A/H: So what is Edward so shocked over? Well what are you reading this for go find out lol. Enjoy! =)

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight; that would be the brilliant Stephanie Meyer.

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EPOV

I was so thrilled for her when she told me about her book. Not only would it be priceless to see what her mother's reaction would be; - walking by a book store to see Bella Swan written on front of the book in the front display - but it would make things so much easier financially for Bella and Aiden.

I hadn't known the two of them for very long but I could feel them turning into an integral part of my survival; so of course their well-being was very important to me.

When Aiden basically told me he wished I was his dad; I can't even describe what went through my head. But the one main thought that surprised me was me too. I found it so strange that the most fun I had in a long time was making funny voices along to a story with a four year old.

I'm not saying I haven't had any fun either, it's just hearing that kid laugh just brightens my day. If that is what being a parent felt like, I couldn't wait for it to happen.

Bella made her way back over to me from the bookshelf. She told me how I was the only one that had seen it besides her and Aiden. It felt like such an honor, I hope she would let me read it.

She handed me the book with a small anxious smile; I could tell she was nervous for the first person to see her book so I gave her a huge encouraging smile.

I felt it drop off my face when I looked down at the cover; there in black and white stood the one name that has haunted my memories for almost five years: ISABELLA SWAN.

Had Bella ever told me her last name? Had she ever told me her real first name? Maybe I just didn't piece it all together?

Memories that I have for so long tried to forget came flooding back

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I opened my eyes when I felt someone staring at me, I figured it would be that nut job that has been stalking me since last semester so I almost faked being asleep. I probably would have, but I was afraid she would like try to rape me or something.

I looked over at the person staring at me and was temporarily winded. Sitting next to me had to be the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. She was there when I sat down but wasn't in a position so I could see her face – oh the positions I wish I could put her in!

I couldn't just ignore her, it was like there was this other force pushing me to be near her; and believe me I wasn't fighting it. She wasn't like all the other girls I had met here; they all tried too hard, with their bleached hair and too much makeup; you could just tell she was naturally beautiful.

"Hi, I'm Edward; nice to meet you." I introduced myself to her, hoping she wasn't a bitch; the disappointment if she was probably would kill me.

I watched entranced as a blush covered her face and ran down her neck till it dipped under her shirt so I couldn't fallow it anymore; damn.

"Hi Edward; I'm Isabella Swan, it's nice to meet you." She greeted with a small smile.

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"Edward, Edward! Are you all right; Edward!" I was snapped out of my thoughts by Bella's frantic voice. Must be I had zoned out for awhile. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and looked up at her with probably what looked like bug eyes.

"You-your n-name i-is Isabella Swan." I said it more as a statement than a question. Just sort of getting it out in the open made it seem so much more real to me.

"Yeah, you know that; Edward what's the problem?" I could tell by her voice she was beginning to get frustrated with me. I guess the mother within her helps her be patient because I would have flipped on me by now if I was her.

Oh. My. God. She's a mother...he is four years old; plus nine months. It's been almost five years; holy mother fucker! I'm, I'm Aiden's, I'm his, he's my; oh holy shit!

I was broken out of my reverie by Bella psyching herself out; I guess I'll have to think more on this later.

I knew I was a big part of the reasoning behind her freaking out; I'm sure she is completely paranoid that her book sucks now because of my reaction that had nothing to do with it; just the name on the cover.

"That's it I'm calling the publisher to pull the book! I knew it would suck; what the hell had I been thinking! I knew I couldn't do this!" she sobbed; well now I feel like a complete ass. I should have remembered to compliment the book before my breakdown; this is going to take awhile to fix.

"Bella, Bella calm down! It doesn't suck at all its amazing!" I tell her as I pull her into my lap.

"No it's not! You went totally comatose and the only thing you could compliment was my fucking name Edward! That's not the best sign!" she sobbed into my shirt; I feel like such an asshole.

My new found information makes it so much easier to understand why we are so comfortable with one another.

"No Bella that had absolutely nothing to do with if your book was good or not; my train of thought was completely somewhere else I swear. You know I wouldn't lie to you!" I say while hugging her to my chest; now that I have her again I may never let her go.

I suppose I could be mad over all this, but it just doesn't seem worth it; I found her.

