Chapter 14 'big news'

A/N: Just playing with SM's characters. Tissue warning for bits of this one.

The next day was spent in quiet study for Bee, Edward and Emmett. There were finals coming up and most of their end of year assignments were all falling due as well. Emmett finished his work first and headed off to visit with Rosalie.

Bee and Edward did their laundry together while working on their assignments, discussing and debating the subject material in their usual way. To anyone else it would sound like they were fighting but for them it was healthy debate and they loved challenging each other's ideas and conclusions, knowing full well it pushed them both to do more and do better.

Besides looming Finals at school there was an added excitement building in the Cullen household. Esme was full throttle into party planner mode for Bee's birthday party and loving every minute of it. She'd thrown parties for her sons before, and of course had planned many fundraisers for the hospital, but this was her first time planning a party for a daughter. She knew Isabella wasn't a pink and glitter kind of girl so she was planning a more elegant affair than the boy's 18th which had been casual barbecue-like events.

Carlisle and Bee were busy working on the presentation they would give later in the week to the Hospital Board of Bee's 'who's who in the hospital' Guide Kit for the children's wing.

Carlisle was very impressed by the idea when Bee had shown it to him and knew the board would be supportive too. Such a simple, inexpensive way to make being in hospital less scary especially for small children and those who didn't speak english.

Emmett was thrilled as a big thick acceptance package from UW had arrived for him on Monday. He and Rose, who'd received hers too, set about completing the forms and sending them back with their deposits almost the next day.

For Edward there was an almost daily delivery of thick acceptance packages arriving at the house from colleges all over the country. Not just any colleges either, these were from Ivy League schools, but Edward couldn't get excited about them.

He wanted to go to College with his Busy Bee; he didn't care where they went so long as they went together, but as far as he knew nothing had come for Bee and he was starting to worry.

A dark cloud was also building over them as Chief Demetri had asked to interview Isabella about her mother's death but the judge had instructed that this could only happen in the presence of Bee's therapist as well as either Carlisle or Esme or both. She also insisted that the interview take place in Bee's therapist's office.

When the session was finally arranged, it went for over two hours. Edward waited outside pacing like a caged lion the whole time. He hated not being able to be with her and hated that she had to relive the experience but he knew that the Police had a job to do. Bee had told Edward all about the day she found her mother; he knew how sad and frightened she had been then and he didn't want her to have to go through it all again.

Esme sat in on the session with Bee holding her hand tightly as Demetri asked his questions.

Bee didn't cry, she was stony faced and matter-of-fact as she spoke: "Renee's 'boyfriend' James had been telling Renee for weeks about his big plans to rob some store in the neighbourhood. I kept out of sight as much as possible when he was around, so he had no idea I was listening and knew all about his plans. One night when he and Renee had been drinking for hours, I snuck downstairs and heard him talking about it again but this time he actually gave details of which store and when it was planned. I knew this was my chance to get him out of our lives. He was violent and brutish and I hated him." She whispered the last part but everyone in the room heard her.

Bee took a deep breath and a sip of water before continuing: "The next day I went to a public phone and called the police. I gave them all the details I'd heard James drunkenly boast about the night before. The day of the planned robbery I went to school hoping he'd never find out I was the one who called the Police.

"When I arrived home, Renee was hysterical. The Police had been there earlier with a warrant to search the place; they told her that James and his two off-siders had been arrested, having been caught in the act of robbing a store. Renee kept going on about how desperate things were and how could we survive without James to provide for us.

"Renee slipped deeper into a funk and drank more heavily with each passing day. I was mad with her. I thought with James gone that she'd have been relieved; that she could finally be my mother and I could be her daughter, that she'd let me call her mom. But she just got worse."

A tear rolled down Bee's cheek but her voice remained calm throughout: "I kept going to school because it was an escape for me. I could read, learn, do my assignments in the library at lunchtime, and no one had to know what a disaster my life was."

Esme struggled not to cry; she wanted to be strong for her daughter but after two hours of hearing of Isabella's life with this horrible James and the drunken Renee, she couldn't stop the tears from falling.

Bee continued just as calmly as before: "That last morning before I left for school I went in to Renee's room to say goodbye. She'd passed out on her bed and was still wearing her clothes from the day before. I opened her window to let some fresh air in the room, because it smelled of stale alcohol, but I covered her with a blanket so she wouldn't get too cold.

