The week started with me making a new friend.

"Good morning, kitties." I petted each baby and grinned when two of them crawled into my lap. "I think I wanna bring you home with me." I picked up the tan baby and grinned, "I'll call you Fitzwilliam."

"He's cute. Good name."

I jumped slightly at the deep masculine voice.

"You're Bella?"

The man knelt down next to me and cast a shadow across the floor with his broad shoulders. He had a wide boyish smile that was dotted with dimples.

"Yes, I'm Bella and you are?"

"Emmett." He held his hand out toward me and shook mine in a firm grip that completely engulfed my hand altogether, "Nice to you meet you, Bella. Ed talks a lot about you."

"Oh. He does?"

Emmett laughed quietly and shook his head.

"Yeh, little bit." He winked and then turned his attention to the kittens on the floor, making himself comfortable on the cold tile. "These the kittens that are up for adoption?"

"Yes, these are the ones." I snuggled Fitzwilliam up to my chin, "Except for this guy. I think I'm going to keep him."

"Lucky guy." Emmett grinned and I watched as one of the kittens, another tan guy, climbed up onto his lap and head-butted his stomach.

"Ohh, looks like you've been chosen."

"So it seems." His voice, quieter now, as he used one large finger to rub the kitten's chin.

Emmett stuck around for another thirty minutes playing with his new owner. He filled out the paperwork to take the kitten home and left his information for a neuter reminder in a few months.

Edward - Emmett is in love with the kitten and I'm pretty sure he's going to try to steal your affections as well.

The text came in Monday night when I got out of the shower.

Bella - Well, my affections are harder to steal these days. Did he name the kitten yet?

Edward - Because I already won them, right? He named the kitten Loki.

Bella - Loki? Like from the Thor movie? And perhaps.

Edward - I need to work on turning that "perhaps" into a "yes". Yeh, from the movie. :)

He wanted to turn it into a yes? I fell backwards on my bed like a swooning teenager and kicked my feet with a little squeal.

Bella - You're doing a good job of it.

Edward - On my way to a "yes", I'm not giving up.

Oh I hope he doesn't.

.*.*.

The week slipped away, my days were long, lots of fur babies in and out of the clinic and Mom and Dad wanted to have dinner midweek. I finally broke down and told them who Edward was. My dad beamed and my mom nearly had a fit at the coincidence and was trying to marry me off.

"I like that kid, Bells, he's a good one." My dad grinned.

"He's so handsome, Bella! I've seen him, you two would be a gorgeous couple." My mom sighed, "And you would make stunning babies for me to chase around."

"Mooooom." I groaned. "You're going to scare him away before we even make it to another date. Promise me, both of you, that you won't say anything if he happens to come into the restaurant. Please, for the love of all that is holy, don't scare him away."

"You really like him." My mom tilted her head, her eyes suspiciously moist.

"Yes. I really like him."

.*.*.

I was dumping soap into the washer when a warm hand landed on my lower back.

"Hey you."

I held back the shiver of excitement that ran through my body.

"Hey." I closed the washer and pressed the start button, turning to face Edward.

"You look so pretty tonight." His words spoken reverently as his fingers caressed my cheek.

My heart started banging incessantly against my ribs, my entire body felt like a live wire about to explode.

"You too."

Edward's eyebrow rose in amusement, "You think I'm pretty?"

Groaning I shook my head, "With that bone structure, yeh."

This got me a rough laugh that did nothing to calm my already amped up nerves.

"What are you doing after laundry?"

"Well, I have to get back to Fitzwilliam. I don't want to leave him alone for too long."

"Ahhhh, yes, the new kitten. Would you and Fitzwilliam like to have a sleepover at my place?"

"Seriously? I mean he needs a litter box."

Edward shrugged one shoulder and the washer behind me whirred in a spin cycle.

"There's a store right up the road, twenty four hours, I bet I could grab the necessities."

"Are you serious?" The fact that Edward was willing to go purchase a litter box for his apartment, for a cat that wasn't his, sort of made my heart melt.

"As a heart attack. Unless you don't think it's a good idea to drag him out. I'm not educated in all things kitten."

"I think he'd be okay, but he's playful, I don't want him to accidentally knock something over or break something in your home."

"Not worried about it."

Edward's gaze held mine, a smile lifting the corner of his mouth.

"Okay." My smile grew until my cheeks hurt, "We'd love to come hang out with you."

"Right on."


A/N
I don't know if any of you follow my other story, The Pie Equation, but it is up for "Best WIP". If you do follow Pie, it would awesome if you showed her some love xOx And be sure to check out all the other amazing entries as well.

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