So... it's been a while. Sorry about that – this chapter was slow-going for me, don't really know why. BUT, it's here now for you all to read.

Massive amounts of love and devotion to bouncy 72, who got this chappie back to me in like two hours. You're an angel.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 7: Pillar of strength

EPOV

We had been at the hospital for five hours. Bella had been allowed to go see Rosalie after her surgery 10 minutes ago, and I was sitting in the waiting room – waiting for her, appropriately enough.

I absentmindedly leafed through an old copy of House & Garden from 2003. I had already abandoned most of my dignity by reading it cover to cover during our third hour here, but there wasn't much else for me to do right now. It was either reading, yet again, about flower arrangements for the perfect bridal shower or trying to avoid the lusty and flirtatious gazes the woman across from me shot my way all the goddamn time.

At least the flower arrangements didn't shamelessly eyefuck me in front of her husband.

I eventually threw the magazine down on Bella's vacated seat, sighing heavily. I wondered, not for the first time, how Rosalie was doing after her surgery. She had, quite honestly, looked horrible when we saw her before, but I guessed it was pretty difficult to look fantastic after being hit by a car.

It was still hard for me to believe she was a victim of a hit-and-run in the middle of the day, in front of a witness. Whoever the asshole behind the wheel was, I fucking hoped he crashed his goddamn car somewhere, preferably so that it rolled down the side of a mountain and burst into flames on the way down.

However, the most difficult thing about today had been seeing Bella break down like that after she came back from Rose's room. I could immediately tell that it was all simply becoming too much for her, and she just didn't know what the hell to feel. Her emotional dam broke, so to speak. I could just be thankful that I was there for her when it happened.

I cracked my knuckles, slowly letting my gaze wander around the overtly familiar room – avoiding Mrs. Eyefucking, of course – and trying to find something about the decor that I hadn't already noticed and memorized. I was incredibly tired of the painting hanging on the wall in front of me, so I refused to let my eyes wander there, but I gave up my search after only a few seconds. You can't spend 5 hours in a room without seeing every single, boring inch of it.

I took up studying my fingernails instead.

Just as I thought I might quite possibly lose my mind, I heard a familiar sound. My head whipped up as the clicks of Bella's heels sounded down the hallway. She appeared in the doorway, dragging a hand through her hair and immediately looking in my direction.

She walked forward slowly, sinking into her chair with a sigh.

"How's she doing?" I asked.

Bella shrugged. "Good, I think. It was hard for her to just keep her eyes open, so we didn't talk much. She's sleeping again now."

I nodded, reaching over to take her hand. She smiled gratefully at me as I squeezed her fingers.

"Okay. Well, you know what doctor Walberg said – the surgery went great."

Bella took a deep breath, filling her lungs to the brink before exhaling slowly as she nodded. There was a certain air of relief about her actions, as if she were letting all the worry drain out of her. Breathe out the bad, breathe in the good.

She turned to look at me again, pushing some hair behind her ear. She looked so tired.

"You ready to go?" I asked her quietly.

"Yeah," she said simply, standing with me.

We didn't speak as we made our way back down to the car. I just kept my arm tightly around her, wanting not only to feel her against me, but to make sure she could feel me next to her; that she could feel the support I was more than willing to give her.

"How about I drive?" I said softly when we reached her car. "We need to go to Emmett's place, and since you don't know the way..."

"Oh, right," she answered, perhaps a little absentmindedly, reaching into her purse for her keys. "Yeah, you drive."

I helped her into the passenger seat, to which she mumbled a quiet "Thank you". Her head was leaned back with her eyes shut before I had even closed the door.

I settled into the driver's seat and immediately realised a small problem.

"Uh, Bella? Do you mind if I just adjust the seat a little? I'll put it back the way it was later."

It took a few seconds for her to react. "Hmm," she asked suddenly, opening her eyes to look at me. I recognised the signs of forcing your mind back into reality when your thoughts had made it travel far away. She blinked a few times in confusion before her expression gradually cleared. She nodded haphazardly. "Oh, uh... yeah. Yeah, that's fine."

