A/N: SM owns Twilight, I own two dogs. I really enjoyed everyone's comments, thoughts and theories on the last chapter. Let's see what you think of this one...

Chapter 10 - one big happy family

The drive back back to Forks was quiet but not strained. Edward held Bee's hand as much as possible while driving and Bee enjoyed choosing music from his phone's playlists, as much as was possible while holding Edward's hand. Every now and again one of them would chat about their projects at school or the merits of different undergraduate courses but mostly they were both content to enjoy each other's company in silence.

Edward decided not to be nervous about the news his parents wanted to share. He knew that he'd fallen for Bee and wanted to be with her no matter what, so whatever the news he had decided they would face it together.

Bee wasn't nervous because she wasn't really aware of what Edward's parents had said or that they wanted to talk with her specifically. She knew so little of family and how they behaved; for all she was aware being called by your parents and asked to come home while you out at night was normal. Renee never knew from one day to the next if Bella was home or not... Bella, she hadn't thought that name since she'd left her old life behind. She hated that name so much. She shook her head free of those thoughts. That was her old life. Now she had the Cullens, now she had Edward. She was Bee, she had even reclaimed Isabella thanks to Carlisle and Esme. Now she had family. At that thought she smiled, looked out the window and let the music which filled the car flow over her.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Edward squeezed her hand.

"That's all I get? A single penny? I think my thoughts are worth more than that surely," she teased.

He laughed, "Yes they are but don't call me shirley."

She looked at him like he was crazy and he laughed at her expression, "It's from a very silly movie, don't worry about it. What were you thinking about that made you smile like that?"

Looking at his handsome features which even in the dark of the car were striking, she leaned her head back against the seat, "I was just thinking about family... well, your family to be exact."

"Our family. You are one of us now, y'know that right. Mom and Dad love you already. Emmett thinks of you as a little sister and I... while I do not think of you as a sister, you are family to me." He looked at her with a new smile. A smile she hadn't seen before, it was shy and sweet. He lifted her fingers to his lips and softly kissed them. "We're good together aren't we Bee?"

She nodded dreamily, she liked this shy Edward very much, "I think we work together very well, when you don't have your foot in your mouth."

He chuckled, "And when you aren't spilling coffee on my pants."

They arrived home and parked in Edward's spot in the garage. He walked around to her side of the car and opened her door. When she stood out of the car he closed her door and pulled her close to him. "I'm not experienced with girls, Bee. I've never had a girlfriend so this is all new to me but I know my feelings." He kissed her nose and leaned his forehead on hers. She placed her small hand on his chest and he lay his hand over hers. "I know this is fast. Well we've known each other for awhile, but this ... you and me... I know this is fast, but I want you to know that I really care for you, that I'm falling for you and I'm here with you, no matter what."

She smiled a small smile. She knew exactly how he felt, she felt the same way. It might seem fast to others but she didn't care, her life had been filled with sad, failed, disappointing relationships if he was going to offer her care and kindness, she was going to take it and give it back tenfold. She tilted her head and stood on her tip toes to whisper in his ear, "'It is not time or opportunity that is to determine intimacy; it is disposition alone. Seven years would be insufficient to make some people acquainted with each other, and seven days are more than enough for others.'" She kissed his ear.

An electric shock ran through him and he chuckled, "Clever little Austenian girl." He kissed her lips lightly. "Let's go talk to the 'rents and see what has them all in a pickle, shall we?"

They found Esme and Carlisle sitting in the kitchen. Bee could smell the cherry pie that was warming in the oven and her mouth started to water. She marvelled that she could even consider eating anything after all the food she'd had that day but the pie smelled so good.

Esme and Carlisle watched the young couple walk towards them hand in hand. They had discussed the burgeoning relationship earlier in the evening and had agreed that it was a good thing. They did, however, consider the possibility of changing the sleeping arrangements, given Isabella and Edward were on the same floor. But right now they all had more pressing matters to consider than young love and so they decided to just accept the relationship and only interfere if it became an issue.

