Bella stood at the island in the kitchen placing some steamed asparagus into a serving dish as Esme moved around the kitchen, putting the finishing touches on dinner.

"So Alice told me you and Edward have been going out for a couple of weeks now," Esme said as she filled another serving dish with garlic herbed mashed potatoes.

Bella nodded and smiled. "Yes."

"He's a handsome man," Esme said with a smile and a mischievous gleam in her hazel eyes.

Bella just blushed and smiled, "Yes. Very much so."

Esme grinned. "He's always been a very kind, considerate gentleman."

"Have you met him before?" Bella asked.

"Oh, yes," said Esme. "He's at a lot of party functions, but we met him even before that. Carlisle and I were, well, I guess you can say we were friends with his parents."

Bella looked over at Esme. "Were you? He didn't mention that."

"We weren't all that close. We had really just started to get to know them a short time before their unfortunate accident, but I like to think that we would have become close friends if they hadn't passed on," Esme said.

Bella nodded. "He and I haven't really talked about his parents."

"That's to be expected, dear," Esme replied with a kind smile. "You two are just getting to know each other and I'm sure that's not the easiest of topics for him to talk about. He'll open up in time I'm sure."

Bella nodded and was about to say something else when Alice came into the room carrying two bottles of wine. "I swear, that man is exasperating!" she said with a huff as she set the bottles on the counter.

"Which one?" Esme asked with a chuckle.

Both Bella and Alice started to laugh.

)( )( )( )(

Jasper came into the living room frowning a bit.

"Everything all right, Jasper?" Carlisle asked with a knowing smile as he sipped at his drink.

Jasper nodded. "Yes, Senator." His gaze wandered to Edward. "Masen," he said as he nodded in his direction.

Edward stood up and held out his hand to Jasper. "Hello, Jasper."

Jasper took his hand and shook it.

Carlisle stood up and went to a small liquor cabinet set up in a corner of the living room. "I'd offer you a drink, Jasper, but now that you and Alice are back I'm sure that Esme is going to be calling us into dinner at any moment." He poured a drink for Jasper anyway as he spoke and walking over he held it out to his Chief of Staff. "Then again, if my daughter is anything like her mother you're going to need this."

Jasper chuckled and took the drink while Edward hid a smile by sipping at his own glass.

Edward got a feeling that something was going on, but he didn't feel that it was his place to ask.

"I don't know if she's like Mrs. Cullen, sir, but she's sure is stubborn," Jasper replied after downing half his drink.

Carlisle chuckled. "Then she's definitely like her mother."

At that moment Esme came into the living room. "Talking about me?" She asked with an arched brow.

All three men stood up and Carlisle went up and gave her a kiss. "Of course, dear. Jasper was just saying how wonderful he thinks Alice is and I was saying she takes after you."

Esme gave him a smile and a look that said that she didn't believe him for a minute and she shook her head. "Of course that's what you were talking about," she said sarcastically. "Supper is ready, why don't you all join us in the dining room," she added while looking from Carlisle to Edward and Jasper.

Carlisle just chuckled and moved to take his empty glass to the kitchen while Esme took Jasper and Edward's glasses from them and followed Carlisle.

Jasper motioned to Edward. "This way."

Edward followed, smiling when he saw Bella sitting there across from Alice. Moving to her side she reached out and took his hand, squeezing it a bit just as Esme and Carlisle reentered the room.

The men remained standing until Esme sat down. "Well, I hope you're all hungry."

"You did make enough to feed the entire Senate, mom," Alice said in a teasing tone.

Carlisle laughed and started to carve the roast that Esme had made. "You know your mother loves to cook and she has to send all of you home with leftovers. Used to do that when we were dating too. I swear I gained more weight while we were dating than I did in all my years in college. Course, she did help me work it off."

"Dad!" Alice exclaimed in an embarrassed tone.

Bella, Edward, and Jasper all tried to hide their smiles.

Carlisle looked up from carving the roast. "What? We went jogging almost every day!"

Esme looked at her husband with a smile and shook her head while Alice just rolled her eyes a bit.

"This all looks delicious, Esme," Bella said with a smile as they started to pass around the food.

"Yes, Mrs. Cullen," Edward added, "It's been a while since I've had a good home cooked meal."

"We cooked together the other night at your place," Bella said. Bella didn't realize how that sounded until Alice giggled a bit. Looking up she saw Jasper frowning a bit and Carlisle and Esme pointedly concentrating on serving up the food. Looking at Edward she noticed he had an amused smile on his face as he replied, "Yes, yes we did."

Bella blushed brightly and sipped at her glass of wine.

"This really does look good, ma'am," said Jasper. "But, then your cooking is always amazing."

"Jasper constantly complains that I didn't take after you in that respect," Alice said just before she started to eat.

"Well, you can't even make pre-packed mac n' cheese, Alice," Bella said with a smile.

Esme smiled. "I tried to teach her to cook, but she was just never was all that interested."