"A-are you s-sure? I don't want it out there if it sucks. Urgh, I'm so sorry for blubbering all over you." She moved to get up but I kept my arms locked around her so she couldn't.

"Nope, I like you blubbering right here on me; thanks. You aren't going anywhere." I tell her with a smile; making her blush.

"Your book is fantastic Bella. I'm so proud of you, and you should be proud of yourself. People get paid everyday to choose which books are worth being printed and they chose yours; so don't doubt if it should be on the shelves or not. They chose you." I tell her with a tap on her nose with my finger to emphasize the 'you.' I figured since she gave me such a pep talk about my Ph.D. earlier, that she needed one in return for this; everyone has their insecurities.

She looked up at me through wet eyelashes, "Thanks Edward;" she told me.

"So how about a subject change?" I ask; trying to pillage for information.

"What subject?" she asked.

Hmm; oh I have an idea. "How about you tell me about Aiden's f-father." Wow that last word made my tongue feel like it weighted a couple hundred pounds and breath catch in my throat.

"Urgh, I was trying to avoid that." She groaned. Well I do believe that is what a verbal bitch slap felt like. Hear her out; there are two sides to every story.

"Why, what happened?" I asked trying to keep my composer.

She proceeded to tell me the story of the memory I knew so well; except the ending was a bit different. She didn't go into detail just said he left her that morning. I would have worried that maybe I had jumped to conclusions but the rest of the story matched out interactions that night; plus Aiden has both my hair and eyes. How the fuck did I miss that?

None of that mattered right now though. What did matter was that she thought I left her; what the hell? She left me!

"That's not how I remember it." I stated in a calm voice; well as calm as possible.

I nonchalantly dropped my arms from around her waist because I had a feeling she wouldn't want to be sitting on me if she thought that I was the asshole she had concocted in her head that I was for 'leaving her.'

"W-what?" she asked turning to look at me. Her face was a look of confusion, worry, and was that hope?

"I said; that's not how I remember it. I remember waking up next to the woman of my dreams praying to god that I would get to keep her for the rest of my life." I said with a wistful sigh, looking off into space remembering.

"Then I went out to the kitchen to make her breakfast but there was nothing there. So I went to the coffee shop down the street, got some bagels and coffee for the both of us and made my way back to the little apartment that I hoped I would be spending a lot more time in." I chanced a look out of the corner of my eye and her face mirrored complete and utter shock, recognition, and hope.

"I get to the apartment door that I had left unlocked only to find it now locked. So I walked downstairs to the lobby and looked out to find her car gone. I still had a little hope left so I went back up and left a note on the door." I said with a dejected sigh.

"I never heard from her though. I remember her neighbor - some blonde haired guy – told me she left the apartment in a rush that morning and made sure to warn me that she didn't date so I shouldn't hold my breath to getting a response from her." I said defeated; maybe she just didn't want to contact me.

"I never did hear from her; the only reason I even realized I found her again is because of the name staring back up at me in black in white." I tell her taping the cover of her book that is sitting beside me on the couch.

By this time I was laying my head back against the couch staring up at the ceiling; I was exhausted. The array of emotions and the overload of information I had felt and found out about today were so intense it was mind boggling.

I was broke out of my thoughts by her barely whispering, "I never got it."

I turned my head to the side to look at her, "hmm?" I asked in question.

"The note, I never got the note. That idiot had been trying to get me to date him for years; I can't believe he hid the note." She sat there as I watched the emotions play across her face; settling on fury.

She jumped off my lap and started pacing; it was quite endearing actually. Pissed off Bella was a really sexy Bella.

"Be-because of that stupid ass Mike Newton, I have been left thinking the only guy I ever truly felt something for didn't want me." she exclaimed throwing her arms up in the air for emphasis.

"And oh my god that ass is the reason my baby hasn't had his father in his life!" she shrieked.

When those words came from her mouth the same thing happened for both of us simultaneously: the realization that Aiden really was in fact my son was set in stone for both of us. MY son; OUR son; mine and Bella's son! It didn't matter how I worded it; it was fantastic.

Probably the biggest smiles ever to break across our faces did so in that moment.

The next thing I know Bella is straddling my lap with her hands gripping both sides of my face.

