A/N: If the format of this is all crazy I apologize. Something weird is going on with my Word.

I don't have a posting schedule. Right now my life is full and I'm trying the hardest I can. I've never failed you guys before.

This chapter is shorter than usual. We have to ease into this.

Thank you for all your reviews and follows. They blew me away as usual.

Bella stood and watched the busy city below.

Cars sped in both directions, merely missing each other, and they barely ever slowed down for pedestrians. She sighed and pressed her forehead against the cold glass as she wondered why she ever agreed to move to this place.

"We have to move, Bella. It's the only way that I can further my career."

"I don't want to be a part of this grand plan, Edward. My concern is our child, not your family taking over the fucking country."

"It's not about that! I want to become a Supreme Court justice." He slammed his hand against the wall. "Not everything has to do with them!"

The sound of the door opening and closing alerted Bella to his presence.

"Bella? What are you doing home?"

She turned and looked over the disheveled suit of her husband.

"I told you not to come home looking like that, what if the baby saw you?"

"I'd just say I cut myself." Edward pulled the bloodied collar from his neck and started up the stairs.

Bella followed him quickly, fighting to keep her anger at bay.

"You can't just walk in here looking like that." She closed the door to their bedroom. "This is why we keep a spare change of clothes in your car."

"Bella, this isn't something we can hide forever."

She threw up her hands.

"Forgive me for wanting to hide it from our three-year-old, Edward."

He sighed and tossed his dress shirt into the sink.

"You're right," Edward nodded. "I'm sorry. I'm just under a lot of stress."

"That's no excuse. Not to mention that someone could have seen you, Edward. How would that look? Especially now with all the pressure on your family?"

"I know!" He yelled, forcefully throwing his belt toward the closet doors. "I don't need your continual reminders of the scrutiny this family is under!"

"Not this family, your family. The one you're trying to show you have no connections to."

A quiet knock on the door stopped their argument. Bella took a deep breath and turned towards the entrance to their room.

"Yes?"

"Mommy?"

Bella opened the door revealing the small frame of their daughter. She bent down to lift her onto her hip.

"My belly hurts."

"I know, baby,"

"Daddy!" Her little face lit up at the sight of her father.

"Addy!" Edward replied with the same bright smile. He quickly pulled her from Bella's arms and began to spin.

"I wouldn't do that; the school called because she was throwing up."

Just as the words left Bella's mouth Addy gagged, losing the contents of her stomach all over her father's bare chest.

"See."

The little girl's eyes filled with tears as she looked at her father.

"I'm sorry, Daddy."

"Not a problem, little one." He smiled at her, and Bella could feel her anger melting away. "Go back to mommy so that I can shower, and I'll be right back."

She led Addy from the room, closing the door behind them.

"You need to get back in bed, Baby. Do you want something to drink?"

She shook her head, the brown curls bouncing around her face.

"All right, well let's just get a movie so you can relax." Bella carried her daughter to the bedroom down the hall where two windows overlooked the Washington Monument.

She hated D.C. and longed for the familiarity that Chicago offered, but Bella wanted Adriana to grow up with both her parents. If the only way to achieve that was to follow Edward wherever his dreams took him, that's what she would do so they could all be together.

"Okay, sit tight and I'll get a movie started." She busied herself with the remote, trying to keep herself from falling into a depression like she experienced after Addy was born. Being a mother wasn't something that came naturally to Bella. It had gotten easier over the years, and now it seemed almost effortless, but there were still days she struggled to hold on to her mothering instincts.

"I'll just be in the living room." Bella kissed Addy's forehead and pulled the blankets around her.

O…O

"Say hello to your daughter." The doctor held her up for Edward and Bella to see. The small child in his hands screamed at the top of her lungs, her arms and legs shaking with her cries.

"She's beautiful, Bella." Edward smiled.

Bella didn't see how she was beautiful; she was covered in blood and who knew what else, with a mass of dark hair matted to her head, not to mention her wrinkly body. The nurses quickly took her away, but before Bella could even inquire as to where the baby had gone, they had her back, wrapped in a white hospital blanket with a white cap hiding her hair. The nurse placed her on Bella's chest and instructed her on how to hold a newborn.

Sitting there in the hospital bed, with Edward cooing over the baby and caressing her tiny features, Bella could feel her heart racing. There was no way she could do this. Be responsible for another life when she was so flippant about her own. Bella lived for the thrill of danger, and she had been perfectly okay with the idea of dying up until this point. How would she ever raise a sane, stable, and healthy child?

