A/N: Duckies! Let's see how everything is going.

"Everything looks very good, Ms. Swan."

Bella tried not to look as hopeful as she felt. Eric Yorkie was the editor-in-chief at a newspaper that served a good portion of the Northwest. The paper had a broader range than Tanya's magazine had. Some of their reporters had ended up moving on to national and world-wide papers or even broadcasting. It would be good to get her toe in even on the bottom rung.

Mr. Yorkie sat back in his chair and arched an eyebrow at Bella. "Can I ask you a question you're under absolutely no obligation to answer?"

Bella blinked. "Um, sure?"

"What the hell happened between you and Tanya Cullen?"

Bella ducked her head, feeling her cheeks heat. She hid a grimace behind her hand as her heartbeat picked up speed. This was exactly what she'd been waiting for. She knew damn well Tanya had the power to blackball her. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, she didn't say anything. Let me be upfront about that. We were at a conference last week, and I mentioned your resume came across my desk. It's not often one of Tanya's former assistants is out on the open market. She usually recommends someone. Forgive me for being up front, but it made me, ah, curious."

"We wouldn't be journalists if we weren't curious," Bella said, trying to keep the strain out of her voice.

Mr. Yorkie chuckled and nodded. "As I said, she didn't say anything when I asked about you. Strictly professional and all that. It was just that I've never seen her face twist like that." Eric shook his head. "Which would have been fine except that yesterday, she sent me a glowing e-mail of recommendation."

It took every shred of self-control Bella had to keep her complete and utter shock in check. Judging by the amusement that crossed Mr. Yorkie's face, she didn't do a very good job. He tapped his fingers against his chest. "So I gather you and she had a personal, ah, difference of opinion, but that she still appreciates your work?"

"I… Something like that, yes."

Mr. Yorkie studied her a moment and nodded. "Tight-lipped, huh? That's understandable."

"You know Ms. Cullen fairly well?" Bella asked.

"Fairly," he said with a nod. "We worked for the same organization for a brief time many moons ago."

"Then let me put it this way. If you hire me, Mr. Yorkie, I find it highly likely you'll have an answer to your question sooner than later."

He laughed. "The investigative reporter in me is intrigued." He nodded. "Okay. Let's talk salary then."

Bella couldn't keep her eyes from bulging. "Seriously?"

Mr. Yorkie grinned at her. "Recommendations from Tanya Cullen and Eleazar Santino? Besides your college work, I know you only have the one article, but it's an impressive article. Mr. Santino's letter made it clear the circumstances in which that article was written. It speaks highly of your ability to think on your feet that you were able to pull that off with little to no preparation. In short, Ms. Swan, I think you'll do good things here. So let's talk about where I can use you and what you're looking for in compensation."

Bella beamed. "Okay, then."

~0~

Edward's car was parked outside her apartment when Bella got home. She quickened her step as she ran up the walk. She knew she was grinning wide as a circus clown. She burst in the door to find Edward hanging out with Jake and Embry. That should have made her nervous—Jake's favorite thing the last month was to give Edward a hard time—but she was too excited for all that.

Bella threw her arms out wide. "Guess who's joining the ranks of the employed again?"

Her announcement was met with cheers from Jake and Embry. Edward went to her, scooped her up, and twirled her around. He set her down again but wrapped her in his arms. "Congratulations," he said in her ear. "I'm so proud of you."

A shiver went down Bella's spine. This was one of the things she'd never expected when she thought about relationships. Being with someone was never a part of her firm plans. She had ambitions, and a relationship wasn't among them. She knew how to be proud of herself and how to celebrate personal victories. But lately, she was learning to share this part of her life with Edward.

It had taken her a little while to get used to the idea. He talked with her in depth about what she wanted out of her career. She'd been offered a position at a tiny local magazine and had been tempted to take it—work was work. But Edward had reasoned with her, encouraging her to hold out for something better. After all, she had the nice severance Tanya had given her, and she could always draw on unemployment—that was what it was there for.

So rather than commit her time and energy to a tiny magazine without much possibility, she'd kept looking. How strange it was to think this was their victory. This is what it meant to have a partner—someone who wanted to walk by her side, help her accomplish her goals.

Bella rested both her hands on his chest, gazing up at him, basking in the adoration in his eyes. He leaned down, giving her a quick peck before releasing her to the congratulatory hugs of her roommates.

"Dinner and drinks for everyone on me," Edward said. "Wherever you want."

The boys let out another whoop. Jacob slung his arm around Bella, giving her hair a playful ruffle. "I had to get three useless tattoos before I found a great guy."

"The best guy," Embry said, in turn slinging his arm around Jacob.

Jake turned and nipped at his boyfriend's lips. "The best guy." He turned back to Bella. "And you, you damn showoff, strike gold on the first one?"

Bella laughed and reached out for Edward. He took her hand, guiding her back under his arm. "Obviously, I have better taste than you. I mean, if I couldn't have Embry," Bella said, winking at Embry. "Does that mean you're going to stop pretending you don't approve of him?"

