"This is so unfair! This is so unfair!" Renesmee screamed, stomping around the cottage.

"Renesmee," Bella said sternly. "Stop that." Her daughter turned to her slowly.

"I hate you!" Nessie screamed at her mother. "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!"

Bella flinched in shock. Edward frowned and grabbed his daughter by the arm. "Apologise."

"No!" Nessie shouted at her father. "I hate you too!"

In a moment of complete anger, Edward raised his hand so it became level with his head. However, before he could bring it down to hit his daughter, he realised what he was doing. He had raised his hand enough that Nessie could see his intentions, and Edward cringed as she flinched visibly although she had not been struck.

Lowering his hand, he let go of Renesmee. He stumbled back in horror, staring at his wife and daughter with pain in his eyes. "No..." Edward whispered, horror lacing his tone. He looked up at Bella one last time before muttering:

"I'm him."

Bella, having been informed of Edward's unfortunate past by Edward, Alice and even Carlisle, was quick to reassure him. "No, Edward, you're not-"

But it didn't matter; he was already gone. "Momma," Nessie whined, tears in her eyes. "Daddy was going to hit me."

On the brink of dry sobbing, Bella knelt down so she could look her daughter in the eye. "But he didn't," She said firmly. "That is the important thing to remember. He is very upset with himself right now, and we have to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid before it's too late."

Nessie nodded, and then looked up at her mother again. "What did Daddy mean by 'I'm him'."

"I'll let him tell you the details, sweetheart," Bella sighed. "But when Daddy was your age, and when he was much older, his Daddy hit him. Now I'm going to call Grampa Carlisle, and make sure we find Daddy. You know how stupid he can be."

"Will we see Daddy again?"

A small sob escaped Bella's lips as she stared at her crying daughter. Finally she pulled her into a hug and said, "I hope so, sweetheart. I really hope so."

Not ten minutes later Bella was running into the main house with a crying Nessie in her arms. "Is Edward here?" She immediately demanded, relieved to see Carlisle sitting among the family in the cream living room.

"No..." Rosalie answered, taking Renesmee off Bella and drying her eyes. "What's happened?"

"Daddy was going to hit me," Renesmee whimpered, resting her head on her aunt's shoulder. A collective gasp went around the room.

"He hit her?!" Emmett didn't even try to conceal his rage. "After everything he went through as a child, he hit his own daughter?!"

"No," Bella snapped at her brother, who leaned back a small amount. "He was going to. He raised his hand but realised what he was doing before he lowered it to her. He was horrified, and he stepped back from us. He ran, but not before he said 'I'm him'."

"Do you know where he went?" Carlisle asked immediately.

Bella pursed her lips. "He went west, towards the La Push border."

Carlisle, Alice, Emmett and Jasper all shot up from their seats, heading towards the cottage. From there they picked up his scent, and then went west, begging silently that he had not crossed the border. Bella, Rosalie and Esme had all stayed at home with Nessie.

They found him about half an hour later, sitting cross legged - quite literally - on the border line. A black wolf was watching him intently, daring him to edge closer. And as soon as Edward saw his family, he did just that.

The wolf pounced, but before his teeth could get anywhere near Edward's skin, he was being thrown backwards. The wolf got up quickly and found Edward to be once again on the other side of the treaty line in the firm hold of the older blond vampire.

"No," Edward muttered, fighting against his father to get to the treaty line. He didn't want death, per se, just to be hurt in some way. Maybe then he could atone for his sins. "Let me go! Let me go!"

"No, son," Carlisle almost growled, hissing as Edward manged to escape his hold. He didn't get far, however, as Emmett darted forward at the last second, pulling his younger brother away from the wolf watching them by his ankle.

Edward was frantic as he tried to get away from them. The problem was, he wasn't seeing his father and siblings, he was seeing his father. Everywhere. "Son!" Carlisle said, more firmly this time. Only now did Edward see Carlisle as himself.

"He was right," He sobbed, clinging to Carlisle as he pulled him into an embrace. "I'm a disgrace and a disappointment. I'm nothing but a stupid mistake born of rape. I grew up to be just like him. He was right. He was right."

As he sobbed, the other Cullens looked at each other in shock. It seemed that Edward had not only gone under heavy physical abuse, but emotional and verbal abuse as well. "Edward," Carlisle muttered, holding his son to him. "He was not right. You are not him."

"I am-" Edward began, but Carlisle cut him off.

"Did you hit Renesmee?"

"No, but-"

"Will you ever hit her or hurt her on purpose?"

"No, but-"

"Do you feel remorse that you almost hit her?"

"Of course, but-"

"Exactly Edward," Carlisle breathed. "You are not him. If you were him, you would have hit her. And then you would have hit her again. And again. And again. And you would feel no remorse. The fact that you are prepared to hurt yourself, or worse, get yourself killed over the fact you almost hit her, speaks volumes about the differences between you and your father."

