Standard Disclaimer – I don't own Twilight or any of the characters from the story. All song selections have been provided by me amazing beta, NoWayWithWords. She is the greatest! She has set up a YouTube Playlist that includes the songs chosen for the chapters. If you would like to check it out, see my profile for the link.

The song for the chapter is "Little One" by Lucy Schwartz. (Yes - Lucy!)

Chapter 25 – What's in a Name?

My dad came out to the house the following morning, so I introduced him to Emmett and Rosalie. They sat around and talked for a few minutes before he started checking the house from top to bottom. He helped me make a list of things that needed to be fixed or checked during construction. He was worried about potential mold and mildew in the walls from the water damage caused by the broken toilets. He told me what kind of product the painters were going to need to put on the walls to keep the spray paint from bleeding through after they finished painting it. He even told me what kind of locks I should use to replace all the old locks after the construction was finished.

After his thorough inspection of the house I took him out back to see the water. The look on his face as he stepped out the back door could only be described as pure joy. He stood on the porch for a solid minute, just taking in the view. Finally, he took a deep breath and said, "You've done well, Bella. I'm proud of you. This house is much bigger and much nicer that I ever thought you'd end up in. You know it's going to be expensive to maintain it."

"I know, Dad."

"You're going to have to work really hard to pay it off."

"I know. I was planning on making extra payments when I had extra money come in. I hope to get it paid off quickly, so I don't have to pay too much in interest charges."

"That's a good idea. You need to set aside money for taxes, too."

"Yes. I already pre-paid the taxes for this year."

"I know I don't have much money, but if you get in a bind and need a hand, you let me know. I'll do whatever I can to help out."

"I hope I never need it, but thanks for offering." I knew I needed to change the subject before things got uncomfortable. "Hey, did you know they have a community boat ramp a few miles down the road? If you get that boat, you can keep it in my garage and take it down to the ramp whenever you want to go fishing. The garage has a bathroom and plenty of space for you to store your gear, if you want to keep stuff here. I was thinking I would give you a garage door opener when I get it installed, that way you and your buddies don't have to worry about whether or not I'm home, or waking me up at some ridiculous time in the morning."

Dad gave me a smile. "That sounds like a great idea. I'll have to measure the garage to make sure the boat will fit. I don't plan on getting a huge boat, but I don't want to take up the entire garage if the thing is so long that it has to go in the garage diagonally."

"I think it should fit. The garage has three doors. From the looks of it, I think it was designed for two cars and a boat."

Dad looked around again and said, "Bella, if you get that little girl, you're going to have to put a fence up to keep her away from the water."

I looked around. "I was planning on taking her for swimming lessons, but you are right. Better to be safe than sorry. I'll make sure to put a fence around the yard with a childproof gate on it."

As he followed me back inside he asked, "So, when will you know if you get to bring her home?"

"I don't know, Dad. I'll have to see what her mother says and then I have to deal with the legal aspect."

"You'll make a good mother, Bella."

"You'll make a good grandfather, Dad."

Dad smiled and gave me a quick hug, which was something that he didn't usually do so it felt a little strange, but I hugged him back and smiled. "So, do you want me to show you which one of the bedrooms I am going to make into a guest room for you to stay in when you come over to babysit?"

We talked and daydreamed for a few more minutes before it was time for Emmett and me to head to the airport. Dad offered to drop us off at the airport on his way home. Emmett got a kick out of riding in the back of my dad's patrol car. I laughed when we pulled up at the airport and he realized he couldn't open the doors from the inside.

Our flight was delayed, so Emmett and I went to the private lounge reserved for first class passengers. While we were waiting, an actor that I recognized, whose name I couldn't recall, came into the lounge. He walked up to the little bar along the wall and ordered a drink before he turned and walked toward where we were sitting.

"Bella Swan?" he asked.

I smiled. "Yes?"

"I thought it was you when I walked in. What are you doing in here?"

"My flight was delayed, so I came in here to wait."

"Mine, too. Where are you headed to?"

"Orlando."

