperated breath before asking her what time we should be there, and if I should bring anything.

"Five 'o'clock, just like I said, honey! Bring your gorgeous selves and I'll have stuff for us to decorate cookies together after we eat dinner."

"Edward might not be able to make it." I reminded her as I followed her back towards the front door.

She'd completed her mission, so it was totally natural that she wouldn't stay any longer. Not when she had to get dinner started. I smirked over the thought of Alice moving about the kitchen with absolute purpose, and then reached around her to open the front door.

"That's okay, I'm sure he's super busy being schmoosed by the one and only, Mr. Smith!"

I rolled my eyes over her statement and gave her a playful shove out the door that caused her to spin around and point her finger in my direction. "Mind your manners lady, you're on your way to becoming Hollywood royalty! You never know when the papz are hiding out trying to catch a scandalous photo!" she teased further, and then shot me a wink from her eye before spinning back around on her heels to disappear down the walkway towards her car. Slowly, I made my way back into the kitchen and grabbed my phone from the counter top to send Edward a quick text.

Alice won. Dinner at her place, 5:00 - Can you make it?

I was shocked when my phone chimed back with a response almost instantly.

Messages- Edward - Contacts

No, baby. I'm sorry. James is having us Skype with Smith and his people at 6:00, no idea how long that will take. I should be home by 8:30 though - No later than that, I promise!

His reply wasn't a total surprise. In fact, the only thing that even remotely surprised me was how early he was actually promising to be home. I sent him a quick response, letting him know I'd bring home some of the cookies Alice had planned for us to decorate together, and then got back to work in the kids rooms after checking in on them in the play room. It was already almost three. I didn't have much time left to prepare my game face, and that fact alone was already stressing me out.

"Momma Bella, please tell Maddie that she must not wear her ruby red slippers to dinner. Please tell her. Tell her right now!"

Bree was standing in the doorway of the twins room with her hands placed firmly on her hips and a very serious expression on her face. It was hard not to smile over the sight of her 'no-nonsense' stance, but I managed to keep it together… otherwise an epic tantrum would have ensued.

"Why can't she wear her red shoes, Bree?" I questioned, praying her response wouldn't cause me to crack a smile.

"Because I have chosen a green dress for her, and it is not Christmas time. We only wear red and green together at Christmas time." My stepdaughter instantly replied back with a straight face and pointed finger in my direction. "Are we making Christmas cookies at Aunt Alice's? Are we?!"

I stifled a laugh and shook my head, but I could feel my smile creeping across my face the instant her eye brow raised in reaction to my nonverbal response.

"Then, it is simply NOT allowed! Now tell her! NO RED SHOES!"

And just like that Bree crossed over into our imperfect perfect angel.

"NO, NO, NO! I SAID NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" She was running around the twin's room now, grabbing at anything she came across, and chucking it into the air, or at her sister who was now sitting in the corner of the room with a scared look on her face. I let out a sigh and quickly pulled the twins up into my arms to bring them back out to the living room so I could set them up with a movie until Bree calmed down.

"I sowwy, momma." Maddie whispered, after I'd kissed the top of her head. I frowned and shook my own head.

"Don't be sorry, baby. You did nothing wrong. Sissy is just having a moment. She will be okay." I assured my little girl, my heart breaking for her. I understood Bree, and her behaviors, but her siblings were still learning to not take it personal. Poor Maddie always seemed to get the worst of it and I hated that. I could hear Bree still throwing a fit across the house, but I knew there was nothing in that room that could hurt her; so I just left her alone, and sent Edward a quick text that he could clean up her mess when he got home from work tonight.

I finished getting Aidan dressed, and then gathered the rest of the things we would need to go spend a few hours at Alice's. Slowly I made my way towards the room that I was sure would be completely demolished by now. After carefully peering in I found Bree sitting in the middle of her destruction with her head in her lap, and her hands covering her ears while she hummed to herself.

Well at least she's self soothing… that's a good sign.

"Bree, honey, if you're ready we can go to Aunt Alice's now."

