Thank you Sunflower for Beta'ing this for me!

Traveler 25

EPOV

Brianna stood there gaping at the sight of Bella for a moment before Emma snapped her out of her daze. I wondered if I was about to experience round two of my girls' backlash. I knew Tanner's more than warm welcome wasn't to be expected from Bri, but I just hoped it wasn't going to end in a shouting match much like Kate's had. Besides that, I was truly praying that the girls would be able to get along with my future wife, the woman I loved.

She was perched in my lap, where she climbed up into after scurrying from Bri's arms and skipping across the tile floor. I had my hands out and she was playing with my fingers. She loved to compare our hands and look at my watch. But as soon as she noticed Bri still standing there, she made it known that she needed to move.

"Bri! Come over here'a," my beautiful little ray of happiness shouted across the kitchen. She was good at capturing your attention, not that she really needed it though. She had a mop of bright blond hair with sparkling blue eyes and a smile that could melt any frozen heart out there.

"Emma, sweetie, this is Daddy's friend, remember, the one we talked about?" I asked. She was so smart and I knew it was a lot for her to understand, but I was more than sure that she could handle it.

Emma nodded and smiled sweetly. "Bwella, right?" she asked after a moment, cocking her head to the side and looking me in the eyes.

"Yes, sweetie," I answered with a chuckle. She was always surprising me.

One look at Bella and I could see the start of tears forming in her eyes. She was an emotional creature nowadays, but that was to be expected with all that she was going through. She was trooper.

My breath hitched as Emma squirmed and wiggled, breaking free of my careful hold on her waist as she moved, climbing over, and onto Bella's lap.

"Hi d'ere," she said warmly to Bella.

"Hello there," Bella replied back, with wide eyes. She was truly surprised that Emma had ended up in her lap, their faces mere inches apart.

Emma's tiny hand reached out and she touched Bella's face, something Emma had done since she was born. I watch nervously as Emma's thumb brush over Bella's cheek,,, and I saw the familiar, deep, studious gaze that lit up her eyes as she sat there assessing my new girlfriend. I knew there was nothing to truly fear. Emma was a kind little girl. She would love Bella, especially once she knew that Bella liked books almost as much as she did.

"Bri, come 'mere," Emma ordered. She was a demanding little thing, but I knew she meant well. She just wanted Brianna to come over and meet Bella. That was her goal and it was clear.

"Say please," Bri chided. She was ever mindful of the polite words when there was company over.

"Pwease Bri," Emma corrected.

And Bri slowly, almost cautiously, made her way over to Bella and I.

Emma captured Bella's attention again by gently squeezing her cheek, something I used to do a lot to her before the little bugger started doing it back.

"Bri, meet Bwella. She's a nice girl," Emma said solemnly.

I just stared at her in bewilderment. This child amazed me every day. Her actions, her words and her ability to make connections were what surprised me the most. She was like a full grown woman stuck inside the body of a two-year old.

"It's nice to meet you," Bri said, finally sticking out a hand to shake.

I took a deep breath looking at my daughters. Bri looked like her mom, blond hair and blue eyes.

"She's Daddy's friend," Emma offered to Bri, as though it was a piece of information that Brianna wasn't aware of.

I smiled at Emma's words while Bri seemed to be digesting it. It wasn't as if I had hid her age, both her and Maggie knew Bella was just twenty-four.

"It's great to meet you to," Bella said warmly, shaking Bri's hand. Having Bella meet my family was surreal, something that before a few weeks ago, I honestly never imagined. But now, this woman that had invaded my brain and life was completely and utterly attaching herself to me, and my life, in so many ways.

She knew my ins and outs. She knew my bads and goods. She was moving into my life with no problem.

"It was just a thought, and I'll have to see if Katie's up for it, but I was thinking of taking all of us out for a girls spa day, if you're interested Bella?" Maggie asked from across the table.

I was a little shocked, but I thought it was very nice of Mags to be extending the olive branch to my Bella. And I was sure it would be quite the bonding time for all of them together. Though, I wanted to be sure Bella would be comfortable with something like that. It would be, after all, three Cullen women and my ex-wife all in one room together. It might be a little much for her.

"I think that would be wonderful. What do you think Emma? Would you like to get your nails painted?" Bella asked softly, to the little girl still on her lap.

"Sounds good to me," she said clearly, with a big smile on her face. "Momma loves do toes and fingies."

Everyone smiled at Emma's words. And I took a moment to grab hold of Bella's hand, silently squeezing it, making sure she knew she had my support and affection.

"Where's Kevin?" I asked after a few moments.

Maggie raised her focus from Emma to me. "Oh he's just gone to the office, he should be back soon. You know how some men are, they can just never pull themselves away from work."

I took her comment, and smiled. I knew she didn't truly mean anything by it, she was just giving me a hard time.

*T*

The week passed by relatively quickly. Katie arrived and definitely helped her tentative sister change her mood towards Bella. Now that Katie and Bella were on good terms that meant that Katie was promoting the good features of Bella. Yes, it was still childish, but I much preferred this version of her as opposed to her spreading slander about my future wife.

