MOVING FORWARD AGAIN

Disclaimer: The Cullen's, 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 the best, dowlingnana.

Now after talking with Bella and getting all of the details from her and then what she was planning to do Charlie really had no comments to offer since what she was proposing made all of the sense in the world. Renee had gotten on the extension phone and had heard everything their daughter had to explain at the same time as Charlie had. It was without hesitation that both had agreed to make the necessary arrangements to go to their daughter's aid; without delay.

CHAPTER 21: MIRACLES ARE REAL

Everything seemed to be falling into place as if to scream that all was going to be well, but, Bella wasn't foolish enough to believe that there were unforeseen possibilities for something to jump up and slap them with a surprise at any given time. However, she felt confident with the basic plan and was trying to be prepared for those surprises. How she was going to announce her return to Chicago was being kept a closely guarded secret; in fact, so closely guarded that no one knew of it except her. She had a deep feeling that by doing things the way she was planning would be enough of a shock to James and his friends to force a movement quicker than they might want to make due to the necessity which will put precaution on very shaky ground.

The only thing holding her up was waiting for her parents to arrive. Once they are here and she had a little time to spend with them answering the questions they were going to be throwing at her along with her mother moaning the fact that she should have told them sooner and stayed in touch instead of cutting them out of her life, Bella was ready to go. Both Marc and Marie were excited to see their grandparents since that didn't happen too often. They had made all sorts of plans on what they would be doing with their Gramps and Nan. It would be a wonder if her mom and dad had a chance to breathe; the kids had things so tightly planned.

At this point Bella was pulled from her thoughts as Marc rushed in yelling, "They're here! They're here!" and ran back out forgetting to close the door he had opened with such force that it had slammed back against the wall in his excitement to declare his news. She just smiled and walked out the door making sure to close it behind her as she stands on the front porch waiting to greet the new arrivals. Seeing her two children jumping around in excitement and hollering, "They're here. They're here."

The truck came to a stop with an older man getting out from the driver's side and an older woman getting out of the passenger side. "I told you we wouldn't have to worry about getting lost if only we had taken my car with the GPS." Bella heard her mother saying.

Smiling she walked down the two steps and over to greet her parents, but, the twins had already rushed the newly arrived couple. All of the hugs kisses and excitedly exchanges between the grandparents and the grandchildren helped to lighten Bella's spirit even more than it was. And, it was already in a heightened state due to her Edward being alive and back with the family. Now, she was going to help bring about the end of a threat to her children, their company and herself. Everything was finally starting to fall into place.

It took awhile to get two excited children and two grandparents settled before any really serious discussions could take place. Bella patiently waited until after the children had been put to bed and had Roger Madison summoned before anyone was ready to start with the questions, answers and explanation of the plans.

The session began after everyone got settled around the kitchen table and had a cup of coffee in front of them. Bella hesitated for a bare moment before launching into what she had to say. "I know, Mom, Dad, that you both have a lot of questions and am about to demand answers, but please refrain until I have told you everything.

"You know Charlotte and met Roger earlier when Marc and Marie took you on a quick tour of the ranch proper. But, I feel that it is important for him to be included in this meeting since he is going to be helping to guard the children as he will be in charge of running the ranch.

"Charlotte is pretty much aware of everything, from beginning to the present, and if you have any questions after I leave she will be able to answer them for you. However, on the phone I had filled you in on the reasons as to why I handled things the way I have. Although, you, or anyone else, might not agree with the way I did things, I still feel that I did the right thing at the time.

"Now, those things have changed, it's time to bring an end to James Cunningham and his crew. But, to be able to do that I need to know that Marc and Marie are safe and out of harm's way which makes you, Dad and Mom, the ones to handle that.

"Roger is also aware of the basics of what has been going on and will be a great ally in helping to keep the children safe. But, he knows the workings of this ranch, which in the short time we've been here; we have managed to turn it into producing a profit once again. He can keep that momentum going." Bella pauses at this point, takes a slip of her coffee, looks around at each person present and waits for any questions.

She didn't have long to wait before Renee started with her whining about not being told things earlier to where she and Charlie might have been of more help. Those things might have gone differently if Bella had done that. But, true to form, after a bit of listening to this Charlie told his wife to be quiet, "What's done is done and we need to deal with the here and now. The past can't be changed and she did what she felt was necessary to protect everyone."

The questions after that from the other five seated with Bella at the table were asking for what was going to be done once she returned to Chicago. With being given that information suggestions were offered on how to fine tune her plans. Bella listened to each and every one of them attentively and in some places, rethinking some of her thoughts.

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James Cunningham was waiting at the airport for the arrival of the Volturi brothers. They were due to arrive at any moment and it was planned for them to receive a complete update as to why things weren't moving forwards as planned to acquire the company. They were pissed that no one had been able to find Bella or her children as they were the key in gaining control and ownership of the company. That would give a legal looking front to all of the money laundering they do for others as well as themselves.

While he was waiting, his thoughts had been going over all of the facts and answers he knew he would have to have ready to give them, when suddenly he was jolted back to his surroundings due to the fact that a mousey looking female had accidently tripped on something and came flying into his back. He began cussing, but, stopped once he noticed the attention that had been drawn to the incident. He quickly helped her regain her footing and then bent to retrieve her handbag and carryon luggage to hand back to her.

