All Characters Belong to Stephenie Meyer

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Chapter 58 – A Means to an End

Bella

I was stretched out on the bed, watching as a woman I didn't know fawned over my daughter. She was brushing out Elizabeth's hair and going on and on about how beautiful she would look for the ball. She had put her hair up into several different styles, and I think Elizabeth loved all of them.

There was a light knock on the door.

"Come in," I called.

Demetri entered, and I sat up smiling to greet him.

"How are you today, Ma'am?"

"Good, thank you, Demetri. Are you happy to be home?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I live here, but this isn't exactly home. My momma is where I call home, ever since she adopted me."

I never would have pegged Demetri for a momma's boy, but apparently he was. "I'm sure your momma misses you."

"She knows I have to work. I'm a grown man. Besides, my sister, Gianna, keeps her busy."

"Yes, girls tend to make momma's worry," I said glancing at Elizabeth.

"Mr. Cullen has requested your presence," he stated officially.

I looked over at Elizabeth worried. I didn't want to leave her.

"I can stay with her, Ma'am," he offered.

I smiled up at him and hugged him. "Thank you. You know why being away from the kids makes us so nervous."

"It's understandable, Ma'am."

"How many times do I have to tell you to call me Bella?" I said patting his shoulder, rolling my eyes.

He just shrugged, and I shook my head at him. "Come get me if you get called away, please."

"Yes, Ma'am. Mr. Cullen is in your suite, three doors down on the left," he pointed in the direction of our room. I was glad for the help. This place was huge and easy to get lost in.

When I opened the door and saw Edward sitting on our bed, I began to worry. He looked so sad and upset. He cradled his head in his hands and looked so defeated.

I closed the door, and he looked up to see me standing there. He hurried across the room and took me in his arms, holding me tightly.

"Is everything okay?"

"Now that you're here, yes," he breathed in deeply, giving me another squeeze and then kissed my neck. "I just need you right now, is that okay?"

I nodded yes and pulled him toward the bed, not sure exactly what he needed from me, but I would give it to him. I lay down and pulled him down with me, looking up into his sad eyes. I wanted to fix whatever it was. I pulled him down to my lips and kissed him softly. His hand moved over my body, encouraging me to want him more.

I wiggled out of my shirt, and he popped off my bra like the expert he had become. I could see the shift in him. He had become focused on me, on my body, pushing whatever was bothering him out of his head. I would let him have his break for now, but we would have to talk about it later.

His hands and mouth worked my body over. He wanted me to come, and he knew how to coax it out of me. His hands and lips were fueled by soulful hunger, setting my skin on fire, begging for release. I finally found it, screaming his name, as he pounded into me, finding his.

He collapsed down on me, careful not to squish the babies, but still holding me tightly. I would give him a reprieve, and then we would talk.

I felt something wet on my shoulder and realized he was crying. I pulled him tightly to me and kissed his forehead. I waited for him to speak, to tell me what was wrong.

He sniffled a little then apologized. I kissed his lips gently and let him know it was okay.

"Could you please tell me what has you so upset?" I finally asked.

"Jack knew my mom, apparently better than me. The guy in jail for my mom's murder is my uncle. Jack thought they were hiding something or from something. Their name wasn't Masen; it's Harper," he sobbed, and I took him into my arms, squeezing him tightly.

"Have you talked to your uncle at all since…?" I didn't want to say it.

"No, the bastard is rotting in a federal prison not far from here in Huntsville."

I could tell he was getting more upset, so I kissed his tears. "It doesn't really matter now, does it? You're a Cullen now, and the babies are going to be Cullen's, too."

His eyes widened. "You're giving them my last name?"

"Of course, they're your babies," I said kissing his lips lightly.

"But you didn't give the twins my name."

I shrugged. "You didn't know about them. I didn't want you to feel overwhelmed or anything."

He kissed me again. "Can we…I mean, if you're okay with it…it'd mean a lot to me if..."

I cut him off. "Edward, do you want them to have your name?"

He looked at me with nerves apparent in his eyes. Did he really think I would say no?

"Yes, please, if that's okay?" he asked.

