What we're reading in TLS this week:

 “It’s that time of year again when everyone tries to tell themselves that they had the best dad in the world. I really did have the best dad  in the world, so they can’t be right.” 

In celebration of Father’s Day yesterday, TLS decided to change things up and give you a rec list of some of our very favorite fics, where Edward Cullen was a Daddy! These are tried and truly loved recommendations, that we’ve read multiple times and will stand the test of time. We hope that you will enjoy them as much as we do. Please leave the writers some love, in the form of a review, and tell them TLS sent you!

♥ Nic & Six

A Rough Start by ItzMegan73
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5319052/1/A-Rough-Start
Overnight irresponsible Edward goes from bachelor to father of a 5 yr old. Meanwhile responsible, prepared Bella begins her first job as Kindergarten teacher at Forks Elementary. When irresponsible meets the epitome of responsible, sparks will fly! Rated M

A Soft Place to Land by btwnthestacks
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7775714/1/A-Soft-Place-to-Land
Single father Edward Cullen and his daughter are looking for a soft place to land. In an attempt to help her, he turns to a program at the local library. While two furry friends help his child find her confidence, their owner will mend his broken heart. Rated M

Begin Again by pattyrose
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11972117/1/Begin-Again
Bella's life philosophies mirror her bakery-business philosophies: 1) you can't save a burned batch, and 2) there's no turning back once a batch is finished. It's the same when life gets real: marriage, children...widowhood all relegate memories of first love to weekly, monthly, yearly, and then…to occasionally. Unless...unless you're willing to begin that batch all over again. Rated M

Beyond the Break Room by Discordia81
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8581542/1/Beyond-the-Break-Room
22 year-old Bella Swan works for Edward Cullen, the 39 year-old VP at Providence Medical Center in Portland. After years of fighting the attraction, a tryst in the break room leads to a complicated relationship. Trying not to get caught by the prying eyes of their entire workplace, they're forced to hide their relationship and deal with his ex-wife and his 16 year-old daughter. Rated M

Going Under by sparklnfade
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7728698/1/Going-Under
It's been ten years since the summer Bella Swan's life changed.  What  will happen when she comes face to face with the reason for it?  She  went under once, will she go under again? Rated M

Holding On and Letting Go by Jenny0719
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8382216/1/Holding-On-and-Letting-Go
Masen Valley, SC. Population: 10,789. It was a tiny dot on a map; an escape of sorts for Bella Swan. But when circumstances bring a certain member of Masen Valley's founding family back to town, she finds that the past isn't as easy to leave behind as she thought it would be... Or let go. Rated M

Honest Liar by aWhiteBlankPage
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8257657/1/Honest-Liar
Bella once told me that there was nothing braver than a flower growing  through a crack in the sidewalk. I laughed because she was always giving  feelings to things that don't feel. If she was standing next to me, I'd  tuck the dandelion behind her ear. Or she'd blow on it and make a wish.  A hundred wishes. Or maybe just one. Rated M

Paper CutOuts by twistedcoincidence
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5993964/1/Paper-CutOuts
Bella prefers the virtual to the actual, but feels herself being tugged from the safety of her online realm into the world of a rough edged Edward. This time she'll write her own story. Collab with astilbe13. RatedM

Reality Minus Expectations by Incog Ninja
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8911907/1/Reality-Minus-Expectations
Originally posted in June 2009. AH. When it comes to Forks's social scene, event planner Bella Swan is a smash success. Her marriage, however, crashed and burned. The town's newest real estate attorney arrives in time to add some heat of his own. Rated M

Rest My Soul by MrsSpaceCowboy
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9786923/1/Rest-My-Soul
On opposite corners of Third Street and Beale, two lonely people fight to stay that way. Her scars are on the surface, soft on her skin and in her eyes. His run bone-deep, seeped in bourbon and blues. EPOV. Rated M

