SOOOO SORRY! I got really caught up in my school musical and that led right in to the winter play and I have barley had any time to do anything in…I can't even remember when. SO please accept my sincerest apologies and enjoy this chapter.

So, with all of the strength that I had; all of the anger and resentment for Dmitri, all of the insecurities I had – I let those out. I pushed with every ounce of love for my son and for my family. And with that last push, a sound filled the room that I will never forget.

Oliver Adrian Swan took his first breath and a strong healthy cry filled my ears.

"Here you go, Mom;" The doctor said to me after she cut the umbilical cord and cleaned him up a little bit. "Your beautiful, healthy son."

I took him in my arms and my heart exploded; he was perfect. As soon as he touched my skin, he stopped crying and his eyes fluttered open.

"Do we have a name yet?" She asked. I looked in to his beautiful brown eyes and then looked up.

"Oliver. Oliver Adrian Swan." The smiled on my face couldn't be undone. Not for now at least. They moved me from the delivery room to an actual hospital room. Not long after they did, a flock of people arrived.

Mom rushed in and stopped as soon as she saw I was holding a baby.

"Oh, Bella!" She ran over and kissed my head. "I'm so sorry I missed it. There was a huge traffic jam…" At this point, she looked down and saw Ollie's huge brown eyes looking back up at her and she melted. "Oh my goodness. Bella, he is beautiful!"

"Do you want to hold him?" I smiled at her. The thought of Oliver being out of my arms worried me a bit, but I trusted her with everything, and I knew what I was feeling was just me being over protective.

"Of course!" Mom gushed as I lifted him up in my arms and she took him in to hers. The light in her eyes was beyond bright.

As soon as she took him, in poured the rest of my family. Everyone was oo-ing and ah-ing over Oliver and apologizing for missing the birth.

Rose sat down on the side of the bed with me while everyone else was going to get dinner.

"Do you mind if I ask a question?" The tone of her voice made me frown. She sounded hesitant and almost scared.

"Of course, hun. Anything."

"What was it like?" She looked at Oliver and then back at me. "The birth."

I took a deep breath. I didn't want to scare her about the pain, but I didn't want to lie to her either. "It was painful. Honestly, I don't know how I did it. I can't even explain it." Her eyes widened a little. "But, the second that the doctor placed my beautiful baby boy in my arms, I completely forgot about all of it. It was instantly worth it." I caressed my sleeping child's head. Rose nodded and smiled a little.

"He IS one handsome little man." She laughed and I looked at her.

"Rose, honey, why are you crying?"

Quickly trying to wipe away the tears, she shook her head. "I'm just so scared. I know that none of what happened is my fault, but that doesn't mean that I'm not terrified that something terrible could happen to my baby. I'm so scared that I may take my eyes off of them for one instant and I will lose him or her for who knows how long. I am so scared."

I closed my eyes. "I know. I am terrified too. The things I went through, I…I can't even…" I shook my head. "Our children are going to be okay. We have to believe that or we will never be happy."

She sighed and nodded. "I guess so."

Kate came in to the room.

"Bella, we need to talk."

When she said things like this, it sent my stomach churning. I tightened my grip on Ollie and nodded.

"Up to this point, although most of the information we had gotten has logically proved itself, we don't have any solid physical ties between the crimes and Dmi…" I quickly covered Ollie's ears. Even though he couldn't understand, I didn't want him ever hearing that name. Kate stopped and nodded. "Anyway, if we could take a DNA sample from Oliver and cross reference it with the old samples from – you know who – and if they had enough similarities, it would be our first piece of physical evidence against him. If you aren't comfortable with this yet, it is okay. I just wanted to run it by you."

I took a deep breath. I wasn't sure that I was ready for my little Ollie to officially be tied to the sick monster. I wasn't sure that I was ready to hear it. And if the DNA tests came back negative – I wasn't sure I was ready to accept that either. Looking at Kate, I shook my head.

"I…I can't. He's mine. I can't let him belong to someone else yet. Maybe in a few weeks or something, but I just can't accept this yet."

"That's just fine, Bella. Just talk to me whenever you are ready. I know this will be hard."

Next thing I knew, it was the next afternoon and Mom, Dad, Ollie and I were sitting in Dad's cop car in the driveway.

"Alright, little man, welcome home." Dad said with a smile, opening the car door for us. I felt it as I stepped up to the front porch and I stopped.

"What's wrong?" Mom asked.

I shook my head and ran back to the car with Ollie.

"Bella? What's going on?" Dad stopped me at the car. "What is wrong?"

