WARNING: THIS STORY IS NO LONGER BEING EDITED FOR CONTENT. FULL DESCRPTION WILL BE INCLUDED. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED…

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.

This one is quite short (by FDKK standards anyway). Bella and Edward may be healing in their own world, but that doesn't mean that the world isn't spinning without them. This is two points of view that show us some of the things we are missing out on that Edward and Bella are blissfully unaware of. One of the POV's is a new one we haven't seen before. Hope you enjoy.

Outside The Bubble

EmPOV

I watched my sister sadly as she held tightly to my best friend, who was now going to be her husband. There was so much to tell them and yet there never seemed to be the right time. While Edward was in the hospital, we all worked to shield them from the stresses of the outside world. Carlisle and the hospital were catching shit for there not being any security to keep a gunman with a bag of C4 from waltzing in and taking hostages, the team was catching shit because a civilian ended up nailing the perp before we did, the chief was pissed off because we took advantage of his not being around in order to be part of the entry team and put us all under probation, and due to his extended recovery time, it looked like Edward was going to be replaced and put back on the beat or offered the chance to advance to detective when he finally returned to work. None of these things would sit well with either one of them, so we all kept it quiet.

Then Edward was released about the same time that we find out that Dr. Mob Boss Sellers was suspected to be back in the states. From what we got from the Feds, they didn't seem to think that the plot to kill Bella was ever constructed by Sellers, but was instead some twisted way for Trager to prove himself to the new boss. I felt a little better knowing that, but it still didn't sit well with me that he was back on US soil.

Edward was finally starting to seem like he was getting back to himself, so I had made up my mind that I was going to lay it all out on the line for him the day he invited me over to hang out a week or so before Christmas. Bella was at work, so I knew I would have some time to calm Edward the fuck back down after he flipped out. I decided that day was as good as any.

I was let in by the maid who was smiling like the cat that ate the fucking canary. I smiled and asked how she was. She just smiled wider before telling me that Edward was in the living room.

I thanked her and made my way into the room where Edward was sitting in front of the TV, not even paying attention to the opening cinematics of his game that were playing over and over on the screen in front of him. He sat nervously, bouncing his knee and rubbing his hands up and down his legs. Occasionally he would reach up to tug on his hair and mumble under his breath. I started to rethink telling him about the things I wanted to discuss with him because he was already wound up.

"Hey dude," I bellowed causing him to jump on the couch and turn to me, looking anxious as hell. I mean, shit, was he so stressed he didn't even hear the fucking doorbell when I rang it and the maid answered?

"Hey Em," he smiled up at me, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "How you doing, man?"

I plopped down on the seat next to him, rubbing my hands over my face. "Been pretty busy, man...there's a lot going on."

He nodded in a strange daze, only half hearing what I was saying. He was actually starting to worry me. He shifted toward me and opened his mouth to say something, but then his face clouded. His forehead crinkled and he deflected from what he was about to say.

"How's Rosalie feeling? Are things going okay with the pregnancy?"

I smiled, "She's good, man. Thank fuck she's finally over the damn morning sickness. Trust me, when Mama's puking her guts out constantly and is always unhappy, ain't nobody happy. Since she's been able to actually eat without it coming back up to haunt her right after, things have been a whole hell of a lot better. We actually have our next sonogram in four weeks, and then we might find out if it's a boy or a girl. Doc says not to count on it though, a lot of times the little fuckers roll over and won't let you see what they're packing down below."

He smiled, actually seeming to absorb what I was saying this time, and laughed. "Man, I hope for your sake you have a boy, because I can't even imagine how fast you're going to lose your hair when any daughter of yours hits her teen years. Fuck, you'll be camped out on by the front door with a shot gun to chase away any guys who dare move in on your little princess."

"Your mouth to God's ear, Edward. I swear, man, I already paid my dues with Bella. I think my hairline is a good inch and a half further back than it should be thanks to how much I stressed over her. I deserve a break man!"

Edward chuckled darkly, his hands immediately running through his hair, scratching at his scalp. It suddenly hit me why he's so nervous. Holy Hell! They've only been together a couple of months, and a whole fucking lot of that time he was either in Minnesota training or in the fucking hospital. Talk about rushing shit.

Edward cleared his throat and turned to me again. I swallowed the bitter bile rising in the back of my throat, steeling myself for what was coming next. Edward scooted to the edge of the couch, resting his forearms on his thighs as he leaned forward over them and scrubbed his face.

"Emmett, I need to talk to you about something. Uhm, it's about me and Bella. I know you've seen me be a prick for most of the time that you've known me, but I also know that you've seen how much Bella means to me and how different I am thanks to having her in my life. I know we've only been together officially for a short time, but you also know I've loved her for seven years, even if I didn't really recognize it for everything that it was. I've wasted so much time being a fucking dumbass. I really don't want to waste any more time with her. After all we've been through, it just reminded me of how short life is, how precious every minute is, and damn it Emmett, I don't want to waste one second more of it. I want to ask Bella to marry me. As the only member of her family, and the older brother that she loves more than anybody else on this Earth, I'm asking you to please give me your blessing."