Once she continued on her way he turned back in time to see the three brothers walking towards his position.

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"I'm surprised that Bella continued to carry on the tradition after all of these years." Edward mused as he waited with his mother until his dad had brought the car around from the garage.

"It's not going to be the same this year without her. All of the family always went together each year, but, now due to circumstances, it's just your father and me."

"But, why aren't Alice, Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett going with you? I understand why I can't, but, why not them?"

"Because your father and I felt since the family, as far as the public knows, doesn't actually own the company any more then it wouldn't look right for everyone to go. Since your father and I are widely known for our charitable works it would be strange if we didn't attend."

And, before conversation could continue the sound of the car stopping in front could be heard. Edward walked his mother to the door and opened it for her to exit and he saw his father waiting on the passenger side with the door open for his mother. However, before she walked towards the car she turned back once more to give her son some last minute news that she had just found out about not too much earlier. "Everyone will be here with you tonight, so, all of you watch television. I left the information written down in the entertainment room as to the time and the channel, but, for the first year the ball is being televised." Then without saying anything else Esme turned, walked to the car where Carlisle assisted her getting in before he headed for the driver's side, got in, put the car in gear and the couple left.

Edward closed the door and headed to find the information his mother had told him about. Since he couldn't be there, at least, he could watch it. That way he would have knowledge of any unscheduled incidents; especially, if anything happened concerning Cunningham and his bunch.

It seemed like no time before Alice, Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett had arrived and they knew about the event being televised as well. "That's the reason we're over here to watch on the big screen and to keep you from getting all mopey."

"Gee, thanks, asshole."

XXXXXXX

Bella had gotten checked into her hotel with barely enough time to spare, but, she still managed to get ready on time, but, no thanks to the scare she had had at the airport when she had accidently tripped and slammed into none other but James Cunningham himself. Good thing her mother had suggested going in disguise and had helped to get one put together. It really did serve its purpose immediately upon arrival, it seems.

Bella had arranged ahead of time for a limo and driver to pick her up at the hotel and then she was picking up Alec. She had called him as soon as she had gotten into her suite to tell him that he was going to be escorting a friend of hers to the charity ball. He complained about it but did agree.

Everything was going according to plan, including surprising Alec when she had picked him up. To say that he was speechless to see who he was escorting would be an understatement, but, he asked no questions while they had an audience of sorts.

Since he was on the board for the company, it had been decided by the board that Alec would be introducing all of the special guests this evening. Well, he knew of one that no one but he knew of and that was going to surprise the hell out of everyone. He had to chuckle a bit under his breath at the thought of how Edward and the rest of his family are going to react to see Bella at the ball if they were watching on television.

Upon their arrival Alec had directed the driver to enter the underground garage where he and Bella would be able to depart without notice. After finding an out of the way place for Bella to wait until it was time for him to introduce her, Alec left to go make his appearance known to everyone else.

Things were going well and Bella was pleased as well as comfortable with her plans for tonight. All she could do was pray that everything would continue to fall as she had hoped and plan when she made her appearance.

It seemed as if no time had passed before Alec was back to let her know that it was time. He also brought her up to date as to who all was present which included James Cunningham and the Volturi brothers. John Merriweather and a couple of his agents were present as well as Esme and Carlisle Cullen.

"Good!" Was all she said as they walked to the area backstage.

Bella watched as Alec was beginning his introduction of the next guest, her. "It is my great privilege to be able to announce our next guest whose presence has been greatly missed for awhile now. And, with her appearance she has informed me that she has a great surprise for everyone. So, without further ado, I would like to welcome back Mrs. Isabella Cullen, known better to all of us associated with the company as Ms C." Alec turned to welcome Bella as the gasp and applause from the front could be heard.

"I would like to say how much I've missed all of you both seeing and working with you daily. But, with certain turn of events it became necessary for change and that is what I did. Mrs. Sea has continued to follow the same guidelines that have been in place since it was started years ago by its beloved founder, my husband, Edward Cullen. All we did over the time after he was lost to us was to fine tune his dream.

"Now, it is with the greatest of delights that I came this evening to share the truth of miracles. I didn't stand here to say they don't exist, but, that they do exist; all you have to do is look around you. Take the time to discover how your money that is donated to the charities we are representing here tonight is put to use. That in itself is a daily miracle for all of those that benefit from your generosity.

"It's now time to share with you my personal miracle. I am dialing a certain number that is in Japan to talk with an individual that is dear to all of us. I wanted to share this moment with all of you as it actually happened.

"A call was received a few days back from a doctor in Japan about a few people being rescued off of an uncharted island." Bella continued to explain how the rescue came about as it had been told to her. She held the attention of everyone in the room.

And as she reached the end of her story she dialed and acted as if she was speaking to someone in Japan. Then a voice was heard as Bella put it on speaker phone asking, "Hello?"

"Hello, my darling. Your doctor arranged for all of us, our friends and me, to be able to talk with you and to let you know we're overjoyed at the news of you being alive, my Edward." With that name being uttered the entire room roared.

A/N: Did Bella surprise everyone in a good or bad way with her return and the way she went about it? How are James and the Volturi brothers going to react with the news just revealed?

Hope you enjoy this as much as you all have my other stories and will take the time to let me know. Looking forward to reading and answering your comments and reviews.