Chapter 19

BPOV

Edward held my hand securely under the dinner table. It made me feel so complete, so whole to have his hand in mine. There was a part of me that just wanted to grab him up and run away together. However, there was still the matter of Masen, purposefully making Esme look bad. Still, she couldn't stop smiling. She was happy about something. Every time I looked at her, she would smile and wave.

'Maybe she's finally warming up to me?' I thought with a smile, my heart lifting. Everything was finally falling into place. Rosalie and Alice sat with each other, both of them smiling and waving at me whenever they got the chance. Alice however, seemed upset. She kept trying to pull Edward aside so she could speak with him. I could see that warning in her eyes. I brushed the thought from my mind and took another sip of my wine. This night was perfect, nothing was going to go awry and no one was going to ruin it for me.

"I've always hated coming to these things." Edward commented, tracing the lines of my hand with his finger.

"Then why come at all?" I laughed softly, leaning against his shoulder.

"Bella!" Esme shouted grabbing my hand. "I have someone I want you to meet!" she snatched me up quickly and led me across the ballroom and thrust me into the arms of some guy I didn't know.

"Well hello beautiful." Crap, I knew that voice. I looked up to see the guy from Emmett's auto shop.

"Hello Jacob." I said warily.

"How are you, you never come by anymore."

"Oh you know, raising my son and such. I live a pretty busy life." I tried to pry myself from his grip, silently cursing Esme for trapping me with this man.

"Why don't you and I dance? It'll be fun. I heard you might need a shoulder to cry on tonight." He pulled me close, ignoring the grimace on my face.

"Jacob, maybe I should go. Edward might be waiting for me to get back. I don't think he wants to be alone all night." I pried myself from his arm and began to walk away. Esme was on me in a second.

"Where are you going Bella?" she asked sweetly. "You should be dancing with Jacob. I'm doing you favor honey." She winked at me.

"A favor, what is she talking about?" I asked to no one in particular.

"What does Esme ever mean?" Masen was standing next to me, I hadn't even noticed him.

"Maybe we should just grab Edward up and head out." I took his hand and we started to walk back to the table.

"Masen!" my son froze, his shoulders locking. "Oh my god, what are you doing here?" Sylvia wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

"Oh my god, get the heck off of me!" he immediately shoved her away and ran out of the ballroom.

"Why is he so afraid of me?"

"Maybe you're coming on just a bit too strong Sylvia. He'll come around eventually." She shrugged and skipped away, humming a sweet tune all the while.

"I'll never understand that girl." I muttered placing my hands on my hips and shaking my head.

EPOV

It'd been a long time since I'd seen Bella glow. She looked so happy, so free in a long flowing blue dress, she knew it was one of my favorite colors on her.

"Edward!" I cringed at the high ringing voice that met my ears.

"Hello Jane…" I offered trying not to be rude. Jane was Tanya's mother, she and Esme were the one's still trying to get Tanya and me together.

"Edward!" great, Aro was with her two. I sighed and turned to face them.

"Hello you all, I wasn't expecting to see you tonight." I said hesitantly.

"Why ever not? We're so ecstatic. You'll be so surprised." Jane winked at me.

"Surprised, surprised at what?" I said suddenly feeling left out. What was I missing. And why in the world was she so happy? I heard someone tapping on a glass and turned to see Tanya. She smiled and gestured for me to join her. I sighed.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I know you're all so excited because Edward and I are getting married next month," she began.

"Getting married, Tanya what-"

"I'm so thankful to have a man like Edward standing by my side, we'll be together forever!"

"Tanya, what in the world are you going on about?"

"But we aren't going into this alone, ladies and gents, I'm pregnant!" she shouted with glee. I froze. Pregnant? What in the world, when had this happened, why wasn't I aware? I was suddenly surrounded by sounds of applause, people slapping me on the back. In the background, I could clearly tell apart my Bella, shock coloring her face. She ran blindly from the ballroom, her head in her hands.

"Excuse me." I said quietly, tearing myself away from the inquiring minds.

"Bella!" I shouted once I'd gotten out of the ballroom. "Come back, we have to talk!"

"Stay away from me Edward!" she growled, I could hear the sobs in her voice.

"Bella please, I had no idea! We can work this out. We can still be together!" I grabbed her arms and pulled her to me.

"No Edward. We can't be together, she's pregnant, she needs you now more than ever." Her voice was quiet, I didn't believe it for a second. "You need to go be with you fiancée Edward."

