Chapter 11: Union
August 6, 2006

EPOV

There was a cool breeze coming from the window, and it felt good on my bare skin. I lie on my side, looking out the window to the August morning. The noises around me were soft and calming to my ears. I could hear the birds chirping outside. The sound of the wind as it whipped through the window. I could hear my breathing and I could hear Bella's behind me. Last night was really not that bad. It was one of Bella's milder nights. She has been a functioning alcoholic for three straight years now. She drank every day, but the amounts always vary. It was usually hot or cold. I will either come home from work and she will be full on drunk, or sometimes I will come home and she will just barely be tipsy. As much as I know she hates it, I have brought up rehab with her a lot of the years. Each time she would refuse. The first couple of times I mentioned it, she even had panic attacks. But other than the panic attacks, those conversations would usually end in a fight.

Me and Bella have fought a lot over the years. Well actually, I shouldn't say me and Bella fought a lot, because 95% of our fights happen when she is drunk, when she is not herself. We never fight in front of Liam though. That is one thing that me and drunk Bella agree on.

Liam is four now, and he is the most amazing and beautiful little person in this word. He is smart. He knows all of his colors, he can count to 20, he knows the alphabet, and I have been working with him to learn his shapes. He has a personality much like Bella's. He cares deeply for the members in our family. He is also sensitive. At home, he is loud and crazy, but when we are out in public, he is really shy. If anyone he doesn't know try to talk to him when me or Bella was around, he would hide his face and stay with us the whole time. I don't think it is a bad thing, he just takes longer to warm up to people.

Now Liam doesn't understand what is going on with Bella. Her behavior is normal to him. Like I have said before, Bella is not a danger to Liam when she is drunk. Everyone has different reactions to alcohol, and though Bella gets drunk, she is a functioning alcoholic. She is able to do day to day activities, but she is just not herself. Liam is too young to see the difference though, and Bella is just his Mom that he loves dearly. I dreaded the day Liam did notice a difference though.

I was actually looking forward to today though. Today was mine and Bella's seventh wedding anniversary. I have been married to the love of my life for seven years now. Although times have been tough, they have also been good too. The thing with the situation with Bella is, when things were bad they were really bad. But when they were good, they were so good it was hard to even remember that the bad has ever happened. That is what keeps me going.

I was taken out of my thinking by the feeling of soft lips on my back. Goose bumps formed on my skin from the contact, and I sighed in contentment. She continued scattering kisses up my back and twined her hand with mine that was over my stomach. She used her other hand to run through my hair. Her kisses ended up making it to my neck, and then she sucked my earlobe into her mouth. I moaned and finally moved so I was lying on my back so I could see her beautiful face. Mornings were my favorite time with Bella. It seems with work, that mornings were the small amount of time that I got to be with my Bella. Sure most of the time she was hungover, but she was still my Bella, and I will take as much time with her I can get.

I rolled onto my back and I saw her face. She was smiling and biting her lip. Her hand was still in my hair, and she ran her fingernails lightly along my scalp. I twined our hands together again, and lifted my head to kiss her lips, morning breath and all. "Good morning, love."

She kissed my lips before she spoke, even adding a little tongue action that was getting me pretty turned on. "Good morning, handsome." She said and attached her mouth to mine once again. Our kiss was hungry and passionate. I shifted myself so that I was on top of her, holding my weight with my elbows. I palmed her right breast in my hand, and got a delicious moan out of her mouth. I never stopped kissing her though. She ran her hands over my bare back, down until she got to the top of my boxers, teasingly brushing her hands underneath them. Our actions were causing me to become impossibly hard, and I hope Liam will stay asleep long enough for me to make love to my wife on our anniversary.

I began to pull down Bella's pajama shorts while still kissing her. She moaned in my mouth, and I knew she wanted it too. I finally got her shorts off, and she began to pull my boxers down. She put her hand around me, and began stroking. "Mmm…I love you." I said against her lips. She started to guide me to her entrance when we heard the bathroom door down the hall open and close.

Liam was awake.

Thanks a lot, kid.

