Chapter 109

BPOV

“So let me get this straight”

Needing clarification, Emmett removed the casual arm he had across the back of Rose's chair, straighten in his seat and took on a a look of contemplation. His voice projected out across the kitchen table to address both Edward and I, however his focus was on his brother. Throughout the half hour or so we had been sitting there, Emmett had been unusually quiet. Like the rest of us, he 'd been intently listening to Edward weave a tale that was just, for a lack of better words – fucked up.

“Wait” he said pushing his chair away from the table “I need another beer to deal with this shit”

Edward tipped his bottle to show it was almost empty and Emmett nodded before scanning my empty wine glass and asked his wife “Do you need more juice babe?”

“No I'm good”

My sympathy went out to Rose, who due to being pregnant was forced to endure without the assistance of alcohol. I don't know how she was handling all the information with only Orange Juice but one things for sure, she was doing a whole hell of a lot better then me. I had already downed two glasses of wine and was beginning to stare longingly at the jars of Lahb. The topic of conversation was not exactly on my top ten list of favorites. Each time I thought it couldn't get any worse, Edward just kept talking and it fucking did – Get worse

Like on a scale of one to ten, on the fucked up worse shit-o-meter, we had just hit thirty-seven.

I knew from the moment we pulled into the driveway and saw that patrol car, the day Edward had tried to save for me had gone south. To be honest from the moment Claire reminded me of everyone converging on the house I was struck with a premeditation of impending calamity. The idea of having both Edward's family and mine get together for his birthday seemed like a good idea when I first thought of it. At the realization of only having a few short hours before my suggestion became a reality, pure unadulterated panic set in.

They were all going to be at the same place at the same time. All of them, the young and the old, the tall and the small. Every single one of them, including Billy and Edward's grandmother, all together, watching how the two of us interact with everyone. It was the first time they were going to see the dynamics associated with the relationships we shared. They were going to get to know each other, and each and every one of them was going to be making that all important first impression.

I must have been out of mind to suggest such an encounter.

Don't get me wrong, I loved my family, Sue has always treated me as one of her own and I knew she would help keep Charlie in line. Because lets face it, as a whole my father is not a talkative person, but every now and then he gets in the mood and when he does, there is a tendency to say things he shouldn't. Especially when Billy is around to act as his 'wingman' and there's jars of fresh brewed Lahb flowing to loosen his tongue. Dad was a stark fifth generation Democrat who praised Roosevelt's new deal as the greatest feat in American history and thought Ronald Reagan was the anti-christ. Give him three gulps of old Quil's home brew and Charlie's not only going to think it, he's going to say it.

Plus I had to contend with Leah, who spoke without thinking about what she was saying, often times to the point of being crude. The only saving grace I had was Jake, he'd help smooth things over and of course Seth, who had so much man-child magnetism, no one could resist his charm.

Having my family at the house would have been bad enough, mixing them with the Cullen clan, all of a sudden seemed like a recipe for disaster. So far Edward's parents were wonderful, Carlisle was warm and fatherly, stating straight out he considered me a daughter. My lunch with Esme had gone smoothly, she was friendly and even a bit territorially protective over me.

Yet I couldn't forget Carlisle's bewilder expression when I told him of my preference for collecting rocks rather then t-shirts. Or Esme's distasteful reaction at hearing the location of Leah's baby shower. They both had a bigger is better mentality, which was something I had never in my life aspired to attain. I have never been ashamed of how I was raised or where I came from, my father worked hard, we lived modest but we lived well. There was always food on the table, clothes on my back and a roof over my head. I was raised in simple surroundings that were far removed from the life the Cullen's lived and that fact was about to haul off and slap them in the face.

I could see that rude awaking producing the same look of revulsion on Esme and Carlisle as the one that was there when they happened upon us at the beach. Edward and I were on the patio, I was in my nighty, kneeling before him when they walked along the beach and caught us. It wasn't a shining moment and it was made worse by his parents clear disgust. Specifically Esme, who's disapproving glower made me feel like a derelict.

That look she gave me was forever etched in my mind along with Esme's low opinion of Jane. On the surface Edward's mother was cordial, almost to the point of forced benevolence, while underneath the hostility ran deep. Jane was the warmest, most honestly compassionate person I have ever met. I could not imagine her doing anything so heinous as to evoke that kind of malice from someone, especially family. Knowing Jane the way I did, it was safe to say, if she had commented a wrong, even unintentionally, she was the type of person who would walk through fire to make amends.

So the only conclusion to draw from the situation was that Esme clearly disapproved and detest her brother and his wife's choice of lifestyle. For that reason, because she couldn't openly reject Aro, Esme transfers the blame and therefor projects the aggression she feels unto the other participant - Jane.

It occurred to me, if Edward's mother could behave that way towards her sister-in-law, she could do the same thing to me. And I couldn't help but wonder in the back of my mind if the outward acceptance of me in Edward's life was nothing more then a show of latent disapproval. After all it would stand to reason, just as a sister couldn't openly scorn her brother, she surly wouldn't project her contempt onto her son either. Which since Jane bares the brunt of rejection, under the same circumstances, the target would be turned to me.

From the time their child is born, mothers start dreaming of the kind of person they will grow to be. Edward has not exactly lived up to that expectation, quitting medical school, twenty-eight and still unmarried with -as he put it – a propensity for all things kinky.

I could see how his life choices might cause a mother concern, especially since Edward told me, Esme was holding out hope for he'd meet the woman who'd lure him away from the 'dark side'. Someone who would stand by him as he took his rightful place among peers and make a picture perfect family that included lots of pretty babies.

Not in anyway, shape or form, was that woman going to be me.

If the acceptance Edward's mother offers s based on her assumption that I was going to fulfill her dreams and the outward smile on her face is simply masking underlying disappointment, eventually the resentment would manifest. It would only be a matter of time before Esme realized her dream was dead and gone and it wouldn't take much effort for her to fall back on to the learned behavior she had thirty years to customize. I would be the loser in that situation and suffer the same fate as Jane, tolerated, yet always serving as constant reminder of life's greatest disappointment.

Claire's mention of changing the sheets brought all those thoughts to the forefront of my mind. I didn't want to be a disappointment to Edward's family. I didn't want to be shunned off as nothing but collateral damage brought on them by a wayward son or brother. Alice was already starting to act indifferent. I would like to believe her behavior was little more then mood enhancing pregnancy induced hormones, but something told me that just wasn't the case.

Call it woman's intuition, discernment or just a nagging suspicion, it doesn't really matter, because nothing changed the fact that there is a problem with Alice and according to what I could tell, her problem is with me. No one has actually come right out and said anything but the little hints made by people couldn't be denied. Things like Emmett's comment about her being upset over not having access to Edward's house. Or the look I sometimes got from Dougie whenever Alice's name was mentioned. The most tell all sign came from Edward's reluctance to let me acknowledge his sister's antagonism. At the mere mention of Alice's name, he'd immediate try dropping the subject, telling me he'll handle her, or worse saying he didn't give a shit about her deteriorating attitude. All his indifference was only serving to feed my skepticism.

Alice and I were never really close friends, I only knew her prior to meeting Edward for a brief time at college. She joined in a few study groups, not many because our intended majors were different, yet like any underclassman, the core group of courses are all the same. We never spent time together outside of school. Between keeping my grades up, working part-time and taking care of all that came with being married to James, I had very little time for socializing.

Once we re-connected, Alice seemed pleased I was with her brother. In fact it was her insistence I joined the family for lunch at her home that set up the first full day Edward and I spent together. She took it upon herself to design fetish garments for me, I was invited to her home for friendly lunches, expected to accompany the women on shopping trips, and generally treated with considerable friendliness. Somewhere over the course of two months, the beginnings of what I assumed to be a bonding closeness had changed. I didn't think it was me who caused the chasm and if it was, I wished to god someone would tell me what I did, so I could make it right. It just seemed to me that ever since we returned home from our trip to the beach in Oregon, things with Alice have been rather tense.

If I was a betting woman, I'd lay wager on the shift in our relationship starting to occur during our shopping trip. The men were off golfing while we hit the outlet malls and found that damn Gucci dress. The woman just could not understand my refusal to buy it, going on and on about what a steal it was, how no one in their right mind could let such a find go, how I'd be a fool to walk away from it. When all her bitching didn't work she resorted to bribery, then pouting, then out and out demanding that I – and I quote - 'get my head out of my ass.'

To which my reply was 'I had better things to do with eight hundred dollars then wear it on my back.'

It was a thirty minute stand off right there in the middle of the boutique which only ended because I got frustrated enough to tell her how embarrassing she was and walked out with Rose following me.

Not willing to let the whole thing go, Alice brought up the episode again while we all sat around the hotel pool, complete with a mini-repeat tantrum at her dismay about my lack of designer envy. I didn't want to continue listening to her talk about the stupid dress, that frankly I could have gotten similar at J.C. Penny for a tenth of the price. And I certainly was not going to continue sitting there listening to painful predictions about chubby cheeked, curly haired, little girls.

I knew Alice truly believed what she said, but that doesn't change how it rips my heart out every time I heard it. Nor does it make it easier to face the fact I will never be able to give the man a love a child of his own. I'll never sit across from him and celebrate a plus sign on a pregnancy test. I'll never be able to lie in bed with his hand covering my belly to feel his child move inside me. I'll never hold a newborn infant at my breast as it suckles nourishment from me. I'll never have any of those simple joys that so many women took for granted, and having someone know the truth, throw it in your face and give false hope, was just cruel.

Deciding not to get into another debate over my choice of clothing nor my hurt at the callousness, I instead went to the ladies room, with Alice soon following. She apologized, but as Edward told me “talk is cheap' and words meant nothing, it's a persons actions that count. Right after the 'I'm sorry' left Alice's mouth, she followed it by patting my arm saying “You know Bella if you need Edward's permission, to buy the dress, I could always ask him for you."

I suppose in Alice's narrow minded world view she would assume I'd need Edward's approval to do anything. After all, like the rest of the family, she too, witnessed my kneeling performance on the patio. Unlike her parents, Alice also had an intimate birds-eye-view of my interacting with Master. Or rather not interacting, because the night in question was the last one we were in Oregon.

It was a Wednesday night and Master used our 'usual' to instill his submissive with a rather eye opening lesson by refusing to acknowledge my offered service. It was more difficult then anything I could have imagined, cutting me to the core and bringing me to the point where I had an honest view of myself. Not liking what I saw, the only way to end the misery was to safe word, after saying 'red', I ran into Edward's open arms, and without thought of who was present, cried like a baby. That night Edward carried me to our own room and it was that night I told him what it meant to me to wear his collar.

