A/N: Thank you so very much for your reviews and rec's and…well, everything. I love that you've taken to this story as you have, and if I could, I'd give you all a great big hug.
Scorpio11 – Thank you so much for your diligent beta-ing of this one. It makes it better, trust me!
These last few chapters take leaps of time, but Scorp has assured me that it's obvious so I didn't label them as such. Well, let's see how this whole social worker visit/blow-up at the pregnancy news thing works out.
SMeyer owns. I don't infringe.
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26.
##
When Bella finally got out of the office that Thursday, she was relieved. She was tired and craving a nap, but she felt good. The morning sickness she'd suffered when she carried Jake and Jared was nowhere to be found with the current pregnancy, and it made her very happy. All she wanted to do was go home, take a shower and maybe a fifteen minute power nap, and then cook dinner for her favorite men.
She walked into the house and saw Edward sitting at the table with a bottle of beer in front of him, untouched as best she could tell. The house was quiet, and it immediately worried her.
"Babe, what's up?" she asked, trying to sound lighthearted, but fearing that she'd failed miserably.
"Oh, God, it's a mess. The boys knew something was wrong, and I told them that you were pregnant, and now they've decided that we're going to ship them off like Sam did when Emily and he had their kids. I was trying to assure them that wasn't going to happen when Leslie showed up.
"She overheard our conversation, and she left. Bella, nobody's going to let me adopt those boys, and hell, at this point, I don't' think they even want me as their dad. I don't know what the hell to do," Edward told her with pain in his voice.
Without wasting time, she ran up the stairs and opened Jared's and Jacob's doors without knocking. "Get your asses downstairs right now," she ordered. She ran back down the stairs as best she could with the brace on her ankle, and when she arrived in the kitchen, she grabbed Edward's face, kissing him soundly on the mouth.
"We're not doing this. Sometimes, it takes a little bit of tough love. You did nothing wrong, and I'll call Leslie later," she told him as she went to the freezer and pulled out a lasagna that she'd made over the weekend. She turned on the oven and waited. When Jacob and Jared ambled into the kitchen looking red-eyed, she knew exactly what needed to happen, and she was loaded for bear.
Once her family was seated in the kitchen, she stood at the counter and looked at the three of them, thinking that she'd never seen sadder faces in her life. "I'm not exactly sure why you three are so sad. We're going to have a baby in the house. Shouldn't that be a happy occasion? I mean, I know that it'll be loud and there will be lost sleep, but your dad and I will take care of that, so what's wrong with you two?" Bella asked looking pointedly at her sons.
She saw them look at each other, and once again, Jared was the spokesman. "When Dad…Sam…and Emily had Leah, he didn't give a shi…care about us."
"Yeah, that was a shitty thing to do. I don't get it, but it's exactly what he did. So?" she asked, not willing to let them off the hook. She wanted all of the bitterness and bullshit on the table, and she wouldn't stop until she got it.
"So? Isn't that what you do? You have another family and leave behind the last one?" Jacob asked as he teared up.
She took a deep breath, but before she could say a word, Edward slammed his hand on the table to get everyone's attention. "Are you fucking kidding me? Do you really think that we'd do that? God, what have we done that would ever make you think that we'd abandon you?
"You are part of my family, do you hear me? I do not care if your mother has a boy or a girl or a gerbil, okay? You're my sons, well, if that social worker doesn't fuck with it, but even if she does, I don't care. You're my sons. I didn't make you, but you came into my life, and I fell in love with you.
"You two, God, I can't tell you how much you mean to me. The times we spend together and the times we're going to spend together mean more to me than anything, and I can tell you that any brother or sister that comes along in this house won't change that. I don't know what more…" Edward trailed off as he looked at Bella because he couldn't make his case any longer.
"I think you owe your dad an apology for doubting him. I know that Sam was a crappy father, but there comes a time, and you are thirteen so I know you can understand this, when you have to have a little bit of faith in the people who love you. I know, Edward's only been in our life for a few years, but think about this…has he or has he not shown you that he wants to be there for you?" she asked.
She saw them both nod, and that was all she needed. "Then apologize, go get your laundry, and I'll cook you dinner. We're not going to do this crap in our house, okay? Other people do this, but we're not going to give doubt a home here. We love each other, and that's all there is to it. Accept it, and get used to it," she announced with finality as she turned from the room and washed her hands.
When she glanced behind her, she saw exactly what she wanted to see. Edward hugging each of the boys and reminding them that he loved them. Maybe the baby news was unexpected, but she felt that they'd handled it well, and she was prepared to take them to the therapist to talk about their fears, because God and Bella knew they had them, but at the end of the day, they were a family.
