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

Thanks to my Beta MadMooey18 for her constant support and help in making this story what it is today.


Bella hums as she places the mug of hot cocoa on the small table beside her. "See, I told you it's better than tea."

She looks at Edward standing behind her in the doorway of the balcony and smirking. "If I didn't know any better, I would think you are the one with kids, not me," she replies with a small smile. He laughs then walks to her and hands her a bundle.

"What is this for?" She asks as she unfolds the bundle in her arm and discovers that its a blanket. an extremely soft blanket.

"It's pretty chilly out here and your dress won't keep you warm," Edward says, eyeing the dress she attended his company's function in. About an hour after Bella's altercation with Jasper, they decided to leave the party. He was originally going to drop her at her place, but right when they reached her building, he invited her for drinks at his place. After he made it clear that he isn't going to do any funny business, she agreed, and here they are.

"You know, you keep cracking jokes at my cocoa's expense, but it will be something I will bond over with your boys," Edward tells her sitting himself in the chair facing hers.

Bella gives him an annoyed look then mutters to herself loud enough for him to hear, "We haven't been on a first date yet, and the boy is talking about meeting my kids."

"We can think of this one as our first," Edward proposes shrugging.

Feigning shock, Bella asks, "Was that your intention in inviting me over? Trick me into having a date with you?"

Edward leans forward and asks her, "That's not the important question. The real question is; are you having fun?"

Bella tilts her head to the side to think for a moment then tells him, "Just a little bit."

Edward whispers conspiratorially, "How can we turn a little bit into a lot?"

"Definitely not what you have in mind," Bella states and without her saying exactly what she means, he catches on.

Edward rolls his eyes then leans back into his chair as he tells her, "I don't understand why you always bring it back to that. It's not like a friend."

It's Bella's turn to lean toward him and ask in a low voice, "Can you tell me, with all honesty, that you never thought of it since I have gotten into your car?"

Edward raises the mug of hot cocoa to his lips and takes a long sip followed by a moment of silence then he tells her, "I am not going to lie to you, I have, but for me dating isn't about just that. It's about human connection. If that was my goal, I would drop dating and start frequenting one of the gentlemen's clubs my family owns instead."

"So you have never paid for sex?" Bella asks him.

"Is this a trick question?" Edward asks, feeling offended.

Bella shakes her head. "No, it's a genuine one."

Feeling flustered under her gaze, Edward shakes his shoulder, and shrugs as he finally confesses, "I don't know, okay? But it's weird. Paying for sex is weird. It's like you are so pathetic that you need to pay money to a girl to have a sex with you. Plus like, just how much control do you have over someone if you are paying them to have sex with you. I know it's not rape, but it sure as hell won't feel consensual."

Bella nods her head in understanding as she contemplates what he is telling her then tells him, "But you do know that many women find it empowering, so it's not all bad."

Edward rolls his eyes at her and states, "Don't be naïve, my love. They only do it because they have no other option. If it was empowering, men would be doing it too."

Bella lifts her mug up, as she thinks over his words. Bella hasn't had the best experience with sex. She only had it twice, and both times weren't her choice, but she has always operated under the premise that sex can be good, that it could be fun. She used to think of sex workers as evidence that sex can be fun. You must really love it if you are willing to do it everyday. After all, she loves modeling. That's why she does it. Guess she never thought of the lack of choice those women deal with. That feeling of helplessness is something she is very familiar with.

Recognizing the frown on Bella's face as her having dark thoughts, he figures that he needs to change the subject. "Let's talk about something else."

Bella smiles at him then takes another sip from her cocoa and asks him, "How did you get into drinking cocoa?"

"Would you believe me if I told you that it's my father's favorite drink?" he tattles to her smiling.

"You're lying," she accuses, giggling. "Mafia boss Carlisle Cullen is a fan of hot cocoa?"

"Nope, that's Carlisle Cullen to you," he corrects her as he smiles and pauses for a moment to think before he continues, "You know, drinking hot cocoa together on the weekend first thing in the morning, used to be our thing when I was growing up, and it still is today whenever I stay over for the holiday. Jasper always hated it, and Emmett outgrew it."

"But you didn't," she concludes, smiling too.

Edward takes a sip of the cocoa as he thinks over his next words, "It's not that I didn't outgrow it. I chose to not outgrow it."