"Seriously? So am I! What are the chances that two celebrities like us would end up on the same flight? They have to be astronomical. How long are you going to be there?"

"Five days. You?" I didn't really care, but I felt obliged to ask.

"I'm only heading down for an extended weekend. I'm heading to the Universal Studios lot to appear on a celebrity edition of some kid's game show. I can't remember the name of it. You wouldn't happen to be doing a game show, too, would you?"

"Sorry. I'm going to visit friends."

He started rattling on about how we should get together for dinner while we are in Orlando, but before he could actually make me commit, they announced that our flight was boarding. I hadn't even realized that it had arrived, so it was a pleasant surprise.

Emmett jumped up and grabbed our things. "Looks like we have to go. See you later," he said as he rushed me out of the lounge, toward the plane. "Who is that guy?" he whispered once we took our seats on the front row.

"I have no idea. I know he's an actor, but I just can't place him."

When the actor boarded the plane, he took his seat near the rear of the first class section on the opposite side of the plane from us. I was glad that he wasn't sitting directly behind us. If he had, I was pretty sure he would have talked to me the entire trip.

Once they gave the all clear to use electronics, I opened up my laptop and started working on the songs I had started. Emmett pulled out a pair of headphones and watched the onboard movie. I didn't even look up from my computer when the flight attendant brought me something to drink. Emmett just took it from the lady and put it on his tray until I was ready for it.

When they brought the flavorless steamed chicken plank and green mystery vegetables for dinner, I finally looked up and quickly decided that I would be sick if I put it in my mouth. Emmett ended up eating my steamed chicken plank and his rubbery lobster. I did eat his practically raw asparagus, but it was only to keep my stomach from growling.

After they cleared away our food trays, I pulled out my laptop and started working again. I pulled up the music writing program that I downloaded off the internet and started playing with the different arrangement of notes for the different instruments. Once I had something that I liked for the lead guitar, I would save it and start working on the bass guitar part. I was right in middle of the drum solo when we had to put everything away for the landing.

I was on a roll, so the interruption irritated me. I didn't want to lose my flow, so I pulled a pen and paper out of my purse and continued jotting down notes. When the paper was full, I pulled out receipts and filled them. I even used the airline comment cards I found. The final drum piece was written in tiny notes on the back of three business cards Emmett had in his wallet.

With all the sheets of paper numbered and shoved in my purse, I grabbed my things and waited for them to open the doors. Emmett led me off the plane and we quickly made it to the rental car place. Thankfully, they had a car waiting for us, so we didn't have to stop and talk to anyone. I was tired and irritated. I needed to get to the apartment and take a nice hot shower.

This time, I told them Emmett was going to be the primary driver. I didn't feel like messing with it. Emmett was glad, because he really didn't feel that comfortable with my driving. He told me that I drove like an old lady.

On our way to the apartment, Clarence called. "Hey, Bella, how was the flight?"

"Long. We are on our way to the apartment now. How have things been going?"

"I would say they are going pretty well. I spoke with Colleen today. She said she'd like to see you again."

That had to be a good sign; at least I hoped it was. "Did she sound like she was considering my offer?"

"She asked me if I thought you'd be a good mother. I think she's concerned that you'd dump Lucia with a nanny and take off. I told her that I didn't think you'd do that, but we hadn't really discussed it. She suggested that I let Lucia stay with you full time while you were in town, and keep an eye on how you were handling things."

"Really? Can you do that? I mean, won't you get in trouble or something?"

"We really aren't supposed to, but the courts rarely ever check on the kids, unless they are getting ready to move them or the parents are getting close to regaining custody. I think it will be ok. Does that sound like something you'd be interested in doing?"

I could hardly contain my excitement. "Yes, absolutely! When can we do it?"

"You can swing by and pick her up on your way to the apartment. I can pack her things up for you. The luggage came today, by the way. The kids had mixed emotions about it. At first, they panicked, thinking they were going to be moved again, but once we reassured them that they weren't going anywhere, they enjoyed picking the color they wanted. They all have them tucked under their beds. They like the fact that they lock. They're using them to store their private things. It's good for them."