It was a hard learned, equally laboriously taught lesson on my submission to a Master who was worthy of respect, trust and admiration. I learned something very important that night, looking back it would appear during all the turmoil, tears and testimony, Alice just might have learned something too.

“Here girl” Emmett refilled my empty glass from the bottle he brought took from the fridge “You looked like you could use another one”
“Thanks, but I'm not sure a glass is going to cut it...” taking a hard drink I told him “I'm thinking about downing the whole freaking bottle”

Handing a bottle of beer off to Edward he sat back down with a sigh “I don't blame you...this shits FUBAR”

That it was – Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition

Twisting the top of the bottle, Edward nodded in agreement and gave a snap of his fingers sending the cap sailing across the room into the garbage.

“Three points baby” I muttered before taking a long drink and returning Edward's grin while Emmett got back to his original statement “So Caius wasn't just after some stocks, or at least that's not all he had in mind, because according to these emails...”

Emmett picked up the stack of copies Edward had printed from the file Eleazar had sent “...our little Bells is an heiress to his family fortune.”

“How did that happen?”

Rose's question had me taking another drink because I had already heard the story, twice, it didn't make any more sense the second time around and I wasn't so sure I wanted to hear it again. The whole thing was completely ludicrous, besides we had already figured out the connection with Caius Salvatore and it had absolutely nothing to do with Phil.

“I don't really know, looking over the paperwork Bella had, I don't see any connection”

Edward was talking about the stack of legal documents I had retrieved from where they were stashed in my room. Like I had told him, there wasn't much to see, only the last tax forms, the final disbursements of insurance payments, and a few closed bank account statements. The other papers didn't offer any more information then we already knew. Those were the official legal documents made out in the name of Philip Victor Dwyer.

The first saying on October fourteenth, in nineteen-sixty-six, in Cincinnati Ohio, twenty year old Marilyn Ann Dwyer, gave birth to him, the line for a father's name was blank. The second certificate, declared on April twelfth, nineteen ninety-three at the age of twenty-six, in Tallahassee Florida, he died from blunt force trauma as a result of a vehicular collision. The third was a Last Will and Testament, naming Isabella Marie Swan as beneficiary and sole heir of his estate.

Almost two decades had past since the estate was settled and to me, it was a substantial amount with the majority coming from the sale of the house along with Phil's signing bonus. Why would Caius all of a sudden be interested in anything that occurred nearly twenty years ago?

I had assumed his interest in me had been due to a vendetta against Aro for the stock purchases he supervised on my behalf. Even though his conjecture about Illegal trading was false, it was still very logical for a man such as Caius to think something shady was going on. After all, given the circumstances I could see how the motives of having me buy shares in a family owned business before they went public could be question. So it made sense for Caius to believe I was some kind of family, or at least someone who held a very close realtionship with him or Jane.

Once – thanks to Mike – Caius ascertained I was literally a nobody from nowhere, then a new conjecture began to form. Caius figured the only reason for Aro to be helping me must have beenfor illeict reasons. Either he was doing it as some sort of payoff to me in the form of hush money or possibly blackmail, which explained the rumors about me being a gold digger. Even worse was the second reason; I was being used as a front – possibly a paid one, hence the prostitute references - to purchase the holdings in my name while actually giving control of the votes associated with them over to Aro.

This theory, was covert, based on pure greed, feasible and given what I knew of the principle player – Caius – it was completely logical.

The man had been around long enough to know there is no love lost on Esme's part when it came to Jane. After the lengths he had gone to for answers I could Caius taking his notions to Esme in hopes of planting a seed of doubt about her brothers activities. Since the discord centered around Jane was already present, perhaps he hoped it wouldn't take much convincing on his part for Esme to believe her brother was being dishonest towards his siblings. In essence maneuvering his way into monopolizing the company by acquiring more shares then he was entitled to. Because of the already existing animosity, Caius could use the new betrayal as a power play to persuade Esme into changing her voting power in his favor.

Like I said the approach was underhanded, covetous, achievable and more important, completely believable. What made absolutely no sense – None, What So Ever – was the theoretical link between Phil and Caius. I didn't care how many copies of emails Eleazar sent or what they had to say about a seven hundred and fifty thousand dollar inheritance - that I knew nothing about. I would never, ever accept the possibility the two completely opposite men had anything in common with each other.

The more the three of them went over all the information – I might add – for the third time, the more pissed off I was getting. It was bad enough having Caius conniving his way into my personal business by getting information about me from the newly arrested, looking at life through iron bars, getting what he deserves, Mike Newton. But what really stuck in my crawl is that fucking bitch Tanya, sticking her god-damn nose into something she had no business being involved in. Then to top the whole thing off, the fucking whore takes it upon herself to open a whole new can of worms by contacting James.

What the fuck?

Downing the last half of the wine in one gulp, I gathered the attention of everyone sitting there by slamming the glass down and forcibly pushing away from the table. “I got a toilet to clean”

“Bella,” Edward reached out to grasp my wrist “...the bathroom is fine”

It was hard to tell if his underlying tone was meant to be persuasive or intimating, either way it didn't matter, Edward had his agenda and I had mine.

"The bathroom is not fine!" Wrenching my arm from his grasp "It hasn't been cleaned for days and there is no way I'm letting people use a dirty toilet!”

"Fine...I'll clean it" Edward said as he stood to glare at me "You sit down, take a few deep breaths and relax"

"I don't want you to clean it and I don't want to sit down and I don't want to fucking relax! What I want to do is clean the damn toilet!”

“Are you done?”

Son of a bitch!

I hated when Edward stayed all calm, cool and collected while I was freaking out, and by that point I was on total melt down.

Narrowing my eyes I could feel the blood pounding in my chest “NO! I'm not done! How the hell do you expect me to be done when the is whole...” swinging my arm around in a wide dramatic circle “...damn thing is so totally fucked up?”

Nothing, Edward gave me nothing, which in my world meant I was free to speak my peace and that's what I did.

“If Caius Salvatore has a problem with me,” jabbing my finger at my chest “that's too fucking bad for him! I don't know anything about any money that I supposedly got, that he says belongs to him! So for all I care, he can shove it up his ass! I can tell you one thing for sure, that son of a bitch has nothing...” throwing my hand out to form a circle with my thumb pressed firmly against my forefinger I yelled “...ZILCH...to do with Phil. In fact, that ass-wipe doesn't deserve to the privilege of even speaking his name!”

Throughout my whole tirade Edward stayed completely impassive, he didn't move, he didn't twitch, he didn't even fucking blink. Which totally pissed me off more because it was no fun yelling at someone who refused to yell back. So I switched tactics, instead of anger, I channeled my inner advocate and pleaded my case.

“Don't you get it?” not even knowing what I was imploring him to understand I kept talking“You've had it your whole life, there's never been a day you didn't know it.”

I was still getting nothing but a blank stare from Edward. Then again it was getting hard to see straight through the tears welling in my eyes as the words just came out of my mouth. “The only time I ever had it...”

Not even sure myself where my thoughts were headed, I took a deep breath and words flowed out as fast as my tears did “He carried me to bed. He sat there listening to my mother read Green Eggs and Ham, night after night.” My tears became heavy as I patted my shoulders “Whenever he hit a homerun, he'd put me on his shoulders while he ran around the bases.”

Sniffling I continued on “He filled my world....with tickle belly contest. He kissed away m...my boo-boos and chased the monsters... from my closet. He...” my voice faltered as I sucked in a gasping breath “...was the first person...to ever tell me...I could do anything....be any-thing....I wanted to be. He'd say...'Bella b..b..ba..baby, You dream it....and I'll make it happen”

Sucking in a deep a much needed breath I admitted “He was my daddy...the only one I ever really had....And he's dead!” I said with finality before taking another deep breath to get myself under control so I could continue.

“And the only thing to prove he even existed is his name printed on a few scraps of paper, a bunch of money and my memories.”

Calming myself, I wiped my hand across my face to remove the tears and asked “Do you want to know something Edward?"

True to form, he still would not respond so I just forged on "I'd give it all back, Every, Single, Penny, of it...just” my voice broke over the sob “...just to have him back. That doesn't seem like too much does it?”

Sniffling I shook my head “But no matter how much I wanted it...or what I did, it was never going to happen. So I clung to the only thing I had, my memories...and I'll be damned if anyone is going to take them away from me too."

Leaving out a stuttering breath I suddenly found myself wrapped in the safety of Edward's arms. One strong hand pressing on the small of my back while the other twisted in my hair. Holding me immobile with my face planted flatly against his chest, letting me draw from his strength and control until it became my own.

Keeping me as I was, Edward tugged a hand full of hair, causing my head to tilt back until my vision was filled with only his captivating face. The emotion stirring in the depth of his green eyes was staggering. He might have been able to control his physical reaction to my venting yet that didn't mean he wasn't effected by what I said.

The fingers in my hair tightened and the twinge of pain caused me to suck in a quick gasp as Edward's face drew slowly closer to mine. My eyes widened in fear as my body shivered with a rush of desire and I thought for sure Edward was going to kiss me, Instead he came so close that I could feel the brush of his breath on my face as he spoke with a determined tone.

“You hold on to those memories Isabella, don't you let anything pollute them for you. I wish it was within my power to give you what you want, but it's out of my hands. What I can do is tell you I would die a thousand deaths before I ever allow the reputation of a good man to be tainted. Especially when that man means so very much to you"

not Meant, past tense – Edward said, Means, present tense.

“Do you understand what I am saying?”

I did, Edward loved me, so much, that he would defend a man he's never met, someone it was impossible for him to ever know. He didn't do this out of obligation or guilt, he would do it because Phil, meant – no, he means – so very much to me.

Tears refilled my eyes as I answered in a hushed whisper “Yes Sir”

“Good girl” his soft lips touched my forehead for the briefest of moments before the tension on my hair let up and his fingers threaded through the length.

“May I clean the toilet now?”

A smile lite up Edward's face and the memory of my first visit to him came back, that day we joked over it being my weekend chore to see the bathrooms remained cleaned. I wasn't sure if his mind had gone to the same place or not because his only reply was “Go ahead”

Stepping back Edward released me just in time for me to remember there were other people present during my melt down. Emmett still sat in the same spot next to his wife, there hands clasped together on the table top. His eyes slowly moved from where they were joined to my mine. Pursing his lip, Emmett gave me a sad almost sympathetic smile. Regret stabbed at my heart, I didn't want his pity, I didn't want to be seen as the little rich girl, or loss the only thing her money couldn't replace and she cried over it.

Then the muscles in his arm flexed at the same time I noticed his hand squeeze tightly over Rose's and my attention went to her tear filled eyes. "I lost a daddy too Bella, death didn't take him but he's gone just the same"

On so many levels Rose and I were one and the same, maybe that was why we got along so well. We both knew the world for the cold heartless place it could be yet amongst all the hell, somehow we both manged to persevere and find our own little piece of heaven.

