A/N: Background for how this story came to be. It was late and I was mad. My hubby had done something that showed me that he didn't consider my feelings at all and I was feeling rather emo. I couldn't write any of my stories because of my mood and so I just sat back and started listening to some music. Two songs came on back to back that brought this story to fruition. My Little Girl by Tim McGraw and Everything to Me by Mark Schultz. The rest is history!
Thanks to Sunsetwing, Beegurl13 and Twilight44 (who had a very different ending in mind).
This is my first story not done in someone's POV! I hope I did okay!
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"Daddy," Bella called out into the dark house as she stumbled in the door. "Daddy, I need you."
The lights came on at the top of the stairs as Charlie looked down to the landing to see why his daughter was calling him at two in the morning.
"Bella!" Charlie called out in alarm as he took in his only child's appearance. "Renee, get down here now!"
He sprinted down the stairs and rushed to her side, scooping her slight form up in his arms. She clutched her arms around his neck and started sobbing.
"Renee!" he hollered again.
"What is it, Charlie?" she asked coming out to the landing.
She stared down in shock as Charlie held their little girl's battered and bruised body in his arms.
"Call Billy and Carlisle," he said, tears filling his eyes.
"What happened?" Renee whispered as she appeared at his side.
"I don't know... and I don't think I can find out until Billy gets here... or someone is going to die," Charlie said fiercely, carrying his sixteen year old daughter to the couch.
Renee hurried from the room to make the calls. Billy Black was Charlie's best friend and the second in command at the police station. Carlisle Cullen was the Chief of Staff at the hospital and a very close friend of the Swan family.
"Billy, something's happened to Bella," Renee said, quickly. "Charlie needs you here now."
"Is this official?" Billy asked.
"Yes," Renee sobbed. "She looks bad. I have to call Carlisle next."
"I'll be right there," Billy assured the sobbing mother.
As soon as she hung up she dialed the Cullen residence. Esme answered the phone groggily.
"Es," Renee sobbed. "Bella. We need Carlisle at the house right away."
Without any further question, Esme Cullen elbowed her husband, waking him from his sound slumber.
"I'll have Carlisle grab his bag and we'll be right there," she assured her sobbing friend.
Carlisle was up and dressing before Esme hung up the phone.
"What is it, Dear?" he asked his wife of thirty years.
"I don't know. Something has happened to Bella. Renee was an absolute mess," she said as she scurried to get dressed.
Carlisle knew better than to ask his wife why she was getting dressed. Once Esme set her mind to something, there was no changing it. And Esme had set her mind on this. She knew she would be of little to no help to Bella, but Renee was one of her dearest friends and if she could offer even a little bit of comfort, then that's what she'd do.
The Cullens were in the car four minutes after Esme hung up the phone and Carlisle sped as fast as he dared to the Swan house. There were two police cruisers parked out front, one belonging to Charlie Swan, and the other to Billy Black. The house was flooded with light, which was highly unusual for the hour.
Paying little attention to how he parked, Carlisle stopped the car, grabbed his bag and made his way inside, for once not waiting for Esme. Esme knew that he was concerned for the young girl as it seemed that this was not just some flu bug. The presence of the second cruiser, guaranteed that. Esme got herself out of the car and hustled across the lawn.
Once inside, the scene that unfolded before her was one that belonged in horror stories. Bella had been invited to the prom by one of the local boys. James Lawrence was a straight A student, captain of the football team and the son of the town mayor.
"Let me see her, Charlie," Carlisle said.
Charlie sat back and set Bella on the couch.
"The Port Angeles sheriff will be here in ten minutes," Billy said. "Don't do anything to contaminate any evidence until then."
Carlisle huffed in frustration and bent down to check the young girl's pulse.
"Where does it hurt, Isabella?" he asked softly.
"Everywhere," she said.
Nobody in the room doubted her in the slightest. Her dress was practically shredded, just barely covering her, and every bit of exposed skin was covered in blue and purple bruises. Renee stood as close to her daughter as she dared, wearing her worn bathrobe, with tears streaming down her cheeks. Esme stood next to her friend, clutching both of her hands, offering her as much comfort as she could.
"She needs a hospital," Carlisle said. "I think we should have her airlifted to Seattle."
"What?" Charlie asked.
"With this much bruising, internal injuries are probable," Carlisle said softly.
