CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
(BPOV)
I kept Clarissa close and saw the anger that rapidly filled Billy's face as the voices carried further out to us from the front door.
"I'm sorry to show up here like this, so suddenly and all, but we have traveled a very long way to see our granddaughter. We just got word about Lilly and we're devastated. I'm sure you can understand that." Peter sadly stated.
Charlie cleared his throat while I rose from the couch and quietly headed upstairs for my room, my steps swift as I reached for my cell phone on my bed and speed dialed Jacob. It rang only twice before his husky voice cut over the line.
"Bells? Hey-... Everything okay? I should be leaving in a few more hours-" He began.
"No, it's not. Listen to me, stop whatever it is that you're doing and get back here to Forks as fast as you can, Jake. I mean it. Run in wolf form if you have to. If it's faster. Just get here."
"Wait a minute. Hold on. Slow down, honey. What's going on? Is Clarissa sick or hurt or-" He worriedly countered.
"No, she's perfectly healthy but we have some unexpected company at our door. Lilly's parents, Peter and Judy are here."
"What?" He disbelievingly questioned, his tone almost instantly filling with anger at hearing this.
"I'm serious."
"Alright, stay right there. I'm coming. Please, don't even hand her over to them. I don't trust him or her."
"Don't worry, Jake. I have no intentions of letting them take her anywhere. She's fast asleep in my arms right now and it will stay that way till you get here. See you soon. We'll be waiting here for you."
We ended the call with this and I tip toed out into the upstairs hall, listening to the rather hostile exchange happening on the first floor of the house.
"I know just who the hell you are and I'm not sure what you're intentions are by coming here, but I can tell you this much, you're not crossing into this house and taking Clarissa anywhere with you. Jacob is at work and he needs to be here." Charlie edgily stated to them.
"Charlie, is it?" Judy softly countered then. "I understand your alliance in this but we assure you that we only want to see her right now. We want to be sure that she's okay and well cared for."
"Why wouldn't she be?" Billy's angry voice suddenly cut in then. "Are you trying to imply that Jacob isn't capable of caring for her on his own? That her welfare depends on you coming here? That's absolutely absurd."
"Billy we don't mean to cause any trouble by our impromptu visit. Truly, we don't." Judy sighed worriedly in return.
"Where the hell were you when Jacob tried to get in touch with you days ago? He left you countless messages right after the accident when he came to. He tried to tell you about Lilly and you didn't even have the decency to return his calls or texts? You didn't bother to even come to her funeral! Now you show up here unannounced and-"
"We were both away in separate states for important conferences and we didn't get the word of her passing until-" Peter arrogantly replied, trying to selfishly defend his actions.
"Bullshit-" Billy loudly accused, before he could even finish the statement. "I don't buy any of it for a damn minute that you two didn't have proper access to your phones while you were away! So, why don't you spare me your lies and ignorance and just tell me why you couldn't even be bothered enough to come here for your own daughters funeral!?"
I cringed at his lethal tone with them. I had never heard Billy speak to anyone while being that angry and they both deserved his wrath.
A brief silence fell then but it was short lived.
"I think it's best if you go." Charlie suggested sternly. "It's pretty damn clear that no good can come from the two of you being here today."
"We are not leaving this doorstep until we see Clarissa! I am a well known and respected lawyer and you don't want to start something like this with me!" Peter nearly shouted, the loudness in his harsh tone causing Clarissa to startle slightly in my arms. I tightened my hold on her and placed a soft kiss to her temple, as I swayed back and forth there in the hall, still intently listening.
"Hold it right there!" Charlie haughtily countered, his voice no longer just stern but laced with a clear and resounding authority I recognized all too well. "Peter, I'm the chief of Police here in Forks. I would strongly advise you to watch what you say and the way you say it from here on out. You may be a big city lawyer and all but you're sure in hell not above the law and I won't tolerate any form of threatening. Do you understand me? Are we clear?"
"Crystal." Peter begrudgingly stated to him in reply. "That doesn't change the fact that we're here to see Clarissa. She is our grandchild and we have rights! I'm sure you know this being a cop!?"
"What I know is that you never bothered to show any kind of concern for Lilly when she was still here. I saw that girl more than you did and she wasn't even my daughter. I get that relationships with grown children can sometimes be complicated and difficult. I have one myself, but nevertheless, you don't abandon them. Not ever! No matter what the damn circumstances are in your life." Charlie clarified.'
"You don't know anything about me!" Peter retorted angrily.
"Watch your tone." Charlie spat back.
