A/N All Twilight character's belong to Stephenie Meyer

Soo sorry its been long since the last update..quite honestly I'm struggling with the ending...there's one more chapter after this and the epilogue...but anywhoo...here you go. new chapter. enjoy : )

Bella

"The Omega quadrant? LAME!"

"Avery, please turn that down." I ran my fingers through my hair then closed my eyes and rubbed my temple. My head hurt, I was wallowing in a sea of newspaper, and the dog would not stop barking. Add that to the screaming television and a cackling Avery, I was ready to swallow a bottle of Advil and sleep for a week.

Embry had been at practice every day, all day. I had been at home unpacking for the last…god how long had I been unpacking? I scratched my head. However long it'd been, it had been too long. It seemed like things were arriving from Florida every day. We'd been in Boston for two weeks, and it had taken two weeks for all the stuff to get here. Apparently, there was more than on family named Black in Boston who had moved from Florida; they got our stuff and we got nothing, so they sent our things back to Florida, and here we were, two weeks later, still waiting for our things.

Embry had said not to worry about it, that we could just buy new things, but I didn't want new things, I wanted my things. Not to mention the fact that he'd done so much for me, and for Avery. When we arrived in Boston two weeks ago, he picked us up from the airport with smiles and kisses. It felt like coming home, seeing him standing there waiting for us.

"Are you ready to go see your new home?" he asked Avery who nodded.

We had told him the truth about Embry being his father with the help of our therapists as well as a child psychologist who worked in Liam's office. The child psychologist, a man by the name of Stefan who had jet-black hair and an indistinct accent, looked like a big kid himself. He had an easygoing nature and always seemed to have the most popular action figure in his shirt pocket. When he came into the room, he pulled out The Missing Link from Monsters vs. Aliens and showed it to Avery.

"Do you know who this is?" he asked with a clipped accent.

Avery nodded excitedly. "That's The Missing Link," he told Stefan. "From the monsters and aliens movie. I like B.O.B the best. He's funny. So is Dr. Cockroach."

"B.O.B is pretty awesome," he told Avery. "Do you want to play with Link for a little while? You can play with him, and we can talk."

Avery nodded and took the action figure from Stefan. "What do you want to talk about?" he asked, moving Links arms up and down.

"Well, your mom told me you're going to be moving to Boston. Is that true?"

Avery nodded and made the action figure do what looked like the robot. Its fishy arms moved stiffly up and down.

"How do you feel about moving?"

Avery glanced up, his gaze meeting mine. I nodded briefly and he looked back to Stefan. "Well at first I was mad because my mommy said we had to leave my daddy here, but I wanted to take him to Boston with us."

"That makes sense. Are you okay now though? Is it okay with you that you have to leave your dad here?"

Avery shrugged. "I think it stinks he can't come to Boston but I guess it's alright. Embry says that he's in heaven and that he's okay. Why are you asking me all these questions?"

"Well," Stefan said kindly. "Your mom and Embry brought you here today because they have to tell you something, something important and they are worried what they have to tell you is going to upset you."

"So maybe they shouldn't tell me then," Avery said.

Stefan chuckled. "I wish it worked like that, but if they don't tell you now, then when they tell you later it might really make you angry."

Avery shrugged again and continued playing with The Missing Link. "Mommy," he said looking up at me. "Can we get chicken nuggets after we leave?"

"Sure thing Monster, but first we have to do this okay."

"Okay. What are you going to tell me?"

"Your mom tells me there's a boy in your class who has two dads, is that right."

"Yup."

"Do you know why he has two dads?"

"Yup."

"Can you tell me?"

"His mom had a baby, Nick says her name is "the," he lowered his voice conspiratorially and said in a hushed whisper, "damn mistake." Then his mom and dad got divorced because his dad doesn't like the baby. Then Nick's mom found him a new dad. His name is Peter. Nick says he's cool because he buys him matchbox cars all the time. Nick's mom and Peter got married and now Peter is Nick's new dad."

"So Peter is Nick's step-dad?"

