I woke up the Wednesday of following week feeling very nervous about the day. Alex and I were meeting Lauren at the park after school and I was afraid that I was making the wrong decision about letting her into Alex's life. I knew it was something I needed to do but I was terrified of making the wrong decision. What if she hurt him? God, being a parent was so hard sometimes.

I climbed out of my bed and shuffled down the hall to Alex's bedroom. Gently pushing his bedroom door open, I looked over and saw him fast asleep. He was curled up under his covers, clutching the snake that Edward had bought him at the zoo. He had become so attached to that stuffed snake. His blond hair was sticking to his forehead and his small chest was heaving up and down with every breath he took.

I smiled to myself as I crossed his room and sat down on the side of his bed, gently placing my hand on his shoulder. I hated waking him up when he was so peaceful but he had to go to school. I gently shook his shoulder, and whispered for him to wake up. He groaned and rolled away from me. I laughed softly as I brought my fingers down to his ribs.

"Alex, wake up," I sang.

"No," he muttered. I started tickling him, causing him to start laughing hysterically. "Momma, stop it!"

"Then you have to get up," I said, laughing and skimming my fingers along his rib cage.

"Ok, ok," he screeched, climbing out of his bed. "That was mean, Momma."

"You'll live," I said, indifferently as I stood up. "Get ready for school."

"Fine," he muttered.

I smiled as I walked out of Alex's room and down the hallway to my bedroom. While he got ready for school, I changed into a pair of jeans and a long-sleeve grey t-shirt. I slipped on my socks and shoes and headed downstairs to make him some breakfast. Alex came in a few minutes later, wearing a pair of jeans and an Iron Man t-shirt that Charlie had insisted that he had to have. My father loved to spoil that boy completely rotten.

"What sounds good for breakfast, sweetie?" I asked, pulling open the fridge and pulling out the orange juice.

"Um," said Alex, thinking about his options. "Can I have some French toast?"

"Of course, you can."

While I made us both a couple slices of French toast, Alex colored in his Spiderman coloring book. He was almost that the end and I was going to have to pick him up a new one. I cut his breakfast up and we quickly ate, trying not to get it all over us. I rinsed the dishes while Alex went and brushed his teeth and got his backpack ready for school. Once he had everything, we headed out to the car and down to the school.

Edward and Anthony climbed out of their car at the same time that Alex and I did. The boys took off running, as they always did, while Edward slipped his arm around my waist and placed a gentle kiss on my lips. I would never get tired of his kisses.

"Good morning," I murmured.

"Morning," he whispered, kissing me again. "How was your night?"

"Good," I said, yawning. "I stayed up too late last night writing, though. I was just in a groove and hated to stop but when I started misspelling every word I typed, I knew it was bedtime. How was yours?"

"Not nearly as productive," he chuckled. "I developed the film from the Murphy shoot but most of the pictures were crap."

"I'm sure they weren't," I said as we rounded the corner. The boys were standing with Anna and Angela, who was talking to Alice.

"Ben is gone until next week, which means missing out on trick or treating on Friday. He's torn up about it. You know how much he loved Halloween," said Angela, shaking her head.

"I do," sighed Alice. "You'll just have to make sure to get plenty of pictures."

"It's not the same, though," muttered Angela.

"I know it's not," said Alice, patting her on the back. She looked around at all the kids. "Ok, kiddos, let's get us some learning done."

I hugged both Alex and Anthony before they headed into their classroom, ignoring the smirk that was sitting on Alice's lips. In fact, Edward and I both ignore her smirk as we turned and headed out to the parking lot. I wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of the day with Edward, holding him and kissing him, but I couldn't. I had work to do and so did he so I kissed him a couple times before I climbed into my car and headed back to the house.

I spent all morning rereading the chapter of my book that I had been working on last night. It was appalling how many errors I had, good thing I went over it before I sent it to Tanya. She would probably think that I was completely losing it and tell me the book deal was off. After a quick lunch of leftover chicken spaghetti, I started paying some bills. That was what I was doing when the phone rang.

"Hello," I said, answering the phone.

"Hey, Bells," said Charlie. "What are you up to?"

"Paying bills," I grumbled. "What are you doing?"

"Fixing to head into work," he said, sighing. "How long until I can retire?"

"A thousand more years," I teased.

"Feels about like it," he said, laughing.

"So, what do you want?" I asked, leaning back in my seat.

"Can't a father call his daughter without having a motive?" he asked.

"Not you," I said, dryly.

"Ok, so I was hoping that maybe you and Edward would let me take the boys fishing this weekend," he said, quickly.

"Where?" I asked.

"Here in Forks," he muttered. I sighed, quite loudly, in fact. "Oh, Bella, stop being a drama queen."

"Dad," I groaned.

