Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

AN: Thanks to the lovely TwiDi for cleaning up my mess :) Check out her story You Don't Know Anything *hint it's in my favs ;). ILY BB.

Also thank you to every single one of my readers. Once again sorry for not getting to the review replies, I did a lot of updating this week and I figured you'd rather have a new chapter. I'll try to do better next time.

For those who have read Tempting Bella, there have been changes, including a little extra lemony zest for your reading pleasure.

Oh and I highly recommend you read Lost in Meyer, it is on my favorites list. Kat's writing is awesomspice.

Chapter 8

As soon as they were all done, they left the police station as quickly as possible. They all walked towards the cars waving goodbye to Carlisle, who took the time to remind Bella he wanted to meet his grandchild soon. Bella assured him that sometime this week, she'd come by with Emma for dinner and to meet he and Esme.

Emmett sat in the seat behind the driver's seat. He was a little stunned and a lot amazed at how true it was about small towns. As long as you knew the right people, you could get away with about anything. Nothing was even added on to his record. Clearly the last name 'Cullen' meant a lot here in Forks. It was a nice town. Maybe Momma would like to live here, he pondered.

Rose looked over at stud man, as she had dubbed Emmett. He reeked of money, power and breading. You could almost smell the boarding schools and debutants on him. So, why did this refined man jump automatically into a fist fight to defend her honor? And where the hell did he learn to street fight like that?

Bella sat staring out the passenger window. The events of the day settled into her mind. Edward had found out. Hell! She had found out just how much Edward still lived in her thoughts. Subconsciously, she had been crying out for her lost love. Though, did she still love him? Could she forgive? Was this worldly man that now sat beside her the same inside as the teenage man-child whom she had loved so much? Questions kept rolling in her mind. She couldn't fight them, it was like the floodgates opening and nothing stopped up the flow until it was ready to stop itself.

Edward was filled with questions of his own. He wondered if James Kent was honest when it came to Bella's sleep-talking? Edward knew that Bella talked in her sleep from his own past observations, but had Kent been telling the truth about her crying for him? Did Edward really feature so often in her dreams still? Could this knowledge be used to his advantage?

Was it time to tell her the truth? Would Bella believe him? Believe that he never slept with Alice and that he had only kept quiet as a promise for his brother? That Jasper made him swear not to say anything until he told their parents for fear of Alice going to jail for statutory rape? That Alice could have lost her whole career because she fell in love with his then sixteen year old brother. When Edward made the promise to be their beard, he thought he had lost Bella forever. He had spent so many nights crying to Ali and Jazz about how Bella never came, how she didn't love him enough to come with him.

After Bella ran, Edward had begged the other two to release him from his promise. Alice had wanted to go after Bella herself, explain why she was so cold. None of them had known about Charlie and all Ali knew was that this girl who had caused me so much pain was now standing there asking for me back like nothing happened. Alice the over protective friend that she is saw red and became a major bitch. To this day she feels shitty about it. Edward had told her 'no' though, that he needed to talk to Bella first.

However, when Edward went to find Bella she was gone. Then his parents informed him that Bella had a baby with another man. The rumor that Bella and Maggie put out about Bella sleeping with someone else made it to me. That's why he stopped looking for her, if she moved on and was having a child with someone else, who the fuck was he to get in the middle of it? Edward's head began to hurt with all these past pains and thoughts running through it. He sat in the back seat beside Em, while Rose drove them back to the Swans, his eyes closed. He thought only of what could have been.

As the car pulled into the Swan's driveway, Bella breathed a sigh of relief. Rose's cell phone went off and she opened the driver's door.

"Damn." She said, annoyance filling her voice. She turned to Bella. "It's Royce, I'll be inside in a moment." Walking off into the yard talking on the phone.

"Royce?" Edward asked, but Emmett's face held more questions.

"Her man of the moment." Bella laughed gently.

"Is he a masochist?" Emmett grumbled and Edward laughed.

"No, he's a dentist." Bella smirked and walked in the back door.

"Mommy!" Emma ran into Bella's arms.

"Hey, sweetie." Bella said hugging her child close.

"Hey, Princess." Edward said from behind Bella.

"Daddy!" Emma giggled and turned to hug him, "Uncle Emmett, they let you out of the dog house?" She asked the big bear man.

"Dog house?" Bella looked at her mother.

"Well, it was easier to explain than the big house." Renee retorted.

"True." Edward said on a laugh.

Emmett looked seriously at the child, not hearing Rose come in the door. Emmett knelt in front of Emma and smiled.

"That particular dog house is filled with bad dogs who bite and," he paused for effect, "they smell really bad!" He laughed and tickled Emma who fell into a fit of giggles.

Bella smiled at how lightly Emmett seemed to be taking his hour of jail time. She didn't know if she'd be able to handle it that well. Looking up she caught her sister watching Emmett and Emma, her face expressionless, but her eyes were full of fear like she just saw a ghost.

Edward watched Bella trying to read her, but all he saw was Bella starring questioningly at Rose. Looking at Rose himself he was shocked at her eyes. He hadn't seen that look since Rose was seven and a found a rat in her bedroom. Bella had screamed at him that day to get the rat out of the house, rats were Rose's phobia and she was terrified of them. What was about Em that has caused that same fear for her?

"Children, are we going to stand around the kitchen all day or…?" Renee took in all the players in the room. She began to think of this as a game. Edward steps forward, Bella steps back and vice versa. Emmett and Rose, Renee had to laugh to herself, were the WWE of sexual tension, fight to the end and if Renee was right neither would ever be the same.

"No, Mom." Bella laughed and grabbed her daughter to her, "Emma and I have to finish unpacking and Rose promised to help." Looking pointedly at Edward and then Emmett.