Afraid speaking anything at all would bring on another round of crying all I could do was nod at my friend in understanding. That wasn't good enough for Rose, her hand slipped from under Emmett's and keeping her eyes on me, she stood to move around the table. The grace of her advancement was so deliberate she appeared to be in slow motion.

“You and me girl” was all she got out before the two of us were embracing each other.

I'm not sure which one of us initiated the hug, or if it came about through mutual compulsion, all I knew was at that moment, it was a relief to have someone who fully understood and I treasured Rose for that.

Of course I adored her even more when she said “I'm not cleaning your nasty bathroom, but I'll run the vacuum for you”

Oh yes, I truly loved Rose

The bathroom wasn't gross, still in the ten minutes it took me to make it sanitary enough for my own satisfaction I had hoped Edward and his brother would have moved onto a new topic for discussion. They did and they didn't - rather than focusing on Caius, the new area was Tanya. Now I know it's absolutely ridiculous to be jealous, yet I couldn't help it. My man was taking time and exerting energy on another woman. He wasn't actively fucking her but she sure was screwing him and that pissed me off.

Washing my hands I decided to ignore them by taking distracting myself with forming the burgers. Having finished in the living room, Rose saddled up along side me and without having to be asked she started slicing onions and tomatoes. The busy work along with the chit chatting worked wonders at freeing my mind. That is until I made the mistake of taking the two cold beers to the table for Edward and his brother.

That's when Edward said “I get the feeling Eleazar would prefer Tanya not be a part of his household."

I had gotten the same idea from Dougie, in fact he practically came right out and said as much, which made me kind of sorry for Eleazar. I didn't know the man very well, we had only spoken a handful of times, yet I liked him. Plus Dougie absolutely adored the man, called him uncle and if for that reason alone, I figured Eleazar was a man who deserved my respect. With admiration came loyalty and consideration. In the small amount of the conversation between the two brothers that I actually heard,there seemed to be something Edward hadn't considered.

Perhaps, it was my fault for not adequately expressing just how pathological my ex-husband was. I preferred to put it out of my mind, the omission wasn't in denial and it certainly wasn't ignorance. It was self preservation that kept everything in the deep recesses of my subconscious but if there was anybody who knew how James operated, it was me.

That knowledge was abruptly at the forefront of my mind and standing at the end of the table with Edward seated on one side and Emmett on the other, I wondered aloud. “Has anyone warned Eleazar”

“What do you mean...warned?”

“About James"

My answer to Edward's question had him giving me a perplexed look and I knew in that moment I had done him a great disservice in keeping quiet. Shaking my head a humorless laugh came out while I admitted “It's my fault, I.."

The gravity of the situation settle on me and I realized there was nothing at all to laugh about. "Oh my god...someone has got to tell Eleazar about the shit storm that is coming his way. James might not have answered Tanya's emails, but I can guarantee he's read them. Which means the only reason he's not replied yet, is to give him time to plan the best way to approach, and mark my word, he will approach."
Of that I was absolutely certain and I spoke my reasons aloud "Especially since Tanya made it sound like there was a payday in it for him. To James, the more wealthier the victim, the more excited he's going to be. Plus don't forget, James enjoys messing with me, so if he can vicariously get at me, while still appearing to be the beacon of law abiding citizen..." letting the words sink in I noted "...there's no way in hell he'll pass up that chance . I know James, all too well and right about now, he's salivating over the possibilities."

“You give him to much credit Bella”

“No, Edward, You don't give him enough, and that's my fault. I don't like to think about the kind of person James is, none the less talk about it. It makes me feel stupid and weak for ever falling into the traps he set. There's no excuse for my ignorance and that's my own cross to bare..."

Pausing, my eyes left Edward's for a moment to focus on the wood grain of the table top. So many memories flooding back to me, the fear, humiliation and shame James wrought in my life and the cowardliness way I handled it. Hiding, running, denying, excusing, condoning, the list could go on and on.

Admittedly I dealt with the situation badly but I did what I did to survive "...anyway I could."

Lifting my eyes to Edward's I admitted something else "Even as a young girl, I learned to take care of myself. So when I was older, if I chose go through life with my eyes wide shut, taking whatever rained down on me in stride, that was my choice. I knew what I was doing wasn't exactly the best thing, I understood the consequences of turning a blinds eye and pretending shit never happened. It was my decision. Mine alone. I'm the one who had to look in the mirror everyday and as long as the majority of the time I could live with the person staring back, then that's all on me. Sometimes it's a heavy load made worse by people who don't understand or agree. Right or wrong, I came to terms with my decisions, they were mine alone to make and mine alone to live with."

I could tell by his expression Edward didn't agree with me, reaching out to take my hand he gave a small squeeze "Baby, you're not alone in this, I have to live with your decisions too"

"I know darling..." tightening my grip on Edward's hand so he'd know "...I love having an us. From the moment you and me became a we, things have been different. We talk, we work it out and meet somewhere in the middle of the same page. Having an 'us' is the best thing to ever happen to me, but talking about a residual issue. It might not be fair to unbalance our seesaw by forcing you to live with something you had no say in. There's nothing I can do about things that occurred before you had a say in the way I chose to live with things. Only you can decide if you're willing to live with me...living with it"

Edward didn't like that either but before he could respond I pressed on.

"I have first hand experience at being fully indoctrinated with anything that has to do with James. Right or wrong, I've gone through it with eyes wide shut. I clearly saw James for the person he is, yet still made the conscious decision to shut my eyes to the madness. Eleazar on the other hand is coming into an ongoing situation completely blind. He has no idea what's going to come a knocking on his door and he needs his eyes opened. Then, once he's been fully warned, if he chooses to shut them again, the fault will lie with him, not us."

"Jesus...Bella” Rose muttered from behind Emmett who wondered “What kind of a person is he?"

Shifting my attention to Emmett I regarded the big man for a moment then gave the most honest answer I could "James is a methodical, sadistic, psychopath."

Much as Edward stayed impassive during my breakdown over Phil, Emmett did the same thing while contemplating my assessment. Because of his lack of emotion it was hard for me to tell if he was seeking any exaggeration on my part or if he was processing my words for the truth they held. Once he reached whatever conclusion he'd been searching for, Emmett eyes transferred to Edward's and so did mine.

Unlike his brother, my man knew all to well what James was capable of yet because he hadn't taken it upon himself to inform Eleazar, I figured it best to lay it out.

“If this was just about Tanya...I'd say, the bitch brought it on herself. James come looking for her, she gets caught up in more then she bargained for, ends up regretting ever hearing his name...hey" sounding flippant "...not my problem. In fact, if it was just her involved...after what she did? I'd say it would be nothing but poetic justice...she wanted him so badly...well the bitch got him...good for her...I wish her luck...because she's going to need it.”

My tone was emotionless, just stating facts as if reading the directions for a recipe. Which I suppose made me a cold hearted shrew. As a victims advocate I should have been appalled by my own thirst for vengeance, yet I just couldn't seem to drum up any sympathy.

Karma was a bitch, what comes around goes around, life comes full circle, reap what you sow or any other philosophical jargon used to explain the consequences Tanya should have to face. The two other people she's unwittingly brought into the mess was a different story.

Eleazar and his wife..." I couldn't think of her name and at my pause Rose promoted “Carmen”

"Carmen” I repeated with a smile before looking back to Edward “They're a different story. The only thing they did was make a poor decision on who they associate with. Personally I don't understand the attraction, but having poor taste in women...”

Edward's brows rose at the insult and I remembered his taste had gone down the same path. To bad – to sad for him, I was on a roll and calling it as I seen it.

Shrugging it off I continued “...isn't a crime and they shouldn't be punished for it. I would hate for anything to happen to either Eleazar or Carmen because of a nosy...”

Throughout the whole conversaton I had remained calm, it was so important for Edward to understand I wasn't simply over reacting. Had I at anytime lost my composure his attention would have been on how I was behaving rather then what I was saying. Since I had gotten my point across and my focus was no longer on the wellfare of innocent but rather on the vile wicked witch who brought this on them.

“...god-damn, Skanky ass, Motherfucking...” each insult being spewd with more venom until I spit out " toe-Tae”

"Alright Trace..." my brothers excited voice sounded from behind me "...we got here just in time.." he continued while walking to the opposite end of the table and setting a box on it he asked me "...who's the toe-Tae?"

Emmett had his own question "What's a toe-Tae"

"Whore" Edward answered incorrectly while Seth enlightened them "Actually..it means, Cunt"

Edward's eyes widened as they went to me and I knew what he was thinking. I had stressed how much I disliked the 'C' word. James used the word all the time, for everything. It was degrading and vulgar and I hated it with a passion that made my skin crawl. Yet when push came to shove and I need a word to describe a woman such as Tanya, 'cunt' seemed to fit the bill.

There's yet another reason for me to hate Tanya – just the thought of her brought out a side of me I didn't like. It was bad enough when I was hoping James would beat her with a belt, lock her in a box and ass fucking her until she bleds. But despising the bitch so damn much I was calling her a 'cunt' seemed like crossing the line, yet I couldn't sum up an ounce of remorse.

She was a CUNT with a capital C, that rhymes with 'T' that stands for TRAMP.

Oh this is fun

I was actually starting to enjoy myself and was fairly possitive if I asked her to, Rose would have joined in. The only problem was Edward, he was staring at me with an amused expectation, to which I answered with a smug smile that clearly said – that's right baby, I called that bitch a 'cunt'

“Soooo" The glee in Seth voice telling me he was enjoying himself "Who's the cunt? Wait...” holding his hands up “not just a plain old run of the mill, everyday cunt. This héva...” pointing a finger at Edward “...that's a whore...” looking back at me with a smile “...is so bad, that she got the sweet wonderful sister to call her a motherfucking cunt"

Not wanting to continue entertaining my brother I switched subjects by pointing to the box “What ya get?”

Seth's smile widened “Who's the cunt?”

Ok, lets try something else

Remembering my manors I made the introductions by looking to Emmett “In case you haven't guessed, this is my little brother...Seth and...” swinging my hand in her direction “...his girlfriend Tracy”

When I introduced them, Rose gave a wave and said 'hi' while Emmett half stood and leaned over the table to shake Seth's hand. Instead of saying hello, hi, or pleased to meet you, my brother had something to say “You're that really big guy from New Moon”

“Excuse me” Emmett said while getting to his full height but Seth wasn't intimidated “Me and my friends went there one night, you wouldn't let us in.”

Emmett glanced at me before smirking “Sorry dude, you turn twenty-one...”