##
"You know, with a sister, we're screwed because we're going to be expected to make sure that guys like us don't come around her," Jared told Jacob as the two stood at the nursery window with Ted and Liza, looking in at their little sister. Their mom had gone into labor on New Year's Eve, but the baby hadn't been born until late in the day on New Year's. Thankfully, the whole family had been at Carlisle and Esme's, so when Edward took her to the hospital, there was a lot of family around to assure Jacob and Jared that everything was going to be fine.
"She's as pretty as your mom," they heard behind them, turning to see Charlie Swan standing there looking in the nursery window.
"Yeah, that's gonna be a problem," Jared announced as he studied his little sister with her dark hair and scrunched up face.
"Why's she cryin'?" he asked as they watched the nurse making the rounds in the nursery.
"She's probably hungry. They'll take care of her. Should we go see your mom?" Liza asked as she hugged the two of them around the waist. They towered over her, but they knew that she was as much of a grandmother to them as Renee. When they'd finally been able to go to Chicago to spend time with the Masens, they'd had a great time. They had a great family, and they were both grateful for each member.
Just then, Edward walked up and threw his arms around their shoulders, though it wasn't easy. Jacob was taller than him, and Jared wasn't far behind, but they both knew that he loved them. "She's gorgeous, isn't she? I need your help. Your mother is bound and determined to name her something that begins with a 'J', and she's set on Josephine. I'm trying to talk her out of it, but she won't hear it. I need reinforcements," he announced proudly.
"God, does she not understand that by the time she gets to school we'll be in high school, and we can't keep the other kids from beating her ass. Josephine? Seriously?" Jacob announced.
"See, that's why I need you guys. Come on," Edward called as he began steering the herd down the hallway to Bella's room.
When they walked in, they were all surprised to see Alice and Jasper standing by the bed. "Jazz, when did you get here?" Edward asked.
"About five minutes ago. Alice called me last night to wish me a Happy New Year, and she mentioned that Bella was in labor. I couldn't miss the opportunity to see you with your third kid at all of twenty-seven," Jasper teased.
Edward hugged him, and then the energy in the room exploded with love as the large family filed in. He sat down in a chair next to the bed and nodded to the boys to make their case for the name of their little sister, and they didn't hesitate.
"Ma, you can't name her Josephine. My God, do you know how much shit she'll get about it? How about Gabriella? That's a pretty name?" Jared offered. He and Jared had looked up names on the internet after they'd found out the baby was going to be a girl, and they were convinced that the name should be unique, just like their sister.
She was the product of a man who'd embraced their family as his own, and they felt that the baby's name should reflect how unique their family was.
"How about Lisa? That's a good name," Jacob offered as the family stood around the bed and looked at each other.
"Lisa? Lisa? I like it, actually. What about a middle name?" Bella asked as she squirmed a bit in the bed.
"Lisa Marie," Edward offered, seeing her frown.
"Like Presley? Lisa Marie Presley? I don't think so," she replied.
Everyone laughed, and then Bella offered, "How about Charlotte?" The large family looked at each other, and everyone smiled.
"Hey, we can call her Charlie…you know, like Pop," Jared suggested, earning him a laugh from the crowd.
"Don't call my baby girl Charlie," Bella chastised.
"Now, I think that's cute. Um, how about Antoinette for the middle name?" Edward asked as he looked at Bella and then the boys.
Everyone nodded in agreement, and late that New Year's day, Charlotte Antoinette Masen was welcomed by her brothers, mother and father, both sets of grandparents, aunt and uncle, cousin, and her father's best friend…that was until the nurse, Jillian, came into the room and ran everyone out except for Edward.
As he held his daughter for the first time, he smiled. "Well, little girl, you're going to have a tough time ever meeting a boy to fall in love with because if I don't head them off at the pass, you've got two big brothers who will," he whispered, kissing her forehead.
He didn't have to be a prophet to predict that even though the boys had taken the news badly in the beginning, standing in that hospital room earlier, before they went home with Alice, they fell in love with her just as he'd fallen in love with them.
##
"Where's Dad?" Jacob asked Jared over the phone. Jacob Masen had had a very bad day. He was on his way home from his much-hated job at Newton's Outfitters when he'd been rear-ended in his mother's SUV. He knew there'd be hell to pay, but it wasn't his fault. He knew calling his mother was useless because she'd only worry, and Edward, his adopted father of three years, had a much more level head.
Jacob Charles Masen was sixteen years old, just like his brother, Jared Samuel Masen. It had been five years since the wedding, and three years since their little sister had been born, and while the family had their ups and downs, they'd weathered them together. The boys loved their dad, as they referred to Edward, and the man who had sired them had never called once about them since the day he'd called to cancel a summer visit when their mother first met Edward.