Renee sobbed softly into Esme's shoulder as Esme looked with horror at her husband's concerned face.
Carlisle excuse himself to make the call as a knock came on the door. The blue and red flashing lights out front let everyone know that the Port Angeles sheriff was here.
Bella told everyone the sordid details of the attack. James had taken her out into the woods behind the school and the two had shared a kiss, Bella's first. James wanted more and Bella wouldn't do it. He called her horrible names so she turned to go back to the prom. At least from the school she could call her father to come and get her, she had figured. James had become enraged and attacked her throwing her around as if she were a rag doll. The Port Angeles sheriff clenched his fingers in rage as the small girl told them all about the beating and rape that had occurred and how he had carried her deep into the forest and left her there. She had wandered about aimlessly until she reached a road and made her way home.
Esme followed Renee to the bathroom and held her friend's hair as she threw up the contents of her stomach, after hearing the details of her daughter's attack. Once she had recovered, they returned to the room to see how they could be of assistance.
Sheriff Andrews, had Renee and Esme put gloves on to help Bella out of her dress and underclothes while he remained in the room. He had to protect the chain of evidence, especially when the suspect was the son of a prominent citizen, yet he didn't want to traumatize the young girl any further.
Charlie brought down a pair of his sweat pants and a large flannel shirt to help cover his baby girl's bruised and battered body. It was only the fact that his daughter needed him that kept him from going to the Lawrence house and beating the shit out of James Lawrence.
Once she was done her preliminary statement and her clothing had been collected as evidence, Sheriff Andrews loaded her into the back of his cruiser with Carlisle and Charlie. They made the quick drive to the hospital where the helicopter to transfer her to Seattle was due to arrive.
When they arrived, Bella was strapped to a gurney and wheeled off.
"That's a brave girl you've got there Charlie," Bud Andrews said to his comrade.
"Make sure the charges stick, Bud. I'll kill him if I have the chance," he said.
"I'll do everything I can," Bud promised Charlie. "and if the judicial system fucks up, I'll help you hide the body."
Once the helicopter arrived, Charlie was not allowed to go with Bella on the flight, but Carlisle managed to coerce the flight crew with his medical degree to let him go with her.
"I'll make sure she's okay," he promised Charlie as Charlie stood helplessly watching them load his broken child onto the helicopter.
The flight to Seattle was brief. Bella's condition, which had begun to deteriorate in Forks, was near critical by the time they landed. The doctors in Seattle had examined her and preformed a rape kit with a female Seattle police officer present. Once that was out of the way, she was rushed into surgery to fix the broken rib that had lanced her liver.
By the time Charlie and Renee Swan arrived at the hospital three hours after the helicopter had landed, she had been in surgery for two hours already.
"Mr. and Mrs. Swan?" a young man, wearing green scrubs said, as he walked into the waiting room.
"That's us," Renee said, frantically, tugging Charlie towards the man.
"I'm Dr. Edward Masen," the young man said. "I was your daughter's surgeon. She was very lucky to have survived. She has three broken ribs and one of them pierced her liver, causing internal bleeding. We expect her to make a full recovery."
"Thank you," Charlie said. "When can we see her?"
"She'll be moved to ICU in about an hour. I'll have one of the nurses come and get you."
The Swans thanked Dr. Masen profusely and clung to each other, thankful that their daughter was going to be fine, physically at least.
Isabella Swan spent eleven days in the hospital recovering from her injuries. She missed most of the backlash about the attack, which caused James' father to step down from his position as mayor of Forks.
Victoria and Riley Lawrence hired their son the best lawyer money could buy, but from Bella's damning testimony, the physical evidence, as well as the testimony of many other students and teachers, who had seen James leave with Bella, only to return later looking disheveled with a large scratch on his cheek, James' only hope was to try to cop a plea.
A month to the day after the attack, James Lawrence, age eighteen, was on his way to prison. He would be serving twelve years for his attack on Bella.
Bella and her parents temporarily relocated to Seattle so that Bella could follow up with the doctors there, attend physiotherapy to regain her strength, and attend a support group for girls in her situation. Four days after James was sentenced, Bella went to her mother with a problem. Renee Swan was sitting on the bed reading a magazine.
"Mom," Bella said softly.
"What is it, Sweetheart?" her mother asked.
