A/N: Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight. I just borrow the characters. I promise to give them back. :)

Thanks to everyone who has read/reviewed my story. Your encouragements mean a lot!

HOLY CRAP! so sorry for the delay! I feel like such a hypocrite since it's one of my pet peeves when authors take forever to update! SORRY! It's been the busiest fall EVER!

Enough excuses! On with the tale.

Chapter 12 – Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

EPOV

I smiled as I heard small running footsteps on the other side of the door before it was wrenched open and an ecstatic Matt stood in the doorway.

"Hey, bud," I swooped down and pulled him into my arms. "Ready for the zoo today?" I carried him into the house and saw Bella packing something into a small backpack.

Matt nodded emphatically. "I love the zoo! We went to that really big one all the time. What's it called again, Mommy?" he asked Bella.

"The Bronx Zoo, sweetie." Bella laughed as she zipped the backpack shut.

"Yeah, that one, Daddy."

I chuckled and tickled his stomach. "Well, this zoo isn't as big the Bronx Zoo, but we'll still have fun." I pressed a kiss to his temple and set him on his feet. "Go get your shoes and we'll be on our way."

Matt ran up stairs and I took the opportunity to give Bella a proper greeting by pulling her into my arms and planting a hard kiss to her lips. We decided to hide our relationship from Matt until we could talk to him about it.

"It's been two weeks," Bella panted once we broke apart. "When you get back later, were talking to him about us. I can't hide it anymore." She rested her hand against my cheek.

"Plan on it, love," I murmured. "I can't stand not kissing you when I want to anymore."

She smiled, pecked my lips one last time before pulling away as Matt ran back down the stairs.

"I'm ready, Daddy!" he called, skidding to a stop in front of me.

Bella slipped the small backpack on Matt's shoulders and bent down so she was eye to eye with him, turning him to face her. "Promise to be good for Daddy, alright? Do good listening and have fun."

Matt nodded. "Okay,"

She pressed a kiss to his forehead and gave him a quick hug before letting him go.

Matt took my hand as Bella followed behind us to the door. She stood in the doorway as I buckled Matt in and waved as we drove out of the driveway and down the street.

"What's your favorite animal at the zoo, Matt?" I asked him, glancing in my rearview mirror.

"The tigers," he said immediately. "The white tigers," he amended.

I smiled, remembering my years at the zoo with my parents. "Me too. Should we go there first?"

Matt nodded excitedly.

My pager beeped and I took a quick glance down at the screen. It was the hospital. I groaned and dialed the number that flashed on the pager screen.

"Hold on for a second, bud," I said to Matt as I waited for someone to pick up.

The nurse that answered said there was a quick clerical problem that could be easily rectified in a few minutes. I sighed resignedly and said I'd be right there.

"Matt," I said to get his attention. "I have to make a quick stop at the hospital for a few minutes. I'm sorry, bud. Then we'll be on the road to the zoo."

Matt nodded. "Okay, Daddy,"

I turned the car around and drove to the hospital. I parked in the short term lot and helped Matt out of his booster seat. We started walking towards the entrance when Matt slipped his hand into my and squeezed. I smiled and squeezed back.

I made sure Matt stayed close to me as we took the elevator to the nurses' station on the second floor. The nurse that was there – Molly, I think her name was – smiled flirtatiously and handed me two charts that I apparently forgot to complete.

I picked Matt up and sat him on the tall counter, so I wouldn't lose him, and pressed a kiss to his temple before finishing the charts.

"Who's this little guy?" The nurse, Molly, squealed in a high pitched voice that I assumed was supposed to be cute.

"This is my son Matt." I replied, patting his knee.

She looked taken aback. "I didn't know you were married." She said bluntly.

I glanced up at her to see her still looking at me. "I'm not," I sighed as I attempted to get back to charting.

Matt giggled. "Daddy's taking me to the zoo!"

"Well, you have such a great daddy!" Nurse Molly purred suggestively, reaching out to rub my arm.

I slid myself and the chart down the counter and out of her reach. She seemed to take the hint and huffed before getting back to work.

With a final sigh, I signed the last chart and stacked them at the end of the counter to be processed. I turned to Matt who was swinging his legs to the song he was humming. "Ready to go, bud?"

