I'm seriously having major issues with the plot line on this. I know what I want to do, but I just can't freaking get it there. At least, not the way I like. So bear with me until I get back into the groove.

Thought I'd answer a couple questions here instead of responding individually: first, E & B can't do anything with the tape, etc because it's been handed over to the police. I'm not a cop, but I have a few friends who are and it's my understanding that once evidence is in their possession, you can't get it back so E & B wouldn't be able to release anything to the press themselves; second, Edward may have requested that Victoria be given some sort of plea bargain when the police spoke to her, but it didn't actually mean that they had her in custody. I reread the chapter to make sure I didn't contradict myself, LOL. She's still out there...

Timeline--this chapter starts a few days after the last chapter left off and then fast-forwards a few weeks. By doing this, we get LEMONS back :) Thought that might make some of you happy...in fact, there's one in this chapter.

I tried to keep the lightness/family life mixed with the angst like I did in Summer Nights and so of course, I'm second guessing myself. As always, let me know what you think cause I appreciate it all!

Chapter 26

Bella

Isaac's wail came through the monitor I had on the kitchen counter, making Claire gasp from her highchair.

"Baby wake!" she said happily.

"He sure is, sweetie." I brought over her breakfast and sat in on the tray. "I'll be right back, okay?"

"Kay," she said, distracted by the food in front of her.

I started toward the bedroom and ran into Esme on the way. "You can hear him from all the way upstairs," she said with a laugh. "He's so much like Emmett."

"It's a scary thing, those genetics," I teased.

I went into our bedroom and scooped him up. I rested him on my shoulder and stared down at the cradle where Will was still sleeping with a frown. "I have no idea how you didn't wake him," I murmured.

"He sleeps like the dead," Edward commented as he came out of the bathroom.

He was dressed in khaki cargo shorts, a light blue short-sleeved polo, and had these strange looking shoes on.

My brows knit as I shifted Isaac in my arms. "Where are you going?"

"Well," he answered, "I thought I'd take advantage of the fact that my parents decided to stay a few extra weeks and take those sailing lessons Emmett and Rosalie bought me." He crossed the room and took Isaac from me and spoke to him. "I didn't want to leave two three-week-olds and a not quite two-year-old on your mother without some help."

"His mother appreciates that," I said with a grin.

"I figured you would. So listen, I'll be back this afternoon and then Felix should be here sometime after dinner."

I nodded. "Good. I'll feel better whenever he gets here."

"So will I." He kissed the top of Isaac's head and handed him back to me. "Wish me luck."

"Luck," I told him, standing on my toes to give him a kiss.

He yanked me against him and took my mouth roughly, somehow still managing to keep from jostling Isaac or smashing him in between us. He kissed me blind, not letting me go until he heard the moan escape my throat.

He pulled away and grinned cockily. "That ought to last me a while."

I looked down at Isaac with a frown. "Your daddy's mean."

Edward chuckled as he walked out of the room but said nothing in return. I got Isaac back to sleep and then went back into the kitchen to check on Claire. Jasper was cleaning her up while Alice stood bleary-eyed at the counter eyeing the coffee pot. Jasper noticed my presence and immediately shook his head, silently telling me Alice was in rare form--again.

I walked over to her and placed a quick kiss on her cheek, hoping to help lift her mood a little. I merely got a glare in return.

I laughed. "What's the matter now?"

"I slept like shit. Again." I gave her a pointed look. "Oops. Sorry, Claire. Aunt Ali meant to say poo." She looked back at me. "Poo's okay, right?"

"Right. Why aren't you sleeping?"

She shrugged. "Can't get comfortable. The baby's already pushing on my sciatic." Her eyes glimmered. "And it's only going to get worse."

"You should buy one of those body pillows when you get back home tomorrow. They're great. You can borrow mine tonight to see if it helps," I said comfortingly.

"You're not using it?" she asked hopefully.

"Not anymore, I'm not."

