I do not own the Twilight story or any of its characters.

I just like messing with Stephenie Meyer's characters!

Cheer-Ball: November

November 1

"I haven't slept that good in a couple of years." I said stretching underneath my covers. Thinking it over, I changed my statement. "Well, that was the best sleep I have had without a medical problem knocking me out."

"You are welcome." Matt Leinart said sarcastically. "I guess I should get out of here and let you get to work, right?"

"Nope, have a lay in. I'm going to pop into my bathroom and get ready." I said throwing the covers off of me and getting out of bed.

"I love that you still sleep in a tank and boxers that you and your sorority stole from the USC football team." He laughed as he repeated a statement from last night.

I laughed with him as I walked over to my closet and grabbed some clothes. Just before I closed my bathroom door, I countered with, "Face it, Leinart. These boxers look better on me than they ever did on you!"

Alice's jaw dropped almost to the floor when she walked into the kitchen to get her routine coffee before her first class. She shook her head and came to her senses when I cleared my throat and raised my eyebrows at her. "Morning, Bella. Morning, Matt. Does anyone care to explain what is going on here?"

"Whatever do you mean, Alice?" Matt asked casually. "Aren't you used to professional football players being in your kitchen in the morning?"

"I was, but they were usually drinking coffee and eating Lucky Charms with Emmett." Then, she giggled. "Now that I say that out loud, I realize how bad that sounds."

I lightly touched Matt's arm to get his attention back on me for a moment. "Leave the poor, love drunk, caffeine deprived gal alone and get going. Didn't you say you needed to take a shower before practice?"

"Fine," he said after taking one last drink of his coffee. "Remember if you need to talk, call me. I'll get here as quick as I can.

I walked him to the front door and felt Emmett's stare before I saw him. I shut the door and turned around. "Morning, Emmett. Did you have fun at the party last night?"

"Apparently, I did not have as much fun as you." He said before grabbing his jacket and storming out of the house.

I went back to the kitchen to see Alice staring off into space. I stepped up behind her and whispered, "Jasper!"

She jumped and fell off of her stool, saying, "What? Where? How bad is my breath?"

Laughing, I said, "Calm down, pixie. He's not here. I just wanted to see how you reacted!"

She threw a dish towel at me. "That was not nice. What if I said Matt right behind you when you weren't paying attention?"

"I would be fine because he and I are just friends." She shot me a look of disbelieve. "Seriously, he was in my brother fraternity at USC. He was my big brother my freshman year. We've gotten together whenever we are in the same city since he left."

"Nothing happened between you two? I mean, he slept in your room last night." She asked skeptically.

"Eww, no. He may be cute, but he is a big brother to me." I crossed my heart with my fingers. "I promise. All we did was talk and sleep."

"You might want to explain that to Emmett." She said as I finished packing my lunch. "He can be a real bear sometimes."

"Why should I? Nothing happened and even if something did, I don't own Emmett anything."

She got up to take her coffee back to her room. "Don't act like Emmett. Talk to him soon, preferably before his next Skype chat with mom. She can tell when he is pissed and will fly here right away."

"I'll try, but I can't guarantee anything." I said putting on my coat and picking up my bag.

"That is all I can ask."

I was so glad that I had a preparation period the last class period of the day. I needed some quiet time, especially if I followed through with my idea of talking to Emmett. I mustered up my courage and was waiting against the planter wall outside his classroom when the final bell rang.

He opened the door to let his class out and acted like he couldn't see me standing there. When he was about to shut his door after the last student, I quickly moved and stood in the doorway.

"Is there something you need, Ms. Swan?" He said through clenched teeth.

"Well, you are acting like I did something to piss you off and I am not sure what it is."

"Nothing, you did nothing to me."

I stepped inside and pulled him after me. "Emmett, Matt is just a friend. If we are going to continue to live in the same house, you are going to have to realize some things. One, most of my friends are male, especially my closest. Two, I refuse to apologized for my choice of friends. Three, my few close female friends are sweet, but are very flirtatious and aggressive. Four, I like living with you and Alice, but I will move if you can't get over yourself."

