A/N:

Again, Please let me know your thoughts about this story.

A special thank you goes out to my beta, Lady Gwynedd (yes, I finally got a beta). Check out her story, The Mail Order Bride. I'm absolutely in love with it.

Enjoy,

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Chapter 2—Homeward Bound

I'm sitting in the railway station.

Got a ticket for my destination.

On a tour of one-night stands my suitcase and guitar in hand.

And ev'ry stop is neatly planned for a poet and a one-man band.

Homeward bound,

I wish I was,

Homeward bound,

Home where my thought's escaping,

Home where my music's playing,

Home where my love lies waiting

Silently for me.

Simon and Garfunkel – Homeward Bound

It took Bella almost twelve hours to get from New York City to Midland, Maine and with each transfer she made, she promised herself to fly out next time.

Bella almost missed her 11:00 train from Penn Station to Boston. Her struggle with her bags from the apartment to the taxi as well as from the taxi to the station took too much of her initial travel time. By the time she made her connection in Boston to Portland, her iPod ran out of power and spent the majority of the time in an Amtrak bathroom charging it.

When Bella got to Portland, it was 7:30 p.m. and she was on her final leg of her journey, at two-hour bumpy bus ride to Midland. She had done the same route for the past six years, three times a year, round trip.

After her parents initially separated, her father moved down to New York for a year. He wanted to try to salvage his marriage by giving his wife what she wanted and to be not too far away from Bella. But eventually he realized that what Renee really wanted wasn't to only live in the city, but to start a new life without him. He relented and granted her the divorce, and after Renee got full custody of Bella, the city became too much for the country boy he was and he went back to Midland where he belonged.

To Bella's dismay, the bus was at its capacity and she found herself sandwiched between an overweight and offensively smelling old man and a window at the back of the bus.

Squeezed between them, she kept her head against the window trying to get away from the man's odor by discreet taking sniffs of the nauseating reticulated air conditioned air and the stale sun baked dust on the window frame.

About quarter to eleven at night the bus pulled into the Midland stop and she quickly hurried off to make sure none of her bags went on with out her and looked for her dad. He was standing outside his car parked on the other side of the street.

She flashed him a huge grin and ran up to hug him, leaving her bag where they were.

"Dad!"

"It's been only a week since I saw you, B."

"Yeah, but it's been a long day. Next time you're picking me up in Portland. I don't think I can handle another bus ride."

He chuckled, "Was it that bad?"

"Please, I want to forget about it."

"Come on, let's get your bags." He crossed the vacant street to help. She looked around the main part of town and smiled to herself at the familiarity of it all. Nothing has changed and nothing ever would in Midland—It's too out of the way to be affected by city life. Although she made a good life for herself in New York and her residence was there, Midland was her home.

"Sue is waiting for you. Seth and Leah tried to stay up but they crashed by nine. They'll be very excited to see you tomorrow morning," her dad stated as he loaded the bags into the trunk of his car.

"I can't wait to see them. I really missed them."

"We really missed you," her dad said and gave her a sad smile.

She gave her dad a heartfelt grin and went around to the passenger door and got inside. After a busy day of traveling she felt content, even if she wasn't home yet.

Her dad got into the drivers seat. "Ready to go home?"

"Yes, please."

She loved and respected her dad. He was always there for her and although they saw each other for a total of three months out of the year. She had built and maintained a strong relationship with him. As far as her stepmother, Sue, she had as much respect for her as her father. They always had always a peculiar relationship, but it worked. Sue wasn't a part of Bella's life for that long, but five years of summer visits was enough to get to know each other. They bonded right away and Sue treated her like a motherly friend. Bella had the best of both worlds when it came to her, a mother that she had always longed for and a confidant that she trusted her secrets with.

Bella's father knew the extents of the havoc she had to endure at home with her mother, but only Sue knew the extent the havoc it wreaked on her mind. She was the only person she could vent to as it was a little embarrassing to talk about it with her friends, even though they knew. If her father found out, he would only become angry. He'd turn into a papa bear threatening to go back to court for custody.

Her home was only a five-minute drive from town, in a small cul-de-sac on the other side of town right before farmlands took over the landscape. She relaxed in her seat looking forward to get home and to be fed and showered before turning in.

"So, did you think about what we discussed at your graduation?" her dad asked as he pulled out onto the road.

This was the last discussion she wanted to have with him. It was the only sore subject between them since her father wasn't so keen on the fact of Bella going to art school.

"Yeah… Um… I don't know if I could do a double major. When would I get the chance to actually paint if I did?

"I know you can do it, B. Being an artist… Well, it's very competitive and it's difficult to earn a steady income. At least with a second major you have something to fall back on.

She heard the speech before. The first time was when she decided to apply; the second was when she got accepted, with a partial scholarship; and the third was at her graduation. Tonight she planned on laying it to rest. She didn't want her summer tainted with this over her head.

"But I don't want to do anything else."

"You really think you're going to paint forever?"

"It's my life."

She loved her dad, but he never really understood her passion for painting. He may have supported her throughout her life with her addiction to all things art. He had even taken her Paris for two weeks when she was sixteen to see the Mona Lisa at the Louvre, but he never really supported her for choosing it as a possible career. Either he didn't believe that she had the talent to be an artist or it was so left of center for him that he didn't believe she could earn a decent income. That's why he believed that it was a right move to get a secondary education for a non-practical career as a fall back.