"I'm glad they are going to get use out of them. Ok, we're going to swing by the grocery store and pick up some food, drinks, and pull-ups. We'll drop it all off at the apartment and then head your way. Has she had dinner yet?"

"Yes, she has already had her dinner and her bath. She is running around in her pajamas."

I smiled at the image that brought to mind and told Clarence, "Ok, we won't be long."

When we got close to the apartment, we ran into the grocery store to get the necessities and took them to the apartment. We shoved the bags of cold things in the refrigerator and left the rest on the counter to unpack when we got back.

On our way to Clarence's, Emmett asked if I was going to let Lucy sleep with me, or if I was going to put her in her own bed. I told him that she was currently sleeping in her own bed and I didn't want to give her any bad habits, so she was definitely going to be in her own bed.

He told me that he was going to sleep on the couch then. That way she could have her own room and he could make sure she didn't get into anything in the kitchen or go outside if she woke up in the middle of the night and started wandering around. I felt bad for him, but agreed that it was a good idea.

Lucy was running around with her baby when we got to the house. She looked adorable in her Tinkerbell nightgown. When she saw me, she ran over to me and gave me a big hug. "Pa say me stay wif you."

"Yes, you get to come spend a few days with me and Emmett. Do you have your things together?"

She ran over and grabbed a small suitcase and started to drag it across the floor.

"Why don't you let me help you with that, Lulu?" Emmett said as he went over and picked up both Lucy and the suitcase.

She giggled and hugged his neck. "You gonna pway wif me?"

"I sure hope so," he said. "Did you bring anything fun to play with?"

She nodded. "I got colors."

While Emmett professed his love for coloring, Clarence and I went outside so he could load the car seat into the car. He gave me her "going somewhere bag" which was actually a diaper bag containing an extra pair of clothes, wipes, a few pull-ups, and snacks and warned me that she didn't like it when you called it a diaper bag. He told me that he had to stop calling it that when she complained that she was not a baby and didn't wear diapers, so she didn't need a diaper bag. He said that he argued that pull-ups were diapers, but she refused to budge, so he started calling the bag a "going somewhere bag" so she would agree to let him bring it.

Once everything was loaded up, Emmett carried Lucy out to the car and put her in her seat. Clarence kissed her on the head and told her to be good and then told us to call him any time, day or night, if we needed anything. Once I thanked him for the one hundredth time, we were on our way.

Lucy was passed out by the time we got to the apartment, so I carried her inside and put her in her bed. I pulled the door partially closed, so we wouldn't disturb her while we finished putting the groceries away and unpacked our things. Emmett put his clothes in the hall closet and pulled out the extra pillow and blanket out of the closet, while I took a shower.

When I got out, we called to check in with Rose and sat down to watch a movie together before bed. I knew Lucy was going to be up early and would need breakfast, so I climbed in bed and forced myself to get some sleep even though I really wasn't tired at all.

Sometime during the night, I heard Lucy cry, so I got up and went in her room. As I peeked inside, I found find Emmett holding her. As soon as she saw me, she reached out with her arms stretched out. I took her in my arms and told her everything was going to be ok. I told her that this was going to be her room for the next few days and showed her that her baby and toys were already sitting there waiting for her, when she woke up in the morning.

Once she settled down, I sat beside her and read the Dr. Seuss book she had in her bag. I barely made it halfway through the book before she fell asleep again, so I sat the book on the nightstand and carefully tried to get up. Just as soon as she felt the bed move, she started to wake up again. I grabbed the book and started reading again. When she heard my voice, she stopped stirring. I stood beside the bed reading, while Emmett got up. Once he had safely made it out of the room, I closed the book and set it down. Thankfully, this time she didn't wake up.

I trudged back to my room and climbed in bed, only to find that I couldn't get back to sleep. I was too alert, listening for her to wake up again. I was also afraid that I wouldn't hear her if she got up. I realized that the only way I would know that she was up was if she was screaming, so I made a note to go pick up a baby monitor after breakfast. After thinking about it a few minutes, I added a small step stool to the list, so she could have it in the bathroom.

