Words with Strangers Chapter 27

I gingerly made my way downstairs and into the living room, peeking around the corner where Mom was busy shaking a finger at Emmett. "If you wanted spaghetti, you could have called me and asked me to make you some. Or even better, you could have called and invited us to dinner since you missed out on Sunday." She was in one of her black business suits, dressed to kill, and her green eyes were glaring at my brother as he hunched over on the couch, trying to draw his giant self into a ball.

"I know, Mama. That was actually my plan but you weren't there and I'm a growing boy. Plus, Edward had some, too."

"Hey! I barely had any!" I shouted before I could stop myself. Mom's gaze cut to me and she crooked a finger at me. I slunk over to her and braced myself in case she was pissed off. A hand closed around my chin and she eyed me for a minute before wrapping her arms around me. Oh, thank God. I hugged her back while Emmett huffed on the couch and muttered something about me being the "spoiled baby." I didn't give a damn, though.

"Hi, Mom," I said when she released me. She raised an eyebrow and pointed at the couch next to my brother. Shit, maybe I was in trouble. I sat and watched her warily.

"The hug was because I haven't seen you in several weeks, but don't think I'm not mad that you stole my food."

"Emmett stole it." He elbowed me but I didn't care. "It was already taken and here when I had some, so I didn't see the harm in having a little. I was hungry." I sort of pouted up at her, which used to work when I was little.

Her lips twitched and then she laughed. "You could have called and asked, you know."

"Well, I didn't think I'd be facing the firing squad for taking a little food," Emmett pointed out, crossing his arms.

"You think this is the firing squad?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. Emmett shook his head rapidly. "Damn right. I had the president of NBC practically crying earlier today; don't think I can't handle you." Emmett held up his hands. "Besides, you're not in trouble for taking my food; you're in trouble for not calling to tell me that you'd arrived home safely."

Shit. "Sorry, Mom, we didn't get home until about four AM, then we slept and I had to go to my meeting."

She looked at Emmett who held up his hands. "The first thing I did after I got up was go to your place. It's not my fault you're always working. I'm a latchkey kid."

At that, my mother lost it, laughing her ass off. "How I don't have a head full of gray hairs because of you two is beyond me."

Emmett beamed at her, knowing that he wasn't in trouble in anymore. "You're beautiful. People mistake you for my girlfriend all the time."

"Gross, Em," I told him, shifting over so Mom could sit between the two of us.

She linked an arm with each of us. "Enough of that; get to the good stuff. Tell me about your girls."

Emmett lit up like a Christmas tree and took his phone off the coffee table. "Here, Ma, look at my Rosie!" He proceeded to whip through a series of pictures that he must have taken while they were out alone, because she was driving his car, her face fierce with concentration in some and just looking delighted in others.

"She's beautiful," my mother said, smiling softly. "Tell me about her."

He grinned. "Her name is Rosalie Hale. She's twenty-two, pre-med and smart as hell Mom." She smacked him for that and he grimaced. "Hell is not a bad word." Another eyebrow raise and he sighed. "Anyway, she's crazy about me." I laughed at that and he glared at me. "She is! She wouldn't have gotten so mad if she didn't care."

Mom glanced at me. "What did he do?"

"Oh sure! It's what I did! It's more like what did she do, Mom! She nearly got us arrested!"

My mother laughed. "Says my son who's been arrested three times?"

It was actually five but Emmett wisely didn't correct her on that front. I'd gotten him out of trouble a couple of times without her hearing about it, thank God. It would be both our asses if she did. "So, I've gotten into a little trouble now and then." I laughed and got another glare from him. "Seriously, Mom, I kept Rosie from getting arrested for indecent exposure and assaulting an officer."

Mom stared at him. "Somehow I imagine you had something to do with the indecent exposure, Emmett."

He grinned unrepentantly, his dimples showing. "She couldn't take her hands off me. Can you blame her? Look at the handsome son you produced." She laughed at that. "We may have been uh…" Emmett looked at me for help and I shrugged.

"Clothingly challenged?" I suggested.

