I don't own any of these characters. Never have; Never will.

"Masen Anthony Swan, get your butt down here now!" I yelled through my two story townhouse. "You're going to be late!"

"God, Mom take a chill pill." He rolled his green eyes at me reaching the bottom of the stairs. He looked more and more like his father every day.

"You're going to be late." I repeated handing a pop tart over to my bronze haired boy. He just gave me his ever crooked smile and leaned over to kiss my cheek.

"Don't get too lonely with out me, Ma!" He yelled rushing out the front door. I took a deep breath sinking down in the nearest chair. Truthfully, I was kind of happy to have him out of the house. The entire summer had been full of nothing but teenage boys running in and out of my house. Plus, I knew it was less time I would have to deal with my son's obnoxious girlfriend.

I'm a single mother and have been since my boy was born those short sixteen years ago. At first it was hard but through the years it just seemed to get easier for me. Masen was my life and I couldn't see living without the kid.

I was sixteen when I had him. His father was the love of my life at the time. Until he went away to college. Two weeks after he left I was sitting in my bathroom staring at a positive pregnancy test. I knew I could have called him and he would have been on the next plane back to Forks. I had run straight for the phone dialing his cell number but quickly pressing the end button. There was no way I could tell him something like this over the phone. That's when I decided I wanted to do this alone.

My father became my rock through those nine months I spent carrying Masen. He was born seven days after he was supposed to be. Once I had him in my arms I cried. I cried for three days after that until my dad told me that my son needed me.

I realized I needed him just as much.

I finished high school early before going to the local community college. My mom who had been living in Phoenix with her new husband quickly moved to Forks to help take care of my boy. I knew it was difficult since her husband was a baseball player which meant he would be traveling a lot but she risked that to help me out, for that I am in great debt to the eccentric woman.

"Bella!" My best friend, Alice Hale, brought me out of my thoughts. "Oh, Bella you look a mess." The pixie like woman frowned at me. I had learned over the years to not take offence to whatever words Alice threw at me.

"Masen's first day of school." I sigh.

"Which has you thinking of Edward." She rolls her eyes.

"Of course." I nod.

"Jesus, Bella when are you ever going to get over Edward Cullen?" She sits down in the chair that is right next to me.

"How about never?" I groan.

"What about Jake? You two seemed to be getting cozy the other night." She grinned at me.

Jacob Black. The only guy I've been with since I had Masen. Mine and Jacob's relationship has been only physical for some time now. He's been trying to push something more on me but I'm really not interested at the moment. Or it's possible I will never be interested in something more with him.

He's become a great stand in father for Masen, but I have to constantly remind the both of them that Jacob is not Masen's father.

"You know that he and I are only friends." I roll my eyes standing up and walking over to the coffee pot. I need caffeine if I am going to be dealing with Alice this early in the morning.

"Friends with benefits." She mumbles. I laugh at this.

"That's all we'll ever be, so please don't press this anymore." I say. She holds her hands up in defeat. "Thank you, now what exactly are you doing here?"

"Is it a crime to come see my best friend?" She grins.

"No, but you're usually not up this early."

"Fine, I can't hold it in any longer!" She gushed standing up and walking towards me. "I'm pregnant!"

"Oh, Alice. That's wonderful!" I launch myself at her. Alice and her husband Jasper have been trying for years to have a child. The two of them have tried everything to conceive.

"I know." She grinned pulling away from my hug. "Jasper's beside himself. The poor guy is terrified."

"You'd think he would have been prepared for this. After all he helped out with Masen." I say pouring the finished coffee into a mug.

Alice and Jasper have been together since freshman year of high school. She said that the second she met him she knew he was her soul mate. Seeing the two of them together I know she wasn't wrong about that at all. If anyone deserved a child it was them.

They had stuck with me through my entire pregnancy and after. Alice said that she would stop at nothing to help me out. Jasper hadn't been so sure at first but he quickly changed his mind when he met my baby boy.

"Oh Lord, I should get going!" She glanced at her phone. "I'll call you later. Don't get too depressed today, alright?" She said hugging me.

"I'll try." I smiled.

"That's all I ask, bye Bells!" With that she was out the door.

"Bella?" Alice had barely made it out the door when I heard Jacob's voice echo through the house. I just rolled my eyes knowing that Alice probably said something to him on her way out.

"In the kitchen!" I yelled.

"Good Morning." He smiled walking close to me. His hands instantly found my hips. I wasn't in the mood this morning but I knew pushing him away would do no good. "Alice said you're feeling down." He buried his face into my hair.

