I don't own these characters. They are the sole property of Stephenie Meyer. I only borrow them. No humans are permanently harmed through my actions, though I do confess to harassing, annoying, torturing, and exasperating them – just because it's fun. I make no money from my little stories, sad day. I only play in the sandbox, I didn't build it.

Chapter 53: Called Out, the Encore

It actually didn't take Bella long to regain her composure. Eventually, she emerged from the bathroom, saw Sam standing anxiously next to me and gave him a big hug. "Thank you," she said, kissing his cheek.

Then she gave me a hug too, and a kiss, on the mouth and not the cheek. "And thank you," she added. She leaned in close. "I love you." Simple words, really. Not such a simple feeling.

No one said anything about Bella disappearing, though I did notice that other boys giving her some concerned looks. Eventually, though, they saw that she really was okay and we resumed watching the movie, sort of. I let it play in the background while I presented Bella with her other gift.

I had come to the conclusion that buying gifts for a woman like Bella was both a relief and a challenge. It was a relief because I knew she would truly appreciate any gift that was given to her. She wasn't picky or demanding. It was a challenge because Bella didn't have a lot of "stuff" that she wanted. She was a very contented person who didn't seem to need things to make her happy.

So, what to buy for the woman who didn't have everything but really didn't care if she did or not? I could only come up with one answer, and that was a little pampering. Bella didn't want stuff, but surely she deserved a little pampering. I nudged Seth and gave him the envelope. Alice started beaming because she knew the contents of the envelope.

"And there's one last thing, Bella," I said, motioning Seth forward. He handed it to her and gave her a quick hug.

She looked at me and I just shrugged, like my heart wasn't pounding away. It felt good to give her things. I wasn't a rich man, but I had enough to make sure she got spoiled just a little.

Opening the envelope, she read the piece of paper inside. "Bella James and two guests….?" She looked at me.

"I figured that Alyssa will be here by that time and you seemed to hit it off with her," I answered. "But you're free to take Masen if you want." I grinned at her.

She laughed and shook her head. "A full day? At the spa?" Bella asked.

"Massages, facials, pedicures, manicures, the works," I replied with a nod. "Alice gave me a list and I followed it." Alice grinned at Bella. "Alice is going with you too."

"Unless you'd rather take me," Jasper offered, batting his lashes.

"Tempting, Whitlock, but no thanks," Bella answered.

"Yeah, you don't want to see Whitlock waxed," I said with a shudder.

"A limo?" Bella asked.

"Well, a driver anyway, not sure if it's an actual limo or not," I said. "But that way you ladies can have all the champagne you want."

"And lunch out?"

"Actually, lunch in," I said. "It's being delivered so you don't have to leave the spa."

"And the boys?" Bella's expression was amused and impressed. That's right, Bella. I want to take care of you, baby. Let me do this. You don't have to do it all alone anymore.

"Well, Jasper and I will watch the kids. Oh, and Masen too." I had to smile at that. "He just doesn't know it yet."

Bella laughed and shook her head. "Well look at you, multitasking and everything. Giving me a wonderful day out and getting back at your brother in one fell swoop."

I shrugged. "What can I say? I'm a multitasking kind of guy."

She threw her arms around me. "You're a perfect kind of guy is what you are," she whispered.

The party started to wind down. I told Bella to sit down while the boys and I started to clean up. Alice and Jasper helped. Then Jasper told Alice to sit down and talk to Bella and the rest of us finished the job. The kids disappeared but it didn't matter. We had it under control.

Jasper and I were in the kitchen and I was wiping off the counters while he put stuff up in the refrigerator. "So…you and Bella are pretty serious, huh?" he asked out of the blue.

I turned to look at him in surprise. Not because he'd guessed, but because I had thought that much was pretty obvious. I shrugged. "Yeah," I answered. "Very serious. I want to marry her." There I was, throwing around the "M" word again and it didn't even make my stomach clench. Then I wanted to kick myself. I should have said that to Bella first, not Jasper. Oh well, I'd make that right soon.

