Chapter 10 – Family

EPOV

Mom brings Elizabeth mid morning and I'm still sitting there reading aloud when they arrive.

I take Elizabeth as soon as mom hands her over and I take in a bit hit of baby calm from her. I hold her a lot longer than I normally would and I know mom notices, but she lets me calm down before asking what's going on.

I sit with Elizabeth in my lap beside Bella's sleeping form. "Elizabeth is here Bella. She's perfect." I tell her then turn to mom. "She had to have morphine this morning so she'll sleep for a bit longer I think." I tell her and mom nods sadly. Dad probably already told her anyway.

I move Elizabeth so she's lying along the length of my thighs. She's gripping my finger like it's her pacifier and then it's in her mouth and she's chomping away on it. It's strangely pleasant again and I wonder if there is something wrong with me for liking it so much.

Am I that lonely, that starved for human affection that I'll take whatever I can get including bite marks from a ten week old gummy shark in a dress? Yeah, I am.

I sigh when I realise the truth in the statement and mom's staring at me sadly.

"Can you tell me sweetheart?" She asks softly.

I shake my head no but she's just sitting there looking at me with these big sad eyes and I know I'm going to cave at some point, may as well do it while it's just her to see me fall apart.

I'm crying before I even get the first words out of my mouth. Mom hands me a tissue and I swipe at my eyes angrily. Why can't I control myself anymore? Why does everything reduce me to tears? Do I need the tampons Emmett offered?

"It seemed like good news when I got it, but now it feels awful." I tell her. "Read those." I nod towards the rolling table and the papers on it.

I busy myself with Elizabeth while she reads. The baby has a cute little dress on again today and another ribbon in her hair. Her hair is darker than Bella's, almost black, and it makes her pale skin glow. She has dark lashes like Joshua does, but his are curled on the ends where Elizabeth's are straight. She is still chewing happily on my finger and her legs are kicking and flexing while she does it. She's perfect.

Mom puts the papers down and smiles. "Well, that is good news. I can't see the sting in the tail Edward, why are you so upset darling?" She asks.

She calls me darling and I'm blubbing again like a four year old. "Oh shit mom, it's not bad news at all, not for Bella's safety, but imagine what it would feel like to have an order granted that meant you couldn't see your husband or your father." I whisper.

"This is what's best for her Edward, you know that." She tells me.

"I know that." I hiss. "But she never asked us to do this, she never said it was Jake, not out loud anyway. What if she wakes up and hates us for doing that?"

Mom doesn't hesitate. "Bullshit." She mutters darkly and then she's on her feet, pacing the space between the end of Bella's bed and the bathroom door. "She refused to say or do anything about it when she was growing up, and I don't pretend to know why, but she wouldn't ever let us help her back then. Now we've got a chance to stop the cycle of abuse Edward, with or without her consent someone has to take charge of the situation whether she likes it or not. She's not on her own anymore Edward, she has Elizabeth to think about."

"I know. But, I can't help worrying that she's going to be angry and we're going to lose her." I whisper, not because I don't want anyone to hear my thoughts but because it causes me physical pain to think about losing her now that I've only just got her safe again.

Mom is beside me then, one hand on my shoulder the other on Bella's hand on the edge of the bed. "She's a mother Edward and that means she'll do what's best for Elizabeth. I believe that, no matter what Bella is a good mom. She gave up everything for Elizabeth, she took beatings and she starved herself so that Elizabeth would have what she needed. That's not the actions of an indifferent mom. For whatever reason Bella believed she couldn't leave him. But she's here now and we won't let anything happen to her, or to the baby."

"She's Elizabeth Smith." I say softly.

"I know, I saw that darling. I don't understand that either. Maybe it's Elizabeth's fathers name? Maybe it's a grandparents name? She'll tell you when she's ready Edward." She strokes my hair and goes and sits back down beside Bella. Out comes the lotion. "A social worker is coming to the house this afternoon to meet with us. You should be there." She tells me.

"I'll ask Rosie to come sit with Bella." I tell her.

"I already did, she said that's fine." She smiles. "Now, what news from Port Angeles?" She asks.

How the hell do women do that? They know shit. They either have a network of informants all over the place or they just 'know' shit and men don't understand how it's done. "They called Charlie and he told them that he knew Bella was in hospital but he believed her injuries were attention seeking and self inflicted. That's all they'd tell me, that they'd talked to him, not what they intend to do about him. But the female cop told me they were investigating him and to trust them to do their job." I shrug.

