34
Angela leaned against the entrance to the living room, watching her husband and daughter cuddled on the couch watching cartoons. Ben, of course, would tell you he was only watching them for Vanessa, but Angela knew better. Ben was a bit of child himself, just one of the many things she loved about him.
He looked over at her as the doorbell rang, and she could see the way they both tensed. Had every time someone came to the door, or called on the phone. Ever since the two detectives collected DNA from Vanessa, trying to prove, or not prove, that their daughter was the birth child of Bella Swan. Her story had been all over the news, of course. Kidnapped at eight, parents murdered, found alive after eight years. And now, she and Ben might have adopted her child. It wasn't hard to see the resemblance of eight year old Bella and twenty-two month old Vanessa. They had the same eyes and smiles. The only real difference was that Vanessa's skin tone was darker than Bella's.
Ben scrambled to his feet while Angela hurried to the couch, to keep Vanessa calm. He took a deep breath before he opened the front door. She saw him step backward and say, "Come on in" before she saw Detective Cullen and Detective Mitchell come inside.
"Sorry to just stop by like this," Detective Cullen said, the corners of his lips curving downward.
"It's okay," Ben lied.
It wasn't okay, but whatever. Nothing about the last two days was okay. Their world had been flipped upside down the minute they stepped up to their door and knocked. Angela tried to understand, and in a way she did. She'd been sixteen years old when news broke about Bella Swan's kidnapping. Her mother had been glued to the news, sharing every detail as it came flooding in. Not that there had been much.
"Can we get you some coffee? Water? We might have soda hiding in the back of the fridge," Ben rambled.
"No, thank you," Detective Mitchell said, his tone even sadder than his partners. "We won't take much of your time."
"You got the results, didn't you?" Angela asked, scooping Vanessa onto her lap as the two men followed Ben into the living room. "She's Vanessa's birth mother, isn't she?"
"Yes," Detective Cullen said, and Angela blew out a heavy breath, wrapping her arms tighter around her daughter. "We just got confirmation this morning. We wanted to tell you in person. Make it, I don't know, easier."
"Nothing would make this easier, Detective Cullen," she quipped.
He sighed. "No, I don't suppose it would."
"Have you told her? Bella Swan, I mean?" Ben asked, walking over and sitting next to Angela. "Does she know?"
"We're heading over to her right now," Detective Cullen stated. "The district attorney, a woman named Kate Denali, will be reaching out to you in regards to Vanessa, how you came to adopt her, what you can tell us about her condition afterward. It will help us stop the man who, well, fathered her."
"Are we going to lose our daughter, Detective Cullen?" Angela asked. "We did everything we were supposed to do when we adopted her. We went through home studies and social workers, who all but challenged us on every parenting decision we might make if they granted our adoption. It wasn't easy, and it wasn't fun, but we did it, so I'm asking you if we are going to lose her?"
"I don't know." He moved over and sat opposite of her. "Technically, Hope . . . I'm sorry, I meant Vanessa was kidnapped from Bella. She never gave up her parental rights, which could nullify the adoption. I don't have enough experience to be able to tell you for sure, one way or another."
"Hope?" Ben asked, drawing everyone's attention to him. "You called Vanessa Hope."
Detective Cullen nodded. "She named her Hope. Said . . . said she was her hope for a world where she wasn't a nothing, a nobody anymore."
Angela buried her face into Vanessa's hair, her tears seeping down her face. She felt for Bella Swan, couldn't imagine the horror she must have gone through over the last eight years, but Vanessa was her daughter now. She'd been the one to walk the hallways every night when Vanessa was colicky, changed every diaper, taught her how to walk. That had to account for something, didn't it?
"We should go," Detective Mitchell said, drawing Angela's attention back to the two men. "Ms. Denali will be in touch tomorrow most likely. Again, we're . . . we're sorry."
Neither Ben nor Angela replied as the two men left, closing the front door behind them. What were they supposed to say? That's okay? It wasn't. Nothing would ever be okay, because they knew there was a very good chance they would lose their daughter. Ben blew out a heavy breath as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and made a call. As Angela held Vanessa against her chest, she heard him say, "Tanya, its Ben. Listen, they got proof. What do we do?"
Ben walked out of the room, leaving Angela and Vanessa alone. Hope, she though. Bit ironic that Bella named her Hope, when Hope was Vanessa's middle name. She had been Ben and Angela's hope for a family, as well.
—SfH—
She felt anxious. She couldn't explain why, but she felt anxious. Maybe it was because Esme had gotten a call that had her tensing, and hurrying everyone but her and Edward out of the living room. They left Beth with her. With Edward's supervision, of course. When Esme, Rosie, Emmett, Alice, and Peter walked back out of the kitchen, they all looked at her differently, and that made her feel anxious.
She moved to the floor and had Beth laying on her tummy. Esme said tummy time was important for babies because they had to learn to push themselves up, lift their heads. Beth did not like tummy time, though, and every time she started fussing, she shifted her eyes to Esme, making sure she wasn't upset with her. If she upset Esme, she wouldn't get to help take care of Beth anymore.
