For those of you who read the Get Your Southern On contest entries, this is my contribution. I am tickled at the results … first place in public vote and third place for the judge's choice. I've decided to break this up into smaller, drabblish chapters and it will be continued. The contest contribution is the first six or so chapters, roughly. I don't know how long it will be, but I do have it planned. Thank you to Bridget for betaing this for me and for Clo, who created the banner.

Up next will be some time with Edward, the kids and Bella, spending time in Tampa, bonding as a family. And what about the mysterious blonde? Who's she? Could it be Tanya? How will Edward react?

"I can't believe you have to go back to school so early, Bella," Liam grumbled. "Can't you hang out with us some more?"

"I'd love to, Liam, but I've got to get ready for my classes to start. I'm lucky that I've got some free time. My schedule is pretty flexible and you guys are my favorite dates," Bella said, driving them to Target. She had to pick up some office supplies and a new flash drive for her new curriculum. "After we get my stuff from Target, we'll get some lunch and then we'll hang out at the beach. Your dad is meeting us there."

"Can we go to that the taco place on the beach?" Lucy asked.

"It's a plan, pretty girl," Bella beamed, parking her car. "Come on, kiddos. Let's get these errands done." They went into store, getting the office supplies and some snacks for the beach.

As they were wandering in the store, a blonde woman was following them. She was taking pictures with her cell phone, her over made up face pinched and fuming with anger. She watched Bella as she laughed with the little girl, Lucy, buying her some books and colored pencils. She scowled as Bella helped the boy, Liam, grab some beach toys, brushing her fingers in the boy's red hair. Lucy bounced on her toes, asking to get some sunblock and aloe for the trip to the beach. Bella nodded. She turned and ran to the opposite end of the store. The woman followed her. The girl ran into her legs. "Ooops, sorry," Lucy chirped.

"No big deal," the woman replied. "You're very pretty."

"Thank you, but I'm not supposed to talk to strangers," Lucy said, taking a step back. She narrowed her eyes at the lady. "I've seen you before. You look like …" Lucy trailed off, shaking her head. "Leave me alone." She turned, bolting down the aisle and forgetting the stuff she'd picked up. The woman frowned, following the little girl and watching as Bella paid for all their stuff, leaving the store.

"Who's ready to go to the beach?" Bella asked, backing up and driving to the taco place. "Lucy? Are you okay? You seem a little quiet."

"I'm fine, Bella," Lucy said, trying to forget the creepy lady with too much makeup on.

"You can talk to me, pretty girl," Bella whispered. Lucy shrugged. Parking in a public lot, they went to the taco place and settled down for some lunch. Liam went to the bathroom and Bella idly played with Lucy's hair. "There's something wrong, Luce. What's wrong?"

"Some lady was following me in the store. I think it was the same lady from Red Robin," Lucy whispered. "She looks like I should know her."

"What does she look like, Lucy?" Bella asked, her heart stammering.

"Tall with the same colored hair as me," Lucy said. "She has on way too much makeup and she was dressed like Miss Lauren. Her dress was too short."

"Shit," Bella spat out.

"You said a bad word," Lucy chided.

"I'm sorry, pretty girl," Bella apologized. "I know who is following you."

Liam came running, his face red and his little hands in fists. "Bella, can we go home?"

"What's wrong?" Bella asked. Liam pointed to a blonde woman. "Stay here. Don't move." She shot up, stomping toward the woman. She ducked out of the restaurant and Bella followed her, looking for the blonde hair. However, she disappeared in the crowd. "Fuck my life." Bella went back inside, sitting down next to the twins. "I'm sorry, kiddos. I couldn't catch her. What happened, Liam?"

"She just asked me if I needed help in the bathroom. I said no and that she was creepy," Liam snorted. "She seemed upset, but she was. I mean, I'm seven. I don't need help in the bathroom. I'm a big boy."

"You are, but until we get to the bottom of this, you're not going anywhere on your own," Bella said, her nose wrinkled. "And that includes the bathroom. Do you want to spend time at the pool other than the beach?" They both nodded and Bella gestured for the check. She paid with cash, guiding them out of the restaurant and drove them back home. After slathering them with sunblock, they jumped into the pool and Bella sat on the edge. She sent a text, telling Edward that they were home and that she needed to talk to him.

He came home shortly after five, dressed in some scrubs, as he was at the hospital that afternoon. He waved at his children, sitting down next to Bella. "What's wrong? Your text was cryptic."

"There's someone following me and the kids," Bella whispered. "At first, I thought it was just a coincidence, but today this woman approached Lucy and Liam. They were both freaked out. I didn't see her, but …"

"Was this the first time this has happened?" Edward asked, his voice cold, glaring at Bella.

"The first time was when we went shopping for your present for Father's Day," Bella said, her face paling. "Today, this woman approached Lucy at Target and Liam at the taco joint near the beach." She cleared her throat, pulling her feet out of the water and curling up. "From Lucy's description, I think it's Tanya."

"And you're just now mentioning this to me," Edward growled.

"It happened today," Bella snapped.