She offered me a quick smile before turning her head to the side, looking out her window. She clearly wasn't in the mindset for having a casual conversation, and it wasn't really like I wanted to bring up Rosalie's accident when it already was the proverbial pink elephant in the room. Or well, in the car.

Better to just... shut up completely. Silence never bothered me much, after all.

We arrived at Emmett's place without another word having been uttered. If not for the occasional movements of her hands – fiddling with her fingers, pushing hair behind her ear, scratching her arm – I would've thought Bella had fallen asleep.

"Hey, we're here now," I said gently, as I pulled to a stop outside Emmett's building. Normally I would have parked in the underground garage, but seeing as this was Bella's car there was no need for that.

Bella nodded as she unbuckled herself and got out of the car. She waited for me on the sidewalk while I put her seat back where it had been before. She reached out and grabbed my hand when I came up next to her.

"Edward, I just... thank you, for... for everything. For coming with me, and for dealing with my, uh... emotional breakdown." She smiled wryly, looking down at the ground between us. I raised my free hand and gently coaxed her head up with my fingers under her chin. Her smile turned a little sad, but the gratitude she was expressing still shone from her eyes. "I don't think I could have gotten through today if you hadn't been there," she whispered, squeezing my fingers tightly.

I moved my hand to cup her cheek and she pressed her face into my palm.

"I mean, it was just so much going on, you know?" She continued suddenly, as if feeling the need to explain herself to me. "First being so scared for her and not knowing what was going on or what had happened, and then the relief... being so relieved that she was okay, but still so incredibly angry and just... so horrified at what had happened, that someone actually hit her with their car and then just drove off... I mean, I-... I can't even... and then just seeing her there, in the bed, all bruised and the scrapes and cuts, that bandage around her head and god, her leg..."

Her throat seemed to close abruptly, and she looked away as she blinked rapidly. I pulled her unresisting body closer, wrapping my arms safely around her. She almost seemed to deflate into my embrace, her muscles relaxing all at once and a huge sigh seeping through my t-shirt as she breathed out. Bella's hands snaked around my waist, grabbing onto the fabric covering my back.

Her hair tickled my face as bent my head over her, trying to get as close as possible. I held her wordlessly until she seemed to have calmed down again – when she started drawing nonsensical patterns on my back with the tips of her fingers, I figured that she was okay.

"Come on, let's go inside," I told her as I gently extracted myself from our embrace. She dragged a hand through her hair as she followed me up the steps, braiding her fingers through mine.

I knocked quickly on Emmett's door, not bothering to wait for an answer before using my key to get in.

"Hey, it's us!" I called into a cacophony of sounds – quite the usual in Casa de la Emmett. The sound system was blasting Muse, bangs and clunks were mixing together with the warbled voice of my brother and the higher voice of my daughter from the kitchen, with barks weaving through the sonic mess, indicating that Jake had decided to get in on the action. I dragged Bella with me towards its source.

Maddie was sitting up on the kitchen island as Emmett stood beside her chopping something, his back to us. Jake was running around the island, yapping to his hearts' content.

Maddie saw us first. She abruptly stopped singing along to the highly inappropriate song for her five-year old ears, lighting up like a candle.

"Hi, daddy! We're making meatballs!" She had to yell to be heard above the noise, alerting my brother to our presence. He turned around and grinned at us.

I sighed and reached for the remote control lying conveniently on the counter next to me. When the noise had been turned down to a level that allowed conversation, I guided Bella with me further into the kitchen.

"Hi, honey," I said to Maddie as I walked up to her, dropping a kiss to her forehead. "You had fun with Uncle Em?"