I groaned, because I knew we had to stop. Liam's routine on Sunday mornings have been the same since he was able to get out of his room. He would wake up, go to the bathroom, and come and lay in bed with me and Bella for a little while. Bella only laughed and I climbed off of on top of her. I pulled my boxers up, and she did the same with her shorts. I lay on my back, concentrating, trying to solve the big problem I had down under. Bella noticed my concentration and laughed. I turned to glare at her. She only laughed more and bent down to kiss my head, but I moved my head out of her reach.

"Kissing me right now will not help my situation, Bella." She rolled her eyes, but otherwise laid down on her back and sighed. It took me a couple minutes, but with thoughts of things that disgust me, I got everything under control. "Okay, you can kiss me now."

She laughed, and then kissed my lips. "Happy Anniversary, baby."

I smiled. "Happy Anniversary, love."

We heard the toilet flush down the hall, and then the sound of little footsteps running toward our room. "Ew. No kissy kissy please." Liam said as he entered the room.

We both laughed, and Bella got off of me and sat up, holding her arms out to Liam. He was only wearing a big white t-shirt, his Spider-man underwear, and socks. He jumped up on the bed, and instantly went to sit in Bella's lap. She wrapped her arms around him, and kissed the top of his head.

"Good morning, my handsome boy." She murmured against the top of his head.

He snuggled closer to her. "Good morning, Mommy." This was the kind of interactions I like to see between my wife and son. This right here is my real Bella, being a loving mother to our son.

"Uh, Liam. Are you going to say good morning to me too?" I asked, still lying down with my hands behind my head.

Liam lifted his head, and smiled at me. "'Good morning, Daddy."

"Your Mom gets a big hug and kiss, and I just get a 'good morning Daddy'?" I said, teasing with him.

"You need to wait your turn, Daddy." Bella and I both laughed at his comment, and then my cell phone started to ring on the side of me. I picked it up, and saw that it was Jasper. I got up off the bed and answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Edward. You got a minute?" Jasper asked.

"Yeah, sure what's up?"

"Can you go in a room alone?" Okay, now that is never something I want to hear.

"Uh, alright, one second." I took the phone from my ear. I walked up to Bella and Liam who were talking quietly with each other on the bed. "Hey, I am just going to take this call in the other room, alright?" Bella looked up at me, concerned, but nodded her head anyway. Liam nodded his head too and still had his hold on Bella. I kissed Bella's head, and then Liam's. "I better get my hug and kiss when I get back, short stuff."

"You are so impafent, Daddy." I smiled hearing him mispronounce a word. There weren't very many that he does mispronounce, and I guess impatient is one of them. I laughed and then walked out of the room. I went to the bathroom down the hall and brought the phone back to my ear.

"Alright, I'm alone. What is this about, Jasper?"

"Well I have some news that I don't know how you will feel about."

"Okay well what is it about?"

"Renee." Fuck. Nothing good can come from hearing that name. I pinched the bridge of my nose while mentally preparing myself for whatever he was going to say.

"Okay, what about her?"

"Well she was arrested last night." Well that wasn't bad. That was brilliant, actually. "But," Oh, there is the 'but', the 'but' that put my hopes down. "She was let out on bail."

"Who the hell bailed her out?"

"A man named Jacob Black. He is a young guy, only in his early thirties, and a known drug dealer around the area."

"Fuck." Drug dealers were no joke. They were as dangerous as fuck, and even though Bella doesn't associate with her Mom, Bella is related to Renee, and there is paperwork on that shit. If Renee does anything to piss off the wrong people, they could try and hurt Renee anyway they can, and that is sometimes through family. But what they don't know is that Renee doesn't care about her family one bit, and the only people they would be hurting is Bella, which would hurt me, and which would hurt Liam. Even thinking about someone like that coming anywhere near Bella or Liam was enough to make me want to vomit.

"I know. Anyways, he bailed her out, but she is still awaiting trial."

"What was she arrested for in the first place?"

"Prostitution and possession of methamphetamines."

I took a deep breath, trying to contain my cool. "Alright. Well I appreciate you keeping me up to date on this shit, but please don't tell me this is going to affect Bella in any way."