"Something is not right. I can feel it. We're leaving." I put the carrier back in the back-seat and got in with him.

"I'll go inside and check it all out." Dad reassured me. I just got out my phone and called Emmett. He picked up before it even rang once.

"Did you introduce my main man to his lair yet?" He said without missing a beat.

"Emmett, something is wrong. Dad is going in to check everything out, but I'm not so sure. I can feel it in every crevice of every bone in my body. He was here. Or he is here. I don't know, but something isn't right." I locked all of the car doors as I said this. My whole body was shaking. The string of words that spilled out of Emmett's mouth were…fitting. It wasn't more than twenty seconds before Emmett pulled up. He ran up to the car and I unlocked the door.

After locking the door again, he embraced me in a huge hug. "Are you okay?"

I shook my head.

"Has dad come back out yet?" Emmett asked and I suddenly got very worried.

"S#!t. Emmett, go." My eyes bulged. "If he's in there with…GO!" Emmett didn't waste a second, running out and up to the house. I clutched Ollie to my chest and cried. It wasn't fair. I just wanted to start over with my life.

After a while, Emmett came back to the car and got in and put his arm around me.

"Bells," He took a deep breath.

"What? Just tell me. How bad is it?" I held Oliver a little tighter to me.

"There is no sign that anyone was in or around the house. We checked every room, every closet; there's nothing. It's okay."

"What?"

"He's not here and he never was. Everything is okay. It's all safe."

I shook my head. "I'm…I'm going crazy."

"No, Bella, you are being protective. You have every right to we worried like this. It is going to take time to feel safe again."

After a little more reassurance, we tried again. Emmett walked protectively beside me all the way through the front door. Once we were inside, I felt a little better.

Turning Ollie so he could see the house, I smiled. "See, little guy, this is your home." In response, he let out a big yawn and I laughed. In the pit of my stomach, I still felt like something was wrong but I pushed it aside and focused on this happy moment.

Once we got settled in, I didn't quite know what to do. I felt like I should be showing him something or teaching him something. I told mom this and she laughed.

"Bella, baby, just relax. It's his first day home, both of you are probably exhausted. Take a nap; you'll be glad you did tonight." She patted my head and then got the bouncer that we bought and set it next to the couch. I smiled and nodded as I put Ollie in it. Within minutes I was sound asleep.

My dreams were interrupted by talking. The first thing that I noticed when I opened my eyes was that Ollie was gone. Immediately, I flew up. Now, being a little sore still, this movement hurt – but I ignored it.

"Bella? What's wrong?" Mom asked. When my searching eyes landed on her, I let out my held breath.

"Oh. I just…"

"He woke up and started to get fussy so I took him and changed him. He's just fine." She reassured me. Once I was positive that he was okay, I collapsed back down to the couch. That quick panic move really didn't feel good.

"Bella, are you okay?" Edward – who had apparently arrived while I was sleeping – came over to the couch. I nodded but closed my eyes.

"I just shouldn't have moved so fast." I held my abdomen as I sat up. Ollie started crying.

"Right on cue," Mom said. "He's probably hungry…"

I nodded and took him. Breast feeding was still really intimidating to me, but I was determined. Once he actually latched on, he fed for what felt like ever. Sitting alone in my room, I had time to really take everything in.

What felt like yesterday, I had just woken up in an abandoned room in an alleyway in Seattle? Now, I was sitting in my childhood room holding a child of my own. It was mind boggling to imagine what would have happened if I wouldn't have woken up that day. Who knows if my precious son would even be alive right now.

When he was finally done eating, I stood up from the rocking chair and set Ollie in the middle of my bed so that I could fix my shirt correctly. As I picked him up, I felt something under the sheets. Curious, I pulled back the covers and found a sheet of paper. There were three typed words in the center of the page.

'You can't hide.'

I couldn't get out of the room fast enough. With Oliver tight in my arms, I ran into the hallway and to the top of the stairs. Edward saw me immediately.

"Bella? What's wrong?" He got up and started towards me. I couldn't say anything, I couldn't scream, I couldn't even breathe. My whole body was shaking and my vision was in and out. Edward pulled me away from the stairs and sat down with me in the hallway. I just sat there, shaking and not breathing.

I felt the note leave my hands and then frantic talking.

"Bella, honey, breathe." Edward held me and Oliver. I took a sip of air and then I lost it. This man was in my house. I was right. He was here in my room, probably in Ollie's room. He knew where I was and knew how to get in and out without leaving any evidence that he was here. At any given moment he could come and take me again. Or worse, he could take Ollie.

