A/N: So, I know I said 1-2 ch. a week but, E and B don't seem to want to shut up, so there verboseness is your gain. I however have a headache. So, without further ado, I give you ch. 3!

Disclaimer: things I own: A life size cardboard cut of of Edward Cullen. Things I don't own: Twilight. That belongs to Stephanie Meyers, I just borrow them. Ethan however is all mine!

Coffee Conversations

I arrived at the local coffee shop fifteen minutes early; I was completely psyching myself out. Different scenarios kept running through my head, Alice had spent the better part of the morning trying to calm me down. The truth was, I didn't know Edward all that well to begin with in high school, tack on ten years of no contact and one could say I don't know him at all now. My nerves steamed from not knowing how he'll react to all of this. Even though he technically already knows, hearing it from me directly will only solidify it. What if he doesn't want kids? What if he wants a paternity test done? Ethan Looks just like him, but Edward would be well within his rights to request one anyway. Oh god, how would I explain that to Ethan?

Looking down at my watch, I noticed I still had five minutes before he was supposed to arrive. The line at the counter had all but died down, so I took the opportunity to get myself a drink, at least then I would have something to distract myself with, I had a feeling this was going to be an awkward conversation. Just as I was about to order, I heard a bell ring, signaling that someone was entering the shop. I didn't even have to turn around to know who it would be. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, as I slowly turned around there he was. He hadn't changed much in ten years, but what had changed had been for the better. He was more muscular then I remember, not so much that it was like a body builder, but more subtle. His jaw looked like it was carved from stone and had to be a few inches taller. Greek gods had nothing on this man. Slightly shaking my head, to clear the untoward thoughts away, I walked over to him. As soon as he saw me, his posture tensed. He didn't say a word, just stared at me. Great. I thought, this is already off to a great start. Squaring my shoulders, I decided to woman up, and get this going, for Ethan. I kept that mantra up in my mind.

"Edward, how are you?" I gave myself a mental facepalm. How do you think he is? He found out yesterday he has a ten year old son. I'm sure he's just peachy!

He ran his hand through his hair slightly grabbing onto it at the ends. "I'm doing ok, I suppose."

Silence.

This wasn't going well at all. I decided to try again, "Did you want to get something to drink, we can sit down and talk, I'm sure you have about a million questions, and I know I've got a lot of explaining to do."

He nodded, but didn't say anything else. Awkwardly we made our way up to the counter and placed our orders. Planning on paying for both drinks, I reached into my wallet for my card, only to be stopped by a hand. "I got it." He said.

Shaking my head I pulled my card out, but Edward beat me to it, giving his card to the cashier first. I huffed and stuffing my wallet into my back pocket. After receiving our drinks we went back to the table I had reserved for us. After about ten minutes, he spoke.

"Why didn't you ever tell me about my son?"

Clearing my throat, I looked up at him, it took me a second to respond, and it seemed like no matter what I thought a good response would be, I couldn't make myself say the words. Looking down at the cup in my hands, I finally began, hoping he would understand.

"By the time I found out that I was pregnant, you and your family gone. I can't use the excuse that I didn't know how to contact you, I could have easily. My biggest reason was that I was afraid. Afraid that you wouldn't want our son, or that you might have tried to take him from me. Then I started thinking about what would happen if I did tell you, would you come back here? I couldn't let you give up everything and then later on hate me for ruining your life. The next thing I thought about was custody, would or child have to be shipped back and forth between here and New York? I lived that life, and I didn't want that for my child." I looked back up at him; I saw so many emotions, anger, hurt, sadness. I quickly looked back down, afraid that if I didn't get this all out I might never have the courage to again.

"I know that it doesn't fix everything, but I just want to say that I'm sorry. I never should have kept him from you. I let my fear of the unknown over crown my judgment and because of that you've missed out on the last ten years of your sons life. I know you'll probably never forgive me, but I hope that one day you can and we can at least be friends." I kept my head down after I was finished. Tears were threatening to spill, but I refused to let them. I had created this mess, and now it was time to face it. Once my emotions were somewhat contained, I looked up at him. He took a deep breath letting it out slowly before he started to speak.

