A/N: Thank you to everyone again. I don't know what else to say. I owe huge thanks to my pre-reader, EternallyCullen, and my lovely beta, Jenny Cullen, aka Jenrar. Also, big thanks to xrxdanixrx for her pimpage of this fic. You guys are all fabulous.

"Ms. Swan? Dr. Cullen will see you now."

"Thank you," she said, standing and smoothing the dress pants she had borrowed from Angela.

She walked through a solid oak door and saw one of the most attractive men she had ever seen in her life. Now I know where Edward gets his good looks from, she thought, and then mentally slapped herself. When had Edward's beauty come into this? And why the hell was she even thinking that Edward was beautiful?

She was there for a job interview that Edward had set up for her at his father's medical practice, but he had made it clear that it was up to her to get the job.

Dr. Cullen stood from his chair, a pleasant smile on his angelic features. "You must be Bella. I'm Carlisle Cullen. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Bella was slightly taken aback. Most of her medical experiences had been unpleasant, as hospitals and doctors' offices often treated her son like just another Medicaid patient, and she was looked upon as if she had the plague.

It was a shock to have someone of Dr. Cullen's class interact with her as if she were an… equal.

"Good morning, Dr. Cullen," she responded, a tight but genuine smile on her face. She was nervous; she could admit it. "It's a pleasure to meet you, as well."

He gestured she should sit in the leather chair opposite his desk. "May I get you something to drink? Water? Tea? Coffee?"

Again, Bella was surprised. She had never imagined this beautiful – and apparently considerate – doctor would actually offer to wait on her. "Water would be nice, but only if it's no trouble." Her mouth was already as dry as cotton, and she wanted to make a good impression.

"No trouble at all," he responded, a friendly smile on his face. He walked to a small refrigerator in the office and brought her a bottle of water.

"Thank you," she replied, beginning to feel her tight muscles relax.

He seemed to be genuinely kind. She briefly wondered if she had perhaps been too hard on Edward. If his father was this nice, then surely he had not meant to insult her. Then again, she had not met his mother.

"You're welcome. So, my son, Edward, tells me you're in the market for a new job."

She nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Do you have any experience with medical procedures?" he asked, his face open.

"I have experience with some, sir. But much of what I've learned has been from watching other medical professionals when I have had my son in the hospital." She wondered if she had just shot herself in the foot with that information. "But I am a very fast learner," she added quickly.

He leaned forward. "From what Edward tells me, you are very knowledgeable on diabetes."

She nodded. "Yes, sir. My son has Type I diabetes. He was diagnosed when he was two years old."

"Matthew?"

"Yes," she said, surprised. Now she knew she had been too hard on Edward; he had only been trying to help her, but it was just so difficult for her to accept it.

"So you know how to give injections, check blood sugars…" he said, leading her.

"Oh, yes, sir. And as I said, I'm a very quick learner. All I need is a bit of training, and I promise you, I'll work as hard as I can for you." Don't act so desperate, dummy! she shouted at herself. But if truth was told, she was desperate.

He smiled a dazzling smile at her. "We need people here who can learn quickly, are open to learning new things, and are willing to work hard."

She smiled back at him. "Well, if those are the qualifications, then I'm your girl." She was a bit shocked at herself for being so open and almost brazen, but she needed this job, and it seemed perfect for her.

"Fantastic. When can you start?"

Bella was taken aback. Was he offering her the job? "Um, I can start whenever you need me. Tomorrow, even."

Dr. Cullen smiled at her again. "Wonderful! I am offering the job to you, if you are interested."

"Oh, Dr. Cullen, sir! I'm very interested, and I accept."

He laughed lightly. "Don't you want to know the pay and benefits?"

Her breath caught in her throat. "You offer benefits?"

He nodded. "Yes, insurance – both health and dental – and life insurance, along with paid vacation and sick days."

Bella actually placed her hand over her heart. "Oh… oh, my. I do accept. I can't thank you enough."

She was not even interested in the pay. The fact that she was going to be able to privately insure her son and get him off of his Medicaid meant that she could take him to a specialist. She could not think of anything better than that.

"Thank you. We're glad to have you aboard. Let me introduce you to the rest of the staff." He led her from his office into the hub of the practice. He introduced her to Laney, his nurse, and to Sheila, the office manager.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some more patients to see. Please don't hesitate to let me know if you need anything, Bella."

She reached out and shook his hand. "Thank you so much, Dr. Cullen. I promise, I'll do my best."

He smiled at her again. "I have no doubt." And with that, he turned and walked toward what she assumed were the patient exam rooms.

