A lot of you wonderful readers and friends were excited for Bella's first contact with Carlisle and Esme. Well, here it is. No more waiting. I hope it's up to your expectations.

Big thanks to my girls, Katmom and Minnakoda. You are extra bit of spice that makes existence extra nice and that last thread of sanity I am usually grasping at by the time I send the chapters to you to peruse. I really don't know what I'd do without you.

When we last left them, Bella and Edward were on their "first date" and Bella was about to call the Cullens.

Bella

"Edward, sweetie, what a surprise! I hope everything is okay. Your brother isn't torturing you again, is he?"

The sound of Esme's sweet voice brought up so many memories that it was hard to choke down the incredible amount of emotion welling up inside of me. "Hi, Esme, it's not Edward," I said quietly, my voice wavering.

"Who…oh my word…BELLA? Is that really you?" Esme let out a huge gasp, then I could hear her sobbing.

My heart was clenching; she was excited to hear me, she didn't hate me. "Hi, Esme, yeah, it's me."

I couldn't swallow the lump in my throat and the tears spilled over as I listened to the only mother figure I had left in the world weeping on the other end of the line. I heard Carlisle in the background asking what was wrong.

"Edward? What happened? Why is your mother crying and saying Bella's name?"

"It's not Edward, Carlisle, it's me, Bella."

"Oh, sweet Lord, is it really you? Isabella? Our Bella?" I could hear the overwhelming emotion spilling forward from a man who so rarely showed anything but calm and decorum.

Try as I might, I couldn't hold back the sobs as I spoke to him. "I'm so s…sorry, Carlisle, I didn't mean to hurt you and E...Esme."

"Sweetheart, are you okay? How did you get Edward's phone? Is he there with you?"

"Yes," I choked out, "he and Emmett came into th…the shop where I work a couple of weeks ago." I heard a click, then an echo, and I knew I was now on speakerphone.

"They've known for two weeks and didn't tell us? Put the speaker on, Bella dear," Esme said, her tone changing. I was bracing myself to hear Edward get the tongue-lashing of the century. I clicked the button for speakerphone and held the phone between us. "Edward, dear?"

"Hi, Mom, Dad. What's up?" he said, chuckling.

Esme's voice went up a couple of octaves. "What's up? You find our missing girl and don't tell us? How could…?"

"I asked them not to, Esme." I needed her to know that it wasn't their fault, that it was my orders. "If you need to be angry with someone, it should be me. I needed to sort out some things. I really am sorry."

I heard a big sigh coming from the other end. "All that matters is that you're okay. You are, aren't you?"

"Yes, I'm okay."

"And my son still has all his limbs and genitalia intact?" Carlisle asked, laughing.

"Yes, so far," I said, rolling my eyes at Edward.

A fresh wave of crying began on the parental end. Esme spoke in a choked voice. "I've missed you so much, Bella. I can't even believe…oh my dear sweet child, I'm so happy you're okay. What are you doing with yourself?"

Edward cut in before I could answer. "Get this, Mom, she's a manager at an adult video store."

I could hear Carlisle laughing in the background, but no sound was coming from Esme, until finally she squeaked. "A porn store?" She sighed heavily. "First things first, what were my boys doing in a porn store? And Bella, I don't know what to say."

It was hard not to laugh. Hell, it took everything out of me not to. I kept swatting at Edward, who was seriously struggling to maintain his composure. "It was a job when I needed one, Esme. It turned out okay. I'm done soon anyway; school has started and I'm going to be too busy with Grad School to be selling dildos for a living."

"Are you broke, darling? Do you need money?" Esme asked, concerned.

"No, no, I've got loads of money, I mean, I have the settlement money and Mom and Dad's insurance money. The only time I've touched any of it was when I bought my house. I've been on scholarship the whole time I've been in school."

Carlisle spoke next. "Did you say Graduate School? You've finished your undergrad already?"

"Yup. I did it in three and a half years. And might I add, I graduated with honours." The pride in my voice was unmistakable.

"That's our girl. I knew the doctors were wrong," Carlisle said, proudly. "I knew that you were stronger than they gave you credit for. When they said you wouldn't speak, I knew you would; when they said you'd be in a wheelchair for the rest of your life, I knew that you would be running one day, and when they said that you would be intellectually impaired, I just knew that you'd be crossing the stage to get your university degree. You are a tough cookie, Bella."