I answered him, kissing him deeply. "Edward," I whispered, "I gave them their first two names. It's only fair that you give them their last name."

He smiled widely, chuckling nervously. "Really, you're okay with it?"

"Yes, baby, of course I am. Who wouldn't want to be a Cullen? Have you met your parents?" I laughed, and he kissed behind my ear.

"Thank you, Love, for making me feel so much better."

I squeezed him in response. "I should thank you. You make me feel better all the time," I whispered, as I wrapped him in my arms.

I knew he wouldn't feel better for much longer, though, and I held him tighter to me. The only way to fix this for him would be to get some answers. But sometimes answers just led to more questions, and opening up things that might be best left alone. I loved Edward, but I worried for him. What was yet to come for him? For Masen, his little carbon copy child? What would he discover about himself and his past, his birth parents? Would he be able to stand the truth? And what would finding the truth cost us, as a couple, as a family, and for our way of life as we now knew it?

Yes, answers were what Edward needed, but I couldn't help the dread I felt building in the pit of my stomach at the thought of getting them.

Chapter 59 – Starting Point: Huntsville

Bella

Coming to Texas had been a wonder and a curse. Try being pregnant in temperatures hot enough to cook eggs by throwing them against the window panes! Not fun. However, the pool was nice, and the air conditioning in the mansion was exceptional.

I sat on the back patio and watched as Masen, Edward and Jack played an early morning game of flag football with Demetri and Garrett. It took a lot of convincing to get Masen to play, but when Jack offered him access to his garage and full rein to restore an old Model T he had in the shed if he'd play, Masen was more than willing to learn how to pass and catch. Funny thing, he figured out the angles for running between the grown men, and was able to snatch the flag from them almost every time. Jack's beaming pride over him made me smile.

Edward and Jack's talk about Edward's mother's murder had been enlightening, and in some ways, devastating, for Edward. I could tell Edward was unhappy, and he would continue to live with self-doubt and gnawing questions unless we got some answers. And I was just the woman to get them. I had to figure out a way to get to Huntsville to talk to his uncle. That was the most logical starting point.

Getting away from Edward to go to the prison was difficult. He didn't want to let me go off alone, but I insisted that I needed to pick up a host gift for Jack, and I didn't want to bring the kids with me shopping, as I didn't know how long I would be. I knew it would be difficult to find something to give Jack, but I figured the antique shops would be a good place to look. At least that was what I told Edward.

Jack let me use a car and much to his and Edward's dismay, I passed up taking a driver or bodyguard with me.

I pulled up the directions on my phone and was at the prison in about an hour. I realized that I only knew Mr. Harper's last name and his crime. I hoped it was enough to get me a visit with him.

To my surprise, they agreed and asked if I would like a private room with him and a guard, or if I preferred to speak through the glass. I didn't want to risk shouting out private things to him and took the offer of the private room.

I was led back to a room with a table and two chairs. The guard stood by the door, holding it open for me to enter.

I realized Mr. Harper was in the room already when I took my seat. He was standing in the corner, watching me carefully. His first words surprised me.

"We both know who sent you. You can drop your act."

I looked up at the man, his green eyes blazing with anger. His hair was long and tussled and reminded me of the way Edward's stood on end. He had Edward's face as well, the strong jaw and straight nose. He was a handsome man.

I tried to recover from his angry introduction and get to the point. "I'm sorry, Mr. Harper, I'm not sure who you think sent me, but I assure you, I came on my own, and I came looking for answers for Edward."

"Edward? That's a new angle. I told you, she's dead, stop looking!"

"His mother?"

He gripped his hair in his hands much like Edward always did. "Please, just go, don't torture me like this. I know what he believes."

"Is he wrong?"

His head snapped up, making me jump up and my arms wrap protectively around my little belly.

His eye traveled down to my stomach, and he looked at my face confused. "You're pregnant?"

I blushed. How had he missed that before? "Yes," I finally answered, trying to get my nerves under control.

"And you want me to believe that this is Edward's baby? Is there no angle they won't try? If you value your life and the life of your child, you'll get away from that place as fast as you can. Whatever they've told you is a lie. You'll both end up dead. Why do you think they're trying to find my sister?"