"Yeah, he let me borrow his camera, and we went to the park and took lots and lots and lots and lots of pictures, and I saw a baby squirrel, and a ladybug and worms, and Jake chased some ducks, and we took pictures of flowers and then Uncle Em helped me climb a tree and I didn't fall out once! And then we got some ice cream and, and I dropped the vanilla one on the ground, and Jake ate it!" She giggled joyously, taking her first breath of air since she began speaking at high-speed. "And Uncle Em bought me a new ice cream, and then we took some more pictures and I found a stick and we threw it for Jake, and we had alotta fun!"

"That's great, honey," I told her, raising an eyebrow at my brother. He just shrugged with a cocky grin.

Before I could kindly ask him what the hell else he gave my daughter that listed 'sugar' as its main ingredient, he turned to Bella.

"How was your friend?"

Bella cleared her throat. "She's... well, she's better now, but she had to have orthopaedic surgery. Someone..." She paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. It clearly wasn't easy for her to think about this. "Someone hit her with his car, outside our apartment."

Emmett put his knife down on the counter slowly, wiping his hands on a towel. "Shi-... Uh, I'm sorry to hear that." He recovered quickly from almost saying 'shit' in front of Maddie, which in this situation, I wouldn't have blamed him for doing. What had happened today had been completely shitty. "Is she gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, the doctor said she'd recover just fine. I'm going back tomorrow to visit her, and then she can come home on Tuesday or Wednesday." Bella heaved a huge sigh again, reaching up to pinch the bridge of her nose. Her next words were not only mumbled, but also muffled against her palm. "Ugh, I need to fix her apartment, and talk to her about me staying with her for a while... god, I need to call her parents too..."

She continued to mumble to herself, listing everything she think of that might need to be done. I frowned as I watched her shoulders slump under the responsibilities she was piling on herself, wishing I could help her somehow but not knowing what I could offer.

"Hey, is she gonna be on crutches or like in a wheelchair right now?" Emmett asked Bella suddenly.

She looked up, seemingly surprised by the question. "Uh, yeah... yeah, she's getting crutches. Why?

"Well, I have nothing going on this week, so if you want I could help you move stuff around her apartment or whatever, make it easier for her to get around. I broke my leg once, and it was a bitc-... uh, it was really hard getting around my place before I got some friends to help me make more room."

Bella's face was blank for a few seconds as she stared at my brother. My eyes flickered back and forth between them and I couldn't seem to decide on whether to be amused by Bella's reaction or grateful to my brother for offering to help her. I would have probably done the same, but since I had to work it would've been difficult to find the time before Rose got home. With Em not having any assignments for a while, he could do what I couldn't.

"Oh, uhm... a- are you sure? I mean, that would be great, but you don't have to-"

"I wouldn't offer if I didn't feel like doing it, would I?" Emmett countered with a grin, in his usual no-bullshit manner.

Bella's mouth opened and closed a few times more before she chuckled under her breath and conceded with a nod. "Yeah, okay. That would be great. Thank you."

"No problem. Hey, you wanna stay for dinner? There's more than enough for you too."

Again, Bella looked surprised by Emmett's question and she glanced down at the counter, which was honestly filled with enough food to make meatballs for an entire football team, as she shook her head.

"No, I'm pretty tired, so I think I'll just head home. But thank you."

"Are you sure?" I asked her, concern colouring my voice without effort.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I have, you know, food... at home, uhm... anyway, I'll probably go to bed early anyway, so it's fine..." She laughed a little, shaking her head. "Sorry, I'm just... really tired."

I nodded slowly, unable to stop myself from feeling a little worried about her. "Alright, if you're sure."

"Yeah, I'm good. But thank you anyway," she said, directing the last part to Emmett, who inclined his head in a mock bow.

"Okay, well – I'll walk you out," I told her, stepping towards her.

She gave me one of her beautiful smiles before calling for Jake to follow her.

"Bye, Jake!" Maddie said, waving from the countertop. "Bella, can I play with him again soon?"

Bella stopped and directed her smile at my daughter. "Of course. I think he'd like that. You're much more fun to play with than I am, anyway," she said, winking at her.

