A/N: Phew. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

To answer a FAQ, yes, we will eventually know what happened to Carlisle and Esme. Probably next chapter.

"There she is. There she is."

Bella smiled, trying her best to navigate the mouse around her bouncing toddler. Melody put her small, perpetually-sticky hand over hers. "Let me do it, Mommy. I wanna do it."

Giving up the pretense she was going to win the fight against a grubby keyboard, Bella let her daughter click the button connecting the Skype call with her cherished Aunt Alice. "Ali!" Melody gasped. "And Jaspy! Hi, Jaspy."

Alice and Jasper exchanged a look, and Alice ruffled her husband's hair. "Aw, Jaspy. I told you she'd be happy to see you."

"Hey, babycakes," Jasper said, his smile gentle. "Sorry I've missed you the last few times."

"Das okay because you sent me this cool thing." Melody held up the scene creator set Alice and Jasper had sent her. It was 77 pieces, most of them destined to end up everywhere but where they should be, that allowed her to use stickers and an erasable, scrolling drawing board to produce moving scenes.

"Is that the only reason you forgive him for having a life outside of you?" Bella asked, shaking her head.

Melody looked over her shoulder with a perplexed expression before turning her attention back to Alice and Jasper. For a few minutes, she babbled excitedly about the stories she'd been creating with her new toy. They listened attentively, asking questions and remarking how smart and funny she was.

By the time Bella's lap was worn out, Melody was glowing with happiness. She kissed the side of her daughter's head. "Go practice, munchkin. Daddy should be here any minute, and today is guitar day."

After Melody ran off to find her precious, miniature guitar, Bella turned back to the computer at the sound of Alice's cackling. "What?"

Alice's eyes danced. "Nothing. In my child-free world, you calling a guy Daddy just has a very different meaning."

"God." Bella put her hands over her eyes. "Don't start that again."

"Again?" Alice said sharply, and Bella winced. "When did I start it before?"

"Nothing. Nevermind."

"Oh, no. Nevermind this nevermind business. If I didn't start it before, someone else did."

"I think our Bella has something on her mind," Jasper said, his voice teasing.

Bella peeked through her fingers, glaring at her friend. "You always were too observant."

Beside him, Alice squeaked. "Did something happen between you and Edward?"

"Yeah. We had a one night stand and created a whole human being."

"Bella." Alice shook her head. "I'm talking about recently, not ancient history."

"So ancient," Bella muttered, hearing the beginnings of Melody plucking at her guitar.

"You're not afraid it's going to happen again, are you?" Jasper asked, still teasing. "I mean. Just use two forms of protection, honey."

"Ha."

"But that's not what you're talking about, right?" Alice said, a touch more serious now. "I mean, correct me if I'm wrong. I remember you saying attraction was a foregone conclusion. You could have had Edward anytime you wanted in the last three years."

"Sex isn't hard to have," Jasper mused. "You want more?"

Bella rolled her eyes. "No. You know what? It's nothing. It's my version of a midlife crisis."

"What exactly does your midlife crisis consist of?" Alice sounded more amused than concerned.

"Oh, man." Was it really a good idea to admit to this out loud? "Total age regression. I feel like I'm seventeen again, and I'm annoying myself."

"Seventeen Again is Jasper's favorite Zefron movie."

Jasper turned to look at his wife, aghast. "Babe…"

Alice snickered, and Bella smiled. "Don't worry. Everyone had a Zefron phase," Bella soothed.

"Okay. Seventeen again. How so?" Alice asked.

"None of the good ways, of course. I can't eat McDonald's for a week straight and gain absolutely nothing. Just… I think about him all the time. And when he smiles at me, I get all hot cheeks and thumpa thumpa heart." She wrinkled her nose. "And I get irrational fits of rage when he sleeps with little blond twits who aren't nearly good enough for him."

"Aw, a crush."

