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BPOV

"Edward, Tanya, Emmet!" The woman, who had long, shiny hair the same shade as Edward's, called and waved us over. "Hey, kids!" She said, pulling each of them into a quick hug. The blonde man at her side did the same, and then all eyes were on me. "Edward, are you going to introduce us?" She asked, grinning happily. Edward cleared his throat and put his arm around my waist.

"Mom, dad, this is Bella Swan. Bella, these are my parents." He said, gesturing to me.

"Mr. and Mrs. Cullen, it's so nice to meet you." I said sincerely, shaking each of their hands.

"Please call us Carlisle and Esme." Carlisle said, smiling kindly at me. He had a few wrinkles around his eyes and a touch of gray at his temples, but otherwise he and his wife looked far too young to have children who were in their thirties.

They also seemed very friendly. I could tell just by the way they smiled at me.

"It's nice to meet you too, dear. I was so pleased to hear that Edward would be bringing you tonight, he's told me quite a bit about you." Esme said as Carlisle handed each of us a flute of champagne.

"Oh…wow. I hope it's all good." I laughed, and Edward pulled my chair out for me as we all took our seats at the round table, which was directly in the center of the room.

"Immensely so." Edward assured me, and Esme nodded in agreement.

"And Edward told me you're a writer. Bella Swan, right?" She asked, and I nodded. "Oh, well I just love your book. I've never been much of a reader, but I just love your novel. I can't wait for your next one."

I blushed, ducking my head and taking a small sip of my champagne to hide the blush. "That's very sweet of you, thank you so much. I really appreciate it." I murmured, and I could feel Edward beaming happily from the seat next to me. Suddenly, Carlisle's eyes wandered across the room and he sighed heavily, nodding at someone across the room.

"If you'll excuse me…the Hale's are here, and I should really go say hello." He explained, pushing his chair back from the table and standing up.

I raised my eyebrows at Edward questionably as Carlisle crossed the room and started talking with another couple. "Those are Rosalie's parents." Edward said shortly, taking a large sip of champagne.

"Oh. I see." I murmured, and Esme patted my hand kindly.

She must have noticed my distress, so she smiled at me. "Don't worry sweetie. They won't give us any trouble." She assured me, and I nodded gratefully. "So, Edward, how's work?" She asked, and Emmet made a face.

"Please, mom, no work talk." He groaned, downing his glass of champagne. "If I have to hear Edward describe one more surgical procedure over dinner…I'm going to vomit. Projectile vomit." He said dramatically, and Tanya smacked his arm.

"Can you please act civilized?" She hissed, and Emmet rolled his eyes and flagged a server down, helping himself to another glass of champagne.

Edward laughed at shook his head at his sister in law. "Tanya, I'd think you'd know by now that Emmet is never civilized." Tanya sighed and shook her head, but I saw a small smile on her face. "Anyway, mom, work is going fine. Nothing interesting is going on there." He said, and Esme nodded.

"Fine. Well…how is Annabelle?" Esme asked, and Edward nodded enthusiastically.

"Oh, she's fine. She's with Rose this month, and had a piano recital last week. She did great." He said, and I observed his face when he talked about Annabelle. His eyes would light up, and he would smile widely. He was obviously a wonderful, attentive father.

And that, for some reason, was wildly attractive to me.

"That's great, sweetie." Esme said, and I saw her eyes glance quickly over to me, and then back to Edward. "I'm sorry if this is intrusive…but has Annabelle met Bella yet?" She asked, and then took a quick drink.

Edward looked at me with a guilty look, and then he bit his lip adorably. "Um, no." He said, and then moved his hand from my hand to my knee. "I thought maybe we would let things progress, um, more…naturally." I nodded in agreement and Edward gently squeezed my knee.

"I see." Esme said, and then Tanya jumped into the conversation, thankfully changing the subject.

Obviously, if our relationship continued, I would meet Annabelle. But right now…it just wasn't right. I didn't know where things would be going, and this decision was primarily Edward's. And maybe even Rosalie's. Would she be okay with me meeting her daughter? Edward had said Annabelle hadn't met any of the women he had dated in these last six years, and I knew he wanted to ensure that our relationship was serious before letting me into this part of his life.

And Annabelle was obviously a very important aspect of his life.

EPOV

As I watched Bella interact with my family, I knew that inviting her here tonight was the right decision. The conversation was flowing naturally, and it was quite obvious that my parents liked her. By the time Jasper and Alice arrived in time for the dinner course, they were talking and laughing like old friends.

When my mom had brought up Bella meeting Annabelle, things had been briefly awkward. Bella and I had not talked about her meeting Annabelle. Although I was sure our relationship could be a great one, things weren't quite at that point yet.

"Edward? Did you hear me?" Alice asked, tugging on my sleeve.

"What?" I asked, startled.

"I said, 'What are your plans for later tonight?'." She repeated, winking not so slyly at Bella.

"I have to be out of here by midnight." I said, and I saw Bella's shoulders slump slightly. "I've got the graveyard shift." I said wryly, and Alice sighed.

Alice had always been a very nosy woman, and things definitely weren't changing anytime soon.

No, Bella and I had not slept together. We hadn't done more than kiss. And though I wasn't against rounding some bases…I didn't think we were ready to have sex. I wanted this relationship to be based on more aspects than the physical level, and I knew Bella felt the same way. She had told me how naïve she had been in the past.

"Well, what about after Ben and Angela's wedding? You'll have Annabelle then, right?" I nodded, and Alice continued. "Well, why don't I babysit for you that night? I could watch her all night." She suggested, and I narrowed my eyes at her.

This was going too far. Bella shifted uncomfortably in her seat, and I did as well. "Alice, come on." I protested.

"What?" She asked innocently. "It was just a suggestion."

"Yeah, sure it was." I muttered. I glanced down at my watch and sighed. It was only ten o'clock, and the party was still going strong. I hated work parties. They always lasted far too long and there was never enough liquor to go around. Suddenly, I had a thought. "Bella, are you ready to go?" I asked, and Bella glanced up at me, the surprise in her brown eyes evident.

"Um…sure." She said, taking one last sip of her champagne and then standing up. I rested my hand on the small of her exposed back, and we said goodbye to everyone at our table.

"Let's get out of here." I sighed, steering us towards the door. Steering us towards freedom. Just as we approached the doors, sometime came up behind us.

"Edward." A cold, familiar voice pierced my ears, and I turned around slowly. Jane, Rosalie's mother, stood there, a snotty look on her botoxed face. "So nice to see you again." She said, although she definitely didn't sound at all convincing.

"You as well, Jane." I said stiffly, and Bella glanced down at the floor, and I could just make out how red her face was. "If you'll excuse me, I was just getting ready to leave." I said, starting to move towards the door. But Jane gripped my arm, her eyes on Bella.

"Who, may I ask, is this?" She asked, her voice rising slightly.

I hesitated, glancing from Jane to Bella, then back to Jane. "This is Bella Swan." I finally said. "Bella, this is Jane Hale. Her husband works at the hospital." I said, and Jane smiled shrewdly.

"And, Edward is my ex son in law." She said, raising her eyebrows at me.

Now, the shit was going to hit the fan.

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Xoxo- Melodyella aka Mellie