Maddie giggled, completely delighted by Bella's praise. Emmett chuckled quietly beside her.

"Bye, Bella!" Maddie continued to giggle as we left the kitchen. Bella laughed as she waved goodbye to my little girl, walking ahead of me as we made our way into the living room.

She stopped by the front door, turning to face me as I stepped closer to her. She inhaled slowly as she closed her eyes, leaning towards me until her forehead was pressing against my chest. Her hands came up to rest against my sides, and I gently stroked her arms as I bent over and kissed her hair. I braced myself a little as she relaxed, her centre of gravity shifting towards me. All day I had been acting as a metaphorical pillar of support – I was now a physical one, too.

"Thank you," she whispered a few moments later, for the millionth time that day. She straightened herself out, giving me a sleepy smile as I cupped her cheek.

"Anytime," I murmured back before kissing her gently. The feel of her lips, so soft and responsive against my own, warmed and rejuvenated me. It was just so... nice... to feel this way for someone. For her. Scary, thrilling, exciting, amazing... nice. So fucking nice.

I lingered in the kiss for longer than might have been strictly necessary, but I really didn't give a shit. "Call me tomorrow," I said as we slowly pulled away, "after you visit Rose – let me know how she's doing?"

Bella nodded, squeezing my sides gently with her hands in a parting gesture. "I will."

"I'll give you Em's number and everything tomorrow, too, so you can make arrangements and all that."

"Okay. God, you must be so tired of hearing me say this now, but..." Bella let out a short chuckle, "seriously, thank you, Edward. For everything. You have no idea how much it-... how much it helped, having you there with me." She looked away for a few seconds, pale pink roses blooming in her cheeks. I stroked my thumb over the soft skin, feeling it heat under my touch. Her eyes found mine again, searchingly flickering back and forth.

"Not a lot of people would do what you did," she said slowly. "Not for someone they've known for three weeks. They'd make excuses for why they couldn't go along to the hospital... maybe not bothering with even doing that. But you just..." She trailed off with a soft sigh, shaking her head as she smiled.

I couldn't help but chuckle a little. "Very little could have stopped me from going with you today."

"I know," she murmured, her smile turning soft and warm. A few more moments passed before she shook her head with a small laugh. "Alright, enough of this mushy stuff. This day has been emotional enough already."

I agreed with a chuckle, and with a few more murmured words between us, words of gratitude and promises of talking tomorrow, she took her dog and left.

I made my way slowly back towards the kitchen, feeling tired after such a long day. It was going to be nice to relax now, get some food and maybe take a beer with Emmett – Maddie and I didn't need to leave for a few more hours, after all.

I rolled my shoulders as I came to the kitchen, opening my mouth to ask Emmett if he wanted something to drink, but the sight in front of me stopped me in my tracks. A huge grin slowly spread over my face, and I leisurely leaned against the doorway, crossing my arms over my chest.

Maddie had relocated from the countertop to a stepping stool next to her uncle – it did very little to alleviate their height differences though, since the top of her head didn't even clear his shoulder. She was schooling him in the art of rolling meatballs, even though he had been the one to teach her in the first place. Emmett was, of course, humouring her.

"Is this too much?" he asked, grabbing a baseball sized lump of mince in his fist.

Maddie heaved an exasperated sigh, making me silently shake with laughter. She shook her head at her uncle.

"No, not that big!"

"Oh, I'm sorry." He tore off a small piece and threw it back into the bowl. "How about now?" he asked hopefully, holding up the lump in his hand.

"No!" Maddie yelled indignantly. Emmett convulsed slightly, a clear sign that he was fiercely holding back his laughter. I was having similar problems myself, my teeth firmly wedged into my lip.

"Emmy, that's too much! You can't eat that," she scolded him angrily, as if their roles were reversed, with Emmett being the five year old little kid. God, my daughter was going to be such a ballbuster when she grew up.

Thank fuck for that.

"What are you talking about? I can eat anything."

"No, you can't."

