Hello, sweet ones! I am back. I planned on updating a few days ago, but the other story I was writing for this collection wasn't saved with the updates I had written, so I'm working on rewriting it.
In the mean time, I leave you with this one shot, and hopefully I'll be able to update Pack Souls too between today and tomorrow.
Thank you all for all your support, your continue alerts and your kind reviews. Moreover, thank you as well to the silent readers who contribute to the read count!
Stay safe and enjoy!
Summary: In BD, when Bella gets pregnant, Edward tries to force to her abort. In turn, Bella escapes looking for the inly place Edward would never dare cross.
Pairing: Bella/Demetri (Slightly) + OC (in replacement of Renesmee)
Rated: T
Genre: Family, Sacrifice, Hurt, a little bit of romance.
PICCOLA.
Edward's neurotic nature exploded like never before when she told him she was pregnant. For her, a tiny creature that was a mix between the two of them, created by their love, was good news, scary, but good news. However, he did not feel the same. He stormed around the house, picking up items, clothes, documents, and an indefinite number of things and throwing them in their suitcases.
But the worse was yet to come. On the ride to the airport, he announced his true intentions. Get her to Carlisle to perform an abortion. She understood that he was scared. Hell, she was scared too, and she was the one carrying the child, suffering the symptoms, etc.
They made it to Forks in record time. She dreaded the ride from the airport to the mansion. She hadn't spoken to Edward since they left the island. She had been unable to sleep but pretended to, anyway. Edward didn't comment on her pretenses. That made her feel worse.
"Are you both alright?" A frantic Alice received them at the door. She kept looking between Bella and Edward, trying to assess whether they were injured or not. She finally turned to Bella and frowned. "Why can't I see you anymore?"
She looked at Edward, who had relaxed his stance a little. "She's pregnant. The baby is half-vampire."
It had been the first time Edward commented on her pregnancy. But he did so without any emotion in his voice, and hardness set on Bella's heart. She couldn't stay in a place where her baby would be loved by the very person who should love her the most aside from herself. Alice couldn't see her anymore. She knew how to avoid her visions when she could see her, but now, she had the upper hand. She needed to formulate an escape plan. For that, she needed allies. But she couldn't count on any of the Cullens for that. Rosalie would surely help, but Edward would read it from her thoughts, and she didn't want her whereabouts to be known until she decided it.
With the excuse to check up on Charlie, she left the mansion with a big fake smile and happiness seeping through her emotions. She knew Jasper would pick up on that. She was pregnant and happy. She also let him feel her confusion and some of the hurt. She had learned how to project her own emotions to Jasper.
She sighed on the way to the Reservation. Jacob had been right. She shouldn't have chosen Edward. But it was done now, and she had a baby on the way that grew rapidly and needed her protection.
…
…
…
"Stay in touch, Bells." With a kiss on her cheek, Jake left her at the airport. Lucky for Bella, she still had her sock of cash hidden under her sock. There was more than she remembered, added to the bit that Jacob had given her. She tried to refuse, but he insisted. She couldn't use any of the cards she had now in her name. If they followed the money, they would find her. And she didn't want to be found.
With the last promise to Jake to stay in touch, she went inside the airport, secured a ticket to Italy, and waited to board the plane that would get her to the last place she wanted to go, but the only one that would protect her. Aro had protected her in his own way. Edward thought of him as a monster, ruthless. And so did she one time, but the more she'd thought about it, the more she realized she was wrong.
…
…
…
"So, you want our protection for you and your child from the Cullens?" Caius repeated Bella's last words.
She nodded. They could see a bump under her clothes. Marcus had shown interest for the first time in centuries. Aro couldn't deny her protection; she knew the secret, she was carrying a hybrid on her belly, and she still wanted to be a vampire.
"What's in it for us, my darling?" Aro asked though he had already decided.
"I'll join the Volturi once I'm changed and my baby is safe." She drew a hard bargain, but it was only fair.
The three brothers accepted and immediately turned their whole lives upside down to help her. Word had reached Athenodora, Caius's wife, who left her chambers to aid the pregnant human. She had been a midwife once upon a time. Two months later, it came in handy when Bella gave birth to her daughter and had to be changed immediately due to a hemorrhage.
…
"We haven't named her. We call her Piccola, but we have no name for her." Athenodora passed the sleeping baby to her mother, who had just returned from feeding for the first time.
Bella passed a finger on the chubby cheeks of her sleeping beauty. "Emma." She's always loved the name, and she wanted to honor Emily from the Quileute tribe, who fought by her side when no one would.
Marcus came into the room slowly. "Hello, dear. Have you fed yet?" Bella nodded. "Marvelous. How are you feeling?" Ironically, she was also a newborn.
Bella smiled. "A little overwhelmed. But I'm happy she's safe." She placed a kiss on her daughter's forehead. "I'll keep my promise. I'll join the Volturi." They had done so much for her in the short time she's been here. Especially Marcus and Athenodora. They've been her angels sent from the darkest side of the vampire world.
Marcus nodded, satisfied. He could feel Bella's bond with everyone she's been in contact with, and they were genuine bonds of loyalty. They were stronger with himself and Caius's wife. There would be no need for Chelsea. Her bond with her little daughter was one of the purest things he'd seen.
