Disclaimer: Sorry, not mine! Enjoy anyways.

Chapter 3

I brushed out my curls and put on a loose floral – patterned dress. Accenting it with a slim leather belt around my waist, I stepped back to survey my work in the mirror. I smiled. It was the first time I'd been out in a while, and I looked really nice.

Just then, Lucy skipped up the stairs and into my room. She flopped onto my bed and watched me apply makeup. She lay on her stomach with her face leaning on her hands, kicking her legs in the air.

"Wow! Mommy, you look really pretty," She smiled sweetly at me.

"Thank you, sweetheart." When I finished doing my makeup, I came over and kneeled in front of her.

"Will you be okay tonight?"

She smiled. "What d'ya mean, Momma?"

I smiled sadly at her naiveté. "Nothin'. Do you remember what I told you?"

"If anything happens at all I call you," She recited, "And your phone number is 360 – 825 – 6346."

"Good girl" I stood up and took her hand.

"Alright, let's get going!"

I dropped her off at James' house without a hitch. As I drove back home, I silently thanked God for letting him be pleasant just this once.

Alice knocked on the door at exactly seven. I was shocked, to say the least. Back in our high school days, she showed up at least half an hour late for everything. This was something about her I was happy to see changed. It made my life a lot more convenient.

"Hello!" she called, stepping inside.

"Hey Alice, wait second, just let me grab my coat!" I yelled back, stepping out from the closet.

"Wow, Bells. You sure clean up nice! You look fantastic!"

"As do you. So where are we going tonight?"

"You'll see!"

We walked to the car, and I was surprised to find another person sitting in the driver's seat. I gave Alice a questioning glance, but she wasn't paying attention, so I turned to the person in front of me, sitting down in the back seat.

"Hello, I'm Bella Swan."

"Jasper Hale" He stuck out his hand, twisting around in the seat to face me.

"So you're the elusive Jasper."

"And you're the elusive Bella." His mouth twisted into a smile.

"And I'm the elusive Alice!" She piped in. I laughed aloud. That was something Lucy would say.

"So, is anyone else I didn't know about going to be there?"

"Uh…just Rose, Emmett, and my parents. I asked your Dad, but he declined. Football game or something."

"Wait, seriously? Alice!"

She grinned at me innocently.

"Sorry." She shrugged.

We arrived at the restaurant on time. I gasped when I saw where it was. We were standing outside of Della Sirena. I'd always wanted to come here. It was a beautiful little Italian chateau in Port Angeles.

Alice, Jasper and I walked inside and were herded to the table at once. After ordering, the small talk began.

"So Bella, tell us about your daughter. I'm so disappointed that we haven't gotten to meet her yet." Esme looked at me with curiosity.

And promptly ended.

"Yeah. Her name is Lucy, and she's three and a half. She's small for her age and has brown hair and eyes. She loves orange soda, puppies, and the swings. I just enrolled her in preschool here in Forks, and she's already making friends. She loves it when I read to her, her favorite books are Dr. Seuss and Harry Potter. And she loves Disney and Pixar movies, but her favorite is The Iron Giant. She's seen The Lion King more times than I can count," I smiled as I rambled on.

"She sounds wonderful," Esme smiled.

"Is there a dad in the picture?" Carlisle's question was merely curious, but it wiped the smile from my face. Alice and Rose were glaring at the table cloth.

"He's-"

Before I could find words, Rosalie did.

"He's a deadbeat. He spends his days sitting on his couch because he doesn't have a job, drinks and gambles way too much, never sends child – support, which Bella could really use, and only sees his daughter every other goddamn weekend. People like him shouldn't be parents."

"Oh – I'm sorry I asked. I can see it's a sore subject," He smiled apologetically, and it was similar to my Dad's.

Rosalie had always particularly hated James. She felt that it was a personal injustice that he was able to be a father, yet her and Emmett hadn't been able to conceive yet.

"Is that your custody arrangement? Every two weeks?" Esme cut in (trying to change the subject perhaps?)