They'd endured several years of therapy to help them deal with Sam's abandonment, but both boys would agree that Edward Masen had been more of a father to them in the nearly six years that they'd known him than Sam Uley had been in the eleven years prior. Edward had instilled fair discipline with a loving hand, and they both knew that he'd been a godsend to them, their sister, and their mother. Without him, the boys always speculated about how different their lives would be.
"Dumbass, he's in Portland. What happened? I'm sittin' here waiting for you to pick me up," Jared complained. They were supposed to go to an end-of-school-year party at First Beach, which they hadn't been to in years, and Jared was anxious to get on the road.
"Remember Vanessa Vaughn? Yeah, she rear ended me at the stoplight. We're both sitting here not sure what the hell to do, and I guess since Dad's gone, I better call Mom," Jacob announced.
"Call Pop. He's workin' today. I'll call Dad and ask him what to do. Was Kim with her?" Jared asked. The Vaughn family had moved off of Bennett Circle years earlier, and with the move came a new school district for the girls.
The Masen boys didn't see them very often, but the opportunity to catch up with them, no matter how sketchy it was, gave Jared hope. He'd always had a thing for Kim Vaughn, regardless of how many other young ladies had caught his eye, and if she was still available, he'd make the drive across town to date her…well, if the car was still drivable.
"No, Kim's not here. I'll talk to ya later," Jacob told his brother as he hung up.
Jared hit the speed dial to call Edward, knowing that the last thing his father wanted to hear was that there had been an accident, but it was much better to talk to him than their mother, who was due home from work any moment after she picked up his sister, Charlie, from daycare.
"Hey, Jare. What's going on?" Edward answered.
"Well, Jake had a wreck. It wasn't his fault. Somebody hit him in the backend of Mom's SUV. They're still at the scene, and he's okay, but what should he do? I told him to call Pop," Jared explained, waiting for guidance.
"Shit. Yeah, have him call Pop, and I'll be home tonight. Is he okay, really?" Edward asked.
"He says he is. We were supposed to go to the party at First Beach. Mom and Charlie are due home any minute, and you know she's gonna freak out when she hears," Jared reminded.
"Get your shit together and get out of there before she gets home because you can't lie worth a damn. The last thing your mother needs is to worry about a wreck, what with me being out of town. Go to Mack and Rosalie's if they're home, and I'll call them to give you a ride. If the car isn't drivable, have it towed to Clancy's Garage, and tell Rosalie that I'll take care of it when I get home. Just get out of there before Mom gets home," Edward told him.
"Got it. Love you," Jared called over the line.
"Love you too. I'll see you tonight. You still have a curfew. I'll pick you guys up at First Beach at 11:30, okay?" Edward asked.
"Okay," Jared responded as he hung up.
He ran upstairs and changed into board shorts because there was a big swell coming in, and he and Jacob had learned how to surf during the family's annual trek to Hawaii where they'd all gone on the honeymoon together.
It was all he wanted to do that evening, and if his brother was okay, he intended to hit the waves. It was something that calmed him, and he knew that his brother enjoyed it, too, so he went to Jacob's bedroom and grabbed his trunks as well. With their dad coming home, he knew things would be okay.
##
"Bree, I'm leaving you in charge of this. My son had an accident this afternoon, and I need to get home and deal with it. I'll be available by phone, but if you're looking to shine and get promoted, it's your shot," Edward told Bree Tanner as he gathered his things to leave.
He'd been promoted to partner in the advertising firm, and they were on-site, preparing a campaign for a software company that offered a new gaming system. Edward only understood about half of the game, but that didn't mean that he hadn't drawn out a strategy for the campaign. Bree Tanner was his go-to person on the project, and he felt as though he was leaving the team in capable hands.
She nodded with a smile, and Edward knew things would be under control. He made his way to the airport and flew into Port Angeles. From there, he grabbed a cab because he didn't want to call his wife, and he arrived home about an hour later. He saw his Mercedes in the driveway, but no sign of the SUV, which he hoped was a good thing because it meant that Bella probably didn't know about the accident.
"Babe? I'm home," he called. He knew that if she knew about the accident, she'd be a worried mess, but if there was nothing wrong with Jacob, he didn't want to alarm her. She was just back to work full-time, and she'd gone through hell when she first started taking Charlie to daycare, so he didn't want anything else to upset her.
Of late, Bella had been more emotional than he'd ever seen her in all the time they'd been together. When Alice told the family that she had planned to stay in Seattle after her graduation, Bella had cried for days, which made no sense to him.
Everyone in the family had speculated that Alice's job prospects would be limited in Forks and that she'd probably have to stay in Seattle for a job in her field, but Bella seemed to take it harder than Esme. He didn't know why, and when he asked her about it, all she did was sob. He hadn't raised the subject again.