Jasper was a lawyer, and a damn good one at that. "I'm sorry Edward, but it does."

"Fuck." I know I have been saying that a lot, but it was the only thing I can think to say, this fucking sucks. Bella is already not in a good state right now, and she really doesn't need this shit right now. We don't need this shit right now.

"She is free now, but there is a trial, and Bella is going to be subpoenaed to testify."

I had to restrain myself from punching a whole in the wall. "Are you fucking shitting me, Jasper? Bella hasn't seen her mother for over three years, and now she is going to have to testify against her in court?"

"I'm sorry, Edward. I tried to pull the subpoena myself, but the judge is not having that."

"Well when is the trial."

"It is actually on Valentine's Day. I know it is far away, but I thought it was better to tell you early so you can prepare yourself, and Bella."

I sighed loudly. Why does Renee have to screw everything up? "Okay, well thanks for calling." We both said goodbye, and I hung up the phone. I braced my hands on the counter of the bathroom sink, and tried to calm myself down. There was no way in hell I was going to tell Bella about this today. It was our anniversary, and I just wanted us to have this day with no Renee drama hanging over our heads. I will tell her though; when I know the time is right.

"Oh, Daddy. I want that car right there." Liam said, about the red Mustang that was driving right on the side of us. Liam was looking out the window while sitting in his booster seat. He had an obsession with cars. He wanted every car there ever was.

"Oh yeah, well do you know what kind of car that is, bud?" I bought him a book that was filled with cars. It had all the different makes and models. He didn't know how to read yet of course, but every night after dinner, he would bring the big book over to me, and we would sit with each other on the recliner while I read to him about each car. He was always filled with questions, and it was one of my favorite parts of the day.

"That is a Mustang." I knew he would know what it was, because that car has always been his favorite.

"Good job, honey." Bella said from the passenger seat, looking back at Liam fondly. It was around three o'clock now, and so far we have spent the whole day with Liam. Bella hasn't had one drink all day, and I was more than happy. Now we were bringing Liam over to Rose and Emmett's house so Bella and I can go have some alone time for our anniversary. Liam and his cousins got along well. Along with Nick and Emma, Rosalie and Emmett now have another daughter, one year old Alyssa Marie Cullen.

"Thanks, Mommy." We pulled into Emmett and Rose's driveway. Liam unbuckled his seat belt and jumped out of his booster seat. He tried to open the door, but there was a child lock. Me and Bella laughed at his frustrated face when he couldn't open the door. "This is not funny." He said. I got out of the car and opened the door for him. "Thanks, Daddy." He ran ahead of us into the house. I saw Bella standing outside the passenger side door, playing with her hands. She seemed like she was concentrating really hard. I knew what she was doing. She wanted a drink.

She usually starts drinking around 3:30, but she promised me yesterday, when she was sober, that she would not drink today since it was our anniversary. Bella has made it a goal of hers to not drink on special occasions; holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries. I could tell it was hard for her, and sometimes she cracked and would have a drink late at night when I was sleeping. I don't think she knows I know this. It sucks that she is unable to go a full 24 hours without a drink, but I appreciate it when I get to spend the whole day with my Bella. I walked up to her and took her in my arms. She wrapped her arms around my waist and sighed loudly.

I dropped my head down and kissed the top of her head. "I love you." I said against her hair.

"I love you more." I smiled and pulled away from her. I took her face in my hands and kissed her sweetly. It felt good kissing Bella when her breath smelt like tooth paste instead of alcohol.

"Come on, let's go say bye to our boy." She sighed and nodded her head. We walked into Emmett and Rosalie's house and heard all of the talking coming from the living room. Emmett was on the ground playing with Liam, Nick, and Emma. Rosalie was holding a laughing Alyssa; both looked up at us when we walked in.

"Hey guys." She said while getting up with Alyssa. Alyssa reached for me and I smiled. Alyssa really liked me for some reason. I don't know why, because I don't really see her that much, but when I do, she only wants me to hold her. I didn't mind though, I loved it actually. I loved little Alyssa. She had hair so blonde it was almost white, and she barely had any of it, with big blue eyes like her parents. I took her in my arms and peppered her little face with kisses. She laughed, and when I was done, she did the same to me, but I just ended up with a lot of baby slobber on my face. It was sweet though. I heard Bella laugh next to me and I looked over and smiled at her. She was looking at me with so much love and I just wanted to kiss her again. I love when my Bella is here.

