Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Twilight, and never will. Obviously. :-) Thnk you so much for the reviews. I really hope you enjoy this chapter and that it gives a little insight into Edward's parents and family life.


"Perhaps this wasn't quite a good idea, love," Edward says apprehensively as he drives his car into a private road, following the line of large green trees that are planted along the driveway like a maze.

I could tell he was nervous about having me meet his parents; as he pulled over, he sat silently in the car for a long moment, head leaning back against the seat, breathing in and out slowly, his eyes closed.

"Edward, I'm just as nervous as you are," I assure him softly. "Besides your father's a doctor. He sounds like a very admirable man from what I've heard."

He opens his eyes and glances outside the window, the corners of his mouth pulled down as he makes a face. "Yes, he certainly is admirable." I catch the tension in his voice. "I only suggested this because I adore you beyond reason or rhyme. The whole thing is surreal; I cannot believe you actually agreed to this, love." He finally meets my gaze while tapping his fingers against the steering wheel. "If you were smart, you would have lied to avoid all of this..."

That stung. "Thanks. Well, then maybe I'm not smart," I bite back sarcastically, undoing the buckle of my seatbelt.

He sighs loudly and pinches the bridge of his nose. "Can we erase that comment and start over again please?" he asks resignedly through clenched teeth. I ignore him, sniffing loudly. I didn't enjoy the thought of having an argument with Edward right now but I was feeling defensive and on edge, partly due to my own anxiousness of meeting Edward's family. He leans over in his seat and kisses my cheek softly. "I'm sorry, love. I apologize." He starts stroking my face with his fingers. "My father and I don't seem to get along very well, but then that's an understatement on how much so. The fact that I'm enduring being in the very same room as him proves that I love you more than you can possibly imagine..."

"Why are you so angry with him?" I ask, and Edward cringes away from me at the question. "By the way you speak of him; it's obvious that you are."

"It doesn't matter."

"It does, Edward."

He sighs loudly and rubs his forehead with his fingertips. "Because he is simply a cheat and a liar, Bella. Is that explanation enough for you?" Instead of looking at me while answering, he looks outside the window, his eyes narrowed in frustration.

"But -" I pause to absorb what he has just said. "What exactly did he do that makes him a cheat and a liar, Edward?"

"What did he do?" He repeats the question gently a few times, pondering out loud, before turning his head in my direction, his expression one of hatred. "He hurt my mother in the most unforgivable way imaginable. Isn't that reason enough?"

"But I don't -"

Edward interrupts me quietly, "I rode by his office several times. I saw him outside with a woman, Bella." I realize he is watching my face as he says this. "He was with another woman who wasn't my mother..." he says it slowly and I realize he is deeply anguished by this fact.

"But then... it doesn't mean that they were doing anything, Edward. They could have just been... talking, or something..."

Edward shakes his head. "Bella, you don't understand. He sees her once every month or so. I'm not exactly certain if it's still continuing on between them, but then – what? What more could there possibly be?"

I sit in silence for a moment, thinking this through. "But then... do you think your father is still in love with your mother? Why would he... see another woman? Does he seem unhappy or something?"

Edward thinks this through for a moment then meets my gaze, his expression grim. "I don't know," he admits sadly after a second. He lowers his head and closes his eyes, rubbing his eyes with his fingertips. "Will you please forget I even mentioned this, love? I want to get through this evening as quickly as possible..."

"Of course," I agree without a moment's hesitation. We both hop out of the car and up the steps on the veranda and Edward hesitates before knocking on the door three times.

A man, who I am guessing is Edward's father, immediately answers.

Simply by looking at him, you wouldn't assume he was at all like Edward said in his car. Edward's father doesn't say anything, just stares at me for a moment, then back at Edward, who I notice is looking at his father with an expression of unconcealed hatred. Edward's father is shorter than Edward by barely an inch, thin, and angular. He doesn't much look like Edward at all, but then it takes me a moment to remember that Edward was adopted as a very young boy. He has short peroxide blond hair, slate blue eyes, and a thin mouth whose corners turn up a little in amusement.

Edward clears his throat loudly and then says, "Carlisle, this is Bella Swan. Bella, this is my father Carlisle."

Mr. Cullen steps forward and extends one of his hands, and I step forward and shake it. "Hello, Mr. Cullen. It's very wonderful to meet you," I mumble anxiously.

