EPOV

The last week of the tour went by too quickly. Aro chose to set me with a couple of writers for children books, so very few people came to ask for my autograph. Bella was enjoying herself too much, she loved to watch the games and contests they set for the kids. Yesterday she helped a woman who brought her two kids and a toddler. To watch Bella carrying the toddler from side to side of the little playground we set, did something to my gut. It felt so right...
Since the pregnancy scare, she's been so vigilant of her birth control. She told me she thinks she won't be able to continue with the sessions if she got pregnant, and she felt like she has too much to do yet. I feel that she's right, she can't continue with the sessions if we got pregnant; but for me it means getting her out of her actual work. The sessions will continue indefinitely if we don't put a stop for them.

Tonight, we had the last party. Aro mounted a 40's era extravaganza to close the tour. I didn't see the appealing, but whatever. I was ready half an hour ago, just had to set on my suit and Bella tamed my hair with pomade and some kind of mousse. I asked her if I should use a hat, but she quickly dismissed my idea. Bella however, was taking at least two hours to get ready. I didn't mind, because I was sure I would enjoy her effort.

My phone rang, it was Alice.

"Hi Alice!"

"Ye-llow handsome! Please, take a picture of your hair now. Quick."

"Why do you need a pic..."

"We have bets around here. Your mop of hair won't stay in its place the whole night through. So we're checking it."

"And how will..."

"Bella knows. She's going to take pictures every hour."

"Really?" I patted my head. The immense amount of hair product on my head must hold for a couple of hours... "Did someone chose midnight?"

Alice laughed.

"You want to bet? Jasper!" She yelled. "Edward goes with twenty bucks for midnight!"

I heard some commotion on her side and then Jasper's voice startled me.

"Tell him to not get back too late! We have to go with Carlisle tomorrow."

"You heard him. Now Bella, who has too much faith in hair products, bet that you stay with your hair styled until two. You said midnight, I said eleven and Jasper said that half an hour into the party. He said you will get nervous and will try to comb your hair with your fingers."

Damn! Jasper was good. I usually get nervous with the crowd and that combing thing with my fingers it's a nervous trait of mine.

"Wake up Edward! Jesus! Maybe I have to change my bet, and say that you will stay home. No! Don't you dare! It took us three days to find the perfect dress for this shindig. Anyway, I called for other reason. Remember the son of Marcus? Well, Marcus called again. He asked if it was possible to have a session with his son. I told him we would discuss it with Bella, but if he felt the sessions were straining his relationship with his family, well, we wouldn't take it against him if he stopped coming. So what do you think?"

"Bella would like to help him. She will accept, but I don't like his son. He said some colourful profanities describe Bella. I don't mind how angry you are, you never say what he said about someone you don't know. Least of a woman."

"Relax, I'll talk to him. But tell Bella first, then we'll make a plan. She doesn't have any sessions outlined, so..."

"Esme Platt hadn't called? I thought she would try to schedule a session soon."

"Nope. But I'm sure she will call soon. Go and have fun. And don't forget Jasper will pick you up early."

"Sure Alice. Rest, and please don't make fun of my pictures."

"Pshh! It isn't funny if you're not here. Bye!"

xxx

Ugh my head is killing me!

Glimpses from last night kept coming to me. The party. Bella's scrumptious dress. The people milling around. Bella got us into the dance contest. Too many drinks to loosen up for said contest. The promise of kinky sex if we won at least second place...

I lifted the sheets only to find that I was naked. Bella was curled into a ball on the edge of the bed. I moved so I could pull her into my arms.

"Noff. I... sore...later." She said, wrapping herself inside the sheets leaving me with nothing to cover myself. Now I had to get up.

xx

Jasper knocked on my door just when I walked out of the shower, so I offered to pay for breakfast. He said Carlisle expected us soon, but if I wanted to be on his good graces, donuts and coffee were the way to Carlisle's heart.

So here I was, carrying a dozen donuts and a box with the camera and tapes. Jasper was smiling because he said I wanted to kiss Carlisle's ass. He knocked the door of the lab, which looked like a warehouse; and surprisingly, Carlisle's assistant opened it.

"Good morning Jasper! We were waiting for you... oh, you brought someone with you."

His disappointment was obvious.

"Right, Carlisle invited him. We have the tapes from Bella's sessions." The moment he mentioned Bella, this guy blushed and got a faraway look... maybe I should introduce myself.

"Hi, I'm Edward Cullen."

He choked.

"Edward Cullen, the writer?"

"Yep. Had you read my books?"

"Of course! My mother loves them, and I like a couple of them. Perhaps you could give me your autograph later." He stood to the side and helped me with the box of donuts. Right. The lighter box. Weakling.

He led us inside of the warehouse/lab. It had an office in the back and was full of gadgets and weird machines. Carlisle was lurking under one set of metal boxes with buttons and cables pulling out of them.