She looked away from me with the smile still on her face to look at Liam. "Liam honey, we are leaving." Emmett had Liam pinned to the ground with one hand, and Liam pushed his arm away to run at us, he went to Bella first. Bella knelt down to his level, and kissed his forehead. "I love you, baby. Be good for your Aunt and Uncle, okay?"

"Okay, Mommy." I kissed Alyssa's cheek and then handed her back to Rose. I squatted down next to both of them. Liam smiled sadly at me and then hugged me around my neck. "You will be back tonight, right?" He sounded worried.

"Of course, bud. We will be here at 9 o clock sharp." He nodded his head, and then kissed Bella. He gave me one more kiss on the cheek before running back over to Emmett. Bella and I said bye to Emmett, Rose, and their kids, and I gave Alyssa one more kiss on the cheek. I want one of those. I mean I already have a beautiful son that is my world, but I want a little girl. A little girl just like Bella. Bella and I both walked to the car silently, holding hands. We were going to the place we always go on our anniversaries. We were going to a park in Seattle where our tree was. That tree is significant, because it was under that tree that I got my life back…

~Flashback~

17 Years old

"Come on, Edward! We have to go now!" Esme called up to Edward. He was lying down on his bed, hands behind his head, just staring at the ceiling. He wondered what Bella was doing, if she was happy. It has been 10 months since she has been gone, and the last he heard was that she was in rehab. He has been very angry in the months Bella has been gone. He was angry at a lot of people that didn't necessarily deserve his anger; including himself. But most of his anger is pointed toward Renee. It was Renee's fault Bella even got addicted to alcohol in the first place. Bella was still a child when Renee used her innocence and vulnerability to get her to start drinking with her. Bella only wanted some form of affection from her mother, and Renee made it so that was the only way Bella could get that, was if she went out drinking with her. It made Edward sick.

"Edward Cullen, let's go! This is going to be a fun day!" 'Yeah, fun.' Edward thought. Edward and the rest of the Cullen's were on their way to a Cullen family reunion. Esme has been talking about it for weeks, and how much fun they were all going to have. Edward didn't understand how he would have fun by having a cookout with a bunch of people that is supposedly his family that he barely knows, or has never even met before. They all know what happened with Bella, and it was a high possibility some people will talk, which will only intensify Edward's anger against the world.

He sighed loudly as he got up off the bed. He walked down the steps and saw Esme had a huge smile on her face, she looked like she just won the lottery, and Edward couldn't see what was so great about a family reunion. He thought maybe she would think he would have fun because it was at a park, but she doesn't realize he is 17 years old. Parks stopped being a fun place to be five years ago.

"Hey Edward! You ready to play that volleyball game and kick some serious ass?" Emmett asked. Emmett was home for the week on vacation from college.

"I don't really think I am going to play, Emmett." Edward said. Emmett face fell, his heart going out to Edward. He has realized how much Bella's absence has been affecting him. The whole family has been trying to get him to come out of the funk, but it is not working.

"Oh Edward, you are going to have today. I just know it!" Esme said, still smiley and perky, unusual, but now Edward realized where Alice got it from. All three of them walked out to the car where Alice was already in the back seat, the radio blaring and her singing loudly. They all got in the car and headed to the park.

"Where is Dad?" Edward asked.

Esme snuck a small smile to Emmett in the driver's seat before turning to Edward. "He is going to meet us there, he got held up at work." Edward nodded his head and then continued looking out the window. They arrived at the park shortly, and Edward internally groaned when he saw how many people were there. He got out of the car with everyone else, and they walked toward every one. Esme smiled and said hi to pretty much everyone there, then they would say hi to the three kids, and that just continued for about 10 minutes. After they said hi to everyone, everyone started splitting up. Emmett was talking with some of the guys, Alice was in the corner talking with some girls, and Esme was talking with some ladies. Edward felt awkward just standing in the middle of the park, so he decided to go to one of the tables and get a drink. On his way there, an older couple stopped him.

