A/N: Thank you again to everybody who is reading and supporting this story. As promised, here's the next chapter, a lot sooner. :) Enjoy.

~ Chapter 10 ~

~~ Isabella ~~

Alison

Alison put the window in the car down, needing the fresh cold air to help calm her nerves. She glanced over at Noel in the driver's seat, and he gave her an encouraging smile before focusing back on the road. They traveled along the highway, leaving Rosewood way behind them. The exit they were heading for was coming up, leading into Philadelphia. Ali didn't know if she was ready to do this or not, and the closer they got to their destination, the more nervous she became. After a couple seconds, she put the window back up.

"I know what you are thinking," Noel said, breaking the silence. He glanced at her again, then back to road.

Alison looked over at him, startled slightly from the break in the quietness. Then, she settled back in her seat, keeping it cool. "Oh, yeah," she replied back. "What am I thinking then?" She settled her gaze on him with a smirk.

Noel chuckled a bit over her bravado. "I know you're nervous about meeting your daughter for the first time," he guessed, knowing that he was right though.

Ali looked down at her lap, fingering her teal sweater dress. She breathed in a deep breath, and let it out slowly. "You're right,...I am," she admitted. She didn't look back up.

Noel reached over and took her hand in his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Alison returned the squeeze a second later, raising her gaze to his. "You're going to do fine," he assured her, softly.

"What if...I'm not what she's expecting?" Ali asked, hesitantly, wetting her lips. "Or she wants nothing to do with me?"

"Hey, she wouldn't have agreed to see you if she wasn't at least a little curious about you," Noel said, urging her to believe his sincerity. "Once she knows you, I'm sure she'll want to know more. That's what happened to me."

Alison flipped her hair over her shoulder, looking at him. "You're such a smooth talker," she teased him, but she couldn't hide her genuine smile.

Noel laughed, knowing what he was and not ashamed of it. He let go of her hand, to have both hands on the steering wheel again. Noel glanced at her quickly. "It's true, by the way," he told her.

Alison gazed at him, really looked, as he drove the car. Everything he has ever done for her, and he has never once used it against her or asked her for anything. This was something special right in front of her, and she hadn't had something like that in a long time. And she'll try her hardest not screw this up. She was going to do everything right this time.

"Thank you," she whispered to him, but he still heard her. He flicked her eyes over to her, curiously. "Thank you for coming with me today,...for everything," Ali explained further.

"Your welcome," Noel replied, softly, with a smile. No sarcastic remarks, teasing, or innuendos. Just pure, simple sincerity. The rest of the car ride was quiet and pleasant, completely comfortable.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They arrived in a small residential area in Philly, following the address that the social worker had given them. All too soon, Noel pulled the car up in front of a nice-looking two-story brick house. The small square front yard was enclosed in a chain link fence. The yard was still snow covered and dotted with footprints and poorly made snowman sat in the corner, melting. The house wasn't overly decorated, but it was well-kept. Curtains hung in the windows, as far as Ali could see, with the upstairs curtains drawn closed.

"Ready?" Noel asked her, turning the engine off as they parked on the side of the road. He took the keys out of the ignition, slipping them into his coat pocket. Noel looked over at a quiet, studious Ali.

Alison was gazing up at 402 Cherry Drive, the house where Isabella Smith resided with her foster family. "Uhhh,...yeah," Ali answered, in reply to his question. She took a deep breath. "It's now or never..." She started to open the car door.

"Do you want me to come in with you?" Noel offered, questioningly.

Alison looked back at him, thinking that was a silly question to ask. Then again, he was being respectful of her boundaries, instead of inserting himself where he might not be wanted. "Please?" she responded, then she leaned over and brushed her lips over his, needing to give herself a boost of confidence. He kissed her back slowly, savoring the feel and taste of her lips.

Reluctantly, Noel pulled back first, their foreheads touching. "I think we should go in," he muttered, though he would like very much to just stay right here. Ali nodded, biting her lip.