"Yes, I can."

"Nu-uh."

"Yuh-uh."

"Nuu-uh."

"Yuuh-uh."

"Nu-uh!"

"Yuh-uh! I once ate 50 pizzas in one hour."

"You wish!" Maddie retorted sassily in a tone she had clearly picked up from Alice at some point. I stuffed my fist into my mouth, turning slightly to press my head into the doorjamb as I desperately held my laughter in check. I heard a choking sound from Emmett, clearly a badly held-back guffaw – the sound was very nearly my undoing and I took a deep breath, filling my lungs to their limits.

I will not laugh, I will not laugh, I will not laugh…

"Alright then," Emmett said, his voice trembling with suppressed giggles, "you show me how it's done. Make a perfect meatball – I dare ya!"

Maddie turned to him and put both hands on her hips, staring him down like only a five-year old can. "Daddy said you can't dare me to do things anymore, because you're grown as a man!"

I exploded. I collapsed against the doorjamb, letting it support me as I broke out in a hysterical laughing fit.

I clearly remembered the day I banned Emmett from ever daring my daughter again – Alice was attacking his hair with scissors and a electric shaver in my kitchen, attempting to salvage what she could and still get every trace of bubblegum out, while I was berating him for even considering taunting Maddie by blowing giant bubbles and then daring her to pop them. The dumb idiot had been stupid enough to actually believe she wouldn't do it.

Obviously, she did, which lead me to forbidding any more dares, because Emmett was 'a grown-ass man.' It wasn't until now that I realised that Maddie had heard us and I could only feel relief that she had misinterpreted my words as ' grown as a man'.

When I started laughing, Emmett broke down too. I opened my eyes, still giggling helplessly, to see him doubled over across the counter. Maddie was frowning at us both, her head volleying back and forth in disapproval.

"Daddy, why are you laughing?" she accused me, frowning at me.

"I- I'm-m s-ss-... s-sorr-sorry-… hon- honey!" I giggled, knuckling a tear from my eye.

Come on, Cullen, get a grip – you're a grown man. You can stop laughing. Just stop. Stop laughing. Deep breathes… yes, that's it. Stop laughing. See, you're calming down now, good job.

"Okay, okay, I'm good. I'm good..." I panted as I pushed off the wall. I walked over to them, still chuckling softly under my breath, slapping Emmett on the back and leaning in to kiss Maddie on the forehead. "Sorry, honey. Didn't mean to make you angry," I joked.

"Tha's okay," she assured me before holding up a lump of meat. "You make yours."

»»◊««

"So..." Emmett began, but immediately paused to take a sip of his beer. The dull sounds of the TV made its way into the kitchen where he and I were sitting – after dinner Maddie had wanted to watch 'Finding Nemo', which suited me and Em just fine. With after-dinner clean up all finished, we had rewarded ourselves with cold beers and some brotherly bonding at the kitchen table.

"So?" I promoted when he didn't continue, taking a long pull from my own bottle.

"Well, with all the shit that went down today, I haven't really had the opportunity to say this yet – but Bella?" He cocked an eyebrow at me and grinned. "I like her."

I chuckled, nodding slowly. Of course he liked her. She was Bella – who didn't like her? "I knew you would."

"Allow me to be sappy here for a sec, man, but I'm glad you two met. You've been alone for too long."

I glanced up at him quickly, taking in his serious expression and the look in his eyes that I was all too familiar with – I knew where this was going. I nodded silently as I dropped my gaze to the bottle in my hand. I started picking at the label, feeling slightly annoyed when only small strips of it came off. It was extremely unsatisfying.

"Look, Edward – I know you don't like talking about this, but come on, man... it's been five years now. You can't blame us for worrying."

I struggled to dial back my frustrated sigh. This wasn't a topic I was very fond of, but unfortunately my family seemed unable to let it go. I knew they had been worried about me – I was frequently reminded of that fact by their prodding and invasive questions as to the state of my 'love life' throughout the years – but that didn't mean I had to like it.