"You're his father. Oh my god you're his father." she sobbed while resting her forehead against mine. You could see how much this was overwhelming her; let alone me.

"My god; I really am?" I replied in an awed voice as I leant back against the couch. I clutched her to me tightly; I never wanted to let her go.

"Yeah; you are." she said with a shocked laugh.

We sat there for a few moments just letting the news sink in. I don't have any idea what came over me - maybe it was her proximity, maybe it was the overwhelming amount of emotions flowing through us both - I'm honestly not really sure.

What I am sure of is: I kissed her.

And in that moment I thanked any higher power there might be because damnit, she kissed me back!

The feelings that I had at one point in my life hoped would diminish for this woman came flying back with a vengeance. Her lips on mine were like nothing I could compare it to. They should have always been and always should be firmly attached to mine.

"I swear on my life that if I ever seen that Newton bastard I will beat him to a pulp from keeping you from me all this time." I murmured against her lips as we slowly broke apart.

"Take a number pal, I get him first." She said with a laugh.

"I can't believe this is all real." I sighed into her hair; still never letting her out of my arms.

"I know what you mean. I never in a million years thought we would find you; and yet hear you sit like you were thrown into our laps." You could hear the smile in her voice.

"Actually dear, I do believe it's you on my lap – literally." I tell her as I squeeze her to me even tighter. "Can I ask you a question I've been wondering?" I ask; I watch her nod. "What happened that day? Why did you leave?" I asked; hoping like hell she wouldn't take offence.

She sighed and began her story. "I was so, so stupid. I thought you had taken off before I woke up, like other assholes would have after a one night stand. I was really upset; thinking all the feelings I had for you were only one sided."

I made sure to shake my head no, "Bella, I didn't want it to be a one night stand. I wanted to be with you; hell I want to be with you." I had to let her know that those feelings were most certainly not one sided and that I wanted more.

She pulled back from laying her head on my chest with a huge contagious smile across her face. "I still want this too." She said and kissed me; just enough to tease, before returning to her story.

She laid her head back on my chest and began again. "Anyway, so when I got up a looked at the clock and noticed I was running really late for my class that morning. I flew around the apartment getting ready and left the apartment not even twenty minutes after I had woken. Must be you showed up after I had left." She said with a sad sigh. "If only I would have skipped class that day, things could have been so different." I had to stop those thoughts really quick, "Bella there will be no could haves, should haves, or would haves. We are just going to start from here; leave the past where it belongs…well unless we find Newton." I tell her with a wink and a chuckle

She nods, "I finished out my final semester and I never saw you again. A month after graduation I found out I was having Aiden. I knew there was no way for me to find you so that I could give you the opportunity to have a relationship with your son; so I gave him your name as his middle name. Aiden Edward Swan; we can switch it to your last name if you and him would like. What is your last name by the way? That was the biggest reason I couldn't find you." she asked. Her openness to me being in her and Aiden's life exhilarated me to no end.

"Cullen. Edward Anthony Masen Cullen. I never realized I never told you it that night." I tell her; I hear her sharp intake of air.

"I almost named him Masen; it was one of my top name choices." She tells me.

I chuckle, "What made you change your mind?" I asked curiously.

A reminiscing smile crossed her face, "When I first saw him; that is what made up my mind. You see Aiden means 'little fire;' so when I was handed this tiny little baby with a red hue to his hair, it was basically set in stone to me what his name would be." She said with a chuckle.

She reached up and tousled my hair, "I guess you were a part of choosing both of his names." She told me with a giggle.

I felt myself fill with pride; the fact that I at least gave my son something while I wasn't there with them was something I was extremely thankful for.

"If Aiden agrees, would you be against him having my last name? I don't want to over step my boundaries here Bella, so please just tell me if I am." I say with what I'm sure to be a nervous smile as I stroke the side of her cheek.

A smile crossed her face. "Aiden Edward Cullen. Aiden Cullen; I like it! If he agrees I am one-hundred percent behind the idea."

The moment I heard Aiden with my last name it kind of made things so much more real to me; this little boy who has had me wrapped around his little finger since the moment I met him, is my own flesh and blood.

The funny thing was that even with everything we have found out tonight one of my thoughts was how fast can I make her Isabella Cullen?

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