"Oh, thank God," she breathed in relief. "Where is it?"

"In my closet," I responded as I got an apple out of the bowl.

"I'm going to take a nap," she said, rushing out of the room before anyone could respond.

I knit my brows. "How long's she been like that?" I asked Jasper.

"All freaking week," he grumbled.

"All fweakin' week!" Claire repeated.

"Don't say that, CiCi," he said with a grin. "You're too little to say things like that."

"Cayre go pway now, Uncle Yazz. Yazz pway too?"

"I'll be right there. Why don't you see what Nana and Poppy are up to."

He sat her down and waited until she was out of the room before speaking. "What can I do for her?" he asked, referring to Alice. "I feel so helpless."

"Have you given her a massage yet? Those always helped me," I said around the bite of apple I'd taken.

"I've tried, but she doesn't want me touching her." He chuckled bleakly. "She thinks that I'm trying to have sex with her and she wants none of that."

I bit my lip. "I'm sorry."

"You and me both, Bells." He pushed his dirty blond hair off his forehead. "I swear the last time we had sex was when that baby was conceived."

I blushed and looked away. "Again. Sorry."

He laughed at my reaction. "Don't get all shy on me now. I think when we get back to Seattle I'm going to talk to a urologist," he said quietly.

My eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

He nodded. "You and Edward were made for the big family. I don't think that's for me and Al. Not after what I've seen so far. She's moody, bitchy, uncomfortable. I don't want to put her through that again."

"No, I guess not," I replied. "Have you talked to her about it?"

"A little. She thinks I'm being irrational. Oh, and I'm an asshole for implying she's anything other than angelic."

I giggled. "She said that?"

He grinned back. "Not in those words, but..."

I went over to him and wrapped my arms around his waist. "Don't do anything you'll regret. Once you meet that baby, you might change your mind."

He gave me a brotherly squeeze in return. "I doubt it. We didn't plan this baby. And while I'm excited about it, I can't help but think now that if it had never happened for us, I wouldn't be disappointed. Because I get my fix by being with your kids. I honestly think one is enough for me."

"What about Alice? What does she think?"

"She's not sure, but I think she'll agree with me once she goes through labor," he said with a wry grin.

"You never know," I said with a smile. "We women can block out pain like you wouldn't believe. All that I went through with Isaac and Will? Like it never happened. I only have a vague memory of the pain. I know it hurt, but I don't remember the feel of it. It's like nature's way of making sure the species procreates. If we remembered everything, we'd never do it again and would convince everyone around us not to go through with it either."

He laughed. "So you're telling me I'm SOL."

"Yeah," I said with a nod. "That's exactly what I'm telling you. Buck up, cowboy."

The rest of the day I spent doing mundane chores around the house in between feedings. I worked on laundry so that the washer and dryer were free so that Esme could work on hers and Carlisle's. I did dishes, I dusted and vacuumed. And quickly realized how big the house was. I was sweating before I even got to the basement.

It was already four, and Edward still wasn't back. I needed something to keep me occupied, so that I didn't deliberately stare out the window, waiting to see Edward's SUV pull into the driveway, and decided to empty the dishwasher. I was almost finished when I heard a loud bang, followed by Claire's cry of pain.

I raced into the living room to see everyone huddled around her. "What happened?" I asked worriedly.

"She was dancing around and slipped. She hit her head on the corner of the coffee table," Jasper answered.

"Mommy!" she wailed.

I reached out and took her from Esme, only to nearly black out when I caught sight of the blood dripping down her ear. "Oh, God," I said, swallowing thickly.

"Does Edward have anything here to stitch her up?" Carlisle asked. "She got her ear pretty good."

I blinked in the shock that seemed to have taken the place of the nausea. "Yeah, in the bathroom in our bedroom. He keeps a bag full of stuff."

Carlisle nodded and left the room to retrieve the bag.