Epov

"I have so many questions; I don't know where to even begin. I'll start by saying that I accept your apology. Forgiving you will take time. You kept my son from me, while however honorable your intentions were, you had no right to. I have to wonder; if I hadn't moved back here, would you have ever told me?" I was trying so hard to keep my anger in check. Getting all pissed off right now wouldn't help.

"I honestly don't know. I like to think I would have but, I've spent the better part of ten years essentially afraid of what might happen when I told you. So honestly I have no idea if I could have made myself do it."

I nodded. At least she was being honest with me.

" I can't honestly say how I would of reacted if you had told me after you found out. I'd like to say I'd of came back but, I was a completely different person back then. My parents...Oh damn, they don't know anything about this, They're on vacation right now, somehow a phone call doesn't seem like the right way to tell them. It'll have to be when they come home. They're moving back here too." At the mention of my parents, Bella looked a little scared. To be honest, I am too. I have no idea how they're going to react at first. I know mom has been begging for grandchildren for a while, but with Emmett and I both focused on school then our residency, we didn't have much time for a social life, let alone steady girlfriends. Getting back to the subject at hand though...

"I want to meet Ethan. I want to be a part of his life. We don't have to tell him right away who I am but, I don't want to waste anymore time away from him. I start work in 2 weeks. Emmett and I hope to have our practice up and running by then. If you want, we can have my lawyer set up a visitation schedule as well as child support." I stopped talking when I saw her shaking her head rapidly. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"Let's try this first without a lawyer. I don't expect you to pay child support and we don't need a schedule. I won't keep him from you and I don't want child support. When it comes to expenses for him, we can work it out ourselves, ok?"

I mulled it over for a bit. Can I really trust her? I don't think she'd keep him from me, but she's practically lied for the past ten years. Am I even listed on the birth certificate? I decided to voice these thoughts.

"I really want to trust you, Bella. It's just going to take time. Am I even listed as his father on his birth certificate?"

She nodded. I felt relieved, at least this way we won't have to do a paternity test to get me put on there. I felt a small, sliver of trust for her, it was minute, but the fact that she still put me on there as his father said a lot.

"When can I meet him?" I asked.

"How about you come over tonight? I can make dinner; it'll give you guy's time to talk and get to know each other without having strangers there too."

I hesitated. Being at Bella's house seemed an almost too intimate setting for a first meeting. Then again, I didn't want to have to share him with random people. Nodding my consent, I asked another question. "What are we going to tell him? I don't think telling him I'm his father tonight is a good idea, but from what I've heard we look a lot alike."

A small smile played across her lips. " You guys really do, would you like to see a picture? I could describe him, but it's really something you have to see for yourself."

She messed around on her phone for a few seconds before handing it to me. What I saw on the screen took my breath away. There was no denying he was my son. It was like looking at a picture of myself at that age. I felt something wet on my cheek, it wasn't until I wiped it away that I realized I was crying, I couldn't tear my eyes away from the screen, It wasn't until it went black that I snapped out of it and handed Bella back her phone, she too had tears in her eyes. "I can't believe how much he looks like me. Can you tell me more about him?"

Wiping her tears away, she proceeded to tell me everything she could think of. His full name was Ethan Andrew Swan. He loved to play sports, read and listen to music. I asked what sports and she said that Baseball is his favorite, along with football. At that I smiled. I became obsessed with baseball as soon as I was strong enough to swing a bat. Knowing that my soon possibly loved it just as much made me hope that could become a tradition of sorts for us. I also noted his name, if we were to ever change his last name to mine, we'd have the same initials.

Noting the time on her watch, Bella said that she had to go. Ethan would be getting out of school soon and she needed to go pick him up. We made plans for tonight; I'd be there at 5:30 for dinner. As we made to get up, it got awkward again, shaking hands seemed too formal for the mother of your child, but was a hug too intimate? Oh, what the hell. I hugged her, catching her completely off guard, she was tense for a few seconds before relaxing. I released her a few seconds later and with one final goodbye, I was out the door. I was nervous as hell about tonight, but for some reason knowing that Bella would be there with me, made me feel almost calm. It gave me hope that one day we could overcome this awkwardness and just maybe we could be friends and find a way to raise our son together.

A/N: I promise not to make this a really slow burn, but they do have a few issues to work out before we can even think about there being romance, on that same note, I swear not to let it drag on forever before they get together!

-Jenny