“I know, I know...already heard that” the dejection on my brothers face only lasted long enough for him to ask me “So about this cunt?”

“UGH!” I groaned while Rose laughed “Maybe when your twenty-one you'll get to met her.”

That seemed to excite Seth “Oh yeah, the motherfucking cunt hangs out at New Moon?”

OK, enough was enough

"If you say the 'C' word one more time, I'm going to put soap in your mouth"

Rolling his eyes at me he didn't look to worried when he addressed Emmett "She's been telling me that since I was ten, still hasn't done it"

"There's always a first time...but it's your mouth”

Seth rolled his eyes at me, still, it was good to note, what he didn't do was repeat the vile word. Glad cunt-gate seemed to be put to rest, I once again pointed to the box “What did you get?”

“My new laptop”

I was surprised he hadn't already purchased one with the gift cards he received for graduation “You just getting it now?”

“Yeah...” Seth said opening the lid “Port Angels didn't have one in the store for me to try out and a computer is like a girl.” putting the packing material on the table he wiggled his fingers as if playing a piano “...you have to get your hands on it to make sure she's right”

My mouth dropped open, while everyone - except poor Tracy who looked like she wanted to crawl under a rock – laughed just as the door bell rang. Still kind of laughing Edward stood, leaned in to kiss my still stunned face and whispered “He's a mini-Emmett” before going to see who was there.

Seth, being born only a six weeks after the death of my mother, was the first baby I ever held. I remember being nervous because he was so small and always cried for Leah. Sue put him in my arms and when he stayed quiet, she gave me a big smile saying 'see he loves you Bella', in that one moment, I loved him too and I always have. He breastfed until her was three, and a year later, clung to his mother's leg at Harry's death ritual. Even with the loss of his father, Seth was a happy kid who had a gift of making those around him happy as well. He grew to be a fun loving wise cracker, with a big heart and a strong sense of loyalty. He was indeed like Emmett and in every sense of the word, he was my baby brother and I loved him.

What I didn't exactly appreciate - since any minute the house was going to be overrun with people - was the mess he was making.

“Hey...” I said pointing to the packing material, cellophane and papers spread all over the table “...get rid of all that junk”

I got the standard teenage answer of 'in a minute' which had Emmett not taken the initiative to start gathering the debris; would have been irritating. Plus Seth's butt was saved from a beat down by Tracy when she reminded me there were things to do when she asked if I needed any help. Before I could take her up on the offer, Edward returned with a box in his hands covered in brown packaging paper and wrapped in blue ribbon.

“Your sister say's this is not a birthday present and I can't open it in front of Charlie”

Who'd have thought Edward would be so excited about presents, I swear he was like a two year old on Christmas morning. Eyes sparkling, happiness in his cheeks, it was kind of nice to see and a good thing to know. It was also hard to refuse but I tried.

“Sure she did”

“She did” he pleaded and from behind him Leah agreed “I did, but...”seeing Seth Leah added “...maybe you'll want to save it for later when you're alone”

Smirking at Edward I moved towards my sister, kissed her cheek and said 'hi' to Jake who, standing behind her was holding a similarly dress package as Edward while Seth jumped to conclusions “How comes I can't I see it?”

“How comes you've been in town all weekend and didn't tell me?” Leah countered as she moved to hug Rose 'hello'.

“Excuse me for not wanting to ruin your surprise”

Moving on to Emmett she gave him a hello cheek kiss before turning to Seth “Well what about last night? You didn't even call me.”

“I was busy”

Standing at his side she said “Too busy to call your sister and say 'hey, how are you'?”

“Hey...” Seth smirked “how are you?”

The smart ass reply was accompanied by a tight hug that caused Leah to gasp “I'm good...where you staying tonight”

Leah's question was directed to Seth however it was Tracy who was receiving the embrace as he answered. “We're going home later. Tracy has to be at work early tomorrow morning”

Jake had wormed his way into mix, shaking hand's with Emmett, taking the offered beer from Edward, he was his normal self, it was Leah's behavior I found so bizarre. She was in an exceptionally good mood, smiling at everyone, passing out hugs, and surprising the crap out of me when she replied “Oh, ok”

Normally, Seth making plans to accommodate Tracy would have brought – at the very least - a facial expression from Leah to say she was thinking something unpleasant. Leah's simple response was so completely out of character it made Tracy's eyes narrow and jaw drop and put my spiddy senses on high alert. She wasn't only in a good mood, Leah was down right happy...wearing eye shadow?

Yes-sir-re Bob, she had on eye shadow, and she was kind of glowing, she looked like...like

“OH MY GOD! You did Kim's move!”

 

Yup, just like that, it came right out of my mouth and in matter of two seconds my sister's face turned three different shades of red until she exclaimed “Bella!”

There was no anger in her tone and I confirmed “YOU DID!...it's about freaking time...” laughing as I turned to Jake “Did you remember how?”

“Shut up Bella”

But there was no way I was keeping quiet “Damn Kim should patented that shit...if this is what it does to you”

Leah still wasn't angry so when Rose asked 'what move' I freely advised while still laughing “Ask Leah for a demonstration...in about two months...you're going to need it...” Leah looked like her face was going to pop from chagrin but I had to know “...did he keep his leg up?”

Her cheeks were still tight as she raised her chin, swept her hand through the air and said smoothly “The whole time”

And the two of us burst out laughing

“You guys are gross” Seth uttered with a repulsed expression which only served to make us laugh harder

“So what's this move?” Rose asked again and Leah glancing towards Seth waved her off “I'll tell you later”

Oh, she was in a good mood – thank you Kim

Rose accepted the answer by saying “That's a great shirt”

It was just a long black maternity t-shirt with the saying 'Look What Daddy Did' written in white block lettering across the belly.

“Not as great as Bella's”

What?

Leah's smug reply had me looking down to see my chest proclaiming I had a bad mouth, that I could do great things with Seth cursed “Damn Leah! You shouldn't have said anything, I wanted to see Charlie's face”

He what?

“You...you...” My little brother was setting me up, he was a mini-Emmett, who at the moment was saved by my inability to form a coherent sentence.

“Can't do such great things with it now, can you?”

Again Seth was saved, only this time it was by the door bell, whoever was on the other side was not someone who should see my oral skills being proclaimed across my boobs. Edward got the door and I raced up the stairs to change. I wasn't particular about what shirt to wear, grabbing a light blue sleeveless waist length that clung to my body. The whole thing took only a few minutes but as I flung open the door to leave, Edward was standing on the other side with his phone to his ear.

“Here she is”

It was unusual for me to get calls on his phone, so I tenativily took it from him and spoke a questionably “Hello?”

“Isabella?” the strange male voice responded “This is Garrett, I have a situation here”

My eyes went to Edward and between his grave expression along with the word situation I suddenly felt weak. Backking into the room I sat on the bed while Garrett continued “I know it's against the rules to contact you but Peggy is really upset and I didn't know what else to do. Can you talk to her”

Shit!

“Umm...sure”

A moment later Peggy's small quiet voice came over the line “Bella?”

It was obvious she'd been crying and it worried me “What happened?”

“Oh Bella, Rick came and he started saying...oh god, he was so angry...then he”

“Wait” last I had heard Rick had been arrested for breaking the restraining order “How did he get out of jail?”

“I don't know, maybe he posted bond or is out on ROR”

ROR meant Released on own Recognizance, no bail money required, just the person's own signature saying they would return for a hearing. These were usually granted in cases that were not considered to be serious crimes.

“When did he get out?”

“I don't know that either. He just showed up here at the restaurant this morning. He was standing in the parking lot...I didn't see him until it was too late. And he started...talking stupid. Saying he couldn't live without me and then he was going on...”

My heart was beating so fast I could literally feel it pounding in my chest as she went on “...he said, if I wasn't going to be with him...” her voice broke “...he said I won't be with anyone”

Oh Jesus

“He started talking really stupid and threw a rock at me, smashed a window in the kitchen, he was going nuts”

“Where is he now?”

“I don't know”

“Did you call the police?”

“Garrett did, they are looking for Rick but they can't find him”

“Where are you?”

Peggy was obviously with Garrett, yet I had no idea where and I didn't think it was safe for her to go back to her apartment. My mind started coming up with options on how to get her to the safety of The Center. I had a house full of people so I couldn't just leave and besides Carol chewed my ass out but good when I went to get Sally, so that was out of the question.

“I'm at the Tanner's.”

They were her landlords, the parents of her roommate and the Cullen's next door neighbors “The three of us are staying here tonight and Mr Tanner said he'd take me on the ferry in the morning and make sure I get in a cab.”

“Ok” that was a good plan just so long as “Peggy, please...I'm begging you. Do not leave the house. And Do Not...please sweety promise me you won't go on that ferry alone”

“I promise Bella...I feel so stupid, causing all this trouble”

Typical, victims always harbored the blame, it was ingrained in us.

“Peggy you didn't do anything wrong”

“I know but...” she started crying “Garrett has been so nice...and now he got a broken window...I'll pay for it..I will”

I assumed Peggy was speaking to Garrett as I heard him mutter 'girl you'll do no such thing' so I knew he must have been close and I hoped giving her a small bit of comfort as she continued on “The Tanners...they are letting us...stay and they...they shouldn't have to...”

“Stop it...they care about you Peggy, they want you to be safe and they don't blame you.”

“Why doesn't Rick just leave me alone?”

That was a question for the ages

“Are you scared?”

“No” there were no more tears “I'm mad”

Anger was a mixed blessing, it took away the power the abuser had to control with fear. However it also had a tenacity to instil the victim with a false sense of bravado. Being brave with determination was one thing, being bold with recklessness could get you dead.

“Good.” I told her “Be good and mad, just channel that anger in the right direction. Don't go off half cocked thinking you're going to prove something to him or anyone else. You need to be smart, so stop, think about what you're doing, re-think it and for god's sakes girl please...please for me, for yourself, for all the people who care about you...please, be safe”

“I will Bella...see you in the morning”

Tears filled my eyes and I realized there was nothing I could do to protect her. Garrett came back on the phone, assuring me Peggy was indeed safe. He said the following morning, Mr. Tanner would accompany her to the city, get her into a cab and was going to use his lawyer status to repeal Rick's continued freedom from jail. I had a heavy heart, but it was out of my control.

Handing the phone back to Edward, he spoke briefly with his friend while I silently wondered 'what else could possibly go wrong?'

Chapter 108

Chapter 108

EPOV

Bella's arms tightened around my waist as she gave a little squeal while her thighs pressed firmer against mine.

"Oh my god Edward!" she screamed into my shoulder.

"Almost there!" I yelled.

"Oh Shit! It's too fast!"

