AN: Just to let you know there may not be an update next week. I am going to be going back through the chapters fixing errors on my part as well as some things that ffn may have messed with.

I want to thank you all for the reviews, favorites and alerts I've received. It means a lot to me.

Now for a look at the family Edward and Bella are trying to create.

Disclaimer: SM owns it all. I am just borrowing her characters for my story. No copyright infringement intended.

How Can I Help You?

Chapter 20

BPOV

After Edward and I had an enjoyable lunch, we made our way back to Carlisle and Esme's house.

"How do you feel, love?" Edward had asked that same question about 20 times in the last hour. "Really Edward, I'm fine. I feel great actually. Chelsea won't bother us again and I got to let loose some of my aggression towards her."

I'm really not a person for physical confrontations, but after what she did and what she said, I had really wanted to hit her. I knew she wouldn't try anything with me, but if Edward had been the one to strike her she would have had him arrested.

We walked into the house and could hear the girls giggling and Edward's parents laughing. As soon as we entered the living room they all cracked up again.

"Son, I would have thought you would know the dangers in changing a diaper on a boy. I guess you get it from your father though." Esme was all but rolling on the floor she was laughing so hard.

"What are you talking about, Mom?" Riley was sitting in Carlisle's lap pulling on his sweater.

"Mamma…Mammaa…"

I walked over to Carlisle and lifted Riley from his arms and high over my head. He laughed a choked belly laugh and I blew a raspberry against his tummy.

"Kate and Irina were helping your father change Riley's diaper, after he tried to do it on his own and received an impromptu shower. I thought you men would already know about covering them..."

Esme was flushed from all the laughter.

"Edward was adorable, he caught it in the chest and then Riley made like a sprinkler again so he made a mad dash with Riley to his shower, screaming for my help."

The girls were still giggling, "Yeah we told Grandpa about Dad's mess this morning."

Edward was turning red with embarrassment. "It's ok, sweetheart. It's happened to me a few times." I handed Riley to him and pushed up on my toes to kiss his cheek.

We settled on the sofa across from his parents and filled them in on our meeting with Chelsea.

"I think Bella really made her point when she slapped Chelsea's face." Esme cracked me up when all she did was put her fist out for me to bump.

I looked at my watch and then at the girls.

"Well if we are going to have time to try on dresses, Kate, Irina and I need to get going. Esme you are welcome to join us if you'd like." She just shook her head.

Kate and Irina went to get their purses as Edward got his wallet. He passed me one of his credit cards. "I don't need this Edward. I want to buy the girls' dresses."

He shook his head. "No, love, please take this. There is no need telling what they will find." To save an argument, I took the card and kissed him quickly.

I looked at Riley. "Be good for Daddy and your grandparents." Riley leaned into me and gave me a sloppy wet kiss on my cheek. "Love you." And in Edward's ear I whispered, "Both of you."

The girls said a quick goodbye and we walked out to the Navigator. "Alright, so we need Homecoming dresses. Any ideas of what you want?"

"It's a semi-formal dance Bella, so nothing Prom worthy." I had a feeling the best place for us to go would be the University Village Shops. After the whirlwind shopping experience with Alice years before I knew we would be able to find everything they would need.

We spent three hours trying to find the perfect dresses for Kate and Irina, although I think Irina found the dress she wanted in the first one she tried. We had initially gone straight for JCrew, but the girls wanted to make sure they chose the right one so we made a stop at almost every juniors and women's clothing store in the mall.

"Katie, I want to go back to JCrew. I really want that sweater dress." The dress had been perfect on Irina. It was Merino wool and was suitable for a 14 year old to wear to a dance. It fell just above her knee, had a boatneck, three-quarter sleeves and was navy and white with sequins on the bodice.

I looked at Kate who was still looking at the dresses on the rack. "Is anything hitting you, Katie? If not, lets go back and get the dress for Irina and then we'll try some other places. We can head to another mall if necessary."

Kate redressed and once we were back in JCrew she ran off to look at their little black dress collection. I helped Irina find her dress and gave it to the sales associate to hold while we waited for Katie. She came out from the dressing room wearing an adorable deep turquoise bubble dress with spaghetti straps. "It's beautiful, Katie." Irina nodded her head in agreement.

"How do you think your Dad will feel about the neckline?" It was very simple, but she was showing skin and I knew overprotective Daddyward might just complain.