"And I guess… I should go visit with my Mom." Edward said reluctantly. To which in response to Rosalie opened the door and stood to the side. Renee reached her crutch out and whacked her daughter's ankle.

"Mom!" Rose cried in pain.

"Behave." Renee retorted, "Emmett what are your plans for the rest of the day?" Renee inquired.

"Slaving over work for Edward. It's a never ending job." Emmett said; trying to hide his laughter at the display mother and daughter just put on.

"Don't I know it?" Bella mumbled under her breath, but Edward heard it and turned and grinned at her.

"Experienced working for me, are you?" He lifted his right eyebrow, a sexy half smile that weakened Bella's knees then graced his lips.

"Only for… I don't know maybe, um… second to twelfth grades." She laughed.

"Hey, I did my phys ed homework myself." He laughed as well.

"Yeah and all that running practice ought to help you get out of here before Rose slams the door on you both." Bella laughed again and turned to her daughter. "Say bye to your dad, we have a lot to do and half the day is gone."

After Emma said goodbye to Edward and ran upstairs Bella walked the men out.

"You need to ice your ankle, Edward." She told him.

"Yeah." He replied waving goodbye to Emmett who drove off in his own rental.

"Bella, we still have a lot to talk about. Nothing was settled today." He took her right hand in his and looked into her dark chocolate eyes, "Bella, so much has happened, so much you don't know about. We need to talk about it."

"Edward." She barely said, his name sticking in her throat, his green eyes melting her insides.

"Shh… kitten," he placed a finger to her lips, "I keep trying to find the right words to explain things to you, to work out things. Our daughter deserves us to get along, at the very least. But even if there was no Emma," he sighed as if that would be the worst thing in the world, "I'd have still found you one day. There are things left unsaid between us that we owe ourselves to say. We owe it to the two kids we once were who loved each other with so much passion and intensity. Those kids, Kitten, would hate what we've become. The distance between us. The broken dreams. The lost time. Bella, we owe them, ourselves, something for what we've taken from them."

"Edward, I'm not sure I can do this now. Today… hell, this week has been an emotional upheaval. Just give me time to regroup. I need room to breathe." She begged him.

"Can I come by tomorrow to see Emma?" He asks softly.

"Yes." She responds.

"Bella, I'll try to be patient, but you know I lack a lot of it." She repressed a giggle, Edward had no patients, "I… oh, what the hell?"

Edward pulled Bella into his arms and held her tight. His lips sought out hers. At first hard and demanding, as soon as she submitted his kiss turned soft. She sighed into his lips. He sucked her bottom lip into his mouth, his tongue slipping slowly along it. Bella's mouth opened and his tongue slipped inside. Hers was soon mating with his. Their kiss taking on a life of its own. Urgency and need filled their bodies. Bella's legs soon were finding purchase around Edward's waist. His erection pushed into her. She was on fire, he was feeling alive for the first time since he last held her.

"What the hell? Edward, put my sister down now! Bella, go inside, you'll hate yourself in the morning, not only for giving in, but for entertaining the neighbors! Mrs. Cope just called Mom to tell her the two of you were going at it on the front lawn. She wants a wedding invitation!" Rose raged.

Bella and Edward looked at each other sheepishly. Nothing had been resolved with that kiss. In fact, all it did was make them both extremely horny. Bella blushed to her roots when she realized what had just transpired. Edward tried to discreetly adjust himself. His hard-on was a mighty bit uncomfortable. Emma sat at her window upstairs, giggling and planning. She knew that one day soon she and Mommy would be a family with Daddy.

"Tomorrow?" Edward asked heading towards his car.

"Tomorrow." Bella agreed going back in the house to face the wrath of Rose and the amusement of her Mom.

Tomorrow, he thought. Tomorrow he would tell her the truth. He drove to his parents' home with classical music filling the silence of the car. Inside he was surprised to find no one home. He went upstairs to his room and hit speed dial two.

"Edward!" She answered excited.

"Ali, I looked at that house for you and Jazz, it needs work but not too much." He told his old friend.

"Thanks, Edward, we're hoping that by being there when the baby is born, maybe your Mom will accept me. You know she still sees me as the whore who molested her sixteen year old son and destroyed her oldest son's life as well. Jasper even tried to explain that when he met me he lied about his age, she just ignores it. Claiming that once I knew I should have walked away. How was I supposed to walk away from the other half of me?" Alice said, her voice filled with pain.

"Ali, I've told you before, that this is between you and my Mom." Edward pinched the bridge of his nose, not wanting to get into this old argument.

"Have you told Bella the truth yet? Can I meet her now? Can I meet Emma now? Oh, I just know that one day we will all be friends. I can see the family picnics and birthday parties now." Alice said with so much joy. Poor Alice the reason she is so loyal to her friends, to the point of pit bull like actions, her parents died when she was nine, she then went to go live with a bachelor uncle who was in his late forties. He never paid her any attention, just shipped her off to school everyday, even when she was sick and made sure she had food and clothing. The cold upbringing made her long for a family.

"No, Ali, not yet. And knowing Bella, it might be a long time before she will ever be able to think of you as anything other than the bitch who sneered at her and was wearing my shirt, the morning she lost me." He could still kick Jasper's ass for wearing his best dress shirt out and letting Alice put it on that morning.

"You'll see, Edward, once she finds out that I'm not a home-wreaking whore, we will so totally be best friends!" Short stuff was such an optimist, but Edward knew Bella. Hell, Rose might try to kill Alice on sight.

"Alice, patience ok?" He sighed, "I need to go, I think my Mom is here now." They said goodbye and Edward walked slowly down the stairs. There standing in the foyer was Emmett, with Rosalie Swan attached to his lips. Clearly something was wrong with this picture.

AN2: Reviews make me want to updated ;)