Better late than never. It's still Tuesday here on the west coast of the US, so I'm technically not late. lol

So, I've revamped this chapter to honor a guest reviewer who doesn't like my Renee. And by revamped, I mean I added more of her. I'd also like to mention that Renee will not be dying just because you don't like her. If said guest reviewer has signed in, I would have responded to them directly and not altered the chapter. But since they didn't, you all get more words from me as a result. :)

Thank you to Team CG: Brie, Kitchmill, Jen, Kelly, and Kim. Changes were obviously made after the fact, so any errors are my own.

Sadly I can't remember any of the other celebrities that came in to get coffee. I know there were more, but it's been ten years, so I'll share my rental car industry celebrity encounters now to keep the stories going. I might even add some of your stories that have been shared with me when I run out, so keep them coming too.

Up first is Adam West...aka TV's Batman and Mayor Adam West. He came into my office after he had finished doing a stint of voice overs for Family Guy. While he was waiting for his car to be cleaned, we got to talking and I told him how big of a fan my husband and I were. He asked for a piece of paper and while we talked, he doodled on the paper. I told him all about how I used to watch his show with my grandfather and that he, meaning Adam, would always hold a special place in my childhood. Before he left he handed me the paper. He had not only autographed it, but drew me a little caricature of his character on Family Guy! Such a sweet and funny man.

Chapter Twelve

The yelling and screaming that surrounded me was all gibberish. I was stuck in my own head replaying Edward's words that accused his sister of running a background check.

Who would do such a thing? What had I done to make her think I would ever want anything from Edward besides his love? I hadn't even wanted his help with landing my internship because I knew people would accuse me of nepotism.

I had been so worried about what the public would think that I never even considered I would have to deal with judgment from inside his family.

"My daughter has more talent and class in her little coffee stained finger than you could ever hope to have in both your overpriced manicured hands combined! And she doesn't need us to employ her just so she can shop on Rodeo Drive you little snot nosed brat." Only Renee would make it personal, but I loved her for it. Her defense of me was just what I needed to take a stand.

"Shut up." It was barely a whisper, and no one heard me. "Shut the fuck up!" That was better.

The whole room was stunned by my outburst.

"If anyone says anything before I am finished speaking, there will be hell to pay. Do you understand?" I looked around the room, catching everyone's eyes before I continued. The look of pride on Renee's face shone brighter than any other light in the room.

"This is exactly why I turned you down for help, Edward. I didn't want judgmental and jealous bitches accusing me of using our relationship to further myself in my career." I had looked at him as I began, but then turned to the bitch herself for the rest. "As for you, Alice, how dare you run a background check on me without my permission? If you had only asked I would have told you everything.

"I'm not ashamed of having student loans, and I can guarantee nobody else who has ever wanted to make something of themselves feels any differently than I do. I didn't have to take out loans, I chose to. My parents had the money for my schooling in savings but I refused to use it. That money should be for them because if something, God forbid, ever happened to my father as a result of his job, they would need that money.

"You have no idea who I am." I shook my head. "You know, I had actually been excited to meet you, Malice. Edward spoke so highly of his family and the relationships he shared with his siblings, but you disgust me. You sit there in your Louboutins and pearls, thinking you're better than me, but I wouldn't wipe my ass with the sweatshop made Hermes scarf you carry around."

I turned to Esme and continued the diatribe. "You are an amazing woman, but how you gave birth to such an ungrateful, holier than thou princess of Beverly Hills is beyond me. I'm sure the dinner you made would have been delicious, but I would much rather sit next to a bum in a soup kitchen who hasn't showered in three months than spend one more second in the presence of her majesty, the Queen of Mean. Thank you for wanting to include my family and me, but I think it's best we leave."

"Mom, Dad, let's go. I bet we can find a grocery store that's still open and is running a special on Hungry Man dinners." The look of pride on my parents' faces was enough to know they were proud of me.

"I'd happily eat a TV dinner after watching your performance, Bella. I've never been prouder to call you mine than the time you put my bra on over your t-shirt and then pranced around the house in you panties and Daddy's cowboy boots singing Madonna's Dress You Up." She sighed while I blushed, and then continued. "You never cease to amaze me."

I shook my head at my mother. It wasn't the time or place for silly childhood memories of me to be shared, but I knew she was just trying to remind me how much she loved and supported me.

I then turned to Edward. "I love you, and I'll see you later." I kissed his lips sweetly, and although he still sat there frozen, I could see the lust radiating through him. I guess he found my anger hot.

The ice queen had definitely not succeeded in her hope of driving a wedge between us.

I kissed Esme and Rose on the cheek and then waved goodbye to the rest. They were all apparently in shock from my outburst too and unable to form words of their own.

Just as I was about to shut the door, Edward followed quickly behind us, shouting, "Wait for me! A Hungry Man dinner sounds delicious, especially with more stories from your childhood!"

The second the door closed behind him all hell broke loose. Screaming could be heard through the door, but we ignored it and kept on going. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall as Alice got her ass handed to her. The sinister grin on my face was proof of that.

"Ride with me?"

Edward was so cute and I nodded. "Of course."

I went over and told my parents that we would stop for dinner and meet them at home.

The drive back into the valley was quiet. KOST was already playing Christmas music, and I hummed along. It normally put me in a really good mood, since I loved the holidays, but I was still a bit morose about how everything had gone down.

Edward held my hand the whole drive and it was really comforting. I watched the landscape roll by and just basked in our love. I knew he was worried about me, but I was fine, or at least I would be.

When we finally found a store that was open, Edward wanted to come in with me, but I reminded him of who he was and he agreed to wait as long as I took some cash from him to pay for our meals. He said something along the lines of it being the least he could do. I rolled my eyes, but gave in to his pleading. I could tell the afternoon had really taken a toll on him.