As Edward and Bee joined Esme and Carlisle at the table Emmett burst into the kitchen singing 'Let it Go' on the top of his rather out of tune voice and threw his keys into the key bowl on the counter. "Cherry Pie! Is that why you called us home, Mom?" He opened the oven door to confirm the pie was in there and noted that there were two pies but one was half eaten. "Hey, did you start without me? Half of one of these is already gone."

"The Chief was here for dinner, we had some pie for dessert," Carlisle explained.

"Fair enough. I'll get us some plates, they smell ready to me." Emmett pulled out plates, a serving slice and dessert spoons, while Edward joined him in the kitchen pulling out the whipped cream can from the fridge and the ice cream from the freezer.

The two boys moved in practiced motion serving up and distributing dessert and once again Bee marvelled at the natural rhythm with which this family moved around each other. This was clearly a common activity, so she had even less concerns about being called home.

With dessert all served Carlisle decided to get things out in the open. He hated secrets and didn't want to keep anything from his children and that now included Isabella.

"Isabella, Chief Dawson came to see Esme and I today because he had information about the house you were staying in."

Bee put down her fork, her enjoyment of the pie definitely forgotten as she gave Carlisle her full attention.

"Isabella, do you know who owns the house you were staying in?"

She shook her head slowly and silently.

"The Chief told us that it used to belong to a Siobhan Swan."

"Nanna Swan," she whispered surprised with this information. With all the faces of her new Cullen family turned in her direction she cleared her throat deciding to speak up and offer what information she could. "Nanna Swan told me to go there, that I'd be safe there if I needed to ... get away from things. She said no one would find me there."

Carlisle nodded. Edward reached under the table and took Bee's hand in his, giving it a small supportive squeeze.

Esme was bursting to ask Isabella why she wanted to be hidden but she had promised herself she wouldn't push the young girl, so she held back her curiosity. Instead she offered a little more information in the hopes that Isabella would continue to match each piece with a morsel of her own.

"Apparently, Siobhan Swan, your Nanna, bought the house years ago but never lived there. She rented it out to the logging company to rent to workers and their families. It had been well maintained over the years but when your Nanna passed away the arrangement with the logging company came to an end and that's why it was empty when you arrived."

As hoped, Esme's offering was again rewarded with Bee contributing another piece to her puzzle. "I didn't know Nanna Swan 'owned' the house. The last time she visited me, she wasn't very well then, but she gave me a key and a note with the address. She promised me that Ja.. that no one would be able to find me there if I needed to hide or if I just wanted to be by myself."

Edward's eyebrows furrowed a little as he was confused, "But if you have a key for the house why do you use the back window to get in?"

"The key I have doesn't fit any of the doors for the house." She shrugged. "She told me to lock the key and the address away, she told me not to tell Renee. I was used to that because she'd often give me money or presents and tell me to hide them from Renee. She was the one who gave me my lock box." She said the last part looking at Edward. "Oh Edward, we left my things in your car." She made a move to get up but Edward motioned for her to stay where she was, "I'll get them love."

The others chuckled at his endearment and Bee blushed beet red but no one commented. Edward was only gone a few moments, he placed the clothes and books on the counter but brought the lock box over to Bee. She smiled and thanked him quietly. He looked confused as she was blushing and he didn't know why but rather than question he simply took his seat next to her again.

Esme's eyes lit up at the sight of the lock box now placed on the table, she was practically bouncing with curiosity. So much so that Carlisle reached across and gently laid his hand over hers to settle her. He gave her a crooked smile of his own and she mouthed, 'sorry'. He understood her curiosity though and turned to ask his new daughter another question, "Isabella, do you still have the key your Nanna gave you?"

She reached around her neck and pulled on a fine silver necklace which hidden by her blouse. "Nanna gave me this necklace with all these charms on it so Renee wouldn't realise that one of the charms was the key to my lock box." She chuckled.

