So here is another chapter of Cougarella and Cubward. I hope you all enjoy it. Oh, and apparently my last AN was a bit off to some. I want to say right now that Edward IS NOT older and just pretending to be a student. He really is a student and a teenager and things are going to be revealed soon, I promise!

Thanks, as always, go to preciousfairymom80 who is my best friend, beta, prereader, and twifey! You are an amazing woman and I'm so glad that Twilight brought us together. As I've said before, if you had a peen, I'd marry you!

Own the story idea but not the characters!

Cougar Town Chapter 20

Monday morning brought a new light upon school hours because I knew my boyfriend, yes I said boyfriend, was in the same building as me, attending classes until he would finally be in the same room as me, sitting a few feet away, silently watching me with his eager, youthful eyes.

I made sure, as I moved around the school, to always be in the presence of another teacher, administrator, or even students. And I avoided Thomas Scumbanner at all costs. I didn't need a repeat of Friday, and I didn't need Emmett or Edward to get any more reason to do something themselves.

Monday went fantastically with my new found method of avoidance, and Emmett and Edward were actually behaving themselves. In fact, most of the school was being exceptionally well, and I think it had something to do with Thanksgiving being in a few weeks, which meant that school would be out for an entire week for it.

Also, I was made aware that Saturday was Halloween when Emmett asked if he could have a party at the house again. I was wary, especially after the last one had been a disaster of liquor proportions, but if I allowed it, then I would get to chaperone visibly and see Edward all night.

However, my hopes for an Edward watching party were dashed when Emmett got a text from Mike Newton about a party at his place on Saturday. I resigned myself to a night of handing out candy to any trick or treaters that came by and hoped that I would get to have a treat of my own later that night.

~*~CT~*~

The football team had an away game Friday night and I stayed home, having to grade papers instead of going to cheer my son and my boyfriend along. But they won and Edward and I celebrated quietly that night, basking in the flesh of each other.

On Saturday, I lectured Emmett on my rules about drinking, and especially drinking and driving, and made sure to reiterate that his grandfather was the Chief of Police so he would get it much worse than other kids if he chose to partake. He assured me that he wasn't drinking that night at all, and that he would be home by midnight. I wanted to ask if Edward would be joining him back at the house after the party, but decided not to so I wouldn't raise any suspicion with him. I simply told him to have fun and to let me know when he got in.

That night, I got a few trick or treaters and ate half of the candy myself, creating a massive stomach ache. I ended up chugging half a bottle of Pepto, straight from the bottle, and curled up in bed wishing my stupidity to reverse itself. That was how Emmett and Edward found me, and I saw the definite look of concern on Edward's face as he stood behind Emmett. But, Emmett knowing me as he did, searched the waste basket in my room and found the multiple candy wrappers and laughed at me. He knew my weakness for all things Halloween candy and usually moderated me, only this time I was left to my own defenses.

I threw a pillow at him and curled back into myself wishing the pain to go away, finally drifting off to sleep.

When I woke later that night, I found Edward curled up with me, sleeping soundly, and sighed, then fell back asleep only to wake alone the next morning. I hated the pretenses we had to keep up, but it was the only way really.

The next few weeks leading up to Thanksgiving worked pretty similar. Thomas avoided me during the school hours but I made sure to keep myself well surrounded. The football team continued to win their games, and had a good chance at going to State if they kept up their winning streak. Apparently the Edward-Emmett duo was unstoppable on the field. I was so proud of my boys.

However, on the last day of school before the week off for Thanksgiving, Edward stayed after class and passed me a note before walking out the door. Wondering what it could be, I slowly opened the paper and wanted to smile and frown simultaneously.

Bella,

My parents are going out of town all next week and I know that Emmett is supposed to be going to his dad's for the whole week. Well, my parents want me to come with them this time, but I don't want to spend my holidays in a nondescript hotel room, and eat a dinner prepared by some random kitchen staff. I told them that Emmett was staying in Forks for the week and mentioned that I could probably stay over the week too.

I know Emmett's leaving today after school and my mom wants to talk to you tomorrow afternoon before they head out Sunday morning to see if you're ok with me staying. I was thinking that we could have the whole week together, alone. If you don't want me over, or if you have plans already, I understand. But if not, I would love to spend the week with you. Text me and let me know.

Edward

A whole week alone with Edward, where I could fall asleep next to him and wake up in his arms. Did I want that? Hell yes I did! As for Thanksgiving dinner, I had already made plans to go to Alice and Jasper's house, but Edward was more than welcome to come along.

Not even hesitating, I pulled my phone out and quickly shot him a text telling him that he was more than welcome and that his mom could call me tomorrow. His reply, though, really had me worried.

:She wants to meet you in person. Is that ok?

Oh god! I was going to meet the parents, well parent, and they didn't know the full extent of my relationship with the son. How was I going to get through this?

I replied that it would be ok and what time to expect her, and Edward told me that he would let me know later that night.

I closed my phone and gathered my items, not wanting to be in the stuffy classroom one more minute, and headed home to take a long, hot bath and try to mentally prepare myself for meeting Edward's mom.

