BPOV

March

Rosalie and I had planned out Alice's baby shower perfectly. I invited Al out to lunch a week before—after her most recent doctor visit—and managed to get her to spill about the baby's sex. It's going to be a girl, so Rose and I then went crazy buying up every possible pink item at the local party favor store.

We held the party at my house, and the twins were beyond thrilled to see the amount of pink all over the place.

"Mommy, it's so pretty!" Aina said in awe.

"Yeah, can the house look like this all the time?" Keely chirped.

"We'll see," I replied with a smirk.

Rosalie had a helium machine to blow up balloons, and I managed to keep both Alys and Owen occupied by attaching one to each of them. Owen stared up at the pink, plastic orb above his head in wonder.

"Ball-ooooon," he cooed as he reached for it—but, it eluded his grasp.

I was in the kitchen making the cake when Edward and Emmett walked in from golfing with Jasper and Carlisle. Edward walked over to me and kissed the back of my neck as I poured the batter into a sheet pan.

It sent such incredible shivers down my spine; I almost dropped the mixing bowl.

"How was golf?" I asked as Edward picked Keely off of the counter top—where she was licking cake batter off of a spoon—and swung her onto his hip.

"Fantastic," he said as Emmett scoffed in a disgruntled tone, "I beat all those guys, as usual."

"Whatever," Emmett said, "You barely won this time."

"Winning by 15 strokes isn't 'barely,' Em," Edward shot back.

I closed the oven door and turned back to them. "OK, lower the testosterone, please."

Edward smirked as he kissed Keely on the forehead and put her down. "How's the party coming along?"

"Good," I said, "We've got most of the decorations up, and Jasper should have Alice over here in about two hours."

"When do people start arriving?" Edward asked as he wrapped his arms around me.

"Any time now," I replied, "I told everyone to swing by between 4 and 5:30 – just be sure to be here before Alice arrives."

Just then, the doorbell rang.

"So, do you want me to go play gracious host?" He asked.

"No," I said, "We both need to go up stairs and get ready for the party. Rose will get the door."

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" He asked as he looked down on the long-sleeved polo shirt and khaki pants he wore.

"You can't look like you just came in from golfing."

"Emmett does," he countered.

"Yeah, well I'm not Emmett's wife, I'm your wife, and I said get your butt upstairs and take a shower," I demanded with my arms crossed over my chest.

Emmett stood by the kitchen door with the world's biggest smirk on his face—just waiting to see if Edward obediently followed my orders. I realized I put my husband in an awkward position, but I couldn't back down now.

Edward sighed and kissed the top of my head, "Yes, sweetie."

Before he had a chance to leave the room, though, the phone rang and he picked it up off of the desk.

"Hello."

He listened to the voice on the other end and gave me a weird look, "May I ask who's speaking?"

He listened and then handed me the phone, "It's someone wanting to hire you for a photo shoot."

"Hello?" I asked

"Mrs. Cullen," that evil voice purred, "How are you this lovely Saturday afternoon, hmmm?"

"I'm sorry," I said, "I don't think I'm available for that."

I went to hang up when the voice stopped me, "I wouldn't end this conversation if I were you, Mrs. Cullen. Just look into the face of little Keely, or Aina, or that cute little Owen of yours. He is just the spitting image of Edward."

I felt my heart sink into my stomach as he mentioned my children. My hand started shaking and Edward was at my side in an instant.

"Angel! What's wrong?"

"Tell him you're fine," James demanded.

"I'm fine," I replied automatically, "Just lost in thought for a second."

"If you know what's good for you and your family," James continued, "You'll just play along and pretend I'm just another customer making an appointment."

I swallowed and managed to calm myself back down, "Well, that day sounds a little more doable for me."

"Good girl," James said; I could hear the evil grin in his voice. "Now, I will be calling back again soon to set up a time to meet with you in person. Oh, and I wouldn't go calling the cops or telling your little hubby about all this if I were you. And don't bother trying to trace this call, it won't work."

