Thirty years later…

"Babe? Tell me you know where my favorite blue suit jacket is."

I smile over at my husband and shake my head. He looks so flustered running around our bedroom. "You laid it out over the back of the sofa, remember?"

He closes his eyes for a brief moment and shakes his head at himself. "How could I forget that?"

"Because you're thinking about our eighteen-year-old daughter telling you that she's following her boyfriend to NYU."

"I thought we raised her to be smarter than that!" He's yelling now and tossing his hands wildly in the air.

"Edward, it's not like he's some loser in a band and is going to try and make it big. They both were accepted and decided to go together. She's still going to get a good education."

He grumbles as he ties his tie around his neck and storms into the bathroom. I follow him and find him fumbling his way through the knot as he stands in front of the mirror. I walk up behind him and wrap my arms around his midsection, raising up on my toes and resting my chin on his shoulder to look at him in the mirror. "She's a smart girl who is very mature for her age. Her and Derrick have been together for almost two years now."

"But she's my little girl and only eighteen. She shouldn't tie herself down to this guy. Especially to a guy with a name as stupid as Derrick."

I roll my eyes at my absurd husband. "Maybe…maybe not," I say, shrugging my shoulders. "But we still need to let her make her own decisions, even if they are mistakes. How else will she learn?"

"By listening to her mother and father who know better."

I can't help but laugh. "Oh yeah. Why didn't I think of that? I had forgotten that teenagers love to take advice from their ancient parents who couldn't possibly know what they're going through and apply it to their lives. It's what they're known for."

Edward doesn't look nearly as amused as I am when we make eye contact through the mirror. I have to press my mouth into his shoulder so I don't break out laughing.

"Bye Mom, Dad!" I hear Maggie shout to us.

"Where are you going?" Edward shouts back and breaks free of my hold, trying to hurry to the door before our youngest leaves.

"To the beach, remember?"

I follow behind slower and when I reach the front door, Maggie is standing there wearing some of the shortest shorts known to man.

"Where did you get that…that…scrap of material?" Edward gestures towards them.

She rolls her deep green eyes and pushes her brown hair over her shoulder. "Dad, I'm going to be running around in a bathing suit all day which is far less material than these shorts."

"That's beside the point." He replies, looking red in the face with frustration.

Before I can jump in and try to prevent my husband's blood pressure from skyrocketing, there is a horn beeped from out front. Maggie's face lights up. "The girls are here. Gotta go!" Faster than lightning, she reaches up and pecks Edward's cheek and is gone through the door with an "I love you both.", and an "I'll be home by midnight."

"She's going to give me a heart attack before she leaves in two months."

I walk over to him and pull him down for a kiss. "We've managed to survive the other two, I think we can survive her."

"But the other two were boys. She's an incredibly beautiful replica of you. Do you have any idea some of the depraved thoughts that run through teenage boys' heads?"

"Why do you torture yourself like that?" I kiss him again. "You should be focusing on meeting our son's girlfriend he's brought home to meet us. In fact, we are going to be late to the restaurant if we don't leave in the next five minutes."

He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. "He told me she's the one for him when I talked to him the other day."

I smile. "I know. He told me the same thing."

"You don't think he's too young?"

"No. He's twenty-five. That's how old I was when we met and fell in love."

"I guess you're right."

"I'm always right."

Now it's his turn to shake his head at me before kissing me again. "Just let me grab my jacket."

Walking into the restaurant, I'm surprised to see our son already at the rather large round table set for six. There is a beautiful woman next to him with long black hair who looks incredibly nervous. "Thomas is already here." I nudge my husband.

"You mean he's actually on time? The kid who was late for his own high school and college graduation and everything in between?"

He catches sight of us then as we walk past the hostess. I wave and he smiles hugely at us, whispering something to his girlfriend whose head shoots up with a shaky smile. The poor girl is so nervous.

"She's pretty," Edward says just before we reach them. Edward hugs Thomas before I shove him out of the way and engulf my oldest in a bone-crushing hug. "I still don't forgive you for not coming to visit your mother over spring break. I haven't seen you since Christmas and that is not okay."

Thomas, who is as tall as his father, rests his cheek on top of my head. "I know. I'm sorry, mom."