They climbed out of the car, their shoes crunching on the frozen snow. Ali and Noel walked across the sidewalk, approaching the gate. Noel lifted the latch on the gate, holding it open for Alison, and closed it behind them after he walked through. The pair walked up the shoveled walkway toward the front porch. Stepping up the worn cracked steps to the porch, Alison looked around. There was an old porch swing with faded cushions, a rocking chair, and a faded pink and blue tricycle parked at the end of the porch. Ali couldn't help but imagine her daughter riding around on it, smiling and laughing as the wind blew through her hair.

Ali shook her head, bringing herself back to reality as they stepped up to the door. Noel glanced at her once, giving her an encouraging nod, then reached out and rang the doorbell.

Almost automatically, two small dogs started yapping from inside the house and the sound of running as they ran to the front door. Ali and Noel waited as they heard another set of footsteps coming to the door.

"Shut up!" a woman yelled at the dogs. Ali and Noel were startled a little bit by the woman's sharp tone. However, the dogs listened and stopped barking, except for one who let out one last yap. The oak door swung open, leaving the screen door closed between them. The woman standing before them was in her mid to late forties, her brown hair fading and spotting with gray. She had her hair tied at the back of her head, and she wore a pair of denim cutoffs, a long sleeve t-shirt, and a man's red plaid shirt. Also, a cigarette hung from her lips.

Suddenly, Alison felt overdressed in her simple dress and boots. She glanced quickly up at Noel and thought that he felt it too, in his dark wash jeans and green button down shirt. They turned back to the woman.

"Who-Shut up! Get back." the woman started to say, plucking the cigarette out of her mouth, then shouted at the black and white Boston terrier who let out another bark at Ali and Noel. She used her bare foot to push it and the little white Yorkshire terrier back. "Sorry about that, they are all bark, no bite. Who are you and how can I help you?"

Alison smiled pleasantly at the dogs, then the woman. "Hi, are you Jane Wood? I'm Alison Dilaurentis, I'm here to-" Ali started to introduce herself.

"Oh, right, you're the mother of one of my kids," Jane remembered, interrupting Alison. "The social worker said you were coming by today. Come in, come in." Keeping the dogs back, Jane opened the screen door to let them in.

Alison and Noel smiled warmly at Jane, as they walked inside. The air inside the house was warm and toasty. Jane took their coats and hung them on the coat hook hanging on the wall by the door. Ali and Noel stepped down into the family room, their feet sinking into the brown carpet, as the dogs swarmed around their feet frantically sniffing.

"Sorry about the mess," Jane apologized, moving around them. She started picking up clothes and other items that were lying around on the couch and coffee table. She tapped the ashes from her cigarette in an empty beer can sitting in a cup holder on the armchair, before putting it back in her mouth. "Thomas was supposed to clean up, but it's hard to get teenagers to do anything." Jane laughed it off.

"Oh, that's okay," Alison smiled, gazing around at the small, intimate space. There were furnishings and knickknacks placed around the room, making it more homey. A one year old baby boy sat in a playpen pushed up against the front window, sucking on a pacifier. He had some toys in front of him that he was playing with, but he watched the newcomers with his wise green eyes. "This is my boyfriend, Noel Kahn," Ali added, "So, uh, is your husband here, too?"

"Nice to meet you. No, Frank doesn't do all this legal stuff. He makes the money to put food on the table and just hopes he never has to pick any of the kids up from the police station," Jane replied, her arms full of clothes. "Please, have a seat. I'll go get Isabella. Clover, Tags, go lie down." Then, she turned and stepped up, walking into the dining room. She dumped the clothes on the table and disappeared into another room that Ali was assuming was the kitchen. Jane came back out from another doorway, and went down the hallway right there.

Alison looked at Noel, and then sat down on the cream-colored leather couch. Noel sat down after her, keeping a careful eye on the fat orange cat perched on top of the couch. It stared at them for a second, yawned and stretched, then leaped off the couch and left the room.

"Jane seems friendly enough," Noel remarked, just to fill the silence and to make Alison feel a little bit better about Isabella's upbringing thus far. He placed his hands on his lap, tapping a few times before stopping.

