Chapter 48

EPOV

A light sheen of sweat covered Bella’s flushed body while she rested against my chest attempting to get her breathing under control. My palms rest against the soft silkiness of her skin holding her against me. A feeling of satisfaction dominated my emotions, I hadn’t thought about the possibility of her having an orgasm while removing the clip. In hindsight I should have but it still didn’t matter, retribution had to be paid.

Kissing her temple I thought I would let that fact be known. “Now we’re even.”

“Even?” Bella said the word with a hint of skepticism along with a humorless laugh, making me pull back to look at her.

“Yes even. You not only came without permission, you came while I wasn’t there.”

Her eyes widened as she turned her body to face me, her fingers tracing over the muscles of my stomach and down over my hard on that was still covered up with my boxers. “But it was only a little one and I didn’t know what to expect,” her eyes fluttered through her lashes before narrowing in accusation, “you should have warned me.”

I couldn’t help the laugh that came out, “warned you?”

Her fingers were now on my hips sliding the thin layer of cotton down until my dick was partially uncovered. Bella’s hand wrapped around me sliding downwards taking the boxers with her until I was fully exposed. Closing my eyes I enjoyed the feeling of her hand moving over me, so her next words made my lust induced haze slightly dissipate.

“Yes warned me,” she answered while straddling my thighs bringing her warm center over my straining dick causing me to hiss as the lust returned. “Besides how do you suppose that torturing me made us even?”

“Ahhhh,” the moan was unavoidable while her slickness slid along my length. My hands tightened around Bella’s hips causing more pressure to be applied, “Well…”

What was she asking?

Oh yeah

“Since I wasn’t there you had to tell me what I missed…” the sigh that left her mouth caused me to hesitate for a split second before I could go on with my explanation, “…and since you already had a release one had to be denied…it’s that simple.”

“Oh.” Bella tilted her hips rose slightly higher and slid herself over me.

“Fuck…Jesus baby,” the warm wetness of her core caused me to cry out. I could live within her, crawl up inside her and feast on nothing but Bella.

Her arms wrapped around the back of my neck as she used her thighs to move over me. “Besides Edward,” she cooed sliding up until just only my tip remained inside her, “this makes us even” and she slammed her weigh down taking every bit of me inside her.

“MotherFucker!” The movement was so unexpected that the word left my mouth in a shout.

“You seem a little…jumpy Edward,” Bella laughed… she fucking laughed.

“Oh, little one…I’ll show you jumpy!”

My hands gripped her hips tighter and I lifted her up to lay back on the bed bringing her legs against my chest with her ankles on either side of my neck while my eyes gazed into hers. “How jumpy do you want me Bella? Slow and soft?” I took a long slow stroke that was almost painful. “Or fast and hard?” gripping her tighter I slammed into her making her scream out.

“Yesss! Hard…fast …please, Edward …Fuck Me!”

“As you wish.”

Wasting no time in setting a hard fast pace it didn’t take long until she was withering underneath me. Lifting her hips up off the bed and hearing the moan that left her mouth told me I had the right spot. The sounds that resonated through the room were a mixture of pleasure and meeting flesh. Bella was panting as the tight grip she held on my forearms caused her nails to dig into my skin.

“Edward …I’m going to…cum…”

“Cum!” I growled out the word as my balls started to ache.

Bella’s hands left my arms as she gripped the comforter screaming out my name. She arched her back as her internal muscles clamped down making me lose my own battle. I came inside her with a primal grunt, breathlessly collapsing over top of her heaving chest.

“Oh baby…,” my lips found hers for a quick breathless kiss and before I could say anything she finished my thought through her own breathless words. “Now, we’re even.”

Gazing into her eyes I wondered how she knew what I was going to say. Part of me was unnerved by the fluency but a larger part found the effortlessness to enhance the intimacy and I smiled wondering when I became such a sap.

Bella’s hand cupped my face, “what?”

The fact that she seemed to know me so well only made my smile more pronounced. “You just finished my thought. It’s like were an old married couple,” I told her rolling over onto my back and pulling her along with me. “Next thing you know you’ll be telling me to take liver pills and worrying about me getting constipated.”