I actually checked in with the deli to see if they had any of the pre-cooked meals left and was excited to find out they had one remaining. It would only take about an hour to warm up, so I grabbed that and a few other items to doctor all the premade items up, a twelve pack of beer, and a bottle of white wine for Mom and me.

I was starting to feel more festive as I checked out and headed out to Edward's car. He was wide eyed when he saw everything I came out with. When I explained what I did, he laughed.

It seemed like we would still have something besides each other to be thankful for after all.

"I'm so thankful I have such a smart and sexy coffee girl to call mine." He could be so cheesy, but hey, I loved him.

"And I'm thankful I have a man who loves me in spite of all my faults. Someone who was willing to eat a TV dinner when he could have had the six course meal his mother was preparing."

He kissed my cool lips. "There was nowhere else I would have rather be than here with you, coffee girl."

"Me too, Eddie. Me too."

~o~o~o~

It had been two days since the incident that I demanded no one talk about. It was the Saturday after hell. Everyone and their mother—seriously, moms were everywhere—came in to get their coffee fixes to power through all of the massive sales and get a head start on their holiday shopping. I couldn't believe Christmas was just over three weeks away.

As I'd gotten older, everything seemed to have sped up. While days sometimes seemed to drag, the months flew by. Tomorrow would be the first of December, and before we knew it, we would be ringing in the New Year. I was ready to say goodbye to my last fall semester of college and start stepping into my passion.

All of the holiday displays had been put out on Thursday night and I had just finished restocking them. I had turned everything from my shift over to Lauren who would be in charge of closing tonight with Jacob. They had recently begun dating, and I was ecstatic that he wasn't mooning over me anymore. I took one last look over my chores list and then clocked out.

I grabbed my stuff from my locker and then waved goodbye as I dashed out between the customers still standing in line. I breathed in the crisp early afternoon air, clearing all the coffee odors from my nose, and then jogged through the parking lot to my car. Leaning against my trunk was Edward. I couldn't help the huge smile that took over my face and I ran faster. I jumped into his arms, kissing him soundly as he spun me around.

"All right, all right, you two. Don't make me call Officer DILF to get the fire department down here to hose the two of you down. There are children present."

I turned in shock. "Rose!"

"Yes, yes. It is I, your favorite actress." She bowed to us, and I laughed.

"Officer DILF? Seriously, Rose? That's my dad."

She got this faraway look in her eyes and I shivered. "It's the 'stache. It has seventies porn star written all over it. I bet he's hung, too."

I threw up in my mouth a little at that. Guess I wouldn't be kissing Edward again for a while.

"Yeah, that image wasn't the least bit creepy. Thanks, Rose." She shrugged. "Anyway, what are you all doing here?" All of Edward's family except Alice and Jasper were there.

"We came to take you to dinner," Edward explained. "They wanted to apologize for Thanksgiving."

I slid down Edward's body, sad that I had to let him go. "I'll go on one condition." They all looked at me with raised eyebrows; it was quite comical. "No one can apologize. I do not hold any of you responsible for Alice's actions; they were her own. So this dinner has to just be about us having a nice night out. Is that clear?"

Everyone nodded, wearing smirks across their faces except Emmett, who was grinning like the Cheshire cat. "Aye, aye, Mistress Bells." He held out a whip with a bright red bow around it and I started laughing; tears began running down my face because of how funny I found his joke.

Only Emmett would know exactly how to lighten up everything for all of us. There were honestly no hard feelings. After all, you can't pick your family.

After we stopped by my house so I could shower and change, we picked up my mother and headed back out to Rosie's in Northridge. The valley was my stomping ground and I figured Emmett would love to get his hands on a rack of barbecued ribs, not to mention all the fixings you could get on the side.

They had a large banquet room that wasn't in use, so we all ended up in there. Edward and Rose told us that they were excited this was their final week of filming. Neither had anything on the books until January. Rose would be heading to Texas and Edward would be in Germany. I hated the distance.

I finally got to learn more about Carlisle. I found out he was the most sought after plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills. Rose had no problem telling me he did her nose. That explained the house and the nice cars, and the fact that Esme didn't look a day over forty. He was a soft-spoken man, and I could tell he had a wonderful bedside manner because of how caring and nurturing he came across.

I learned that Emmett ran his own security company. He trained and provided security for many of Hollywood's most wanted celebrities. He usually provided backup for Edward when he had red carpet events to attend; otherwise it was Seth who was always with Edward when he went out of the country to film.

Rose told me more about herself, and I found a kindred spirit in her. She loved writing and had penned her first script at fifteen. It was an indie movie that had garnered a cult following in the fourteen years since the film had been released. It was nice to see how her seriousness balanced out Emmett's childish personality.

As dinner was winding down, and with our bellies full of the delicious barbecued meats and garlicky rolls, Esme posed the all imposing question that I had both been expecting and dreading in equal measures.

"So, what is the plan for Christmas? Are we all going to try and spend it together?"

BTW, I welcome guest reviews because I'm too lazy to sign in sometimes too, but if you're going to bitch and moan or if you critique the characters they create, at least have the ovaries or balls to allow the author to respond. Stand by your words the way we stand by ours.

Also, just a reminder, if you want an idea of what was going through Eddie's head during that first meeting, I'm donating an outtake to the Christmas Wishes 2013 Compilation and it is the only place you can read it before the epilogue to this story posts. I won't be posting it here until then. It's over three thousand words into Eddie's life and mind! Link to the cause is on my FFn Profile.

See you Friday! xx Dee