"Well then, we'll just have to be patient won't we?" She switches to Bella's legs and I watch as she rubs the lotion into her thin calves. "Why did Bella have to have morphine this morning Edward?" She asks.

"She had to have a gynae consult and she keeps having panic attacks whenever anyone has to touch her there." I cringe. "Like yesterday with Alice, sudden movements or gestures frighten the shit out of her. So dad increased the morphine, which she's been having in low doses for pain management anyway, he just increased it to put her to sleep for a bit."

Elizabeth starts to whinge, she's bored by my fingers now and is sucking hard, she's hungry. I go straight to her baby bag and take a bottle from the side pocket. She's already sucking hard by the time I sit back down with her. I stare at her as she drinks, those big brown eyes stare right back at me. It doesn't take her long to drain the bottle and her eyelids begin to droop as the last of it is sucked from the bottle. I put her over my shoulder and pat her carefully, trying to coax a burp from her before I put her onto my bed. It's a little burp but it's good enough.

I lay her down on my bed and pull the horseshoe pillow around her so she can't roll off. I put a sheet over her and pat her bottom to make sure she settles.

"You're very good with her." Mom whispers.

"So are you." I tell her and take my seat opposite again.

"I've done it before, you haven't."

"Bragger." I laugh.

"You should learn to take a compliment." She teases. "Your father tells me that you and Bella were sharing the bed last night, do I need to stop by the pharmacy on the way home?" She giggled.

I rolled my eyes and tried to busy myself reading out loud from where I'd left off earlier.

BPOV

I could hear giggling and Edward's velvet reading voice. I slowly come back to the surface of consciousness and realise where I am and why almost straight away this time.

No disorientation and very little pain either, which made a nice change from the last twenty or so years. I actually manage to stretch a little without needing to groan or moan in pain as my toes, ribs and neck are stretched in turn.

"Edward." I hear the woman's voice again.

Then he's there, beside me, whispering in my ear. "Hello baby. You're safe here, nobody will hurt you here." He tells me and I relax a little more. I search the side of the bed for his hand and find it. It's warm and soft and he closes his fingers around mine and squeezes a little, I squeeze back and open my eyes. "There you are, hello baby."

He's smiling and looks so gorgeous my breath hitches in my throat. "Ed-wahh-d." I manage to mumble and his smile just about splits his face in two it's so huge.

"Did you hear that mom? She said my name. Did you hear her? Oh baby that's so great, you're doing so well." He crows then bends to kiss my cheek. "How do you feel baby? Squeeze my hand if you're okay in there." He tells me and I squeeze as hard as I can. "Oh thank god." He whispers and buries his nose in my throat.

I can't help the tear that leaks out of my eye and I feel a warm thumb wipe it away. "Edward." I hear again from his mom who's sitting beside me on the other side.

The strong smell of some type of perfume is in the air again and I wonder if it's from her or from me. It's been so long since I was truly clean so it's more likely from her.

Edward lifts his eyes to mine. "Do you remember my mom? Esme, remember?" He asks me and I squeeze his hand. "She remembers you mom. Come say hi. You have to come a bit closer, I don't think her focus is very good yet." He tells her.

Then she's there, above me and I can see her clearly again. "I'm so sorry we upset you yesterday sweetie." She's telling me and I'm squeezing Edward's hand like mad. I want her hand too so I uncurl my fingers and reach for her. I find her wrist, its good enough. I start squeezing it and she smiles. She twists her hand so hers is clasped in mine and we both squeeze a little. "I'm right here Bella. We aren't going anywhere, we're here for you darling girl." She's telling me and I'm crying more steadily now.

I'm so pathetically grateful for any sort of affection, any care that I get, I can't help the tears as they begin to flow harder and harder. I swallow as deeply as I dare and part my lips. "Thh-aaa-k ooo." I manage to eke out. It doesn't sound too far off the thank you I was going for and it makes them both cry and smile.

"Thank you. She said thank you. That was so clear baby, you're doing so well." Edward crows again.

There is a knock at my door and I cringe. I don't want to be examined and I don't want to see Ben Cheney's face again for a while. I don't realise that I'm shaking and the alarm is going off until Edward tells me it is. I watch his lips and breathe with him to calm myself. Esme gets the door and comes into the room with a massive flower arrangement. I've never seen anything so huge before. It's in a huge glass bowl and she puts it on the shelf on the wall at the end of my bed.