"It wasn't easy," I replied. This conversation was going down a road I didn't want to travel at that moment, so I had to derail it before it went too far. "So, how are you guys?" I asked.

"We're doing better now that we know where you are," Esme said, relief flooding over the phone lines and straight to my heart.

"I'm sorry. I really am. I didn't mean to hurt you," I said as I began to cry again.

Esme to the rescue, as usual. "Shh, dear, it's in the past. We're just happy to have you back."

Edward cleared his throat. "I'm going to leave you guys to talk. I need to get started on dinner. I love you, guys."

"We love you too, son," Carlisle said.

Edward kissed me quickly before heading back to the kitchen.

"I'm taking you off speaker now," I said. "Edward's gone to the other room."

"Did I just hear a kiss?" Esme shrieked. "Are you two back together?"

"Whoa, Nelly, I can see your hearing is still as sharp as a tack. Yes, that was a kiss."

I held the phone away from my ear to avoid permanent hearing damage as Esme screamed. "My babies are back together! My babies are back together! My babies…"

"I said whoa! Slow down, Esme. Edward and I are on a first date of sorts. We're going to explore the possibility of getting back together. We both still love each other a lot, and as hurt as I still am, I can't seem to heal. I think that fixing things with him and dealing with this together will hopefully help us move on."

Esme sighed sadly. "So you're really not okay, are you?"

I sighed heavily. "No, I'm not. I'm still a mess about everything. I can't seem to let her go, Esme, let them go. I miss them so much. There was a huge hole ripped in my heart when they died and then when…well, I've been wandering around feeling hollow and broken. Edward and Emmett are filling that void. I've been homesick for the past few years and didn't realize it.

"I've got a great life now, with three of the best friends a girl could ever dream of having, but there was something missing, and it wasn't just Mom, Dad, and Emma. It was you, Carlisle, Emmett, and Edward. I feel more whole now than I have in years."

"We're here to help you, sweetheart. We always have been."

"Thanks, Esme. I thought a clean break would clear up the pain, but it didn't; it just made me numb again."

"Speaking of numb, how've you been doing physically?"

I laughed. I had totally forgotten that Carlisle was even there. "Do you ever take off your stethoscope, Carlisle? That's a conversation best saved for another day."

Esme squealed. "Thanksgiving! You must come home for Thanksgiving!"

"Really? That would be wonderful. I can't wait to see you. God, I've missed you both so much."

"We've missed you too. We'll let you get back to your date, and please, call us anytime. We love you, Bella. We never stopped."

"Thanks, Carlisle. I love you both so very much. Thanks for being so understanding about everything. I'm so sorry I hurt you. I'll talk to you soon."

Edward's promise to shock and amaze me with his culinary prowess was fulfilled. The grilled salmon was cooked to perfection and I'd never had a more delectable risotto in my life. He even made crème brûlée for dessert; using a small blowtorch to caramelize the sugary top at the table before my eyes.

"I love cracking the top," I said, smiling as I gently tapped the glass-like confection.

Edward blushed a little as he sat back down in his seat. "I know. That's why I made it."

"Where did you learn to cook like this?" I asked before moaning over the incredibly delicious cream I had just spooned into my mouth.

His eyes remained trained on my lips and I couldn't help but feel smug. "Uh, well, the girls told me that if I was going to stay with them in Alaska, I had to learn how to cook more than cereal, salad, macaroni and cheese, and barbeque. I actually took some cooking classes from a local chef. It was a lot of fun and I learned that cooking was a great way to take my mind off things."

Movement on the table alerted me to his trembling hands. I gently took them in mine and held them, hoping to steady them. "Are you nervous?"

"No, Love, not really. It's just an annoying side effect of my Paxil."

I frowned and shook my head sadly. "That sucks."

"Yeah."

We sat and stared at each other in the warm glow of the candles he'd lit. It felt so right to be together, in spite of all that had happened. I felt like I was home, like everything was okay for the first time in a long time.

"I feel like I'm having a déjà vu," he said quietly.

I felt a rush of panic flow through me. "Oh no! Edward, you should lay down right away so you don't get hurt. Where are your pillows?" I said, frantically looking around.

He stood up and reached for me. "Whoa, what's wrong, Bella? Why do I need to lie down?"

