CHAPTER 10

Bella

January 13, 2013

Doing evening chores never sucked more than it did during the winter months. Since the first snow we housed all our animals in the two barns close to the house. The holidays had found nearly half my orphan babies new homes but I still had a bunch, but that didn't bother me. It gave me an unbiased 'person' to talk my writing problems out with.

Once the horses, goats, and calves were fed and watered I headed for the front barn that held our offices as well as the kennels for the smaller animals.

Kicking rocks on the dirt path I wasn't paying attention to the people standing in my driveway. "B! B! B!"

Quickly jerking my head up I saw the twins jumping excitedly as they held onto their fathers hands. I dropped the bucket I was carrying as I ran towards their approaching figures. Elijah was the first to break free of Edwards grasp and come hurtling towards me with a huge grin on his young face. "B!" he screamed as he launched himself into my arms.

I sunk to my knees as I pulled the little boy into my arms. "Hi buddy. I've missed you." I told him as I peppered his face with playful kisses causing him to laugh and squirm.

Elli wasn't one to be left out and quickly joined her brother in my arms. "Hi sweet girl." I told her as I gave her the playful kisses like I did to her brother. "I've missed both of you." I told them as I stood with them still in my arms. They quickly wrapped arms and legs around me as I walked towards Edward who was beaming from ear to ear.

When he reached us Edward wrapped his arms around all three of us causing the kids to giggle and start squirming. "Daddy, no!" Elli giggled out as he shook us side to side playfully.

"My B! No Daddy." Elijah said tightening his hold on me.

Edward plucked him from my arms tossing him high into the air causing him to cackle gleefully. "How about we share, huh?" he asked as he caught Elijah pulling him into a firm grip.

Elijah nodded. "Okay, Nana say sharing is nice."

I couldn't help but smile at the father/son duo. It was then that I noticed the bandage on Edwards hand. "Why don't you guys go say hi to the puppies in the barn?" I asked Elijah and Elli as I placed Elli back on her feet.

"Okay!" they called out as they raced the last few yards to the barn where I saw a big burly guy standing with a leggy blonde that could pass for a model. As I watched the kids pull the strangers into the barn I turned my attention to Edward and his bandage wrapped hand.

Crossing my arms over my chest I nodded at his hand. "Care to explain?"

He had the audacity to shake his head at me and put a smirk on his face. "Just defending your honor, baby. It's not even broken." He said making a show of flexing his fingers but his show failed to impress me when he cringed in pain.

"Who was you defending my honor against in Texas? Nobody down there knows me aside from your parents." I asked as I took his hand gingerly in my own.

He sighed as he nodded. "My Dad made some comments I didn't like so I shut him up."

Shaking my head at him I placed gentle kisses on his bandaged knuckles before placing my lips on his. "I've missed you and the kids so damn much."

An hour later found me holding my stomach as I doubled over in laughter at some of the stories Edward's friends were telling me as we sat around the living room. The kids had all went to bed a half hour ago so we were all sipping on some adult hot chocolate as funny stories were told. "NO!" came a blood curdling scream from upstairs.

I was immediately up and out of Edwards lap and sprinting up the stairs before anyone could think to question me. When I wrenched Jane's door open I had to gasp at what I saw. Jane was kicking and slapping at her blankets so her she was sweating and she was whimpering as if in pain. I grabbed the stuffed pig off her dresser that hadn't been needed in months. "Janey, it's okay baby girl." I called out softly as I knelt beside her bed. I had learned rather quickly when she first came into my care that joining her on the bed only made this nightmare worse. "Come back to me and Bacon, sweetheart. It's gonna be alright once you open your eyes."

After a few more minutes of her writhing and whimpering on the bed she woke up with a gasp. She stared at me with a blank expression for several seconds before she launched herself into my arms sobbing against my shoulder. "It's okay, baby girl. I've got you."

I had a feeling that our house guests would trigger her old nightmares that she had when she first moved in here. "Mama?" Jane whispered between sniffles as she finally loosened her grip on me.

