A/N: Hello again! Here is the second part to the two families meeting up at the Fourth of July. I won't waste time on this, but I do want to say thank you for being so patient with me. I hope to get back to my weekly postings now. My move is done; now bring on the unpacking and organization! Haha!

Thanks to my girls for being patient with me also! Torisurfergirl and starpower31; you two are awesome!

Chapter 20 – The Fourth of July, Part 2

"To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe."

Anatole France

Edward

This is going surprisingly well.

As I had promised, my dad, Charlie, JJ and I were all out fishing. Charlie had eagerly agreed to come with us since my father's boat was much bigger than he was used to. Bella had clued me in about Charlie's fishing obsession and that JJ liked to go with him, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to get to know them both better.

Esme had loved all of them immediately; the children had seemed to love her right back. My mother had introduced JJ to Evvy, their dog, and they had played until Bella forced JJ away to come to dinner. JJ had actually sat down at the table with a huge smile.

"Did you have fun playing with Evvy, JJ?" my mother had asked.

JJ had smiled even bigger at her and nodded enthusiastically. "She is such a sweet dog! She plays catch really good, and she licked me all over my face!"

"Gross, JJ! Go wash your hands and face before you eat dinner!" Bella had cried from the kitchen. Glancing at JJ, I'd winked at him as he got up to go wash. He had smiled hesitantly at me and had ran off.

The dinner had been lively, all of us talking to each other and about five different topics. My mother chose to sit next to Bella's daughters, and she helped them both when they needed it. It was clear that my mother hadn't been joking when she told me she desperately wanted grandchildren. Bella's daughters looked at Esme like she had hung the moon, and she was just as enamored with them.

JJ had been quiet through dinner, but not as quiet as I'd feared he would be. He did respond when someone asked him something, and once he even asked me a question. I don't know who had been more surprised by that, me or Bella.

"So, Edward," JJ had begun, swallowing a bite of his roll. "What time are we going tomorrow?"

"Well, I was thinking we could come pick you and Charlie up around 6AM. That sound okay?" I asked him, ignoring my surprise.

"Cool."

Right after they'd left, my mother had cornered me and, against my better judgment, I'd allowed her to give me her grandmother's ring. I knew that Bella wasn't ready to get married again, but my mother kept pushing that someday she would be ready and I might as well be ready to ask her. Plus, she was in love with Bella's children and saw this as her best chance at getting grandchildren fast.

So, there I sat, my dad on one side of me and Charlie on the other, with the damn ring burning a hole in my pocket. JJ was sitting across from me, ignoring me as much as possible, but he did seem to be enjoying himself. Charlie and my dad had known each other for years, so they chatted nicely. Every now and then JJ would comment on their conversation; I tried to stay quiet and leave them to talk.

"So, JJ, Bella tells me that you are going into sixth grade next fall?" my dad asked, turning his attention to the quiet boy.

"Yeah."

"Are you excited?"

"I guess so."

"Did you know in sixth grade is when they usually start doing the frog dissections?" I asked him, grinning. JJ looked at me with a surprised look, but he gradually returned my smile.

"Really?"

"That's what I understand. I was about that age when we did that in school."

JJ actually looked happy, but what little boy doesn't want to play scientist at least once in his life? While I was congratulating myself for a successful conversation with JJ, however short it might have been, my father started steering the boat toward the shore. I glanced at the sky and was surprised to see that it was late afternoon already.

We pulled up to the dock and began unloading. I noticed JJ standing near the doorway not doing anything. "Hey, JJ, do you want to help take the fish up to the car? This ice chest is a little heavy…"

"Sure." His eyes lit up as he grabbed one side of the ice chest.

"Did you have a good time?"

"Yeah, I did. Um…" I glanced over at JJ; his ears were turning a little red. "Thanks for inviting me."

I stopped for just a moment to smile down at the boy. "You are very welcome."

~~ANB~~

Bella

I was so nervous while the boys were gone that I could hardly pay attention to anything. Esme had decided to take the girls outside and play, so I was inside attempting to read a book. Unfortunately, my mind kept wandering to Edward and JJ out on a boat together.

What if JJ is really mean and throws something overboard? What if it's something that Edward or Carlisle really like?

I just couldn't read, so I finally put the book down and wandered outside. Esme was a natural with the girls. She was playing hide and seek with them, and the girls were thoroughly enjoying themselves. Emily was running around trying to find a place to hide, giggling so hard it was easy to track her movements. Leah was very serious about hiding and had found a large potted plant to hide behind, being very quiet. Esme was counting, and she gave Emily just enough time to find a place to hide before she opened her eyes.

"Ready or not, here I come!" she called out, beginning to search.

Emily couldn't contain her excitement and ran out of her hiding place to tackle Esme from behind. I winced as they fell to the ground, hoping that Esme hadn't hurt herself, but when she laughed and started tickling Emily I knew all was well.

"Bells?" my dad called from inside the house. Quickly, I ran inside, fearful of what I was going to see, but I walked in to Edward, Charlie and JJ all laughing about something.

"Hi, Mom."

"Hi, JJ. Did you have fun?"

"Yeah, it was cool."

High praise from the eleven-year-old. "Did you guys catch anything?"

Edward came over to stand next to me, but Charlie was the one who answered. "Oh, yes. We'll have fish for dinner tonight."

Charlie and JJ started taking their catch into the kitchen, so Edward and I made our way into the living room. We sat down on the couch, and I turned expectantly to him.

"How did it go? Really?"

Edward shrugged and smiled. "It was pretty good, actually. JJ seemed to have a lot of fun."

"And you didn't have any problems?"

He smiled again and kissed me lightly on the forehead. "No, beautiful. No problems. We had a very nice time."

I exhaled the breath that I swear I had been holding since they had left this morning. Before I could ask about it further, JJ walked into the living room.

"Edward, Grandpa wants to know if you want to help us make dinner," he asked, without his normal snotty tone.

"Sure, kid, I'd love to." Edward got up and wandered into the kitchen.

JJ lingered a little, watching Edward leave the room. "Mom?"

"Yeah?" He shuffled his feet a little, and his ears turned red. I recognized that behavior as JJ feeling guilty about something. "What is it, honey?"

"Um, Edward's…well…he's kind of cool."

As shock rolled over me, JJ turned on his heel and walked back into the kitchen. I didn't have time to quite digest what he had said because Carlisle came in at that moment, followed by Esme and the girls.

"Go on, girls, dinner will be ready soon," Esme said, shooing the girls upstairs.

Carlisle smiled at me and walked into the kitchen, leaving Esme and I alone.

"How are you doing, dear?" she asked, sitting down next to me on the couch.

"I'm a little shocked."

"Why?"

"JJ just came up to me and told me that 'Edward is cool.'" I shook my head and looked at her. "That is very strange coming out of his mouth."

"He's young, and he's learning to adapt. Before, he thought Edward was this person he didn't really know who was trying to steal his mom away from him. Now, he's the cool guy who took him fishing," Esme said, shrugging. "I encouraged Edward to get to know him, outside of his relationship with you. Sometimes, that's all little boys need."

I shook my head and stared at her. "How did you get so smart?"

Esme laughed and reached out for my hand. "Someday I'll tell you. In the meantime, let's go make sure the boys don't burn our meal."

She and I stood up and made our way into the kitchen. She placed her arm around my shoulders as we stood watching the boys cleaning the fish. I felt a surge of emotion toward Esme, and for the first time in a long time, I felt like I had a mother again.

A/N: So, what do you think? Is there hope for JJ?