A/N: SM wrote Twilight and I wrote this.

Thanks for your continued support, your kind words squeeze my heart.

The Cullens had booked three double rooms at the Walker Hotel in Greenwich Village so they'd be within walking distance of Siobhan's apartment and close to the subway for easy travel around New York. The hotel rooms were supposed to be one for the boys and one for the girls to share but Edward and Emmett scoffed when their father handed out the keys and promptly swapped, so that Edward and Bee were in one room and Emmett and Rosalie were in the other.

Aro had wanted Isabella to stay with him at his New York apartment while they were in town but she didn't want to be parted from the Cullens so in the end he relented. He couldn't offer them all to stay with him as he only had two-bedrooms; as a single man he'd never needed more than that. Aro decided instead to book a room for himself at the same hotel as the Cullens since he'd already closed up his apartment for his annual trip to Italy and he wanted to remain close to Isabella.

Bee had thoroughly enjoyed the plane trip to New York, even though Edward and Emmett had complained constantly about flying economy while the 'rents travelled in Business class. The boys were used to travelling in style since they often travelled with their mother on her book tours but Bee and Rose told them both to 'grow up' and just enjoy the adventure. Aro declared that he would pay for all of Isabella's travel expenses but when he suggested buying her a business class ticket Bee flatly refused. She insisted that economy was perfectly acceptable and that business class was, in her opinion, a complete waste of money.

When they arrived in New York the girls fell in love with the Walker Hotel because of its art deco feel while the boys liked it because of its free wifi. Once settled and unpacked, Bee and Aro wanted to visit Siobhan's grave before doing anything else in New York, so Carlisle hired a couple of cars for the day and they all drove out to Woodlawn Cemetery.

When they arrived at the cemetery Aro, Edward and Bee went to the graveside while the rest of the family held back to allow Bee some privacy. They had stopped at a nearby florist so that Bee could select some flowers to take Siobhan's grave. After carefully perusing the shop's offerings she finally chose two simple bunches of daisies which she gripped in her hand tightly until she stood in front of Siobhan's grave.

The gravestone was engraved with her name and the dates of her birth and death followed by the beautiful quote: 'Death leaves a wound nothing can heal; love leaves a memory no one can steal.' Then the stone was inscribed with:

Proud Mother of Charles

Grandmother to the beautiful Isabella

Forever yours, m'aingeal

Bee sobbed at the sight of her grandmother's sweet message to Aro and holding Edward's hand she kneeled down to place the flowers by the grave. She squeezed Aro's shoulder and kissed his cheek before walking away with Edward back to the Cullens. She could see that Aro was crying and she wanted to leave him alone with his sweet Siobhan.

As they walked away she heard him whisper: "You see my sweet girl, I have found our darling Isabella. I have already taken her into my heart; rest my love and when it's time I'll join you and we will have our forever." Bee turned to see him kiss his fingers before placing them on the headstone.

After a short while the rest of the family went to visit Siobhan's grave and while there Esme sweetly promised to look after Bee as Siobhan would've wanted to herself.

It was an emotional visit and when they arrived back at the Hotel, Aro retired to his room with the promise to join them again for dinner. Edward took Bee to their room and they snuggled up for a long sleep; she felt so safe wrapped in his arms.

Around sunset Emmett called Edward's phone asking if they'd be joining the rest of the family downstairs in the Hotel's lounge and then in the restaurant for dinner. Edward looked to Bee who could hear Em's booming voice over the phone; she smiled and nodded. It was a good idea to join the family and it was time to discuss the rest of their New York trip.

"I'll just shower and change," Bee told Edward. He nodded and planned to wait on the bed for her but then she turned and smiled at him: "Want to join me?"

He laughed and sprang into action, following her into the bathroom and stripping off quickly to join her in the rather luxurious shower.

"Wash my hair for me will you?" she asked.

The pair proceeded to wash each other and love each other and then wash each other again before finally turning off the gloriously hot water. They dried themselves, dressed and then Edward sat on the bathroom counter as he watched Bee blow-dry her long, beautiful hair. After their delightful shower sex they were both relaxed and their happiness shook off the sadness of the day.

