A/N: Sorry about the delay but my laptop has died. Thank the lord for google docs and a tablets.
I spend what feels like an eternity but is actually about twenty three minutes according to the wall clock; I wait in a private waiting room on the surgery ward, watching our family come and go as we wait for information on my Bella.
Tegan joined us with Mary less than fifteen minutes ago.
Mary tried to stay with us but the minute Mum saw her she insisted on Mary going back to bed.
After a few minutes of Mum and Mary arguing on where her place was, Mum walked off and came back to say that she had arranged for Bella and Mary to have a shared room.
She grabbed the back of Mary's wheelchair and wheeled her out of the room -much to Mary's chagrin and protests.
She stopped when she realized the room was next door.
She shut up and touched Mum's hand as Mum told her "a family should always be close in times of need."
Mum then promised to come and get her when the doctors came to talk to us.
Mum, Tegan and Alice have been going between the two rooms ever since.
While Dad is with security organizing protection duty for my goddaughter and the rest of the family.
I know as Don and head of the family i should be taking care of everyone.
I'm lost in my thoughts and memories as i look back at my past with Bella and realize that I found love and meaning in a world that was filled with hopelessness and emptiness till she walked into it and i can't see how i could ever go back to a world without her..
As teenagers and adults she filled my world with colour, hope and love when my world had nothing in it but death and torture.
I sigh as I do as Bella says and focus on the good stuff - the moments that brought colour and happiness to my world rather than this cold and dark day..
April 20 2002:
I had been out early this morning supervising a shipment of weapons.
Dad is quite strict with Emmett and I; he insists that we start from the bottom up, and the bottom up is how we get to our positions in the family.
After spending hours in a dark, dank, nasty warehouse supervising shit moving around while Emmett supervised the tellers.
I finally get in at three in the morning and crash till the alarm goes off at six to start getting ready to go to church.
It is a family must to show unity even if you don't personally believe in God. As I brush my teeth I groan at the fact it's Easter Sunday that means it's a Mafia family party day.
I hate being surrounded by so many people and then I remember that mum has banned all shop talk due to non family members being present today.
That also means I will be picking Bella up to spend the day with us and returning her tomorrow evening after the bank holiday.
For once it would be a Sunday with My best friend and not without her due to family commitments.
I hurry through the routine and then grab my phone
T minus 3 hours and you'll be with me till tomorrow night. Love Ed.
I text Bella before dressing and heading down stairs to leave with the rest of the family.
We are just leaving church when I jump in the car on my own and tell Dad I will meet everyone at the house.
I go straight over to Bella's and find her on the porch waiting for me with her bag by her leg.
She smiles brightly before diving in the car.
I drive us back to the house before I even tell her what we are going to be doing.
She thinks we will spend Sunday the way we usually spend our days; reading books and playing board games after I've been to church.
As we drive through the gate Bella sees all the cars lining the driveway and gasps before going pale and shaking slightly.
Bella has issues with crowds especially when she doesn't know the people.
As her friend I'm slowly pushing her limits and making her see she can do things.
As her friend I see it as my responsibility to not only push her, but to support her through the pushes. I stop the car and look over at Bella.
She's somehow grown even more pale -vampire white pale.
I can see her internally freaking.
I get out of the car and walk around, swiftly opening the door before bending down and looking at Bella's down cast eyes.
"Bella," I say gently placing a hand over hers and wait till she looks up at me.
When she does I can see the fear in her eyes. I brush a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
I gently smile at her and take her hand in mine.
"Trust me. It's only family and you." I plead trying to win her over. "All you have to do is safe word and we will be gone."
"Promise?" She quietly mumbles and I nod in reassurance then stand up and hold my hand out while i wait for her to join me.
She slowly climbs out of the car and fidgets with her clothes before taking my hand.
We walk around the house to the back garden and I start stressing about how she will react.
I take a deep breath and walk into the garden where she can see everyone there.
...
"Mr Cullen?" I look up to see a nurse standing in the doorway.
"Yes" I barely whisper and stand up to look at the nurse.
"I was told to tell you Mrs Cullen has come out of surgery and has been moved to the Intensive Care Unit. The doctor will meet you there."
I nod my head and lead the family out the door as we all leave the room and head up to the ward Bella is on.
We get into the lift and arrive a few minutes later where we are directed to another waiting room.
I sink into the corner seat and try to escape back to my memories.
...
"Edward, I don't think I should be here." She whispers behind me and I stand still looking on at my family and the fun they are having.
The women are on the patio while the men are by the barbecue.
There are children running around the place with baskets in their arms searching everywhere.
Normally I would be straight up the trail hunting for my parcel and the treats.
The better stuff is always hidden along the trail.
Today though my priority is Bella.
I turn around and wrap my frightened Bella in my arms.
"Bella, you are family now." I whisper into her hair.
"That means you're coming to the picnic, now let's get our baskets and go hunting."
"Baskets? Hunting?" She whispers barely loud enough to be heard in a confused tone.
