A/N: Good morning all! I almost forgot today was Tuesday for a moment. Those holidays on a Monday always mess up my whole week! Reviews-off the wall! I had a really horrible weekend as well as some nasty anonymous reviews left for one of my other stories, and I swear the only thing that held me together (Aside from Melanie) was your reviews. Thank you so much *wipes tear*.
I tried to send out teasers to the 'Big Reviewers" but no one wanted them. You all seem to like the excitement of getting the new chapter on its scheduled date. I think I would be the same…unless there was a huge cliffy involved!
Those of you who are over reading 'The Bakery', I can't thank you enough for your support. I am almost at 100 reviews with only 2 chapters posted…amazing! More to come…maybe tomorrow as a thank you.
Now…who is that mystery guest? Hold on!
"Edward…what do you want to eat for dinner?" Bella called, her head buried in the refrigerator. She had watched as Esme and Alice prepared meals while they were here and she was excited to try her hand at making Edward one of his favorite dishes.
"What do you want?" He answered as he came into the kitchen with Hope on his hip. She was chewing on one of the many colorful toys his mother had bought at the store. He nuzzled his face into her bouncy curls as he watched Bella's hips sway from side to side as she perused the contents of the fridge. He hooked Hope in the high chair that sat in the corner of the room and silently approached Bella, unable to help himself as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into his body. He realized his mistake a moment too late as she froze in his embrace. She began to tremble as she fought against the memory of being held against her will and tried to remember that this was Edward holding her. He spun her in his arms and leaned down so their foreheads were touching.
"I'm sorry…so fucking sorry baby. I shouldn't have done that. It's me…just me. You're safe here, no one can get you." He whispered as he watched a tear escape from her closed eyes and her breathing start to slow. She had his shirt in a death grip as she fought with the memories that wanted to drag her under. Finally feeling like she had pushed those thoughts back in the hole they belonged in, she opened her eyes and managed a weak smile.
"I'm fine, you just startled me is all. Now…what do you want for dinner?" She said, her voice thick with tears and frustration. She wanted Edward to be able to hold her without those memories and thoughts invading her mind. She wanted to be normal again.
"Why don't I show you how to make grilled cheese and some tomato soup?" He suggested as he released her and pulled the cheese and bread from the fridge. He showed Bella how to use the can opener to get the lid off of the soup can and emptied it into a saucepan on the stove. He buttered the bread and placed it on the griddle pan before slapping the cheese slices on top and covering it with the other slice of bread. Bella watched him move around the kitchen, in awe of how comfortable he was. Hope had grown tired of her toy and tossed it to the floor, making a game of it when Edward bent down and picked it up every time she threw it. Bella could feel the knot of anxiety loosen as she watched them play and wished she was able to relax entirely, but her eyes kept going to the windows, as if she expected to see someone looking back in at her.
**()*()**
Bella jumped up from her spot on the couch when there was a knock on the door. Edward was napping with Hope in the bedroom while she sat on the oversized chair in the living room looking through one of the cookbooks Esme had piled on the bookshelf. She was amazed at the different recipes and kinds of foods on the pages and she could not wait to try some of them. She dropped the book to the floor when the visitor knocked again and her heart jumped into her throat. She was trying to figure out what she should do when she heard footsteps coming from the hallway. A sleep rumpled Edward came into view, his hand rubbing his eyes as he stumbled toward the door. He shot Bella a smile and motioned for her to go back into the bedroom with Hope. She had just started to fuss when the knocking pulled Edward from sleep.
"Edward Cullen?" A calm, melodic voice asked as he opened the door.
"Yes, can I help you?" Edward responded, his voice tense.
"My name is Angela Webber, I'm from D.C. I need to ask you some questions." She said as she reached inside a large black leather satchel and brought out a small white cylinder and a phone. Edward's hands began to tremble as soon as he heard where she was from. How could they have found them so soon? He thought he could trust Billy, but he was the only one who knew they were at the cabin. His head snapped up when he heard the crunching of gravel. He heaved a sigh of relief when he spotted his brother's white SUV pulling into the driveway. Angela's eyes tightened when she saw their company but she quickly recovered and extended a hand to Emmett when he came up on the porch, a stunning blonde woman trailing behind him.
"Emmett Cullen, pleasure to meet you. Although I am surprised to see you today, I thought you had a fully booked schedule." She said with a smile as she watched Emmett's usually calm and happy expression morph into confusion and suspicion.
"How would you know what my schedule looked like? Who the hell are you?" He demanded as the blonde woman put a calming hand on his shoulder. At her movement, Angela leaned forward with her phone in hand and snapped a picture of Emmett's guest. Both the woman and Emmett started to protest, but Angela just held up one perfectly manicured finger while she tapped away on the phone with the other hand.