"Edward," She looked up at him, her teeth grinding against each other. "I can't do this."

"Of course, you can," He smiled and stroked Bella's cheek. "I'll be here for you every step of the way. First, we have to name her."

"I … uh, that's a huge decision. Can't we let her decide?"

"Well, she's a baby … so no."

Bella could feel her eyes welling up with tears as she glanced around the room. Throughout her entire pregnancy, she struggled to keep a grasp on her emotions, and it didn't seem to be getting any easier now that the baby was here. Her gaze stopped on the whiteboard where her doctor's name and the attending nurses were written. Just beneath it Baby Masen was written in bold, red letters.

A particular nurse's name caught her eye.

"What about Adriana?"

Edward's smile spread across his face.

"Perfect. Now a middle name. Do you want to give her your mother's name?"

Bella frowned.

"No, I want her to have her own name. Not be named after someone."

He smiled again.

"It was just a suggestion."

Bella looked back down at her daughter, studying the slightly less wrinkled features of her face.

"Who does she look like?"

"I think she looks like you."

"I think she looks like an alien."

Edward let out a loud laugh, causing the sleeping child to jump and let out a startling cry.

"Oh God, what'd you do?" Bella panicked, and she tried to pass her off to Edward.

"She was just scared from the sudden noise, dear. Nothing major. Try placing her against your chest." The nurse stepped in and smiled at her, trying to calm the new mother.

Bella awkwardly moved her daughter around, fearful of dropping her. She was so tiny she feared she would slip right through her fingers. Adriana eventually quieted down, curling against Bella.

"Now," Edward whispered, resting his head against Bella's shoulder. "We need a middle name."

"I don't know, Edward. You pick. That way I won't be the only one guilty of screwing up her life."

He stopped and thought about it for a few minutes.

"How about Noelle?"

Bella said the name in her head a few times, glancing back down at their daughter.

"Welcome to the world, Adriana Noelle. Here's to hoping you'll have a perfect life."

O…O

"What are you doing?" Edward's lips moved over her neck.

"Thinking." Bella placed the first picture they took of Addy back on the end table and turned to look at her husband.

"About?"

"Addy … When she was born."

"What a wonderful day that was." His face lit up the same way it always did when discussing her.

"It was something." Bella nodded. "I see you're clean." She motioned to the t-shirt he now wore.

"I am. Winston took care of the shirt."

"How was work? Real work, not whatever you were doing."

"It was okay," He shrugged. "I hate it, but whatever. I'm too young even to be considered for the Supreme Court, so I'll have to put my time in for now."

Bella nodded.

"I'm sure when the time comes you'll be selected."

Bella and Edward had left Chicago roughly two years ago after Edward had served almost two terms as Mayor. He originally planned to become the Governor, but when speculations started to arise about his involvement with the Cullens, he decided to distance himself. A picture surfaced of him leaving their estate one night, and while the picture was grainy and almost unrecognizable, the accusation was already there. So, cutting his second term short while citing 'family issues' they packed up and moved. Edward was now a judge in D.C. and consistently put in the work to get noticed. So far, he had presided over two major trials that received plenty of airtime with all the news outlets.

"Hopefully when that time comes, the president agrees with you."

Bella nodded and moved away from him, sitting down on the couch.

"What about you? Besides being called away for Addy?"

"It was fine."

Not only had Bella struggled to acclimate to a new city, she had issues fitting in with her new unit. When her captain was informed of her transfer, he immediately requested an interview for her with the head of the FBI field office in D.C. Bella almost shot her captain when she found out. Stumbling through an interview about her work in Chicago, she was certain she would never hear back, but two weeks later they called her with a job offer. Edward was apprehensive about her position, but he also realized it would give her more access to sensitive files than she previously had with the Chicago force which would come in hand. Especially now with Edward wanting to move into more powerful positions.

"I'm working on this string of homicides, so it's just like home." She quipped and gave him an overly sweet smile.

"Do you still hate it here?"

"Yep." She nodded.

Bella never hid anything from him, and Edward appreciated that she would always give him a straight answer.

"It'll get better."

"You've been saying that for two years."

"I gave you the option to stay in Chicago." Edward could feel himself becoming irritated.

"And have Addy only experience you in her life half of the time? Every few weeks you'd come home for four days and then leave again?"