"Matt and Jasper are just friends?" I nodded my head and he continued. "I will try to behave, but I'm not perfect."

"I'm not asking you to be. Just don't assume I am a slut and I will try to keep my slut friends from jumping you."

"Agreed." He said giving me a quick hug. "Now, that craziness is done. What is for dinner?"

November 9

"Dia duit, a Mháthair. Conas atá tú? Tá mé ag déanamh go maith." Emmett said smiling proudly since he had finally gotten it right after practicing all week.

"Hello, Emmett. I am fine and I am glad you are doing well. Your father and I are living in Ireland now, but that doesn't mean you have to speak native Irish to us." Siobhan said laughing at him.

"Marme, do you know how long it took me to learn that?" Emmett whined.

"Probably about as long as it took for Bella to forgive your idiocy." She snapped back.

Alice and I were in the kitchen. We couldn't contain our laughter anymore.

Emmett glanced up at us and whined some more. "You told my mom?" That made us laugh even harder.

I brought Emmett a mug of hot tea before answering. "She guessed and Alice told her. I am relatively innocent in all of this."

"Thanks for the sell out, Bella." Alice said joining us on the couch in front of Emmett's laptop. "Hi, Marme. Hi Daddy."

"There's my little lass. How is school? Do you have enough time for studying?" Her father, Liam, asked.

"Of course, I do. In fact, I got a new study partner recently that is making it even easier."

Emmett choked a little on a big gulp of hot tea he hadn't meant to swallow. "Oh, so Jasper is a study partner now? I thought he was your…"

"Shut it." I said interrupting him.

"I see how it is now. You will let her tell on me, but I can't tell on her." He said crossing his arms and pouting.

"What is going on?" Siobhan and Liam asked us together.

"You'll know when the time is right, Marme."

"I better know and meet this young man when we are home for Christmas." Siobhan said in matter of fact tone.

"I understand." Alice replied in a half happy, half worried tone. "It is really new right now. Bella, can tell you more about him than I can, but not for much longer."

I jumped in at her parent's confused faces. "He and I went to college together. We were friends from almost the first day of our freshman year at USC."

"He is older?" Liam asked skeptically.

"Hush, Liam. You are nine years older than me. You have no place to say anything." Siobhan said slightly scolding her husband.

"Mom's right. Plus, Jasper is only three years older than me. He is younger than Emmett. "She was reaching for straws and throwing her brother under the bus again. "He and I are closer in age than Emmett and the latest blonde bimbo that he brought home!"

"Emmett!" his mother chastised.

Alice and I giggled again while Liam laughed.

Emmett stared open mouthed at his little, soon-to-be maimed sister.

After the giggling and laughing died down, Liam thoughtfully said, "Really? Emmet I thought smart brunettes were more your taste. I am surprised that you haven't hit on Bella yet."

November 12

"Alice," I whispered as I crept into her room, bright and early. "Alice, it is time to wake up."

She grumbled from her bed and threw a pillow at me

"Alice is that any way to treat the person who is helping you with Jasper's birthday surprise?"

She slowly sat up as I crossed her room to sit on her bed. "Fine, what do you want?" she asked sullenly.

"I wanted to go over the plan one more time before I left for school. His birthday present for me was so perfect that I want to make sure everything I thought up goes perfectly for him."

"Bella, you have been planning this since Jasper surprised you on your birthday. Everything will be fine, more than fine even." Alice said flopping back onto her pillow. "I contacted my professor and was able to get him to e-mail me the review assignment. I will be home from my errands by the time the cupcakes are supposed to be delivered from 'Sift Cupcake'. Then, I will bring them to your school and hide around the corner from the band room by 1:15. Are you sure he will like the ones you picked out?"

"You are bat crap crazy if you think he won't. He will love the Stud Muffin! Think about it. It is a brown sugar, beer cake with salted caramel frosting and cayenne dusted bacon on top. Can you think of anything in that description that Jasper wouldn't like about that?"

"No, you're right." She said with a laugh. She looked over at her alarm clock as she stretched. "But you will be late for school if you don't get moving."

"See you later." I called as I ran out of her room and down the stairs.

