Chapter 39

When we pulled up to the Cullen house, things were definitely far worse than we expected. The Cullen's were not only home, but it seemed they had quite a few guests over as well.

"Maybe this will work in our favor," Edward suggested. "I mean, they'll be too busy entertaining to really question me."

"Edward, I have a bad feeling about this," I said, suddenly overcome with unpleasant butterflies.

"Hey! That's Carmen's car!" Bree announced excitedly.

"Carmen, your mom's nurse?" I asked unsure.

"Yeah, she lived with us for a while and helped my mom take care of me."

"Hold on a sec," Edward said as he looked around at all the cars.

"What is it?" I asked clueless.

Suddenly Edward clinched his jaw and I could actually feel anger radiating off of him. "This better not be what I think it is," he seethed.

"What?" I asked again.

"Just...wait here," he said as he opened his door.

"I thought we were staying together?"

"Yeah, I want to go inside too!" Bree protested.

He considered it for a moment, and then he huffed. "Okay, just let me do the talking."

The three of us got out of the car and headed for the front door, but then Edward pulled Bree to a stop and peculiarly tried to smooth down her long knotted locks with his fingers. "Do you have a rubber band or something?"

"Um…" I searched in my purse and luckily found one. "Here."

He took it from me and tried to pull her hair into a ponytail, but he was just making the tangles worse.

"Here, let me," I said and nudged him out of the way. I did the best I could without a brush and felt horrible that I didn't even think to comb out her hair sooner. What kind of mother was I going to be? "I should have done this earlier," I mumbled and I finished tying her hair back.

"We didn't exactly have a normal morning," Edward tried reassuring me. "I doubt we'll overlook this once everything settles down."

"I hope you're right. If I can't even remember to brush her hair then we're seriously screwed," I told him.

When Bree's hair was as good as it was going to get, we reluctantly went inside and I was absolutely shocked by what we found.

"Uh…this looks like a funeral reception," I said slowly as we looked around at all the people dressed in black congregated inside.

"He's gone way too far this time," Edward fumed.

"Oh, there you are Bree," an older woman came up to us and said to her. "I was beginning to wonder where you were. Did you mess up your dress?" she asked in reference to Bree's inappropriately casual attire.

"No, we just got here," Bree replied innocently, and then she looked up at Edward. "Why weren't we invited to the party?"

The woman shot Edward a disgusted look. "Please don't tell me you're the one who has guardianship over her?" she spat. "What kind of man lets a little girl miss her own mother's memorial?"

"Oh, blow me!" Edward said irritated before grabbing both Bree's and my hands and pulling us through the crowd towards the kitchen.

I couldn't believe what was happening, apparently Carlisle had put the whole thing together without Edward's involvement, and Edward was obviously beyond angry about it.

"Bout time you showed," Emmett came out of nowhere and said.

"Where's my dad?" Edward asked evenly.

"Out back. You know, I knew you screwed up a lot, I just never expected you to skip out on Kate's memorial."

"Fuck off," Edward replied before pulling Bree and me through the kitchen to the backyard. The moment he saw Carlisle he immediately laid in to him. "Where the hell do you get off doing all this without me?" he shouted at him, making everyone around us turn and look.

"Where have you been, son, we were worried," Carlisle said, ignoring Edward's outburst. "Bree, honey, are you okay?"

She nodded, but she was obviously upset by the confrontation, so I pulled her into me tightly and squeezed Edward's hand to remind him why he needed to calm down.

"You were worried, so you set up a funeral?" Edward asked incredulously.

Carlisle looked around at his guests, and then took a step closer to Edward. "Let's go up to my office and discuss this."

"Fine, lets."

Carlisle led the way, and Esme followed, but when he noticed Bree and me coming as well, he stopped. "Hey Bree, Rose is right over there, why don't you go have her get you something to eat," he told her.

She smiled politely but shook her head. "No thanks Grandpa Carlisle, I'm not hungry."