Propping her chin on my chest she laughed, “I don’t think we are quite there yet. You are going to have to worry about your own constipation, although I did pick out high fiber cereal.”

“There you go,” sweeping her hair over her shoulder, “you’re already worried.”

We laid there quietly looking into each other’s eyes and I saw it, only a glimpse‒but it was there. The vision of me on one knee asking for her hand, Bella in a white dress while I waited at the end of the aisle with our family and friends gathered around. It was the first time I had thought about it and rather than scaring me, I wanted it badly.

“I love you babe,” the smile that formed on her face made me even more sure.

“I love you too.”

The moment was sealed with a small kiss that would have gone further had it not been from the whine that came from the closed door. Groaning, my head turned to look over the foot of the bed to see Seth glancing back and forth between us and the door. “Come on, I’ll let you out one more time.”

Bella giggled as she moved to let me get up. “He can’t help it Edward, he’s used to having free rein; to come and go as he wants.”

Pulling a t-shirt over my head and my boxers back into place, I made the observation, “You mean he’s like his mommy…spoiled,” I added with a small swat on Bella’s bottom making her giggle.

Taking the dog out I decided to have a small heart to heart with him, “Hey boy, how about you be a trooper tonight? I’ll let you out one more time and then you be quiet for the rest of the night so I can sleep and I will take you for a run in the morning. What do you say…deal?”

Seth looked at me like he completely understood, and even though I knew that it was a hopeless case I couldn’t help but be optimistic that he would comply. Sitting on the back patio I watched him run around exerting some of his energy. The night had not turned out like I had planned. The idea was to go home spend a few hours in the playroom and then fall asleep with Bella tethered to my bed.

Where a few months ago I would have been completely thrown off kilter because my plans had to change now I found that it was easier to go with the flow, I also realized that not everything can fit into a one inch square box on the calendar. Outside influences and occurrences beyond my control tend to pop up at the most inopportune time, throwing a monkey wrench into my agenda.

However, the wench tonight was the worse one yet. I was not happy about someone breaking into the house, and the first thing I was going to do in the morning was get the locksmith there. I had called the security company to see if they could tell what code was attempted to be entered. They were going to send someone over tomorrow afternoon to retrieve the chip with that information on it.

I was still bewildered over who would have been in my home, and while we were on the way to check Bella’s house Emmett had suggested that perhaps it was Tanya. I figured at that time of night she would be at the club, which should be easy to check on when I went to New Moon on Monday morning. I couldn’t for the life of me understand why she would do that. Tanya wasn’t happy about the relationship I had with Bella - that was obvious - although I don’t know why. We had separated months before she left and my life had to go on while she was gone. Had she stayed away another six months she would have come back to find us engaged.

Engaged? It was a small glimpse Edward! Are you seriously thinking about marring a woman you’ve only known a month?

Sitting there in the calm quiet of the night watching Seth, the answer was clear yes…yes I was. Because it wasn’t just any woman, it was Bella. Five minutes later I found her snuggled under the covers sound asleep. Shutting the door I looked down at Seth who had taken up residence sitting by the door.

“You and I had a deal,” I told him with a pointed look; he dropped his head before moving to lie down in his bed. Encouraged by his actions that I might not be spending the whole night listening to him whine by the door or taking him outside five times, I took my place spooning in next to Bella. Her body fit against mine in the most perfect way. As my arms wrapped around her she relaxed once again with a sigh, “Edward…love you.”

Her sleepy-time admissions never failing to make me smile, I drifted off to sleep breathing in the scent of her hair along with the lingering aroma of our sex.

My brain registered the sound of whimpering and I groaned, “Seth we had a deal.” Then the sound became more pronounced as the woman in my arms squirmed letting out a high pitched scream, “No! No…stay away from me!”

Fuck!