"I was going to ask who your friend was, but I figured it would be easier if I just found out myself; Rosalie Lillian Hale, born April 7th, 1987 in Rochester, New York. Graduated from Rutgers with a degree in nursing and moved to Seattle to practice at Harborview Medical center after you were attacked by five men coming out of your apartment in New Brunswick. Such a shame that they never caught those men who raped you Ms. Hale, these evidence photos are really graphic." She said as she started to hold up her phone to show Emmett. Rosalie tried to leap over Emmett's back and grab the phone herself, her face a mixture of agony and pure hatred. Angela laughed quietly as she pulled the phone back and stepped further onto the porch and away from the now furious Rosalie.
"You have made your point Ms. Webber. Now what do you want?" Edward growled as he watched his brother try to calm Rosalie down. He prayed that Bella would stay inside.
"I need to get a DNA sample from your lady friend, Bella. I would really suggest you make this easy on yourself because I have a whole team waiting at my disposal and they can be here within the hour if you decide to make this any harder than it needs to be." She said as she dropped the phone back in her bag and held up the white cylinder. Edward's hands balled into fists at his side and it was taking all of his power to remember that it was never okay to hit a woman.
"How did you find us?" Edward asked, his fingernails now biting into the flesh of his palms.
"Did you really think that we would not have bugged Billy Black's phone? We have known for years that he was integral in the disappearance of Renee and Isabella Swan, we just had no proof. Your little phone call changed all that." She said with a smile as she tried to push past Edward. He shifted his body so he had the doorway completely blocked as he glared down at Angela.
"Who do you work for?" He snarled.
"I'm not at liberty to divulge that information, but I will tell you that I have the backing of the government of the United States, and if you refuse to comply with my orders I can have you all arrested and detained. I really don't think you want your daughter to have to go into foster care because you refused to let me swab her mother's cheek, now do you?" She snarked and Edward could see Rosalie move to restrain Emmett. Edward sighed as he held his hand up.
"Please, just give me a minute to explain the situation to her, okay?" Edward said as he walked back into the house, hoping that Emmett would be able to hold her off long enough so he could talk to Bella. He found her crouched behind the far side of the bed, Hope in her arms. She looked up at him, wide eyed and frightened as he settled down next to her on the floor.
"There is a woman here from Washington. She knows your father and Billy and would like to take a sample of your DNA. It won't hurt, just a cotton swab inside of your mouth. I think they want to make sure that you are who we say you are before they alert the President." Edward explained as he twirled his fingers through Hope's curls, trying to calm himself.
"What will they do when they find out that Charlie Swan is my father?" Bella asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
"I'm not sure what will happen then, I am hoping that we will have Billy behind us before they can find out. Although I am not sure how much trouble he is going to be in after they discover he helped your Mom escape all those years ago." Edward said with a sigh as he stood up from the floor and helped Bella up. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder as they walked out through the living room and onto the porch. Emmett pushed through Angela and wrapped both Bella and Hope in his arms, lifting Bella off of her feet. She laughed quietly while Hope squealed uncontrollably at her Uncle's antics. Angela gasped as Emmett backed away and she got her first good look at Bella.
"My God…she looks just like him." She breathed as she pulled her phone from her bag. Edward had his hand closed over it before she could open her camera application.
"No way. You want to swab her cheek, go ahead, but you are not going to take pictures of her and plaster them all over the world. When you get your results back and find out that she is Charlie Swan's daughter things are going to move very slowly. I am not going to have my family thrown into the spotlight. He is already the President and this is his final term anyway, so it is not like this publicity will help him. He wants to see her, he will have to come out here alone and do it. We are not going anywhere." Edward said, his voice soft but menacing. Angela nodded and put the phone away before approaching Bella slowly. She held up the cylinder, unscrewing the top and pulling out the long cotton swab.
"This won't hurt. I'm just going to rub it along the inside of your cheek." She said as she approached Bella. Bella opened her mouth, her eyes wide as Angela moved it around inside her cheek and put the swab back in the case. She put it in her purse and smiled before turning and nearly running off of the porch and to her black sedan. She honked as she tore down the driveway, gravel flying from under her tires. Edward pulled Bella and Hope into his chest as they watched her drive away.
"Well…it's only a matter of time now."
A/N: I figured if I made Seth bad, I should just go all out and make Angela bad as well. If you are reading 'The Bakery' I made Benjamin bad as well. I'm just throwing canon right out the window.
Love it…hate it? What do you think is coming next? I love to hear your ideas…and you never know, I might incorporate them in.