I don't know what time I finally dozed off, but next thing I knew, Emmett was sitting beside me on the bed rubbing my back and telling me that I was going to be ok. As I rubbed my eyes to try to focus on him, I felt the tears on my cheeks. I had been crying in my sleep. I tried to remember what I was dreaming about, but all I felt was a familiar heartache. I couldn't remember anything specific.

I thanked Emmett for waking me up and sent him back to bed, promising that I would be ok. I tried to think of happy thoughts and picture myself doing something fun while I tried to get back to sleep. Unfortunately, my mind kept drifting back to thoughts of Edward Cullen, and I felt my heart clench again.

I pulled out my laptop and started jotting lyrics about being haunted by the living. The lyrics were so personal, that I wasn't sure if I could share it with the world, let alone perform it on stage. It was filled with feelings of hurt, abandonment, and resentment because the love of her life moved on without her.

My stomach was in knots as I wiped at my tears and opened my email. I sent a message to Edward that said, "Vicious memories of happy times leave me shaking with tears of hurt and longing for what once was, but will never be again."

I looked at the clock. It was 2 am. I pulled up the world clock on my laptop and found that Germany was 6 hours ahead. It would be 8 am where he was. If he had a performance last night, he definitely wouldn't be up yet. Part of me hoped that he was checking his emails and would see the message, but the other part of me hoped that the message didn't go through at all, because I didn't want him to know that I missed him and that he haunted me.

I drifted back to sleep and slept soundly for the rest of the night, I think. I was awoken by a little girl jumping on my bed telling me to get up. It was 6:15am. I reluctantly climbed out of bed and stumbled into the kitchen to start breakfast. Emmett was making coffee and looking dead on his feet.

"Morning, Emmett, you look tired," I mumbled.

He nodded his head. "Between the two of you, I didn't get much sleep. I can promise you that when Lulu goes down for her nap, I'm going to be right there with her."

I agreed wholeheartedly. I was still pretty tired myself. I made oatmeal and toast for breakfast. Lucy ate all of hers without any hesitation, Emmett on the other hand, crinkled his nose and pushed it around until I finally told him that he didn't have to eat it if he didn't want to, but if he wanted something else, he was going to have to make it himself.

Emmett and Lucy were watching cartoons when I went to get dressed for the day. I wanted to go see Colleen that day. I knew she didn't want Lucy to see her in prison, so I couldn't bring her with me up there. I didn't want to call on Clarence to watch Lucy, so I told Emmett that he would have to watch her. At first he tried to say no, because I would need the protection, but I was able to convince him to compromise. He and Lucy would stay with me until they took me to the back, and then they would go to the park across the street and wait for me. When I was done, I would call him and they would come get me.

With the decision made, he went to get dressed while I helped Lucy get ready. We were just about to walk out the door, when I thought of something I needed. I ran into my room and emailed some pictures to myself. On our way to the prison, I made Emmett stop at the copy store so I could print them out and take them with me.

Luckily, the same girl at the prison who gave me special treatment before was working again. She eagerly let me wait in the back, away from the crowd, until Colleen was brought to the room for visitation. She was already sitting in the booth when I approached. She had dark circles under her eyes and her skin looked milky white.

I sat down and picked up the phone. "Hi, Colleen, how are you doing? You look tired."

She held the phone to her ear and nodded, "They have me on medication that makes me sick all the time. I was up all night long puking my guts out. I swear they are trying to kill me off faster to save themselves the hassle of having to mess with me."

"I'm sorry to hear that you haven't been feeling well."

"Well, there ain't shit that anyone can do about it now. We all have our struggles. Speaking of struggles, did Clarence let you keep my baby?"

"Yes, thank you. I just got back in town last night, so I've only had her for one night."

"Where is she now?"

"My bodyguard is playing with her in the park across the street. She doesn't know I'm in here visiting you. Oh, I brought something for you." I pulled the envelope out of my bag and sat it on the table. "I don't know if they will let me give them to you or if they will make me mail them, so I thought I would show them to you first. Some of them you won't want to keep anyway."

