Title of Story: Baker's Treat

Rating: M (for language)

Pairing: Edward & Bella

Genre: Romance

Word Count: 5051

Story Summary: Single mother and baker Bella, literally runs into Edward the new town doctor. Is love at first sight real, or is that only in fairy tales?

Standard Disclaimer: The author does not own any publicly recognizable entities herein. No copyright infringement is intended.

It's that time of year again, leaves are turning color, temperatures are dropping, and there is pumpkin spice in everything. It also happens to be my favorite time of year. I look forward to the cool crisp air. I live in a small town in Virginia, and by small, I mean like 500 people live here. Well, really it's 425, but that doesn't include all our fur babies. Everyone knows everyone here. It hasn't really changed much throughout the years. It's still the same quaint town my great grandparents lived in, of course with modern upgrades.

I own a bakery, the only one in town, and this is my busy season. Pies are my biggest demand, from pumpkin to pecan, and, yes, I even have to make the occasional fruitcake. My best friend, Alice, helps me run the place. I couldn't do it without her. They recently moved here, wanting to get out of the city and missing the small-town life. Alice, Jasper and their daughter, Elizabeth, Lizzie for short, were just ready for a change. Not wanting to be separated from Alice or their grandchild, Esme and Carlisle made the move also. With Dr. Banner looking to retire, and Carlisle, being a doctor himself, slid into the position, so everything worked out and the town welcomed them with open arms.

I heard the buzz from the timer and taking a deep breath, I savored the cinnamon wafting from the cinnamon rolls I have been baking. Removing them from the oven to allow them to cool for a bit, I mixed up the icing to pour over the top. While placing them in the display case, the bell rings over the door. Looking up, I see Alice and her five year old daughter, Lizzie, in her arms.

"Hey, you two. How's it going?" I ask.

"Morning, Bella, I hope you don't mind that Lizzie came with me. She isn't feeling well and Jasper got called into work early this morning, so he couldn't watch her. I think she is coming down with a cold or something, and since Mom and Dad are out of town right now, I couldn't get anyone to watch her this early." Alice says, worriedly.

Waving her concerns away. "Calm down, of course, I don't mind. You can take her upstairs and lay her in my bed, or even in Aedan's bed; he won't mind. I'm sure she's probably tired. Also, there is some children's cold medicine I keep in the kitchen cabinet above the fridge," I tell her. Aedan is my son and his father, my ex-boyfriend, Jacob, is a good guy, but we shouldn't have ever been more than friends. He's very happy with Leah now, in fact, they are expecting twins soon. Leah is a regular in my bakery. She has been into all things pumpkin lately, so I have been trying to come up with new ways to satisfy her cravings. She loved Aedan and he loved her. I was happy and relieved she wasn't threatened by him, or me, for that matter. She knew what Jake and I had was long over and should have never been. I could and would never regret my son. I love him with all that I am.

"Is Aedan upstairs?" Alice asks.

"No, he's at my mom and dad's house. It seems that there is a bug going around, and Aedan caught it. He was sick last night while mom was dropping off some recipes, so she offered to take him since I had to be up early," I tell her.

"Aw, that's so nice; makes me miss Mom and Dad. They left this morning to go on their second honeymoon," she sighs. "I'm going to go put her in the bed, then I'll be down to help you."

"That's fine. If you want, there is a baby monitor in the junk drawer in the kitchen. I think it still works if you want to use it," I say before she leaves. Aedan, who was now six, was not a morning person. A trait he inherited from his father. I didn't really worry about him waking up and getting into anything, but the apartment was still childproofed. I wasn't taking any chances.

"Thanks," she says, happily. As she made her way upstairs, I headed to the door and flipped the sign over from Closed to Open, and propped open the door. It was a beautiful fall morning. Nothing was better than allowing the cool air in while the smell of fresh, baked goods drifts out. I placed the chalkboard sign out front showing today's specials. I stood there for a moment just basking in the clean fresh air. Even though I have lived the better part of my life here, I did leave for college. I never missed home like I did when I was away, and once I graduated, I came straight home and opened up the bakery. I haven't looked back since.

