Disclaimer- The characters belong to Stephenie Meyer, not me.

A/N- Remember what I said about Jacob being only a brother to Bella? In this part, remember this. And remember, I am a huge Jake/Angie shiper, too, they're really the only non-canon couple in this fanfic, but they fit together so beautifully well.

BPOV

In the morning, I woke up- slowly. I heard Alice and Jasper entering the apartment. "Honey, I'm home!" Alice yelled.

I remembered that Edward was in the bed with me. I hadn't stirred once since he had been in bed with me. What an experience. I lifted my head. "Hi."

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Just fine," I said. "How about you?"

"Great," he said. "You are so beautiful when you sleep."

"Sure I am," I said, rolling my eyes, sitting up.

"Bella?" Alice asked. "We brought coffee! Are you ready to go…" She stepped into the doorway. "Hi, Edward."

"Hi, Alice."

"You know we were set to go at 8:30, right?" she asked. I looked over at the clock- it was 8 am already. We weren't getting off at 8:30, most definitely.

"Yes," Edward said. "I just got a little distracted."

I got up and ran to the shower.

There was a knock on the door. "Bella?" Alice asked while I washed my hair. She had come into the bathroom.

"Yes?"

"What really happened?" she asked on the other side of the shower curtain.

"I had a flashback last night."

"A flashback?" she cried. "That's why he was calling?"

"Yes," I said, covering my face with my hands, stepping under the shower spray, although she couldn't see me.

"Bella- you didn't sleep with him, did you?"

"By sleep with him, do you mean take a nap with him or… I just took a nap with him!"

"Okay," she said, sounding relieved. "I just worry about you. We just need to make better memories on your birthday, you know."

"Don't remind me," I said, rinsing the conditioner out of my hair. "Where is he?"

"He went back to his place to pack a bag," Alice said. "He's coming back."

"Okay," I said, softly, turning off the water. "Can you hand me my towel?"

After I dressed and dried my hair, Edward had come back to our apartment with a duffle bag for the weekend.

"We got coffee for everybody," Jasper said as I came into the room. "And bagels, if you want one. I didn't know what you wanted, we have several different kinds- cinnamon raisin, blueberry, sun dried tomato-basil, oh, here's a plain one, chocolate hazelnut…"

"Thanks," Edward said, taking a coffee. "I'll take the sun dried tomato-basil, if nobody minds."

"Okay, cool. I'm taking the blueberry," Jasper said. They started slathering on mountains of cream cheese on their bagels, talking sports. Alice had the chocolate hazelnut, and I pretended to have the cinnamon raisin. I took a bite, chewed some and slyly spit it back into my napkin, putting it back into my lap under the counter, repeating this process until about half my bagel was eaten. I certainly couldn't refuse food, but I certainly couldn't eat it either. I called this ritual "chew and spit" with my friends online.

After everyone had a few bites and sips of coffee, Edward announced, "I'm ready to go. Who else is ready?"

"Great, I'm ready!" Alice said, picking up Dizzy and putting her in her carrier.

"Me too," I said, getting up, tossing the rest of my bagel and the bloated napkin into the garbage can.

We went downstairs with our bags and loaded up the car. Dizzy meowled until we got into the car, and we let her out once we were moving. I gave her a benadryl because she was licking her fur too much. Alice attempted to give me part of the last bagel, but I could only force a few bites down. She was sitting too close by me to chew and spit. I insisted it was too much on my stomach to eat that much of a bagel.

Jasper and Edward got into a conversation about Emmett- Emmett was obviously the clown. Emmett had decided he was resident cartoonist at work and at every meeting, he drew crude, sometimes inappropriate cartoons. We all started laughing when Jasper had Alice got out Jasper's laptop and showed us the most recent drawing.

"He did that in school, too," Edward said. "Especially in band class."

"You were a band geek!?" Alice squealed.

"Yes, I was in the symphony," Edward said. "I was the resident pianist at our school."

