Chapter 2: Bella's POV

The beeping of a horn wakes me from a sound sleep. I cover my head with a pillow, but still hear the repetitive noise.

"Bye, Ness…! Have a good day at school, and be good for Nana when you come home!" I hear Edward yell from their front door.

Peeking out my window, I see her run out of the house and get into a car with another girl in the back seat.

I throw a robe on and walk down the hall stepping out onto my porch. "Hey, Edward… 'Good morning' to you too."

"I'm so sorry, Bella… Did Maria wake you up? I'll have to talk to her about that." He says as he picks up a briefcase.

"Would you? I don't like to wake up this early when I don't have to." I say sleepily.

He smirks sympathetically and says, "Sure, sorry! Listen, we can talk whenever you want but right now, I have an appointment to get to…so… I'll see you later?"

"Sure…" I say as Emmett runs out of my house toward the truck.

Edward's face betrays his surprise. Emmett is only wearing a pair of boxers. Not good…

"I gotta go…See ya, Bella…" He sounds disappointed.

"Edward… it's not what you think…" I say in inexplicable desperation.

He waves me off and gets into his car. As he drives off, I swear he's glaring at Em.

"What's his problem?" Emmett says, carrying the next 2 boxes.

"You, Emmett…" I say. "You are his problem. You're running around half dressed and he has a little girl, Em. You just made him think I'm going to have strange men over at all hours of the day and night!"

"…But I'm your brother…" He states cluelessly.

"Yeah… I know that and you know that, but he just met me and you could be Mr. Booty Call or something!" I yell at him.

He cracks up.

I sigh. "When he comes back, I'll introduce you and if you could stay dressed, I'm sure it would ease his mind."

He nods. "Ok, Bells, I'll be good… He had a sweet set of wheels, you know."

I can see that my little brother has an interest in Edward's Volvo. "Yeah, but a guy like him probably has sweeter rides then that. If you make a good second impression, he might let you look in his garage. So, get some clothes on and help me finish. After we're done, I'll watch a movie with you…"

Emmett just sighs.

"Your choice of movie…?" I say slyly.

He gets excited. "Fast and Furious…?"

I laugh and nod.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get my big sister moved into her new house!" He yells.

"Hey, I'm only a year older than you!" I say, slapping his chest.

"I know, Bells… I know." He yells after me.

I run to my room to throw on my jeans and contacts as well as a plain top and clip to keep my hair out of the way. I'll only be unpacking and watching TV today; nothing exciting. I'll just get some of the lighter boxes from the truck. I unlock the U-haul and reach for a box. "Ok, Em, we can spend the day setting up the living-room and my office area, but I want all the boxes out of the truck by the time we go to sleep tonight." As a novelist and Pampered Chef Consultant, I need a nice organized workspace to help keep me productive.

The day goes fairly smooth. Although, when my dad's old friend, Billy Black, sent his son, Jacob, to paint my house, a few weeks ago, he painted a few windows shut, but Emmett fixed that and now I'll have to re-paint them. We got done with my bedroom and private bath, as well as the living-room, kitchen, guest bedroom/office and general bathroom. That leaves the dining-room, the backyard and the garage for tomorrow.

Emmett is in the kitchen and cooking dinner already. He's great in the food department, whereas I had to learn when I started selling Pampered Chef.

I'm arranging the knick-knacks on the entertainment center when I hear a car pull up. Peeking out my window, I see the little girl next door hugging a sweet looking older lady. She can't possibly be the 'Nana' that Edward had been talking about…can she? She doesn't look old enough to have a son my age. I wander out onto the porch to maybe say hi… Who am I kidding…? I'm trying to get noticed because I want an excuse to get Edward to talk to me later. He's hot and I didn't see or hear about a wife yet so, maybe there's hope…I sit on the plastic temporary furniture and promptly fall flat on my ass.