"Just promise you won't do it again and all will be forgiven." I pull back and level him with my mom stare, daring him not to agree with me.

"I promise." He smiles his father's crooked smile and runs his hand through his hair that is identical to Edward's. The only thing he inherited from me was my eye color and nose.

I nudge him then and look over his shoulder where his girlfriend is standing in front of her chair. "And you must be Josephine."

"Yes ma'am. But please, call me Jo." She steps forward and offers me her hand to shake. I look down at it and push it aside to move in for a hug. "As much as I've heard about you, I feel like a hug would be more appropriate."

She seems surprised for a moment that I'm hugging her before she hugs back. I don't let go until I feel some of the tension leave her body. "You don't have to be nervous, sweetie. We won't bite." I whisper in her ear.

She laughs as we pull away. "It's just that both of you are so…successful and impressive. I don't want to be an embarrassment or a disappointment to you or Thomas."

"Would you stop saying that?" Thomas says ardently to her. "They're going to love you just as much as I do."

"But I'm just a small-town girl from a working-class family and you're the Cullens."

"You're just like me," I interject. "My father was a cop and my mother a pre-school teacher. I promise that we are incredibly normal and boring and don't give a rat's ass about where you came from. All we want is for someone to love and support him and treat him right." I grab her hand and make sure she's looking at me. "And to be honest, I'm thrilled he's not bringing home some rich socialite that lives off her daddy's money. I can't stand those types."

Thankfully, she seems to relax and gives me a sweet smile before we all sit down.

"Are we expecting someone else?" Edward asks, sitting to my left while Thomas sits to my right. He nods to the two other places set.

"We thought it'd be easier to have her parents here as well so everyone could meet each other," Thomas says.

"Alright," Edward says. "Why didn't you tell us they were coming?"

He eyes me then, and I can read his thoughts.

Wow. They're pretty serious if we're meeting her parents too.

I nod in agreement.

"It was a last-minute decision. I just forgot to tell you."

I shrug lightly at Edward and turn my attention to Jo. "So, where did you grow up, Jo?"

She takes a calming breath before speaking. "I was born in Port Angeles but when my parents split up when I was three, I moved with my mom to Joyce. It's a really small town just outside of Port Angeles."

"I know where you are talking about," I say with a smile. I lived in that area for a long time."

Her face lights up. "Really? Thomas always told me you grew up in Arizona."

"I did until I was sixteen. Then I moved to Forks to live with my dad."

"Forks?" she says surprised. "What a small world!"

"Bella." Edward's low serious voice grabs my attention. He reaches over and grabs my hand. "Look." He nods his head to the front of the restaurant and I almost die of shock.

There, looking like a deer caught in headlights is Jacob Black. A slightly rounded woman who looks similar to Jo is still walking towards us while the three of us just stare in shock at one another. Jo stands up and throws her arms around the woman and calls over her shoulder to Jake. "Dad. Are you okay? You look like you're about to faint."

OH. MY. GOD.

The unbelievable truth hits me then. Thomas is dating Jake's daughter. And judging by the look on his face, he had no idea that his daughter was dating mine and Edward's son.

"Mom. Dad." Thomas says. His voice is tinged with the same worry that Jo's had when she asked about Jake. "Are you two okay?"

For some reason, I can't tear my eyes away from Jake's and it seems like he can't tear his away from mine. We're stuck in this utter state of shock, trying to process what is happening.

When Jo steps away from the table and walks over to her father, he snaps out of it and releases me from our stare down. Jo reaches up and touches his shoulder. "Dad. What's the matter? You're as white as a ghost."

He chuckles briefly. "That's because I just saw one."

"We've just entered the twilight zone." Edward mumbles. I look up at him and we both share our looks of surprise, horror, and nervousness with each other.

"At least this lunch won't be boring." I retort dryly and Edward laughs, pulling me into his side and kissing me swiftly. "That's an understatement." He says as we both stand.

Jo's mother is smiling at us with too much effort. Her eyes are wary as she steps away from Thomas who Jo introduced him to and over to us. "Hi, I'm Edward Cullen and this is my wife Bella." We both lean forward and shake her hand while I glance furtively at Jake who is looking between me and his daughter who is still fretting over him.

"It's wonderful to meet you both. I'm Josephine's mother, Amanda Wells."