Taking one last deep breath, I turned to head back inside when I walked right into something hard falling right on my rear. I groaned as the sidewalk isn't exactly soft.

"Oh, shit! Are you okay?" The stranger asked.

I looked up to see the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen. Even full of worry, they were still the most beautiful shade of green. His hair was a wild mess too; a strange shade of bronze. You can tell that he runs his hand through it a lot.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Nothing new with me falling," I say, blushing with embarrassment.

"Here, let me help you up," he says, reaching his hand out. I grasp his hand and immediately felt a static shock go through me. "I'm Edward, by the way. Edward Cullen, one of the new town doctors."

I gasped, "You're Alice's brother, aren't you?"

He smiled shyly, and I swear I almost swooned. "Yeah," he says, rubbing the back of his neck; the tips of his ears even got a little red. "I guess she's talked about me?"

"Only a little," I reply teasingly.

"A little?" he questions.

I laugh, "Ok, a lot. But it's only because she loves you so much."

"Edward?" I hear a voice yell from inside. "Eeee!" Both Edward and I turned just in time to see Alice running and jumping on him. "Oh my gosh, you're finally here! Oh, I missed you so much!" she practically screams at him.

Edward hugged Alice tightly as if he were scared she would disappear, "I've missed you, too, sis." Wanting to give them time alone to catch up, I head back inside. A few of the regulars came in. The ones I always knew what they wanted. Coffee and a glazed donut for one of Dad's deputies, or a coffee and a cinnamon roll for Embry. I could never give up my life here. I love the day to day routines, the neighborly love we have for each other and just being so comfortable here. This is where I belong. Soon, after the first few customers left, Alice and Edward came inside.

"Oh shoot! Bella, I'm so sorry. I haven't seen Eddie in such a long time, I lost track of the time," Alice says apologetically and Edward groans out loud beside her.

"Alice, don't call me, Eddie, you know I hate it."

"I know, that's why I do it,"she teases him. He just hugged her and kissed her forehead. You could tell they were very close; like a brother and sister should be.

"Alice, relax. It's ok. The people that are usually up this early came in, got what they wanted, and left. It's not like it was the lunchtime rush, then you would have been in trouble," I tease her.

"Oh, haha, Swan, you're real funny," she says, sulking, "and to think I was going to be nice and introduce you to my brother. Now, I've changed my mind."

Giving her the bitch brow, I could see she was trying hard not to laugh. So, I did the one thing I knew she hated. I poked her in the belly which made her squirm and laugh. One thing you needed to know about Alice; she was very ticklish.

"Alright, you win, this time." We were always trying to see who would crack first. It's usually me, but now that I knew her weak spot, I had the upper hand. "So, this is my brother, Edward. Edward, this is my boss and best friend, Isabella Swan."

"Nice to meet you again," he says, shaking my outstretched hand. I couldn't stop the blush rising up my neck if I tried. Alice was looking a bit confused.

"Alice, you only talk about him all the time. Plus, I kinda ran into him outside," I tel her.

"How are you, by the way? No permanent damage, right?" he asks, smirking.

I lightly smacked his arm. "Yes, thank you. Nothing but a bruised...well, nevermind. How about some coffee and a cinnamon roll? You know, to say sorry for almost running you over," I reply, trying to change the subject.

He chuckled and smiled that cute, crooked smile. "You don't have to butter me up for forgiveness, but since you're offering, I will gladly take one of your pumpkin cinnamon rolls and coffee, black, please."

"Coming right up," I say, smiling. Stepping behind the counter, I placed a warm roll on a plate with a fork and fixed him some coffee in one of our mugs. "Here you go, one pumpkin cinnamon roll and a black coffee."

"Thank you, Bella. This smell wonderful."

"Come sit over here, Edward, we have to catch up while it's not busy," Alice tells him while pulling his arm.

"Careful, Alice, this coffee is hot, and I don't want to burn myself," he politely chastises her.