"Er, no. Not really. He just doesn't care to see her sooner than that," I grimaced at the thought. How could anyone in their right mind not want to spend every second of every day with her?

At that moment, my phone went off. Claire de Lune drifted around the room.

"Speak of the devil," I muttered as I glanced at the screen. The name JAMES flashed up at me in big, bold letters.

"I have to take this, it's James. It could be about Lucy. I'll be right back."

I stepped outside and hit the button, pressing the phone to my ear.

"What's up, James?" I scowled to the night sky. Leave it to him to ruin a nice dinner.

"Bella? Bella, you need to get down to Forks County Hospital."

"What? James, what happened?" I felt the color leave my face.

"There was…a bit of an accident."

"What? Is Lucy okay?"

"Yeah, I think so…She fell off the counter, that's all. But you need to sign some paperwork. Social security, insurance, all that."

I felt anger bubble over. That's what he was concerned about? And what did he mean, he thought she was okay? Why didn't he know? I could imagine him rubbing the back of his neck and pacing as he spoke to me sheepishly. What an asshole.

I bit my lip, holding in my rage.

"I'll be there soon."

"Bella-" I flipped the phone shut and headed back inside.

I walked briskly to the table and gathered up my things, hands shaking.

"I have to go – Lucy's in the hospital, and James is the only one with her, and I need to be there, and I need to call a cab. Does anyone know the number for a cab?"

Emmett stood immediately and grabbed his coat.

I began to rifle through my bag, to no avail. Where was my goddamn phone? I'd seen it a minute ago. It had to be here somewhere. Where could it be? I was going crazy.

Before I could find it, Esme came up to me and stilled my hands with her own.

"It's alright. Everything will be alright. Kids get in scrapes all the time. Alice will take you to the hospital, okay? And everyone else will follow in our cars. Take a deep breath." How could she be so calm?

I nodded, holding back the tears that suddenly threatened. "Okay." I reached in my purse and grabbed some bills. "Here, for dinner."

She once again took my hands, this time pushing them away.

"It's our treat, Bella."

Briefly, she hugged me, and then we were out the door and speeding down the highway.

The ride there was tense, with Alice breaking no less than eleven different traffic laws to get us there in less than half an hour.

Finally we arrived, with Emmett and Rosalie, then Dr. and Mrs. Cullen hot on our collective tail.

I almost ran to the reception desk and requested to see Lucy Swan.

"Relation?" The receptionist glanced up from her nail file through heavily shadowed eyes.

"I'm her mother."

"Can I see some ID, please?" her tone sounded rather sarcastic, but I ignored it. Now was not the time to care about such frivolous things. It was also not the time to get into it with the receptionist at Forks, Hospital. I handed her my driver's license.

After a few moments of typing and mouse – clicking, "She's on floor two, exam room 15."

"Thank you." I was already moving on.

"Mmhmm." She turned back People magazine and picked up her nail file.

The elevator ride seemed to stretch on for forever, but finally we made it the examination room. I pushed through the doors. Lucy was sitting on a bed in a private room, and her father was sitting in a chair several feet away, eyes glued to the television in the corner of the screen. It looked like a Knicks game was on.

The entire setting was so wrong. It was so white. Lucy looked so tiny, engulfed by the bed, even though she sat above the covers, with her small legs dangling off the side. She seemed relatively happy. I felt the earth start spinning again. Air re-entered my lungs.

I rushed over to her, dropping my bag on the floor and swooping her into a bear hug.

"Oh sweetheart, what happened?"

I pulled back, my eyes roaming over her, checking to make sure everything was alright. It was then I noticed the five stitches on her forehead, the ones that had previously been blocked from my view.

"Hi Mommy! Don't touch!"

I hadn't even realized that my hand was outreached.

In the corner, James cleared his throat.

"What the heck happened?" I turned, advancing on him.

"She…um, fell off the counter, like I said." He avoided my gaze.

