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 this chapter is "Major Minus" by Coldplay

Chapter 26 – Living in the Fisheye Lens

When I woke up bright and early the next morning, I found Lucy standing next to the bed staring at me with a suspicious grin on her face.

"Good morning, Lucy. What are you doing getting up so early?"

She held her finger to her lips to indicate that I should be quiet. She tiptoed to my bedroom door, peeked around the corner into the living room, and giggled. I got out of bed and walked over to see what she was looking at.

There, lying on his back with his feet hanging off the end of the couch, was a sleeping Emmett. Lucy had apparently gotten into my laptop case and found the pink highlighter that I had in there. She had drawn scribbled designs on the tops of his feet, the back of his hands and halfway up his forearms. She had even scribbled a shape that somewhat resembled a heart on his cheek.

I turned to Lucy and told her that it was not funny. I told her that she shouldn't draw on people in their sleep and she shouldn't go into other people's stuff and take things that don't belong to her. She pretended that she was sorry, but I could see the glint in her eye and knew that she knew that I was secretly cracking up inside. After a quiet scolding, I took my camera and quietly slipped into the living room to take a few pictures to send to Rose. She would get a kick out of them for sure.

Once I put the camera away, I told Lucy that she needed to wake Emmett up and apologize. She ran and dove onto his sleeping form, crushing a testicle when she landed. Emmett made a strange gurgling moan as he rolled to his side and grasped the part of his body that was now in pain. When he rolled, Lucy fell off of him and started to cry when she landed on the floor. I picked her up and settled her down while Emmett tried to catch his breath.

He sat up and pouted. "Why did you attack me, Lulu? What did I do to deserve that?"

Lucy climbed out of my arms and went to hug Emmett. "I sowwy."

Emmett hugged her back and said, "It's ok, Lulu. Just warn me next time, ok?"

I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. "Before you accept her apology, you may want to be sure you know what she's apologizing for. Take a look at yourself, Emmett."

He glanced down at his arms and hands and his mouth dropped open. "Lu?"

She smiled at him sweetly. "Lu make Em pwetty. Em look like Rat."

She pointed at the baby doll, who was bearing the same pink marks on her feet, hands, arms and cheek. Emmett looked at the doll and reached up to his cheek. "Did she get my face, Bella?"

I couldn't stop the laughter as I nodded. "She sure did. It looks like you were sleeping pretty hard. It's just a highlighter, so it should come off fairly easy."

"I hope so," he mumbled as he headed to the bathroom to wash up.

Emmett cleaned up easily. Rat was another story. Her plastic skin seemed to absorb the color like it was a permanent marker. I had just about decided we were going to have to get her a new doll when Clarence called to check on us. I told him what happened that morning. He laughed and said, "I guess this is your first lesson on the importance of childproofing. Try a little bleach on the doll. It usually works miracles."

"Thanks, I'll give it a try. Hey, we are planning on going to the children's museum and then grab something followed by lunch. Would you like to join us?"

"That sounds like fun. What time are you heading out?"

"Well, we just got up, so why don't you give us a few minutes to get dressed and have breakfast. Would you like to come over here and then we can ride together?"

"Sure. I'll be there in about an hour."

Clarence arrived while I was trying to convince Lucy to put some clothes on. She wanted to wear her yellow shorts, but she was determined not to wear any of the shirts or dresses that she had in her drawer. "Lucy, it's against the rules to go topless to the museum. They have rules that say that you have to wear a shirt."

She stomped her foot and said, "I no wanna!"

Emmett let Clarence in and told him about the argument we were having. Clarence laughed and took a seat on the couch to wait it out. Finally I decided that I was going to have to be smarter than the three year old. I said, "Ok, fine you can go in only your shorts, but I'm taking a shirt with us just in case you need it."

She gave me a sassy look that let me know that she was pleased that she was able to win the battle and strutted out of her room to go see Clarence.

Clarence patted her head. "Hey there little one. Why don't you put some clothes on so we can go?"

She shook her head and proclaimed, "Lu no wear sirt."

I tossed a shirt into her bag and said, "Come on, let's go to the museum."

Clarence gave me a strange look, but didn't say anything. I picked up a throw blanket from the couch and completely wrapped Lucy up in it. She started flailing about and complaining that she couldn't see. "Sorry, Lucy, we can't have the neighbors seeing you running around naked. If you won't wear a shirt, we have to cover you up to get you to the car."

