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We own nothing but the plot!

After Jasper's hasty departure, I couldn't help but spend the next couple of weeks on pins and needles, waiting for the other shoe to drop. I just knew that somehow, what I did was going to get back to Edward. Weeks came and went without word of Edward's impending trial, and it was nearing the time for our baby's arrival. The faster our due date crept up on us, the more nervous I became. I was scared of the whole having a baby thing; I was scared that I wasn't going to be able to do everything that needed to be done. Edward wasn't really helping, either. I tried to keep up with the daily chores, but it seemed like something always got forgotten, and according to Edward, that wasn't acceptable any longer. He constantly told me what to do and when to do it, because we were changing our schedule around a bit. He was back to feeding me, and I was constantly telling him he was my life. It was like he needed to hear it. The worst part was when he told me my punishments would be changing, as well.

"Now that you are about to be a mother, there is a lot more I am going to expect from you," Edward said as I packed our bag for the hospital. "Your chore list is going to grow. Our child is going to need you, but don't think you can ignore me. I will help you for the first week, and then you are on your own."

"Okay, I understand," I said trying not to roll my eyes.

How different could it be to add a child into my day-to-day stuff?

"If you fail, I will take the baby from you, and you won't get to see her," he threatened, making me gasp. "She will either stay here and you won't get to touch her, or she will go to my parents. It will all depend on how much you need to be punished."

"Why would you do that?!" I asked harshly.

"Because you need to learn how to be a mother."

"But I'm the only one that will be able to feed her!" I argued, growing angrier by the minute.

"Do you not want to hold her as soon as she is born?" he snapped.

I quickly shut my mouth and bit the inside of my cheek. I was not going to give him any reason to not let me hold our daughter after she was born.

"That's the meanest thing you could do to me," I said thickly, willing myself not to cry.

"I doubt you will make mistakes more than once," he said.

"Do you want me to hate you?!"

"I don't know who you think you're talking to, but you need to change your tone, NOW!" he yelled. "Also, your special place will come back into play, too," he said as my heart raced. I really didn't know what had come over me. I knew better than to talk to him in such a manner.

After that conversation, I felt like I was walking on egg shells around him. That was also when he started making me repeat his little phrase over and over again.

Doctor Hale wasn't helping matters any, either. In fact, I was pretty sure she was adding to Edward's need to be more controlling with me. Every time she was at our house, she would rile Edward and me up to the point where we ended up fighting in front of her.

"Bella, let me read you something," she said at one of her visits.

I watched in frustration as she took her time pulling out a piece of notebook paper before reading in an overly sweet voice. "Charlie hit me at the grocery store today. I hate when he hits me in public. He called me an ungrateful bitch, and I was mortified. I always get so paranoid when stuff like this happens. It makes me feel like people are watching my every move. The rest of the way through the store, I could feel eyes on me, but there was no one around. The bottom of my ribs hurt from where Charlie pushed me into the cart, too. I know he hates me, but I don't know what I can do to make it better; I never seem to do anything right. When we got home, he backhanded me for embarrassing him; it seems like I always embarrass him. Sometimes I think life would be better without me here, but there has to something better for me, right?"

"What's your point?" I asked when she finally stopped to take a breath.

"That entry was dated the day that Edward said you met," she explained, looking at both of us.

I looked at Edward to see that his eyes were narrowed and his fists were clenched, but from the tone of his voice, you would never be able to tell that he was upset.

"I guess I got the dates wrong," he shrugged. "Like my Bella, I'm not too great with dates, either, it would seem."

I smiled warmly at him and squeezed his hand. I didn't care that he forgot that date. I looked back at Doctor Hale to see her shooting daggers at Edward.

"Okay, how about this?" she said, flipping through her pages. "Either I'm going crazy, or someone is really watching me…"

"My father use to sit in my room at night and jerk off. What else do you have?" I asked angrily, slamming my hand on the counter.

"I ran all the way home from school today because I just knew someone was following me. Charlie works the night shift, and I'm scared to be alone. Even now, sitting here in my room, I feel like someone is watching me. I keep looking out the window, but there is nothing there. I've gone three nights without sleep, and I'm starting to feel sick," she read as I groaned silently.

None of this meant anything! I didn't have a clue as to what the hell she was talking about, or what she was trying to prove. Apparently, Edward was on the same wavelength as me, because he stood up abruptly.

"You are pissing me the fuck off!" Edward yelled. "What does any of this have to do with anything?!"

"I think you were the one following her," Hale retorted calmly.

"You're crazy!" I yelled, throwing my hands in the air. "I don't want you coming here anymore."

"That's not your choice," she said as I laughed darkly.

"You need to get her out of here, and you better make sure she doesn't come back," I snapped at Edward, pointing my finger in his face. "I'm eighteen now. I'm no longer a child!"

