Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Stephenie Meyer owns it all. I am merely having fun with her characters.

Author's Note: HUGE shout out & thank you to my beta dolphin62598 for getting these chapters back to me so quickly! And another big thanks to my pre-reader teacher1209 for reading over these and giving me her thoughts! Another BIG shout out and thank you to LunaEclipse17 for creating the kick ass banner for this story! You can check it out on my Facebook page. I also have other pics posted for this story in an album called A Lie Upon Your Lips on my Facebook page. Song Inspiration for this chapter: Far Away by Nickelback

Chapter 17

BPOV

Far Away

Beep….Beep….Beep

This time…this place…misused mistakes

Too long…too late. Who was I to make you wait?

I love you

I loved you all along

And I miss you

Been far away for far too long

On my knees I'll ask

Last chance for one last dance

Cause with you I'd withstand

All of hell to hold your hand

Beep…Beep…Beep

I felt like I was floating. I kept hearing beeping…and voices…and singing. Someone was singing to me? What was all that beeping? Who was singing? Was that Edward? No…of course not.

I willed my eyes to open. It didn't come easy, everything felt hazy. I saw my mom with her head on my hand, holding it in hers.

"Mom," I croaked.

"Oh sweetie, you're awake!" She leaned up and kissed my forehead. As she brushed my hair out of my face, she continued, "Everyone will be so happy you are awake. They've all been dying to see you."

"What happened? I'm so lost."

I reached my hands to my stomach and it was gone…where was my bulge? Where were the babies? What happened? The last thing I remember was…

Calling Mom.

Labor starting.

I tried to sit up and my mom stopped me. "Calm down sweetie, please calm down."

"Where are Tony and Claire? Where are my babies?"

"Sweetie they are fine! They are wonderfully healthy and beautiful just like their parents. They are down in the NICU floor of the hospital. They will have to stay there a bit since they came so early but there is absolutely nothing wrong with my gorgeous granddaughter and handsome grandson," she beamed.

I looked at the couch in the room and noticed Edward laying on it asleep. "What is he doing here? Who called him? Does he know about the twins?"

"Yes Bells, he knows. After my encounter with him outside your apartment and our talk, I called Leah. I was worried about both you and Edward. I expressed to Leah on the phone that I planned on telling Edward if you didn't, but when everything happened the way it did, Leah called and told him everything. And don't you dare be mad at her, Isabella Marie, she has your best interest at heart, always. He has been here the whole time. He only leaves to go check on the twins. He has been beside your bed, singing to you, talking to you."

I knew that. I knew I had heard singing. It wasn't just in my head.

And I would never be mad at Leah. She did what I didn't have the guts to do.

I shook my head, "I'm not mad at her…is he mad at me?"

"I don't think so. He has been nothing but amazing."

Good, hopefully he would not hold my lying to him against Tony and Claire.

Before I could ask my mom what happened, Edward was awake and at my other side holding my other hand.

"Isabella," he said as he kissed my forehead. Then he apologized. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that. I'm just so happy to see you awake."

"It's okay, thank you for being here."

"Of course, there is nowhere I would rather be," he said. And the firmness in his voice actually had me believing him.

I still needed to know what was happening. I didn't understand.

"What happened?"

The next several minutes were spent with my mom and Edward trying to explain everything that had happened to me. I was trying to digest everything the said. They told me my uterus had ruptured and it happens sometimes with multiple births.

They had to rush me for an emergency c-section and then what followed was severe bleeding and a short time where they weren't sure if I was going to make it. The babies were out safely but they had to remove my uterus to stop me from dying.

I would never be able to have children again.

I felt like I should be devastated over this but if Tony and Claire were here happy and healthy all I could do was be thankful and grateful that we all made it through this.

"I need to see Tony and Claire…right now…please!"

"Sweetie, you aren't supposed to sit up yet. We can't put you in a wheel chair to take you down to the NICU," my mom said.

"I think I may have an idea," Edward added.

He stepped out of the room and was gone for about twenty minutes. "I've gotten permission for us to wheel you down to the NICU in the bed. You won't be able to go in to the NICU just yet. But you will be able to see Tony and Claire. We just have to wait for the nurse to come unplug some of these machines they have you hooked up to."

He and the nurse wheeled me down to the NICU and placed me right outside the window. "Okay, Mommy and Daddy, I'll give you guys some alone time but I am going to come back shortly. We need to get you back upstairs to your room so you can get your rest. I know you are dying to hold those beautiful babies but you just need a little more rest before we let you out of that bed. Your babies are only in here for observation right now so don't be scared. They are perfectly healthy," the nurse said. Her voice was very kind.