I took Claire into the kitchen and sat with her at the table. I rocked her and soothed her, letting her rest her head on my chest and tried not to look down at the gash that ran across the middle of her ear. Carlisle came in the room and put Edward's bag on the table, gathering the supplies he needed and wasting no time prepping Claire's ear.

As soon as he injected the needle into her ear, my stomach rolled and she screamed.

"What the hell is going on?" Edward asked heatedly as he walked over to us.

We hadn't even heard him come in with Claire's screams.

She was now whimpering in my arms while Carlisle let the medicine take effect. "She fell and now she's got to have stitches." I felt a tear roll down my cheek.

"Damn it," he whispered as he examined her ear.

"Would you like to do it instead?" Carlisle asked him.

Edward shook his head. "No. I've had a bad enough day. Having to suture a lac on my daughter's ear would just put the cherry on top of the shit sundae."

"What?" I asked in concern.

"Has anyone been out of the house today?" I shook my head mutely. "Well, don't. They followed me around all day. I didn't get a fu-" He stopped himself as he registered Claire's presence. "I didn't get a moment's peace today." He took a sharp breath. "I'll be downstairs. Let me know when you're finished."

He left the room before I had a chance to speak.

"She should be numb now," Carlisle said quietly. "Ready?"

"No," I said honestly, but knew I had to be.

Carlisle worked quickly on Claire's ear, meticulously closing the wound with a total of nine sutures since it was so deep. Claire's ear was completely numb--so numb that while Carlisle worked on her ear, she almost fell asleep from the emotional drain of the situation.

When he was finished, he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her nose. "Poppy's sorry I had to hurt you. We're all done now though. Can I take you so that Mommy can go talk to Daddy?"

She shook her head and took in a shuddering breath.

"It's okay. I'll take her downstairs. I don't have time to argue with her. The boys need to be fed again soon."

Carlisle nodded and started cleaning up. I adjusted Claire in my arms and went downstairs to find Edward. He wasn't hard to find. All I had to do was follow the sound of the basketball being punched into the ground relentlessly.

I went to the half-court and waited until he threw the ball at the goal. His shirt was off and he was already slick with sweat. Even with all the leftover anxiety from Claire's injury, it didn't escape me how hot he looked.

"What did the ball do to you?" I asked playfully.

He grunted and shot the ball again.

I sighed. "Edward."

"Bella."

I ground my teeth in frustration. "Fine."

I started to walk away but was stopped by his hand on my shoulder. "Wait."

"Are we going to keep this one-word conversation going or are you going to actually talk to me?" I asked hotly.

He groaned and then shoved whatever was bothering him away. "How's she doing?"

"Tired."

Claire yawned on cue.

"Does your ear hurt, baby?" Edward asked her softly. She nodded against me. "I'm sorry," he told her, brushing her hair away from her face.

Claire reached out for Edward. "Daddy."

"Daddy's all sweaty." Claire reached out for him more insistently. "Come here," he murmured, taking her from me.

"So?" I prompted.

"Apparently the press has done a little research on our situation. Found out that there are in fact charges against Laurent, but couldn't get anything else. Since they couldn't get a statement from the police, they decided to try us. You should see it, Bella. There are all kinds of cars camped out at the bottom of the driveway and there's nothing I can do about it because it's technically public property--the easement the county has on each side of the road allows them to park there. But at least they can't go past the gate. I got fifty feet down the road and they all hopped in their cars and followed me. It took three hours to get through a one hour long sailing lesson because of all the shouting. When we went out into the bay, there were even a few photographers who hopped on boats and followed us. I told the guy that I wouldn't come back for the rest of the lessons until this was over."

A light flashed in his eyes. "You liked your lesson."

"Yeah," he said, smiling excitedly. "It'll have to wait though. At least until they find Laurent."

I walked into the bonus room and flopped down onto the couch. "Maybe I should finish this book and then quit writing." I didn't know what possessed me to say that.

"What?" he barked. "Why would you do something like that?"