From the grip Bella had on me along with the terror in her voice, I backed off a bit. Once she realized my intentions her voice took on a different tone as her hand started pounding against my leg, "Don't slow down! Go, Go, Go!"

Laughing at the mixed messages I once again picked up the pace just as Bella yelled over my shoulder "Hurry up, he's going to pass us!"

The mixture of adrenaline and excitement coming from my girl made me all the more determined, "The fuck they are!”

Bella must have heard me over the roar of the engine as she squealed in delight and her arms tightened across my middle. Molding herself against my back made it all the more easy to lean into the turns while I maneuvered the bike around the paved trails.

The enthusiasm and excitement coming from my girl was a far cry from earlier in the day. Somewhere between returning from my morning run with Quil, eating the breakfast Claire had prepared according to his wishes and them leaving, Bella's mood shifted.

The first notice something was amiss was at the table while she ate, or rather, we ate. Bella just kind of pushed her food around on the plate with her fork and took small bites while complimenting her friend on something I was sure she didn’t even taste. Debating on whether to force the issue or not, I chose to ignore the behavior. It seemed to me that there was a distinct possibly that Bella was just simply not hungry. Perhaps she had taken too many samples while it was being prepared or possibly she – like me – had over eaten the previous day. Plus, there was also the small matter of the hangover she was contending with. With all that in mind I kept my mouth shut, watched, and gave her the benefit of the doubt.

As the conversation around the table focused on the events of the previous evening, Bella was still her normal self. In fact it was Claire's question to her that seemed to cause the shift in the continuum.

"Hey, did Rachel actually say she fakes while Paul's going down town?"

"Uh huh," Bella acknowledged with rose colored cheeks while actually eating one of the few bites of food.

"Why the hell would she do that?

Damn good question Quil

As I mentally patted the man on the back for asking, Bella shrugged, "I guess Paul doesn't know what he's doing."

"So she fakes it?" I was both outraged and skeptical.

Unavoidable anger surged through me at the blatant lie the woman was perpetrating, and I wondered how the hell Paul didn't know. No matter how good of an actress Rachel might be, there are some things she couldn't pretend. The clear signs of a woman's arousal, the way her thighs start to constrict how her clitoris blooms into a tight bud as her juices flow from within. Even if the woman was a quiet whimperer when she climaxed, a female orgasm from oral stimulation is a distinct physical reaction with absolutely no way to mistake it.

Then again, if the only woman a man has ever been with, never fully reached a climax and has been leading him to believe she's satisfied, how the hell was he suppose to know?

“Someone should give that boy some pointers,” Claire’s obvious glance at Quil clearly suggested who that someone should be.

“Forget it!” the horrified tone making me chuckle. “There is no fucking way I'm going to talk to Paul about how to eat out his wife.”

“But Quilly,” Bella snickered at her friend's choice of word and pleading tone, while I raised a questioning brow at the man across from me.

“End of discussion Claire,” his tone saying the subject was closed. “And don't call me Quilly.”

To my dismay both women turned their attention to me; and I, without even waiting for the question, shut them down with a definite, “No.”

Quil was right, there wasn't a chance in hell I was going there with Paul. What the fuck did the women expect to happen? Was I just supposed to walk up to Paul, put my arm around his shoulder and say, 'Listen man, when you're going down on Rachel use your tongue to trace the letters of the alphabet around her clit, and by the time you get to 'Z' she'll be ready to burst.'

That was my personal method, especially with a new partner or while performing 'pussy worship.' The shape of each letter being made allowed my mouth to hit every area. It also gave me the opportunity to use my tongue to the fullest, sometimes hitting the area with a flat swipe and others with just the point, and then I just paid attention to her response and repeated what she most enjoyed. That was how I had found Bella's little 'happy spot' the other night - the one I was hoping to be able to torture her with at some point before the day was over.

“Well that's just mean,” Claire's pouty tone drawing me away from thinking about all the nasty things I wanted to do with Bella

“Isn't there some kind of man-code?”

“Yeah, the one that says mind your own business. So mind yours.”

Claire took the man’s glare to heart but still made her dissatisfaction known with a loud huff and Bella gave me a knowing grin while Quil shook his head in irritation.

I know buddy, I hate that fucking sound

It was only a matter of time before Claire would press his buttons, sighing might seem like an innocent response but in actually it was an aggravating act of defiance. One I was very glad to be erasing from my girl and it appeared to be the same one Quil would also be eventually working on.

Claire must have gotten the hint to change the subject because she quickly turned to Bella. “If you give me clean sheets, I'll make the bed before we leave. That way you won’t have to worry about it before everyone gets here.”

The comment seemed innocent enough to me, but something in it caused a clear line of tension to appear in Bella's brow. From that moment on her demeanor took a nose dive. It wasn't until Quil and Claire were getting ready to leave that I understood what the problem was.

Quil had given me a small brown bag with two jars of Lahb in it. “Happy Birthday man, sorry we can't stay for the party.”

“Don't worry about it, and thanks for this,” lifting the bag, “but you didn't have to give me anything.”

“Well to be honest, I would have given you the Lahb anyway. It's traditional to share your family brew and after opening up your home to us, it would be considered rude not to.”

"Did you make it?"

"Hell no! That's from grand-dad's private stock, the shits been fermenting for two years so watch out, it’s probably strong as hell."

Not exactly sure what the custom was I wondered, "So, do I bring it out before the meal or after?"

"No, no, no...you don't serve it. Lahb is more of a gesture of hospitality. Just pop the seal and leave the jars sitting in the middle of the table. It's pretty much understood that it’s there for anyone who wants a sample. As long as it’s open, they'll just pick it up; in fact, my father would consider it an insult of any man who didn't."

That's good to know.

"And believe me, Jake, Billy and Charlie are never ones to be rude. Just make sure they know whose supply it's from, because I know namêšéme will ask what they thought of it."

While I laughed at the comment about his grandfather, alongside me, Bella stiffened.

After the third round of hugs, and my assurance to Quil that I'd call him with a decision, Seth stood next to us on the porch as we watched them drive away.

While Bella waved she asked, "Are you going to do it?"

"Do what?"

"Work with Quil."

Her reply shouldn't have shocked me because of course Claire would have mentioned the possibility to Bella.

Yet it still did.

"Isn't anything sacred?"

"Nope," the smirk Bella gave me was so damn cute and mischievous I couldn't help wrapping my arms around her to pull her against my chest.

"Is that so?" I asked while being drawn closer to her lips, so close her responding words brushed against my mouth, "Yup, that's so."

Our mouths connected in a sweet, soft, warm kiss that suddenly reminded my dick of the morning sex it missed out on. Bella must have been thinking the same thing as the moan she made resonated down my throat with an intensity that made me ache to be inside her. The need to be with her was nearly unbearable and I was going to suggest moving to someplace more private when the sound of an engine coming up the driveway completely obliterated the idea.

Emmett turned off the motor on the bike and removed his helmet to reveal a blue bandana wrapped around his head. “Should you two be out here mauling each other like that?"

Rose giggled as she stepped off the back of the bike and flipped open the saddle bag while my brother continued, "and on a Sunday morning no less," his expression turned to mock horror, "ohhhh...for shame. What are the neighbors going to think?"

“Sorry, I didn't know we were being watched.”

Even as the sarcastic reply left my mouth, my eyes darted around, scoping out any place suitable for someone to be hiding. The only other visible person was a woman on the other side of the street. She was dressed in running clothes and briskly pushing one of those triangular strollers up the sidewalk. I was fairly sure she lived in the house at the end of the block, yet I couldn't seem to get over the feeling of unease that suddenly appeared.

"It's almost eleven o'clock and the girl is still in her pajamas," Emmett said drawing my attention to the two of them approaching the house. "My god dude, I know you’re a horny fuck but would it kill you to at least let the woman put some real clothes on? Then again," turning towards Bella with a waggling eyebrow, "I always thought red was your color, but you look damn good in pink too."

Bella's face flushed to match her pajamas making me chuckle as she murmured, "shut up Emmett...I didn't have a chance to dress yet."

"I can fix that," Rose said as she handed both of us a small gift bag. "That one’s for ‘Happy Birthday’," pointing to mine before speaking to Bella, "and that one is ‘congratulations’ on winning the deep shot contest Friday night."

"What is it?" Bella sounded more fearful than excited.

"Open it, then go put it on or we'll be late."

"Ummm...late for what?"

That was a damn good question, one that even as Bella looked up at me I didn't have the answer to.

"Didn't Pappy call you about going out to his place?"

My hand automatically reaching for the pocket I knew was empty. "I don't know, my phone is still up on the charger."

"You left the house without it?"

Obviously

My eyes shifting to Bella as I wondered why she even asked. “Afraid so.”

"I'm very disappointed in you Edward.”

The tone in Bella's voice caught me off guard and it took me a moment to see the playfulness in her eyes, “That is very irresponsible of you, what if something had happened and I couldn't get a hold of you? Hmmmm...?” she hummed with a cocky expression, “...did you think about that when you went off without your phone? I don't think you did...."

I couldn't help the smile on my face, she looked so damn cute standing the in those pink pajamas with her hands planted firmly on her hips. The sternness in her tone ebbed just slightly by playfulness; standing there watching the show – and it was a show – I was half expecting her to start tapping her foot. The whole performance was so endearingly adorable my grin became more pronounced.

Seeing my response to her act of dominance, Bella's eyes widened for a fraction of a second before narrowing to a disapproving glare, “I don't see anything amusing about this Mister."

Mister?

The word making my smile broaden which in turn made my girl's posture even more stern, "I'm serious Edward”

She was getting funnier by the minute and when my lips started twitching she declared, “That's it! I'm going to go find that marker, because I think someone needs a foot writing!"

That did it.

The laugh rolled out of me in a sudden wave as I put my arm over her shoulder to tuck her body against my side. At that moment I kind of felt like a proud poppa watching their child walk for the first time. The job of raising my girl was far from finished, but the foundation had been laid and she was flourishing in solid framework. The woman standing in my arms, laughing with me, was not the same one who joined me for coffee at my kitchen table that first Sunday morning.

That girl was uncertain about herself, doubtful of her charms, fearful of her ability to please me, and downright terrified of failing. She had a longing to broaden her horizon, yet was still afraid to leave the safety of the comfort zone of her inhibitions. In all honesty it didn't take much coaxing and I fell head over heels in love with that girl.

How could I not?

But the self confident, strong, secure woman she had become was a marvel to behold.

My Bella practically beamed with self-confidence, security, gratification, and pride. Completely at ease with who she is, what she needs, and is all too willing to explore her desires. The walls of isolation have been broken down to where Bella can give fully of her trust without fear of being discarded. The fruits of her training had started to ripen. She was maturing before my eyes to the point where instead of viewing a past punishment with resentfulness she saw it for what it was.

