Thanks for all the reviews and adds. Thanks to my beta, Stratan, and my prereaders stephk0525, Nikita2009, claireoth, twilover76, and Andrea.

This is a little late again, but there was a hurricane and an election... My thoughts are with everyone affected by Sandy.

Chapter 13

Edward

"Edward!"

Hearing my uncle's shout, I shut off the weed eater and glanced over at him. "Yeah, Carlisle?"

"I've gotta stop. I'm not cut out for this heat anymore."

I chuckled and put it aside, raising my arms over my head to stretch out some. "Don't bullshit me. You never were."

"Which is exactly why I'm a doctor. I get to sit inside while poor saps like you work out in the sun."

"I like it all right," I said with a shrug.

"I'd imagine ya do since ya made a livin' out of it." He paused and ran his eyes over the expanse of the house behind us. "Annabeth looks a little worse than Esme thought she would. I tried to warn her, but well... you know your aunt."

"She's gone downhill a lot in the last couple of weeks," I answered, and then searched for something else to talk about.

He beat me to it.

"Happy Birthday, by the way."

"Shut up."

"Ya know they've got somethin' goin' on in there."

I felt the blood drain from my face. "Shit."

He laughed and grabbed a handkerchief out of his pocket. He wiped some of the sweat from his brow as he said, "Oh, yeah. They've been schemin' since we got here."

"Why?"

"Your nana wanted to do somethin' special," he replied. "Can't say I really blame her."

"That-" With a huff, I stopped myself. "She knew I wouldn't be able to either."

"Probably."

I groaned a little and snatched the weed eater back up off the ground. "Guess I'd better stop and get cleaned up."

"You're a good kid," Carlisle said, his lips twitching with a smile.

"And you're enjoyin' this way too much."

A full blown grin now, making the skin at his eyes crinkle. "Yep. It's not every day I get to watch ya squirm."

"Yeah, yeah."

"You doin' okay, though?"

"What do ya mean, with Nana?"

He nodded.

"I guess. What um... I mean... When do you think, from a professional..." I drove a hand through my hair. "No, never mind. I don't think I want to know."

"There's nothin' I can tell ya that her oncologist hasn't already. She's susceptible to just about everythin' now," he said gently. "If she doesn't catch somethin' to speed up the process, she's down to a matter of months."

I swallowed hard, tried to just keep breathing. Months. Months. I knew it was likely the case, talked about it with Bella even, but having it confirmed... God, it hurt.

"Can't believe you didn't know yet," he murmured, deciphering my reaction correctly.

"I knew. Just tried not to know for sure. Actually, I've tried not to know much about it at all," I admitted. "I don't think I can... Rosie's better equipped for stuff like this."

"She's a strong one." He studied me, shifted his weight between his feet, and then finally, almost reluctantly, spoke again. "So are you. Takin' Ella proved that."

"It wasn't a big deal."

"Don't belittle it," he snapped, surprising me. "You've always done that. No one except Annabeth could ever praise ya for what ya did."

I ground my teeth together to keep from arguing, because he was right. I'd always belittled it. Claimed it was familial duty that made me take Ella as mine, even though that really wasn't the case. She was supposed to be mine. Deep down, I'd known it all along; I'd just been in denial until she was born.

Subsequently, I'd torn my entire life with Tanya apart to keep her. Never once looking back, never regretting it.

If that didn't tell me something right there...

"There wasn't anythin' to praise me for," I responded. "She may not be mine, but she's still blood. And honestly... Honestly, I wanted her. More than I wanted anythin' else until Bella."

He grinned with that. "You love her."

"Carlisle."

"What?" he demanded. "It's clear as day. You love that girl like ya love Ella."

"Ya know what I really love? These little talks of ours," I said dryly.

"So what you're actually tellin' me is that you don't want to talk about her."

"Not really."

"Good, cause she's comin' up the drive now."

I turned around and saw that Bella was, in fact, walking up to the house. Drawn to her like always, I let the weed eater fall to the ground again and started toward her.