"What if we find a cardigan for you to wear with it just until you are out of the house?" I went over to the sweaters and found a pewter cardigan that would not make the dress look horrible, so it was added to our purchases as Kate changed and brought out her dress.

Within the next hour we had shoes and clutches for them to round out their look for the night.

"Bella, Dad's going to freak because you didn't use that credit card." I just shook my head and smiled at them as I dialed Edward's cell.

"Hey love, how is the shopping going?" I could hear Riley laughing in the background and Esme talking to him.

"We're good sweetheart, but I just noticed the time. Would you mind if I took the girls for a quick dinner and then we'll swing by to get you and Ry before heading home? I'm sure that you and Esme can figure out dinner for Riley."

"No problem, love. Mom prepared some mashed potatoes and she's straining some carrots. Have fun with the girls and we'll see you soon. I love you Bella." The girls were staring at me as if they knew what their father had said and that he was waiting. Oh well.

"I love you too, Edward. We'll be back soon."

The girls voted on pizza so we made our way to the car to put our purchases away before walking over to Delfino's Pizza. While gorging ourselves on their Chicago styled deep dish spinach pizza the girls let me know that they really were happy about their father and I together.

"Bella, you brought Dad back to us after Mom died. He was so happy when you were around. After you left for school he was there, but sad. He worked a lot and he was always alone. We could tell the difference in him when he saw you again. Even though I was furious about it, I recognized that he was himself again, happy, but I couldn't see past my rage and helped ruin that time for you both. I feel horrible that I can never make that time up to you and Dad."

I pulled Irina over to me and hugged her. "Rin, stop please. Edward and I are in a good place. I forgive you sweetheart. I've loved both of you girls since you were little. It was impossible not to fall for you both. I want you to realize where your father and I are headed though, and please tell me if you have any issues about what I am going to say." I took a deep breath, wondering if maybe I should just save this for Maggie. No, if things go as planned for Edward and I in the future I'm going to be around them always and need to start rebuilding that relationship.

"Edward and I love each other and have loved each other for a long time. We both want the 5 of us to be a family. How will you both feel if I am one day your stepmother? Rini I know you are trying and you have been wonderful with Riley, but will you be ok with me living in the same house, sleeping in your father's bed, maybe one day having more siblings?" She looked at me and took a breath, then another.

"It's what we all want, Bella." She wasn't evading my eyes. She had looked me straight in the eye as she spoke. I let out the breath I didn't realize I had been holding and smiled at them. "Really, you're ok with your father and I being together?" Kate and Irina nodded, we were all teary and I really wanted to get back to Edward. I paid for our dinner with Edward's credit card and we quickly walked back to my truck.

"Thanks for today, Bella. I'm glad you agreed to take us shopping. It was a lot of fun." Kate said as she and Irina climbed into the back seat.

"I really enjoyed this afternoon and evening, girls. We should have a 'girls only' weekend once a month and invite Alice and Rose along." We drove back to the Senior Cullen's house and as soon as we arrived the three of us were out of the car and up the steps into the house.

A quick scan of the living room showed me that Riley was asleep in the pack 'n play and the adults' voices were coming from the kitchen.

Edward stopped mid-sentence as I rushed into his arms. "Love, Bella are you alright?"

He looked decidedly concerned at my behavior. I placed my palm against his cheek, feeling the light scruff along his jaw.

"I love you, Edward Cullen." I licked my lips and pulled him down to my level so I could kiss him like I needed to. Despite the presence of his daughters as well as his parents Edward deepened the kiss and pulled me tight against his body.

As the sounds of Carlisle's laughter and Esme's Alice like squeals broke our bubble, Edward pulled back slowly.

"I love you, my Bella. Are you sure you're alright?" I just nodded and held tighter to him.

"Well, I'm glad to see that again." Esme chuckled and I blushed. We had just given the majority of the Cullen family a floorshow.

"It's getting late, Mom, so we should be heading back home. Thank you for watching the kids earlier and putting up with me this afternoon." Edward gave his mother an awkward side armed hug because I had not let go of him.

I finally released him to give Carlisle a hug before Esme grabbed me so close I wasn't sure she was going to let go. "Thank you, Bella. You let me know if you ever need a break and I'll come spend some time with Riley." She looked over at her husband, "Maybe its time to build that cottage we were thinking about near Edward's, hmmm? I want more time with my babies and their babies." Carlisle smiled. "We'll see…"

The girls both said their goodbyes and took the bags to the car. I picked up a still sleeping Riley while Edward broke down the playpen and carried it out to the car.

