I don't own twilight. What I own is my character's behavior, personality, background, and the plot of my story.

Edward drinks from the glass of wine in his hand watching everyone laugh and talk around him. The Denali Gala is a yearly event hosted by Denali inc every year to celebrate its achievement throughout the year and to announce future projects. This year Eleazar will be announcing the opening of a new department, the Landscape Department.

The department will be headed by some big-shot Landscaping architect from Europe. She is an American that has been working in Europe for the last five years and has been involved in some award-winning projects, many of which she solely designed on her own.

He couldn't care less about the entire thing.

That's a lie. He just doesn't want to think about that because a certain somebody also happens to be a landscaping architect.

He would have preferred to not be here. The last thing he wants to do is socialize. Somehow, he always ends up dating social butterflies. But his family is here. It would be an asshole move of him not to show up. Plus, this would be a good place to chat with people and meet new clients.

He feels someone pull at his pants. He looks down and finds Cece smiling at him. He smiles widely and picks her up. Interestingly enough, he has been thinking about her a lot since the last time he saw her. She has the ability to make him feel happy instantly.

"What are you doing here?" he asks her as he brushes his hands through her hair. "I am here with Mummy and Daddy. What are you doing here?" she asks him accusingly. "I am here with my family and girlfriend," he replies.

"Really, I want to meet her. Introduce me to her. I am your friend. Can I call you Eddie?"

This girl feels like a tornado. She holds his face in her hands and pulls down one of his cheeks. If this was any other kid, he would have put them down and ran for the hills. He would not even allow his nephew and niece to do that. But oddly enough, he is okay with her doing this.

"Yes we are friends. But I would prefer for you to call me Edward," he tells her. If she is ever heard by Jasper or Emmett calling him that, he will never live it down.

"But that is unfair. You call me by my nickname. My real name is Cecelia," she said pouting.

He relents and lets her call him Eddie. She starts to tell him all about her new school. She tells him something about a hospital visit, but he is not sure. Between her thick accent, child take, and talking fast, he can not make out every word she says.

She is babbling something about a pet called Mumu. when he spots her father coming his way. "Cece what did I tell you about running off?" he asks her as he takes her from Edward's arms.

"Sorry, daddy. I saw Eddie and wanted to say hi," she tells him as she starts playing with the longer strands of her father's hair. He kisses her forehead before turning towards Edward.

"I hope she was not bothering you," Marco tells him apologetically.

"Not at all, man. This lady can bother me anytime she wants. Although I didn't understand everything she said due to the accent. Actually it sounds European but I can't tell what exactly it is," Edward subtly pries.

"Italy. We moved recently from Italy. My wife is from here," he is cut off Cece when she asks him to let her down. He drops her gently to the ground and tells her to not get too far and turns back to Edward.

"I was an exchange student here when we met. After that, we moved together to Italy. She got a really good work offer so here we are. If I am honest with you, I prefer Italy over the USA. We don't have mass shootings and health care is cheaper there. But this is what my wife wants."

"As a fellow American I feel you," Edward tells him fighting the urge to lecture him on all of the positive things America has that Italy does not. He doesn't want to come off too strong. Plus, once he lives here long enough he will probably like it enough and never want to leave.

Marco looks around nervously as he says, "When my wife and I met she was dating someone else. They broke up before we became what you call it here an item. He is in this room and I am worried he will make problems for her if he runs into her. It's not like she cheated on him on anything. But he is a hot head and they didn't end on the best terms. So you can imagine how he could behave."

Edward nods his head thoughtfully as he watches Marco keep an eye on Cece despite not understanding why the man is telling him so. He cares about his wife and daughter, but for all intent and purpose they are strangers.

Are Italian over-sharers?

Also for some reason what he just said doesn't sit well with him. He doesn't know why. He is cut out of his thoughts when Cece comes running to him.

"I found ice cream," she tells him. Looking up at him. He nods at her not understanding what she wants.

"I found ice cream," she repeats. He tries to understand what she means by that and comes up empty. Marco scoops her up as he tells her, "Sweetheart, what did your Mummy and I tell you. You can't ask people to buy you ice cream."

A spark of recognition lights up in his head. He did promise to buy her ice cream. "She wasn't being rude. If I recall, I did promise her ice cream if she helped me and she did," Edward tells Marco as he opens his arms for her to jump into them.

"You don't need to do that. Her mum and I buy her too much as it is."

"No can do. A promise is a promise, right Cece?" Edward tells him looking at Cece.

"Right," she replies nodding her head and looking serious.

Right then Eleazar takes the stand on the stage and clears his throat into the microphone.

Marco takes Cece out of Edward's arms as he says, "Next time. We need to find her mother."

Not bearing to see the frown on her face, Edward tells Cece, "Once the speeches are given, find me and we will get ice cream together, okay?"

She rolls her eyes and mutters, "if I have to."

Edward lightly tickles her sides until her frown is replaced with giggles. She tells him to stop and so he does. "You are not allowed to frown around me, got it?" He tells her as he holds his hands up for a high five. She high-fives him then her dad drops her to the ground and they leave with her running in front of him.

He turns towards Eleazer who gives a long speech about the achievements of Denali inc. And then starts to talk about the new department they are adding.

Edward tunes out his drowning. The last thing he wants to do is listen to him stroke his own ego. He looks around for Tanya. The sooner he finds her the sooner it will be appropriate for him to leave the party.

His searching is stopped when he hears Eleazer's next words. Words that paralyze him. "Ladies and Gentlemen, without further ado, the head of our new department, the landscaping department, Isabella Swan."

Hope you enjoyed this read.

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Until my next update,

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