"Sorry, I'm just so excited to see you, that's all."

"I know, sis," he sighs sadly, "Come on, let's go talk." They both headed over to a small table by the window while I went back into the kitchen to clean up a bit so I had less to do when we closed. I was just finishing up when I heard the bell ding over the door. I dried my hands and walked towards the front counter.

"Mrs. Cope, are you ok? You look frantic," I ask, concerned. Mrs. Cope was always put together. She wouldn't be caught dead walking to her mailbox without her hair done, her makeup on or her clothes in perfect condition. She had told me many times that she was taught this as a child, and it never left her. However, the woman that was standing before me now was nothing like the Mrs. Cope I knew.

"Jaynie just called. The cake she ordered from the bakery in the next town over was cancelled, and they never told her. Mikey's party is at two and there will be twelve kids there, plus another four adults, and there is no birthday cake. Please, Bella, you have to help me!"

"Mrs. Cope, take a breath. We still have hours to go. That's plenty of time for me to make a cake and even some cupcakes for the adults."

"Oh, thank you, Bella." Her shoulders seem to sag in relief. "I was just so frantic when she called me that I just changed and ran over here." She puts her hand on her head and sways a little.

"Whoa! Are you ok?" I ask, while reaching over the counter in an attempt to steady her. She was looking a little pale, and you could see the sweat that began to form on her forehead.

"I feel dizzy all of a sudden," she says, weakly.

I start walking around the counter and just as I reach her, her legs give out. "Edward! Alice!" I hear chairs scraping and then footsteps. Edward gets there first. "She's diabetic," I say.

"Mrs. Cope, can you understand me?" Edward asks her.

"Yes," She says, shakily.

"Do you have a blood sugar meter with you?" He asks.

"I...in my p...purse." I quickly dumped the contents of her purse, thanking the heavens that she doesn't carry around those giant ones. I hand Edward the meter. He sets it up and quickly tests her blood.

"Shit. Sorry for my language, but your sugar is dangerously low. Alice, get some orange juice. Bella, do you have a protein bar or something like that? We need to get her sugar up."

"I do in my purse. Alice?"

"Got it," Alice says, rushing back behind the counter.

"Have you eaten anything before you came here?" Edward asks her just as Alice returns with the juice and protein bar. She shook her head no. "Here, can you drink this?" Her hand reached for the bottle, but fell before she could grasp it. "It's ok, here let me help you." Edward places the bottle in her hand and helps her bring it to her lips. She drinks it down quickly. He opens the protein bar handing it to her. I hear the bell over the door ring and Mr. Cope rushes in.

"Shelly? Shelly!" He says, frantically. Edward moves aside. "It's your sugar again, huh? You were in such a rush this morning I didn't even think for you to stop and eat before you left the house."

"Does this happen often?" Edward asks Mr. Cope, or, Bill, as he prefers to be called.

"Only when she forgets to eat something in the morning. Are you a doctor?"

"Yes, I am. Edward Cullen. Sorry to meet under such circumstances."

"My Bill, such a worrier." Everyone lets out a laugh in relief that Mrs. Cope was feeling better and joking.

"You are looking much better, Mrs. Cope. Let me check your sugar again before we let you get up." He checks it once more. "It's still low, but better than what it was. Come on, let's get you off this floor." Edward and Bill both help her up and into a chair. "There you go. Here eat this, and in fifteen minutes, I will check your sugar again," Edward tells her as he hands her the protein bar. Bill scoots a chair close to her side and holds her hand.

"Oh, Bill, I am so sorry. I was so worried about Mikey's birthday that breakfast just slipped my mind."

"Shelly, I think you might have taken a few years off my life. When I saw you on the floor when I passed by, my heart nearly fell out of my chest. I thought the worst. You must not do that to me again. Do you hear me, old woman?" he scolds her, teasingly.

"Old? Who you calling old? If I remember correctly, you are five years older than me. Besides, didn't we make a promise to one another on our wedding day that we would never have to live without each other? I'm still holding you to that promise. I, for one, am not ready to leave here anytime soon," she tells him lovingly.