Suddenly, I hear a small voice say, "Hi, my name is Renesmee Carlie Cullen... it's nice to meet you. Would you please date my dad?"

I get up and look around wondering where the lady who'd been with her is and want to laugh but she sounds so serious that I just turn and hold out my hand. "I'm Bella and it's very nice to meet you too, Renesmee…Your dad and I met last night but he called you Nessie…May I call you that too?"

She grins and shakes my hand. "Yes, please. I like it better because it's easier to say…so will you…?"

I decide to see how serious she really is about this. I play dumb. "Will I what…?"

She rolls her eyes. "Will you date my dad, silly?"

"What about your mom?" I ask with a sigh. "Won't she mind if he starts dating?"

"No, my mom died a few weeks after I was born…" She says softly.

"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry…" I trail off.

"It's ok… I wish I knew her, but she visits me in dreams. Anyway, he has her permission to start dating so I think you should date him, ok?" she says.

"I don't know, sweetie… he hasn't asked me…" I tell her wondering what she could mean by that.

"Can't you ask him? He hasn't dated since before I was born and that's a really long time…!" Nessie asks. "Maybe he forgot how it works…"

"Nessie, we need to get your schoolwork done, honey!" The older woman says.

"Who is that?" I ask the little girl.

"Nana, c'mere…!" She calls out. "That's my Nana. She's taking care of me after school today because my dad had a PTA meeting to go to. She's the bestest Nana in the whole world."

I grin as Edward's mom joins us.

"Nessie, go hit the books. C'mon, I know you like to be done before your father gets home!" She says to her grand-daughter before turning to face me. "Hi, I understand you've met my son and his daughter. I'm Esme Cullen. You'll see me around here often… and you are…?"

I grin. "Bella Swan…It's nice to meet the bestest Nana in the whole world."

She blushes. "I'm actually her only grandmother. Her mother's parents died while Nancy and Edward were still just dating. It's sweet that she calls me that, though."

"Out of intense curiosity, did you hear what she was just saying?" I ask her.

"No, dear, was she being fresh? Do I need to have a word with her?" Esme asks.

I chuckle. "Oh, nothing like that…She's an incorrigible little thing though…She told me that I should date her father…can you imagine?"

A small smile appears on Esme's face. "Well, he has been alone for almost 10 years… Now, we've got to go or Nessie will be very late in getting her homework done!"

"Ok, I'm ready, Nana!" Nessie says running into the house. "See you later Bella!"

"Bye!" I call out, waving as they close the door.

"Who was that, Bells?" Emmett says startling me.

"You've got to stop sneaking up on me, Em! You scared me! Anyway, that was the 'guy next door's daughter and mother." I say telling him about Nessie's idea.

"You haven't dated in a while either, Bells. You might want to think about it." Emmett reminds me.

"Thanks for the reminder, Em…" I grumble thinking about my last relationship as Emmett leads me into the kitchen to eat.

His name was Mike. Not only had I not had a date in a while, but I hadn't had sex with anyone other than my right hand or my pink vibrator in almost 18 months. Mike did not have the ability to find my clit with 2 hands and map and that was one of the 2 reasons I broke up with him. The other reason is that he was just boring. We'd go out to eat and he'd always take me to the same place where he'd order the same dish every time. When I broke up with him, I'd taken him there and dumped him before we ordered so he'd have the food as a consolation.

"Bells, are you sure you don't want me to stay another day? I'll stay and help you, Tanya can wait!" My brother says.

"Emmett! I thought you really liked this one! Go to that party with her tomorrow night, and have some fun! I'll be fine… Besides, I can always ask the new neighbors to help. They're friendly…" I giggle.

Edward's POV

She's got a boyfriend! I can't believe I was considering getting involved with a woman who's got a boyfriend! When I saw the guy run into the front yard in just HIS BOXERS, I was astounded to find myself a little jealous. It's not like Bella's mine…not in any way, shape, or form. It's just that, when I think of her with someone else, I want to punch something…

A small amused feminine voice echoes through my head. 'It's because you want her to be yours, you silly stubborn man.'