Just a brick in the road.

A solid part of the level ground we had laid together to ensure she could always proceed with sure, stable footing. The fact Bella could take a situation she found distressing, work beyond the complexities of what it meant to her, what it had cost her both physically as well as emotionally and come out on the other side capable of laughing, at not only herself but also me, only served to reinforce what I already knew -

My little one was growing up.

Placing a kiss on top of her head I told her surely, “I love you.”

“Aweeee...isn't that's sweet.” Emmett's monotone voice sounding more bored than inspired, “Can we please get out of here? Pappy’s got trails awaiting and he wants us to help christen the tracks.”

“They're done?” my excitement brewing.

Pappy owns a piece of property in Redmond that is akin to the Hundred Acre Woods. Of course that's an exaggeration; it's more like ten acres of lush green forest. It had been his father’s retreat, a little hunting cabin with a no indoor plumbing but plenty of wildlife and a fresh spring. It was very primitive, and he's hosted several parties out there. There were tails through the forest we'd ride on, most of it flat lands with a few hills to make it interesting. The previous year he had the bright idea to lay a strip of cement on the flattest portion for the sole purpose of racing. The man spent many a days on a backhoe, removing trees, leveling the ground, and digging the earth away.

Bella pulled from me, jerking the gift bag from my hand. “Have fun,” she said, heading into the house with not only her present, but mine too.

“Hey, give that back!”

Completely ignoring me she put my bag on the sideboard. “You can't open presents until everyone's here and after we sing.”

“Who says?”

“I says...them's the rules buster.”

Buster?

What the fuck?

“Why do you get to open yours?” I wondered as she pulled a black t-shirt from the bag Rose had given her.

“Because it's not my birthday, and no one got up at six in the morning to make me cake for the sole purpose of having my family sing Happy Birthday to me and then watch me open my presents so everyone can see what I got. Now, stop being such a spoiled baby and wait until it's time.”

Emmett chuckled, “Guess she told you.”

Rolling my eyes I was going to argue that it's rude to open gifts in front of everyone, but then Bella held up her shirt and her expression was caught somewhere between humor and chagrin.

“Rose...” saying the name like a curse, “Oh My God... I can’t wear this...” Laying it against her chest so I see the bold white writing:

'I may have a bad mouth
But I can do great things with it'

“...In front of Charlie?”

Bella had a legitimate concern, yet she could change after we got back and before everyone else arrived. I was about to speak my thoughts when Rose said, “No, take it off later but you have to wear it to Pappy's.”

Bella's eyes narrowed, “I can't go.”

“Why not?” the three of us asked in unison.

“I have too much to do.”

She then started spouting off a list of chores that was beginning to make me dizzy. Most of them completely unnecessary as the house was already clean and there was absolutely no reason to hose off the siding under the patio. For every chore she listed, one of us countered with an alternative, offering to pitch in and help on our return. Hell even Emmett agreed to, as he put it, make sure the yard was 'free of land mines' and yet still Bella persisted in her objective of staying home.

"What about Seth?”

“What about him?” my brother question while looking to the dog, “The little guy looks fine to me.”

“Not doggie Seth,” Bella replied in an exacerbated tone that was beginning to grate on my nerves. “My brother Seth, I don't know when he's coming back.”

He and Tracy had spent the night at Emery's with the rest of the teenagers, the last I’d heard they had plans. "You told me they were going for breakfast and then heading to Northgate Mall."

"What if they come back early?"

I had to hand it to her, she was pulling out all the stops, but there was some underlying reason I needed to get to the bottom of and frankly her evasiveness was pissing me off.

"Bella, they will be gone most of the day, we'll be back no later than two...scouts honor..." giving the pledge, "and even if they beat us back here, Seth knows the code for the locks and the alarm."

"Oh man don't let Alice hear that." Emmett's comment accompanied by a dry chuckle caught Bella's attention as her eyes went to my brother, “Why?”

“Why?” His humorless laugh only rousing Bella's curiosity.

“Yeah, why would Alice care that my brother can get into the house? He's staying here. What's he suppose to do, sit out on the front porch twiddling his thumbs?”

“Bella,” Calling her attention back to me. “It doesn't matter what Alice's problem is; she's just mad because with everything going on I didn't feel comfortable with so many people having access to the house. I tried to explain my reasoning to her but she's in a funk and more irrational then normal.”

My words seemed to remind Bella, “You mean she’s got pregnancy brain.”

“Alice is pregnant?” Emmett wondered while Rose had a different response, “Uh...I guess she must have rolled over for once and took it like a bitch.”

I didn't fully understand the comment; however, Bella must have as she kind of hissed out a growl of reproach, “Rose...” and then started to giggle along with my sister-in-law, “...that's not nice.”

“But it's true,” Rose said wiping the tears from her eyes, “and you know it.”

“It's still...not ...nice,” Bella's words coming out through her laughter while Emmett and I just kind of stood there looking dumbfounded until my brother just had to ask, “What do you mean...rolled over?”

Rose stopped her fit of hysteria long enough to answer, “You know...”

Holding her hands out in front of her as if grasping a basketball she rotated them in a half circle, “...from back to front.”

Oh...I so did not want to know this

Emmett was either slow on the uptake or in total denial because he was still kind of bewildered, “No...I don't know.”

“Come on Emmett...” Rose tried to coax him into reality while Bella was slightly less delicate and started singing, “Dirty deed, done dirt cheap....for a fee, I'll be your back door man.”

The two women broke out in laughter while my brother finally got the message, “Are you shitting me?”

“No...” Rose giggled, “and Alice never shits on Jasper either because she gives herself enemas three times a day”

“What?” I questioned while Bella muttered in disbelief, 'three times a day?' and my brother looked to me, “Is that healthy?”

“NO! It is not, especially if she is pregnant.”

Bella quickly corrected me, “We don't know for sure, I was only guessing. Alice seems mad at me lately, so don't say anything about it.”

I was hoping Bella would have been ignorantly blissful of my sisters piss poor attitude; it seems that wasn't the case. I hadn't brought up the subject with my brother so I didn't know if Alice was spouting her bullshit to anyone else or not. Judging from his comment about her being upset over Seth having open access to the house, it seemed safe to assume she has.

I had warned, threatened, and promised Alice there would be zero tolerance when it came to disrespecting the woman I loved; that included going around spouting any negative comments or down playing Bella's role in my life.

“Alright enough about Alice. I'm sure if she is pregnant, we'll find our soon enough but times a wasting, so...” Rose said nudging Bella's shoulders, “...go get dressed.”

“I'm telling you, I can't go.”

She was being stubborn to the point of irritation and just to make my position known I leveled her with a glare. “Babe this sudden compulsion to be Susie Homemaker is not cutting it.”

Lowering my voice I asked a direct question, “So what's the real problem?”

Bella squared her jaw and returned my glare with one of her own as she spoke through clenched teeth, "There's going to be over a dozen people in this house..."

"Not people ...Family."

"Right Edward...your family...your mother....your grand-mother...."

"They've all been here before Bella."

“I know that!” snapping out the words, "but it's different now."

"What's different? It's the same damn house!"

"No it’s not, everything used to be all white and pristine with nothing out of place, and now there's stuff everywhere and it's all covered in dog hair. You never had magazines on the table or my shoes stuffed under the table..." Bella's eyes glanced in that direction before settling back on me. "They're going to think I'm some kind of lazy slob that can't keep your house clean..."

"Don't be ridiculous Bella," even as the words came out of my mouth, I knew it was the wrong thing to say, and so did Emmett as he kind of sucked in air through his teeth and took a step back from the line of fire.

Coward

Then again, maybe he had the right idea because my little woman was practically seething. Her eyes widened to an almost frightening degree as all the color drained from her face.

"Don't patronize me Edward!”

“I'm not patronizing you babe, I'm telling you like it is. You're being fucking absurd, there's no reason to go through all that bullshit for my mother...”

“You might not remember this Edward but I was married before”

“What the fuck does that mean?” it came out more aggressive then I had planned because I hated thinking about Bella being with anyone else, especially that asshole.

“It means, I've have some experience in the way a mother-in-law thinks."

“Are you comparing my mother with that woman I met at the diner?”

There, that shut her up

Capitalizing on the moment of silence I stressed my point.

"When are you going to get it through your head that it's not only my house. You live here too Bella, you agreed to move everything you own into this house; so I don't give a shit whose name is on the deed....that makes it our home. If, for some reason, my mother or my grand-mother...” echoing the same revulsion to the word as she used, “...or anyone else for that fucking matter, has something to say about who has access to it, or the dog that resides in it, or how fucking clean or unclean it is, they can shove it up their ass. Now are we going to continue to fight over your freaking out about some fucking irrational female pissing contest or are you going to get your ass up those steps, put on your new fucking shirt and get yourself ready so we can go have some god damn fun!”

Narrowing her eyes only served to make me more determined, “Do you really want to keep pressing your luck right before we go into the bedroom?”

“You wouldn't?” the uncertainty in her voice was exactly the reaction I was looking for and I capitalized on it. “Try me.”

Reminding her of our weekend agreement that we'd only be in full D/s mode while in the privacy of my bedroom was a low blow. It was manipulative on my part and even a bit unfair, still, I didn't have any regrets for doing it. In fact given the circumstances, I'd have no problem with threatening her with an unhappy Master any day of the week. It wasn't an offensive move just to ensure I got my own way. Of course a few hours with friends out on the bike sounded a whole hell of a lot better than cleaning the house and had there been any validity to Bella's needing to remain home, that would have been a different story.

The truth of the matter was, her worries were completely unfounded. She had just scrubbed the house from top to bottom in preparation for our weekend house guests. There was no reason for a repeat performance less than forty-eight hours later, except to feed her illogical anxieties. I could have allowed her to wallow in her anguish, spending all day sterilizing every surface until she drove herself crazy; however that would have been highly irresponsible of me. It was far more important that Bella had a few care free hours to relax. As her dominant, I chose to supersede what Bella wanted in exchange for providing what she needed. At least that was how I rationalized my actions at the time, and judging from the excited shrills coming from her I had made the right decision.

"Go faster Edward! Don't let him win!”

Complying with a twist of the throttle I yelled over my shoulder, "hold on baby!" at the same time we beat Alex over the finish line and pulling on the handle bars while throwing my weight back making the front wheel leave the ground. Squeezing me tighter around the waist, Bella screeched with delight only to peal with laughter when we touched back down and tail-spun to a rolling stop beside everyone else.

“That was great!” Her elation was tangible as she practically jumped from the back while ripping the helmet off her head, “Let's do that again!”