Bella told them about her conversation with Edward a few nights before. When she was done, she found herself smiling again—a tender smile as an only too familiar warmth washed over her. "He really has grown up sweet, hasn't he?"

"I don't know. This bastard only sings to me when he wants to get laid." Alice elbowed her husband playfully.

He caught her hand and grinned, pressing her palm to his chest. "What? You think I don't sing to you because you fill my heart with song every day?"

Bella could see Alice's flush clearly even over the camera. "You guys are disgusting."

"Jealous?" Alice waggled her eyebrows.

Bella sighed. "Not really. Maybe that's why this all feels more complicated than it should be."

"You were never interested in a relationship after James."

"I wasn't really all that interested before James. With him and before him, I kind of just fell into relationships. If I kept hanging out with a guy, I guess I thought it was what I was supposed to do. Just be with them. Try to figure out if he's supposed to be my forever." She shrugged. "But it was never important to me." She smiled ruefully, hearing the sound of Melody plucking away, mostly off-key. "Relationships and kids. They were always an 'eh, might be nice' kind of vague idea."

"But you got the kid," Jasper said.

"And I love her. You know I don't regret or resent what having her cost me. She's an incredible adventure I couldn't have predicted."

"Just maybe that feels like if you have the great kid and you take the good relationship, you might lose out on the thing you actually wanted and worked for?"

"That makes it sound like I'm scared." She rolled her shoulders, bristling at that. "Maybe I am scared. But not just out of some superstitious nonsense that I can't have it all. There are other things to consider too. Mel is happy. Edward and I work so well together as a family unit the way we are now. And we can keep dancing around the fact he's so much younger, but a seventeen year age gap is going to cause some complications. It just is. He's grown up well in these last three years. He's a good man with ambitions and passions, but we're still on a different page."

"Are you though?" Alice asked. "Not for nothing, Bella, but you're considering a career change. If you do change careers, you'll both be in a similar place, just coming up with a toddler at home. Sure, you're better off. You have money in the bank, and seventeen years worth of living an adult life under your belt, but those are pretty similar pages."

"Humph. I've regressed back to my early twenties. Perfect."

"Regressed isn't the word. A lot of people get knocked back from the path they wanted to be on. Most people, I think. It just happened near the top for you. That fall sucks major ass."

"And I don't think you fell to the ground," Jasper said. "You're still a successful woman, kicking ass and taking names at what she does. You don't like your job. You don't like your boss or most of your coworkers, but you're good at what you do."

"You'll figure that out. Edward was right. You have time. And speaking of Edward…" Alice grinned. "I think the bottom line there is that there's no clear answer. The age gap is awkward, but at the end of the day, if you work well together, if you'd be happy, why not?" She reached over, caressing Jasper's cheek with the backs of her knuckles. "I was a happy singleton once upon a time. I would have had a good, full, and happy life as a single woman. But I also have a beautiful life, because we're good together."

Jasper's answering smile was soft and adoring. He wound his fingers through hers and kissed her fingertips. Then, he looked back to Bella. "Edward had a point, B. You wouldn't be stumbling into something with a stranger. Honestly, you and Edward have been functioning as a real couple on a lot of levels, not only with Melody, but with each other. You encouraged him. And he's supportive of you doing whatever you need to do to be happy in your career." He shrugged. "Hell, honey, I don't know. Maybe the only thing that would change is you get to have sex on the regular."

Alice snickered. "With a guy who can probably still go all night, every night. He could wear you out. Ride you hard and put you away wet and then drag you out for round twelve. Just hold on tight to the bedpost."

"Alice!" Bella covered her face with her hands, hiding the flush.

"Hey, I can go all night," Jasper said, but Bella was distracted from the lighthearted bickering her friends fell into then.

Elsewhere in the house, she heard the sound of the front door opening. Melody's tuneless plucking cut off, and there was the sound of her feet racing across the wood floor as she shouted, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!"