When we climbed in the car, I sat in the back, beside Lucy, while Emmett and Clarence sat in the front. Before we got going, I reached forward and set the air conditioning on high and adjusted the temperature as cold as it would get. I also turned all the vents so they were blowing in Lucy's direction. Clarence realized what I was doing and gave me a nod.

Lucy was shivering by the time we reached the museum. I pretended that I was talking to Emmett when I casually mentioned, "Hey Emmett, did you know that they keep it cold in the museum so the paintings won't get messed up?"

Emmett said, "Really? How cold?"

"Much colder than this."

Lucy looked at me with big eyes. I gave her an innocent smile and turned to look out the window. When we pulled up into the parking lot, I said, "Ok, Lucy, we're here. Are you sure you don't want to wear a shirt? I brought one that will look really cute with your yellow shorts. It will help keep you warm, too."

I held up the light green shirt with the yellow Tweety Bird on it. She grabbed it out of my hand and started trying to put it on herself. I had to help her find the arm holes, and get it on the right way, but she definitely didn't argue about it. As we piled out of the car and headed into the museum, Clarence complemented me on getting her to decide that she wanted to wear the shirt.

We all had a great time at the museum. Emmett, Clarence, and I each took turns letting Lucy drag us around to different exhibits. She loved the giant bubble machine that made a bubble around you while you stood in the middle. She also got a kick out of stomping on the keys of a piano inlaid into the floor and hearing the music. I had fun with that too. I even helped a kid play chopsticks. It was just like a scene from an old Tom Hanks movie.

We left the museum a little later than we originally intended, so that put us at the Chinese food restaurant in the middle of the lunch crowd. Emmett requested a secluded table to keep people from staring at me so much, but the way the place was set up, there really wasn't anywhere that was secluded so we ended up right in the middle of everyone.

At first, no one seemed to notice me, but then heads started to turn and people started to whisper. The little old man that was waiting on us came over and said that people were asking if I would be willing to sign autographs. I told him that I would be glad to after I finished my dinner, but I would appreciate it if people could be patient until we were all done. He thanked me and scurried off to inform the waiting fans.

Lucy made a bit of a mess while she was eating, so I had to take her to the bathroom to clean her up. While we were in there, I made her use the potty. While she was sitting on the toilet, she looked up at me with sad eyes and said, "I good girl. No wanna go wif Pa. I wear a sirt."

I squatted down so I could look her straight in the eyes and said, "Don't worry, Lucy. You don't have to go home with Pa today. You can stay with me for a few more days. After that, you will have to go back to Pa's house for a little while, but if everything goes well, you might get to come to my house and live with me for a long, long time. Would you like that?"

She nodded her head and said, "Lu wanna go to you house wif Em-a-em."

"Emmett doesn't live with me, Lucy. It would be just you and me. We could visit Emmett and his wife, Rosalie, whenever you wanted. I also have some other friends that you can play with. You'd love playing with Alice. She's fun, like Emmett."

She finished and I helped her wash her hands. On our way back to the table, she said, "Tell Pa Lu a good girl, ok?"

"Ok. I'll tell him," I promised.

As we sat down at the table, Lucy looked at me expectantly, so I said, "Clarence, you know Lucy has been a really good girl. She is sleeping in her own room and eating her vegetables without fighting. She even takes her bath and helps me read her bedtime stories."

Lucy gave me a satisfied smile and nodded her head, "I a good girl, Pa."

"It sure sounds like it, pumpkin. Are you having fun staying with Ms. Bella and Mr. Emmett?" She nodded her head in an exaggerated fashion. "Do you want to stay with them for a few more days?" She nodded again. "Ok, but you can only stay a couple more days and then you have to come home to my house so Ms. Bella and Mr. Emmett can go home and get back to work."

She turned and looked at me, "Pwetty work like What?"

Clarence answered, "Yes, Lucia, Ms. Bella works, just like Ms. Millie."

As she was contemplating this new revelation, the waiter appeared again and asked if it would be okay for people to come see me. I nodded my head and pulled the permanent marker out of my purse. Emmett stood up, so he could watch people as they approached. Clarence looked confused at first, and a then he started looking a little intimidated as people started to gather around. Emmett made them get in line, so they weren't crowding the other patrons. I smiled and greeted each person and signed everything people had handy. Most of the people had scraps of paper, their lunch receipts, and napkins. Some had me sign books, address books, and the cases to their iPods and MP3 players.

While I was autographing things and smiling for pictures, Clarence and Lucy watched quietly. One of the last ladies to request my signature smiled at Lucy and said, "What is your name, pretty girl?"