Secrets and Lies by BellaScotia
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9016564/1/Secrets-and-Lies
Bella once told a lie. A lie that cost her everything she ever wanted. 10 years later she returns to her hometown to an ailing father, an angry best friend, and the man from whom she has kept a secret that threatens to unravel her existence. Rated M

Sins of My Past by content 1
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7423404/1/Sins-of-My-Past
Bella was left by Edward to clean up the ruins of her life after his betrayal. What happens when Edward finds out that not all was as it seems. What are the consequences of his sins and what will he do to get her back? AH TwiFanFicRecs: Top Ten October 2012; Best Rec'd on Fan Fic Fridays 2012 Rated M

Such Great Heights by SydneyAlice
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5654368/1/Such-Great-Heights
Edward Cullen is in desperate need of a nanny after his wife walks out on him and their five-year-old son. Bella Swan is a teacher with no job prospects. Can she find her true place in the world while helping father and son overcome their pain? AH Rated M

The Affair by Johnnyboy7
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8343731/1/The-Affair
After the death of her father, Isabella Swan moves to the East coast where she meets dentist Edward Cullen. He's older, a father, and married. Sometimes, you can't tell your heart who to love. Rated M

The American President by rushed
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8213149/1/The-American-President
As the President of the United States, Edward Cullen finds it difficult  to meet women.  So his brother secretly employs the services of an  escort agency to help fulfill certain presidential needs. Rated M

The Life Aquatic by coldplaywhore
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8685921/1/The-Life-Aquatic
Life happens when you least expect it, and puts you on a course that you never planned, into a future you never even imagined that you wanted. This is the story of girl meets boy, meets boy... aka, his son. Rated M

The Living Will by 2carm2carm2
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8454547/1/The-Living-Will
"In the event of my death, Isabella Marie Swan, upon previous agreement, is to step in and assist Edward Anthony Cullen in the caring of the child, necessitating her to stay at the Cullen residence in which the child lives for six months." When tragedy strikes, a last wish forces Edward and Bella together to deal with their pain, heal and rebuild the lives they lost.
Rated M

The Pie Equation by TheQueenWriter
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10398001/1/The-Pie-Equation
Don't allow your past to dictate your future. Edward is a single dad. Bella comes home to help her dad after an accident. Will Edward allow their old friendship to blossom? Rated M

Unplanned Perfection by Littlecat358
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6229263/1/
Bella and Alice were best friends, which made Bella the only girl off limits to Alice's brother Edward. When a party the summer after graduation gets out of control, Bella's world is turned upside down. "He doesn't know. I don't want him to." Rated: M

Waiting for Dr Right by vickitori303
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4934589/1/Waiting-For-Dr-Right
Bella works at a child care center and Edward is the single dad she falls in love with. Rated M

TLS Special SNEAK PEEK Feature

The Lemonade Stand has spent so many years bringing you the best the Twilight fandom has to offer, and we are very excited to have the chance to offer you even MORE. We've watched stories grow and develop from first post through COMPLETE, and now we're lucky enough to share previews of the stories that will soon be your new addiction.

What do you get when you combine two supremely gifted, creative, first-rate writers? Sprinkle in one of your very favorite writer/pre-readers and two of the best betas, this fandom has....You get the amazing writing team of BlueMeadow!! When I heard that planetblue and Honeybeemeadows were collaborating on a fic, I was thrilled and intrigued. I approached them immediately, to offer them a forum to showcase their debut and offer any support I could lend. While I have worked with planetblue on quite a few Sneak Peeks, this is my first opportunity to work with Bee, and I’m really excited to cheer these ladies on. I hope you will join me in giving them support and encouragement, as we embark upon their principal debut!

~ . ~    ~ . ~

We kid you not, this story took four years to write:

2013: Blue is posting Badlands. Bee is posting The Other Way. They fall in mutual love over music, tattoos, and writing.

February 20, 2014: Blue and Bee meet in a Chuy’s parking lot in Houston, Texas. They drink margaritas with Hadley Hemingway and CarrieZM. It’s awkward and awesome.

