CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

(BPOV)

Peter looked utterly ashen from my words, his lack of response leaving us all locked there on the porch in an uncomfortable silence while we waited for one of them to speak.

"I see that you're very much invested in the welfare of Clarissa, nurse Swan? It's good to know that she's been in good hands." He soon hedged.

"Clarissa is in good hands with her father as well. His investment is what counts. Can't you see that?" I replied.

Judy shot a sharp look in peters direction, one that was easy to read as a warning, but he didn't seem to heed it.

"No, I beg to differ-"

"Excuse me?" I gasped to him in return.

"How long is it you say you've known Jacob?"

"For years. Since I was little-"

"Well then, I'm sure that I'm correct in assuming you know about the lifestyle on the reservation they have?" Peter hedged. "The modest and simplistic way of living they've grown so accustomed to."

"Peter, please. Let's not do this here. It's only going to upset the situation further." Judy pleaded.

"Bella, our main concern is for her well being." Peter reiterated.

"I understand that but as I said before, Jacob is a wonderful father and despite the loss you've suffered from Lillians sudden passing, I think you should strongly reconsider before going forward with anything." I countered, unable to hide the edge in my tone with him.

"We are not here to doubt his abilities in caring for her, but rather to be sure she has the upbringing she deserves. The advantages only our family could give her."

"She will have the upbringing she deserves." Billy solidly stated to him, wheeling forward and placing himself next to me.

"I won't pretend to be ignorant to the fact that we stand a very little chance, if proceeding to the courts, of gaining any kind of guardianship over her-..."

"...but you're going to try anyway, aren't you?" Charlie huffed irately, crossing his arms over his chest again. "Unbelievable."

"Come on, Judy. We need to get going. It will be dark in a few more hours." Peter stated, gesturing for his ex wife to follow him out to the flashy Mercedes Benz parked in the drive.

"This is how you're going to leave things?" Jacob huffed out then in disbelief, his steps forward leery when he noticed how Judy became inconsolable at the mere sight of Clarissa in his arms.

"We will do whatever is necessary to be part of her life." Peter arrogantly clarified. "You can count on that and you would do well to lawyer up."

His words made me see red and I let my anger get the best of me when I pushed past Charlie and approached them.

"What are you trying to do here? You really want to settle this in some angry court dispute?! Can't you be more civil and have some compassion? You may have lost your daughter, and for that, I am beyond sorry, but Jacob just lost his wife. All of you have suffered enough already. Why on earth would you want to add to that pain and heartache?"

Judy's gaze was glued to Clarissa and she didn't seem to hear my plea, her tears dripping steadily down her tired face, as she left Peters side and went to Jacob. Her words all ran together while she tried to speak through her raw emotion.

"I'm sorry, Jacob. I know Lillian loved you, and I know you lost her, too. I don't want things to be this way." She cried.

"Judy!" Peter yelled for her and she jumped at the harsh and demanding sound of his voice.

I saw the anger leave Jacobs face as he looked at Judy then, his gaze reflecting nothing but immense compassion for her and I suddenly had a sinking feeling that there was far more to Lillians parents divorce than was being told.

"I don't want that either, Judy. Of course I want you in her life." Jacob tensely admitted.

"Judy, I said lets go! We will see them in court!"

I cringed at Peters unforgiving tone with her and found myself growing angrier with him by the damn minute.

Judy timidly reached out toward Clarissa then and Jacob took another step closer to her, letting her caress Clarissa's cheek as she smiled.

"It doesn't have to be this way, Judy. You know I have nothing but respect for you. Clarissa needs her grandmother and I would never want to take that from her. Please, don't do this. Think of Lilly. Think of what she would have wanted." Jacob whispered to her, his sincere tone making my tears quickly return.