I sat there staring at him with my fucking mouth hanging open like a damn large mouth bass. I wasn't expecting him to be so fucking eloquent about it or make such reasonable arguments about why they shouldn't hold off. I sat for a second thinking about his words when I realized he was totally fucking right. Who the hell was I to judge how quickly they got engaged, my Rosie was already knocked up when I asked her to marry me, and we had only known each other a little over a year. Bella and Edward had been building this relationship of theirs for seven fucking years. They had been through more things before they ever even got together than most people do in their first ten years of marriage. Why the fuck should they wait?

I finally snapped my mouth closed and looked over to see Edward looking damn near nauseous waiting for my answer as I slowly came to my own realizations. I sighed and cupped my hand on his shoulder, giving it a squeeze.

"Well when you put it that way, man, how the fuck can I say no? I know you love my sister harder than hell, and you'd do anything to make her happy. You've already done so much, and you two are really good for each other. If you promise me that you will take care of her and make her as happy as you possibly can, then I'd be happy to give you my blessing and let you have the fucking honor of becoming my brother in law."

His shoulders slumped in relief. He scrunched up his eyes and let out a long hard breath. "Oh, thank God! I was scared to death you'd tell me to fuck off!"

I laughed and shook my head. "Hell man, you know my sister would have my nads if I refused to give you my blessing anyway. You should have known it was most likely a done deal! So when are you going to pop the big question?"

His smile was so fucking bright I needed some shades to keep from getting a headache. "Christmas at my Mom and Dad's. I'm going to ask her before dinner. I've already started plotting with Mom to have a fire in the living room fireplace and have a little privacy."

"Sounds romantic as shit, dude. She'll love it."

He looked nervous again as he ran his hand through his hair. "I hope so, man. I've never been so fucking nervous in my whole damn life."

I laughed and smacked his back a few times. "You'll survive Masen, trust me. It'll all be worth it in the end...I know my Rosie is."

We settled back and started playing the console as I pushed back the discussion once again for another day. All of the problems would still be there later on. Right now, I just wanted to give the two of them some time to enjoy things for a while before they got all clouded over with the stressful shit. After all they've been through, they deserved a couple more weeks of joy and peacefulness.

Carlisle POV

Without a doubt, this has been one of the most stressful and trying years of my life. There had been an abundance of good with the bad, but the bad had definitely hit with more ferocious vigor than I had ever seen before in my fifty three years on this Earth.

I can't begin to express the gratitude I have that my son and my future daughter in law survived that horrible day in my ER. How something like that could occur in my hospital is so completely unfathomable. When did the world turn so dangerous? There was a time when you wouldn't even begin to think that something like this could ever happen, but in this day and age, it seems to happen more and more frequently.

And in the same vein, who would have thought that a time would come that lawsuits would be so easily flung toward any and all establishments and individuals who happen to be involved in a situation like this? The hospital was as innocent as the hostages, and yet we already found ourselves facing seventeen suits on the docket regarding the events of that day. I find myself so thankful for our Bella, because I'm quite sure that if she had not been there and provided the treatment for the patients that she did, the number of lawsuits would be at least double what we currently faced, if not triple.

Ah Bella, our little angel...the girl who woke up our broken, hollow son and brought him back to us in ways that we never could have begun to believe. I never believed I would hear him refer to me as Dad. I knew he felt those feelings for me, but he just couldn't bring himself to admit such feeling to either Esme or myself. Every time I hear him say those three little letters in reference to me, it makes my heart soar, and Esme, I can't even begin to express the joy I see in her eyes every time he calls her Mom.

I've always been proud of Edward and his accomplishments, but I don't know if I have ever been more proud as when I watched him bare his soul to her in front of our fireplace on Christmas morning, asking her to be his bride. Finally, our personal life was coming into focus, all of the pieces falling into place in ways we never dared to hope. If my professional life could settle back down, I would hazard to say that life was about as close to perfect as it could ever get.

I had been carefully concealing the upsets at work from Bella and Edward. With all of the stresses going on in their lives, they definitely didn't need the additional burden. I knew the time was quickly approaching when I needed to tell Edward the full scope of the ripples left in the wake of Trager's actions.

I was lounging at home, reading a book in the study the afternoon of New Year's Eve when an unexpected chime of the doorbell pulled me from my leather reading chair to answer the door. Esme was out running errands, gathering the things she needed for the soiree we planned to attend later that evening. I looked through the peephole surprised to see my son standing on the porch.