I looked at him completely confused.

He sat down at the table and let out a sigh. "My sister, she went to them for help. I'm sure she was much like yourself, alone and pregnant," he scrubbed his face.

I was going to argue, but I stopped when I realized I would probably get more information this way.

"She thought they were helping her have a healthy baby, but you know that chip they implanted in your baby's cord? After they're done using it on the baby for their experiments, they'll use that to terminate your baby for further post-mortem experimentation. And the one they implanted in your neck? That wasn't only for use with the one in the cord for the baby and to track your health. They'll use it to kill you if you fight against them. You're no more than a lab rat to them. So I'm warning you, telling you now, run, run as fast and as far away from them as you can and get that fucking chip taken out of your neck, or they'll use it to track you down and kill you both."

I sat their frozen, stunned by what he had said. My mouth hung open, and I just stared at him for a minute, not fully understanding what had happened to Edward's mother. "So, Edward's mom, she's dead? They hunted her down?"

He smiled softly at me. "Just run, Miss, before they hurt you and your baby."

I cleared my throat, a little scared to ask, but I had to know, "Who?"

His eyes narrowed at me, and then he got up and moved quickly to my side of the table. He grabbed my hair, pulling it up and to the side to see behind my ear, causing the guard to come to my rescue. Mr. Harper dropped my hair before the guard grabbed him. "You're not one of them. Who are you?"

The guard was about to drag him out, when I got up to stop him. "He didn't hurt me, please, let him stay. We weren't done talking. Mr. Harper, please, tell him what you were doing. I know you weren't trying to hurt me."

"I was just checking her neck," he said looking repentant at the guard.

The guard looked between us again. "Fine, but one more move like that, Harper, and you'll be out of here and back to your cell. I'm only going easy on you because you're the best behaved inmate we have here."

"Thank you," I said, and Mr. Harper nodded his head in understanding.

He sat back down in his seat and looked at me curiously. "So, who are you then if you're not from EDEN?"

"Eden?" I asked. There was a niggling in the back of my mind. For some reason, it sounded familiar, and not just in a biblical sense.

He ignored my question and looked at my belly with a sad smile. "So, Miss, do you plan on telling me who you really are?"

I pulled out my pictures. "These might help explain who I am," I said fumbling with my purse. I pulled them out clumsily, and they spilled across the table.

He picked one up of Edward playing with Masen. "Who…who is this?" he whispered.

"That's my son and his father, Edward, at our house."

He looked up at me, his eyes filled with tears. "Why are you here? I know he didn't send you."

"No, I snuck away. He was very upset, because he just found out that you were his uncle."

His eyes were glued to the pictures, looking at each one carefully with sad eyes. "Who told him?"

"A friend of ours, Jack Masen. I believe you went to school together."

"Jack?" his voice rose a little.

I nodded yes.

"How did he find Edward?"

"Our daughter." I slid forward a picture of them playing tea party. "She was kidnapped, while Edward and I were in Arizona. Jack just happened to be standing next to us at the airport and overheard what had happened. I think Edward reminded him of Elizabeth. He was kind and let us use his plane to get home and had several of his people help us find her."

"Was she okay?" he asked with real concern in his voice.

I nodded my head. "She was fine. They were able to find her quickly with his help."

"Good, that's good." We sat silent for a moment. "Is he happy?"

"Edward?"

"Yeah."

"I think so, most the time, anyway. I think he has a hard time when his mother comes up in conversation, but most the time, he's happy."

"Good, good."

He was looking at the pictures, and then I realized before he looked up that he wiped a tear away from his eyes.

"Liz came to me one night, upset and pregnant," he said sadly. "I didn't even know she was pregnant. I hadn't seen her in months. We'd both left to go to different colleges. We'd kept in touch over the phone, but we'd both been so busy with our studies." He shook his head. "That was no excuse, though. I should've known something was wrong before then," he let out a sigh.

I waited patiently for him to go on.

"I finally got her settled down enough to tell me what was going on. She was pregnant, alone and scared. She answered an ad for a place that promised they were there for girls in her situation, offered them ideal living conditions and state-of-the-art prenatal care, would pamper them with everything they could possibly need, and help them get their lives back.