"So, when can you start?" Sheila asked her, an undertone of brusqueness to her voice.

"Tomorrow."

Her face split into a smile. "Wonderful. That will give Amanda plenty of time to train you in the position, then. Most people have to give a two weeks' notice at their other job, which can create a problem when we need to train."

Bella shook her head. "I'm not working anywhere, but I'll need today to make arrangements for my son, Matthew, for after school."

Sheila reached out to shake her hand. "Then I guess we'll see you tomorrow, Bella."

She smiled and shook her hand in return. "I'm looking forward to it."

Bella practically skipped out to her truck. She had done it! She had found a good job, with benefits for her son! And it was thanks to Edward.

As she still had an hour before she needed to pick Matt up from school, she decided to stop by the police station and give her dad the good news. When she pulled into the parking lot, his cruiser was the only car there.

She pulled the door open, listening for the bell. "Dad?" she called.

"In here, Bells," he said from his office.

She walked the familiar hallway and entered his office. There was a line of Matthew's school pictures hanging on the wall, and her graduation picture was on his desk. For someone who did not like to show emotion, he was a very sentimental person.

"So, what's up? You look awful nice; what are you all dressed up for?" he asked, looking at her appraisingly.

"I had a job interview."

"Really? That's great. Where at?"

"Dr. Carlisle Cullen's office."

When she was not forthcoming with further information, he prompted, "And?"

The smile that split her face was his answer. "And I got it! I got the job!"

Charlie stood up from his chair and embraced her in an awkward, one-armed hug. "That's great, Bells. I'm very proud of you."

His praise made Bella feel all warm inside. Hopefully, this was a start of something good.

xXx

Bella was laughing at Matthew, who was currently doing his happy dance around their living room at the exciting news of Bella's job.

"Mom? You think they'll let me see a specialist now?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to try my hardest. At least, maybe we can find a new doctor instead of that quack they send us to."

He continued to shake his bottom. "What about Dr. Cullen? Edward's dad? Since you'll be working there, you think he'd see me?"

Bella had actually already had that thought, but she wanted to ask Sheila in the morning if Dr. Cullen saw his employee's children. It might be some type of conflict of interest. "I'm not sure. I'm going to ask tomorrow. From what I hear, he's a really good doctor."

Matthew held his hands out, and Bella joined him in his happy dance. They were both dancing around the room, when a knock interrupted their celebration.

She opened the door to find Edward Cullen standing on the other side.

"Oh, hi," she said, surprised. "I was planning on calling you."

He gave her a crooked smile that caused her stomach to drop. "Hey, there. I just heard the good news and thought I'd come by to say congratulations."

"Edward!" Matt called, rushing to the door.

"Hey, buddy! What's up?" he asked, shuffling his feet nervously in the hallway of the apartment complex.

"You wanna come in?" Bella asked politely.

He smiled at her again. "Actually, I came by to see if you and Matthew would like to join me for a pizza. As a celebration, you know?"

Bella's stomach dropped even farther. "Oh, we don't want to inconvenience you."

"Please, Mom?" Matt asked.

"Yeah, please, Mom?" Edward asked with a smile. "Plus, I thought we could do some planning on where to go next."

Bella smiled at him – her first true smile she had given him. "All right. Thanks, Edward."

"Not a problem," he said, grinning. "Shall I drive?"

Uh, yeah, Bella thought. The idea of someone like Edward riding in her ancient truck was almost laughable. "Sounds good."

Matthew grabbed Edward's hand, causing both Bella and him to pause. Bella was stunned. With the absence of a father figure, Matthew had never been very warm toward male figures, and Charlie – in his attempt to avoid any emotional displays – was not always forthcoming with affection for Matt to learn from.

Edward smiled down at him after getting over his initial surprise. "Well, where do you guys wanna go? You want Pacific Pizza, or would you prefer to go to Port Angeles?"

"Pacific Pizza!" Matthew yelled. Pacific Pizza was his favorite restaurant.

"Sounds good to me," Bella chimed in.

She followed them out of the door, turning to lock the deadbolt. Before she knew it, she was in the parking lot of her apartment complex, where she pulled up short. She should not have been surprised, but she was a bit anxious about Matthew riding in the shiny, silver Volvo that was parked in the lot. She was already imagining the mud he would track into it.

"You okay?" Edward asked.

She nodded. "Matt, make sure you keep your feet on the floor."

"'Kay, Mom," he replied, rolling his eyes.

Edward smiled at him. "It'll be fine, kiddo. Don't worry about it." He opened Bella's door for her, and she looked up into his startling green eyes.