Edward is grinning like the cat that stole the cream now. "It's just a delivery baby, nothing to worry about. Nobody will bother you here. I promise. I'll tell you later why I'm so sure, but nobody will ever hurt you again baby." He promises and kisses me on the cheek.

"There's a card, would you like to read it Bella?" Esme asks and I squeeze Edward's hand hard.

"That's a yes." He laughs. "I'm going to need therapy right along with you baby if you keep squeezing that hard."

I want to laugh too but I know that if I smile the stitches inside, and outside, of my mouth will pull and I'll have the pain and burning for hours again. Instead I raise my eyebrows at him. Esme comes to the side of my bed and puts the card into my left hand.

I concentrate hard and lift my hand so that the little white card is in front of my eyes. It takes a second to focus but eventually I can make out the words. 'That I could take away your pain is my first and biggest wish. That you loved me even half as much as I've always loved you, that is the second. Edward.'

My tears come thick and fast again and I'm reaching for his hand blindly. I'm squeezing it like a mad woman and he's crying with me and telling me he loves me and nobody will ever hurt me again. I wish I could tell him that I love him too, I wish I could ask him not to make me promises that he can't keep, but most of all I wish that Elizabeth was his and that we had even a slim chance at a happily ever after.

EPOV

She's crying so hard and it's got to be hurting her throat but I can't stop and neither can she. Mom slips out the door and leaves us alone and I'm grateful. It's so hard not knowing what's upset her, or even if she is upset. She could be crying because she's happy but she could also be crying because she's sick of my over emotional ass already and wants me gone. I have no way to know and don't want to ask any more questions of her, I'd rather just go on believing she is overwhelmed with emotion just like me. I don't want to know if I'm wrong.

I do my best to calm myself down so she'll do the same. I don't want her hurting. When she's calmer and I've wiped away her tears with a tissue and mine with the back of my hand I sit beside her and hold her hand. "Elizabeth is asleep over there. Can you turn your head and see her?" I ask. Bella's eyes widen and I realise she had no idea that her baby was here. "Mom brings her every morning to visit with us. She's so good Bella. So content. She goes right to sleep after her feed and sleeps for hours. Can you see her?" I ask as she turns her head very slowly and carefully towards the window.

"Ooo bbb-aaaddd." She says and I can't quite make out what she wants to say. I understand 'you' and ask her to squeeze if that's right. She does.

"Okay, the first part is you, the second sounded like bad, squeeze if that's right." No squeeze. "Okay, not bad. So, bad, bod, bid, bud bed. Bed, is it bed?" I guess by going through the vowels and she squeezes. I smile at her when she turns her gaze back to me. "Yeah, that's my bed." I tell her. I feel embarrassed, nervous even. She never asked me to stay with her, I just took it upon myself to do it. "We've got a lot to talk about, you and me." I tell her and she squeezes my hand again. "I need to tell you some things and then I have an idea." I tell her. "I'll be right back."

I run out to the lounge and ask my mom if she'll run home and collect my laptop and its bag from my bedroom. Of course she says she will. I tell her thank you then run back to Bella's room.

"How about I sit you up a little? It can't be too exciting staring at the ceiling all the time." I tell her and push the button to raise the head of the bed. She's breathing a little heavier as I move her upright but she's getting really good at staving off the nausea as she's moved. By the time I'm sitting beside her again she's sounding and looking good.

"I don't know where to start. I've got so much to tell you and so many questions I want to ask you. I guess I'll tell you the most important things first. Jake has turned up here twice, but I don't want you to worry, he won't be coming back any time soon." I tell her and put my other hand on top of hers because she's obviously anxious, she's squeezing my hand like mad and gurgling in the back of her throat. "Shit, I don't mean to upset you but I have to tell you these things. I don't want to lie to you Bella, I'll always tell you the truth, even if it hurts you I'll be honest, alright?" I ask and she squeezes again. "Good. So, he turned up here on day two I think it was and yes he came into your room but he was just looking at you. I got him out before he could do or say anything, I promise. After that dad took me to Port Angeles to meet with his lawyer and since then Jake's been back, but he didn't get any further than reception before he left again. He's not allowed anywhere near you again Bella, ever if that's what you want, but for now you've been granted a restraining order which means he can't come within two hundred feet of you or Elizabeth." I smile and hope its good news for her.