He nodded and I lifted him off the counter and took his hand.

When we arrived at the elevator, Matt let go of my hand to run forward and push the call button. I laughed at his exuberance.

"Dr. Cullen! Edward!"

I looked around to see Maggie in a hospital wheelchair being pushed towards us by her boyfriend Liam. She was dressed in street clothes and carrying a large tote bag on her lap.

"Hey, Mags," I called as they drew closer. "You're finally getting out of here?"

She nodded, frowning. "Yeah, but they're still making me use this ridiculous wheelchair."

I laughed. "Just hospital policy."

Liam greeted me with a friendly handshake when they stopped next to us.

"Daddy," I looked down to see Matt pulling on my pant leg. "Who are you talking to?"

I ducked down and picked him up under the arms before settling him on my hip. "These are my friends, Maggie and Liam."

Maggie squealed and clapped her hands excitedly, looking eerily like Alice. "Is this Matt?" When I nodded, she stood slowly – Liam scrambled around to help her but she stopped him with a pointed look – and crossed to stand in front of us. "Nice to meet you, Matt." She grinned before leaning towards him. "Your Daddy talks about you all the time!" she whispered loud enough for us all to hear and winked.

Matt giggled.

The four of us rode the elevator down to the elevator together to lobby and walked out the automatic doors and out into the parking lot. We stopped by Liam's car and Maggie stood from the wheelchair. As Liam returned the wheelchair to the lobby, I pulled Maggie into a hug.

"Take care of yourself, Mags," I said.

She squeezed me tightly before releasing me. "I will, Edward."

"Do have a pen and paper in that obnoxiously large bag of yours?" I asked her when I patted my pockets and came up with none.

She nodded and pulled out a small notepad and a pencil. I quickly wrote down my pager and cell phone number before handing it back to her. "Here's my pager number and cell number. If you need anything, call me. And you know I'll come running."

She smiled and rested her hand on the little bump that recently appeared on her lower abdomen. "Thanks. I think we'll be okay."

I chuckled and picked Matt up and settled him on my hip again. "When you go into labor, you better tell whichever doctor is in the ER that to page me immediately."

"I definitely will." She laughed.

I smiled back, just happy to see her smiling again.

Liam returned and I said a final goodbye to the two of them. "Take good care of my Mags," I said to Liam as I shook his hand.

"I will, Dr. Cullen,"

Maggie pulled me in for a final, one-armed hug squeezing me almost too tight. "Thank you, Edward." She whispered. "For everything,"

"Bye, Mags," I let her go and started to carry Matt back to my car. I turned back to Liam and Maggie. "I'm serious, Margret!" I yelled. "Page me when that baby is born!"

I heard her laugh across the parking lot. "I will!"

I buckled Mat back in his booster seat and we were finally on our way to the zoo.

(...MLS...)

"Daddy, look!"

I laughed. Every time we reached a new exhibit, Matt excitedly pulled on the leg of my jeans, pointed to the animals on the other side of the fence and yells, "Daddy, look!"

"I see the giraffes, Matt."

He rushed forward to stand as close to the fence as possible. "They're so much bigger than in the pictures in my safari book!"

I swung him up in my arms, grinning as giggled, and lifted him onto my shoulders so he could get a better view. He was clutching my neck and hair tightly but I couldn't find it in myself to care. I was having fun with my son.

After Matt got his fill of the giraffes it was time for the last exhibit, the tigers. I took Matt's hand and led him down a dirt path to the false wood and Plexiglas enclosure. As it loomed closer and the sleeping tigers became visible, Matt gasped. "Daddy!" he tugged on my hand and tried to pull me down the path. "The tigers!"

I chuckled and walked faster to keep up with him.

There was a crowd in front of the enclosure. Kids' faces were pressed against the glass as their parents stood back a little. Matt and I moved down the path a few feet where there was less of a crowd to get a better view of the big cats.

Matt tugged his hand from mine. I didn't think anything of it until I looked down a second later. I glanced around. I couldn't see Matt.

My heart froze in my chest and dropped down to my toes.

