Chapter 31 Revolution

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Santa Claus. Bella finally understood how parents could participate in the vast conspiracy of illusion required to pull off the existence of Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy or Easter Bunny. Now that she was a parent, she realized how much of herself was automatically sublimated in front of her daughter. Bella's needs and desires came second to her infant daughter's. At what point would Mackayla understand? As Bella cleaned up the baby's entire back from a particularly explosive and pungent poop (which she blamed on the squash and rice cereal Mackayla was now eating) she considered what she'd been doing a few minutes earlier, and if she was the kind of mother who didn't care if her child screamed for an extra five or ten minutes, Bella might be screaming herself, enjoying that orgasm that was just moments away as Edward's magical tongue did its best between her legs. She was so close, so very close to nirvana and then the wailing on the monitor began.

Of course she knew such a mother, Renee, who was quick to put her carnal needs before the needs of her daughter. She remembered waiting for dinner while Renee and an 'uncle' needed to 'put up some curtains' in Renee's room, and after an hour of listening to grunts and groans Bella had found a box of stale cereal. She remembered the first 'Uncle' run in, when she was six years old. Some dark, hairy guy was Renee's flavor of the month, and Bella screamed when she saw him come out of Renee's room, headed for the bathroom she was exiting. Renee explained about 'adult sleepovers' which Bella in turn explained to Charlie, who called and yelled at Renee. Which didn't stop Renee from having them, it just upped the bribes for Bella to keep the secret. "Don't mention 'Uncle' Lewis to Charlie and I'll buy you a new Gameboy." When 'Uncle' Phil kept wandering into Bella's bedroom 'by mistake' when she was fourteen, she told Sue and the forced vacations with Renee ended.

She shuddered, trying to focus on her sweet little girl, instead of her selfish mother. Doing a mindless task, such as the toxic waste cleanup she was currently undertaking, made her mind wander. Between swipes of baby bottom she glanced at the tender mural of baby forest creatures created by Sherri, Esme's partner in conjuring a nursery from a plain room in three days. These were not Disneyfied animals; they were realistically painted fawns, fox kits, wolf pups and bunnies in a woodland theme that honored the northwestern forests of Bella's home state. Her favorite part was the apple tree; the apples had either a letter, spelling out Mackayla, or a picture of someone in the baby's life. Indigenous birds hid in its branches. The painted owl made her think of that old commercial for Tootsie Pops, where an owl is asked, "How many licks to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?" at which the owl would lick three times then take a bite, declaring the answer to be three. Bella snickered. The owl reminded her of Jacob's oral skills. The handful of times he took the time to try to please her down there, he was one, two, three licks, let's just get to the main event, which was always Jacob getting his. Lick, lick, lick, dick! In a way Edward should thank Jake. If Jacob hadn't been so terrible, she wouldn't have appreciated how incredible Edward was. That's one conversation that'll never happen. She smiled to herself, shaking her head to get rid of the inappropriate for the moment thoughts. Bundling up the wads of baby wipes and soiled diaper and tossing them into the diaper genie, she carried Mackayla naked into the attached bathroom. Another strange thought; Bella didn't have her own bathroom until she was an adult. Not even half a year and Mackayla had her own bathroom, with birds painted randomly on the walls, a sunflower height chart by the door, and a wardrobe of animal after bath wraps.

When Bella protested that it was too much, Esme answered, "Cupcake."

Bella ran the water in the sink and cleaned Mackayla's back with a cloth and some baby wash. Mini bath number one for the day. Her daughter was a messy eater at both ends, eating or expelling what had been eaten. There would be a bath and shampoo after lunch and dinner; whatever was on the menu wound up in her hair. Bella didn't give her solid food for breakfast yet, since getting her cleaned up and ready for childcare took enough time as it was. She missed the long, schedule-free weekend they'd all spent at home. She had no idea how she was going to add classes, clinicals and studying into the mix.

Mackayla grabbed at the water coming out of the sink. She'd left Edward rumpled and naked in their bed, but here he was showered, dressed and shaved….shaved? She pouted, missing his beard already.

