A/N: I know I said I would update more frequently and I apologize from the bottom of my heart. This chapter was more difficult that I anticipated, simply because it was a transition chapter and I hate transition chapters! I much prefer action and unfortunately, sometimes you have to have some boring times to get to the action later. Hope this isn't too boring and thanks for still reading (if I haven't run everyone off!)

As usual, the characters aren't mine, but the storyline is!

Chapter 9

"Ed! Over here!" Emmett's voice filled the area and if he wasn't loud enough, his arms waving over his head like a madman would have let me know where he was. He was picking me up at the airport in Seattle, then we were headed home for the summer. Well, summer for him, undetermined amount of time for me. I had shipped home almost all of my things from Dartmouth earlier, leaving me only a small carry-on bag to take with me on the flight. I approached Emmett and found that he was alone, which surprised me a little bit. Until he started explaining.

"Mom and Rose are getting things settled for Bella. They've been getting her room set up this week as well as starting on the nursery for the baby. Mom's gone mad, let me tell you," Emmett informed me.

I nodded, not really sure what to say. I knew things would happen without me around, but something felt weird hearing that Mom and Rose were the ones taking care of Bella and the baby.

The ride home mostly consisted of me making noises as Emmett filled me in on his past year in school. Granted, I knew all of it already, since we talked at least once a week, but he wanted to go over it again and it saved me from actually have to pay attention. My mind was focused on getting home and getting started on the rest of my life. I was tired of limbo, I was tired of thinking 'Just wait until you are home.' I was home and now it was time to sort some things out.

Em pulled his Jeep into the driveway and the door to the house was opened, revealing our mother.

"Edward!" she said gleefully and walked over to give me a hug and kiss on the cheek.

"Hi Mom," I muttered as I hugged her back.

"I am so glad to see you," she started. "Wait until you see what we've been doing for Bella."

"Yeah, I've heard you've been busy," I said simply.

"Well, Bella and the baby need someone to take care of them you know," Mom replied. She let go of me and headed back into the house. "Grab your stuff and come on in. Your boxes from school arrived and I had them put in the garage."

I felt a little like an afterthought, but maybe I was making too much out of it. The next few hours were filled with getting settled into my room again. I left the boxes in the garage for another day, it wasn't stuff I needed while at home but since it wasn't shipping back to the East Coast again in a couple of months, I knew I would have to sort through it before Mom started complaining about them.

I stopped and sat down on my bed, realizing for the first time in a couple of hours, the house was pretty quiet. There were at least 4 people around the place, including myself and it sounded like it was abandoned. I ventured out of my room to find out what was going on and found Mom in the kitchen cooking.

"Why is it so quiet? It's never quiet when Em is around," I commented.

"Shh!" Mom said, turning to look at me with her finger over her lips. "Bella is taking a nap and I sent Emmett away so his loud mouth wouldn't disturb her."

"Uh, okay," I said in confusion. "What's for dinner?" Mom had a tradition that when someone in the family came home from school, business trip, whatever, dinner was that person's favorite. Emmett would have gotten his dinner of fried chicken and macaroni and cheese last week when he got home from school so I was expecting my favorite lasagna tonight. "That doesn't smell like lasagna."

"It isn't. I'm making a stir fry, we all need to eat healthier and the baby needs the added nutrients," Mom told me.

"But-," I started and stopped when I got a glare from Mom.

"That sucks," I muttered.

"Edward, that is enough. I am doing my best to take care of your child and all I get is complaining," Mom told me with a huff.

I stared at her for a moment, then shook my head and walked out of the room. I wasn't about to get in a fight with her. I knew better than that, but it was like a completely different person had come and inhabited my mother's body and I didn't like it.

I headed back up to my room, anxious to avoid Mom at all costs, only to run into Bella on the stairs.

"Oh, hi, you're home," she said softly.

I nodded, unsure of what to say. "How are you feeling?"

Bella grinned and pushed her hair back off her shoulder. I watched the brown strands move and wondered what it felt like. Was it smooth like silk or rougher? I imagined it would feel incredible either way in my hands.

"Edward?" Bella's voice interrupted my thoughts. "Are you okay?"

"Huh? Yeah, fine, sorry, so everything is good?" I asked again, since I hadn't heard the original answer.

"Yeah, fine," Bella said with a grin. "Maybe you need a nap, it must have been a long flight."

I nodded but stayed silent. My lack of a verbal response made Bella uncomfortable, I could see it in her face and she was quick to excuse herself.

"I'm just gonna head downstairs. I'll see you later, okay?" She asked and I nodded once again. She eased by me and finished her descent on the stairs, disappearing around the corner. I closed my eyes and let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding.

Why was I incapable of talking to her? Everything had been reasonably fine when I went to the doctor's appointment with her. What had changed?

I walked the rest of the distance to my room and laid on the bed, thinking Bella's suggestion of a nap wasn't that bad of an idea. I stared at the ceiling, wishing for sleep to overtake me and I tried to think of how I would talk to Bella once I woke up. I wanted to talk about Mom and her attitude. I needed to find out if Bella was comfortable with it. If she was, then I wouldn't say anything to Mom, but if she wasn't, I should be the one to make the comments. She was my mother after all. If this living together thing was going to work out, we needed to be on the same page. To be on the same page, we needed to talk and I needed to get my head out of my ass and do it. Pleased that I had an action plan, I drifted off to sleep.

