Thank you everyone for the great reviews. Now down to business as usual. I don't own these people but I do enjoy taking them on the journey.

APOV/MONDAY AUGUST 4TH

It was nearing dinner time and Bella had been sleeping since yesterday. I heard her get up and use the bathroom twice though. I let her sleep as I let Angela and Ben sleep. They all worked so damn hard and the exhaustion was taking a toll. Ben had already been sick and I knew the girls were next if they did not have a day off.

I had been working on the final orders and plans for the Palmer wedding. The wedding was the weekend before Bella's birthday. I wanted to do something special for Bella but I did not know what just yet. Bella was not big on birthdays but after dealing with all that she has I wanted to make this one special.

I was tallying up the final floral numbers and heard a knock on the door. We were not expecting anyone. I went to the door and opened it. There stood Emmett, Rosalie, Edward and Jasper all grinning at me. What the hell was going on?

"We brought Chinese!" Emmett bellowed as he held up the bags and came in. Everyone else followed him with other bags of who knows what.

"Shhhhhhhh Bella is still sleeping!!" I put my fingers to my lips and brought them into the dinning room. I got out plates, silverware and napkins and we all dug in. I knew Bella would be brought up eventually.

"It is nearing 6pm and she is still sleeping? Did you drug her?" Emmett said with his mouth full of shrimp.

"Brilliant as ever brother of mine." Edward said with a smile.

"After the party she couldn't sleep so she spent most of yesterday doing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen. With Ben getting sick and them working so hard, I didn't have the heart to wake her. She has a lot of work coming up and I don't want her sick too." I told them all while eating the stir fry veggies.

We all enjoyed the meal and I put the leftovers in the fridge so Bella could eat whenever. We all went to the living room and the boys started playing rock band on the Wii. I made sure the fish were doing ok and fed. I watched the boys fight over who was better playing guitar or drums.

"Edward I wanted to tell you that you play the piano beautifully. I never knew you had such a talent." I took my turn on the guitar. Little did they know I was fucking brilliant on this and played the hardest level.

"I used to play all the time before everything happened. It just didn't seem right to play something I loved when she was not here with me anymore. I knew mom missed it so I wanted to surprise them. Mom is still talking about it. Damn it Emmett you suck at drums! I just hope your child gets his musical talent from his mother. "He took the drum sticks away from him and handed them to Jasper. Emmett sat back while we three played together.

"I hope that our child gets his or her talent from Uncle Edward. I have no musical bone in my body and neither does Emmett." Emmett's face frowned but perked up at the thought of them having a baby.

"I am glad you all stopped by. Bella's birthday is coming up and I want to do something nice for her." We quit playing Wii and everything went silent.

"She has the Bite of Oregon this weekend. The Palmer wedding the weekend before her birthday and after that she is free for awhile that I know of. I just wanted to make her birthday special. Birthdays were never really big with her after her parents were gone." I put away the game and sat down on the couch next to Jasper.

"Alice what does Bella like to do in her spare time? We have known each for a short time but I think we should make this special for her. We could take her to the San Juan's. Esme and Carlisle own a house there or we could take her clubbing…." Rosalie was full of ideas but none of them were perfect yet. I did not want to do anything that involved alcohol either not with Rose being pregnant.

I heard soft footsteps coming down the stairs. At least I knew she was ok and had lots of sleep. She came down in her cow pajamas and her hair all a mess. You could tell she slept hard but it was much needed sleep.

"Nice hair Bella!" She flipped Emmett off and went to the kitchen. I followed her in to make sure she ate real food and not a bowl of cereal. I showed here the leftover Chinese and she piled it on a plate. She put it in the microwave and poured herself a glass of juice. She got the plate out when the microwave dinged and joined us in the living room.

"Bella I am sorry for the hair comment." Emmett said eyeing her Chinese. How did Rose put up with his enormous appetite?

"I am fine I am sure I look pretty bad. Keep your hands off my food too. There is homemade ice cream in the freezer if you need something else." No sooner had she said that and Emmett was in the kitchen. He came out with the biggest bowl of ice cream. He had a spoon in his mouth and a weird look on his face.

"That bad huh? Next time I won't experiment." She kept eating her food.

"No Bella it is that good!! What the hell is this anyway?" He went back and grabbed more spoons and shared with everyone.

"Alaskan Salmon berry with miniature chocolate chips. I was trying to figure out something to go with the menu we have for this weekend." She rinsed her plate and left it in the sink.

"If you need any help for this weekend we can help!" Jasper once again offered his family to come to the rescue.

"Thank you but I think we got it covered. Now if you don't mind me I am heading back to bed." She smiled at all of us and went back to bed.

Edward asked just what menu she had planned for this weekend. I thought and tried to remember what they had told me.

"Alaskan Smoked Salmon on homemade bagels, Venison burgers, Sea Asparagus and I see she figured out dessert. I think there are a few more things but that is the just of it." I took the empty ice cream bowl back into the kitchen and rinsed it.

We spent the next hour talking about Alaskan foods and how even I learned to love them. I found out the Cullen's donated every year to the Bite of Oregon and all of them would be there.