"Hi Mackayla."

The baby put her hand up to her forehead.

"She's signing Daddy, did you see that?"

Bella saw something that could be a wave, could be the baby's attempt to rub her eyes, but the excitement from Edward was contagious.

"Yes, that's your Daddy." Bella made the sign properly, fingers spread on her hand, her thumb touching her forehead. Edward couldn't get enough of the word.

"Daddy's going to take you to get dressed so Mommy can take a shower." He held out a blue terrycloth wrap that resembled a bear, and bundled up the wet baby. Edward kissed Bella on the back of her neck as she dried up the splashes. "Sorry you didn't finish."

"I know you're good for it." She smiled back at him, "But it won't be the same without your scruff." She stuck out her lip, which he promptly kissed.

"I have a meeting with a new vendor in forty-five minutes, then Riley. I have to look respectable".

"Respectability is overrated." It had only been a few weeks, but she felt like they'd been together forever. Her existence before she and Mackayla came to live with Edward was fading. She chided herself on resisting him in the first place. Waking up in his arms, taking care of the baby as a team, sharing meals, his family…it was all so natural. She even looked forward to going to bed to actually sleep, his goodnight kisses were always so sweet.

What she was not looking forward to? The second meeting with his attorney, Riley Biers. There was one man she'd never play poker with, he was a cool character. In their first meeting, when Edward told him that he wanted to update his will to make Bella his primary beneficiary and set up a trust fund for Mackayla, Bella almost fell out of her chair, and told Edward that was ridiculous. Riley never blinked, he simply asked for their full names and social security numbers.

They'd also asked him to look into terminating Jacob's parental rights and Edward adopting Mackayla. The attorney said he didn't usually handle that type of case, but he'd be sure to have someone in his office look into it.

What did Biers think when he left? That Edward was crazy, that Bella was some kind of seductress? Edward hadn't mentioned anything lately about getting married; Bella wondered why the attorney never asked him as much.

Edward dressed Mackayla in jaunty yellow and white striped overalls, made her blow Bella a kiss, then took her downstairs for her bottle, allowing Bella to shower.

Xxx

Wrapped in a towel, Bella stared at her wardrobe. Edward had cleared half of the ample walk in closet for her; her wardrobe, even well spaced, took up only a third of her side. She still hadn't completely emptied the apartment closet—she didn't know what she was waiting for, but it didn't seem that urgent. Her best things were up here, including the formal dress, still in the white store garment bag, that Alice had helped select. Bella had had no idea what to wear to Charlie's event. When she complained to Alice, the fashionista looked up photos of last year's event, and declared that something cocktail length and sparkly would be perfect and even made a special trip back to take Bella shopping. It was a fun day; Bella splurged on the dress since she didn't have to pay for plane tickets, and she wanted to look good on Edward's arm for their first official outing with her family. After they found the dress, she and Alice spent the day down at the pool with Mackayla, Edward joining them in the evening. Of course Alice wouldn't be Alice if she didn't take a few dozen pictures, but Bella was glad. She wanted pictures of the three of them together. It made everything feel more real.

Great, I have a dress to wear for next month, but what do I wear today? What said 'really nice person honestly in love with the rich and beautiful Edward Cullen' as opposed to, 'money grubbing gold digger?' Edward had given her a credit card, but she refused to use it for clothes. It was tempting, but it felt wrong for her to charge her clothes to him when he was already providing so much. That didn't stop him from adding to her lingerie drawers; judging by the lacy things she found there, he particularly liked her in shades of blue and had a fondness for cheeky boy shorts. She slipped on a navy set of under things, the one silk blouse she owned, dressy tan pants and flats. That would have to do. She still had to bring Mackayla to Mrs. Gordon's so a skirt and heels was out of the question. Her phone rang from the nightstand; it was Rosalie.