He nodded, laughing. "Yes, exactly, clothingly challenged in a park after hours and a female officer may have caught us and hit on me a little bit. I figured letting her do that was better than us getting hauled in for indecent exposure and loitering or whatever they can call being in a park after dark. Rosie didn't like that so much, though." He grimaced but then brightened. "She totally got pissed and then she called me hers, Mom. It was so hot!"

My mother, thankfully, took his story in stride and just laughed. "She sounds pretty spirited, which she'd have to be to put up with you. When do I get to meet her?"

Emmett brightened. "Soon, I hope! She doesn't know that I'm going to marry her yet, but I'll break her down soon enough."

Mom laughed and shook her head. "Well, I hope I get to meet her before you get engaged." Her words were light but her eyes were serious. Em nodded quickly. Both of us knew that Mom wasn't about to sign off on something like marriage without knowing the girl. "And Edward, I don't think I need to ask how it went for you."

"Oooh! Let me show you Mom!" Emmett was scrolling through his phone again and shoving it back under her nose. "That was them yesterday morning. I had to physically drag him out of her arms to get him to come home." I hadn't even realized he'd taken a picture then, but I'd been wrapped up in Bella. We were holding on to one another and our faces were just an inch or two apart and our eyes…wow. We were looking at each other like there was nobody else in the world.

My mom gasped and wrapped her arms around me. "She is your one, isn't she? I knew it, of course, but to see it like that, and to see her looking back at you like you're everything." She pulled back and wiped at a tear. "That's what I've always wanted for you." She smiled at Emmett. "For both of you. I couldn't be happier that you've found your other halves." She positively beamed at me. "She's gorgeous, Edward. Tell me all about her."

"Well, you already know the basics. Her parents are divorced and her Mom took off when she was young." My mother's eyes went hot at that which didn't surprise me at all. "She's not close to her mother at all but she and her dad are tight. He's the police chief in the town she grew up in, Forks, Washington."

Emmett hooted at that. "Get out the shotgun, Chief Daddy, the superstar is wooing your daughter!" Mom smacked him and he frowned. "What, it could happen."

I laughed. "Rose's dad is some big time surgeon; he could slice you and dice you."

He snorted. "Please, Rosie's more of a threat for that than her father is. Her whole family is fucked up." He got smacked again and held up his hands. "Sorry, Mama but it's true! She told me a little bit and they basically pay her no attention at all. Though that might be nice," he muttered.

That got him a frosty glare that had him shrinking down again. "Oh, really, would you like to have a family that didn't give a damn about what you did? A mother who didn't cook you dinner every Sunday?"

"No, Mama, never!" he cried in horror. Emmett loved our family dinners. Well, so did I for that matter. "I was just joking. I wouldn't trade you for the world."

She sniffed. "Darn right you wouldn't. So, what's the plan? When do you see your girls again? When are they coming down so I can meet them?" Emmett and I exchanged glances which of course she didn't miss because she saw every damn thing. "What are you keeping from me? Did you get married already? So help me God if you boys got married without me, I will make you sorry until the end of time. Don't you think that you can just…"

"We're going back to Washington this weekend," Emmett blurted, trying to end her tirade. "We're not getting married, I swear. They have Spring Break and we got cabins in Mt. Rainier for the entire week. We won't be here for two more dinners. Don't kill me!" he yelled.

Mom looked at me and I nodded. "It was actually going to be how we met for the first time, before we fought about her knowing me and Emmett took me up there to fix it."

She sighed and reached for her purse, taking out her phone and dialing a number. "Carlisle, when's your last appointment?" I breathed my own sigh of relief because she didn't sound pissed off. "Because our sons are headed back to Washington this weekend so our family dinner has been moved to tonight. Pick up some chicken and salad fixings and meet me at their place."

Emmett perked right up at that. "What are you making, Mom? The alfredo? Please say it's the alfredo. I'll make Rosie name our first daughter after you."

