A/N: Welcome, peeps! Let's get this show on the road.

It was impossible to do research out of one bloodshot eye. Bella readjusted herself in her chair, trying to sit up straighter. She re-read the information on the page for the tenth time, retaining none of it. Again. She tried to make the words make sense, but rather than sharpen, her thoughts blurred around the edges. Her eyelids drooped.

"Swan!"

Bella came all the way awake with a start, swinging an arm out to steady herself because her body had forgotten she was sitting down. Her hand hit her metal water bottle which toppled over, clanging hard on the desktop. She grabbed for it, upsetting the cup she used to hold most of her office supplies. Pens and paperclips scattered across the desk. She slammed her hand down on top of them, cheeks flaming.

"Um. Yes, Mr. Albescu?" she said, standing up.

Stefan Albescu leaned out of his doorway looking thoroughly unimpressed with her. Then again, unimpressed was his natural state. He let out a sigh, as though she were a trial sent specifically to vex him. "Get in here," he barked, and he went back into his office without another word.

Bella cleared her throat and gave her head a shake, trying to clear the fog in her mind. She studiously ignored the eyes of the others in the bullpen—especially that asshole Paul Lahote. He loved seeing her mess up.

Though, as she walked the abnormally long distance to Mr. Albescu's office, Bella realized she had no reason to believe she'd done anything wrong. It didn't take much to annoy the man, but her work had been on point.

Unless he'd just caught her dozing at her desk.

Running her hand through her hair, Bella steeled herself and knocked on the door. She squared her shoulders, and tried to resist the urge to roll her eyes when Mr. Albescu barked, "Get in here," again.

Bella walked into the office and sat quietly in the chair opposite his at his desk. Mr. Albescu wasn't sitting at his desk. He was bent over a cabinet, rifling through the contents, muttering under his breath. Bella knew better then to speak. There was no point. She knew from experience he would either snap at her or simply ignore her until he sat down. So, she folded her hands and waited.

After a full three minutes of muttering, pacing, and cursing, Mr. Albescu threw himself down in his chair. He ruffled his hair, grunted, sighed, and finally looked at her. "Well." He folded his hands on his desk and shook his head. "There's no getting around it, Swan. You're the best field reporter I have, and you know what that means."

Bella blinked. She replayed the words in her head. His tonehad said she was the biggest idiot in the world and she was so, so fired. "Sir?" she said finally, deciding she needed more information.

He sighed again, like a man being sorely tested. "You're a shoe-in for an anchor's desk at this point, and there are openings. This is going to happen quick."

Her heart picked up a rapid beat, and Bella had to struggle to keep her grin off her face. His tone still indicated this was the worst news he'd ever heard. "I'm...sorry?"

At that, he finally cracked a smile. A tiny one. "No, you're not, nor should you be." The smile vanished, replaced by aggravation as he ran his hand through his hair. "It's going to leave me with just Paul on the ground. You know how that man vexes me. He's good at what he does." He grunted and looked to Bella again. "But not as good as you. Hence, here we are."

Mr. Albescu stood and started pacing behind his desk. "The big wigs will be here within a few weeks. You'll still need to do your best to impress them. There are a few choice anchor's desks coming open. Chicago. Phoenix. Those are the ones you want. San Diego wouldn't be too bad." He stroked his chin. "But there are a few where you won't have much of a chance to shine. Shreveport. Port Angeles.

"You're going to have to stay on your toes, Swan. A lot is going to happen in a short amount of time. Big changes are coming. Are you up for this?"

Bella nodded, the picture of confidence. "Of course, sir."

~0~

"Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit." Bella put her elbows on her kitchen table and covered her hands with her eyes.

"You know, too many life-changing events at once is usually a good time for alcohol," Jessica said, her voice bright.

"Really helpful, Jess," Alice scolded, rubbing Bella's back.

"What? We'll drink Bella's share."