"I guess that's what they call it, but Nick doesn't have to call him dad. He calls him Peter."

"How would you feel if you found out you had another dad? Would that make you happy or sad or angry?"

Avery shrugged; he gazed at the floor as he thought about Stefan's question. "I think it would be okay," he said slowly. "As long as he was nice and not mean to me or my mom. And he'd have to be nice to Duke too, or else Duke would bite him and that wouldn't be nice."

Stefan nodded in agreement. "What about Embry? Would he be a good dad?"

Avery glanced up in Embry's direction and smiled. "Embry's cool. He plays games with me and he teaches me stuff. I like Embry." Avery leaned in closer to Stefan and said, "And he makes my mom happy. She smiles and laughs whenever he's around. I like him. And she likes him."

"But would he be a good dad?"

"I guess so."

"Okay, well that's good to hear. Now here comes the hard part. You ready?"

Avery shrugged. "I guess so."

I held my breath and felt like I was wrong for letting a total stranger do this. I got up and went to sit down beside Avery. "I can do this," I said.

Stefan leaned back and let me take the conversation. "Back when I had you, when I was pregnant with you, I was dating your dad and Embry went to school in Gainesville. Before I dated your dad, I dated Embry. You understand so far?"

Avery nodded. "You dated Embry then you dated daddy, right?"

I nodded. "Right. Well, here's the thing Monster. Like Nick, you have, well had, two dads. Daddy was your step-dad, like Nick's step-dad, Peter, and Embry is your other dad. Do you still understand?"

Avery was quiet for a minute, probably absorbing all the information that had just been presented to him. Finally, he said, "So, Embry is my dad too?"

I nodded.

"Oh, okay. Can I go play over there?" he asked pointed toward a toy box in the corner.

I nodded, dumbfound. "Yeah baby, go on and go play."

He'd taken the information much better than I thought he would, though why I was surprised I don't know. Embry had been around pretty much since Jake died, he just sort of fell into the role of surrogate dad to Avery, it shouldn't have been such a surprise.

Yet it was.

I waited, for a few days after we told him, for him to freak out or just start acting differently, but nothing changed. He behaved the same way, treated Embry the same way, and was acting just fine. So I let it go. If he had a meltdown over the news, we'd deal with it when the time came.

Then we packed up a few things and left for Boston.

And here we were now.

I looked around the kitchen, sighing to myself. I was never going to be finished unpacking. The task just seemed…impossible and daunting. I let the sheaf of newspaper in my hand drift to the floor. It settled on top of the sea of newspaper softly and without sound. I went to the fridge and pulled it open, reaching inside for a can of soda. I took the crisp can and carried it to the counter, gazing out the window as the afternoon sun glittered gold on the bay. The view was astounding, something I'd never get sick of, I could stare at it for hours, days even.

The house was just as, maybe even more so, astounding. It was old like Embry said, but beautifully restored and just huge. There was more room than I knew what to do with. When you drove up the winding driveway, you were faced with a giant white house that sat on a small hill. Up the front steps and through the front door was the foyer. To the immediate left was a closet; to the right was another closet, the white doors brilliant, their brass knobs gleaming. In front of me was the staircase leading to the second floor. A hallway ran alongside the staircase, it led to the kitchen and the dining room, which sat on the back, left hand side of the house.

A short hallway led to the garage and mudroom, and another staircase leading upstairs. When questioned about its purpose, Embry explained that it was the servant staircase that it led to what used to the servants quarters. Now though, it led to just outside our bedroom door, and another staircase leading to the third floor.

On the right side of the house, down the maple floored hall and creamy ivory painted walls, was a family room, sitting room and a study. The colors and flooring were simple neutral colors, they were somewhat cold, and I made plans to repaint as soon as possible.

Upstairs were four bedrooms, the master suite, and a couple of bathrooms. Avery's room was at one end of the house, ours was at the other. On his side, Avery had his room, painted pale green and furnished with a set of bunk beds that just had the top bunk. He had a desk in one corner, a beanbag chair in the other, a small TV set sat in an alcove on the wall, a PS3 on a shelf just below it.