"Me either, my dear, me either." They held hands, and he places a gentle kiss on her lips.

Edward, Alice, and I leave them while she recovers. "Thank you so much, Edward. You did a great job," I praise him.

"Bella, can I ask you something?"

"You can ask me anything."

"I know we just met, but Alice was telling me about this fall dance thingy that's coming up, and I was wondering if you would accompany me to it?"

My eyes widen in shock, because I wasn't expecting anyone to ask me. I was just about to answer him when the bell over the door dings, and a little voice calls out, "Mama!" Aedan runs up to me hugging my legs. I bend down picking him up, "Hey, baby. Did you have fun at NeNe and Pops' house?" I ask him.

"Yeah, me and Pops had a burping contest," he tells me, excitedly. "Then I got sick and threw up on him." The look on his face breaks my heart.

"Oh, my poor baby." I felt his forehead. "You still feel a little warm to me." He grabs my hand removing it from his forehead.

"Mooom, I'm fine," he says, defiantely, and I hear a chuckle next to me.

"Aedan, I would like you to meet, Miss Alice's brother, this is, Dr. Edward. Can you tell him hi?" Aedan buries his head in my shoulder. A trait he inherited from me; my shyness.

"Hello, Aedan," Edward says as he smiles at my son.

Aedan turns his head, smiling shyly at Edward. "Hi, Dr. Edward." Then he lifts his head, "you're not gonna give me a shot are you?" he asks, seriously, making us all laugh.

"No, I am not going to give you a shot," Edward says, still laughing.

Just then, my mom steps up, "Hi, I'm Renee Swan, Bella's mother, and Aedan's grandmother."

"No, you're not, you're my NeNe," Aedan retorts, setting everyone off again.

"Baby, grandmother is just another name for NeNe." I explained to him.

"Edward, this is my mom, Renee. My dad, Charlie, is the police chief; not that there is much crime here," I tell him.

"Pops likes to fish. Mama, I wanna go fishing with Pops again." I smile at my son.

"Maybe once you're better you can go again, but next time stay in the boat," I joke.

He lets out a yawn. "But, mama, the fish had my pole, and he was taking it with him." He lets out another yawn, rubbing his eyes. "I liked that pole," he mumbles as he starts falling asleep on my shoulder.

"I'm going to go put him to bed," I whisper.

"But I'm not tired," he mumbles, again

"Of course, you aren't," I reply, smiling at him and kissing the top of his head.

Edward smiles at us and says, "I'm going to check on Mrs. Cope. She looks like she is feeling much better than before."

"Yes, she does," I reply. Turning towards Alice, I ask, "Alice, can you watch the shop while I go put him down, please?" She nods and I turn towards my mom, "Mom, don't leave ok, I'll be right back."

"Don't be silly, darling, I'll come up and help you get him settled in." I sigh, knowing she's either going to interrogate me, or she was going to push me to date Edward. We head up the stairs together and while I take Aedan to his room, Mom heads to the living room. When I walk in, I see Lizzie up and playing on the floor. I smile at her putting my finger to my lips, so she didn't wake Aedan.

"NeNe is in the living room if you want to go see her," I whisper. Her eyes light up, and she runs out of the room hollering, "NeNe!" I cringe, but Aedan doesn't even stir. Poor baby. I hate when he's sick. I lay him in his bed, check his forehead again feeling he was still warm. Grabbing the thermometer from the bathroom cabinet, I check his temperature. I was suddenly grateful that I had invested in one of those forehead thermometers. I roll it over his forehead, and the temperature reads 100.7. Not too bad, but not great either. I'll check it again in a bit, if it's any higher, I'll give him some medicine. I sigh and walk out, slightly closing his door. Walking into the living room, I expect to see my mom, instead, I'm surprised to see Edward sitting there. He looks up as I enter.

"Hey," he says.

"Hey...where's my mom and Lizzy?"