"Nancy…" I whisper to myself in quiet recognition as I drive home from the PTA meeting. "I feel so stupid, Nan… I miss you so much but I know you're never coming back." I pull off to the side of the road next to the cemetery where my wife is buried, and since it's closed for the night, I just sit in my car and talk to her. "I'm sure you've seen her. She's new to the neighborhood. Her name is Bella…and she's cute… I like her. I wonder how she'd get along with Nessie… Man…Nessie is going to flip! She's dead set on me and Bella. I'll have to tell her that Bella's got a boyfriend."

"I think you should talk to her, Eddie…it might not be what you were thinking…Try it, baby…for Nessie... Be your usual charming self. She'll never know what hit her." Nancy's voice was always persuasive.

"Ok, babe…Because you asked…" I say as I put the car in drive.

Pulling up the driveway, a few moments later, I notice 2 things. My mom and Bella's boyfriend are at the fence talking…and both houses are dark.

I get out of the car with my briefcase and walk toward the door, when my mom calls me over. "Edward, come here, son. Nessie and I met Bella, today. She's very sweet…this is Emmett…he's Bella's b-…"

I cut her off not wanting to hear the truth from someone else's lips. "Boyfriend…I know, I saw him this morning…Nice to meet you… Mom, why's the house dark?"

Emmett laughs loudly. "She thought that's the impression I'd given. No, man, I'm her younger brother!"

Shock floods through me but that is diluted by the strange feeling of relief that joins it.

The feminine voice breaks into my thoughts again. "I told you there was an explanation, Eddie."

"Nessie went to bed, honey…" Mom says. "So I turned out all the lights except the hallway. It saves energy, you know."

"Her brother…? You walk around in your boxers in front of your sister?" I say in shock. "Alice would've skinned me or at least made such fun of me that I'd never be able to look her in the eye again!"

"Yeah, well, B's cool like that. Anyway, with Bella asleep, I was just talking to Esme, and she says you're off tomorrow…" He says.

I confirm this with a nod.

"Well, Bella's gonna need help, if you wouldn't mind…" He replies.

"Sure, no problem… I just have to drop Nessie off at school but then I'm all hers." I inform him.

"Great! I feel better knowing Bella's got friendly neighbors to help her out. I'm off in the morning…back to college and my girlfriend, but I graduate at the end of the semester, so…" Emmett says.

"That's great Emmett. I'm happy for you. So, what kind of help does Bella need?" I ask.

"She just needs to arrange the dining-room and back yard furniture…" He says. "Of course, the garage needs organizing too…but after that all that's left is to hang some pictures and repaint a few window sills…Damn, she's going to kill me when she finds out I asked you…"

"Asked in general or me specifically?" I ask feeling hurt.

He sighs. "She hates to be a bother to anyone… She'll be upset that I'm putting you out and then she'll think that she's a burden…"

"Emmett…she doesn't have to know you asked." My mom's face takes on a sly, almost mischievous look. "Edward could just show up at her door after he's dropped Nessie off and ask if he can help. She'd never know."

I snort. "I have a suggestion. Can you both be a little quiet?"

They stare at me for a moment.

"Em, we can put the back yard in order right now…" I propose.

"And she'll wake up to think the furniture fairy did it all! Great idea, Edward…!" Emmett gets excited. "She has a diagram for how she thought it should go. It's attached to one of the planters."

I tell my mom to just hold the gate while Emmett and I go to the truck and unload the back yard furniture. There's an outdoor dining set with an umbrella and 6 chairs. She also has some small tables and a few medium sized planters. Last, but not least she has a high tech grill and some stuff to go in the shed. So, we follow her diagram for the yard and can't wait to do the rest with Bella tomorrow…if she lets me…

Thanks again to my wonderful beta! hnwhitlock2000, you're great!