Instinctually my arms tightened as she tried to push away from me, that fact alone pissed me off. Whatever had her in the grips of terror was so bad that she couldn’t even sense my presence. “Bella…” I shook her shoulders trying to get her awake, “…baby wake up…”

Her eyes fluttered open as a gasp left her throat while her hands gripped my shirt and she started crying. “Shhh…” I held her close to my chest, “…it was just a dream baby. Only a dream, nothing is going to hurt you.”

Continuing to soothe her the best that I could until she finally calmed down enough to listen to me. “Tell me about your dream.”

“Someone came into the house…I couldn’t tell who…and they…wanted to take me.” Her words were a mixture of tears and hiccups.

“Shhhh…” my hands ran though the length of her hair as she clung to me, “…it was just a response from what happened baby. Shhh…settle down.”

I should have expected that she would have a nightmare, the trauma of having our home invaded was enough to unnerve me, I can only guess what memories it stirred in her. Removing my shirt that was full of tears and dirty from her nose, I laid back down with her head on my chest. “We’ll change the locks tomorrow and figure out who it was, that will make you feel safer. It was just a dream Bella; I swear I would die before I let anyone hurt you.”

“Don’t say that!”

I wasn’t sure what she was talking about when she abruptly shot her head up to look at me. “I couldn’t stand it if something happened to you. I couldn’t take it!”

Even in the darkness of the room I could see the fierceness in Bella’s eyes as the tears fell down her face. “Nothing is going to happen to me, and nothing is going to happen to you. Now stop with the tears and let’s go back to sleep.”

Cupping her face my thumb wiped away the tears as she nuzzled her cheek against my palm before turning her head to placing a soft kiss in the center of my hand. “Do you think I’m crazy?”

“No…”

Why the hell would I think that?

“…I think it was a stressful night and I think you have a lot on your mind and have dealt with more in your life then any one person should have to deal with. I told you before baby, I think you are the strongest person I know; a lesser person would have called it quits a long time ago. Now let’s go back to sleep, I have a promise to keep to a dog.”

Bella snuggled back into my chest so tightly I could feel her heart beating against my skin. The next thing I was aware of was the feeling of being watched. I tried to turn over and ignore it but no matter what I did it wouldn’t go away. Opening my eyes taking a quick scan everything seemed the way it was last night except that the sunlight was filtering through the window above the bed. Glancing over my shoulder I was greeted with two of the saddest brown eyes I have ever seen.

Seth had his two front paws on the edge of the bed bringing his head level with mine. My movement must have disturbed Bella, because she snuggled back in closer to me while I tried to go back to sleep. Seth made no movement or even a sound but I knew he was there and I knew what he wanted. “Alright, you lived up to your end.”

Trying not to disturb the beautiful woman in my arms I moved away from her to sit on the edge of the bed while glancing at the clock – 7:02. Bella rolled onto her back the long tresses of dark hair laid against her bare shoulders partially concealing the small amount of her breast that had become uncovered. She was beautiful.

“Do you see what you’re making me leave?”

Seth didn’t seem to care that there was a naked Bella in the bed, and even though I did some things were just out of my control. Throwing on my clothes from last night I quickly wrote Bella a note telling her where I was before putting the leash on Seth and heading to my house to change.

I had brought a clean set of clothes with me to Bella’s but had not planned on running, so I needed to get something more comfortable then jeans. My house was just as we had left it; no unexpected nightly visitor came by, but even so, it was better for Bella’s peace of mind to stay away for the night. Although the nightmare crept into her sleep anyway, it was still better.

Seth loved to go on a run, and I kept a slow even pace. Last night I was able to shove the events to the back of my mind, but in the light of day there were things that had to be taken care of. Besides the obvious of knowing who broke into my home, I also wanted to know why. They didn’t take or disturb anything, that much was evident while Emmett and I walked through the house with the police.

The police immediately noticed that there were two people living in my room and I told them that Bella had been staying with me. Officer Hawk had inquired as to where she was at that moment and once I told him he seemed fine with my decision to keep her away. That was until we entered her bedroom and it was obvious that Bella also occupied that space.

“Mr. Cullen, is there someone else who lives here with you?”

“No…” I didn’t understand his question, “…only Bella.” His eyes narrowed as he looked around her room.

