A/N: Thanks for being patient. First it snowed (yay) then I got sick (boo). Don't own Twilight. I do own too many cough drops.

"What do you think about this, Tabs?" I ask, pulling on the flirty summer dress.

"I think you still look pretty. You looked pretty the last two times you changed, too, though," she giggles. Suddenly becoming more contemplative, she asks, "Mom?"

"Hmm?"

"Is this a date?"

I stop mid-zip. "No, honey, no. This isn't a date. Who would it be a date with?"

"Jasper?"

"Oh, no, no, no. Tabs, Jasper and I are just friends. We have been since high school."

"Since before you met Daddy?"

"Yep," I say with a strained smile. I love how she talks about Riley; he's still such a big part of how she views her daily world. But it's hard sometimes, too. "Why do you think this is a date?"

She raises her left eyebrow, a trick inherited from my father. We call it his bullshit detector. On my daughter, we call it the Are-You-Serious-Brow. She sasses, "Have you seen you, Mom?"

"Tabitha," I warn with the mom tone. "That's close enough to the disrespectful line."

"Sorry, Mommy." I don't love chastising my kid, but I refuse to raise a smart-mouthed brat. She's seven; sometimes she needs to be reminded.

"It's fine, but be careful. Now, what were you trying to say?"

"Just that you changed clothes three times. You have a dress on and high heels. You act like you're nervous. That's what girls on tv do before a date. I thought we were just going to a cookout at Daniel's house."

Sweet baby Jesus, she's right. To her eyes, I must look exactly like that. How do I explain this without confusing her even more?

"It's not a date, Shortcake," I tell her, kicking off the way too fancy shoes and sitting on my bed. "I am a little nervous, though. Some of the people we're going to meet tonight are people I knew in high school."

"Did you know EVERYone in high school?" she giggles.

"Seems like it, huh? It's a small town, Tabs. I knew a lot of people here."

"But why does that make you nervous? If you know them?"

Ugh. Explaining Lauren to her without making it weird for the rest of the evening is not going to be easy. I don't lie to my kid, but I don't necessarily tell her all of the truth, either.

"Well, Tyler was a really nice guy, and we were friends. But Lauren and I, well, you know how you were friends with Megan sometimes, and then sometimes you guys weren't nice to each other at all?"

"Ohhhh," she replies, drawing out the sound, totally getting it. She and Megan Tulley were inseparable in first grade, unless it was a day they wanted to pull out each other's hair. Those days occurred at least once a week.

"Yeah. So I want to make a good impression. She always called me short, so I guess that's why I want to wear heels. I want her to think I look good. And I kinda hope she got fat!"

"Mooooommm! That's not nice!" She's right, but I get the reaction I was hoping for. We're both laying back on the bed and laughing. She understands. And now, so do I. I'm being silly, and I don't have to impress Lauren.

"Come on. Let me change back into something comfortable, and we'll get going. Go grab the salad out of the fridge so we don't forget it."

"Okay," she says happily, obviously ready to hang out with Daniel. "Oh, Mom?" she asks turning back to face me from the door.

"Hmm?"

"Wear cool jewelry. Lauren will be jealous of all your cool jewelry."

She runs down the hallway and stomps her way down the stairs, leaving me behind to marvel at the awesomeness that is my kid.

Tab and I arrived in Forks the last week of June. We celebrated the Fourth of July with a family barbeque, Dad and Sue happy and content with all their kids and grandkids running around. I ate my weight in grilled lobster tails at a backyard get together at Rose and Emmett's, organized by Alice with glasses of wine and faux-intellectual hipster conversations at every turn. Even Paul got in on the act, roasting up some freshly caught shellfish on the beach when he, Leah, and Jake threw a welcome back beach day for me and my girl. Tab ran and squealed in the surf just like I used to do when I spent days on the reservation with my friends.

Every party was different, every situation a new type of celebration. Tonight, though, is just dinner with friends, no purpose other than to have a meal together. Laid back, children playing, no pressure. Except from me, that is. I need to get over myself and just enjoy the evening. Grabbing the bowl and a gift bag and leading an excited Shortcake out the door, we head three doors down the road.

