Okay, so there seemed to be a bit of confusion in regards to the money from Elizabeth in the last chapter, so I'm going to clarify it here. When Bella and Edward found out she was pregnant, they were graduating HS and had plans to go to college in the Fall. Elizabeth set up two separate trusts, one for each of them, as an incentive for them to complete their educations. Bella never found out about her trust and Edward only knew about his. Elizabeth was going through treatment when they finished their undergrad so she wasn't thinking to tell Bella about the account. She hadn't told anyone about the second trust because her husband would have lost it. Esme only found out when she was contacted as the person named to oversee the trust after Elizabeth's death.

Also, there is a small EPOV that I'd written to show Edward's side of the day of the misscarriage. It was a writing exercise to know how he could do that and still be a redeemable character. I have a specific chapter that I'm going to add that bonus scene to, the reason will make sense when you get to it. As for Ed. Sr. and Alice, we'll learn more about them in time.

Head over to my FB group, Agoodwitch Writes for more behind the scenes and shenanigans.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 6 - It's Not Simple to Say

Bella went to the office early on Monday, hoping to get her phone call to Chicago done before anyone got in. Anthony was happily off in daycare, so she went up to her office on the eighth floor and opened the envelope from Esme. The paperwork was straightforward, she had her file copy of everything she'd needed to apply to Law School, in case they needed that.

The time difference meant that Mr. Welch was probably just starting his day, so she dialed the number before anything became too hectic in his office.

"M. Welch and Associates, how may I assist you?" the polite voice answered on the second ring.

"Hello, my name is Isabella Swan, and a trust was started for me by one of Mr. Welch's clients. I'm calling to speak to him about the details."

"Have you spoken to him about this previously?" she asked.

"No, before this, it was Esme Cullen. She's the person overseeing the trust since her sister, Elizabeth Masen, has passed."

"Oh, Mrs. Masen, of course. Let me check to see if he's available now, otherwise, I'll set up an appointment for you." The line went silent for a moment or two before the woman was back on the line. "I'll transfer you to him now. Have a good day, Ms. Swan."

The line clicked and a honey-toned voice answered. "Ms. Swan, I'm Mr. Welch. I'm glad Mrs. Cullen was able to get my information to you."

"Yes, she spoke to me about it yesterday, so I wanted to call and see if we can take care of this."

After confirming some information for him, so he knew he was speaking to the person in question, he continued,"It is simple paperwork to release the trust, I can send it to you if you need another copy. The biggest issue is the stipulation for its release. Which is you completing your education."

"Yes, Esme told me about that, but my question is about that stipulation. Does it state a level of education I would need to reach?"

"I'm not sure I understand the question," Mr. Welch said.

"I completed my undergraduate degree in June of 2015, and after a few years off for various personal reasons, I began working on my law degree, which I'm about to complete this winter."

Papers rustling over the line alerted Bella to the fact that he was reading directly from the document in question. "Oh. Well, the stipulation was completing your degree. Now, if Mrs. Masen had wished to specify a level, that would have to be expressly written within the document, or altered by her when you went on to pursue your law degree. In your case there was a significant gap between completing one program and starting the next, and Mrs. Masen didn't make any changes to reflect the need to finish the secondary degree. If you submit the necessary paperwork to my office, I would see to paying out the trust."

"Okay, now I did have one question, this is taxable but are taxes withheld by the trust prior to payment, or am I required to pay that out of what I'm paid?"

"It is withheld by us and you'll receive paperwork for your taxes. This will include state income tax, which is due because the income is based out of Illinois. I can send you the forms that are required, if necessary."

"Esme gave me the packet you'd given her, so I have everything. I also have one of my transcripts from when I applied to law school that shows I've graduated. I'll have that overnighted to you as soon as I complete it."

"Very good. Once I receive all the paperwork, I'll file it and contact you about distribution of the funds."

"Thank you, Mr. Welch."

"My pleasure, Ms. Swan, we'll be in touch."