"Can we just... not, Emmett?" I asked, attempting to put a stop to this conversation before it had a chance to even actually happen. "Things with Bella are still really young – it's complicated and we need to move slowly and carefully through this. Yes, it is great that I've finally met someone I was willing to take this chance with, but it's just... it's too early for this conversation, okay? It can still go either way, and I'd rather not make it a bigger deal than it is just because I've been single for five years."

I finally looked up at him, levelling him a serious frown. "I like Bella – a lot – and I want things between us to work out, because there's something about her that I-... fuck, I can't even put my finger on what the hell that 'something' is, but it... works for us?" I shrugged, unsatisfied with the description but unable to think of a better one. "I feel like I've known her longer than three weeks, and just being with her is so fucking easy, Em – you have no idea."

I looked into my brother's understanding eyes for a few more seconds before I started studying the wood grain of his table. "But there's still a chance I'll fuck it up, and I'd appreciate it if you – all of you – could just pretend like this isn't such a big deal? Maybe give us a bit more than these three weeks to establish our relationship before it's taken so seriously?"

I paused to sigh with frustration. "Look, I appreciate the concern, and I know you guys are just happy I'm actually dating at all, but it almost feels like everyone thinks Bella is the answer to your prayers and that she'll be the love of my life and that I've found my soulmate and shit. I don't know if that's true – hell, maybe I have!" I threw a hand up in the air, "but can we give it a bit more time, please? I mean, fuck, call me an old lady, but I almost feel like you guys are gonna jinx the whole thing before it can't even properly begin!"

I slumped back in my chair, feeling kinda good about having unloaded some of my more hidden fears about this thing with Bella. It wasn't something I liked thinking about, which led to my fears still being slightly undefined and hard to pinpoint, but I think the whole 'jinxing' thing was at the core of it all. Or that I was going to fuck it up somehow – either one seemed likely.

Emmett's eyes were burrowing into me searchingly, staying quiet for several moments as he took in what I had said and no doubt analysed it as only he could. Finally he nodded slowly, leaning back in his chair again. He shrugged casually at me and took a sip of his beer.

"Fine. I'll lay off for a while. I see your point. You might have a hard time convincing mom or Alice about it, but I hear ya."

I tipped my head. "Thank you."

I turned my head as I heard Maddie's laugh from the living room – one of my favourite sounds in the world. I glanced over at the clock, seeing that it was nearly her bedtime now. We would have to leave soon.

Emmett quietly noted where my attention had wandered and he leaned forward over the table again. He took a deep breath as if to speak as I looked back at him, but he seemed to hesitate a little.

"What?" I asked him, even though I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to know. There wasn't much that made Emmett hesitate.

"I-... I'm assuming you've told Bella... about Emily?" He was tentative as he asked, only glancing up at me briefly to judge my reaction.

My reaction wasn't good. As usual, I tensed up at the use of her name, that bitter wave of old resentment washing over me as it always did.

"I've told Bella the basics, yes," I all but growled as I carefully put my bottle down on the table. If I held on to it, I might be inclined to, oh I don't know... imagine her face on it as I hurled it against a wall, laughing gleefully as it smashed and exploded into thousands of tiny shards.

Hearing Maddie's beautiful, happy laugh thrilling in from the living room again didn't really help matters. My resentment towards Emily only intensified as the injustices she had put my daughter through was brought to the forefront of my mind, a place in my brain that I generally tried very hard to exclude Emily from.

My feelings towards my ex-wife were complicated and varied. When thinking only of myself, I was happy she left. I didn't love her anymore, she didn't love me, and we were incredibly unhappy together. So yes, in some ways I was actually relived that she wasn't in my life at this point.