"You pay piano?" I asked. "I didn't know that."

"I was all-state symphony back in Illinois," Edward said. "Emmett played the trombone. Never made all-state. Rosalie was a flutist- she did really well, got a scholarship in college- could have gone to Julliard. She wouldn't give him the time of day for the longest time until I talked her into going with him to the band banquet."

"Really?" Jasper asked. "How long have they been together?"

"Since they were fifteen," Edward said.

Our trip to Forks wasn't so boring. We didn't have to resort to singing awful songs off the iPod. Getting to know Edward in a group was nice conversation. I knew we were close when it started raining and Dizzy fell asleep in my lap.

"Why did you name your cat Dizzy?" Edward asked.

"Because when she was a kitten, she'd jump up on things, but was a little cross-eyed," I said. "She's stumble and fall off."

"And I always wanted to name my cat after Jazz legends," Alice said. "So, we came up with the idea of Dizzy after Dizzy Gillespie."

"That's cute," Edward said, stroking the cat's head. Dizzy's eyes opened and she purred in my lap, rolling over on her back so I could stroke her chest and belly.

"You're cute, did you hear that?" I asked Dizzy.

In Forks, Jasper pulled up to Charlie's house. I recognized the pale siding with the moss growing on it and the beige Toyota Camry in the driveway replacing old the Police Cruiser. My old red pick up truck was gone- it had been such a fixture at our house my last two years of high school. I picked up Dizzy and Charlie came to the door.

"Man, you guys are late," he said, coming out to hug me. "Happy birthday, Bella!" he said, hugging me. "I wasn't expecting Dizzy to pay a visit, too!" He took Dizzy from my arms.

"Yeah, we couldn't leave her at the boarder's," I said. "Dad, I want you to meet somebody," I said, taking Edward's hand. "This is Edward Masen."

"Hi, Mr. Swan," he said.

"Call me Charlie," Charlie said, extending a hand.

"Hi, I'm Edward."

"Hi, Charlie," Alice said, bounding out of the passenger seat. She hugged him.

"Good to see you, again Alice," Charlie said. "How are you, Jasper?"

"I'm good."

"Glad your car got fixed," Charlie said, knocking on the trunk.

"Me too," Jasper said. "Let's get Bella's bag inside."

Jasper took my duffle bag out of the trunk and took it upstairs to my room for me. Charlie, Edward, Alice and I settled into the living room, where I set Dizzy down.

"Welcome home, baby," Charlie said, kissing me on the cheek. "I'm glad you're here."

"Me too," I said. I took a seat beside Edward. Edward took my hand. It felt good- natural. Maybe I wasn't such a terrible dater.

"So, Edward, tell me about yourself," Charlie said. "You're a pediatrician?"

"Yes," he said. "A pediatric cardiology surgical intern at Seattle Grace University Hospital."

"That's where Bella goes to school," Charlie said.

"Yes, we've run into each other a few times there," I said. "Like when I sprained my ankle and burned myself with a giant cup of hot coffee. And ruined my good camera."

"She was fine," Edward said. "The camera's not."

"That's our Bella," Jasper said.

"Well, that camera was getting old," Charlie said. "Maybe you'll find an old one, like that antique one you found your freshman year of high school that got you started in photography."

"Her photography's really great," Alice commented.

"Oh yeah," Jasper agreed.

"I've seen a couple of her prints," Edward said. "She's shy about showing me."

"So, anything happening in Forks?" I asked, steering the conversation away from the subject.

"Nothing really huge," he said. "That I know of. Esme would be better up on the news."

"All the local gossip," Alice said, smiling. "She runs into Mike Newton's Mom a lot."

"Sounds like Esme," I said. "I can't wait to see her."

"Why don't you come down and see her?" Alice asked. "I know she's dying to see you. Let's call Jake and Angie and have them come over, too!"