My eyes were still searching for a soft spot for him to be when it happened. I couldn't bear it if he got hurt while I was watching. "If you're going to have a seizure, it's best to be lying down. Come quick," I reached for his hand. He wrapped his around mine and squeezed it reassuringly. "It'll be okay."

He was looking at me like I was crazy. I stopped for a moment and looked at him. He looked okay. What was going on?

"I'm not going to have a seizure, Bella. What would make you think that?"

Suddenly I felt like an ass. I knew I was blushing and I wanted nothing more than to disappear. "Sometimes I experience déjà vu before I have a seizure. I'm sorry I overreacted," I said quietly.

Edward palmed my blazing cheek and smiled. "I'm sorry you were scared. What I was trying to say is that this feels so right, so natural, that it feels like we've done this before."

"We have, only when you cooked it was usually potato salad, or macaroni and cheese."

"Hey," he said, pretending to be hurt, "I thought you loved my potato salad?"

"Did you hear me complaining? I was merely stating a fact."

He laughed and smiled, the candlelight dancing in his eyes, but just as quickly, he became serious. "I hate to ruin a perfect moment, but I need to know something," he said, his voice dropping in volume.

I felt my heart drop into the pit of my stomach and begin to drown in the salmon and crème brûlée digesting there. Looking at his face, I couldn't tell what was he was going to ask; his seriousness was scaring me.

"Uhm, okay." My voice shook more than I had hoped it would and I watched his mouth, that beautiful mouth, turn down into a frown. When I looked at his eyes they spoke in worried volumes.

"Bella, are you okay? You're shaking."

God, I was shaking, wasn't I? Come on, get a grip, Bella. "I'm fine. What is it you wanted to ask?"

He took my hand and intertwined our fingers. The energy passing between us served to calm me somewhat. I could feel my muscles beginning to relax and the shaking ebbed. "Are you sure you're okay? Would you like to go sit on the couch?"

I sighed in relief. "Yes, please. That would be great."

Edward's grip on my hand never faltered as we moved to his big comfy couch.

Edward

Bella had mostly stopped shaking by the time we reached the couch. The whole incident at the table had frightened me; I'd never seen anyone pale so quickly.

I sat beside her, put my arm around her shoulder and smiled when I felt her snuggle in closer. We still fit together like puzzle pieces.

"What were you going to ask me?" she finally asked, her voice a little stronger. "It sounded serious."

"I was actually going to ask you, uh, well…would you go out with me again sometime?" I kept my gaze down to our hands, which had found each other and were entwined again.

Bella's laugh filled the room and warmed my soul. I would never tire of it; it was like the most beautiful music. "I thought you were going to ask me something serious. Of course I'll go out with you again. Silly Edward." She squeezed my hand as she smiled up at me.

"There's something else. This is really none of my business, but…oh hell…feel free to say no if you don't want to answer it, but…"

I felt her tense up beside me. "Spit it out, Edward, you're scaring me."

I know we'd sort of discussed this before, but I wanted to be sure, I needed to know. I know she'd said that she hadn't been with anyone else, but had she dated anyone? "DidyoudateanyoneafterIleft?" I blurted out, unsure if she had managed to make out what I was trying to say.

She turned to me and stared. "What? I didn't understand a word you said. Can you please repeat that?"

I rubbed her shoulder and ran a finger along her jaw to calm her down. "I was just curious if you…if you've dated anyone since I left."

"No."

"No? As in you don't want to answer or no as in no I didn't date anyone?"

Bella exhaled before she turned around so we were face-to-face. I couldn't quite place the look on her face. The shadows made by the candles danced across her features and it was almost impossible to read her.

"No, I haven't dated anyone else."

I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Did you, Edward?" She moved a little closer, and I could breathe her in and it was doing strange things to me.

"No."

She smiled. "No as in you don't want to answer or no as in no I didn't date anyone?"

"No, I haven't dated anyone else." It came out as a squeaky whisper.

"Why?" she asked, pulling herself over so she was straddling my hips.

Oh God, she's trying to kill me. "Why? Because I couldn't."

"Why not?" She reached over and put her hands in my hair.

"It wasn't you."

She smiled as she leaned in to kiss my nose. I wanted desperately to grab her and kiss her properly but now was not the time.

"Why didn't you date, Bella?"

"Because it wasn't you," she said, sadly.