"Hi, Tabitha! Hi, Mrs. Biers!" Daniel greets us. He's obviously been waiting on the front porch of the large, well maintained house.

"Hi, Daniel!" Tab is just as excited to see him.

"Mom says come on out back," he tells me.

"Thank you, Daniel," I tell the polite little boy as he leads us behind the house. Turning the corner, I am suddenly very happy that I changed into cute little pink top and some jeans. My sandals are much more appropriate than heels for this get together. Jessica is in shorts and a t-shirt. Woman is wearing flip flops. What kind of moron would I have looked like? Tabs to the rescue.

"Bella! Hi! You look great!" Well, I am wearing cool jewelry.

"So do you! Thanks for inviting us," I smile, suddenly very happy to have decided to come. She's already put me at ease.

"What's this?" she asks, nodding toward the bowl Tab is now holding.

"Mom made nanzapelli," Tabitha chirps, handing over the salad.

"Panzanella," I correct when I catch Mike's raised eyebrows.

"Oh. Well, sounds great either way," he says, smiling down at my girl "You must be Tabitha! I'm Daniel's dad."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Newton."

"Nice to meet you, too. You're a very polite girl."

"Thank you," she replies, then takes off running when Daniel grabs her arm.

Chuckling, my old friend turns to me with a wide smile. "Bella! Bring it in," he exclaims, arms wide open. I take a sideways peek at Jessica to gauge her reaction. She's all giggles, so I step into the very warm welcome.

"Mike, so good to see you," I tell him honestly when I step back.

"Hope you're hungry. Jasper has been grilling chicken like a crazy person."

I look up and see that Jasper is indeed manning the grill. He raises his beer in salute. I raise my hand back and realize I'm still holding the gift bag.

"Oh, Jessica, this is for you. Tabitha saw it and thought it was perfect."

As Jessica and Mike oooh and ahhh over the gift my girl picked out especially for them, I hear the back door bang shut. Looking up to be sure it wasn't my kid running in and out of the house, I see first Tyler then Lauren. Oh, hell. Jasper wasn't kidding. She's way too dressed up, just as I would have been. Just too much.

"What is that, anyway?" Lauren squeaks out in a voice that could cut glass. Most people grow out of a voice like that.

"It's a s'mores maker for the grill. Keeps them from making a mess. Hi, Lauren," I say, giving her the benefit of the doubt in hopes of being as pleasantly surprised with her as I was with Jessica. Unfortunately, some things are not to be.

"Hi," she returns with a fake smile I well remember. Tyler, on the other hand, greets me with a real smile and quick hug, then wanders over to Jasper and Mike at the grill.

"Mom, come look!" Tabitha and Daniel yell the same thing at the same time, and Jessica and I laugh. They've built a pitch and toss game from cans, string, and branches.

"That's awesome, guys! You're both so creative!" Jessica is as impressed as I am at their ingenuity. Lauren, not so much. The kids are excited and want to explain it all. Shortcake begins going into detail about just how hard it was to find just the right branches.

"What's her name?" Lauren asks me.

"Tabitha."

"Oh. Well, Tabby, we're going to have some big girl talk here on the patio for a little while. Daniel, you two run along and play, and we'll watch from here, all right?"

Both my daughter and I open our mouths to correct the presumptuous woman. Before either of us can speak, however, Jasper walks up behind me. Giving me a beer from the wheelbarrow Mike has filled with ice, Jasper tells Lauren, "Tabby is a cat name. Tabitha isn't a cat, Lauren." He says it with a smile, but it's obvious he isn't really joking.

"Uh huh," Lauren responds with an eye roll.

It's such a small thing. Defending her to this woman, though, has apparently elevated him to hero status with my kid. He's risen a rung or two in my eyes, as well.

"These ladies are boring, kids. Show me your game," he invites following the excited children across the yard.

"Laur, don't tell my kid to run along. They were just excited," Jessica admonishes. She dropped her smile as soon as the children turned around. Now, she's my hero.

"Sorry, Jess. I'm just eager to catch up with Bella," she grins. Yeah, bullshit. "So, I thought you were never coming back. Isn't that what you said?"

