Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight. No copyright infringement is intended but Prince, PJ, Mack and the plot is mine.

Thank you all so much for the warm welcome back and the support! I've missed you.

Chapter 2

14 months later

The dip on the side of the bed wakes me up. Or maybe it's the warm breath on my cheek. Nope it's the wet tongue across the tip of my nose. I groan but can't help but smile.

"Good morning my Prince."

The loud bark I get in return lets me know he's happy I'm finally awake. I roll over so I can reach out to pet the top of his head.

"Yes, yes, I know. I overslept. I'm sorry, okay? It was a late night."

The nuzzle into my hand and the wag of his tail tells me I'm forgiven.

Rolling all the way over so I can untangle my legs from the blankets, I stand and stretch. My back aches and my eyelids stick to my eyeballs. It really was a late night. I've only been asleep a few hours, but there's no rest for the wicked as they say. Too much to do and never, ever enough hours in the day. I slide my feet into my flip-flops, surprised these made it through the night. They usually don't. I forgot to toss them on the chair to keep them from being destroyed last night because by the time I stumbled into my room, it was after 2am, and I was dead on my feet.

"Thank you for not eating another pair of my shoes. I don't have time for your shenanigans today, got me?"

Prince barks to let me know I'm lucky this time then tears out of my room and down the stairs.

"He's loud enough to wake the dead, I swear."

It doesn't take long until I hear multiple barks and paws on the hardwood floor. It seems like Prince made sure that everyone was up and about this morning.

Another day in the life of the Stewart household.

"Good morning, everyone," I smile as I walk into the kitchen.

Five pretty faces look up at me, each waiting for pets and kisses. It takes a few minutes because this is one of my favorite parts of the day. I make sure to enjoy it by giving each of them love and hugs.

"Okay, enough, y'all. Let's get breakfast going so we can start our day, hmmm?"

Another set of footsteps on the stairs sets the dogs off running to find their other favorite person.

"Good morning, sunshine," I grin.

"Ughhhhh," is the grunted response.

I laugh. "Leah, I swear, girl, one of these days I'll get a smile instead of a grunt."

She flops on the chair at the kitchen table and tosses her backpack on the empty chair beside her. "Not likely, Bella. I hate getting up in the morning."

"Really? I couldn't tell."

"PJ get down," she grouches, but there's a smile as she says it, so I know she doesn't really mind the doofus trying to climb into her lap.

After she spends a few minutes giving everyone love, spending extra time with Sugar, she looks up. "How are the puppies?"

I yawn. "They all made it through another night so I'm hopeful we're good to go."

"Who's with them now?"

I start grabbing things out of the fridge to make breakfast. "Peter but Jasper will be by later. Harry will be here this afternoon, too."

She smiles. "Will he still be here when I get done at school?"

Reaching for the eggs, milk, and shredded cheese, I shut the door and turn. "Yeah, he should be. He needs to work with both PJ and Mack today. Plus, there's a new prospective client stopping by to meet with him."

"Excellent."

"Grab the tortillas please so I can get you fed before we have to leave for school."

"At least you started warming them up in the skillet before you serve them."

I point the spatula at her. "Stop being a smartass and help me get this done so we can get out of here. We're already running late."

Laughing, she does what I ask, getting the salsa at the same time. I ignore the pinch in my heart because it was Edward who made such a big deal about the tortillas. Asshole.

Leah fills her water bottle chattering to the dogs as she moves around the kitchen. It's good to see her in a happy mood. When she first got here, that wasn't often the case but as she's settled in and gotten adjusted, she's happy more often than not. Which is why even though I still cry myself to sleep at night sometimes, this is all worth it.

"You eat and get everything ready to go while I change, and I'll meet you at the car. 15 minutes, okay? We gotta hit the road or you'll be late for school."

It doesn't take me long to get dressed and back downstairs. Jeans, t-shirt, and brushed teeth and hair is all I have time for and since I'll either be outside with the dogs, with the puppies, or on my laptop it's not like I need anything fancier. Not anymore.

Leah isn't in the kitchen, so I head to the whelping room at the back of the house because I know that's where I'll find her.

"Ohhhh, they're so cute!" She's leaning over the whelping box looking at all the wiggling bodies.

"Yeah, well they're cute now because they're feeding. You wouldn't think so if you were the one that had to clean up after them."

She turns to look at Peter who's half asleep on the futon. "Liar."

He gives her a half grin. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. This litter turned out amazing I have to say. Cali and PJ made some beautiful puppies. But I still hate cleaning up puppy poop and pee."

"Better you than me!"

I laugh as I walk into the room. "She's got you there, buddy."

"Well, that's why you pay me the big bucks, I guess." He winks because we both know it's not about the money at all.

I smile at him then walk over to stand beside Leah. I ask Peter, "Cali is still doing okay?"

He yawns and stretches then stands up, scratching at his stomach. "Yeah, I had to roll her over onto her back but so far she's been good."