"Take that back to the shed for me, would ya?" I asked Carlisle, barely turning to make sure he heard me before I set off to meet her.

I stopped at the gate, ran my hand over the back of my neck, and just watched her come to me. She looked incredible today in a little, white sundress - all eyelet lace and ruffles. Her hair was piled up high, a mess of waves and curls. She smiled this smile at me, full of life and happiness, and my heart kicked up, galloping away behind my ribs.

"You really must like to walk."

"I just really don't want to depend on anyone."

I laughed a little, and bent down to give her a kiss. It was meant to be chaste, but the moment my lips found hers, it spiraled out of my control, and all I could do was let myself be consumed by her. By this.

Carlisle knew exactly what he was saying. Bella was everything to me now, the same way the little girl sitting inside with my family was.

I pulled away with that. My hands stayed on her, though, eventually coming up to her shoulders, and I watched her blink up at me lazily and let out this sigh of need that had my cock stirring all over again.

"Jesus," I finally managed to get out. "I think I like ya in this dress."

"I can tell," she said, and followed it up with her own light laugh. "Happy Birthday."

Hearing her say those two words didn't really sound as bad as it did coming from everyone else.

"Thanks."

"I got you something."

"Return it," I said unthinkingly.

I froze in shock, and then quickly stepped away from her.

"Sorry. Guess I'm just used to tellin' people that every year."

"I told you we didn't have to-"

"I want to," I promised. And I did. Anything Bella needed from me to move on, I would do.

Her teeth moved over her lip, rolling, chewing, as she watched me and tried to figure out if I was lying or not.

"You're not the only one who needs to let go of a few things," I finally murmured, tweaking one of her earrings and giving her a grin.

She smiled in return and went to dig something out of her purse. But then she hesitated and gazed back up at me without pulling whatever it was she'd gotten me out.

"I have kind of an... odd question for you first," Bella said quietly.

"What's that?"

"How would you feel about me putting up some pictures of Jake and my family?"

"Your place. Your pictures," I answered. "Don't see how I would need a say in somethin' like that, Iz. I think it'd be good for ya, though."

"No, I..." Warmth flooded her cheeks, and I reached up and let my thumb trace across its rosy color. "Thanks, but that's not what I meant."

"What then? No need bein' shy with me, baby. I've seen ya naked."

One side of her lips quirked, and her breath came out in a relieved rush. "I just don't want you to feel weird knowing a picture of my ex-fiancé is out for everyone to see."

"Uh-huh." I thought about it for a moment. "Really, I don't think it'd bother me. It's not like it's just a picture of him. It's everyone, right?"

"Yeah."

"So long as you're not plannin' on havin' them in your bedroom. I don't think I want all those eyes on me when I'm fuckin' ya. Voyeurism was never really my thing."

"Edward, you fucked me in the room I was thinking of putting them in."

"Oh." I smiled at her innocently. "Well then. Where're ya puttin' 'em up at?"

"In that hutch in the living room. I thought... that maybe..."

"What, there's more?"

"Well, yeah, I..."

I waited.

Bella deliberated.

I finally gave up.

"Spit it out, girl. Don't ya know there's a birthday party waitin' on me in there?" I joked.

She giggled the second my fingers found her ribs and began to tickle her. "Okay, I thought maybe I could put a picture of you and Ella with them."

"You want pictures of us in your house?" I replied, and pulled my hands off of her. "How sweet of ya."

"Here we go..."

"I mean, I'm there almost every day. It'll be nice to see my smilin' face when I walk by that cabinet." I rubbed my chin thoughtfully. "Say, how'd that picture you took of me in the field turn out? That'd look real good there. Just think of it: me up on that fence with my hat blockin' my face and makin' me look all mysterious... A picture of El beside me..."

"You're such a shit sometimes," she laughed.

"It's been my experience that women want a man with a sense of humor. I'm just tryin' to lure y'all in."

"Oh, yeah?"

"One girl especially."

"Pretty sure you got her, Edward."

But for how long?

"Yeah. Suppose I did," I agreed.