She leaned forward and looked at the envelope as I pulled out the pictures. I held them up and started to explain what they were. "Shortly after we talked last week, I had to fly back to Seattle to close on a house." I held the picture of the house up to the window. "I bought this house on a little island near Seattle called Mercer Island. It's a really nice community, with great schools and plenty of parks. The house is over 5,000 square feet and sits right on the water."

I help up some pictures of the view from the back porch and a few pictures of the upstairs bedrooms. I didn't show her the pictures of the graffiti and broken toilets. I held up a picture of my dad in his uniform. "This is my dad. He is the police chief in a small town that is only a few hours from Seattle. He and I are really close. I usually go to his house at least once a week to make him dinner and catch up. He really likes fishing, though, so once I get the house fixed up, I expect he will be coming out to my house a lot."

I help up the next picture. "This is my mom and her husband, Phil. They live here in Florida. They're in Jacksonville. She's a kindergarten teacher and he's a baseball player. I'm not as close to them as I should be, but that's probably because they live on the other side of the country. I still talk to my mom on the phone all the time and we send each other emails, but we don't visit each other much."

I held up some more. "These are pictures of my closest friends. This is Jasper and Alice. Jasper is my record producer. He and his wife pride themselves on giving people a second chance in life. The guy standing with them is my friend, Nate. There was a huge misunderstanding that landed him in jail awhile back. They gave him a job when no one else would. They've done it for a lot of people. They help people get back on their feet when they have had a hard time. They are really good people.

"This is a picture of Emmett and Rosalie. Rosalie is my manager. She's a good person with a heart of gold. She is loyal to a fault and will defend her friends and family to the death if she had to. Emmett looks intimidating, but he is the biggest teddy bear I've ever seen. He is a talent scout part time, but primarily he is working as my bodyguard. He loves to play around and tell jokes. In a way, he's kind of like a big bother to me. He's the one who is with Lucia in the park right now."

Colleen looked even closer at the picture. "Isn't she scared?"

"Absolutely not. She loves him. See, here they are playing together." I held up a picture of Lucy and Emmett playing with the baby. "She was making him play mommy to her baby doll. She named the baby Rat for some reason."

Colleen laughed. "Oh my god! I can't believe she remembers that. There was an old lady that used to watch kids for the working girls if they didn't have anyone else to watch them. When the babies would start screaming, she would call them baby brats. She thought the old lady said rat, not brat."

I grinned. "That makes much more sense now."

I held up more of the pictures that I had taken of just Lucy and the picture of Lucy sitting in my lap. "These are the pictures I was going to give you. I took most of them in the park. She likes pretending to drive the toy fire truck. Emmett took this one of me and Lucia together."

Colleen had tears running down her cheeks. "She's getting so big already. I know it may not have seemed like it at times, but I really love that baby girl. I did some pretty stupid things in the past, like letting her father name her, and getting mixed up in drugs, but I still loved her."

"Her father named her Lucia?"

"Yes. He said it was a family name. I didn't care, I just wanted her to hurry up and get born. He had her initials tattooed on his chest after she was born. It was a big LMS right here." She put her hand on her chest. "When he died, I thought about changing her name, but I never got the money and didn't know what to change it to. The only names I liked would change her initials, and I didn't want to do that, in his memory."

"She doesn't like her name either. The courts make Clarence call her Lucia, but if you ask her what her name is, she will say Lu, Lulu, or Lucy. I was thinking if I am able to adopt her, I would like to change her name to Lucy Marie Swan. She would have the same initials."

Colleen nodded her head and said, "That's a good name. She looks like a Lucy. If you can get me those pictures, I would really appreciate it."

"I'll get them to you somehow," I promised. "Now, Clarence said you wanted to talk to me?"

She looked at the clock. "We're almost out of time. I wanted to ask what you would do with her when you have to do concerts and tours and shit. I mean won't you have to travel a lot?"

"I won't be traveling all the time. Most of my time will be spent at home or working in the studio with Jasper. Alice would love to watch her while I was recording. If I had to go on tour, I could take her with me until she starts school. Then I could schedule my concert tour in the summertime when she's not in school."