"It's not worth all this. It's not worth being hounded by the press when something happens in our life. I don't want it. Not like this," I explained. It left me feeling empty to admit it, but my family was more important than my career any day.

"No," he said harshly. "You won't give up what you've worked so hard for."

"But-"

"NO," he repeated, cutting me off. "Writing makes you happy. We'll figure this out."

"How?" I asked miserably.

"We'll think of something."

Edward

I pulled the curtain back and peered out into the front yard. It seemed quiet, tranquil, but I knew better. Beyond the line of trees at the edge of our property were the throngs of photographers and reporters waiting for one of us to make a move. They stood outside the gate with their cameras, sat inside their vehicles, just waiting for us to pull out of the drive so they could get a clear shot of one of the Cullen's. Because Laurent Manet had managed to ruin our lives in the blink of an eye.

The phone rang again, and we studiously ignored it. No one we knew dared to call the landline anymore, instead opting to call our cell phones to speak to us. The click of the answering machine sounded through the room before the eager chirping of yet another reporter's voice followed it.

For three weeks, we'd been held prisoner in our own home. Each week, a new photo was released by an anonymous source to the most popular tabloids in the country, feeding the frenzy. Pictures I hadn't know existed suddenly graced the covers of numerous publications and websites. After that first day at the pier, things had gradually escalated to where we were now. Our lives had been reduced to entertaining the public. We were everywhere: on the news, in magazines, in the paper. There was speculation, interviews with former coworkers in Seattle, spouting off lies and whatever else they thought would make them famous or earn them money. Bella hadn't even been able to go to her doctor's appointment earlier in the week without needing Felix to barrel their way through the crowd.

The police had no leads on where Laurent or Victoria were, and at this point, they were assuming Victoria was either working with Laurent, or she was dead.

I was assuming it was the latter.

A noise sounded behind me and I saw Bella walking with Isaac cradled in her arm while she led Claire to the bathroom. Life went on, regardless of what was happening to us. Alice and Jasper went back home and announced they were having a boy, Emmett dutifully went to training camp in Chicago. My parents tried to fix the situation with the press by releasing a statement from the foundation after the incident at the harbor, but that had only been a bandage--a quick fix. It gave us a few days of peace, but in time, they all came back, ruthlessly waiting for one of us to slip up.

Bella stayed busy with the kids. I helped, as much as possible, but at this point in their lives, I wasn't their sole caretaker like Bella was. I couldn't feed them unless Bella had already pumped, I wasn't the one Claire ran to when she needed coddling over her aching ear. Instead, I got to be the bad guy when I removed her stitches, making me feel even more closed off from them than I did before.

So, I did what I could. I cleaned the hell out of our house, went over security plans with Felix, and just thought--which was not exactly smart, given my personality.

Left alone to silently brood, I found ways to blame myself for the situation. For not realizing that Laurent was a nutjob when I worked with him at the foundation--because the fucking signs were there. For not saving James--even though I knew realistically, there was no saving a dead man. For not having a better plan when meeting Laurent that night. For letting him get the best of me and dropping my guard for a brief moment. Because that mistake let him get away. I let him get away.

I was pissed at myself for not having a way to remedy the insane amount of press that had been following this story without having Bella quit the job she loved so much--something I would never willingly let happen. I was pissed at the police and sheriff's department for not finding Laurent and for not giving the press anything to work with; they still refused to give statements and the few they had given were vague and uninformative. I'd given them all the evidence, and it was in their hands now. There was nothing I could do outside of searching for Laurent myself. And even though that idea was very enticing, I couldn't leave Bella and the kids exposed here--even if Felix and my parents were with them. Because if the crazy bastard came to the house, I needed to be able to protect my family while Felix searched the grounds for him. My father was in excellent shape, but he was no match for someone who'd lost all sense of self-preservation. Not only that, but my parents couldn't stay with us forever. We hadn't even gotten to have a retirement party for him--something Alice and I were determined to fix once this fiasco was all over.

