This was such a wonderful chapter--I loved the hot tub scene and how the girls treat each other as equals. I feel so sad for Edward, but I love how their relationship is slowly growing. Your writing is so realistic, touching and powerful. I can't wait for the next chapter! Oh, and good luck with finals (I know how bad those can be)!

Author's Response: Thank you!  I'm glad it feels realistic.  And yeah, alas, finals are things students don't like to take and professors don't like to grade. Ha.

Lush is absolute love!  I personally am rather fond of the Candy Bath bar and the Karma bath bar.  ;)

I really enjoyed the discussion between Edward and Bella here;  I also liked the somewhat painful to read explanations of why Rosalie and Alice do/don't view Esme as a mother.  They seem very apt.

Good luck with finals! 

Author's Response:

Yes!  I like BOTH those bars too!  I've had a few that I thought were sort of duds, but overall, I like their stuff.

And thanks.  The dynamics between the women are interesting.  I think Alice and Edward are really the only ones comfortable seeing Esme as "mom."

great chapter. i love hearing how this family was torn apart and slowly comming back together. well done!

Author's Response: Thanks!

I really enjoyed this chapter, the bonding between the women, especially Rose. 

I liked how easily Emmett and Rose decided to open their home to Bella, and also how Bella was able to accept their selfless offer.  Looks like everyone is maturing :)

Another well written chapter, keep it up!

Author's Response:

" Looks like everyone is maturing :)"

Yes, they are. :-)  I think Bella had such a terrible time accepting everything before because she felt SO inadequate in every way, from looks to wealth to intelligence.  The "charity" of the Cullens was crushing.  Disabled Bella has been forced to learn better how to accept help when she needs it, but she's also learned how much she can really DO on her own.  And Rose making it a pragmatic choice -- she needs to move, there's no suitable apartments in the area, and living with Rose and Emmett is safest -- so that Bella can accept it.

I am an adult, almost as old as your Bella.  And when I read Twilight, I loved it, but was constantly rewriting it in my head to make it more palatable to adults, and feminists, and those with strong personalities- all groups I would like to consider myself a part of.  And you've done that, in a fanfiction.  So, thanks.  I love your story and can't wait for it to continue.

Author's Response: Thank you!  And I suspect we were doing the same thing, while reading. :-)  I just finally had to break down and write something!  (I did also appreciate the way Kristen Stewart played Bella much tougher -- I thought -- in the movie.  Go Kristen!)

Ok the last 1000 words or so (not sure, didn’t actually count it), truer words were never spoken beginning with – “That wasn't love; it was desperation. It had made him controlling. It had made her clingy.”

 

Hell the whole chapter and throughout this story you have been incorporating your wonderful, insightful, PERCEPTIVE interpretations of the motivations of these characters and it is just gold.  I agree with you on your development of all your characters but you are able to write them in such a way that I find myself exclaiming, “Yeah! Exactly! That’s exactly what they must have been thinking and should have been saying!”

 

Boo, hiss to finals! Well, at least you don’t have to take them =)  Thank you again for a wonderful chapter and can’t wait to read the next one.

Author's Response: Thank you so much!  I'm glad it feels true and authentic.  I think they were kids before, and now they're grown-ups.  Even Edward. LOL!  He is SO in love with her, poor boy, but he knows what that means now. :-)  And Bella is starting to thaw just a bit, but without losing her love for Mark.  Now that she knows the full extent of Mark and Edward's friendship, it's actually easier for her -- she feels less like she's betraying Mark, I think.

So excited for the update!! LOVEd this chapter! Love how Rose and Emmett made their new house wheel chair accessible for Bella. Love how they want her to live with them. So fantastic how the women took care of her and pamperd her. Love the conversation with Edward. Look forward to your next update!

Author's Response: Thank you!  I'm really enjoying Emmett and Rose and how they've sort of "adopted" Bella. :-)

I'm so glad you are spending so much time with Emmett and Rose. Just like Alice and Jasper I feel that they have great dynamics that are usually ignored in much fic writing. :) I like E/B but, there is so much exploring to be done with the other characters! Thanks!

Author's Response: And thank you!  There is more Emmett and Rose in chapters to come. :-)  When I started out writing, Alice was my favorite other Cullen (probably predictably), but I think I've become more fond of Rose after writing this!

Dawsonville?  Good shopping.  :)

Author's Response: LOL!  (Actually, it's a "fake" Dawesonville, not the actual one; I took a couple of towns in North Georgia and combined them.)

I really love Rosalie in this story.  Well technically I loved Rosalie in the books too...something about her bitchiness just makes her an amazing character. (lord knows what that says about me lol)  Anyway....great chapter...can't wait for more :)

Author's Response: I think what I like about Rose is that there's a suggestion of more beneath the surface.  Given what we know of Emmett and Carlisle, would Emmett really love her so much if she were a bitch?  Beauty only goes so far.  Would Carlisle have turned her (with intent for her to be with Edward) if she were as self-involved as Edward claims?  I doubt it.  I think the REAL problem is that Edward is too much like her in all the wrong ways, and Bella is too threatened by her, so we never really SEE her correctly. :-)  Or at least, that's my theory behind things, and why I've written her the way she is in this story.

Ok, so here's what I'm honestly struggling with. I love your story (so far anyways, only on chapter 9). It's very addicting and well written, but I can't stand present tense. Don't get me wrong! You have done the best job I have ever seen writing present tense...but it gives me a headache. I don't think I'll be able to read as fast as I read other fics. I will continue to read it, but I'll have to let it go here or there!

I'm kinda confused on the promises made to Mark...Edward didn't tell her any promises...will I find out about that later?

Author's Response:

Yes, you will find out a LOT more about Edward and Mark.  It's a slow revelation.

And that's okay on present tense.  Some people aren't fond of it, like some aren't fond of omniscient as a POV choice.  I'm not sure I made a deliberate choice here; I just sat down to write and it came out in present tense.  But looking back, I think it was the sense of immediacy that I wanted and present tense gives -- it's happening NOW ... to Bella (and to the reader).  In the books, SMeyer used first person for that intimacy, but I knew I wasnted (in fact needed) to write it in third to allow other characters' views, but I still wanted that sense of immediacy, so my subconscious mind threw it all into first.

Hope that explains the reason behind that particular choice.

i so look forward to this!! the electric car is so cool!

Author's Response: Oh, those Teslas are AMAZING.  If I ever become a famous journalist and could afford one, that's the one thing I'd splurge on for myself, purely! Ha!