It was hard, but I was able to keep all contact with Jasper to texts and e-mails for the morning. I had to do that because I know I am a horrible actress. I was petrified when I saw him lean up against the windows outside my classroom about ten minutes before lunch. That moment was the first time I really and truly wished I had a second exit door to my room.

I looked around my classroom and smiled widely. Sitting in the middle of the sea of students were Sam Uley and three other football players along with a couple of my cheerleaders. I quickly wrote a few post-it notes. To the guys I wrote, 'Hide me while I sneak past Mr. Whitlock!' 'Distract Mr. Whitlock when the bell rings!' was written to the two of the three cheerleaders. To the last girl, Angela, I wrote 'Lock the door and meet me at Mr. McCarty's room with the key.'

Angela having realized how I behave when I have a secret turned to the others. She whispered, "I have a feeling that Mr. Whitlock will rip up any punishment he plans to dish out after he gets surprised by Ms. Swan."

Even with the quick planning, I was shocked that I was actually able to get to Emmett's classroom without Jasper seeing me. I sat heavily on one of the desks right in front of his.

"Is Jasper messing up your plan by trying to talk to his friend on his birthday?" Emmett said snickering.

"Ha. Ha. Ha. You are so funny!" I said kicking his desk. "He showed up outside my classroom! I had to think on my feet to get out of there without having to lie to his face."

Then, my cell began to vibrate. I pulled it out of my pocket and hoping it was Alice or Esme. "Shit! It's Jasper. Why doesn't he get I don't want to talk to him right now?"

Emmett took my phone from my hand and handed me a bag of baked apple chips that he kept in his room for me. He opened up the message from Jasper and started laughing hysterically.

I took my phone back when tears started rolling down Emmett's face. I didn't want to, but I started laughing myself. His message was just a picture of me sneaking away with my football player guard. What made this picture so funny was one of the players, Eric Yorkie, was staring at my ass.

Toward the end of lunch, I left Emmett's classroom and snuck quietly into the band room. I could tell the light was on in Jasper's office, but the shade was drawn. He was probably taking a nap since we didn't have lunch together like normal.

When the bell rang, I was grateful that I didn't have much more time to wait. I could hear him slam his feet on the floor and shuffle around the office. Then, I heard his phone ring and did a little happy dance as he answered it.

Mrs. Cope's boy toy crush on Emmett had definitely come in handy. Emmett had asked her to call Jasper about a made up something so he didn't notice that his band students weren't coming in and setting up his instruments.

Thanks to lots of planning with the band, a note reminding them taped to the band room door, and Mrs. Renata opening up the choir room for them to get ready, I remained alone in the dimly lit room.

Jasper was practically begging Mrs. Cope to let him off the phone when the bell rang signaling the beginning of the last class of the day. Just as he hung up, I received the 'We are ready' text from Emmett.

Jasper stepped out of his office and spotted me right away. "Now, you want to talk to me?" He asked shaking his head. "Too bad, I have class now. Can we talk afterwards?"

"We could talk later or we could take a walk now." I countered.

"I would love to take a walk, but I… have… a… class…" he said drawing out his last for words and looking around the room. "Bella, what did you do?"

"Are you ready to take that walk now?" I asked walking up the tiers of chairs.

"Well, since my band students are all going to get detention for listening to you, I guess I have no choice." He said sighing. He held open the door and ushered me through it. He stepped out and the band began to play.

Toward the end of the song, Jasper turned to me laughing. "Bella, you are in so much trouble. I can't believe you taught my band to play Beck's Loser."

"Oh, that is only just the beginning." I whispered in his ear. I laughed hysterically at Jasper's face when Emmett started singing.

When the second song began to play, I grabbed his hand. "Dance with me, Hanson!"

"You and everyone else were supposed to forget all about that nickname and that haircut of mine." He said laughing as we spun and danced.

"Hanson, I will always remember. Hanson's MMMBop will always remind me of you freshman year." I said laughing back at him.

When the song was done, he and I clapped right along with everyone else in the fine arts quad. He did a big dramatic bow and snapped back up when he heard an unexpected voice behind him.