He then inquired as to her name and any personal information I could give, address, date of birth, those kind of things, which he then called into the dispatch. I didn’t want to take them down into the cellar but officer Hawk insisted and again insisted on me unlocking the playroom. I wasn’t sure why it was so important, perhaps they just wanted to make sure that nothing illegal was occurring.

Personally I never felt ashamed of my sexual practices, what two consenting adults choose to do in the privacy of their home is no one’s business. However that didn’t mean that I wanted these men to pass judgment onto Bella and I was glad that she was not there. No comments were made while we were down there just a lot of stares and facial expressions.

Once we were back upstairs I told them about the new security system and they asked me to pull up the feed from the video. It had barely started when Officer Hawk’s transmitter beeped. Clicking the button on his shoulder he spoke.

“Dispatch do you have that 10-27 ready?”

“Affirmative 10-63,” Officer Hawk took a small black notebook out of his breast pocket and the dispatch began speaking in codes.

“10-36, Isabella M Swan, AKA Isabella M Cummings of 344 Ferndale, Seattle. 931on a 240, 261 that occurred 01-04-08. RO in effect from 01-15-08 to present against James A Cummings, 230 E State Street, Forks Washington.”

I had no idea what the heck was just said, I knew it involved Bella and James but the language made absolutely no sense to me. The three officers on the other hand were very interested in what was being said, especially officer Hawk.

“10-4 dispatch,” Officer Hawk’s eyes went to me. “Mr. Cullen do you know James Cummings?”

“I’ve never met him and only know what I’ve been told…” I wasn’t given a chance to finish before he interrupted my thoughts.

“And what exactly is that Mr. Cullen?”

“They married young, he was abusive and she moved across the country to go to school to get away from him.” While I spoke officer Hawk nodded his head while jotting notes onto the pad.

“And you have never seen him?” I told him no and then he asked if there had been any other incidences that seemed suspicious, which I answered.

“Mr. Cullen is it possible for you to call Ms. Swan and have her come here so that I may speak with her?”

I really didn’t want to have Bella come home until they were gone, but he was unrelenting. After calling her we watched the video. Emmett didn’t have a clue who that could be, but we were sure it was not a man. The third officer wanted to do a walk around the back yard, but there was nothing out there; and when we came in Bella was already speaking with the officer and making her irritation known.

Exactly why Officer Hawk took it upon himself to interrogate Bella about her affairs I had no clue, but there was some reason for it. I didn’t know if it was feasible for Mr. Weiss to check out a police officer, but I was going to ask. The time had come to start paying attention to all the seemingly little circumstances that have been going on. I couldn’t any longer brush it off as coincidence and until I knew what was going on I was damn sure going to be paying more attention.

We only did the half circuit around the park ending up back at my house. Seth needed food and water which I gave him, leaving him there while I headed back to Bella’s. Since it was going to be a nice day I had opted to take the bike. She truly enjoyed the bike and I thought that perhaps if there was time after the breakfast maybe we could squeeze in a small ride.

Bella was sitting on the couch writing in her journal, she was covered up in a thick robe with a towel wrapped around her hair. Although Bella had become much more open with me about her thoughts and feelings, I was glad that she was using the journal as a therapeutic escape.

“Hey,” the smile that formed on her face lit up the room. “A promise to keep, huh?”

“Absolutely, I’m a man of my word,” I told her before leaning over the back of the couch for a kiss. She dropped the book wrapping her arms around my neck pulling me over the top of her making me land with a thud between her thighs.

“Ut…woman, what are you doing? I’m all sweaty,” my face nuzzled in the nook under her neck kissing the exposed skin while she giggled.

“I like you sweaty.”

My head shot up to look in her cheerful eyes, “Yeah?”

“Uh huh…” taking a deep breath while her fingers ran through my hair she continued, “…you have that manly aroma that makes me all …wet.” The last word came out in a sigh that went straight to my dick making me groan.

“Ohhh…baby… how much time do we have?”

She giggled at my predicament, “Not much, you’d better shower.”

“One day my pet, your teasing is going to get you into trouble.”