Bella makes a little coughing sound and I get ready to get her pillow and press it to her chest if it goes any further, but it doesn't. She's trying to speak but it's only going to hurt her throat and mouth so I ask her not to try.

"Moms gone to get my laptop baby. I've got a tablet and a digital pen, you can write down things then, but for now just listen, alright?" I ask and she squeezes. "Now I know you didn't ask me to do any of this, and I'm sorry if I've gone about it all wrong, but I promise I thought it was what was best for both you and Elizabeth at the time." I scrub at the back of my neck with my free hand and get ready to tell her the rest. "Dads lawyer also applied for an order to keep your dad away from you." I wince while she digests that and when there is almost no reaction other than her breath being forced out over her teeth I go on. "That's only a temporary one, you're going to have to meet with the judge about that one because your dad is a cop, I think, they've only got our word to go on that he's hurt you before. But for now he can't come near you or Elizabeth either. I hope that was the right thing to do Bella, I had no way of knowing and dad said he was sure your father had hurt you before...oh god Bella it's so hard to know what to do for you baby." I put my head onto the back of her hand and gather myself a little. She's squeezing my hand rhythmically either because she's pissed or she wants me to keep going so I take a chance and tell her the rest. If she wants me gone I'll know soon enough, when mom arrives with my laptop. "Now I don't want to panic you and I know this is going to hurt, but the court has granted mom temporary custody of Elizabeth." I feel her flinch and I keep going as fast as I can to soften the blow. "It's only temporary, nobody is taking her off you, I swear it Bella, I would never let that happen. But we had to find a way to stop Jake or your dad taking her away from you, this seemed the best idea." I tell her and she relaxes.

There is a tear rolling down her cheek and her eyes are sad and worried. I understand that, I totally get it, it kills me to think of Elizabeth with someone else so I can only imagine how hard it is for her to hear that she no longer has custody of her own child.

I wipe away her tear with the pad of my thumb. "I'm so sorry baby, but it was all we could think of to keep her with us, not them." I spit the 'them' out caustically. "I won't let them near her, bastards." I mutter to myself. "So I have to go home with her soon to meet with the courts social worker. They're coming to make sure we're taking good care of her at the house, and I promise that we are. Alice has bought everything you can think of and decorated a room for her right next to mine, not that I've slept there at all." I chuckle. "But she's all set up and she's got clothes and toys and they all spoil her rotten, I promise. I know you didn't ask us to do any of this and I'm so scared that you hate us for taking over your life like this, but we only want the best for you both." I tell her. She's squeezing my hand like mad again and I wish, for the millionth time, that I could know what she's thinking. I'm about to ask the most personal, important question of my life and I know I'm shaking worse than she is. "Bella, baby, I have to ask but I want you to know that I don't care about the answer, I really don't, I just need you to be honest so I can keep helping you both, squeeze so I know you understand that." She does and I sigh. "Bella, Elizabeth isn't Jakes, is she?" I ask.

Her eyes widen and she's staring at me in panic the second the question leaves my lips. Her heart rate monitor starts the alarm and then I'm begging her to just squeeze and tell me she's not. She's squeezing and crying and I'm begging her to calm down, telling her that I don't care, that I only needed to know so I can help her. She eventually calms back down and drifts off to sleep again.

I feel a bastard for having to ask but I don't want to order a paternity test without knowing for myself what the answer is going to be. I was honest, I don't care who Elizabeth's father is, I just don't want it to be fucking Jake Black. I don't want him to have any claim over the perfect little thing that's starting to wake up in my bed.

I've got Elizabeth into a clean diaper and sucking on my finger again when mom comes back with Alice in tow. No Rosie or Angus though, mom tells me slight change of plans and I thank Alice for sitting with Bella and mention that she probably won't wake up before I get back, but if she does to call me and I'll come straight back. Mom hands me my laptop bag. I stash it in the bottom of Bella's closet and kiss her goodbye. I hope we won't be gone long, and I did tell her I needed to go home for a bit to meet with the social worker, but I leave the same message with the nurses station for when she wakes up again.

We make a slight detour on our way out to the parking lot and look in on Joshua in the children's ward. Rachel is there, sitting beside his bed while he plays with a heap of new toys. She greets us fondly and tells us that Joshua is doing well and should be able to go home the following day. He says hi to us and shows us his robot, still clutched in his hand.