Along one wall were three doors. One led to a closet, one led to a bathroom, and one led to his playroom. The playroom was insane. Every toy that a boy his age could want was in it. Transformers, remote control cars, something I'd never heard of called Bakugan. It was insane and two hours after we arrived, it was a mess and had been a mess for the last two weeks.

The master suite, however, was something Embry had ripped right out of one of my dreams. The dark wood floors gleamed; the walls were a pale blue, so pale they were almost white. The curtains were lacy, sheer, and white. And the bed, oh god the bed was beautiful, too beautiful for words. It was the same dark color as the floor, wrought iron and four tall posts. The head and footboards had intricately twisted designs that looked like twisted roots.

The whimsy continued into the bathroom. A large Jacuzzi tub sat in the middle of the room, a glass encased shower stall with two showerheads overlooked the tub. To the left was the toilet, then a vanity with two sinks. Opposite the door I walked in was another door that leads to a sitting room and a huge walk in closet.

The third floor was mostly storage space, empty rooms, and just all out creepy. I loved the house but it needed to be a more personal reflection of the three people who resided there.

Once all of our stuff gets here from Florida, I told myself, I'd redecorate then.

That night Embry came home from practice looking like he hadn't slept in a week. "They are brutal," he said with a sigh as he threw himself down on the couch beside me. On the loveseat Avery was asleep, Duke at his feet. I was watching Eliza Doolittle argue, again, with Henry Higgins. I smiled slightly as the housekeeper ushered Eliza upstairs for a bath.

"I'm sorry," I said. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

He shook his head no and sat back, staring at the TV. "What are you watching?"

"Pygmalion," I replied.

"Oh. Is it good?"

I nodded. "Are you hungry? I can go make you something to eat if you want."

"I'm alright, just tired. I think I'm going to go take a shower and then head to bed. Want me to take Avery upstairs?"

"If you can, if not I'll just wake him."

"I got it, come on. And the house looks good by the way."

"Thanks," I said as I shut the TV off.

Embry picked Avery up and carried him up the stairs; I followed behind shutting off lights as I went. In our room, I turned the lamps on and lit a couple of the candles that were scattered around. I hurried into the sitting room and grabbed the book I was reading, something about werewolves called Shiver, and quickly slipped into bed.

When Embry came in, he looked around at the flickering candles and smiled at me propped up in the bed, my brown hair free and flowing around my shoulders, tickling my skin. "You look really beautiful right now."

I smiled and set the book down, folding over the edge of the page I'd been reading. "Come here," I said, motioning the vacant side of the bed.

Embry shuffled across the room and sat down beside me. "What's up?" he asked reaching up to push a strand of hair off my shoulder.

I took a deep breath. This was it, the one last step I'd yet to take. We kissed, we snuggled in bed together, but we'd never been intimate, at least not this second time around. He'd been patient, never pushing, never asking. I knew it must have been hard. It had been hard for me. There were times when I just wanted to rip his clothes off and make him make it feel better or just make it all go away – at least for a little while. Too much time had passed, Jake was gone, he'd been gone for a while, and I'd moved on. Well, most of me had moved on and tonight, all of me was moving on. That's what moving to Boston was really about. It was about moving on and starting over.

I clasped my hands in front of me and glanced at him nervously. "I want us to take that next step," I said quickly, my heart racing in chest.

Embry's face was blank at first, and then understanding dawned in his eyes. "You mean –"

I nodded.

"Oh. Um wow, are you sure?"

Again, I nodded.

"Tonight?"

"No, not tonight. I mean it would be nice, but I understand you're tired. I just wanted to let you know that I think I'm ready for that, if you are."

He leaned forward pressing his warm lips to mine. "I love you," he murmured against my mouth his breath smelled like spearmint and doctor pepper.

"I love you too. Now go on and take a shower. I'm going to read my book."

He disappeared into the bathroom and a few seconds later the shower turned on. I smiled to myself feeling victorious.