"I'm not." I shake my head. Jacob doesn't make me feel alive when he touches me. My body doesn't heat up nor does my heart beat quickly at his closeness, ever.

"Sure about that?" He looked up at me.

"Very, now I need to get ready for work." I say with barely any emotion.

"I just wanted to stop by to see if you wanted to go out to dinner tonight." He finally pulled away from me and let his hands leave my hips making me feel less like I was going to puke any second.

"I don't get off until seven, Jacob. I'll be far too tired to go out." I say.

"Come on, Bells. It's just dinner." He tried.

"Not tonight, Jacob." I shake my head.

"Fine, how about I meet you at the hospital for lunch then?" He raised an eyebrow at me. I knew what he was thinking. I knew he was wanting some sort of silly quickie in the back of his jeep but I'm just not up for it.

"Not today. I'm having lunch with Rosalie." I say happy that I have a reason to not see Jacob at all today.

"Fine. I have to get going anyway. I doubt Seth can hold up the garage too much longer this morning."

I was happy once he left. I was alone at last.

I needed to get ready for work.

I've worked for Forks County Hospital since my son was six years old. I'm a pediatric nurse, at first the job took a lot out of me. Considering I did not do that well with blood in the beginning. It's gotten easy over the years and I've come to completely love my job.

As I slipped my shirt over my head I heard my cell phone ring. I just rolled my eyes not wanting another distraction that morning but also knowing that if I didn't answer it whoever was on the other line would keep calling over and over again until I did answer.

Charlie.

"Hey, Dad."

"Bells, you're late." I just rolled my eyes. Of course he'd already be up at the hospital waiting on me.

"No I still have half an hour to get there." I say running a brush through my dark hair.

"I was just hoping to see you before I had to be at the station." Something seemed strange.

"I'm sorry, how about you stop by around lunchtime. I've got plans with Rosalie but she won't mind if you join." I say to him.

"I actually have plans at lunch." He coughed. My eyes widened. Charlie having plans?

"Oh, well then I get off of work at seven?" I don't mean for it to sound like a question, I'm just a little curious as to what he's going to be doing at lunch.

"I'll just stop by the house tonight then. I want to see my grandson anyway." He sounded proud. Dad adores Masen, and my son pretty much worships my father. They spend most of their Sunday's at the lake fishing and being guys. Masen doesn't get that much besides when Jake or Jasper is around and I try to not keep Jake around him too much. I just don't want Masen to get even more attached to him. I don't plan on taking my relationship further with this guy, but I know that Masen won't see it that way further down the road.

"Sounds good, how about you pick up a pizza and bring it over." I tell him.

"Alright, I'll see you later Bella." I sigh inwardly and click the end button on my phone.

Time for my day to start.

My feet are more then tired by the time lunch comes around. I feel as if I hadn't set down the entire day. I know that it's just going to get worse as the day goes on. I walk through the cafeteria to find Rosalie already sitting at a table eating.

"Couldn't wait for me?" I lift an eyebrow approaching her.

"Sorry, Bella but Isabelle here doesn't like to wait long to eat." The blonde grinned patting her stomach. Rosalie is almost seven months along with her second daughter. Soon enough she should be going on maternity leave. Hopefully pediatrics won't be too hectic without our main doctor. I met Rosalie McCarty two years after starting at the hospital. She's become one of my best friends besides Alice. She met her husband Emmett five years ago and they've been married for four. Their oldest daughter, Katherine Mary McCarty will be three next month. Now they are just waiting for Isabelle Louise McCarty to be born. Rosalie said that she just adored my name and that her mind was made up and it would not only be my name but her newborn daughter's name as well, but replacing the a at the end with an e. I must say I'm flattered.

"I completely understand. Being pregnant with Masen in high school was pure hell having to wait so long to eat." I sat down across from her and pulled an apple out of my bag.

"I reached into my coat pocket this morning and found it full of cookies. I didn't even know that I had put them there." She gave me a smile.

"I ate so many Oreo's when I was pregnant with Masen. My parents would buy three or four packs at a time because I went through them so quickly." I laughed remembering those nine months I held my little boy in my stomach.

"Oreo's sound really good right now. I'll have to pick some up before I head home today." She laughed stuffing a piece of bread into her mouth. "Oh yeah, I saw your dad this morning. He seemed really antsy."

"Oh, he called me and asked why I was late for work. Said he had something to talk to me about. I'm a little worried."

"I'm sure it's nothing. Your dad doesn't like change much so I doubt it'll be too bad." She shrugs and I really hope she's right.

