Chapter 1

Bella's POV;

Were you ever a bit of a control freak when you were younger? I was. I had everything planned out. I made a list of all the things I wanted to accomplish before I was 25. In chronological order, I was weird like that. I wanted a degree, a loving husband, a house, maybe even a child or two.

But here I am, a single mother to a beautiful boy at 22.

At least I got my degree first.

Let me tell you how I got here. It started with a gorgeous boy; I mean of course I did. I was 21, in my last year at Oxford University when I saw him. Jacob Black was gorgeous. His long muscular limbs, his caramel skin and dark hair, the perfect lines of his face. I should have known he was a jerk. No nice guy is ever that attractive in university.

He approached me and fed me all the typical lines and I played hard to get. I flirted with him when I passed him on campus. I eventually gave him my number. And when he asked me to go on a date with him I said 'yeah sure, pick me up at 8'.

Big mistake.

He was the perfect gentleman on the date; he pulled my chair out for me, listened to me when I talked about my course, showed interest in me, laughed at all my jokes and showered me with compliments. In fact he was the perfect gentleman for the first few weeks of our budding relationship. Then he started pressuring me for sex.

At first it was subtle. He'd try to take a make out session a little further, I would tell him no and he'd let it go. But he got more forceful as the weeks went on and in the end I gave in. I know; I was stupid. I should never have slept with him; I should have just cut him out of my life, forgotten about him. But he seemed so perfect at the time and I thought I was falling in love with him. So I threw caution to the wind and slept with him.

I never saw him again and I ended up pregnant.

Lucky for me it was so close to the end of my final year that I completed my final exams before I'd even realised I was pregnant.

The first person I called was my mum; I needed the reassurance that only a mother can give, I needed her to tell me that everything was going to be okay. But my parents disowned me as soon as they heard. So I called my twin sister, Alice. She finished studying at UCLA and caught the first flight to London. She was the only person who stood by me. She came to every scan with me, helped me with every bout of morning sickness. She ran to the store for every disgusting craving and reassured me when I said I looked fat. When my son came into the world a month before his December due date, Alice was there beside me, holding my hand and soothing my fears.

And that's how I got here.

Alice got a job in interior design and she is the only one of us with an income. I'm at home all day with Oliver, who has just turned 3 months old and is constantly babbling and sucking his fists. I loved him so much. He had my eyes and chocolate curls with an olive skin tone that hinted towards his father and his heritage. He would never know that he created this beautiful boy with me.

The problem was I was worried. I loved my son but I wanted to be out, working in the field I love and earning money to help Alice with the bills. I had a degree in Biochemistry, specifically Biotechnology and Genetics. Before I got pregnant I had gotten offers from universities and hospitals to work with their research teams. Obviously that all got put on hold for my son and as much as I wish I could work for their prestigious research teams I could never regret having him.

I could wait a few years for that, I couldn't sacrifice moments with Oliver for work.

I was jolted out of sleep by the piercing wails of Oliver and groaned before rolling out of bed and walking to their nursery. I still wasn't used to the 4 am feeds; I doubt I ever would be. Breastfeeding was a nightmare, a skill that I had to perfect quickly if I wanted to get any form of sleep but because I've been doing it for 3 months I'm practically an expert.

I cradled Oliver with my right arm before sitting in the rocking chair in the corner of his nursery. I quickly lifted my pyjama top to give him access to my milk and supported him as he latched on. I rocked him slowly until he had his fill and released my nipple. I gently lifted him and stood before gently burped my little baby. I put Oliver in his crib and watched him for a few moments before I stumbled back into my bed and fell asleep instantly, a feat only possible for babies and parents.

Alice woke me up at 8 o'clock with a cup of herbal tea and toast.

"Don't worry about Oliver. I fed him an hour ago with one of the bottles you expressed yesterday. You were tired so I let you sleep as long as I could. I'll see you later." I just grunted in acknowledgment and appreciation before she chuckled and left. I sat up and practically inhaled my breakfast before going to check on Oliver.

He was awake and content to just lie on his back and play with his fists and blanket. I chuckled while wrapping the sling around my body and lifting him into it. He snuggled into my warmth and rested his head against my breast.

I cleaned up a bit before giving Oliver his morning feed and putting him down for a nap in the little bassinet that I kept in the living room. I tried to watch awful daytime television but I just couldn't settle.

