Alright, this is kind of a big announcement to me! I just found out last night that one of my readers-edwardsgirly4eva-nominated "Play Dates" for a Best Story award at the TwiFiction Awards. Thank you so much! You have no idea how much this means for me. Now, I don't know anything about fanfiction awards, but if you're interested in nominating me/my stories for anything, search for a story called "TwiFiction Awards" and you can leave a review as a nomination. It would be pretty cool if I could score some awards.

Again, thank you, edwardsgirly4eva! This chapter is for you!

Chapter Sixteen: "The Solution" Bella's POV

The next night, Emerson and I went to Edward's apartment, as planned. Emerson and Emmy ran off together as soon as we stepped through the door. That was certainly fine with me—it meant Edward could give me a nice long kiss. I wrapped my arms around his waist and took every inch he would give me.

He finally broke the kiss and then pressed his lips to my forehead. "I missed you."

It was so silly—it had been only a day since we had seen each other—but I agreed with him. I felt like we were on a teenager's calendar, where every day seems like a year and a month-long relationship is considered to be a success. "I missed you, too," I admitted.

He smiled and nuzzled his nose to my hair. "I've already put the dough into the oven. We can go relax for a while."

"Sounds perfect."

I shed my coat, called for Emerson to take his coat off (and was probably ignored), and then we went to the living room. "So how is the Emmy and Emerson situation?" I teased him as I sat next to him on the couch and cuddled into his side.

He let out a long breath. "Uh…I could kill your son…if he was some other kid. At least I know Emerson is nice."

I laughed. "Jealousy isn't attractive," I reminded him rather hypocritically.

"Yeah, yeah," he rolled his eyes playfully, stroking my hair. "Emmy thinks she can have two boyfriends at once—Emerson and Jasper."

I giggled. "That's actually really cute, Edward. They'll be over this crush in no time."

"Yeah, yeah," he said again. "So are your Christmas plans set in stone?"

"We're going to Forks to have Christmas with my dad," I explained. "He bought Emerson some really nice gifts, while I have only been able to buy him one. So we're just going to put all the gifts under the tree and not tell Emerson who bought what."

"That's a really smart idea," Edward replied admiringly. "No Santa Claus?"

I shook my head. "No Santa. I can't stand to lie to my poor baby."

He smiled. "Emmy doesn't believe, either. She just plays along with Sinterklaas."

"I think Emmy is too clever to believe," I remarked. "She knows reindeer can't fly. In fact, a pterodactyl probably makes more sense to her."

He laughed. "You're probably right," he nodded. "She is definitely related to my father."

"I wish you could come down and meet my father," I told him. "Sometime soon, maybe. Emerson talked about you a lot over Thanksgiving and Charlie is…curious."

"Charlie?"

"My dad," I filled in. "Charlie and Renee. I was never one to use the appropriate names."

"Do you ever talk to your mom?"

I shook my head. "No…I really don't want to, either. She kicked me out when I got pregnant, and I haven't heard from her since. That's why I came up to Washington. I sent her pictures of Emerson, but I never got a reply."

"Do you wish you could have a relationship with her?"

I shrugged. "Well, yeah, because we used to be really close. But I don't want her around my son if she can't love him."

"That's sad," he mumbled. "Tanya's parents kicked her out when she got pregnant, too. She came to live with us, had the baby, and then made her great escape. I just can't imagine ever kicking Emmy out for anything. The thought makes me sick."

"That's because you're a good daddy," I reminded him, cupping his chin in my hand. "I've never seen a man love his daughter so much."

He gave me a crooked grin that made my insides turn to jelly. "Obviously you haven't been around my dad and Alice enough."

"I don't think even that could compare," I said seriously. "You're a great daddy. Emmy is so lucky to have you."

"Thank you, Bella," he said gratefully. "I sometimes need to hear that from time to time."

I smiled at him and gave him a kiss. "I'm always here if you need to be reminded of how wonderful of a man you are."

He wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me into his lap, and kissed the spot just under my jaw. I indulged him with a few more kisses.

"Mom!" my favorite voice in the world exclaimed, sounding annoyed.

I broke the kiss with blushing cheeks and turned to my son. "Yeah, sweetie?"

"What are you doing?" His eyes were wide.

I took in a ragged breath. "What do you need, handsome?"

He sighed and glared at me. "I brought my Dinosaurs DVD but I left it in the car. Can I go get it?"

"I will," I replied. "Well, first ask Edward if you can use his TV."

"Of course you can, buddy," Edward said cheerfully. "Hey, what pizza toppings do you like?"