February 21, 2014: Blue and Bee have copious amounts of alcohol while wearing Mardi Gras masks and posing Edward dolls on a kitchen table at Jiff Simpson’s house in Texas. Someone suggests they write together. Both of them laugh it off.

February 22, 2014: Bee shows Blue a picture of the next character she wants to write and Blue is on board… they start throwing out ideas about how to write it, who their characters are, etc. on Hadley Hemingway’s patio while Breaking Dawn plays in the background.

February 23, 2014: Blue flies home. Bee creates a gdoc.

March 2014: Bee writes chapter one.

March 2014: Blue writes chapter two.

March 2014: Blue is asked to contribute to the Sinners compilation, how can she say no? Seven deadly sins and hers is Lust? Gotta do it.

March 2014: Blue finishes 12 weeks of posting Badlands and it totally consumes her like a guy wearing eyeliner. She feels like she’ll never be able to write anything else ever again.

May 2014: Bee ignores that shared google doc. She starts writing Don’t Look, No Promises because she is obsessing hard core over the Arctic Monkeys and boys who slick their hair back.

June 2014: Bee realizes she is pregnant. Commence seven months of non-stop nausea.

July 2014: Blue decides that now would be a good time to get laid off when her company closes, therefore losing the will to write since she only ever wrote at work (not part of the reason the company went under).

July 2014: The baby is eating Bee’s brain. She writes nothing for months.

July 2014: At the TFMU Nashville Meet-Up, Blue is bombarded with Badlands questions and love, further making her think she’ll never write anything good again. Bee is too morning-noon-and-night-sick to even get out of bed, much less get on an airplane.

August 2014: Blue decides that now would be the time to go ahead and suffer a complication from her 2013 mastectomy, and spends four days in the hospital. But hey, she bought a laptop recently so she can write again (if she ever feels like it)!

August 2014: Bee can now balance cupcakes on her baby belly. She writes six pages in the Blue/Bee doc and then deletes four of them.

September 2014: Blue posts Artful Maneuvers, yet another story that isn’t the Blue/Bee one. Feels kind of sad, but it had been months since they had talked about their story, so...

January 2015: Bee submits a one-shot, Star-Shaped Heart, to the May to December contest. She does this while she is in active labor. Because she is a procrastinator. And a masochist. And would have missed the deadline.

January 2015: Small Bee is born via emergency C-section. He’s cute but omg, he fucks up Bee’s body, mind, and writing mojo.

February 2015: Blue’s attempt at remaining jobless gets derailed when someone hires her, and is now unable to spend her days writing because of new job.

March 2015: Fresh off a terrible pregnancy, abdominal surgery, and a sleepless newborn - Bee starts writing Grim and Darling. She feels like an asshole, but she hasn’t talked to Blue about their story in months.

May 2015: Blue publishes another f’ing story, Crazy Like That, started while she was spending her days as a trophy wife.

June 2015: Bee misses another meetup, this one in Philly, because newborns are needy AF.

November 2015: Bee and Blue both decide to enter the Age of Edward contest, and don’t tell each other until it’s almost over. Bee writes Black Wind Blowing, Blue writes The King Of Bowery and Bleecker.

February 2016: Bee flakes AGAIN and writes another contest entry, Lolita and the Suit, for the  Control Possess Seduce contest. She doesn’t tell Blue, because, well, she’s a judge.

April 2016: Blue writes four pages in the Blue/Bee doc. Feels triumphant. But then disappears again.

July 2016: Blue writes Edward Takes a Holiday, feeling guilty about ignoring the Blue/Bee idea that’s still sitting in that gdoc, but does it anyway.

August 2016: Bee writes another page in the gdoc.

September 2016: Jesus, another meet-up that Bee doesn’t go to, this one in San Diego. Blue wonders if Bee is actually avoiding her cause she’s mad.