I couldn't help myself. I wrapped my arms around her and held her. "I'm sorry, Bella."

"So am I," she replied. "We wasted five years of our lives apart, and we know better than anyone that life is unpredictable."

She tilted my head up so I was looking at her. "I don't want to waste any more time, Edward. I don't want to lose you again."

My resolve took that very moment to snap, and I kissed her. It wasn't on the nose, or the forehead, or the chin, I pulled her face to mine and I kissed the shit out of her. I know. How very Emmett of me, but just the same, I was done with patient pecks and cozy canoodling. I needed Bella to know, to feel, that I could never leave her again.

There was no languid lapping as I forced my tongue in her mouth and plundered her. She hesitated at first, but quickly gave in and I knew she was feeling it when she moaned loudly into my mouth. My hips bucked up reflexively, seeking friction, and that was the end of that. When I heard her grunt, I pulled away from her.

"Bella, I'm not sorry for the kiss, but I have to apologize for humping you."

She blushed, batted her eyelashes, and grinned lazily, her red, swollen lips parting slightly. It took everything out of me not to grind into her again. Five years is a long time to go without sex, and having my better half straddling me was making it difficult for me to maintain any kind of control.

"Why did you stop?" she breathed into my ear as she grazed her teeth across my earlobe. "Don't you want me?"

"I want you more than I want to breathe, Bella, and I can't even believe I'm saying this, but we have to stop. I'm sorry."

Bella

"I'm sorry."

He's SORRY? HE'S SORRY? What the hell? My ego took a huge hit.

"I'm offering myself to you and you're saying no, Edward?"

He sighed and rested his head on my shoulder. "I'm sure that you can feel that my body is definitely saying yes."

I wiggled around on the very big yes in his pants and he groaned.

"Bella, please, you're killing me. I want you. I've dreamed of this day for a long time and I never thought it would be a reality, but in my heart I can't justify this. I'm scared."

Scared? "You're scared? Of what?"

I felt my eyes well up when he looked at me. "I'm scared that you only want this because you think I'm going to leave if you don't."

Huh. That was a surprise. I sat back a bit, lifting myself off his, uh, big yes, and pondered what he had said. Was I doing this for the right reasons? Was I grinding him to scratch a five and a half year itch? Was I scared he'd leave me if I didn't? Why did I want this?

"You have impeccably bad timing for developing a conscience, Cullen," I teased as I stood up. "Thanks, though, you're right, I don't want to do this."

His face fell, and I immediately regretted not qualifying that statement. I reached down and took his hands into mine. "I want you so bad my girlie bits are aching. God, Edward, you have no idea."

He shifted uncomfortably. "I beg to differ, Love."

My body relaxed when he tried to make light of the situation, and I knelt on the floor in front of him, taking his face in my hands. "I want to make love to you, Edward, and I want it to be for the right reasons, not to mention that when we do it, it's going to add another complication to our already strange situation."

Edward leaned forward and kissed me gently. "Well put, Love. Can we at least cuddle?"

I looked at him and smiled. "Always."

Emmett

Rosie and I had gone out for dinner and to a car show. If there had ever been a woman made exactly to my specifications, Rosalie Hale was it and tonight just proved it. I mean, she's supermodel hot, she's smart as hell, tough as nails, and she knows her cars.

"Well shit, Big Guy, one of us had to wear the pants and it sure as hell wasn't my twin brother," she'd said when I asked about how she knew so much about cars. "Jasper was off recreating historical world battles with little plastic army men and getting his ass kicked by the neighbourhood kids because of it. Someone had to save him."

Yup, that's my Rosie.

After the car show we decided to head back to my place for a while to watch a movie, maybe fool around a bit. Yeah, I said fool around; we had yet to seal the deal and as antsy as I was to do it, I didn't think she was ready.

We walked into the house to find the lights were out and candles were lit. Oh shit! Edward and Bella's date was tonight.

Rose turned to me and smiled. "Why you old romantic. Did you get Edward to set this up?" Then it dawned on her. I walked ahead to see where they were while she freaked out behind me. "OH SHIT! Edward and Bella's date. Here. Tonight. Shit. Shit. Shit. I hope we're not…"

I looked back over my shoulder at her and held my finger up to my lips. I beckoned her to see what I had found. Her features softened as she smiled. I had to admit it was pretty damn cute—Edward and Bella were asleep on the couch; she was lying on top of him, her hands buried in his hair, while his arms were wrapped tightly around her waist. I grabbed the nearest blanket and covered them so they wouldn't be cold later on.