She felt as if her stomach had dropped into her shoes. He really was an incredibly beautiful man. "Th-thank you," she said quietly. No one except her father had ever opened doors for her, and those were just doors into buildings.

"You're welcome," he said softly, staring back into her own brown eyes.

"Can we get sausage on the pizza?" Matthew asked from the backseat, breaking their trance.

Edward walked around the car after shutting Bella's door and opened his own. "We can have whatever you want, Matt. I'll eat just about anything. Except anchovies. Tell me you don't want anchovies," he teased.

Matthew wrinkled his nose up. "Ewwww. No way, Jose."

Edward laughed. "Excellent. So sausage it is." He put the car in gear and drove the couple of miles to the pizza parlor.

When they parked, Edward quickly trotted to Bella's side of the car and opened her door for her, causing her eyes to widen.

"What?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I-I've just never seen such impeccable manners before."

He laughed and locked the doors. "Well, my mother made sure to instill good manners in me, and despite what you might think from our previous interactions, I'm not a caveman."

Bella felt her face flush. "I didn't think that. And I'm sorry. I can be very difficult."

"Surely not," he said, a teasing tone to his voice.

She glared at him, but broke into a smile. "I can't be mad today. I just got a great job with benefits, thanks to you."

Edward walked them into the restaurant, and they were quickly escorted to a booth. Edward told them to get whatever they wanted to drink and went ahead and put in an order for a large sausage pizza.

"So, did Dad tell you what all you'd be doing?"

She shook her head. "He told me the gist of it, but Sheila will fill me in on everything else. I start tomorrow."

"Have you thought anymore about going to Seattle with me to get some new clothes?" he asked cautiously.

She nodded slightly. "Yeah. But I figured I'd better wait until tomorrow to see what the dress code is."

"That's a good idea. I think they wear scrubs in the office."

"Oh." She knew that scrubs were very expensive. Maybe she could find some on consignment.

Edward propped his chin on his hand. "Bella, this may not be my place, but my mother has some scrubs she used to wear when she worked in the office. I can see if she still has them."

Bella gritted her teeth. She hated handouts; she hated knowing that she was unable to provide for herself.

But she could not afford new ones. "Um, yeah, that would be great," she ground out. "I… I really do appreciate the offer."

Edward was surprised that she was actually able to accept help graciously. "Good. I'll check for you."

Their pizza came then, and they ate in silence, Matthew slurping his Diet Coke noisily.

"Matt," Bella admonished. "Remember your manners."

"Sorry," he said. He rarely got a soda and was excited about the free refills.

"And don't eat too much, or your sugar will be high from the carbs."

"I know, Mom," he said, sighing. "I've only had two pieces. Can I have another?"

Bella nodded. Edward had ordered a thin crust, so in her head, she figured out he would be okay.

"So you guys have to count carbs, as well as sugar?" Edward asked.

Bella nodded. "Yeah, I've been counting them so long, I can pretty much tell what he can and can't have now by eyeballing it. When he was first diagnosed, I counted them out to the milligram."

They continued eating, until they all sat back with a sigh.

"Mom, can I play a video game?" Matthew asked.

She dug in her pocket for a couple of quarters. "Sure, but just one."

"Oh, I've got a pocket full of quarters," Edward offered, but Matt was already gone.

She sighed. "Thanks, but I don't want him getting used to things I can't provide on my own. I appreciate everything you've done, but I understand that I'm just a school project, and when it's completed, we won't see you again."

Edward nodded in understanding. "Do you mind if I ask where his father is?"

Bella blanched. She hated thinking of James. "He's somewhere where the child support division can't find him."

Edward frowned. "So he has no interest in Matthew?"

She shook her head. "Nope. He took off right after I told him I was pregnant."

"You were pretty young when you had him," he prompted.

Bella scrubbed her face with her hands. She was torn. On the one hand, she loved Matthew with all of her being. On the other, she was still ashamed of the situation she had gotten herself in. "Yeah, I was sixteen. I'd never had a boyfriend, and James actually showed interest in me. I was young and stupid, and willing to do whatever to keep him. Didn't work," she added wryly.

"I'm sorry," Edward said softly.

"It's all right. I do the best I can. My dad was great about the whole thing, although he did threaten to shoot James with his gun," she remembered with a laugh. "He helped me out and let me continue to live at home, so I could go to school and graduate. Next to Matthew, that's what I'm proudest of – graduating high school."

Edward smiled at her. "Well, I think you're doing a great job. I mean, Bella, you're trying. Many people in your situation wouldn't even try."

"I don't have a choice," she replied quietly.