I'm still thinking about what sort of life he's going to have now when we get to our house. Dad's car is in the driveway so I know to be quiet when we go in. He doesn't get a lot of sleep, so when he gets the chance he takes it. Coming back to check on Bella of a morning is cutting into his already limited time off. I should make sure I thank him more often.

I take Elizabeth up to our rooms and sit with her at my desk while I read my mail out loud. More propaganda about an upcoming local election. Some junk mail and a letter from the hospital thanking me for my more than generous contribution to the children's ward. That's nice. There's a card from the wife of a patient of mine thanking me for the flowers I sent for her husband's recent funeral. He wasn't my patient, but I knew him through her. I tell Elizabeth who she is and why I know her and then I tell her a little bit more about the people I know at the clinic.

I wander through my rooms with her on my arm. She stares up at me the whole time with big wide brown eyes just like her mothers. "You'll like my boss, Kate. She's great. She's got a little girl too but she's bigger than you, she's at school now. You'll like her dad too, Milo, he's a doctor too just like my dad is. It was his clinic but he's retired now. But every now and then he comes in to check up on us. I think he's bored and a bit lonely. He's going to love you. I should take you down there later, introduce you around." I tell her as I put my dirty clothes into the hamper and shove clean ones into my backpack ready for tonight.

"I guess you aren't tired so how about I introduce you to someone else that I love." I tell her and take her to my piano bench. "I've never played with a girl in my lap before, so if I hit a few wrong notes you'll have to forgive me, right?" I chuckle. I sit her up in my lap so she's facing the keys. I have to have her slumping a little so she doesn't fall forward, but I get her settled and we're fairly comfortable and then I lift the lid. "Elizabeth this is my piano, piano this is Elizabeth, she's Bella's little girl, you remember Bella." I tell the piano.

Anyone listening, or watching, would think I was a fucking nutjob, but I love this thing almost as much as I love Bella. I've written more teenage mooching music on this thing than anyone alive and it knows all my secrets. I have nothing to hide from Elizabeth either, I love her mom, she may as well know that right from the off.

I start with Nocturne and move on to Brahms Intermezzo. I play it slowly and quietly and Elizabeth seems content even though I'm missing some notes and hitting others wrongly while trying to keep her balanced in my lap.

"This one is one of my all time faves little one." I tell her as I begin the first notes from Mendelssohn's Song Without Words. I've written a few pieces of my own over the years so I pull out a few scraps of sheet music off the top of the piano's lid and shuffle them until I find a particularly soft piece I once wrote in the middle of the night.

I'm still playing when there is a soft cough behind me. I stop immediately, I hate being busted when playing, especially when I'm playing something of my own. With one hand around Elizabeth's belly I turn to see what mom wants.

It is my mom but she's got another woman with her. Shit. This must be the social worker. I look at my watch and grimace. Yep. Social worker time and here's me with a tiny baby propped up in my lap while I pluck out classical music. Fuck, great start I think as I get to my feet and put Elizabeth into the crook of my arm.

I walk towards the two women with my hand outstretched to the social worker. "Hello, I'm Edward Cullen and this is Elizabeth Smith." I try my best to keep the tone of my voice even as I say the generic last name out loud.

"Hello Edward, Elizabeth. I'm Julie and I'm here to assess the living arrangements for Miss Elizabeth." She says with a smile on her face.

"Come on in, have a seat." I nod towards the sofas in my living room and mom strides right to one and sits down.

"You're playing was lovely today dear." She tells me softly.

"Thanks." I tell her as I sit beside her on the sofa.

I expect Julie to sit opposite us and begin the inquisition but she doesn't. Instead she takes a clipboard from her satchel and a pen from the inside pocket of her jacket. "Her room is through there?" She asks while looking at my mom and I figure mom's already told her about the recent renovations in my rooms.

"Yes, through there and then into the next room." Mom says carefully.

Julie goes through the connecting door and into my bedroom. I settle Elizabeth more comfortably in my lap and look to my mom. She's nervous. Her leg is jumping up and down on my rug and her hands are clasped tightly in her lap.

"Hey," I whisper to get her attention, "We've got nothing to hide, remember?" I remind her and she smiles. "We're so much better for her than Jake or Charlie, she'll see that." I tell her and she smiles again.