As they entered the lounge room hand in hand, Emmett waggled his eyebrows at them: "You took your time."

"Leave them alone Emmett," Rosalie said. "They look happy." She gave Bee a hug and then pulled her over to sit by the fire in the large, comfy lounge chairs.

Carlisle and Esme joined them with a tray of drinks. A fancy cocktail for Esme, a red wine for Aro, mocktails for the girls and cokes for Carlisle and the boys. Carlisle rarely drank since he was so used to being on call in a small community hospital.

They all chatted about the day and the beautiful quote on Siobhan's grave. The next day they would go to Bee's apartment and she was bouncing with excitement. She and Aro talked excitedly at the prospect of what they would find there; Bee's dearest hope was that there'd be photo albums in the apartment. According to the lawyers, the apartment had been cleaned prior to being closed after Siobhan's death; personal items had been itemised and boxed but the bookshelves and other furniture were covered with special dust covers to protect them and then left as is.

Esme had organised cleaners to go to the apartment with an agent of the lawyers to prepare it to be opened for Bee.

They carried their drinks with them as they moved into the restaurant. The men all ordered the steak, Esme ordered the salmon while Bee and Rose ordered the chicken. As they ate they laughed and talked all at once, as the Cullens always did.

Bee took Edward's hand: "I can't believe we are going to live here, Edward."

Edward smiled broadly at his girl: "I'm excited too, especially as we won't be living on campus but together in our own place."

Esme chimed in at that point: "Well, it's a good thing Isabella has taught you how to do your own laundry then isn't it. What about the cooking? I don't want you to starve."

"Oh, I'll do the cooking," said Bee. "Edward can clean the dishes." They all laughed but Edward was more than happy with that arrangement. He hated the idea of student housing especially if it meant living apart from Bee; living in her apartment would give them so much more time together and freedom to live the way they pleased.

Bee squeezed Aro's hand: "Grandfather has offered us both part-time jobs in one of his restaurants, Isabella's Ristorante in fact. That will be good for some spare money since we don't have to pay rent, just utilities and food."

Esme smiled; she was pleased to see that even with the money Isabella had inherited from her grandmother she wasn't letting it go to her head. Bee still wanted to have a part-time job to earn some spending money.

"Yes, my dear Esme," Aro added. "You needn't worry. I will keep a close eye on our two love-birds. I've organised training for them to learn how to be be top class waiters in my ristorante. But I do not want work to interfere with their studies so they will have no more than two shifts a week, on the same nights, of course. It's not as if either of them really need the money, but I think it is admirable that they both want to work, don't you?"

It was true, Isabella had her inheritance which was sufficient to cover all her tuition and living expenses with plenty to spare. Edward's expenses would be easily covered by his College Fund which Carlisle and Esme had established when he was a baby, so all his student and living expenses would be easily covered especially as they were staying in Bee's apartment rather than paying for on campus accommodation.

"Yes," said Carlisle. "We are very proud of both of them." He was truly pleased to hear Edward talk of earning money for himself as well.

Aro, Carlisle and Esme decided to stay in at the Hotel for the evening to enjoy the homey lounge area for an hour or so before heading to bed. It had been a long day.

Emmett and Rose told Edward and Bee about an underage friendly bar called 'Fat Cat' which wasn't far from the Hotel so the four of them headed out after dinner. They spent the night playing pool, laughing and listening to some great music.

When they arrived back at the Hotel, Edward shot a text to Carlisle and Aro to let them know they'd all returned safely.

Bee fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow and Edward happily followed soon after. She woke ahead of the alarm, however, and was already washed and dressed when she began shaking Edward out of his sleep: "Wake up sleepyhead, we're going to see our apartment today. Come on, I'm hungry; I want to go have breakfast."

Edward groaned and rolled over. He was going to drag her back into bed so he could ravage her and start the day right but when he saw her happy face and realised how excited she was to see her grandmother's apartment he simply nodded and rolled out of bed.