My mother laughed. "Do you have the noodles and whatnot?" He ran into the kitchen and after some banging around answered in the affirmative. "Then alfredo it is. Get some garlic bread, too, sweetheart," she told my dad. "Our boys are in love. I'll let them tell you all about it. See you then. I love you." I smiled because that's how they ended every phone call for as long as I could remember and I'd been damn close to saying it to Bella just a bit ago.

"Your dad will be here in about an hour. Wash up and you can help me with the sauce." I got up and pulled her to her feet. She gave me another hug. "I'm so, so thrilled to see you so happy, Edward."

I kissed the top of her head. "I've never felt like this before, Mom."

She pulled back and smiled up at me, looking teary again. "I know, baby. And you never will again. I can't wait to see what your father has to say."

I laughed and released her. "He'll probably tell the story, again."

She chuckled. "Yeah, he will. Have you told Bella yet?"

I shook my head. "No, I thought I'd tell her at the cabin. I did slip and tell her she was my one, but she doesn't quite know what that means yet."

She reached up to ruffle my hair. "You can't hold out any longer than that, it's practically spilling out of you. If that girl doesn't know you love her, I'll be shocked."

No, Bella wouldn't assume something like that. "She got pretty burned by her last relationship, Mom. Her boyfriend of two years cheated on her and got the girl pregnant. She has some trust issues and of course that blew up when she saw me with Jane."

Her eyes were snapping with anger again. "I hope she skinned that boy alive. What's his name?"

I had to laugh. Emmett came by his immediate need to kick some ass honestly. "Tyler, but I don't know his last name."

"Well, get it. If she wants him crushed, I'll make it happen. Though I should send the moron a thank you card, for leaving her free for a much better man."

I felt my cheeks heating. "You're a little biased, Mom."

"Even if you weren't my son, I'd think you were the handsomest, sweetest man in the world." She'd been saying that since I was about five years old and it never failed to make me feel good.

"Hey!" Emmett hollered.

She snickered and winked at me. "I knew you were listening, Emmett. You walk like a herd of elephants. How about tied for handsomest, but you're not the sweetest and we both know it."

He chuckled from the doorway. "Fine, but I'm the coolest."

"Yes, you are. Now get back in that kitchen, we have pasta to make." She smiled at me. "Go, wash up. You too, Emmett," she shouted.

"I already did, Ma!" he called back.

She raised an eyebrow. "You did not. Don't make me come in there and check!"

"Alright, I'm doing it!" he yelled back.

"Why that boy still thinks he can pull one over on me is beyond me," she muttered.

I laughed. "I think Em just has to test boundaries at all times."

She rolled her eyes. "You're right. Alright, meet me in the kitchen in five minutes." And she was off.

I hurried upstairs and cast a longing glance at my phone. Talking about Bella only made me want to call her. Well, I wanted to do a lot more than that but I'd settle for whatever I could get right about now, even if it was just a…shit. I hadn't played a word against her before our fight. I hurriedly pulled it up and what the hell was this? I forfeited? And lost? I didn't fucking forfeit you damn game! I was winning. Scowling, I saw that she'd started a new game. Her word made me laugh out loud. SEMEN? Did she think that was a word she could taunt me with? Well, yeah, she could. Laughing I opened her message.

As you can see, you're very much on my mind. Or at least part of you is. No, all of you. Sorry, it's not the sexiest of words but it does bring sex to mind so I thought you'd appreciate it.

I snickered at that. I did appreciate it for it non-sexiness.

Too bad you forfeited that game you were winning, baby, cause you're not going to be able to take me again. Well, you can definitely take me again, on every surface of the cabin, but you can't beat me at Words again. Last time was a fluke.

Jeez, that was all it took right there. We have lift-off and my mother is downstairs expecting me to appear in the kitchen at any minute. But I couldn't help it. Every surface of the cabin? Yes, please.

Speaking of taking me, I'm still shopping. I believe you said red was your favorite color, didn't you? I might have a surprise or two for you when we get to the cabin. Three more days, Edward. I hope you're ready for me. I miss you.