"Does Piccola have a name yet?"
Athenodora beamed at him. "Her name is Emma. Isn't it beautiful?" Bella laughed softly.
"Indeed it is."
…
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…
Months had passed and Edward was no closer to finding Bella than he'd been the first day he noticed she'd run away. Charlie said she never made it home. He didn't even know they were back. He was glad she had run away from him. He only consented to give his blessing for that god-awful wedding because he thought Bella would be happy. Now that it was clear she wasn't, he was glad she'd run away instead of staying and being miserable.
Edward returned home, anxious as always. But this time, it was different. "Eleazar saw Bella in Volterra." It was Alice's greeting when he entered the mansion.
He growled. She had gone to the lion's den. "Did he know what she's doing there?"
Alice shook her head. "She's a vampire, Edward."
"The baby?"
Alice shrugged. "I don't know."
…
…
…
A year passed unceremoniously. Bella had Emma to focus on, so her first year as a vampire went quickly. Her Piccola grew fast and at one year old, she looked like a three-year-old. She had tried to do the math in her mind to try to make sense of her growth, but she met a hard wall. Emma grew unevenly. It wasn't a steady course. You couldn't say for certain that she grew in a day what a normal child would grow in a week because it wasn't as predictable as that.
Caius had presented her with the gift of knowing that Emma was immortal and that she would stop growing at some point. Every hybrid he researched reported different times of growth full stop. Bella had never been more grateful.
And so, Emma won the hearts of everyone in Volterra. Her favorite was Jane, much to everyone's amusement and Bella couldn't help but smile at the irony. A year and a half ago, Jane had tortured her father when he interfered with Aro's orders. Bella got along with everyone as well. Renata had become a close friend since Aro had them working together on Bella's shield.
Emma was being homeschooled by Afton and Corin, and she loved it immensely. Bella sometimes worried that she needed kids her own age to hang out with, but everyone put her mind at ease.
Her life was back on track, and she was happier than she had ever been. She felt truly at home. She had her daughter with her; she was protected, cared for, loved, and looked after. Bella had managed to begin her duties very soon after Piccola was born. She had also sent Edward the divorce papers with her signature on them. She had been tempted to annex a letter or a note, but she thought against it. He would probably know by now where she was, but he didn't have any power over her. When the divorce papers arrived back signed, she sighed a heavy sigh but was glad. He had given her full custody of Emma, with no right to take her from her. She didn't demand anything in return. She was free, and so was her daughter
That was until he decided to visit the Volturi himself. This time, he came alone. She saw him walking into the throne room. Their eyes met. It seemed as if he was going to approach her, but Demetri stopped him, to her surprise. Edward lowered his eyes to the hand restraining him and raised an eyebrow when he met the eyes of Demetri.
"One more step, and you'll be leaving in pieces."
Demetri had confessed his feelings for Bella a few months ago, but she hadn't been ready to open her heart to anyone. He loved Piccola, and Emma loved him in return. After Jane, he was the one she sought to spend her free time with.
"Ahh..alas, Edward. I've been waiting for you to make an appearance." Aro announced when he entered the room.
Demetri let go of him only to stand next to Bella, who grabbed his hand. He looked at her questioningly, but she only smiled.
"I came for my daughter." Just as he demanded that, Marcus and Caius took their places respectively.
Marcus had been prepared, though. He had in his hands the documents he had helped Bella with. "I'm afraid that won't be possible."
"She's my daughter." He insisted.
Demetri took a step forward, but Bella pulled him back.
"Did you, or did you not try to force an abortion on Bella?" It might have been a different affair in the human world, but in the vampire world, trying to force a human into anything was punishable. Be it abortion, a relationship, or a transformation. It didn't matter the nature of the action; what mattered was the action itself.
"That was then."
"Ah, yes." Marcus answered boringly. "But you see, my friend, I have your signature here, and you renounced any rights you could have had over Bella's daughter." He read the specific page of the document that read the words Marcus was referring to.
Edward was speechless. He turned to look at Bella. "You tricked me into signing it."
Bella shook her head. "I did not. I sent the documents. I signed them. It is not my fault you don't know by now that you cannot sign anything before reading it." She had been transparent about everything. Vampire law worked differently than human law, but that remained the same.
Edward was about to complain when the doors burst open, and Emma came in, running straight to her mother. Edward saw a little girl with brown eyes and dark blond hair. She was cute, he admitted, but she had blood on her mouth. She was a monster. These people had turned her sweet Bella and his daughter into monsters.
"Piccola, you know better than that." Demetri teased the little girl, taking a handkerchief out of his pocket and cleaning the blood from her mouth. She was still a messy eater, and he couldn't love her more.
"What's her name?" Edward asked, transfixed.
Emma recognized the voice, but instead of turning towards it, she held on tighter to Bella, touching her cheek and letting her know that she knew who he was, and she was scared of him.
"Her name is Emma Swan." She said before asking Aro if she could be dismissed. Aro allowed it and Bella left with her daughter, never looking back at the man who had broken her heart twice over. She would be forever grateful to him; he gave her the best gift ever, her own sweet Piccola.
