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"Mom," I heard Tyler yelling at me.
"Don't touch her," I heard Edward yell. "She may be injured. You hit her pretty hard."
"I didn't mean to hit her," Tyler's voice sounded stressed, "I was aiming for you."
"Well, you did. And she's 5'2" and your 6'3". We should call 911," Edward's voice. Always the concerned one.
"No," someone said. I wasn't sure who it was. And then I realized that it was me that was speaking. "No ambulance," I said again. "Just, help me up."
Edward lifted me up and carried me to the couch, he pushed a pillow behind my head and covered me with a blanket.
"Thank you," I replied.
"Tyler, sit down, we need to chat." This was it. I couldn't let this go on. The web of lies that my father had started years ago had came to a head. Tyler was mad at his dad for something he never did, and no matter the spin I put on the story, his grandfather was still going to look bad in the end. But I didn't care. I loved Tyler, I loved Edward and I loved my father. But something had to give.
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"Tyler, sit down, we need to chat."
He came to sit next to me and Edward picked my feet up, sat down and placed them in his lap.
"You need to listen to everything I'm about to tell you, without interruption. And after I tell you, your father and I are going to find someone and we are going to tell the world the truth. You need to know first."
I heard a noise and noticed that Emmett had walked into the room with an iPad in his hand, Kate's face still glowed from the Skype screen.
"Grandpa never liked Edward. He thought that Edward wasn't good enough for me, that I needed to find a man that was worthy of me. What your grandfather never knew, is that your dad was so much better than me. I was vain, spoiled and full of myself. I had been protected and kept for so long that when I met your dad, it was like a breath of fresh air. Your father taught me to love life, to live life, to sometimes break rules, and to love. It was a refreshing change from what I had my whole life and I think that it scared Grandpa. He could feel me slipping away, until finally I did. For almost four years. I went to law school, lived with your dad, got married and I was happy. Truly, truly, happy. And then one day Grandpa came to our apartment after we were married with pictures. Pictures showing your father with another woman. And that love that I had, it shattered into a thousand pieces and I let him take over. He swept me away, brought me back here, and I stayed here, for nineteen years. I worked, I raised you and I helped Grandpa."
"He did cheat," Tyler said, "ass."
"Language, and stop interrupting me."
"I didn't cheat," Edward says, "and watch your language."
"Before Grandpa died, he admitted to me that he lied about the whole thing. I called Fritzy who told me the whole thing was made up. They drugged him, they set him up with a woman and they took pictures. It was all staged. Your father never cheated. And I believed Grandpa, because I was stupid, emotional and pregnant. So, what the news is reporting, that your father cheated and I left because of it, is a bold face lie. And we are going to tell the world that my father, the great Senator Swan, deceived his daughter into thinking that her husband was cheating on her, and that I actually deserved the love that he showed me." I looked between the two of them, I knew Ty would be upset because of the high regard that he held his Grandpa with, but he looked angry.
"So he broke you guys up because Dad wasn't from the right family? Are you fucking kidding me?"
"Language," I replied, "and yeah, he didn't approve."
"But, Ty, your mom and I—it's going to be hard, the media is going to get worse before it gets better. And with us being a couple now, they are going to be talking about you, and your future, and Caps hockey."
"Let them talk. Your adults, both of you, and if two consenting adults want to have a relationship, who am I to dictate what they do and don't do, right? Besides, you were married when I was conceived. I don't care what the media thinks. And besides, it'll be awesome to have a Cullen jersey with my number on it, instead of the one with Dad's number on it."
"Where are we going to do this?" Kate, who I completely forgot was on the Skype screen, asked.
"I have the perfect place."
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25 years previous
"Bella, what are we doing here?" Edward asked, gripping my hand and following me up the trail.
"You're a history major, Edward, you should understand the significance of this place, of the man, of the history. He was an inventor, a worldly scholar and the founder of UVa. It's an architectural phenomenom. You should love it here."