I opened the door and invited him in, leading him back to the study with me where I offered him a drink. We settled into the matching brown leather wingback chairs to discuss whatever it was that had brought him over to see me. He looked anxious as he shuffled his feet on the floor and rubbed the tops of his legs roughly with the palms of his hands.

"Dad, I wanted to run something by you. Do you have a little time to talk?"

I shifted my weight toward him to show him he had my complete and undivided attention. "Sure, son, you know I'm always here for you."

He took a deep breath, running his hand through his hair as he started in. "I wanted to ask how you would feel about something. Bella and I have started discussing the wedding and the subject came up about her taking my last name, hyphenating it, or perhaps us both taking each other's last names. It got me thinking about something I had considered before, but dismissed it out of loyalty I held to my father."

I furrowed my brow trying to follow his logic as he swallowed tightly and continued. "I remember you saying once that it was sad because you were the end of your family's descendents bearing the Cullen name. I know for a fact that the Masen name is well taken care of..." He shook his head and closed his eyes before pulling his bottom lip between his teeth, causing me to smirk at the traits he was beginning to pick up from Bella.

"I haven't spoken to Bella about this yet because I wanted to discuss it with you first, but if she were willing, how would you feel about us both changing our last names to Cullen when we get married?"

My heart felt like it just burst in my chest, filling my whole body with golden warmth. My vision blurred with unshed tears. What he had just asked for was another thing to add to my growing list of things I never dreamed I would see happen in my lifetime. Joy is the only word I could come up with to describe what I felt in the moment, followed closely by pride and above all else infinite love.

"Oh, Edward," I swallowed as my voice cracked, "that would be the greatest honor I could ever think of. I would be so ecstatic if you decided to take my family's name, son. You have just filled my heart with more joy than I've felt since the day I married your mother."

Edward smiled brightly at me and rose from his chair crossing the small space that separated us. I stood up to meet him as he pulled me into a tight hug.

"Thank you, Dad. I love you and Mom so much. I should have done this years ago. I should have let you adopt me when I was ten, but I had so many things that I tried to hold onto that were really not worth the effort. Wherever my father is now, he knew I loved him. I honestly believe now that he would want me to love you as the father that you truly have been to me. I want this to be a decision that Bella and I make together, but as long as she's willing, I would be honored to carry the Cullen name."

My efforts to suppress my tears failed. I cried as I held my son tightly in my arms. "I love you, son. Thank you for being such a wonderful man and an amazing son. I love you more than I can ever express."

We finally broke free and spent some time chatting casually. I should have brought up the lawsuits, but I honestly didn't want to mar such a perfect day with such dire news, so I waited. There was no reason to rush things. Edward's knowledge would in no way change the fact that the suits exist or their eventual outcome.

I was glad he was able to stay long enough to share the wonderful news with Esme before he had to return to Bella for the festivities of the night. I watched her eyes fill with wonder and then moisten with tears that rolled over her pink cheeks as Edward shared his desire to take our last name and declare us officially as his parents. She beamed up at him, wiping at her eyes in an unsuccessful attempt to clear them of the tears, before hugging him tightly, telling him how proud she was of him.

All too soon, it was time for him to leave to go get his fiancée. We followed him to the door to bid him goodbye. I hugged him tightly one more time before he left, thanking him for the blessings he provided in my life. He moved from my arms to Esme's, hugging her closely and squeezing her tightly to his chest. She once again told him how much she loved him and how proud she was to have him as her son and to be gaining Bella as a daughter.

We stood together in the doorway to wave goodbye as he shuffled out into the freezing Chicago afternoon. My heart expanded in joy as I watched my strong brave son leave. We waved as we watched him pull away and down the street before walking back into the warm house. Esme curled her body to mine and smiled up at me with twinkling eyes. "Our grandchildren will bear your family's name, Carlisle. What a blessing!"

I chuckled and pulled her into my chest, teasing her slightly, "And how are you so sure there will be grandchildren?"

She smiled up at me and tipped up on her toes to kiss my jaw. "Oh, a mother knows these things. He's already daydreaming of them, I can tell. My guess is that Bella's career will probably be the deciding factor in that case, because our son already has the twinkle in his eye."

I rolled my eyes at her and laughed, "You are daydreaming, my dear. I don't see what you do, I guess."

She laughed, patting my stomach gently with a sigh, "You will, my love, but for now it's time to go get dressed for the party tonight. It is black tie; your tux is already hanging in our closet ready for you."

I smiled and nodded in understanding before kissing her forehead. I made my way upstairs to get dressed, daydreaming about little ones running around bearing my last name and calling me Papa as they present me with gifts of dandelions in the park and crafts made of popsicle sticks and finger paints.

I know it's really more like an outtake, but I wanted to clue you guys in on some things brewing beneath the surface, that way you won't feel like it's hit you all completely out of left field when it all comes in to play. Hope you all enjoy and thanks for all the awesome reviews! Keep 'em coming! (Please)