Esme frowned, momentarily distracted, wondering why Isabella had to hide so many things from her own mother.

Bee surprised them by chuckling as she spoke, "Renee tried everything to open this box. I'd come home from school to find the box where I had left it but covered in dents. She'd never say she'd tried to open it and I'd never ask her about it because she didn't like me to question her, but I knew it was her. I think even James tried to open it once but he failed too." She giggled again as bent her head down to open the box with the key from around her neck without removing her necklace.

Emmett mouthed to the others, 'Who's James?' but Carlisle shook his head with a not now gesture. She was revealing things to them bit by bit, some of it unconsciously, as she relaxed around them, the last thing Carlisle wanted was for her to close up.

"Here it is!" she announced as she raised a key from the box before closing the lid.

"Do you mind if I have a look at it?" Carlisle asked. Without hesitation she placed the key on his open palm.

"Just as I thought," he said as he passed it to Esme for inspection. "It's a bank deposit box key. We have one just like it for our secure box at the bank."

Esme nodded agreement and passed it back to Isabella.

"What does that mean? Why would Nanna Swan give me a key to a bank deposit box?" Bee was confused while the boys were just fascinated.

"Chief Dawson said that Siobhan Swan had left a safe deposit box with the bank and among the many items inside the box was jewellry, cash, legal papers including the deed for that house, as well as Siobhan's Last Will & Testament." He looked directly at Isabella as he mentioned the last item.

"Oh," was all she said.

"Did the Chief say what was in the Will?" Emmett was almost as excited as Esme, while Edward squeezed Bee's hand a little and shuffled closer to her. He could see she was getting upset and he didn't like it one little bit.

Carlisle and Esme shared a look between them before answering. They'd discussed just how much to tell Isabella but agreed that 'no secrets' was their best strategy, if they were to keep her trust.

"Well, yes. He did tell us some information but of course nothing is official as there needs to be a formal reading of the Will next week in Judge Meadows office." He paused and Esme reached across to take Isabella's other hand, giving her a warm encouraging smile as Carlisle continued. "But it seems that your Nanna left the house and other things to you Isabella."

Bee gasped. Her heart was racing and she felt the urge to fly from the room. If Edward and Esme weren't holding her hands she would've done just that. With no means to escape she couldn't hide the tears that filled her eyes, one escaped and rolled down her cheek. Edward pulled her closer to him and she buried her face in the crook of his neck. She said nothing. "It's okay Bee, let's go to your room and talk alone. It's a lot to take in. C'mon love." Edward stood up from the table bringing her with him, encircled in his hold.

Esme looked to Isabella's lockbox still on the table, unlocked. She was dying to see what else was in there but again she knew that building Isabella's trust was the most important thing at the moment if they were ever going to find out what had happened to her. "Isabella!" she called, grabbing the box and the other belongings Edward had placed on the kitchen counter. She walked over to the couple, "Here sweetheart, don't forget these and here is your bank locker key, too. Put it back in there and keep it safe."

"Thanks Esme," Isabella whispered, leaning over to hug this kind lovely woman. She turned back to Edward and the two of them went up the stairs hand in hand and quietly slipped into Bee's bedroom.

Emmett grabbed another piece of pie and sat down with his parents, "I don't get it. Shouldn't she be happy? I mean her Nanna left her a house for fu... Ch... heaven's sake. She could sell it, pay for College, travel to Europe - whatever she wants - she could just put the money in the bank. So why the hell is she crying?"

"Emmett, think about. She is all alone in the world. Her father, mother and grandmother are all dead. She's been living on her wits alone for goodness knows how long and she's been starved of affection and kindness from everyone... including her school mates." Esme gave Emmett a stern look with that last comment, still incredulous that her two sons have been mean to such a vulnerable young girl.

Emmett had the decency to look a little embarrassed but was still confused, "All the more reason to be happy now, don't you think?"