Such a tease. Red looked damn good on her and I was dying to see what she had in store for me. I'd adored the lacy set she put on before we went to order pizza. Of course, I'd most adored taking them off her so she could play with her little blue car in front of me. Fuck! I needed to calm the hell down.

I wasn't going to play a sexy word back at her; that would just set me off even more. I played GAINS off of the S and got a double word score of 16, which was close to her 18. Then I flipped back to respond to her.

Naughty Bella, taunting me with whatever it is you're shopping for. Red is my favorite color on you. That red bra and panties looked delicious on your skin. So did your cute little ass when I spanked it, which I need to do again very soon for all the teasing you're doing.

I can take you on every surface of the cabin, can I? Let's see, four bedrooms which equals four beds, four bathrooms with showers and bathtubs, a kitchen, a living room, an office, the hot tub…that's a whole lot of taking baby. Are you sure you can handle it?

I miss you too, although I guess I need these four days away to recuperate so that I can take you properly. See you soon, sexy.

"Edward!" Shit. I closed the app and hurried to my bathroom to wash up and to will my dick into submission. Maybe tonight after Mom and Dad left I could convince Bella to tell me about her shopping trip. Better yet, to show me. We hadn't Skyped yet…

"Are you alright in here?" I jumped at the sound of my mom's voice in my bedroom.

"Yes, I'm coming." Bad choice of words.

"Well, hurry up," she scolded. I willed myself to calm down and in a couple of minutes I was fit for public consumption.

I hurried downstairs and acted like nothing had been amiss. "What can I do?"

Mom glanced at me and Emmett chuckled knowingly. "Were you talking to your girl, Edward?"

Shit. Of course they knew I'd taken far too long to wash up. "Uh, well, I wasn't talking to her, but I was responding to her message on Words."

"Sexting," Emmett told my mother. Jesus. She laughed and I felt myself turning red.

"I was not!"

"Of course you weren't, dear. Everyone takes fifteen minutes to respond to a simple message and wash their hands." I sighed and she giggled. "Don't worry, we all do it. I send your father the dirtiest messages when I'm bored in meetings. He's learned not to read them when he's in surgery."

Holy hell. Emmett's face was priceless. He didn't know whether to be proud or disgusted. "Ma!"

"What? I'm just telling him I get it. Edward, pick out a vegetable." How she went from talking about sexting my father to telling me to get a vegetable was beyond me. That was just my mother.

Xoxoxoxox

"They're both beautiful," my father said, flipping through Emmett's catalog of pictures of Rose and the couple he had of Bella. He made a sound and held out the picture of Bella and I that my mother had lost her shit over. "She is your one."

"I told you!" Emmett shouted, even though he was sitting right across the table from him.

Dad laughed. "I never doubted you, son, it's just easy to see here." He handed Emmett back his phone.

Emmett turned to me. "You should have taken a picture of Rosie when she was yelling at me. They'd have seen she was my one, too."

I snorted. "The way you too went from fighting to kissing back to fighting again made it hard to focus on anything, let alone take a picture. With your luck I would have gotten her hitting you or something."

Emmett nodded proudly. "Passion! She's very passionate for and about me."

My mother laughed as my dad patted her hand. "She sounds a bit like this one." I took a sip of my drink and sat back to wait for it. Dad had told this story dozens of times. "I'll never forget the first time I laid on eyes on her. We were in the parking lot at the Northwestern University Library. It was freezing out and I finally found a parking space up front. I took it and got out of my car and the next thing I knew, there's a car parked directly behind me and out steps this gorgeous woman." He smiled as my mother glowed at his compliment.

"You stole my parking space," she told him as she wrapped some noodles around her fork.

"Which is exactly what you said to me, although I believe you threw the words fucking and asshole in there for good measure," he replied, which made all of us laugh. That we could easily imagine. She just raised an eyebrow but didn't challenge him on that.

"She got up in my face and starts jabbing me, shouting about what a jerk I was and how I needed glasses if I couldn't see her." He smiled, his blue eyes twinkling. "All I could do was stare at her, those snapping green eyes, that perfect red mouth spitting profanities at me, her curly hair bouncing around with each shake of her head."