Lucy smiled and said, "Lucy."

The lady said, "Well you sure are pretty, just like your mommy. Are you having fun?"

Lucy said, "Yes."

"You have been a really good girl waiting patiently while your mommy signs autographs for everyone. Are you always this good?"

Lucy shook her head and said, "No. Me make Em-a-em pwetty."

The lady and Clarence both looked at me for clarification. I couldn't help it, I had to pull the camera out of my purse and show them the pictures. The lady laughed and commented on how I was lucky it wasn't the walls, while Clarence made fun of Emmett for sleeping so soundly. Emmett hadn't seen the pictures yet. He wasn't exactly thrilled to know that I had taken them, let alone sent them to his wife.

"Bella, do you know how much shit she's going to give me about this?"

Lucy spun around and gave him a fierce look. "Em! No bad word!"

Emmett looked sheepish. "Sorry, Lulu."

She reached over and climbed into his lap and stroked his cheek while she cooed something that we couldn't understand, but it still sounded reassuring. It was adorable.

We left not long afterwards. As we piled into the car to head back to the apartment, Clarence asked if I was always approached in public like that. I shook my head, "Not always, but it's happening more and more. That's why I will have to have a body guard with me when I know I'm going be in crowded areas. It doesn't happen at all in Forks, because it's my hometown. People there don't think of me as a star, there I'm just Chief Swan's daughter."

"Will safety be an issue when you move out of your father's house?"

"It shouldn't be. I am moving into an area that is familiar with celebrities. Some very well-known people have summer homes there. I am having a top notch security system installed in the house, and the neighborhood is patrolled regularly. I don't think it will be a problem. I plan on getting to know my neighbors once I get moved in. That way they'll know if something is out of the ordinary."

"Are there other kids in the neighborhood for Lucia to play with?" Clarence asked.

"I don't know yet. I haven't had a chance to check into that yet. I know that the elementary school is only a few blocks away. Across the street from it is a nice little park with playground equipment and park benches. I spotted it when I went to look at the house. I would assume there were other kids in the area."

Hearing about the park got Lucy all excited. She wanted to go to her park and play. Since we had a little time before she needed to nap, we stopped for a few minutes so she could drag Emmett around the playground while Clarence and I sat at the picnic table in the shade.

"She seems happy with you, Bella. How are you holding up? Have you gotten frustrated yet?" Clarence asked.

"No. I haven't really gotten all that frustrated yet. Sure the marker thing was a bit of a surprise, but I think I handled it well. I fussed at her for it and made her apologize to Emmett. I also had to learn not to sit on the bed with her when I'm reading her a bedtime story or she wakes up when I move."

Clarence laughed, "Sorry. I forgot to mention that. Since she was sharing a room, Millie and I usually sat on a chair between the beds to read the stories. That way neither of them felt left out."

"That makes sense," I said. "It's these little things that I will have to learn. I find myself looking forward to it."

Clarence I and talked and watched Lucy play. I told him about my plans to change her name if I was able to adopt her. He told me that he thought it was a good idea since she really didn't like her name already and she was only three. We talked about the other kids he had at his house. The only one that was up for adoption was Jamal. He had been in foster care for the last four years because his mom was a junkie. She couldn't stay clean long enough to get custody back and finally gave up her rights to him a year ago. Clarence and said that he and Millie were actively looking for a home for him, but not having any luck. He said that Jamal had been in the system so long that he didn't really want to get adopted. He was used to moving from place to place and depending on himself. Whenever he met new people, he usually gave them the cold shoulder.

I suggested that maybe he just didn't want to leave their house. He seemed happy there. New places and new people were scary. Maybe he wanted to stay with them. Clarence admitted that he hadn't thought about that.

He told me that he was worried about the twins. Their mother was nowhere to be found and their dad was in jail. They would be turning 18 in the beginning of the next school year, and therefore no longer "in the system" but their dad wouldn't be out of jail for another two years. He worried that they were not mature enough to be on their own and still finish high school. They surely didn't have enough money for college, so he wasn't sure what was going to happen to them. He said that if they were still living with them when they turned 18, he wasn't going to kick them out. He would let them stay and finish school, but he wasn't sure what was going to happen to them after that. It made me start thinking about kids that were in this situation. I wondered if there were scholarships for kids with difficult circumstances like that.