"Thanks again for today Carlisle, Esme. I really appreciate it." They each softly kissed Riley's head. "We'll see you soon, Bella."

Both girls slept on the drive back to Forks. I was surprisingly wide awake. I told Edward about our shopping excursion as well as the dinner conversation I had the girls.

"They really do accept me. Kate, I was not worried about, but Irina was adamant that she only wanted our happiness." Edward smiled and glanced over at me before returning his eyes to the road.

"They love you Bella. Irina was angry because of the lies she was told, but both she and Kate have always loved you. My girls have Tanya's loving heart. They need you in their lives, especially at this time, to help guide them through the right choices in life."

EPOV

Seeing the reaction Bella had to what Kate and Irina told her filled my heart. It was like a switch had been flipped and she was that girl again, the one that was ready for forever before I pushed her away.

"Edward, we are meeting with Maggie this week, right?" I nodded, "Yes Tuesday afternoon. That won't interfere with your work schedule, will it?"

"No, essentially I am only working a few hours a day and mainly from my home office so we will be fine. Once I get into the swing of things I'll have meetings with Eric and the others three times a week at the paper."

I knew she was excited about getting back to work. Bella was never one for 'idle hands' even though raising Riley was a full-time job for her.

"What about your writing? Aren't you working on a children's story?"

"I'm waiting to hear back from Angela. I've been a little busy, but I'll manage to get some writing time in. Edward, I want to make sure we talk everything over about our relationship and what's in the future for us as a family, with Maggie." I brushed my fingers over her cheek, nodding my understanding.

Bella was biting her bottom lip and I was jealous, I wanted to be nibbling on it. I needed to stay away from that train of thought while driving. Thankfully Bella distracted me from those thoughts. "Edward, what was your mom talking about earlier? Are they planning to move up to Forks?"

"Dad is thinking of retiring from the hospital and Mom has been after him to move closer to us for years. Everyone is here and now that she has grandchild number three she wants to be close."

"They'll come over when Rose has the baby, right?" I nodded. "I suppose they planned to stay with you and the girls, but what if they stayed in the cottage?"

My head whipped around to look at her. Bella was chewing that lip again, so I knew there was more. Looking back to the road I asked, "Why?"

"I want to offer them the cottage for when they visit. Its right next to Em and Rose, your house is not far and it would give them privacy as well as privacy for us. After today I realized I don't want to spend the nights away from you. The conversation with the girls tonight clinched it for me. They seem alright with everything, so I want to get the cottage set up, but I want to live with you. We can either return the nursery furniture or leave it for your parents. Knowing Esme she'll want it set up so she can kidnap the babies."

"I think they would enjoy that. Maybe they will want to keep the cottage permanently." A thought occurred to me and made me think buying a bullet proof vest may not be such a bad idea.

"Bella…what about Charlie?" She looked at my face and started laughing. "Oh, sweetheart, don't worry about Dad. He knows how I feel about you and since he didn't kill you the other morning, I think we'll be ok."

I kissed the hand I was holding telling her, "I love you."

The kids slept the entire drive and Bella dropped off after we hit Port Angeles. I spent the last 45 minutes of the drive thinking over all we had talked about.

Bella wanted to move her clothing as well as most of Riley's things over to the house, but leave things such as kitchen gear and her linens in the house for my parents. Honestly I'm not sure why we hadn't thought of offering the cottage to my parents before. Mom was there with Rose when they started the remodel, so she was familiar with the house.

We'll still have the party in the backyard to welcome Riley to the family and Bella home to Forks. Bella wants to spend some time at the cottage with me and the girls; she's worried that if everyone finds out that she's living at the house they'll assume that our relationship was the reason for her divorce.

'Bella the town will think what it wants to. We need to do what is right for us, and if that means spending weekends at your house, no problem.'

'Can we just do that until my divorce is finalized? The girls can camp out in the basement Friday and Saturday nights and we'll be back to your house Sunday before work and school on Monday.'

I had to laugh at her reasoning, but did that after she fell asleep. In less than three weeks she would be free of Jake and we would move her in officially. I would do anything for her, and this was an easy request to grant.

I parked the car near the door and started the task of waking the girls. Kate and Irina went straight upstairs to their rooms. I shook Bella gently and told her we were home and that I was getting Riley out of the car.