Completely shameless, Jake grinned, showing all his teeth. "If it gets me free booze, hell yeah, I'll approve of just about anyone."

Edward tilted his head, his expression deceivingly innocent. "Is that how you wound up with all those tattoos?"

Embry cackled and Jacob huffed. "He's clever; I'll give him that," he said to Bella.

Sometime later, Bella found herself tucked into a booth at a trendy bar. She was stuffed to the gills on bar food, curled up contentedly against Edward's chest. He hummed in her ear, and they both laughed as they watched Jake and Embry dance drunkenly.

Bella told Edward about what Tanya had done.

"It was the right thing," Edward said quietly. "It wasn't even a matter of not ruining you on purpose. She knew the circumstances of how she let you go were suspicious. So the choice there was to let Yorkie believe that you were incompetent in her eyes, or do the right thing."

"Still, it couldn't have been easy for her."

"No," Edward agreed. He sighed and began to press soft kisses against her hair. "Is it foolish of me to want it all? To want her to be my friend again someday and to have you in my arms?"

"I don't think it's foolish." Bella thought of Tanya's tattoo on his back. "If anything, that makes me feel better about you. I always thought it was sad. Just because you fall in love doesn't mean you're going to live happily ever after, but I always thought it was a shame that people couldn't look on their tattoos with fondness. I mean, you loved that person once, right? Just because you fell in love with me doesn't mean Tanya was never special."

She shrugged and turned to catch his kiss. "If you're foolish for wanting us all to be friends, then I'm foolish too."

His answering smile was soft, and he reached up to stroke her cheek. "We were meant for each other, do you know that?"

The idea made Bella want to fly.

~Edward~

Edward could hardly believe the whirlwind that had been his life the last three months. Three months since he'd found Bella's tattoo on his chest. Two months and three weeks since he'd asked for a divorce. Two months since Bella had come home, and his new life had begun.

He and Bella had agreed they weren't going to flaunt their relationship in any public space for a few months and not completely out in the open until after the new year. It had given them the time to concentrate on each other—to figure out some of the finer dynamics of their relationship. It had been an adjustment. Edward who had been married the entirety of his adult life mixing with Bella who had never had a serious relationship and had been completely independent her whole life, made for a pretty interesting pair.

But Thanksgiving was the limit of how long he could go without taking her to meet his family. They all knew about her, of course. And Bella's parents each had other plans, so there was no excuse there. Edward was excited. It would be good to share his impressive happiness with his family. Bella, on the other hand…

"Oh, god. This right here. This was one of the perks of not being in a relationship," Bella muttered as they turned onto the street leading up to his parents' house.

Biting his lip to keep from chuckling, Edward reached out and took her hand. "What's one of the perks?"

"I've never done the meet the parents thing."

"You're amazing, Bella, and they're going to see that."

"Yeah, right." She grimaced. "Come on. They're not going to think you're putting your life on hold again this time for some young floozy?"

"Hey, that's my girl you're talking about, so you best keep a civil tongue," he said, taking his eyes off the road long enough to give her an admonishing stare. "Bella, really. My parents are the best kind of in-laws you can have, and that's not just my bias speaking."

He looked over to find her staring at him with an odd look on her face. "What?"

"You called them in-laws."

Edward flushed. "You know what I mean," he said as he pulled into the driveway.

He didn't mean to be so pushy, but he hadn't ever seen the point of denying his end game was marriage. What was the point of being together if they weren't at least optimistic that they could have a life together?

Then again, all or nothing terms was exactly what had gotten him in trouble before, wasn't it? He told himself it was different with Bella. He, for one, was older and wiser. He knew himself very well now, in a way he couldn't have hoped to know himself when he was eighteen.

Bella squeezed his hand. "I'm teasing. I know what you meant."

Edward relaxed and got out of the car. "Emmett will tease us, but that's a good sign. It's when Emmett doesn't tease you that you know he doesn't like you. And Rose, well…"

"Didn't you call her a huge snot once?"

"What did you call my wife?"

Bella whirled around, but Edward turned more slowly. His brother was glaring at Bella in what Edward knew was a fake as hell glower. "Emmett," he said warningly.

Emmett grinned at Bella. "And really, isn't that the pot calling the kettle black? Is there a bigger snot than this guy?" He gestured at his brother.

"So what does that make you and me?" Bella asked, flashing a small smile. "We're the ones who fell in love with snots."

Emmett snorted. "Well, my wife is hot and patient enough to bear four of my children. What you're getting out of this bargain, I have no idea."

"I get to meet you," Bella said with feigned sweetness.

"Oh, I like her." Emmett offered his hand. "It's good to finally meet you, Bella-girl. You don't have to worry about impressing me or Dad. You had us when you gave Edward that fuck-awesome birthday gift."

Shaking his head, Edward took Bella's hand again and led her into the house.