She didn't look up, she remained frozen in her curled up position and began humming even louder.

"Bree, I'm going to count to ten, and then you need to stand up and put your shoes on. Ready? One-two-three-four-five-six-seven-eight-nine-ten."

On ten she slowly raised her head, and released an exasperated sigh without looking up into my eyes.

"No-red-shoes."

I let out a sigh of my own and shook my head in reaction, even though she wasn't looking at me to see it, "If Maddie wants to wear her red shoes, she can wear her red shoes, Bree. If you want to, we can use Google on the computer to see if it's okay to wear red and green together when it's not Christmas."

"Red shoes are NOT allowed! She must know this! She MUST!"

I didn't know what to say. I was at a total loss. If I continued to challenge her position it would only set her off again. It was now obvious that tonight was going to be one of those nights where I drowned myself in a bottle of wine after getting the kids to bed.

It was also obvious that going to Alice's for dinner was not a good idea, but it was too late to cancel on her. I turned to leave the room, which only infuriated Bree more, but I didn't know what else to do. Everything her behavior therapist had told us… and it was the hardest thing to do… but she said we had to start ignoring these behaviors when they occurred, and we had to stop giving in to her, or all she's learning is that her tantrums help her win.

Unfortunately, I was the one who usually had to deal with all of the behaviors by myself.

"You have five minutes to calm down, put your shoes on, and join us at the front door. If you're not there, then I will have to call Aunt Alice and tell her we cannot come over tonight. The choice is yours, Bree." I replied firmly. "I love you, and so does Maddie, and Aunt Alice. I hope you will make the right decision so that we can all have fun tonight, together."

Her face was still pressed into her lap, but I could hear her grumbling to herself. After turning my body around to finally leave her in the room, I heard something new crash into a wall and closed my eyes with a grimace taking over my face.

I pulled my phone from my pocket and dialed Alice's number.

"You're not allowed to cancel on me. I'm pulling out my homemade sweet potato fries right now!"

"One, you're insane, and I'm going to start calling you Alicetty Crocker. Two, Bree is having one of her epic meltdowns, so we're going to be a little late. I might have to stay here with her and just have you bring the twins over for some two-on-one Auntie time. I don't want them to miss out because of their sister." I explained, hoping she wouldn't give me too hard of a time.

"Nonsense, I'll just finish getting everything out of the oven and bring it all over there. She can either choose to join us, or stay in her room. We'll be there in fifteen minutes."

"We?"

"Yeah, Garrett's joining us. Today was his last day working at the park, so they let him off early." My best friend explained.

"Oh, gotcha. Okay, if it's no big deal, then I guess that would be better. Thanks, Alice."

"No worries! See you soon!"

Twenty minutes later, Alice was walking in through our back door with Garrett following closely behind her carrying two big covered trays of food with him.

"I brought two jumbo bottles." Alice announced, waving a two big bottles of wine in the air with a smile on her face. She crossed the room and gave me a equally big hug, and then asked me where Bree was.

"She's in her room now, refusing to come out. The throwing stopped, so that's good."

"I'll go and try to talk to her. Foods all cooked and ready to eat, help your selves." Alice insisted, and then shot me wink before turning to head down the hallway towards the kids rooms.

When I turned around, I found Garrett smiling in my direction. He set the food down on the counter top and offered me a soft, "Hey you."

"Hi. Sorry for changing the plans on you guys."

"Things happen. No big deal, even if it was a treacherous walk across the beach sand to get over here," he teased, "Just glad we could work something else out. I start work tomorrow, and I know your husband is going to make sure he keeps me busy. So, I figured tonight might be the last night I'd be able to see you before hell week starts." He casually joked, while still smiling in my direction.

"Yeah, you're probably right about that. He's got a lot of stuff going on again." I mumbled before making my way past him to get into the kitchen. I pulled down some plates and cups from the cabinets and set them on the counter beside the trays of food before pulling my hair up off of my shoulders to take in a deep breath and slowly exhale.

"He's going to do the movie then?"

