Feeling kind of generous by posting this chapter, this one longer than the last.

Any mistakes that you see are my own.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Twilight Saga. Stephenie Meyer owns The Twilight Saga.


We spent the rest of the weekend fishing some more while we continued to reminisce about the good—as well as the bad—times when my parents were alive. We decided to make it a friendly competition, between the couples who were each sharing a fishing rod, to see who can catch the most trout. It was a tie between Sam and Emily and Jared and Kim. In the end, the Camerons won and Sam granted them three extra days of their paid vacation time as a reward.

Because there was no cell service where we were at, I couldn't call or text Seth to see how he was doing in Anaheim. But it wasn't until we left the fishing grounds early in the morning on Sunday and was able to get service that my phone started going off with texts from him. Seth had added Emily, Leah and I in a group message, and so all three of us were able to see the pictures he sent of his time at Disneyland with his girlfriend. He even sent us a picture of our parents' names he had carved in the sand. Apparently, he and Daisy had also gone to the beach. I tried not to cry as Jake drove us back to Seattle in my car—because it was a Dodge Grand Caravan that could fit all of our fishing/camping gear—and sent Seth a tearful text message, telling him that I miss him and that I hope he's doing well in California. Leah and Emily sent similar messages and Seth replied with both a heart and a sad face emoji.

When we arrived back in Seattle after a long drive, I finally sat down with Paul and put in an offer on his family home, which he accepted. Thankfully, all his furniture was new and fit my style so I decided to keep them and donate my old, ratty furniture. I didn't know what I was going to do about the extra bedrooms, but I planned on making one of them a playroom for the twins. And perhaps another one my home office if I finally decide to pursue a career in writing.

Because the girls had school—and swimming lessons on Wednesday that I signed them up for—and I was working another forty-hour week, we didn't have time to pack up our stuff and move it into our new home until the weekend. It was actually a good thing because Jake had Saturday and Sunday off and so I accepted his offer to help us move. While he and I are still taking things slow, on the way back to Seattle from our trip, I asked him to move in with me and he said yes. So really, we put in an offer on the house and Paul accepted it. Jake had already packed up his apartment and was ready to move his stuff into our new home.

Now that we're settled into our home, I decide to make shepherd's pie as our first home-cooked meal, using Sue's recipe, which calls for sweet potatoes instead of regular ones. While I'm in the kitchen, making dinner, Jake and the twins are in the living room, playing a board game. While the pie is finishing in the oven, I set a timer and make a salad.

"Charlotte! Susannah!" I call, bringing the large bowl of salad, as well as four placemats, over to the table in the dining room just off the kitchen. "Could you two help Mommy set the table, please?" I set the bowl down in the middle of the table and lay out the mats in front of each chair. I then go back to the kitchen and open the bottom drawer to grab cutlery and cloth napkins and lay them out on the counter. When the twins come running, I hand them the cutlery (thankfully, the knives are dull and not sharp) and napkins and they head to the dining room to lay them out on the mats.

"Smells good," Jake praises, grinning from behind the counter. "What's on the menu?" As soon as he says this, the oven timer goes off.

"Shepherd's pie with a garden salad to go with it," I tell him, opening the oven and taking the pie out using potholders.

"Awesome," is all he says before taking his seat at the table.

"Mommy, we're done!" Susannah calls.

"Okay, now go wash up," I tell them and they do just that. Using two potholders, I carry the shepherd's pie over to the table and set it down beside the salad bowl. Realizing I'd forgotten to grab serving spoons, I run back into the kitchen and grab two to toss the salad, as well as a sharp knife and a serving spatula to cut and serve the pie.

We make small talk throughout dinner and I ask the girls what they think of the house and they tell me, and I quote, "it looks like Auntie Emily's but bigger and with more bedrooms." Now that I think about it, it actually does. It's her home, but in reverse. She and Leah have not yet seen the house, but they will soon. I just have to talk to Jake about perhaps throwing a little housewarming party.

After dinner, I take Joy's chocolate cake out of the fridge and start cutting up two medium slices for Jake and I as well as two small slices for the girls. Leah must've told Quil I was moving because he came by the diner the day before and dropped off the cake, telling me it was a housewarming gift from him and his mother.