Riley chose that moment to wake up and decide he wanted to stay up so I passed him to a sleepy Bella and told her to just wait before getting out of the car. I grabbed the pack 'n play and set it up in my room before going back outside to take Riley back from Bella and help her from the car. She was more alert as we walked into the house. I laid Ry on the bed and got everything ready to change his diaper, we were not going to have a repeat performance of this morning's waterworks.

"Edward, do you want me to change him?" I laughed and shook my head at her, "No, love, I've got him, he's wide awake though. Can you bring some of his toys down? That way he can play while we lay down to watch him."

I watched Bella walk out of the room and turned to my son, "Hey Buddy, think you'll be sleepy again soon? I was hoping for some time with Mommy."

When he grinned at me I could just hear him say 'No way is that going to happen Dad, not with me here!' "Mamma mammaaaaa," Riley kept repeating until he heard her come back.

I finished changing his diaper and put him in fresh pajamas and socks. "I hear you sweet boy. Mommy's coming." Bella walked in with his lion and a soft book. She put a sheet in the playpen and got a blanket ready before taking him from me and giving him a bottle of water.

She then walked over to me, smirking. "So were you giving our son a talk? Trying to convince him to go back to sleep?" I wrapped my arms around her waist, loving the feel of her against me. "Well he's developing a habit love. We need to try to break him of it." I was laughing at my own foolishness. "Let's get changed, Edward. Riley is fine in there by himself for a bit." I just pulled off my shirt and walked into the bathroom to brush my teeth. Bella trailed in behind me and I jumped when she smacked my ass.

"Bella, what in hell was that for?"

I looked at her, pouted out my lower lip and rubbed where she hit me, I must poor on some guilt after all. "Awe, I'm sorry sweetheart. Do you want me to make it all better?" I turned and backed her up against the sink, pressing up against her. "How will you make it better, Bella?"

I leaned into her neck, she always smelled so sweet right behind her ear, and it was nothing to do with perfume. "Let me make it better, baby." She was running her hands down my back while I kissed down her neck, we were just getting started when "Mamma…Daddad…Mamma…" came from our room.

Her hands froze in place just over my ass and I sighed, pressing against her one last time before stepping back. "Parenting calls. I'll check on him while you finish in here." Bella walked back in to the room while I quickly brushed my teeth and stripped out of my pants and socks. I walked back in to see Riley up on our bed lying against Bella's chest.

"He wants to cuddle. Will you watch him while I change?" I settled onto the bed and drew his little body up against me. Just looking at him you could tell he wouldn't be awake much longer. Riley rolled over and holding his lion in one hand, used his other to pat my chest. "Daddad." His little voice was quiet, he was almost out.

I started to hum the lullaby I wrote for him and soon he was out. My eyes felt heavy and I promised myself I would only close them for a minute.

BPOV

I took my time in the bathroom because I knew Riley would be asleep soon, so when I walked back into the bedroom finding Riley asleep was not a surprise. The surprise was seeing a sleeping Edward's big body curled around our son. He was not laying on him at all, but he caged Riley in so he wouldn't roll off the bed. I gingerly picked Riley up and carried him up to his crib.

I was feeling really good about the decisions we had made about our living situation. Edward thought I was worried about the wrong things, but he loved me and he supported me even when I told him my strange idea. I wanted to be with Edward and the girls all day everyday, but this town feeds on gossip. After the nastiness of Jessica I knew more would be coming at us, so I just wanted up to wait until the paperwork was finalized on my divorce before officially living here. Edward had been very receptive to the idea of his parents staying at the cottage. It would be a perfect set up for them and give Esme a lot of time with her grandchildren as well as Em and Rose's baby. I really did need to talk to Rose about everything. I don't want her to think I'm just going to forget about my lease, but I have a feeling she's not going to have to worry about the house being empty either.

After making sure Riley was tucked in and still sleeping, I checked on Kate and Irina before heading back down to Edward's room. It still seemed so surreal that we were together again. Edward and I were building the foundation that our family will be built upon. I walked into the room and sighed. Edward was now stretched out on his back, arms over his head, and on top of the covers, so I took a blanket out of the closet and spread it over him as I crawled in beside him. This was my happy place and right where I always belonged.

OoOoO

Ok I didn't get as far as I planned but this was a great stopping point. The next chapter has Bella starting work, the family therapy session as well as the weekend of the BBQ party.

Oh and Bella telling Charlie about their plans.

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