"Jasper, you need to invite your band back to the band room." Alice said coming toward us from the band room door. She had slipped inside the room while I had distracted him with dancing. "I have over one hundred Stud Muffin cupcakes in there ready for everyone to enjoy before you and I run off to the city for dinner."

November 18

"Emmett, you are embarrassing me!" I squeaked as I smacked his leg. I was getting truly annoyed with him bouncing in his seat right next to me. "You are acting like Alice!"

"I can't really help it. I am hopped up on coffee and no sleep."

"I knew I should have literally knocked you out last night when we got home from the pizza party." I grumbled under my breath.

Angela and Ben laughed in their seats behind us. Angela touched my shoulder and said, "Ms. Swan, the guys won the State Championship yesterday. I am afraid he will be like this for a while."

"Fine, then, you two live in the same house as him until he calms down." I said back sarcastically. "I locked my door and stuffed a towel underneath it. Plus, I slept with my pillow over my ears even though I had my ear buds in. He was so loud while he was playing video games until four in the morning."

Emmett interrupted them laughing at my misfortune by jumping out of his seat and screaming as the Raiders were announced and ran out on to the field.

The first half of the game was neck and neck the entire time, but I was barely paying attention to it. Angela and I were very busy discussing the differences and similarities between the Eagles and Raiders squads. We annoyed Emmett and Ben so much that Emmett forced Ben and me to change seats.

During the Raiders halftime show, Emmett and I left most of the football team and my cheerleading squad with the parent chaperones. We lead Angela, Lauren, Sam, and Mike down to the changing room that the Eagle cheerleaders were using.

Tanya had texted me early this morning and said they had a surprise for the four captains. After a few more texts, she and I decided that while the Raiders cheerleaders were performing would be the best time to show them.

Emmett decided to tag along with the five of us for two reasons. One was because Mike and Sam are his team's captains. The second is because he wanted to see the professional cheerleaders up close and personal. His second reason had earned him three elbows in the gut from Esme, Alice, and me this morning.

The four captains got their Philadelphia Eagles swag bags full of jerseys, posters, stress balls, foam fingers, and towels. The Eagle squad also promised that the four of them and the rest of the squad and team a special autograph signing after the game. The kids were so excited that even Mike and Sam were jumping up and down with Lauren and Angela. Sam suddenly stopped jumping and laughter nervously as he looked over my shoulder.

I started to slowly turn around to see what he was staring at, but Angela tried to stop me.

"I don't think you want to do that, Ms. Swan." Angela said in a very anxious tone.

I took her hands off of my shoulders and said, "Angela, I am a big girl. I am pretty sure I have seen way worse things than what all of you are staring at now."

Then, I turned around to see that Emmett was the only one enjoying the presence of the opposite sex. Emmett was sitting in a corner chair with Tanya draped across his lap. I ushered the student out of the room and told them that I would walk them back to our seats in a few moments.

I turned back to Emmett and Tanya, who had no clue that the teenagers had left the room. I grabbed the back of Tanya's uniform and yanked her off his lap until her ass hit the floor.

"Seriously, Tanya, I thought it was bad enough that you slept with players and coaches, but to start in on my friends. I will not accept that." Then, I turned on Emmett. "I can over look you fooling around with some random blonde bimbo in the living room. However, I will not overlook you having one of my friends sitting across your lap right in front of me and four of our students. I am going to take the kids back to our seats and enjoy the rest of the game. Do not talk to me. "

I heard him muttering expletives to himself under his breath and calling out to me as I crossed the room and slammed the door shut.

November 20-24

Tuesday

"I'm going to Seattle! I'm going to Forks! I'm going to Seattle! I'm going to Forks!" Alice sang like a little kid as she bounced in her first-class seat as we were getting ready to take off.

"If you don't stop bouncing and singing, you aren't." I said through my teeth as we got a death stare from the stewardess. "I will throw you into the ocean myself!"

"You wouldn't dare!" She tried to say seriously, but she ended up giggling anyways. "You need me to have someone to talk to while your dad is working. Plus, I am the distraction if you need a quick get away from your ex-honey. Are you ever going to explain about him?"