"Bree, maybe you should go with Rose," Edward told her. "We need to have a grown up talk."

She was about to argue but Edward simply gave her a stern look and she knew whining was pointless. "Fine," she said before sulking off.

"Bella, I'm happy to see you again, please stay and have some refreshments," Carlisle tried politely dismissing me as well.

"Nope, Bella is coming with us," Edward said, refusing to give Carlisle a moment to protest; he simply held my hand tighter and walked us passed them to lead the way.

When we got into the office, Carlisle shut the door and Edward immediately began yelling again. "I leave for one night and you felt the need to take over my responsibilities?"

"I didn't know where you went, and I couldn't get ahold of you!" Carlisle replied heatedly.

"She just died; you mean to tell me that this couldn't have waited?" Edward asked incredulously. "My god, most funerals don't take place the next day. Has there even been enough time for her body to cool?"

"Edward," I chided him quietly.

"This isn't the funeral," Esme jumped in. "It's just a get together of friends to mourn her passing."

"Again, not something you should have done. She was my family, not yours!" Edward said harshly. "Did you honestly think I wasn't going to come back and handle everything?"

"Well, I don't know, son, you've been a ghost lately," Carlisle said unexpectedly - I almost snorted at that one…almost.

"I've been dealing with my own shit. Last time I checked I was an adult that didn't need to check in with you every freaken day."

"We used to talk every day," Carlisle argued. "I really don't know what's going on with you lately, but since your accident you've been acting erratic and to be honest, it's quite concerning. This is just like the summer after you graduated high school, and I have to wonder what that means."

"And what does that mean?" Edward asked irritated.

"Are you doing drugs again, son?"

Edward was actually speechless for a moment, and then he laughed once humorlessly. "You honestly think I'm that fucked up that I would start that shit again right when Bree needs me the most?"

"I don't know what to think….But what I do know is that you're not emotionally stable enough to be caring for a child."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Carlisle glanced at his wife. "Esme and I would like to adopt Bree. We've already talked to social services and…"

"You talked to social services? How dare you?" Edward said, obviously feeling severely betrayed. "She's my kid. Her mother left her to me. You have no right…"

"Okay, calm down," Carlisle told him quickly. "Look, the last thing I wanted was to fight you on this. We just don't know what's going on with you anymore, and we're trying to think about what's best for Bree. We talked to Kate about us adopting her while you were in a coma, and she agreed."

"Yeah, because I was in a coma!" Edward shouted. "I'd understand you taking her if I died, but guess what, I'm not dead so I'm fully capable of raising her myself."

"We're grateful you're okay physically, but emotionally and mentally you're just not stable enough," Carlisle told him. "Think of what's best for Bree. Maybe…maybe we'll just be her temporary guardians until you're more secure. Or maybe you can live here with her until we know you can handle things on your own."

"You're not going to be her guardians at all. She's mine, and I'm going to make sure she has everything she needs."

"What she needs is a mature caregiver and a stable home. Can you honestly say you can give her that?" Carlisle asked him.

Edward glanced at me, so I nodded in encouragement. "Yes, we can."

"We?" Carlisle questioned, looking at me confused.

"Bree and I are moving to Seattle to live with Bella," Edward told him assuredly.

Carlisle scrunched his face. "What? Edward, this is exactly what I'm talking about, you get these irrational ideas and you just jump at them without actually thinking it through. Why on earth would you move to Seattle when your job and family is here? And living with Bella temporarily is the opposite of stability."

"It's not a temporary move. We're living with Bella permanently."

"Permanently? Edward, sooner rather than later you're going to want your on space. One of you will meet someone; possibly even get married one day."

"Actually, we want to get married this day," Edward blurted out.

"You want to get married? To who?" Carlisle asked clueless.

"To each other," Edward said shamelessly.

Carlisle was shocked and confused as he looked back and forth between us, and then he let his eyes drop to our conjoined hands. "What is this?"