"Go shower," she said. "You stink from that Club last night."

He chuckled and headed into the bathroom. As soon as he closed the door he locked it so he could go through his morning ablutions without Bella bursting in on him while he was was using the toilet. She'd done that once back home while he was pissing because she was so excited to tell him something 'that just couldn't wait'; it shocked him so much that he peed all over the floor and then he had to clean it up.

He made quick work of his shower before brushing his teeth and then going back out to the bedroom wrapped only in a towel.

"I've laid some clothes out for you to hurry things along," Bee said staring at his torso. He couldn't help teasing her so he started to rub his abs low down near where the towel was wrapped around him.

Bee licked her lips and then shook her head: "No time for that, stop teasing me fancy pants."

He then dropped the towel altogether and moved over to the clothes she'd laid on the bed. Bee moaned at the sight of his beautiful body: "You don't fight fair, Edward."

"Never said I did, love," he said as he dragged on his boxers.

She turned her back to him but could still see him in the mirror: "Dammit, I'll wait outside."

She started to leave but he grabbed her by her arm: "No wait, I'm nearly ready and I won't tease any more." He kissed her softly on the lips. It started off sweet and chaste but then Bee moaned and ran her fingers through his hair, pulling it as she deepened the kiss. This time Edward moaned and pulled her closer to him. This got her attention and she pushed away from him: "No, no. Put your shirt and shoes on; let's go. I'm hungry and I want to go to the apartment as soon as we can."

He chuckled and made quick work of finishing dressing and gathering his things. "Come on then Busy Bee, let's get you fed." They headed to the lift as he texted the others to see if they were ready for breakfast.

Breakfast was a noisy affair as was every meal with the Cullens. Aro loved it, as it reminded him of dining with his dear brother and his family, since Caius had five children of his own and eight grandchildren. Everyone discussed their plans for the day. Rose and Emmett were going sight seeing while everyone else was going to the apartment with Isabella.

"Don't forget," said Aro. "That tonight you are all my guests for dinner. We will be dining at 'Isabella's'; dress is formal and we are booked for dinner at 7.00pm."

Bee clapped her hands excitedly and everyone laughed, enjoying her happiness.

As it was a beautiful day and it wasn't that far away, they decided to walk to the apartment. Esme and Bee walked ahead of the men and chatted excitedly the whole way about decorating ideas for updating the decor to suit two young busy students.

The apartment turned out to be a beautiful old brownstone on a tree lined street in the West Village. When they opened the door Bee gasped: "Isn't it lovely," she gushed.

"And this is only the entry way," Carlisle laughed. "Come along, let's go inside and see the whole place."

When they stepped into the large lounge area they could see how tastefully the room was decorated.

"Esme," Bee said quietly. "This room is so beautiful, it reminds me of my grandmother. It is warm and welcoming; I think we'll only need to freshen the paint and polish the floors again. I don't want to change too much."

"I quite agree Isabella, it is just lovely," said Esme.

Edward was roaming from room to room and marvelling at how large the apartment was and shouted: "Wow, Bee there's a separate dining room and a huge kitchen."

Carlisle took a seat in the bay window and looked down over the street. "This will be such a lovely place to study," he said, looking at all the built-in bookcases along every wall of the lounge room.

Aro was looking through the apartment trying not to feel sad as everything reminded him of his sweet girl, Siobhan. He wanted today to be happy for Isabella and seeing her settled in this lovely place left to her by her grandmother meant that he would have her close to him whenever he was in New York.

He walked down the hallway which was beautifully lit with lovely art deco wall lights; his girl always did love old fashioned things, he thought. At the end of the hallway a selection of framed quotes were mounted on the wall; they were simple but beautiful, written in meticulous calligraphy.

He read the first two aloud:

All thoughts, all passions, all delights,

Whatever stirs this mortal frame,

all are but ministers of Love,

and feed his sacred flame.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

No human being, even the most passionately loved

and passionately loving, is ever in our possession.