Bella is confused by his statement and tells him so. "Well, I have never been into the family business. I can't comprehend being a part of it. With dad working as frequently as he did, it meant that I got to spend less time with him than my brothers, so I chose to keep drinking hot cocoa with him," Edward answers her simply like it's the most obvious thing ever.

Man, the two of you are the same type of fucked up. You stayed with Charlie not wanting to lose him until leaving him was no longer an option, and Edward still drinks hot cocoa with his dad, something he no longer loves, because his dad is "busy".

"That must have been hard," Bella tells him as she places her hand on his and looks into his eyes.

"I had my mum," Edward tells her, shrugging his shoulders and escaping her gaze to look into the distance.

Bella looks away in the distance as she stops herself from thinking and just say what's on her mind. "The boy's dad, he who shall not be named, is a piece of work. I would trust the devil with my kids sooner than trust him with them, however it doesn't change the fact that he is their father and my kids will never have that."

Bella is not even sure why she said that.

She is just thinking out loud, but it seems like her words hit a nerve as he is quick to correct her. "You don't get it. You are misunderstanding me. My father is a good father and a good person. He is just too busy with work. That's normal."

It doesn't even seem like he is trying to persuade you. He is trying to persuade himself. Who is going to tell him that neglect isn't the opposite of abuse?

Bella watches his side as she tells him, "I was not saying that. I am just speaking from my experience as a single mum."

Edward lets go of her arm by raising it to run his fingers through his hair then tells her, "You are right. I don't know why I got super defensive."

Bella nods her head in understanding, then looks down at her phone and exclaims, "Shoot! It's getting late. I need to go home." She folds the blanket then gets up and places it down on the chair.

"Can't you stay for a little bit longer?" Edward asks his tone coming out as an almost whine.

Bella shakes her head and tells him, "Nah, I need to sleep. Plus, I have an early visit to make tomorrow."

"Really? Where?" Edward asks as he leads her out of the balcony and toward the front door.

Bella points downward and at the look of confusion on Edward's face, she tells him, "To Jasper's place. I need to bury whatever hatchet I have with the guy."

"That's so nice of you. Honestly, it's starting to become a headache," Edward tells her, pleasantly surprised by her choice as she has always struck him as someone who is extremely stubborn, so it's nice that she is taking such an initiative.

Bella pauses at the door and warns him, "Don't get too excited. I am doing this for Alice."

Edward feels embarrassed and rubs his hand against his face and tells her, "Ouch! You don't need to give me a wake-up like that. You could have left me with my delusions."

Bella nods then leans forward to kiss his cheek before telling him, "Next time I will just tell you, of course darling."

Edward looks at her trying to read her face and playing hurt says, "You aren't mocking me, are you?"

"Of course not, darling!" she exclaims in a sugary tone.

Edward sighs to himself as he watches her walk toward the elevator and quietly asks her, "You aren't going to make this easy, are you?"

"No more than you can handle," she tells him then blows him a kiss and steps into the elevator.


She rings the bell and waits for the door to open. Then after two minutes she hears the sound of shuffling feet followed by the door swinging open.

Jasper gives her a hard look for a full minute before he finally tells her in a gruff tone, "Alice is still asleep."

"That's what I was counting on," Bella tells him, then ducks under his arm and walks into the house.

"Excuse me! Where do you think you are going?" Jasper demands as he turns around and finds her walking toward one of the sofas and making herself at home.

"You know, this place screams Alice. You could suggest a thing or two in the decor, and make it your own. I am sure she won't mind that much," Bella tells him, ignoring his statement.

"What do you want?" Jasper asks her angrily.

She stands up so that she is seeing eye to eye with him, then replies, "To know what the fuck your problem is with me."

"That?" Jasper pauses for a second, then tells her, "It's simple. I don't think you are right for Edward."

Jasper's words take Bella by surprise and she takes a couple of steps back until the back of her knees hits the sofa. "Then Edward will figure that out and break up with me."

She knows they think she isn't right for him. She is a single mum to two boys with questionable parentage and is the daughter of a traitor father. She just figured out that if Edward had a problem with that, he wouldn't have dated her, or at the least would break up with her. She knows that she is someone difficult to love, but Edward is still with her. If he had a problem with her background, wouldn't he figure out that she isn't worth the hassle and break up with her.