"I can think of some other things I'd rather be doing," he replied, stooping and pulling me into his arms and giving me a kiss on the cheek.
"Edward, this is important to me," I pulled him further up the trail, one I had traveled many, many times. We walked a little bit longer and then stopped at a wrought iron gate encrusted with gold.
"Miss Swan," I heard Arthur, the caretaker of the cemetery speak to me.
"Arthur, it's nice to see you again," he takes old keys off his belt loop and unlocks the gate. Edward is silent as he follows behind me, me pulling his hand. I stop abruptly and he crashes into me, almost knocking me to the ground. He grabs me just in time and steadies me.
I can almost hear his brain trying to figure out why we are in a locked cemetery, in the middle of a national historic monument on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. And then he takes a deep breath and it all seems to click.
"It's her birthday," he says quietly as he wraps his arms around my abdomen and pulls me close to his chest.
"I visit every year," I whisper quietly.
We stand there for a few more minutes, Edward sensing that I need some time to just reflect. I say a silent prayer for them and start to head for the gate, Edward following behind me.
We walk for a few minutes quietly up the path, until we come to the red house with the white dome, find a bench and then sit down. He takes my hands and folds them into his.
"Bella, why is your mother and brother buried at Monticello?"
"When Jefferson died, he stated in his will that all descendants of his would have the opportunity to be buried here. My mother is a direct descendant of Jefferson. My father had her buried here because he thought that it looked good. I loved coming here as a child. Having the opportunity to see history, listen to my mother's stories about her great-greandparents and grandparents. It was like living in history. My brother, he never got that chance. He had something wrong with him, and didn't make it very long after he was born. Something happened when he was born and mom, she didn't last long after Charlie was born. I don't remember it all, I was only six years old. My mom and dad went to the hospital to have a baby, and only my dad came home. I found out later, that my mom died of an embolus, something that rarely happens to pregnant women, and Charlie, he died of a rare genetic disease. My father hasn't been to her grave since she was buried. But he uses Monticello as a backdrop for a lot of his speeches, and celebration parties. He proposed to my mom here, they had their reception here and now he uses it as a prop, like everything else in his life. But this place, when I'm here, I feel like she's close-by."
Present Day—One week later
"Your positive," he replied, looking me in the eye and then pulling me into his arms to kiss me.
"Yes," I replied.
"Ok, everyone, you have a few minutes," Kate said as she walked into the room.
I fixed my hair some more, made sure my lipstick looked perfect and smoothed down my skirt. I looked at Edward and made sure that his hair wasn't too wild, and that his tie looked ok. Kate planned it all, and now, the whole thing was about to come to a head.
"Two minutes," I heard someone yell.
"Ready?" I heard Edward ask. He grabbed my hand and together we walked out onto the front portico of the majestic house. We walked to the podium and then stopped. This was it.
"Thank you everyone for coming today. I have a prepared statement to read, which should answer all of your questions. If time allows, I will answer some questions.
"Twenty-five years ago, Edward Cullen and I met while attending college at the University of Richmond. We dated for several years, got engaged and eventually married. My father, who didn't like Edward, tried multiple times to break us up. One day my father approached me and showed me some photos of Edward in a compromising position. I believed my father and left Edward. I found out that I was pregnant the same day. I was granted a divorce and it was decided that I would raise Tyler by myself with Edward being allowed visitation. When my father was on his deathbed, he admitted to me that he lied about Edward cheating on me. I confirmed this information with his personal secretary, who confirmed that the whole thing had been made up.
Since my father's death, Edward and I have rekindled our relationship. Our son, Tyler, will be a member of the Caps team next year, at no time did Edward have any influence on that decision. Tyler tried out and made the team on his own accord and the decision was completely unbiased. I will now take three questions, after that, our time here is up."
"Miss Swan," I had it coming at me from all directions.
I pointed to a reporter in a red suit and waited for her to stand and ask her question.