"Bella, I know it your life. I'm just looking out for your best interest. You-"

"I know, I know," Bella sighed out of frustration. That's why I came up with a compromise."

"Well let's hear it then."

"Let me have this school year as an Art Major. If I can handle the more work I'll declare a second major the following year. It wouldn't put me back if I waited an extra year to declare a second one."

"You got yourself a deal," he said with a smile.

"So you won't bring this up again," she asked suspiciously.

"Nope," he chuckled, "Not until this time next year."

"That's good enough."

They pulled up into the driveway and quickly got out. She looked around her street that was dimly light by the streetlamps. Immediately, her eyes fell on her next-door neighbor's drive way and saw a parked car that didn't belong there

"Since when does Mrs. Cullen drive a beat up Range Rover?" she asked when she reached the front porch.

"It belongs to her grandson, Edward Cullen, who's visiting her for the summer. Stay away from him, he's bad news," her father warned.

The front door swung open and a pregnant Sue stepped out onto the porch. "Charlie," she scolded, "He's not bad news. He's a good kid and he helps out a lot with the kids when I need to run errands. Don't mind your dad, B, he's just being an overprotective father."

"I learnt not to take my dad's advice when it comes to the opposite sex a long time ago," Bella teased.

"That's not very nice, Bella," her father stated.

"He's around your age, you know," she hinted when she embraced her.

"He's two years older. Too old for her," her father snapped.

"What about me then? I'm seven years your junior."

Sue laughed when Charlie wasn't able to reply. Bella knew when her dad had been beat.

"He's starting his third year this fall at Columbia, he's an art major just like you, so you might want to talk to him to get some insider information on professors."

"I'll keep that in mind," Bella giggled, completely aware that Sue was trying to set them up.

"You look like you had a long day," she briefly sniffed Bella, "and what's that smell? You smell like rancid grapefruit?" Sue said.

Bella had no choice but to trust her pregnant stepmother's heightened sense of smell. "Fat, stinky, old man sat next to me on the bus, " she replied.

"Go get yourself showered and changed. I got some left over macaroni and cheese from dinner I could reheat for you."

"Yes, thanks, that would be nice."

Bella made her way downstairs to her bedroom. Her father's house was a back split and the lower level was designated as entirely as her own. It had a full bathroom, a large bedroom with a bay window and a living room that had its own entrance.

She was moved down there from her old bedroom during her spring break this year when Sue found out she was pregnant with baby number three. It took the entire spring break with the help of her dad to get her room looking like she wanted to. And she couldn't have had been more pleased with the final result.

She kept the whimsical theme of her old room, but made it more appropriate for her age. White wainscoting lined the lower portion of the wall and the upper portion was wallpapered in a light blue swirly textured paper that she picked out on a shopping trip with Sue in Portland.

Her furniture was made out of heavy white painted oak that she had since she was a little girl. She smiled when she walked in nothing had changed about it and even though she hadn't stepped into her room in more than three months, it still looked lived in.

All she wanted to do was go to sleep in her inviting double bed, but she was hungry and would probably wake up in the middle of the night looking for something to eat. Bella quickly unpacked and before she stepped into the shower she sent out a quick text to her best friend Alice, who Bella had known since preschool, and let her know that she was finally home for the summer.

After a quick hot shower she changed into some pajama shorts and her Columbia shirt that her dad had sent when he found out that she was accepted and went to the kitchen.

When she got there she caught her dad and stepmother in an affectionate embrace with her dad's hand on her ever-growing belly. She smiled to herself, happy that at least here, in Maine, she had a nice, normal, loving family.

"So did you find out if the baby's a boy or a girl yet?" Bella asked making her presence known in the kitchen.

Sue and her dad quickly broke apart before she answered, "Well the ultra sound technician wouldn't confirm anything, but she did say that she couldn't see signs that it was a boy so we could assume that it's a girl."

"Or a very unfortunate boy," her dad quipped earning a playful slap on the arm from Sue.

"We'll find out for sure next week when the doctor has a look at the video."

"It's a girl," Bella stated.

"What makes you so sure?" her dad asked.

"She doesn't look as tired as when she was pregnant with Seth."

Her father studied Sue for a moment and then shrugged. "I don't see any difference, must be a woman thing."

Before long, Sue shooed him off to bed after reminding Bella's dad that he had to get up early tomorrow.

Once he was out of earshot, Sue placed a plate of macaroni and cheese at the kitchen table. "Sit, eat, and talk," Sue stated, "we have a lot to catch up on."

Bella laughed at her stepmother's eagerness and quickly told her about the ordeal she went through with her mother this morning. Sue responded sympathetically and reassured Bella what she already knew; she wouldn't have to deal with her mother's antics anymore.

"So what are your plans for tomorrow?" Sue asked stifling a yawn.

They had been in the kitchen talking for over an hour and now it was well after 1:00 am.

"Sleep," Bella sighed tiredly.

"We'll I won't keep you up any longer then. Go to bed and I'll see you in the morning."

"Thanks, Sue. Good night."

Bella excused herself and went downstairs to bed after one more 'welcome home' from her stepmother. She tucked herself in bed and fell into a blissful sleep in a matter of minutes.

A/N:

Please leave me a review, those who do will get a sneak peak at Edward in the next chapter.

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