for all of my fans – thank you for sticking with me through my dry spell. I promise that radio romance and absolute beginners have not been abandoned, and I have actually already started the next chapter of each of them. This just wouldn't leave my head, so I began it as well. Thanks again for being so faithful!

EPOV

Hundreds of little people had invaded the inside of my skull, and they'd brought pitchforks and hammers with them. At least, that's what it felt like. I cracked an eye open and felt the pitchforks stabbing the back of it before shutting it tightly against the onslaught of sunshine that was pouring in through the windows.

"Wake up, bro!" Emmett boomed cheerfully. I winced against the sound, which made me realize that the little people inside my skull also had jackhammers in their employ. Emmett always had been able to hold his alcohol well – his tolerance had always been higher than mine. I wondered if he even had a slight headache. "The sun is shining and other happy shit like that – I think on your first day of freedom, we need to pay a visit to someone else who misses you."

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose between my thumb and forefinger, a habit that had driven Tanya nuts. I realized that my glasses were no longer on my face, and opened my eyes a bit. I regretted it immediately. Emmett must have been watching me, because his booming laughter filled the space we were in… and I realized that I had no idea where in the hell we were.

"Em, where-"

"We're at my place," he interjected. I heard some soft banging noises, and figured it must be him opening cabinets – unless the sadistic little fuckers inside my skull were actually making me hear things now. I grimaced against the noise, but otherwise didn't move. "You kept babbling some shit about not wanting to go back to your condo because super bitch might be there, so I brought you here."

"Did I actually call her super bitch?" I wondered aloud.

"Yeah, you did," he answered, sounding highly amused. "So go shower – bathroom's at the end of the hall, and the towels are in the cabinet under the sink. After that, we'll go pick up some greasy food to help your hangover-" He didn't get to finish, because as soon as he mentioned food, my stomach roiled and I ignored the pain in my head as I bolted to the bathroom. His laughter followed me.

Half an hour later, despite having to stop twice to pay homage to the porcelain god, I was showered and dressed in borrowed clothes. Well, a borrowed t-shirt, anyway – one that was big enough on me that looked like it could've been a tent. Emmett clapped me on the back and grinned as I stumbled, and then he handed me a glass of water and two ibuprofens. I swallowed them quickly, hoping that they'd stay down, and followed him out of the apartment.

And that is how, nearly an hour later, I was finally about to visit my parents for the first time in a year. We'd stopped along the way and picked up some salty fries and a watered down Coke for me, and I had to admit that my stomach was feeling infinitely better. Still a bit queasy, but at least I didn't feel like I was going to puke every time I turned my head. I had just gotten out of Emmett's jeep and closed the door when I heard my mother squeal.

"Edward?" I turned and watched her running towards me, and I could feel the idiotic smile that lit up my face.

"Hey, Mom," I laughed, stumbling a little bit when she launched herself into my open arms. I guess she'd missed me, because she squeezed me within an inch of my life. When had my mother gotten that strong? I wondered.

"Edward Anthony," she warned, pulling away from me slightly. "Don't you dare ever stay away that long again!"

"No worries, Ma," Emmett began, grinning. "She's gone – for good this time." My mother's eyes darted back from my brother to me, and she stared for a moment. Then her face split into the same shit-eating grin that Emmett had inherited from her.

"Oh," she breathed, her smile faltering for a moment. "Are you upset? Do you-"

"Not in the least," I answered, cutting her off. Her smile was back in full force.

"Then this calls for a celebration! You know, I never liked that woman anyway." I barked out a surprised laugh and wrapped my arm around her shoulders as we walked up the path towards the house. "Any woman who's going to make you choose between her and your family just isn't worth a squirt of piss, in my book." Emmett roared with laughter, and I could feel my cheeks turning red. My mother didn't usually cuss. In my whole life, I could count on one hand the number of times I'd heard her utter a curse word.

When we got to the front porch, I realized that my father was standing by the door, waiting for us. We shared a smile, and then my mother extricated herself from my arms long enough for me to embrace my father.

"Son," he breathed. That one word held everything – sorrow, relief, joy. He didn't have to say anything else; I knew exactly how he felt. It cut deep, knowing how hard my parents had taken the forced separation.

"Hey, Dad. So mom tells me it's almost time for dinner?" I asked hopefully. He grinned and ushered me inside. I didn't even have to look to know that my mother was crying.

"It is indeed, son, it is indeed."

After one of the most amazing dinners I could remember having in a long time, we were all sitting around the dinner table nursing glasses of wine with a fabulous chocolate confection. The conversation had been lighthearted during the meal, but for some reason with the introduction of alcohol, things took a turn for the more serious.

"So, Edward," my mother began, eyeing me intently over the rim of her glass. "What exactly is going to happen with you and your soon-to-be ex-wife?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, frowning.