"What do you really want, Peter? What is this really all about?" Billy demanded then.
"This is about our rights to her. She is our blood, too. We want to know that she gets the life she deserves! Now that Lilly's gone, it's fair to assume that she'll be at a disadvantage without her." Judy tearfully stated.
"How dare you say that?" Billy yelled.
"We're only stating that which is true. Don't you want her to have more?" Peter began again.
"More? More than what? More than this you mean? More than what you think my son can give her? This is about money. That's what it's always been about with you two." Billy fumed callously.
"If Jacob were here, we could talk this over in a more civilized manor...-" Peter started to argue.
"Well, it looks like you'll get your wish to have that civilized talked cause he's pulling in now." Charlie hedged.
I held my breath at this, hearing the screeching that came from the tires, as they harshly turned into the drive and came to a sudden halt. The car door slammed shut and the very sound of it made me shudder.
"What are you doing here? Leave." Jacob coldly stated to them, his harsh and echoing words fueled by a rage that was almost tangible in his voice when he spoke.
"Jacob, please, please just hear what we have to say." Judy cried out in return.
"Why? Huh? Why should I listen to anything that either of you have to say?" He bitterly retorted.
"Lilly was precious to us! We loved her!" Peter snapped. "You took her away from us and now you want to keep us from Clarissa!?"
I placed a hand over my mouth as his words made me sick to my stomach, the coldness in them alone enough to bring tears to my eyes.
"I loved your daughter and you were never there for her. I didn't take her from you. The two of you never even tried to make her a priority. You can't blame that on anyone but yourselves." Jacob solemnly replied.
"That's not true!" Judy wailed. "We tried to be close to her but when she moved here-"
"What's Clarissa's middle name?" Jacob hoarsely asked then, the sudden change in his baritone making me take a step forward and press my cheek against the top of Clarissa's head.
"What?" Judy confusingly asked. "What does that have to do with-"
"It's a simple question. What is her middle name?" Jacob fiercely repeated, the strength behind his voice leaving him when it wavered on the last few words. "Your granddaughters middle name?"
"I-I-... we- we're not-" She stammered then in return.
"You don't even know do you?"
"Well, with our schedules over the last year, it was hard to stay in touch with Lilly. We called."
"You never called." Jacob bit back.
"We want to see her!" Judy sobbed. "She's the only part of Lilly we have left, Jacob. Please, don't do this. Don't keep us from her. We never got to say goodbye to Lillian."
"I called you over a dozen times and so did Shawn. He was just as persistent to get ahold of you as I was. I wanted you to be there when we laid her to rest. I wanted that for you and for Lilly , even if you weren't exactly on the best of terms. I wanted you both to have that chance because as a new dad, I know that would gut me in ways I would never be able to live with if I were ever in your shoes."
No one spoke then and the only sound I could hear was that of Judy's tears as she began to plead with him harder.
"Can you please put aside your differences and just let us see her?"
"I'm not the one who drove that wedge." Jacob countered.
"Fair enough, but we still want to be part of her life."
"Stop begging with him, Judy! For shits sake! Have some class and remember your dignity. We have just as much right to her as Billy does, and if it's a fight he wants, well then, it's a fight he'll have. You should learn to choose a more appropriate opponent when sparring like this, Jacob. You're outmatched here." Peter sarcastically drawled. "You should know your place."
"I do. You should know yours and by the way, it's Julian. Clarissa's middle name is Julian. Lilly chose it for her the day she was born, but I guess you wouldn't have a way of knowing that either considering you never came around for long enough to find out."
"Don't test me, Jacob. I never liked you for her-..."
"Feelings mutual, Peter. Now leave! Go!"
"You can't order me to go! This isn't your house." Peter vehemently argued in protest.
"No, but it is mine and I'm asking you to get the hell off my porch. I think I've been far more than understanding and tolerant of your behavior so far. My patience is all but spent with the two of you." Charlie asserted. "So, get off my property."
"We want her with us!" Peter fumed.
"When hell freezes." Jacob yelled, the scuffling noise from downstairs loud and the shouting that followed, even louder.
"Get your hands off me!"
"Hey! That's enough! I mean it! The two of you get going!" Charlie demanded above the maddening ruckus. "Don't make me escort you out in handcuffs for trespassing. You're screwing with the wrong cop! I got a whole team down at the station that will gladly show up here with blues on and haul you off to jail!"
"On what damn charges! You're grasping at straws and you know it."