Once she was off the phone, Bella went through the document and saw that it was rather straightforward. One document would need to be notarized, so she would wait for their office assistant to take care of it.

Within an hour, she had everything filled out, a copy made for her, and Lucy had notarized the document for her. She'd just handed the overnight envelope to Lucy to send off when Jenks walked in.

"Busy morning already?"

"Esme dropped off something for me yesterday, and I needed to take care of it."

Jason sat across from her. "Will it change anything for tomorrow?"

Bella sighed. "No. Apparently, when I was pregnant with Lizzie, Edward's mother, Elizabeth, set up a trust for me to ensure I completed my education. But we lost touch when I moved back to Seattle and with all her health issues, it fell by the wayside. Esme was named to take over the trust if anything happened to Elizabeth, so she brought me the paperwork. I spoke to the lawyer this morning and as soon as he gets that envelope, I'll be receiving the money."

"I'm surprised you're accepting it so easily. I'm glad you are, because you deserve the help after all the hard work you've put in, but still." Jason leaned back in his chair.

"I think the fact that it was less than a tuition payment for law school made it easier, like it was meant to help, not like she was trying to buy me. This will pay off one of my loans and they withhold taxes on it, so I should be fine."

"You know, I'm proud of you for how you're working with Edward on everything. I was expecting more of a fight on both sides."

"When he showed up on my doorstep, I expected a huge fight. But he calmed down and even with the misunderstandings, he's more like the young man I fell in love with."

"Are you two going down that road?" Jason asked.

"What? No. It has been far too long for both of us, I think. Now, we're both ready to tackle the task of co-parenting and starting our lives and careers. That ship sailed a long time ago."

"Okay," JJ said as he stood. "I made our reservation for twelve-thirty tomorrow. I'll text you if I'm delayed for any reason."

"All right."

The day was busy, but productive, and by the time she was done with her work, she was exhausted. Anthony was chatty on their way home and it was enough to distract her. She made chicken and rice for dinner, and Anthony played while she tried to read. An email came through from her professor, grading the assignments she'd turned in, so she could now focus on the final project in that class, along with the paper for her other one.

Once Anthony was asleep, she locked up and tried to sleep as well, but it was elusive, so she put on an audio book and relaxed as the heroine tried to fix her beautiful, but broken, love interest.

Tuesday dawned brightly and Bella took a little extra time getting ready. She'd learned early in her career that a well tailored suit and the right amount of makeup made her feel confident when she was lacking and that was exactly what she needed today.

The morning was her typical research and notations, so she wasn't too fazed by that, but as eleven o'clock approached, she felt her nerves return.

Bella took the elevator up to the tenth floor and walked to the conference room where Jane was setting things up.

"Bella, come in. I just got a call from security downstairs. Edward and Mr. Cameron are on their way up, so we'll be able to start right on time."

"Good," Bella said.

A moment later, Edward and Mr. Cameron walked in. It had been a long time since she'd seen Edward in more than jeans and a T-shirt, and she was momentarily stunned by the sight. She managed to pull herself together without anyone noticing and sat beside Jane as she asked if they'd like anything to drink, gesturing to the bottles of water and the Keurig machine with a variety of pods to choose from. Both men declined and sat across from them.

"I know my client has discussed her desires for the agreement in general terms with Mr. Masen, so we'd like to show you exactly what that looks like. We can begin with the issue of child support and then move to custody, is that all right with you?"

Mr. Cameron looked to Edward for any objections before he answered, "Yes, we have a figure based on the financials we received."

Mr. Cameron slid a document across to Jane, who passed him one of her own. Both lawyers read over the information. When they were done, Jane turned to me. "Their offer is a little higher than ours."

"How much is a little?" I asked.

"Edward offered $850 a month, so $75 higher," Jane explained, passing her the document. "All the other terms for equal share of expenses match ours."

Bella took a moment to read the paperwork before asking, "What should I do?"

Edward was the one to respond. "Bella, take my offer. It isn't a large gap, and I agreed to the terms to help you. I know when you graduate you'll likely be making a bit more, but even then, I can afford it. If it means there's more money for Anthony, I'm all for it."