"Bella, it's okay. You're safe. We're here; he is not going to hurt you, not without going through us first." Edward reassured me.

Somewhere along the line, someone called the police and our living room was filled with detectives. I had stopped crying, but on the inside, I was a wreck. Even though my arms were exhausted, there was no taking Ollie out of them. He was glued to me until I deemed it safe to do otherwise.

We were sitting alone in the kitchen when Edward came and sat next to me.

"I talked to Renee and Charlie and if you want, you can come and stay with me for a bit, or you can go with Rose and Emmett. Whatever you decide is perfectly fine, but just know, you don't have to stay here."

"I don't want to impose. I have a newborn…"

"Bella, they are going to be processing your room for a while, it is already five o' clock. Do you think that you would be able to actually sleep here?"

I sighed and looked down. For a brand new baby, Ollie had been extremely well behaved. He had cried a bit, but nothing that wasn't unbearable.

"Okay." I nodded. "I'll stay with you. Rose and Em don't have enough room with her being pregnant and no guest room. If you don't mind."

"Of course not, Bella; I wouldn't feel comfortable with you being here anyway. No one would. Whenever you are ready let me know. Emmett and I can load up some of the things that you need for tonight, you just show us what and we'll take it."

I just nodded. I know that a lot of people wanted to be the ones to catch Dmitri and to kill him, but I don't think anyone wanted it more than me. He took my childhood, my adolescence and the beginning of my adulthood. Now he was slowly taking away the important moments in my son's. Touching my life was one thing, but if he came anywhere near Ollie again I would tear him limb from limb until I felt that he had suffered as much as I had.

I showed them what I needed for the night and it wasn't long before I started to feel claustrophobic in the house.

"Edward, can we go? I really just need to get away from all of this." I said to him. After I gave mom and dad a huge, tear-filled hug, I took Ollie and walked out to Edward's car. The drive to his house wasn't far. Edward lived alone in a one-story house that was pushed back away from the rest of the houses. It was a cute little place, but it could definitely use some paint. Now that I had put Ollie in his car seat, my arms were noodles.

Edward let me in the house and I set Ollie down in his carrier on the couch. "I'm going to start bringing stuff in, make yourself at home." He said. I felt bad that he had to move everything by himself, but he wouldn't let me help. I stretched out on the couch and attempted to relax. I felt safer than I did at home, but I was still terrified.

"Okay, the crib and everything else you needed are set up in the guest room. If you need anything – and I mean anything – you just let me know, okay?" Edward told me as he sat down on the smaller couch. He gently lifted Ollie from the carrier and held him.

"He's one adorable little baby, Bella."

"I know. He's prefect. I just wish…" I stopped myself. I was not going to go down this path. I had to keep the mindset that Ollie was the product of me and my strength, not of Dmitri. Edward looked at me and nodded in understanding.

The images of the note flashed in my head incessantly; each time accompanied by a different way that he would come after me and Ollie. The fear was overwhelming, leaving me frozen to the couch.

"When was the last time you ate?" He asked me and I was suddenly back to reality. "Did you have lunch at the hospital before we left?"

"No, I'm not hungry." I sat up and pulled my knees up to my chest. It still felt weird not to have a massive baby bump. "If I eat anything I will probably just puke anyway." Edward didn't push it anymore. He just held and rocked Ollie and talked to me about the most unrelated topics that he could compose. It helped for a little while but my mind would always travel back to the little reminder that I was never going to be truly safe until Dmitri was either dead or locked away in a prison somewhere far away – or unless I was dead…no. I thought. I had to stop thinking like this now that had Ollie to take care of. I couldn't take away his only real parent. He needed me just about as much as I needed him. Even though some days I still considered getting away from this oppressive injustice, the thought of possibly hurting my son kept me here.

"Bella, what are you thinking about?" Edward asked. "You've been staring in to space for a long time."

Without thinking, I answered him honestly. "Suicide."

"Bella, you can't give up this fight. I know it seems impossible to win, but you are going to be okay. You can't…"

"I'm not going to do it." I looked him in the eyes and held the stair for long enough that he knew I was telling the truth. "I think about it all the time. Almost every day, but I know that if I did it, I wouldn't just be taking myself off of this earth, I'd be leaving my son without a mother; without parents at all. He is what keeps me here. So as long as I have him, you don't need to worry about me."

"Alright, Bells, but don't feel like you can't talk to someone. You know that I am always here for you and so is everyone else, keeping things like that bottled up aren't good. Even if you can logically think through it now, there may be a time when you can't, and if that time comes, talk to one of us. We won't judge you."

