Hi Everyone... Thanks so much for the people who have found my story. I appreciate the comments, reviews and recs. I, also, welcome any suggestions.

Again, let me thank am13er for introducing me to Fan Fiction. She, also, prereads this story. Thank you to my daughter who prereads, too.

And I want to thank Linda Cullenboyz, Amazing Beta. She has great eyes and understanding of my story.

And as always, Stephenie Meyer owns the characters. I just borrow them for a bit.

XOXOX

Finding Home
Chapter Nine: Working Together
From Previous Chapter:

Edward and I carefully get Mags into the car, propping up her cast. She sits next to me, in the front, as Edward and his mom are in the back. I drive with my seat all the way up, so Edward can stretch his legs. When we pull into the driveway, Mags sits up straight and stares ahead and mumbles, "This was Lizzy Marie Higginbotham's house."

"You knew my grandmother, Mags?" I ask.

"Knew her? We were best friends!" she spouts.

"Oh my God, Mags. Best friends? When?" I turn to face her.

"Sweetie, we grew up together in Phoenix," she nonchalantly says, like it was nothing.

I look at her with so much surprise. "You're Maggie Platt?" The light bulb goes on in my head.

"The one and only!" she exclaims proudly.

"Gran said you guys were inseparable!" I recall.

"We were thick as thieves." She nods her head.

Esme interrupts, "Do you think we could finish this conversation in the house, Mom?"

I turn towards Esme. "I'm sorry." I get out of the car, pull my seat over and back, so Edward can get out. I mumble to him, "Edward, our grandmothers knew each other."

He shakes his head and runs a hand through his hair. "This could be interesting." After he extends a hand to Esme, he walks over to the other side of the car to help Mags out.

Edwards carries Mags into the downstairs bedroom, near the stairway, while I bring in her crutches. I places them up near the dresser, while Edward gently lowers Mags into a chair by a small desk. "Thank you, Edward," she sighs out and pats his face.

"Mags, once we get things moved in, can we talk?" I ask her.

"Of course, Bella, dear. I have much to tell you." She smiles.

"I want to hear it." I smile back.

Edward and I make six trips back and forth to the house from their apartment with all the clothing and odds and ends. Alice decides she wants to go grocery shopping with us, so I can show her how to shop. Oh, she may have the clothes shopping thing down pat, but the food thing is beyond her wildest dreams.

Each of us drags a cart around the store. Alice pushes the sweets cart, since Mags and Esme love desserts. I plan on baking fattening cookies, cupcakes and pies. Oh, Edward, you will never starve, again. Edward tells me he loves brownies. Guess what's for dessert tonight? Edward totes the proteins, so the freezer will have steaks, chicken, fish and pork. Also, for the fridge, there are eggs and cheese. And me, I have all the grains and veggies. Pastas and breads.

Grocery shopping is my haven. Oh man, I love to cook. I repeat myself, but the whole process makes it more fun to me and I want to make it fun for Alice. But it's not Alice who's by my side and watches everything I put into the cart. Edward lets me pay for everything with the stipulation that it gets paid back. He is so frustrating. Jasper shows up in time to help load all the bags into the trunk of my car.

Once we arrive back at the house and put all the food away, I start to make a batch of brownies. Jasper and Edward sit on stools at the island, watching me create a caramel and fudge, pecan drizzle for the top. .Jasper sticks his finger in the bowl, licks it and hums, "That's divine heaven, li'l lady."

Giggling, I swat his finger. "Hold that thought, I have to go to the little girl's room," I say.

I see Alice helping Mags into the bathroom, so I head upstairs, hoping my bladder makes it. When I pass Esme's door, I hear crying. I knock gently to hear a soft, "Come in."

Esme sits on the edge of the bed, wiping her face. I kneel in front of her. "Esme, are you okay?" And she hugs me. Actually, she squeezes me so hard, I feel as though a rib or two could crack.

"Thank you, Bella". She takes my face in her hands. "Have you any idea what you truly have done?"

I tear up. "All of you have been through so much. I just feel all the hurt. And I am glad I can do something. I want you here." Why couldn't this woman be my mother? Well, no... Then, Edward and I would be brother and sister. And that would be all kinds of wrong.

