EPOV

After that first night, I wasn't allowed to sleep at the hospital, which made for a terribly lonely four days. I finished up my final paper for my first summer session and handed it in, happy to have the week off before I started again. With the whole Jake incident, Bella wanted to get out of her building and find something we could actually grow in, but without the funds, she agreed to stay with my parents until she was healed a little better.

The day I drove to the hospital to spring my girls had to be the happiest of my life. Billie was looking around, those emerald green eyes dancing all over the place as we carried her car seat to the car. My father had insisted on wheeling Bella out, which caused a slight grumble, but the large, angry scar across her stomach was what won out.

I helped her into the house and up to the guest room next to the nursery while my mom fussed with her grandbaby. Renee was flying in at the end of the week, having moved up her flight now that her 'angel' had arrived early.

With Bella settled into bed, I went to get her something to eat, knowing the hospital food had driven her crazy. I came up with a sandwich and some tea and climbed onto the bed with her and sat with her while she ate. When she had finished, the squeal from the next room alerted us that it was Billie's turn to eat as she was carried in by my mom. Bella sat up with my help and undid her shirt and the flap on her bra and took Billie from my mom. Taking after her father, our daughter went straight for her mother's breast and started nursing while Bella sat there as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

I knew it was an instinctual thing for a woman, but I was terrified of holding her without hurting or dropping her, so seeing how natural it came for Bella made me feel like there was something wrong with me. My daughter owned my heart from the first time I saw her, but I'd only held her a few times, and never for more than a few minutes as the nurses kept whisking her off for tests or what have you.

As if Bella could read my mind she smiled as she rested Billie on her right shoulder so she could cover up and then burped her before turning to me. "Would you take her for a minute, I have to go to the bathroom?" I was about to stammer a response when Bella smiled at me. "You're sitting up in bed; you aren't going to drop her."

I nodded and she shifted, resting our daughter in my arms and brushing her thumb across her forehead. "She's so tiny."

Bella giggled and leaned in to kiss my cheek. "Enjoy it while it lasts, she's going to grow fast."

I watched as Bella slipped off the bed and went out into the hall. "Well, Wilhelmina, you and mommy seem to enjoy scaring me to death, but let's put a hold on that for now, huh? I love you little one, I have since the first time I saw you on that tiny screen and now it only seems to grow with every minute. I didn't know I could love someone this much until I met your mom, but then again, she's taught me a lot and given me even more. She's given me everything. And you're the most important gift she's given me. I couldn't picture myself as a dad a year ago, but now I can't imagine not being your father. And don't listen when your Uncle Emmett tells you that daddy is whipped, because he's just jealous, because I have the best little girl in the world."

I heard the door creak and looked up to see Bella leaning against the closed door. "That little girl has you by the heart. And I couldn't be happier to see it." Bella crossed the room and sat down next to me, resting her head on my chest as she looked across at our daughter. "I was right about one thing, I always saw our child as being a perfect copy of you. I may have gotten the sex wrong, but not that she's 100% her father."

We continued to lay there for a little while until Billie fell asleep. I got up and carefully carried her to the bassinette my mom had put in our room and then returned to bed with my girlfriend.

Renee arrived at the end of the week and descended on my parents' house like a hawk, soaking in all she could from her granddaughter while she was here. Although with the visit, came the opinions. My mom and Bella had both been washing the baby's clothes in some detergent called Dreft, but Renee insisted that it caused a sensitivity to other detergents for some babies later in life. Then there was how best to sterilize bottles and how to wrap the blanket around the baby and whether to clip or file her nails. She wasn't even old enough to worry about her nails and it was coming up just because Renee saw them.

Bella was trying her best to play mediator, but it was wearing her out, which was in turn pissing me off and I couldn't take it anymore. After five days of the polite, but tense 'discussion' I finally put my foot down after Bella went to lay down with a headache.

"Look, I really appreciate everything you two are doing for us, but this has to stop. Bella is recovering from an emergency c-section and the bickering about how to do every little thing isn't helping. I know you want to help, but all the opinions are overwhelming her. We know you both have a lot of firsthand knowledge about this and we'll ask if we need it, but I need you to cool it, at least until she's healed up."

The silence in the room made me want to cup my nuts and run as Rose and Alice had trained me to do with all the heartfelt threats to my manhood in the beginning of our relationship, but after an awkward moment Renee just smiled. "I knew I was right to like you. That took guts to stand up to your mother-in-law as well as your own mom. What do you say Esme, think we can temper the advice until they ask?"

My mom laughed and patted my shoulder. "Of course, I'm sorry, I hadn't thought about how overwhelming this much be for Bella. Renee, when Bella wakes up later, why don't we take her out to lunch and let her relax a little."

