**Edward and Bella*

**Edward and Bella*

"She's suspicious." Bella found herself telling her husband as they neared Forks.

"Of course she is." Edward reached for her hand. "She's our daughter."

"I don't want to keep this from her, Edward." she sighed. "But my mother doesn't even know that she exists…"

"Bella…" he sighed. "Your mother doesn't even know what we are…"

"I know that."

"But you want her to…"

"Of course I do….she's my mother."

"Charlie handled it well enough…but I'm not sure she'd react the same way." He told her.

"It's been almost six years, Edward…"

"I realize—."

"I don't want to keep this from her forever." She stopped him. "It's not right for her to never know that she has a granddaughter…"

"It's better that way, Bella…if we tell her, we're taking a huge risk…"

"Where would we be if we hadn't taken risks?" she squeezed his hand. "We wouldn't have each other…and we wouldn't have Ness."

He sighed. "But this is different, Bella…we don't know what danger we'd be putting her in if we told her…and you're already constantly worrying about Charlie."

"She's going to notice that I'm not the same daughter she gave birth to…"

"You're nervous." He said simply. "Understandable…you haven't seen her since our wedding."

"I've only spoken to her on the phone…and I've made so many excuses, she probably thinks that I haven't wanted to see her."

"We did what we had to, Bella."

"I can't believe she came to Forks…" she nibbled her lip nervously. "She could have at least called…or sent me an e-mail."

"But would you have agreed to it?" he smiled. "Just relax…and put your contacts in before you forget."

They were on Charlie's street.

Bella took an unneeded breath and reached for the small case in the console that held the contacts to disguise her amber eyes. She carefully put them in, and blinked a few times to let her eyes adjust. She hardly wore them.

Edward parked the car in the driveway behind Charlie's cruiser and next to Renee's convertible.

"What am I going to say to her?" she put her head in her hands.

He ran his hand gently up her back and let it rest at the base of her neck.

"You'll know…" his voice trailed.

She looked up at him, as if to gain a final sense of assurance. Then, slowly, she reached for the door and eased it open.

They made their way up the sidewalk to the front porch, and reaching for Edward's hand, Bella softly knocked on the front door.

After a few moments, the door opened, and she met her father's eyes.

"Hey, Bells." He smiled. Holding the door open for them, he pulled her in for a hug as soon as she stepped through the threshold.

"Hey, Dad." She returned the embrace. It really had been awhile.

"Edward." He extended a hand to his son-in-law. "Good to see you."

"You, too." He nodded. Things with Charlie and Edward were pleasant, but they'd always been a bit awkward since he'd made Bella immortal…

"So, listen—." Charlie began, but a familiar voice interrupted him.

"Hello, Bella."

Renee stepped around the corner from the kitchen and appeared in front of them.

It seemed like minutes before anyone else spoke. Finally, Bella took a breath.

"Hey, Mom…"