Author's Note: I am so sorry for the delay on this. The sad fact is that I've had this chapter back from my beta, AGoodWitch, for well over a week and haven't gotten around to reviewing and posting it due to how busy life has been. I am so sorry. Hope you enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 20

Ellie and I woke up early the next morning. We took our time showering and eating a good breakfast before we got back into the car to head up to the hospital. It felt odd to go without Emmett, but he really needed to get back to work.

I was so grateful that I had an understanding boss. She arranged to donate part of her vacation time to me so I could take off as long as I needed to be with the kids while they were in the hospital. Between the time I had left and what she had given me, I had the rest of the week to get EJ and Ellie settled at home before I had to get back to work. Ellie would be fine to go back to school by Monday, but I wasn't sure yet what we were going to have to do about EJ. I knew Esme would step up and pitch in if we needed her to, but I hated to put her out if we didn't have to.

The hospital had a busy energy when we arrived. The nurses seemed harried as they rushed from room to room. I walked in to find Edward and Carlisle in a deep discussion. Ellie's exclamation of "Daddy!" brought their attention to our arrival. I walked over and hugged EJ, who was too wrapped up in his video game to notice us. I took that as a good sign.

"Bella, can you come speak with me in the hallway?" Carlisle asked after I'd spoken a bit with my distracted son.

I nodded and kissed his head before following Carlisle out of the room. He seemed in a pleasant mood when he turned to face me.

"Before I begin, I feel I need to apologize for the way I treated you the night of the accident. Esme has reminded me that you are a divorced woman who has every right to move on with her life. I know that my son was the one that chose to end your marriage and made a mess of much of the situation since, but in my heart you're still my daughter-in-law and it's hard to see you with someone else. You have every right to pursue love again, and in my stress and haste I treated you unkindly. I know my words don't make up for how I acted, but I wanted to say something anyway. I was impressed by your new gentleman and how supportive he has been throughout this ordeal. Not many men have the character to spend so much time around a significant other's former spouse and family, but he did so with grace and aplomb. If that is any indication, then he appears to be a gentleman well worth your time and affection."

I blinked at Carlisle, feeling more than a little shell shocked. "Um, thank you?" I cleared my throat. "And thank you for your apology. I do appreciate it."

He nodded and shuffled his feet before switching into doctor mode. "Well on to other business. I have talked to EJ's doctors and he will be released today. He will have several follow up appointments within the next week. Esme mentioned that you have to return to work starting Monday, so we are planning on stepping in to get him to any next week if necessary. I don't believe he will be able to return to school by then anyway, so we will probably have to plan for his care. He will be weak and tender for several more weeks. Watch him closely for any signs of infection or any excessive fatigue. I am planning to stop in and check on him on my way home from work each night if that is okay with you. I'm sure he will be fine, but this old doctor is feeling too overprotective of his only grandson."

I smiled and nodded.

"I will attempt to expedite his release as much as possible. You have all had to spend far too much time in this place over the past week. It's time to return home for some much needed home front healing."

"Thank you, Carlisle," I replied, resting a hand on his forearm. "For everything you've done. Thank you."

He reached out and wrapped an arm around my shoulder, pulling me into his side and whispering into my ear. "For the record, you're always going to be my daughter, marriage license or no."

I chuckled and nodded against his shoulder. He led me back into the room and spoke a few minutes more with Edward before leaving us to our own devices. As per his word, two hours later, the nurses came in with EJ's release papers. By noon, we were carefully transferring him into my van and navigating our way home, being careful to miss the worst of the potholes. By two pm, we were all fed, and EJ was tucked into his bed and sound asleep while Edward and I sat quietly in the family room, watching Ellie play with her favorite doll.

The first night was difficult. Edward left after we tucked in Ellie, but before midnight, EJ was up crying and needing his next dose of pain medication. We were up and down all night. By morning, I was more exhausted than when I'd first laid down the night before. The second night was only slightly better. During the times when EJ was feeling a little better we had to squeeze in make-up work he'd missed at school. We had no down time for socializing. Emmett saw us every night for supper when he would inevitably arrive with some very welcome takeout, but we didn't even get a private moment to sneak a kiss.