"If that's what it took to make you happy."

"I'd rather have a happy daughter."

Edward reached over and ran his hand over her thigh.

"And you said you couldn't do this 'mother thing.'"

Bella chose not to say anything. Instead, she focused her attention on the windows that remained covered most of the time.

When news of Addy's birth reached the papers, Edward received hundreds of phone calls warning that a price had been put on her by some of the bigger crime families who were wanting to get her in order to bring down the Cullen family. Bella took six months off from work and stayed in their apartment with Addy – never leaving her side. She sent Winston out to get groceries and made people come to her if they needed to talk. Addy didn't step outside until right before she turned seven months old, when Edward insisted that it would be okay to let her experience the world.

Now, they had guards … Twelve of them to be exact.

They followed their every move. Two would go with Edward when he left every day, one would sit outside her office; four would stay on the apartment, and the remaining five stayed surrounding Addy's school. When Bella would leave the house with their daughter, they had six guards flanking them. She refused to let the crime syndicate rule her life, but Bella didn't take any chances with her daughter's life.

They sat in silence, neither sure of what to say. The silence in place of conversation had been happening a lot since they moved. Edward and Bella would just occupy the same space, unable to carry on a conversation longer than a few minutes. Bella supposed that's what happens when you marry someone you barely know.

"I love you," Edward whispered into the quiet space.

Bella nodded with a smile.

"I know."

There were only two things they did well; fight and fuck. Expressing feelings had never been high on Bella's list of priorities, and it certainly wasn't going to change just because Edward walked into her life.

"I'm going to go get some work done." He stood from the couch and disappeared behind the door that concealed his office.

Bella sighed and collapsed back onto the couch.

O…O

"Swan."

She glanced up from the countless papers that littered her desk.

"Yeah?"

"I need you down by Buzzard Point; a body washed up out of the river matching your guy."

Bella nodded and slid on her jacket. She hated wearing such formal clothing to work because it served as just another reminder that her life had changed. Swapping out her slacks and comfortable shirts for black suits and white button ups. The gold shield felt all wrong; it was lighter than her old silver star, and she would never get used to flipping open the leather wallet to show her I.D. and badge. Two years later, she still kept her Chicago shield hidden away in her glove compartment.

Fifteen minutes later, she was pulling into a grassy area already roped off by crime scene tape. Bella exited the car, pulling out the wallet she hated so much and flashed it to the uniform that stood just behind the barrier. He nodded at her and lifted the tape so she could slide underneath. She walked towards the group of officers all standing around a body hidden beneath a white sheet. Bella cleared her throat to get their attention.

"Agent Swan," She held up her badge again. "Were her hands removed?"

"How'd you know?" One of the men asked. He was young, too young to have already made detective, Bella thought as she took in the cheap suit that hung from his small frame.

"If her hands have been removed and she has a symbol burned into her back, it's now my case and the FBI is taking jurisdiction."

A collective groan rang out through the group.

She could relate. Bella hated when the Feds would come in and pretend as if they suddenly owned everything, as if they had already put in the long hours of work. She tried not to step on too many toes or piss off too many locals when she had to take over a case, and she always made an attempt to keep them in the loop. A lot of times they didn't care and would just pass the files over.

The men dispersed, leaving her, the young detective, and the medical examiner.

"If you could just have your office notify me when the results are complete I would appreciate it." Bella handed her card over to the doctor.

"Of course, ma'am." He nodded and signaled to his other guys to grab the body.

"So, anything interesting around here?" Bella asked, scanning the crime scene.

"No, she probably just came in with the currents. It's all pretty bare."

She nodded, her eyes drifting over to a small crowd that had gathered. Bella's heart stopped as she did a double take, staring at the man in the back with his hat pulled over his eyes.

"That's impossible." She muttered to herself.

"You see something?"

"What?" Bella glanced back at the detective. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Did you see something that I missed?" He looked around the area she had been facing.

Bella's eyes darted between him and the crowd, searching the faces once again.

"No, I just thought I saw someone that I used to know." She shook her head. "I clearly need some sleep. Let me know if anything comes up, okay?"

"Yeah." He nodded and walked off towards his car.

Bella stayed for a few more seconds, looking in every direction but everywhere she glanced was empty. Had she just imagined she saw someone?

She sighed and shook her head, reminding herself to get more than an hour of sleep tonight as she walked back towards her car.