Before I could forget about it, I sent a text message to Rosalie asking her if she could look into it for me. If there was some way that I could help these boys get a scholarship, I was going to do it.

We left the park and got Lucy back to the apartment in time for her nap. She didn't even argue about it. She walked in the door and marched right into her room. I peeked in a few minutes later and found her asleep with one shoe on and one shoe off.

Clarence had to go back home so he could get everything together for when the kids got home. He was going to change up the chore chart and make snacks. He said goodbye and promised that he would come back in a couple of days to take her back to his house.

Just thinking about that brought tears to my eyes. I had to busy myself cleaning up the place to keep myself from crying. Emmett downloaded the pictures from my camera onto my laptop before stretching out on the couch for a nap. He only laid there for a few minutes before he got up and searched out all of the pens, pencils, and makers in the entire place and put them on top of the refrigerator. Only then did he feel comfortable sleeping.

I tried to stretch out and nap, but didn't have any luck. My mind was stuck in overdrive. I was thinking about the things I needed to do to get moved into the house. I was worried about how much the reconstruction was going to cost me and whether or not I was going to have enough money for that. I was worried about how much it was going to cost to hire an attorney to handle the adoption, if Colleen agreed to it. I was also worried about how the press was going to treat the adoption. Surely they would find out and report it. My other concern was what Edward would think about it when he found out. Would he even care? Would it convince him to just turn away and keep walking?

Even though I tried to fight it, my thoughts ultimately ended up in the same loop of despair and confusion over what went wrong between me and Edward. I just couldn't see anything that stood out as being wrong. Everything seemed so perfect. If it was so wrong, how could I ever trust my feelings about someone again?

I went and grabbed my laptop to write some lyrics about insecurities and self doubt. The words were harsh and seemed to pull at my soul. All of the hurt and confusion that was bottled up in me came out in every word. While I was feeling it, I started drafting the music. I wanted it to be dark. Instead of flashy guitar solos and hard drum beats, I started the song with a haunting piano piece and had the other instruments lead in slowly, adding to the misery and pain of the lyrics in a beautiful way.

I wrote the entire song. Every word was perfect. Every note for every instrument was down exactly as I wanted. I loaded all of the parts into the music writing program and set them for the different instruments. When I compiled them and played them back as one piece, I was shaking with emotions. I played the music again as I sung the words and knew that this was going to be something that I would insist on recording as is. I had to share this with the world. It was quite therapeutic.

I came out of my room to grab my cell phone to call Jasper, and found Emmett and Lucy playing with her baby doll, Rat, and watching cartoons. I glanced at the clock. I had apparently been locked in my room writing for four hours.

Lucy looked up at me and smiled. "Rat watch pun bob."

Emmett glanced up and said, "Bella, you really need to watch this. This SpongeBob guy is hilarious! The writers of this cartoon must be on some serious D-R-U-G-S." He spelled it out in the whisper. "They have a yellow sponge living in a pineapple at the bottom of the ocean with a pet snail. If that's not weird enough, the guy wears little clothes and a tie."

I sat down and watched the rest of the episode with them before my phone rang. It was Clarence. "Bella, I hate to do this, but I have to come get Lucia. Colleen's lawyer is coming by to see her this evening. Apparently Colleen had some paperwork drawn up and gave it to her to file. I don't know what it says; I just know that the lawyer saw a picture of you holding Lucia taken at lunch time and wants to make sure she is still with me."

"Will she be able to come back when the lawyer leaves?"

"I don't know if that will be a good idea. If she is watching us closely it could cause a problem. Not to mention, if you take her out in public and pictures show up on the internet, the court system could end up involved and that wouldn't be good for the adoption."

"How am I going to tell her? She's going to be upset."

"Why don't you wait until I'm there and let me take care of it. She is going to be upset, but there's nothing we can do about it. Hopefully she calms down before the lawyer gets here or maybe, if we're lucky, she'll cry herself to sleep and the lawyer won't try to talk to her. I'm on my way now. I should be there in a few minutes."

"Ok, I'll get her things together," I said as I hung up the phone.

Emmett looked up at me with concern and asked, "What's wrong, Bells?"

I spelled out, "S-H-E H-A-S T-O G-O H-O-M-E."

He thought about it for a minute and said, "Why?"

"L-A-W-Y-E-R."

He nodded his head and kept her distracted while I went into her room and got her things together. I wasn't sure if she would be able to come back again, so I packed everything, including the spare pull-ups and all of her books and toys.