"I just want to know her. This isn't what Lilly would have wanted. I know that. Peter, we're going about this the wrong way." Judy stated, turning back to face the rest of us as she addressed her ex husband. "This is what killed our family all those years ago. Your need for constant control. All it ever did was hurt those around us and look at the pain it caused our daughter before she died. We never got the chance to make things right with her. She left home and fell in love and you never accepted it. You never accepted Jacob and his family here or where he came from. Instead, you tried to control who Lilly built a life with. You always made her feel small. Made her feel as if her choices were somehow not good enough in your eyes. There is more to this life than damn money, Peter! For shit's sake when are you going to learn that!? I refuse to do this with you. If you try to get the courts involved for our rights, I will go against you. Jacob is a good man. I know that because our daughter chose to love him and that's reason enough for me to already know his character. Shame on you for trying to say that the life he'll give Clarissa wouldn't be enough and shame on me for naively going along with it. No more."

Peter narrowed his seething gaze at her then and turned on his heel without another word, before swiftly running down over the steps and taking off in his Benz.

I turned back to see Jacob wrap a caring arm tightly around Judy as she hugged him and looked down at Clarissa.

"Proud of you, Bella. Real damn proud. You stood your ground with him and I think what you said really stuck with Judy." Charlie whispered, as we all headed back into the house.

"I hope so. For both of their sakes." I sighed, as he pulled me into a side hug and offered Judy something to drink. "We have some coffee in the kitchen if you're interested? Would you like some?"

"That sounds nice. Thank you, Chief Swan." She meekly replied.

"You can call me Charlie. Leave the chief out if you'd like." Charlie huffed with a chuckle, retreating to the kitchen with me as I poured Lilly's mother a fresh cup of coffee.

"Bella, thank you for saying what you did on Jacobs behalf with Peter." Billy added.

"You're welcome, Billy. I only said the truth."

"Well, seemed to be what they needed to hear."

"There's been enough hurt going around. Time for healing and that takes time. Hopefully, Judy will stick to her guns with Peter on this and her stubbornness will make him see reason." I replied.

"No court would take away Jacobs paternal rights. The guy is severely misguided if he thinks otherwise. For such a hot shot lawyer, you'd think he would know that." Charlie fumed, taking Judy's coffee out into the living room for her.

Judy stayed and visited with Clarissa for the better part of the remaining afternoon and when nightfall came, Jacob offered to give her a ride to the local bed and breakfast back in town and she agreed to stay there for the evening.

"I'll be back for Clarissa in an hour. Thank you, Bells. For everything." Jacob sighed, wrapping me in a hug after handing Clarissa to Billy.

Judy offered me half a smile as she reached her hand out for mine then.

"It was good to finally meet you, Bella. I hope to see you again soon?"

"Nice to meet you, too Judy. yes, that is the hope." I sincerely replied, noticing the way she intently studied my face with an awed expression. The sight of it made me remember the final few moments I had with Lilly after she passed and how the shared resemblance we carried must be hard for her mother to see right now.

I weakly returned her half a smile and walked to the door with Jacob.

"Good night, Bella."

Charlie stood by the window and watched as they left, his serious expression making me draw in closer to him.

"What are you thinking about all this? Care to share?" I hedged, seeing his brow furrow in response to my question.

"I think Judy's motives are pure. She's grieving something she can never get back and wants to be close to Clarissa but Peter's motives worry me more. They are for personal gain. A status qua to fill with Clarissa being his granddaughter. He doesn't want her growing up here in Washington with Jacob on the Reservation. A man like himself would find that kind of simplistic lifestyle offensive."

"You can't be serious. Who the hell does that?" I scoffed back. "What kind of an ass would judge someone based on where they live?"

"An ass like Peter Dawson. That's who." Charlie ground out. I'm going to make a few calls into the station. See what I can do."

"Do you think there's anything we can do to help Jacob if that's where this is headed? To the courts? I worry that it would be too much for him right now. He's going through enough. We have to beat him at his own game, dad. For Jacob. We owe that to him and to Clarissa."

"You know kid, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were meant to be a cop instead of an ER nurse hearing you talk like that. You sound a lot like me." Charlie proudly bemused.