But that was only a small part of it. My happiness didn't mean much to me if Maddie wasn't happy too – and growing up without a mother wasn't exactly easy – but it still wasn't like I wished Emily had stayed around. She was never cut out to be a mother, and if she hadn't left... well, I didn't even want to fucking think about what our lives would have looked like today. Maybe it was better for Maddie to not have a mother around who clearly wanted to be someplace else, without the responsibility of being a parent. There was no doubt in my mind that Emily would have showed her resentment, anger, bitterness... her whatever, on a daily basis had she stayed, and the psychological damage that could have caused Maddie wasn't something I liked to think about.

If Emily had left because of me – only me – that would have been fine. We could have worked something out where Maddie at least got to see both her parents on a regular basis, and Emily and I could both have moved on with our lives, separately. But she didn't leave just because of me... and that's what was so fucking unfair about the whole thing. She left because she didn't want to be my wife or Maddie's mother. That was something I still couldn't fully understand, or ever forgive.

As I said – my feelings towards my ex-wife were fucking complicated and multi-faceted.

"Was there a reason you asked?" I wondered, speaking through clenched teeth. My reaction to this particular topic couldn't be helped, and it was always the same. I guess I could be grateful that my family knew it wasn't actually them I was pissed at.

Emmett inhaled slowly, throwing me a measured look. "Does 'the basics' include... the other stuff? I mean... after?"

"No, that particular topic hasn't really come up yet," I spat out as my irritation actually shifted to include my brother. Wasn't it enough that he was mentioning Emily, forcing me to think about her? Did he have to talk about the other she-devil too?

"No, I can see why it wouldn't," Emmett mused, undisturbed by my tone. "Mom told me about the phone call last week."

I buried my head in my hands, leaning my elbows on the table as I viciously scrubbed my face. Slowly count to ten, Cullen, and calm the fuck down – then maybe you won't pick up the chair you're currently sitting in and start throwing it around the kitchen in a fit of murderous rage. One... two, three... four...

"Yes. She called... again," I finally managed to say.

Emmett was silent for a few seconds, digesting the implications no doubt. "Same shit as always?"

I chuckled darkly. "Isn't it always the same shit? It's always the same fucking stubborn shit. I don't fucking know how I can be anymore clear about this, but the goddamn idiot can't seem to fucking get it through that thick head of hers!"

I tensed as Maddie laughed again, blissfully unaware of the tension and anger emanating from her father in thick waves. I raked my hands through my hair, breathing slowly and trying to relax. Eventually I let my arms drop, my palms dully thwacking the table top. I looked at my brother, suddenly feeling mentally exhausted.

"I just don't know, Em. I'm getting really fucking tired of having to dodge phone-calls and emails, of having to actually defend myself to her. What happens when Maddie's old enough to start answering the phone, huh? What the hell am I supposed to do then, if I'm not home to intercept it? I just don't understand why the fucking woman can't just... respect my decision and leave us alone. She just doesn't get it."

My anger was slowly seeping out of me. I only felt tired. Tired, defeated... helpless. Just like I always did whenever this problem was shoved in my face.

Emmett sighed sadly. "I'm sorry, man. I shouldn't have said anything."

I looked up at him and smiled ruefully. "No, it's okay, Em. It's not your fault."

He nodded in acknowledgement of my words just as I heard the familiar sounds of Maddie's footsteps nearing us. Seconds later she appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, yawning adorably. I smiled at the sight of her, turning in my seat to face her properly. I felt the knot of tension between my shoulder blades slowly dissolve as I looked at my little angel. She was healthy, happy and blissfully unaware of my occasional struggle to keep her that way, and that was all that fucking mattered. As long as she was happy, I could deal with anything.

"Hey, honey – movie over?" I asked as she made her way to me.

"Yeah," she said sleepily, reaching up with her arms. I lifted her into my lap with ease, hugging her close.

"You ready to go home then?"

"Mmhm," she mumbled into my neck as she snuggled up to me, her tiny arms wrapped securely around my neck.

"Alright, we'll leave in a minute," I said quietly as I rubbed her back.

"Daddy?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I get a fish like Nemo?"