Oh yeah, definitely made the correct decision

Even when we first arrived Bella was still fretting. I had agreed to get her home by two and she kept trying to change the time schedule. Giving me puppy dog eyes along with the request, “One?”

Not getting her way she resorted to that adorable pout, tilting her head and looking all pitiful at me through her lashes, “One-thirty?”

"No..." Glaring at her with a stern tone that she should realize meant I was not backing down, "two...and that's final."

Bella huffed and then quickly shot me a knowing remorseful gaze before letting her eyes roam across the dense forest, "good thing there's no corners ....right?"

"There's plenty of trees."

Giving me a quirky smile she raised on her toes to kiss my chin, then finally relented, "ok...two."

I knew Bella loved riding and I figured since her experience consisted mainly of driving old bikes around the reservation, then she wouldn't really mind the bumpy uneven terrain on Pappy's land. What I hadn't expected, yet completely should have, was the excitement she got from racing. After all, my girl was a raging adrenaline junky, through and through.

Swinging my leg over the seat, I took off my helmet and set it next to me on the seat just in time to catch a very excited Bella in my arms.

"That was awesome!...We have got to do that again!"

"What the hell was that move at the end?" Alex asked as he removed his helmet and Emmett called over, "Show off!"

Bella turned in my arms to face our audience while I replied, "Just giving my girl a thrill."

"Thrill?..." Emmett questioned, "you're lucky little Bells didn't fucking fall off the back."

“I'd never let her fall off” I said while tightening my arms around Bella's shoulder and leaning down closer to her ear I spoke loud enough for everyone to hear "You liked it, didn't ya baby?"

"He'll yeah!" She said before angling her head towards me and when I pulled back I could still see the gleam of excitement in her eyes, "that was freaking awesome and even better we beat Al-ex."

Expanding his name into two syllables for the express purpose of letting him know she was still pissed off.

"Oh come on Darling, you have to forgive me sometime."

Bella, being the stubborn woman she was flicked her nose in the air and announced, "Nope, I don't think I do."

This response was still over the picture of her tat being displayed during Market night at the club. Her problem wasn't so much it was displayed, after all my girl was an exhibitionist, it was more of the fact she didn't know it was there until she saw it herself. Or rather, Emmett pointed it out to her along with anyone who was within hearing range. From what I understood, word had spread that Bella's naked butt was there for all to see, and they made a bee line to get a look.

"Damn, is she always so stubborn?"

Shaking my head at Alex I assured him, “You have no idea."

"I don't know about that, but when I'm right, I'm right and stick to my gun and this time I am sooooo right, you could look up right in the dictionary and see my picture there”

She was so fucking cute...even Alex chuckled however it was Demetri who commented “I think that means Isabella thinks she's right”

“I am right....and you” pointing an accusatory finger at Alex “...should have asked me first."

"Sorry sweet cheeks..." At the term I could audibly hear Bella's mouth pop open as her head snapped in Emmett's direction. I couldn't see what Bella was doing but my brother held his hands up muttering 'it wasn't me' while Rose giggled her ass off and Alex continued talking "...told ya, it's my art work."

I don't know how she multi-tasked so well to keep up with three different exchanges going on but Bella's attention quickly came back to Alex as she snapped, "My ASS."

“She got ya there buddy” Pappy interjected “It is her ass”

“Actually it's my Ass...” staking my claim “... and I thought the picture showed it off very nicely."

"It is a really nice...tat," Demetri added to the discussion while Pappy declared, "I was too busy that night to get a look see, so Darling one of these days you'll have to make it a point to show me live and in person."

"I've already seen it” Rose announced while Emmett added “Me too”

“When?”

“That day you were walking around in your underwear”

“You were't ever suppose to be there” Bella countered to an unfazed Emmett “But I was”

“Ok...this is what we'll do...”Linda said with gleam in her eye “...since Bella won't just show us her stuff, I say at the next party, we get us a game of Truth and Dare started...” by this point everyone was snickering “...then we can all see it”

Bella's neck twisted to glare at me through the corner of her eyes, "I'm going to kill, your brother."

"I swear it was not me..." Emmett declared his innocence while Bella hissed, “Rose.”

“Come on Bella...” Rose said through giggles, “...that story is too freaking funny not to share.”

Looking down at my girl I could see the blush forming on her face while she struggled to keep the twitch off her lips. There was no real embarrassment at Rose sharing the story; Bella reacted the same way around this group of people as she would have with the gang from LaPush.

That knowledge gave me a sense of satisfaction.

For the most part the people gathered there in a semi circle, leaning against bikes and laughing, were the core of my - and therefore Bella's - social circle. Just as I was accepted and comfortable with being around her friends it was important she do the same with mine. In the future we would be spending a lot of time with them. Some would be social events, picnics, bonfires, boating excursions and bike runs. However there would also be functions of a more intimate nature, munches, play parties, live scenes and fetish activities. All of which would be a whole lot easier for Bella once she was relaxed with the people surrounding her.

Checking my watch I noticed it was nearly time for us to get on the road and Rose wanted to use the outhouse one more time before having to sit on the bike for the twenty minute ride home. I watched Bella saddle up next to Gianna, giggling about something as they followed Rose and Linda along the trail into the woods. My eyes focused on the exquisiteness of the denim encasing her butt until she was swallowed by the denseness of the forest.

Taking a deep breath I shifted on my feet, trying to ease the pressure of my dick pressing against the zipper. I had been so engrossed on the sway of Bella's hips I missed the beginning of the conversation going on around me so it took me a moment to comprehend Demetri's question, “Have you heard from Aro Edward?”

“Ahhh...”

Aro? ...have I heard from him?

Switching gears my mind started working again and I returned to leaning against the seat of my bike while I answered, “Ah...No, I haven't but I really didn't expect to. If he's going to call at all he'll probably do it on Tuesday while we're at New Moon.”

“Are you coming to the club tonight?”

“No...” I answered Alex.

“Too bad, Garret has an opening for another couple in his private room.”

Since Pappy brought it up I wondered, “Where is he?”

Garret was part of our normal faction, for a few months he's been so swamped with work he often had to decline, however I knew for a fact that had changed when Bella provided him a new employee. The girl from the center had freed up some of his time so it struck me as strange when Pappy said, “He was supposed to come today but there was some kind of problem at the restaurant. So he had to cancel and head over there. He didn't tell me what happened just that he'd see me tonight and told me to mention the opening to you.”

“Who's he playing with? That girl from the auction?”

Pappy responded to Emmett with a shrug, “I guess...I think he's really enjoying her company. She's new, not to the scene but to town and Garrett's pretty happy with her.”

“What's her name?”

Alex's question was directed at me, mostly because it was fairly safe to say I knew every female at the club, especially the unattached ones, however this time I had no clue. Telling them that had both Pappy and Alex looking at me like I was some kind of alien with six eyes and balls hanging from my chin.

And then my brother broke out in a wide smile, “Edward doesn't have time to meet new people, little Bella has his dick all wrapped up nice an tight with a big bow tied around it.”

“Wow...” Alex said in amazement then jokingly asked, “when's the wedding?”

I'm not sure exactly what expression was on my face, however I was absolutely positive it relayed something as both he and Pappy stared at me for one long moment before they both said at the same time, in the same tone of astonishment, “Really?”

“My little brother's finally growing up,” making a fist and tapping it against his chest Emmett added, “I'm so proud.”

Smirking at him for a moment before telling the two men something they should already know, “I love her...she's...” a smile came to my face as I thought about everything Bella was to me. And I realized I could have gone on for days trying to express in words the meaning my girl has given to my life.

Instead hearing the women start to return I summed it up in one word, “...perfect.”

Receiving smiles all around, Demetri started up a new conversation about a bike run he wanted to take and we all quickly got to talking as the girls stepped out of the trees. The four of them stood off to the side laughing and gabbing. They were having such a good time I hated to break it up but I had a promise to keep so I called out, “You ready babe?”

Bella's eyes met mine and I was rewarded with a smile that I swear she only gave to me and one I returned. She made her round of good-bye hugs with the women before moving to me, but I had one more thing for her to do. Pulling the sealed letter out of the inside pocket of my jacket I watched Bella's face fall as I handed it to her, “You can deliver this personally.”

Staring at the envelope, Bella's teeth captured her bottom lip and I could see her contemplating her options. She knew damn well what it was after all it was her hand that wrote it the previous morning. "I think Demetri would appreciate the hand delivery."

That was actually a slip of the tongue, I didn't think - I knew.

Bella's character was not in question, nor was her sincerity, however the simple act of manning up, accepting responsibility and allowing Demetri a chance to say his own peace would completely close the book on the matter.

"Wh...what am I supposed to say?"

"You're a smart girl, I'm sure you'll think of something." Pressing the letter towards her my tone became more demanding, "take it."

"Edward, couldn't we just drop it in the mail?

We could, but we wouldn't

"Take It."

"How about tomorrow morning, when you're driving me to The Center, we could stop by his store and slip it under the door?"

The optimistic tone Bella used was cute, bordering on playful; try as she might there would be no escaping the inevitable. However, I was a fair man who wanted to give her the time needed to come to terms with my decision, so I played along with her little game of cat and mouse.

“How about, you be a good girl and stop coming up with alternatives and just Take it.”

“Will you come with me?”

Shaking my head and growing more forceful I once again pushed the envelope in her direction, “TAKE IT.”

This time her fingers reached out yet even as they grasp the letter Bella's eyes shifted from me to skirt across the other people. I knew she felt awkward, it wasn't just approaching Demetri, it was doing so in front of everyone else. It's not that Bella didn't know what the right thing to do was, she did. It was more my girl needed a moment to steel up her courage and remember she could always trust my judgment.

When Aro was training me, he spoke of treating a submissive like a parent would a child. To a two year old, the automatic response to anything you ask of them is an automatic – 'No.'

Aro told how Mason’s repeated usage of the word never really bothered him; because when the boy put his foot down and refused to do as he was asked, as his father, Aro simply picked him up and made him do it. He gently yet firmly guided him to the toys on the floor that needed to be picked up. And many times he carried Mason away from Sesame Street to personally place him at the dinner table. As a toddler, Mason didn't understand the importance of what he was asked to do and as the parent, Aro didn't feel the need to explain it either. Instead of debating, arguing, or becoming angry he simply took charge of the situation and in essence Mason's 'No' became Aro's 'Yes.'

I could still hear my uncle’s instructions ringing in my ear, “A submissive is like that child. They don't always understand the importance of the reasoning behind the task, however just as you would force a child to head, so you must the submissive. Sometimes that will require nothing more than a firm tone or stern glare. Other times you'll need to utilize a more creative incentive program. Whatever it takes, the main thing is to never, under any circumstances, allow your 'Yes' to become their 'No.'