"But, the first time was weeks ago, Bella," Edward yelled. "I should have been told then. I have a restraining against her. It includes the kids and you. She's fucked in the head."

"I'm sorry, Edward. I don't know exactly who's following us, but I got them out of there," Bella sneered.

"How did she even approach them?" Edward asked.

"Lucy went to get sunblock at the store and Liam was in the bathroom, Edward," Bella said.

"Were you with them?" he growled.

"So, this is my fault?" she yelled back. She got up and walked away, into the kitchen. Edward followed her, his green eyes swirling with anger and distrust. "Your children are capable of going to the bathroom by themselves. Liam even said that to 'Tanya.'" Bella used finger quotes around Edward's ex-wife's name. "You need to calm down."

"Calm down? The woman who gave up those children is trying to weasel back into their lives," Edward screamed. "You need to keep a better eye on them."

Bella's eyes filled with tears, glowering at him. "Stop blaming me," she hissed. "It's not my fault." A tear fell down her cheek and she picked up her purse. "Until you can stop being an asshole, I'm going." She took out her keys and went to the pool. She said goodbye to the kids, barely hanging on by a thread. Sliding into the car, Bella drove away and drove to the campus to do some work on her office and fine-tuning her lessons for the semester. However, she had an empty feeling in her heart, like she'd been punched. The fact that Edward blamed her broke her and it felt awful.

Did he really have that little faith in her?

xx TOTGA xx

"Daddy, why was Bella sad?" Lucy asked as she ate her dinner. "She looked like she was crying."

Edward wrinkled his nose, knowing his temper got him into huge trouble. "We had a fight, Luce," he answered. "Eat your dinner."

"Is this about that lady?" Liam asked. Edward nodded. "Bella was ticked, Dad."

"Language, Liam," Edward chided.

"What? She was! She ran out and was ready to kick some butt," Liam said.

"What did the lady look like?" Edward asked. Both of the kids answered and Edward grumbled. He pulled out his cell phone and found a picture from when the twins were first born. It was the only family picture of the four of them in existence. He zoomed in on Tanya's face, handing it to the twins. "Is that her?"

"Close. Her nose is different and she's got bigger …" Lucy said, holding her hands out like she was cupping boobs. "Why do you have her picture on your phone, Daddy?"

"This is your birth mom," Edward sighed. "Her name is Tanya. Do you remember her?" Both twins shook their heads. "That's probably for the best. She's not a very good person. I have a restraining order against her. She's not allowed to talk to you, to me or to Bella."

"But, she did," Liam growled. "Bella let that happen."

"No, Liam," Edward said, pinching his nose. "Bella didn't know that Tanya was following her. That's what we were fighting about. I blamed her for not protecting you."

"Daddy, Bella brought us right home and she was mad at this lady," Lucy said, pointing to Tanya. "You need to apologize to her. She didn't do anything wrong. This lady did. Bella protected us from her."

"But don't you think Bella would know what Tanya would look like?" Liam asked. "Didn't she go to high school with you and her?"

"She did, but Tanya didn't look like how you described in high school," Edward answered. Tanya, when they were in high school, was pretty, but not fake. As she got older and she was trying to turn back the clock, she used Botox, collagen and implants to change her appearance. "Let me try to call Bella." He dialed Bella's number, but his call rang once and then went to voicemail. Not surprising. "Finish eating your dinner, terrors."

"We're not terrors," Lucy argued.

"You're the terror," Liam snorted. "You were mean to Bella."

"I was," Edward frowned. God, he sucked. "You guys eat and I'm going to call Nana. I want to see if she'll watch you while I try to apologize to Bella." He dialed his mom and paced in the kitchen. He told Esme about the fight and his mom blew out a harsh breath.

"Give her time, Edward. You pretty much said that you didn't trust her with your children," Esme explained. "That's pretty low."

"I didn't mean to," Edward said, his heart stammering. "I mean, Tanya is stalking her and the kids. I just snapped."

"You did and you hurt her, deeply," Esme sighed. "Bella has been more of a mother to the twins than Tanya ever was. The fact that you said that you didn't trust her … that's almost cruel."

"I suck as a human being," Edward groaned, scrubbing his face. "Mom, what can I do to make it right?"

"Give her some time to cool down and be sincere with your apology, Edward. At least give her tonight to relax," Esme whispered. "I'm sorry, but you're going to have to kiss some major ass in order to get into her good graces."

"Kind of how Dad needs to kiss your ass," Edward snorted humorlessly.

"Probably even more so," Esme sighed. "Good luck. I'll take the kids this weekend and hopefully you and Bella will be enjoying some makeup sex."

"That's if she doesn't dump my ass," Edward grumbled. "Thanks, Mom."

"Don't thank me yet. You've got a huge hole to dig yourself out of, bub," Esme chuckled. "Love you." She hung up and Edward felt so empty and pissed at himself for letting his temper get away from him. Despite his mom's suggestion of giving Bella a chance to cool down, he sent a brief text. I'm so sorry ~ E

He prayed that it would be a start in their healing.

A/N: So, Edward had a bit of a temper tantrum. Okay, a huge temper tantrum. Do you think he can get himself out of it? Leave me some!