"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Rose fumed, and it sounded like she was storming around her apartment looking for something to wear. "I will kill that little… that little…" she exhaled dramatically, obviously not sure what to call him. "Consider him gone Bells, I'll call him as soon as I get in and tell him not to bother coming to work today."

"Oh Rose, don't do that," I spoke softly, sitting on the edge of the bathtub and trying to talk quietly so I didn't wake Edward. My hand was throbbing, I'd been lying awake for hours when Rose texted and asked if it was too early to call. It was just past six, Edward would be up soon, but I was trying to let him sleep as soon as possible. It was after one before he finally fell asleep; the man did not get enough sleep. After he left I'd take some ibuprofen and try to go back to sleep, but for now the bed was his. "Edward will probably kill him if he ever sees him anyways, why fire him before he dies?"

I smiled at my joke but Rose didn't seem amused. "He's a little bastard, I can't believe he would just attack you like that..."

"It wasn't really an attack."

"After all I've done for him, he's just going to force himself on my best friend…"

"It was just a kiss."

"If he knows what's good for him he'll stay out of my shop for a few days, if not forever!"

I giggled when I heard her huff, her rant over, and I could hear her pouring something — probably coffee. "I'm really fine; pissed off about my hand, but Jacob's more like an annoying gnat that flies in your eye when you try to swat it away than an attacker."

Now Rose laughed, some of her good humor returning as she sipped loudly from her coffee cup, "I still can't believe you fractured your hand. We've got to teach you to punch, Bella." I rolled my eyes at her, knowing she couldn't see me, and started examining my nails; they were way overdue for a fill. I'd never really liked getting my nails done; I only did it for work, and now that I wasn't working I didn't really see a point in keeping up with them. Maybe I should go in later and have them removed.

"By the way, Alice texted me last night," I said hesitantly and I heard Rose sit down her coffee.

"Go on…"

"Her mom is throwing her a shower this weekend and she wants us to come. I didn't respond, I figured I'd talk to you first, but she says it's co-ed. Since things seemed to have gone so well with you and Emmett, I figured…"

"Oh my god, did they ever," she squeaked, her voice a loud whisper. Again with the squeaking, maybe spending more time with Alice wasn't a good idea. "I can't talk about it now, but maybe we can grab lunch?"

"You can't… Rose is he there," I asked, almost forgetting that Edward was still asleep.

She giggled and, as if on queue, I heard a door close on the other end of the line and a male voice greeted her. "Call me later." The line went dead and I stared at the screen in disbelief. That little floozy, I grinned.

Rose and I met at a chinese place halfway between the nail salon and the garage for lunch. It felt good to have clean fingernails again, but they were wrecked beyond compare from having been filed down so many times to adhere to the acrylics. I let the lady who removed them apply some clear gel polish to make them look a little better, but it didn't do much.

"Bella, he's amazing," Rose gushed when we got our food and started eating. "I've never met anyone like him… he's so big…"

"Eww." I commented and she grinned as she continued.

"And boisterous and … fun. He made me laugh; he cares a lot for his family and I like that. He told me about their business and his plans for the future. He really likes that I'm into cars." I snorted and she pretended to poke me with her fork. Saying Rose was into cars was definitely an understatement. "We were at the restaurant for hours talking about everything, I really felt like I could connect with him."

"And then you connected with him?" I asked, waggling my eyebrows suggestively and she blushed. Rosalie-Fucking-Hale blushed!

"It was amazing, he was so sweet and respectful. I even told him about what happened and you know how most guys are when you mention that your biological clock is ticking, but he didn't seem phased by it at all. He says he would like a family someday too. He's really excited about having Alice and Jasper's baby to help with."

Rose's happiness was infectious, I was so glad that things went well with Emmett. Everything I knew about him told me that he was a stand up guy, a big kid is what he was, but God help him if he hurt her. I would bring a world of pain down on him, this likes of which he's never imagined. "Are you guys going to see each other again," I asked, finishing the rest of my chicken and broccoli.

She blushed again and nodded, swallowing a mouthful of food. "Tonight. We're going to see a movie at that theater with the big comfy couches where they serve you dinner and drinks," I nodded in recognition. "But tell Alice that I'll be there this weekend, just have her text me the details."

We'd spent the whole meal talking about Rose and Emmett — not that I was complaining, it was definitely her turn to do the talking — but I hadn't gotten the chance to talk to her about Edward and my concerns about meeting his parents. I needed some advice from my friend about whether or not I should talk to him, or if I should even go this weekend, but she was just so happy that I didn't want to steal her limelight. I spent most of the afternoon shopping for a baby gift for Alice, which turned into baby fever, which turned into me buying half the baby clothes in the store because they were all so little and cute that I couldn't decide. Sometimes having ovaries has its downfalls. Luckily the baby boutique sold gift bags so I wouldn't have to stop somewhere else.

"Hello Bella," the alarm system greeted me once I punched in my code and I rolled my eyes, still not entirely accustomed to the extravagant piece of technology. The doorman had helped bring my bags up and I tipped him a couple of dollars after he sat them on the floor inside my door and closed it behind him.

It wasn't quite five yet, not that Edward ever left the office on time, and I thought about making him dinner. We hadn't talked about whether or not he'd be over but he usually was so I quickly prepared a marinade and coated some chicken sitting in the fridge, placing it back on the top shelf to sit while I showered. Showering with a gimpy hand is not comfortable and not exactly fast, but I tried to shave my legs as quickly as possible since that part only tended to take one hand.

I stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around myself before heading out to the kitchen to put the chicken in the oven. Edward was sitting at the breakfast bar talking on his phone and I paused, unsure whether to head into the kitchen or get dressed first. I wasn't trying to eavesdrop, honestly.

"No Mom, of course I want you to meet her… I don't know why you think I'm dating all these women and never bringing them home, Bella is the first woman I've even looked at in… I don't need to hear about… oh God mom, stop…" I could only imagine what she was saying and I had to bite back a laugh. "I don't know if she's coming to Alice's shower or not, we haven't talked about it… We haven't talked about that either… Yes we get around to actually talking!... It's just been a rough couple of days and we haven't really had time to ourselves… I don't know if she wants to meet you, you'd have to ask Pix, I'm sure she's brought it up..."

I started to chew on my lip and realized I'd been standing there longer than was socially acceptable without making my presence known. Trying to be as quiet as possible, I headed back into my room and shut the door. Was Edward really unsure of whether I would want to meet his parents? If Rose was here she'd kick me in the ass and tell me to go talk to him, but it just seemed like such a strange thing to discuss. This was his family, he should decide if and when I get to meet them. We definitely needed to discuss the shower though.

A/N: I felt the need for a chapter break but not necessarily for a jump in time, we'll see :)