Chapter 25

Bella tiptoed quietly into the room once Jasper motioned for her to enter. Edward was right behind her, his hand on the small of her back. "Hey," she whispered to Alice, who was much more awake than earlier and holding her small pink bundle.

"Bells!" Alice half-whispered, half-exclaimed. She slid over so there was room on the side the bed for Bella to sit. Bella happily obliged, scooting over to them and kissing Olivia's little forehead. Edward and Jasper had stepped out and it was just the three of them Tears began to form again and Alice reached for her hand. "It's okay, Bells. I know this is hard for you..."

"I've missed you, Ally! I'm so sorry I haven't been there for you! I can't believe I didn't come to the shower...I wasn't...dealing. I've missed all of you! Almost as much as I've missed him..." she let her voice trail off, they both knew who she was talking about.

"I've miss you too, Bells. I was so worried about you. We all were. We were worried about you both. Edward just kind of shut down after you told him you wanted a divorce. I thought we were going to have to put him on suicide watch for the first few months. You have no idea how happy I am that you two are back together! Are things okay?"

Olivia was handed over to Bella, who brought the baby to her chest and kissed her again before continuing. "Yeah. They are. They aren't perfect but they aren't going to be."

"I'm glad. My brother loves you more than anything or anyone else. Ever. I know he's made some stupid mistakes but he would never have done it to hurt you. I know my brother and he would never want that."

"I know, Al. I get that he loves me but it's hard to forgive him for what happened with Tanya. I'm trying though. Really, really hard. I just want to be with him..."

"So don't let that b-i-t-c-h take that away from you. Go out. Show him off. Let him show you off. That would probably making her even more unhappy. He's your husband, Bells. Let the world know to stay the 'f' away from him!"

Bella smiled at her, rocking Olivia, who was clenching and unclenching her little fists. "Aw, even your newborn daughter doesn't like stupid, old Tanya!"

After the two of them got a good laugh out of it, Bella got serious again. "I'm sorry we left earlier today. It was a long night for us both and it was really hard. We are happy for you both. She's so, so cute!"

"I love her. I didn't think it was possible for me to love someone more than Jasper but it's true. She's my entire world now."

After playing with the corner of Olivia's blanket, Bella took a deep breath and decided to confide in the only sister she'd ever had. "Edward and I...we're trying to...to have another baby."

Alice looked at her with shock for a minute before smiling to the point that Bella could almost see all of her teeth. Just then, the guys came back, drinks in hand. Jasper handed Alice a milky looking smoothie and to Bella's surprise, Edward gave her the same thing. The husbands each had a soda. "Hey, no fair!" Bella protested, jokingly.

"Jazz thought it would be for the best. It's supposed to be good for you."

"I think it would be good for your body too there, Mr. Cullen," Bella said raising an eyebrow as if to ask 'What the hell are you up to?'

She watched as Jasper set his soda down on the small table by his wife while giving Edward a knowing look. He fucking told Jasper!

"Edward Anthony Cullen! Did you tell Jasper that you are trying to get me pregnant?" She asked, rather astounded.

Alice burst into a fit of giggles as Jasper looked back and for between them. Obviously she picked up on the same thing Bella had—neither guy knew that Bella had told Alice also. "What the hell is so funny, Alice?" Edward asked, totally amused.

"Baby over here, Mr. Potty-mouth!" Bella scolded him with a smile. He smiled at her before apologizing to Olivia and rubbing her little cheek with his thumb.

"Sorry, Edward," Alice put in, "Bella told me not to tell anyone and that you didn't want everyone to know." Then as if realizing what she'd just told him she added, "I guess I also wasn't supposed to tell you I know..."

"Oh, I see," he said playfully, "you can tell whoever you want but I need to keep it a secret. That's not very fair, Mrs. Cullen."

"You can punish me later," she said in response. Her face turned bright red when she realized what was said. Alice and Jasper were both trying not to laugh and her husband was looking at her like he didn't know what to say. She knew his family didn't have any idea what she'd actually just implied. She also knew that her husband would love to take her up on that offer. Wondering if she could actually give that to him, she began to feel guilty for teasing him that way. Alice and Jasper seemed to notice the tension and she heard them talking about bottles or something else non-threatening.