Pulling back so I could see her face I wiped her cheeks free of the tear tracks as I smiled gently at her. "I'm here, sweetheart. Always. And you are absolutely 100% safe inside this house."

She nodded before she hung her head slightly. "Did they hear?"

I refused to lie to her so I nodded slightly. "They did but I think Edward is explaining it to them. Is it the new guys staying the night that triggered the dream?"

"Just the one. He looks like Rusty did. At least from behind." She explained softly.

I nodded in understanding. "It's okay, sweetheart. From what I've learned of Emmett, he's just an overgrown child mostly. And he's expecting his first baby in a few months."

She nodded while smiling softly at me. "He seemed really nice and funny earlier. I hate that I am still affected by what happened to me. I just want to be a normal teenage girl." She whispered into her pillow.

A knock on the door caused us both to turn with wide eyes. "I didn't mean to interrupt but once Edward explained what the cry out was about I couldn't stay away. May I come in and share my story with you?" Rosalie asked quietly from the open doorway.

I looked at Jane who nodded slightly before sitting up in her bed, propped against her headboard. "Sure. I'm sorry about disturbing your catch up time."

Rosalie smiled and waved her off as she walked in the room and taking a seat on the foot of the bed. "Nonsense. Children always come first. I am learning that more and more now that I'm pregnant with mine and Em's first child." She said rubbing her still fairly flat stomach.

Jane nodded and smiled at her. "Okay."

"Now, let me tell you a story about a young girl who was rescued by a gentle giant…"

EDWARD

After I gave a brief explanation about Jane's past Rose excused herself to go upstairs to Bella and Jane while Emmett grabbed his jacket and headed for a walk and I made the excuse of checking on the other kids. Walking into Bella's old office turned nursery for my twins I couldn't help but smile at my children sleeping soundly in their cribs. Elli had her diaper clad butt stuck up in the air as she curled her legs underneath her while Elijah was sprawled out on his back with one foot propped on the bars of the crib. I'm not sure how long I sat in between their cribs before I felt warm slender arms slide around my neck and down my chest. "You planning to spent the night on the floor ogling your sleeping children?" Bella asked quietly against my ear.

Sighing I tugged her around into my lap. "No. I just needed a few quiet moments. How's Jane doing?" I asked as I wrapped my arms around her waist.

"She's sleeping soundly. She'll be embarrassed facing everyone in the morning but that's to be expected. I've been through this with each one of my children in some way or another." She explained softly as she kissed me gently on the lips. "How are you? This is the first time you've ever experienced an outburst from them."

"I was scared this would happen and if I'm being honest I feel kind of guilty because they are my friends but I'm glad I'm not the one that caused the reaction."

She nodded in understanding. "It was bound to happen eventually. They each have their own issues and triggers. Trust me when I say that you are in no way at fault here, so there is no need to feel guilty. The only one that should feel guilty is the dirty bastard that traumatized that innocent little girl. She's got her door alarm on just to make her feel a bit safer."

Heaving a huge sigh of relief I patted her on the hip as I kissed her on the cheek. "Let's get to bed, baby. I know how early things get started around here."

With that she drug me to her room and we got ready for bed and crawled between the cool sheets together.

The next morning I was walking towards the chicken coop when I heard my name being called. "Mr. Edward wait up!" Jane called from the direction of the back porch.

I stopped in my tracks as I waited for her to catch up, her blonde hair hid by the wool hat she had pulled on to ward off the cold. When she was near I pulled her into a one armed hug as I kissed her gently on the top of her head. "Good morning Miss Jane. I missed you while I was gone."

She wrapped an arm around my waist giving me a tight squeeze. "Good morning. I missed you too and I'm sorry about last night."

We started walking towards the chicken coop once again. "No need to apologize. I'm just glad you're okay this morning. Are you ready for school today?"

She nodded. "We're working on a Valentine's play and I was picked to paint the backgrounds." She chirped excitedly.

"That's great, sweetheart. I'm sure they will be beautiful."

We continued to chat while we collected the eggs from yesterday and quickly made our way back into the house. We passed the three boys as they headed for the barn to handle the babies.