She pats my thigh and smooths Elizabeth's hair. "You're right." She whispers back. "Did you enjoy Edward's playing Elizabeth? He plays beautifully doesn't he? He wrote that last one for your mother, did he tell you that?" She asks conspiratorially and I cringe.

"God mom." I whine.

"Well, its true isn't it? You used to play it all the time, especially when Bella had been here with Alice after school." She whispered.

"Yeah, but you don't have to tell her that, do you?" I chuckle.

"Oh Elizabeth, men are so silly. They think we don't see right through them, but we do, don't we sweetheart?" Mom laughs and runs her finger lovingly over Elizabeth's cheek.

Elizabeth gurgles and smiles!

"Oh my god, she smiled at you, did you see that? She smiled at you. Do it again, rub her cheek, talk to her." I urge mom.

"Did you smile at me little one? Did you like that when I rubbed your cheek, did you, did you?" My mom coos. Elizabeth smiles again and makes a little gurgling sound. "That's right, silly boys think we don't know them, isn't that right Elizabeth? Yes it is. They think they are so big and strong when really they are little boys in men's bodies." She laughs.

"Alright, knock it off, you don't want her growing up thinking I'm an idiot." I laugh. "That smile is gorgeous though, just like your mommy's." I tell Elizabeth. "She'll smile again soon, I promise, we'll make her smile again soon." I'm telling Elizabeth when Julie comes back from the direction of our bedrooms.

She sits in on the sofa opposite and writes on her clipboard for a few minutes. Moms leg is jumping again and I start to think I fucking hate clipboards. No good ever comes from one, the people who hold them are often the people who can fuck with your life the most. Teachers, head masters, sports coaches, doctors, tax agents and fucking social workers.

"Well, I think I've seen enough." Julie announces. She looks right at me and says, "You'll need to tie up the cords from the blind in her bedroom when she starts crawling and walking but apart from that her room is sound and safe. You'll need to secure a few of your personal items in your bedroom Mr Cullen, things like low bookshelves with small objects on them, but that will come later when she's older. I've made notes on the medications kept in your bathroom Mr Cullen and I expect you to maintain that clean living approach while you care for Miss Elizabeth. Mrs Cullen you'll need to take a drug screen test and I'll need your signature on some forms but other than that I am going to go ahead and approve your custody application as granted by the court. Congratulations Miss Elizabeth, you've certainly landed on your little feet." Julie stands and offers mom her hand, then me.

"Thank you so much." Mom tells her.

"Yeah, thanks so much." I echo.

"Oh, and Mr Cullen, you do play beautifully. She'd do well to have someone like you teach her one day." She nods to Elizabeth and smiles warmly. "I'll see myself out." She says and goes back out of the room.

Mom turns to me with the biggest smile I've seen on her face in a long time. "She's ours." She whispers. "She's really allowed to stay here, oh Edward thank god." She's giggling then and hugging us both and giggling and laughing and then giggling some more.

"Alright mom, sheesh." I tease. "I would've given you grandkids eventually, god."

"Huh, not while Bella was married to that piece of shit you wouldn't have, now maybe..." She raises and lowers her eyebrows at me and I cringe.

"Oh god woman." I glare at her. "Knock it off, you're worse than dad."

She reaches for Elizabeth and tells me to bugger off back to the hospital with dad before Emmett and Rosie turn up to visit. I kiss her cheek, then Elizabeth's, then do exactly as she tells me.

My car ride with dad was more talkative than usual because I had to fill him in on the legal situation and how our visit with Julie went. He seemed pleased that Elizabeth was going to be allowed to stay with us and pissed off that Charlie Swan never contested the custody hearing.

"You'd think he'd want a say in how his own granddaughter was raised." He hissed as we turned into the parking lot.

"I thought so too, but I can't say I'm not pleased he hasn't made a fuss." I tell him.

"I agree. Will you order a paternity test now?" He asks me as we sit in the now quiet and still car.

"Yeah, I think I will. Gary said it was smart to get the ball rolling and Bella confirmed for me today that Elizabeth isn't Jakes, so I guess I should get the test done in case I need to prove it in a hurry." I tell him.

"Smart thinking. I'll rush it through if you get the swabs from them both." He offers and I thank him. "Let's get her obs out the way so she can visit with Emmett and the family for a bit." He says as we go in through the reception area.