"What is what? Bella and I are getting married. What don't you understand?"

"You're getting married?" Carlisle questioned again. "To each other?"

Edward rolled his eyes. "Yes. In fact, that's why we came here right now, so I could get my birth certificate; if I had known you were hosting Kate's funeral without me I would have been here sooner to stop you."

"This isn't a funeral, it's just…Everyone was calling and asking when the service was, and because I couldn't get ahold of you and had no idea when you were coming back, we just had everyone come over today. There was no ceremony, it's just a reception."

"A pre-funeral reception?" Edward said incredulously.

"People just wanted a place to come and mourn," Carlisle said defensively. "Can we please get back to the topic of you wanting to marry your sister?"

"Bella, is not my sister," Edward said through gritted teeth.

"You divorce spouses, Edward, not children."

"Wow, well you've sure been a deadbeat dad to her then, haven't you?" Edward said condescendingly. "It's funny, your first wife didn't stick around after your divorce either; where is mommy anyway? You've always been so mad at her for ditching us the way she did, but you virtually did the same thing to Bella. I guess that makes you both losers in the parenting department, and you actually think you'd be a better father to Bree than me?"

"I tried to reach out to Bella after the divorce, but Renee wouldn't allow it," Carlisle fumed.

"Sure, you did," Edward said sarcastically. "You're right, you should have been awarded father of the year."

"Carlisle is an amazing father," Esme defended her husband. "He loves you and my kids as if you were all his own."

"Okay, your kids were both adults when you married, so it's not like he had too many daddy duties. I'm the only one he was really stuck with parenting and that's because he didn't have anyone else to push me on."

"Edward, that's not true. You're my son, I love you," Carlisle said offended.

"Really? Well, could have fooled me. I spent my entire childhood getting in your way. You were rarely home and when you were you locked yourself away in this office and would just yell at me if I bothered you. Hell, I used to try to piss you off just so I'd have some sort of interaction with you. I was always alone. I had no one, and I basically raised myself."

"Edward, I tried," Carlisle said quietly. "I had to work…But that didn't mean I didn't want to spend time with you. I hated that you were always alone, why do you think I married Renee in the first place?"

"Oh, you married Renee for me?" Edward asked with a laugh. "I could see how you getting a trophy wife would benefit me."

"I thought…I thought marrying her would give you the family and attention you needed. She didn't have a job to go to every day and she had a daughter your age; I thought the three of you would spend all your time together."

"My mother was never really into quality mom time," I mumbled.

"Yes, I know that now, which was one of the reasons why we ended up divorcing. But that's what happens when you rush into a marriage...especially when you get married for all the wrong reasons."

"Don't!" Edward cut him off. "Don't stand there and pretend you know what the hell you're talking about when it comes to us."

"Edward, you don't just wake up one day and decide to marry your sister. Obviously there's something bigger going on here. Whatever issue you're having, this isn't the answer."

"She's not my sister," Edward said again.

"Fine, your step-sister. You seriously can't see anything wrong in this? I have to wonder if Alice was single would have tried to marry her?"

"Don't be disgusting," Edward said insulted.

"There is no difference, Edward."

"There is a huge difference!"

"Okay, the difference is you were kids with Bella; you should think of her as your sister even more then you do Alice."

"Yeah, well, I don't."

"Edward, what's really going on here? Are you two planning to raise Bree together? Do you think it would be easier if you had someone to help you that you're comfortable with? Maybe you're just tired of dating?"

"God, Carlisle, just stop. You have no idea what you're talking about. Bella and I aren't scamming you, we have no ulterior motive for getting married. We just love each other, and we always have."

Edward's statement seemed to take Carlisle back, so he took a deep breath before replying. "I don't have a doubt that you love each other…Bella was clearly distraught over your coma, but there are many different types of love, and I think it's possible that you're both confused. Perhaps Renee and I did a horrible job of demonstrating love appropriately."