Albert Camus

Isabella joined him and read the last the one aloud:

Parting is all we know of heaven

and all we need of hell.

Emily Dickinson

"I love that one," she said. "Grandmother often used to tell me that we aren't meant to understand everything all at once, as some things need to be thought about for a long time. 'You have to let understanding grow', she used to say to me. I've always thought that applies to Emily Dickinson's words; that I should think about them for awhile and let understanding grow."

Edward circled his arm around her waist: "And that is why you topped me in English, my little busy bee."

Aro once again admired the connection of this young couple and likened it to the love he shared with his Siobhan. In honour of her memory, he would do everything in his power to help them get through the next few years of study and life.

"The main bedroom is lovely, Isabella. So much space and light, " said Esme, interrupting their soft moment with her happy exuberance. "Oh, is this another bedroom?" she asked as she opened the last door near the end of the hall.

When she entered she gasped and called out: "Isabella, you must see this."

Bee, Edward entered the room with Aro and Carlisle fast behind. "Oh Bee," said Edward. "This was meant to be your room."

The room was set out for a young girl, the wallpaper pattern had roses and spring vines. The windows were dressed with beautiful soft pink curtains and the bed set was white with matching bedside tables, wardrobes and bookshelves which were filled with books suitable for a young girl. There was a sealed box which Bee opened and found teddy bears, dolls and play sets.

"She really did want me to live with her, didn't she?" sobbed Bee. Edward and Aro nodded.

"Look Isabella, there are photos of you with your grandmother on this shelf," said Carlisle.

With tears streaming down their faces, Aro and Bee rushed over and stared at the photos.

Esme, Carlisle and Edward left the room and went to the dining room, wanting to let Aro and his granddaughter have a moment alone.

Bee handed one of the framed pictures to Aro: "Shall we take this one home with us to Great Uncle Caius in Montepulciano?"

He hugged her tightly: "Yes my darling girl. We can place it above the hearth in the main lounge with the pictures of his family. Thank you."

She nodded, hugging the picture to her body. She looked around the room again and sighed thinking of what might have been before going to find Edward. She needed him.

She found him at the dining table with Esme who looked up and gave a small sympathetic smile to both Isabella and Aro. "Carlisle has gone to the Italian cafe we passed on the way here, to pick up some lunch and coffee for us all."

"What a blessing," said Aro. "I would love some good strong Italian coffee."

Bee placed the photo on the table as she shared her plans with Edward and Esme to take it, and maybe a few other things, to Italy with them.

"I can't help but wonder what my life would've been like if I'd been able to live with my grandmother. But when you think about it, grandmother still would've become ill and I most likely would've ended up back with Renee and James, anyway."

Edward held her hand and squeezed it gently: "Isn't it wonderful to know that not only did she try to get custody, but she also had a place ready for you just in case. She loved you Bee and that's plain to see."

She gave him a bright, determined smile: "You're right."

Esme rubbed her back gently: "What do you think you'd like to do with that room, Isabella? It would make a lovely guest room, don't you think?"

"Oh yes, Esme. That way when you and Carlisle come to visit or Emmy and Rose, then the room will be here for you. We'll need to change the bed and update the look of the room but I'd like to keep the furniture. Do you think it will fit in the storage room in the basement?"

"We'll take a look after lunch," she replied. She was very pleased that she and Carlisle would be so welcome. Esme and Bee then spent the next twenty minutes discussing some renovation ideas before going into the kitchen to see what needed updating. They agreed to put in a new oven and stove top, as well as installing a dishwasher, washer dryer and new fridge freezer set. They would need some new kitchen appliances and cooking items.

Esme was walking arm in arm with Isabella when they returned to the dining room: "When we get back from Italy, let's take some measurements and then we'll buy the items you need."

"No, no, my dear Esme," said Aro, "I will pay for the items that are needed. Since my sweet girl left the apartment to Isabella, I would like to contribute to the update."

Carlisle entered the room with a large bag of food and a tray of coffee, "Lunch is ready," Carlisle announced. "Edward, you'll be pleased to know that the Italian cafe delivers."