"Yeah, I figured," Jasper drawled. "You've got that look all over your face. You've been separated from the herd and there's a brand on your ass."

"Nice," I muttered.

Jasper shrugged. "You know what I mean, you belong to that little lady like you were gift-wrapped and delivered."

I couldn't very well argue with the truth.

"I always figured you for the marrying kind," Whitlock continued. Now that did surprise me.

"What?"

He grinned at me. "You heard me. You were just waiting for the right woman," he said. "Though you didn't have to search quite so much," Whitlock teased.

I shrugged, not really wanting to talk about my past exploits. I wasn't ashamed exactly, but I certainly wasn't proud.

"And you're really leaving the Army in April?" Jasper pressed.

"Yep," I told him with an emphatic nod. "I can't put her through that. Besides, I'd already been thinking that way. Meeting Bella just solidified it for me."

"Bella told Alice that you were thinking about opening a bar?" Jasper asked. It sounded like more than idle curiosity.

"Yeah, I mean, that's the plan," I said. "I've been putting together a list of properties and taking a look at my cash situation." I finished wiping off the counter and gave him my full attention. "I'm not rich, but I've been very careful with my money over the years."

Jasper looked kind of fidgety, which was unusual. Jasper was the poster child for "calm, cool, and collected." When he wasn't belting out Elvis tunes that was. "Alice and I have been talking too," he said.

"Oh yeah? About what?"

Jasper looked at me. "She wants me out too," he said in a low voice. "I'm due to deploy if I re-up and Alice…" He shook his head. "She's not happy about it, says she's had enough." He had already deployed twice.

"So…how do you feel about that?" Jasper's dream, even as a teenager growing up in Texas, had been to join the military. It had been his ticket out of a messy existence, a way into what he saw as normalcy and a respectable life. I had figured him for a thirty-year man.

He sighed and shook his head, sticking his hands in pockets. "If you had asked me that a year ago I would have said I couldn't picture myself living any other way."

"And now?"

"Well now…" He shrugged. "Now I'm thinking that a forty year old man needs to be home with his family and not off tromping around a desert getting his ass shot at." He grinned at me. "Besides, I can't run as fast as I used to, so I make an easier target." He sighed. "And with my luck I'd get my nuts shot off and then Alice really would be pissed."

I had to laugh because Jasper had always had a colorful way of phrasing things.

"So where does that leave you?"

"My time runs out in the spring, same as yours," Jasper said.

"What do you want to do?"

He shook his head. "I dunno," he admitted. "Alice likes it here, so we'll probably put down permanent roots if I can find work." Neither one of them had any family to go back to. Alice's parents were dead and Jasper's were useless. He grimaced. "I hate the thought of a cubicle, man. I've done that shit for the Army and I want something…more." He tapped at his chest and I knew what he was looking for.

"I thought you quit," I reminded him. He had been a two pack a day smoker until two years ago when a persistent case of pneumonia had scared Alice. She had read him the riot act until he quit. His emails had been bitchy and whiny for six months. I was glad when he finally seemed to kick the habit for good.

Jasper grimaced. "Yeah, sonuva bitch, I did." His Texas was showing through more, as it usually did when he was drunk or stressed. He wasn't drunk. "I just hate the thought of some office job."

I nodded. It wasn't what I wanted either. That's why the bar had appealed to me so much. Being my own boss after twenty years of taking orders? Nothing wrong with that as far as I could see. Yeah, it would mean everything rested on my shoulders, but that was okay. It wasn't like I had many options that I liked as far as that was concerned. That was part of being my own boss, being the place where the buck stopped. I looked at Jasper. Or maybe I did have another option. A wild idea came to me, a wild and crazy idea that seemed like it just might work.