I felt a warm hand clasp my shoulder. I glanced over to see Esme standing and staring out the window with me. "How much longer do you think it will be before they find someone else's family to torment?" I asked angrily.

She sighed sadly. "I wish I knew. It seems a bit excessive since you and Bella aren't big celebrities, but what do I know?"

"I feel the same way. Is it so boring in Hollywood that they have to hound an ER doctor and his wife?"

"Must be," she responded.

Felix came bursting through the front door with the same black haired reporter from the pier. "Look what I found climbing the tree out back and trying to get a view inside the house," he spat.

I closed my eyes and willed myself to stay calm. "Great." Maybe I should have the tree cut down...

He shoved the man so that he fell face first into the couch. His hands were cuffed behind his back. "What do you want me to do with the piece of shit?"

I stared down at the man who was meeting my stare unrepentantly and felt my lip curl back in disgust. "Call the cops. He was trespassing," I said stoically.

"Aw, come on! You can't press charges!" the man shouted. "I'm just doing my job!"

"And a lousy job it is," Esme scolded. "You should be ashamed of yourself, causing a good family to go into hiding over something so absurd."

The man shrugged. "It's not absurd. Golden Boy here got himself involved in a scandal. Whether it's true or not. We're just milking it for all it's worth before people get bored with him. It makes for good entertainment to watch the mighty fall. Everyone is interested in the good doctor because whether they admit it or not, they're jealous. He's got a gorgeous wife and family, he's successful, good looking, not to mention fucking loaded..." He gave Esme a wicked grin.

"How can you sleep at night knowing you torture people like this?" she yelled. I'd never seen my mother yell at someone other than Emmett. It was shocking.

"It pays the bills."

Felix put his cell phone back in his pocket and grinned at me. "Cops are on the way."

"Good," I stated.

The man groaned. "You're really going to press charges?" I merely nodded. "Damn, get the stick out of your ass, will ya? It's just a job!"

The line of control I'd been teetering around suddenly vanished. Furious with my life in general, I lashed out at the man. "Fuck you!" I roared, launching myself across the room in a blind rage.

I fully intended to hit the man, strangle him--cause him bodily harm of some kind--but was restrained by Felix before I got the chance. "Settle down, Cullen," he said lowly. "You'll only feed the fire. He can sue you if you hit him."

The man was smiling at me, silently daring me to do it. I shook Felix's hold and left the room. "You're not worth it, asshole," I muttered on my way out.

I went out to the back patio and sat still, keeping my face blank, because if Felix caught that guy, there was no telling who else was out there using a camera with a long range lense on the house. After a while, I heard a commotion inside the house and assumed the police had arrived and were making quick work removing our trespasser. I didn't bother getting up, instead, let Bella and Felix take care of the paperwork.

The back door opened, and Bella and Felix came outside together, laughing about something Claire did.

I gritted my teeth angrily at their ability to find joy in the whole fucked up situation, when I couldn't. I was miserable and it seemed to me there was no end in sight. I was seriously considering packing up the kids and moving somewhere obscure until this whole thing had blown over and Laurent had been caught. But that made me feel like a coward.

And I was not a fucking coward.

Felix sat down in the wicker chair across from me, steepling his fingers, while Bella sat next to me. "Intervention," Bella said lightly.

I glared at her. "What are you talking about?"

"Dude," Felix said casually. "You've got to lighten up. I know this situation sucks, but it won't last forever. You need to quit pouting and brooding at the window and live your life."

"What do you know about the situation?" I flung at him. "You're the security guard. And while I'm extremely grateful that you were able to leave your life back in Seattle behind to help us, it's not happening to you. You can still go out and do whatever you want. I can't."

"We can go out," Bella said calmly, infuriating me further. "Sure, it won't be the same. There will be people hiding in the bushes, following us and asking us questions when we walk down the street. They'll wait for us outside buildings, they'll follow us around in those stupid black cars they drive. But you and I both know, that we've spent a lot of time removing ourselves from the spotlight. When they catch Laurent, it'll all be over and we'll be able to get back to being normal. We just have to make it until then."