"So you can drop the act at any time..."

"What'd I tell ya about listenin' to all that gossip?" I asked her, grinning. "Nothin' about me is an act."

She rolled her eyes playfully. "Do you want your gift or not?"

"You're the one puttin' it off, not me."

"Only because I thought you were mad," she protested.

"I wasn't mad," I told her earnestly.

She seemed nervous again, but silently nodded and finally pulled something rectangular out of her bag.

The wrapping paper was white and full of miscellaneous drawings, with a big, black homemade bow in the middle.

"Ya draw all this stuff, sweetheart?"

She jerked her shoulder up awkwardly. "I got bored one night. The paper's actually floral."

I started to open it, peeling back the paper and seeing that it was, actually, floral - covered in pink peonies and roses.

"How pathetic is it that I know what kinda flowers these are?" I questioned, making her giggle again.

"Ridiculously so. Open it before I freak out and take it away from you."

"Good Lord, you're pushy. I don't wanna ruin art. I might be from a hick town, but I'm certainly not a hick. I know good art when I see it."

"Edward."

I ripped the paper off the rest of the way, staring back at her the entire time. "Better?"

"No."

I laughed, and let my eyes fall to what she'd given me. It was the picture I'd stolen of her awhile back framed in solid black, and it looked exactly like I'd hoped it would.

"Goddamn," I said hoarsely.

"That's all?"

"That's all I can coherently come up with."

She blushed, her eyes darting away from mine shyly.

"I figured it'd be, I don't know, a good way to kind of ease you into the gift receiving thing again since you did already ask for it and all," she rushed out.

"It's great, Iz."

"Yeah?"

"Wanna know what I like more?"

"What?"

"That you got those pictures ya took that day printed out in the first place."

Her eyes widened. "Oh."

"You wouldn't have done that a month ago."

"Guess not, no."

I tucked the picture under my arm and pulled the gate back so that we could walk through together. "So how was your counselin' session?"

She blinked, and then snorted out a laugh. "That's your segue?"

"It's as good as any," I said, flashing a smile at her.

She shook her head ruefully and said, "It was fine."

That was likely all I was getting today, so without another word, I walked with her to the house, leading her into the kitchen where Nana sat at the table, and Rosalie, Alice, and Esme worked on supper.

I spun around the second I saw what was going on, almost managing to escape before they all took notice of us and started shrieking at me.

"What? If y'all weren't tryin' to surprise me with this nonsense, nothin' could be spoiled," I retorted.

Rosalie threw a dish towel at me. "We only tried to surprise ya so we didn't have to listen to ya bitch all afternoon long about it."

Nana laughed, and I narrowed my eyes at her. "Don't think that just cause you're sick means ya can get away with plannin' all this."

"Sure it does. It buys my way outta nearly everythin'. Just not this since it was really all Alice's doin'."

"Nana!" Alice gasped. "What-?"

"Don't like it under that bus?"

"You told me you wanted to do somethin' for him!"

"Wantin' to and actually doin' are two completely different things, darlin'," Nana shot back.

Alice looked flabbergasted.

I just wanted out of here before they turned on me again.

I pulled Bella in for a quick kiss. "I'm gonna check on Ella, and then run upstairs and take a shower."

"What? You're leaving me down here by myself?" she hissed.

"Yep. Throwin' ya to the sharks, as they say."

"You're an ass."

"Swim, Bella, swim," I teased with a laugh.

She seemed ready to hit me.

I hurried off into the living room before I could dig myself into a hole and found Ella playing with a baby doll, her attention divided between the toy and the TV the entire time I stood there.

"Need anythin', sug?"

She twisted around and grinned at me. "Hi, Daddy. Wanna play with me and Dolly?"

"I wish I could, baby, but I've gotta shower. Miss Izzy's here, though. Maybe she'll play with ya."

Her eyes brightened, smile widened. "Okay!"

She started to rush off into the kitchen, but I swept her off her feet and buried my face into her neck, plastering kisses all over her skin until she squealed in delight.