Rose had become an excellent friend/auntie. Whenever she could manage some free time, she was over, playing with Mackayla, feeding her, changing her, bathing her; as Rose explained, all the things she looked forward to when she was pregnant but never got to experience. When Bella tried to express her sympathy Rose wouldn't have it. In her words, "I get to help people improve their lives every day. Maybe that's my place in life, that and to spoil your kid."

As usual, Rose got straight to the point. "My patient spiked a fever last night so my first surgery was called, my second couldn't get to the hospital fast enough so I'm a free woman for the next two hours. Anyone need to be fed?"

"I'm kind of hungry," Bella joked, "Edward's giving Mackayla a bottle, but then I'm taking her to childcare; we have that meeting with the lawyer later."

"I'll go with; since you put me down as an alternate I might as well do a dry run."

Not one to turn down an extra set of hands, Bella accepted. As soon as she hung up, the phone rang again.

Bella answered, "What Rose, you'll be here in five minutes?"

There was silence at the other end. Bella looked at her phone; the call was from that strange number that had popped up two other times. She wished she'd looked before she answered; she hated not knowing who was on the other end.

"Bella? Bella, is that you?"

"Renee?" Bella hadn't heard from her mother since the shower debacle. She couldn't imagine why she was calling her now.

"Yeah baby, I got a new phone number, one of my old boyfriends was stalking me and I had to get away from him. I'm so glad you answered—I thought I had the wrong number 'cause I called a bunch of times and no one answered."

Yep, that's my mother, exaggerating as usual. "Yes, this is still my number, for the last three years this has been my number." She wanted to remind Renee that she'd barely called ten times since Bella had the number, but she figured Renee would lob that off like she did any criticism.

"Bella, honey, I'm in New York and I want to come see McKenna."

"Do you mean Mackayla?"

"Oh, silly me, if my head wasn't attached! I meant to say Mackayla. And like I said, I'm trying to avoid that dirtbag that's after me, so do you have a couch for your old mom to crash on for a few days? I'm staying with a friend and I don't want to impose."

Bella didn't know what shocked her most; her mother calling before noon, referring to herself as old, as Bella's mother, or the idea that Bella would be happy to put her mother up for any amount of time. Her mother had never come to her; it was always Bella on a plane to whatever new state Renee was currently 'finding herself'.

"Um, Mom, I have to ask my…" she wasn't about to tell Renee about Edward; she felt like that would cheapen what they had, to call Edward a boyfriend as if he was anything like the lowlife 'boyfriends' her mother went through. "…new roommates. I think they said someone was staying over this week." It wasn't a complete lie; Rose and Emmett stayed over one night last week after they all had sangria down by the pool. They might want to stay again.

"Oh. Well, can I at least come and visit my only grandchild? It's not fair Charlie got to see her more than me."

As usual, everyone had it better than Renee. In this case it was true; Charlie had seen his granddaughter while Renee, who never expressed an interest until this phone call, had never seen the baby. Bella felt a little guilty; besides the photo birth announcement, she hadn't sent anything to Renee. If her mother was up north and was actually making an effort, Bella felt like she should meet her part way.

"We could meet for lunch or something."

Renee was quick to respond. "What? That's silly, I'll come to your house, I don't want you dragging the baby out into the cold."

"Mom, it's going to be in the eighties this week."

"I remember, draggin' all that gear for one little lump of baby…such a pain in the ass. No, I'll come to you, just give me the address."

Was she a terrible person because she wanted her mother in her house less than, less than…anything?

"Look Renee, I have to get to work. I'll call you later about lunch."

"I could watch the baby!"

Bella didn't remember being struck speechless before, but there it was. The thought of Renee polluting the life of her daughter repulsed her at a visceral level. She stopped herself from barking 'No' but her brain was screaming it, NO, NO, NO!

Renee seemed to think Bella's silence was a good thing. "I could come watch her while you work; I could make up for the times I wasn't there for you. I went to AA you know, and I'm doing the steps. I just want to make it up to you, I could be there—"

"No, Mackayla is happy where she is. I don't want to leave her with a stranger."

"I'm not a stranger, I'm her grandmother!"