"Is that really you, Edward?" The woman asked.

"Uh…yeah."

"Oh well I am your Aunt Clara and this is your Uncle Clark, do you remember us?"

"Uh, no sorry." He didn't want to seem rude, but he also didn't want to get caught up in a lie.

"Oh well the last time we saw you was when you were this little." She lowered her hand down close to the floor. Edward forced a small smile. "But I would recognize those eyes anywhere." She said and put her hands on either side of Edward's face gently, looking straight in his eyes. She turned her head towards Clark. "Look at those eyes, Clark. Do those not scream Elizabeth?"

Edward felt a small pain in his chest at hearing his mother's name. Lately Edward has been thinking about his parents a lot. He thought about how much he missed them. He also thought about them because he realized that he got two sets of parents, and Bella didn't even get one. It was just not fair.

"Yeah those are definitely Lizzie's eyes, but look at that face, Clara. He looks just like Edward Sr." They continued studying Edward and exchanging ideas on how he got his looks. They asked Edward a couple of questions and only halfway acting like they really cared. Edward had to fake a smile the whole time and he was really getting sick of it. He politely excused himself, only to have him be lost on where to go again. He really didn't want to talk to anyone; he wanted to be anywhere but there. He decided that he would just get away from everyone else. He walked around the perimeter of the area, and stopped when he found a single tree. It was in the perfect place. It was away from everyone, but he was still in the looking distance of everyone. He decided to just sit under the tree. No one will make the effort to walk all that way to just talk to him, and that was what he wanted.

Once he got to the tree, he sat against the trunk under the shade. He sat with his legs crossed, and he began to pull blades of grass out of the ground to pass the time. He could hear everyone's chatter, their laughing, the sound of the volleyball being hit, the sound of burgers sizzling on the numerous grills. All sounds that sound like a good time, but not to Edward. He continued picking at the grass around him until he heard a lot of people say 'Carlisle!' at the same time. Edward looked up and sure enough, Carlisle had arrived. Esme greeted him first and Edward noticed she whispered something in his ear. When he pulled away he smiled and nodded.

He put his head back down, and continued pulling grass. There was a big brown patch forming. He could hear someone walking toward him, but he hoped it was just some random passerby in the park, and they would leave him alone. He continued pulling the grass out of the ground. He stopped though when he felt a presence in front of him. He looked to the ground in front of him, and saw an old pair of sneakers. He slowly lifted his head, and he gasped at who he saw.

It was like all of the anger inside of him vanished. It was like all of a sudden he could breathe again. It was like his heart all of a sudden started beating again, the blood pumping through his veins again, giving him life. It was like heaven seeing Bella again.

She had her hands over her mouth, tears flowing down her cheeks, her body shaking slightly from her crying, and her big brown eyes only on Edward. It was like she couldn't believe she was actually standing in front of him.

Edward jumped up from the ground and walked right up to Bella. He moved her hands off of her face. She moved her hands, and brought them up to Edward's cheeks, cradling his face in her hands. He put his hands on her face, studying her every feature. He noticed that nothing but everything changed in her face. Her face still looked the same, only a little thinner, but she looked older, sadder.

"Bella." Edward whispered.

Bella let out a small laugh of elation at hearing him say her name. The life was coming back to her face; the sadness dulling. "Edward."

"Oh my God." Edward said disbelieving; he took his hands off of Bella's face and pulled her into his arms. Bella wrapped her arms around Edward's waist and held on tightly. Edward held on as well, and took comfort in the fact that he was holding Bella in his arms, and there was no one trying to pull her away from him time. He wouldn't let that happen again. No one can take her away from him. "Oh my God, I missed you so much, Bella. You have no idea."

"I think I do, Edward. I think I do."

