Posted 2022-02-05; Beta'd by Eeyorefan12

Bella slept for much of the day, waking periodically but usually only when the nurses or doctors were present for checks. It was near midnight when they were finally alone. Try as he might, Edward couldn't sleep. A fresh team of men were just outside the room, and he lay in the cot, one arm behind his head, his tangled feelings at odds with his relaxed position.

He was doing exactly what he'd always warned his men against doing: replaying the moment of Aro's and Marco's murders over and over again, not second-guessing his motivation for that choice but the necessity of it. More truthfully, how Bella would view his decision.

"Edward?" Bella's whisper was barely a breath.

He exhaled and closed his eyes briefly. "I'm here."

"Are you trying to sleep?"

"No, what's up?" He pushed himself up, swinging his legs over the side of his cot to face her. There was enough light in the room to see her by. He absorbed the scene before him, Bella resting against the bed's elevated head, smiling sleepily at him. She looked . . . peaceful.

"Did they leave any food?" Bella pushed herself up and looked around the room hopefully.

"Yeah, just a sec." He'd anticipated this potential request, knowing she'd eaten very little the past two days. While the private clinic had a small kitchen, it had limited hours, and sending someone out to the local stores when they were maintaining a low profile in the town was risky. Once again, Al had come through, taking up a collection for the cause from the men, delivering a small bag of trail mix, apples, energy bars, beef jerky and, although no one was owning up to it, a bag of gummy bears. Edward didn't think the last one had much nutritional value, but he knew he'd be more than happy to take it off Bella's hands. He hadn't remembered to eat much either.

"Thanks." She accepted the trail mix he gave her, smiling as he then handed her slices of apple cut with his pocket knife. "You're a keeper, Cullen." She nudged him with her elbow. "Love you."

He wanted to return those words so badly, but gripping the truth he was about to wield, his throat became a knot, and he could only smile robotically and nod.

She hadn't noticed his discomposure earlier in the day, but now he watched his finally well-rested wife narrow her eyes at him. "What's wrong?"

He took a deep breath. "I have to tell you something."

"What?" She looked around the room. "Wait, where's Annie? What's wrong with her?"

"She's fine. She's right here." Edward placed his hand on Annie's back where she rested in the bassinet beside him. "She's asleep."

Now it was Bella's turn to take in and then release a breath. "Okay. Then what has you looking like it's someone's funeral?"

Oh, Bella. Of all the jokes.

There was that unhelpful lump again. He swallowed and forced himself to meet her gaze. "I killed him."

"Who?" She spoke calmly, like his murdering someone wasn't a surprise.

"Aro."

"Oh, thank God!" She gave a shuddering laugh, clapping a hand over her mouth.

Shock, he told himself. She's in shock. Still keeping her in view, he glanced at the silent monitor by her bed, watching her heart rate tick up.

"Oh, thank God," she said again, moving her hand to her chest, no longer smiling. There were tears in her eyes.

Uncertain what to make of her reaction, his agitation remained, felt most notably in his tight jaw and increasing pulse. What was she thinking? Had she not understood him? So focused on her expression, he didn't register her movement until her warm hand settled on top of his.

"Edward?"

"Yes." His voice sounded dry.

"What's wrong?"

He shook his head slightly. "I just told you I deliberately murdered a man, Bella."

Two, actually, although only one was unarmed.

She squeezed his hand. "And if there was ever someone who deserved to die—for what he's done, and who he's hurt—it was him. Please tell me you're not beating yourself up over this."

He stared at her. "I told you that's not who we are. I told you I wouldn't kill again."

"No, you told me you weren't planning to kill again. There's a difference. He would have killed me, wouldn't he, if you hadn't done what he asked? And Annie too?"

Slowly, ever so slowly, because he now knew that the threat was neutralized, Edward nodded, feeling himself choking up again. She was safe. Annie was safe. They were together.

He watched her process his last admission, maybe even caught a little shiver in her shoulders before she tightened her hand on his once more. This time, though, she lifted it to her mouth and kissed it before she laid her cheek against their joined hands. "Edward," she said softly, "I know you did what you thought was necessary—so that means it was the right decision. And when we needed you, you were there for us. That's all that matters to me, okay?"

Bella still couldn't move very much without pain, so when he felt her pulling at him, her arms straining to draw him to her, he lowered the bedrail, carefully sitting beside her. Then he let her hold him while he held her, accepting that they were finally, finally safe, and that the price of that safety hadn't cost him the best thing that had ever happened to him.