Behind her hands, Bella smiled a too-wide smile, and her heart skipped a beat. "Goddamn crush," she muttered.

~0~

It wasn't that Bella hated her coworkers. Most of them were fine. She'd just gotten off on the wrong foot with the ones who'd been there when she started at the station. She hadn't been in a good place—too defensive. The town as a whole was more conservative than where she'd come from. An unwed mother-to-be was never going to impress them, especially when there were rumors about how she'd ended up in their little city.

Either way, likable or not, Bella had learned early in her career not to alienate anyone. You never knew who would be useful to have as a friend in the future.

Bella genuinely liked Maggie and Siobhan. Despite the fact Maggie was in her late twenties and Siobhan in her mid-forties, they were a well matched pair. Maggie reminded Bella a lot of herself at that age—eager to prove herself. She played the conservative game well, but had been observant enough to peg Bella as an ally. It was a good move on her part. Bella could be persuaded to produce segments many of the others wouldn't.

Siobhan was in charge of almost everyone minor behind the scenes. Makeup, grips, interns whose sole job was to fetch coffee—she ran the show. She had enough power that she never hesitated to tell almost anyone in the studio when they were being hypocrites or uptight snobs. She could get away with it, and Bella thought she was hysterical.

So when the two women tried to convince Bella it was high time for a night on the town, they didn't have to do much arm-twisting to convince her. Her usual babysitter was free, so it was a done deal.

After a few drinks at one bar, Maggie managed to convince the other two that karaoke was the way to go. Which was where Bella was, tucked into a corner so she'd have an excuse not to go up, when the inevitable happened.

She was only half paying attention when Maggie whistled long and low. "Oh, my. I'm going to tell you right now, I don't care how this one sings. I don't even care what he sings. He wins."

"It's not a competition, Mags," Siobhan snickered.

"I don't care! He wins."

Siobhan looked over at the stage and licked her lips lasciviously. "Oh, hell." She slapped her hand down on the table. "I'll take that ticket to Cougarville."

As the other two snickered, Bella took a glance at who they'd been looking at. She started and had to cover a groan.

Edward was there. He was standing by the karaoke gal, flipping through the song book. Bella's stomach churned with distaste when she saw Lauren standing next to him, grinning and whispering in his ear. He snickered at something she said and shook his head at her.

Looking around the bar, Bella spotted a table full of semi-familiar faces. Edward's friends from work. So it was a work outing just like hers. She couldn't deny the semblance of relief that went through her, ridiculous though it was. He'd already said he wasn't interested in Lauren. Bella tried to convince herself she was only irritated on Edward's behalf as a friend.

"Don't worry, Mags. I'm not going to tempt him with all this." Siobhan gestured down at her ample form. "It's too unfair, and you did see him first. You get him, girl. That little blond doesn't stand a chance once he sees you."

Bella brought her glass to her lips and drank the rest of her drink in one, two, three huge gulps. She set the glass on the table with maybe too much force as it made the other two drink. "We need shots," she announced and stood, heading toward the bar before they could say a word.

She couldn't tell if it was a blessing or a curse that Edward and her coworkers had never met. The station intimidated Edward—he hated looking like a child in front of anyone. Then again, the only reason she knew what his coworkers and friends looked like was because she'd picked up Melody from his place just before he'd gone off on a camping trip.

That had been when she'd met Lauren. She answered the door to his apartment as though she owned the place and looked Bella up and down with a hint of a sneer to the curl of her lips. "So you're Melody's mother."

Bella shook off the thought as she sidled up to the bar. She refused to feel inferior to a twenty-something jackass. Of course, it didn't hurt that she caught a different twenty-something jackass blatantly checking out her ass as she leaned on the bar. Nothing wrong with a little affirmation, afterall. She knew she still looked good.

Then again, attraction had never been the issue.

Some minutes later, she was on her way back to her table when she stopped short. "Oh, for fuck's sake."