I scrambled out of Edward's lap as Emerson started discussing the merits of a cheese-only pizza. I don't know why I was so embarrassed that my son had caught me making out. I was an adult, for crying out loud, and I deserved to be able to do adult things like kissing my boyfriend. I retrieved the DVD and ran into the house.

The smell of the dough caught my attention. I went to the kitchen and pulled the oven up. It was about to burn. I pulled the cookie sheet out and placed it on the stove before turning the oven off. Edward had used Pillsbury croissant dough. It smelled and looked heavenly.

He ran into the kitchen and saw me rescuing our dinner. "I was about to do that," he said sheepishly, a blush spreading across his skin.

"I've got it," I winked at him.

"Emmy! Emerson!" he called. "Dinner is ready!"

It sounded like a stampede as the kids raced to the kitchen. Emerson immediately ran to me and wrapped himself around my leg.

"What's wrong, Clark Kent?" I asked him, ruffling his hair.

"Pick me up," he requested, a brilliantly manipulative smile on his face.

"You're awfully heavy," I reminded him. "You're going to be a lot bigger than Mommy."

"Please?"

I obeyed his request, balancing him on my hip. He was heavy, but he helped me out by wrapping his arms and legs around me, like a koala bear. "You're like the Incredible Hulk," I told him, squeezing his undeveloped bicep.

He used his arms to do a muscleman pose. I laughed and kissed his cheek.

Edward was cutting the dough into triangle-shaped pieces. He had various pizza toppings laid out on the counter.

"Can I help you with anything?" I asked him. Emerson frowned and squeezed me tighter, resting his head on my shoulder. Is he jealous of Edward? I wondered.

"Nah, I've got it, but thank you."

"Daddy," Emmy said, "can I help?"

He looked down at her with a smile. "You're going to make your own pizza, I promise."

"But I want to help you."

He picked her up and sat her on the counter. "Why don't you get some glasses from the cabinet above you?"

After she retrieved the glasses, she stood on the counter and sort of fell on top of Edward as he sliced the dough. "Whoa, Emmy!" he exclaimed, catching her. "Don't do that. You could hurt both of us."

"I want to sit on your shoulders," she decided.

"Not over the hot stove. Here, get on my back."

She squirmed so she was piggyback on him, grasping him tightly. For some reason, I had the feeling that Emerson wasn't the only jealous child. I really hoped this relationship wasn't causing problems for our kids.

"Alright," Edward said. "The dough is cut. You kids can make your pizzas at the kitchen table if you want, then go watch Emerson's movie."

"Cool!" Emmy exclaimed. "Daddy, take me to the table."

"Emmy, you're five years old," he reminded her calmly. "And I'm an old man. Time to get down."

She grumbled as he gracefully sat her on her feet, but went to the kitchen table.

"You, too," I told Emerson. "Go with Emmy. Mommy's arms are killing her."

He sighed, but went to sit by his friend.

Making pizzas was actually a lot of fun. Emmy tried to draw a dinosaur with her cheese, while Emerson was more successful at making a smiley face. Edward poured marinara sauce on my dough and used his spoon to mold it into the shape of a heart.

After the kids were satisfied with their edible masterpieces, they went to the living room, leaving Edward and me alone. We were free to flirt again. I took a green pepper and put it to his lips.

His white teeth accepted it in a very sexy way, his lips slightly wrapping around my finger. He was so beautiful, so sexy, so amazing, and so perfect. Way to perfect to be with me.

He coated his fingertip in marinara sauce and ran it along my bottom lip before leaning in and cleaning it with his tongue. Never before had pizza been so delicious.

Needless to say, we had a lot of fun with the pizza, but eventually we were full and dishes had to be washed. I could hear the familiar voices of the dinosaur puppets on TV, so I knew the kids were fine. Edward quietly washed dishes while I dried them.

"I hope this relationship is okay with them," he mused softly.

I bit my lip. "Yeah…me, too."

"Maybe we should tone down the PDA," he suggested.

I playfully splashed bubbles onto him. "Only in front of them."

He gave me a mock-glare. "Miss Swan, you do not want to start that game."

I splashed him again.

He laughed and splashed the warm water on me, soaking my shirt.

"Edward!" I exclaimed, swiping up some bubbles and putting them on his chin. "That wasn't nice!"

He smiled and went back to washing dishes. I got another good splash in before he suddenly pinned me against the counter, his lips on my neck.

"You're being bad," he whispered, mouth dancing along the shell of my ear.

"You said no more PDA," I reminded him, my hands going to his hips. He had beautiful hips, so perfectly symmetrical with each other.

"They're not watching."