Edward pointed through the glass and showed me where Tony and Claire were.

I could not stop the tears. "Oh my God, they are so beautiful."

"Yes they are. You did great. Tony has soulful brown eyes like his mother and beautiful brown hair. Claire…well she looks like me. Like my twin actually, hair color, eye color, shape of her face. They are both just perfect."

He paused after he said that and I felt like he wanted to say something else. I guess he could tell I was waiting for something else because he continued, "I love their names. Thank you for putting Anthony in Tony's name."

"You're welcome. I guess we need to talk, hunh?"

He nodded. We stayed there staring at the twins in silence, soaking up all the perfection we had made. It seemed like no time until the nurse came back to take me to my room. It broke my heart to leave the babies but I knew they were in good hands and I needed rest and to get stronger for them.

As soon as we got to the room and the nurse got me hooked back up to my monitors, Edward was beside me again. The nurse left and the room was now empty except for the two of us. Now was as good a time as any to start this long awaited conversation.

"Edward…I don't know where to start. So I'll start with I'm so very sorry for keeping Tony and Claire from you. Are you mad at me?" I whispered.

Edward took my hand in his. "Not at all. Maybe I should be furious with you…this was something big to keep from me. But I've hurt you so much…you did what you felt you had to do to protect our children. I can't fault you for that. I probably would have done the same thing in your shoes."

He paused briefly and took a deep breath before he continued, "I'm glad I found out though. I want to be in their lives. I want them to know I'm their dad. I…want to be…their dad."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

I couldn't believe he was here and saying these things. The things I always wanted to hear, that he wanted children and wants to be in their life.

But how was this supposed to work? I was not going back to Forks, I had made a good life here. I could never leave Ro, Em, Ali, and Jazz…never ever. I needed to speak up and ask him how he planned on this working.

"Edward, how is this going to work? I'm not moving back to Forks and I don't want to get back together with you. That's not a good idea for us. So how is this going to work with the twins?"

"Bella, we will figure it out. Parents who aren't together make this kind of thing work all the time. We will figure out a way. We have to…because I have no intention of leaving my children's lives."

Wow

Who was he and what had he done with Edward?

"What changed? You're different. You used to talk about how children were dirty and didn't fit in your lifestyle."

A huge smile crossed his face, "Actually, I came across a father and daughter in the ER before I left Forks. And you're probably not going to believe me but the girl's name was Claire. She was so adorable. Interacting with her felt so natural. She wasn't scary or gross at all."

My laughter interrupted him. "Jeez, Edward. Gross?" I could not stop laughing at him. I guess it was contagious because he started laughing too and then he continued.

"I watched her father interact with her and felt envious of the relationship I witnessed between them. It made me want that."

Wow.

I really could not believe this was happening.

Just about everything I had ever wanted to hear from him.

Before I could give him a response to his story about Claire, my hospital room door flew open and in came…well everyone. I was bombarded.

Alice, Rose and Leah swarmed me as they swooned over the babies. Mom had taken them to see them as soon as they arrived.

I stretched as much as I could to try to see where Edward had disappeared to but it looked like he had excused himself from my room all together.

We would have to talk more later and figure out how we were going to make all this work with Tony and Claire.

My dad raised his voice over the commotion and asked everyone to leave and give him some alone time with me.

"Score! Come on girls, let's go get another look at that adorable niece and nephew of ours!" Leah exclaimed. My sister and my two best friends practically skipped out of the room to go back to the NICU and everyone else followed laughing at their excitement.

Dad sat down beside my bed and took my hand in his and used his other hand to brush the top of my hair like he always did when I was a little girl.

"Bells…my sweet Bells. I just wanted some alone time just you and your old man. Do you have any idea how much I truly love you? I love you so very much. And I am so proud of you. A father could never be any prouder of his daughter. And you have given me two beautiful grandchildren to dote on and love. You are going to be an awesome mom." He kissed my hand and then wiped the tears that were steadily streaming down my face now.

"Oh Daddy, thank you. I'm terrified of being their mother but so happy."

He leaned forward and kissed my head. "Okay sweetie, I'm going to go down to the NICU and soak in some more Tony and Claire and I'm going to let my baby girl get some much needed rest."

When my dad left the room, I had to try to force my thoughts to turn off. So much had happened in the last twenty-four hours.

But the most important thought running through my mind was that my son and my daughter now had both a mom and a dad so I knew everything was going to be okay no matter what happened between Edward and I.

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