"Yes. We get a basket each and follow that trail." I point to the woodland trail marked with bunting and lights in the tree.
"Along that path there are loads of Easter goodies to find and we get to keep what we find."
"Oh." Is all she says as she looks at me confused.
"Bella, have you ever been to an Easter egg hunt?" I raise a brow at her and she looks down shaking her head in shame.
I smirk and pull her chin up deciding she needs to learn about Easter hunts.
"Now come on we have Easter stuff to find." I say pulling her to the baskets and finding the ones with our names on before dragging a resistant Bella towards the woods.
We walk for an hour through the woods before Bella understands how it works and that she allows herself to enjoy the challenge.
We giggle and smile as I hold her basket and watch as she starts searching for treasures.
When we get near the meadow I detour us so I can collect Bella's book that Mum hid for her.
We search the meadow and she gathers a few bits before she leans over a nearby log.
"Edward?"
"Yes Bella?" I say not looking up.
"There's a parcel here, is it suppose to be here?" I look at her and see her holding the brown paper covered book.
"Is there a name tag on it?" She moves it around her hands until she finds the tag.
"Edward, this one has my name on it." She says more confused than before.
"It's yours then." I say as I continue looking for mine.
Mum had told me before I picked up Bella that she had hidden Bella's and my parcels in the meadow to give us a reason to escape the madness if Bella couldn't cope.
"What do you mean mine?" she stutters.
"It's yours. Everyone has a parcel hidden as well as the extra treats they find."
I stand up and head to a bush on the other side of the meadow as I start searching a new bush.
"Where the hell is mine?" I respond while trying to not look at her.
"Um... Edward?"
"Yes Bella?" I say with a huff in frustration waiting for her next argument in protest of the present.
"Is it this one here?" she says holding up a second brown parcel.
"You could have told me that was there." I say as I hold out my hand.
"You never asked silly." She giggles.
We settle down with our backs against the log and start unwrapping our presents to find Little Women for Bella with the video and for me a tin full of vouchers for some of Bella's and my favorite places.
...
"Edward?" I look up this time to see Ben at the door.
"Ben? What are you doing here?" Mum asks as she walks forward and hugs Ben.
"I put a note on Bella's file if she got bought in I had to be called."
"Have you seen her?" I blurt out.
"I've been settling her in." He says gently as he walks over and sits in the seat next to me.
"She was shot in the thigh. It missed a major artery but when she went down she hit her head rather hard.
She's unconscious but we did a scan and she has a concussion." I bury my hands in my hair and tug hard wondering why this keeps happening to her. For fuck sake I'm suppose to protect her.
"Ben, is she going to be okay? Are the babies okay?" I look up to see Mum talking to Ben.
"Apart from being unconscious Bella seems fine and the babies are looking good too but it's still touch and go, we will know better in twenty-four to thirty-six hours.
If they don't downward spiral any further the chances are high that everyone will be fine." He then turns back to me.
"Edward, I hate to ask but we need to know if it becomes between Bella and the babies who gets the priority on treatment."
"Bella. I can't live without her." I say straight away.
There is always the next time or if she never has any we can always adopt.
I don't care as long as I have my Bella.
"I'll go note it in her file and make sure she is all settled in before you go and see her.
I must warn you though there are wires and tubes everywhere. They are there for her and the babies." He gets up and walks to the door before turning around.
"Oh and Edward." I look up to see him looking sternly at me.
"She is very fragile. You can't get into bed with her and the babies." I blush as everyone around me snickers.
A few minutes later Angela comes into the room and I follow her with Mum to Bella's room.
When we get there I hear Mum let out a sob as we look at her covered in wires and tubes with monitors all around her.
"The tubes in her arm are there to make sure she gets enough nutrition for her and the babies as well as fluids. The wires on her chest are measuring her heart rate." Angela points to the left monitor
"And the ones on her stomach are above each baby and they are monitoring the babies' heart rates. There's also a set to let us know if she starts having contractions."
She then points to the right monitor before flicking to the far left monitor.
"Left is Bella. Right is Babies." I nod my head and walk forward till I'm standing in front of a seat next to my Bella's bedside.
For the next few hours Bella and I have our room filled and emptied constantly with family visiting us and praying for us.
Finally the nurse declares visiting hours are over and I'm left with Bella.
I turn to her and decide to talk to her in hopes she can hear me.
"You know I've been making use of that leaf you shared with me and been thinking about the first Easter you came to the family egg hunt. Do you remember it?"
I touch her hand and notice her lips are dry so I grab the nearby lip balm stick and apply it to her lips.
"It was one of the few days that I saw you truly happy. It was also one of the first times I saw your generosity and kindness."
I place a kiss on her forehead.
"A kindness I hope is passed on to the babies."
I kiss her cheek and through fear of hurting her or the babies I decide to quickly place a hand on her small bump and settle in for the night going back to my memories.
...
We sit in the meadow in silence reading for half an hour before we pick up our stuff and start back down the trail looking for treats.