"We should, um, probably put Beth down for a nap, don't you think?" Esme asked, her eyes shifting from Bella and Edward, who was sitting on the floor beside her and Beth, and Alice and finally to Peter.
Why was he still there? That's what she couldn't understand. He watched her all the time. Not like he did, of course, but still, watched her.
"I can do it," Alice insisted, and before she could stop her, she had Beth in her arms and was halfway upstairs.
She frowned, but didn't say anything. Pouting never did her any good. Neither did whining, begging, pleading, crying, in fact. She thought about following Alice, though. You know, just to make sure she didn't need any help, but before she could climb off the floor, the front door opened and Carlisle hurried inside. He looked from her to Edward to Esme and then to Peter, motioning for the latter two to follow him into the kitchen.
Again, she felt anxious.
"Bella," Rosie said, drawing her attention to where she and Emmett sat, "I was thinking. You know, I could maybe, I don't know, get you your own phone. That . . . that way I could call, or text you when I'm not here. Or you could call, or text me if you need me. Would you be okay with that?"
She bit the inside of her lip as she shrugged her shoulders. "You'll have to teach me how to use it."
Rosie smiled. "I'll teach you whatever you want to learn, Bella. Anything."
Again, she nodded, unsure of how to respond, and again, the silence felt uncomfortable, anxious. Bella climbed off the floor, shifting her eyes from the kitchen door to the stairs, trying to decide which way to go, but again, before she could move the front door opened. This time Jasper, who was holding a small plastic bag, came in with Garrett and the thin blond woman who had been inside the police station when they left. She shifted her eyes between the three, the woman staring at her like Peter would, like she was waiting for her to do something amazing, or terrifying. She wasn't sure she liked this lady any more than she liked Peter.
"Hey, honey, you okay?" Jasper asked, placing a plastic bag on the coffee table and reaching for her hand.
She placed her hand in his, though she found herself simply shaking her head.
"Guess that was a stupid question, huh," he laughed. "I brought you something."
"What?" she whispered, and he picked up the bag, holding it out to her. "What is it?"
"Take it and find out," he chuckled, the corners of his mouth curving upward.
She looked over at Edward, who smiled and nodded before she took the bag and opened it. She smiled as she reached inside and pulled out a can of whip cream.
"I thought, since you don't like syrup on your pancakes, that you might like whip cream," he explained. "That's how my mom ate her pancakes, too. And with strawberries or bananas."
"Oh," she whispered, peaking over at Edward before saying, "Thank you. I'll try it in the morning."
Jasper grinned and looked away, his eyes landing on the blond woman. He seemed to tense, though she didn't understand why. Was he uncomfortable with her, too? But if he was, why would he bring her there? "Honey, this, um, this Kate Denali. She's the district attorney. Do you know what that is?"
She bit the inside of her lip as she shifted her eyes from him to Kate, and shook her head.
"She's a lawyer, and her job is to put bad people in prison," Jasper explained, shifting his attention back to her. "People like Sam Uley."
Inhaling a sharp breath, she took a step backward, automatically feeling Edward wrap his arms around her.
"She just wants to help you," Jasper insisted, putting his hands up in front of him as Carlisle and Esme walked out of the kitchen. "I promise, she's just here to help you, honey."
"Jesus Christ, Jay, you could have waited to tell her!" Carlisle groused.
"I haven't told her yet," he gritted out through clenched teeth as he glared at his brother. "I was simply introducing her to Kate."
"Oh." Carlisle shifted his eyes from Jasper to her. "Sorry."
Jasper rolled his eyes, and she almost laughed. Would have laughed if Kate and Peter weren't staring at her. But they were, so she didn't. Instead, she just stood there with Edward's arms around her, waiting for someone else to draw their attention away from her.
"Sorry about my brother, honey. Sometimes he's an ass."
"Am not," Carlisle muttered, but waved Jasper off when he glared again.
"Anyway," Jasper said, shaking his head and gesturing toward Kate once more. "Kate wants to help you, honey. Right, Kate?"
"Um, yes?" the blond stammered, taking a step toward her, but stopping when she moved away. "I'm not going to hurt you, Bella."
"Only help me?" she whispered, her eyes shifting between each of them. "Like they do. Help me, right? Not . . . not hurt me?"
Kate nodded. "Only help."
She turned to Edward, who gave her a subtle nod of encouragement before she bobbed her head up and down.
Kate smiled and gestured toward the couches. "Is it okay if we sit?"
She shrugged her shoulders, but sat on one of the couches, with Edward right beside her. Kate shared a look with Garrett, Carlisle, and Jasper before she moved over and sat on the opposite couch, crossing her legs at the knee. She was what her mommy would have called a proper lady. Probably never left the house without her hair perfect and her make-up on. Mommy wasn't a proper lady, she would say. She said 'if they don't like my messy hair and make-up free face, they didn't really love me'. She wasn't sure why that memory popped into her head, but it did. Another memory she'd tried to keep inside her, not wanting to make him mad.
"I hear you really like pancakes," Kate said, leaning forward and smiling.
She nodded. "No syrup, though. It's sticky and messy."