"I'm late," she said, blushing.
"For what?" her mother asked confused. "I didn't think you had any appointments today."
"Not that way, Mom," Bella said, wishing she could just drop into the floor.
"Oh," Renee Swan said carefully. "OH!"
Mother and daughter made a quick trip to the pharmacy and sat side by side looking at the small stick as they waited the three minutes for the results to be ready.
POSITIVE.
Renee cried as Bella sat stoically, staring at the piece of white plastic that held her fate. She knew already that there was no way that she could kill her child, nor was she ready to raise a baby.
With great support from her family, and from counsellors, Bella decided the best thing to do would be to give her child up for adoption. It was decided that she would stay in Seattle with Renee for the year so that the small minds in the small town would have nothing to say. After looking at all the options, and after consulting the Cullens, whose two grown children; Emmett and Alice, were adopted, Bella and Renee decided that open adoption would be the way to go.
They set up a meeting with an agency that specialized in open adoption when Bella was six months pregnant. After their initial screening, Bella and Renee found themselves in a room with a very nice adoption counsellor named Leah.
"So we have these books here," Leah said, pointing at two large binders. "Inside are the profiles of many perspective adoptive families. You will be able to look and see all sorts of information about them, and choose a few to meet if you feel that they may be suitable."
Bella and Renee nodded, and Bella went to work scouring the first book. She decided that she wanted her child to have parents that had some physical resemblance to her or to James, who had already had his parental rights terminated. She didn't know what else she wanted, but felt she would know it when she saw it. She was rather discouraged to find that there was nobody she felt was right in the first book.
"Don't worry," Leah soothed. "You can look at the other book too."
Bella went to work on the second book and stopped about half way through. The couple that was described on these pages were perfect. Bella looked up at Leah and smiled. Leah, who had been distracted, talking to Renee, looked at the page that Bella pointed to in shock.
"Oh," she said. "You don't want them."
"Why not?" Bella asked in shock.
"Your baby wouldn't have a mother!" she said.
It was true that the page belonged to two men, but Bella had been raised to believe that didn't matter.
"So?" she asked, Leah, as Renee read the page. She could see why her daughter chose the couple. She also recognized one of the men as the surgeon who had saved Bella's life the night, or early morning, of the attack.
"They aren't quality people," Leah said.
"How so?" Bella asked. "It says that one is a surgeon and the other is an architect who plans to work from home once they have a child."
"Actually, Bella," her mother said excitedly. "Edward Masen was the man who operated on you after the attack."
"I want to meet them," Bella said firmly.
Leah nodded her head, she knew that there would be no dissuading the girl, now that they had some physical connection. Leah sighed and took the book.
"Would you like me to call them now?" she asked.
"Please," Renee Swan answered. She was very offended by the way Leah was handling this.
Leah picked up the phone and dialed the number, placing the phone on speaker.
"Hello," said the gruff voice on the other end of the line.
"Hi, my name is Leah Clearwater," she said. "I'm with the Mother's Choice Adoption Agency."
"Yes," the man on the other end of the phone said. You could actually hear the hope in his voice. "Let me call Edward so he can be here."
The three ladies could hear the man calling Edward to pick up the other line, and a velvety voice joined in on the conversation.
"I am looking for Edward Masen or Jasper Whitlock," Leah said.
"That's us," Edward said. You could hear the anxiousness in his voice as well.
"I have a young lady here who is six months pregnant and has chosen you two as someone she would be interested in meeting," Leah said.
"When?" Edward asked. "We can be there anytime."
"I'm here now," Bella piped up.
"Really?" Jasper asked. "We can be there in fifteen minutes."
"Okay," Bella said, speaking over Leah, who was trying to say that now wasn't the best idea. She really wanted Bella to choose more suitable parents to meet as well.
Edward and Jasper's excitement was palpable. They had been registered with five different agencies, as well as the state for three years and this was the first call that they had received.
Once the conversation had ended, Renee Swan had had enough of Leah's attitude.
"Miss Clearwater," she said to Leah. "Is there another adoption counsellor that we can work with?"
"What do you mean?" Leah said looking at the woman.
"Your attitude towards the man who saved my daughter's life as well as a couple that may become my grandchild's parents is unacceptable, and if we do not have another counsellor in here by the time that Edward and Jasper arrive, we will leave and find another agency to work with the four of us," she threatened.