November 2016: Blue flakes again, picks up a story she’d started months ago, Christmastances, and posts it a month later.

January 2017: “I’m ready if you’re ready.”

January 2017: “I’m ready.”

February - June 2017: Blue has - friend’s 50th birthday party, 25th high school reunion, helps plan bridal shower, goes to Florida, throws huge BBQ, has two deaths in the family, goes to a wedding, attends a graduation party she has to cook for. She has zero time to write.

March 2017: Bee picks up a hobby she hasn’t done since she was ten and wanted to be Laura Ingalls Wilder. She gets obsessed. Has to start bargaining with herself over time spent sewing over time spent writing. It’s a good thing she’s an insomniac.

July 2017: Blue writes a Deviant outtake for the Vegas Meet-Up. Tells Bee, this time.

July 2017: Bee finally gets her shit together and makes it to the meetup in Las Vegas. Bee and Blue are reunited and it feels so good. They spend the weekend drinking champagne and formulating plans. Bee forces Blue into announcing what they’ve been (sort of) doing, in hopes that it will light a fire under their asses.

August 2017: The fire works.

August - October, 2017: Blue and Bee take their doc from 40k to 80k in three months, and have a crazy amount of texts and phone calls. Lots of “What would you do if I did this?” “What would you say if I said that?” “Maybe we should…” “Maybe we could…” “Let’s do that and definitely not the other thing.”

October 2017: Blue writes the ‘last chapter.’

October 2017: Blue and Bee pull up their big girl panties and send their doc to LayAtHomeMom, epic pre-reader. They spend several days biting off their fingernails.

October 2017: Both girls vow to never use a certain word ever again because Lay pointed it out approximately 8,000 times in their 80,000 word story. 7,500 of these are Blue’s fault.

November - December 2017: The holidays begin. Everyone falls off the face of the earth and no one opens the doc for weeks.

January 2018: Hadley and Carrie begin their beta magic. Blue and Bee tap Mina Rivera to help them make a banner because neither of them are tech savvy AT ALL.

February 2018: Blue and Bee start getting chapters back from the betas and realize ‘oh shit, we have a lot of work to do.’

February 2018: Mina is subjected to two hours of ten thousand Facebook messages, Blue and Bee being picky AF. Somehow she manages to please them both. She sends them their banner. They are in love.

March 2018: Bee gets drunk and writes Little Happy Mess on her phone while she’s hiding from the terror toddler. She sidelines Hadley to edit and doesn’t tell Blue until she posts the first chapter. Oops. She promises not to do that again.

May 2018: Blue and Bee finally decide on a mutual author name, title, and summary for their five-year-old baby.

June 9, 2018: Blue and Bee finally present their teaser, banner, and journey with The Lemonade Stand.

June 11, 2018: Point and Shoot, a new story by Planetblue and Honeybeemeadows, now known as BlueMeadow, posts to FF.net. Both girls plan on getting very drunk.


Bee: I feel like we’re about to have a baby.
Blue: Yes, except we have the gestation time of five elephants.
Bee: They probably want to read a summary?
Blue: Yeah, probably.
Bee: Let’s do what we do best!
Blue: Be vague AF?
Bee: Exactly.

Banner Credit Mina Rivera

Summary:

Two people. Two houses. One field.

Sometimes anger is so much better than sorrow.

He was right there, standing at the gate with his forehead wrinkled, clearing his throat with a rough sound that startled me. I darted to my feet, breath caught in my mouth, ripping the scarf off my face. My face flamed, embarrassed beyond belief that he’d caught me playing pretend with his reality in such a careless way. He was shirtless again, covered in a faint splatter of paint, and I was still in the nightdress. With the sun baking the back of my neck, I smashed my thighs together and crossed my arms over my chest as his one good eye traveled all the way down to my feet and all the way back up to my hair. I’d sat in the trees again for most of the day, watching him as he prettied up his house, rolling around in the strawberries, and making chain-link crowns out of violets. Snuggling with the fawn and studying his every move.