This wasn't necessarily something new to me, they used to fall asleep like that all the time and then after Emma was born she'd quite often end up in the pile with them.

Again, I was finding myself getting all choked up like a chump. Rosie must have figured something was up because she took my hand in hers and led me to my room, and to the bed, where she sat up by the headboard and motioned for me to join her. I crawled up and lay with my head in her lap.

Her manicured nails scratched gently across my scalp and I sighed. "What's wrong, Big Guy?"

"I couldn't even begin to explain because I don't have a fucking clue, Rosie. I'm not normally such a mess…"

"Shh, baby, it's okay. I understand, or at least I think I do. Bella's been one of my best friends for the past four years so I think I have an idea."

I rolled over onto my back so I could look up at her beautiful face while we spoke. "I'm so happy to have her back, Rosie, I honestly thought I'd never see her again, but now…now that the initial happy is over, I'm actually feeling pissed off at her for leaving the way she did. You haven't met my mom yet, so you probably wouldn't understand, but I thought Mom was going to die of heartfail. In the span of a year she'd lost so much and she's so pathetic that she'd absorbed everyone's pain as her own."

Rose cut me off. "Empathetic?"

"Uh, yeah, that. Thanks. So, Mom is carrying the burden of everything that's happened, dealing with Edward leaving, helping Bella get back on her feet. Mom didn't really have time to grieve because she was looking after everyone else and feeling a lot of guilt over Edward's disappearing act.

"The day Bella left was almost as traumatic as they day of the accident. Mom went to Bella's room to bring in some bedding and she was gone; everything was gone. The pictures, her clothes, stereo, computer, it was all gone. Mom looked outside and the truck was gone too.

"Mom started screaming. I think it was enough to finally break her and she just started wailing. Dad was at work and I was the only one home. I raced upstairs and found her standing in the middle of the room pulling at her hair and making the most god-awful noise.

"She's gone! She's gone! Why? What did I do? My babies are all leaving me!"

Tears were now rolling and I couldn't even find it in me to be embarrassed anymore. I knew that Rosie would never mock me.

"It must have been terrible, baby."

"It was," I sniffled, "Mom had been our rock. She was always the voice of reason, and here she was falling apart. I picked her up and carried her to her bedroom where I rocked her until she calmed down enough for me to call Dad, who rushed home and broke down when he saw her. She was pretty much catatonic. I couldn't snap her out of it. I failed again." I looked down at my hands, unable to look at Rosie because I knew I was going to completely fall apart. It felt good, though, to get it out. I'd had no one to talk to about this for a very long time, and as weird as it was opening up to someone I really hardly knew, the constant tightness in my chest began to ease a bit.

"Shh, baby, it's okay. There was nothing you could do. She was bound to snap at some point; Bella was just the catalyst."

"She shouldn't have left like that." I said a little harder than I had planned to.

"No, but like Edward, hindsight is 20/20. She wanted to call your Mom, Em, but she was scared that she was angry with her; she couldn't face her."

"But still. On top of Mom falling apart, they called the little shit home and he…"

"He what?"

"He tried to kill himself and nearly succeeded. Please don't tell anyone I told you."

She smiled at me. "Of course not. What happens in the bedroom stays in the bedroom. So, how did it make you feel?"

"I felt like the last sane person in my family. It wasn't fair that everyone else got to leave or fall apart, but not me, no, Emmett has to hold down the fort; sit by my loved ones and watch them suffer." My fists were balling up in the cotton duvet on my bed as I fought back my frustration, heartbreak and anger over everything that had happened. "My Dad took extra shifts at the hospital to get away from it, but not me. I lost a year of university because of it."

Rosalie leaned down and kissed me and I relaxed a little bit.

"Emmett, why don't you let me shoulder the load for a while; your back must be getting tired."

My walls cracked and I cried—hard, until I fell asleep in my Rosie's arms.

I think I love her.

There you go. Hope you enjoyed it. Please hit the green button below and tell me what you thought of it. You know I love hearing from you guys.

I'm going to try to update every Tuesday from now on.

New FF recs for this week include:

Resolution by Openhome
How to Save a Life by
Finding Bella by ekimmuh