"In two days, I have seen such a difference in Edward. He has been very withdrawn, since Carlisle passed away. You seem to make him happy." She tearfully smiles.

I blush and sniff. "He makes me happy, too."

She squeezes me, again. "I can see that."

I straighten up. "And on that note, I have got to go to the bathroom." I huff and Esme scoots me off.

'BELLLLLLLLLAAAA!" Jasper yells. "The brownies need to come out of the oven!"

Esme and I laugh. "I'd better get a move on. If I burn them, Jasper will kill me. And they are Edward's favorite, right?"

She grabs my chin, gently, looking into my eyes. "Yes, Edward has a soft spot for chocolate." There's a glint in her eyes. "You go ahead. I'm fine." She hugs me again.

After the bathroom, I walk into the kitchen to find Edward, taking the brownies out of the oven wearing the oven mitts. "They look so good, Bella." He inhales and smells them.

"Oh, wait until I drizzle the chocolate and caramel sauce over them with the nuts," I enthuse. "So yummy."

Jasper questions, "Is that dinner?"

"Nooooo. I've got baking potatoes on the bottom oven." I turn to smile at him. "And grilled steak with beef gravy?"

"Man, Edward, you're gonna get fat!" he says with envy.

"So are you, since you're eating here." Edward retaliates and throws a mitt at Jasper.

After dinner, Esme, Alice and I do the dishes, while Mags keeps us company. Edward and Jasper chill in Edward's new "man cave". He is so happy. I can hear him strum on his guitar. I want to go join him, but I really want to pick Mags' brain about Gran.

Once the kitchen is clean, we all go into the living room. Alice and Esme sit on one sofa. We help Mags to sit on the other sofa with her leg up on a pillow. Oh man, I head for my chair, all comfy and warm. Charlie calls my cell to tell me he's not going to be home, for a little while longer. I let him know I am at the "new" Cullen home. He seems to be fine with that.

Once I hang up my cell, I plead to Mags, "Mags, please, tell me everything about you and Gran. It will be so great to hear the stories she told me about you from your viewpoint," I say, while covering myself with the throw blanket.

"I can bet my life that she didn't tell you that she saved my life or really saved my marriage," Mags boasts.

"No, she never said anything about your marriage, but she did save your life a lot, according to her." I giggle.

"Oh, the two of us did some pretty stupid things as kids and got each other out of many scrapes. There was this one time, though, she was every bit the best friend." She starts to tear up. "Like Lizzy, I married very young, eighteen years old, right out of high school. Jack and I were high school sweethearts. Lizzy and Henry were our best friends."

"Really, Mags, you were that young?" Alice asks, as she sits Indian style with her elbows on her knees, leaning forward.

"Alice, your grandad and I were head over heels in love. When we Platts fall in love, we fall hard!" she laughs. "Don't get me wrong, we had some doozies of fights, but we always made up before going to bed."

"Woo hoo, make up sex?" Alice screeches.

"Alice!" Esme reprimands with a pretty harsh look.

"Alice, get your mind out of the gutter!" Mags giggles. "Well, sometimes."

"Mags, you're so bad!" Alice taunts.

It's great to see Alice and Mags kid around with one another. Reminds me so much of Gran and me. Man, I miss her so much.

"Well, I'll continue, since I was so rudely interrupted," Mags jokes. Alice makes a silly face and Mags mirrors her. "I was pregnant with Esme, maybe 4-5 months along. Jack was working as a fireman, at the time. We were living in a one-bedroom apartment and could barely pay the rent. It was such a clear, sunny day and I thought I would walk to the park down the street. When I got there, I didn't look where I was going, I wasn't the most graceful of people, and tripped over a tree root, fell face down and couldn't get up. A man came over and helped me, but I got this jolting pain in my side. He called for an ambulance and I was taken to the hospital. Jack was on a call, when he found out. He was so taken with fear, that he fell down a flight of stairs and broke his right leg. Needless to say, we shared a hospital room. That evening, your grandmother showed up, after she had been to my apartment to bring me a few things. She got a bee in her bonnet and wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. That one, when she made her mind up about something, there was no way talking her out of it. She decided that we were going to live with her and Henry."

"Was this in Phoenix?" I ask.