"His first words were, 'You're my one.' I had no idea what in the hell that meant and I wasn't about to stop my tirade to find out."

Dad laughed. "No, she wasn't. She just kept right on about how chivalry was clearly dead and she saw my anatomy book in the backseat and that set her off on egotistical doctors thinking the world revolved around them and how clearly I'd make a perfect one so she hoped that was my major."

Mom smiled. "I was a drama major, so of course I had some flare."

"Flare," my father snorted. "You were stunning with your rosy cheeks and angry eyes. I couldn't stop staring at you."

I loved this story every time I heard it, but even more now that I had my Bella. I just got it now. Emmett was enthralled and not even eating as he listened.

"I finally wound down and that's when he took my hand in his and introduced himself. 'My name is Carlisle Cullen and you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. I'm sorry I took your parking spot. If you'd like to move your car, I can let you have it.' I didn't know what to say."

Dad chuckled. "I stunned her into speechlessness. That's only happened once in the thirty years we've been together."

She laughed and shook her head. "It was your voice. There I'd been yelling at you for all I was worth and your voice was calm and the sexiest thing I've ever heard." She grinned at me. "You come by that voice of yours naturally."

Oh God. That was something I did not want to think about. "And then he asked you out?" Emmett made a choking noise and I saw him staring at his phone. He quickly shoved it back in his pocket. I wondered what that was all about.

Dad nodded. "Since she was speechless, I decided to press my advantage before she got loud again."

"Hey!" She nudged his arm. "He said, 'or we could get in your car together and I could take you to breakfast to make up for my faux pas.'" She giggled. "He actually said that, 'faux pas.' I didn't know whether to laugh at him or to smack him."

"So she did both," Dad supplied. "Then she pointed out that the only thing she knew about me was that I was a rude parking space stealer, a future doctor and that I had a rich boy name."

Mom shrugged. "Carlisle is a rich boy name."

He kissed her cheek. "Yes, love. So I told her if she wanted to know more, she should take me up on my offer. I pointed out that she'd be driving, so I wasn't going to kidnap her or anything, that if anybody should be worried it should be me."

She laughed. "I told him I knew how to handle myself just fine and I wasn't worried about it, but why would I want to go to breakfast with a parking space thief?"

Dad grinned. "I pointed out that she was obviously intrigued by me as she hadn't let go of my hand since I'd introduced myself. She looked down and saw that was true but didn't let go."

Mom smiled. "He took his other hand and brushed the hair out of my face. He wasn't wearing gloves and his hand should have been cold but all I felt was heat."

Emmett laughed. "Dad's got the Cullen magic touch."

Dad nodded. "I had it way before you did, kid. She told me her name was Esme and led the way to her car. Breakfast turned into lunch and into dinner. We spent something like ten hours in that little diner talking and getting to know one another better." He grinned at my mom. "She drove me back to my car after we finally got kicked out of the diner and I followed her home. We were inseparable from that day forward."

Mom laughed. "I think I fell in love with you somewhere between lunch and dinner."

Dad lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "I know I fell in love with you before you finished calling me an asshole for the first time." He turned to us. "I know we've told you this story a bunch of times but I figured you needed to know how fast it hits. It happened with your grandfather and his father too. One look and you're pretty much done."

Emmett nodded. "I know, Dad! I mean, I knew that I wanted Rosie the first time she called and wanted to rip Eddie a new one for hurting Bella." I winced at that, still grateful that I hadn't been the one to answer the phone. "Then, we get in their apartment and there's the picture of the three of them on the entertainment center. Rosie was all I could see. Blond hair, perfect body, sexy bikini…" He shook his head. "Then when she walked in the damn room," he broke off when the table shook. "Ow! Ma! Why'd you kick me?"

"Language!" she reminded him.

Emmett rubbed his shin and glared at her. "Did we or did we not just hear that you called our father a fucking asshole the minute you met him?"

She smiled primly. "That was different."