"Please, Bella?" he asked, pleading with me. I didn't have to see his face to know that he was pouting. "I'll do anything but I really want to take them fishing. I think they would love it. Plus, you and Edward could use some alone time."

"I'll talk to Edward about it but he may not feel comfortable with you taking Anthony all the way to Forks," I said, shaking my head.

"I know but I thought I would at least ask. I want to spend some time with my grandsons," he replied. I smiled as he referred to Anthony as his. "Just talk to him, ok?"

"Ok, I will," I promised. "You had better get to work, old man."

"I am not old," he grumbled. "I'm just older."

"Whatever you say, Dad," I snickered. "Love you."

"Love you, too," he said, laughing. "Give the boys a hug from me."

"I will." I smiled. "Bye."

"Bye."

Later that afternoon, I climbed back into my car and headed down to the school to pick up the boys. Edward had agreed to let me take Anthony to the park with Alex. I hoped that it would make this easier for him, even if he didn't know that Lauren was his aunt. He needed to be told but I wasn't sure how he would take the news that he had had an aunt out there all this time but that I had kept him away from her. Honestly, I was terrified that if I did tell him, that he would hate me. The thought of my son hating me made my heart ache.

I parked my car in the parking lot and headed over to the gate to wait for Christina to open them. Emmett was leaning against the wall with his cell phone out and pecking at the keys with an aggravated expression on his face. Obviously, he didn't text much.

"Hey, Bella," he said, looking up at me and smiling.

"Hey, Emmett," I said, quietly. He cocked an eyebrow at me.

"You ok?" he asked, genuinely concerned.

"I'm fine. Just a lot on my mind," I said, smiling. "How's work going?"

"Still plenty of dirt bags for me to arrest," he chuckled. I laughed with him and shook my head. "We've actually been pretty busy. Halloween means lots of kids out vandalizing private property."

"I can remember my dad dragging more than one punk into the station back in Forks for spray painting the side of the school or one of the billboards outside of town," I said.

"We get more kids breaking into abandoned houses and busting out the windows," said Emmett, shrugging his shoulders. "They think just because they are abandoned that they can do whatever the heck they want."

"How long have you been a cop?" I asked.

"Five years," he smiled.

"Do you like it?" I asked.

"Most of the time," he said, pocketing his cell phone. "But I miss out on a lot of time with my family and I hate that. Sometimes, I think it would be better if I found a different line of work."

"Maybe," I smiled as Christina opened the gate, "but what would you do?"

"Become a ninja," smirked Emmett, winking at me.

"You are strange man, Emmett," I said, laughing.

"I know, Bella," he sighed. "It's not easy being me."

"I'm sure it's not."

Once Alice had let the kids out, I loaded both of the boys into the backseat of my car. They were so excited about going to the park that they were shaking. I climbed in behind the wheel of my car and headed out of the parking lot and down to the park. Lauren was already there when I pulled up. I took a deep breath and climbed out of the car. I got the boys unloaded and the three of us headed over to where she was waiting, nervously rubbing her belly.

"Hey," she said, quietly as she watched us approach.

"Hi, Lauren," I murmured. I knelt down between the boys. "Boys, do you remember Lauren from Anna's birthday party?"

"Yes," they both muttered, stepping a little closer to me.

"She's going to hang out at the park with me while you two play. Is that ok?" I asked.

"Yes," they both muttered again and looked over at me.

"Can we go play now?" asked Alex.

"Sure, just stay where you can see me."

The boys looked back at Lauren before they took off toward the equipment. Lauren watched Alex the entire time with a smile on her face. "He looks so much like Brody."

"More everyday," I murmured. Lauren and I headed over and sat down on one of the benches so we could watch them.

"What's the other boy's name?" asked Lauren.

"Anthony," I said, smiling. "He and Alex are best friends. I thought it might make it easier if he had a friend here."

"Good thinking," she said, watching them play on the monkey bars. "He's your friend's son?"

"My boyfriend's son," I muttered. I kept my eyes on the boys but I felt Lauren look over at me.

"Oh."

"Lauren-"

"No, it's none of my business, Bella," muttered Lauren. I looked over at her.

"It's new," I explained. "And-"

"You don't have to explain yourself to me," said Lauren, shortly. She turned and looked back at the boys. "Besides, Brody wouldn't have wanted you to be alone."

"I still love Brody, Lauren," I whispered. She looked back over at me.

"I know you do." She smiled. "But you love you love this man you are with now, don't you?"

I turned away as I felt my face turn bright red. Lauren could always see right through me. "I think I do."

"Will you tell me about him?" she asked. I looked over and found her smiling at me.

"His name is Edward," I started. "He's a single dad, so he gets it. We started out as friends and it evolved into more. It scares the crap out of me."