Renee Swan was a kind woman, who most would describe as eccentric and flighty, but when it came to discrimination, she was fierce in her stance.
When Edward and Jasper arrived eleven minutes later, they were greeted by an older woman named Shelley Cope, who was one of the owners of the agency.
They held hands nervously as they were led into the conference room where Bella and Renee Swan waited. As soon as he saw her, Edward remembered the young girl that he had operated on six months previously. He hoped that if they remembered him, it may give them some sort of an edge, though he would never bring it up himself.
"Good to see you again, Dr. Masen," Renee said. "Thank you again for what you did to save my daughter."
"It was just my job," Edward said, blushing slightly. Bella felt bad for the man, who seemed to be afflicted with the same trouble she had, the dreaded blush.
"I can't say that I remember you," Bella said, offering her small hand to him, "but thank you all the same."
Shelley Cope could see that the four people would be just fine, and she left the room to let them talk. It always went better when there was no middle man. She had to deal with Leah and her prejudice that nearly cost the agency a hefty commission.
In the conference room, introductions were complete and the four people sat fairly close to each other on adjoining sofas.
"So tell us about yourselves," Renee said.
"We have been together for fourteen years," Edward started.
"And friends for much longer," Jasper finished.
The two men told the women about attending university and the wedding that they had had in Victoria BC. Though they were not considered married by the state, they felt married in their hearts. They spoke of their desire for a baby, and Jasper's plan to cut back his hours and work from home, once they had a child. They spoke of the house that they had built and the room that would make the perfect nursery.
Bella knew they would be her baby's parents.
"Is there anything that you want to know about me?" Bella asked.
"Do you know the sex?" Jasper asked.
"That's an interesting question," Bella said. "I don't know the sex, but the ultrasound technician wrote it down in an envelope. I've had to hide it from my mother so she doesn't go peeking."
"How old are you?" Edward asked.
"I just turned seventeen," Bella answered.
"Is the father involved?" He asked softly.
"The father was a raping bastard that is currently rotting in jail. He is the person who put my daughter in the situation where we met. His parental rights have been terminated by the courts. It is just Bella," Renee said.
Edward felt sick, remembering the small girl's bruised and battered body the night he had operated. He had not known the situation at all and had assumed it was a major car accident.
"You are certain you don't want to keep the baby?" Jasper asked.
"I have a lot of dreams, and none of them had me having a baby at seventeen," Bella said softly. "I love this little person, I do, but he or she isn't mine... I couldn't offer him or her the love and support necessary."
There was a few more questions on both sides before Mrs. Cope returned.
"So how did it go?" she asked cheerily.
"I want them..." Bella started to say to Mrs. Cope before turning to face Edward and Jasper. "I want you two to be the parents of my baby."
"Are you sure?" Mrs. Cope asked while Edward and Jasper embraced.
"I am certain," Bella said, which was backed up by Renee.
The next week was spent ironing out a contract. Edward and Jasper were willing to agree to anything that Bella wanted. Their only request was that they be allowed to be present for the birth. Bella agreed to that as long as they knew each other before hand. After the contracts were all signed, Bella and Renee found themselves visiting their house one Saturday afternoon.
"It really is lovely," Renee said as they toured the main floor.
"Would you like to see the second floor?" Jasper asked.
"Actually, I would love to sit and have a tea," Renee said.
"I'd like to see where the nursery will be," Bella said.
After assuring the men that she would be fine on her own while they took Bella up to the room, Renee sipped her tea and waited while Bella offered the men the envelope. She knew that Bella wanted to do it on her own.
The men showed Bella the room, and where they planned for all the furniture that they ordered to go. The only thing that was currently in the room was a beautiful glider rocker.
"Jasper likes to sit in here," Edward admitted. "He says he is getting used to the space, but I know he is simply excited."
Bella smiled at the men who were both obviously overjoyed at the prospect of parenthood. The baby chose that moment to use her as a punching bag and she showed Jasper and Edward where to place their hands. The three stood there for a few minutes while the child that Bella carried in her belly greeted it's parents.
Jasper and Edward both had tears of joy running down their faces, feeling their child fluttering in it's mother's womb.
"I have something else for you," she said, after the baby had finally settled down. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a blank white envelope. "I think his or her dads need to decide if they want to know the sex."