"No, I only want you. I don't car how much I have o pay in child support, I want you and only you, no matter what."

"Do you want another Masen on you hands Edward? Without a father, that's what will happen. That child deserves a family, a loving home. Esme will love him or her, so will Rosalie. He'll be happy, you'll be happy." She kissed my cheek.

"Bella c'mon! Don't you want to fight for us, I'm willing! I just want you." I grabbed her shoulders and pulled her to me.

"Edward please, I am sick of fighting. I've been fighting for you since the day we met. Esme has never liked me, treated me like I'm nothing better than the gum on the bottom of her shoe. I can't do it anymore Edward. I can't. I have no more fight left in me!" she shouted, beating on my chest. "I love you but I can't take this anymore. If I bend anymore, I swear I will break. I can't continue to do this. I love you but I just can't do this anymore. I can't continue to put Masen and myself through this. He maybe a brat sometimes Edward, but he loves you. He was beginning to respect you as father and now I fear he never will. Here's your second chance."

"I love you. I will never want anyone else. Bella, if you leave me again…I don't know if I'll be able make it." I grabbed her face between my hands. "Please, let me work this out with you."

"There is no working it out Edward. It's over. You have a family to look after and I've got mine. I won't do this to my son anymore." she pulled herself from my arms and began the long walk out of the mansion.

"Bella!" I called.

"What Edward?" she looked over he shoulder at me.

"I love you."

MPOV

I watched Tanya float around, showing off her nonexistent tummy. What, did you think I was as oblivious as my parents were? No no my friends, I had figured out this plot long ago. Poor Esme didn't know that she had messed with the wrong family. It was like a chess game, Esme thought she could finally declare and early checkmate, believing she had backed me into a corner. What she'd clearly forgotten was the fact that I was Masen Swan, and I was about to make my final move. Esme Masen would never know what hit her. When I was done, she and Tanya would be standing alone, looking like the biggest fools to ever be born.

"Masen!" I was snapped from my thoughts to see that Tanya had finally reached me.

"Hello Tanya." I greeted her, a fake smiled plastered on my face to match hers.

"Are you excited? Your father's getting married and you're getting a new baby sibling. This has got be exciting for you!" she screeched.

"Oh yes, I'm quite thrilled. Maybe we can set up play dates in the part so I can teach him quadratic functions! It'll be so exciting." I said sarcastically.

"I agree, it'll be quite fun." she patted me on the back. "Edward!" she ran off to go find her supposed man. I tapped my fingers on the table as she walked away, a smirk tugging at my lips. I was gonna wipe that smile clean of her face. She would never be happy again when I was through.

"Sylvia!" I waved towards her, gesturing her over.

"Yes Masen? Have you finally decided to talk to me?" she quirked a blond eyebrow.

"Don't get too excited. You can sneak into the ladies parlor can't you?"

"I am a lady."

"Yes of course." I handed her a small package. "Wait for Esme and Tanya to go inside, trust me they will. You'll know what to do with it when you get there." she began to open before I stopped her. "Not yet. You know what to do." I waved her off. She huffed quietly and took off for the parlor. Yes. Forget wiping, I would rip the smiles clean off both their forces. Sylvia would get what I needed to me, she was a smart girl. It was time to go find my mom and get out of there. My work was done for now.

I found my mother sitting on the outside of the Masens mansion, sipping from a wine bottle. I knew she preferred vodka or tequila but right now, she would take anything.

"C'mon mom, let's get out of here. I promise it'll all work out." I helped her up and walked her down to the driveway before realizing that Edward had driven us.

"I already called Jasper. He's on his way." She hiccupped.

"Good, don't want to walk home." I leaned against one of the fancy cars littering the front yard.

"I don't understand. I really don't. What have I been doing, why do I deserve this. I love him so much. Why do we keep getting torn apart." She was crying.

"Love never makes sense mom. I promise I'll make it alright though." I patted her back. "I promise I'll make everything alright. You'll never have to worry, not while I'm around."

AN: You all thought Masen was in the dark. Please, he's the most intelligent character in this entire story, nothing get's by him. I'm probably be doing a drawing of him as well (like I did for Cam in Karma) older and more mischievous. He's a very hard person to figure out. I really hope you all actually read my author's notes, sometimes they're actually important. Not this one…but some of them.

-IFW