"Yeah,..." Ali agreed, absentmindedly. She was far too busy gazing around the room, imagining her daughter living and growing in this house. Sprinting down the staircase, sprawled on the floor watching cartoons. It was all so real and she was close to meeting her little girl.

Down the hall, they heard Jane open a door and it sounded like she called down into a basement. "Bella, your bio mom is here!" Jane called down. Then, a second later, "Is Brittany down there?" A faint sound of footsteps could be heard coming up the basement steps. Alison's heart started beating faster; her daughter was close.

Thump. Thump-thump. Thump.

They couldn't hear Isabella's reply, but they did hear Jane again. "Brit, I need you up here," the woman called back down. Then, it sounded like Jane turned back to Isabella. "Chloe, no, you need to go back downstairs. This is Bella's time."

Isabella answered back for this Chloe, her voice sweet and tinkling. However, Ali and Noel couldn't make out her words.

Thump-thump. Thump. Thump-thump.

"Alright, but stay out of the way," Jane relented, tiredly. "Oh, Brittany, I need you take some stuff upstairs. Tommy didn't do it; I don't know what's gotten into him. It's all on the dining room table."

A minute later, a curly-headed brown haired girl about fourteen years old came out from the hallway. She wore a navy blue sweatsuit, with a green t-shirt and fuzzy white slippers on her feet. Brittany smiled at Alison and Noel in welcome, then disappeared through the kitchen to the dining room.

"You ready, Bell-bell?" Jane asked. Isabella must have nodded her head, because then the two of them started walking down the hall toward the family room.

Thump. Thump-thump. Thump.

This was it. Alison's breath caught in her throat, and she ran her hands across her thighs, drying them. Noel saw her and took her hand. He gave it a squeeze and leaned in her ear. "Deep breaths," Noel whispered, "You can do this."

Then, they were here. Jane led Isabella into the room, her hands on the seven year old's shoulders. A four year old little girl, her light red hair hanging in pigtails, trailed behind them with her thumb in her mouth and her green eyes peering into the family room, bashfully but curiously. Her plaid jumper swishing as she walked, her bare feet making no sounds on the carpet.

Most of Alison's attention went to her daughter, as she immediately stood up. Isabella stood there quietly and observantly. She, herself, seemed nervous too. First, she clasped her hands behind her back, and then clasped them in front of her. Her straight blonde hair hung down behind her, a pink butterfly hair clip pulling back the right side of her hair. Isabella wore a dark pink fuzzy sweater, black leggings, and dark pink ballet flats.

"Bella, this is your biological mother, Alison Dilaurentis," Jane introduced them.

Isabella raised her hand up a little and gave Ali a small wave. "Hello," she greeted, with a shy smile.

That voice, it was so sweet and soft, like magic, but at the same time, strong and brave. Ali couldn't help the tears that came to her eyes. This was finally happening. "Hi," Alison murmured, happily. "I want to give you a hug, but I don't want to make you feel weird."

Isabella continued to smile, glancing down at the floor.

"Ok, so, do you want-" Jane started to suggest, but she was interrupted by two things happening simultaneously.

First, the front door opened and a sixteen year old boy with long, floppy black hair and a leather jacket trudged inside, heading straight up the stairs. He barely acknowledged the guests, except when he glimpsed Ali and Noel he gave Isabella a nod and a wink. Isabella grinned back at him, giggling.

"Thomas, wait!" Jane called him, but she didn't expect him to stop, which he didn't.

"Jane, Jayden is biting again," a pretty eleven year old girl with black hair and tan skin, her voice accented a little with Spanish complained. She pulled a dark-skinned two year old little boy behind her. He was being resistant that the girl was almost dragging him across the floor.

Jane sighed, "Alright, Carmen, take him upstairs. I'll be up in a minute." Jane put her cigarette out in the empty beer can. "Ok, you three can sit and get acquainted. Chloe, don't be a pest." She gave them a departing nod and small smile, then followed her other two foster children up the stairs.