"Sure," he muttered. "Anyway, she walks in and I'm totally done. I couldn't speak if I tried. She was the hottest thing ever and she said…" he broke off when he remembered how very inappropriate it was. "Well, never mind what she said, but it was awesome."

I laughed. "She sure put you in your place."

He nodded eagerly. "She did. She's the best woman ever."

"I beg to differ," I told him, picturing my Bella.

"When did you know, Edward?" my father asked.

I toyed with my pasta. I didn't really know when I knew. "I was intrigued by her from the start. She was funny and smart and sexy." That last part was a little embarrassing to mention but I wasn't going to tell them how sexy she was. "All we had was words for awhile and the more I talked to her, the more I wanted to know her."

"He was gone over her before they met," Emmett supplied. "He came home all gaga over her and I got a load of the hot picture she sent…" I smacked him. "Ow! What, it was hot! He got all defensive and was ready to kick my ass just like that when I called her hot and I knew then that she was his one. He resisted though."

"Did you?" Dad asked, laughing.

"I want to hear about this picture," Mom piped up.

Emmett grinned and I clapped my hand over his mouth. "Don't you dare." I turned back to Mom. "It wasn't dirty or anything."

He knocked my hand away. "No, it was just suggestive as hell."

I glared at him before turning back to my parents. "Anyway, yes, I resisted a little because we hadn't met, I didn't know she knew who I was and I wasn't sure how she'd react when I told her. We both had bad recent histories so I didn't really know what it would be until I sat in her bedroom and listened to her talk about me to her friend Alice. All my concerns about her just being into me because I was famous went away and when she walked into the room, then I knew."

Mom sighed. "Your story is so romantic. Meeting and falling in love without seeing each other, the fight, you driving over a thousand miles to go see her and fix it. It's like a movie." She suddenly sat straight up. "Holy shit, that would make a great movie!"

I laughed and held up a hand. "Don't get any ideas in your head, Mom. While it might be a cute movie, I would never be in a movie about my own life."

She made a face and took out her blackberry, typing away. "You don't have to be in it. It's still a fabulous idea."

I shook my head. There was no use fighting it once she got an idea in her head. "Whatever you say, Mom."

"I do, trust me." She finished typing and put her toy away. "Well, Carlisle, do you see how happy they are?"

He nodded. "You were right, dear, but then you always are."

"Let's clean up and we can get home now that I've seen with my own two eyes that you're both okay." She stood and came around the table to hug each one of us from behind and kiss our cheeks. "I'm so happy. You bring your girls to me soon or I'll be dropping into Washington myself."

She would, too. "We'll work on it, Mom. We'll be in Europe in a few weeks so I doubt we can do anything before but…"

"Graduation!" Emmett thundered. We stopped, surprised at his yelling.

"What?"

"They both graduate in May, along with Alice, right?" I nodded. "Well, we should go surprise them."

I shifted. "We'll be filming in Berlin, Emmett." I wanted to see Bella graduate, but I didn't know if I could.

"Whatever, Movie Star, demand a few days off so we can fly to Washington and be with our girls. Mom and Dad can come up and meet them. We can meet their families. It's perfect."

"I don't know if I could go to something like that," I muttered. "I'm trying to protect her from the press, Emmett."

"Whatever." He waved a hand. "Do you know how many people graduate at those things? Nobody would know you were there for her, if they noticed you at all. You could always say you're researching a damn role or you have a cousin there or something. Nobody would know."

The idea did have its appeal and Mom looked positively thrilled. "I can talk to Bella and see."

Mom squealed and threw her arms around me. "Yes! Find out when it is and we'll clear our schedules." She shot a look at my father who held up his hands in surrender. "If Danny gives you a hard time on giving you a few days off, you have him call me."

Danny Boyle was my director and I knew he'd probably work around my schedule. It looked like we'd be going to graduation. "Okay, Mom." Hopefully Bella would be on board.

Xoxoxoxox

After we cleaned up and my parents cleared out, I all but ran to my room as Emmett laughed at me. Whatever, I heard him saying "Rosie" just as I shut and locked my door. I had the phone ringing before I even sat on the bed.