We took Dizzy to Carlisle and Esme's house. They met us at the door. They had a huge house by the Sol-Duck River. Esme hugged me immediately before saying anything. "Bella," she said, softly. "Please tell me you're doing better."

I couldn't answer. She hugged me again. She was the woman who acted as my mother when I first came to Forks. I couldn't lie to her.

She was ready to meet Edward, though. "So, this is Edward?" she asked.

"I heard Alice has been telling you about me?"

"We're just interested because Carlisle's a pediatrician," Esme said, smiling.

"Hi, Edward," Carlisle said, extending a hand. "I'm Alice's father, Carlisle."

"Thanks for having me this weekend, Dr. Cullen."

"Call me Carlisle," he said. "If you could excuse Bella and myself, please…"

"Of course."

Carlisle and I went up to his study. We had a long discussion about my health and prescriptions (he always took a special interest in my medications and what they were doing for me, since he was my pediatrician when I moved to Forks) we joined the group in the living room. Carlisle and Charlie started a conversation about the baseball season, which the guys got into while Esme wanted to make lunch. Alice and I went to help her while we waited on Jake and Angie to come from La Push with Will.

Jake was a childhood friend of mine- my best friend when I came to visit Charlie- he was Billy Black's son, Charlie's best friend and fishing buddy. My other best friend from high school, Angela, had met him though me at a class party at First Beach our sophomore year, near the Quileute Reservation. It had been love at first sight, despite the fact that Jacob was a year younger than Ang, it took them almost two years before they acted on it. It was like they were destined to get married from day one. They did, when Angela got pregnant her senior year of college. Her father had gotten pretty upset, being a Lutheran preacher, but they got married pretty quickly. She had had the baby, Will, shortly after graduation. Will was almost two, now, and Angela was pregnant, again. They lived on the reservation, where Jacob had a very successful garage. Angela was trying to get her masters by correspondence courses. She was working on her Ph.D. in psychology.

We heard the sound of Jacob's SUV coming down the Cullen's drive, and I jumped up, excited. Angela was getting out slowly- her baby bump was proceeding her.

"Ang!" I cried.

"Bella!" she cried. She was incredibly tall, close to six feet tall, with dark blond hair. Jacob was a good match for her- he was about six foot seven or six foot eight. She could wear heels with him, even though she had a hard time finding them in her shoe size. She was like Alice's polar opposite. "Jake, get Will."

"I'm on it," Jacob said, climbing out of the car. Angela ran (well, waddled, being so pregnant) to me and hugged me.

"Are you feeling any better?" she whispered quietly.

"Well," I said, avoiding her eyes.

"So, who's this guy I hear about?"

"He's inside, if you want to meet him."

"Aunt Beeeeee!" Will squealed as Jacob set him down on the wet ground. Jacob's very good-looking. He's a continent of muscle and russet skin and he has a beautiful smile. I might have developed a crush on him had we not been such a good friends. He was more like a big little brother to me than anything. Once he became a teenager, we became best friends. There was never anything romantic between us, although our dads might have secretly hoped there would be.

"Auntie B's here!" Jacob repeated.

Will tottered across the lawn to me and I kneeled down to hug Will. I'm Will's godmother. "Hi, Will!" I cried, kissing his head. The toddler giggled and squealed as I hugged him. He had the same russet skin that Jacob had. "Let's go inside and see Charlie?"

"Yeah!" he cried.

I picked him up and carried him in. "Who's this?" Edward asked.

"My godson, Will Black," I said, bringing him into the kitchen. "Will, this is Edward."

"Hi, Will," Edward said. Will got shy and tucked his face into my shoulder.

I took Will's shoes off and Ang and I let him run around the Cullen's house, but we kept a close eye on him- he liked to pick up expensive things, and children and expensive things had a funny way of getting broken. I wondered how Angela and Jacob got any rest or thinking time to themselves with this kid around.