Clarence got there a few minutes later. When he came through the door, Lucy got up and ran over to him, "PA!" It was like she hadn't seen him in ages. She pulled him over to the TV and started rambling about the cartoon that was playing. He listened and commented at the right moments.

When she finally ran out of steam, he said, "Lucia, it's time to go home for dinner. Ms. Millie is cooking gumbo. You know how much you love gumbo."

Lucy got up and ran in circles squealing, "Gumbo!" She made herself dizzy and fell to the ground as we laughed. Apparently she really liked gumbo. While she was running around like a crazy person, Emmett discreetly slipped out and put her luggage in Clarence's car. The only thing left was to grab Rat and load Lucy in the car.

"Come on Lucia. Ms. Millie is probably wondering what's taking us so long. If we don't get back quickly, the others are going to eat it all up and there won't be any left for us."

Lucy ran for the door. "'Mon, Em. 'Mon, Pwetty." She was trying to tell us to come on.

"They can't come, Lucia. They already have plans for dinner."

Lucy spun on her heels and planted her fists on her hips. "Pa, Pwetty and Em-a-em got gumbo!"

"No, Lucia. Emmett and Bella are not going to come eat gumbo with us. They have to work. They are going to grab something at McDonald's on their way to work." Clarence was just making something up to appease her.

Lucy turned to me and said, "Mommy work like What?"

I bent down to hug her. "Yes, baby, I have to work like Ms. Millie. You go eat gumbo and have fun. We'll be fine."

"Get nugget happy meal?" she asked with big sad eyes.

"That sounds like a good idea. We'll have Chicken McNugget Happy Meals for dinner." I put on my most sincere smile.

She turned to Emmett, pointed and him and commanded, "No toy till you eat nuggets!"

He raised his hands in mock surrender and said, "Okay, okay. You've got a deal. I won't play with my toy until I finish my nuggets." Of course that would be two bites for Emmett, but that didn't matter.

We walked down to the car so Clarence could transfer Lucy's car seat into his car. Once he had her buckled in, he turned to me and said, "I'll call you once the lawyer leaves and let you know how it went."

Emmett and I stood outside and watched them drive away. Suddenly we both felt so lost that we didn't know what to do with ourselves. We wandered around the apartment for a little while and finally ended up getting in the car and grabbing happy meals from the McDonald's drive through. Of course, we both bought additional food to supplement the tiny portions, but it made us feel good that we fulfilled our promise.

Later that evening, I called Jasper to tell him about the song I had written. He seemed eager to hear it, so I logged onto my email and sent him the music. I gave him my stipulation that I wanted to keep it as is. I didn't want Nate or any of the other guys changing a single note. He said he would have to listen to it before he made that promise.

He asked how things were going to Lucy. I sent him a few pictures of her and told him about my meeting with her mother. I heard him clicking on his keyboard as we talked then he said, "Bella, the two of you look adorable together. She really seems to love you."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you ever Google yourself? It looks like one of your fans posted a video clip on YouTube of you signing autographs with her in your lap."

"I didn't see anyone," I said as I pulled up the video and clicked play. It was only a small clip of me talking to the lady who asked Lucy if she was always a good girl and her telling the lady that she wasn't. It looked like it had been taken with someone's cell phone from off to the side. You could hear all the background noise and barely make out what we were saying.

"Your fans are everywhere, Bella, and most of them have camera phones. That's why it's so important to watch what you say and do in public. It doesn't hurt to always try to look your best, too."

I pulled up a few other shots people had taken of me in different places. They were usually grainy still shots taken of me walking in the airport or signing autographs. I found a website that specialized in celebrity spotting. They kept tabs on where different celebrities were located around the world. They showed me still in Orlando, Florida. Apparently people submitted their pictures and summaries of their private run-ins with the celebrities that they saw. Most of them were accounts like, "I was standing in line at the coffee shop when in walked so-and-so" or "I couldn't believe how nice so-and-so was when he signed an autograph for my kids." There were only a few accounts of run-ins with me and they were all pretty positive.

Out of curiosity, I found Edward Cullen on the website. They had him listed as being in Amsterdam. There was a picture of him looking pretty ragged. The caption said, "Edward Cullen parties hard in the city most well known for prostitution and drugs." There was another picture of Edward coming out of what looked like a brothel. The caption beneath it says, "Edward Cullen spent a couple of hours 'relaxing' in this brothel/internet café in Amsterdam. Notice, he doesn't have a laptop with him. Hmmm."