"Don't you think it would be a pain in the ass to drag a kid around?"

"I'm sure it will be inconvenient at times, but just think of how much of the world she will get to see. I can spread my concerts out so I have time to take her to see the sights as we go. While I'm on stage, my bodyguard can stay with her. She will probably already be asleep, so she shouldn't be that much trouble."

Colleen looked me straight in the eyes and asked, "Do you do drugs, Bella? I know a lot of musicians have drug problems."

"No, I have never touched the stuff and don't intend to. My dad is a police chief; he would kill me if I got mixed up in that stuff. I know a lot of people do it, but I don't need it. I drink a little on occasion, but usually only at a party with friends. I may have the occasional glass of wine with a meal, but I'm definitely not an alcoholic by any means."

"What about men? You are pretty and single. Don't you think having a kid around is going to get in the way of your sex life?"

"If you are asking if I am going to have a bunch of men lined up to climb in my bed like it's a carnival ride, the answer is no. I'm not that kind of woman. I know the lyrics to my songs are very risqué but they are only words. That is who I pretend to be. In real life, I'm kind of boring. I've really only been with three guys in my entire life. The last relationship ended pretty recently and I'm in no hurry to find a replacement. If I do decide to start dating again, it's not going to be with someone who is just looking for a piece of ass. It will be with someone who is serious about building a relationship. I'm not even going to let him get close to Lucy until I'm sure he is worth the time."

Colleen glanced around quickly and lowered her voice. "What if she ends up being some kind of lesbian or likes black guys?"

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. "If that is her preference, then it's fine with me, as long as she is happy. I am going to try to discourage her from being promiscuous, but as she becomes an adult, I know I won't have any say so. As an adult, what she does in the privacy of her bedroom is her own business, as long as it is consensual and doesn't include children or animals."

"What if she gets involved in drugs?"

"I will get her treatment and counseling. I think a lot of kids get into drugs and gangs when their parents aren't involved in their lives. I'm not going to be that kind of parent. I want her to feel like she can be honest with me and she can come to me if she feels like she is being pressured into doing something she shouldn't."

The guard announced that we had one minute, so Colleen quickly asked, "How long are you going to be here?"

"I'm only here for five days, and then I have to go back to fix up the house and work at the studio."

"Ok. I'll think more about it. Don't forget about the pictures. I want to show off my baby."

"I will. I'm going to write my phone number on the back of the picture of me and Lucy. You can call me collect if you need to."

She said thanks and hung up the phone, so I gathered up the pictures and stepped out of the way of the next person in line. I talked to man working at the counter. He told me who I needed to talk to about getting the pictures to her. It practically took an act of congress to finally get someone to put them in with mail delivery. They also gave me the address so I could write to her if I wanted.

When I was finally done, I called Emmett and told him I was coming out, so he scooped up Lucy and met me at the door. Thankfully, we were able to make our way to the car without incident, so I buckled Lucy into her car seat while Emmett started the engine. As we pulled out of the parking area, Emmett and Lucy were discussing where to go for lunch. Lucy wanted to go to a pink place. That meant nothing to either of us. As we drove, we both pondered where we could find a pink restaurant. As we neared the exit that led to Clarence's house, we spotted a Mexican restaurant that had pink stucco on the outside. Emmett took the exit and pulled into the parking lot. He turned around to ask Lucy if that was what she wanted, but she was sound asleep.

"Crap!" he whispered. "She's getting a head start on nap time. If she sleeps now, she won't nap later."

We woke her up and pulled her out of the car. She was whiny and wanted to go back to sleep, but we kept talking to her and made sure she didn't get anymore sleep. Once we ate our food and fed her a cheese enchilada, we hopped back in the car and headed back to the apartment. I made sure she stayed awake while we made the short drive.

When we got in the apartment, she caught her second wind and wanted to color with Emmett. I checked the clock. She still had 30 minutes before her official nap time, so I made her go to the bathroom before she got too involved in coloring.