"No. No. We were here in Forks. She finagled the doctors to keep Jack and me overnight, so she could move our things into her house," she huffs.

"This house?" I ask.

"No, not this one. She lived in another home about six miles from here. It was another two-story, but it had an apartment in the basement with a kitchenette, living room, bedroom and bath. Lizzy was determined to take care of everything. When Jack and I were released from the hospital the next day, we found the apartment fully stocked."

Edward and Jasper enter the room from the basement entrance. Jasper cuddles next to Alice, while Edward looks at me. I scoot over to make room for him and he fits in around me. "Mags is telling us about my Gran," I explain to Edward. He moves around to get comfortable and tucks me under his arm. I could get used to this.

Mags looks at Edward. "I was talking about how Bella's grandmother took us in."

"Yeah, I heard that, Mags, as we were coming into the room," Edward tells her.

"Lizzy made sure we had everything we needed. She reassured Jack that she didn't expect any rent. He argued, but that went on deaf ears. Lizzy wouldn't hear of it and Henry went along with her. They both had no idea how much they helped us." She stutters a bit, "We were fighting a lot. Just couldn't make ends meet. So worried about our baby and if we would be good parents. It took a toll. I almost left him."

"Mags, you serious?" Alice squeaks.

"Hmmm, I'm afraid so. I was going to go back home to my parents," she whispers.

"Grandpa would never have let that happen," Edward adds. He rests his chin on the top of my head. Jasper nods at Edward with a wink. What was that? A secret code? Alice glares at Jasper, then stares at Edward. She looks at me and shrugs. Aha, something's going on!

Edward whispers in my ear, as he touches my shoulder, "You are a lot like your grandmother."

I turn to look at him and smile. "Thank you for saying that."

"Your Grandpa Jack had a broken leg, no money and no clue. He was stubborn, pig-headed and wouldn't listen to me. Take my word for it, Edward, he didn't have a chance in hell to change my mind," she fumes. "But Lizzy calmed me down, took the financial burden off of us and things settled to a calm. Once his leg was healed, he went back to work and we were able to save some money, before your mother came along."

There is a knock at the door. I get up to answer it and open the door to my dad, my very tired dad. "Hey, Dad." I hug him. I get a very strong squeeze back.

"I figured I'd still find you here, Bells." Charlie walks into the house.

"We got everything all moved," I say, very proud of myself.

He waves. "Hi Everyone." Charlie exchanges greetings with everyone, then looks around. "The house looks great."

I hug him. "Thanks, Dad."

Esme stands. "Charlie, how about I heat you up some dinner?"

"No thanks, Esme. I had some pizza at the station." He smiles.

"How about a beer, then?" she coaxes.

"Well, now, you're talking my language." He laughs and we all do.

Mags lifts her head. "Me, too, sweetie!"

Esme waves. "Okay, okay!"

I ask, "Esme, can you manage?"

"I'll be fine, Bella," she says.

I bet you are wondering about the beer... Well, one of Alice's friends is a cashier. They didn't ask for ID. Besides, the beer wasn't for us. I can't stand the taste, to be honest. But apparently, Mags loves her nightly bottle.

Esme leaves the room, Charlie sits near Mags and I sit back down next to Edward. He sits up very straight. The arm doesn't go around me. Dad intimidates him. Jasper smirks. Alice hits him. Edward lets out a little moan.

"So, how have you been, Charlie?" Mags questions. "Burning the midnight oil, I see."

"I was planning on getting home at a decent hour, but some kids decided to vandalize the high school," he moans.

"Really? What did they do?" Alice sits up and listens closely.

Esme walks back into the room with two frosty beer mugs. "Here you go, Charlie... Mom"

Charlie looks at Esme, as she sits back down near Alice, "Thanks, Esme." He turns to face Alice, "We got a call that there were a few cars at the school. Naturally, when we got there, they were gone." He shakes his head. "We found some obscenities spray painted over a few lockers. We're not sure if they were random or chosen. Books were ripped apart, papers torn and thrown all over the place. Until we get prints, the school will be closed tomorrow and Friday. Classes will resume on Monday. Looks like you kids get a very long weekend."

"Maybe I can get a few extra hours at work." Edward thinks out loud.