I decided I'd walk to town with Oliver, maybe stop at the park even though he was too small for it and maybe do a little shopping. I busied myself with getting out cute outfits for him, dressing myself in leggings and a t shirt and expressing some milk into two bottles that I put in an insulated bag. I packed a few rusks and some water that I had boiled and cooled into the baby bag as well as nappies and a change of clothes before dressing Oliver and putting his little hat, gloves and thick socks on him. I settled him into the pram and tucked his soft little blanket around him before putting on my coat, hat, gloves and scarf. I shoved my feet into boots and set off towards the shops, talking to Oliver all the way.

I was walking through the park on my way home when I heard a man calling for his daughter to wait. I turned and saw a little girl, no more than three laughing and running on her little legs while her father tried to catch her. He blonde curls were bouncing as she ran and she looked so cute and carefree. I wished I was still that carefree. He was weighed down by a few shopping bags and I chuckled at the sight. The little girl was too busy looking at her dad so she didn't see me and bumped into my legs. She fell on her little butt and looked up at me with tears in her eyes.

"Oh no, you don't have to cry little one." I said to her, trying to soothe her without causing her father alarm. I held my hand out to her and pulled her to her feet gently, smiling at her. Her father caught up and looked at me apologetically.

Wow. He was gorgeous.

"I'm so sorry about my daughter. She's very excitable and I let her walk today so she I guess she was extremely excited." He chuckled nervously before really looking at me. I almost gasped at how green his eyes were. Oh Lord he was attractive. And his voice. It was like dark chocolate, absolutely decadent. I smiled at him.

"Don't worry, she didn't do any harm. She's absolutely adorable." My son decided that he wasn't getting enough attention and started to wail. I rocked the pram a little to soothe him and felt a little tugging on my leg. I looked down at the little girl and smiled.

"Yes?"

"Can I look?" She asked me and I nodded at her. She turned to her father who picked her up so she could see the boys. "Baby!" She squealed and tried to get closer to him. I chuckled at her and checked my watch, noting that it was time for Oliver's feed.

"Your son is absolutely adorable! How old is he?" I grinned at the stranger and almost burst with pride. "He's 3 months and such a handful but I wouldn't change it for the world." He nodded and smiled at me.

"I get it. This little rascal has been two and a half years of trouble but I wouldn't change it either. I'm Edward." He reached out to shake my hand and I grasped it in mine. "Bella."

"Daddy, I want to play with the baby!" I chuckled at her enthusiasm.

"Well I have to feed him now, I was thinking of going to the café over on the corner. Maybe you could come?" I would usually have just taken him home but I wanted to spend more time with this interesting man and his enthralling daughter.

"Sure we'll come, won't we Evie?" The little girl nodded and smiled before squirming to get down and wrapping her fingers around my pram. "Lead the way." I closed my eyes briefly and let his voice wash over me before smiling and nodding.

As soon as we entered the warmth of the café I found a little booth and Edward went to get our order. I tucked the pram beside it before lifting Oliver out. He started nuzzling my chest, searching for food and I felt my milk start to let down. Edward returned to the table with a coffee, tea, hot chocolate and 3 blueberry muffins on a tray.

"Edward would you help me please? I just need you to get the dark bag out of the bottom of the pram please." He nodded and placed it beside me in the booth, before sliding inn next to it with Evie on his lap.

"Would you get one of the bottles out for me?" He uncapped one and gently placed the nipple into Oliver's mouth. I took the bottle from him and watched as he suckled greedily until the bottle was almost empty. As he drank we talked a little but my main focus was Evie, who was practically in my lap and completely enthralled by Oliver.

I sat Oliver up and placed a hand on his chest while rubbing his back with the other. He let out a loud burp that had all three of us chuckling.

"So Edward, tell me about yourself?" Are you married? Please tell me you aren't married.

"Oh, um… I'm an accountant. I'm 26. I have two older brothers. I'm a single parent to Evie. We live about 10 minutes from here. You?"

"I'm 22, and I live with my twin sister about 5 minutes from here. I'm a single parent to Oliver." I blushed at the look he was giving me. Maybe I was imagining how smouldering it was.

"I'm so sorry but we have to go. We were on our way to my parent's house when Evie bumped into you. Do you think I could maybe get your number, perhaps we could do this again?" I nodded, trying not to show how eager I was to see him again. I wrote my number on a napkin with his pen and waved goodbye to Edward and Evie.

I looked down into the deep brown eyes of my son and smiled. Maybe things would change after all.

A/N; so this is something that I've been playing around with in my head for a while and I just had to get it down on paper. Let me know what you think, if people like it I might write more.