"Fine, I'll agree to the child support, for Anthony."

Mr. Cameron passed the two copies of the child support paperwork over, so when it came time to sign, I had all of them. He pulled out another stack of papers and turned to Jane. "Ms. Swan had spoken to my client about shared physical custody. Since it was her idea, we'd like to hear what that meant to her."

"What we're proposing is a 70/30 agreement for overnight stays. Bella isn't opposed to additional visits when Mr. Masen's schedule allows. Anthony begins kindergarten in the fall, so the hours between three and six were normally spent with Esme or Jasper. A schedule can be worked out where Edward is included."

Mr. Cameron turned to Edward, who shrugged, likely confused. He returned his gaze to Jane. "How were you looking to structure it?"

Jane passed over a calendar, showing two colors blocking out the week. "Mr. Masen would get two days a week with Anthony, Bella requests that the weekend be split so she can have a full day with him. We're asking that the days be consistent, to give Anthony some structure, but she's agreeable to occasional changes as long as both parents agree to them. School vacations can be discussed and agreed to as well. If it becomes an issue, the agreement can be amended so a specific number of vacations are allotted, but Bella was willing to try working it out between them. With the nature of Mr. Masen's job, she thought a more flexible approach would be best."

"The nature of my job?" Edward spoke up.

"You're an artist and a photographer," Bella began, "so there might be times when you'll need to travel and will miss time because of that, or you'll have stretches where you're free and might want to take Anthony on a vacation during a school break. As long as you're serious about being a consistent part of our son's life, I'm willing to work so you get your time together. So far, you've shown you are serious about this and I want to honor that."

"I wasn't expecting this much."

"Did you want to switch to my original child support agreement in light of that?" Bella asked.

"No, that offer stands." Edward's voice was firm.

"Okay, so as long as you don't begin to miss significant amounts of time with him, then this is my offer. But if you start to flake, I'll petition the court to change the agreement."

"I'm not going to turn my back on him. As far as days, can I have Sunday and Monday? That way he can have family dinner with the Cullens on weekends I go."

Bella smiled. "That's fine."

Mr. Cameron looked at his notes and moved the discussion forward. "Now, the last thing we would need to discuss is legal custody."

"Ms. Swan is looking for sole legal custody. She will discuss any important matters with Mr. Masen, but the final say will be hers. Especially since there are certain members of his family, namely his father and cousin, who feel they can meddle and get their way."

"There is the question of her judgment considering she kept the existence of the child a secret," Jared countered.

Edward gripped his forearm as Jane leaned over the table and fired back. "Your client cut off all forms of communication and when my client contacted his mother, the answer she got was a check with a nasty note in the memo from his father."

Edward turned to face Bella at that statement. "What? What are you talking about?"

Jane passed the copy of the letter Bella had sent Elizabeth and the check from Edward Sr. Edward took them and read the letter before he looked at the check for $100,000. The message in the memo read 'Stay gone.'

"They never said a word," Edward whispered. "But your anger over me offering you money makes more sense now."

"I didn't want to drag Esme into it, considering how we both know she didn't get along with your father."

Edward nodded before meeting her eyes. "Will you take my feelings on things into consideration when making decisions?"

"Yes, we can discuss anything that comes up before I make my choice."

"Then I can agree to you having sole legal custody as a show of faith in you, especially considering how you were generous with the shared custody arrangement. As for my father, he cut me off financially and has written me off, not that he was giving me anything. I'm aware of exactly how toxic my father is."

"So have we reached a compromise?" Jane asked.

Jared looked at Edward and he nodded. "Yes, let me go over the paperwork you've drawn up and if everything is in order and then we can sign everything and you can turn it in to the clerk so we can be assigned a court date."

There were a few quiet moments as Jared read over the documents and explained everything to Edward. Once he understood, he signed the various papers and their lawyers made sure that Edward and Bella had a copy, along with the one that Jane would be taking with her to the courthouse this afternoon. Everything was settled for now, they just needed to sit before a judge.