"No, please call me Carlisle. Edward does." I notice when he says his sons name, he says it with a distinguishable amount of disappointment in his tone. He shoves his hands into the pockets of the presentable charcoal gray suit he is wearing before moving out of the way to let us in. I hear Edward sigh heavily as he enters the house and I slowly follow in behind him. "Your mother is in the kitchen, Edward. Perhaps you should inform her that we have a guest; she'll be very grateful to hear of it..."

"Fine," Edward only says sharply.

Edward leads the way, walking into the narrow hallway of the house. He pauses and swivels around to look at me as he reaches one of the doors, which I am assuming is the kitchen, and exchanges a nervous glance with me. "I apologize for putting you through this, love," he says quietly, and then he opens the door.

The delicious scent of food wafts into the air as I enter. A beautiful woman with long, dark dangling hair is arranging drinks onto a tray and then she sees me and smiles warmly. The smile immediately widens as Edward bustles into the kitchen behind me and I turn around, taking the moment to look at him; he's absolutely beautiful. He is wearing a black, studded leather jacket and a white cotton dress shirt with cuffs that dangle undone below the sleeves, black jeans and military boots. He is staring at his mother tensely, on guard.

"Edward?" His mother practically yells at the top of her lungs and the relief radiating off her is overwhelming.

She rushes around the kitchen and throws her arms around her son and kisses his cheek lightly. "Oh, Edward, I wasn't sure when you would be visiting home," she says, softly. "I assumed that you would never forgive us for what we did..." For some reason, I find this moment between them incredibly touching and I am in near tears and I don't exactly know why. It suddenly feels as if I am intruding on something very intimate and special between the pair.

His mother is wearing an incredulous expression mixed with mirth as she takes a good look at her son. "What is that," she says as she runs her fingertips across Edward's unshaven chin, smiling. He watches my face as she touches his. "You're not a man yet, Edward," she says, warmly. "You're still just a boy with fuzz..."

Edward smiles faintly. "Mom." He takes her hands away from his face and holds them. "I'd like for you to meet my Bella. She's very important to me." He looks over at me. "She's my girlfriend." There was no denying I was surprised when Edward introduced me as that yet it felt right. Necessary. Fitting... I must look stricken because Edward looks a little guilty, but his eyes are twinkling. "Bella, this is my mother Esme." The way he speaks her name, I could tell he was very fond of her and with reason.

Before I could even register what was happening, she flings her arms around me and embraces me tightly. I catch Edward rolling his eyes behind her back and have to stifle a surprised laugh. She takes firm hold of my shoulders and looks at me, her face welcoming and kind.

"It's such a pleasure to meet you, Bella," Esme gushes breathlessly. "To meet the girl who is taming our Edward from his wild ways..." She laughs loudly, a very pleasant, gentle sound, and then releases me before glancing back over at her son, an expression of guilt on her beautiful face. "Of course, I'm joking," she assures me quietly. "Edward has never been a wild one. But I always assumed he was, well..." she makes a face, looking as if she is deciding whether she should finish her sentence or not. "Never mind." She waves a hand dismissively.

Edward intercedes at last. "Mom, I'd like for Bella to join us for dinner." He says politely, uncertain, but polite.

Esme grins. "Of course." Then she ushers Edward out of the kitchen quickly, to my surprise. When he is out of the room, she nods at me and says in a hushed whisper, "I see you're wearing a ring. You and Edward aren't..." She doesn't finish her sentence, but I think I already know what she is asking.

"No," I assure his mother with a smile. "We're just..." I falter. I didn't exactly know what to say to his mother about the ring.

She looks a little disappointed. "I'm sorry, it's just Edward never told me he was dating anyone," she admits gently. She glances at me quickly, as though worried she might have offended me, and then continues, "I thank you for sticking with Edward. I know he can be a little... difficult to deal with sometimes, especially after what happened last time." She smiles at me, sadly.

I am about to ask her what exactly she means by this, but then the timer on the oven goes off.

She waves me out of the kitchen affectionately, and I leave her alone to continue on with her cooking. But her comment lingered in my head, unanswered. What could she mean 'after what happened last time'? I thought it through for a moment as I walked slowly down the hallway, but then the voices coming from in one of the other rooms drowned out all of my worries and confusion.

As I reach the voices in the dining room, I see Edward talking to his father. Arguing, in fact. I feel immediately guilty for intruding on them, but I overhear his father Carlisle say loudly, while using his hands for emphasize: "Love? You two probably haven't even the slightest idea of what it means! Kids throw it around nowadays, right?"