I just smiled a little and then yawned. "I need to go to sleep." After getting ready for bed, I changed Ollie and said goodnight to Edward. It wasn't long before the blanket of silence fell over the house and I was sound asleep.

Well, that blanket wasn't there for long. About an hour after I had fallen asleep, Ollie woke up with a loud, shrill cry. I panicked at first, grabbing the nearest hard object in case I needed to attack. The light switch was on the other side of the room and I couldn't see anything. I flew out of the bed and immediately found myself face first on the floor. My mind was still registering in panic. Suddenly, the lights flicked on and I jumped up.

"What on earth? Are you okay? What's going on?" Edward asked. I surveyed the room looking for any imposing threats. That is when I realized that there was not – in fact – a sadistic rapist after me and my son; that Ollie was most likely just hungry or needed to be changed.

I sighed. "Oh…"

Edward smiled a teensy bit and came forward with his hands up. "You can probably put down the lamp now." He said, and I was confused. I looked at my hands and realized that the object that I had picked up turned out to be the lamp that was – well used to be – plugged in to the wall, which was why I fell. My face flushed and I gently put it back.

"Sorry…" I whispered and then I picked up Ollie and started rocking him. "I just panicked."

"It's okay, Bella." He gave me a one-armed hug. "I'll let you feed him." With that, he left and I sat on the bed and fed Ollie.

"Lo siento, mi bebé. Te mereces algo mejor." I whispered to him. "Ese hombre nunca va a tocarte." I still found it odd that I could speak Spanish but I wanted to speak it to Ollie. Knowing two languages could give him the edge he needed to excel early on. Life for him wouldn't be easy and every opportunity to help him had to be jumped at.

After I fed and burped him, we both fell right to sleep. After three more times of getting up, my brain was fried. When I did wake up, I was practically a zombie.

This time the cry was different; more panicky and shrill. In my exhausted near-coma like state, I opened my eyes to see a dark figure hovering around the crib.

"Edward, you don't have to…" As I said this he turned around and I stopped breathing and sat up. He was rocking Ollie.

"Shh…Shh..."He said and then looked at me like I was a small child that had just spilled her milk on the carpet. "Bella, what did I tell you? You. Can't. Hide."

"Let him go!" I snarled. "Take me, you can have me; but leave my son."

Dmitri laughed a sick laugh. "Bella don't you understand? I already have you. You think that by leaving that old place you're free? Ha! You are just as much mine now as you were six months ago. The only reason that business has been slow is because no one wants you, Isabella." He came closer to me. "They don't want an old ugly whore. You give yourself too much credit thinking that the only reason you haven't gotten asked for in the past few months is because you aren't locked up.

"You aren't free, Isabella. But it would be a shame if your precious little Oliver wasn't either, wouldn't it?"

"No! Leave him alone!" I tried to get out of bed and get my son but I couldn't. Something was holding me back. Dmitri just stood there laughing and my screams filled the room.

With a flash, everything changed. Edward was sitting behind me restraining me – he had my arms crossed over my chest and was rocking me back and forth.

"Ollie!" I screamed through tears. "Let me go, Edward! I have to save him!"

"Bella. BELLA! Oliver is okay. He is right there in his crib. He is fine. Breathe, Bella." Edward reassured me, but I kept hyperventilating and crying. "Shh, Bells, he's okay. I promise. It was just a dream…just a dream."

It took me a long time to calm down. Once I stopped panicking and was just sobbing, Edward let me go and got Ollie, who was crying as well. I took him in my arms and cradled him close to my chest. Edward sat back down next to us and consoled me.

"Are you okay now?" He asked after the tears faded and I could finally breathe again. Ollie had fallen back to sleep again. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I'm fine." I whispered. "Sorry. You can go back to sleep now, sorry I woke you up." After gently placing Ollie back in his crib, I lied down and stared at the crib.

"I'm not going to leave you if you feel unsafe."

"That's not fair to you. None of this is. You don't deserve this."

"Bella, I'm doing this because you are my best friend. I spent so many years begging for you to come back. Every day is a blessing. It doesn't bother me one bit. Now, I don't want to stay if you don't want me to, but I'm not going to leave you if you don't feel like you are safe. It's up to you."

I sighed. There was no way that I was going to even consider closing my eyes, much less actually going back to sleep. "Stay."

He nodded and patted my leg. "Alright. I'm not going anywhere."

I am going to try my hardest to push out another chapter before 2014 (how is this year already almost over!?). Thank you to those of you who stuck with me and came back to read this and to those of you who reminded me to write along the way. I really appreciate it.