"What? When I was eighteen? Yeah, maybe. Things change. It was time."

"We all thought you would be back when your husband died. You know, alone with a kid and all."

Taking a moment to collect myself, I take a drink of my beer. It's a good local IPA, and a good thing on which to focus until the urge to call Lauren an evil bitch has passed.

"Lauren!" Jessica exclaims, clearly pissed at her friends insensitivity. I find it hard to see why these two have stayed friends.

"What? I'm just saying!"

"No, it's okay, Jessica. Yes, Lauren, it was hard after Riley died. I was a wreck. But it was better for Tab to have some stability in her life. Losing her dad then losing her home and friends at the same time would have been too much for such a young child to handle. She hadn't even turned five yet. But it's better now. We're both ready for a new adventure."

Even Lauren has the sense to leave this topic alone now. "Well, welcome back. I'm, uh, going to go see what Tyler is up to. Excuse me," she huffs out.

"Wow. You handled her well," Jessica praises.

"Thanks. She's, well, she's…"

"Exactly like she was in high school? Yeah, I know. I love her anyway." And we both giggle as we watch the kids play.

Mike, Jasper, and Tyler join all the kids for a water balloon fight. The twins, Ava and Emma, have terrible aim, even for toddlers, so the guys keep running into the line of fire. Jasper lifts his shirt to wring it out and I catch a glimpse of a tattoo. My, my, my. My little gasp gets Jessica's attention, and I avert my eyes. It's not like I meant to look, anyway. I wish she'd stop grinning like that.

The chicken is juicy, the hot dogs are a hit, the panzanella disappears, and Tyler and Lauren suddenly remember that thing they have to do at that place as soon as dinner is over. The kids are all sitting in the grass, completely sticky with marshmallow, as Mike tries to stay ahead of the s'mores orders at the grill. Ava and Emma have turned out to be sweet little chocolate-covered darlings, both of them the spitting image of their father. They have been trying mightily to keep up with Tab. They've decided she's awesome. Baby Andrew is snuggled in his mother's lap. After one more round of s'mores, Mike finally joins the adults at the table.

"So what are your plans, Bella?" Mike asks, washing down his dessert with a beer.

"Immediate plans are to finish Shortcake's room before school starts. Jasper and his crew are doing an amazing job."

"You're helping, don't forget," he acknowledges with a wink.

"Have you decided which school she's going to?" Jessica, ever the mom, asks.

"I haven't really given it much thought, to be honest. The house has kind of consumed my brain. Where does Daniel go?"

"Three Rivers Academy. It's small, but that's what we like about it. Kids come from around the county."

"Aren't the public schools any good?"

"Oh, yeah. They're good. It's nothing against them, we just like the Academy. Uniforms, smaller classes, more time spent on each kid, less time on those standardized tests. Plus they're all at the same place."

"I remember seeing those poor kids in their uniforms. You like that?"

"Yeah," Mike chimes in. "It's easier to shop for," he laughs. "But really, the program just seems more challenging. The uniforms are worth it."

Jasper snickers. "We didn't used to think so, now did we?"

"God, no," Mike says, lost in memory. "We tortured those kids. It was funny then."

"Come with me to check it out, Bella. We can go do a visit this week," Jessica offers, steering the conversation back to adulthood.

"We can do that. Go for lunch after?"

"Sounds great."

Night falls, we drink a few more beers, the air chills, and the time comes to put the sleepy children to bed. Jasper offers to walk us home, and gives Tab a piggyback ride.

"Coffee?" I ask when we reach our door.

"Thanks, but not tonight. Down you go, Tab!"

"Goodnight, Jasper," she says, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Goodnight, kid. See you tomorrow. We're going to get that room done this week."

"Go get ready for a bath, sleepyhead. I'll be right up," I tell her. She takes off running up the stairs.

"You must be pretty special. You got kiss on the cheek," I kid with him.

"Special, huh?" he questions. Grinning, dimples and all, he leans down, and kisses me on my cheek. "You are, too. Goodnight, Bella."

He turns and walks down the driveway, not waiting for my response. After an embarrassingly long time, I have one.

Touching my tingling cheek, I whisper, "Goodnight."