BPOV

The past few days have been a whirlwind. Angela, Ben and I have spent our time getting the menu ready for the Bite of Oregon. Everything was ready to be packed up for set up tomorrow. Our booth was already set up and I had rented a bigger van to carry everything. Our van was perfect but for this type of event we needed something bigger. We also had a cooler, bbq and small kitchen to bring with us. I was honored to be part of this but it was a pain in the ass too.

We also were dealing with the Palmer wedding coming up too. That damn women kept changing the menus on me. I finally told her either she made up her damn mind or I would be serving grilled cheese and tomato soup. Mister Palmer found that hilarious and he put his foot down. He told me what he wanted for both the rehearsal dinner and the reception. He also told me for their event we could use the hotel kitchen. I almost kissed his feet when he said that. Alice and I were both thrilled when we got this wedding as it was going to be over half a million dollars. I was panicking when I thought all the food they ordered and our small kitchen would not go together.

I was on the phone after our meeting with the hotel to see what all they had in their kitchen. I knew my way around any kitchen but still I wanted to find out what it all entailed. The head chef was super nice and said if they could do anything or help in anyway they would. I was finished talking with them and had them send me back to reservations. Alice found me on the phone listening to dreadful musak when she came in.

I told her just one minute with my finger and she sat down at the desk. I made reservations for a suite for 4 nights. I didn't think we would need all four nights but I would give the suite to Ben and Angela for all their help. I knew they needed some time away from all of us.

"Bella, why did you call me over? I have to meet the florist and the bridal fitting is today." She tapped her fingers on my desk all knowing it annoyed the shit out of me. She really needed some time off.

"Did you not say that the Cullen's would be in meetings all this week?" She nodded to me with sadness in her eyes. I knew her and Jasper had time for emails and text messages and nothing else. I handed her a huge picnic basket and a filled thermos. She looked at me with a smile on her face.

"Ok who am I to stop you from seeing him? I packed them my famous sandwiches, pasta salad, potato salad, tossed salad, homemade chocolate chip cookies and brownies. There is also fruit salad in there in case Esme and Rosalie want something lighter. The thermos is my lemonade you love so much. This way they get fed and you get to see Jasper."

She bounded out of the seat and kissed me on the cheek. She grabbed the picnic lunch and ran out the door. She almost forgot the drinks till I yelled at her. I heard her speed off to the Cullen building as I went back to work.

APOV

I grabbed the lunch and almost forgot the thermos till Bella yelled at me. I sped out of our driveway and I am sure I left tire marks. I carefully sped to the Cullen building. It was a huge skyscraper in downtown Portland. Cullen Construction had built it years ago but it was the best of their work that I loved. It had family owned businesses on the bottom floors. The rest was other companies but the Cullen's were on the top floors. It was not the biggest of the skyscrapers downtown but it was still one of the finest.

I paid for parking and skipped down the sidewalk to the lobby. It was small but still beautiful with marble floors. Esme had put her touch on it from what I could see of the furniture and art work. I was never told what floor they were on but I looked them up on the directory. I hit the button for the 15th floor and waited to get off.

I saw the receptionist and got her attention. She was quite rude when she told me under no circumstances was I to bother the Cullen's. I tried to explain who I was and why I was there but her answer was still no. I was not the one to cry over something trivial but I was beyond pissed off at this bitch. If she would just lift her manicured nails and call I am sure I would be let in.

She told me to sit down and wait. I felt like a second class citizen the way she treated me. She actually looked down at me. I knew how Bella felt now. How could she have dealt with the feelings all these years? I twiddled my fingers in my hands and hoped that someone would call or come out and see me. I glanced at the clock on the wall and noticed I had been sitting here an hour. I was getting up when I saw Edward come out with a book in his hand.

"Alice this is a nice surprise. What are you doing here?" If I had not been madly in love with Jasper I would have gone for him.

"I brought you lunch but certain someone would not let me in. I was going to get up and go to my meetings early"

He looked over at the receptionist and glared at her. He went straight into her face and started talking softly so I would not hear. He was seething and I noticed him saying names to the women. He mumbled about speaking to her later and then went back to talk to me.

"Alice I am sorry about that. It will never happen again I will see to it. Just so you know she has tried to get into Jasper's pants since she started working here. He never did anything but she has made our lives a living hell. At least now I have a reason to give to the rest of them. Believe me this is not the first time she has done this. Jasper has eyes only for you ok?" He looked at me and smiled again. If only he could show this side of himself to Bella in real life and not the internet.

He picked up the basket and I grabbed the thermos. He took me back to the conference room. Everyone was sitting and looking at plans that were laid out on the expansive table.

"Alice this is a nice surprise!" Esme got up out of her chair and hugged me. Jasper got a huge smile on his face when he looked up at me. He got out of his chair and very softly gave me a kiss. We heard someone clear their throat and we broke apart. The laughter ensued but it was all in love.

"Jasper told me you were all going to be busy with a new client. I told Bella about it and she worried that you would be eating take out all week. She made lunch and I am just the delivery girl."

Edward held the huge basket up and I showed them the thermos. Carlisle slowly rolled the plans up and made sure all important paper work was out of the way.