I woke up, thinking I had slept for a couple of hours only to find out it was much later than I had expected. My stomach started protesting the lack of food it had been given and I headed back downstairs and into the kitchen, just as I had a few hours before. This time, Mom was not at the stove cooking and I was pretty sure the rest of the occupants of the house were asleep. I opened the fridge, deciding to settle my stomach with a sandwich and pulled out the necessary items. I turned to the counter to place the items on there and turned back to find a knife and a plate.

"So you're finally awake?" Mom's voice surprised me and I turned, thankful that I didn't drop the plate onto the floor. She laughed when she saw she'd surprised me and walked over to sit at the counter. "I saved you some dinner but that looks better than what I fixed." She grinned and nodded toward the sandwich fixings. "Make me one too?"

I nodded and grabbed another plate from the cabinet and set about making two sandwiches. Once I was done, I slid one to her and took a bite from my own. I watched as she bit down, then she smiled at me, speaking once her mouth was empty once again. "I should have made the lasagna."

"Mom," I started, then stopped, not really wanting to tell my mother that I thought she was wrong but knowing that she was.

"I'm sorry honey," she said. "I have been so caught up with making sure everything is perfect for Bella and the baby, I haven't really paid any attention to anything else. Emmett really doesn't seem to care, and your father is working so much, not that that is anything new."

I decided to just tell her, since she sounded so remorseful. "Mom, you know I am capable of helping out as well. I'm not a kid any more. I know what I did and I am willing to take responsibility for my actions. You need to give me a chance to do that though and by doing everything for everyone, you aren't allowing me to do that."

Mom grew silent, chewing thoughtfully on her sandwich, then started talking again. "I just want to make sure that you two, you three actually, are okay. I know how tough it is to have a baby and I want to save you and Bella the stress that comes along with it. You are both so young. I was older than you two when I had you and your brother and I was completely overwhelmed. The only thing that helped me was having my mother there to help. I want to be able to help Bella, since her mother isn't."

"Mom, we're going to mess up, how else are we supposed to learn? But you have to give us the chance to do it. I want to get to know Bella and help raise my baby, but right now, I feel like a third wheel," I explained.

"You just got home, how can you feel that way already?" Mom asked.

"I've felt that way for a while now, but now, I can do something about it. Give me a chance to do something," I pleaded.

Mom nodded and pushed her plate away from her. "Okay, I'll back off. But if you need me," she trailed off, letting the offer remain unspoken.

"I know where to find you," I finished with a grin.

She walked around the counter and pulled me down so she could place a kiss on the top of my head. Mom was short compared to Dad, Em and I, so we were used to being tugged and pulled into position for Mom to hug and kiss us. "I'm headed to bed. Clean up when you're done, okay?" I nodded and Mom left the kitchen, leaving me to finish my sandwich alone. I cleaned up the plates, wiped down the counter and headed back up to my room. I wasn't tired, but figured if I put on a movie, maybe it would make me fall asleep. I laid down on the bed, used the remote to turn on the television and flipped through the channels until I found something that I could tolerate. As soon as I got comfortable, I heard a knock on my door and then watched as it slowly opened. I muted the sound and watched silently as Bella slowly walked into my room.

"Uhm, Edward, could we talk?"

I sat up quickly and stared at her for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, sure, come on in."

Bella walked fully into the room, closed the door behind her just as quietly as she had opened it and hesitated. I nodded toward the end of the bed and watched her walk over and sit down on the end, facing me. She pulled her legs up under her, rested her arms on her knees and took a deep breath.

"I heard what you said to your mom tonight and uh," she stopped and I quickly started talking, wanting to clarify myself to her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't talk to you first, I mean you could be perfectly content with Mom hovering and doing everything for you, but it just seemed wrong, from what Em was telling me and seeing Mom when I got home, I just thought-." I stopped when Bella smiled and held up her hand.

"No, no, it's fine. I am used to doing everything on my own, to being the one that is always taking care of others that it's different to have someone taking care of me. It was starting to get a little overwhelming, even though I liked it at first. Between your mother and Rosalie, I am feeling a little smothered. I can tell Rose to back off, but I felt weird telling your mom." She bit her bottom lip as she grinned and I felt myself smile in response.

"So you aren't mad that I did that?" I was quick to clarify.

"No, not at all, but don't think you are going to step in and smother me instead of her, understand?" She warned me.

I nodded, glad for the warning because I knew I would do the same thing Mom had been doing and would justify it saying I was doing it for the baby, just as Mom had.

"I appreciate the place to stay and the support, but there are still some things that I need to do for myself. I need to learn how to take care of myself and the baby," she explained.

"I'll be there too," I reminded her.

"I know, but not all the time. It's not like we are together, you know? We share a baby but that's it," she told me.

I felt the smile leave my face and a feeling of sadness blanket me. She was right, we didn't have anything except for a human that shared our DNA and it didn't sound like she was interested in anything else.

"Yeah, I get it," I stated. I leaned back against the headboard and looked around the room, very uncomfortable all the sudden.

"Edward, I'm-," Bella started and I cut her off.

"No, don't be. You didn't say anything but the truth," I stated.

I felt her hand cover mine and I looked down at our hands and then up at her. "Bella, you need to tell me what you want from me. I'm getting mixed signals and I just want to make sure that I don't fuck anything up."

She pulled her hand back from mine and clasped it with her other one, then placed them in her lap. She was quiet for a couple of moments, then frowned and looked at me sympathetically. "I don't know what I want Edward, I really don't know."

She climbed off the bed and walked to the door, opening quietly once again. She gave me a sad smile, then walked out, the door closing with a soft click.

I fell back onto the bed, covering my eyes with my arm and sighed. "I'll be here waiting when you decide," I whispered into the dark. "I'm not going anywhere."