"Matt?" I called. When he didn't appear in front of me and didn't answer back, panic started to set in.

I ran down the path and as the crowd thinned, my panic increased. "Matt?"

I stopped short and breathed a sigh of relief as I saw him walking down the path a few feet ahead, following the tiger on the other side of the glass.

"Matt!" I cried in relief and ran to catch up with him.

He turned as he heard his name and smiled. "Hi, Daddy! Look I'm following the tiger!" he pointed up at the big cat in the enclosure.

I crouched in front of him and pulled him into my arms, crushing him to me as my heart tried to slow back down. I pressed a hard kiss to his forehead and then his temple but didn't let him out of my arms. "Bud, you scared the fu – you scared me, Matt! You walked away without telling me. When I couldn't find you, I got really scared, bud."

His eyes widened and filled with tears. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I just wanted to see the tiger."

I kissed his forehead again. "I know, bud. How about we go get a snack and get back home to Mommy?"

Matt nodded. "Can we go to the gift shop?" he grinned mischievously.

I sighed, knowing I couldn't deny him anything. "Sure, bud,"

(...MLS...)

I pushed Bella's door open and Matt ran inside ahead of me, clutching the gift shop bag tightly in his hand. "We're home, Mommy!"

Bella emerged, grinning, from the kitchen looking gorgeous as usual. But there was something different about her. Her hair was shinier, her skin almost glowed and she seemed much more relaxed.

"Hi, baby boy!" She crouched down and Matt flew into her outstretched arms. "Did you have fun? Did you do good listening?" the second question was directed more towards me as she glanced up in my direction and smiled.

"I had so much fun with Daddy, Mommy! We had to stop at the hospital 'cause Daddy had to write something in a big binder and I met his friends Maggie and Liam. Maggie was leaving the hospital but she's okay now. Then we went to the zoo and saw so many animals! The giraffes were really big and the gorillas were kinda scary. But then we saw the tigers! They were so cool! But I walked away to follow the big tiger and I scared Daddy 'cause he couldn't find me. Then we got ice cream and Daddy bought me a stuffed tiger."

Bella looked a little shell shocked as Matt spewed out our entire day in one breath. "Okay . . ." she said slowly. "Well, I'm glad you had fun."

Matt ran upstairs to put his new stuffed tiger on his bed and Bella came over to greet me. She kissed me sweetly and cupped my cheek. "Did you have fun?" she asked me with a smirk.

I chuckled and kissed her forehead before tucking her under my chin where she fit perfectly. "I did, actually. Well, except when I thought I lost him for a few seconds. It felt like my heart stopped, Bella. I was on the brink of a full-on panic attack."

She pressed a soft kiss to my chest. "I know how you felt, baby. He wandered away from me at the grocery store once."

I pulled her to sit on my lap on the couch and just held her in my arms for a few minutes. I missed her today.

After a few minutes she spoke. "Should we talk to Matt now? About us?"

"Yeah, we should." I agreed as Bella moved off my lap.

We both called Matt down and heard him running down the stairs a few seconds later. He ran into the living room and threw himself in the space between Bella and me on the couch.

"Listen, buddy," Bella began, pulling him onto her lap and turning so that they both faced me on the couch. "Daddy and I have something to talk to you about."

I slid forward so I was sitting right next to them. "You know that I love you and Mommy very much, right Matt?"

He nodded. "I love you too, Daddy." He answered simply.

Bella was grinning madly behind him.

She took over. "You remember how Daddy and I used to date in high school? Well, since we live close by now, Daddy and I want to start dating again." She paused. "Is that okay with you, sweetie?"

Matt nodded. "Yeah, that's okay." He smiled at the two of us. "Mommy, Daddy should live with us. Can he move here?"

I smirked as Bella stifled a laugh. "Not today, Matt."

A/N: Thanks SO much for reading! PLEASE leave me a review let me know what you think! Love it? Hate it? Just okay?

Phew! Busy day for father and son!

What do you all think about Edward's relationship with Matt? with Maggie? with Bella?

UP NEXT: Bella bonds with the girls and maybe a second first date?

I will try to keep updates not so far apart in the future. My life may be slowing down, but I really can't say.

Thanks again!

- Nikki