A/N: My, my, my. Quite a few of us claim we would be willing to give up our lives and jump into a relationship with a total stranger. ;)

Many thanks to everyone who indulged me in conversation about last chapter. It's extremely helpful to me.

"One drink. Why can't I have just one stiff drink?" Bella groused as her friends gathered the day after her clusterfuck of a meeting with Edward. She rubbed her temples. "He gets to get drunk off his ass. He drunk texted me last night."

"Ooh, drunk texting." Jessica threw herself down on the couch, putting her legs up and her feet on Bella's lap. "Anything good? Drunk texts are the best for blackmail purposes."

Bella smirked. "No. At least, I don't think so. He was drunk. It looked like an alien language."

"The most important question is, was he a dick?" Alice asked, sitting on the coffee table.

"No. He said he was sorry for causing a scene. Apparently, I caught him by surprise." She sighed. That, obviously, hadn't been her intention. Her tone was wry. "He said we should talk."

Jessica snorted. "Yeah. Like you've been trying to tell him. If he'd stop trying to get his dick wet for five seconds, maybe you could have gotten around to discussing the unimportant things, like jobs and life plans."

"Purely playing devil's advocate here, because you know I'm on your side," Jasper said, handing Bella a bottle of beer which she gratefully took. "Didn't you ever stop to think the fact you're probably going to move would be a shock?"

Bella scoffed. "What haven't I thought about? I don't know this kid, Jasper. I have no idea what he actually thinks about anything. I hate this. I hate having to walk on eggshells because I don't know enough about him to guess how he's going to react. I'd hoped he could be a grown-up and react calmly no matter the circumstance and, to be frank, I was more concerned at the moment that he'd react badly to being rejected. I didn't have a fit when I found out he'd done time. Is he a felon? Is he on probation? He said it wasn't a violent offense, but can I trust him to tell the truth? Violent offenses aside, whatever he did could be awful. He could still be a sex offender. He could have robbed a little old lady blind." She shook her head, raising the beer to her lips.

Then, she gasped, yanking the bottle away from her mouth so quickly, the contents splashed all over her. "Jasper, what the hell?"

He cracked a huge smile. "It's ginger beer, Bell. What do you take me for?"

Jessica cackled, and Alice went to get a wet paper towel to help Bella clean up. She sighed as she sat back, contemplating the ginger beer and thinking about Edward's sweet gesture, bringing her ginger ale in case she got sick on the boat . She sighed. "I'm too used to being a reporter. You can't assume things about people."

"That's like confirmation bias," Alice said. "If you assume, then you know how you're going to react going in. Harder to really hear what people are saying."

"Exactly. You let them tell you what you don't know about them."

"And now you know he has a temper," Jessica said.

"Most of us have a temper when we're shocked, but he could have handled it better," Jasper said.

"Yeah." Bella rested her head against the back of the couch, staring up at the ceiling. "He wasn't physical. That's the most important thing."

"If you're so worried about something like that, why don't you look him up in the system?" Alice suggested. "Give yourself the peace of mind that he isn't a violent criminal."

Bella tapped her fingers restlessly against the couch cushion. "I'd really rather not. I've been trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. I'd rather we figure each other out through conversation, since we're going to have to learn how to communicate with each other. I had every intention of being honest with him about my life and where I am in it. I expect the same of him."

"So, what kind of dad are you hoping this guy will be?" Jasper asked.

"Ha." Bella rubbed a hand over her eyes. "I can't make that choice for another person. I don't have anymore control over him than he does over me. That's part of the conversation I wanted to have. 'I'm not walking away' can mean anything. I have no idea what that looks like to him."

"I dated a guy once. It came up that he was a dad." Jessica laughed. "He was all about how it was a surprise but real men step up, blah, blah, blah. I found out he called the kid every few months, sent a nice gift at Christmas, and once he'd even taken the kid to a baseball game for his birthday. Which, no judgment. It worked for their family. There was no drama between the baby momma and him. The kid is well loved and taken care of."

"But it does kind of assume the kid stays with the mother," Jasper said.

Bella sighed. "When my mother took off with me, I was a year old. She wanted a new life in Phoenix, two states away, and she didn't want my father, but it wasn't a foregone conclusion that she was going to take me with her. She did it with Charlie's permission. It wasn't ideal for him. He'd have preferred to keep me, but he wasn't in a position to take care of his dying parents and a baby by himself."