The grin on her face was as infectious as the sparkle in her eyes, “I think I’ll take my chances.”

Giving her a quick kiss I moved to get up, pulling her hands so she would follow, “Come on, talk to me while we get ready.”

While I showered Bella dried her hair it was quarter after eight and we didn’t have very much time, but I wanted to get our morning discussion out of the way. It’s so much better when we can sit over breakfast and talk. That just wasn’t going to be possible so I had to do it while we dressed.

“So how did you like the clip?” Bella stopped what she was doing which was clasping the front closure of her bra to look at me.

“It is very different from a clamp,” I nodded while tucking the t-shirt into my jeans but waited for her to give me more information. “The clamp makes it kind of numb, at least for a little while,” the grin on her face turned to a blush and I couldn’t wait to hear what she was thinking, “the clip is like someone is constantly playing with my clit…it was very…difficult to ignore.”

I nodded again and before I could talk she added, “of course it would have helped if someone would have stopped rubbing it very chance he got.”

Is she kidding?

That’s part of the fun – for me anyway, but I wasn’t going to tell her that, so instead I brushed it off by saying, “just doing my job,” knowing full well that next time I would be sure to provide her with even more rubbing.

I noticed that Bella had taken out a denim skirt and I suggested that perhaps she should wear jeans. Once we were both dressed I wanted to sit down while we talked about the next thing. I took her hands tugging her body into my lap so we could be close. “I’m sorry we didn’t get to have an after punishment discussion last night.”

Tilting her head to the side she first looked at me perplexed until understanding came over her features and her eyes dropped along with the tone of her voice. “I’m sorry I yelled at you.”

I waited and when it was clear that she wasn’t going to look at me, I lifted her chin. “I know you were frustrated both physically and mentally,” I let out a small sigh, “but I cannot and will not have you disrespect me like that, whether we are alone or in front of people. I will not abide it. Do you understand?”

She nodded her head. “Answer please.”

“Yes I understand,” the tears were beginning to form in her eyes and I wiped them away before they could spill.

“I…” Bella stopped talking so I encouraged her, “What?”

“I…” she shrugged, “I didn’t like not being able to look at your face.”

“I didn’t like it either Bella,” My words caused more tears which I wiped away. “Don’t cry, it’s over and done, just remember your place and keep your temper in check.”

“Ok…” I knew there was something else on her mind so I waited and was not disappointed, “Is that why you gave me the pâté?”

Internally I was laughing, externally my face remained as still as stone. “No. I gave you the pâté because I could.”

My mind went back to the previous night and Bella’s reaction to the two crackers on her plate and then the request for ketchup. That time I couldn’t help the chuckle, of course she thought I was laughing at her reaction - which in a way I was.

“Are you going to do that a lot?”

Wouldn’t she like to know?

I suppose she would, but again, not something I was going to share. Instead I gave her an honest answer, “Whenever the spirit moves me.”

That was not the answer that Bella had hoped to hear and she huffed in irritation, causing me to raise my one eyebrow in question.

“What?” she questioned innocently as her index finger moved back and forth between us. “We’re just Edward and Bella here,”

“That we are.” I assured her with a grin.

“Although, you said something about picking up our ‘usual’ this afternoon until tomorrow morning?”

I did suggest that, and was still willing to. “Is that something you want to do?”

The smile that formed on her face told me the answer to my question before the words left her mouth. “Yes. I was thinking from three o’clock today until tomorrow morning like around eight?”

Eight?

That seemed like a strange time to me and I couldn’t figure out why she would pick that particular hour, but I agreed with her and we made our way to leave. Bella wanted to brush her teeth once more and still needed to put on her shoes, and I went through the house making sure all the blinds were closed and the house was secure. We definitely would not be returning here before we left for Victoria.

I told Bella to make sure she had a jacket before following her out the back door; she unexpectedly stopped causing me to stumble before I knocked her over. “You brought the bike!” the excitement she felt was tantamount to the joy that she brought to me as she spun around to embrace me.

