THAT'S MY WIFE

Disclaimer: The Cullens, the Swans, and most of the characters mentioned in the story that are known from Stephanie Meyer's beloved Twilight Saga, are all hers and hers alone. I neither have nor wish to pass them off as mine. I do appreciate the fact that she did bring them to life and allows us to play with them in our imaginations. The only thing I will claim is the current storyline.

This chapter has been beta'd by dowlingnana and her work is making the story flow more smoothly.

"Since none of you nutcases thought to update Carlisle and Esme I made the call to bring them up to date as to what has been happening, including all of your behavior since our arrival."

"Rose, why did you do that?" Moaned Emmett as he knew that the men had acted like children when it came to how they were making decisions. Rosalie had been the voice of reason and bringing them to the point of realistic about the information they have received and how they need to consider handling it.

"So, are you guys going to continue out to the refugee camp and try to get an idea of which direction Bella and Alice headed?"

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The more time spent in the saddle the more the two women were reconsidering their decision of traveling with the tribe.

CHAPTER 14: SCHEMES AND THINGS

Maria arrived earlier than usual to begin getting things ready for either Edward who she hoped would be the one arriving, or, for Carlisle as she didn't want to give him any further reason for complaint concerning her performance while her boss was away. It didn't take long to become absorbed in her work and it was as she checked any voice messages that she realized that no messages of instructions had been left for her from Edward. This was out of the normal for him as he would usually call to leave instructions concerning things that would arise at the last moment after she had left the office, so, she became even more unsettled as to what was happening and where he had gone which caused the change of Carlisle Cullen having to take over the business transactions at the office, both in and out. What could have come up at the last moment that would cause this to happen?

Maria didn't give too much credit that any of his being gone could have anything to do with the bitch ex or to Jasper Whitlock's call. She knew he was upset over that and the fact that his sister, Alice, had wandered off with the bitch ex, but, never did the thought cross her mind that it was enough to send him running off to heaven knows where to look for both of the women. As far Maria was concerned he was off taking care of some business that was going too astonished by his brilliant business acumen once more.

Being so involved with her own thoughts of what will be and trying to have everything in order for whichever boss appeared Maria wasn't aware that she was being observed from the doorway. Carlisle was quietly leaning against the door frame and observed Edward's Personal Assistant while she worked and she was the show of complete efficiency, but, he was able to see when her thoughts turned to outside of her work due to the 'cat swallowed the canary' smile that came and went from time to time upon her face.

After tiring of watching he straightened up and continued to walk into the office saying as he moved, "Well, I sincerely hope we have a better day today than what we had yesterday. Your attitude and approach to things left a lot to be desired, if you know what I mean? However, I guess you do have an excuse since my son allows you quick a bit of lead way that isn't really yours to take, in my opinion. But, now you understand what I require and I do expect to receive it without further rolling of eyes, fits of temper towards others and questioning of my methods while comparing me and my approach to my son." He concluded with a gentle smile that never reached his eyes. Also, with his statement he watched the quick emotions of anger that crossed Maria's face before she got her facial features under tight control.

"Yes, sir, we did have a bit of a rocky start since I'm unfamiliar with how you prefer to handle business. I'm sure we will have a calmer day today." She replied back with a false smile flashing across her lips, but, her eyes stayed the same; colder than a glacier.

Once again Carlisle wondered why Edward kept this woman around and how most of the family had missed seeing what Bella saw. Why most of them failed to believe what she said about this woman? The more he was around her the more he understood why Bella had reacted the way she did about this woman. Oh, Carlisle gave her credit for disguising her true nature from others, but, if something out of the ordinary occurred and you spent unexpected time with her then the truth appeared like a neon sign blinking and flashing before your eyes. Carlisle made no further comments, but, continued moving towards Edward's office, entered and firmly closed the door behind himself as he prepared to face another long adequately day with a woman he was fast learning to treat with a lot of distain and caution.

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"Well, at least, we're getting nearer to our destination and I, for one, will be much happier when that happens. Please, remind me, if I should ever want to ride a horse again, about why I'm temporarily insane at that moment. This has taught me to think about my disregard of rash actions." Alice moaned quietly to where only Bella could hear her.

"You'll be all right once you get used to it." Bella chuckled and then added, "But, I do remember the first time I had to use a horse as transportation to get where I needed to be for a story. I swore that never again, but, time and again I've had to eat those words. In certain areas or terrain a horse, a mule, or, a camel is the only way you can get to where you want and need to be.

"Believe, if it has been a long period of time in between riding then you end up feeling like it's the first time and walking a little funny for a little bit of time and feel as if you are permanently deformed by being bowlegged the rest of your life, but, if you stay with it long enough you do begin to enjoy the ride and the motion it creates.

"And, at times, your mind will wonder what it would feel like if a special someone was on the ride with you while you were creating a certain friction between you, if you know what I mean." Bella said with an all-out laugh that seemed to draw the attention of others in the small tribe.