"Are you saying you'd give the baby up?" Alice asked, sounding shocked.

"No. That's not what I want. At least, I don't think that's what I want." She put her hands over her eyes. "If you want to know the truth, I have no idea what I want. This baby is just a concept to me. A vague notion. I toyed with the idea of being a mother before, but I was never married to it. Not like everything else I've done in my life where I know what I want and I work to get it.

"I've been dealing with smaller components—take care of the pregnancy, tell the father. I can't think about what my life is going to be like seven months from now until I have all the facts. If one of those facts is that Edward wants to be a full-time father, or at least expects half custody, and another fact is that my job is not limited to this city or state, then we'll have to figure it out." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "And if we can't compromise, the courts will compromise for us. I know the courts have awarded custody to the father when the mother moved. I'm aware of all the possibilities when it comes to custody.

"Until I have more answers, what choice do I have but to keep living my life? I can't control him anymore than he can control me. We have to talk." She dug the heels of her palms into her eyes and rubbed. "I told him to text me when he was sober. That was yesterday. Does that mean he's still drunk today? Who the hell knows?"

She shook her head, trying to dispel the wave of anxiety that went through her. "Whatever," she said, sitting up. "I can't think about it anymore. He's going to do whatever he's going to do. Ball's in his court."

~0~

"I'm really sorry, Seth." Bella rubbed her hands over her face.

She had seen something called pregnancy brain on several websites and hadn't understood what it meant. It was best described as a weird absent-mindedness. She'd opened her refrigerator to find her wallet sitting there. She'd left important paperwork in her car, remembered it, gone back out, and by the time she reached her car again, despite the fact it was the only thing resting on the backseat, could not for the life of her remember what she was doing outside.

And now, she had insisted she, Seth, and their news van had to turn right at that major intersection instead of left. It could have been chalked up to an honest mistake except the destination was one they'd been to often. Both of them knew damn well it was a left turn, but her brain had insisted, loudly and vehemently, that it had to be a right turn, goddammit, Seth.

"It's okay, boss. I keep telling you." Seth glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes and then back out on the road. "Hey, Bella. You'd tell me if something was wrong, right?"

A chill went down Bella's spine. Honestly, she had been less than impressed with her colleagues. She was surrounded by reporters, and yet not a one of them had put together that she was pregnant. She cleared her throat. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know." He ran a hand through his hair as they pulled up to a light. "I'm probably reading too much into it, but I hope you know you can tell me anything."

"Seth, what are you talking about?"

He huffed. "This is why I'm behind the camera. Look, I'm worried about you, okay? You've been sick. You've been falling asleep at your desk. Now you're…" He readjusted his hands on the steering wheel. "Well, you're kind of loopy."

Bella pressed her lips together, her heart beating fast.

"I don't know." He shrugged. "Just...My sister had a problem, you know? For a while there." He glanced at her again. "With drugs."

Bella sucked in a breath. She replayed the words in her head.

Then, she burst out laughing.

"I'm sorry." She clapped a hand over her mouth. "Jesus. That wasn't funny. I mean, I'm sorry to hear your sister has, had, those kinds of problems, but that's not what's going on with me. It's just funny you leapt to that conclusion when you have the answer in front of your face."

Seth pulled the van into the station parking lot and turned to stare at her, his brow knitted. "I don't get it."

She sighed. It wasn't like she was keeping her pregnancy secret on purpose. She wasn't obligated to tell her boss or her coworkers anything, and while she wasn't showing, that was her preference. Still, the truth was better than Seth thinking she was on drugs at work, and she thought she could be trusted to let her decide when was a good time to tell their boss. "I'm pregnant, Seth."

The look on his face was priceless. Bella couldn't help cackling as his eyes bulged and his features contorted. "That's, uh. I mean. I… You… I didn't know there was a guy."

That made her laugh even harder. "There is a guy, and now you know almost as much about him as I do." She opened the van door. "You know why? Because life's a bitch sometimes."

"And then she has puppies," Seth said, grinning back.

Bella chuckled as she turned around, and then she yelped, finding her boss standing not five feet in front of her. "Mr. Albescu!"

He raised an unimpressed eyebrow, glancing between her and Seth. "It seems like you're having a good time, Miss Swan, but I was expecting you and Mr. Clearwater back fifteen minutes ago."