I was so curious about him, my nameless neighbor.

Half-naked and mostly angry.

He reached for me quickly, a darting movement I barely registered before he had my hand in his, and he was tying my white ribbon too tightly around my wrist.

“Don’t,” he exhaled, his words caught harsh and raw in his chest. “You just don’t know. You have no right.” His eye lifted to mine, face rigid with anger, and he pointed his finger at me. “That’s my flagpole. My pond. Mine.”

I barely heard any of it. I just nodded along, unable to speak, stuck in the exciting minutia of being so close to someone like him. His shadow. His smell. Sweat and wood and sunshine as he glared at me. The soft skin on his neck where his beard was starting to shadow his jaw and the way he swallowed before he moved toward me. The faint beginning of crow’s feet at the corner of his eye and the bright, clover-colored iris behind his dark lashes. The million different colors in his hair, rust and copper and something dark like the dirt if you dug just a couple inches under the surface. The little puckered nub of scar tissue on his shoulder, next to a dot of yellow paint. The tattoo on his arm, the image warped by skin that was damaged not so long ago and barely visible beneath a fresh scar.

I fidgeted, grabbing fistfuls of my nightdress, watching as he turned away and strode three angry steps back to the gate. He paused just outside the garden, crossing his arms over his chest and squinting up at my crooked house with a frown on his face. The house didn’t look much better than I did. Overgrown ivy creeping in through the windows. Balding roof, shingles scattered across the lawn. Peeling paint and sagging porch. The fawn emerged from the corn, appearing between my legs again, and we watched him in silence until he spoke again.

Turning toward me to ask me who was taking care of the house.

“No one.” I looked away and shrugged. “Me.”

“Who’s taking care of you?”

We will each be posting the first few chapters under our personal Fanfiction accounts, as well as our new, shared account: BlueMeadow. Ultimately, all posting will move solely to the new account. The story is complete, and we’re so excited to finally share this with you!

We owe so much to our team, the women who stand behind us and make our words better in every way: LayAtHomeMom, Hadley Hemingway and CarrieZM. All of them have worked so hard for us, giving their time, love, and encouragement. Let’s be honest: we owe them twelve million dollars and a lifetime of devotion.

Many thanks to Mina Rivera for that awesome banner. She’s like a good tattoo artist - we gave her an idea and she gave us something back that was better than we even knew we wanted!

We would also like thank the ladies at TLS for wanting to showcase our story in their Sneak Peek feature! And last but certainly not least, we’d like to extend a huge thank you to you, our readers, for your loyal affection.

Oh! One last thing: this is a picture Bee found on her friend’s Instagram, taken at a tiny art studio in New Orleans. It freakishly has almost every element of our story in it…good luck and have fun!

~ . ~    ~ . ~

I’ve followed planetblue fanatically from her early days writing Barefoot in Texas, with her creative, free spirited Bella, and I’ve been impressed by Honeybeemeadows from the moment I read The Other Way, with her vivid imagery and her captivating Edward. Give these ladies a standing ovation for completing their debut story & be sure to put BlueMeadow on alert, so you can follow along with TLS! 

♥ Nic

What we're reading in TLS this week:

Can you believe we are halfway through the year already?! It’s sweet summertime and we have a compilation of some old and new favorites to quench your thirst. Dive right in with us and pick a favorite. Be sure to let the writer know where you saw them recommended, when you leave them some love in the form of a review. Enjoy!