I closed the screen. My heart was pounding and I felt sick to my stomach. Edward had admitted that he had problems with drugs in the past. Why would he fall off the wagon now and start partying again? If he was involved in drugs again, would I want him in my life? If I ended up with Lucy, could I expose her to someone involved in stuff like that? Absolutely not.

The other thing that bothered me was the prostitutes. I didn't think he would actually go pay for sex. He didn't need to. He could easily pick up a fan or two if Jane wasn't willing. Hell, I would almost rather he pick up a random fan than mess around with Jane. The question in my mind was what was he doing in the brothel for a couple of hours if he wasn't paying for sex? Would I want to be intimate with someone who picked up prostitutes? The answer to that was simple… Hell NO!

Before I could get myself any more worked up, Clarence called. "Bella, I'm sorry to call you so late, but the lawyer just left."

"That's alright. We were just sitting around. What did she want?"

"Colleen had one of the other inmates write up a will. In the will, it says that she wants you to have custody of Lucia if she dies in prison. She gave the paperwork to her lawyer and wanted her to make it legal. She told the lawyer that she was considering turning over custody to you early, but until she made her final decision and got the paperwork drawn up, she wanted this made official, just in case her condition worsened before the rest was done."

"Oh my… I didn't expect that. Did she tell you anything about when you talked to her on the phone?" I asked.

"No, Bella, she didn't mention it. I think it's a good sign though. At least she is going this far. Anyway, the lawyer was concerned that this was some kind of celebrity publicity stunt when she saw a picture of you holding Lucia on the internet. I assured her that that wasn't the case. I told her how you met Lucia and how you have been coming to visit her. I explained that I was there when that picture was taken, but I just wasn't in the shot. She seemed a little more comfortable knowing that I was there with you."

"So, what happens now?"

"I gave the lawyer your phone number. She is going to call you tomorrow to arrange a meeting. She will need your consent before she files the paperwork and I think she might need some information from you. The inmate that did the paperwork for Colleen used some generic forms that she found on the internet. I'm not sure if those are going to have to be re-done or not. I'm also not sure if there is some kind of filing fee. If so, she may ask you to pay the fee."

We talked about the lawyer for a little while. Clarence told me that she was a young defense lawyer. He had not had much interaction with her, but he thought she was pretty nice.

When I got off the phone, I called Rosalie to tell her all about it. She told me what kind of forms I should expect to have to sign and what to expect as far as fees go. She also told me that she had been contacted by a couple of radio stations in Orlando that wanted to set up interviews. One wanted to pay me to come out for a private interview with some fans, like the one I had done on tour. I agreed that I would do the private interview and three of the radio station appearances. She said she would book them and send me the details as soon as she knew anything.

Before I handed the phone over to Emmett, I informed him that he could move back into Lucy's room since she was probably not going to be allowed to stay with us overnight again. He seemed just as sad about it as I was, but cheered up when I handed him the phone so he could talk to his wife.

I left the room to give them some privacy and headed out onto the little balcony of the apartment. It had two plastic lawn chairs sitting beside a little plastic table. I took a seat and tried to clear my head. Everything was happening so fast, yet seemed so slow at the same time. It felt like an eternity since I had last seen Edward, but it really wasn't that long. And it seemed like just yesterday I was working at the diner and wondering if I was going to get enough tips to pay my cell phone bill.

When Emmett got off the phone, he came outside with me. "How are you holding up, Bells? I know this has to be hard on you. You're going through a lot of changes right now, with the house, the music, Edward Cullen, and Lucy."

"I don't know, Emmett. I think I'm just going with the flow right now. I'm still hurting about the way things ended with Edward, but Lucy is helping my heart heal. I really hope things work out and I can get her. I love her so much already. Without her, the house will be for nothing. I don't need a huge house to live in by myself. The house needs a family."

Emmett nodded thoughtfully. "You know, spending all this time with Lucy has made me start thinking about having a little one of my own. Rose has wanted kids for years, but I always thought that I wasn't ready. I don't know. I guess I just kind of thought that they would always be screaming and crying. I didn't realize they could be so much fun too. Lucy is a great kid. She's really smart and adorable, and she's so good with you. She's not even close to what I thought a kid would be."

"You'll make a great father Emmett."

"Thanks. I think you're going to make an amazing mom yourself."

EPOV

"Hey Mom, I hope I didn't wake you. How's everything going back home?"

"Hello, Edward. Everything's fine. I was just getting ready to shut my computer down and head for bed. You know how focused I get when I'm working on a house."

