A/N: Before we begin today's chapter, I have just a few little things...

1) Reading and replying to my reviews has always been pretty fun for me. I've been lucky not to have too many that were out and out cruel. Most times, I'm cracking up at theories and offers to take Edward off Bella's hands - Knox & Bulls, I'm picking on you too today. And then there are the ones I find downright funny for no particular reason. This last round of reviews, left me feeling the need to quote twilight-is-lovee = James is a Human Tracker. LOL!!

2) I know all of you are concerned that this has not been the Bella of LLC. I know it hasn't and that was on purpose. Because between this chapter and the next, my plan is to bring her full circle and not only have her get back to the Bella of LLC, but have her be the mother she in the final chapters. I've never tried anything like this before and I hope I pull it off in a way that satisfies you all. If not, I promise to stick with the fluff and leave the drama for others. LOL!

3) If I've done a good job and you guys like how this chapter goes, I will post the other today instead of tomorrow, but that will mean there won't be a Sunday update. The next update will be next weekend. And for those of you who want to see Emmett and James have a private convo, don't give up hope. It's going to come, but it won't be this weekends chapters or next weekends. I've got it outlined out and it's six chapters away, with this one included. I have a lot of mess to clean before I can let Em tell me about his talk.

Okay! That's it! Go read!!

DISCLAIMER: The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creation of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

Emmett's Party 2

Bella's POV

"And you know so much about babies because?" Rose asked, sounding angry. She seemed to agree with Edward's crazy idea that James was in love with me.

James gave a shy smile as he looked at my sister-in-law. "My sister is pregnant and has me reading her book with her."

"How far along is she?" Rose questioned.

"Um…thirty-eight weeks," he said.

"And she took a car trip to Minnesota? Is she nuts?" Rose asked, her voice rising slightly. I didn't like the idea any better. If I'd have known she was so far along, I would have told him how dangerous that was for his sister. "That's way too close to delivery to be taking a long trip in a car," Rose told him.

"Did I say car trip? I meant flight. They flew over. It's just a couple of hours," James said.

That didn't make sense. No doctor in his right mind would let a pregnant woman fly, no matter how short the flight. "They couldn't have flown," I blurted out, hoping James was just confused from being nervous around my family. "Doctors don't let you get on the plane that late into your pregnancy. The pressure changes could send you into labor."

"Well, she got some note from him or something since it was just going to be for a few days," James replied.

"She should find a new doctor," Carlisle said from his spot beside Esme. "It's extremely dangerous to allow that sort of thing, both for the baby and the mother."

"She did this with her last kid, so it's no big deal," James replied, shrugging his shoulders.

Why was he acting so casual? When he'd spoken about his sister before, he sounded like he was really involved in her life and cared for her a lot. So how could he just shrug about her doing something so dangerous? And why had he never mentioned already having a niece or nephew? I'd talked about Lily tons of times already. So I decided to see what he would say. "You never mentioned she had a child already," I told him.

"Well, no…I didn't." He shifted his feet and pushed his glasses up his nose. Why was he acting so nervous? It couldn't be my family. They were all acting so welcoming, even Edward.

"Is it a boy or a girl? How old is he or she?" Alice asked.

"I don't know," James replied. "She was younger then, so my sister gave it up for adoption. Now that she's married, she wanted to have a baby."

I couldn't help the frown that took over my face. This didn't make sense at all. Why had James never mentioned these things before? Was he ashamed of his sister's first pregnancy? Or was it just his shyness that had kept him quiet?

"I think now would be a great time to start the party for the birthday boy. If we bore him any longer with baby talk, he's liable to start pouting," Edward said suddenly.

"Cake!" Emmett yelled excitedly, making me smile just a little. "Let's go get it and bring it into the dining room."

"Jazz, you better come help me keep him from eating it," Edward chuckled. He kissed the side of my head and then took his arms away, heading for the kitchen with Em and Jazz.

"I'm sorry, James, but I have to ask. Why haven't you ever mentioned these things about your sister before?" I questioned.

He blinked a few times and then looked from Alice to Rose, and finally back at me. "It just didn't come up," he replied.