They stood to say their goodbyes when Lucy came in. "I apologize for interrupting, but Jenks is waiting downstairs in the garage, Bella."

Bella looked at her shocked. "Did the verdict come back?"

"Yes, and there was some blowback, apparently," Lucy admitted.

"I'd better get down there." She turned to Jane. She met Edward's eyes and offered him a tight smile. "I'll talk to you soon."

Bella walked swiftly to the elevator, being met by Jared and Edward as the doors opened. They got inside and Bella immediately pushed the button for the level of the parking garage her car was on. She shot JJ a text, telling him she was driving and then slipped it into her purse.

"Is everything okay?" Edward asked.

"It will be. We just need to make plans now that this case is behind us."

The doors to the elevator opened and Bella saw the tempest that was brewing just beneath the surface as JJ paced. She unlocked the car doors and he got in, closing the door harder than necessary. As soon as she slid in beside him and her own door was locked, she eyed him. "You have the seven minutes it will take to drive to the pub to speak freely, once we're inside, this is a working lunch to discuss your docket."

"What am I gonna do when you're not on my staff?" JJ asked.

"Listen to me bitch about clients for a change. Now, what happened?"

"Guilty on all counts. Apparently one charge had them hung up. If I'd known the whole story, instead of being blindsided when his friend gave his testimony, I would have fought harder for him to take a plea deal. But it was premeditated and the fucker acted like the victim changed her mind after the fact. When the verdict was read he was actually shocked, expecting his money and connections to save him. Then I got back here and his father was already upstairs with the senior partners."

"You're not in trouble, are you?" Bella asked.

"No, the partners were put out by his bullshit. Marcus told me he won't let Alistair push another client like Lonnie on me again, no matter how much money his father brings into the firm. I thanked him for that. Then the conversation turned to you."

"Me?"

"Yes, he asked about your schooling and when you might take the bar. I told him we hadn't discussed it yet. But he likes what he's heard and he wants you in front of the bar examiners sooner rather than later."

"But the first test after I graduate is at the end of February. I won't have enough time to study."

"When we hire interns from the various law schools, they're granted study time in their schedule. Starting September thirteenth, you'll be getting study hours each week, and you will be using them. If you want help studying on days that Anthony is with his father, we can do that as well. You'll register in October for the February exam and you will be ready when it is time. Once you have your results, we're hoping you'll be an associate with the firm, but if you accept another offer, we'll understand."

"Are you kidding me? This firm has been nothing but accommodating. With Anthony, my schooling, everything. I enjoy working here, and working with you."

"That's good to hear. I would hate to lose you just when you're ready to stand in a courtroom."

Bella pulled into the lot beside Trinity's Pub and they got out, walking inside to enjoy their lunch.

It was productive. They made their way through his various cases and the work that needed to be done. He asked about her schoolwork and Bella explained she was down to her final projects with a month left. She hoped to finish the first draft of her paper this weekend and then would give it a break while she worked on the other. Satisfied that she was on track both at work and with her classes, he turned the conversation to her meeting.

"Do you have signed paperwork to present to the judge?"

"We do. He was pleasantly surprised with my custody offer and his child support number was higher than mine, but not by an astronomical amount. His lawyer popped off for a minute when it came to legal custody, but once I showed the copy of the letter I'd sent his mother and the check I got in response, he agreed. I don't think he would have fought it too much, but seeing that his parents knew and never told him, it took the wind out of his sails. His father's no surprise, but I think he was hurt to know his mother had kept the secret from him."

"You'll both get beyond this. He's proven he's more invested than he was given credit for. As long as he follows through, I'm sure you'll be able to co-parent amicably and Anthony will be happier."

"Happier?" Bella asked.

"I've seen the way he acts out on occasion. I'm sure being in school and seeing kids with both parents hasn't been easy on him, and in turn has been harder on you."

"It has been, which is why I'm hoping Edward sticks around this time. For all of our sakes."