I laughed remembering all the times she would spend entire nights working and then be worn out the next day. She technically retired when I started my music career, but she still did the occasional special project every now and then. When she got busy on a project, she wouldn't stop until everything was absolutely perfect.

I hesitated for a moment as I worked up the nerve to ask, "Are you still working on Bella's house?"

"Yes. You should see the plans I have for that place; it's going to be beautiful. It sits on the perfect lot and has some really great base features to work from. I don't think we are going to have to do too much major reconstruction. We replaced the windows already and are having some water damage fixed. The floors all have to be redone, of course, but the layout of the house is going to pretty much stay the same."

"That's good. I'll have to check it out. Are you still using the same website for your planning that you used when you did my house?"

"Yes. If you get to a computer, you could log on and give me your opinion. I know you have good taste."

"Of course. I'm your son."

Mom laughed. "Cute. So, enough about my work. How's the tour going?"

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Jane is getting worse. I don't know how much longer I'm going to be able to take her shit."

Mom sounded concerned, "Explain."

"She keeps messing with my stuff and insisting that she sit beside me every chance she gets. She follows me around and is constantly touching my arm or trying to hold my hand. It's creepy."

"Well, you know she's had a crush on you for a few years. That's why she persuaded her uncle to make you put her in the band."

I cringed remembering that day.

My contract was up for renewal, so they called me in to the record company to review the changes they were proposing for the new contract. As I was reading through page after page of mind numbing information, the executive that was sitting across from me said, "As you can see, this contract isn't much different from your previous one. The major differences are the number of live performances that you will be required to perform and the number of albums that must be produced. For a man of your popularity, I don't think it will be a problem, but who am I to make that decision?"

I flipped forward a few pages and found the number of albums. That wouldn't be a problem. I already had enough original music set aside to cover that. "The albums won't be a problem. How many concerts?"

"Only a few more. Not too out of hand. You could spread it out and do a couple of concert tours over the duration of the contract. It shouldn't be hard for you."

I found the concerts listed on a summary page, so I didn't bother read through the fine print. It was a five year contract, so I could easily fulfill the requirements. I also noticed on the summary page that they wanted to extend the size of the band. "Why do I need a bigger band?"

The gut leaned forward and glanced at the page. "Oh, that? That's really nothing. They just want you to add a couple more backup singers. They think it will help your sound and make for a better stage presence. When you have three beautiful women on stage doing the same moves, it really makes you look… classy."

I laughed, "Classy? This is rock-n-roll. Classy has no business on stage in a rock concert."

The guy shrugged. "Hell, all I know is that the boss said you need two more backup singers. He already has two people in mind for the job, too."

"Seriously? Now they are going to tell me who I should hire to be my backup?"

"Yes. He said their voices would compliment yours very well. I think he is trying to push them up the ranks so to speak. One of them is his niece, Jane, and the other is a daughter of a friend of his. Her name is Tanya. They are pretty good. I heard them myself."

"What if I don't like them?"

The guy gave me a serious look and said, "Do you really want me to go to the boss man and ask that question? If I were you, I would just turn their mics down and deal with it."

Ifiguredthattheguywasprobablyright.Itwasagoodcontract.IwassurethatIcoulddealwithtwobackupsingersthatwereslightlyoffkeyifIhadto.Besides,theyprobablywouldn'tlastthroughthefirstconcerttouranyway. Boy was I wrong. Not only did they stay the entire time, but one of them became my lover and now that she was gone, the other one seemed desperate to fill her shoes.

"Mom, I caught her sniffing my dirty laundry the other day. It's gross."

Mom laughed. "You're right. That is gross. Maybe you should try to find someone else to sick her on. Aren't any of the roadies interested in her?"

"Most of them barely speak English. Those that do, have such thick accents that I can barely understand them. Besides, she seems determined to only be with me. I keep telling her that it's never going to happen, but she isn't listening."

"Well, I guess you need to make sure that you're never alone with her. Make sure Peter is with you all the time."

"I am, Mom. Peter is watching my back. Oh, that reminds me, have you heard anything from the nursing home?"

"Peter's mom is doing fine. When I called the other day, they said that she threw a bottle of water at an old man who had a squeaky wheel on the cart that carries his oxygen bottle. Other than that, she has been fine."

I laughed because it was easy to visualize Peter's grouchy old mom terrorizing some poor elderly man. "I'm sure Peter is going to love hearing that. What about Garrett?"