Siobhan had Edward in her clutches. She'd somehow gotten him up on stage, and was singing Abba's "Does Your Mother Know", the Mama Mia version that featured an older woman rejecting a much younger man. She held Edward's hand with her free hand, dancing with him as she sang, "You're so hot, teasing me. So you're blue, but I can't take a chance on a kid like 's something I couldn't do. There's that look in your eyes. I can read in your face that your feelings are driving you wild. Ah, but boy you're only a child."

Edward's cheeks were beet red, but he was smiling, clearly bemused. He swung his hips dancing with her, and Bella tried to ignore the twisting in her stomach as she made her way to her table. Maggie put her fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly, clapping and laughing at Siobhan's shenanigans.

"She said she's being my wingman," Maggie said, leaning in to talk to Bella. "Making sure he knows she's off limits so he'll turn to me." She cackled. "Think I should go for it?"

Bella opened her mouth, but nothing but a strangled noise came out. She rubbed the back of her neck.

Maggie was exactly the type of person she, as a friend, would love to see with Edward. She was fun and smart. Ambitious.

She liked hiking.

But before she had to answer, Siobhan had led her little dance party over to their table. She bumped Edward by the hip, and he obligingly reached out to take Maggie by the hand. Bella pressed herself back against the wall, but not fast enough. She knew Edward saw her—could see the flash of realization and saw the way his cocksure grin faded—but he was swept back toward the stage before anyone could react.

Bella pressed a palm to her hot cheek, shaking her head at herself. She needed to get a damn grip. She could see Edward glancing over his shoulder to see her. She made an effort to sit up straight and smile at him, clapping her hands along with the rest of the bar.

Conflict roiled inside her gut, and she hated it. The dramatics. Even if she had a reason to be possessive—and she didn't—he wasn't doing anything. He was letting himself be twirled around, being a good sport. She hated the flash of anger she felt toward her friends—doubly ridiculous since they had no earthly way of knowing Bella had any connection to a random twenty-something in a bar.

At the end of Siobhan's song, Bella watched Edward and Maggie's exchange. She tossed her hair and flashed that smile that would put her behind an anchor desk one day. Edward tilted his head, grinning back. He leaned in a little too close but then swept an arm wide and stepped away.

He'd let Maggie go ahead of him in the karaoke queue, she realized when she could see straight again. Bella jumped when Siobhan threw herself down heavily in the seat next to her, clapping her on the shoulder. "We done good. One of us is going to get laid tonight. Two to go," she said, laughing raucously.

Bella bristled. Luckily, it was noisy enough that whatever vague noise she made passed as an acceptable answer. She watched Edward return to his seat with his friends. As though she needed any more reason to stop being such an irrational asshole, she noted that Lauren's expression mirrored what she felt. It was likely her face looked exactly the same.

Maggie, of course, had a sexy, sultry voice that she used to belt out Shania Twain's "Any Man of Mine". Like any frequent karaoke artist, she had a routine worked out. There were well-placed butt-thrusts, cheeky grins thrown over her shoulder, and a voice just oozing with sass.

Edward's friends, minus Lauren, hooted and hollered, thumping him on the back.

Bella let out a gust as Maggie returned to her seat. But then it was Edward's turn, and as the KJ announced his name, he walked with a swagger in his step. By then, his hair was in disarray—on the long side of short and only adding the sex appeal. There were a lot of eyes on him, and the smirk on his face said he knew it.

The mood in the place was hyper, and Bella expected Edward to play to his rowdy friends and bust out some smarmy version of a Taylor Swift song. Instead, a slower, familiar beat filled the air. The bar quieted as Edward began to croon,"Day after day, I'm more confused. Yet I look for the light through the pourin' rain. You know that's a game that I hate to lose. And I'm feelin' the strain, ain't it a shame." The Doobie Brother's "Drift Away".