"Yup, looks that way. How could he not? It's with one of his favorite directors and a lead role?"

I began plating the food for the twins and then tossed the bottle opener to Garrett, who was thankfully paying attention enough to catch it in his hands.

"It's a pretty big deal, but how do you feel about all of it?"

I considered his question for a few seconds and shrugged my shoulders. "I'm still getting used to all of this I guess. At least I have Mrs. Coupe now for some me time during the week." He nodded his head in response without saying a word and began pouring the wine into three adult glasses. After squirting some ketchup onto the kid's plates, I went into the living room to tell the twins their special dinner was ready. They instantly jumped up from the couch to run to their high chairs and the sight of them helped me smile for the first time since Bree's most recent meltdown. Garrett helped buckle Aidan in while Maddie hugged me tightly before allowing me to set her down. I returned the embrace tenfold and kissed the top of head.

"Love you, momma!" I smiled at the sound of her words and set her plate down before heading back into the living room to grab their sippy cups, while Garrett got them started on their specially prepared meals.

"Your Aunt made this just for you guys! If you eat it all, we can decorate cookies after dinner for dessert!" He told my kids, which brought on lots of loud clapping from their little hands. I smiled appreciating his effort to help, and set their cups down on their trays before returning to the kitchen to retrieve my own wine filled cup.

"Have you gotten any more pieces done for the show?" I asked, trying to make conversation.

"Yeah, a couple. How about you?"

"I've started a few, but not finished anything new. Hopefully next week."

Just then Alice came out with Bree by her side, holding her hand, smiling as if all was right in the world, and she hadn't just destroyed two bedrooms not even a half hour ago.

"I will eat now. Maddie, you may have your red shoes. Google said its okay. Aunt Alice showed me."

I smirked over her announcement and shook my head in disbelief.

"Yay for Google! Let us eat!" Alice exclaimed, casting me another wink from her eye. I mouthed a quick, 'thank you', and handed Bree her plate which she immediately took to the dining room table to begin eating.

"You're pretty good with her, huh?" Garrett questioned my best friend.

"Nah, I just caught her at the right moment, after she'd had some time to simmer down." She insisted, and then gave my shoulder a tight squeeze.

"Jane will be back soon. Splitting time will help. She misses her mom I think… and being the center of attention." I replied, but I couldn't help but wonder who I was trying to convince more; them, or me.

Alice offered me another smile and nodded her head agreeing with me. "It's hard to not be the center of attention. If anyone knows that it's her Auntie." She teased playfully. I laughed nervously and took my plate from the counter to go join the kids in the dining room, while Alice and Garrett finished making their own.

I sat there silently, watching them joke with each other in the kitchen and found myself smiling over the sight of my friend seemingly happy, and without a care in the world. She was a good actress, but not that good. She must be genuinely okay with the state her marriage was in, otherwise there was no way she would seem so carefree, and without much worry on her mind… Which was, at the same time, insane to me, but I couldn't deny the fact that she really did seem okay.

After we were all finished eating, Garrett got to work setting up the cookie decorating station, and I cleaned off the plates to get them into the dishwasher. Alice had taken the kids out onto the back porch with their giant foam building blocks to play before the rain storm hit, and silence had swiftly settled in to begin its choke out of the room. I knew the inevitable conversation topic was on its way and I was dreading it.

"So, Florida was fun?" Garrett questioned after a few painful minutes. Aside from the water running in the sink, the room was dead quiet. Neither one of us seemed to know how to start up a pleasant conversation.

"There were certainly fun moments… and lots of amazing memories made that I'll be transferring onto paper soon." I replied with a half-smile, my back still turned to him as I continued to rinse the dishes off.

"I'm sure the kids had a blast."

"Yup."

I wasn't trying to be short with him, but I really didn't know how else to respond without showing some disappointment over the memories of the kid-less portion of our trip.

"And are you going to tell me what's going on with Alice's husband?"

I turned my head for a quick second to look him dead in the eyes, and then quickly scanned the back porch area to make sure my best friend was still busy outside. She was, so I was able to breathe again.