Monday I had to return to work. Esme was on deck to come stay with EJ and watch Ellie after school while I was working and what felt like no down time seemed to be even less. I counted the minutes until I could walk Emmett out after the kids were tucked in and steal some all too brief kisses, which may or may not have evolved into some very heavy over the clothes petting and a tiny bit of dry humping. It was pathetic, well and truly pathetic. I was tempted more than once to arrange an adult only campout in the back of the van, but I knew the second I tried; someone would wake up and panic because they couldn't find me. It was total torture.

Three weeks after EJ's release, the physical therapists he was seeing multiple times a week along with his supervising doctor agreed he was ready to return to school. I was a little worried when I dropped the kids off that morning and even walked EJ to his class to make sure he could make it in with all of his books and things he needed to turn in. By the time lunch rolled around, I was exhausted and was kind of excited at the prospect to have an empty house to hang out in for the first time in almost a month. I put down my purse and went to the fridge to get a bottle of water when the knock came at the door. I rolled my eyes and groaned as I stomped to the door and opened it.

My frustration evaporated when the moment the door opened I was swept into a pair of strong arms that carried me into the living room as I received the kiss of my life. His foot slammed the door behind him as he carried me into the center of the room and lowered me to my feet. His hands were everywhere as I arched against him and moaned into his mouth. We were both panting when we finally broke the kiss.

"I'm sorry, but I've been waiting three weeks for a moment alone with you," he groaned as he tugged at the hem of my shirt trying to work it up over my chest.

I shook my head. "No, no, I'm so glad you're here," I replied, pushing his hands aside to rip the shirt over my head before reaching for his. The second they were both gone his mouth was on mine again as my arms wrapped around his neck, anchoring us together.

His fingers fumbled with my bra clasps for a second before it popped loose and he shoved the cups up to free them to his fingers as his mouth trailed down my throat toward them. I tossed my bra aside and began to fight with the clasps of his jeans as he suckled my left nipple. I pushed his jeans down his hips and gripped him. He moaned against my nipple and began to shuffle us backward where he plopped on the couch. He yanked down my pants and panties in one smooth motion before pulling me into his lap, his mouth going to my other nipple as he led me to slide down onto him.

We both sighed as if in relief. Then we gripped each other and quickly rode each other to climax. I collapsed on top of him, panting as he ran his hands down my back, his head thrown back over the back of the couch.

"Too long," he finally panted and I chuckled.

"Definitely too long…never again."

He looked up at the clock and grumbled. "Wish we had time for again, but I have to be at my next client in twenty and it's across town."

I smiled and ran my hands up his shoulders and into his hair, bringing him up to me for a soft kiss. "Thank you for making this happen. I really needed it."

He raised his eyebrows, "Yeah because it was totally selfless."

I giggled, "We'd be in trouble if that was the fact. Any chance we can do this again tomrorrow?"

His smile was massive. "I already cleared my schedule."

"I love you," I sighed as I kissed him again.

"So much," he sighed in return.

I helped him get dressed, which was a little torturous since I didn't bother getting redressed, knowi ng I was going to squeeze in a quick shower before going back to work. His hands got adventurous as I kissed him goodbye at the door then with a forlorn sigh, he finally left. I turned around and collected my clothes before doing a happy jig on my way to my bathroom. I'd never done a nooner before. Suddenly I knew noon was going to be my favorite time of day!

Every day for the rest of the week, Emmett took good care of me during my lunch break. We spent time in my bed, in the kitchen, even in my shower, which was just some hand love due to the tiny stall we had to work with. I was extremely satisfied and I hoped against hope he was too. We had agreed that once EJ was cleared for school that every other weekend with Edward would resume. Friday night came, but Edward never showed. When we finally decided to call him two hours after his scheduled pickup time, he said he was out of town and assumed that even though EJ was released, we would want to return to the same set of weekends so my mom could see the kids. In truth, if I hadn't been in such a lust dazed phase and looking forward to unfettered Emmett time, I'd have suggest just that. What bothered me was he hadn't bothered to discuss it as I would have if I'd in fact thought of that issue. Edward was out of town with Crystal, visiting her parents several hours away. The kids' feelings were hurt, but I took one for the team and told them I'd misunderstood. No matter what, I didn't want them to take any of the blame for Edward's lack of consideration upon themselves.