Edward started to eat, listening to the conversation and watching the interaction between everyone at the table. He had missed this for a long, long time. The people at this table were family, even Bella and Jasper. He had been an only child, but he remembered sitting for dinner with his parents. His mother had always made the effort to have them eat together as a family whenever possible. He remembered how they would tease each other in much the same manner that Senator and Mrs. Cullen did. How they would talk about everyday things. In a way, it was how they kept up with each other's lives.

He hadn't realized how much he missed that until this moment. It was rare now at days that he felt the loss of his parents. It was actually one of the reasons that he had gone to work for Senator Aro Volturi. He hadn't wanted to work for someone like his father…someone like Senator Cullen. It brought up too many memories, just as it was doing now.

Edward loved the political arena. He always had. He had wanted to work in politics since he was a young boy, though it had little to do with his family's legacy and more to do with a love of the democratic process. His plans hadn't changed even after his parents' accident. But, when he had been offered jobs after graduation he had felt the pangs of loss sharply with each person he met, thinking that he should be working with his father. Until he met Senator Volturi who was nothing like his father. He figured if he worked for someone that was polar opposite in temperament from his father that he wouldn't be reminded of his loss on a daily basis.

Bella noticed Edward frowning and she leaned towards him and resting her hand lightly on his thigh she whispered, "Are you all right?"

Edward nodded, giving her a soft smile and he reached under the table to squeeze her hand, kissing her cheek before he whispered softly back, "I'm fine, dearest."

She blushed at his term of endearment.

Neither of them noticed Jasper watching them thoughtfully from across the table.

)( )( )( )(

Everyone seemed at ease with each other at dinner, even Jasper. If the conversation even hinted at going in the direction of business or politics of any sort, Esme did an excellent job of steering the conversation in a different direction.

Edward felt more at ease with each passing moment and was drawn into the conversation by Bella, Esme, Alice, and Carlisle. They talked about everyday things like cooking, movies, and books. The Senator relayed some of his hijinks in college that had the whole table laughing. They were especially amused when they found out about the time that Carlisle had been studying so hard for an exam his first year of college that he'd almost slept right through it. When he'd woken up he realized that the exam time was almost over and had run clear across campus in nothing but boxers and a robe. Luckily the professor had let him make up the exam in his office afterwards.

The food was wonderful and the company was excellent. It was definitely not the type of evening that Edward had expected.

By the end of the meal Esme insisted that she and Carlisle would clean up later and they had coffee and drinks in the living room.

Edward excused himself, asking his hosts if it would be all right if he went outside for a quick smoke.

"Certainly, Edward," Esme said with a smile. "There's an ashtray on the back patio on the corner of the railing. Carlisle does love his cigars," she added as she gave Carlisle a chastising glance.

Edward nodded and headed in the direction she pointed out when Jasper said, "I'll join you." He didn't miss the fact that Alice gave Jasper a warning look and Bella frowned a bit, but he just nodded and headed outside, pulling a pack of cigarettes and his lighter from his pocket.

Looking towards Jasper, who had come to stand beside him, he offered out the pack, but Jasper shook his head and said, "I don't smoke," causing Edward to arch a brow and shrug as he lit up his own cigarette.

After blowing out a stream of smoke Edward sighed and asked, "Something on your mind?"

Jasper sighed and stuck his hands in the pocket of his trousers. "You and Bella seem to be getting on well."

Edward just nodded, not saying anything.

"I suppose she's told you that I've given her a bit of a hard time about dating you," Jasper said.

Edward glanced at Jasper and arched a brow, "Actually, she hasn't told me about that." He frowned at Jasper.

"Oh, well," Jasper had the good grace to look slightly embarrassed.

"You don't like that we're seeing each other because of the fact that I work for Senator Volturi," Edward stated, frowning as he looked down at the lit cigarette in his hand, noticing just out of the corner of his eye that Jasper nodded.

"We're in the same party, you know," Edward said. "I'm not the enemy."

"Aren't you?" Jasper asked, though his voice wasn't bitter, it was genuinely questioning in tone.

Edward just sighed, knowing what Jasper meant. He knew that Aro was going to seek the party's nomination for the presidential ticket…and so was Carlisle. And, though that may mean that they were in the same political party, that also meant that they and their teams were on opposing sides, fighting for the same thing that only one of them could have.

"We don't discuss work," Edward said before he took another drag from his cigarette.

Jasper looked at him with an arched brow. "You may try not to, but if you two continue to see each other and get serious won't that be impossible?"

"I don't think so," Edward said. Sure, he wasn't naïve; he knew that work would come into their conversations at times; after all, it was an important part of both their lives. Edward continued, "I mean, we'll discuss it, but I think we can keep our jobs from affecting our relationship and vice versa. If people don't interfere and let it affect the way they work with us," he said as he gave Jasper a pointed look.

"Touché," said Jasper softly, looking out into the snow covered yard.

"She's a great woman, Edward, and watching the two of your together…" Jasper sighed and just shook his head. "Masen, I'm going to kick your ass in the primaries, there's no doubt about that, but if you hurt her, I'll kick your ass in a way that'll leave you bleeding."

Edward frowned and just nodded, not even arguing.