"I'll grasp at whatever I damn well please, Peter." Charlie bitingly hedged. "You try and take that sweet baby away from her father and I promise you that it won't end well. Jacob has all of us, along with an entire community of people back on the Reservation, who will support him in this fight and you sir, will lose."
"Are you, the chief of police in Forks, threatening me?" Peter huffed. "Cause that would certainly be a case for the courts to hear!"
"I'm telling you to get the hell off my property and to leave Clarissa and Jacob alone, or the chips will fall where they may. That's a promise and not a threat. There's a clear difference. I would think you being someone who is as educated of a man in the law that he claims to be would know that fucking difference between them. I've been a cop for a long ass time, and I've had the misfortune of arresting a lot of arrogant asses like yourself and they all have one thing in common, Peter."
"Oh yeah and what's that, chief Swan?"
"Their overly confident and their talk is just that... all talk!"
"You don't think I'll take Jacob to court for custody of Clarissa? Prove he's unfit? Try me. I'm a very determined man, Mr. Swan. Don't make the mistake of underestimating me. It would not benefit you to do so."
I came down the stairs then just in time to catch sight of Charlie roughly grabbing Peter by his suit collar and drawing them in nose to nose.
"You really are a pompous ass, aren't you? Every time you open your mouth, you just keep digging a larger hole for yourself than a goffer can in the Spring!"
Jacobs head turned my way when I rounded the corner and he crossed the room in four long strides. I handed Clarissa to him and stalked toward Charlie first.
"That's enough!"
Every head sharply turned in my direction at the sound of my voice and I saw Judy's face pale when she got a good look at me, her hands automatically stretching out while I nervously placed myself in the middle of their heated brawl.
"You're her aren't you?" Judy quaveringly asked. "You're the emergency room nurse that Shawn and Martha spoke of in some of their messages. You're Bella?"
"Yes, I am. I knew Mr. and Mrs. Dawson. I know that you're Peter and Judy. Lillians parents. They told me about you back at the hospital."
"...and you tried to save our Lilly?"
I swallowed hard then as Charlie released Peters collar and stepped back into the house with an angry huff, his close stance of protection in front of me not going unnoticed.
"I-I saw her. Your Lilly. I was one of the ER nurses on call the night of the accident. The night they brought her in. I'm very sorry for the loss you both have suffered." I stated softly, careful to speak to them in a manor that could de-escalate things back to the way it should be without all the threats and hostility.
I felt there was no place for that here with Clarissa.
"My parents spoke very highly of you, nurse Swan." Peter sighed, wearily looking toward Billy and Charlie.
"...and I grew to really care for them as well."
I looked back at Judy then, pausing there and taking a moment to truly see the evident grief and sorrow in her tired face as her red rimmed gaze steadily held my own. Behind all the anger and the threatening behavior they exhibited, I saw something else.
Just beneath the surface I saw the raw pain that lingered heavily over her expression. The regret that came from a broken relationship between a mother and daughter that never got the chance it deserved to be repaired. Seeing this in her now didn't make me naïve to their manipulation, instead, it only gave me a deeper sense of compassion for Judy alone than I had before. She had lost a part of herself with Lillians death that she could never get back.
"They told us how you helped to save Jacob and Clarissa, too?"
I merely nodded as Peter flinched away from his ex wife, like her weakened words of grief and loss made him resent her somehow. I took a few steps forward and placed my hand on her trembling shoulder.
"I know I don't personally know either of you, but I'm going to say this anyway." I paused, and looked back into the house to see Jacob lingering close by in the living room with Clarissa pressed tightly to him. "Please don't let the sorrow you both feel over your loss of Lilly make you lose sight of what's truly best for Clarissa. Jacob is a good father to her. She is the single most important thing to him. I promise you that it's true and you can put weight in my words cause I've known both Billy and Jacob since I was just a little girl. They are two of the best people I've ever been so fortunate to know and call my family. So, please, don't threaten to cause them or yourselves anymore pain than has already happened. Don't you both want what it best for Clarissa? I can assure you that what's best for her is right here in Washington with her father. He loves her so much. I know you can already see that. She is his world. His whole universe and there's nothing he wouldn't do for her. Please, I'm just asking you to both reconsider your position with this before causing so much hurt for everyone involved."
Charlie gently put an arm around my shoulders then and added his two cents in.
"This is my girl and I know that I would be devastated if I ever lost her, so while I understand that you've both lost something irreplaceable, what Bella just said is nothing but the truth. You should listen to her."
A/N: Thank you for reading and for all your wonderful reviews. Look for another two chapter update tomorrow. Till then :-)
