Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Thanks to the lovely TwiDi for cleaning up my mess :) Check out her story You Don't Know Anything *hint it's in my favs ;).

Chapter 5

"Did you know I'm pretty?" Emmett asked Edward as their limo made its way through town.

"Don't get conceded on me, McCarty." Despite the harsh words Edward smiled at the memory of his precocious daughter.

"Edward, we're friends and I also work for you. But, man, I can't support any decision that's going to hurt Isabella Swan." Emmett looked over at Edward's hard face that seemed set in stone at the moment, "she's obviously a wounded soul, Edward. And the only parent your child has ever known. If you break her you break Emma."

"Emmett," Edward said in exasperation, "Bella is my problem. Has been since she crashed her trike into mine and threatened to sue me for reckless triking. However, I handle her is between her and I, not unwanted interference from outside parties."

Edward looked at his hand where his watch lay. Only a few more hours and he'd see her face in reality again. Instead of in the dreams that have plagued him, the images that had haunted him for the past six years. His daughter would have to be handled with kid gloves, but Bella was a different story. He still didn't know whether to get revenge or make love to her. He wondered if he wanted her to pay for haunting him more than he did for denying him his child.

He thought about Bella. She was no longer the sweet faced and bodied girl he had left behind. She was a full blown woman. Ripe in the right areas and still slim. She filled him with both desire and anger at the same time. It was actually easier to be angry with her when he was away from her. The sad part is, Edward thought, that he was probably more angry about the fact that she still had a hold over his body than the fact she had given birth to his child and concealed it.

~0~

Bella stood looking down at her daughter's sleeping form curled up on the bed. She knew her daughter deserved to know her father, but images of the past refused to leave Bella's mind. Every time she closed her eyes she saw that dank Nashville apartment where the dazzling star stood wearing only Edward's shirt and a satisfied look about her.

Those last moments before the storm that they had spent curled up in each others' arms in their cabin were the last time Bella had trusted anyone completely. She knew she held back and maybe that is what kept her from ever finding someone to really love again. Well, that and the fact anytime another man touched her she felt guilty and her body felt ill. Edward was its master and it rejected any other's touch.

Walking back into her own room, Bella undressed and crawled between the covers. Closing her eyes, she said a little prayer that things would get better and work out for the best.

~0~

Edward stood in the living room of the old cabin. Beside him, sat his luggage and guitar case. Outside the debris from construction littered the landscape. The dream home was almost done. And he was almost ready to fill it with his chosen occupants.

~0~

Over and over, the melody played in her head. It wouldn't stop. Soft and haunting filled with emotions she'd rather forget, the song played in her head refusing to give her a break. She tossed and turned back and forth, her body quivering with anger. He wasn't going to get away with betraying her. Edward wasn't as in control of her as he thought. She would make him pay.

~0~

Rosalie Lillian Swan paced the length of her room. The events of the night keeping her void of sleep. The odds of Edward showing up like he had, had been so small she never even thought it would happen. She fumed. One day Edward Cullen will pay for his sins. Rose refused to sit back and let him just waltz back into her family's life. And she would see him dead before she allowed him to hurt Bella or Emma ever again.

And Emmett McCarty had another thing coming if he thought his dimples and striking blue eyes were going to sway her. He was Edward's friend; which made him the enemy. No matter how fucking sexy he was.

~0~

Bella woke up early and watched as the sun rose from her enclosed back porch. The snow on the ground glistened and looked as cold as Bella felt inside. Hearing noises from the kitchen she walked back in.

"Morning, Mom." Bella kissed her Mother's soft cheek.

"Morning, baby. This cast makes it impossible to sleep. Between the itching and then trying to maneuver into a comfortable position; it is really hopeless." Renee told Bella. Both of them knew the real reason they both woke up early. Neither was ready to discuss it yet.

"I think I missed snow more than I ever thought possible." Bella smiled slightly.

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that other bull crap." Rose said coming into the kitchen sniffing the air. She was searching for coffee. Bella laughed to herself; Rose was dangerous before her first cup.

The three women sat around the breakfast nook talking sharing memories and getting reacquainted for the next two hours. Looking at pictures of growing up and ones of Emma's life as well. Bella realized that very few pictures of herself growing up didn't feature Edward in them. She couldn't help wondering how you could think you knew someone so well only to find them the exact opposite. In a million years, she would have never thought Edward would have cheated on her, let alone show back up in Forks after all this time.

"Mommy?" Emma came into the kitchen clad in her Winnie the Pooh footsie pajamas. She woke up and couldn't find her Mom, so she went looking for her.

"Hey, sug." Bella said and pulled her bronze-haired baby into her lap.

"Look, Mommy." Emma pointed to the pictures on the table. The one catching her eyes was with her Aunt Maggie and Uncle Felix along with Bella and Edward. "You look so happy there, Mommy." Emma sighed. She had never seen her Mommy as happy as she looked in this pictures. Why Mommy didn't know Emma had heard her cry before at night.