Edward walked over to her and sat down on the corner of the bed. He whispered into her ear, "Don't tempt me, Isabella," before winking at her to let her know he was joking and whispering again, "I won't do anything until you are one hundred percent ready."

Bella handed him his little niece and smiled as he mouthed a silent, "I love you," before looking down at the baby. Feelings of love for this man overwhelmed her and she wanted to leap into his arms and make love to him right there in that cold, white hospital room. Although, that would be traumatizing for his sister and the new addition to the family. She suspected it wouldn't be too, too much for Jazz...she knew the poor guy walked in on them more than once in college, though she was sure he still wouldn't appreciate it.

With Olivia now in Edward's arms, she remembered what she had for them. Jumping up she said, "Oh, and I brought something for you!" Grabbing the diaper bag she'd brought in with her, she pulled out the white afghan and brought it over to Alice. "I know how hard you worked on this and I wanted to give you something special. Our son never got to use it and I don't know that we'll ever have another one who will have the chance, either. So, consider this the only gift Edward Jr. can give to his little cousin, Olivia."

She said it through tears and a smile. Alice was returning a response with the same look. "Bells, I love it. Thank you so, so much. If you two ever give baby Livy another little cousin, we'll be happy to gift it back to you. I love you guys!"

About a mile away from his parents, Edward reached for her hand and said, "That was really nice of you. I'm glad baby Livy will get to use it."

"I guess I've realized that I can't keep holding onto these things forever. I have what I need from him. It's all in the diaper bag. The rest can be given away."

"Oh, okay."

"What?" she asked, hearing the mixed emotions in his voice.

"I just, I know we aren't getting our hopes up. That was my idea, I get it, but what if we do have another baby? I mean, I don't mind buying everything all over again but we spent so much time picking everything out and getting things ready I'd hate to just pull it all apart and give it to someone else. Bella, I'm not ready to give up those things yet. I know that it's been a long time but I don't know..."

"It's okay if you want to keep it," Bella reassured him, rubbing the top of his hand with her index finger, "I just want the things that I took to be close to us at the apartment. We don't have to give everything away."

He smiled at her and pulled onto the road that would lead up to his childhood home. "Someday I might be able to but not yet."

When they got to the house, Bella was surprised to see the Whitlocks in the kitchen with Esme and Carlisle. Esme's face lit up when she walked in and gave her a big hug. Molly Whitlock followed soon, "Oh, sweet girl, it's so good gettn' to see ya! Been too, too long. Now, where is the handsome feller of yours?"

"He's right here, Molly," Edward said, coming up from behind and Molly reached out to include him in their hug.

"Oh, I've missed ya kid!" she gave him a kiss on the cheek before letting them go.

"Have you seen Livy yet?" Edward asked.

"No. We called Jazz about an hour ago to tell him we were comin' and he told us to wait being someone was there who needed to have some privacy with the little doll. Must have been someone mighty important!"

Bella smiled to herself that this wonderful friend of Edward's had thought to give them privacy over seeing his parents for the first time in months. She made a mental note to text Jasper a 'thank you'. "How long are you guys staying?"

"Oh, just til tomorra. I wanna to be here longer but Keith doesn' have any leave time left so we're shippin out in the mornin."

"You know, Edward, Kieth and I were just talkin' 'bout you and Jazz that first year of college..."

Bella took this as an opportunity to get some space while the two of them launched into college stories, well—edited versions of college stories, that she had heard a million times. Finding herself out on the back deck, she was glad she had a jacket on. She began to wonder why Rosalie and Emmett weren't there yet, so she sent Rose a text. After a few minutes, which is longer than normal for Rose, she finally got a response. A short, something's-definitely-up, response.

"Bella, are you okay?" Esme asked from behind her.

"Huh? Yeah...I'm fine. It's just been a long couple of days."

