AN: I don't own twilight

AN: Weekly update every Monday starting this Monday.

Chp. 21

I helped her get Ashley and her car seat removed from my car, then waited patiently in the living room while she put her daughter to sleep.

When she came down she seemed apprehensive to say the least and sat an unusually far distance away from me on the couch. She was twiddling her thumbs and refused to meet my eyes. Something was really eating at her and I was dying to know what.

"Bella?" I called seeming to something far away, but in truth she was only arms length away. I moved closer to her on the couch, I moved the billow of hair that hid her face from my view to behind her ear. "What's wrong?"

"Edward, what I'm about to tell you... is very serious and you have to know that I would never lie to you about something like this." Her chocolate brown eyes the seriousness that she was elaborating in her words.

"Just spit it out, it can't be that bad."

"You're Ashley's father," she said quickly, almost so fast that I wouldn't have caught it had I not have been paying attention. I did catch her quick truth though and it took me a minute to process what she said completely.

"You're Ashley's father." That meant that I'm a father, a dad. The father of Bella's child. The father Ashley's never known. Part of me was extremely happy, I finally had a claim on Bella, and she couldn't exclude me now that I knew that whole truth. Although, the other part of me was scared, how I could be a father? I had no clue what to do in any of the classic scenarios people think about when parenting is brought to the front of your mind.

"Edward? Are you okay?" Bella asked with a frantic edge to her voice, stroking her hand across my cheek.

"Is this true? You're one hundred percent positive?"

"Yes," she said quietly, diverting her eyes from mine and removing her hand from my face. "It's why I left, I didn't think it was the right time for either of us, and I didn't want to mess up everything that you had going for you at the time, so I took myself out of the equation.

"You hardly had time for the two of us, so I was afraid if we had another person there that you would want to give up everything that you've been working so hard for, I didn't want to live with that guilt. I just acted on impulse, I didn't think of what would happen to either of us in the end."

She turned her body so that I was directly facing her. "I am sorry, it wasn't fair to you or Ashley, I do realize that."

"You went through all of this alone?"

"I had Renée there, she knew everything and we told Charlie later, but I really wished I would have had you. I brought it on myself, so I don't really have a place to complain."

"Bella." I closed my eyes, shaking my head at her irrational judgment. "Why did you do that? I could've been there for you; I would've taken care of all of us."

"I figured that out too late, by that time I was too far in the lie. I didn't think anything could be fixed and I thought maybe I deserved to go through everything by myself for doing that to you. I am very sorry, so much so that I can't even express it to you, but I hope that maybe.. you still care about us."

"I understand why you left, even if it was an irrational and premature decision. I'd like you be a part of both of your lives... if you'll have me."

"Of course," Bella threw her arms around me and I took in the warmth of her soft body.

"I'm sorry for ever leaving you, Edward," she whispered in my ear. She pulled out of the hug and looked back at me with relieved eyes and heavy lids.

"I better get going."

"Okay, bye Edward," she said getting up at the same time as me. "Can we talk about this more tomorrow?"

"I think that would be wise."

Bella stretched up on her toes to wrap her arms around my neck. I bent my head down to meet her lips for a quick peck. "Goodnight Bella."

She removed her arms from around my neck and shrunk back to her normal height. "'Night Edward."