Oh, and he didn't bring up anything that touched on the fact that she was going to be thirty-six because he knew that her age was a touchy subject. He would be thirty in June, but he knew that the age thing was always a problem for her.
When the boys had passed their driving tests two weeks' prior, she'd cried for days. When their daughter, Charlie, had started daycare after preschool let out for the summer, Bella had cried for hours. He didn't want to relive those incidents.
"What are you doing home?" Bella asked as she skirted down the stairs with a huge smile on her face.
"I ducked early. Bree is going to handle the pitch. She wants to be promoted so she needs to do more of them, and I want her to do it without me there. How's my wife?" he asked as he looked at her closely. He could tell she hadn't been sleeping well, based on the dark circles under her eyes, and she appeared to have lost weight, not that she could afford to. Bella Masen wasn't as big as a minute, and no one knew it better than her husband.
She'd had a virus before he left, and he felt like shit that he wasn't here to take care of her, but he wanted his firm to land the campaign, so when she'd assured him that she'd be in capable hands, he'd flown to Portland and poured his heart into the job. Had it not been for Jacob's accident, he'd have made the pitch himself, but he had faith in Bree Tanner…and crossed fingers.
"I'm fine. I actually had lunch with Carlisle today. We went to the diner and had burgers," she teased. She knew how much he loved the burgers at the diner because they were cooked on the seasoned flattop, and Edward swore that there were no better burgers in town.
"That's just mean to rub it in," he told her as he swept her into a hug, feeling her body against his for the first time in four days. He'd missed her very much, and holding her meant more to him than he'd ever imagined when he thought back over the years before he had her.
Edward heard Bella say something to him, but he wasn't sure what it was because he'd been reminiscing, so he only smiled because telling his wife that he wasn't listening to her was akin to poking a bobcat.
"That's great. So, um I have a bit of news," he announced, sort of feeling her out. When he saw her laughing, he had no idea what to make of it.
"What the hell is so funny?" he asked.
"Oh, it can wait. What's on your mind?" she asked with a smile on her face. He knew that when he told her about the accident, the smile would fade, but he wanted to see it for about thirty more seconds.
"Where's Charlie?" he asked as he looked behind her for the little girl who owned all of the men in the family. She had her mother's hair, and her father's eyes, and she was spoiled rotten.
It wasn't just Edward who spoiled her. Her brothers succumbed to her every whim, right along with her grandfathers and her uncle, Carlisle. Esme laughed at the situation, telling him that he was getting it all back because he'd been spoiled when he was young, but he didn't remember pitching the tantrums that his daughter pitched when she didn't get her way.
"Carlisle took her over to their house for a while. Alice called and said that she has a surprise and she's driving out this evening, so we're supposed to go over for dinner. I guess the boys are at their school party," Bella told him.
He kissed her gently, and confirmed, "I love you, Bella," before he embarked on the bad news.
"Edward, just tell me what's going on," she demanded. Yeah, she wasn't stupid by any stretch of the imagination.
"Well, Jake's okay, but he was rear-ended today. Remember Vanessa Vaughn? She rear-ended your car while Jake was driving. He's fine, trust me, but your car is fucked up. We'll get it fixed, but it wasn't his fault," Edward explained nervously.
When she began laughing hysterically, he wasn't exactly sure that she hadn't snapped. For her to laugh wasn't exactly what he'd expected so he waited for her to calm down, certain that she was in shock. After all, their son had been in an accident, and even though he'd assured her that Jacob was fine, Edward was certain that she didn't believe him. She was the type of person who wouldn't believe it until she saw him for herself.
"Like you said, the boys are at the party at First Beach, but we can go down there if you want to see them," he offered.
"You know, I love you with all my heart, but a lot of the time, you remind me of my dad. You half-ass listen to what I say, and you just nod and smile," Bella informed as she went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water, sitting down at the table with a smug smile on her face.
Edward was trying to figure out what she'd said that he'd missed, but for the life of him, he had no idea. "I'm not that bad. Our son was in an accident this afternoon, and I was worried about how you'd take it. Maybe I missed something, but I don't think it was that important because if it was, you'd have told me again," he replied defensively.
"Okay. We'll see," she tossed out as she went upstairs leaving him to mull over the conversation in his mind. After several minutes of coming up empty, he grabbed his suitcase and followed her upstairs to change, feeling quite happy that she hadn't overreacted to the news of the accident. It was a huge relief.
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E/N: Can't wait to hear your thoughts! I know that a lot will happen in each chapter, and I hope you're not disappointed. Just a few more and the epi left, so I wanna make sure we're all happy about it.
Thanks so much for reading.
Till next time…xoxo