A/N: I gotta get this all posted.. be ready for a influx of chappies!

EPOV

Chicago was just what we needed. A fun, relaxing place to finally decompress from the intense events in St. Louis. It was also where everything changed. I hadn't meant for things to turn out the way they did after the jazz club. I just wanted to show Bella a good night. But there was one dance where the air became charged and I was all too aware of the woman I was holding in my arms. Suddenly all I could think about was getting her back to the hotel and having my wicked way with her.

I don't remember the car ride back to the hotel, just that one minute we were there and staring at each other. I couldn't tell you who made the first move, we both seemed to gravitate toward each other. Unlike last time, our kisses, while somewhat frantic, were driven by desire for each other, not the need to block out the pain of my father's revelations. We took the time to savor one another. There was no need to rush, and so I took my time worshipping Bella's body.

Thankfully, in the light of a new day, there was no awkwardness between us, but there was a palatable shift in the air. We didn't define it, we were just… us. Nothing changed except there was more touching and kissing, which was fine by me. It was amazing to be able to lean over and kiss her simply because the mood struck me. And yes, the sex at night was hot.

But it was more than just an added dimension to whatever it was that we had going on. Bella continued to prove to me that she knew me and what I needed, at times, far better than I knew myself. It seemed like we'd known each other for years instead of days. Three days after arrived in Chicago, Bella surprised me with something else I didn't know I wanted until I opened the door.

We had just eaten breakfast and Bella was downloading a bunch of pictures she'd taken the day before when a knock sounded at the door. Perplexed, I looked at Bella who barely raised her head from her computer to ask if I would answer it.

Opening the door I couldn't believe my eyes. There stood my Aunt Esme and Uncle Carlisle. I hadn't completely registered that they were really in front of me before Esme engulfed me in her arms.

"Edward!"

Her familiar scent of vanilla and roses broke me from my stupor and I hugged her tight. Unexpected tears filled my eyes fell only to splash onto her shoulder.

"Esme," I breathed. "How? Why" I finally managed after what seemed an hour long hug from both of them.

Esme's only reply was to nod her head to some point behind me. Turning there was Bella, hand clasped and tears falling unhindered from her eyes. She was worrying her lip which belied the anxiety she felt.

"Why?" I asked her.

She dared to shrug as if what she did was no big deal. "I thought that maybe you could use some family around after meeting with Liam." My eyes widened with the realization that she was far more perceptive than I'd ever given her credit for. I'd been missing Auntie Es and there were a few times I'd wished she was with me, if only to help me sort out what I was feeling toward my mother. There was a part of me that struggled with all that Liam had told me.

"Bella, you amaze me." Without thinking I cupped her face and kissed her softly. Gazing into her warm eyes I realized she owned all of me and I wouldn't want it any other way. Of course Uncle C had to ruin the moment by opening his mouth.

"Get a room or at least let us leave this one before you jump her."

Bella and Esme burst out laughing while I threw him a scowl that I hoped shriveled his balls.

Later that night, while Bella and Carlisle were engrossed in a fierce game of chess, Esme and I were sitting out on the little balcony to our room. I recounted the whole conversation I'd had with Liam, venting all my worries and fears as well how angry I was at my mother for kicking him out of my life.

"What I don't understand, Es, is why she'd thought it would be so bad to tell me that I was adopted? I think that's what I struggle with the most. I just don't get her reasoning."

Esme looked out at the city lights of Chicago, though suspected she wasn't seeing them, too caught up whatever long lost memory our conversation had dredged up.

"My sister was never very confident in herself. She was shy and quiet. It's what made her and Lizzie such good friends, Maggie tamed Liz's wildness and Liz helped Maggie step out of her comfort zone. Liam and she were like two peas in a pod. Both reserved and preferred the simple life. They'd tried for a while to get pregnant, but after several miscarriages, they had decided to adopt."

I listened with rapt attention, hearing things about my parents I'd never heard before.

"It was divine intervention that Liz came to her when they started to look into adoption. Liz was on her sixth attempt at leaving James. She was staying with me, healing from his latest beating when she told us she was pregnant. She feared that James was going to kill her. His drinking had gotten out of control and it caused him to get exponentially more violent. She begged Maggie and Liam to adopt you and they agreed right then and there."

Bile rose in my throat at the idea of a man hitting a woman, but to know it was my biological father, made me physically ill.

"From that moment, Maggie changed. Her entire focus was on the baby growing in Liz's belly. She was attentive and went with Liz to every appointment. But then she started to get possessive of you as well. Toward the end she and Liz were getting into heated arguments regarding the smallest things; what she was or wasn't eating, the vitamins, and anything else Maggie thought Liz was doing wrong. When you were born, you became her world, Edward."

She focused her tear filled eyes on me and grabbed my hands. "I believe, in my heart of hearts, she pretended she'd given birth to you. By the time you were ten, she had stopped sending Liz pictures, so it was easier for her to keep up the charade. When Liam suggested telling you that they'd adopted you, it meant facing reality and she flat-out refused to do it. She loved you so much, and maybe some would argue that maybe it was too much."

"But why tell me the way she did? I mean, c'mon, the last words she'd spoken to me were to drop that bombshell on me and to tell me to read some old dusty journals. And then she was gone without giving me a chance to ask any questions." My chest heaved in anger.

Her lips turned down in a frown. "I don't know, Edward. Facing one's own mortality makes people realize the mistakes they've made. Maybe she was trying to right a wrong. Maybe she hoped you'd do exactly what you're doing, finding out the truth."

We sat there in contemplative silence. Even with the new information, there was a part of me that was still angry at my mom. So much pain and heartache could've been avoided had she just told me the truth.

"It's ok to hate her, Edward. It's a rational way to feel. At the core of it, she deceived you, kept a huge secret from you. But there will come a time when you'll need to forgive her. Maybe not now, or even tomorrow. It could be years from now when you're holding your own child that you'll find a way to forgive. Until that happens, don't dwell on it. You have so much to look forward to, don't waste your time looking back."

The tone of her voice had me looking up at her only to find she was staring at a laughing Bella.

A/N: I love me some Aunt Esme.. do you?