"Then don't act like one. You need to lose your fucking attitude!" he yelled pushing my hand away. "What can I do about it?"

"You take care of everything, so take care of it!" I said dramatically, pointing over my shoulder to the "it."

"You are being such a bitch! This is court ordered," he said, pulling at his hair.

"You take care of it or I leave and end all of this," I said, waving my hands in the air.

"Are you really threatening to leave me?"

"I am. I'm so done with all of this!"

"You're done? How do you think I feel? This is all because of you!"

"Me?!"

"Yes, you! It's your fucked up family that has us in this mess in the first place! You were the one that was abused; you were the one that fucking begged me to help you, and I was stupid enough to fucking fall for it!" he said angrily, his chest heaving.

A throat clearing from behind us made us both turn quickly to see Dr. Hale standing there, a wide smile on her evil face. We had completely forgotten that she was still here.

"Well, I think that's all for today. I'll see you next month," Hale said as she showed herself out the door.

"If you ever think you will leave me, I will fuck your world up so badly. Don't you dare think for one fucking minute that you will ever see our child again! I will get sole custody of her, and you will get absolutely nothing," he said in a sinister voice. "Get upstairs!"

Angry tears streamed down my face because of what had just happened. I threw my dish rag in the sink before brushing past him to the stairs. I knew what was coming, but I didn't care. Hale came to do as she wanted, and we played right into her hands.

"I don't know what's going on with me," I cried as I reached the stairs with Edward behind me. "It's like she is trying to turn us against each other and I fell for it."

"Hook, line, and fucking sinker," he spat as he walked into our room. He sat on the trunk at the foot of our bed and I positioned my body so that I was leaning over one of his knees with the top half of my body on the bed.

"Don't you ever threaten to leave me again, understand? Everything I'm going through is for you," he said after he spanked me. "Say it."

"You are all I have. You are all I need. You are my life, Edward," I said as I wiped my tears away.

"Again," he said from between clenched teeth.

More time had passed than I could count where he had me repeat the phrase again and again. It wasn't until his stomach grumbled that he let up and moved us downstairs so that we could have dinner.

The day Edward's lawyer showed up at our house with a judge was one of the happiest days of my life. After we all had a long conversation, the judge said that the visits from Hale weren't needed anymore. I cried happy tears that day. She had been such a thorn in our sides, and I was glad when she was out of our lives.

Things got better for a little while, but then Edward started in with his new rules, and I felt like we were back to where we started.

"Edward, will you ever fully trust me?" I asked one night while we were in bed.

"I trust you, Baby. Why would you think otherwise?"

"I just feel like I'm always going to mess up and I feel like you don't trust me. Could these feelings be from the pregnancy?"

"Possibly, but have I done something to make you feel this way?" he asked as he held me tighter.

"It seem like nothing is going to be okay. We're fine for a little while and things are so great, and then…BAM! Everything feels like it's falling apart. You're making me 'say it' all the time again, and I don't understand why. Am I not doing a good enough job?" I asked as I looked up to him.

"Babe…" he started to say. "I'm under a lot of stress right now, and hearing you say that I'm all you need makes me feel so much better. You are doing fine, but I don't want to you go backwards after the baby is born. I need you to be the wife and mother I know you can be. I'm worried about a lot of things, and if I have to be looking over your shoulder every minute of the day, I'll go crazy. Things will calm down, I promise," he said, kissing the top of my head.

"I know; I can do this," I told him with conviction as he smiled.

"I hope you can, but the new rules and punishments stay in place. Until I know you can do it all, I will be a little overbearing, but I promise things will get better," he said, rubbing my back gently. "I just want you to do your best. I know what's best for you, so why are you questioning me?"

"I'm not meaning to," I said, ending the conversation.

"Let's just take our life one day at a time and see what happens," he suggested as I snuggled up to him.