"Right," I scoffed. "This is never going to end."

Bella inclined her head at Felix, prompting him to silently get up and go back inside. She put her hand on my arm and waited for me to look at her before speaking. "This is never going to end because you've locked us up in the house. You're giving them nothing. When you give them something, even just the smallest opportunity for a picture, they back off."

"Then why don't you go out and see what happens?" I shot back.

Her chin trembled, but she stopped herself from crying. "Because after what happened Monday, I'm scared to go without you. You're strong and have this ability to handle what comes at you under extreme pressure. It's what makes you such a great ER doctor."

I exhaled sharply in frustration. "I'm not giving them what they want. I'm not living my life to entertain others. Damn it, Bella! We're nothing special. I'm a fucking doctor. You're a novelist. I don't know how many times I've said that! We mind our own business, and still, I can't get us away from this! I..." I glanced over at her, letting the agony that was inside me show for a brief moment. "I've failed you guys."

She crawled into my lap. She grabbed my face in her hands and looked down at me sternly. "This is not your fault and you know that. Why do you insist on blaming yourself all the time?"

I jerked my shoulders. "I don't." Her eyes burned with curiosity. "I know it's not my fault. But I can't help think about everything I should have done, could have done, to make this better for you and the kids. I promised to make you and the kids safe again, and I have no way of doing it. I've relinquished everything to the police and they're either sitting there with their fingers stuck up each other's asses or they are the worst cops I've ever dealt with because he's still out there. I can't set up an interview with anyone, because I'm just telling people what they've already heard. That we were blackmailed by an ex-employee and he's still on the loose. There's not really any immediate danger to us, and I look like a whiny asshole if I talk about it. I can't even prove my innocence in all this because I gave every scrap of proof to the cops!"

"You can't keep doing this to yourself." Her eyes swam. "God, I miss you. You mope around the house, barely having any contact with us, because you refuse to talk to me about any of this. You keep all of it inside and let it fester and destroy you because you think you're protecting me." She brought her forehead to mine as a lone tear fell down her cheek. "I just want you back. And I don't know what to do to get you to come back to me."

I wound my hands through her hair and brought her mouth to mine. I kissed her deeply, unable to care if we were being photographed or not. She was right, I'd distanced myself from them because I was so wrapped up in what was happening on the outside. Need bubbled up inside me as a strangled moan escaped my throat.

"I'm here," I whispered, dragging my mouth over her jaw. "I'll always be here."

She pressed herself into my dick, making me jump at the sensation. "I need you, " she whispered.

Her mouth crashed down on mine, releasing all that pent up longing and desire she had inside her. My mind warred with my heart and body. I needed Bella just as much; it had been far too long since I'd been with her, since we'd connected like this. But our house was full of people. The kids were awake, my parents and Felix were inside. Even though Bella had been given the 'all clear' a few days ago, I couldn't bring myself to do anything with everyone around. The timing felt all wrong.

"Bella, everyone's inside," I said, attempting to pull back. "We can't."

"Edward," she begged, almost sobbing and clinging to me tighter. "Please."

I let out a strange groan as I relented and stood up with her still wrapped around me. Her teeth scraped up my jaw, her tongue flicked at my ear, while I walked us down to the guest house. Felix was using the master bedroom, but no one was using the second bedroom--my destination.

I locked the door behind us and took her to the second bedroom, laying Bella down and stripping her clothes off of her. Her body was delightfully round, her breasts were full. She looked so beautiful underneath me, flushing as her desire burned through her and under my acute stare.

She hastily had my shirt unbuttoned and was pushing it down my arms while I let my tongue roam over her jaw, her neck, and her breasts. I licked between them just as Bella's soft fingers moved down the muscles in my abdomen, making me shiver and grow impossibly harder.

Every part of me ached for her. I throbbed with her touch and moaned with her taste. All barriers were gone, emotionally and physically. Our limbs entwined, and I pulled a hiss in between my teeth at the feel of her against me.