"That's a perfect idea, Edward, you wouldn't mind some alone time with Billie…right?" Renee was beaming so I just nodded and swallowed my fear.

"Sure."

90 minutes later, Bella was sitting me down in the nursery with everything I needed, including a bottle of breast milk. Alone in the house, I thoroughly panicked, but in reality, she may just sleep through the whole ordeal.

When she did wake up, I fed her the milk, secretly wondering what it tasted like, because the faces she made sold me on it, before trying to burp her. I heard her let out a little one and sighed, content to rock her to sleep. That however wasn't happening. She soon started crying, so I changed her diaper, but that didn't stop it. I tried getting her down for a nap or playing with her but nothing seemed to work. I didn't want to bug Bella, but the sound of my daughter's cry tore me up, so I called Rose.

"Hey shitlin, you resurfaced! How's my little Willie doing?" Emmett asked and I tried to hold in the laughter.

"I don't know, but if you put Rose on I'll be sure to ask her after she tells me what I actually called her for." His boisterous laughter ended when he realized what he had said and I heard Alice's trilling laugh in the background before Rosalie took the phone.

"Hey Edward, what's up?"

"I fed the baby and she burped a little, but she won't stop crying. I've changed her and tried to put her down. She doesn't have a fever and she won't play either. Bella went out with the granny's so I'm all alone and I don't want her to think she can't leave me alone with her, but this is the first time she's really left the house so I haven't had the practice."

"Slow down, Edward. Go over to the changing table, into the little drawer with all the medication and stuff and grab the mylicon drops. Fill the dropper to the first line from the bottom and give it to her. She may have some gas that's not coming up. I've seen you burp her and you're a little gentle, so that may be it."

I found the box and nodded to myself. "Thanks Rose."

"No problem, call me if you need anything else."

The line went dead and I sat Billie down on the changing table and got the medicine ready and then gave it to her. I went back to the rocker and after a little bit she calmed down and fell asleep again. I was grateful to Rose for all her help, but not dumb enough to think this wouldn't get back to Bella.

I finally relaxed as Billie slept on my chest and didn't even hear Bella come in. "I love watching you with her."

I smiled and kissed her as she leaned in to put the baby down. When she finished, she walked over and sat in my lap. "My dad wanted to know if we could go visit him next weekend."

"Sounds fine, let me just check which day I'm off and we'll head up."

BPOV

Driving to my dad's was an interesting experience. I sat in the back to keep 'B' calm and smiled as Edward's eyes found mine in the rearview mirror several times. I didn't think I would find a family that soon after Jake, but now I couldn't think of my life without them. The three hour drive went by pretty quickly, but I wasn't anticipating what happened when we pulled up to my dad's.

My dad was standing on the porch with his shotgun out as Edward stopped the car. "Stay inside."

"Edward." I started to protest but he cut me off.

"Bella, don't get out of the car. This ends today."

I gripped his hand and he ran his thumb along the top of mine before he opened the door and walked towards where Jake stood on my dad's lawn.

"Charlie, I have this." I watched nervously as Edward walked right up to Jake. "I thought you were told to stay away from us."

"I was. I came here because I didn't think you'd be here, I just wanted to apologize for what happened the last time I saw Bells and make sure her and the baby were okay."

Edward's posture went rigid and I got scared he was going to get hurt fighting Jacob. "My family is fine, now I want you to leave all of us alone. The fact that Charlie had his shotgun out only proves that this isn't somewhere you're welcome. Stop coming around here, stop going to places Bella hangs out and never show up at our apartment again. She isn't yours anymore."

I shrunk back, waiting for the fight to start when the baby started crying. I picked her up and started rocking her, trying to calm her and myself. I saw Edward turn back and then he made one more comment and Jake started to back up and Edward came to get us out of the car. I stepped out and he put his hands on my shoulders. "Baby, are you okay?"

"I was just scared that he'd hurt you. I don't want to see anything happen to you."

Edward brushed his hand across my cheek to wipe away a lone tear and then kissed my forehead. "Baby, nothing is going to happen so just breathe. He's not going to be a problem anymore. He said that he won't be bothering us and for once I believe him. Please, let's go inside and have fun with your dad."

"Okay."

EPOV

I hated seeing Bella so upset by my confrontation with Jake and hearing my daughter cry back in the car calmed me down even more. I had to be responsible for them, so I told Jake that if he had ever cared about Bella he'd stay away and he seemed to understand.

The visit with Charlie was nice, I loved watching him with Billie, he was such a different person with her in the room and a quick chat about what happened on the lawn proved just how far we'd come. Soon Bella would be returning to work and I'd be back on the full-time school schedule, which would be our true test, but I'm sure we could manage it together.