"She was leaving just as I was coming up. She said she was going to take Lizzie back to her house. She wants you to call her when Aedan wakes up. Oh, and I just sent Mrs. Cope home with an appointment to come see me about her diabetes." I nod. "You know, you didn't answer my question."

I look at him, confused, "What question?"

"About you going to the dance with me?"

"Oh. You mean you still want me to go with you, even though I have a kid?"

"Absolutely, I would. Bella, I knew you had a son before I even met you. Alice talks about you and Aedan nonstop. It's part of what drew me here, well, besides missing my family, of course. I wanted to get to know you and get to know Aedan. So, please, Bella, will you go to the dance with me?"

I smile, "Yes, I will go with you. But just to let you know, Alice talked about you, too. She went on constantly about her brother, how she used to dress him up in her dresses because she wanted a sister so bad." He groans, making me laugh.

"Please, tell me she didn't…"

"Show me the pictures? No, of course not, why would she do that? Besides, I think pink is really your color."

"Oh really?" he says, mischievously. He gets this gleam in his eye that makes me take a step back. "What's wrong, Swan, scared?"

"Of you? Never," I say, taking off laughing. I can hear him close behind me. I make it to the bottom of the stairs when he grabs me around the waist. I bust out laughing as he starts tickling me. We both hear a throat clear and look up to see the shop full of people smiling at us. I probably blush the deepest shade of red, even Edward blushes. I quickly remove myself from Edward's grasp. I quickly walk behind the counter and into the kitchen hiding as Edward heads for the door. I find the note from Alice stating that Mrs. Cope wants a Ninja Turtle cake for her grandson. Fairly simple, especially since I had started one yesterday, but then the party was canceled due to the bug that is going around. All I had to do was ice it and then make some cupcakes. Since most adults don't like the same sweet icing I use on the kids' cake, I go with a marshmallow icing instead. I get busy on the cake and before I know it, Alice is poking her head in the kitchen.

"Hey, Bella, Jaynie is here."

"Oh, great! I was just finishing up. Hey, ask her what Mikey's favorite turtle is please." After a few moments, she's telling me it's the one with the yellow mask. "Ah, Mikey, I should have known you would like that one whose nickname is your name." I say, chuckling to myself before moving on to finish the cupcakes. Since they were for the adults, I added edible pictures of Michelangelo on top. Alice and I pack everything up before handing them over to Jaynie and her husband, Alec.

"Thank you so much, Bella. I told Alec we should have just gotten it here. You are a lifesaver," she says, relieved. She is the sweetest person, how she puts up with Alec I will never know. He has never liked me, and I have never liked him.

"It's no problem, really. Give Mikey a hug from me. I hope everyone enjoys it."

"Oh, Alice, I have to get Aeden or he's not going to sleep tonight," I say, just remembering he's still asleep.

"Don't worry about it. I checked on him twenty minutes ago and he's fine. He's actually sitting in the cafe reading a book. His fever is gone and seems to be feeling better. He said he was hungry, but I didn't want to give him anything sweet just in case."

"Thank you. I know how I get when I start decorating. Aedan is usually at school, though."

"Bella, stop beating yourself up. I was here and still had the monitor, so I heard when he got up and went to get him."

"Thanks. I don't know what I would do without you." I give her a hug. I am so happy that she moved into our small town. "I see the curiosity burning in your eyes. So, to answer your question, Edward asked me to the dance, and I said yes."

"Eeee!" she squeals. "You two are going to be such a cute couple. Now the dance is Saturday, that only gives me three days to find you both a costume."

I sigh and leave the kitchen to check on my son. "Hey, buddy, how are you feeling?"

"I'm ok, but I'm hungry. Ms. Alice said I couldn't have a cinnamon roll."

"And she's right, you don't need a cinnamon roll."

"But Moooom."

"Hey, keep it up, and you won't get any for a while. Now come into the kitchen and I'll make you some scrambled eggs."

**Trick or Treat**

The week seemed to fly by and Saturday was already here. Alice found a costume for me and Edward. She promised that it was tasteful and not skanky. We picked out Aedan and Lizzie's costume for trick or treating and the first part of the dance when the kids' costumes were to be judged. We started getting everyone ready since we only had a couple of hours until it was time to go trick or treating.

