Disclaimer: I do not own anyone or anything from Twilight!
Leah Clearwater had had to face plenty of terrifying things in her life, but nothing even came close to what was going to happen today. It was probably one of the biggest moments of her life, and she was beyond relieved that she would not have to face it alone. Edward had taken the day off, her mother and Seth had cleared their schedules, and even Jacob and Charlie where coming along – though to be fair, they sort of had to be there since DHS requested it. Still, it was good to have them there in case something happened.
"I'm not sure I can do this," Leah muttered, the nerves twisting her insides painfully, the second she was about to walk out the door. It was almost like an invisible barrier had come out of nowhere and trapped her inside, leaving her unable to move. She was shaking slightly and a thin layer of sweat was running down her skin. "What if she doesn't like me? What if she thinks that Emily was the perfect mother and hates me for ruining her happy home? What if her life was horrible and she blames me for not being there? I can't do this!"
When she turned to flee, Edward caught her in his arms before she had a chance to make it up the stairs. "Leah, you're the strongest person I know. You can do this, and I promise you won't have to do it alone. I'm here for you, and so is everyone else. I know what you have to face today is terrifying, but just think of the reward. You're going to get to meet your daughter today. The little girl that you thought was long lost."
"What if she hates me?" Her voice quivered as she met his caring gaze.
The doctor raised his left hand and set it against her cheek. "That's not possible. Anyone who meets you is going to see what I see, and that's a beautiful, intelligent, loving, strong woman. Kika is going to be no different. She's a part of you, Leah, and while she may not have been raised by you, there's a connection between the two of you. It's the same connection that told you she wasn't dead. Now, are you going to come with us on your own or am I going to have to drag you there? There's absolutely no chance in hell I'm letting you miss out on meeting your daughter; if things between us were reversed, you would do whatever you had to do in order to make sure I met my child."
The Quileute woman smiled and took a deep breath to calm herself. If Edward had faith in her, then she could have faith in herself. "Thank you, Edward, thank you so much foreverything you've done for me. I don't think I'd be able to handle all of this without you. I'll never be able to truly express what you mean to me, but I love you, Edward Cullen. I've never loved anyone like I loved you. You came into my life and you loved me, even though I'm broken. When I'm with you, I feel like I could be put back together again, like I'm not a lost cause."
His smile was bright, eyes alight with happiness. "I love you, too, Leah and for the record, I don't think you're broken. You're a little rough around the edges, but I like that about you. We can talk about this later, when we have a bit more privacy. For right now we should probably get going. Oh, I almost forgot, we have to make a stop at my parents. Apparently, Mom has been going through all of our old baby things, and she has a bunch of toys she would like us to give to Kika."
"That was very kind of her," Leah said as she and Edward stepped out on to the porch, where the others were waiting for them. They hadn't wanted to crowd Leah or pressure her if she ended up changing her mind. "Your family has been so accepting of me and Caleb, and now that Kika's back in my life, they've accepted her, too. You have a wonderful family. Are you even human? You guys are like guardian angels, or something. It makes me feel like I'm corrupting you or something."
The bronze-haired male laughed as he flung his arm over her shoulder. "Obviously, you haven't seen our more devious sides yet. You just wait; eventually you'll see that we aren't nearly as angelic as we look, especially Alice. I'm nowhere near as bad the others, but I can have my wild moments when the mood strikes."
TBC…