"When I came home from school that day, I found Renee at the bottom of the stairs; she was dead."

Another deep breath as another tear silently rolled down her cheek: "I checked her vital signs; I'd done a CPR course at school and knew what to do, but she was gone. I sat next to her body for a few minutes before I started to panic. I wondered if maybe James had been released and had come back to get revenge, thinking that Renee was the one who'd informed on him.

"My Grandmother's words came into my head. She'd told me that if I ever needed to get away to take my things and go to the address in Forks. I ran upstairs, gathered my few belongings including my secure box where I had my money hidden. I called the Police to say that I'd found my mother dead at the bottom of the stairs when I got home from school. I left the door unlocked for them and I left.

"I went to the bus station in the centre of town and planned my trip to Forks. I only had enough money for some of the journey so the rest of the way I hitchhiked until I arrived here. Once here, I let myself into the house, enrolled in school, worked odd jobs for cash and when I couldn't get any work I'd go to Reverend Weber's Shelter. You know the rest."

There was silence in the room; the Policeman recording the interview excused himself almost immediately and Demetri soon followed after thanking Isabella for her courage in speaking with them about her ordeal. He expressed sorrow for the loss of her mother and Bee realised that was the first time someone had said that to her.

For the first time since finding her mother's cold dead body at the bottom of the stairs, Isabella cried for her loss. Renee had been a piss-poor mother but she was the only mother Bee had, that is until Esme came into her life and showed her what a mother could truly be.

Sue whispered to Esme that she would get Edward, who by this time was pulling his hair out in frustration. When Sue told him he could go in, he muttered 'finally' and ran into the building. He burst through the door to find Bee sobbing, wrapped in his mother's arms. He quietly took a seat next to them and gently rubbed Bee's back.

When she realised he was there Bee turned and curled up in his arms. Esme gave him a sad look and left them alone.

Sue took Esme to the break room where they sat quietly over a cup of coffee before Esme finally broke the silence: "If James ever comes near her again, I'll kill him."

Edward spent an hour simply holding Bee. Her tears had stopped well before but she just needed to be held. He could think of nothing to say that wouldn't be trite given the circumstances so he chose to wait until she spoke to him.

Eventually she sat up, took some tissues from the box on the coffee table next to them. She blew her nose and wiped her tears. Turning to Edward she gave him a small smile: "Let's go home." He nodded, took her hand and led her out of the room.

When they arrived home they found yet another package for Edward, this one from Harvard. Bee watched him as he picked it up and felt the weight of it in his hands. He dropped it on the pile of similarly thick envelopes at the end of the kitchen bench and turned back to her: "Would you like something to eat, love?"

She went over to the pile and went through them: "Edward, have you opened any of these packages?"

He shrugged: "Nope."

"Why the hell not? You know I think you have a pack from every Ivy League school in North America."

He walked over, took the pack from her hands and dropped it back on the pile. He kissed her nose: "When we know where you've been accepted we can talk about where we want to go, okay? Until then, it doesn't matter what they say in these packs."

Bee was gobsmacked. She couldn't believe he was waiting to see where she was going to decide where he would go.

She grabbed his hands and his keys from the key bowl, dragging him off to the garage: "Babe, let's skip the tea and go to Church instead."

"Bee, why are we going to Church?"

"That's where my College letters are going. Rev Weber said I could use the Church as my address since I was worried about the postman coming to the house I was staying in"

Realisation dawned on Edward. Of course, when Bee was writing her applications she wasn't living with them yet, except for the Dartmouth application: "What about Dartmouth?"

"I still used the Church for my address, out of habit I suppose."

When they arrived at the Weber's, Angela answered the door with a little baby in her arms: "Hey Bee, hey Edward, come on in." She turned and yelled for her dad: "Daaaad, some folks to see you."

Bee gave the baby a little kiss on the cheek and tickled his tummy before Angela took him and headed back down the hallway.

"The Webers have twins," she explained to Edward. "I used to babysit for them when Angela wasn't available, it was one of my little cash jobs. I liked it but twins are exhausting."

Edward laughed, knowing the trouble he and his twin brother got up to even when they were little.

"They certainly are trouble!" Reverend Weber said laughing as he joined them in the entryway. "Come in and sit down. How are you Bee? Edward?"

