"Alexander Brody, get your booty down here right now," I yelled, standing at the base of the stairs. "You are going to be late."

"I'm coming," he grumbled, stomping down the stairs. "I don't see why I have to go to school at all, Mom."

"It's the law and Grandpa would come all the way from Forks to arrest me if I don't make you go. Sorry, little man," I smiled, kneeling down and tying the shoe of my five year old son.

"Whatever," he pouted.

"Ok, Mr. Grumpy pants," I smiled, folding down the collar of his shirt. "What do you want for breakfast? Pancakes or waffles?"

"Um," he said, biting his bottom lip. "Pancakes!"

"Pancakes it is," I laughed.

Alex and I headed into the kitchen. He sat down at the table and immediately pulled his coloring book and crayons to him. We had gotten into the habit of leaving them on the table so he would always have them while I cooked, since he liked to be in the kitchen with me.

"You want blueberries or chocolate chips?" I asked, pulling out my mixing bowl.

"Blueberries," he muttered.

I chuckled and pulled the blueberries out of the fridge. Once he got to coloring, it was hard to avert his attention. It didn't take me too long to make him a couple of small pancakes. I set them in front of him and helped him pour on the syrup. He continued to color in his Spiderman coloring book while he ate. I had just finished cleaning my skillet when the phone rang. Laying the pan on the counter, I went over and picked up the phone and smiled when I looked at the caller ID.

"It's for you, Alex," I smiled, holding the phone out to him. He grabbed the phone and clicked the green talk button.

"Hello," he said. Immediately, his face exploded into a huge smile. "Grandpa!…Nothing, I'm coloring….uh huh, Spiderman….I guess. Mom said you would arrest her if I didn't go…No, but I didn't tell her that I didn't believer her…you know how she is," laughed Alex. I rolled my eyes as I pulled out his lunch box and packed his sandwich, an apple, juice box, and two cookies. "I will…I promise….Ok, hold on. Mom, Grandpa wants to talk to you."

"Ok, put your lunch box in your backpack," I said, trading him the Spiderman lunch box for the phone.

"Fine," he sighed. I shook my head and pulled the phone up to my ear. I could hear my father, Charlie, laughing.

"Yeah, it's not funny, Dad," I muttered.

"Oh, sure it is, Bells," laughed Charlie. "He's going to be ok."

"I know," I whispered. "I think he's just nervous."

"Of course he is," said Charlie. "I told him I would call him after school and see how his first day goes, so send me a text or email when you get home, ok?"

"Ok," I snorted. "You know, it's weird that you say things like text and email."

"Yeah, yeah, excuse me for living in the now and not the then," scoffed Charlie.

"Wow, I'm hanging up now," I laughed. "I'll text you later, Dad."

"Ok, love you, honey. Don't cry," he laughed.

"Yeah, love you, too, Dad," I snorted, shaking my head.

I hung up and set the phone down on the counter. I made my way out to the living room where I found Alex, trying to shove his lunch box into his backpack. Smiling, I went over and squatted down next to him.

"Need some help?" I asked.

"I got it," he muttered, shoving really hard. I sat there for another minute or so while he continued to push until finally, the lunch box was inside his backpack. "Got it."

"Good job," I smiled, zipping it up as much as we could. His backpack was full of his school supplies. "Are you ready to go?"

"I guess," he whispered, looking up at me with wide, scared blue eyes. "You promise it's going to be ok?"

"I promise," I smiled, stroking his cheek.

"Ok," he whispered.

Alex and I headed outside to my car, an Audi SUV. I got him settled in his booster seat, making sure his seatbelt was on properly. He pulled his coloring book and crayons out of the back pocket on the back of the passenger seat and began to color while I ran around to the driver's seat. Looking back at him again, I started the car and buckled my own seatbelt. I turned back around and backed my car out of the driveway and headed to his new school.