Bella found Renee's indignant tone laughable. Her stepmother Sue, Esme Cullen, now those women were grandmothers. In Bella's mind Renee's DNA contribution didn't give her the right to call herself grandmother.

"Renee, I can't see you today. I'll call you. I have to go." Hanging up on her mother felt incredibly good. So many years it was Renee hanging up on a disappointed girl, wondering why her mother never had time to talk to her about the little achievements in her life, a woman who turned every phone call into a diatribe about how life wasn't treating her fairly, and could Bella tell Charlie she needed more money. Bella would meet Renee for lunch, on her terms, with a clear exit strategy in place. She glanced at the clock; now she really did have to go.

Rose must have called from around the corner; she was already in the kitchen when Bella entered. Edward was giving Mackayla raspberries from her perch in Rose's arms. He turned to Bella.

"Mrs. Gordon knows she's keeping her until after lunch, yes?"

Bella shook her head. She knew it was less that Edward doubted her memory, more that he needed to know where Mackayla was every moment.

Smirking in her blue scrubs, Rose said, "No, Bella and I are headed to Mexico with the baby."

"Smart As…aspirin," Edward caught himself before he had to add to the bad words jar, then kissed Bella inappropriately well before letting her go. "I'll be back by 10:30. Maybe Riley will be done quick."

Chucking under her breath, Rose said, "Just want to point out that I'm refraining from telling a perfectly good joke here."

As Edward left, Bella turned to Rose, "You sure like riling him up."

"Those Cullen boys are so much fun to play with. You know this."

"True. But be nice to my Cullen boy please." Bella grabbed the packed diaper bag. "Time to move out."

Xxx

Still feeling self-conscious in the Mercedes, Bella made sure to signal, stop properly and obey the speed limit. She and her friends had always mocked people who drove expensive cars, insisting that they thought the road was made for them. Bella wanted to prove that driving a nice car didn't make you a jerk. Waiting at the light, she smiled at Rose sitting in the back seat, playing with Mackayla. In the rear view mirror she saw a large black SUV with tinted windows. Her cop's daughter mind immediately jumped to the most nefarious conclusion. Calm down Bella, not everyone who drives a black SUV is out to get you. She signaled right; so did the SUV. The vehicle stayed a few lengths behind them the entire way to Mrs. Gordon's.

As Bella parked, the SUV stopped behind her. Rose unbuckled herself, then went to get the baby, but Bella stopped her.

"The car behind us has been following us for the last few miles. I'm not turning off the car until they get out."

She and Rose watched. The passenger door swung open; out stepped a man in a suit and dark sunglasses. The driver's door opened a moment later, a woman, also dressed in a suit, got out; the pair went to the back doors of the vehicle and proceeded to take out two babies.

"Ugh, I'm an idiot," Bella said, "It's the Churchill's and their twins."

Rose let out a long breath. "Way to get the heart rate up there Sweetie." She turned to Mackayla, "Mommy scared Auntie Rose."

After introducing Rose to Mrs. Gordon, and the innocent Churchill's, Bella and Rose stopped to pick up coffee and drove back to the house.

"I can't blame you," Rose sipped from her cup, " Aro has always given me the creeps."

"I don't even know what he looks like."

"You've been in the office when we've had the monthly meeting, you must have seen him."

Bella laughed, "I saw a gang of doctors. Besides the doctors Cullen, I have no idea who's who. I just picture a sneaky guy in a black cape."

Rose snorted. "No black cape. He's about five foot ten, mostly grey hair he wears cut military short, a wide face, salt and pepper mustache, blue eyes, almost no eyebrows. Heavy Slavic accent. He's eight years older than Carlisle."

"I thought they were in medical school together."

"They were. Aro didn't come to this country until he was in his twenties, he worked and earned scholarships so he could go to college then med school. He may be creepy, but he did work hard for what he has. He has a brilliant mind, just his personality sucks."

Bella asked, "Why does Carlisle stick up for him? Why did he partner with him?"