We shake hands and when we let go, Jake is nervously making his way to us. When I see him run his hands through his hair nervously like he did all those years ago, I can't help but smile. I step away from Edward and walk a few steps to meet him halfway. Now that the shock has worn off slightly, I'm a little glad to see him again.

"Jake," I say warmly. "I can't believe this." I reach up and pull him down for a hug. He hesitates for a moment before he hugs me tightly back.

"Me either. What are the odds?"

We pull back and I rest my hands on his upper arms for a moment. "Astronomical." I laugh as I shake my head.

He joins in my laughter briefly before he looks over my shoulder at Edward. I feel his hand slide to my back as he reaches out and shakes Jake's hand. "It's been a really long time, Jacob."

"Over thirty years," Jake replies, taking a deep breath and looking back at me. "You look great, Bells."

"You too, Jake," I tell him. And he does. Where he isn't as muscular as he used to be, he's aged gracefully with barely any gray hair and only a few crow's feet.

He drops his gaze to the floor and stuffs his hands in his pockets before nodding to our children. "Can you feel their eyes burning into you as much as I do?"

"It's like a white-hot laser on the side of my face," I say and we all laugh nervously.

"Wait a minute, you all know each other?" Thomas says in question. I look over to him and his calculating eyes as he tries to assess the situation.

"Why don't we take a seat. I'm sure we'll all need to be sitting down for this conversation." Edward says and motions to the table. Jake takes the seat next to his daughter while Amanda takes the seat between him and Edward.

And now Jake is directly across from me. The kids sit down looking between the three of us trying to figure out what is going on. When I offer a shy smile at Amanda, it seems like a light bulb goes off in her head. "You're Bella, Bella?! The Bella?" Her eyes dart to Jake and he gives her a tight nod with pursed lips.

Now it's her turn to go pale. It doesn't last for long before her face turns somewhat upset as she looks me over again. "I guess I can understand now what the big deal was with you; why we never worked out."

"Can someone please tell us what is going on?" Thomas' voice is more insistent this time with an edge of frustration. He really doesn't like being kept out of the loop. Then again, no one really does.

I look over to Jake and raise one brow at him. He seems to understand what I'm saying. "I guess we are going to have to explain ourselves. This should be interesting." He says with a mischievous smirk.

"No doubt," Edward replies and takes a long sip of his water. I'm sure he wishes it was a stiff drink instead.

I turn to Thomas then and make brief eye contact with Jo before sighing heavily. "Do you remember me telling you about how your dad and I met?"

"You met at a restaurant. You were with some other guy."

I nod. "Yes. I was there with my fiancé." I then nod my head to Jake. Both his and Jo's heads snap comically fast to Jake and then back to me a couple of times. All of the color drains from Thomas and Jo's faces.

"I'm going to need a drink." I hear Amanda murmur as a waiter walks by.

"That goes for both of us too," Edward says and orders whiskey on the rocks and a glass of white wine for me.

He knows me well.

"Make that two whiskies," Jake adds on as the waiter walks away.

"I think I'm going to faint," Jo says. Thomas is quick to her aide and gets her to bend over in her seat telling her to breathe deeply and close her eyes. Jake is trying to tend to her as well, rubbing her back and fanning her with his hand.

I look at Edward and see that he's looking at me. "It only took us five minutes to scare poor Thomas' girl away. That may be a new record in the history of meeting your spouse's parents."

When I look back to our son, his girlfriend Jo is sitting up and he is shoving her glass of water at her. "Baby, please drink some water." Her eyes look at Jake and then to me and then back to Jake as her shaky hand takes the water from Thomas. She's barely able to take a sip of it and spills a few drops on her pink dress.

When she sets the glass down and assures Thomas she's not going to faint, he leans heavily back in his chair and runs a hand through his hair, blowing out a long breath of air. "I'm not really sure what to do now since the whole point of this lunch was for everyone to get to know each other." He smirks humorlessly as he looks between Edward, Jake, and me. "But it seems the three of you already know one another…very well."

I groan and let my head fall into my hands after resting my elbows on the table. Etiquette be damned.

"Please tell me that you two didn't have sex. Tell me that you were both waiting for marriage." Jo is looking slightly panicked between us. For a brief moment, she looked like she was going to be sick before she took a few calming breaths.