Carlisle stood from the table, collecting the plates as he went taking them to the sink to wash up. "Emmett, I think Isabella is overwhelmed. So much has happened. She's come to live with us and is learning to live within a family unit; she's been attacked by the same boy twice in as many weeks at school; she seems to have a boyfriend in our own Edward and now she finds that her grandmother who though she seemed to have been kind to her, she barely saw in her young life has now left her a house. Don't you think that's a lot to take in all at once?"

"Yes, I suppose I can understand that. Especially the bit with Edward. Wow he has really lost it hasn't he!" He laughed. "Do you think he even realises he calls her 'love' all the time?"

Esme giggled, "It is so nice to watch. They are just two peas in a pod aren't they? Now don't you embarrass either of them Emmett. No teasing."

Emmett smirked at her nodding, "Sure Mom. No teasing... no teasing at all. Wouldn't dream of it."

Carlisle put a dish towel in his hand, "Here dry these dishes as I wash."

Emmett took one of the wet dishes, wiped it dry and put it in the cupboard. "I get the feeling there's going to be a lot more to this whole business and I think you two know more than you are saying. But that's fine. I'll wait. As much as I plan to tease the hell out of my sweet virginward brother, I don't want to upset little Honey Bee if I can avoid it, so keep me in the loop as much as you can, okay?"

Esme smacked Emmett's arm teasingly, she knew Emmett would never knowingly hurt Isabella again since he thought of her as his new little sister, even if there was only six months difference in age. This set Esme's mind to Isabella's upcoming 18th birthday and she drifted off thinking about how they should celebrate.

Upstairs, Bee was sitting on the loveseat in her room wrapped in Edward's arms, her lockbox sitting on her lap. They were quiet for a long time but eventually she sat up and opened up the box. She took out a photo of her with a beautiful older woman with strawberry blonde hair. She had her arms wrapped around a very young girl Edward immediately recognised as a young Bee. He smiled and took the photo from her. "Is that you Bee?"

She nodded. "Yes, and that's my Nanna Swan. Isn't she beautiful?"

"You look so cute. How old are you there?"

"Five. It was my birthday. Renee had forgotten of course but Nanna Swan didn't. She came and took me to see a movie about a man who grew up in the jungle and was raised by apes, then he met a lovely girl and she taught him about life in society. It was cute and the music was lovely. I read some of the Edgar Rice Burroughs books later on, they weren't very well written but they were fun just like the movie. I preferred Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli in 'The Jungle Book', have you read that?"

Edward nodded, "I have to agree on the Tarzan books but it is a fascinating story. There's been lots of movies made about Tarzan but honestly I really like the animated Disney version 'Tarzan'. Come to think of it, I am pretty sure we still have the DVD in the movie room, if not it'll be on netflix, we can watch it sometime if you like."

She gave him a genuine smile, nodding enthusiastically. He kissed her cheek and looked back to the contents of the box, pulling out another photo of a young Bee with a couple holding her.

"Who's that?"

"Renee and James," she said dismissively looking through the box for other treasures to share.

Edward looked closely at the photo of a young Bee with a forced smile on her face being held by a tall blond man and a lovely but tired looking young woman. He flipped the photo in his hand and read the words on the back, "My Princess Bella and Queen Renee, 2008." He looked at Bee, "Bella?"

She grabbed the photo and threw it into the box, "Don't call me that. I hate that name. James called me that... his Princess Bella, pretty Bella, beautiful Bella. I hate it. I don't ever want you to call me that okay." She was crying again and getting really agitated. Edward took her hands and stilled them in his own. "It's okay love, I won't call you that name ever. You are my love, my little Busy Bee, you are Emmett's Honey Bee, and you are Carlisle and Esme's Isabella. Always. Okay?"

She nodded and brought her breathing back under control. "Sorry," she whispered. "But I really hated it when James called me Bella. He was a horrible, horrible man. He hurt ... Renee... often and then he'd be all 'I love you Queen Renee and my beautiful Bella.' I hated him so much."