I gave him a loud kiss and pushed him away. "Come on, let's finish the dishes. By the way, I'm soaked."

"How did you get wet?" he asked innocently, returning to his side of the sink.

"I think this guy splashed me," I said, playing along. "Isn't that so rude of him?"

He smirked and started to say something, but he paused and cocked his ear toward the living room. I gave him a funny look and he shook his head. Taking my hand, we walked to the edge of the kitchen, where our children were.

Emerson was talking. "Emmy, I really like you," he was saying, "but there is another woman in my life."

"Who is it?" Emmy asked quietly.

Edward's face hardened—I couldn't tell if it was because his little girl was being rejected or because she was interested in a boy. I squeezed his hand and kept listening.

"Aunt Rosalie," Emerson admitted. "We've been together for like five years now. I can't just break up with her."

"Ohhh," Emmy said, and I could picture her bronze curls bouncing as she nodded. "Well, I'm kind of like that, too. I'm in love with Uncle Jasper…and he's kind of a better boyfriend than you are. Uncle Jasper can buy me presents."

Edward nearly lost it then. I put a hand over his mouth to make him hold in the giggles.

"Yeah, you deserve a boyfriend who can buy you presents," Emerson nodded. "Aunt Rosalie likes Batman anyway…and you don't. So we're friends?"

"Friends," Emmy agreed happily.

"Cool," Emerson said. "Hey, do you want to watch Toy Story? It has a dinosaur."

"Sure! I love Rex!" she exclaimed.

Edward and I exchanged a glance. "You're raising a golddigger," I whispered to him.

He gave me a playful swat on my bottom. "Oh, please. You're raising a player."

"I am not!"

He grinned, kissed my forehead, and led me back into the kitchen. "So, do you want to make brownies to celebrate the fact that our kids have gotten over their crushes?"

"Sure."

If I thought pizza was sexy, brownies were even sexier.

Edward, Emmy, Emerson, and I spent as much time together as possible in the weeks before Christmas. However, Emerson had winter break, and I was able to get enough time off to go to Forks, so that's what we did. Christmas with Charlie was great…at least, until I had to tell him I was in a relationship with someone. I was so nervous about that.

Somehow, he was cool with it. And even Emerson wanted to tell his grandpa all about Edward—even more than over Thanksgiving. I made breakfast one morning and as I brought the food to the dining room table, Emerson was saying, "And me and Emmy walked in on them kissing on the couch. Grandpa, what do you think about that?"

My entire body seemed to glow bright red. I froze, praying that the floorboards could just open up and swallow me whole.

"Well, son," Charlie said slowly. "I think that your mommy is an adult and she can do adult things like that."

"She's going to get cooties."

Charlie gave me a small grin. "When you're an adult, cooties no longer affect you, right, Bells?"

"Right," I said weakly, still blushing. "Um, who wants homemade waffles?"

Later that day, it was snowing again. Charlie and I stood on the back porch while Emerson played and tumbled in the snow. "So, it's getting pretty serious?" my dad asked me.

I shrugged. "We're not rushing into anything. We're just enjoying each other."

"Emerson seems to like him."

"I hope to God he does," I sighed. "Because if he doesn't like Edward, then Edward will no longer be a part of my life."

"You're a good mom, Bells. But maybe you need to consider the fact that Emerson won't be the only man in your life for forever. Have you met the boy's family?"

I nodded. "Yeah, we had a big event over at his house. They're all great. Filthy rich, but great."

"Is Edward…well-off?" he tried to ask delicately.

I shook my head. "No, they don't support him at all. He works for a magazine and doesn't make a lot of money. Emmy is in the same boat as Emerson."

"Nothing wrong with that," Charlie smiled. "It sounds like you two are good for each other. I want to meet him."

I gave him a funny look. "Really?"

"Of course I do."

I chewed on my lip for a while. "Okay. I'll try to figure something out. You can come up to Seattle or we can come down here. Of course, if Edward and Emmy come down here, they'll have to stay at your house. Somebody would have to sleep with somebody."

Charlie gave me a stern look. "Someone can sleep on the fold-out couch. That boy isn't getting in your bed."

Does anyone remember the "Dinosaurs" TV show from the '90s? It was a bunch of puppet dinosaurs. That's what Emerson and Emmy were watching, even though I have no idea if it's on DVD. (I used to love that show, especially the baby. "Not the mama, not the mama!" If you have no idea what I'm talking about, go to the YouTube channel dinosaurstv.)

Two more chapters, I think. Maybe three. We'll see.

What about a review? I love them more than pizza. And I would love to know if you remember "Dinosaurs."