"Well, I wanted to come check on you. I know Edward was looking around nervously for you but is too polite to interrupt one of Molly's stories," Esme laughed.

"He worries too much. Really, I'm fine, just tired," after a few minutes of saying nothing to each other, Bella said, "I heard you heard about us trying again."

"Yeah. You know how he gets when he's frazzled, he just talks and talks. The boy has no filter."

"I know, right?" Bella laughed with her. "I just wanted to know, maybe what you thought...I mean...it's kind of soon..."

"I don't think it's that soon. I just want to make sure that it's what you both want."

"I do want this. I tried to tell myself I didn't for so long I almost believed it."

"Well, why don't you join us again? Dinner's almost ready. Carlisle's already carving the ham."

Dinner was delicious. Ham with pineapple, mash potatoes, sweet potatoes, macaroni salad, corn, and green beans covered the table. Everyone was talking, having a good time. Well, almost everyone. Bella noticed that when Emmett and Rosalie showed up, they came in separately and neither looked too happy. It was strange to see them fight. Rose usually said exactly how she felt and Emmett did the same in return. They would work things out and make peace quicker than any couple Bella had ever met.

Now, they were avoiding eye contact as they sat across the table from each other. Bella looked over at Edward and moved her eyes in the direction of his brother and sister-in-law as if to say 'what the hell?'

Edward shifted awkwardly in his seat before clearing his throat, "So, Em, what have you guys been up to today?"

"Not much. You?"

The response was so out of the ordinary for Emmett that everyone was looking at him now, except the Whitlocks, they didn't know Emmett as well as Edward. Before anyone could say anything, the doorbell rang and Esme looked out the window that looked over the driveway. "Oh dear..."

"Who is it, honey?" asked Carlisle, going to stand beside his wife.

"The Denali girls are here," Esme said, sounding half-confused, half-annoyed.

"I'll go see what they want," Rose jumped up, obviously eager to get out of the room.

What the hell is going on? Bella wondered. Looking over at Edward, she could see he wasn't comfortable and had put his fork down. He looked up at her and gave her a small smile. Minutes later, Carmen walked in behind Rosalie, carrying a large object covered in a big bag, probably so nothing would fall out on the way.

"Sorry to interrupt your dinner. We picked up a few things for the baby and wanted to drop it off."

"That's very thoughtful of you, Carmen. Thank you. We'll make sure Alice and Jasper get it," Carlisle said kindly.

"Thanks and it's not just me. Kate and I went shopping and Tanya wrapped everything while we were over at my dad's today. Tell Alice if she needs anything to let us know."

"Will do."

After they left, everyone went back to dinner, the presents forgotten about. Once dinner and desert were finished, Molly and Keith said their goodbyes and headed to the hospital. Rosalie and Emmett still weren't really talking. Things were starting to become awkward. Finally, Esme walked over and picked up the big basket. Pulling the bag from over top, she smiled and showed everyone. "Wow, they went all out!"

There were tons of baby items. Bottles, diapers, pacifiers, bottle liners, gift cards for Babies R Us, onesies, socks, baby bath products, and on top was a pink card. Esme picked it up to stick it in between the diapers so it wouldn't fall and made a strange sound when she revealed a blue envelope underneath it. "What's wrong, mom?" Emmett asked.

"Oh...um..." taking a deep breath, she walked over to Edward, her lips pursed. She looked at him as if she didn't know whether or not she should hand it over. Finally, she held it out, "It's for you."

Bella stood up and went around the table, looking over his should, she gasped. In beautiful, curvy handwriting the card was addressed to 'Uncle Edward'. He looked just as surprised and turned to her. "Do you want me to open it?"

"Might as well. I don't think they'd try to poison you. Besides, I'm curious," Bella said calmly but growing annoyed.

He opened the card envelope but there wasn't a card in there...it was a picture. He gasped, dropping both, and bringing his hand to his mouth. Leaning over to get a better look, Bella saw that it was a picture of Tanya and Edward. Judging from how young he looked, she would assume it was before they'd even met. It was taken outside of what looked like his aunt and uncle's in Forks. Edward had his arms around Tanya as they stood in front of two older looking men. Both of the men had a hand on Edward's shoulder and were laughing.