"That's not true, James," I told him. "I asked you if this was your sister's first pregnancy and you told me it was."

"Well, that's because it is to her. She doesn't like to think about the baby she gave up for adoption," he said.

"Why not?" Alice asked. "She obviously cared for the baby if she decided to have it and give it up for adoption. She must have wanted it to have a better life."

"I don't know," he said, sounding defensive. "She just doesn't."

Rose and Alice each took a step closer to me and for once, I didn't feel like they were overreacting. Something was very wrong here. "James, what's going on? Are you just nervous or something?" I asked.

"Yes," he replied immediately. "Your husband is always trying to make me feel like I'm intruding. And that brother of yours tried to break my hand earlier and threatened me."

"I know for a fact that Edward greeted you with kindness and politeness," Rose said. "I was standing nearby since my daughter had gone over to him."

"And Emmett just has an odd way of welcoming people," I added. "My brother's really sweet once you get to know him."

James shook his head, pushing on his glasses once again. "You didn't see the way they were looking at me."

"What way was that, James?" Esme asked. "I must have missed that look when I was standing right beside the three of you."

"Bella, why is your family attacking me?" he asked, looking at me sadly.

"They're not," I defended. "They're just curious about the friend I invited over. Why are you acting so scared of them?"

"Because they're scary," he replied. "Look, this was a really bad idea. I think I should just go. My sister's not home, so I can have her house to myself."

I sighed, not wanting him to be home all alone on a Saturday. I remembered all too well how lonely my days were before Emmett's friends came crashing into my life, completely turning my world upside down and setting it right. If they hadn't decided to take a chance on me and get to know me, I wouldn't have this amazing family or my wonderful husband. And looking at James, I felt like it was my chance to give back some of that wonderful Karma and make my parents proud.

"No, James, please stay," I said. "I'm sorry you felt uncomfortable with the questions. My family really is just curious. And your sister traveling just threw them off because it's dangerous."

"My sister is stubborn and she doesn't really listen to people. The more you tell her not to do something, the more she wants to do it," he said. "I get a little defensive of her sometimes, and I guess that just came out the wrong way."

I smiled and patted his shoulder. "It's okay. I've been known to be a little stubborn myself." As much as I hated to admit it, James was acting strange. I would just have to make sure the line of our friendship was clearly drawn…and maybe a little extra space between us for awhile wouldn't hurt either. I didn't want James to get any wrong ideas about me—I was only trying to be his friend.

"Bee-bee," Lily sang, reaching her little arms out to me from her spot in her grandpa's arms.

I happily took her, cuddling her close. "James, did you meet Lily earlier?"

"Yes, I did. She's beautiful," he said, reaching his hand out toward her.

Lily whined and tucked her body against my right side, moving away from James.

"It's okay, Sweetheart," I cooed. "James is Aunt Bella's friend."

Lily just made a disgruntled noise and turned her face away from James, resting her head on my shoulder.

"I guess she's feeling shy today, too," I said. But I wasn't so sure about that—I'd never seen Lily shy away from anyone.

Edward appeared and wrapped his arms around me from behind, resting one of his hands over our baby. "A few more weeks and this belly of yours will start to be too wide for you hold Lily like that," he whispered.

"That's exactly why I'm cuddling with her so much now," I said, tickling Lily's chin and getting her to giggle at me.

"She loves her Bee-bee and Eee," Rose chuckled. "And since you two are so loved, I just know you'll jump at the chance to baby-sit for her this Friday night."

"Ooh, Edward! We get to have Lily all to ourselves," I said, already excited over the things I was thinking of doing with my little niece. "Rose, let her spend the night with us, too."

"I don't know, Squirt," Emmett said, shaking his head. "You sure you have enough energy for that? Lily's into everything now that she's mastered walking."

"She's pregnant, not an invalid," James piped up.

"Thank you, James," I chuckled. "But that's just how Em teases. He doesn't mean anything by it."

"Why don't we all head into the dining room before it catches fire from the candles on Emmett's cake?" Edward suggested.