♥ Nic & Six

A New Light by MaybeInTheFuture
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12002417/1/A-New-Light
It's been ten years and the Cullen clan is struggling to remain a  family. When they finally start to come back together, a call from Bella  will change everything. Bella's daughter is sick and needs help. Can a  miracle happen or will everything fall apart again? Normal pairings.  Takes place ten years after New Moon. Rated M

Alaska by Anton M
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10600868/1/Alaska
For two years, Bella's had a cotton candy romance going on with her taciturn best friend. In her head. So after catching bits and pieces of Edward's unusual upbringing, Bella pays a visit to Alaska. Rated M

Facade by MeteorOnAMoonlessNight
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12943887/1/FA%C3%87ADE
FBI agent Edward Masen goes undercover to take down the Cullen mafia.  Meeting Bella Swan, the former boss's daughter now forced to earn her  keep by stripping in the club owned by the new Family, was never in his  plans. He feels the need to save her, but he can't even save himself.  He's about to find out that nothing is as it seems. My entry for the  Secrets and Lies contest. Rated M

Gravity Series 1: Blood & Glory by drotuno
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6755101/1/Gravity-Series-1-Blood-Glory
The definition of a mercenary is a soldier for hire. His crew are  trained fighting machines. Hers are smart PIs. What happens when they  need each other to survive? Canon couples. Rated M

I Dare You by araeo
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12600643/1/I-Dare-You
He's the guy she's always wanted. She's the girl he shouldn't want. Bro  code says you don't go for your friends' ex-girlfriends. It also says  you don't go for their sisters. What happens when you breach the bro code?  Rated M

Island Nights by compass54
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11370259/1/Island-Nights
I would always remember him as a dangerously beautiful  twenty-two-year-old, a sensual and affectionate lover who could put a  gun to a man's head and pull the trigger. Why I couldn't forget him was  no mystery. I was still in love with him. Rated M

It Begins Like This by Iambeagle
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7895489/1/It-Begins-Like-This
A story about long-distance love. It begins with 'Then' and ends with 'Now'.
Rated: Fiction M

Just This Side of Crazy by deviant bamboo
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11508650/1/Just-This-Side-of-Crazy
I deal in crazy all day long, but meeting her made me question my own sanity. Maybe she was certifiably insane, but I believed her. So what did that make me? Rated M

Skyjacked by Sukithree
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12815303/1/Skyjacked
When the unthinkable happens on the way to visit her brother, Bella finds herself in terrible danger. More than just the elements are against her and the others as they fight for survival on a deserted island. She finds not only safety in Edward, but also her soulmate. Will that be enough if they aren't rescued in time? Will danger continue to follow them? Rated M

The Monster in Me by Edward’s Eternal
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11837170/1/The-Monster-in-Me
She arrived unexpectedly. I lusted after her body and blood. She would be mine. All of her. The monster in me demanded it.  Rated M

The Wrong Number by IpsitaC77
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12508583/1/The-Wrong-Number
Sometimes, even a wrong step can ultimately lead you to the right path.  Will a couple of mistaken digits be that step for them? — A simple tale  of common people and their ordinary lives. Rated M

This Is Who I Am by PattyRose
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5980177/1/This-Is-Who-I-Am
Edward Cullen, successful business exec/playboy/all around bad boy.  Bella Swan, divorced mom/graphic artist/unwilling to trust her heart to  the likes of someone like Edward again. Will she give him a chance? Does  he even deserve one? AH, AU ExB Rated M

Unplugged by Write Sisters
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12360658/3/Unplugged
Masen, rock star, had it all—until he didn't. Now, he's trying to rebuild his life, retrace his steps and, hopefully, do it all again, only right this time. Bella Swan had her heart broken, her confidence dashed, and her trust in love destroyed by Edward Cullen. It's taken her years to get over his betrayal, and now, having finally gotten her life together, he's back. Rated M

Useless Things by bicyclesarecool
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12749515/1/Useless-Things
"The useless days will add up to something...these things are your becoming." No one said that growing up was easy, but for struggling musician Bella, it seems damn near impossible. Luckily, with her friends, her music, and the hot barista across the street, she might not completely screw up her entire life. Rated M

Where I Belong by bnpwrites
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12219270/2/Where-I-Belong
Bella Swan never expected superstar Edward Cullen to wander into Walgreen's and she never expected him to change her life. Rated M