The rest of the afternoon was everything Edward had imagined for the last two months. One thing Edward loved about his family was their open and accepting nature. He watched with pure joy as Bella was pulled into the fold. She charmed Carlisle straight away by noticing his collection of books, and they had talked at length about some title Edward had never heard of. She'd wheedled embarrassing stories of Edward out of Esme. She'd played Mario Kart with Henry and Vera. When Abby and Joey had made it their mission to see which one of them could impress her more, she oohed and aahed patiently over each treasure they brought her and listened attentively to each story they told.

Carlisle and Esme had both found the time to tell him what a lovely young woman Bella was and remarked how good it was to see him so happy. Emmett made sure to inform him not once but three times how Bella had definitely gotten the raw end of their bargain—a sentiment Edward actually agreed with.

Rosalie, on the other hand, had doubts, but then, Edward had always known she would.

"It just feels like you're setting yourself up for another Tanya. Same profession. Same drive," Rosalie said to him privately. "Are you sure you didn't trade in your inattentive wife for an inattentive girlfriend?"

Edward didn't get the chance to answer. Joey, who had been telling Bella about how he was learning to play the piano, had worked himself up into a hyperactive state. He bounced around at Bella's feet, speaking excitedly about his first recital.

"You'll come, right, Bella? You'll come watch me? It's Tuesday. Tuesday night at six o'clock."

Edward's heart sank and his defensiveness rose automatically. He knew Bella's schedule. She'd made arrangements to be at some festival she was supposed to be covering for work. He took a deep breath, preparing to make an excuse and to watch all his family give that knowing look he'd hated almost as much as Tanya.

Bella spoke before he could, though. "Um, let's see. Tuesday? Yeah, I can make that work, little man. Do you really want me to be there?"

Joey's eyes lit up and he bounced in place. "Yeah, yeah, yeah!"

"Well, then, I'm going to be there," she said with a smile.

"But...the festival," Edward said, speaking without thinking.

Bella looked up at him. "Don't worry about it. I'll do it Monday instead of Tuesday. I'll have to put in a little extra time on Monday to get all my work done, but that's fine, right?"

Edward felt a smile creeping up at the edges of his mouth. "Yes, of course. That works just fine."

She nodded and looked back at Joey who was still clamoring for attention. Beside Edward, Rosalie gave a soft scoff. "She'll do," she said with a nod.

Edward rolled his eyes, but he smiled at his sister-in-law. "Well thank you for that."

After dinner, Bella, in a post-feast haze, Abby fell asleep in Bella's arms. She seemed comfortable enough, stroking her fingers absently down the girl's back as she spoke to Carlisle. Watching her, Edward felt his chest swell up. For the first time in a long time, he allowed himself the luxury of hope.

His attention was drawn away by his mother's touch. She squeezed his arm, a knowing smile on her face. "Will you stay tonight?" His mother did so much like to have her sons under her roof, and Edward had rarely gotten that chance.

He gave his mother a squeeze and nodded. "Yeah. I already asked Bella."

Esme looked as happy as Edward felt.

In another hour, he and Bella climbed into bed. Bella was still chattering excitedly, telling him about something or another his mother had said or something Henry and Vera had told her.

Bella loved his family. And they loved her.

He drew his hand down her face, tracing her features, and began to croon to her. "Me and you, and you and me. No matter how they tossed the dice, it had to be. The only one for me is you, and you for me."

She laughed softly and pressed her palm to his chest, climbing the vine as she'd so often done. "You know what I was thinking the other day?"

"What's that?"

"For most of my life, I hated my tattoo." She leaned down and kissed his skin, tracing the tattoo with her lips now. "But I don't anymore."

He stroked his fingers through her hair. "You don't?"

Bella rested her head on his chest, looking up at him, gorgeous in the moonlight. "I think it was a symbol of all the possible pain out there. Love can hurt so much." She drew the pad of her thumb along the underside of his chin. "But I didn't know how good it could be. I'm glad I can see it. I'm glad I can see how much I love you written on your skin."

He cupped her face, bringing it up to meet him in a slow, serious kiss. "We're only going to get better from here, " he promised. He sighed and nuzzled her hair. "I didn't know how good it could be, Bella. I love you."

~The End~

A/N: Wait a minute, wait a minute. Don't panic!

I actually just got an idea for a mini-sequel. 3-5 chapters (Shut. Up. Mina) called Marked Complete. Yes, I might be doing this just so I can eventually say Marked Complete is marked complete. But really, I have a few lingering ideas I didn't get to use, and y'all seem to like this story, so why not?

Also, because a few people asked, I will be adding a Tanya PoV outtake.

For now, though, I mark this part of our story complete. So many thanks to barburella, packy 2.0, songster, Mina, jfka06, and GinnyW. (I drew two of my old betas out of retirement for this fic, whhhhaaaat even). Special shout out to MyOnlyHeroin for being so sweet even though I am soooo impatient.

And special thanks to all of you. It's a good thing tattoos aren't really a thing, because I'd be covered head to toe with all your tats.