"I think your mother is asking if you've hired a lawyer yet," Dad explained, taking a bite of his dessert. "Esme, this dessert is fantastic."

"I wish I could take credit for it," Mom answered, shaking her head. "This one's all Bella. And yes, Edward, that's exactly what I meant. Have you even considered the way you two might split all of your possessions – the cars, the condo?"

"She can have everything except my clothes, my car, and my piano," I said, shrugging. "And I'm going to make sure she signs something stating that once she has all everything, she can never come after me for more money. The condo alone is worth six figures – whether or not she wants to live there will be her problem." I didn't want for money. My trust fund alone was enough to last me the rest of my life, thanks to my parents. I'd been putting away most of my paychecks in the bank, since Tanya and I had long ago made an unspoken rule about spending our own money, and not each other's. She knew if she'd asked me to pay for something, I would've asked where it was going and why – and she would've had to explain her frequent hotel stays and meals for more than one person.

"Where are you going to live, if you give her the condo?" Emmett asked.

"I hadn't thought," I answered honestly.

"Why don't you come back here?" Mom asked, almost bouncing in her seat. "Your old room is still exactly as you left it, and God knows we'd love to have you back. I'm sure Bella wouldn't mind one more, would she, Carlisle?"

"I don't think she would," he replied easily.

"How's Goober doing, anyway?" Emmett asked, shoveling a huge forkful of chocolate into his mouth. "I haven't seen her around in a while."

"She's lovely, as ever," Mom said, smiling at him. "And I know you haven't seen her in a while, because my grocery bill triples when you do!" Emmett grinned.

"That's because my goober loves me."

"No, it's because she's too nice to tell you no," Dad said, laughing and shaking his head. "You have to admit, Esme, when Emmett comes around, we each gain about ten extra pounds."

"That's because he begs her to make every dessert known to man – and as conscientious people who care about the wasting of food, we can't just let it rot. We are duty bound to consume it all."

"Hell yeah!" Emmett declared, glancing around. "Is she here right now? I bet she'd make me a pie, if she is." I frowned, looking between them. Who was Bella? Who was a goober? What the hell did any of this have to do with Emmett's eating habits? I must have spoken out loud, because my mother put her wine glass down and turned to me.

"Emmett calls Bella 'goober' – which she hates, by the way, but I'm sure you already knew that," she said with a pointed look in Emmett's direction. His only answer was to laugh and reach for another serving of the gooey chocolate dessert. "Bella is our chef, and also our personal shopper when it comes to food. Emmett normally comes around once a week to have dinner with us, and when he does, Bella goes overboard and makes enough food to feed an army. Sometimes we ask her not to come back for a day or so, since we have so many leftovers – but not often, since your brother can eat the entire family under the table just by himself."

"I'm a growing boy, Ma. I need to eat."

"Okay," I said slowly, processing that information. "I understand that she's your chef – but why would she be here right now?"

"Sometimes she stays here with us," Mom said, taking a sip of wine. "If she were here, we would have made her join us for dinner. She's a lovely girl and I enjoy her company – it gets so lonely here when your father goes away on business. We've been trying to convince her that she just needs to move in here with us, since she lives an hour away and that truck of hers isn't really reliable, but she's so stubborn! She keeps telling us that she feels like she'd be mooching off of us if she lived here, because she doesn't do much."

Dad barked out a laugh, and my eyebrows shot up. He shook his head. "She does enough. When she thinks we're not paying attention, she cleans."

"Isn't that part of her job?" I wondered aloud. "To keep her work space clean?"

"I'm not talking about the kitchen," he said. "She sneaks into other rooms and dusts, cleans windows, vacuums. We even got rid of the weekly maid service because Bella was doing it all herself."

"And she won't let us pay her for it."

"Pay her for it?" Dad snorted. "Hell, she won't even admit that she's the one doing it!"

"That's because she thinks of you guys as her own parents," Emmett piped up, not noticing when our parents' heads both whipped around and they stared at him. He continued to run his finger along his plate to gather up the remainder of the chocolate there.

"What?" Dad choked out. My eyes darted between him and mom. There were tears pooling in mom's eyes, and she had a shaky hand pressed to her chest above her heart. "Why would you say that?" Emmett finally looked up and looked confused.

"Because she told me that," he said slowly.

"When-"

"What? The goob and I can't have a heart to heart every now and then? She let me talk to her about-" his eyes darted to me, and I could feel my face heating up – "stuff, and she talked to me about stuff. She said she lost her dad a few months ago, and she's grateful to have you guys."

"Charlie died?" Dad asked, his eyes darting to mom. "Why didn't she tell us? She didn't take any time off of work or anything!"

"Oh that poor girl," Mom breathed, tears spilling down her face.