Before she could ask who they were, Esme was standing over them now, with tears in her eyes. "Oh my, God. This was the Fourth of July party. This was the last time we had everyone together before...before he died..."

Carlisle came over and gave a sad smile, followed by Emmett and Rosalie. Emmett reached down and picked it up. "I remember this being taken. They wanted a picture with you and you always have this weird aversion to pictures. So, you were standing their with Tanya and they walked up behind you, put their hands on your shoulder and bust out laughing. Aunt Liz took the picture. I was right behind her."

When Bella realized who these men must have been, she took a few steps back, feeling like an outsider. She couldn't believe how angry she felt—she was ashamed because of how angry she felt. Edward wasn't saying anything and she didn't know what to say about that, either. Rose, ever the person for bluntness said, "I can't believe she did this!"

Emmett turned to her, still holding the picture, "Rose! This is the last picture we have of either one of them. Both of them. In the same picture!"

"Why now, Emmett?" Rose practically yelled, "Why after all of this time did she decide to give it to him? I'm calling Carmen. I can't believe Tanya! Edward, you don't have to keep it...if you don't want it..."

"Rosalie! Come on! This is our grandparents for Christ's sake! He better keep it!"

"That's not your place, Emmett! How do you think Bella feels about that picture? That's not your decision to make!"

"Oh, of course it's not my decision to make! Nothing is ever my decision! The world revolves around you and what you want!"

Woah, this is so no longer about the stupid picture. Bella couldn't believe they were yelling at each other like this. As angry as she was with Tanya, she understood if Edward wanted to keep it. She could probably talk him into leaving it here at his parents. Edward stood up and walked out of the room, not even bothering to push his chair back in. Bella followed him as he made his way to his bedroom.

"Edward! Come on, talk to me!" Bella yelled through the door after he slammed it shut behind him.

There was silence for a few minutes and then he finally opened it. She walked in and sat down at his desk. "Interesting dinner..."

"Don't. I can't fucking believe she'd do this..."

"Do what? I'm really not understanding. This is typical, manipulative Tanya."

"She's never been this way with me. When my grandfather died, the first one that died, I asked her if she had any pictures of them. She was constantly taking pictures. She'd told me no. Obviously, she had this one and would rather use it to hurt you now then give it to me to display for the fucking funeral service then. How fucking sick is that?"

"Edward, I'm sorry..."

"Don't apologize. It's not your fault. I'm sorry."

"Don't you dare apologize either. Especially, don't apologize for her. She just wants to upset us. Let's just let it go."

"She's putting me in fucked up position!"

"No. She's not. I refuse to let you destroy that picture. That's family history and besides your terrible taste in women when it was taken, there are three very handsome men in that photo," she stood up and walked over to him, kissing his cheek. "Although, I don't exactly want it hung in our living room..."

He gave a small laugh and kissed her back before walking with her over to the bed. Once they were both seated, she put her legs over his lap and he hugged her. "I just can't believe she's doing this. Why can't she just let me go?"

"I can't say I blame her. You're pretty amazing, Mr. Cullen."

"Yeah, well she needs to realize there's already a very, very amazing and perfect Mrs. Cullen."

"Alice told me to show you off. She said it would piss her off more than anything."

"Why do I feel like she just declared war?"

"She didn't," Bella said, looking him right in the eyes, dead serious. "She just provoked me. I'm the one declaring war."

This was the Bella he'd wanted back since they'd lost their son. This was the Bella who fought for what she wanted know matter how stubborn she was being. His heart was beating hard in his chest. While it pissed him off that Tanya was the one who brought the fight back in her, he was glad she was getting back to her old self. He was just about to ask her what exactly 'war' meant in girl fight terms, he didn't want her to get hurt, when there was a knock on the door and it was pushed open.

"Rose just left...with my car...can you give me a ride home?" Emmett asked, kind of looking like a scared little kid.