She pushed her hips up and bit her lip. "Come back to me," she repeated softly.

I slid into her carefully, and no matter how cautious I thought I was, she still clenched up as pain shot through her. "Relax," I whispered, running my fingers through her hair and concentrating on everything but the wonderful way she felt around me.

After a few moments, she moved her hips and moaned, meeting my eyes and communicating silently for me to continue. I kept my thrusts shallow at first until it was too much to bear, and I had to go deeper into her and feel that intense connection we had together when we were like this.

Emotions poured over me and I literally felt like that clichéd saying of someone feeling like home had some sort of basis. Because I was at home when I was with Bella--there was no other way to describe it. She was comfort and warmth, joy and peace, all at once.

I changed our positions so that I was sitting with her straddling me and let my hands roam over her back as she brought herself up and down on me. Her hands found purchase in my hair and she tugged, pulling my face to hers, as her body crested. My breathing grew heavy with the way her breasts felt against my chest and how extremely intimate this seemed to be. She continued to move teasingly slow, torturously painful, but it was what we needed right now.

I surrendered to the way she was making love to me.

She came down on me again, bringing her mouth back to mine, as she came. My mouth muffled her cry of pleasure, and I found that I could no longer hold on myself. I came immediately after her, breathless and sweaty, hugging her to me and burying my face into the crook of her neck. Everything inside me careened violently to the point that it was almost painful. But emerging from the storm, we were stronger. United. The barrier I'd put between us was no longer standing, but instead crumbled at my feet.

The simple thought that we'd get through this flitted across my mind. Strange, but I felt more at ease with the situation. It was useless to dwell on things I couldn't change. But I could keep my relationship with my family strong. I could adapt to the life I was suddenly thwarted into. There were worse things in life than being featured in the news and having people say untrue things about you.

I placed a gentle kiss there and whispered, "I love you."

She turned her head so that she could kiss my cheek. "I love you. Don't leave me again."

"I didn't leave," I told her. "I just got distracted. It won't happen again," I swore.

A knock on the door brought us out of the moment. "If you guys are done making up in there, you might want to come back to the house. Will's not a happy camper," Felix said through the door.

"I thought you locked the front door?" Bella asked in confusion.

"I did."

"Key!" Felix shouted. "I have a key, remember?" He paused for a beat. "I'll be back up at the house trying to help your mom keep him calm. You kids take your time."

I chuckled. "We'll be right up. Don't worry."

Bella stood up and started getting dressed, only for me to pull her back for one last kiss. I broke away and breathed her in. "By the way, you look fantastic naked," I told her with a crooked grin.

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. I still can't fit into my old clothes."

"I don't care. To me, you're more beautiful now than you were when we met." I let the honesty of my statement show on my face.

"You really think that?"

I nodded. "You remind me of a pinup girl. I have to admit, curves were always my undoing."

She giggled. "And yet you fell for me."

I grinned back. "You had curves. But you have more now."

"Yeah, it's called fat." She smiled good-naturedly.

I took a deep breath and refrained from rolling my own eyes. She had absolutely no concept of how beautiful she was. All she saw were the flaws: the invisible stretch marks, the supposed loose skin and fat. I saw nothing but lusciousness. She was in no way fat; I doubted she weighed much more than what she did before the boys were born. But her body had changed, grown more womanly over the last couple of years.

She'd never believe me, but she was my own personal heaven, wrapped in the perfect package.

I don't know about easements in Baltimore, but where I live it's typical for the county government to keep the rights to a few feet on each side of the road for construction purposes, future widening of roads, etc. It would allow for the cars to park on the side of the road without E & B being able to do anything about it.

Edit: This is in response to a review...I want to make sure it's clear that it's been six weeks since the twins were born at the time of the lemon and that there's not going to be any surprise babies resulting from this...B got on birth control when she had her check up. Kay, that's it ;)