The night came three days later. He had the afternoon off and we spent it in the backyard enjoying the last strains of summer. Night shuffled across the sky and we settled into our routine. Avery took his bath and got ready for school the following day; I made his lunch and put it in the refrigerator while Embry fed Duke. It was the clichéd picture of normalcy, I thought to myself as I stood in the kitchen observing my life. The sounds and smells were comforting, like being wrapped in your grandmother's quilt after waking from a nightmare. Embry came around the corner with the empty bag of dog food in his hand, a smile on his face.

He looked so much like the carefree kid I fell in love with all those years ago. He glanced at me, his smile widening. "You look so happy right now," he observed.

"I am happy," I replied. "Come upstairs with me." I reached for him and guided him toward the back stairs.

In our room, I shut and locked the door, my fingers fumbling with the buttons of his shirt. Embry stared at me in shock. "Stop staring and help me," I hissed.

He brushed my fingers aside and tore the shirt open then roughly grabbed the hem of my shirt and tugged it over my head. "God you're beautiful," he murmured pushing me back until the back of my knees collided with the bed and I fell back into it.

I didn't know what to expect or to feel. I closed my eyes, relishing the feel of his hands on my body. "Bella," he said softly. "Open your eyes and look at me."

I opened them slowly and gazed at him. "I love you," he said.

The pain was intense at first. I felt like a virgin all over again and I gasped in surprise. Guess that's what happens when almost two years passes without having sex.

"Am I hurting you?" he asked, stopping.

I shook my head no. "I had a baby, I can handle this. I want to do this."

Before we could continue, there was a knock at the door. "Mommy?" Avery called out. "Mommy are you in there?"

"Yes Avery. Hold on for a minute okay?"

"Can I have a snack?" he asked.

"Yes. There's yogurt in the fridge."

"Thank you."

"Your welcome."

I sighed. "Guess we probably should have waited until after he went to bed to try that, huh?"

Embry smiled and rolled over. "It's okay sweetheart, we have all night."

After we were redressed and put Avery to bed, we went downstairs to watch television. I was curled into one corner of the couch, my feet on Embry's lap, the television tuned to an episode of House. Halfway through the show, Embry turned the TV off and looked at me. "I have a question," he said.

"Oh?" I asked.

"This isn't me asking, but how do you feel about marriage?"

"Like you and I getting married?"

He nodded. I hadn't given it much thought. It was pretty much like we were already married, except without the legalities. Part of me wasn't sure if I wanted to get married again. It turned out so bad the first time around, why go and ruin a good thing.

I think I made the same argument to myself when Jake asked me to marry him. To Embry I said, "I don't have anything against marriage, but…well look what happened when Jake and I got married. He died. What happens if I marry you and the same thing happens?"

"Bella that won't happen. What happened to Jake was…well it wasn't fair but it was just something that happened. Not marrying him wouldn't have changed it."

"I know…I just…I get scared sometimes, you know, and that I'll lose you too. I mean, some people only get one love in a lifetime, I got two and then there are those people who just aren't meant to have a happily ever after. Maybe I'm one of them."

"So you'd rather be scared and keep things the way they are than to take a chance and have things work?"

"Yes," I stated. "I'm a chicken."

Embry shook his head. "Yes, that you are. What would you say if I asked?"

I shrugged. "I have no idea. Why are you planning on asking me to marry you?"

He got up and crossed the room. On the mantle was a small wooden box, I'd seen it there several times but I never opened it. I always figured it was just for decoration. Embry opened the box and reached inside cupping whatever the box contained in the palm of his hand.

He strode across the room and sank down onto his knee in front of me. "Bella," he said, slowly unfolding his fingers to reveal a gold engagement ring with a diamond so large it could feed New England for a year. "Would you do me the immense honor of marrying me?"

I stared at him, stunned. He wanted to marry me. Despite all my fears and anxieties, he was willing to take that chance.

Now only one question remained. Was I?

Reviews are better than starting over..

(Just Like) Starting Over by the ever so talented and totally amazing John Lennon

(Opening quote from Monsters vs. Aliens)