"Lily, are you going to help Daddy blow out his candles?" I asked her as Edward walked with us toward the dining room.

"You have to blow really hard," Edward told her, taking her offered hand and kissing the back of it. "Think you can do that?"

"Show her how, Edward. She probably doesn't remember from her birthday," I told him.

Edward took Lily into his arms and pointed at the cake. "Just open your mouth and go like this." He demonstrated for her, gently blowing her hair away from her forehead.

Lily giggled and smacked her hand where Edward's breath had touched her head. She smiled at him and blew back, getting baby spittle on his cheek and nose.

"Good thing you closed your eyes," I chuckled, poking him in the side.

"You teach her next time," he said, smiling as he wiped his face with the sleeve of his shirt.

"No way. You're the tutor-boy," I told him.

"Give me my girl," Emmett demanded, holding his arms open. Edward chuckled at him as he passed Lily over.

"Bella, I pulled your chair out for you," James said, standing behind the chair right next to me.

"Thanks, James," I replied. "But I'm going to sit with Edward." I'd barely gotten the words out before Edward scooped me up and sat me down on his lap. I playfully slapped his chest and then kissed his lips to show I wasn't upset. "I love you."

"Love you more," he whispered against my neck, placing a few soft open-mouthed kisses there.

"You two behave over there," Alice chuckled.

"Hush, Pixie," I joked, smiling at her as I pulled Edward's arms around me.

"All eyes on me please," Emmett announced, holding Lily in his arms so that they were both facing his cake. "Squirt, will you do the honors?"

I nodded my head as my smile widened and the room fell quiet. I took a deep breath and then softly sang to my big brother. "Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Emmett. We all love you."

The noise in the room erupted all at once, with cheers and claps. Edward kissed my cheek and whispered into my ear. "You have an angel's voice, Love. I'm glad you felt up to singing for him."

"It was a short song," I shrugged.

"Thank you, Squirt," Emmett said, leaning over and kissing my cheek.

"Welcome, Brother Bear," I replied, kissing him back.

"I didn't know you could sing like that," James said, sounding awed.

I laughed as I turned in Edward's lap to see James. "My family seems to think I do a pretty good job. I haven't felt like I've had enough breath to sing lately, so it just didn't occur to me to mention it."

"Speaking of mentioning," Alice chirped, tapping her fork against her glass. "Em, far be it from me to steal your spotlight, but I really can't wait until my birthday next month to mention it."

"Steal away, Pixie. I don't mind sharing," Emmett said, smiling at her.

"That's only because you have your cake in front of you," Jasper chuckled.

"Don't mind the details, Jazz," Emmett replied, grinning wide.

"What's your news, Alice?" Esme asked.

"Mom, Dad, I hope you'll be as excited about this as Jazz and I are. We certainly don't want you guys to feel overwhelmed or anything," Alice said, shifting from one foot to the other.

"Did you get another promotion?" Carlisle asked Jasper.

"Oh, no! Don't tell me you have one where you have to move away," Esme cried, putting her hand over her heart.

"No, no," Alice said, shaking her hand. "It's nothing like that. It's just…Well…"

"Alice, how can you be nervous?" Jasper laughed. "You've been practicing telling them for the past three days."

"It's a lot of pressure to announce something like this, Jasper Hale. I'd like to see you do a better job with it," Alice fussed, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Rose's eyes must have been drawn to the same thing that mine were because we both yelled at the same time. "Since when?"

"Two months," Alice giggled, holding up two fingers.

"Clue the rest of us in," Emmett demanded.

Alice's smile widened even further. "I'm pregnant."

Edward put me on my feet and we all surrounded Jasper and Alice, hugging them and congratulating them.

"How did you two guess?" Alice asked, looking between Rose and me.

Rose shrugged and smiled wickedly. "You're getting boobs, Pixie."

"What she said," I laughed.

"I know!" Alice cried. "It's so exciting. And of course, it means I need new everything, so there's lots of shopping in our immediate future."

"And by our you mean…" I trailed off, hoping I was wrong.

Alice pointed to herself, Esme, Rose, and then finally to me. "Our."