Thinking on those words I decided my girl needed some motivation in order to change her ‘No’ to my 'Yes.'

Pursing my lip I drew in a deep breath before leveling my perpetual two year old with a very hard fatherly glare before giving her a gentle push with an ultimatum.

"My darling girl, if you force me to repeat myself one more time, you are going to force my hand. And my pet, I can guarantee that apprehension you're experiencing over what people are going to think about you will become a reality when I bend you over my bike and warm your bare ass. Now my dear, the decision is totally up to you.” From the lift in her brow I could only assume she realized I was not joking, still I had to ask, “So which one is it going to be?”

Even though I had for the second time that day over stepped the boundaries of our D/s relationship, I still knew given the correct motivation Bella would do the right thing. I also knew as I watched Demetri accept the letter from her that he would not -at that moment- read it. We were both trained by the same Master Dominant, so it didn't surprise me in the least when he tuck Bella's formal apology inside the breast pocket of his coat. If I was any judge of how it would play out, my guess was when they were alone he'd have Gianna read the contents to him, serving to kill two birds with one stone. He would know what it said and his submissive would have the satisfaction of knowing there was no secrets between them.

The next thing I expected was Demetri's permission to speak plainly with Bella.

At his glance in my direction, I gave a single head nod then watched him clasp her chin, thus not only taking command of the conversation but also making sure to keep her attention. They were a mere ten feet away, yet I couldn't make out anything being said. However simply from their body language it was clear both were relaxed with his free hand Demetri tapped his chest and Bella nodded against his hand. I could see him mouth out the words 'answer please' before my girl smiled broadly and replied 'yes sir.'

Yup, all that I fully expected, which was the reason behind sending Bella over there in the first place. At my direction, she had written the letter, the contents were exactly what I had been expecting, eloquent, direct, and sincere. By this time in our relationship, Bella knew me enough to know I was not a man who did things half way, so if she wrote out the apology, she could bank on the fact it would delivered.

At the time the plan was to wait until the following weekend and have her hand it to him at the club. As it turned out, the better option presented itself. There wouldn't be a week’s time to let any anxiety settle in that could interrupt her peace of mind. Shit didn't need to fester; it needed to be flushed away and from the looks of things that's exactly what Demetri was doing. Ripping down any and all barriers that could have been starting to work their way into Bella's head; keeping their line of communication and trust open so Bella would never have a moment’s hesitation when she was around him.

From what I was watching it appeared my conjectures were correct and the whole scene was playing out the way it was supposed to. What I didn't foresee was the repeat performance from the other night at New Moon. Releasing Bella's chin Demetri gave her a smile and then my girl lept up, wrapped her

fucking arms tightly around his neck and proudly exclaimed, “You are my favoritist Uncle Demetri EVER!” before laying a big wet sloppy kiss on his cheek.

“Hey, Hey, Hey...” I called out, “Are you bribing my woman with cereal again?”

“Whatever it takes my friend,” Demetri laughed while placing a giggling Bella back on her feet.

“Cereal?” Pappy wondered as he stopped Bella from reaching me by placing an arm around her shoulder. “Please Miss Isabella...please don't tell me all Edward had to do was give you a bowl a frosted flakes.”

"It's Fruity Pebbles,” Rose called from behind them and Pappy got a look of revulsion on his face.

“OH Geeze...Fruity Pebbles? Damn girl,” giving me a grin Pappy went on, “why not drop that sha-mook over there and live a little wild with some Cap'n Crunch?”

Looking up into Pappy's face Bella grinned, “With berries?”

“You want berries girl...I'll give you berries.”

She actually seemed to be considering it for a moment before saying, “Nah...I kind of still like him.”

“Yeah?” His amused eyes went to me as he asked, “what do you like about him?”

Bella's head slowly turned in my direction and with a deliberate gleam in her eye she held my gaze for a long moment before her eyes oh so very slowly raked down my body. The intensity was so strong I swear to god it felt like her fingers were running over my skin and the tingle from her touch, stung me. When her eyes came back to mine I was completely blown away by what I saw, it was pure, it was raw, it was absolute – love.

Holding my eyes, I watched the slow smile rise on her face at the same time my dick rose against my jeans and my little tease turned into Pappy's side, raised her and wiggled her finger at him. As he leaned down towards her, Bella raised up on her toes, cupped her hand over her mouth and whispered in his ear and a second later Pappy threw his head back in a roar of laughter.

What the fuck did she say?

Seemingly pleased with herself Bella giggled right along with him as he said, “If that ever changes Darling, you let me know.”

Okay, that was two men she had an intimate exchange with in as many minutes, strutting the five feet towards them to reclaim my girl I asked, “What did you say?”

“Ahhhh...” Bella was cut off by Pappy's entertained voice, “Don't tell him Darling... keep him guessing.”

That was not going to work for me, because I wanted to know what was so fucking funny. “Isabella?”

Her chin tilted up to catch my face before she looked around the surrounding area, “Ah...I don't see a bed around here.”

“A Bed?” Linda wondered as she stepped up next to her husband, “You want a bed Bella?”

“Not particularly,” she said while giving me a grin. Twice that day I had strong armed her into conceding to my will, the bed comment was Bella's subtle way of letting me know I wasn't going to get away with doing it again. Instead, I switched tactics.

Cupping my hand on the side of her neck, I let my thumb graze along her jaw line while I looked into her eyes before leaning in to let my nose touch hers. With a feather light touch I slowly skimmed the tip over her cheek, down her jaw, and over her mouth. The catch in her breath came as her lips parted before I touched mine to hers in a kiss that clearly said she was owned. The hand on her neck held firm but Bella didn't try to pull away; instead her hand came up to fist themselves into my shirt, giving as good as she got.

My head was swimming; my dick was pounding, my body demanding more closeness as my other hand latched onto the fullness off her bottom to pull her against me. The feel of her mouth against mine, the taste of her tongue moving in my mouth while her soft, warm little body withered against me was just too much. I was three fucking seconds away from losing my control and taking her right there against a fucking tree when I suddenly remembered we weren't alone.

I was fucking breathing heavy as I pulled away from Bella's mouth, and I have to admit that what I saw when I did was staggering. It wasn't our audience, because frankly except for my brother –I don't fucking play in front of family – they have all been front and center for a hell of a lot more than a kiss.

NO, it was my girl that had me so engrossed.

My mind went back to our first kiss, in the court yard at the center. As first kisses went, it was a good one that gave me a hint of the passion Bella held inside her. It was also one that was interrupted by Carol and my father. Being caught didn't mean shit to me; however Bella had a different reaction. Our first kiss had left her eyes glassy with desire, her body heaving with panting breaths, and her cheeks flushed with chagrin at being caught.

All of that came back to me as I looked at my girl, her eyes were glassy with desire, her body heaved with panting breaths, and her cheeks were flush but not for the same reason. There was no mortification to be had, my girl was turned on, she was feeling the pulse beat through her, just the same as I was, and she was in a state of pure need.

Oh, yeah, my little one was growing up

The sight tore at me because I wanted so badly to stand there and enjoy it, yet I still had a mission to fulfill. Smiling warmly, I let my thumb once again stroke against her face as I asked sweetly, “What did you say to Pappy baby?”

Taking a deep breath, I watched Bella's eyes flutter closed as her head tilted into my hand as if she was savoring the feel of my touch and then as she straightened, her eyes opened and a smile formed on her face right before she rocked my world by saying, “That's for me to know, and you to find out.”

I heard the laughter, I couldn't exactly say who was laughing because they all were, but I was too damn busy forcing my mouth closed as I watched Bella walk to my bike. It was only when I felt Pappy slapping me on the shoulder that full homeostasis returned.

“You can thank me for that later my friend.”

Okay, maybe it wasn't completely returned because I didn't understand that comment.

“Pardon?”

“Edward, that was a challenge if ever I heard one.”

My eyes went to Bella who was standing by the bike slipping on her leather jacket while she stared at me with a shit eating I-got-a-secret grin.

Then, to make matters worse Pappy called over, “Don't you tell him Darling...it'll be our little secret.”

And my girl squared her shoulders, pursed her lips, and did the tick-a-lock in front of her lips before tossing the imaginary key over her shoulder.

The hand that was still on my shoulder tapped a few more times as Pappy snickered, “Oh yeah, you're definitely going to owe me for that my friend ...big time.”

Nodding my head, we said our final good-byes before climbing on the bike and heading for home. Bella snuggled up against my back, her head against my shoulder, her thighs pressed against my legs, and her arms wrapped firmly around my waist. I really wanted to know what she told Pappy, yet part of me hoped her stubborn streak would hold out and she'd make me work for it. Either way, Bella knew damn well what she was doing and she wasn't shying away from letting me or anyone else know it. I thought about that while we crossed the bridge over Lake Washington

I loved my family and I liked spending time with them and I certainly hoped the Cullen and Swan combination went just as smoothly as our mixing of social circles has, but I also hoped they didn't linger all night. I wanted to spend some quality time with Bella, she laid down a gauntlet and I wasn't going to disappoint her by not picking it up.

Pulling into the driveway, all thoughts of anything pleasant left me as I saw the Seattle Police Cruiser and Officer Hawk along with his partner standing on the porch. Turning to watch us, I stopped short of pulling into the garage and Emmett pulled up next to me. Kicking down the stand I kept my eyes on the two officers while Bella stepped off the back of the bike.

“Edward?”

“It's ok baby. Let's go see what they want.”

Emmett and Rose followed us and as we approached the porch Hawk tipped his head to Bella, “Ms. Swan, I thought you might like to know, early this morning Michael Newton was picked up and arrested during a raid.”

“You got him?”

“We do.”

Good...that's good.

As relieved as I was I needed to know, “Did you talk to him? Did he say anything about breaking into my house? Or fucking around with Bella?” then I asked the most important thing, “Did you get Karen too?”

Officer Hawk didn't let me go on with my questioning, “I only had a few minutes with him before his lawyer showed up, so in answer to your questions, as of right now the answer is 'no.'”

“What about Karen?” Bella wondered in a quiet voice.

Hawk's partner took a deep breath, “She wasn't with him at the time of his arrest, and she wasn't in the motel room where they have been staying and...”

His hesitation had me on edge, “And what?”

“And...All of her prescription medications were left in the room.”

“She...she doesn't have her meds?”

“It would appear that way Ms. Swan.”

Bella looked to me with a mask of total fear, it moved me so much that I didn't hesitate to pull her against me, tuck her head under my chin and try as hard as I could to shield her. “It's going to be ok baby. I'll keep you safe.”

Tightening my arms around her, I kissed the top of her head and prayed to god he'd give me the strength and the wisdom to keep my promise.