"That was prom night, Emma." Renee told her only grandchild. She smiled remembering a time when everything in the world had felt right. Her Charlie had been with her at her side taking pictures of their daughter and her friends. Bella didn't have a wounded soul and Rose hadn't been as bitter about men as she was today.

"Your parents started planning out prom night in middle school." Bella blushed as her mom told the well-known story. "Your poor Father," Renee was happy at finally being able to call Edward, Emma's father out loud, "jumped through hoops the week before prom. Just because your Mom wanted everything perfect. He even drove six hours into Seattle just to take her to find the right shoes." The older three women laughed and Emma grinned.

"Daddy musta loves you bunches, Mommy." Emma knew in her heart that her dream would come true. Surely if Daddy would do so much for silly shoes, he actually did love Mommy.

"Sweetie, once upon a time your father and I loved each other so much. But young love doesn't always endure. We will both always love you, but that doesn't mean we'll always love each other." Bella grinned at Rose as she hugged Emma close to herself. "See, a mother's love lasts forever or else Gram would have let me sell your Auntie Rose to the gypsies years ago." Rose threw a roll at Bella and they began to tell Emma about the things they did growing up, the clean version.

The time seemed to pass without them noticing, for they were all startled when the knock sounded on the back door. Rose got up to answer it. Only family and close friends used the back door, everyone else used the front.

"Oh, it's you. You should have gone to the front door. You lost back door privileges six years ago." Rose told the man in the doorway bitterly.

"Open the door, Rosalie." Edward told the girl. He admitted to himself how startled he was by how grown up Rose was now. She had just been on the cusp of womanhood the last time he saw her. She had always been beautiful, but now she was stunning. Though, she still couldn't compare to Bella and her breath taking beauty. "I've never used the front door; and I'm not going to start gossip by doing it now." He pushed gently past her, only to have a pint sized female version of himself leap into his arms. "Hey, darling girl." He hugged his child tightly. Her acceptance and warmth lessened his anger towards Bella and made him feel again.

"Daddy!" She giggled and hugged him tight. "Love you." She kissed his cheek and firmly took hold of Edward's heart.

"Love you too, munchkin." He told her. The words felt odd in his mouth since he rarely said them anymore. Just to his Mom and Lizzie on the occasions that they pushed it.

"Emma, go with Aunt Rose to get dressed, baby." Bella's voice was thick with emotion as she sent their child to change.

Edward looked at Bella wearing jeans and a sweater, her hair up in a ponytail and he felt eighteen again. "Aww, kitten." He whispered softly to himself. He was torn between kissing her, begging her forgiveness or just hating her. She had cast him as the villain of the piece in this whole mess, but she wasn't innocent herself. If that horrible man was right at all. Plus, the fact that when he tried to find her to explain, no one knew where she was. She hid for over a year, by then he knew it was too late to even try.

"Edward." Renee acknowledged him in the awkward silence that had followed Emma's departure from the warm family kitchen.

"Renee, it has been far too long." Edward told the woman who had been as much of a Mother to him as his own.

"Yes, I believe it has been." Renee said in a sad voice glancing between Bella and himself.

"Bella." Edward looked at the woman who haunted him, the one who was once his entire world.

"Edward." Bella replied stiffly. "We are not going to talk with Emma in the house." She told him.

"I agree." Edward gave her a genuine smile. So far so good, he thought to himself. "I have a car outside. I thought we could ride around and talk." His crooked grin was appearing and Bella was arguing with her girlie bits not to respond, they didn't listen to her. It was taking all Bella had not to offer to give him a ride in her bedroom.

"Ok, let me grab my coat and purse." She ran quickly and grabbed what she needed. Coming back into the room, she handed her mother a slip of paper. "Mom, this is my cell number. If I am needed, call." Edward added his cell and Emmett McCarty's number to the list as well.

The pair climbed into the rental Lexus, both of them not knowing how to start the conversation. Though both knew it would change everything, they just couldn't seem to get out a word. Edward reached over and turned on the radio. The very end of one of his first number one songs played like a mocking joke. The song talked about how much Edward missed Bella, almost begging her to come back. It was his declaration. Edward almost laughed out loud at the fool he was when he wrote the song. He had been hoping and praying Bella would hear it and come back to him. The words echoed in his mind.

I heard you call my name

When I turn you're not there

It's just not right, not having you near

You are my best friend

The only one I've ever trusted

Though now I'm all alone, since you're gone

Into the night

You just disappeared

Without a word you just vanished

Without a trace from my life

Will I ever see you again?

The smile on your face

Those deep brown eyes

Would you come back?

Will you come back?

I've learned a lesson while loving you

A man can be so stupid

And screw up a love so true.

God, he was a fool.