“So I did,” I told her hugging her body to mine. “If I knew it would bring this kind of reaction I would do it more often”

Bella got that coy smile on her face as she looked up at me through her eye lashes, “You don’t need the bike to get that reaction…it’s just an extra bonus,” she added with a grin.

A grin that I couldn’t help but to kiss away.

Her lips were soft and supple, melding against mine in the most perfect way. Her hands wrapped around the back of my neck sending shivers through me as her fingers ran through my hair. Her soft moan matched my own as our tongues sought out each other’s. Bella pressed her body closer to me and I could feel her chest heaving through the panting breaths. Somehow my brain registered where we were and what we had to do making it possible to pull away from her with one more single kiss.

“Ah, my Bella,” I sighed while I watched her tongue peek out through her lips to sweep across the surface.

“Later?” the hopeful innocence mixed with the passion that I knew lay underneath was an intoxicating combination that never ceased to entice me.

“Absolutely.”

Straddling a Harley with a hard-on is not the easiest or most comfortable thing to do, and my predicament wasn’t made any easier by the feel of Bella’s thighs straddling my hips. I had thought about taking the long way to the church where the breakfast was being held, but between our talk in the bedroom and the small make out session we were running late.

The breakfast was being held in the basement of the church on the corner down the street from the center. I didn’t know how it was possible to hold a breakfast on Sunday morning in a church.

Isn’t Sunday Morning their busy time?

Apparently this church must be different because no one was there except for the people from the center. Once the door was open music filtered out into the foyer, but it wasn’t the church choir singing heavenly hymns, no - it was Beyonce’s, Single Ladies.

The whole basement was set up with about fifteen or sixteen large round tables with several long tables full of chafing trays and round platters of various foods. Another long table was set up with fruits and muffins, while still another contained drinks and large commercial coffee pots. There must have been over a hundred and twenty-five people there and as soon as we walked through the door Carol came up to grab Bella into a hug.

“There you are. I was wondering when you would get here.”

“Sorry, it was a nice day so Edward brought the bike and we took the long way.”

Smooth Bella, who said she couldn’t lie?

Carol smiled brightly, “Well I’m glad you finally made it,” she then looked to me, “hello Edward.” After saying hello Carol told us to find a place to sit and get some food, but before she walked away she whispered something to Bella that made Carol giggle and Bella look ill. I was going to ask what that was about when a woman in her mid-twenties with shoulder length jet black curly hair came up to us.

Actually, she danced up to us singing along with the music, “So dance dance, like it’s the last last night of your life Im’ma get you right…” by this time she was standing in front of us and Bella was laughing while the woman finished singing. “Cuz baby tonight…” that was as far as she got before she too started laughing and threw her arms around my girl.

“Behave,” Bella half pleaded through her laughter.

“I will…I will…I couldn’t …resist!” the woman said through her fits of laughter before she turned to look at me holding her hand out in greeting. “Hello you must be the dance master?”

“Excuse me?” what the hell did she mean dance master? Why is she calling me master, did I know this girl? was she aware of my lifestyle?

“Stop!” Bella pleaded with a whine and then shook her head with humor. “Tammy this is Edward. Edward meet Tammy…she is one of the women who stay at the center.”

Oh

I didn’t get to think about that because Tammy proudly announced, “Not for long!”

“What?” Bella seemed puzzled.

“Nope, Stacy and I talked about it, and I’m going back to work next week.”

“But I don’t have your stuff together,” Bella went from puzzled to anxious.

“Carol said that you were going on vacation and she was going to take care of it.”

Bella’s face warped into a perceptive calm and I could see the counselor in her come out as she asked, “Are you ready for that?”

“Yeah…I’m done hiding Bella, I have a life and I want to live it,” the determination in Tammy’s voice was in direct contrast to the lighthearted banter that had been present before.

“Good.”

That was all Bella said, but it was like she was giving Tammy a blessing because a huge smile took up residence on her face and she hugged Bella again. “Don’t worry, you’re not getting rid of me.”