Seeing that his son had lost almost all his energy, Carlisle gently lifted Edward into his arms. The other children flinched - Emmett the most violently - as they remembered the last time Carlisle had done that. They hoped the outcome wasn't the same this time - Nessie needed her father.

The girls gasped as Carlisle entered the house. "Daddy!" Nessie cried as she ran up to her father, still being held be Carlisle.

"Sshh, sweetheart," Carlisle murmured. "Daddy can't talk right now."

When Carlisle reached Edward's room, he lowered his onto his couch. He knew Edward wouldn't appreciate being placed on the one piece of furniture in the house that was most saturated with his daughter's scent. "Please don't be silent again," Carlisle whispered as he gently stroked his son's hair. "Renesmee needs her father. Bella needs her husband. Esme and I need our son. The others need their brother."

An hour later Carlisle wondered back down the stairs. When he reached the bottom he stared back up the wooden steps. "It's a different staircase," Esme said, coming to stand behind her husband.

"And an entirely different situation," Carlisle agreed, turning to gently kiss his wife. "But I'm afraid the outcome will be the same."

"So am I," Esme whispered, and the rest of the children followed their gaze up the stairs, where Edward's erratic breathing could be heard. Poor Renesmee has cried herself to sleep after her father didn't speak to her.

Later in the night, as all the grown ups were engaged in deep conversation about the days events, Renesmee woke. Without even her mother noticing, she slowly slipped up the stairs and into her father's room. "Daddy?" She whispered, walking over to him with a grace no normal one year old could ever possess. Slowly she pulled his arm until he complied and stood. When he did she tugged him over to the bed in the middle of the room.

Even through the haze of his desolation and confusion as to why his daughter would ever want to be around him again, Edward's paternal instincts forced him to recognise that his daughter wanted him to lie down on the bed, and that because of the bed's height, his daughter would need lifting to lie on it too.

When Renesmee was happily sitting on the bed next to her father - who was staring off into space like he was suffering a great pain - she gently reached out and hugged him. He stiffened, but she didn't let go. Settling to lie on his chest, Renesmee began to fall asleep. "You didn't hit me, Daddy," She whispered. "You're not him. You're the best Daddy in the world. He wasn't a good Daddy."

Then she fell asleep, but Edward did hear the mumbled "I'm glad I never got to know him." Before she did.

"Where's Nessie?" Jacob demanded as he strode into the house, ignoring the smell as best he could. He glanced around the room, noticing the other person missing. "Don't tell me she's with that monster."

The family had only just noticed that she was missing as Jacob said it. They looked around the room frantically for a minute before listening out and hearing her steady heartbeat coming from Edward's room. Her breathing was in the pattern of sleep, and the were relieved to hear that Edward's breathing was calm at last.

Then they all registered what Jacob had said. Rage filled all of them at the mutt's description of their family, even Carlisle and Esme. It was Carlisle who realised that Jacob must have found out from Sam, who stuck around long enough to catch on to what Edward was so upset about.

Before anyone else could react, Bella reared up and punched Jacob square in the jaw.

As she was still a newborn, and she hadn't held back much, they all heard his jaw shatter. Before he could fall Bella seized the front of his shirt and brought his face level with hers, ignoring the blood dribbling from his mouth. "Listen here, mutt," She growled, and the other Cullens watched in awe as she continued. "I have tolerated the fact you imprinted on my daughter after lusting after me for almost two years. I have tolerated the most irritating nickname of all time. But I will not tolerate you talking about my mate in any negative way. You may be her imprint, or stalker or whatever you are, but he is her father. He would never hurt her."

Just as she said this, Nessie's crying sounded from upstairs. Throwing the dog to the ground, Bella ran up the stairs with Carlisle hot on her heels as they heard Renesmee whimper, "No, Daddy don't hurt me. Please don't hurt me!"

Jacob made a move to get up, but Emmett pulled him back down. "Oh no you don't."

When they entered Edward's room, it was a sight to behold. Renesmee was lying on top of the quilt, twisting and turning as she was unable to escape from her nightmare. Edward was across the room, rocking back and forth as he whimpered in pain. Bella went to her daughter as Carlisle went to his son.

Bella managed to wake Nessie with little fuss. When she woke she twisted out of her mother's arms and ran across the room to her father's, practically pushing Carlisle out the way. "I was dreaming I was you," Nessie whispered. "Your Daddy was hurting me. You're not him. You'll never be him." Edward stared at his daughter in shock as she spoke again. "Don't go quiet like Uncle Jasper said you did last time. I need you."

Taking a deep breath, Edward pulled his daughter closer before whispering in a reverent tone, "Thank you."