I lay awake as Edward's breathing evened out, signaling that he was asleep. I moved my head to his chest carefully and draped my arm across his stomach. I knew pursuing the conversation was pointless, though. He'd already proven to me that things can change in an instant.

~~~AOMM~~~

"Push, Baby," Edward said as he held my leg.

"It feels like my vagina is on fire!" I panted, leaning back into the pillows as the contraction ended.

This was the worst pain I had ever been in, in my entire life — and that was saying something. Because Edward refused to let me have an epidural or any form of pain management, I was having our child completely natural.

"You need to push," the doctor said again, much too soon.

I closed my eyes, leaned forward, and did as they asked. I started to push, and as soon as I felt the stretching, I stopped.

"You will not hold her if you don't push," Edward whispered in my ear.

To an onlooker, it probably seemed like he was encouraging me, and he was, just not the way it appeared. Although, that was all it took to get me to push our daughter out. When I heard her loud cry, I relaxed and let my body go limp. It was over, and I couldn't be happier. I wasn't sure I wanted to do it again, though.

"She looks good," the doctor said, leaning back down between my legs. "When you feel pressure, give me one more small push," he instructed.

"There's more?" I asked breathlessly.

"We have to get the afterbirth out. Nothing that will hurt, I promise" he said as I nodded.

I waited for the pressure and pushed the afterbirth out without a problem.

"She's okay?" I asked as Edward stood next to the bed like a statue. "Edward, is she okay?" I asked again, pulling on his arm. She was crying so loudly that I thought something was wrong with her.

"She seems perfect to me," he said, looking down at me while smiling widely. I closed my eyes and sighed in relief. I was so tired.

"Here she is," a nurse said as I opened my eyes. I sat up as much as I could while the nurse placed my daughter in my arms.

"Wow," I said, shaking my head. It was hard to believe that she was my baby. "So beautiful."

"You did good, Baby," Edward said as he sat next to me on the bed. "We need to agree on a name."

"I know…Ava?" I asked, knowing that was one of the names I liked the best.

"Ava Lynn?" he asked.

"I like that," I agreed, smiling as I kissed the top of her head.

"I love that name," the doctor said, finally removing my legs from the stirrups.

"Thank you," Edward said as I stared at my daughter. "You know you have to share," Edward teased, reaching over and pulling her into his arms gently.

"I don't think we are ever going to put her down," I laughed as I watched my husband hold our daughter. "She's so perfect."

"She is," he smiled.

"She weighs seven and a half pounds, and is eighteen inches long," the nurse said. "We just have to take her for a bit to get her footprints and double check that everything is okay."

I nodded and watched through half closed eyes as they put her in her plastic crib and pushed her out of our room and to the nursery. I thought I would cry at watching her go, but I was just too tired.

"I'm going to call my parents. Why don't you try to sleep some," Edward said kissing my forehead. I didn't have to be told twice, and when my eyes closed, I was out.

~~~AOMM~~~

As I opened my eyes, I heard voices. They all sounded happy, and I couldn't ask for more.

"She's waking up," I heard Carlisle say.

"Baby?" Edward said from somewhere close to my ear. I shifted a little and I opened my eyes to see my husband smiling happily at me. "Hey."

"Hi," I croaked, clearing my throat.

"How do you feel?" he asked as I sat up a little.

"I feel…" I said as I sat up more. "I don't feel bad at all," I finished, sounding shocked.

"You look good," Carlisle commented. I just smiled in response. "Have her drink some water, Son." Edward handed me a cup and I sipped it until I heard Ava's little cry. I looked in the corner and saw Esme feeding her a bottle.

"I thought I was going to breast feed," I whispered, upset at the sight of someone else feeding my daughter. Even if it was my mother-in-law.

"You can try later. She needed to eat, and you were sleeping," Edward said as he patted my hand.

"You could have woken me up!" I snapped.

I gasped as I realized what I just said, immediately trying to apologize for my rudeness.

"That's enough, Isabella," Carlisle said as I sunk into my bed. "You allow her to talk to you in that way?"

"No, Sir," Edward said quickly. "I don't know what's going on with her."

"I don't want to hear it again or I will take the both of them away from you!" Carlisle said to Edward.

I clutched Edward's hand in mine and squeezed gently, hoping that he would understand how sorry I was.

"I'm so sorry —" I began, only to stop short as Edward turned his glare to me.

"Shut up," he hissed.

I looked down into my lap, but could still hear Carlisle whispering harshly to Edward about my lack of respect. It was humiliating. It was a different side to my father-in-law than I had ever seen before.

"I can finish feeding her," I offered as I sat up more.

"No; she's fine with Mom," Edward said shortly. I knew that was my punishment for my behavior, and it hurt worse than any spanking I had ever received. "Drink more water."

I nodded and took the cup from him without a word. I knew that this was his way to show his control over me in front of his father.

"I'm going to let the nurses know you're awake," Carlisle said before leaving my room.

"I'm so sorry," I said the moment the door was closed.

"Just keep your mouth shut and do as you are told!" Edward snapped.

"Yes, Edward," I said as I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat.