"Okay, I'm going to put something out there, Whitlock. You can take it or leave it, and I fully expect that you'll want to sit down with Alice and hash it out so don't feel like you need to give me an answer now," I said. Jasper gave me a curious look. "Well, I want to open a bar, right? I want it to be a place where guys like you and me would be comfortable. You know the kind of place." He nodded. We had been to hundreds of just such places during the years we had known each other. "So…what if we opened it together…as partners?"

"Partners?"

"Well, we'll both have retirement coming in to offset not getting an income for a while," I said. "And I know how tight you are with a buck, Whitlock. You can make Scrooge look like a drunken sailor on leave when it comes to spending money." He didn't deny it. "So I'm sure you've got some savings just like I do. You said yourself you don't want an office job. A bar is about as far from an office as you can get." The more I thought about it, the more enthusiastic I became. "You're smart, despite all general appearances." He shot me the bird. "I can email you a list of the properties I'm looking it, the list of projected start up costs, licensing and all that shit. Take a look at it, talk it over with Alice and think about it. If the answer's no, then no hard feelings, man. I'm just putting it out there."

Jasper was about to say something when we heard a female voice say, "Send it over and I'll take a look at it." Alice was looking at us expectantly; Bella was beside her. Alice must have seen the surprise on my face and she rolled her eyes. "What? I do have a business degree you idiot. I'd like to see the numbers." She shrugged. "For now, it sounds….really good. Great actually." She looked at Jasper. "It might be just the opportunity we've been looking for, and Cullen will probably manage not to bankrupt us."

"Thanks," I said dryly.

"Isn't your brother some sort of advertising genius?" Bella asked, looking at Alice. I had a feeling that they were already ten steps ahead of me.

"Yeah," I answered carefully. "Something like that."

Alice and Bella looked at each other again. Whitlock and I just sort of stood there like lumps. Finally, Alice sighed. "Well…don't you think a brand new business trying to get a good start would benefit from some really great advertising?" she asked pointedly.

Oh. Yeah. She was right. Strangely, it hadn't occurred to me to ask my brother for help. I guessed I just wasn't used to the idea of him living close by just yet. But in three days, he'd be here – for good. Alice was right. I had a built-in advertising genius. I would never tell him that I knew he was an advertising genius, but I recognized his talent. It was just wrapped up in a very annoying little brother.

"You're right," I murmured. Now I just had to think of way to ask Masen for a favor that didn't seem like I was actually asking him for a favor. That was easier said than done, damn it.

Whitlock opened my fridge and grabbed four beers, handing them out. When we all just stared at him, he grinned at us and held up his bottle. "To possibilities," he said. We all toasted that.

I looked at Bella and saw her eyes were on me. A secretive little smile tugged at her lips. I knew that the toast meant a lot more than just business opportunities. We were toasting a very bright future.

~TBTA~

Since Bella had not been able to claim her TRCC (total remote control control) power on her actual birthday, the boys and I decided that it would only be fair to let her control the television on Sunday. She told us graciously that yesterday had counted for her food choices, but that there was no way she was giving up TRCC. With much muttering and scowling, the boys settled on the couch for a day of Lifetime movies.

Bella did not disappoint.

I had no idea that so many movies had been made about women being abused by men. I didn't really see why a channel "for women" would show so many depressing movies showing women as victims. Bella just laughed at me when I asked her about it.

Then we snuck off to the closet for a little clandestine groping and Bella got handsy. My dick and I celebrated. I worried that the boys might have noticed were gone, but they were still in a Lifetime induced coma when we came back downstairs, flushed but satisfied.

~TBTA~

Tuesday morning, I drove by Masen's house on my way to work. I wasn't sure what time they would arrive, but I knew it would be late. I wasn't taking any time off of work just yet, but I'd be there when I could to help. Alyssa had already assured me that she would rather do the unpacking herself. "I want to be able to find my things," she had said.

I could understand that. Really, who wanted a bunch of people pawing through your stuff anyway?

They still weren't there.