They sat quiet for a few minutes before Edward asked what had to be asked, "Did he hurt you too, love?"

She nodded and whispered, "Often."

Edward pulled her to him. Inside he was raging with disgust and anger but he knew he had to comfort Bee and not frighten her. He picked up the 'happy family' picture noting just how young Bee was in it, maybe 12 or 13. "Even then?" he asked. She nodded.

"I'm sorry," he kissed the top of her head.

"Edward?"

"Yes, love."

"I'm tired but... I don't want to be alone. Could you stay with me until I go to sleep?"

Edward was a little shocked at her request but delighted that she trusted him and wanted him to stay with her. "Of course. You get ready for bed and I'll just go change as well. I'll be back in just a few minutes."

She smiled, grabbed her pyjamas which were folded neatly under her pillow and headed into her bathroom. Edward took the photo with James smiling like they were one big happy family, and headed downstairs to find his parents and Emmett.

He walked into the kitchen and found Emmett, Esme and Carlisle about to head upstairs. "I need to show you guys something before I return this to Bee." They gathered close to him. "This fucking bastard is James. He used to ... hurt Bee ... often. I think this is why she was hiding here, trying to hide from this creep."

They each looked at the photo staring at James' face. Carlisle spoke quietly, "I didn't mention this before but Chief Dawson told us about this James person and yes, he did hurt her and her mother." Emmett's face paled and his expression turned to stone.

"Bee has asked me to stay with her until she falls asleep." Edward wasn't really asking, he intended to do it anyway but he didn't want his parents to feel uncomfortable. "You know you can trust me, right?"

His parents nodded and even Emmett just nodded, he didn't want to tease. He just kept looking at the photo burning James' face into his memory. He turned it over and saw the names on the back. "Bella?" he asked.

Edward took the photo from him and warned them, "Whatever you do, DO. NOT. CALL. HER. BELLA. She hates it. Apparently this pig used to call her his beautiful Princess Bella. Needless to say she just hates it."

Esme took the photo from Edward's hand, "Is that Renee? Is that Isabella's mother?"

Edward nodded, "She has other pictures too, I just saw one of her Nanna Swan and she was really beautiful."

"Her mother is beautiful too, but she looks so young and so tired. There were pictures in Demetri's file but we couldn't really see them and they were blurry photocopies anyway." Esme was almost whispering as she studied the face of the young woman.

Edward took the photo back from his mother, "I'd better get back and return this." He turned and headed to his room. He went to the bathroom, brushed his teeth and changed into clean sleep pants and a t-shirt before heading back to Bee's bedroom. He knocked softly and waited until she she opened the door shyly to let him in.

He walked in, smiled at her and tickled her side, "You look cute, I like your PJs." She jumped back from his tickling fingers and brushed her hands along the lavender satin sleep pants with matching camisole, "I love the feel of the fabric, it is so soft. Esme is so nice to me."

"She loves you Bee. She loves doing things for you too. You should know that because you're making her happy as well just being here and being the daughter she never had. Imagine having twin boys and imagine them being me and Emmett! Poor mom, surrounded by testosterone. She needs someone to one her side for once." He touched her cheek lightly. "Oh, here is your picture back. I wanted to show it to the others, they need to know what this guy looks like. I hope that's okay."

She nodded, sitting back on her bed with the lockbox on her lap. "Do you want to see some of my happier pictures?"

She looked at him with such hopeful eyes, he couldn't believe how beautiful she was. "I'd love to see some happy pictures. Can I sit on the bed with you? Is that okay?"

She giggled and shuffled over a bit so he could sit with her on the bed. She dug through the things in the box pulling out some photos. She threw some back in the box, Edward noticed that those photos all seemed to have either Renee or James in them or both.

"Ah, here's one of my favourites. She handed it to him. That's when I won the Science prize at one of my old schools. That's how I got my laptop, it was the first prize." She was so proud of herself it made Edward chuckle.

"Is that your project in the background?"