Lunch was basically sandwiches and potato chips. It was a lighter meal, since we were going to Port Angeles for dinner, which was bound to be a heavier meal. I considered how I was going to handle this meal- a half-full opaque cup that I could chew and spit the food into the juice or something while pretending ot take a sip, or chew and spit into my napkin or both? Or, I could swallow and then attempt to slip off to the bathroom to vomit. If I chewed it up well enough, I could go to the half-bath to wash my hands and just make myself vomit into the sink and wash it down, but I knew that wouldn't be any good if Alice insisted on following me after lunch. She was already suspicious after I hadn't eaten breakfast. I wanted nothing more than to go running along the river bank like I did as a kid to burn off those calories, but since the first time I was diagnosed, I knew it wasn't going to fly with anybody here. Or, I could just take my time with half the sandwich and refuse all the potato chips. I went with my last option.

After lunch, we spent the afternoon just sitting around the kitchen, chatting. Angela didn't leave my side chewing my ear off about pregnancy stuff, so I couldn't vomit anything out. I knew I should have just done a chew and spit into my red plastic cup. "We're having a girl," Angela said. "You'll be here when she's born, right? I'll make you godmother if you want."

I was finally brought back to the real world. Deep down, I knew why she was making me godmother to her kids. She thought it would give me a reason to get better. "You really want me to be responsible for both of your kids if something happens to you and Jake?"

She nodded.

"Are you sure that's a great idea?" I asked. "I can't even take care of myself!"

"Sometimes, you just need a little push, Bella."

Angela and Jake went home to put Will down for a nap, since he was getting cranky.

I went home with Charlie to freshen up before dinner.

"Are you going to be alright going out to a restaurant?" Charlie asked as I came out of the bathroom, wearing khakis, a blue sweater and a white collared shirt.

"Yes," I admitted. "Really. I've got my Xanax."

"I hate that you're on that," he said.

"I do, too," I said, spraying the air with perfume, walking through it.

Charlie ran a comb through his hair. "How do I look?" he asked, holding up his tie for me to do a double Windsor knot.

"Great," I said, doing the tie.

"I love you, baby. Happy birthday," he said. He kissed me on the cheek. "Nobody does a double Windsor like you."

On the way to the Cullen's house, Charlie asked, "How serious are you and Edward?"

"We're not that serious," I said. "Really."

"I'm just in Daddy mode," he admitted. "I waited forever for you to come to me, and then you did, and it was a horrible circumstance… You became my daughter, my whole life for so long. I'd get off from work, and I'd be antsy until you got into the cruiser after school. I loved having you around. I loved your cooking. Your stories about school, even. And now, I'm faced with the idea that maybe you're going to be moving on to somebody else, another man who'll be more important in your life. I'll never be ready for that."

"Dad, nobody can replace you."

"This Edward fellow-"

"He's nice and all, but we've been on three dates and we haven't even kissed, yet," I admitted. "Even the prudes don't wait that long to kiss when it come to dating."

"There's nothing wrong with being a prude," Charlie said hesitantly. Of course my father would say that.

"I wouldn't worry if I were you. We're going to be just friends really soon."

"Bella, I think you underestimate yourself," Charlie said. "I saw the way he looked at you at lunch. I was a young man in his twenties once, too, you know."

"I know," I said, smiling as we pulled into the Cullen's driveway.

As I climbed out of the car, there was a lot of comotion going on inside. Alice bounded out of the house and hugged me. "Happy birthday, Bella!" she cried. Jasper exited the house with a few wrapped boxes in his arms.

"Thanks, Alice," I said. "Why did you guys get presents?"

"Because we love you," Jasper replied.

Esme came out of the house with Edward behind her. Everyone was dressed like they were going to church, but not too nicely. We were going to be playing laser tag and miniature golf tonight.

"I'll ride with you and Charlie," Edward said, crossing over to me.

"Alice, why don't you ride with Charlie, too?" Jasper asked. "I'll go with your parents."

"We'll follow behind you, Charlie," Jacob said. He and Angela had left Will with his friends Sam and Emily.