"Traffic." Bella's voice squeaked when she spoke. She cleared her throat. "Sorry. We just took a wrong turn. My fault."

"Hmm." Mr. Albescu nodded. "Well. Come on then. There are some people I'd like for you to meet."

Stefan had a way of making Bella feel like she was being led to the principal's office. She threw a glance back at Seth who mouthed, 'good luck,' before she followed her boss into the building. He made a disgruntled noise and dropped his tone. "I don't like these people," he grumbled under his breath. "They're the worst people. Think they're right. Think they're good. Think they own the world. Because they have money and power. Too much of both. And they're self-righteous."

He paused outside his office and pointed a finger in Bella's face. "But the world is what the world is. These people control your future, and they control mine. You be who they want you to be. Charming and innocent." He gave her what passed as one of his rare smiles, a twitch of his lips. "Personally, I like you with that edge of sass, but you keep your nose clean in front of them, you got it?"

Bella wouldn't have been as good as she was at her job if she couldn't think on her feet. She straightened up, and put on her brightest, Mary Sunshine smile. "I don't know what you're talking about, Boss. I'm innocent as a lamb."

"Of course." He opened his door. "I'm back, gentlemen. Let me introduce you to our Bella Swan."

~0~

Bella had never had the dubious pleasure of meeting some of the senior members of the Volturi Media Group, the conglomerate Bella ultimately worked for. The people in that meeting were way higher on the totem pole than Bella had ever expected to meet unless she got to the national level. They were several levels above the people who would make the decision to transfer Bella to an anchor position.

What the hell they were doing in her minor station, Bella had no idea.

Mr. Albescu was right. They were infuriating on many levels—the epitome of privileged. They had ideas about the kind of content they wanted to see on the air, and asked for her feedback. There was no doubt in her mind they didn't give a rat's ass about her opinion. She navigated the mine field as carefully as she could, telling them as much of what they wanted to hear as she could without losing herself completely.

She was invited out to lunch. For the life of her, she couldn't figure out what the hell they were doing here and what any of this had to do to with her. Neither of the anchors were there. None of the desk people. Just her and Mr. Albescu.

It was only on the limo ride back that they started to drop hints. There might be a new show in the works. They might have been considering people with experience and flair in the field. They didn't need anchors.

It was an opportunity Bella could never have suspected existed. She wanted to be an anchor. An anchor's desk was a good place to be even if she never made it to the national level. By and large, people in her profession didn't stay still. They were transferred between stations, hopefully moving up with each switch. The show they were hinting at was a risk, but even if it didn't take off, it would put her in the national eye. It couldn't be a bad move.

And, the station she'd be based out of was only forty minutes from here.

Regardless, Bella knew she was on her game. The big wigs seemed to be enjoying her. Everything was going well.

As they got out of the limo back at the station, Bella holding the attention of the one that seemed to be the de facto leader, Aro Scarpinato, her attention was drawn by her name being called.

"Are you Bella Swan?"

Bella swung around and cocked her head, finding an unfamiliar woman approaching her. She didn't look that much older than Bella—maybe ten years or so. She was attractive, familiar somehow, with fine features and caramel colored hair. "Yes, that's me."

Very suddenly, the woman's lovely features twisted. She took several steps forward, getting into Bella's personal space. When Bella took a step back, the woman followed. "I want you to listen to me, you little bitch."

Bella balked, sure she'd heard wrong. "Excuse me? I—"

"What the hell is wrong with you that you would seduce my son? It's not money. He doesn't have money. He doesn't have much of anything, and now you have him talking about how he's going to abandon his family, his life, to follow you? Look at you." The woman gestured at Bella with obvious disgust. "I looked you up. You're almost twice his age. He's a teenager. He hasn't even finished high school. Are you so pathetic you need to trap a boy to feel better about yourself? You're that insecure?"

For a horrible second, Bella really thought she was going to faint. "A...what?"

The woman was almost nose to nose with her now. "I'm not going to let you ruin his life again. I don't care if it is his baby you're carrying, which I don't actually believe. You do this to my son, I'm going to make sure you pay."

With that, the woman spun on her heel and marched away. Bella stared after her, one hand braced against the limo while she struggled not to faint or throw up.

After several long, painful seconds, someone cleared his throat. "We should talk in your office, Mr. Albescu," Aro Scarpinato said coldly. "Won't you join us, Miss Swan?"

A/N: Welp. This is going quite swimmingly, don't you think?