Twenty minutes later, I pulled my car into the parking lot of Clover Elementary School. I climbed out and helped Alex out of his booster seat and out of the car. He held onto my hand as we crossed the street and headed into the school. With each step, he moved closer and closer to me until he was practically glued to my leg. We walked into the main office where a woman with reddish/orange hair was sitting behind a large desk. The woman looked up and smiled as the door shut behind us.

"Hello," cheered the woman, smiling at me and Alex. "How may I help you today?"

"My son is a new student," I explained. "I registered him last week for kindergarten."

"Of course," smiled the woman, looking at Alex. "You must be Alexander Swan."

"Oh, he prefers Alex," I said, as he clung onto my leg, tightly.

"Ok, Alex," said the woman. "My name is Mrs. Cope."

"Hi," whispered Alex.

"He's a little shy," I explained. "I'm Bella Swan."

"It's nice to meet you, Bella," smiled Mrs. Cope. She dug through some of her papers before she pulled out a long list and read through it. She smiled again and looked up at us. "Well, it looks like Alex is in Mrs. Whitlock's class. Her classroom can be found down in D-Wing."

Mrs. Cope quickly explained how to find D-wing and Alex's classroom. I thanked her and, somehow, managed to pry my son off my leg. Alex stayed very close to me as we made our way down the hallway and outside to the back of the school. In between the main school, where I was told grades two through five are, was a large playground with several jungle gyms, slides, swings. I smiled at my son as we walked past them and headed down to the small buildings that lined the back edge of the playground.

We walked up to Alex's classroom and stood behind a tall, thin dark haired woman who was consoling her daughter, who was sobbing uncontrollably against her mother's leg. My heart broke a little bit as she begged her mommy not to leave her.

"Annabeth, you know Mrs. Whitlock isn't going to let anything happen to you," soothed the woman. Mrs. Whitlock, a short pixie like woman with long black hair that had been pulled up into a ponytail, knelt down next to Annabeth and her mother.

"Sweetie, we are going to have so much fun today," smiled Mrs. Whitlock. "Don't you want to have fun with us?"

"Yes," sniffed Annabeth. She pulled back from her mother and wiped her nose on her hand. "I'll be ok now, Mommy."

"I'll pick you up right here after school, I promise," said her mother, kissing her wet cheek. Annabeth nodded and carried her backpack into the classroom. Mrs. Whitlock and the girl's mother stood up and hugged each other. "If she starts crying again, text me."

"She'll be fine, Angela," laughed Mrs. Whitlock. "I promise."

"I know," sighed Angela. She turned and smiled at me and Alex before she made her way through the back gate to the parking lot that sat behind the school.

"Well, who do we have here?" asked Mrs. Whitlock. Alex was clamped into my leg as his teacher knelt down in front of us and stuck out her hand. "I don't believe we've met yet. I'm Mrs. Whitlock."

"I'm Alex," he whispered, looking up at me. I smiled and nodded my head. He let go of my leg and placed his hand in hers.

"Of course," smiled Mrs. Whitlock. "I was so excited to hear that you would be in my class, Alex. Why don't you go in and find you desk while I talk to your mommy for a minute."

"Ok," whispered Alex. I knelt down next to him and hugged him. "I'll see you later, Mom."

"Ok, be good today," I smiled. Alex just nodded his head and headed into the classroom. I stood up and blinked back the tears I could already feel building in my eyes.

"I'm Alice Whitlock," smiled Alex's teacher, holding her hand out to me.

"Bella Swan," I said, shaking her hand.

"It's nice to officially meet you, Bella," said Alice.

"AUNT ALI!" bellowed a little auburn haired boy as he came running around the corner.

"Anthony," cheered Alice, hugging him as he launched himself into her arms. "I knew you would be late."

"We are not late," said a voice behind me.

I looked back and saw an incredibly gorgeous man standing there. He had the same auburn hair as Anthony. His eyes were bright green and sparkling. His jaw was strong and his skin was pale and completely flawless. He smiled as he looked from me to Alice and Anthony.