Jasper and Edward exchanged a look, before turning to her. "Can we?" Edward asked excitedly.
"It's your baby," Bella said.
"Do you want to know?" Jasper asked.
"I don't mind either way. It may be easier not referring to the baby as IT all the time," she said.
She handed the envelope to Jasper, who took it with shaking hands. They opened it with all the pomp and circumstance of the Oscars.
"A girl," Edward whispered.
There was quite the celebration that afternoon with Jasper and Edward calling their friends and family to tell them the news. Bella sat on the couch with Renee, leaning against her mom. She hadn't expected to feel any way in particular when she found out the sex of the baby, but she found herself saddened that she was carrying a little girl that she wouldn't be raising.
After the men had made all necessary phone calls, they sat down to tell Bella the reactions.
"Our mothers are thrilled, and I think my sister is going shopping this afternoon. She is so excited to have a niece," Jasper said.
"Do you have a name picked out?" Renee asked, running her fingers through Bella's hair.
"We have a couple of first names, but we wanted to ask if we could use your first name as her middle name, Bella," Edward said.
"Really?" Bella asked. "If you wanted to you could... but you don't have to."
"We want to," Edward said.
The next couple of months went by quickly and either Jasper or Edward attended all of Bella's prenatal appointments with her. The nursery was decorated with dark wood furniture and butterflies decorated the walls. There was more pink in the closet than Bella had ever seen.
As her due date approached, the men made sure to have little things done for her. First there was the pedicure, then the maternity massage. Little cards and flowers showed up weekly at the small apartment that she shared with her mother, and even Charlie approved of the two men. The boys even signed them all up for a lamaze class when Bella said that she wanted to try to labor naturally.
Finally, the day came that Bella went into labor. She was three days overdue and extremely cranky as most pregnant women are at forty plus weeks.
The trip to the hospital was fast and Edward used his connections to have a private birthing suite ready for her when she arrived. It was a long hard labor, but Bella pulled though with little complaining. As soon as she was close, and with Bella's permission, the doctor stepped back and allowed Edward to deliver his daughter into the world. Once the baby was placed onto Bella's stomach as she requested, the doctor stepped back in and allowed Jasper to cut the cord.
The nurse took the baby to the warmer to get all the medical stuff out of the way as her two father's looked on with tears in their eyes.
Once Bella's doctor was finished with the post birth stuff, a nurse helped her into a clean gown while another cleaned the bed. Once she was back in her bed, Bella looked over at the two daddies who were fawning over their baby girl.
"So what's the verdict on the name?" she asked, fighting to keep her emotions in check.
"Charlotte Isabella Whitlock Masen," they announced in unison. "We're going to call her Charlie for short."
"I'm sure my dad will like that," Bella said.
"Are you ready?" Edward asked, looking at the girl that was giving them the little slice of heaven in their arms.
Bella simply nodded her head, unable to find the words.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Renee asked her daughter tearfully.
"I am," she sniffled.
Edward crossed the room and laid baby Charlie in her mother's arms. Then he and Jasper walked out of the room, taking Renee with them, leaving Bella to say hello and goodbye to her daughter in privacy.
"Look at you, little girl," she said to the tiny sleeping baby. "You are so pretty. I didn't know that you would be. I thought you'd be all yucky and squished like the babies in those movies I had to watch. I hope you know that I love you. None of the bad stuff was your fault and I'm glad I got to be your mom for a little while. You have two dads that love you so much and you are going to have a great life with them. I'm going to write you some letters and they're going to send me letters and pictures of you. I'll never forget you, Charlie."
As was planned, as soon as she was done, she rang the bell to summon the nurse. As she entered, Mrs. Cope followed behind her with Jasper, Edward and her mom and dad.
"Are you ready?" Mrs. Cope asked.
"Almost," Bella sniffled. "Did you want to see her, Daddy?"
Her father walked over to look at the tiny pink bundle in his daughter's arms, as Renee moved to her other side.
"She's so pretty. She looks just like you did when you were born," he said, emotion coloring his usually gruff voice.
Mrs. Cope brought the adoption papers to the rolling table and moved it so Bella could sign. She did, with no hesitation, then the table was moved so Edward and Jasper could sign. When it was done, Mrs Cope nodded to the group and left the room.