"Not now. Truthfully, I really don't want to talk about it at all. In fact, I'm trying my best to forget that any of it even happened. The guys will be out here in three weeks, so it doesn't really matter anyways. The reset button has apparently already been pressed and life will continue to go on." I insisted, praying he would just drop it.

"Okay, fair enough, but… it wasn't about me, was it? I mean… I don't want to meet the guy and have him already thinking I've tried to get with his wife. I think I deserve a heads up if that's the case, Bella."

I instantly glared in his direction and let out a huff before setting the last dish from the sink down into the dishwasher. "Look buddy, you're the one who accepted the offer to move in with a married woman, whose husband was living on the other side of the country. You had to know questions and accusations would eventually start to fly." I pointed out, still glaring at him, with my arms firmly crossed firmly in front of me.

"So then… it is about me?" He looked legitimately worried, which surprised me for some reason.

"No. I mean Jake asked me about you, if there was anything going on, but you're not the problem, or even the real issue, so don't worry about it. Just forget I even said anything. Lord knows I'd like to forget ALL of it." I could feel the tears of frustration knocking behind my inner wall. It was imperative that I avoid any and all eye contact at the moment or I'd crack. And that was the last thing I needed to happen, what with Alice being right outside the back door.

Garrett took a slow step towards me so that we were only about a foot apart. I kept my stare locked on his black and red sneakers, refusing to redirect my line of vision, but then he pressed his index finger under my chin and tilted it upwards so that I'd be forced to look him in the eyes. "You already know I'm a good listener… If something is bothering you, and you feel like you can't talk about it with anyone else because they're too closely involved, or because they just wouldn't understand, or they're… too busy… you can always come to me. It's never good to keep things bottled up, Bella."

"There's nothing to talk about. Everyone is full of flaws, and capable of triggering disappointments. I guess I'm just mad at myself… I'm pissed off that I still hadn't learned or accepted that, even after everything I'd been through."

"You're right, no one is perfect, and everyone makes mistakes; but at the same time, we all learn something and grow from those mistakes. That's why they're important to make. Mistakes help us evolve into the people we're meant to be." I glanced away, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the conversation we were having, but a part of me knew he was right. "Look, I don't know who cheated, or if that's even what's happened, but I do know Alice has seemed happier than ever over the last week and a half. Hopefully that will help ease your mind a little? She's okay, Bella. I promise. Whatever happened, she's come out on top, and she seems stronger than ever."

My bottom lip quivered and anxiously made its way between my teeth. I instantly began rocking side to side on my feet while I processed everything Garrett had just said. "The less you know the better, but it does help to hear that she's been doing alright. I've felt like such a shitty friend over the last twenty-four hours."

"You are not a shitty friend. Please stop beating yourself up over something that was entirely out of your control. Regardless of what actually happened; no one can ever control fate, because everything happens for a reason, and I know you're a true believer of that. All we can do is react to the best of our ability, and ride out the wave to see where it takes us. Now, take a deep breath, and let's get the little hooligans back in here to decorate their cookies." Garrett suggested, giving me a playful shove backwards. I swatted his arm with my opened hand and nodded my head in agreement. Hearing that Alice really had been doing okay… it had definitely helped ease my mind. I still wasn't sure how… or when I'd be able to forgive Jasper for what he'd done. Or how I'd be able to block everything from my memory once he was here, but if Alice had found a way, then I was sure that eventually I would too.

"Thanks, Garrett."

He smiled and brought me in under his arm for a brief side embrace, "Of course… What are friends are for, Bella?"

A/N: So yeah, Bella is still having a hard time, but you have to remember everything just happened the day before. It's all still fresh for her, and she's still trying to sort out her emotions. (And if you remember Bella in TMT, you know she has a hard time coping when things start to stray off course.)

Next chapter is going to be Edward's POV and it's about half way complete. It starts with Edward on his way home from his big meeting with the director of his next possible film… and he's not in the best of moods.

Thanks so so much for reading!

*Reviews make me happy!*