"Med school is tough. People form bonds, especially back in the day when they worked residents like indentured servants."

Parking carefully in her spot in the garage, Bella did not look forward to her next task. "Thanks for coming with me, but I have to throw you out. I need to figure out how to pay for this semester. They cut my scholarship."

Raising one perfect eyebrow, Rose looked at her. "You know that's entirely unnecessary. The Platt Foundation will also fund spouse's education."

"Well I'm not a spouse. And I don't want anyone to think that I want Edward for his money. I've managed to pay for my education so far. I'll figure it out."

"There's something you and Edward have in common. You're both stubborn."

Xxx

Cursing freely since the baby wasn't home, Bella reviewed the school's reply to her financial aid appeal. Despite the increase in grants and her savings, her scholarship had been reduced by two thirds, since it was contingent on continuous enrollment and maintaining a 3.25 in all her classes. Her withdrawal from the program voided the original scholarship, and their best offer still left her short. Edward peeked over her shoulder.

"What's got you cursing like a sailor?"

"Oh, hi. I didn't hear you come in," She turned her face up for a kiss. "The response to my financial aid appeal is still not enough. I'm going to have to get a loan."

"Maybe I can—"

"Don't say it, I'm not taking your money."

"I was going to say maybe I can look at the forms. Maybe I can find a loophole or something."

"Edward, I know you know business, but I know my way around a college financial aid department. I already have a scholarship from the Lions back home, from the Parent-teacher association from my high school, from the 4H program, grants…I could teach a course in financial aid. I didn't want to take a loan, but I'll have to, or take one of those nursing jobs in an under-served area of the country where they pay off your loans."

"If you work somewhere else, I'll be underserved."

She looked at him, not amused by his observation.

"Look, Bella, if Sue's car broke down, and she didn't have enough money to fix it, would Charlie pay for it?"

"Of course."

"And would he expect her to pay him back?"

"Of course not. But that's different."

"How so?"

She looked at him sideways, the answer obvious between them.

Edward continued, "Riley is coming over anyway. I'll ask him to make up a promissory note. I'll loan you the money. If we get married, you won't have to pay it back."

"But then it'll sound like you're trying to get me to marry you."

"Smart girl." And there he left it.

The man was driving her crazy. She was just on the edge of demanding when he was going to propose again. His talk about flying to Vegas had dried up, but he was constantly dropping these other tidbits but never following up on them. She was ready to stay yes; for God's sake they were living together, she was calling him Mackayla's Daddy, wasn't that enough of a hint to the man? Did she have to ask him?

He returned, poking his head around the corner. "There is another option."

Bella sat back in her desk chair, wondering what he'd come up with now that he wouldn't come fully into the room to tell her. He was so touchy feely; it had to be something big if he wasn't standing where he could be holding some part of her. "Do tell."

"I never had a good relationship with Emmett until I was out of college, he was so much older than me. I always thought that when I had a family, I'd want the children spaced closer together. You could go back to school in a few years."

Bella answered without thinking, "If you think it'll be easier for me to go to school when we have more kids, you're crazy."

His grin nearly split his face. "So, you want more babies? With me?"

If he wasn't so cute she would have slugged him. "Yes Edward, I do."

"Excellent news," then he was gone again.

Somehow she felt like she had agreed to something, without ever being asked the question.

Xxx

The ever efficient Riley Biers Esquire, had a separate folder for each issue Edward had discussed at their prior meeting, an extra envelope, and an assistant. Bella wasn't sure if she imagined a condescending tone in his "Miss Swan" when they sat down, but he was definitely warmer towards Edward. Riley explained the assistant.

"Ms. Defarge is a Notary. She can notarize or stand as witness to anything you choose to sign today. She will wait outside the office until we need her."

Bella did not care for the long look the blonde woman gave Edward as she left the room. The curse of having a good looking man was that others were free to look. She never understood girls who were so anxious to get married, but here she was, impatient to put a ring on Edward's hand so that simpering little twits like Ms Defarge knew he was off the market.