They followed him and sat down: "Is this a social call or is there something you two need to discuss? Are you doing alright after the incident with that Jacob boy?"

"No, no, everything is great. I love living with the Cullens, they've been so good to me." Bee wanted to assure him that all was well. "I actually wanted to check if I had any mail?"

"You have a pile of College packages waiting for you. I was going to let you know through Angela but I know you didn't like anyone knowing you were staying in the shelter so I thought I'd drop them off to you next weekend. I'll go get them."

Edward sat up very excited. He hadn't said anything but he'd harboured a fear that Bee hadn't been accepted anywhere, which was ridiculous considering her marks were as good as if not better than his. Reverend Weber walked back in and Edward jumped up to take the armful of mail.

"Thanks Reverend Weber, and thanks for everything you've done for Bee since she came to Forks."

"Of course, that's fine. Bee is a very special young lady and needs to be treated as such." He raised his eyebrow but smiled so Edward knew he was teasing.

"I'll be good to her, Reverend. You can count on that."

They headed out to the car and Edward put the packages in the back seat before heading home excitedly chatting about all the possibilities. With the money from her grandmother, Bee knew she could go wherever she wanted and didn't have to get financial aid or student loans. They both agreed that the possibilities were wide open.

When they arrived home they were all set to spend the evening going through College information.

They walked into the kitchen where Carlisle and Esme were cooking dinner together; Bee was practically dancing as she walked in.

Bee and Edward placed the pile of College packages on the kitchen bench and Bee waved the Cullens over to see: "Esme come look, I picked up my mail from Reverend Weber and look at all the College packages!"

Carlisle was thrilled to see Isabella so happy. Esme had told him all the details of the Police interview and he had no idea what state she'd be in when she came home.

Edward moved the packages next to his and slapped his hand on the pile: "Bee, I think your acceptance pile might be bigger than mine!"

Carlisle came over doing a quick count of the packages on the bench: "I think you might be right. Shall we see which ones you've been accepted by?"

Edward and Bee sat on either side of the kitchen counter and started going through the pile. Emmett and Rose came in halfway through and joined them at the counter.

Edward said they were only interested in ones where they both were accepted and they'd make a short list from there.

As it turned out they'd both been accepted to Columbia, Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Dartmouth and MIT.

Carlisle dragged his hand through his hair: "Wait until the Forks Forum finds out about not one but two local kids getting accepted to all these Ivy League schools. They'll want to do a story on you both for sure!"

Esme laughed: "Forks Forum! I think the Seattle Times will be after them for this story. Amazing."

While the family sat down to enjoy dinner of delicious fettucine a la funghi, they excitedly talked about their College options. Emmett and Rose had decided to live together which was no surprise to anyone but Carlisle and Esme suggested an on-campus apartment so that they could still get the dining packages.

Rose laughed, knowing that Esme was worried about Emmett getting enough to eat: "Don't worry Esme, we'll keep the kitchenette stocked so Em can eat in the dining hall and still have plenty to snack on at home."

Carlisle looked over at Edward and Isabella: "I suppose you two will want to share an apartment too?"

Edward and Bee shared a quick glance before nodding enthusiastically.

"Definitely," said Edward. "We just have to decide where we want to go."

"You could check out Columbia when we go to New York and then you could go to Harvard while we are on the same trip," Esme suggested.

Carlisle agreed: "We could visit all the campuses over the coming weeks and then you can make an informed decision."

Rose's phone chimed repeatedly while they were eating but of course she didn't answer it as Esme didn't allow phones at the table.

"Rose dear, perhaps you should check your phone," Esme said. "Someone seems to want to get a hold of you pretty badly, that's the fourth time it's rung in the past five minutes."

"Thanks Esme, excuse me everyone." Rose stood and retrieved her phone before going into the living room to check her messages. The others continued making plans for their university site visits until Rose screaming for Emmett stunned them into silence.

"EMMETT," she yelled as she burst into the room. "I have to go home. Jasper's really done it this time. Christ!"

Emmett jumped up and ran to her: "What's the problem Rosie, did he get caught stoned again?"

"I wish!" she shook her head. "Dad's threatening to kick him out and the Brandons are threatening to have him arrested."

Emmett and Edward had a rare twin moment when they both shouted: "What the hell for?"

"He got Alice pregnant!"

A/N: So big news! thanks for reading, I'd love to hear your thoughts.