"You know how Bella is," Emmett said, shrugging. He licked the back of his fork clean. "She asked me not to tell you because she didn't want you to be upset. She thought you'd make her take time away from work, and she didn't want to do that – she said she wanted to feel as normal as possible."

"Did she at least get to go to the funeral?"

"Yeah, she went." He frowned and inspected his plate, which was now clean. Mom and Dad exchanged looks.

"What happened?"

"Her dad's wife made a huge scene about how Bella had abandoned him, and she wouldn't let her follow them to the cemetery to see him buried." I jumped when my mother smacked the table with her open palm.

"She did what?" I had never seen my mom look so angry – she was shaking. "She had no right to-"

"Why are we just now hearing about this?" Dad asked, putting a hand on my mom's arm to try and calm her. "Bella has seemed fine every time we've seen her, and I haven't seen anything in the papers."

"Her dad's wife didn't put anything in the papers because she thought that everyone who needed to know already knew. Bella wouldn't have even known if she hadn't gone over to the rez to visit him – she made him a pan of his favorite lasagna, and when she got there, Jake told her that her dad had died."

"Sue didn't even tell Bella?" My mom made no effort to stop her tears, and her face fell into her hands.

"Jake was pretty pissed at Sue when he realized that she hadn't told her," Emmett said, shrugging. "So was Seth. All the boys on the rez were, actually. Bella means a lot of a lot of people."

"Except for Sue, apparently," I observed. Mom's head popped up, and I was startled by the emotion on her face.

"That's because Sue is a heartless witch. Wait until you meet Bella, Edward. She is the sweetest, most amazing person you'd ever want to meet."

"And she's the best cook on the face of the planet," Emmett interjected. "You know – except for Ma."

"Don't try to backpedal, young man," Dad snapped, though he was smiling.

"He's right – Bella's a better cook than me," Mom said, grinning. "And we need to do something nice for her. She shouldn't have suffered through that ordeal alone. Carlisle, do you think that if we tell her that Edward is moving in that she'd finally give in and stay with us? We'd need extra help to cook for him, and it'll take more of her time."

"We can only ask, sweetheart," he said, pressing a kiss to my mother's forehead. I felt a twinge in my chest. Tanya and I had never been like my parents… why hadn't I noticed it before I'd married her? Ever since I was a little boy, I'd known that I wanted a relationship like the one my parents had with each other. They were always give and take and compromise and love – Tanya hadn't ever given or compromised on anything – and I had known two weeks into the marriage that what I'd thought was love was only lust and youthful infatuation.

"Are you staying tonight, Edward?" Mom asked, glancing down at her watch. I looked down at my own – how had it gotten to be ten thirty already?

"I was thinking I would, if it wasn't too much-"

"Young man, you had better not be about to ask your parents if it's too much trouble to stay at their house! It's your house too. Always has been." Dad grinned, and I felt myself grinning back.

"What about me?" Emmett pouted. Mom laughed and got up, moving to give him a hug.

"You stay over all the time, Emmy bear," she said. Emmett's face turned red, but he smiled. Mom used to call him that all the time when we were kids, and he'd always hated it. "Besides, when you boys wake up in the morning, Bella will be here with breakfast, and then you can go help Edward get his things."

"Breakfast!" Emmett was almost squealing. I snorted. Who the hell was this Bella chick, and why did she have such a hold on my family? "Why don't we all go to bed now, and that way we can wake up faster?"

"Just like on Christmas, right Em?" Dad laughed, shaking his head when Emmett nodded.

"Seriously?" I couldn't help the incredulity that had snuck into my voice. My mom laughed and hugged me.

"Goodnight, baby," she breathed in my ear before releasing me. "It's so good to have you back." She smiled and patted my cheek once before leaving the room. Dad was next to embrace me.

"When you taste Bella's vanilla bean French toast, you'll understand," he said. He patted me on the shoulder and followed the same direction Mom had gone.

"What the hell?" I asked, turning to Emmett. As soon as Dad was gone, Emmett had attacked the plate of chocolate that was left, shoveling a huge forkful into his mouth.

"Bella's awesome," he said through a mouthful. "I don't worry about Mom and Dad eating right, or being lonely or anything when she's here. She's amazing – you know, except at Mario Kart, and then she sucks."

"I thought she was just their personal chef. Why would she play games with you?"

"Because she's awesome, just like I said. She's probably the closest chick friend I have right now. Oh, man – we'll have to go out drinking, she's funny as hell when she gets drunk!"

I couldn't help it – I stared at him. "Are you trying to get into her pants, or something?"

"Nah," he denied, shaking his head. "I tried that about a month after she started working here, but she wasn't interested. Besides, it would've been creepy – like being with my sister."

"Okay," I said slowly, frowning. He laughed.

"Just go get some rest, okay? When you sink your teeth into that first bite, you'll be hooked, I promise."