Esme came in with plates and cutlery. "Your grandmother had lovely taste Isabella, these plates are gorgeous."

Bee beamed with delight to know that she had so many things that directly connected her to her family. She was proud of her grandmother's lovely things; Renee had always been so cheap and anything nice they did manage to have, had been pawned for alcohol and drug money. Now Bee was surrounded by the loveliness that was her grandmother.

Esme spoke quietly to Carlisle to suggest a compromise on contributing to the cost of the upgrade to the apartment. Carlisle agreed immediately and so Esme shared her idea with Aro.

"Aro, Carlisle and I would like to contribute to the cost of the renovations and updating the apartment, since our son will also be living here. What do you say to us sharing the costs between us, 50:50?"

Aro was pleased the Cullens were such good people and not taking advantage of Bella's new found money. He also understood that Bee and Edward were a package deal so he agreed to their compromise, as remaining on good terms with his family would be important to his future relationship with his granddaughter.

"I feel that I should pay for all the costs, but I can see your point and agree that, in this matter, we will meet in the middle."

"Excellent!" said Carlisle. "Now, let's eat."

Carlisle had bought wonderful focaccia sandwiches filled with salami and salads; the bread was fresh and the fillings delicious. The group were silenced briefly by their enjoyment of the food.

With lunch done, Aro, Esme and Isabella continued to inspect the apartment and the basement to decide what needed to be fixed, refreshed, renovated or replaced. Edward and Carlisle did the dishes and then sat in the lounge room looking through the bookshelves.

"There are some quite remarkable books here," said Carlisle, as he perused the shelves.

"I know and I can't wait to look through it properly but right now I am looking for photo albums or memorabilia that Bee might enjoy," Edward said.

"I read through the manifest from the executors of Siobhan's Will, Edward and I really don't remember seeing any photo albums on the list. Maybe the ones she has framed and mounted around the apartment are all she had."

Edward sat on the floor to get a better look at the lower shelves and noticed some folders which caught his interest. They had typed labels and were titled by location: Boston, New York, Phoenix, Texas, and California.

"Huh, that's interesting," Edward said as he pulled one of the folders from the shelf.

"What have you found?" asked Carlisle as he squatted down next to Edward.

"Well, these folders here are all titled places where Bee lived with her mother. That can't be a coincidence can it?" Edward opened the folder labelled Texas and was shocked to see copies of police reports, hospital reports, school records and social services reports. All about Isabella Swan. Edward turned page after page until he came across one picture which made him gasp: "Oh my poor baby."

The photo was taken in a hospital emergency room, Edward being the son of a hospital doctor recognised the environment immediately. Her arm was in plaster, she had bruises on her face and torso as well as what looked like welts on her thighs. She looked so sad and so small. Tears flowed down Edward's face as he silently passed the folder over to Carlisle. Edward then pulled each of the other location folders, with each one telling similar stories of the horror of Bee's life with Renee and James.

"Well, we knew that Siobhan had tried to get custody but every time she got enough of a case together Renee would move to a new state and a clean slate," Carlisle said.

"These must be the reports from the Private Investigators she hired," Edward added.

Carlisle nodded.

While they were looking through the folders they heard Bee, Aro and Esme returning from their trip to the basement.

Edward was in a panic: "What shall we do, Dad? I mean seeing this will set her back and make her miserable but we can't hide it from her."

Carlisle and Edward hurriedly put the folders back on the shelves as they'd found them.

"Listen son, I think it best that we show her these when we get back from Italy but we won't lie to her we just won't offer the information, okay?"

Edward nodded, truth be told he never wanted Bee to see them but he knew it would be wrong to keep them from her forever.

Edward rushed to the bathroom to wash his face to try and keep Bee from knowing how upset he'd been. He knew those photos of a broken little girl would haunt him for a very long time, but she'd lived it and he didn't want her to be reminded of that sad, miserable time.

When he returned to the lounge room everyone was sitting and talking about all the space in the basement and how they'll be able to store quite a lot down there.