"See, Alice, you were nervous for nothing," Rose said, hugging her. "You were already pregnant and just didn't know it."

"I know," Alice giggled. "It's amazing! Well, Jasper hasn't been all that thrilled with how quickly my emotions change, but he's trying."

"Have you started with your cravings yet? What about morning sickness?" I asked.

"No morning sickness at all so far," she replied.

"You lucky little pixie," I said, playfully slapping her arm.

"And I'm not so much craving as just wanting weird things to eat," Alice chuckled. "Like last month when I had to have part of your mustard covered pretzel at the salon."

"A grandmother of three," Esme sighed, wrapping her arms around Alice. "We are truly blessed."

"So you're happy, Mom?" Alice asked, looking up at her mother with watery eyes.

"I'm ecstatic, my lovely daughter," Esme assured her, kissing her cheek.

"Can I have a turn?" Edward asked, showing off his crooked grin and dimples. He opened his arms for his sister and Alice started to cry as he hugged her. "I remember this stage," he joked, smiling at her.

Alice sniffled and then laughed. "Sorry."

Edward wiped away her tears, still smiling at her. "Congratulations, Ali."

Watching the two of them together made Rose and me start crying as well. Emmett and Lily gave Rose a hug, while Jasper put his arm around my shoulders, letting me cry into his shoulder.

"I've never had my house so weepy before," Carlisle chuckled.

"You've never had four mothers in it before," Esme sniffled, dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief. "Our babies are all grown and having their own babies."

"This is a party, not a crying session," Emmett announced. "Let's have some of my cake. The chocolate will perk you lovely ladies right up."

We all chuckled at him as we let go of each other and took our seats again. I perched myself right back on Edward's lap, wanting to be close to him. It had been almost unbearable to have that space between us these last two weeks, but I'd needed for him to understand he was wrong about James. And after the talk we'd had earlier, I knew that Edward would keep his word and give James a chance, which is all I'd wanted from him to start with. While I still considered Edward to be my best friend, there were just some things he didn't understand and that I couldn't talk to him about. Not unless I wanted to hear his standby answer of "it's for the baby".

"Bella, would you like some cake?" James asked, offering me a plate.

"I got it, buddy," Emmett said, holding out another plate to me. "She likes the flower best. It's the only reason I even let them put one on my cakes."

"Thank you, Em," I said, taking the plate from him. "And thank you, James," I added.

Edward's lips pulled up into my favorite grin as he took hold of my plate for me. "Will you share with me?"

"I might think about it," I chuckled, cutting a piece with my fork.

"Please?" he begged, poking out his bottom lip and making his green eyes look sad.

"Oh, alright," I sighed, pretending to be annoyed. The smile on my face easily gave me away, though. I held the fork out for Edward to take a bite and when he got close to it, I pulled it away and laughed. "Not going to be that easy, Tutor-boy."

He pouted for real, so I was nice and fed him the bite. Some of the icing ended up on his lip—that might have been slightly on purpose, but I wasn't telling—so I was nice enough to kiss it away for him.

"No monkey business in front of the Lily Bear," Emmett said, shaking a finger at us.

"She's not even paying attention to us," I told him. "Her eyes are locked on Uncle Jasper and the slice of cake he's feeding her."

"She could have been watching," Emmett argued.

"But she wasn't," I said, poking my tongue at my brother.

"Eat your cake and be quiet, Squirt," Emmett chuckled.

After we'd all gotten a slice of Emmett's cake—and Alice had enjoyed seconds—we all headed our separate ways. Rose went upstairs to put Lily down for her nap, while Esme and Alice went upstairs to look at the baby items Esme kept in her hope chest. Emmett, Edward, and Jasper headed into the kitchen to wash the dishes, and Carlisle disappeared into his study. James followed me into the living room, still feeling too shy to go with the men.

I sat down in the loveseat and put my feet up on the table, groaning a little from the change in pressure. I kicked off my sneakers and then wiggled my sock-clad feet, happy to be resting them.

James sat down on the edge of the table and grabbed my foot, rubbing the underside for me. "My sister has me do this for her at least twice a day," he said.