"Jasper, I'm glad you're here. I can't synchronize the polarity of the connectors of the three boxes. As soon as I try to turn them on, one goes crazy and the others didn't react."

Carlisle came out.

"Oh Edward! I'm so glad to see you around here. Are those the tapes? Tell me did you have any trouble installing the camera? I think it's too heavy."

He took the box out of my hands and pulled out the camera. He wasn't a weakling.

"Hmm..." He dismantled the camera, unscrewing the lens. It had four layers of lens... I didn't think that was normal. "The lens look fine, I hope the tape had caught the essence of whatever talked through Bella."

A crash in the back startled us.

"Seth! What did I told you..."

"Hey, we brought donuts!" Jasper offered Carlisle one, and distracted him. I noticed that Seth was back with the remains of a pot, probably from the coffee maker.

"Oh right. I haven't had breakfast. Too bad, it's the most important meal of the day. It's just that I get excited with my new project. This, Edward, it's supposed to create a force field capable of hold a spirit trapped within six feet range around it. If I only could get it to turn on."

He put his half-eaten donut on top of one of the boxes, dropping crumbs around. Jasper sighed and shook the crumbs from the machine.

"How is Bella? I heard you took her with you on your tour?"

Again we heard a crash from the little office on the back.

"She's getting better, excellent. I think it really helped her to get away for a while."

"Yeah, Jasper mentioned how she was getting weaker." He patted my back. "I'm so glad she found a man who cares so deeply for her like you do."

This time Seth was almost behind me.

"S-so Be-be-lla and y-you..."

"Right, she's my girlfriend. We've been living together for a while."

I have to admit that I felt bad for Seth. He seemed torn with the news, but come on! He would never had made a move. My sweet Bella didn't need someone who would love her forever from afar. Least when she was capable of... wow! Now I remember what we did last night.

I turned and noticed that Carlisle was fixated on a tiny box, screwing something inside it. He never noticed the moment Seth's heart broke. Jasper, who noticed and probably cared, offered a donut to Seth.

"Come on man, eat one. It will make you feel better."

Seth took one, still looking defeated.

"Oh come on Seth! You knew she wasn't single."

Carlisle looked to Seth, his eyes were sad.

"Why don't we go for a beer after we finish with this. Eh? You could meet a girl at the bar."

Seth still was disappointed. I was feeling terrible, though it wasn't my fault.

"Hey! Why don't we take a look to these tapes and later we hit the bar on Hilton st. I know for a fact that all the girls from Volturi go over there after work. Drinks are on me."

Jasper smiled to Seth.

"Trust him, he works there. If he says there are girls, then you may meet one for sure."

Seth nodded un-enthusiastically.

"Ok, but don't expect me to drink only one. I need to get wasted."

Esme POV

The weekend at my parent's home turned into ten days with them. My mother was so loving and warm...

I didn't realize how much I needed her love until she hugged me. Since then, she treated me like I was the most important thing in the world. She cooked my favorite meals, she let me sleep 'til late, talked to me at night.

But tonight she looked different, the way she asked me to seat with her to have a cup of tea...

"So tell me Esme, how are you really dealing? I know that it wasn't easy for you at the beginning. You asked me to leave you alone!"

Yeah, after they came to the funeral, I asked them to leave. I wanted to be alone.

"Well, I have a friend, Chelsea Volturi. She suffered from deep depression after she lost her husband. She told me about this new therapy..." There was no way I would go into detail about what I did with Isabella Swan.

"And I see it's working. Tell me, what is it? Some new drug?"

"No, it's just different. We get together and... talk. Only it's easier because we all had been there."

My mother nodded.

"I'm glad you're getting better. I have news for you, but I couldn't tell you anything until I was sure you were fine."

I looked at her. If it was about her of Dad getting sick... no, she looked fine.

"Ok, well, tell me."

She exhaled. "Your father was thinking about retiring."

"Oh, it's a good idea. Then you'll have the chance to enjoy your time together."

"Well, we discussed it, and someone offered him a chance to buy a new house... a bit far from here."

"Oh, I think it's fine. Where?"

"It's in a little community for retired people, in Miami."

It was far, but it wasn't like I lived with them.

"I think it's wonderful Mother!"

"There's more. We're taking a cruise. We'll be going out for a couple of months, travelling around the world. It was your father's dream for when he retired and now we could finally make it. We were just waiting for you to recover... just in case you needed us."

Right, just like they were there for me when Charles hit me. Oh, they weren't! So why this sudden interest on my approval?

Hi!

Don't hate Carlisle, he's really on his own world; just like Seth, that's why he never talked to Bella.

I didn't have the chance to answer to your reviews, but there was one that was angry at Buffy. She wasn't a good woman, nor too bad. I'd like to think she's trying to get redemption by taking care of Bree who is alone on the other side.

Anyway, I hope you like this chapter; the next one I hope to get it ready by Wednesday.

May