Edward pulled away to look at her again. He moved his hands back to her face. She smiled at him, and he felt a tear fall down his cheeks. And then before he could even think about what he was doing, he lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers. It was a soft kiss, a small peck to Bella's lips that surprised her. She gasped a little, not expecting it. But when he pulled away and rested his forehead on hers, she leaned forward and kissed him this time. Another soft kiss, but Bella couldn't resist. That kiss seemed to ignite something in the two of them as they both went in for the next one. This kiss more forceful, more passionate. This was their first kiss ever, but it was like they have been doing it their whole life. Like this is what they are supposed to do. It was easy, it was meant to be.

They both finally pulled away, their foreheads connected, trying to catch their breath from their kiss. Edward could think of endless amounts of questions he wanted to ask Bella at that moment, but he decided not to. Sure he wanted to know how Bella was here, but it really didn't matter how, just as long as she was. And she was, and he couldn't have been happier.

"I love you, Edward."

Edward smiled and kissed her lips one more time. "I love you too, Bella. So much." They have said the words to each other before. But this time it was different, and they both knew it. They didn't have to speak the words to explain what was going on in their hearts. They both just knew.

~End Flashback~

That was 10 years ago to this day. Bella and I were together for the rest of high school. I went to college, but Bella didn't, she was still drinking at the time. But we got married when were both 20 under that same tree we shared our first kiss. And every year since then, we would have a picnic under that tree, and stay until the sunset.

Me and Bella walked hand in hand to our tree. She had her head resting on my arm as we walked, and it all just felt so peaceful. I set up the blanket and Bella started getting out our food. We ate our food, feeding it to each other occasionally. We talked and laughed and I haven't been this happy in a while. I had my Bella sitting with me, and we were acting like our old selves. Bella sat in between my legs with her back to my chest as we waited for the sunset. Bella held my right hand, and my left ran through her hair.

"I can't believe it has been seven years already." Bella said softly.

"I know, it seems like we have known each other our whole lives."

She laughed. "We practically have you dufus." She said teasingly. Sure she just called me a name, but she was teasing, she was being playful. My Bella was being playful with me, not the artificial one.

I brought my hand down from her hair and tickled her side. "I don't appreciate being called a dufus, love."

"Well that is just too bad, isn't it?" She said with a smile. She was joking again, like we used to when we were young. She was always the bossy one when we were little. Now that I think back on it, I was pretty whipped, even at an age as young as five years old.

"If you say so, beautiful." I rested my chin on her shoulder. She turned her head and kissed my temple.

"You know I am kidding, you are not a dufus, but even if you were, I would still love you the same."

I smiled and turned my head to kiss her cheek. "That is good to know." We were silent again as we watched the sunset.

"Hey, Edward?"

"Yes, love?"

"Thank you for today, it was really nice to get some alone time. I know we live together, but I feel like I never see you anymore." I nodded my head, because it was true. I have been working really late for a while now, so the only times I get to see Bella and Liam is on the weekends, and a couple of hours after work.

"I know, Bella. I'm sorry, but I have to work you know."

"Yeah, I know that. Your work makes you happy."

"You make me happy Bella, yes I like my job, but it would mean nothing without you and Liam." She nodded her head.

"I am glad I can make you happy then."

"You give me more than happiness, Bella. You give me a reason to live. You gave me Liam. I am sorry if me being at work all the time makes you feel like I am choosing work over you, but that is just not true."

"I know, I know that. You make me happy too." And I believed her. I know I made her happy, Liam made her happy. But now there was one thing coming in the way of that, and that was her drinking. It wasn't her fault though, that is what the worst part is. Bella had her first drink before she even understood what it really was. She was still a young, naïve child who had her Mom pretty much pressure into drinking. But after a while, it was out of her control. Alcoholism is an addiction, a chemical imbalance in a person's mind, as much as she knows drinking is bad for her, and how it has been affecting our family, she is unable to control it. I know there is a way for her to get sober, I know that, but I also know that nothing is going to happen unless she does it herself. You can't help those who don't want to be helped. And Bella doesn't want to be helped right now, because she doesn't think she needs it. So I am going to give her time, and I will try to guide her so she will end up in that state of mind.

But I am afraid of what is going to happen when she learns she has to testify against her own mother.

So there goes Renee messing everything up again. Or is she? So not too much happens in this chapter, but it is very important. Well I hope you liked it!

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