"I gotta question for ya first," I said lowly. My eyes darted over toward the kitchen, and then back at Ella again. "You still miss home?"

"Florida?"

"Yeah."

She nodded.

"What'd ya miss the most?"

"My room. Our beach. Playing at the park with Tyler and Garrett," she answered solemnly.

"Well, what would ya say to us headed back for a week or so?

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. I've got some work I've gotta do. Meetin's and all that borin' stuff. Aunt Esme and Uncle Carlisle offered to stay here while I go, and I thought I'd take ya with me."

"Miss Izzy-Bella, too?"

"If she wants to come." I set her down on her feet. "Don't say anythin' yet, though. I've gotta figure out when Miss Izzy can go, all right?"

She was off again, only making it halfway across the room before she doubled back and latched onto my leg.

"I love you, Daddy," she said into my jeans.

I crouched down to see her clearly. My hand came up to cover the side of her face, and I smiled, even though I felt like I was being unfair to her and all of this was messing with the balance her life should have. I'd promised myself to be everything I could for her, and lately, it seemed like I was failing. Like I was spreading myself too thin, neglecting her somehow.

I sighed, pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose, and murmured, "Not as much as I love you."

"I'm stuffed," I said on an exhale, and pushed away from the table.

"Not so fast!" Rosalie exclaimed. "You have to open your gifts."

"My what?" I returned flatly.

"Gifts. I told ya we went all out this year."

"Why do y'all insist on torturing me all the time?"

Bella giggled quietly to herself, and then glanced over at me sheepishly. "I feel like maybe I started something here," she whispered.

"Ya think?"

She tried not to smile.

Didn't succeed.

The women in the family stood up and started gathering empty plates and platters of leftover fried chicken and pork chops, bowls of mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, and okra. Nana went to grab the blackberry cobbler, and Bella shot up out of her chair to get it instead.

"Mama!"

She glared at Esme. "What?"

"Sit down. Bella's got it."

"I'm fine."

"Sit down," Esme commanded. "I'm not askin' again."

Gingerly, Nana sat down and huffed in annoyance.

"And you say Rosie and I are bad."

She turned her stare on me. "Y'all are. I can't even help with the dishes anymore."

"You can't even do the dishes," I returned. "Ya pick up a plate and cringe."

"That's not true."

I cocked my eyebrow at her.

"Well, no one knows if I could or not since they won't let me try," she sniffed.

"Nana, you're barely even eatin' anything anymore. Why would they?"

She pursed her lips unhappily.

"You agreed to let us all come home for this."

"I did," she sighed, and then let her eyes flicker over to Ella. She lowered her voice and continued with, "You seem to be doin' better with it."

I snorted derisively. "You're kiddin', right?"

She blinked back at me.

"Nana, I- God," I swore, and shoved my hand through my hair, "you remember what it was like when Mom died?"

"Of course I do."

"Yeah, well, that's what it's like for me. All over again." A blurry memory came back to me, and my stomach churned anxiously. "I take that back. It's worse now. It's harder because I know what's happenin'. I've seen it already. I know what's comin'."

She reached over to grab my hand.

Her skin was cool to the touch.

"Ya always knew I wouldn't be here forever," she murmured.

"But I didn't think it'd be like this. I thought... I don't know what I thought. You'd go in your sleep or somethin'?"

"Everyone's dream."

I forced a smile back.

"I'm glad you've got Bella now," she said. "You'll need her. You're obviously takin' this harder than the rest of them."

"I know."

We both glanced over at Ella again. Carlisle had moved to the chair beside hers, keeping her distracted.

He met my eyes and smiled.

"You need to tell her about Ella."

Back to my grandmother now, I scowled.

"I know," I repeated.

"Before it's too late."

"But when?"

"You plannin' on bein' with her till ya die?"

"Without question."

An exuberant smile bloomed across her face. "That's all I ever wanted for you, ya know? To be happy with someone."

"Yeah."