On Saturday morning, Bella and I were heading off for our weekend. I still didn't know where we were going. That was a closely guarded secret. I was still as excited about the idea of getting away as I had been. It might not be our first time having sex (or even our third) but we would have sex. We would be alone. I had already decided that I would make my intentions crystal clear with Bella during our weekend. I would tell her that I wanted marriage, a mortgage, and Xbox controllers in my couch cushions.

So this weekend would be an important one, even aside from the sex.

Truthfully, I was dying to get reacquainted with Bella's body. My dick concurred.

I just had to get through the next four days, including this one. I saw a lot of cold showers in my future, though I had to admit that the case of blue balls was much improved. I hadn't even had to abuse myself in…two days. Yep, two days. Another record.

Around five in the evening, I got a text from Masen telling me that they were in the new house but that they were just going to order some pizza and crash. I texted him back, letting him know I'd catch up with him later.

I got out of work fairly early that night and I went to Bella's house. To my surprise, Emmett pulled me aside and asked if he could talk to me. Feeling a bit anxious, I agreed.

We went out back and he firmly closed the sliding glass doors against prying ears. He shoved his hands in his pockets and hunched his shoulders, typical Emmett posture when he had something to say. I just waited.

"I…I uh wanted to say thanks for doing the movie thing for my mom," he finally said, not looking up. "It was good."

"Yeah, I thought so too," I agreed with a smile.

Emmett didn't move. He didn't speak. I stayed where I was. Something else was coming, but I just wasn't sure what. "Sam and Seth and I talked about it and…" he sighed and the shoulders hunched more. A little scowl appeared on his face and he seemed to struggle with whatever was coming next. "We wanted you to know that we appreciate how you're handling uh…well, how you don't mind us talking about Dad or stuff like that." The scowl deepened and he sort of kicked at the ground. I noticed that Jake hadn't been included in their discussion and that was bad news for me. He was my champion.

Finally, blue eyes flashed up to meet mine. God, the kid looked like his father.

"Yeah, well, you should know I appreciate how you're letting me become a part of the family."

Emmett nodded thoughtfully, biting at his lower lip, still frowning at his feet. "So…uh…we were kind of wondering if…" He stopped and ran a hand through his hair, the curls sticking up like crazy around his head. His hair was dark like Mac's, but curled like Bella's. "We were wondering if you were going to do that? Be a member of the family, I mean." Instead of a fleeting glance, the blue eyes locked with mine. He was waiting, and he would weigh my answer.

I mirrored his stance, one hand in my pocket. I took my time answering, mostly so I didn't screw it up. I was startled by the sliding glass door sliding open and Bella stepped out, glancing curiously between us.

"What's up guys?"

"Emmett and I were talking," I answered. I was leaving the question of allowing his mother into this conversation up to him. He had some things to say and he wanted some answers. "Emmett?"

He looked at his mom and nodded. "Yeah. I just was asking some questions."

"Oh," Bella answered. "Do you want me to leave you two alone?"

There it was again, one of the reasons I loved Bella so much. She gave her boys space when they needed it. She held them close when that was what was called for too. She walked that fine line between loving and smothering.

"Nah, it's cool," Emmett said. Then he took a deep breath. "So…" Emmett began and then looked at me. "I know you said you're 'keeping' Jake." He looked at his mother and then back at me. "What does that mean…exactly?"

I swallowed hard and looked at Bella like this was a pop quiz and I didn't have the answers. She just stared back at me, wide-eyed. We had been expecting it, I guess, but not now. Not yet. Not today.

Then the door slid open again and there was Jake. Well it was just a party now.

To stall, I repeated Emmett's question. "You want to know what I mean when I say I'm keeping Jake?" Oldest delay technique in the book, but it was a classic for a reason. It worked. Jake looked up at me, grabbing my hand. Emmett nodded impatiently.

"So what does that mean?" Emmett pressed.

"It means he's keeping me," Jake answered for me with an emphatic nod. The "duh" remained unspoken.

"But what does that mean about us?" Emmett persisted.