"Yeah, it was really cool actually." She was brimming with excitement, "One of the times I was in hospital I noticed that like me not all kids have a parent there with them. Hospitals are pretty weird places for kids, y'know. Anyway, there's all these strangers coming in and out of your room, asking questions and talking to you. It can be kind of scary when you don't like adults much in the first place and kids don't always understand what is going on and who all the people are."

Internally Edward was reeling from what she was telling him without meaning to tell him. How often was she in hospital? And why the hell was she on her own? Even when he had his tonsils out Esme camped out in the room with him. He tried to keep his face calm and listen to her story, she was so happy and proud of her project. She was such a cute nerd. Focus!

"So I created a picture guide book to give to each child patient as well as a poster for their rooms. The guide explains who all the different people are in the hospital based on their uniforms. It uses pictures so even if the child can't read yet they can understand. See you can see the pictures in the background." She pointed to some of the images on the poster behind her in the photo.

"This way if someone came in their room and they weren't sure who they were they could look at the pictures to work it out. See the cleaner picture has a broom and a mop. I also created 'patches' for the staff to wear on their uniforms too. So cleaners would wear the matching 'patch' which would show the broom and mop just like in the picture." She looked at him proudly.

"Wow, Bee. That's... well that's really amazing. You should show Dad this project and idea. Maybe they could use it in the children's ward at the Hospital?" Edward was seriously impressed.

"Do you really think so?"

"Absolutely, Bee. He'll love it."

She yawned and he chuckled, "C'mon sleepy head. It's been a huge day. Let's get some sleep okay." They packed everything back into the box and Edward placed it on her desk next to her old laptop. He reminded himself that they needed to get Bee's new laptop and phone out of his car.

Bee was climbing into bed, "You'll stay with me until I go to sleep?"

Edward walked over and kissed her forehead, "I'm not going anywhere. I'll be right here as long as you need me."

Bee snuggled down under the blankets and Edward stretched out next to her but over the bed linen. She rolled and placed her head on his chest. Edward was a little unsure of what to do but decided to just go with what felt right. He half rolled back so he could reach the light to switch it off and then he encased his Bee in his arms. She sighed and drifted into a deep sleep and he lay watching her going over all that he'd learned about her that day.

He kissed the top of her head and even though he knew she was asleep he couldn't help but air his feelings for her. "I can't believe how you're changing me Isabella, how you've warmed my cold heart. I've always wondered what it was going to be like, when I finally fell in love. Now, here you are with me and I can scarcely believe or understand it."

He lay his head on a pillow and enjoyed drifting off to sleep. He could always go back to his room in the morning.

A/N: Well I hope you all had a lovely Easter, I know I did even though I seem to have caught a cold. I also hope you enjoyed this update... I really like how Edward and Bee (don't call me Bella) are shaping up as a couple, don't you? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Book references:

'Tarzan and the Apes' by Edgar Rice Burroughs. This was written in 1912 and the author knew he was on a good thing because he wrote 24 books the last being published in 1965. There were another 4 novels which Burroughs either co-wrote or authorised. Wow! Now that's an epic saga!

'The Jungle Book' by Rudyard Kipling was written in 1894. This compilation of stories was a big favourite of my daughter Tallulah's. My husband has a really really old edition of this book and Tallulah went everywhere with it when she was only very young. I remember she took the book for show and tell in her first week in Grade One - I thought her teacher was going to faint with shock when Tallulah actually read the 'The Seal Lullaby' poem to her class!

Movie references:

'Let it go' from the soundtrack to Frozen (2013) Disney animated film, (which I have not seen by the way. Strangely only the men in my family have seen this film - go figure!)

'Tarzan' (1999) Disney animated film. Music (which is great btw) was written and performed by Phil Collins.

Quote reference:

"It is not time or opportunity that is to determine intimacy; it is disposition alone. Seven years would be insufficient to make some people acquainted with each other, and seven days are more than enough for others." 'Sense and Sensibility' by Jane Austen