"What about you guys? Did you find any photo albums for me?" Bee asked hopefully.

"Nope, sorry love. No photo albums, but maybe when we get back from Italy we can take our time and look more thoroughly."

Esme stood up and started to gather her things: "Well, I feel a little grotty after being down in the basement and I think we've done all we can here today. Let's head back to the Hotel and clean up. After all, Aro is treating us to dinner at 'Isabella's Ristorante' tonight, and I hear it is quite the fancy place. I'm looking forward to getting dressed up, are you ready to go Isabella?"

Bee jumped up and grabbed her bag to join Esme for the walk home.

Edward held back and kept Aro with him as Carlisle distracted Bee and Esme in the entry way.

Edward spoke quickly and quietly not wanting Bee to hear him: "Aro, we found the reports from the private investigators that Siobhan hired each time she tried to put a case together against Renee to get custody of Bee. It's pretty ugly stuff and I don't want her to see them until we get some advice from her therapist and can prepare her; she's so happy right now. I think you should probably read them though." He pointed them out on the lowest shelf before heading to the entrance hall to take Bee's hand.

Carlisle pulled back and told the others to go on ahead as he and Aro wanted to discuss some possible wood work that needed to be done in the ceiling. Esme frowned slightly, knowing that Carlisle knew nothing about woodwork but decided to keep silent and find out later what he was really up to.

"Yes, yes, of course Carlisle," said Aro. "The ladies always need longer to dress formally so let's look at this issue we saw earlier. I'll see you back at the Hotel my darling Isabella."

When Bee, Esme and Edward left, Carlisle and Aro removed the folders from the bookshelf and sat at the dining table so they could look through them in more detail.

Carlisle didn't want Aro to be alone when he looked through the folders, as he knew he had only heard a little of Isabella's life growing up and to see it in these reports and photos would likely shock him greatly.

An hour later, Aro and Carlisle were sitting silently numbed by the reality of what Bee's life had been like before she arrived in Forks.

"Unfortunately," Carlisle said, breaking their silence. "Her life in Forks was still hard before she came to live with my family. From what we've pieced together, she lived in the house your father bought for Siobhan but with no power, heating or gas. She earned what little money she could with cash-in-the-hand jobs. She is skinny now but when she came to live with us she was malnourished and already exhausted by life at just seventeen."

Aro shook his head; his anger with his dead father growing inside him. If his father had not interfered then Siobhan would never have left. Aro would've married her, raised their son and perhaps other children together. And even if his son Charles had still married Renee, then Aro and Siobhan would've cared and protected sweet Isabella from all that harm.

His anger for Renee and James was also brewing. How could he deal with this anger and guilt at not being there for Isabella when all the culprits were dead?

Carlisle seemed to understand: "I am sorry my friend. I know how you feel. All I know is that Isabella has survived these horrible people by focussing on her future; by focussing on her studies and her dream of becoming a doctor. Clearly the doctors who cared for her in each of these ... incidents, have become her heroes and given her a dream to fight for. She is truly a remarkable young woman and I, for one, am going to do everything in my power to help her."

Aro looked to Carlisle; yes, he did see him as a friend. More than that, he now realised that the Cullens were family to his granddaughter, so they would become family for him too. He reached across to Carlisle and squeezed his hand: "Yes, my friend. We will help her put this all behind her and together, your family and mine, we will help her achieve that dream."

They put the folders back on the shelf, locked the apartment and headed back to the Hotel in silence; both men immersed in their own thoughts.

At six-thirty, the men were all assembled at the bar downstairs at the Hotel. Emmett was telling them about all the wonderful things they'd seen and how much he was looking forward to coming back and seeing more on his visits to his brother and little Honey Bee.

All three women descended the stairs, laughing, with their arms linked together. Bee looked so happy Edward knew he'd done the right thing by not showing her the reports earlier.

"My darling Isabella, you look beautiful," Aro said as he walked over to greet her at the bottom of the stairs. "I can't wait to show you off."

