A/N: I don't own Twilight or its characters; they belong to Stephanie Meyer. I do not own any publicly recognizable entities herein. No copyright infringement is intended.

Edward pov:

"Dad, leave the glasses. There was something I wanted to tell you today as well."

I nodded and sat again as my stomach tightened. Did he know something about Bella and me? My hand gripped Bella's thigh under the table, and Bella rested her hand on mine, a little tighter than before.

"Go on," I asked cautiously.

"Ummm … Mom." Jake coughed as if the word was new to him. It did sound foreign in his voice. He never mentioned his mom.

"Your Mom?" My voice sounded gravelly as Bella tensed next to me, and I squeezed her thigh again to try and wordlessly reassure her, or me, I wasn't sure which.

"Yeah. Her and Tanya, they're both coming to the wedding."

I paused, swallowed, and tried to keep my expression neutral. Kate and Tanya would be at the wedding, and I'd be seeing my ex and her wife in less than a week's time.

I didn't know why I was surprised by this news. I knew it was a possibility, but I hadn't let my mind actually think about seeing Kate again, let alone with Tanya, too.

Jake was studying my reaction, so I tried to keep my voice light and confident when I replied. "They're both coming? That's great news, Jake. I'm pleased for you." I smiled, but it felt tight, and I know Jake saw it too.

"Really?" He sounded less sure than me.

"Of course." I stood. Right now, Jake needed my reassurance, and it was hard to give him that when my mind was racing over this news.

Still, I tried. Jake stood for my proffered hug, and I attempted to reassure him like I had a hundred times in the past, except this whole situation would take more emotional reassurance than the scraped knees and bruised ego's he'd suffered in the past.

"Son, of course, this is good news. Whatever your relationship is now…" Jake scoffed, but I kept talking, "Jake, she's your mom. You'd regret it if you didn't have her at your own wedding."

"Like she regrets hardly being there for me for over twenty years?" His voice was now quieter.

I sighed, the anger and sadness in his voice made me want to hug him closer, but instead, I pulled back and held his shoulders, making him look me in the eyes.

"I'm sure she does regret that," I told him sincerely. "Kid, I'm pleased she's making an effort for you."

"I just don't want you to feel betrayed, Dad. You've been my…everything while I only see her every few years."

I closed my eyes, feeling so sad that Jake felt that way. It made me feel that I'd failed him. I wasn't enough for Kate to stay, and I'd never found anyone else to be a mother figure for him.

Double failure.

I needed to hide my feelings, but I wasn't sure Jake would have noticed anyway, he was too busy trying to reassure me as he continued talking.

"They won't be at the top table, but I think they want to come to the rehearsal dinner and stay at the hotel."

"Jacob! It's fine. I promise! We're all grown-ups, and everything that happened was a long time ago." I ran my hands through my hair, catching Bella's eye as I did so.

"Okay, well, I wanted you to know now so you can get your head around this. You know I wouldn't mind if you changed your mind about your plus one now!" He elbowed me, no doubt trying to add some humor to this situation.

Jacob was only half-joking, but I shook my head.

I scoffed. "Don't worry about me. I haven't seen your mother face-to-face in years; I don't think she's going to be too concerned with who I do or don't bring to your wedding."

Jacob shrugged. "I guess it doesn't matter too much, given she's more likely to be attracted to Bella than you!"

Bella gave a tight laugh. "Can you imagine!" She joked as Nessie looked horrified at the thought of her mom with one of Jake's parents.

That did not bode well.

Bella looked at me horror-struck, and I wondered how this afternoon descended from the high of giving the kids a honeymoon, to the craziness of the last few minutes.

It wasn't long after that we cleared the table, and I boxed up some leftover meatloaf for the kids to take home.

I walked them to the door as they were leaving, Bella one step behind me.

"Mom, are you coming?" Nessie asked as she slipped on her boots.

"Oh..."

"Bella, if you can wait a few minutes, I'll pack you some leftovers too. I eat at the restaurant, so I don't want the food to go to waste."