I pulled my foot away, giving him a friendly smile even though I felt more like kicking him. "Edward enjoys doing that for me," I said.

"Oh, okay. I just was trying to help," James replied, frowning as he pushed his glasses up his nose.

"Squirt, tell your husband that Disturbed is the greatest alternative band ever," Emmett yelled out from the kitchen.

"Tell him yourself," I yelled back, laughing a little. Emmett, Jasper, and Edward could barely go any amount of time without finding something to argue about, and today, I was thankful for the distraction.

"Why does he keep calling you that?" James asked.

"It's the nickname he gave me when I was just a kid," I explained. "He'll probably always call me that."

"It's rather derogatory," James said.

"Only if he meant it in a mean way, which he doesn't," I replied.

"It just seems like the men in your family treat you as though you were still a little kid and not an adult just like them," he continued.

"I don't agree with that at all," I argued, my temper starting to rise a little. I took a deep breath, trying to be conscious of my blood pressure. "I think they treat me like someone they care a great deal for and would go out of their way to protect."

"Bella," James said, taking my hand.

I didn't like his tone or the way he was holding my hand. "James?"

"I know my timing is off. It's so much easier for you to be yourself away from all of them. I really should wait until we're alone at school on Monday, but I need to tell you too much to put it off any longer."

"James, let go of my hand," I said, trying to pull it back.

He tightened his grip on it instead of letting go. "Bella, let me help you. Let me love you. I can get you away from them so that you can be yourself and really be happy. You won't have all of them telling you what to do, what to eat, and when to do it. And I can raise this baby with you. I'll treat him as my own and everything."

"James, stop right there. I love my husband and my family. I don't know how, but you've gotten the wrong idea about them, because I never want to leave and I'm already happy with them."

"How can he possibly make you happy? He doesn't even realize how capable you are! He's stunting you with his barbaric behavior, Bella. He's always trying to tell you what to do."

"And Edward's usually right!" I yelled, finally getting my hand away from James. I was going to have a lot of apologizing to do to my husband before this day ended, but I couldn't think about that right now. No, right now, I had a fly to swat. "James, it's time for you to leave."

"You don't really mean that."

"I do. Leave now, James. Don't make me call for Edward or Emmett."

"You don't really love him. You can't," James argued, shaking his head. "You could never love someone so controlling."

Edward was a lot of things, but controlling wasn't one of them. Yes, he was protective, but that had more to do with me proving I needed protection than with him just naturally being that way. I tried to keep my temper, not knowing if I was angrier at James for getting the wrong idea or at myself for completely missing it.

"Remember the day I slipped and fell, when you caught me?" I asked. "That never would have happened if I'd listened to Edward and waited for him to come and get me. Walking with Edward, he would've either seen the ice patch and moved me out of the way, or he would have been holding on tight enough that I never would have lost my footing. No matter how clumsy I get, Edward's always there to make sure I don't fall. It's only when I go off alone and head-strong that something happens." The more I spoke, the truer the words sounded and the deeper they sank into my heart. "Edward's not controlling, James. He's in love with me and refuses to risk losing me. Now, I really think you should go." I got up and moved toward the stairs, needing to find Rose and Alice before I spoke with Edward.

"Bella, I can love you better than he can," James said, his voice stopping me at the foot of the stairs.

I took a deep breath and started to climb, not having the patience to reply to that statement without yelling at the idiot. I needed to talk with my sisters and get some clarity on this situation. Then, I would have to talk to Edward. Once that was done, we would have to sit down with James and clear up this whole ugly mess.

I followed the sounds of laughter and found Esme, Alice, and Rosalie spread out on the floor, looking through Alice's baby book.

"You really should let your hair grow out, Alice," Rose told her. "You looked adorable with those long, curly pigtails."

"I got tired of the boys putting gum in my hair so I made my mom take me to the salon to get it all cut away," Alice said.

"I cried," Esme giggled. "All of those beautiful curls gone in just a few snips."

"What's got you looking so down?" Rose asked me, patting the spot of floor next to her. She and Esme took hold of my hands, helping me down.