"Food I am starving and sick of take out! Way to go the both of you!!" Emmett bellowed and we all joined in laughter at him.

"Bella made her famous sandwiches. There is pasta salad, tossed salad, potato salad and fruit salad. She also made chocolate chip cookies and brownies for you all to enjoy. The thermos is lemonade and iced tea mixed up. She made sure it was caffeine free so Rosalie could enjoy it." I pulled out the sandwiches, the salads, dessert and opened the lemonade. Everyone helped themselves and grabbed seats around the table.

"Alice please join us for lunch. We never got to thank you for the lovely party. It is one memory we will cherish forever." Esme had a smile on her face.

"I am sorry I can't. I have to meet florists and The Palmer bridal party for fittings. I was kept to long in the reception area." I felt my cell phone buzz in my coat pocket. I had to answer it and I knew it would be Mrs. Palmer wondering where I was.

"I am sorry about that but it was business but I really have to go. We can all meet up at the Bite this weekend." I kissed Jasper on the cheek and headed out the door. I heard them all say to tell Bella thank you and then Edward went in on what happened earlier. I knew the receptionist was at her final days at Cullen Construction.

EDPOV

We had been working all week long on plans for this new mall in Japan. We were used to dealing with the Japanese but this client knew what he wanted. It was going to be expensive but in his eyes worth the money.

I went out to the reception area and was surprised to see Alice sitting there. I smiled at her and asked what she was doing. She told me she had been there an hour and was getting ready to leave. It angered me that she was kept waiting. I turned around to our receptionist and glared at her. I leaned in and whispered so Alice could not hear.

"From now on you will let anyone of us know who is waiting for us. Alice is not only a friend but a family member. "I went on to tell her that her job was on the line. This was not the first time she had pulled this. I gave her a list of people that were to be allowed in even if hell had frozen over.

I went over to Alice and picked up the picnic basket. I slowly walked her to the conference room. I wanted to let her know that it was not her at all that the receptionist was a bitch.

"Alice I am sorry you had to wait so long. This is not the first time she has done this to someone that peaked Jasper's interest. She has been after him for a long time and this was the last time she would do this. Believe me Jasper has had other women in his life but I have never seen him act this way before. He loves you and would do anything for you." I smiled at her again and opened the door to the conference room.

Mom was happy to see her as was the rest of the family. Jasper nearly hopped out of his chair and planted a sweet kiss on her lips. Dad cleared his throat and they broke apart. We all laughed and they joined in.

Alice explained that Jasper had told her of our busy week. She told Bella about it while they were working on the Palmer wedding late one night. She told us that Bella made us lunch and she was the delivery girl. I held up the huge basket to show just how much she packed for us.

She pulled out so much food but we were all happy to see it. Even the bottomless pit Emmett was happy to see real food. Dad rolled up the plans and we set down to enjoy Bella's creations. Mom asked Alice to stay but she said she was kept to long and had business to attend to. Her cell phone rang and she finished her call. She was so nice when she apologized for taking the call but she had to go. She kissed Jasper once again and was gone. We all enjoyed the food. Bella had made us a feast Saturday night but even her simple cooking was good. Rosalie was happy to see the brownies. Her cravings were not much but at that moment she gave into a brownie.

"Son just what happened out there?" Dad spoke up as he put his sandwich down.

"That witch out there kept her waiting for an hour. She was getting up to leave when I came out with the appointment book. I said some not nice words and gave her a list of people to let in. I am sorry I over stepped my bounds but when I saw the look on Alice's face the ass came out again." I sat there looking at everyone.

"It is ok. It is not the first time she has done that. I think it is time to find a new receptionist. I won't put up with that kind of behavior from any employee." We all agreed and the decision was made to terminate her that day.

We cleaned from lunch and I told them I would take the basket back. Everyone headed to their offices as each had meetings to deal with for this project. I headed back to my office and hoped that a certain someone would be online. It was early but my heart hoped that she would take a break and be online. I heard the ding and my heart jumped out of my chest into my throat.

Edward: Hello princess how is your day going? I have missed our little chats.

Bella: Hi! I have missed our chats too. I am sorry but work has kept me busy. My day is going ok considering all the work that is left to do.

Edward: Please don't apologize work has been busy here too! I logged on Saturday night and was sad not see you online.

Bella: I had a private party to cater and the boss needed extra help. We must have missed each other because I logged on too. I needed someone to talk to. I love my best friend but she has never gone through what I have been through.

Edward: I am here to listen if you want to talk.

We spent the next hour talking back and forth. Bella talked how she felt like a wallflower. She said that she never had felt love like those at the party. Everyone at the party was with someone but her. She couldn't deal with all the happiness even though she was glad to see it. She said a friend tried to help but all she could do was hold back the tears. I felt horrible for her. I never knew that she felt like this. I so wanted to tell her I was that friend and I just wanted to make her feel loved. She looked breathtaking that night. I just wanted to keep dancing all night and breathe her in. I wanted to feel her lips on mine and taste her sweetness. How was I going to tell her how I felt without her running away screaming? She said we were friends but I had a lot to prove to her. I think it was time to bring everyone in on this secret that I had been holding for to long.