"Why?" she asked, turning and facing me.

"Because I don't lose him, too," I murmured, feeling my eyes fill up with tears. I turned away as I tried to stop them from falling.

"Momma, come chase us!" yelled Alex.

I smiled and looked over at Lauren before I got up and started chasing the boys around the ground. They would squeal and run up the slide, trying to get away from me. I would grab a foot or manage to catch one of them before I let them go and we started the cycle over again. Alex and Anthony's smiles grew bigger every time I caught them and I was starting to think that they were purposely letting me catch them just so that I would kiss them.

"Ok, five more minutes and then we are leaving," I said, trying to catch my breath. I fanned myself as I went back over and sat down next to Lauren, who was laughing heartedly. "I don't know where they store all that energy."

"If you could bottle it, you would be a rich woman," said Lauren, placing her hand on her belly. "I hope I'm half the mother you are, Bella." I looked over at her. "You've done an amazing job with him."

"Thank you," I murmured, looking back at the boys. "He makes it easy. I'm sure you will be a good mother, Lauren. Better than your own, anyway."

"Wouldn't take much to be better than her," muttered Lauren, darkly.

"Alex has a soccer game here Saturday morning," I said, quietly as I watched the boys going down the slide together. "You should come and watch him play."

"Are you sure?" she asked. I smiled and looked over at Lauren.

"Yes," I said. "But you should know that Charlie will be there."

"I'll be here," murmured Lauren. I nodded my head as I stood up.

"Boys, let's go," I called. They were laughing as they came over to us, covered in grim and sweat. I looked over at Lauren. "So, I guess we'll see you Saturday. Game starts at eleven."

"Ok," said Lauren, smiling as she looked down at Alex and Anthony. "Thank you for letting me hang out with you today."

"Welcome," muttered Alex, scooting into me.

"Ok, well, let's get into the car, boys," I said, clearing my throat.

After biding Lauren goodbye, I followed the boys over to the car and got them loaded inside. I climbed in behind the wheel and pulled my seatbelt on. I started the car and watched as Lauren drove off. I wasn't sure why I felt the need to explain my relationship with Edward to her. It wasn't any of her business. I shook my head and headed to Edward's house.

As soon as I had the car in park, the boys were out of it. They ran into the house, laughing, while I followed them in. Edward was standing in the living room with two boys plastered to his body and a huge smile on his face.

"I'm just going to take a guess and say that you had fun at the park," said Edward.

"Yep," I smirked. "I chased these two little knuckle heads all over the place, didn't I?"

Anthony laughed. "She kept kissing us and it was so gross."

"You loved it," I scoffed.

"Did not," he smirked, looking back at me. I cocked an eyebrow at him and puckered my lips back up. "Ok, I did, just don't do it again."

"That's what I thought," I chuckled.

"I'm starving," whined Anthony, looking over at me. "What's for dinner?"

"I was thinking we could order a pizza," said Edward, looking between the boys. "Does that sound good?"

"Can we have cheese?" asked Alex, smiling.

"You bet," said Edward, setting them down. "But only after you both go clean up. You smell like the park."

Both boys grumbled but headed upstairs to wash the outdoors off of them. I followed Edward into the kitchen and sat down at the table while he called in our order to our favorite little pizza joint. He placed the phone down on the counter and came over and took the seat next to me, pulling my legs up into his lap.

"So how'd it go with Lauren?" he asked.

"It went good, I guess," I said, shrugging my shoulders. "I don't know, it was weird. She asked about you and Anthony and I felt like I had to defend us to her. She kept saying that I didn't but I still felt like I did."

"Oh," murmured Edward, placing his hands on my legs. "Do you feel like you and I shouldn't be together or something?"

"God, Edward, that's not what I meant," I said, quickly. He looked up at me and cocked an eyebrow. "I just meant that I don't want her to think that I don't love Brody still. Even though…" I trailed off as I caught myself before I spouted out that I loved. "Brody will always be a part of my life, just like Sarah is a part of yours. Does that make sense?"

"Of course it does, Bella," said Edward, sighing. "You don't have to explain to her why you and I are together. If she can't accept that you've moved on, then she doesn't deserve a place in your life, or Alex's."

"I know that logically," I muttered.

"When is the pizza going to be here?" asked Anthony as he and Alex came into the kitchen. They both had dirt streaks on their faces from where they tried to clean their faces with their dirty hands.

"Soon." I laughed and stood up. "Let's see if we can get those faces a little cleaner."

Both boys grumbled but let me wash their faces with a paper towel. The pizzas arrived a few minutes later and the four of us crowded up on the couches in the living room, ate our pizza, and watched television. Edward slipped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer to him. He leaned over and kissed my temple, silently telling me that everything was going to be ok.