"You should tell her now, Edward. If there's anythin' I know now, it's that it doesn't do ya any good to wait on things. Look at the way your daddy went. Look at your grandaddy. Ya don't know how long you'll have with someone till they're gone. Why spoil the time ya got with a lie?"

"I need to talk to Rosie first."

"Hon, you defer to your sister too often when it comes to this. Ella's yours. Not Rosalie's."

"But this affects her."

"It's affected all of us, Edward. Don't fool yourself into thinkin' it never did."

"What do you suggest I do? No one knows about this except for our family and the asshole that..." I took a deep breath. "And Royce."

"Tanya does."

"Tanya doesn't count, because Tanya doesn't care what happens to her," I said vaguely. "She made that clear when she saw her lying in her bassinet the day I brought her home with me, and then packed her shit up as quick as she could."

"Ya ever find out why Tanya took off?"

"Not really. I was so pissed off and... blown away, I just let her go without a fight."

"Ya might've," Nana interjected. "But you had a few more important things to think of. Like that baby's next feedin' or nap. You couldn't go around chasin' some girl who had it in her to leave ya like that in the first place."

I was silent for a bit, thinking of what to say - how to explain. "After I got some perspective, I saw all these little things that should've tipped me off. I think at first, she was intrigued by the idea of takin' Ella. Then after a while she decided that she didn't want her, but I guess she didn't know how to tell me. She was always tryin' to convince me that Rosie was givin' her away anyway; why not let her give her away to some set of strangers and get married and have our own?"

"And you?"

"I wanted both," I answered quietly. "I wanted Ella and a couple other kids runnin' around eventually. I wanted what Tanya wanted, but I wanted to give Rosalie somethin' no one else could, too: a chance to watch her daughter grow up with everythin' she couldn't give her just yet. But I loved Tanya. It took me a long time to come to the decision that havin' Ella meant more to me than anythin' else."

"I would've taken her. Helped Rosie do all she wanted."

"But where would we be now? Rosie's still tryin' to sort herself out after all that."

"She's doin' fine now."

"Because she lives how many miles away from that piece of-"

My grandmother opened her mouth to cut me off, but the door to the kitchen abruptly swung open to do it instead, revealing Alice and an armful of gifts.

Bella came back into the room last, a remorseful expression on her face.

I barely reined in a groan when they were all plopped down on the table in front of me.

"Happy Birthday," Alice sang.

I smiled tightly and set to work on opening everything they'd gotten me. Most of it was practical; things like a new hammer that Ella had proudly picked out, a miter saw that Carlisle and Esme had gotten when I'd complained about my old one. I said my thanks and watched them all disperse to different parts of the house.

Ella and Bella lingered.

"What now?" I chuckled.

"Miss Izzy helped me make you a card, Daddy."

"Oh, she did, huh?"

She nodded and held the folded piece of blue construction paper out for me to take.

Little scraps of paper in different patterns and colors were arranged and glued on the front to look like a house. Gold glitter made up the sand, and a turquoise, paisley printed cut out of a wave was in the background.

"It's our house," I said to myself.

How ironic that I'd just been asking her if she missed home.

All I had to do was wait for this and I'd have known just how much.

"That's our beach and my swingset and Miss Izzy helped me with the big flowers that are over here."

"Hibiscus, bug." I opened it up and took in the barely legible and misspelled "Happy Birthday" she'd written inside.

That weighty feeling came back in full force, and I thought I might suffocate with it.

"This just might be my favorite present ever," I told her, and watched her face light up with a smile.

"Really?" she squealed.

"Yeah," I confirmed on a laugh, and Bella's expression relaxed. She had no idea how much things like this made me feel for her, how much everything felt as if it'd finally fallen into place, despite the chaos that surrounded me.

"I think it is."

xx

Upstairs now, Ella was fast asleep. Alice had driven off to Sam's to grab a drink with Rosalie, even though my sister's underage status would force her to sit in the dining area, and Esme and Carlisle had hunkered down in their bedroom not too long ago.

Nothing but the sound of classical music floated through the walls as we passed it by.