"What do you mean she fell off the counter? How did she get on the counter?" My voice was a deadly whisper.

Lucy piped in:

"I wanted cookies, Momma, and I dragged a big chair over, and I climbed on the counter and I got one from the jar, and then I fell! I felled really far and it really hurt really really bad. But it doesn't hurt anymore, and the doctor gave me cookies 'cuz he said it wasn't fair that I didn' get any cookies and that I was really really brave! They were choco – chip and they were really yummy. But b'fore he gave me the cookies, he had to stitch my head together! There were needles and lotsa blood and you wouldn't a' liked it at all Mommy!"

Happy that she seemed so unaffected by what had happened, I allowed my focus to switch to her as she babbled.

"Sweetie, why didn't you ask your father for help?"

"Well, he said no, and I said why, and he said he didn' feel like it right now, but I wanted coookies no-ow, so I was per-sis-tent, and he yelled No! really loud and I got mad and got one anyways, an' then I fell."

James had slunk into the corner by this point. Rat bastard.

"Sweetheart, Mommy and Daddy will be right back, okay?"

"Okay!" she smiled sunnily, and I wondered exactly how much pain medication the doctor had given her.

I dragged James out the door and down the hall.

Before I could open my mouth, he spoke:

"Listen, I gotta go."

"Excuse me?"

"Some buddies a' mine were going out to the bar, an' I was gonna drop her at my mom's. They're, um, still waiting on me, so…."

At least he had the decency to look ashamed, but still,

"You've got to be kidding me."

He was silent.

"You put your daughter in the hospital and you want to just leave?"

He looked at me as if the answer were obvious.

"What the Hell is wrong with you? And what the Hell were you thinking?" I was yelling now.

"Listen Bella, I just wanted to settle down and have a beer, and she wouldn't stop asking, and I just snapped, okay?"

"No, it is not okay! And what the Hell are you doing driving her around when you've been drinking? What the fuck is your problem? Do you want to get into an accident? Do you want to kill her?"

"I'd only had, like, one beer, Bella. I was fine."

"Like Hell you were. You know what, James? I can't take this anymore. We're through."

"What? Are you breaking up with me?" He sneered, "Sweethear, that ship has sailed."

"Who the fuck do you think you're kidding, James? I mean it – you're done. I don't want you in my life, and I sure as Hell don't want you in Lucy's."

"Fuck you, Bella. You can't do this. She's my fucking kid too."

"Is she your kid, James? You see her twice a month! Is she your kid when she's hungry? Thirsty? When she wants a goddamn cookie? Was she your kid when we went shopping for school supplies? When she got the chicken pox last year? When she wants a bedtime story or needs a bath? Huh? When the fuck is she your kid? Fatherhood isn't about convenience, James, and it sure as Hell isn't about you."

"Fuck this shit. You're a bitch, Bella. I'm done here." And he strutted away. He was gone.

I felt the wind get knocked out of me. My breath left my lungs as soon as he was gone. I felt tears spring to my eyes. I leaned back against the wall, slipping down and hugging my knees tight against my chest.

I let the tears slip down and wiped them away clumsily. Sniffling, I gathered myself together and walked back into the room.

What I saw stole my breath away (again). But this one brought a smile to my face too. Everyone from dinner was fathered around Lucy, and she animatedly told them the story of "the great fall." They all listened intently to her. It almost brought tears to my eyes.

Everyone looked up as the door clicked back into place.

"Mommy!" Lucy squealed. Mr. Dr. C is coming back in 'in a second' an' he wants ta talk to you! He to-old me so!" She smiled at me.

"Okay, sweetheart." I moved over to her and smoothed her hair back.

"Hi everyone." I let my expression show them just how much it meant. Most of them had barely known her two weeks, yet they were showing a real interest in my daughter and, even better, caring about her.

I was about to thank them all when the door opened. Once again, I found myself looking unexpectedly into a pair of brilliant green eyes.

A/N: Alright guys, who hates James? Go ahead, raise your hands! Don't be shy now!