Bella took ahold of my hand telling Tammy that we were going to get some food and that they could talk later. My mother and Father were sitting at a table talking with a couple, the woman I remember was Gail and I could only assume that the man was her husband. As we approached my parents stood to give Bella a hug hello and me a clap on the shoulder from my dad and a peck on the cheek from mom.

The man with Gail was indeed her husband George and after an introduction and pleasantries Bella and I went to get food. As we walked over I was introduced to several more people and by the time we had our plates full two other woman had come up singing some kind of song to Bella. I had no idea what that was about but whatever it was caused the most luscious blush to form on her face.

While we ate Gail asked Bella if she had a chance to talk to Sally. I could see the concern on Bella’s face as she scanned the room and the relief when she must have spotted the woman. I knew that Sally held a special place in my girl’s heart; she had worked hard to make sure that she was safe and if I was being honest Sally was the one person I really hoped made it.

“Why what happened?”

Gail held her hands up in a motion of surrender. “I’m going to let Sally tell you, but suffice to say Heather left last night.”

“When?” I couldn’t tell if the tone in Bella’s voice was shock or fear.

Gail shrugged, “I think it was around seven or seven-thirty?”

Bella dropped her fork and looked to me with a blank expression. I had no idea who Heather was but I got the feeling that Bella was trying to tell me that she just might have been our unwanted guest.

“I have to talk to Sally,” her words were hushed and directed towards me as she started to get up.

Taking ahold of her hand I spoke softly but firmly, “Bella whatever she has to tell you will still be there after you eat.” I knew that she wanted to find out what happened but I didn’t want her to get up and not finish her breakfast, her health was more important.

As it was, Bella ended up only eating half of what was left on her plate, but at least it was more then she would have eaten. Dad, George and I were talking about baseball while Bella was talking with the women when a group of three kids came running up to dad.

“Dr. Cullen…Dr. Cullen, you are supposed to come up front right now.” The spokesman was the oldest boy with blond hair and blue eyes.

“Hello Zachary,” dad turned to talk to the boy, “have you met Edward? Edward is my son.”

The child looked to me with a tilted head and then over my shoulder to Bella before giving me his attention once again. “Do you dance with Miss Bella?”

Dad snickered, but I was confused as to what the boy meant. “Sometimes we dance,” as I said the words Bella started coughing but dad took the child hands with a snicker, patting Bella’s shoulder and kissing mom’s head before letting the children lead him to the front of the room.

When I glanced at Bella her face was the color of an apple and Gail was shaking her head laughing under her breath, while mom patted Bella’s hand with a smile on her face.

What the fuck was going on here?

Gail took the microphone and started talking so I didn’t get a chance to ask, but I was going to be finding out soon. “I hope you all enjoyed the food and please eat, Wegman’s has provided us with enough food to feed twice as many people. I don’t know if you all had a chance to meet Dr. Cullen, he joined our staff a month ago and we are very blessed to have him. So make sure that you all say hello and thank you to him for all the time and supplies that he donates to the center.”

There was a round of applause and I could see dad’s face turning red. “Boys,” Carol went on, “Dr. Cullen, I know you insisted that we not get you a thank you gift, but the children made you something.”

The boy who asked if I danced with Bella handed dad a box while all the children said Thank You in unison. Dad opened it and after removing the layer of white tissue paper pulled out a t-shirt with a bunch of small hand prints in various colors all over it. On the front was the question ‘Who’s You’re Doctor’ and on the back amongst more hand prints was the name ‘Cullen’. Dad thanked them with a chuckle as he pulled the new shirt on over his shirt and tie.

As dad moved to come back over to the table Carol got back on the microphone. “Alright ladies lets go, I know you love me and you look forward to this all year long. Gail, Tori, Julie, Bella, Nancy, come on get up here.” Next to me Bella sighed but got up to join Gail and the other women at the front.

“They really do love this,” Carol teased, and as I looked at the women up there Bella was not the only one that was uncomfortable. “These women are the life blood of the center. Their time, talents, and dedication is what keeps our mission alive. On a personal note, I consider each one to not only be a colleague but also a dear friend.”