While we enjoy our dessert, I put on Disney's Frozen on the TV and Jake and I sit together on the couch with the twins sitting on the floor at our feet. Jake had won the contest at the police station and so he got his brand-new flat-screen. The old one is hanging on the wall in our bedroom.

By the time we're done watching the movie, both Charlotte and Susannah's eyes begin to droop and Jake helps them get ready for bed while I grab our dirty plates and forks and start cleaning up in the kitchen. Although it didn't work before, I decide to give the whole separation another try. So the girls are sleeping in separate bedrooms as sort of a trial run. I already know it won't work out, but I also know that eventually, they'll get tired of each other and would want to do things on their own. Before Jake tucks each of them into bed, their teeth brushed and their pajamas on, they both run back into the kitchen to give me each a hug and a kiss good night. Five minutes later, Jake comes into the kitchen and after washing the dishes and wiping down the counters and stovetop, I make tea for us. We then sit at the dining room table with our cups of tea and make small talk.

"So, I think it's time you meet my sisters," Jake blurts and I wish he hadn't because when he says this, I spew out my tea.

"What?" I ask in surprise, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.

Jake smiles. "I mean, I already met your family. Seems fair that you meet mine."

"Were you waiting all day to tell me this?" I raise an eyebrow.

His smile turns into a grin as he nods, taking a sip of his tea.

"I don't know," I say. "What if your sisters don't like me?"

"Are you kidding?" he says. "They already love you. I've told them so much about you, they feel like they know you already."

"When would they like to meet?"

"How does tomorrow sound?" Jake asks. "We can stop by the diner for lunch and you guys can meet then. Actually, you'll only be meeting Rachel because I just remembered that Rebecca lives in Hawaii with her husband."

"Is there anything I need to know about Rachel?" I ask, taking another sip of my tea.

Jake thinks about it for a moment. "She loves kids," he tells me. "She even works at a daycare center."

"And Rebecca?"

"She loves kids, too," he says. "She's a kindergarten teacher."

"So I have nothing to worry about?" I ask.

Jake grins. "You have nothing to worry about. My sisters are really nice and Rachel will love you, I promise."

"Well, I look forward to meeting her," I smile. "Set it up."

He does just that, taking out his phone and texting his sister.


I'm starting to regret my decision as I go about my day the following Monday, working the lunch shift, waiting for Jake to come in with Rachel. Leah is in school right now so she's not here to lend her support and meet Rachel as well. Luckily, the diner is not too busy as I'm the only waitress working the lunch shift.

It's when I'm at the counter, refilling the napkin dispensers that I hear the bell chime and lift my head to find Jake in his uniform, standing next to a woman in her late twenties. They both give me a small smile before taking a seat at the counter.

"Hi," I stop what I'm doing and grab two menus, as well as two coffee mugs, and set them down in front of Jake and the woman I'm assuming is Rachel. I go over to check the coffee maker before grabbing the pot by its handle and walking over to pour the still hot liquid into their mugs. I then hand them two packets each of sugar, two of the single-serve cups of creamer, and two coffee stirrers. "You must be Rachel," I smile at the woman sitting next to Jake. "I'm Bella Swan." I stick out my head for her to shake.

"It's nice to meet you," Rachel smiles back, shaking my hand, her smile reminding me of Jake. "And may I just say that your father was a good man. He didn't deserve to go the way he did."

"Thank you," I tell her, releasing my hand. "So, I hear you work at a daycare center."

"I do," Rachel beams. "The little tykes can be quite a handful, but I love them."

"I have two kids of my own," I say. "Twin girls."

"Oh, that's right," Rachel says as she rips open one of the sugar packets and pours it into her coffee, followed by one of the single-serve cups of creamer. "Charlotte and Susannah. Jake's told me about them. They sound like sweethearts." She stirs the contents in her coffee with the stirrer before blowing on it and taking a sip.

"They're adorable," Jake tells her, also putting sugar and creamer in his coffee and stirring the contents. "And they like me as much as I like them and their mother." He turns to wink at me and I smile sheepishly while feeling something wet down there.

"Of course they do," Rachel says, rolling her eyes at her brother. "Who doesn't love you?"

All three of us laugh at that.

"Well, I'm hungry," Rachel tells me, scanning through the menu. "Baby brother here," she nudges Jake, "told me not to eat anything because we were coming here and so my stomach has been growling since I left the house."