"Who knows, maybe in another life, that's what I would have been. I don't know." I truthfully replied.

"You being here for Jacob right now is what matters most to him. You know that?"

"I'm trying." I softly admitted.

"Have you decided when you're heading back to work? Do they know when to expect you?"

"I have until next Wednesday to go back, but I'd be lying if I stood here and told you it's not hard to think about. I didn't realize how much I missed home until I came back." I admitted.

"You're a damn good nurse, Bella. Any hospital would be lucky to have you. Remember that."

"I will, dad. Thanks for the confidence booster."

"Anytime, kid. Anytime." Charlie sighed. "I want you to stick around but only if that's what you want."

I finished getting dinner ready and gave Clarissa her last bottle before she fell asleep for the night, my gaze settling on her face and seeing so much of Jacob there in her precious features. I hunkered down in the rocking chair still placed by the sofa in the living room and quietly rocked her while she slept.

It wasn't long before I heard the house door open when Jacob returned from taking Judy into town, his gaze meeting mine while he took off his leather jacket and heard Billy call to him from the kitchen.

"Jacob, come in here for a minute?"

He sighed heavily and I couldn't help but think that he looked much the same as he did a week ago at Lilly's funeral, like the very weight of the entire world was on his broad shoulders. I saw the stress and tension in the way he carried himself into the kitchen, his warm brown eyes leaving mine as he went.

I laid my head back and closed my eyes, trying to ignore the muffled conversation taking place in there.

"I don't think that's needed right now, Charlie." Billy protested.

"Really, cause I've seen how damn fast this can all go South, Billy. I'm telling you, don't play this out in slow motion. Act now and get ahead of Peter before he has the chance to make the first move." Charlie retorted.

"I don't know, Charlie. I-I just need a nights sleep with all this. Can we talk more in the morning? It was a long day and-" Jacob wearily replied, his voice low with his exhaustion when he spoke.

"Hey, son. Say no more. I get it. Crash here and get some rest. Already getting late. We can hash this out better once you've had some rest."

Charlie turned out the kitchen light and made sure Billy was comfortable. before saying goodnight to us and turning in himself. Once the house was silent, I stopped rocking Clarissa and felt Jacobs warm hand come to rest on my shoulder. His breath hitched and I looked up to see the anxiety settle into his gaze with prominent weight.

"No one is taking her from you." I voiced then, as he knelt down in front of me with a dreaded sigh leaving him.

"What you said..."

"I meant it. Every word." I replied, timidly reaching out and running my fingertips through his jet black hair, the familiar move causing a memory to resurface of a time when he was under a gag order that he hated. Back to a time when we were both so unsure of everything around us and what it all meant.

"He could try for custody-..."

"It won't be granted to him, Jacob."

"He has a lot of money, Bells. He knows a lot of people." Jacob worriedly countered.

I caught his hand tightly in mine and tugged him forward with my reply to this.

"He won't win, Jacob. Doesn't matter how much money he has."

"I can't believe this is happening. Lilly would've never wanted any of this."

"I'm so sorry, Jacob."

He shook his head to me and carefully lifted Clarissa into his arms as he stared out the window into the darkness. Even though his back was turned to me, I could still see the shuddering in his frame and I noticed the heavy breaths he drug in while he tried to stem the fear that was steadily creeping its way in around him.

I stood from the chair and hesitated before reaching for him, my hands gingerly touching his shoulders and ghosting down his arms.

"Would it be selfish for me to tell you how relieved I am that you're still here?"

"No..." I replied, wrapping my arms around him from behind and stilling there when his breathing calmed in response. "I want to be here, Jacob."

A/N: You guys I am so sorry that I didn't get the chance to update as promised yesterday. We had no internet and had to purchase and hook up a new router, but now all is well and back on track. Hope you enjoyed this new chapter. Two till be added tomorrow before the evening so stay tuned! Please leave a review and tell me your thoughts on Peter and Judy! :-) TILL NEXT TIME!