"Aedan, come on, we have to get to Ms. Alice's to get changed so your dad can take you trick or treating."

"Is LeLe going too?" my son asks.

"I don't know, baby, but come on and let's go get ready. The sooner you are dressed the sooner you can find out." I am so glad that Aedan and Leah get along. He can't wait for the babies to be born. We head out to Alice's and as soon as we get there we see Lizzie already dressed as Belle from Beauty and the Beast.

"Lizzie, you look so cute. You're Cinderella right?"

She puts her hands on her hips and acts likes she's mad at me. "Auntie Bella, I'm Belle from Beauty and the Beast."

"Oh! That's right, and you are a beautiful Belle. Where is your mommy?" She grabs my hand, and I grab Aedan's as she leads us into the house. I see Alice dressed as a flapper from the 1920s and Jasper dressed as a gangster from that same era.

"Bella! You made it, finally."

"Alice, I told you yesterday, I wasn't going to be here at sun up. Now, where are mine and Aedan's costumes? Oh and hi Jasper."

Turning briefly from the mirror where he was adjusting his tie and vest, he nods his head towards me, "Hey, Bella."

Alice sighs, but knew not to even argue with me. "They're in my room. When you're done, I'll help you with your hair and makeup. Don't worry, it will take no more than five, ten minutes at most, to do your makeup and your hair won't take even that long."

Entering her room, I see a top, skirt and what looked like a headscarf. Aedan's costume was Prince Adam after the transformation. I helped him dress first. He thought he was cool being Lizzie's prince; this way he could protect her. Once he was done, I shooed him out and got myself ready leaving the headscarf off since Alice wanted to fix my hair. As promised, it didn't take long to fix my hair and makeup. We still had another hour before trick or treating started when my cell rang. Looking at the Caller ID, I saw that it was Jacob.

"Hey Jake, what time should I expect you?"

"Umm, about that, I'm actually on the way to the hospital. Leah is in labor."

"What?! Oh my...do you want us to meet you there?"

"No, Sue is bringing dad. We'll call you, you know just in case it's false labor again. Tell Aedan I'm sorry I can't take him Trick or Treating."

"I will, give Leah my love."

"Will do, thanks, Bella." We hang up, and I let Aedan know. He's sad that he won't get to go Trick or Treating with his dad, but happy that the babies will finally be here.

Once we arrived at the dance, I found Edward, who was a gypsy like me. We met up with Rosalie and Emmett. Rose was dressed as a scarecrow. Her pumpkin shirt was stretched over her six month pregnant belly, and Emmett was dressed as a pirate. He had gotten her a pirate costume, but she refused to wear it claiming she didn't want her belly hanging out.

Aedan and Lizzie win second place to Jane and Alec's twins as Jack and Sally in the kid's costume contest. Mom and Dad had come and picked up the kids who were climbing the walls from all the candy they'd eaten. Esme and Carlisle even showed up surprising us as we didn't think they would be back for at least another week. They were dressed in black, the Count and Countess Von Cullen; Vampire royalty. Carlisle was dressed in an old fashioned, black tux and Esme radiated beauty in her floor-length black dress with a corset top. Both wore grey colored wigs and had a scar design drawn down one eye.

Edward and I danced the night away only stopping long enough to rest and get the long awaited call from Jake telling us that Leah had the twins. A boy, William, after his dad, and a girl, Sarah, after his mom, who had died in a car wreck when he was nine. Took the heart of poor Billy and it wasn't until Sue came along that that spark came back to him. I can't wait to see the look on Aedan's face when I tell him that his brother and sister are here. He'll be so excited, but it'll have to wait until morning. Edward and I talk while we danced, and talked while we nibbled on all the different foods around us. He asks me out on another date and I gladly accept.

Who knew that me falling on my rear would result in finding the man I could see spending the rest of my life with? I guess love at first sight really does exist. Who knows what next Halloween will bring?

The End