"We were almost late, but see, we got here on time," he said. I took a deep breath as I turned away from him.

"Whatever, Edward," snorted Alice. "Anthony, go find your seat."

"Ok, Mrs. Whitlock," snickered Anthony. He turned back to Edward and raised his fist. "Later, Dad."

"Later," said Edward, bumping his fist with his sons. "Be good or no going to Nana and Papa's."

"Oh, man," whined Anthony, walking into the classroom. I couldn't stop from laughing with Edward and Alice.

"Alice, if he acts up, call me, k?" asked Edward, taking a few steps backwards.

"K," smiled Alice. Edward looked over at me before he turned around and ran around the corner. "Well, Bella, I guess I had better get in there before they start painting the walls or something."

"Oh, I need to tell you that Alex is allergic to nuts, like deathly allergic," I said, quickly as I pulled out the small slip of paper from my back pocket. "Here's my number, in case…"

"On it," smiled Alice. "Don't worry, Bella. He's going to be just fine."

"I hope so," I murmured.

I turned and headed back up to the main part of the school as Alice closed her classroom door. Making my way past the office, I headed back over to my car and climbed in. I headed straight back to the house and straight to my office. I powered up my laptop before I went down into the kitchen and poured myself some coffee. I headed back up to my office and settled behind my desk and started proof reading my new book for the umpteenth time.

The house was eerily quiet without Alex here with me. I was used to hearing him play in his room or watching TV behind me while I wrote or, hell, sometimes he would pull a chair up to my desk and color while I worked. I wasn't sure I liked the quiet. In fact, after a couple hours of it, I turned on my iPod just to have some noise on. I somehow managed to get through the day and finally it was time for me to leave to go pick Alex up.

I practically ran down the stairs and jumped into my car. Throwing my seatbelt on, I pulled out of the drive way and made the twenty minute drive to the school. I took a chance and parked in the back parking lot this time. I climbed out of my car and made my way to the gate were three other women were waiting, including Annabeth's mother, Angela.

"Hi," she said, smiling at me. "I didn't get a chance to introduce myself this morning with all the craziness of the first day of school. I'm Angela Cheney."

"Bella Swan," I said softly.

"It's nice to meet you, Bella," said Angela. She turned to the other two women. "This is Rose Cullen and Kate Mitchell. They both have kids in first grade, which is just down D-wing from ours. Ladies, this is Bella. Her son…" She trailed off, looking at me as she realized she didn't know my son's name.

"Alex," I said.

"Her son, Alex, is in Anna's class," explained Angela.

"It's nice to meet you, Bella," smiled Kate. She was a beautiful blond with shoulder length hair and grayish eyes.

"Are you new to Seattle?" asked Rose, a gorgeous honey blond with long legs, silky hair, and crystal blue eyes.

"Um, no," I said, shaking my head. "I've lived here for about seven years."

"Oh," muttered Rose.

We fell into an awkward silence. It seemed like none of us knew what to say to each other. I leaned against the wall behind me as they started talking amongst themselves. They had obviously known each other for awhile now and I felt so out of place.

"Rose, is Emmett working this weekend?" asked Edward, coming up behind her, twirling his keys around his finger. He looked over at me and smiled before he looked back at Rose.

"No, he's taking Elliott down for soccer sign ups," explained Rose. "Why?"

"I was hoping he'd be willing to help me and Jas coach," said Edward. "They are having a coaches meeting after evaluations."

"Ok, I'm sure he would," smiled Rose. She looked over at me. "Are you going to sign Alex up, Bella?"

"I don't know," I muttered, biting my lip.

"Hi, I'm Edward Cullen," said Edward, sticking his hand out to me. I blushed slightly as I placed my hand in his. As soon as our hands touched, I felt a shock shoot through me. I quickly pulled my hand back.

"Bella Swan," I mumbled.

"You should sign you son up," smiled Edward. "It would a great way for him to get to know some of the other kids."