"Will you take no for an answer?" I asked skeptically. She shook her head no. "Fine, his name is Jacob Black. We met when we were kids because our dads are best friends. When we were in high school, we started dating. At first, it was great. We would go to the movies, or to the beach, or just chilled in his garage and talked while he worked on building his car. We were the Homecoming King and Queen in 2005. We both even got full rides to USC."

"Why do I have a feeling this is like the beginning of a teen horror movie or an after school special?" Alice asked as we taxied down the runway.

"Because it is," I answered in a dead voice.

Over the course of the entire flight, I explained the saga of my relationship with Jacob Black.

Alice reacted perfectly to everything. She gasped when I told her about the first time he hit me after we got to college and I passed the bruise off as a routine cheerleading accident. She wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug when I gave her a brief overview of him sneaking into my dorm room in the middle of the night drunk off his ass and forcing himself on me. She looked murderous when I said he punched me several times in the stomach when I thought I was pregnant.

Just before we began the descent to Sea-Tac airport, she asked me the question I have asked myself a billion times. "Bella, you are a policeman's daughter. Why didn't you turn him into the police or campus security?"

"The same reason every other woman doesn't turn a guy in. I was scared. He was a big star on campus. He was a great liar and would have turned it around on me. Plus, he and I had been together for a long time, like four to eight years. Some if not all would have said I was just trying ruin his reputation along with breaking up with him."

"Anyone who knew you at that time would have believed you and told everyone who didn't believe that they were stupid. Did you ever take picture of the injuries or tell anyone at all?"

"Not until after I had joined the Eagles and then, broken up with him. Tanya had seen a couple weird bruises on me at tryouts that I didn't tell him I was going to. When I made the squad, Tanya arranged for she and I to move into a squad apartment early so I didn't even have to go back to Forks after finals my senior year. When we were eating dinner alone that first night, she made me talk and talk just like you are doing now."

"Why didn't you tell Jasper or one of your big football player friends?" She asked still filled with shock and disbelief.

As I gathered my bag from the overhead compartment, I said, "I told you I was scared of what he would do or what they would do. Plus…"

After a short pause and I froze in place, she said sarcastically, "Plus what?"

"Plus, his sister, Rachel, has been sitting halfway back in the coach section this entire flight." I said adopting the dead tone in my voice again.

I managed not to catch her eye as we quickly got off the plane and made our way through the terminals to our Port Angeles flight. I was hoping she wouldn't be on this flight, but I had no luck and she was. I kept my face buried in a book. Thankfully, she didn't see me when she sat down seven rows up or when she got up and left the plane.

I thought I was in the clear until I saw Rachel standing right next to my dad as he leaned against his cruiser.

Alice pushed me so that I would continue waiting toward them.

"Bells, it is great to have you home. It has been too long since you have come to Forks." My dad, Charlie, said crushing me in a huge bear hug. "I hope you don't mind, but I told Billy that I could give Rachel a ride home so Jake didn't half to take time away from the shop."

"That's fine. Hi, Rachel. How are you?" I asked trying not to show that I was nervous.

"Bella, I am not my brother. Don't be shy." She said giving me a full on, bear hug.

I breathed a huge sigh of relief and introduced Alice to them both.

The ride to my dad's house in his cruiser was surprisingly full of pleasant conversation. I was happy that he dropped us off first before taking Rachel out to her father, Billy Black, who lives out on the reservation.

Once Alice and I lugged our luggage into my dad's modest two story house, I gave her a quick tour before I made us a snack.

As we ate our tuna salad sandwiches, Alice asked what I hoped would be one last question. "Did Jacob ever try to get to you when you were with the Eagles?"

"Oh, he tried, but he was never able to break through my defenses that Tanya had set up." I paused for a moment before I added, "I think that girl should go into the Secret Service or the CIA when she is done with cheerleading."

Wednesday

I woke up the next morning to Alice and an unfamiliar male voice singing in the kitchen. After a quick trip to the bathroom, I walked into the kitchen rubbing my eyes. "Alice, did you pick up some random guy at the grocery store and bring him to my DAD's house? I thought you were dating Jasper."