"I know I love her, Carlisle," I hear Edward affirm, his voice soft and compelling. "But perhaps you are right. Perhaps I don't know what it means – and perhaps you don't either!"

Carlisle looks at his only son with an expression of exasperation, his eyes protruding. "Now listen here, Edward. We didn't raise a son so that he could-"

"You're not listening to me, Carlisle!" Edward yells it out through clenched teeth and then he immediately falls quiet as he sees me standing there, probably gaping at the both of them like some idiotic girl. They both look at me, almost waiting for me to go so that they can both finish arguing with each other.

And then Esme pokes her head out into the dining room.

She opens her mouth to say something, smiling warmly, and then sees Edward and his father and their expressions of pure frustration and hostility, shock coming across her beautiful face, and then she meets my eyes and beckons me quickly back into the kitchen. I quickly follow her, trying my very hardest to forget what I had just witnessed with difficulty; Edward was telling his father that he loved me, and with such overwhelming conviction that it startled me. It took me a long moment to wrap my head around it.

In the kitchen, Esme looks immediately abashed. "I'm sorry. Things have been difficult with Edward and his father lately. I've been trying to get Carlisle to repair the situation between them, but then Edward is so obstinate..." She says quietly, shaking her head. I rush in to help Esme out as she gathers all the silverware and knives. She smiles and touches my arm confidentially. "Thank you, sweetheart," she says softly.

The fray in the dining room seems to get louder and louder by the minute. I hear Carlisle shouting, "What did you do last month, Edward? You ditched school to go to Las Vegas so you can pick up strippers! Are you that desperate to rebel against us?"

"I wasn't doing it to rebel against you. Don't flatter yourself-" Edward retorts, his velvety voice rising.

"Oh, my." Esme sighs loudly, her gentle voice breaking through the stifling tension in the air radiating from in the dining room. She stacks all the plates for dinner together and tucks them underneath her arm, the China clattering loudly together. "I-I'm so sorry about this, Bella," she whispers underneath her breath.

"Then what? What was it, Edward?" Carlisle shouts sternly. There's a short moment of silence where I assume Carlisle is waiting for his son to answer, and then he continues, "You tell me! I did not raise a son so that he'd turn into some psychopath that beats on people-"

"It was Isabella, all right?" Edward hisses quietly. "It was for her. It wasn't strippers, Carlisle. It was her!"

Esme slinks over toward the door and quickly closes it, suffocating the loud voices from in the dining room. I suddenly feel ill. Was this all my fault? They were obviously arguing because of me and because of what happened last month when Edward tried to force me into heading to Vegas with him.

"Are you all right, sweetheart?" Esme asks to my surprise as she sets the plates on the table, and then squeezes my shoulder affectionately. "Please don't let them fighting concern you. They did it quite a lot when Edward was living here. I suppose it's a relief now that Irina let him stay with her for a few months..." She smiles at me sadly.

"It's fine," I tell her. "I know a lot of teenagers who argue with their parents – myself included." She doesn't seem to be comforted by this.

"How is he?" she asks with an expression of urgency. "Well, of course. I know he's almost himself again... Years ago, we thought about setting up an intervention even. Things were that bad." She almost looks guilty in confiding in me, but then continues in a hushed whisper, "You must be a very special girl, Bella. To make Edward smile the way he does..." She exhales shakily and then shields her face with a hand. "I was beginning to miss that smile – I was starting to think I'd never see it again - but then it seems you've made him truly happy..."

It takes me a moment to realize his mother is crying, her shoulders are shaking, and she shields her face with her hands, shying away from me. I feel the bile rise up in my throat, this overwhelming urge to comfort her; I had never seen a woman act the way she did before. It depressed me.

I wasn't quite sure how to comfort her or how to offer some gesture of reassurance. I was genuinely confused; had something happened to Edward a few years ago that made him act differently? Something that made his mother concerned for his safety or wellbeing?

I try to swallow against the lump in my throat, fiddling with the ring on my middle finger, as I say to her softly, "Edward's going to be fine, Mrs. Cullen. He's a very smart boy. He knows what he is doing and, for what it's worth, he does actually seem happier."

And then she removes her hands, letting the tears stream down her face freely, hardly caring anymore about weeping in front of her guest. I tug a tissue from the box on the counter and hand it to her. She takes it and dabs her face. And then she smiles at me with a look on her face that I silently read as thank you for telling me this. And then she goes about setting the table again without another word.