"Sorry, kid." Jake answers. "We were together for eight years. That should answer your question."

Her eyes widen. "This is not happening." She shakes her head in denial.

Just then, the waiter thankfully arrives with our drinks. The moment Jake's whiskey is set down in front of him, Jo's hand stretches out like lightning and snatches it from her father. She tosses back the dark liquid like a pro and slams the glass down on the table. It only takes her another second before she grabs my glass of white wine and downs it in three swift gulps.

I look up and meet Jake's surprised face across from me. We stare at one another for a few moments before we both start laughing. "I see she takes after you, Jake. You always could empty a can of beer in mere seconds."

"Puh-lease." He says, amusement in his eyes. "Don't pretend like your upside-down keg stands weren't legendary."

I shrug my shoulders with a smirk. "Do you still remember how long I lasted at Embry's twenty-first birthday party?"

"Of course. That was possibly the most entertaining minute and a half of my life. I can still hear Caleb Waters screaming in frustration when you beat his record and then doubled it."

"Mom." Thomas leans forward looking somewhat dumbfounded. "You used to do keg stands?"

"Forks is a small town with not a lot to do. We had to create our own entertainment."

"Not gonna lie, that's pretty impressive, Mom."

"Thanks." I give him a wink before glancing at Amanda. She's still staring at me with sadness in her eyes. "So, how did you and Jake meet?"

She takes a deep breath before looking at Jake with the same sadness she just did me. "My car broke down on the side of the highway. Jake just happened to be driving by and stopped to help."

"Mom always said it was love at first sight," Jo says in a monotone voice. "At least for her." She then turns her eyes to me. "But it didn't work out because Dad was still…"

Jake cuts her off, sitting up in his chair. "Just an immature prick." He laughs nervously and reaches for the empty whiskey glass.

"Oh my gosh. This is such a disaster." Jo says, burying her face in her hands and shaking it. "How are they going to be in-laws when there is so much baggage attached to their relationship already."

"In-laws?" Edward asks while straightening up.

Jo's head snaps up and she looks apologetically at Thomas. He just gives her a gentle smile in return. "It's okay, Jo. It doesn't matter how they hear the news." He places a quick kiss on her forehead before pulling a small ring box from his pocket and gives it to Jo. When he looks up, he's got his serious face on that reminds me so much of Edward. "Mr. Black, I know I've gone about this in the wrong order, but since I've already asked Jo to marry me and she's said yes, I'd like to ask for your blessing to marry your exquisite daughter."

My hand flies to my mouth in shock. I don't dare make a sound so I won't ruin what he is doing. My eyes fly to Jake and his go to mine. He's contemplative for a moment before he gets a look of resignation on his face and looks to his daughter. "Is this what you want, Jo?"

She reaches toward him and grabs his hands. Her voice is earnest when she says, "More than anything." She looks to her mother. "Mom, what do you say?"

Jake and Amanda look at each other for a moment and communicate with their eyes before looking back to their daughter, then to my son. "Then you have our blessing," Jake says with a warm - albeit hesitant – smile.

Jo throws her arms around Jake and squeezes him tight before getting up and hugging her mother a bit longer and whispering something in her ear.

"Mom, Dad." Thomas' voice is soft and gentle. "What do you think? I know this lunch kind of took on a life of its own, but I think this was probably how everything was supposed to happen. I mean, after all this time and all the people in the world, my soulmate just so happens to be the daughter of Mom's ex. That's…kismet. It's just in a very strange way."

When I look back across the table to what could have been my husband, I have to agree with my son.

I think Jake and I got it wrong the first time around. We were incredible friends who made the mistake of taking it to that next level when we were hormone riddled teenagers. We were too different in the things we wanted for our own lives; in how we saw ourselves and our relationship evolving over the years. We should have stayed friends because that was what we were always meant to be.

I look back to my mini Edward. "I think you're right, Thomas. I get another chance to have Jake as a friend." When I turn back to Jake, there is a tiny soft smile on his lips. "So, what do you say, Jake? Friends?"

"Yeah. Friends." He nods in Edward's direction and Edward nods back.