He hung up suddenly and I felt my body go numb. I put the phone back on the hook and tried to return to normal. I had been debating over telling Edward about my encounter with James at the wedding, and now I was cursing myself for never doing it.

This bastard had my unlisted number, so he most likely had access to my address as well. And he knew my children's names and what they looked like. I sat down at the desk chair by the phone and ran through the possible reasons he wanted to see me.

There was really only one reason, I knew, and it didn't end well for me.

Edward put a hand on my shoulder and brought me back to reality.

"Angel, are you OK?"

"Yeah," I said, surprised with how normal I was able to make my voice sound, "I just need to write down the date for the shoot."

I took my day planner out of the desk and marked sometime in late April, not even aware of the date. He still stood over me with an aura of worry.

"Who was that?"

"A friend of Charlie's," I lied, "He wants me to go out to Forks and take family photos."

He hesitated, "Then...why did you seem so distraught."

"I forgot who he was for a moment. He is a really old friend of Charlie's, but I couldn't remember him for the life of me and I was worried I had offended him."

Ladies and gentleman, the Academy Award goes to...

Edward looked like he was still skeptical, but accepted my explanation, "Yeah, I hate that when my dad's old friends expect me to remember them after all these years."

We both laughed and he kissed me before walking out of the kitchen and up to take a shower. In all the confusion, though, I forgot Emmett was still there. He beheld me with the same skepticism as Edward.

"Which friend of Charlie's was that?" He asked as he left his position against the wall.

"Sam Donaldson, remember him?" I replied, pulling someone we hadn't seen in at least twenty years out of my head. "He had all those German Shorthairs he raised for hunting. He wants a portrait of him and his wife with the dogs—he said they always hang one over their fireplace."

Damn, even I'm beginning to believe this bullshit.

He nodded, "Yeah, I remember those dogs. I always wanted one, but Dad would never let me get one."

"Well, maybe I'll talk to Sam for you, see if he has any he's selling."

What the hell am I doing? I'm getting to into this.

"Nah," Emmett replied, "Me and Rosalie don't have room for a dog that big. She says we're getting one of those little Shih Tzu dogs from a breeder she knows out of Bellevue."

I grinned at him and his eyes got wide as he realized what he let slip. "You will repeat none of that to Edward!"

I saluted him, "Aye, aye, captain wussy dog!"

He glared before leaving the kitchen and I finally flopped myself down into a chair around the table and felt the tears threaten to fall. What am I going to do? Everything inside of me screamed to tell Edward, but I'm not sure what James is capable of. If I bring in the police or anything, will he find a way to still get to one of my children? Or to Edward?

I sat pondering these questions and running each worst case scenario over in my head when Edward walked back in, fresh from his shower. He found me sitting there and got worried once again.

"Angel, are you sure you're ok?"

"Yeah," I said, jumping out of my chair and moving to the door, "I'm going to go change."

I rushed up to my room and found the dress I was planning to wear lying on my bed. I took off my jeans and t-shirt and slipped into the dress just before my twins came bursting into the room.

"Mommy, you need to do my hair," Keely said as she jumped up and down on my bed.

"Mine too," Aina said.

"OK, you two, sit down and let me do it," I said as I walked into the bathroom and grabbed a comb.

I walked back out and my two little angels sat side-by-side and waited for me to pleat their hair into pig-tails. I almost cried when I saw them glancing up at me with their big eyes. I would protect these children at all costs, but I had to figure out how.

EPOV

She is hiding something, and I was starting to feel upset that she refused to confide in me. This isn't the Bella I know – she has always told me her hopes and fears. And, deep down, I was afraid that her silence and evasiveness meant something awful.

Could it be an affair? I always knew she was far too good for me, maybe she actually found that man who deserved her.

I smacked myself internally for thinking such horrendous things about my angel. Perhaps it was something positive. Something for my birthday? I'm going to be thirty this June… that had to be it – she was going to surprise me.