"How was school?" I ask my son who is sitting on the couch watching TV when I enter the house. My feet are hurting ten times as bad as they had been at lunch. All I wanted to do was take off my smelly clothes, take a shower and go to bed. One of the newborns in the NICU today had an accident all over me. I'm really not sure how I managed to get into such a mess, but I did and now I was paying for it by the smell that was coming from me.

"Good." He didn't even look up at me. I glanced at the TV and realized he was watching Cops. I just rolled my eyes.

"Charlie should be here soon." I say walking over and sitting down on the couch so I could take off my shoes.

"Yeah, he called." Was all he said.

"Oh, what'd he say?" I questioned.

"That he was bringing dinner over. You know Mom you really smell." He wrinkled up his nose finally looking over at me. I let out an exasperated sigh.

"I know. I'm going to take a shower."

"Good because I don't think Jacob will want to smell you like that." He said and them I saw a smirk on his face.

"Jacob?"

"Yeah, he called and I invited him over for dinner."

"Oh, that's just lovely." I say sarcastically.

"I think so." He laughed. Masen knows exactly how I feel about Jacob, yet he still pushes.

"What's he doing here?" Charlie whispered in my ear as I pulled out plates from the upper cabinet in my kitchen. I had just gotten out of the shower to find Masen and Jacob playing a video game and Charlie just walking through the front door.

"Your grandson invited him." I sighed.

"I was just hoping to talk to you and Masen alone…"

"What's going on, Dad? You're acting strange." I face him with a hand on my hip.

"I've just got some news is all." He gave me a smile. Wait, did Charlie actually just smile? I haven't seen the old man smile like that in years.

"Then just go ahead and tell me now. I'll tell Masen later." I say not wanting to delay him telling me what is going on any longer.

"I've been seeing Sue Clearwater." My eyes widened. I hadn't been expecting that one. "And we've decided to get married." Whoa. Wasn't expecting that either.

"Married? How long have you been seeing her?" I could barely breathe.

"About six months. I've really fallen for her, Bells. I'm also tired of being alone." Sue is a great lady but I've never been able to picture her and my father together. She's a widow with two kids. Leah is just a few years younger then I am and Seth is about the same age as Masen. They are coincidentally best friends. The past summer Seth practically lived with us.

"Dad, I hope you're making a wise decision." I say not wanting to say something that I'll regret later.

"I've really thought about it Bells, the wedding is in four months. We figure that's enough time for everyone to adjust to our relationship. Sue's telling her two tonight." He looks nervous. I just take a deep breath and then offer him a smile. I want Charlie to be happy and if this makes him happy then I'm all for it.

"Congratulations Dad." I smile and them hug his neck.

"Thanks, Bella."

"Did you just say Grandpa's marrying Seth's mom?" Masen's eyes widened. After my dad left Jacob wasn't far behind him. I had basically ignored him the entire night to only have him try to kiss me before he left. I turned my head and he got my cheek instead of my lips.

"Basically." I nod. "Now, we'll talk about this more later. Go to bed."

"I can't believe this." He shakes his head laughing a little. I'm about to follow and go to bed myself when my phone rings.

Alice flashes across the screen of my phone.

"Bella, I need you to sit down." I don't even get to say hello.

"For what?" I ask curiously.

"I have something to tell you, now are you sitting down?"

"Yeah." I lied. "Now tell me why you sound freaked out."

"Because you aren't going to believe who I just saw."

"Who?" I was clueless.

"He only came by because he and Jasper are cousins, you know that and I really just wanted to slice his head off the second I saw him." I was confused. All I knew was that Jasper only had one cousin and that was Edward, well he was sort of a step cousin. The Cullen's had adopted Edward when he was just a child.

"Alice, I'm confused." I said finally having to sit down.

"Edward's back in Forks, Bella, He was here at my house. You should have seen how fast Jasper ran to take down the pictures of Masen. If he saw a glimpse of that boy he would know." I couldn't breathe.

Too much for one day.

Way, way too much.

He couldn't be back in Fork's. He was supposed to be far away from here and moved on with his life.

"There's more. He's got a little girl. She is absolutely the most adorable little thing I've ever seen, but I promise I wasn't nice to Edward for one second."

"I have to go, Alice. This is too much." I shook my head like she could see me.

"Oh, Bella. I'm so sorry I just figured I should tell you before you randomly saw him out and about." She sounded worried.

"It's fine, really. I just need to go to bed."

But I didn't fall asleep as quickly as I thought I would.

No my night was full of me tossing and turning; running over and over in my mind on how my first encounter with Edward might be. Although I was hoping to God I wouldn't have to have that encounter. Not with my secret of Masen.