"Um, I'll talk to him about it," I said. "He's not used to being around kids so…"

"Hey, no pressure or anything," laughed Edward as they unlocked the back gates. Angela, Rose, and Kate headed straight in. "After you."

I'm pretty sure my face was the color of red tomatoes as I stumbled my way through the gate with Edward following me. We stopped outside of our children's classrooms with Angela and a handful of other parents who were waiting for their kids to come out. I leaned back against the wall and looked down at my feet as the final bell rang. A moment later, Alice opened her classroom door.

"Bus kids line up on the sidewalk. If your parents are not here yet and you are not riding the bus, stay against the wall please," instructed Alice. I looked over as Alex came bouncing out of the classroom with his backpack on one shoulder.

"Mom, I had the best day." He was practically yelling. I laughed as I knelt down in front of him.

"You did?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah," he laughed. "I sit next to Anthony, who is like so funny, Mom."

"Well, that's great, Alex," I smiled. "Are you ready to go home? Grandpa was going to call, remember?"

"Yeah, I'm ready," said Alex. He turned to Anthony, who was talking to Edward. "See you tomorrow, Anthony."

"Sure thing, Alex," smiled Anthony, nodding at Alex.

I noticed Edward looked a little shocked or surprised at the friendship between our two boys, or maybe I was imagining it. Alex and I headed back out to our car. Once we were both buckled in, I drove us home while listening to Alex rave about Anthony. I was starting to think Anthony was like a super hero with the way Alex kept going on and on about him. After we got home, I sent Charlie a text letting him know it was safe to call, which he did less than a minute later.

I fixed Alex a snack while he filled Charlie in on just how cool Anthony really was. Once he had relived every moment of his day for my father, he took his bowl of grapes and went to watch TV for awhile. I laughed as I sat down at the table.

"Well, it sounds like his day went pretty good," snorted Charlie.

"No kidding," I laughed.

"How'd yours go?" asked Charlie. I could almost see the smirk on his face.

"Oh my god, Dad, it was horrible," I whined. "I came straight home and tried to work but it was too freaking quiet. Eventually, I had to turn on some music just so I had some noise going. I swear, I almost turned on the Disney Channel."

"Wow," snorted Charlie as he laughed. "Sounds like you had a worse day than he did."

"I know," I muttered. "It's pathetic, isn't it?"

"A little," chuckled Charlie. "But it's good for you."

"I know," I sighed, shaking my head. "I had better get going. I still have three more chapters to edit before I make dinner."

"Ok, Honey, love you," said Charlie. "Tell Alex that I'll see him in a couple weeks, ok?"

"Ok, Dad, love you, too."

I sighed as I hung up the phone. Grabbing my own bowl of grapes, I headed up to my office. Alex was laying on the couch, watching Phineas and Ferb and eating his snack. I smiled inwardly as I sat down at my desk and finished editing my final three chapters. It was silly that having him in the same room, with the TV on, was comforting to me but it was.

After I finished my work, I headed back down to the kitchen and made us some spaghetti for dinner. Alex started yawning about halfway through dinner. Once he was done, I got him into the bath and ready for bed. I sat down on the edge of his bed and brushed his blond hair out of his face as he yawned again.

"You tired, bud?" I asked.

"A little," he mumbled.

"Me too," I smiled. "Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to sign up for soccer? I heard a couple of the other parents talking about it."

"Yeah, Anthony was talking about it," smiled Alex. "Can I play?"

"If you want to," I said.

"I do," said Alex, yawning again.

"Ok, sleepy head," I laughed. I leaned down and kissed his forehead. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Ok," mumbled Alex, already half asleep.

I climbed off his bed and turned on his nightlight before I shut his bedroom door. I headed down the hallway to my room and laid down on the bed. I read for awhile before I changed into my pajamas and fell asleep. Sometime in the early morning, I felt Alex slip into my bed with me. I smiled as he curled up next to me and went back to sleep.