"I'm in big trouble," I sighed, resting my head on Rose's shoulder.

"What happened?" Alice asked, holding one of my hands.

"Basically, I was just asked to run away from my husband and family to live out my real life with James. Apparently, I don't seem happy and Edward is barbaric," I explained. No sooner were the words out of my mouth than the enormity of how badly I'd misjudged things hit me, quickly followed by my tears and sobs.

Rose, Esme, and Alice found a way to all hug me at the same time while they tried to console me, telling me it wasn't my fault. But how could it not be? I'd wanted a friend outside of my family so I'd ignored everything I didn't want to see. And now that my eyes were open, I could pick out all the ways in which James's behavior should have set me on edge. There were a lot of odd answers and unanswered questions.

"I know it's stupid," I sniffled, brushing away my tears with the back of my hand. "I don't even know why now, but I wanted a friend outside of you guys. That was a silly thing to want because nobody understands me better than all of you."

"It might have had something to do with the way we've all been babying you," Rose said, tucking some of my hair behind my ear. "I'm sure it was nice to have someone treating you like a normal person instead of a frail pregnant woman."

I nodded my head, sniffling once again. "That was nice." And then I thought about Edward and how I'd been so angry with him and I started crying all over again. "I was so mean to Edward. I didn't even believe him."

"Calm down, Bella. It's all going to be okay," Esme assured me.

"He's going to be so mad," I sobbed.

"No, Sweetie," Alice said, using a washcloth to try to dry my face. I had no idea where she'd gotten it from, but the cool fabric felt wonderful on my overheated skin. "Even I didn't believe Edward this time," she continued. "And he'll only be upset that you're upset. He was trying to stop it from getting to this point so you wouldn't feel guilty for James's misplaced feelings."

"Woah!" Emmett chuckled, bounding into the room. "Is this another of those hormone-induced crying jag things?"

"No, this is a your little sister is hurting and your jokes are not funny thing," Rose snapped.

"Bella?" Emmett asked, kneeling down beside me. "Are you okay? How'd you get hurt?"

"It's just her feelings this time," Esme said, stroking my arm. "She'll be fine once she calms down."

"Want me to go get Eddie?" Emmett asked, brushing my hair with his big hand.

I nodded my head and then closed my eyes, leaning on Rose as the tears started up once again.

Emmett pressed his lips to my forehead. "I'll be right back, Squirt. You just relax with Rosie."

"Pregnancy hormones suck," Alice announced loudly. Something about the way she'd said it made me laugh and I opened my eyes to find her. "No offense, Bells, but I really don't want to cry as hard as you," she continued. "Puffy eyes never were a good look on me."

I laughed again and took the washcloth from her, cleaning up my own face. "Keep on making the jokes, Pixie," I sniffled. "And then when you develop all day morning sickness, you'll know it was my curse that did it."

"Let's get you on your feet," Rose said. "That way, when Edward arrives, you guys can go up to your room and talk."

"I'm sorry. I'm ruining Emmett's party," I sighed, as Rose and Esme got me standing.

Rose shrugged. "He had cake. He's fine."

"And we'll just consider this intermission," Alice chirped. "You'll go talk with my brother and then we'll all meet up in the living room after."

"Talk to me about what?" a velvet voice asked from behind us.

I turned and smiled at him just as his own smile faded into a look of concern. He quickly crossed the short distance between us and took me into his arms. "What's wrong, Bella? You look like you've been crying."

"Em didn't tell you?" I whispered.

"No. He just told me you wanted me to come upstairs," Edward replied.

"Take her up to your room," Alice instructed. "We'll be downstairs when you guys are ready to join us again."

Each of the women in my life kissed my cheek on the way out, whispering words of encouragement to me. I smiled at them, knowing I was lucky to have such an amazing support system.

Edward and I walked up the stairs to our room, neither of us saying a word. The closer I got to our bedroom door, the more upset I felt and the harder I tried not to cry. This would be hard enough without being a sobbing mess on top of things. I could only hope Edward would be willing to listen and understand—something I hadn't been able to do for him.