While they were off getting their hair and nails done I took Tanner to a soccer game or football as I called it. Tan still got a kick out of that. It was indoor even though we both would've rather seen an outdoor one, but either way, it was some great time to spend together.

It wasn't often that I got to spend time with him outside the house, but today I made an exception since I knew with all of things Bella and I had coming up in the next few weeks that I wouldn't be able to see him much before Christmas. I wanted some fun father-son bonding time.

Bruce, my muscle of the day, was right out in the parking lot anyway and he had a track on me. So we were safe, for the most part.

"Hey Dad, what's up with you and Bella?" Tan asked once we were seated in the bleachers.

He bit into his hot dog while I tried to gather my thoughts. He was my son, and while I wanted to wait to tell the whole family together I couldn't see lying to him or even leading him wrong right now. There was just no point to it.

"She's a keeper."

"Yeah, but what's going on there. I can see there is something you're hiding. You had the same look that Bri had when she found out she was preggo."

Christ I hated when he said it like that. Like being pregnant was a joke or something casual. There was nothing casual about creating another life. Not at all and I needed to make sure that he knew that fact well.

"It's pregnant, and I'm not hiding anything. I've asked Bella to marry me."

"Really?" he asked in surprise, almost dropping the rest of his uneaten hot dog.

"Yes, is that so hard to believe?" I wondered.

"No, not at all," he said as his forehead began to crease. "I'm just…I don't know…I guess I'm surprised because it's so soon. Didn't you say that you just meet her in September? That doesn't seem like an awful long time for two people to date," my son said pensively.

I had to hand it to him; he had one hell of intuition there. And he knew damn well that three months was a drop in the bucket when it came to dating. Sure, he didn't know our whole story, especially not the fact that I was away a good part of the time we'd been together, or the fact that we didn't even know each other's names the first time we'd slept together. But either way, he was right.

"Wait a second; are you two getting married because you have to?" Tanner asked, turning to me, giving me the sternest look he could muster with a dollop of ketchup on his upper lip.

I sighed. "Son, you of all people should know that no one has to get married anymore. Remember your sister Bri?" I asked. He laughed lightly before narrowing his eyes at me again. So I gulped and nodded. He was the best person to break the news on anyway. "Yes, we're expecting a child together, though; we didn't decide to get married because of it. I love her and she loves me. That's why."

Tanner cracked up laughing. "Bullshit, you couldn't keep it in your pants and you knocked the chick up. Shit dad, what's the matter with you? After all those talks about being careful…you go and do this. Oh man, Bri is going to love this."

I didn't find the humor in the situation the way that he did. There was certainly nothing knee slapping about the fact that I was going to be a father. Yes, while I was excited and very much happy, I didn't find it funny.

"Tan, can you take it down a notch? And no, for the last time, we are not getting married because we're having a baby. We're getting married because I can't imagine being away from Bella. Yes, I'll admit, I made a mistake, I wasn't careful, but I'm old enough, and wise enough, to take on the responsibility of another baby. You and your sisters are not."

My words were firm, and the bit of back talk I got from him wasn't completely unexpected. Not at all in fact. I knew he was going to be like this after how strict I had been when he was younger.

"So wait, one last question," he said while the players filed on to the field. "Does this mean that you and your new family are going to live out in Cali? Because if you have a wife and a baby, there's no way you'll be able to come and see us every week like you have been. I mean look at Mom and Kev, they don't ever go out west anymore and before they got married she used to bring us out there all the time."

I swallowed at his words. My son was brilliant, and it was obvious that he'd given this some thought. Some might consider his words selfish or jealous because he wasn't thinking of the baby, but I knew Tanner, and he was anything but those things.

"We're considering all of our options at the moment. Don't worry though; I would never miss out on seeing you guys."

The whistle blew and the men scrambled for the ball, beating the hell out of each other as they went.

"Maybe you guys can move out here, closer to us," he suggested through his last bite.

I sighed and held onto that suggestion. It would be something I would love to consider, but I wasn't sure if I could make that work with my job, let alone how Bella's life would fit out here. It just seemed like such an impossibility, no matter how perfect the idea was.

Thankfully Tanner put his attention on the game shortly after that, and I was relieved to leave that conversation behind us.

*T*

That day when I arrived back at the hotel, Bella was waiting for me. She looked tired, but beautiful. She looked like she had a luxuriating afternoon, her hair was shining, her nails were painted and she looked gorgeous.

I offered her a large smile and closed the distance between us.

I wanted her close, especially after being away from her all day.

"Hey Baby," I whispered, wrapping my arms around her and pressing my lips against hers.

She whispered her welcome right back to me as she hummed; enjoying the slow, soft kiss.

"Did'ya have a good day?" I asked, when we pulled away from each other.

"Yeah, those girls of yours are wonderful," she told me.

It was good hearing that this beautiful woman I loved could get along with the other women in my life that I very much adored and cared about.

So we've seen a little glimpse of Edward's family.

Who likes Maggie?

Emma? Isn't she just adorable?

And Bri's not so bad, right?

How about Tanner and his questioning? He really made Edward think there, huh?