Bella is sitting up and sipping water from a cup held by my sister when I get there.

"Here he is." Alice says when I come into the room. "Hey Edward."

"Hey Alice. Hello beautiful." I tell Bella and kiss her on the cheek softly.

"We thought we would try sitting up for a bit." Alice says sheepishly, as though she's about to get into trouble for helping Bella to sit up and drink on her own.

"Good thinking. And sipping water eh? I can see I'll have to lift my game or I'll be superseded." I tease Alice. I squeeze Bella's hand and sit beside her. "Squeeze if you're alright baby." I whisper and she squeezes hard.

"Aah-ll-isss." Bella says slowly and I can help but grin.

"That's brilliant baby, that's Alice, that's so clear now." I tell her encouragingly. "Your stitches are looking fantastic Bella. They are loosening up now, they'll be ready to come out tomorrow I think." I tell her and run my thumb ever so lightly around the edge of the wound at the corner of her mouth.

She doesn't pull away from me like she does the others and I sigh in happiness. She trusts me.

"How did you go with the social worker?" Alice asks.

"It went brilliantly actually. I've never seen our mom so nervous Bella. But it went great. She's given mom the go ahead for temporary custody and she's signed off on the court order. That's all set now. So all you have to concentrate on now is getting better baby." I tell Bella.

"I've been talking to Bella about her hair Edward." Alice says and I cringe. "Don't look at me like that, see I told you he was a typical male, didn't I Bella? The nurses said that Bella can have her hair wet now that the stitches are out of her scalp so tomorrow I'm going to come after work and wash her hair for her, aren't I?" She asks Bella.

"Ye-th." Bella says, pretty clearly too.

"God your voice sounds so good Bella." I tell her with a smile. "You'll be telling Alice to piss off like the rest of us in no time at all." I laugh.

Alice throws Bella's empty cup at me and I only just catch it before it hits me in the head.

Dad comes in then and Alice gets in trouble for throwing stuff around, I poke my tongue out at her and she dobs on me to dad. He rolls his eyes and tells us both to grow up.

"Ha! You're older than me and he told you to grow up." Alice pokes her tongue out this time and I point to her.

"Did you see that Bella? She poked her tongue at me. How rude! And I sent her flowers today too, how rude is she?" I laugh.

Alice gasps. "They were from you?" She shouts, making both Bella and dad cringe. "Oops, sorry. There was no card you idiot, Jasper just about went out of his head trying to work out who sent them." She giggled. "Don't tell him, I'll milk the secret admirer angle for a bit." She winks at me and then at Bella.

"Ja-ss-Pa." Bella sighs.

"That's sounding better all the time Bella." Dad tells her.

"Jasper is Alice' husband. I don't think you know him, he didn't go to school with us. You'll meet him soon." I tell her.

"Aa-gguss." She says and I have to think about that one for a second before it makes sense.

"Oh, Angus. Of course. You don't know who Angus is." Alice says at the same time that I work out what Bella means.

"That's our brother Emmett's little boy. Do you remember Emmett?" I ask and Bella nods a little. "Hey, you nodded. Wow. Anyway, Emmett married Rosalie Hale, do you remember her? I bet you would. She was the tall blonde bitch who looked down her nose at everyone." I laugh and dad clucks his tongue disapprovingly. I turn to him, "You weren't there." I tell him. "Well he married the succubus what, four years ago now, and they have a little boy, Angus, he's two. I can only hope they don't breed again." I chuckle and dad scowls at me.

"Charming Edward." He mutters and puts Bella's chart back in the holder at the foot of her bed. "I'm going to do my rounds now, call me if you need me. Good night Bella." He says and then he's gone.

My dinner tray arrives and Alice tells me to go into the lounge and eat while she gossips with Bella some more. I'm not convinced it's a good idea but when I ask Bella if that's what she wants she squeezes my hand so I have to leave her in the clutches of the evil sister.

"Okay, I'll be in the lounge but if I hear any giggling I'm coming right back. Bella baby, don't listen to this harridan, she's evil and lies through her teeth." I kiss Bella's cheek and take my tray out the door.

I hear the laughter before the door even closes. God only knows what Alice is going to fill her head with. I just have to hope that she takes pity on me and doesn't tell her how many times she's seen me cry this week.

A/N: Thank you so much for reading. The response so far has been both surprising and extremely humbling for me. Please review.