So it has been four years since I updated and I know that's insane but I suddenly found inspiration for this story again! Enjoy!

The next day Bella was perfectly polite to Edward during drop off and pick up time. It was easier than she had anticipated because he didn't try to talk to her again about what had happened so it was like he was any other parent. She breathed a sigh of relief every day for the rest of the week when his brother and father had taken turns to drop off and pick up Illyssa instead of him. Just being around him brought out a strange sort of alertness that she didn't want to acknowledge and when he wasn't there she felt more in control.

A few weeks went by and she still didn't see him. She decided that she was being ridiculous to constantly be on the lookout for him in case she had to suddenly become more aware. It was very likely that she would only see him a handful of times in the next year or so before Illyssa moved on to primary school. Yes, she was being ridiculous. How could she let one person have so much control over her?

Bella decided that she wouldn't think about him anymore and as she was getting comfortable with that idea he showed up one morning instead of his brother or father. When she saw him through the window walking towards the door holding Illyssa' hand she felt a jolt of nervous energy flow through her body. She forced herself to look calm as she greeted other parents and children who had already signed their child in for the day and hung up their bag on the hooks at the side wall. As she did so she watched him interact with Illyssa out of the corner of her eye.

He was wearing jeans and a dark blue hoodie and of course looked absolutely delicious. He became even more so as she watched him bob down and help his daughter with her bag and hug her lovingly. Bella watched his eyes dance as he tapped Illyssa gently on her noise and teased her about something while she giggled. Yes, it was clear that he loved her dearly. And for some reason to Bella there was nothing hotter than a man who was clearly a good father.

As he stood up Bella turned away from him and made small talk with the parent closest to her. With any luck he would just leave without acknowledging her and then she could breathe again.

No such luck.

As the mother of one of the boys, Liam, jabbered on about a recipe containing vegetables that her son loves, Bella sensed Edward come up behind her.

"Uh, hi sorry to interrupt," came his musical voice. Both women turned around. He looked directly at Bella and asked if he could quickly talk to her then gave an apologetic smile to the mother next to her.

Liam's mother didn't hide her obvious interest in the male specimen before her.

"No worries hun, I need to get going anyway," she said with a flirtatious smile and patted his arm. As she walked away she made sure to swing her hips obviously. Bella had to stop the impulse to roll her eyes but Edward didn't even seem to notice. His eyes hadn't left her.

She looked up at Edward and smiled.

"Is everything ok?"

"Absolutely," he replied. "I just had to make sure to give you these," he said as he pulled out a pile of envelopes from the pockets of his hoddie. He handed them to her. "They're invitations to all the kids in this group for Illyssa's fourth birthday party."

"Oh sure, I'll make sure each kid puts it in their bag before they go home today." Bella felt less nervous instantly. He just wanted to ensure all the kids got an invitation – this was not a personal conversation. Many parents did this.

"That'd be great thank you, but I also wanted to ask you if you wanted to come too. You'll see among the invitations that you and Ms Weber have also been invited. I know that it isn't what is normally done and I don't want to take any of your weekend time away you but I know Illyssa would love it if you were there."

He paused and his tone became softer. "I would really like it if you were there." He admitted.

Bella stayed silent and looked down at the invitations in her hands as she tried to process his request. Parents don't usually invite them to their kids parties. It wasn't a bad thing, if they did she and Angela would lose most of their Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

"I would love you to meet my family properly, they all know what you did for Illyssa and would like to thank you and it would be good if I could spend some time with you when I'm not just picking Illyssa up or you know…" - he took a deep breath – "yelling at you."

He had whispered the last part as if he was ashamed.

Her head snapped up in surprise at this. She had not expected him to bring it up. His eyes bore into hers as he waited for her relpy.

"Mr Cullen I – I mean – as much as I would love to, I don't think – "

He cut her off gently.

"Please." He smiled and put his hands in the pockets of his hoddie. Bella noticed that his smile reached his eyes. He leant down towards her slightly. "There'll be a jumping castle and fairy floss and an actually fairy. How could you miss that?" His eyes held a teasing glint and Bella couldn't stop herself from smiling back at him.

"Well if there's an actual fairy coming I couldn't possibly say no," she said mock-seriously.

Edward chuckled, his eyes beaming.

"Great, I'll see you there then."

Bella nodded.

He turned to leave but then turned back to face her. "You can call me Edward you know?"

"I do know," replied Bella while smiling but purposely not saying his name or telling him that he could call her by her first name.

He chuckled and shook his head at her reaction.

After he left all Bella could do was think about how annoyed she was at herself for being nervous about going to a four year olds birthday in two weeks. She also didn't like that she was sort of excited to see him again. It didn't make sense. It's not like she could ever trust him. Every time her mind wandered to the teasing glint in his intense green eyes she reminded herself of his aggressive behaviour. She didn't want to like him.

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