I uncovered my eyes when I heard her giggle.

"Bella, why didn't you tell me that your dad can sing? He is quite good."

"Dad? That was you singing?" I asked in shock. I had never heard him sing anything, but lullabies before.

"I sing, Bells. You have just been gone too long to remember." He responded before giving me a sideways hug good morning.

"Why are you so chipper this morning? Why are you still here shouldn't you be at the station by now?" I asked realizing that it was already nine in the morning on a weekday.

"I took today and tomorrow off. I wanted to spend some time with you and your friend, Alice." He said handing me a peanut butter and honey toasted sandwich.

"Okay, "I said drawing out the word. "I still suspect something. I see your culinary skills haven't changed." I teased pointing to my sandwich.

"Why change a classic?" He asked mocking me causing Alice and me to burst into laughter.

After breakfast and cleaning up, we decided to head over and show Alice First Beach on the reservation. Even after everything and all the memories mixed with Jake here, I still loved this beach. I was sitting on a downed, salt washed tree and enjoying the crash of the waves against the rocky shore when Alice elbowed me in the ribs.

"Who is the hot red-head talking to your dad near the shore?" She whispered to me.

I shook my head. "I'm not sure who she is, but I think we are about to find out."

After I watch my father hug this woman for a couple of beats too long, they started walking toward Alice and I on the log.

"Bella, wipe that look off your face. You look like Emmett does when he tries to think." Alice whispered causing me to laugh. I was still laughing when my dad and this woman joined us.

He sat down next to me on the log and she sat on the ground in front of him. He nudged my shoulder with his and said, "I miss that laugh, Bells."

"I miss you too, Dad." I said nudging him back. "So, are you going to tell me who this is or do I have to make an educated guess with all the non-information you have given me?"

He and the woman laughed lightly before he said, "Bells, Alice, this is my friend, Victoria."

Alice and I didn't miss Victoria's eyebrows raise when he said friend.

"Are you friends or more than friends, Mr. Swan?" Alice asked putting an emphasis in the word more.

My dad blushed slightly. "Alice, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Charlie?"

Alice just laughed in response.

Then, at the same time, Victoria and I said, "You didn't answer her question." That caused more laughter and blushing from my dad.

"We are more than friends if you must be nosey, Alice." He said reaching around me to poke her in the ribs. "We have been seeing each other since last Memorial Day when her neighbor caught their house on fire."

"And now…" I paused to count. "SIX months later I find out about it! You couldn't find time to tell me during one of the zillion phone calls we have had since then."

"I know you aren't really mad, Bella. You haven't growled at me or called me by my first name yet." He said wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

"I am sorry, Bella. I told him that he should have told you instead of springing me on you at the beach." Victoria said apologizing.

"It's not your fault, Victoria." I said lightly touching her shoulder. Then, I turned on my dad. "Charlie, you and I are talking later."

Victoria looked over at Alice with a smile and said, "Why don't we give them a minute or two and I'll toss you in the water?"

"Is it cold?" Alice asked warily as she watched my dad's whoever stand up and hold out her hand.

"You'll just have to wait and find out when you hit it." Victoria laughed pulling her toward the water.

I turned to my dad and asked, "Will she really toss Alice into the frigid water?"

He laughingly shook his head and responded by saying, "She is a doctor. She wouldn't do anything that would make Alice sick. She is a good woman, Bella."

"I'm sure she is, but it would have been nice to have a little warning, especially since she is almost my age." I said poking his ribs.

"Yeah, she is half way between us." He said standing up and stretching. "I really like her, Bells. I hope you will give her a chance."

"Does she make you happy?" He nodded his head yes. "Does she make you eat veggies?" He grunted, but he nodded again. "Then, I have absolutely no problem with you and her. If she hurts you, I cannot be held responsible for what I will do to her and you won't arrest me for it." I stood up and stretched myself. I linked my arm with his and started pulling him toward the water. "Come on, Dad. I think we should toss them both in the water."

My dad sat in the car shivering while Alice, Victoria, and I ran into the store with the bottom half of our jeans wet.