Jake shook his head. "We didn't say nothing about him keeping you."

Emmett ignored his brother and kept his eyes on me. "So… what exactly are you saying when you tell Jake you're going to keep him?"

I cleared my throat. We had just been talking about this a week ago. But I wouldn't say anything without her permission. Besides, I had kind of wanted to start my "M" word discussion with her alone. However, it seemed like I was going to have to take the plunge now. Okay then.

I looked at Bella and she nodded. I had noticed we were starting to get the hang of that silent communication thing that couples do. "Well, Emmett, it means that I've made a promise to stay in his life – and yours."

Emmett nodded. "And my mom?"

I reached out and took her hand. "And your mom's life."

"In what way?" Emmett pressed. Shit, the kid should be a reporter. "Specifically," he added pointedly.

"It means that eventually…" Bella cleared her throat and shot a glance at me. I nodded. "It means that eventually we'll be a family…the six of us."

"So, you're talking marriage?" Emmett asked me, crossing his thick arms over his massive chest. I was starting to think the kid could take me in a fight if he could catch me off guard.

I paused a moment. Might as well go for it, it was where we were heading anyway. Not yet, but the destination was inevitable – not that I minded in the least. Yes, I had wanted to talk about this with Bella first, to tell her what I hoped for our future. Instead, I had been called out yet again. It was one of the hazards of dating a woman with kids who were old enough to know the score. Maybe it was better this way. "Yes, Emmett, we're talking marriage." Bella's hand closed around mine. Somehow, it felt like I had proposed and Bella had said yes. I was still going to give her that proposal, and make it as romantic as I could, but I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders.

Just then Sam and Seth walked out and I figured it was better to get it all out in the open with all of them at once. They needed to know the truth. No more guessing, no more games. Wasn't that one of the things I loved so much about my relationship with Bella? Did the boys deserve any less? I looked at Sam and Seth. "Yes, I want to marry your mother."

There. I couldn't be any plainer than that.

"So you're talking marriage?" Emmett wanted to confirm. I repressed a sigh. Hadn't I just said that?

"Not literally talking marriage just yet. We haven't set a date or anything. Haven't really thought that are ahead yet. If we had, we would have told you. However, I think it's fair to say that Edward and I both understand that that's where we're going," Bella said quietly. "Edward and I are at a point in our lives when we'd like to have some happiness." She smiled at her boys. "Not that all of you don't make me happy. You do, but one day you'll be gone and off leading your own lives. And that's how it should be. That's what I want for you, and it's my job to prepare you for that." She squeezed my hand. "But Edward, he'll be part of me leading my own life. And that means we'll all be a family."

I expected complains and protests. Instead, Emmett just looked at Sam and Seth. After a moment's pause, they both nodded at him. "Okay then," Emmett said. "Just so we're clear." I was reminded of Charlie. Then he narrowed his eyes. "But when you two are actually talking about doing this, we think we should be the first to know."

"I think so too," I told him. "And I promise you will be. We won't throw any surprises your way."

Emmett sort of smirked. "Yeah well, too late for that," he said and a flash of the man he would one day be came through. Once more he studied his brothers. "All right then, that's all we wanted to know."

I found myself taking a deep breath. I stood there on shaky knees. The boys gave us all one last look and nodded, then went inside, leaving me alone with Bella. I grabbed her and I did a little pushing against the wall this time once I figured the boys were out of sight. If the little moan she gave was any indication, she didn't mind a bit. I kissed her, long and hard and there was plenty of tongue. I cupped her ass and ground her against my dick just a little.

"I'm incredibly turned on right now," I confessed when we came up for air.

"Me too," she admitted, just as breathless. That did my ego good.

I laughed and cupped her face in my hands. "And here I thought the biggest thing to happen to day would be my brother moving into town."

She giggled. "Just goes to show you, we can always surprise you."

"Oh baby, you've surprised the hell out of me since the day I first laid eyes on you."