I closed my eyes as I heard Emmett quietly giggling. I really didn't think she'd hold on to the idea of getting a fish beyond mentioning it at the restaurant. Clearly, I had no such luck.

"Why do you want a fish, Maddie?"

"They're funny."

I suppressed a groan. "We'll see, honey. I'm not deciding this now."

She made an inarticulate whiney noise against my shoulder, but other than that she offered no protest to my non-answer. Thank god.

"When I grow up I wanna take pictures like uncle Emmy," she said suddenly, apropos nothing.

"You do?" I asked indulgently. Yesterday she had wanted to be a ballerina. The day before that it was a hairdresser. Last week she also professed a life-long dream of being a circus princess. If she actually ended up being a professional photographer, I would be very surprised.

"Yeah, it was fun in the park."

"Well then, we'll have to see what we can do about that, won't we, honey?"

"Yeah..." she mumbled. I felt her slowly start to relax into me, her tiny body growing heavier and warmer against my chest. I knew she'd fall asleep soon. This told me I should be moving, I should be taking her home and putting her to bed so she could get some rest, but just I couldn't bring myself to do that yet.

Maddie used to sleep on me constantly when she was a baby. With Emily being so... distant, I guess you could say, I would always worry about Maddie while I was at work. I didn't know if Emily was showing her enough affection or picking her up when she cried or stuff like that. So every day when I came home, the first thing I'd do would be to cuddle with Maddie. I'd relax on the couch with my daughter sleeping soundly on my chest, her head over my heart.

It was a way to avoid arguing with Emily, too. If words between us got heated, Maddie would wake up and cry, quickly putting an end to our arguments. It was a relief for me, personally – after working long hours at the office, the last thing I wanted to do was listen to my wife bitch and moan about everything and nothing while I attempted to defend myself against her attacks.

Then when it was just the two of us – just me and Maddie – I cherished those moments even more. Having my baby girl sleeping on me had been an act of comfort for the both of us, but as she grew older it happened less and less. Now it felt like a rare occurrence for her to drift off to sleep cuddled up to me like this, so I couldn't help but want to prolong the moment as much as possible.

She nodded off after a few minutes, but it wasn't long until she awoke with a small start, lifting her head from my shoulders. I reluctantly took that as a sign that cuddle-time was over for tonight, and a short while later we were heading back to our apartment.

Maddie was half-asleep as I got her ready for bed, barely able to keep her eyes open. By the time I turned back the covers for her, I almost had to lift her into the bed since she was too tired to crawl in herself.

She mumbled out something vaguely similar to "Night, daddy," as I tucked her in and I chuckled softly under my breath – her lips had barely even moved, but I appreciated the effort nonetheless.

"Night, honey," I murmured as I kissed her forehead, brushing a strand of her loose hair from her cheek. I sat on the edge of the bed as she slowly fell asleep, listening as her tiny breaths became deeper and eventually evened out into the slow rhythm of slumber.

As I sat there, gazing at my daughter, my eyes were drawn to the framed print hanging over her bed. The sleeping gryphon reminded me, as it always did, of my promise to myself to always protect and guard Maddie, to always make sure she was taken care of to the best of my abilities.

It was a promise I always looked back upon whenever I dodged unwanted phone calls and deleted emails from the she-devil. That promise was the reason behind my actions, and I'd be damned if I'd ever be forced to break it because of that idiotic, stubborn witch.

If you don't read Up To Scratch, you can skip this part: Since I'm not sure if I'll have an update ready in time, I thought I'd just mention this here quickly: Scratcherella has been nominated for "Best Bella" in the Giggle/Snort awards – however, only the top nominated stories will go on to the actual voting round, so she'll need all the nominations she can get. If you feel like it, you can go here: www (.) gigglesnortawards (.) mmmboptastic (.) com and nominate her. Nominations are open until 12th May. Thank you.

As always, I send out a teaser for the next chapter with my review replies, when I have one ready.

Thank you guys so much for reading. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

/Victoria