A/N: So, I had planned to post this on Friday, but I had a wedding cake to make. Long story short, my sister let her marriage license expire, so she wasn't legally married, so we had an impromptu wedding in my parents living room on Saturday. So Blame her for this not getting out then, I do! That being said, this is only half of there dinner together. I tried writing it all but it wasn't coming out right so, I'll give you this half and hopefully have the second half up in a few days! Thanks to all of my reviewers, you guys are the greatest! I'm glad that you all are loving this story. I promise not to be a review whore, that's not why I write this, I do it because I like to, but seriously, whenever my phone pings with an email saying that I've gotten a review, it makes my day!

P.S. I don't currently have a Beta for this fic, but if anyone would like that job let me know. I'm pretty OCD when it comes to proof reading, but especially with my own work, I know I don't always catch things! So until I find a beta, if you notice any major grammatical errors, please NICELY let me know! Trust me you'll be doing me a huge favor, I HATE mistakes in my writing, especially when it can be avoided so easily!

-Jenny

Disclaimer: As always, Twilight isn't mine...

First Meeting

Sitting at my dining room table, I attempted to get some work done. I work as an editor; it was the perfect job for me when I graduated. I am able to pretty much work from home if I need to. Lately though I've been bored with it all. I haven't read an original plot line in what seemed like forever. After re-reading the same line again, I gave up and tossed it into the reject pile. Glancing at the clock, I noticed it was only 12:15. I think time is actually moving backwards now. Edward would be here in a little over five hours and I was a mess, figuratively. Although, I haven't glanced in a mirror lately so it might be literally as well.

I walked room to room making sure everything was in its place, and there wasn't a speck of dirt in sight. I had spent half the night cleaning because I couldn't sleep. Every time I'd go to close my eyes, I'd envision different things going wrong for today. Ethan not liking Edward, Edward deciding he didn't want to be a part of this. In the end instead of sleeping, I got up and power cleaned the apartment from top to bottom. I even got everything prepared for dinner, so all I had to do was put it in the oven when the time came. Now, though it didn't seem like such a good idea, I had absolutely nothing to do. Ethan was in school, and wouldn't be done until 3:30. Just as I was about to go back into the bathroom to give it one more scrub down, my phone rang. Grateful for the distraction, I rushed to answer it, damn near tripping over air. Righting myself I answered slightly out of breath.

"Hello?"

"Bella! I just wanted to let you know I'm on my way. I would have been there an hour ago but I ran behind at work. Anyway we need to get you showered, then we can work on your hair, make-up and I have an outfit for you to wear..." I cut her off before she could go any further.

"Alice, what in the hell are you talking about? Edward's coming over tonight, remember? I don't know what you have planned but I can't go." She's lost her mind, of this I am positive.

"I know you're having Edward over tonight! That's why I'm coming over; we need to make you look fabulous."

"No, no, no. Tonight isn't about me. It's about Ethan and Edward. Besides, why would Edward care about how I looked?" I need to stop this conversation, now. I know where it's going, and I can't deal with this right now.

Alice, not one to be deterred from anything continued on. " Its not so much for Edward as it's for yourself. You need the confidence and you know what they say, 'you're only feel as good as you look', right? So I'm here, I'll be up in a second. You need to do this!" She hung up. I knew it was pointless to argue. Alice was on a mission right now and she'd stop at nothing.

Alice waltzed on in, not even bothering with a greeting before she grabbed my hand and drug me down the hall towards my room. She shoved me in my bathroom with a bag full of what I was sure were overpriced bath items and told me I had 20 minutes. Any later and she would be coming in to drag me out, soapy or not. I scrubbed and shaved, shampooed and conditioned. I was out wrapped in a towel with 2 minutes to spare. I was unceremoniously shoved into a chair. She started brushing through my hair, I know she was gathering her thoughts, there was a line between her brows and she was chewing on the inside of her lip.

"I have a very good reason for doing this, I promise. I was going to completely stay out of it but I got to thinking that I wish I could do something to help make this easier on you. I know you've been going crazy around here, making sure everything will be perfect for tonight. So, I thought I could make you perfect! Not that you aren't already, so actually I'm just polishing you up some. When Edward comes over tonight, I want him to see what an amazing, gorgeous, sexy woman you've grown up to be. That him being back here and finally knowing about Ethan isn't making you a nervous wreck inside, and above all, when he sees you I want him to know that just because he's here, doesn't mean that you need him, I want him to see an independent woman standing there, ready to take on the world."

I sat there, stunned by her words. They empowered me. Looking at Alice through the mirror, I gave her a smile and a nod. She was right, I needed this. I knew as soon as I opened that door, I'd be close to hyperventilating. Maybe a mini make over would help, a new look might just give me that little boost of confidence I needed.

Alice didn't disappoint. By 5:00, I was perfect. My hair was down, with a natural wave to it. I was in a dark blue wrap dress. I convinced Alice that I didn't need the hooker heels she was trying to force on me. I wasn't even leaving the apartment goodness sake! Alice had called Jasper at some point and had him pick Ethan up from school for me. Speaking of Ethan, I should probably let him know about our dinner guest, the more he knew now, the less likely he would be to ask questions at dinner, questions, Edward and I probably weren't ready to answer yet.