Chloe wandered over to the baby still in the playpen, and Ali noted that they both looked very similar, she wondered if they were siblings. Isabella walked slowly, closer, to Alison, and sat down on her other side. Alison and Noel sat back down as well.

Things started off slow, as Alison just started by asking Isabella simple questions about herself. Her favorite color is purple and she loves Tags, the little Yorkshire terrier, the best, but she's fascinated by turtles. Out of her foster siblings, she is the closest to Chloe but they all look out for each other. She's in second grade and doing really well on her schoolwork. Isabella asked Ali easy, simple questions and she answered them appropriately. Soon, the ice was broken and they were pretty comfortable with each other, almost immediately feeling that mother daughter connection.

Five minutes passed, and Jane came back into the room undisruptively, sitting down in the armchair. Five more minutes passed of more talking between Alison and Isabella, with Noel jumping in, too. The conversation was starting to wind down soon after that. Chloe had been sitting on the floor, playing with a toy from the playpen, but now she was watching Alison.

"Are you going to take Bella away?" the little girl asked, her fingers playing nervously on the toy piano. Jane gave Chloe a small reprimanding look, but leaned forward, chin in hand, interested in knowing the answer to that particular question.

"Uh, umm, ah" Alison stammered, thrown completely off guard. She chewed her lip hesitantly, looking up at Noel for help.

Noel looked at her, patting her knee in support. "Well, the first step was just to meet Isabella," he started to explain. "We certainly don't want to disrupt anyone's lives," Noel glanced at Ali and gave him a grateful smile to keep going. Isabella slipped down onto the floor, pressing a button on the toy piano to distract Chloe. "But, if you would like, your mother would like nothing more than you living with her." He said the last part directly to Isabella.

Jane was nodding in understanding. Isabella stared at, first Noel, then Ali, biting her lip in indecision. Ali leaned forward on her knees to speak to her daughter.

"But I will completely understand if you don't want to leave here," Alison added. "This is a nice home, with nice people. But I would like a relationship with you either way."

Isabella was quiet, looking down at the floor.

"You can think about it for a little bit, you don't have to make a decision right now," Alison told her, not wanting to put her on the spot. "When you make a choice, whatever it is, Jane can call me and let me know."

Isabella nodded, slowly at first then more surely. "Okay," she agreed.

It was getting late, Jane had to start getting dinner ready, so they decided to end things there. Ali and Noel politely declined her dinner invitation. Jane called Thomas down to set the table and Brittany lifted a crying William out of the playpen. Isabella stood up, surprising Ali, and hugged her around the waist.

"It was nice to meet you," Isabella said.

Alison put arms around her daughter, and hugged her back, coming down to Isabella's height. Finally, after seven years, her daughter was back in her arms. She never wanted to let her go again. "It was so nice to meet you, too," Ali whispered in Isabella's hair. She stroked Isabella's face, memorizing it.

They reluctantly pulled apart, and Jane walked her and Noel to the door. When they reached the door and were pulling their coats on, Ali turned to Jane. "You don't have any problem with me taking Isabella back if she chooses, do you?" she asked the older woman, carefully.

Jane was silent for a minute, contemplating. It worried Alison more than she already was. Ali tried to hide her sigh of relief when Jane finally spoke. "Of course I don't," she finally answered. "Frank and I don't adopt the kids that come to us, to much legalities and paperwork. No, what we provide is a safe place for these kids where they can be normal and spend their childhood without worrying about adult things. You seem really put together, more so than any other biological parent I've seen, and sweet Bella would be lucky to be with you full time."

Ali smiled at the compliment she just received. They said their goodbyes, and left the house, Ali catching Isabella watching her and waving. She waved back until the door closed between them. Alison and Noel walked down the porch steps, through the snow to the car. Ali felt more happier and lighter than she had when they had first come, but she still wasn't entirely sure what her future held for her.

A/N: Well, what did you all think? I hope you all liked it. Mmm, will Isabella choose to stay with her foster family or choose to live with Ali? Please review and you'll find out ;)