"Or maybe, Edward doesn't see it that way and you are trying to make me the one who breaks up with him?" Bella states sitting down and leaning back.

"Well, Edward doesn't know what is good for him," Jasper tells her as he runs his fingers through his hair before he sits opposite her.

Bella rolls her eyes at him and reminds him, "Give me a break. The guy is almost 30. He knows what he wants."

Jasper glares at her for a minute, but she doesn't back down which makes him sigh and finally tells her, "Edward is part of a mafia family. He doesn't need to be recieving that much publicity."

If you only knew that it was your brother who wanted the publicity of dating me.

"You mean the family doesn't need the publicity of him dating me?" Bella quips back.

Jasper scoffs then tells her, "He is a Cullen. What is good for the family, is good for him, and the family doesn't need publicity."

"And the family decided that you will be the dog that barks at me," Bella finishes.

He doesn't even realize that he is being manipulated into being the bad guy of the family.

At Jasper's silence, Bella tilts her head to the side thinking for a moment before she asks him, "The family doesn't need the publicity. That's strange because you guys didn't mind asking him a while back to talk me on a walk in Central park, so that when the words Cullen and Central park are searched, one will get stories about the two of us instead of finding out that your family is suspected in the murder of someone whose body was found in Central park."

Jasper doesn't blink as he tells her, "We changed our approach. He will no longer need to do that."

"But he isn't part of the mafia and you know that Jasper," Bella tells him trying to make sense.

And even if he wasn't dating me, he would still be a musician. Musicians bring a lot of attention to themselves on their own.

Jasper shakes his head then tells her, "He is working for the family, Bella. Hasn't he told you that yet?"

Bella rolls her eyes at his giddy tone thinking he found something to hold against her. "I know that. I also know that he is only doing it because there is a mole in your ranks, and he will stop his help once the mole is found."

"Until then, he has to stick to Cullen rule," Jasper replies.

As Bella watches the streets of New York pass by, she thinks over her last statement to Jasper, "I could be the best person to have in your corner, or the worst enemy to have."

Bella has seen enough violence and anger to last her a lifetime. She doesn't want that for the rest of her life.

Not for the first time, Bella finds herself wondering if dating Edward is the right choice.

If you break up with Edward, your friendship with Alice will be next.

Hell no!

Then wait it out. They will see that you mean business and get over themselves.

She takes her phone out of her bag and scrolls through her Instagram feed until the taxi reaches her apartment building. She pays him the fee then gets out of the car. Three hours later, she finds herself opening the door to an excited Adam who is holding the painting of a frog in his hand.

"Hey baby, how was school?" She asks as she bends to kiss his forehead then she stands up and ruffles Seth's hair who is carrying Adam's bag.

"It was good. We were given information about different animals and then we chose one of the facts of a certain animal. Then they gave us a drawing of the animal the statistic was about so we could color," Adam tells her excitedly.

Bella smiles widely at him as she takes the painting to look at it then asks him, "Really? What was the information about the frog?"

"If you throw a frog into hot water, it will jump out quickly because it knows that hot water hurts. However, if you put it in cold water and start heating it, it will get too used to the temperature increasing and will only realize that hot water hurts when it is too late," Adam tells her excitedly.

Bella gives Seth a look, bothered by what her son just told her, not realizing the significance of what he just said. "That's interesting sweetie, now take your bag from Seth and put it in its place," she tells Adam. Once he takes the bag and runs with it, she turns to Seth and tells him, "How many times do I have to tell you to stop carrying it?"


Hello lovely people,

This part is where I typically chat with you about the events of the story and ask you what you think will happen next. I want to do that cause some interesting things happened in this chapter, but I don't have the energy, excitement, or even interest to do that.

None. All I feel is rage that could burn mountains if left to it's own devices. The Baptist Hospital in Gaza was just bombed. 500 people killed by one missile. People are collecting body parts, not even bothering to look for bodies.

I am not going to tell you of the Palestinian humanity. If it hasn't been made clear by the author's note I updated two days ago, all I am asking is that if you are pro-Israel, Do not read my story. Do not follow, or favorite me as an author. Do not follow or favorite anything I write. The words of this Palestinian that you are reading is not for you.

Until my next update,

Free Palestine