When I feel Edward leaning in, I turn my face to catch his lips for a quick kiss before he whispers in my ear. "Are you okay, babe?"

I pull back and look deep into his green eyes. "Yeah. I'm more than okay."

"Good."

"I love you, Edward."

"I love you, too." He kisses me once more before we turn our attention back to the table. "So, were you thinking of marrying this year or next?"

"The sooner the better." Thomas practically shouts.

"Like father, like son," I remark to myself as I lean into Edward. For a few moments, I can't think of anything except just how unpredictable life can be. While our family just got bigger and undoubtedly more complicated, I can't bring myself to dislike the turn it just took.

Though I'm not in love with Jake and haven't been for a very long time, I do still love him and his family and have missed them over the years. It feels like this is my chance to set everything right with him while the love of my life, Edward, is at my side.

It feels right. Whole. Complicated as hell, but definitely whole.

Don't kill me! I know this last chapter took a seriously long time to get out but the wrist that I broke a while back needed surgery again. I quit typing for a while because it hurt too much. But that's hopefully all in the past now. So, long story short, I'm back. Yay!

I have a new story that I'm working on and I really hope you'll follow me and read it when I put it out. I just need to secure a beta (hopefully SunflowerFran will have mercy on me and continue to beta my work) and I will put out the first chapter soon. Here's a quick sneak peek of:

The Emancipation of Bella Swan

"Renee, no. Put it back."

"But Charlie, it was my grandmother's."

Her hushed voice is pained and I'm sure a frown is on her lips. I shift the backpack between my shoulder blades for the millionth time, praying that the car shows up quickly. It's stuffed so full that the zipper is barely holding together. I want to look back and plead at my mother with my eyes not to argue, but I refuse to take my eyes away from my incredibly important assigned task. I'm surprised I even heard her in the first place. My heart is pounding in my ears and sounds like a steel-winged hummingbird.

"I know, sweetheart, but we can't run with an antique vase. Only the necessities." His whispered voice is filled with apologies.

Footsteps shuffle behind me for a moment before I hear a deafening crash. My head whips around and I have to squint to see in the darkness of the room as my fear spikes. When I see my grandmother's vase in pieces on the floor, I cover my mouth with my hand and look to the far wall in the living room. "Do you think they heard?" My mother asks quietly.

"Shh." Dad tiptoes to the wall and presses his ear up against it. After an exceptionally long and very tense couple of minutes, he gingerly walks back to my mother and shakes his head. "I don't think the crash woke them up."

"Thank heavens." She mumbles. Everyone's relief is palpable.

The duplex living style of the compound was designed to prevent what my family and I are doing right this moment.

Escaping.

The walls are paper thin so your neighbor can hear what you are doing in your home. I was always told that it was so that our neighbors can help us stay pure and stop us from sinning. If they heard you singing a song that was banned or speaking in a way that was thought to be disrespectful of your spouse, your neighbor was to tell the Shepherd and he would reprimand you. No privacy meant you were less likely to sin.

I huff. Yeah, right.

Checking my watch again, I see that our ride is terribly late. I'm trying hard to refrain from nervously biting my nails. It's a habit I was forced to break years ago. "Do you think the patrol caught him?"

"I don't think so, Bella. It probably is just taking longer for the sleeping pills to kick in for Felix and Demetri."

The south wall guards. I hate those guys with a fierce passion. Mostly because of the terrifying rumors about them and what they've done. Stories of tortured animals and sinners with broken bones followed them wherever they went.

My fingers return to my mouth where I bite my nails down to the quick. It feels amazing to allow myself to do it because it doesn't really matter anymore. We're leaving this place.

The silence is deafening for the next few minutes. I can feel the fear and hope mixing together in the air and smothering any chance of a whispered conversation.

I, myself, feel more fear than hope. The thought of being caught and stuck here is almost enough to make me throw up.

Just as I bite my last nail, I see an old white van roll up on the dirt road in front of the house. The headlights are off and there is no license plate. "There he is."

"No wasting time. Go!" Dad moves swiftly and silently to the door and swings it open. I'm right behind him and then we are running. Running from everything I've ever known. Running from everything that I was going to be and never wanted to be in the first place. Running towards something I know absolutely nothing about but crave more than anything I thought possible. A life outside of the Community.