Eek this one is a little late. But I guess it's better late than never, right? And this one is a bit longer than most in this story, so yay!

Thanks again to everyone for everything. Haha that's vague, but you get what I'm saying. On with the chapter.

Song for this chapter is "We Intertwined" by the Hush Sound.

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"Like vines we intertwined, carelessly growing up and growing old."

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BPOV

I poked my head into Edward's office, glancing at the clock on the wall as I did so. It was five o'clock, time to go home.

I'm ready to talk about this with Edward, and hopefully he's ready to talk about it with me. Edward was sitting at his desk staring something in a bind; his brow furrowed. He hadn't seen or heard me come in, so I took this opportunity to silently observe him for a moment.

Our work day had been a little awkward, to say the least. In the past few months, we have tried to maintain a sense of professionalism and respect, but have always been around each other and not too uncomfortable or anything like that. Today, the tension between us was thick. Not everyone in the office knew the whole story about us, of course, but I'm sure many of them could tell that something was up with the way that we had both acted today. It's not that we had been avoiding each other, it was the fact that we both weren't really sure how to act around each other because things are so up in the air between us.

It's been two days since our fight, and I am more than ready to put it behind us. I have a lot of issues I need to talk to Edward about and even though I'm reluctant to put myself in such a vulnerable place by talking about my fears and doubts, I wanted to do it for Edward and for our relationship.

Before he ended things with Alice, I had craved a normal, functional relationship with him. I wanted to be able to be with him without feeling shame or guilt. And up until now, neither of us had really allowed that. We needed to put our mistakes in the past and live in the present, all while dealing with a new baby that would be born in three short months.

"Are you ready to go, Bella?"

Edward's voice startled me, as I had been zoning out a little bit. But I quickly recovered and shot him what I hoped was a confident, pretty smile.

"Yeah, I am. You?" I asked, stepping into his office. "I thought maybe we could talk over dinner. Does that sound okay?"

He nodded, closing the binder that he had been holding and placing it on his desk. "I'm good to go. And dinner sounds great."

We walked out of the office together, but when we got down to the parking lot, Edward gently placed his hand on my lower back. I looked up at him and he glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, a small, hesitant smile on his face.

I hadn't really doubted it before, but his simple gesture had made me much more confident. Edward wants to resolve these issues just as much as I do. He wants to make it work and if we can compromise, everything is going to be fine. I have to have faith in myself, in Edward, and in both of us together as a couple. We may not be married our engaged or even close to it at this point, but I have to remind myself that those things are a possibility for the future, and now is the time to start preparing for that. We can have fun, but we need to let each other know that we are serious about our relationship, too. It might be a tricky at times, but again, we must have faith in each other.

These are the things that have been running through my mind at top speed for two days, ever since we had our fight. Now I just needed to convey these things, and more, to Edward without getting too worked up or emotional.

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"I just need some reassurance," I explained to Edward as we dug into our dinners. We were seated in a cozy booth in the back of one of our favorite restaurants, and we had already started our discussion. "I know you're trying to be a good dad already, but I need you to let me know what role I'm going to play in your daughter's life. I can't be her parent, not yet. I can play a parent-like role, but I can't actually parent her until I earn that right. It's different with you and Alice; you're her actual parents. You created her, and it's your job to raise her. I don't feel right just stepping into a role I assume for myself, okay? I want you and Alice to both be okay with the role I play in your daughter's life.

And another thing, I'm not really comfortable with how you and Alice are together. I know you don't have those feelings for her anymore, but that in preparing to give birth to your child, she's looking to you for comfort. Alice needs to find someone else to lean on, Edward. I don't mean to sound harsh, but you aren't her husband anymore, you're my boyfriend."

Edward listened to me patiently, getting a little frustrated at times but never mad. And once I had finally said my piece, he said his.

"I love you, Bella. And I would love to try and help guide you through this whole thing, but I need a little reassurance from you, too. You don't act excited about the baby, which I can understand, but if you act uninterested in being involved, it's easy for Alice and I to assume you don't want a lot of involvement. So when you're really just trying to give us space to figure things out, it seems like you just don't care. I know now that isn't really how you feel, but for a while there I was worried. I love you, Bella. I want you to me there with me as I start to raise my daughter, and I want you to be a part of it."

Our conversation continued past dinner, and we found ourselves on the couch in his apartment.

We talked for hours about Alice and the baby and our relationship, stopping every once and a while to kiss or cuddle up to each other. Edward told me about how his parents were trying to give Alice support so he wouldn't have to, and that got us talking about the nursery and about Edward's next visit with Alice.

"I think I want to go with you. Is that okay?" Other than the ultrasound when we found out the baby's sex, I haven't really been involved in any of the baby stuff. But now Edward was planning on going over to Alice's house to help her put some finishing touches on the nursery and then start a nursery for Audrey in his apartment, and I wanted to be there.

Edward wanted me to be more involved, so here I am, getting involved.

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Thanks for reading and reviewing. I'm so happy I've been able to get back on track with updating! Full steam ahead!

Xoxo- Mel.