I made my way to his room, he was sitting at his desk working on home work. I knocked slightly, my hand too shaky to make much noise. I don't know why this was making me so nervous. As far as Ethan's concerned, we're just having dinner with an old friend of mine from high school. Yea, a friend that happens to look a lot like him. I hate my subconscious sometimes. Walking over to his desk, I sat on the edge to face him.

"Wow mom, you look pretty. We having a party I didn't know about?" I shook my head, and gave him a smile.

"No, one of my friends from high school moved back recently, we ran into each other the other day and I invited him over for dinner tonight. His name is Edward." I looked down at my hands; I hated lying to my son. We never had secrets between us, except for this. I look back up at him prepared for questions, but see him with a puzzled look on his face.

"You've said that name in your sleep. You usually cry too, I don't want him here if he hurt you Mommy." My breath caught in my throat. I hadn't had a dream about Edward in a while that I could remember at least. Quickly gathering my thoughts, I scrambled to come up with a reply.

"Edward didn't hurt me, baby. I guess I just really missed him and that's why I would cry. It's because I was sad that Edward moved away." This seemed to placate him for the moment thankfully, because not a minute later I heard a knock on the door. Glancing at the clock, I noticed he was 10 minutes early.

"Come on Ethan that should be him. Dinner's about done too." Standing up, he grabbed my hand and followed me out into the living room. I opened the door and any breath I had left my body.

.Gorgeous.

He stood there in a dark grey button down and faded blue jeans, his hair looked like he had been running his hand through it repeatedly. This only made him look sexier. He shifted awkwardly and cleared his throat, and extended his hand towards me. It was then I noticed the bouquet of blue roses. "My mom told me never to show up to dinner empty handed and I didn't know if you drank so, I didn't want to bring wine…." He trailed off, I nervously. Quickly snapping out my Edward induced coma, I scrambled to regain my hostess skills.

" Thank you Edward, these are lovely, come in please." Edwards attention seemed to zero in on something directly to my left after I had shut the door. Ethan. Looking down at him, I could see him taking Edward in, from head to toe. Like he could almost force some kind of answer from him if he just stared long enough. Pulling him in front of me, I made the introduction.

"Ethan, I'd like you to meet a good friend of mine, Edward. Edward, this is Ethan."

Ethan, being the little gentleman I taught him to be, stuck his hand out, in greeting. Edward grasped it, and looked at me quickly, his green eyes glassy. He quickly shut them and re-opened them, seeming to regain his composure before he spoke.

"It's very nice to meet you Ethan. I've heard so much about you from your mom here." Quietly Ethan stood there. Staring at Edward, but he didn't let go of his hand. After what seemed like a life time he let go. Finally he spoke.

"You look like me." I wasn't a question, it was a statement.

Both Edward and I froze. His eyes darted up to mine before going back to Ethan. Slowly he nodded. Shrugging, Ethan seemed to let it go, "Do you like baseball Edward? I have a really fun game on the Wii we could play. Can we mom?" Unable to ever say no, I agreed. "That's fine; dinner will be another few minutes. I'll call you when it's ready."

Grabbing Edward by the hand he led him over to the TV, to get it set up. Edward looked back at me, with a terrified look. I gave him an encouraging smile, and then turned to head towards the kitchen. Checking on the lasagna, I pulled it out. Then I set to work on the salad, once that was done, I moved everything to the table. I had already set the plates and utensils out, so I had nothing else to do. In all honesty, I was stalling. I was trying to give Edward some alone time with Ethan. I crept over to the entrance to the living room, and what I saw nearly brought tears to my eyes. They were sitting side by side on the couch laughing and smiling as they played high fiving when one of them would do something good in the game. I let it go on for a few minutes before interrupting, letting them know dinner was done.

EPOV

I have to say, I was a complete wreck all day. Knowing I was meeting my son for the first time had my stomach in knots. By the time I showed up at her front door, I was afraid I was going to throw up, but as soon as the door opened, a calm fell over me. She looked amazing. Her hair was down, and the color blue she was wearing made her skin almost glow. She looked like an angel. After coming in, I noticed Ethan by her, my nerves came back full force. What if he didn't like me? What if he guessed who I was and didn't want to talk to me? Bella introduced us, and he took my hand. I was trying to fight back my tears. Bella had done such a good job raising him, he looked so much like me, but I could see his mind was like Bella's. He was definitely a thinker. He stood there, silently scrutinizing me. Just as I was about to start panicking again, he let go of my hand and said that I looked like him. I could only nod. I chanced a quick glance at Bella who looked just as scared as I did. But, Ethan shrugged it off and dragged me over to play a game on the Wii. I looked back at Bella almost begging her to tell me what to do. I have never really been around kids besides my stint in the Pediatrics ward when I was doing my residency. She just gave me a smile and went into the kitchen. Turning back to Ethan he handed me a remote and pushed me onto the couch. This should be easy right? I've played games with Emmett before, I can do this!