When we step out of the woodlands I look at the baskets I'm carrying and notice that Bella has found fifteen eggs, five cuddly toys and her book.
Whereas my basket only had two toys and four eggs and my vouchers- and I was happy with that because it was the time I spent with Bella that mattered most.
I had been so engrossed in watching Bella have her fun that I only picked up a treat when Bella noticed I had stopped looking.
She turns to me at the end and looks at my basket.
"Edward, you only have six items in your basket."
"That I do. I got side tracked holding the basket of one of the most beautiful women I've ever known as she fills hers." I reply with a smirk as she giggles and looks up to the house.
Her smile is short lived as it is replaced by a frown.
"Edward, why is that boy sitting on the deck alone?"
I look over and see she is asking about six year old Conner O'Riley who is sitting miserably in a wheelchair alone on one side of the deck as he watches everyone play.
Dad and Connor's father Darragh are probably in a meeting discussing what happened.
Connors had been kidnapped by a rival family and held captive for ransom.
When Darragh didn't pay up they filmed him having his leg broken and posted the video back saying Darragh had six hours left till they started removing pieces.
Darragh came to Dad and Dad helped him get Conner back.
We don't attack women or children.
We also found out that the boy's captors were hiding in our territory and that infuriated us so we joined sides and helped Darragh seek his revenge.
"He's from one of Dad's business partners families and was involved in an accident.
He can't come and hunt for his eggs yet. Both of our Dads are in a meeting discussing mergers."
"Oh." The look of upset on her face broke my heart.
"Someone will come and help him look later." I say trying to please her and put the smile back on her face.
"What's his name?"
"Conner." I say mechanically as I try to work out how to take her back to the happy Bella of a few minutes ago.
I watch as she looks down at her basket and pulls the name tag off it.
Before pulling her book and video out.
I look at her in confusion as she walks forward and mumbles something along the lines of 'no child should have to wait.'
I follow her and watch as she walks up to little Conner and smiles.
"Excuse me. Are you Conner?" She says with a huge smile on her face.
I notice everyone has stopped and is looking at Conner and Bella with confusion.
He gently nods his head but still looks miserable. He notices Bella's basket and leans curiously towards it as he tries to peer into said basket.
"I found this in the woods and I think it's yours." I stand still, shell shocked as I watch her hand over her basket.
"Enjoy and have a happy Easter." She says before walking away with a huge ass grin on her face.
"Mum, Maggie, look what I got." Conner yells with a voice full of excitement.
A little girl that was sat in one of the woman's laps slides off and runs forward before sitting in front of Conner and the basket.
His mum sits still crying as she rubs a hand over her hugely pregnant belly.
I then remember the other reason why Conner hasn't gone hunting yet, his mum isn't able to help him.
"Who is that?" Someone asks and I answer without looking to the voice.
"Her name is Isabella."
"What a beautiful name for a beautiful creature." I turn in the direction of the voice to see an older gentleman look at Bella as she skips away.
He walks through the patio doors with Dad.
"Carlisle, is that your new adoptive daughter?" We have known Bella six months but she is part of our family.
"Yes, she is." Dad says with a pride he only normally shows when he is talking about us.
"Whoever marries her is a lucky fucking bastard as long as he proves himself worthy."
"No one's marrying her but me." I say as I snap out of my stupor and walk off to follow Bella wherever she is going.
...
I jolt awake as my phone beeps and I look up to the clock and see that it's about two am while I've waited with no response from Bella.
My phone starts ringing again and I answer it.
"What?"
"Do you still want us to take the swan back to the lake?" I hear Emmett say and I know exactly what he means, Charlie Swan is still alive.
I look at Bella again and decide to go against my gut of getting rid of him sooner rather than later.
"No. I have the baby swans here. They should be reunited first." I reply back in code before snapping my phone shut.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath only to slowly let it out and look at Bella's unconscious body.
I won't let him near Bella or the babies but I do need to see him again.
I need to make sure he has no more contracts on Bella or any part of her.
There are so many questions filling my head at the moment.
Who has contracts to claim her?
When can she be claimed?
Have our babies been sold?
How was she sold?
The last being the one that worries me the most.
The Chinese buy women to kill them to be brides for their dead sons, the Somalis seal them, The Mexicans use them as drug mules and the Russians butcher them as they sell organs and marrow on the black market.
I need answers but they can all wait till I see her rich chocolate brown eyes again.
"Bella, Baby. I need you to wake up." I plead while brushing a finger against her cheek.
"Don't leave me here alone." I cry before kissing her head.
I notice her heart beat beep a little quicker and more in rhythm.
"Baby, can you hear me?" I ask looking at the monitor and notice it doesn't change.
I take a deep breath and slowly let it out as my body fills with sorrow.
I step back and let go of her hand to then notice that her monitor has changed again.
I run to her room door shoving it open and shout for the one person I hope can make sense of this.
"BEN!"
A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter.