Bella felt herself begin to hyperventilate, knowing she had to give the baby up now. She motioned to the men to come closer.
They stood right next to her and smiled.
"We'll never be able to thank you enough for choosing us, for giving us this most wonderful gift," Edward said, tears streaming down his cheeks.
"You be good for your daddies, Charlie," Bella said to the little girl in her arms.
Her parents stood to one side of her, watching her last minute with her daughter.
She kissed Charlotte's soft forehead and said, "I love you, Charlie." Then she lifted the baby and placed her in Jasper's arms. The two men smiled and thanked her once more before leaving the room with their daughter as Charlie and Renee Swan moved to each side of their baby girl and held her as she cried.
Bella would tell anyone who wanted to know that the next six months were no picnic. Six weeks after she last saw Charlotte, she and her family returned to Forks permanently. The transition was rough as they expected and the rumor mill was in full force, but as usually happens with these things, it blew on when Mike Newton and Tyler Crowley were caught in a compromising position in the school locker room. By the time the school year began again, Bella was just another senior at Forks High. Her best friends Lauren and Jessica had accepted her back without question and Billy's son Jacob had taken an interest in her.
The best part about that was that Jacob knew everything. He even fawned over the monthly pictures of Charlotte that she received. By the time they graduated, they were in love and decided to go to UW together. Bella had been accepted into the premed program and Jacob was taking business management courses as well as mechanic courses at the local trade school.
At the end of their second year at university, Jacob, Bella and their families took a vacation to Jamaica. To everyone's surprise, except for theirs of course, Bella and Jake tied the knot at a simple beach ceremony. It was perfect for them and Charlie and Billy delighted in the fact that they were now related.
They returned to school in the fall and worked hard for the next few years. Jake finished school in four years and quickly opened his own garage in Seattle, while Bella continued her studies. She continued to share the quarterly pictures of Charlotte with Jake and they had their own album for all her pictures. She truly was a spitting image of her mother.
When she finally graduated from university, she invited Jasper, Edward and Charlotte to attend the ceremony along with the rest of her and Jake's families. The morning of the ceremony she awoke extra early and smiled to herself.
"Jake," she said, poking her husband's sleeping form.
"Hmmm," he hummed, still half asleep.
"I'm late."
They hadn't planned to expand their family yet, after all, Bella still had six months left in her residency, then she had wanted to get set up in her practice. Yet, as the small plastic stick in her hand revealed it's answers, the couple knew that this was exactly what they wanted.
When the ceremony was over and the caps had been thrown, Dr. Bella Black looked at her family; her husband, Jake, was grinning ear to ear, half in pride for her accomplishments and half because of the wonderful secret they shared, her parents and her in-laws, who saw her as their own child, and knew what she had overcome to get here, and even Jasper, Edward and Charlie.
The awful events that lead to her birth changed Bella. She would never have had the mental fortitude to deal with being a female in the mostly male dominated medical school. Even her relationship with Jake was founded and built out of the tragedy, as they were able to form a tight bond of love and affection in spite of the turmoil.
The awful event changed that lead to Charlie's birth changed Edward and Jasper's lives too. Their home was filled with laugher and love as they watched their blessing grow each day, instead of longing and a feeling of incompleteness. Jasper , true to his word, worked completely on contract so that he could be available at all times for Charlie, and Edward made sure he was home to tuck the little girl into bed each night. Though they updated their profile with the adoption agencies each year, they were never selected again as most people could not see past the same prejudice that Leah had felt. When they got the invitation to Bella's graduation, there was no doubt that they would attend. Charlie knew that she was adopted from a very young age and that Bella had chosen her daddies especially for her.
It took weeks to wipe the smile from Bella's face. Edward and Jasper had come to her graduation and introduced her and Jake to Charlie, who was now almost eight. The little girl, who was obviously the apple of both her fathers' eyes, greeted her politely and smiled with a perfect gap toothed grin. She expected to be sad when she saw Charlie, but she could see that the little girl was right where she was supposed to be, just as the child that was growing in her womb right now was right where he or she should be.
Not every blessing comes in the traditional package. Sometimes you need to look hard to see the blessing in a bad situation. Those blessings are what most would call, unconventional. And sometimes, the Unconventional Blessing is the most powerful one, because it comes when you least expect it!