"I think your dad is now not happy he had you meet Victoria on the beach!" Alice said still chuckling at what we had done to him.

"I don't think he anticipated us ganging up on him so quickly." Victoria added. "He did look pretty funny flailing through the air before he hit the water. I don't know if he will ever make either of us miffed at him again."

I stopped the three of us in the produce section. "Charlie said he had a turkey already."

"He better have taken it out. It was the perfect bird." Victoria grumbled slightly.

I laughed dryly. "Good to know that he still has a bad habit of forgetting to take things out of the freezer. Here is a trick I learned the hard way. Post it notes. Put one on the fridge, on the freezer, on the front door, and on his steering wheel."

"I had been wondering how you could stand that for all those years. Add them to the list." Victoria said as Alice laughed at the two of us.

Alice quickly wrote down post-its and then, ripped the list into three parts. As she passed out the pieces, she said, "If we each take a section, we can get done quicker. Because of Bella's by grocery department list making we shouldn't have any overlap."

"Would you rather have to ping pong all over the store?" I asked with total attitude.

Alice stood on her toes and patted my head. "Not all of us have to go straight down the list. Now, scoot."

The three of us went off in different directions. Victoria and I were done quickly and met up at the front of the store. We waited for a few moments and reviewed what we had picked up.

Finally after almost ten minutes, Victoria said, "Where in the hell is that little pixie friend of yours?"

"Alice is very friendly. She is probably just talking with the butcher and stopping him from slicing the bacon. I'll go look for her."

Since we had combined our carts already, I put mine away and set off to the butcher's counter. Before I got to the counter, I saw her.

I saw her talking to Billy Black. It looked like she had helped him get something from an upper shelf which was slightly funny because she is so short. As I walked closer, I wondered who had driven Billy to the store. With a little smile on my face, I pictured Billy rolling himself to the street in his wheelchair and then, grabbing onto the back of a truck.

Suddenly, a husky voice beside me said, "Are you picturing my dad hitching a ride on a truck, Marty McFly style, aren't you?"

I froze and I am sure all of the color drained from my face.

"It is good to see you back in Forks, Bella." He said even closer to my ear.

I swallowed the bile that had crept up my throat and grabbed Alice's arm. Moving quickly, I pulled her and her cart to Victoria at the front of the store. We dropped off Alice's cart and Alice told her that my dad would be back to pick her up.

We ran out of the store and hopped in the cruiser. My dad looked at us curiously, but Alice commandingly told him to drive. He drove us to his house and then, rushed back to pick up Victoria.

Before they returned, I threw up and Alice booked a hotel room in Seattle for us for tomorrow night.

"Bella, why in the hell did you run out of the store and leave Victoria stranded for a few minutes?" My dad yelled as he found us in the kitchen.

Alice turned away from the stove and poured hot water into the mug in front of me that had a tea bag and honey in it. Once she had set the teapot down and I still hadn't answered, she put her hands on her hips and yelled at me. "You haven't ever told your father!"

"What haven't you told me? How long have you been keeping something so big from me?" My dad said moving in front of me to get my undivided attention.

I cried into my tea as I told my dad and Victoria the entire story of Jake and me. At more than a few points during the tale, Victoria, Alice, and I had to pull my dad back from the door and his guns. I even told him the rumors that were currently circulating with our mutual friends. When I was finished, he looked at me with a hurt expression. He wrapped me in his arms and let me cry into his chest.

"Bella, he did those things for four years and you never told me. I know you were scared, but we have always been there for each other." He said as I started calming down. "Now, is there anything else you are keeping from me?"

"No," I said quietly.

"Bella," He tried to say sounding stern, but it didn't work because of the still slightly hurt emotion in his voice.

I swallowed loudly. "Daddy, do you remember Homecoming my senior year of high school?"

"Why?" He asked actually sounding stern this time.

I got up from my seat and started back toward the kitchen door. "I let you think that the reservation guys stole your cruiser, but it was actually me and James Coven." Then, I dashed up to my room as he yelled my name again.