When I called Emmett, he seemed disappointed, but he didn't look it ten minutes later when he arrived at our door with a big smile.

"Hey guys, I have a surprise for you. Get your shoes on and follow me!"

The kids looked confused, but excited as they rushed to slip on some shoes and reluctantly took the lightweight jacket I handed them before we walked out into the night air. Emmett took my hand as we reached him before nodding toward his house. The kids took off running, only half listening when I reminded them to look both ways before crossing the street.

As we walked, he leaned down to whisper in my ear. "Um, so do you think we need to talk to them about us yet?"

I looked up at him and smiled, resting my head on his shoulder. "Definitely."

Some of the tension in his shoulders eased. He kissed my forehead and tightened his grip on my hand as we crossed the street. The kids were bouncing at his front door as we crossed.

"Guess again," he called from the driveway. They ran over asking a dozen questions that made him laugh.

"Keep going around to the back yard."

They took off like a shot and we rushed to follow them. The kids cheered and I smiled at the sight that greeted us. In a brick fire pit, a campfire blazed, makings for s'mores laid out on a little table beside it. Camp chairs and larger logs were strategically placed around the circle waiting for us. In addition, tiki torches burned with citronella to keep the bugs away.

I turned and hugged his waist. "Oh Emmett. Thank you! Thank you for doing that for them."

He kissed the top of my head and rubbed his hands up and down my back. "My pleasure."

The kids weren't even paying any attention to us, too busy stabbing massive marshmallows onto the metal roasting sticks Emmett had left for them. We rushed to help them, laughing as Ellie's marshmallow caught on fire then promptly fell into the flames. Several minutes later, we had each eaten a smore and were staring into the fire, feeling happier than we had earlier. I hoped our news wouldn't taint the upshot in their moods.

I looked at Emmett and chewed my lip. He shrugged and smiled gently. He wouldn't be upset if I waited, but at the same time, I didn't want to wait and I didn't want to deceive them. That was more their father's playbook. I glanced at them, looked back at Emmett and nodded as I reached over and took his hand.

I swallowed hard and then cleared my throat. "Hey, guys, can you come over here for a minute?"

They both jumped up and ran over smiling. They didn't seem to notice us holding hands.

"Hey, um, I wanted to talk to you guys about something and I want you to feel free to tell me how you feel about it, good or bad."

The kids frowned and agreed.

I took a deep breath. "Okay, well, you know Mr. Emmett has been my friend for a long time now, and well, we've decided that we might want to be more than friends. How do you feel about that?"

They looked even more confused. "I thought you already were more than friends, Mom," EJ finally said. "I mean he always takes care of us and he was at the hospital with you all the time, taking care of you. When you love somebody, you should be more than friends."

I blinked in surprise. "Yeah, Mommy," Ellie said. "You guys hug and hold hand and stuff all the time. That's what in love people do. We already knew that."

We both chuckled at the innocent observations. "Well, sometimes there is a little more than that, honey. You might see us hugging and kissing and things like that. We might cuddle together on the couch or go out together to do grown up things like see bands and eat at fancy restaurants, but otherwise I guess you're right, things will be pretty much like they have been."

"Well yeah, 'cause you guys love each other."

I laughed and hugged her close. "Yes, we do."

There was a quiet pause before EJ said, "Is there anything else? A stick I put in there is burning really good and I want to watch."

I laughed out loud. "Yes, hug first then go watch your stick burn."

And with that, the kids scuttled off to the other side of the fire to poke at the embers with the metal roasting sticks. I turned to Emmett and shrugged. "Who knew?"

He laughed and hugged me before kissing me gently on the lips. "They did," he whispered against them before kissing me again.