Edward threw his head back frustrated, and then turned to me. "This is pointless, I don't even know why I'm trying. It's like talking to a fucking brick wall. We don't need his blessing, and I certainly don't need his permission to take Bree, so let's find my birth certificate and get the hell out of here."

"Edward, look, I know I wasn't the best father to you, and I know you were a lonely child…so maybe you found a connection with Bella that neither of you understood, maybe she gave you the sense of family that you never had before or even since then, and now with Bree needing a family you feel like she's the answer."

"That's not what this is!" Edward shouted, but there wasn't much anger behind it, it was mostly exasperation.

"No? Then why are you rushing to get married so soon after Kate died. Instead of being strong for Bree on your own, you're marrying someone you turned to as a kid in the hopes that she can compensate for what you lack emotionally. Look me in the eye and tell me I'm wrong."

"You're not wrong," Edward said calmly. "I was a lonely kid…and when Bella was here it was the only time I felt like I had a family. I turned to her whenever I needed someone, but the truth is I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. If we could have just stayed together I probably would have never screwed my life up like I did. I love her, and I don't regret a moment of our time together. I'm marrying her now because I want to be married to her. I understand Kate just died and it's not the time for celebrations, which is partly why we're just going to city hall. We're not going to worry about a honeymoon or anything like that right now, we just want to be married."

"I understand," Carlisle said gently. "You two have a past that has bonded you for life, and perhaps not being around each other for so long has made that connection even more intense…But you can feel incredibly close to someone in a platonic way, and I just don't want either of you to jump into a this only to realize what a huge mistake it is. Love is the most important aspect of marriage, but physical intimacy is a big part of it, and when you get to that point you're going to realize that your love is definitely not romantic."

Edward chuckled darkly. "You honestly think we haven't had sex?"

My head dropped on his shoulder to hide my face from embarrassment; it was definitely not a topic I wanted to discuss with my one time step-father.

"You have?" Carlisle asked slightly horrified.

"Bella's pregnant," Edward blurted out. "Trust me, the physical intimacy aspect of our relationship is never going to be a problem."

Carlisle was stunned silent as if the idea of us being together in that way was beyond belief. And then he shook his head roughly. "Wh…h-how long have you been together like…that?"

"I don't know, how long has it been since you married Renee?" Edward replied casually.

"I don't understand."

"Bella and I had a physical relationship when you were married," he clarified, but it just baffled Carlisle even more. "We were alone together a lot, and spent much of that time discovering each other sexually," he added with slight amusement laced in his tone. My embarrassment only grew with Edward's admission, but it seemed as though he didn't have an ounce of shame in it.

"You were just children…This isn't…normal," Carlisle responded absently as he was lost in thought.

"Nothing about us has ever been normal, but that doesn't make it wrong," Edward told him. "We weren't ready for the relationship we had back then, and you guys ripping us apart just made it all worse, but now we're both mature enough to understand everything and turn it into something real. Bella and I are having a baby; it's already done, there's nothing you can do to change it, and we're getting married and making a family for Bree. I don't need your permission, and I sure as hell don't need you interfering. I appreciate you taking care of Bree when I couldn't, but now you need to let me handle my own responsibilities, and that includes Kate's funeral."

Carlisle didn't know how to respond, so he just stood there like a statue as Edward walked over to his filing cabinet and found his birth certificate. He walked back over to me, grabbed my hand and then towed me out of the room without saying another word to his father.

Apart from him taking it upon himself to have a get together for Kate's passing, I couldn't really be mad at Carlisle. He didn't understand our relationship, and that was okay, I doubted anyone other than us really could. As far as people knew, our time together as children was just like every other step siblings', so his shock and disapproval from learning the truth actually made sense… But we had to do what was right for us, and we refused to care what other people thought about it.

With birth certificates in hand, we found Bree and headed straight for City Hall…