"Edward, how about extra hours of play?" Alice scolds him, "C'mon, after what Mom and Mags have been through, we can hang around the house." Edward just shrugs and sits back into the chair. His leg rubs against mine. I swear I hold in my swoon. Did he catch his breath?

Charlie chugs the last of the beer and stands. "I'm going to head home. I'm sure all of you are tired." He looks at me. "And you don't stay out too late."

"I won't, Dad. I just want to finish up a few things, then, I'll be home. Okay?" I yawn.

He nods. "I'm glad to see you here, Esme. Mags." He walks to door. I get up with Esme and walk with him.

"Just don't be a stranger, Charlie Swan. We got custody of your daughter!" Mags laughs and raises her mug.

Charlie shakes his head. "Don't forget, not too late!" He points a finger at me and walks out the front door.

Esme announces, "Well, I'm beat. I'm going to head up to bed." She hugs me and whispers in my ear, "Thank you, Bella."

I look at her and smile, whispering back, "You're welcome, Esme."

Esme walks up the stairs.

"Okay, which one of you boys wants to help me to my room, so I can get out of your hair?" Mags gripes.

Alice stands, "I'll help you Mags."

"Night, Mags," I say.

"Good night, Bella. We'll talk some more tomorrow. I promise." She smiles.

I smile back. "I'd like that."

Jasper looks at Edward and nods. "I'll go with you, Alice." He and Alice help Mags up and take her to her room.

It's very quiet in the room. Edward clears his throat and rakes his fingers nervously through his hair.

Feeling awkward I say, "Um, I need to get sheets out for you. You don't have any on the bed. I'm going to go downstairs."

He gets up from the chair. "I'll come with you."

We make our way to the basement. I walk directly into the bathroom's linen closet and take out a sheet and pillowcases. "I, ah, took the sheet from the middle of the pile. They are clean, but they have been sitting in there for over four years. Tomorrow, we should do some major laundry."

"Bella, you don't have to do all that," he says staring at my lips. I stare at him.

"I want to, Edward. Besides, I know where everything is." I pull the bedspread off of the bed and toss the fitted sheet over the mattress. I pull one side down, as Edward does the other. We both cover the pillows with the cases and place them at the head of the bed. I go into the linen closet, take out a blanket and smooth it over the sheet. I fold the bedspread and lay it over a chair.

"Do you mind if I keep Gran's guitar here for now?" I ask. I look up at him, staring into his eyes. He nods and stares at my lips. God, I wish he would kiss me. C'mon Edward. Just bend down and I'll stand on my tip toes. We'll meet in the middle. One kiss.

So, I get lost in my thought. I see Edward wrap his arms around my waist, pushing me closer to him. He bends down so slowly, it's in slow motion. I tilt my head to the right to give him access to his right. His eyes never leave mine. My heart beats loudly in my ears in a rapid pace. Edward has to hear it. He gets closer to my body and can feel my pulse. One hand comes up at the nape of my neck, caressing my skin. He turns ever so carefully and places his lips over mine. I close my eyes to savor his taste. He touches me lightly, softly. I can't feel my breath. He calls my name. He kisses my jaw, down to my neck. He calls my name. Both hands roughly rake through my hair. My breathing is heavy. His breathing is heavy, as he nips at my collar bone. He calls my name. He calls my name. He calls my name. I break from my trance and realize, Edward calls my name. "Sorry, I got lost in thought." I breathe.

He smiles, "Where did you go?"

I blush and shake my head. "Just a thought."

"Must have been a good one, you're blushing." He teases me.

"Edward, Gran always said to speak your mind and go after what you want." I bow my head.

His hand cups my chin and he lifts my face. He stares at my lips, lowers his head and lightly places his lips over mine. Oh, this is better than what I was imagining before. I feel like my head is in the clouds. My lips tingle and that tingle radiates all throughout my body.

He moves his head very slowly from mine. His hands grab my upper arms, "Bella." His eyes search for something, as he stares into me. And he kisses me, again. It's lips on lips.

Whooo major lip lock? Breathe, Bella. Breathe!

recs:
Wild by Peppah Louie
World's Most Dangerous Dad by denverpopcorn
The Demons in My Dreams by Littlecate358
The Nightingale's Journal Kimpy0406
Color of Loneliness by Exquisite Edward

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