"I still can't believe she had eight puppies."

"Well, the waiting list is long so it's a good thing she had a large litter. Do you know which one you're keeping yet?"

I look down and shake my head. "Not yet. They need to grow some more before I'll know."

He laughs loudly. "Nice try, Bella. I know you want the solid white one." He holds his hand up, ticking off as speaks. "It's the only one, it's a girl, and you've been waiting for this litter since PJ was just a puppy."

These are all true facts, so I don't even try to deny it. "Yeah, I know. But I still want to see how the others look as they get older. Harry says we should keep them until 16 weeks instead of 12. I think he's right this time. Well," I amend, "he's usually right. This is a special litter; we need to make sure they're all healthy and good before we let any of them go."

"Harry's the man so whatever he wants to do, we'll do," Peter agrees. "Don't forget you have that conference call with Carlos in Australia this morning."

"Shit." Because of course I forgot.

"Let's hit the road, Leah. I need to stop by Dr. Wolfe's office and get the heart worm medicine on my way home. I can't miss the call with Carlos. It's taken two weeks to pin him down as it is." I turn and look at Peter. "There are some breakfast burritos in the kitchen, and I made you coffee."

"Oh my God, I love you," he grins. He kisses Leah on the head as goes for sustenance. More so the coffee than the food. He's as exhausted as I am. "Have a good day at school, kid. We'll take Sugar out when you get home, okay?"

He's gone before she can answer him. I grab her by the shoulders and turn her toward the door. "Come on, let's roll."

My mind is on the million and one things I need to get done today when Leah breaks into my thoughts. Good thing, too, since I have to slam on my brakes just to keep from hitting the car in front of me. "Maria called me this morning."

I turn to look at her. "Yeah? How is she? I missed her call last night, so I haven't talked to her in a few days."

"She's good. She loves school she said but not the homework. She also said her volleyball coach is a jackass."

"Hey, language."

She rolls her eyes at me. "I was quoting Maria, Bella." Then she grins. "But I'll be thirteen in a few months, and a teenager, so then you can't yell at me about saying bad words."

"First, I didn't yell. Second, it's only October. You won't be thirteen for five months so it's not exactly right around the corner. And third, you hang around with Peter and Harry too much. I'm terrified to think about the things Harry says in front of you."

She laughs loudly. "Well, for the most part, I think they try to watch what they say in front of me. Harry only says the really bad words when he's working with Mack. Or talking about my dad."

I sigh. "I'm sorry, baby. I've told him to watch what he says about your dad in front of you. He's not exactly Harry's favorite person."

She mumbles, "Mine either."

There's not enough time between now and when I have to drop her off at school to get into any of this with her. Nor do I particularly want to. Automatically I do say, "You know he loves you." It's getting harder and harder to believe the words but for her sake I keep trying.

"Don't forget your mom is coming by for dinner tonight," I remind her as I pull up in front of the school.

"Yeah, I know. Maria asked if we could video call her on Snap Chat when mom gets to the house. She wants to show her the dress she's going to wear to her volleyball dinner next week."

I smile, big. Six months ago, those words never would have come out of Maria's mouth. "That's awesome. I can't wait to see her dress. I'm making spaghetti for dinner, that okay?"

She gets her backpack off the back seat then leans over to kiss my cheek. "Yep, you know it's my favorite. Leslie's mom will drop me off after choir practice. Can Leslie stay for dinner? She wants to see the puppies."

"Of course, she can stay. Either me or Peter will bring her home after dinner and once you two take Karma's puppies out to play for a bit."

She pumps her fist as jumps out of the car. "Heck yeah! Love you," she hollers over her shoulder as she races to catch up to her friends. I wave at her back then at some of the other parents I pass as I leave the carpool line. I never thought I'd be back doing this again, but I can't say I mind a whole lot. That smile on Leah's face makes it all worthwhile. Mostly.

I use the Bluetooth in the car to make some phone calls to clients, giving them updates on their puppies. Karma's litter is ready to go to their forever homes which is a good thing since Cali's will be ready to be moved to the kennels in a few weeks. I never thought this would be my life: dogs, puppies, whelping, show training, vet visits, and the list goes on and on. I never expected to have an almost thirteen-year-old living in my house either but life sure has a funny and strange way, of giving you what you want when you didn't even know it yourself. I try to ignore the voice in the back of my head telling me this is all exactly what Edward and I talked about doing together.

So, a little bit more about Bella. I've been asked about alternating POV's and the answer is, I don't know yet. Like I said, I'm pretty much winging this at the moment so I don't have a set plan in place. Yet. Give me a little bit of time to get my feet wet again and I'll have a clearer picture for you. And for myself, lol because right now, things are still a bit blurry, but I have a good idea how it's all going to go. I also still don't know an update schedule, but I promise not to make you wait too long. By the end of the week for sure. Thanks for reading, it's good to be back!