But, I couldn't get that creepy guy's voice out of my head – the one Bella said belonged to Charlie's friend. It sounded familiar; but there would be no way in hell Bella would ever be in cahoots with that bastard.

After Alice's party, Bella and I put the children to bed and I spied her tucking Alys into her bed. She kissed our youngest child gently on the head and I saw a tear run down her cheek.

She is hiding something.

BPOV

I spent the next week waiting in suspense for James' promised call. And all the while, I wracked my brain thinking of whom or what could have helped him find us again. I nearly smacked myself in the head when the very obvious answer finally hit me – Leah.

I had to track her down and figure out how she came to know James. She had to have been the one to give him our information. I know she had access to photos of my children because she still had a key to the Clearwater's old house, which Charlie and Sue still kept for storage and such. I've given them so many photos, that Sue said she put some in the frames she had at the old house to make it seem less lonely.

I dropped the kids off at Rosalie's and headed out to Forks to see Sue. I pulled up to the house and found Sue sitting outside with a cup of coffee.

"Bells? What's up? What brings you out here?"

"I was wondering if you have a key to your old house."

"Of course I do, sweetheart. Why?"

"I wanted to check something. You said you kept some photos there that you weren't able to find a place for here, right?"

"Yes," she replied, getting up to walk inside, "Let me grab my shoes and the key and we'll head out."

I almost argued that I should go alone, but I didn't want her getting suspicious. We drove to La Push and there stood the old house, looking ominous and gray. I walked to the front door and stuck the key in to find that not only was the door already unlocked, it was slightly ajar.

Sue and I exchanged concerned looks before walking in cautiously.

"Hello?" I asked, "Is anyone here?"

There was no answer, so I continued into the house and wandered into the living room. I stopped dead when I saw the big frame above the fireplace was without a picture. I knew for a fact that that was where Sue had put one of our first photos with all four of my children. I looked down to a coffee table next to me and saw an envelope with my return address on it – remnants of a Christmas card.

"What photo were you looking for, sweetie?" Sue asked as she joined me.

She followed my gaze to the blank frame on the wall and gasped, "Where's my picture?"

I shook my head to bring myself back to reality, "Sue, who else has access to this house?"

"Your father, Seth and…Leah…" she got quiet at the mention of her daughter's name. "You…you don't think she took it, do you?"

I gave her a grave look and she covered her mouth with her hands to suppress a sob.

"Bella, what's going on?" She asked. "Does this have something to do with that boy Leah was dating. The one who knows you and Edward."

I looked off into the distance and nodded, "James. He's been harassing me. At first, I was just writing it off as him being up to his old, annoying ways. But, he's changed for the worse. It's not just a fun little game for him anymore, but I'm not quite sure what he wants from us. He's a complete psychopath, now. Do you know if Leah and him are still together?"

"I haven't talked to Leah since Christmas," she said.

"Well, they were together at that wedding I went to."

"The one for Linda's daughter?"

"Yes," I replied, "I just ignored him when he talked to me, but I had a feeling he was up to something."

"Did you tell Edward?"

"No," I said as she shook her head and muttered 'oh Bella.'

I sighed and continued, "I was going to, but then he called the day of Alice's baby shower. He called to warn me not to say anything; he said if I tell Edward or call the police…well, he didn't specify, but I'm sure he meant that he would hurt my family in some way."

"You have to tell somebody," Sue said sternly. "You can't let this monster get away with this. These are your children! My grandchildren! Come on, we're going to tell Charlie."

I froze – I hadn't even thought about Dad, or Sue. What if James tried to hurt them?

"No, Sue, I can't risk your lives," I said as I slumped down against a wall, "I just feel so helpless right now."

"Come back to the house with me," Sue said as she helped me off the ground, "We'll think of something."

As we walked outside, I could only look at my feet and the ground in front of me, too weak to lift my head. Then I heard the sound of wheels on the gravel road coming towards us. I finally looked up slightly to see Jacob's truck heading towards us.

Jake.

JAKE!!

I've never been so glad to see him in my life.