Riley handed Edward the envelope as the door closed. "Excellent news Edward. The insurance company has closed their investigation into the accident; this check for full payment of the policy was couriered to my office yesterday. I wanted to give it to you myself."

Edward sat back in the chair with a swoosh of air. "Does this mean they found no wrong doing?"

"Exactly," Riley replied. "Aro's council will have received the same information. They'll advise him to drop the suit." He looked towards Bella. "Insurance company investigators are top notch; their finding would be very powerful in court. If Aro doesn't drop the suit, a judge will dismiss it."

Bella was pretty good at reading between the lines. Riley didn't trust her, but that wasn't the point. Edward did.

"On that note," Riley continued, "Your will has been amended, and the point we discussed I flagged with the red tag for you to review."

Edward turned to the page and after reading the section, showed it to Bella. The sticky red flag pointed to the phrase:

…any children that may be borne to Isabella Marie Swan and myself after the execution of this will, share and share alike

Bella nodded in agreement, biting her lip. He hadn't proposed in the traditional sense, but what more did he have to say? It was obvious he was in it for the long haul.

"Edward asked me to work this up for you Miss Swan, if you'd like to take a look." Riley handed her a document with the words 'Promissory Note' across the top. It was as Edward mentioned, a note indicating that she would pay back money with five percent interest starting five years after today's date, July 14, but voiding the note if they were married. It seemed reasonable, except for the amount.

She looked up at Riley. "The amount is wrong, that's twice what I need." She showed the paper to Edward.

He nodded, "No, that's correct. Your project is almost done. That will make up for your lack of income."

She knew her project was almost done, she was rounding out the 'W's and she didn't imagine there were that many patients with last names beginning with 'X,Y,Z.' She just assumed she'd find another project.

"Are you firing me?"

"No…I don't see how there are enough hours in the day to go to class, study, take care of Mackayla and work. She's only a baby once."

"How will I pay for childcare while I'm at school?"

"Bella, hopefully soon she will legally be my child too. As her father, I will pay for her childcare. Or maybe I'll take a leave of absence and be Mr. Mom for a while."

She was unaccustomed to life working out so easily. He really understood how important finishing her degree was to her, which was why he didn't offer her the option of just staying home with Mackayla. She stared at her lap, not wanting Riley to see the tears brimming in her eyes. She reached out and held Edward's hand. He squeezed back. She handed the paper back to Riley, saying, "This will be fine."

"Don't celebrate just yet. The next two things aren't as clear cut." Riley cleared his throat. "I spoke to my associate, an expert in family law. There's a complication. There is something called the 'Indian Child Welfare Act'. It protects the interest of Native American children and by act of congress gives the…" he read from the paper in front of him, "Subchapter 1- Child Custody Proceedings section 1911 Indian tribe jurisdiction over Indian child custody proceedings."

The attorney looked between the two of them. "If the father doesn't voluntarily allow for termination of his parental rights, allowing Edward to adopt the child, the tribe has jurisdiction in any ruling. Over the federal government. The tribe is considered a sovereign nation."

Bella was stunned, "I never heard of this."

Edward said quietly, "What does this mean?"

"Maybe nothing. Maybe he'll give up the rights quietly. If not…" He looked at Bella, "Do you know the chief of the baby's father's tribe?"

"That would be her grandfather, Billy Black."

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A/N: New puppy plus beta getting a new job and moving equals a late chapter. Sorry to keep you waiting.

Guest Beta is my cousin, who will be happy to relinquish the job when Miss Winkles returns.

For those of you still watching the holidays, July 14 is Bastille Day.

I had many clever things to say here but they've all disappeared. Saying 'Don't chew that' and 'Don't pee there' all day will do that to a person.

Closing in on two thousand reviews! Thanks to all those who take the time to review, rec and read, I appreciate you all. I did have a guest reviewer who didn't like the pace of the story, to which I say, the great thing about fanfic is that you have so many choices; for every slow burn story there's a wham-bam thank-you ma'am out there too. See you soon