- 0 -

It was a relief when the doctor deemed Bella strong enough to travel. While a few of Edward's men had already headed back to their regular jobs in the states, the remainder of his team would accompany them to the airport. He hadn't heard anything about the raid at Aro's compound, nor did he expect to with the feds involved, but a few well-placed bribes had convinced the local authorities to turn a blind eye to the private security force at the small hospital. Still, Edward wouldn't feel safe until they were wheels up and heading home.

Once at the small airfield, Edward faced a bit of a dilemma. Leaving the hospital, he'd carried Annie in the car seat while he'd helped wheel Bella into the ambulance. But now, he'd either have to carry the baby or help with Bella, and he did not like having to make such a choice. The medical staff were coming off the plane now. They'd need to do some checks before they got in the air. Standing by the ambulance, Edward didn't even glance their way, frowning as he looked between Bella and Annie.

"Need a hand?"

He jerked his head up. "Dad!"

It had never felt quite so good to hug him and be hugged in return. Carlisle leaned over and hugged Bella, too, though much more carefully. Then he squatted down to be at eye level with Annie. "Your grandmother cannot wait to meet you." He stood up, "May I?" he asked, holding out his hand for the carseat Al had procured from . . . somewhere. Sometimes it was just better not to ask.

Edward grinned at his dad. He unclipped the buckles and passed the baby to him, watching with some envy, seeing his father have that first sight of his grandchild. He couldn't hear what he was saying, but he could see the smile on his face and his hand smoothing back the blanket to rifle through Annie's mop of auburn hair.

She was only three days old, and Edward could not believe how much more fiercely he felt things for his child. He almost barked at his father about watching out for the still-soft fontanelle on her head, but stopped himself.

The medical team checked Bella's vitals once they were on board, and she was soon asleep. Still weak from so much blood loss, she slept a lot, and Edward encouraged it. Though she'd started nursing, he'd made sure they brought along a breast pump and formula too. He'd ordered backups of everything. He was taking no chances on this flight or at home.

And that brought him to his next task: talking to his father about what life would look like at home. He supposed this was as good a time as any.

They sat together, Annie in the seat between them for take-off, Edward carefully bottle-feeding her through the ascent, unbuckling her as soon as they reached cruising altitude.

"Fatherhood suits you," Carlisle said, watching him cradle his daughter against his shoulder.

Edward smiled. Boy did it ever, and that was why he needed to talk to him.

"It does." He smiled at Annie, who spat up—again. Once he cleaned her and himself up, he sat back in his seat, trying to think of how to broach this topic with Carlisle.

His dad cleared his throat. "Speaking of parenthood, let me be one for a minute. Al said you were hurt?"

Edward glanced in Bella's direction, glad to see she was still asleep. He'd been popping Advil to keep her from noticing his discomfort since he hadn't yet disclosed his injury to her; it would only be another worry she didn't need. He hadn't counted on Al ratting him out to his dad.

"Did you have someone look at it?"

"Yeah."

"I don't suppose that person had a medical degree of any kind?" Carlisle asked.

"Uh . . ."

After making him put Annie back in her car seat, Carlisle sanitized his hands and peeked under the bandage that Edward had clumsily replaced that morning. "It looks like it's healing well, but let's work on you not coming home with any more scars, hmm?"

If that wasn't a segue into the conversation they needed to have, Edward didn't know what was. He'd spoken to his dad the day before about his own role in Aro's death, but the call had been brief. Carlisle had been surprisingly calm and non-judgemental, making it clear his primary concern was his son's mental well-being and the safety of his new family.

When Edward looked up, he found his father watching him, a speculative expression on his face.

"It changes your perspective on things, doesn't it?" Carlisle said, a softness in his features that Edward hadn't seen in a very long time.

"It does," Edward agreed. "All of . . . this"—he looked around the plane—"has changed things."

Carlisle hummed in reply, nodding.

"Dad, I can't, uh—I can't keep doing—"

"What you've been doing. No. I figured as much."

Edward waited. It was obvious his dad had more to say.