The nurse came in and asked me questions as she checked my vitals. I asked to take a shower, and the nurse went in with me, helping me every step of the way. We talked about Ava and the after care of my body. Everything seemed pretty simple. I was positive I could handle everything.

~~~AOMM~~~

I was able to hold Ava later that night and I couldn't have been happier. Edward helped me with the breast feeding, and there was no greater feeling in the world. Before I knew it we were home, and for the first couple of weeks, I had everything under control. It took me longer than normal to do my chores, but I was finishing everything I needed to. Edward was also a bigger help than I thought he was going to be. He said he was helping too much, but I was showing him in any way I could how grateful I was for him. Relationship wise, we were doing great. I was hoping this was the beginning of us always being happy.

After another couple of weeks passed, we finally got that phone call we had both been anticipating, yet dreading. He finally had a date for his trial: March fifteenth. We both understood that day would be upon us before we knew it. When we made plans, Alice and Jasper said they would come with us and stay behind in the hotel to babysit Ava. Alice loved Ava and Ava loved her.

Alice and Jasper were still going strong, and they were talking about getting married after she graduated. Jasper even kept his word and didn't tell Edward about the journal. Every time they were around, I waited for him to let it slip, but he acted like it never happened and I was thankful for that. I also noticed that Jasper and Edward were spending a lot of alone time in his office talking. I asked Alice if she knew anything, but she explained that Jasper said Edward just needed to talk. I was a little jealous that he wasn't talking to me, but another part of me was happy that he was talking things out with someone.

As our trial date crept closer and closer, more and more of Edward's coworkers came to visit him. Edward would take them to his office with a grim look on his face, but whenever they emerged, Edward was smiling and looking like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. It looked like his coworkers were coming around and excepting our relationship. Emmett and Rose even stopped by, and when Emmett asked to talk to Edward in private, Rose tried to play twenty questions with me. She said she was worried about me, and I told her that there was nothing to worry about. Once she got to hear our side of the story, she apologized for not coming around much before. She was nervous about everything she had heard. I was glad that we were finally on the same page, and Edward's mood was even lighter after their visit. It felt like everything was working out, and it gave me hope that it was a sign of everything going our way.

~~~AOMM~~~

Mid February, Ava got sick. She had a cold, and there was just nothing left to do for her. She wanted to be held, but Edward was off with Carlisle doing something. I had called and texted him, but he never answered. I was trying to get as much done as I could, but I wasn't where I should have been.

"Please, Edward, call me! She needs to go to the doctor," I said in tears as I left him another voicemail. The third one to be exact.

After waiting another thirty minutes with no answer from my husband or either of my in-laws, I finally admitted defeat and called the doctor. Luckily, he was able to see her within the hour. I called Esme again, and when she didn't answer, I called Alice. I was grateful she wasn't busy and was able to come and get me.

By the end of the appointment, the doctor gave her a nebulizer and some medicine to help break up the congestion in her chest. They told me not to give her formula for twenty-four hours, and just to give her Pedialyte®. They gave her a breathing treatment while we were there, and not even fifteen minutes later, she fell asleep on my shoulder. I breathed a sigh of relief, just glad to see her getting some rest. I knew it was going to be a long night, though. We had to do the breathing treatments every four hours.

When I got home, I thanked Alice for her help and headed inside. I knew Edward was home because his car was in the driveway. As soon as I was through the door, Edward laid into me.

"Don't you ever, and I mean ever, leave this house without me knowing, again!" he yelled as he took the car seat from me.

"I left you a voicemail. I left you a ton of them; texts, too," I explained, setting the diaper bag down.

"Get this house cleaned," he said as I left the room.

I was able to fly through my chores while Ava napped, and just as I finished putting everything away, I heard my baby cry. Just as I made it our room, I heard Edward's voice.

"Daddy's sorry he wasn't here when you needed me," he cooed as he held her tightly to his chest.

"Why didn't you answer when I called?" I asked as I walked up to him.

"I'm sorry. Can we just drop it?" he asked.

"She's really sick," I said as I rubbed her little head, changing the subject slightly even if I wanted an answer.

"I know."

"It's time for her breathing treatment," I explained as I moved around the room. "Just hold this over her face…or do you want me to do it?"

"I'll do it," he said sadly.

"Please talk to me," I begged as I sat with him. I couldn't take not knowing.

"We all get punished in one way or another, and today I got punished," he said. "I yelled at my father the other day, even though I knew better…"

"He wouldn't let you come to us?" I guessed.

"No," Edward whispered. "He wanted to show me that you didn't need me."

"I did need you!" I disagreed hotly. "I needed you so badly. I called Alice because I didn't know what else to do," I explained, rubbing his back.

"I know and I hate it!" he snapped. "I hate that you can make a phone call and someone comes running. Dad said I was wrong to allow you to be friends with her, but she's more than likely going to become family. At least I know if I go to prison you'll be okay."

"I won't be okay," I whispered to him. "I love you."

"I love you, too," he said, kissing my head softly.

That night was very quiet around the house. Edward was sad and upset, and I did what I could to make him feel better. With the trial coming up, I knew Edward had a lot on his mind, and I knew that as his wife, it was my job to help him get through this time in any way that I could.

*Sigh* it's always something…anyway I will see you next week for more craziness…ok a lot of craziness.

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