Bella rolled her eyes to the ceiling, shaking her head. "This is what I've been working for my entire career. The second-to-last step. Now? When I have to be ready to jump when they say jump and uproot my entire life." She made an exasperated noise. "And that's assuming they even take me."

"Why wouldn't they take you?" Jessica asked.

"You really think they're going to let me start an anchor position when I can't fit behind the desk?"

"It's illegal to discriminate for something like pregnancy," Jasper called over his shoulder from his position in the living room.

"Right, but it's a matter of timing. If they need a new anchor, they're not going to hire someone who's going to have to go on maternity leave three weeks later. Doesn't meet their needs." Bella rubbed her temples. "And it's not just that. I…"

"You?" Alice sat down beside her at the table.

Bella huffed. "I didn't think about it before I said I was ready for anything. I said yes. Of course I said yes. This is everything I want, but…" She closed her eyes, feeling the overwhelming sense of enormity that had washed over her the last week and a half. "My life has been only mine for, well, all of it."

"An anchor position isn't dangerous," Jessica said. "What are you worried about?"

Wasn't that the question of the century. "I don't even know what I'm supposed to be worried about. Aren't you supposed to have just one doctor? A plan?" Another pause, and she sighed. "And then there's the fact I'm just me. I don't know. I did a report once. The whole idea that children of single mothers are more at risk for becoming bad seeds. It's not that they're the children of single mothers. It's that single mothers are more likely not to have a support system." She gestured around. "Shouldn't I have at least thought twice before I said it was no big deal to leave my support system?"

Alice gave her a sympathetic smile and ruffled her hair. "Bella, you've planned every major and most of the minor things about your life. This is a game changer. And come on. If you haven't been working this last week and a half, you've been sleeping."

"Sometimes I'm sleeping at work," Bella grumbled.

Jasper got up then and walked to them. He squatted by Bella's side, taking her hand and looking up into her eyes. "You know you don't have to do this, right?"

"Jazz," Alice said gently.

"No. I think it needs to be said. We all know what you need is a game plan. This is the first question." Jasper squeezed her hand. "This is your life, B. You've worked hard to get where you are, and no one here is going to judge you if you decide a baby isn't what you want right now."

"No judgment here," Jessica said with a soft and sympathetic smile.

Bella took a deep breath. A deep sense of relief settled in her. She didn't know until that moment how badly she'd needed someone to put voice to one of the millions of thoughts zinging around her head. Her problem was that she had too much to think about, and none of the choices in front of her settled down long enough for her to really make a decision.

And, Alice was right too. It had been nearly impossible to think of these huge, life-changing decisions when she was so exhausted. Every single ounce of energy she had went to work.

Hearing the question out loud, Bella found she had an answer. She took another deep breath and blew it out slowly, considering.

When she was young and her dreams were vague ideas, she'd always assumed she'd get around to having kids. She didn't want it like some people did, but it wasn't a repulsive thought either.

"When that whole hellacious debacle with James happened, I was just so sick of the whole business of dating, and I didn't even do it that often." She laughed at herself. "But it's such a weird concept when you really think about it. Whatever attracted you to that person is so damn arbitrary. Really? James fixed me with a crooked smile at some damn concert, and that was the basis I used to agree to a date? A date which is, in reality, a try-out for the person you're supposed to end up with forever and ever? Look how that one turned out. The only thing I ended up getting out of that relationship was a black eye and the satisfaction of kneeing him in the balls.

"But that was what, five years ago? Your thirties is when it really starts to hit you that there are some things really do have a window."

Jessica snorted. "The biological clock is real."

Bella nodded. "I thought if I was going to have a child, that was the time. I looked up all my options. Talked to the right doctors. Learned about ovulation cycles, and even researched sperm banks." She smiled. "Then, Alice decided we were going to go on a major vacation once a year, see the world. I never could get the timing right to do both—a pregnancy and that kind of travel. As more time went on, I found peace with the idea I probably wasn't going to have kids. I have a full, happy, busy life without them."

"But?" Alice prompted.