"Hello, Edward," her sweet voice came over the line.

"Hi, Bella. It's so good to hear you."

She laughed. "I'm the one who's relieved. I was afraid you'd be grounded for being a big, bad spaghetti thief."

I chuckled. "She wasn't that mad and we distracted her with talk of you girls, which is why she really came over."

"Really?" she asked, her voice going up an octave. "What did you tell her?"

Sweet Bella, don't you know? "I told her how beautiful and smart and funny you are and how happy you made me. Of course, she saw that for herself."

She made a sexy gasping noise and I smiled. "She did, huh?"

"Oh yeah. Emmett took a couple of pictures of you and she agreed that you're beautiful. She can't wait to meet you."

Bella laughed nervously. "Well, we'll have to see when we can arrange that."

I wondered if she was going to like this. "We actually kind of have."

"What does that mean?" she asked.

"Um, Emmett came up with the idea of us going to your graduation and Mom was all over it."

She hummed into the line. "Could you do that? I mean, people would see you."

"Well, if anybody notices me, I could say that I'm there for a family member or something. We'll figure it out. Is it okay with you if we come? I'm assuming your dad will be there and will want to meet me at some point."

She let out a strangled laugh. "Uh, yeah, he wants to meet you."

Shit. "You talked to him? What did he say?"

"Well, he was kind of fatherly about the cabin thing, so I may have let him think that we'd be sharing with Rose and Emmett and a couple of other people."

I laughed. "You may have, Bella? More like you did."

"Okay, so I did! He was a little blown away that I was dating you and I had to tell him how we met, which he wasn't thrilled with since he's a cop and hears all those stories about people meeting people on Craigslist and one of them getting killed and whatnot."

I couldn't blame him. "Well the fact that I'm famous should put him at ease a little bit, right? Killing you would be bad for my career."

She giggled into the line. "I'll be sure to point that out."

"Did you mention Europe to him?"

She sighed. "Yeah, I did. That went over less well than the cabin, but he didn't tell me I couldn't go. Just that he has concerns."

Of course he did. He was a dad to a beautiful young woman. "Well, maybe coming to graduation would be a good thing. He could meet me and I could put his fears to rest."

Bella laughed. "It couldn't hurt, I suppose. And if your parents are there, he'd have to be on his best behavior."

"Do you think you could get us tickets?" I asked, because I had no idea how many they got allotted or whatever.

"Oh yeah, that won't be a problem. If Dad brings Sue, I'll still have two left over and Rose's parents aren't coming so she'll have all four."

"Rose's parents aren't coming?" That really sucked. My parents would have been in the front row screaming and carrying on just like they had been in high school.

"No, they're not exactly a close family and they just told her to buy herself something nice." Bella made a noise. "Hence our shopping trip."

"Oh yeah, the shopping trip. Are you going to tell me what you bought?"

"No, I'd rather wait and show you."

Damn. "Why don't you show me now?"

She laughed. "And how am I supposed to do that?"

I grinned. "Skype, baby. That's the one form of communication we haven't used."

There was a pause and I waited for her to respond. "You want to Skype with me?"

"Hmm, do I want to look at my beautiful girlfriend, hopefully wearing one of the things she bought today? Yes, I think I do."

There was another pause. "Okay, give me ten minutes. Same login I always use."

"Okay, see you then, Bella."

"Bye, Edward."

I hopped out of bed and grabbed my laptop, booting it up as I changed into a t-shirt and my boxers. I didn't know if we'd be having Skype sex but if she was wearing what I hoped she was wearing then I didn't doubt it would happen. I couldn't wait to see what she had in store for me.


A/N I hope you enjoyed getting to see Mom and Dad, hearing their "one" story and of course the little bit of B&E time. Next chapter, we'll see just how naughty those two get on Skype! I plan on posting both WWF and WWS at the same time next week because they'll be virtually the same. WWF will post on Friday and First & Ten will post on Saturday. SC posted on Monday. My presents to all of you!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy Holidays to you all! Thank you for all your kind words and support throughout the year!