"He's still on his honeymoon. You know it really surprised everyone that he eloped with that lady down in Texas. She seems really sweet though. I think her name is Kate. I can't remember. Anyway, the last I heard, they were in Aruba." I heard mom shifting something around. "Before I forget, is this a good number for you now?"

"I hope so. It's supposed to be a phone with international long distance. We haven't had many chances to stop and shop for phones, but the bus driver recommended this one. He said it will work from Spain to China. The only problem is that it's a prepaid phone. I have to stop in and put minutes on this thing when it starts running low. That's what I'm doing now. I had to stop in this internet café so I could rent a laptop and log onto the internet. That way I can transfer money to the account that will give us all more minutes." I watched as a woman in a bikini walked by with a guy in a business suit. "This place isn't exactly high class, so I let the others go check in at the hotel. We actually get to sleep in real beds tonight."

"Edward, you need to watch out for Jane if you are staying in a hotel."

"Don't worry. Peter and Demetri are sharing a room with me. Demetri is pretty torn up. His boyfriend, Caius, left yesterday. He had to go back to Australia. I guess it's a good thing that we have a little bit of a break, because I'm not so sure he could perform tonight if he tried."

Mom sounded sympathetic, "I'm so sorry to hear about poor Demetri. Did they end on a bad note?"

"No. They are going to try the long distance thing for a little while. Demetri promised to head down to Perth when we finish up here. To be honest, I don't think Caius is going to be able to stay away. He isn't exactly looking forward to getting back to work. He would be happy following Demetri around for the rest of their lives."

Mom sighed, "Young love. It doesn't get any better than that. I hope it works out for them."

"Me too, Mom."

The guy behind the counter greeted another creepy looking customer and let him through a locked door at the back. When the door opened, I could see naked women back there walking around while some guys played cards. "Hey Mom, I'm going to get out of here. Besides, I think you need to get some sleep. I'll check in with you in a few days."

"Okay, honey. I love you. You be careful and call if you need anything."

"I will, Mom. I love you. Tell Dad that I love him too."

When I got off of the phone, I noticed that I had a few minutes left on my internet time, so I did a search for Bella Swan. I wasn't prepared for what I found. There were pictures of her on stage with different guys. That's not too strange. I read a caption that said that she was pulling random guys on stage to sing with her. What was strange, though, was a picture of her snuggled up beside one of the guys at a bar. What was she doing going out drinking with this guy after the show? The fact that he was a good looking guy really bothered me. Could she seriously be seeing other guys when she knows how much I care about her? The caption mentioned that they guy was a DJ named Jordan. What could she see in him?

I tried to push my jealousy aside as I scanned through more pictures. I found a picture of her walking with a huge mountain of a man. He was laughing at something she said. She actually looked happy. There were plenty of pictures of the two of them together. They were eating and talking, like they were having a nice little vacation together. There was even a picture of her holding his daughter. In the caption, it said that the little girl was hers. I knew for a fact that Bella didn't have any kids, so that could only mean that the girl belonged to the mountain man and that their relationship was serious enough that he was letting his daughter call Bella "Mommy." Before I could read the comments or find out the guy's name, my time ran out on the computer.

I sat there watching the screen blink for a few minutes as I tried to fight back the tears that were starting to pour down my face. Bella was moving on. She knew that I loved her, but she was moving on anyway. I sat there and cried for what felt like hours, but was probably only a few minutes. When a half naked lady came over and tried to sit in my lap, I finally got up and left.

I wanted to head to the nearest bar and drink myself into oblivion, but misery loves company, so instead I headed to the hotel room to hang out with Demetri.

A/N: Could these two possibly be more conflicted and mixed up? I know this isn't a very happy update right before the holidays, but I promise that I will have the next chapter posted on time. Just to give you something to look forward to… They are actually going to run into each other again in a couple of chapters.

Ok, I have to get going. I've managed to get all of my Christmas shopping done with the exception of my husband. I just can't seem to find the perfect gift. He doesn't like expensive or outlandish things, which is good because I don't exactly have a lot of money to spend. He likes practical things, but he has everything he really needs. How do you buy a practical gift for someone who doesn't need anything? He's not into sports and has all of the computer gadgets he can dream of. I guess I just need to keep looking. Maybe I'll come up with something. Wish me luck!

Before I go… I want to wish all of you a happy holiday season. Whether you are celebrating Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanza, a birthday, or anything else, I hope you have a good time with your friends and family and stay safe.

Christine (A Little Distracted)