~*~CT~*~

I got a text from Edward later that night that his mom wanted to meet at the local coffee shop around two the next day, and I reluctantly agreed to it, asking what her name was and what to expect from it.

He filled me in on Esme Cullen and said that I'd recognize her by her hair, which was the same color as his.

To say I was nervous was an understatement. I barely slept that night, especially being all alone in the house. Emmett had headed to Seattle right after school got out since it was a long drive, and I was a wreck thinking about all the ways I could potentially mess up the meeting with Edward's mom.

On Saturday, I dressed in a pair of khaki slacks and a cream colored cardigan set, pulled on my wool, navy pea coat, and headed to the coffee shop to meet my boyfriend's mother.

I headed inside, even though I was five minutes early, and was shocked to find Mrs. Cullen already there.

I walked up to her and introduced myself, easily spotting her due to her hair, just as Edward had said I would. She was a woman of my height, but had a more womanly build about her. She seemed a bit uppity, but I expected that with her trophy wife way of life.

We headed to the counter together and ordered our drinks, her insisting on paying for mine, and then sat at a booth to speak.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Mrs. Cullen," I said as we got settled in our seats.

"Please, call me Esme, Mrs. Swan," she replied.

"It's Ms., actually, and you can call me Bella," I countered and she smiled at me with a tight smile.

"Divorced?" she asked like it was her business, when it really wasn't, but I didn't want to be rude.

"Yes, actually. He's in Seattle and Emmett and I moved back to Forks. My father is the Chief of Police here."

"Oh, you're Charles' daughter. How delightful!"

I wasn't sure what she meant by that, but I just shrugged it off and continued with the awkward meeting.

"Yes, Charlie is my father. He was happy to have us back here. And he was the one that informed me of the open position at Forks High. And I really think the move back has been good for Emmett, especially meeting Edward. Lord knows my son needed a good friend that wasn't just his friend due to his father having money."

Shit! Bad word vomit! Bad! I needed to tone it down, so I took a sip of my latte to keep my mouth busy.

"Oh we know how bad that is for Edward, too. What with Carlisle's medical practice and constant speaking engagements, Edward has been hard pressed to find someone who wanted to be his friend just because they enjoyed his company instead of what his company had to offer in perks."

Well at least she agreed with me on that one. I breathed a little easier and continued.

"He is a sweet kid," yeah, I forced that one out. "And he's never been a bother when he's stayed over. I actually really appreciate his company for Emmett. Being an only child can be tough, especially living with your mom."

"Well, we certainly hate to leave Edward home so much alone, but Carlisle has to travel so much and I manage his engagements for him. I don't think Carlisle could manage without me."

"I imagine that can be hard on a kid his age, but I want you to know that Edward is always more than welcome at my house. We have a guest bedroom that he can stay in, and there's more than enough food in the house. He's never been a bother when he's been over."

I think I was going to survive this meeting. Esme seemed pretty pleased with me so far, and I don't think I had come off as too welcoming either.

"Well, I just wanted to make sure, Bella. Edward has been acting strange lately, well strange for him. And I believe there's a girl involved. I know he had that floozy girl for a while, and I was happy to see her go, but this time I think it's more serious for him. I've questioned him about it and he keeps denying that there is anyone. But I wanted to make sure that he would really be staying at your house instead of having some tart over, unsupervised."

Um...I wasn't a tart, as far as I knew. But I bit back my retort and calmed myself back to the motherly role I had to portray to Esme Cullen.

"I can assure you that he will be there all week. And I also want you to know that he's always adhered to the curfew that I've put in place for Emmett. He really isn't a problem when he's over. I'm always glad to have him there."

Esme regarded me quietly for a moment so I sipped my latte again, and sat there awaiting her reply.

"Well, thank you for easing my fears and suspicions. Edward has so much potential and I don't want to see it all go to waste because of some mistake with an insignificant girl. And Carlisle and I will be leaving tomorrow morning. Will tomorrow be fine for Edward's arrival?"

"Yes, not a problem at all. And I hope you and your husband enjoy your trip. Where are you going?"

"Turks. We really enjoy it there and had hoped that Edward would come with us, but since he was adamant about wanting to stay, we are going to treat it as a second honeymoon of sorts. Are you sure Edward won't be a problem for the week?"

"Not at all, Esme. And I hope you and your husband have a wonderful time there."

"I'm sure we will. It was very nice to meet you , Bella. And I'm sure I'll see you again. Oh, and we should do this more often, what with you being single mother and career woman, I'm sure you don't get much time out."

I wasn't sure if that was an insult or not, so I just brushed it off and took her offered hand as I replied.

"I would love that. It was nice to meet you too, Esme. And we will definitely have to get together again."

With that, my boyfriend's mother stood and excused herself to go finish packing and I was left alone to mull over our conversation. When I saw her car pull out of the parking lot, I pulled out my phone and sent Edward a text.

:Your mother just left and all is set for your alibi. Oh, and apparently I'm the tart you're secretly seeing.

I closed my phone and stood, discarding my half full latte, and headed home to try and get some better sleep before my full week with my Edward.

Well? Interesting week ahead for our two lovebirds! Hope all goes well with them! Thoughts? Theories? Ideas on what's going to happen to Scumbanner? I'd love to hear them!