Bella raised her eyes to her friend. "I can be a mom too, right?" She looked down at Jasper. "I can be a good journalist and a mom too." She hated the note of uncertainty in her voice.

"You'll be an amazing mom," Alice said, wrapping an arm around her.

"I think you can do anything," Jasper said, squeezing her hands again. He stood, wrapping his arms around her shoulders.

Jessica got up too and stood behind her, arms around Bella's neck. "You've never been afraid of anything life threw at you. You got this, babe."

Tears pricked at Bella's eyes. She raised her hands, grabbing onto someone's arm as they rocked her. She sniffed hard. "Thanks, guys."

"Okay, so, we got that much figured out. We're keeping the baby." Alice and the rest of them sat around the table. "You have that doctor's appointment next week. Where you may or may not be living isn't something you can predict right now, right? I mean, there's nothing to be done on that front. What's next?"

Bella huffed out a breath. "Oh, you know. That whole part where I have to tell a nearly complete stranger that he's going to be a daddy."

They all grimaced. "See, that's the problem I have with the idea of having a baby," Jessica said. "You have to share them with the baby daddy, and that can be eighteen years worth of drama."

Again, her friend was just putting words to the worries that had been plaguing Bella ever since she realized she was pregnant. Edward was a gigantic question mark. It was easy to think someone was a nice guy when she'd spent a grand total of eight or so hours in his presence. All that really meant was he was capable of not being psychotic long enough to get laid. And that was just one possibility. Bella wasn't naive enough to think this was all going to be sunshine and roses.

"You don't have to tell him," Alice said tentatively—just a suggestion. "I mean, I don't think you want to go after child support."

"No. Financially, I'm okay. Comfortable enough that we're not going to starve." And he was young. She'd been pretty broke in her mid-twenties. She had no idea what Edward had going on, but there was every possibility he was well on his way to being a starving artist.

Alice shrugged. "Would it be so different then if you'd gone with a sperm donor? When the kid asks about who helped make them, you have all the answers you need. Hair, eyes, height. He was a musician. That's that. All your kid ever has to know is that you wanted them."

Bella didn't speak at first. It was a tempting idea. She knew well enough how custody worked. Telling this man he was her baby's father gave him rights—rights she herself would have no ability to take away. There was every possibility that he'd have the power to wreak havoc on her life for eighteen years for any number of reasons.

Slowly, she shook her head. "I've seen that movie too many times. I lie about it. Somehow, the baby finds out when it's eighteen, and I don't see them for ten years because they're that mad about it. Besides, it's a crappy thing to do all the way around. Sperm donors go in knowing they're not going to be a part of their kid's life."

"True. And I don't want you to think I was trying to be unethical. It's just that you never know. If this guy turns out to be abusive in some way, you can't get your kid away from that easily." Alice sighed. "See, this is why I need to become a psychic. If we only knew how he was going to react."

Jessica snorted. "Yeah, if only we knew how every decision in our life is going to turn out, things would be a lot easier."

Bella looked to Jasper. "So, do you know this guy? Edward?" The band at his wedding had been friends of friends. Jasper had been in a band, playing weddings for side-cash, when they all met.

"Not personally, but it won't be difficult to figure out how to get ahold of him if that's what you're asking."

"Well, it'd be nice to have someone's opinion other than my own."

"He's new to the band-I know that much because their ex-guitarist had to drop out fairly recently due to health problems. I haven't hung out with those guys in a long time. I'd have to say you know him better than I do."

"Chyeah. Ask me about his tattoos. I can tell you all about those." Bella drummed her fingers on the table. She rolled her eyes and started muttering to herself. "I bet if you told him I was trying to get his number he'd just think I was being clingy. Better to see him face-to-face, I think."

"I'll ask around," Jasper said.

"We'll figure it out." Alice gave her a hug.

"Thanks for all the we's." Bella put her head on her friend's shoulder.

"We already told you. We're here."

A/N: Yes, my duckies. This does mean that we'll be seeing Edward next chapter.