“This is the part they love,” Carol whispered into the microphone adding a wink. “Each person that comes to volunteer at the center comes for their own reason, I’m going to ask each one to give their reason why they work here. We’ll start with Gail. Gail is in charge of all our children; she has worked with all ages from pre-school all the way up to AP Physics.”

Gail giggled as she took the microphone but I was impressed. “In all honesty that girl was a bright young woman who really did it by herself and has gone on to MIT. I’m very proud of her.” Gail sighed and the smile faded from her face, “My sister Mary Katherine, that’s why I’m here. She was the baby of the family and at the age of twenty-four she was killed by her husband.” Gail cleared her throat before going on, “She had left him many times and always went back, I didn’t understand the dynamics of what she was going through and I blamed her. When she died, my family set up a college fund in her name and I came to speak with Carol about putting that in place, two years later I quit my job as a teacher to work with the children. It was my way of keeping a promise to my baby sister and I have never been more fulfilled.”

As Gail gave the microphone to Carol she was handed an envelope and was allowed to come back to the table and sit down.

The next one up was Tori, she was in charge of fund raising and she said that she came to work at the center because her mother was always involved with men who were abusive and she actually came for counseling to understand the reason’s behind her mother’s decisions, and she started volunteering because the center was in need of a someone.

Julie handled all legal and court volunteers, she said that as a paralegal she watched women come into the lawyers office where she works with hopeless expressions of fear and doubt on their faces and she wanted to give them hope and strength, so that is why she volunteers.

Bella took the microphone next and before she said anything at all, her eyes met mine for a split second. “I was that girl, the one who was afraid and hopeless. I was you…” she pointed to someone in the front.

“…and you…” pointing to someone on the right with a sniffle.

“…and you…” this time it was someone in the back. As she smiled sadly, one of the women sitting at the next table said, “we love you Bella.”

Bella glanced over with tear filled eyes, “I love you too” she swallowed hard gave a half smile then went on “…and that’s why I’m here. Because if it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone and no one deserves that, and those of us that know the fear and misery, we have to help others to know that there is life on the other side...and it’s worth the fight to get there.” As Bella handed the microphone back I glanced at my mother to see a signal tear fall down her cheek.

Bella took her envelope and began to move away when Gail stopped her, “Ah Bella, they would like you to open your envelope up here.”

She looked skeptical but with a resounding sigh opened it, taking out a piece of paper while at least a half of dozen women started singing, “I’ll be your private dancer… a dancer for money.” Bella’s face turned bright red and she was biting her lip so hard I thought she would bite clear through. Dad was snickering again while at least half of the women in the hall were giggling.

“Bella, I didn’t know you liked dancing…” Gail’s comment only caused more giggling, “…the girls insisted and Dr. Cullen said…” once Bella heard dad’s name her mouth dropped in shock as her eyes glared at him while he laughed, but then Gail giggled too so whatever the joke was she was in on it.

Dad was still laughing when Bella came back to the table. “I can’t believe you did that!” she accused dad with a giggle.

“What is it?” Bella handed me the paper while listening to my father.

“I didn’t do anything, they all came to me,” dad held his hands up, “it was Esme, she bought it!”

Bella’s eyes widened in shock as she looked to my mother who was laughing.

“I’m sorry dear, I thought it was so cute,” mom laughed.

I wasn’t getting anything out of this conversation so I looked down at the sheet of paper in bewilderment and then gazed at my mother.

“You got Bella a certificate for advanced dance lessons?”

A/N

Anyway I will translate for you…


“Dispatch do you have that 10-27 ready?”
10-27 - DDL report (a background check)

“Affirmative 10-63,” Officer Hawk took a small black notebook out of his breast pocket and the dispatch began speaking in codes.
10-63 – prepare to copy

“10-36, Isabella M Swan, AKA Isabella M Cummings of 344 Ferndale, Seattle. 931on a 240, 261 that occurred 01-04-08. RO in effect from 01-15-08 to present against James A Cummings, 230 E State Street, Forks Washington.”
10-36 – confidential information
931 – see woman regarding complaint
240 –assault
261 – rape
RO – restraining order