Nana had been in bed for hours already. I took a quick peek into her room, saw that the TV was still going softly, and without adjusting anything, shut the door before leading Bella into my room.

The card they'd made me stood proudly on the nightstand.

I took off my boots, my watch. I unbuckled my belt and went to the drawer to grab a pair of sweats and saw Bella fidget nervously.

"What are you doing?"

I chuckled and moved to stand beside her. "Gettin' comfortable. Relax. I'll drive ya home in a while. I just wanna sit with ya for a bit."

"But Ella's..." She trailed off and gazed over at the door that connected my room with Ella's.

"Fast asleep." I pulled her close to me, leaned down to kiss that space below her ear I loved so much.

She clung to me.

"Thank you for today. It wasn't actually too bad. Tolerable, even."

Her laughter was quiet, almost silent, and she pulled back to see me.

"I could've done more. Sam offered to close down the restaurant for the night and let me throw a party. And you know everyone would've been there with you being a Masen and all."

"And why didn't you?"

"Because the point was to celebrate your birthday. Not ruin it," she retorted. Her lips twitched again with enjoyment, and with it, came a moment of clarity.

She worked so hard to make me happy, despite whatever went on inside her sometimes; despite how much I was keeping from her. She needed to know everything, all the ugly, all the secrets.

I just had to figure out how to say the words. Explain everything I'd been thinking when I adopted Ella, and what we'd originally planned for her.

Because one day in the not so distant future, Ella would know she was adopted. And then, slowly over time, she'd get the full story.

And maybe - hopefully - Bella would be there when she did.

"What are you thinking?" Bella whispered softly. Her hand stretched up and lightly pushed at my hair. "You look so serious all of a sudden."

"Nothin', really," I murmured, and then put my mouth on hers, brought her against me. She emitted a low moan, and dragged in a rough breath before letting herself go a little more, before melting against me and letting me walk her to the bed.

"Ella-"

"You'll just have to be quiet," I said. My mouth moved over her skin, fingers skimmed beneath her dress. I grabbed the fabric and ripped it over her head, and then laid her down. Crawling down her body, touching her, making her writhe while I finished undressing her, until she was gorgeously bare beneath me.

My hands fanned out at her hips, urging her to spread her legs. Her right leg dropped; her breath caught when I gazed at her, and I was left tumbling, falling all over again for this woman.

"I need to ask ya somethin'," I said against Bella's stomach. I dipped my tongue into her navel, worked my way down.

"Then you're going to have to... so I can..."

"Nah." The word was muffled, and I pressed a kiss to the inside of her thigh, watching her body arch up with sensation. For me. "I wanna make sure ya say yes."

"Edward," she replied, and the sound was almost keening from how long I'd been torturing her.

Just a little more...

Shifting to the right, just enough so that my nose grazed over her. She grabbed at the sheets and gasped. "Take a week off and come home with Ella and me."

"What?"

I pressed a kiss to the apex of her sex, let my thumb slide inside. "You said ya wanted to come to Jacksonville with me."

Her teeth cut into her lip, and she squeezed her eyes shut. A sound bubbled out of her throat, and she exhaled when I finally eased my mouth down on her.

"Nothin' in the world is prettier than you gettin' ready to come," I said. The vibrations in my voice made her body clench, made her moan.

"When do you want to go?" she ground out.

"Whenever Sam'll let ya. As soon as we can. I can't wait to take ya in my bed."

"Oh... Fuck."

"Mmm. Ya like that idea, baby?"

I replaced my thumb with my index finger, felt her tighten up again, and then added a swirl of my tongue.

"Bella?"

"Yes," she hissed.

"Yes, ya like it or yes, you'll go?"

"Both, just..." She shuddered, right at the precipice. "Don't stop."

"Sweetheart," I said with a chuckle. "I wasn't gonna."

If you didn't already know, I entered the Going for the Gold contest a while back and won a little something. Thanks again to everyone who voted, and to the judges for giving Melt With You first place. I've posted it to my profile if you're interested. And thanks to MsKathy for giving it a shout out on Fictionators. xoxo