"Liz needed the help and a place to stay, and the kicker for her was that the place claimed they'd help her get back on her feet, and she'd get to keep the baby. It was everything she wanted.

"As part of the supposed cutting edge prenatal care, they brought her in and implanted a chip into her baby's umbilical cord and one into her neck. They lied and told her they were both only to help with keeping track of her and the baby's health. They never gave her a reason to believe otherwise.

"They moved her into a group home. She was there with eight other women. The women had to work together to cook and clean the place, so they became friends.

"One night, around her eighth month, Liz was taking out the trash, and she came across her roommate heading off toward the lab. Amber, I think she called her. The girl's best friend, Elena, had supposedly just left the project to go and live happily ever after with her new baby. Amber was depressed from missing her friend and worked slower than she was supposed to. She didn't get to the lab for her 'treatments' until later that night.

"Liz said Amber was brought back to the house a few hours later, and the attendants thought she was out, but after they left, she got up and told Liz what'd happened.

"Amber said she'd entered the lab and was shocked by what she found them doing to a dead baby. She screamed, startling them, and had turned to run away, when someone hit a button, activating the chip in her neck. She was stunned and fell to her knees in pain and passed out briefly. That was when she knew they weren't there to help her and her baby.

"She said when she woke up, she was in a different room, and she faked loss of memory and acted like she hadn't seen anything. They took her back to her room, and after Amber told Liz everything, they both went back to bed, but when Liz woke up later that morning, Amber was gone.

"The girl stayed missing from the group the next day. After hearing what she'd told her, Liz knew then that she had to get away from there. I don't know how Liz escaped, but she did and immediately sought out a friend of hers in the medical field from college. Liz found her and asked her to take the chip out of her neck. Her friend succeeded in removing it, but was killed in the process. Apparently, they've built in a failsafe that was triggered when it hit open air. These people are dangerous, Miss."

"Bella, my name is Bella," I urged.

He smiled softly. "Everything we did…it was the only way to keep Edward safe, to keep him hidden from them. We never meant to hurt him." His eyes popped wide, as if he just realized something. "If Jack found out about him, others will, too. He isn't safe, his family isn't safe," he pleaded, his eyes watering. "You have to get out of here, and get away from Jack."

"I don't understand."

He looked over at the guard nervously. "Dismiss him," he whispered. I didn't know if I could. I didn't know if I wanted to, but there was a good chance he was about to tell me things he had never told anyone else.

"Could we have a moment?" I asked the guard. He looked at me confused, as if he had heard me wrong, but then he stepped out of hearing range just outside the door.

Mr. Harper stood up and came to my side of the table. He knelt down in front of me and placed a hand on my stomach. "Edward was a very wiggly baby. Liz thought she was growing a gymnast." He looked up at me. His eyes were worn and tired suddenly.

He motioned for me to lean down, and I did so reluctantly.

"In their search for Liz, we'd inadvertently led them to Edward. It didn't take them long to find where he was and make a move for him, while he was at preschool in Seattle. Liz and I were able to get him back and take him into hiding. She let Carlisle know we had him, and that they'd been found by the brothers.

"That's when Carlisle made arrangements to move somewhere else, before we'd let Edward go back. Liz said it had to be a tiny town, with no cameras and a small enough population that you'd notice if someone new came into town. We were still in hiding, but it didn't take long for the brothers to close in on us.

"We did what we could to cover Edward's tracks and make him safe. I didn't kill his mother. It was staged. The coroner was a friend of ours and pronounced her dead. I went to prison for her murder, because it was the safest place for me to be. She was able to go deep into hiding. Edward was put through the system, having all his new information sealed, before the Cullen's got him back. He was supposed to be safe. With Liz dead, me in jail and his records sealed, they shouldn't have been able to find him again."

As the words sank in, my heart started pounding. Edward's mother was alive, and his uncle didn't think Edward was safe anymore.

"You have to leave; you have to get away from here and don't associate with Jack anymore. He's a good man, but if the wrong people make the connection, it won't be good for your family."

Judging by the terror in his eyes, I believed him.