"Oh, sure. Thanks, Edward. I can wait." Bella turned back to Nessie with a shrug. "You go ahead. I'll see you soon for your wedding!"

Nessie squealed and hugged Bella goodbye, as the kids finally left.

I thought the second Bella and I were alone I'd be working on removing all her clothes as quickly as humanly possible, but today had been surprisingly difficult, and I was feeling a mixture of emotions. I leaned back on the closed front door, and Bella approached me. As she leaned in for a hug, I rested my chin on her head and sighed.

"How are you feeling?" she asked as I stroked through her hair, calming myself as I tried to process my emotions.

"Honestly, I don't know. I feel like we're deceiving the kids. And the whole Kate thing…" I let out a long sigh. "I knew when Jake got engaged, I'd have to see her at the wedding, but until now, it wasn't a reality."

Bella wriggled her hand under my shirt and stroked my bare back as I continued to hold her close to me.

"We used to have more contact, for Jake obviously, but as he's aged, he's maintained his own relationship with her."

"So how much contact do you have with her now?" I felt Bella tense at her own words, so all I could do was hold her body even closer to mine.

"None. They live in Boston, so for them to see Jake takes a lot of planning. The last time they came to Seattle was for Jake's graduation, and the last time he flew there was for their wedding, which was about six years ago. Jake keeps in touch with them but no longer needs me to facilitate that for him, so I haven't spoken to her in years."

Bella nodded as I continued.

"Maybe I should have forgiven Kate sooner and involved her more in Jake's life, but honestly… she left me with a one-year-old and a promise to return … and never did." I felt Bella kiss my chest before she flattened her palms on my back and hugged me even closer.

"Edward…"

I gently pushed away from our hug, not wanting to show Bella how affected I was. "It's fine." I ran my hands through my hair as Bella straightened and looked at me. "It's old news now. I'm pleased she's making an effort for Jake."

"It's okay if you're unsure…"

"Really. I'm fine. Do you want another drink?" I asked, walking down the corridor to the kitchen as she followed.

"Sure."

When I reached the kitchen, I clicked on the kettle. "I'm sorry." I turned to her and leaned against the kitchen counter.

"Why are you sorry?"

"I just feel like a jerk going on about how it feels to have Jake's mom coming to the wedding, knowing full well Vanessa's dad can't be there."

Bella nodded. "I know, but Nessie and I have made peace with that. This is different; you seem rattled by this news."

I scoffed. "Yeah." I ran a hand through my hair. "I don't know why I'm feeling like this; maybe it's because I wish I could introduce her to this smart, funny, beautiful woman I've started dating…" I edged close to Bella, my hands finding her hips as I pulled her to me in what was becoming a familiar move.

"Hah!" She laughed, her palms stroking up my forearms. "Way to change the subject!"

"I just want to enjoy my time with you and not think about my ex."

Bella nodded. "Fair enough. In that case, I will thank you for being the one to arrange Nessie's limo; I had no idea that was you." She edged closer to me as she spoke.

I shrugged. "Yeah, just something to make the day more special…" I didn't finish my sentence as Bella's lips crashed into mine.

My hands found her ass automatically, and I didn't even remember picking her up and resting her on the kitchen worktop. But I must have done it because I was now standing between her parted legs as we both edged our bodies closer and closer moaning as we did so. Her hands found their way under my shirt and onto my chest, as mine were in her hair, holding her face close to mine.

"Stay," I whispered into her mouth.

I felt her body tense as she withdrew slightly to look into my eyes.

"Stay here tonight," I repeated, trying to keep the pleading tone out of my voice, but, damn, I was desperate to finally share my bed with her … to see her on the pillow next to me, to wake up to her in the morning. And, in the hours in between, we'd be doing everything but sleeping.

Bella looked intently into my eyes as she grinned widely before she nodded and returned her lips to mine.

A/N: Thanks to my great team of people willing to help with this story. Frannie Walsh, ChristyWIX, RebAdams, Heather Stack Riggs and Julie Gotcha Dodge have giving up their time to beta and pre-read for this chapter. Any mistakes are my own because I constantly edit this story.

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