"Your wife and child were put in extreme danger because of what we do. I'm surprised you haven't quit already." He grimaced. "I'm so sorry, Edward. I'm especially sorry that you were forced to make the choice that you did with . . . well." Carlisle glanced out the window briefly before turning back to him, his eyes full of contrition. "All of this would have been avoided if I'd kept us clear of Aro. I'm not ashamed to admit you were right and I apologize for not listening as I should have."

Edward nodded in acknowledgment, looking down at Annie's little arms. She'd squirmed loose of the blanket again, her tiny hands thrown up in surrender. She looked so peaceful.

It was a great irony, their work with the Morandis. If they hadn't partnered with Aro, Edward would likely never have met Bella.

Kidnapped her. You kidnapped her.

And she'll kick your ass if she hears you apologize for that one more time.

He shook his head. "Even I wouldn't have seen this coming, Dad. It's . . . it's okay. I'll come in to wrap things up. I can make sure the new person is up-to-speed. I can still help with translation for those two accounts."

"If you want," Carlisle said, smiling. "I'd been thinking that Al might want to take on most of your duties. He won't need much help there and Jasper can step up on the computer side."

Yes, Al was a good choice, and he'd been with his father for so long. It was almost like—"Wait, have you been planning this?"

Carlisle nodded. "For Rosie, too. This line of work isn't exactly a good fit for parents of young children. You all were pretty much grown when I started out."

How Edward had not realized this before, he had no idea. Taking care of Annie was consuming enough, but with her and Bella and everything else—he shook his head. "Rosie has no idea you're working on that, does she?"

"She does not. I did bring up the topic a few months ago, and she told me where to stick my ideas."

Edward snorted out a laugh. He could picture that pretty easily enough. The thought of Rosie brought up thoughts of his other sister too. "How's Alice doing?"

"She's just fine. Pregnancy is still suiting her quite well. She's due any day now. I'm afraid she and Rosalie might be a bit miffed that you two beat them to the punch."

Edward laughed. Nothing new there. But at least things were going as planned. "Do I dare ask about Mom? What did you tell her?"

Carlisle smiled. "I may have suggested that the reason she couldn't reach Bella a few days ago was that you had taken the both of you away for a romantic rendezvous for a few days. I will leave it to you to offer an explanation for how you arrived back home with a newborn." His dad chuckled and patted his arm. "Hopefully, she won't be too hard on you."

Ah, alibis and redirection. That he could do. "Thanks, Dad. I'll see if Bella would be okay with inviting her up when I call to tell her. It might be nice for Bella to have her around for a few days."

Carlisle reached over and ran his finger up the sole of Annie's foot, smiling when her toes curled. "To continue our conversation, I did wonder if you might still want to work in the security field—a little more legitimately, perhaps."

"Such as?"

"We've had some overtures from a few parties. There's a bit of a niche market that is underserved: private security, arranging teams to cover sensitive gatherings—that sort of thing. I'd need someone to head it up, hire and train the right people and coordinate things."

Interesting.

"It'd be mostly nine to five. In Boston." His dad arched an eyebrow.

"You've got it ready to go, don't you?"

Carlisle smiled. "It's in the works—just waiting for someone to take the reins."

"I'll need to talk it over with Bella, but I assume it would be much . . . lower risk?"

"To the level of papercuts, for the most part."

Edward sighed in relief. After what he and Bella had been through, he could use a lifetime of only dealing with paper cuts. His gaze tracked to Annie and he frowned. She looked so much like Bella. If she had her coordination, too, someone would need to be around to deal with all the scabbed knees—or, God forbid, broken bones. The idea was horrifying, but given what Bella had told him of her own childhood—well, they'd deal with that bridge if they had to. Maybe I should SITFU and get my ass to medical school.

"Thank you, Dad," he whispered.

Carlisle nodded.

Both of them sank back into their seats, Edward finally relinquishing Annie with the idea of getting some sleep. After only a few restless minutes, he gave up on that idea. Instead, he sat by Bella, his head resting on the gurney, her hand in his, dreaming about what a peaceful life with all three of them together would be like. This was no fantasy anymore. It was going to be their new reality. He was ready.

Eeyorefan12: A handful of you correctly guessed that I was teary-eyed over Edward's first moments holding his daughter ("No matter what happens, I'm yours."). I'm quite attached to snarky, badass Edward, but clearly I'm a puddle of goo for a reverent Daddyward.

Author's post-script: Only one chapter left after this, folks!

DISCLAIMER: S. Meyer owns Twilight. No copyright infringement intended.