Hello, Readers! I recently published a song-based oneshot called "Say Anything." Please check it out! Hope school (and college) is going well for all of you. It's pretty busy for me, as this is my senior year. I'll be graduating alongside my older brother because I was fast-tracked early in high school to graduate after 11th grade. Hope you all enjoy this chapter!

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After Bella was asleep that night, Esme and I went into my office in the next room and sat down on the couch to talk. We both agreed that things seemed to be going very well, and the point was further proven when, a half hour later, Bella still appeared to be sleeping soundly.

"What do we do about the bullying?" Esme asked at last, "She has to go back to school in five days."

"I don't know," I said quietly, "The thought of that email makes me sick. Poor child. What she must have gone through."

"Any ideas of revenge?"

"None I'm willing to say out loud."

The extent of Esme's fury was shown by the fact that she wasn't surprised enough to question my words. I was normally the first one to let someone off the hook for the pure sake of compassion. But compassion didn't extend when my daughter was being physically and emotionally damaged.

"I have an idea for Taylor," I started slowly, "Remember when she picked on Alice and stuck the mouse in her desk, not that Alice was scared, but she was definitely mad."

"Yeah, I remember..." Esme's mouth curled up slightly, "We told her not to get revenge."

"I'm regretting that now," I told her, "What do you say to returning the favor at long last?"

"Fine by me!" Esme agreed, "Would Doctor Terrance be willing to help on his daughter, do you think?"

"Not sure," I told her, "I don't think he even knows yet. It might be time to change that."

"Oh, definitely!"

I smiled.

"Any ideas on Lauren, since she seems to be the ringleader?"

"Well..." my wife said, "I do have one, but first we need to contact Angela."

"Angela Weber?" I asked, "Why?"

"Because she seems to like Bella, and she's the main editor of the school newspaper."

A smiled formed on my face.

"What exactly does this include?"

"I'll tell you a little later." she whispered, nodding toward to door moments before it opened.

"You alright, Bella?" I asked gently.

She quickly nodded and closed the door behind her, standing silently by it for a long moment. I untangled my hand from Esme's and opened my arms to her. She crossed the room and I stood to embrace her before pulling her down between us on the couch. I kept my arm around her and she shifted to rest her head against my shoulder. Esme took the girl's other hand and I saw her tracing lines along it.

"Nightmare?" I asked.

"Only a little one," she said quietly, "I woke up from it."

"I'm sorry I wasn't there."

"It's okay."

I glanced over her head at Esme and ran my hand over the girl's shoulder.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked her.

"It's kinda silly," she admitted, "I was thinking about that one night. The one in the hospital... after James..."

Esme met my eyes. I'd told her about that night, and it was something I'd thought about a lot when we were gone. My wife could testify: when I wasn't working at the hospital, I had been typically sitting in my office staring over the pages of a medical journal at the far end of the room where there was a framed photo of the eight of us as a family. Edward had wanted to throw it away, I remembered, but Esme's words had forced him to stop.

"You're already taking us away from her," she'd tearfully shrieked, "Now you're going to take away our best memories of her? We love her, Edward!"

We did love her. We had when we'd met her, we had when we'd left her. There was no way we could ever lose her. It would destroy both Esme and myself.

"What about that night?" I questioned, praying she wouldn't say that she was remembering I'd promised to always be there for her.

"You promised to always protect me..." she said quietly.

"Yes, I did."

"You also promised to never completely leave me behind..."

My heart clenched painfully.

"I did that too, Child."

"You broke that one, but you only did because you intended to keep the first."

"Bella, even in your heart, always willing to forgive and look for the best, you can't deny that, as your father, I did a horrible job keeping both promises."

"But you intended to!" she pressed.

"Intent has nothing if the intended action is not achieved." I reasoned.

She seemed at a loss for words for a long time, and then she murmured something comprehensible.

"What was that?" I asked her.

"You're only human." she said a little louder. Her voice was gentle, calm.

In a single motion, I slid her onto my lap and wrapped both arms around her. I felt her hand drift to grip my shirt and she turned her head so she was facing Esme.

"Carlisle, Edward said your talent was compassion... but you need to extend it to yourself too. You hold all of us as your family to low standards, but the result is holding yourself to impossible ones."

I couldn't speak.

"Besides..." she added, and I saw a smile forming, "The fact that you came back means that you didn't completely leave me behind, and that was the promise."

"Don't make excuses for me!" I admonished, losing the fight with a smile of my own.

She had the nerve to giggle and I pressed a kiss to the top of her head and reached out to take Esme's hand.

"I love you, Bella." I told her.

"We both do." Esme chimed in.

There was a moment of silence, and I began to wonder if the child had fallen asleep.

"Love you, Mum..." I heard her murmur at last, and she shifted to put her forehead on my shoulder, "I love you, Dad."