Alice glanced for a long period of time at Bella only to unknowingly have her eyes get a faraway look and it was at that moment that Bella laughed with the knowledge that her friend had understood the meaning behind her words and was enjoying the event in her imagination. That was a memory that was precious to Bella as well; one that she and Edward had shared with extreme satisfaction for the both of them.

She truly missed that man; the one that was full of life, love, tenderness, passion, consideration and all balanced with the right touch of pure sweetness. It was only when Edward tried to rule every aspect of her life and career as if she was mentally unstable that they really began to have problems. True, he was a bit pushy about her assignments before they were married, but, over time he started getting worse; making sure that what she had was only fluff and not the meat of a story. They both knew she was a damn good reporter and deserved the respect that he was suddenly overlooking to give her. Throw into the mix his personal asshole, sneaky bitch assistant and the game soon ended for the both of them. She had time and again tried to warn him, but, he had gotten to turning a deaf ear and blind eye to what she was trying to show him about what was going on right under his nose.

Bella knew that Edward thought she was building things out of proportion when she told him what Maria was all about; he just never believed that things were to the extent that Bella was telling him. So, she had decided to go a step or two further to try to shock him to his senses about all that he was doing and overlooking, however, it all back fired her on instead.

She would never forget the shocked look on his face when she had told him to step back, take a clear, objective look at things and to start adjusting his attitude towards things or she was moving out and filing for divorce. But, the true shock was that it didn't change anything. In the beginning he seemed to understand that some changes needed to be made, but, the problem was he assumed it was Bella that needed to do the changing as he didn't seem to understand that it was his approach and attitude to the situations that was forcing her to do what she was doing. All that did happen was that he seemed to get worse. Add to that he thought that Bella was just over reacting and would return home instead of following through with her threat.

He even told her to stop playing around and act like an adult. That was the final straw as far as Bella was concerned. She had to try to get his attention to really look at the problems and the situation in an honest manner instead of with blinders on. So, she filed and had him served with the divorce papers, even then thinking that he would wake up and try to stop her. And, he did try to stop her, but, without conceding any wrong thinking or do on his part. "I'm only trying to keep you safe and help you realize that you're wrong about Maria." Was his comment.

The divorce went through and she was going to quit working with the family, but, Esme had talked her out of it. That was when she went independent, more or less, at Esme's suggestion. She's been happy about her decision most of the time to be independent while still working with the Cullen group, but, still missed the Edward that she fell in love with, even now, since the divorce. It bothers her any time she will allow herself to think about the whole mess that he forced her hand and she took the actions that she felt she needed to do to try to get through to him. The only problem was that the actions seemed to have failed.

The only bright side was that she was once again in charge of her career, but, even the down time in between stories can be pretty damn lonely when you yearn for the one you love and he is needed to make you feel whole.

As Bella reached this point in her retrospective journey she snapped back to reality as she heard Alice laugh just before she said, "Yeah, I guess I can understand what you're talking about Bella, if my imagination is anything to go by."

It was at this point that the two women realized that the caravan had stopped and everyone was dismounting and setting about unloading their possessions to make camp. Idade walked over to them and said, "We've arrived. As part of the tribe you are expected to help the women to get the camp in order while we go to hunt for food."

The two women looked at each other and burst out laughing and then Bella said, "I guess our men aren't the only ones with the caveman mentality." They set about asking where their help would be needed and was immediately put to work.

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Edward, Rosalie and Josef had just returned from the refugee camp with hardly any more knowledge of what had happened to Bella and Alice than what they had had before going.

They did, however, find the car that the two had used to arrive at the camp and after seeing its condition understood why they hadn't been able to use it to return to the hotel. It looked like an unreliable piece of shit before the battle and now looked even worse; it was nothing more than twisted metal. However, they did manage to find a couple of individuals that was able to confirm that Bella and Alice had started walking after seeing the condition of their car. They had even point out the direction the two women had taken and the two shook their heads while commenting that they couldn't understand why the two would take the direction they did since it was the wrong direction from reaching the main road.

That information caused the knot that was tied in Edward's stomach to squeeze even tighter, if that was at all possible. His fear for his sister and wife were becoming more pronounced and nightmarish the more information they were given or from his imagination of what could be happening to them.

Edward would try to rein in his thoughts with the knowledge of what they had heard from the two messages and what they had managed to, hopefully, piece together. To try to look at the bright side of things and that being that the two women had been able to call to leave them a message that they were safe and would be returning in a few days. But, it was becoming harder and harder. Rosalie had had to tell him several times to stop pulling on his hair unless he was wanting to end up baldheaded.

A/N: Carlisle is still dealing with Maria. Maria is still plotting and scheming. Bella and Alice are having an adventure while gathering information for the story. Edward and company aren't getting too far with collecting information as to where the two women are. Who's going to snap first from all of the pressure?

Give me your thoughts and I'll be glad to answer back.