He turned to Esme and Rosalie: "You all look so very beautiful. I will be the envy of the whole ristorante with you three lovely ladies at my table."

Aro turned back to Carlisle and his boys: "I booked two town cars to take us and they should be here in a few minutes, so let's go out to reception and wait."

They only waited a few minutes before the town cars arrived. The party split up between the two cars and headed off. Edward and Aro were both having trouble being parted from Isabella, after all they'd read in the reports earlier that day, so they sat in the back of one of the cars on either side of her. Carlisle, Esme and Rosalie sat in the back of the other car while Emmett happily sat up front chatting with the driver. The twenty minute drive was filled with happy conversation in both cars until they arrived at Isabella's Ristorante on Madison Avenue.

As they entered, Paolo the maitre'd gushed over Aro and his guests. Aro immediately introduced each member of the party to him: "And this beautiful young woman is my only grandchild, Isabella Marie Swan. She is going to be starting pre-med at Columbia in the Fall."

Paolo kissed Bee's hand: "It is a pleasure to meet you. You look so much like your great grandmother, it is quite remarkable."

Bee was confused as Paolo could not possibly have known her great grandmother; he wasn't that old. Aro saw her confusion and gestured for her to turn around to see a painting which could easily be mistaken to be a portrait of herself: "This is your great grandmother's portrait which my father had commissioned when he gave her the Ristorante," Aro said. Edward was amazed by the likeness between Bee and her great grandmother, he squeezed her hand: "So beautiful," he said.

Paolo guided them to a beautifully set round table set in the corner of the gorgeous dining room. There were deep red roses in a vase at the middle of the table which was set with a crisp white linen cloth, shining crystal glasses and delightful flatware. 'Isabella's' was clearly a very fine dining experience and again Bee was overcome by the uncommon feeling of family pride.

They took their seats with Aro and Edward once again sitting on either side of Bee.

"I could've booked one of the private dining rooms but I wanted to show you off to our regulars and staff, I hope you don't mind," Aro said.

"Oh grandfather, it is all so beautiful. I love it."

Everyone gushed with praise for the beautiful restaurant.

"I looked up this place on zagat dot com and it has some pretty great reviews. The food is supposed to delicious and I cannot wait," said Emmett.

Paolo laughed at Emmett's exuberance and passed around the menus. None of the menus had prices and Aro explained this was because they were his guests and were welcome to order whatever they wanted. "Remember," he said. "In this ristorante we have the antipasti course, the pasta course, the mains and then dessert; so pace yourselves."

"Bring it on!" said Emmett and everyone laughed.

The meal progressed through each of the courses as Aro promised and after dessert even Emmett said that he couldn't eat another thing. The food was spectacular and the service was impeccable, if a little obsequious, understandable since the owner was the host of their table.

In between the pasta and the main courses Aro took Bella for a tour which included introducing her to everyone in the kitchens. She loved being introduced as his grand daughter and revelled in hearing over and over how much she resembled the restaurant's namesake.

While they were away from the table, Edward and Carlisle filled in the others on the reports they had found in Siobhan's apartment. Esme felt strongly that they should tell Isabella about them but agreed that perhaps it could wait until they landed in Italy.

After eating the most delicious 'Mousse di Cioccolato' Bee leaned back in her chair: "Oh grandfather, I don't think I've ever been this full in my whole life."

She was confused when her whimsical comment seemed to cause a sad pause to the conversation. Aro tried to cover by insisting on ordering coffee and tea for everyone, but Bee knew something was up.

After the staff served the coffee and tea to everyone, Bee moved her cup of tea forward, linked her fingers and placed her hands on the table: "So is someone going to tell me what you found at my grandmother's apartment today that has caused you all to become so secretive?"

A/N: Can't fool our Busy Bee!

I hope you liked the trip to New York, i loved doing the research as I found some lovely places. I based isabella's ristoranti on a real restaurant called 'Paula's' on Madison Ave. check it out - looks good .com

We have just one more chapter to go and maybe an epi… we'll see.

Love always...