"Miss Swan, according to court records, your marriage was annulled. How did you father get your marriage annulled when you were obviously pregnant? I pulled the pictures Miss Swan, there was no question you were pregnant as compared to fat, but yet, your marriage was annulled. Did your father pay off the judge?"
"To my knowledge, no he didn't. But without my father being here, I can't completely be sure. But to my knowledge, no." I could feel my palms sweating, and Edward squeezed my a little tighter, reassuring me that we were doing the right thing.
"Miss Swan," I heard more voices call. I chose one closer to the front this time, and hoped that I could answer the questions. "Will you and Mr. Cullen be getting married?"
"I'd like to answer that," I hear Edward say. "Yes, Bella and I will be getting re-married at a later date. That information will be made available when we have it. As of right now, we have no exact plans."
"This is the final question," I hear Kate say, and she nods to another reporter, closer to the front.
"Miss Swan, can you please explain the system that the Caps used to select you son to their team, considering who his father and uncle are? I just don't believe that the decision was completely unbiased."
"Sure," I reply. "First, Tyler's last name is Swan, not Cullen. And though when placed next to each other they look very similar, it's not as easy to see when Edward isn't in the room. Additionally, they used a numbering system instead of a name system, as previously used in the past, for all their potential players. Each player was given a number and were observed by random members of the team. At no time did Edward observe Tyler, and he actually didn't know that Tyler was going to play for the Caps until ESPN mentioned him to it several months later. Tyler is, and always has been an innocent victim in this entire charade created by my father. Tyler earned his place on that team fair and square. We all know he's an excellent hockey player."
"That is our final question. Thank you everyone for coming today. Additional questions can be forwarded to Mr. Cullen's PR team. Thank you."
Edward and I turned around and exited the portico, back into the main house. He pulled me into his arms and hugged me. There was no place else I'd rather be, and I couldn't believe that it had been so long since I'd been there.
One Year Later
"Mom," I heard my son yell. I heard him close the door and throw his hockey gear somewhere, probably between my kitchen and my living room floor.
"Shhhh," I said, running down the steps to give him a hug. "I just got them down for their nap."
"Damn, I was hoping to play with them," Zafrina said.
"They'll be up soon, maybe an hour or two," I say, pulling her into my arms and giving her a big hug, and then I hugged my son.
"Where's dad?"
"Somewhere, I'm not his keeper, ya' know." He headed into the kitchen and opened the frig looking for food.
"Weren't you just in the same place?" I asked.
"Yup," he said grabbing some bottled water and fruit from the fridge.
"Zafrina, how is school?"
"Good so far, Miss Bella. I'm just starting to get into some intense classes."
"That's great, Zafrina."
The door opened and in walked Edward, also dropping his gear right next to Tyler's.
"Come on now," I said, looking at the huge pile of smelly hockey gear in my foyer. "Could we at least put it somewhere where I won't trip over it?"
Edward pulled me into his arms and kissed me, squeezing my butt in the process. "Hey sexy," he whispered into my ear, giving it one final nip before pulling away.
"Where are the girls?" he asked, looking in to the living room for our twin daughters.
"In their room, it's naptime," I replied.
"Oh," Edward replied.
"So, how did your appointment go?" I had went to my follow-up appointment after the birth of our twins three months prior.
"Well, about that," I shuffled my feet and rinsed out the cup that I had been drinking from.
"Is something wrong, Bella?" Edward asked with a concerned look on his face. I hadn't meant to scare him, I just wasn't sure how he would take the news.
"Remember three weeks ago, when you just couldn't control yourself in the shower?" I whispered into his ear.
"Yeah," he replied, pulling me closer.
"I was right. Breastfeeding is not adequate birth control. I'm pregnant. Again."
"Did you just say you were pregnant, again, Mom?"
"Yes, Ty, really." I replied, giving him the stink eye.
"Dad, you think it's about time you marry her again?"
"Maybe, whaddya say, Bells? Wanna be Mrs. Cullen again?"
"Sure," I reply. "Why the hell not."
And with that he pulls me into his arms and kisses me.
The End.