Thank you Slash Folie for your time and dedication. I apologize I just realized your name has not been showing up.

All Standard Disclaimers Apply

One Night in Vegas

Chapter Seventeen

Bella's Point of View

I leaned across the kitchen counter holding my phone to my ear as my sister spoke, my eyes on Edward, on the other side of the counter shoveling chocolate cake into his mouth. His eyes met mine momentarily and he paralyzed me with his trademark lopsided grin.

"Bella, did you hear me?"

I blinked, at the sound of my sister's voice and turned my back to Edward; I couldn't afford being distracted right now, "Sorry Rose, what was that?"

Rose sighed into the mouthpiece and I knew she was a little more then annoyed with me, but I couldn't help it. She would be distracted to if Edward was throwing his breath taking smiles at her left and right.

"I don't think we can make it." She said with another sigh. "For one it is so close to Christmas and we really don't have the money to afford plane tickets right now. It's Everett's first Christmas and we kind of went a little over board with present shopping."

I smiled at the sound of my nephew's name. I hadn't seen him since his birth back in February, eleven long months ago, and I was dying to see how big he has grown. I was far over due in seeing the little munch kin. "Rose, I think the whole point of the date Edward picked was so that our entire family could be here over the Christmas holiday. Plus, Edward has already booked you a flight for December fifteenth and they are nonrefundable tickets."

Edward chuckled and I turned my head and glared at him. "Bella," He whispered, leaning over the counter and kissing my nose. "Don't guilt your sister into coming with a lie."

I wrinkled my nose and stuck my tongue out at him. "Stay over there Edward, if you aren't going to help." I said sticking my nose in the air and turning back around. "Please, Rose, have Christmas here. I really miss you, Em, and the baby. I've only seen him once, are you really going to ruin my Christmas and keep me from my nephew?"

"No one is keeping you from coming here Bella." Rose said sternly. She hated when I begged, but most importantly she hated when I tried to guilt her into doing something she didn't particularly want to do. It kind of hurt knowing that for some reason she didn't want to see me after so long, "It'll take us years to be able to pay Edward back for the plane ticket."

I snorted. "Edward wouldn't have got you the tickets if he had wanted you to pay him back, Rose."

"Have you got mom to agree to come? You said the entire family, right? So, that includes mom. Emmett, Everett, and I will come if mom and Phil do."

Mom and Phil?

Crap!

I haven't even gotten around to talking to mom about, well, anything, but I'm sure Charlie wasted no time. And what made the situation worse was that I was thinking about what her reaction would be to all this last night. I mean, god, how could telling my mother I got married, again, slip my mind like it had?

"I know you haven't told her yet." Rosalie said with another hefty sigh, pulling me from my thoughts and the panic that was building up. "She knows though and she's pretty pissed that she hasn't heard it from you yet. What made it worse was she heard it from dad."

I groaned and slouched against the counter, biting my lip. "What am I going to do?" I whined.

"Well, I would suggest calling her and apologizing for starters."

"Yeah...."

"Call me back and let me know how it goes with mom. Love you Bells."

"What? Wait! Rosalie, aren't you even going to help me figure out what I'm going to say?" I practically screamed into the phone, but it was too late. She was already gone. She left me to face the wrath of our mother alone...

"Bella?" Edward's voice was soft and lace with concern, "Is everything alright?"

I turned to face him again and placed my cell phone down on the counter and sighed, "I didn't tell my mom that I'm married."

"Oh..."

"Yeah, I'm such an idiot." I sighed.

"Bella," He said with a sigh of his own, making his way around the island and pulling me into his arms. "Don't say that. I didn't tell my mother yet either."

I raised a brow and craned my neck to look up at him, "really?" I asked, my lips curling into a frown, "why not?"

"I figured she would be less likely to kill me if I used my beautiful petite wife as human shield when I told her."

I groaned and rolled my eyes. "Edward, that's not even funny. What if your mom hates me because of this?"

I felt him shrug. "What if your mom hates me?" He countered, repeating my question.

I snorted, holding back a bubble of hysteric laughter. "Don't worry she will." I said turning in his arms and burying my face in his chest. "But she's going to hate me more. I didn't tell her anything."

I felt Edward press his lips to the top of my head, his hands moving in soothing circles on my back. "Then why don't you fix that? Go into my study and give her a call."

He released his arms around me slowly and pushed me away and I looked up at him pouting. He chuckled and leaned down and kissed me gently. "Bella, I promise you everything will be okay. The worse she can do is get mad and hang up on you and if that is the case, I'll book a flight for tomorrow and we'll both go see her in person."

"She's not going to want to talk to me..."

"You don't know that. You haven't called her yet. You aren't going to make things right by putting it off longer."

I sighed, knowing he was right and reached for my phone. I gave him one last pouty look, in which he chuckled at, and left him alone in the kitchen. I walked through the living room down an empty hall and found myself face to face with Edward's study. Taking in a deep breath, I opened the door and stepped in, pushing it closed behind me.

The room was spacious with a mahogany desk in the middle with a matching chair to match. On top of the desk their was a silver Dell laptop pushed off to the side and a few books stacked in the middle, besides that, the room was pretty much empty. Unless you wanted to count the random pictures of forest on the wall.

I made my way over to the desk and plopped down with a sigh, quickly dialing my mother's number before I talked myself out of it. No good would come from dwelling on what could happen. I could end get lucky and this might actually end well. I didn't dare hope.

"Hello?"

"Hello mom," I said taking a deep breath. "It's Bella."

"It's nice to finally hear from you."

I leaned back in my chair and slouched down feeling like the evil rotten child that I was. "I am so sorry mom!" I cried into the phone.

"Sorry? For what sweetheart?"

She was yanking my chain. She knew exactly what I was talking about. She just wanted to hear it straight from my mouth.

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you what happened in Vegas. I'm sorry that I didn't call you and tell you I got married. I wasn't planning on staying with him at first. It just kind of happened. I fell in love again momma. I never thought I would be able to again..." I took a deep breath, biting my lip. "Can you forgive me for not telling you sooner?"

By the time I heard my mother sigh a second later my eyes were already over filling with warm tears.

"I can't stay upset with you Bella." She said softly. "But I do want you to make it up to me. I want to meet this man you married."

I sniffled and perked up in the chair, wiping my eyes with my free hand. "He wants to meet you too." I said, as my voice a little shaky. "He actually has a flight booked for you and Phil for the fifteenth of December. We want you both here along with Rose, Em, Everett and Charlie for Christmas. His family is going to be here too. We want our entire family together for our first Christmas."

My mother laughed softly. "Where are we all going to stay?" She asked, her voice slightly amused.

"We have more than enough room for everyone."

"Is that so?" She asked with a soft laugh. By the sound of her voice I could tell she was smiling. "I'd love to hear more about your spacious house later, but right now I'd like to hear about this man you've married."

I smiled, licking my bottom lip. "I'll tell you everything you want to know about him, with one condition of course."

"And that is?"

"That you and Phil will agree to come for Christmas"

"Well, dear, I think we can handle that."

So, I've decided to get over myself....

I know this chapter was kind of dull and it probably seems a little pointless, but I felt we needed it. Things will begin picking up in the next chapter when the family begins to arrive.

Please be kind and review.

Anna