"Never been a big syrup person myself," she lied.
She could tell she was lying, but she didn't call her out on it.
Kate took a deep breath. "Jasper told you how he arrested Sam Uley, right, Bella?"
She shifted her eyes to Jasper before nodding.
"That was Jasper's job, but now it's my turn," she said, shifting her legs and crossing them the other way. "Do you know what a criminal trial is?"
She shook her head.
"A criminal trial is where I take bad people, like Sam Uley, into a courtroom, and try to convince a group of people called a jury that he should go to prison. Sometimes, it's really easy because the evidence makes it clear that they are guilty. But sometimes, it's really hard because the bad people are really good at covering up the bad things they did."
"Like he did?" she asked. "When he killed her? He said they were never going to find her, and if I kept being bad, he would . . . he would make sure nobody ever found me, either."
Kate frowned. "Yes, honey, and I really, really want to make sure he can't hurt you, or anyone ever again, but I need your help."
"My help?" she asked, her eyes widening. "How can I help?"
Kate uncrossed her legs and moved so that she was sitting on the coffee table in front of her, slowly extending her hand out to her. She shifted her eyes to Edward, who nodded, before she placed her fingers in the palm of her hand. "I need you to testify against him, Bella. Do you know what that means?"
She wasn't sure, but she nodded. "Tell on him. You want me to tell on him."
Kate nodded this time. "I know that's going to be hard, okay? There's going to be a lot of people inside the courtroom, but they need to know everything he did to you, so we can make sure he goes to jail for a long, long time."
She blew out a heavy breath. "And then he can't hurt me anymore, right? If I tell everybody what he did, he . . . he can't hurt me anymore? He can't take me from my Rosie, or . . . or Edward," she whispered, shifting her eyes to him, catching the way his cheeks darkened. "Right?"
"That's right. I am not going to let him hurt you ever again." Kate squeezed her hand. "I'm going to fight for you, Bella, but you need to understand that when you tell everyone what he did, he'll be in the same room as you. And his lawyer is going to ask you questions, too, okay? And they may not be easy to answer."
Tears flooded her eyes, though she managed to keep them from falling as she nodded. "But he won't be able to hurt me, right? Jasper and Garrett will hold him down, keep him away from me, right?"
Kate smiled and looked back at Jasper and Garrett. "Well, they won't be able to restrain him themselves, Bella, but there will be other prison guards in the room, and they'll make sure he can't touch you. Their jobs will be to keep you safe while you're being brave."
She bit the inside of her lip as she nodded, once again.
"Bella," Rosie said, drawing everyone's attention to her as she moved over and knelt next to her. "You won't be alone, okay? Every second, we will be with you, holding your hands, and keeping you safe. None of us will ever let him close to you again."
"Promise?" she whimpered. "Do you promise, Rosie?"
Rosie's lips trembled as she said, "I promise, Bella. I promise."
She nodded, and whispered, "Okay, I'll try. For Rosie, I'll try."
Kate frowned and released her hand before she stood up. "Thank you, Bella."
She didn't reply. It wasn't like she was being much of a choice, right? If she didn't help her, he would get out and then he would come for her, kill all her nice people, her pancake man, her Rosie, her Edward. No, she wouldn't let him hurt them, so she would tell them what he did to her because someone had to be brave.
Kate walked over to Carlisle, Jasper, Garrett, and Peter, whispering something she couldn't hear before she looked back at Bella, smiled and left. She still wasn't sure she liked Kate.
Clearing his throat, Carlisle walked over and sat on the coffee table, reaching for her hand. She didn't hesitate before placing her hand in his, though. He was her pancake man, after all.
"You okay, honey?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "I guess."
He smiled, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. "You're pretty amazing. You know that, right?"
She shook her head, because she didn't think she was amazing at all. If she had been, he wouldn't have hurt her all the time, would he. No, she wasn't amazing or good or anything like that. She was a bad girl, and he told her that every single day.
"Bella," Carlisle started, but pressed his lips together, his eyes shifting to Jasper for a moment before he said, "Bella, honey, we . . . we found Hope."
Her mouth opened and her eyes widened. She looked from him to Edward, who appeared just as shocked, before looking back to her pancake man. "You found Hope?"
Carlisle smiled and nodded.
"Where is she?" she asked, shifting her eyes from him to the door. "Is she outside?"
"No, honey, she's . . . she's not here," he said, putting his free hand up. "When . . . when he took her from you, she was given to a really nice couple, and they adopted Hope, honey."
"Adopted?" she asked. "But she's mine? She's my Hope. Mine!" She ripped her hand out of Carlisle's and stood up. "Take me to her! She's mine and I want her back!"
"Honey," Carlisle said, but pulled away when Bella clenched her hands into fists and took off toward the door.
"Hey, it's okay," Edward said, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her to the floor, holding her tightly against him. "Calm down."
"She's mine, Edward, she's my Hope!" she cried. "She's mine!"
"I know, love, I know," he whispered, holding her tight as she sobbed.
As Edward held her against him, as her tears continued to fall, all she could think was if she hadn't been such a bad girl, they would have brought her Hope back to her.
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