Bella had to hide her hot face. His strong, soulful voice. Those words. Killing me softly with his song indeed. "I need some air," she muttered to her friends before she pushed up from the table.

"Are you okay, hon?" Maggie said, voice laced with concern. "You need me to come with you?"

"I'm okay. I just need a few minutes to, uh, make a phone call."

With that lame excuse, she was headed for the door. She headed for the smoker's porch despite not liking the smell of cigarettes. She moved to the very edge of the porch where she had a nicely sized bubble of space around her, and she could feel the cool ear on her too-hot body.

She was driving herself crazy, and she was close to breaking. The lovesick voice in her head whined. Why? Why the hell was she denying herself this? The rational voice in her head was getting smaller and smaller.

With a little alcohol in her, she heard the absurd truth whispered in a meek voice in her ear.

The first time she'd given in to the temptation of Edward, she'd lost everything she valued. Such a destructive thing. She'd been well into adulthood, financially secure and responsible—accidental pregnancy notwithstanding. When she got pregnant, she'd been out of her teens for seventeen years. Aside from the obvious impact of having a child, it shouldn't have had such a profound effect on her life.

She'd wondered more than once, if she'd known for sure what it would cost her, would she still choose to continue the pregnancy? She'd always wanted her job more than she wanted a child.

But it was a stupid, useless thought. It was a choice made for her. She'd kept the pregnancy. She'd seen Edward again, and the rest was a domino effect. As she'd told Alice and Jasper, she didn't regret her sweet, precious daughter.

Edward, though. Edward could still cost her.

Where the hell had all this come from anyway? When had she fallen so hard? Seventeen again, as she'd said. Teenagers were always so sure of love. Her heart whispered his name with each beat. She had no idea what she was going to be when she grew up, but she knew she was going to want him forever.

She almost wasn't surprised when she felt a presence behind her. She definitely didn't need to turn to see who it was. Her cheek twitched when he pressed so close, she could feel his warmth. He framed her—one of his arms on either side of hers.

He was holding an unlit joint between two fingers.

She scoffed under her breath. It was a ballsy move. Weed was legal in Washington, but not in public. He was risking a citation, but she knew exactly what he was doing.

"Do you mind?" He murmured near her ear.

He still remembered.

So did she. "No, I don't mind. It's been ages since I've indulged." Specifically since the night they'd created a child.

His breath fell hot on the back of her neck. "Shotgun?"

Her heart beat hard against her chest.

Just a kiss, the lovesick voice in her head wheedled. It's not going to happen again. Impossible. Bella had to be back home in half an hour to relieve the babysitter.

Just a kiss.

Maybe it would break the spell.

She turned in his arms, tilting her chin up. "Hit me."

His eyes searched hers even as he lifted the joint to his mouth, holding it between his lips as he raised a lighter. Bella didn't drop his gaze to glance around. She was caught in his stare, a whirlwind of memories mixing with the power he had to arouse and titillate her senses. When had he become this person again? Self-assured. Even a little cocky. Sexy. Just a hint of bad boy thrown in for excitement. Yet she knew his soft side too. She'd seen him destroyed. She'd seen him ache. She'd seen him suffer, and she'd seen him melt at the sight of his newborn daughter.

His lips closed around the joint as he took several puffs to start it. Then, he breathed in deep. He put his free hand to her waist as he ducked his head and pressed his open mouth to hers. He breathed into her, filling her with smoke and him. He lingered a few seconds longer than he needed to before he pulled back, putting out the joint as he did.

Bella's head spun. Alcohol. Marijuana. Him. She was intoxicated, and it wasn't hard to figure out which substance made her the most dizzy.

She pressed her palm to his chest and took a fistful of shirt in her hand, hauling him to her. He met her lips readily, his kiss as hungry as hers. She licked the sugar-sour taste of whatever he'd been drinking from his lips.

Spell so not broken.

Spell so, so much worse.

A/N: So! That happened.