"Hey, once you've had breakfast, you're good for the whole day," Jake says, also scanning through the menu. "And this place serves the best burgers."

"You know I'm a vegetarian, right?" Rachel gives her brother the side eye.

"We have vegan and vegetarian options," I tell her.

"Then in that case," she scans through the menu again before looking up at me. "I'll have the chickpea burger with sweet potato fries."

I take my notepad and pen out from the pocket of my apron and jot that down.

"And you know what I want," Jake grins widely at me, wiggling his eyebrows.

"For her to jump into bed with you?" Rachel guesses and I can't help but giggle at the playful banter between brother and sister.

Jake sighs in exasperation. "No. What I want is my usual order. And Bella," he gestures to me, "knows what my usual order is."

"Chicken burger with a side salad," I say, jotting that down on my notepad. I then rip the paper off and clip it to the order wheel, turning it clockwise towards the kitchen. "Paul and Jared order that, too," I tell Rachel.

"How is Paul?" she asks, the question directed at Jake. "Is he still saving the world like you and the other cops are?"

"Yes, he is," Jake answers. "I'm surprised he doesn't have a partner."

"Neither do you," Rachel points out. "You guys spend so much time together, why don't you just ask Sam if you and Lahote can partner up? I'm sure Paul won't mind."

"I agree with Rachel," I blurt out and both Black siblings turn to look at me.

"You think I should do it?" Jake asks me.

I just nod.

"Okay then," he smiles. "When I get back to the station, I'll talk to Sam."

Both Rachel and Jake's food arrives and I give Rachel her chickpea burger with fries and Jake his chicken burger with salad. I then continue working while they enjoy their lunch. Luckily, my shift is almost over so when they're done eating, they leave the diner and just wait for me outside.

After my shift ends, and another one of my co-workers comes in to relieve me and start her shift, I go to the back of the diner to grab my purse and coat from my locker. When I come outside, Rachel and Jake are standing next to Jake's cruiser.

"Well, it was nice meeting you, Bella," Rachel steps forward to give me a hug, which I reciprocate. "I hope we can hang out again, soon."

"It was nice meeting you, too," I tell her, pulling away. "Hopefully, I'll get to meet Rebecca."

"Oh, you will," Rachel says. "She's flying in this Friday and visiting for the weekend."

Jake raises an eyebrow. "Why wasn't I aware of this?"

Rachel turns to face her brother. "Sorry," she apologizes. "I forgot to tell you. Also, Rebecca wasn't sure if she could come or not. You know how busy she is, being a kindergarten teacher and all." She turns back to face me.

"Well, I look forward to meeting her," I say. "Maybe I'll bring my daughters."

"Oh, please do," Rachel smiles. "I'd love to meet Charlotte and Susannah as well as your siblings. We can maybe have a little get-together at your place. Jake told me you two bought Paul's old family home."

"We did," I smile. "And we love it. So do the twins."

"His bedroom was where we had sex for the first time," Rachel's smile turns into a mischievous grin.

Jake groans. "Really? You just had to blurt that out?"

She just shrugs.

"You and Paul are in a relationship?" I ask Rachel, my curiosity getting the better of me.

"We were," she explains. "But then when he told me he enrolled in the Police Academy, I broke up with him because I knew what being a cop meant. And while I think what Paul's doing is heroic, I didn't want to be that kind of girl who's waiting for her man to come home from the war, safely and in one piece, because I knew that one day, he won't."

"Do you miss him?" is all I ask.

Rachel nods. "I do, but I know I made the right choice."

I smile sadly at her and reach up to give her shoulder a gentle squeeze.

"Well, I have to get back to work," Jake speaks, breaking the short silence. "And so do you, Rachel."

Rachel gives me one last hug before stepping back so Jake can do the same. When he pulls away, he leans down to give me a brief kiss on the lips.

"I'll see you at home?" he asks, resting his forehead against mine and closing his eyes, smiling in content.

I nod and he pulls away. I watch Jake and his sister get in his cruiser and wave at them through the windshield as he pulls out of the parking lot and drives away. I then get in my car and start heading to the twins' school to pick them up.


I could not find a picture that I feel best describes Bella and Jake's new home, but hopefully, you can sort of get an idea of what it looks like. Just think about those houses you see in really nice neighborhoods. Their house is similar to that.