Author's Note: I started this story last summer and posted the first three or four chapters. I had to stop writing due to time constraints and family issues. I took the original post of this story down, but recently, decided to re-post and attempt to continue this story. I've made a few very minor tweaks to the time line, but other than that, it's the same story. I look forward to trying this journey again with everyone.

Prologue

Warning: Lemon/NSFW

All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer, except for one, which you'll read about.

(EPOV)

There she was standing in front of me, looking the same as I remembered her. Hair the perfect shade of chestnut, falling down past her shoulders. Big, brown, doe eyes smiling at me with a hint of innocence. The strawberry scent of her shampoo mixed with her favorite vanilla fragrance greeting my nose and lungs like a long lost friend. The corners of her luscious pink lips turning up in a smile at me, and I am at a loss for words. Everyday since that day when I was nineteen, for the past seventeen years, I'd wanted to see her again, hold her again. I wanted to show her how much she meant to me and how, even though our time together had been short, I'd fallen in love with her. I'd never been able to move on, try as I might.

"Edward," she calls softly, almost as a whisper. I want to answer, but it's as if I have cotton stuck in my throat. I move my lips, but the sound of her name refuses to fall from them.

"Edward, I need to tell you something," she says louder.

"What," I try to respond, but again my vocal chords are nowhere to be found.

"Edward, I —," but the rest of her sentence is muted by the annoying sound of wind chimes?

Zzz…Zzz…Zzz…Zzz…

"I'm —," I hear her say, but again, the rest of her words are lost to the sound of vibrations and a high pitched tone.

Zzz…Zzz…Zzz…

I can't wake up till she tells me, but I feel myself fading away from her.

"Bella," I attempt to call her, but this time, though I find my voice, it's overshadowed by the noises again.

Zzz…Zzz…Zzz…

Before I know it, I'm awake and coherent of the twinkling ringtone and vibration of my phone, which has pulled me away from her and the deep abyss of slumber I'd been in. Groaning, I roll over with my eyes still closed, grasping around the cold sheets till I find the source of the annoyance. Cracking one eye, I tap the stop on the screen and sigh heavily. It was the same dream I'd had many a night before since we'd parted ways that night seventeen years ago, and since I'd arrived in Seattle three nights ago to join my new team, it seemed as if it played on repeat, haunting me because she never finished her sentence.

I wondered if she'd moved back to the Seattle area or if she'd stayed in Chicago after finishing her English degree. I wanted to know if she'd seen the news of my move. It was kind of hard to miss. It'd made headlines not just in the sports world, but all over news outlets and social media. The legendary Manchester United striker was leaving to finish out his career in the MLS, which would lead him back home to the good ole state of Washington to play next to Clint Dempsey on the Seattle Sounders.

I roll over and check the time again. 6:45am. I need to get up and get moving. I have a busy day ahead of me; report to the practice facilities by 9am, press conference at 9:30am, practice at 10am, new team photos at 12pm, then off to visit my parents and brother, who'd remained in the area even after my big move at the age of eighteen.

I know what you're thinking, if my family is still here in Seattle, why hadn't I tried to track her down when I came to visit? I wouldn't be completely lying if I said my visits were too short for that, but in all honesty, it was more so due to the fact that I was a coward. As much as I wanted to see her, to talk to her, there was a bigger part of me that was terrified of what I'd find; Bella moved on, married to another man with children that weren't mine. The picturesque white picket fenced life. The one that I'd always wanted with her. I didn't want to tarnish those dreams with reality, so I didn't.

Sliding out of bed, I turn on the TV to ESPN for the morning cast of SportsCenter, which I liked to have on while I got ready, then I make my way to the bathroom to start my day. After brushing my teeth, I hop in the shower, letting the steam and hot water relax the tension and nervousness I'd been feeling from the whole transition. As per my morning ritual, I drop my hand down to my morning wood and run my thumb across the top. I groan as I envision Bella joining me in the shower. She drops to her knees and takes me in her warm mouth, wrapping her perfect pink lips around me. I pump myself harder as I think of her licking me, her teeth slowly grazing along my length. She looks up at me with those big, innocent eyes, mouth full of me, and I know I'm done for. "Oh sweet fuck," I moan as I thrust my hips hard into my hand twice before cumming all over the shower wall, roaring her name.

I take a couple of deep, shakey breaths to get myself under control then rinse off the mess I'd made. Quickly, I scrub myself down and wash the untamable, bronze mop on my head. As I step out of the shower, I dry my hair before wiping down my body and wrapping the towel around my waist. That's when the sound of the anchor on TV catches my ear.

"And as if having returning soccer superstar Edward Cullen wasn't enough for the state of Washington, it seems there's another name breaking through on the female circuit. Sixteen year old, Elizabeth Renee Swan, from the tiny town of Forks, Washington seems to be well on her way to making herself known, not only to college recruits, but to the U.S. Women's National Team as well. Here's Rachel Nichols with the latest…"

As soon as I hear that name and "Forks", I practically stumble out of the bathroom in my haste and find myself standing right in front of the television. I watch the story unfold right in front of me, but it's as if I can't comprehend the words. The young girl on the screen looks so much like my Bella. Same heart-shaped face, same lips, same nose, but her eyes are a piercing green like mine and her hair, though the same length Bella's had been, is a brilliant shade of bronze.

I feel the wind leave my body as I add up the dates and evidence in my head. She's sixteen. Bella and I met seventeen years ago on that cruise. Her name, Elizabeth, matched my own mother's middle name, Esme Elizabeth, and her middle name, if I remembered correctly, was Bella's mother's name. Physically, there was no denying who her parents were. How come she never told me? Why didn't she try and contact me? Did she think I wouldn't want this? Want her? Want them? So many emotions stormed through my brain; hurt, anger, love, sadness. I was so damn confused as to what to feel, what to think.

Fuck. I just wanted to know why. I wanted answers to the thousands of other questions swimming in my brain. And most of all, I wanted to know her, to know them.

My daughter.

My sixteen year old daughter.

My knees hit the end of the mattress as I sit down, stunned. I bow my head and try to breathe evenly. I tug at my hair in frustration as realization hits me, "Holy fuck. I have a daughter."

Hi, readers! Thank you so much for checking this story out! It'd mean a lot to me if you follow, favorite, and comment on this prologue. Like I said above, I look forward to re-starting this journey with all of you and finishing it. Until next time, happy reading!

Much love,

Sam