Thursday

It was one o'clock and I had been up since the crack of dawn cooking our Thanksgiving dinner. I knew we were supposed to have guests, but I didn't know who they were. I found out last night when my dad had called and disinvited the Black family. Even though, I technically had a lighter load than I had originally thought, I was making everything we had bought. I thought I might as well so my dad could freeze some and get plenty of home-cooked out of it.

I felt bad that I wouldn't be able to spend time with Rachel and Billy, but none of us felt like we could control our emotions with Jake in the house.

Victoria was scheduled to arrive in the next few minutes to help with the finishing touches because Alice and Charlie weren't any help at all. When she breezed through the door, I was shocked to see Rachel following in behind her.

Rachel looked at me with such shame in her eyes. "Bella, I didn't know. I promise you that I didn't know. When I said I'm not my brother at the airport, I thought you might not like me because of the brake up. I never dreamed you could be worried that I would tell him you are here or that we were on the same flights."

I quickly dried my hands and wrapped my arms around her. "Rachel, it is okay. I know you had no clue, but I was still nervous. I'm sorry you are being put in the middle of the situation."

I heard Charlie chuckled as he slipped out the back door only to return a couple of minutes later pushing Billy.

Billy looked up at me with sad eyes. "Bella, I had no idea that my son was behaving that way. After the way you reacted to him in the store and Charlie cancelling dinner, I made him tell me what happened with you two at college. He tried to play things off as your clumsy nature, but I could see the truth in his eyes. I know I received a watered down, half-truth story from him. I am still very sorry for what he did. I will stand behind you should you ever decide to press charges."

"Billy, I can't come between you and Jake like that." I said dropping down to his level.

"He came between us and shattered our relationship. I kicked him out and begged Charlie to let us come here to be able to apologize in person."

"You aren't staying?" Alice asked interrupting. She seemed to be really taken with the sincere and genuine nature of the older man in front of me.

"No, I think not." Billy said flashing a small smile.

"Of course, you are." My dad and I said together before the whole kitchen burst out laughing.

A four food and laughter filled hours later, we were all sitting around the table extremely full and content. My sides hurt from all of the laughing and eating I had been doing.

Billy turned to me and said, "I think it is about time Rachel and I were off. She has a lot of work to do before she leaves."

"What kind of work are you doing while you are here?" Victoria asked.

"My normal work, my dad wants me to redecorate his house and de-Jake it before I leave. Apparently, he doesn't want anything left when he asks his girlfriend, Senna, to move in with him at Christmas." Rachel answered with a cat out of the bag smile.

"You knew?" Billy asked surprised.

My dad answered. "Of course, we knew. Anyone that see you and Senna together it blind if they don't see that you two love each other and are just waiting for you kids to hop in board."

"I saw that the second she you heard her car in the driveway last night. Plus, she and I had a talk in the middle of the night over tea."

Billy rolled back from the table. "Well, let's get going so I can ask her sooner."

After the goodbyes and getting Billy into his car, I told my dad Alice and I were leaving too.

"I expected that, but I can't say I am happy about it. Are you just off the Seattle or are you two going straight back to San Francisco?" My dad asked.

Alice piped up in her bouncy tone. "We are going shopping!"

Author's Note~

Sorry, this one took so long to get out to you. I was really, really sick to the point I was almost admitted to the hospital. I am still sick, but I am feeling much better.

I know this chapter is a little shorter, but the next chapter might take a while and should be really long. Christmas with the parents will be tons of fun.

Let me know what you think! You will get a preview teaser if you review. ~KaliCali77

P.S. Please let me know about any major misakes. I don't have a beta.

Check out the banner for this story made by Christag_Banner at pbckt .com/ pW. R1ImZM

Pictures of the house that inspired the McCarty/Swan house are at http:/ www. villa vianci. com/ Just remove the spaces.

I got the English to Irish translation at http:/ web translation. paralink. com/

The bakery that Bella ordered Jasper's birthday cupcakes from (Sift Cupcakes http:/ store. Sift cupcakes. com/ cupcakes. Html )

BART= Bay Area Rapid Transit (like the L train in Chicago or the subway system in New York or London or Berlin)