A/N: I just sent the next chapter off to pre-reader, so here is this chapter. Be ready for some dark days within Bella's mind.

Chapter 10

While Bella was off with Esme and Rose, shopping for the nursery, Garrett finally called back. He'd re-read the will and saw what I saw, so he asked how I wanted to proceed. I told him that I wanted to seek guardianship of Bella first and try to get her to fall in love with me before we ever married. He said he would start the paper work and submit it to the courthouse as soon as possible. Being the CEO and having my two best friends working for me made it so much easier to work from home. I hung up with a smile on my face.

I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding. I felt the weight slowly being lifted from my shoulders. Maybe everything could work out. Smiling I went and cooked dinner for us, while I waited for Bella to return. Esme called and gave me heads up that the moving crew along with the painting crew would be in the following day, and she would like me to keep Bella away from the paint fumes. I had no problem with her sleeping in the guest room for a few more nights.

The smile on Bella's face, when she walked into the kitchen told me she enjoyed her day. This lightened my heart. She was so beautiful and radiant; I vowed to keep that look on her face.

As I pulled the casserole out of the oven, I asked her how her day went.

"I really enjoyed my time out, thank you for making my dreams come true. Would you like to see the picture of the baby? I don't know what I'm going to name her, I have a few in names I've always liked; however, I'll have to see her to know which name is right for her," she said so fast that I had to strain to understand what she was saying.

"Yes, I would like to see a picture of our baby."

She stood there staring at me; I couldn't figure out why until she stammered out, "You called her our baby. Why?"

Shit I can't believe I said that, but I really liked the sound of calling the baby ours.

"As I told you this morning, I've gotten attached to you, and I would like you to think of this home as much as yours as it is mine. So with that line of thinking it's only feels right to think of the baby as mine. I would like you to consider giving her my name, so you don't have to worry about putting the fathers name down to remind you of what took place," I explained hoping this would help her understand just how much I care.

"You want to give the baby your name?" She questioned me again with an amazed tone of voice.

"Yes, if you let me. Now please sit down and let's eat dinner, you've had a very busy day." I smiled then grabbed the casserole from the counter and placed it on the table.

Bella showed me the sonogram pictures before we ate. We talked all through dinner. After looking at the picture of the baby, we ended up just talking while we ate, and she agreed to give the baby my name. Seeing the picture of the baby made my heart jump, just like my Angel, I already loved it, and it wasn't even here. After cleaning the kitchen up from dinner, we went into the library, where I lit the fire as she settled down in the chair to read.

Oh, how I loved seeing her so relaxed and at peace. I picked up a book to read, settled down on the couch; from time to time, I could glance at her.

The New Year came and went, Bella and I settled into a routine where she cooked breakfast, and I would cook dinner, limiting her workload. She was now settled in the upstairs bedroom. Instead of spend much of her time in the library, I would find her sitting in the rocker, looking out over the garden. I knew once spring hit it would be a wonderful view.

At her appointment on the third, she had gained four pounds, and you could already start to see her belly rounding out. Many times, I've wanted to touch it, wanting to know if she could now feel the baby moving.

I loved our long talks; she finally started to open up to me about her childhood.

It made me sick and angry to think a man could do what her uncle/cousin or whoever he was to her would do that to her. What I didn't get was that she held no hard feelings towards him, because she swears, he was always gentle, where her stepdad wasn't.

She had yet to talk to me much about the abuse from her stepdad or the rape, but I was more than willing to wait until she was ready to talk about them. She would talk to Shay twice a week and Shay ensures me that she has a much better handle on her emotions than most young girls who have gone through what she has. Shay had informed me that many girls that had early sexual abuse ended up with mental disorders, and struggled dealing with life in general, as teens and young adults. Shay thinks it's the day dreams that have helped keep Bella attached to the here and now, stating many get lost in the dreams and start to believe in them.

Bella seems to understand the difference between the real world and her daydreams. She also thinks this shows that, Bella is very intelligent, and should go far in life as long as she has a stable environment to belong to.

Shay was going to testify at the hearing the following week. I wasn't worried about it; I knew once everything was presented to the court, they would give me guardianship of her.

We walked into the courthouse; I got my first look at the scumbag that is her stepfather. Garrett had told me just a few days before that her parents were going to contest my petition, stating they didn't throw her out that she ran away from home.

I was glad to have Emmett and Edward with me because they had to hold me back from beating the shit out of him. Bella touched my arm and said, "He's not worth it," she was right; he wasn't worth me going to jail over. Alice and Shay both testified as experts in their fields. The judge pulled Bella into his chambers to talk with her one-on-one. Then it was a game of wait and see. I can't believe we had to sit in the courtroom while the judge took close to four hours to make his decision.

I paced back and forth until we were told to take our seats to hear the ruling. I walked out of the courtroom, feeling everything was in my reach. The outcome had pleased me beyond words.

We all went out for a celebration dinner, with Carlisle and Esme joining us. Bella was legally mine. Well not really mine, but we are well on are way to where I want to be, because as each day passes we become closer, and she s is slowly opening up to me.