"Okay," Alice said as Jasper loaded the presents into the trunk of Carlisle's Mercedes.

I sat in the backseat with Edward while Alice road shotgun with Charlie. The trip to Port Angeles was relatively uneventful. We rode along while Charlie got to know Edward by asking him questions. Edward held my hand in the backseat.

I actually felt comfortable, being surrounded by friends and family like this. The panic attacks seemed miles away. Everybody laughed when my stomach gurgled.

When we got to the restaurant, a camera flash went off in my face- Esme had the camera out. "Sorry about that," she said. "Candid!"

There was a room reserved in the back of the restaurant. We had a few drinks before dinner and then, we ordered. I found it easier to eat tonight. I knew this restaurant and the food- I was familiar with it. Carlisle insisted on paying for dinner, only once Charlie insisted on making sure he was going to pay for everyone to play laser tag and mini-golf.

I opened my presents- nice clothes, of course, mainly picked out by Esme and Alice. And then, the big present- some of my pictures, printed out and framed, from Angela and Jacob.

"Wow, you guys," I said, seeing the print.

"It's your best picture so far," Angela said. "That's why we framed it. Alice and Jasper picked it out and sent it to us."

"Thanks," I said, standing up.

"And this one," Edward said, sliding a wrapped box across the table.

"Edward, you didn't have to get me anything, we've only gone out three times!" I cried.

"Open it," Charlie said.

"Do you already know what it is?"

"Yes," Charlie said, smiling. "I think you'll like it. Although it makes my present look like crap."

"Aw, Charlie, I didn't mean to-"

"Okay, fine," I said. I tore off the wrapping paper. "I hope this is just the box," I said nervously, seeing a 14 mega-pixel camera on the outside of the box.

"Open it up and find out."

I gasped and tore off the rest of the paper and slowly opened it. It actually was a 14 megapixel camera- a professional grade camera, one of the best on the market! It was worth at least fourteen hundred dollars. "Edward! How… what?"

"You left her speechless," Jasper said. "Good job."

"I'll bet we'll be able to give back the rest of her presents, she'll be so enamored with this one," Carlisle said. Everyone at the table laughed.

"Normally, I couldn't accept a present like this, but… I really want it!" I said to a chorus of laughter. "Let me put it together!" I cried. I started taking the plastic off of the different parts and put the camera together. Luckily, the battery had a half charge. I was ecstatic.

Jacob and Angela had to get home- she was having lower back pain and the baby was kicking. I said good-night to her. Esme stopped off at Panera breads and picked up some bagels and some coffee grinds for us for breakfast tomorrow.

We went to the miniature golf course, and of course, Jasper and Edward had to have a few goofy picture poses with the windmills and pyramids with my new camera. After that, we went to laser tag, where we all got annihilated by Jasper and Alice, who teamed up and won.

"I want a rematch!" Edward complained while we got into the car to go home. "I had a good time tonight, Bella. Thanks for bringing me to your hometown. I've had a good time."

"You're welcome," I said.

"Hand check!" Charlie yelled, turning on the overhead light in the car. Alice spun around in the front seat, with a wicked grin on her face.

"Hey!"

Charlie laughed. "Just watching out for my baby."

"Ha ha," I said. "Like I'd do anything in the backseat of your car while you're driving, Dad."

"Does this count as our fourth date, then?" Edward asked.

"I suppose," I said. I'm never getting laid, I thought, bitterly. It was only 10:30 when we got back to the Cullen's house.

We played a game of Nintendo Wii Bowling while having a round of beers. Charlie and I didn't get home until around one in the morning.

"How has your birthday weekend been so far?" Charlie asked on the drive home.

"Fun."

"Really? You've had fun?"

"Yes," I said. "A lot of fun. I wish everyday was like this."

"Just remember we love you so much," he said. "And that we'd do anything for you, Bells."

I crashed that night in my old bedroom after brushing my teeth and taking off my makeup. I felt kind of good, for once.