When it was nap time, she insisted that we all lay in her bed together. I think that was her way of making sure that we didn't do anything fun without her. Emmett and I gladly obliged and climbed into the bed on either side of her. She tucked Rat under the blanket between her and Emmett and made him kiss the doll night-night. I think he was asleep before she was. I forced myself to stay awake until I knew she was asleep before I allowed myself to pass out.

I awoke two hours later in bed alone. Emmett was helping Lucy get her pants back up after she went to the bathroom and making sure she washed her hands. When they came out of the bathroom, I laughed because the front of his shirt was wet. He informed me that there were no hand towels in the bathroom so Lucy used his shirt.

Lucy was entertaining herself by pretending to read the Dr. Seuss book to her baby doll, so Emmett took a few minutes to check in with Rose and I pulled out my laptop to add the drum music I wrote on paper to the program. I got the information typed in and looked up to check on Lucy. She was dancing around the living room to the opening music of some kids show. She was adorable. I made a mental note to buy a video camera if I ever got Colleen to agree to the adoption.

Emmett and I took Lucy to the book store before heading to dinner. I helped her pick out three new books for bedtime and a new coloring book that helped teach kids the alphabet and their numbers. Emmett picked up a book from the sci-fi section, and I got a new yoga DVD from the clearance bin. I had gotten out of the habit of stretching and exercising, so I hoped that the new video would encourage me to get back on the bandwagon. My appetite was going to crap as well. I had blown through all the fruit flavored popcorn in a hurry and moved on to sharp cheddar cheese. It was hard to cook dinner when all I was in the mood for was cheese.

When we got back to the apartment after dinner, Lucy and I colored in her new coloring book while Emmett started his new book. Later that evening, I gave Lucy a bath and got her dressed for bed. I read one of her new bedtime stories to her after I tucked her in bed. Instead of sitting on the bed with her, I had taken a chair into the bedroom to sit on. That way I could get up and leave the room without disturbing her and waking her up. It worked like a charm.

With Lucy asleep, Emmett and I started planning the next day. We wanted to take Lucy to the children's museum. I really think Emmett was just using Lucy as an excuse, because he seemed really eager to see some of the exhibits they listed on their website.

We both turned in early. The nap earlier in the day had helped, but we were still a little worn out. I changed into my pajamas and checked my email before shutting off my laptop and going to bed. Of course, I had no messages. Edward either didn't get my message, didn't understand what I was talking about, or was ignoring me.

I told myself that I didn't really care either way, but even I knew that I was lying. I decided I didn't want to risk waking up to bad dreams of Edward, so I decided to play my iPod until I went to sleep. I purposefully chose songs that reminded me of my dad. Most of the songs were oldies that I remember him singing along with in the car. I focused on the gentle melodies as I drifted off to sleep.

A/N: I promise to add a little bit of Edward's point of view to the next chapter, so we can see what he is up to. In the mean time, things appear to be going well with Lucy.

I know that some of you have mixed emotions about Bella's decision to try to adopt Lucy at this age and so early on in her career. Sorry if this idea offends you, but that is the way that I wrote the story. I have also received several complaints that they are not back together yet. Sorry about that too. It's going to take a while, but I can promise you that when they do get back together, it will be well worth it. If this really annoys you, you have the right to stop reading at any time. I promise that it won't offend me. I write because I enjoy writing. I have never professed to be a great writer. I just tell the story in the way that I thought it up.

I don't usually let complaints or compliments change the intended path that I originally wrote, but I have changed this story a little so that you hear from Edward every now and then. Originally I wrote it without any insight into Edward's thought process. I hope that these little glimpses help keep the story interesting. Don't get me wrong, I love to read the positive reviews and appreciate constructive criticism. I just get annoyed with rude direct messages from people trying to bully me into changing the story just because they don't like where it's going.

OK, enough about that. I am going to try to keep posting weekly, but with Christmas quickly approaching and the chaos of shopping and holiday parties in full swing, it might be difficult. I hope that you all are having a safe holiday season and enjoy your time with friends and family. They are much more important than any of these stories, so make sure you spend time with them before checking in with me.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years.

A Little Distracted