Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Thanks as always to my betas, Ms. Ambrosia and Browns.

EPOV

I pointed to a nearby chair and Tanya grudgingly sat down, looking incredibly annoyed. "Do we have to do this? You know the truth now; let's just move on."

I didn't let my eyes leave hers as I sat across from her. "Oh, no. You owe me some explanations, lady. Start talking." My eyes narrowed as I watched her.

Tanya gave a long, dramatic sigh and rolled her eyes. I was already over her dramatics.

"I'm not kidding, Tanya. Tell me."

"You're going to be pissed."

"Already there. You owe me some answers and you're not leaving until I get them." I was trying to keep my cool, but failing miserably. I wanted to wring her scrawny neck.

"I've been seeing Alistair since last October. It's very likely the baby is his." Her tone was bored.

"Very likely?"

She sighed once again. "It's definitely his."

"You bitch!" It took all I had to remain seated and not give into the urge to hit a woman for the first time in my life.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm a horrible person. Sorry." Tanya rolled her eyes, not looking the least bit apologetic.

"'Sorry?' You've turned my fucking life upside down for the last few weeks and all you can say is 'sorry?'" I had to get up and walk away or I was going to kill her.

"There's no need to overreact. It all worked out in the end." She shrugged. "Alistair came around and you still have your precious girlfriend. No one got hurt."

"Are you even listening to yourself right now? Do you even hear what you're saying? What the hell is wrong with you?"

She flicked back her hair. "Look, I'm not proud of the way I've handled things, but I did what I thought I had to do. I made a mess of things, I know this, but what's done is done. I probably would've come clean...at some point."

I scoffed. "Yeah fucking right." I was pacing the floor of the lounge, ready to tear my hair out. I turned back to her.

"Why, Tanya? Why did you put me through this? How does Alistair factor in? What the hell has been going on?"

"Are you going to calm down?" She tapped her fingernails on the tabletop, an impassive look on her face.

"Tell. Me. Now." I was in no mood for her games.

Tanya smoothed down her scrub shirt and rested her hands on her stomach before she spoke. "Last October, when we had that huge fight?" She paused, looking at me for confirmation. I barely remembered the time she was talking about, but nodded my head anyway, eager for her to get on with it. "Alistair and I were on shift together. One thing led to another and he came home with me." She shrugged. "You weren't exactly subtle in the fact that you were losing interest in me and in our relationship. I was feeling sorry for myself and he was there. It happened."

"But it wasn't a one time thing?" I asked.

Tanya shook her head. "No, we ended up seeing each other – a lot. He had known that you and I were dating and he asked if we were over. I told him we were."

I couldn't help the raise of my eyebrows. "So, you were cheating on me with him, and on him with me?"

She considered my statement for a minute. "Yes," she finally said.

"Why didn't you just break up with me, especially if you knew I wasn't invested in our relationship anymore?" I was having a hard time wrapping my head around her treachery.

"I had planned on it, but two things happened pretty much at once. First, I found out I was pregnant and I had no idea who the father was. Secondly, Alistair found out that you and I were still together and he told me it was over between us."

She looked so sad in that moment that I almost felt sorry for her. Then I remembered who I was dealing with and my sympathy dried up quickly. "Go on."

Tanya continued to look around the room, a bored expression on her face as she continued. "It didn't take me long to realize that, while a baby wasn't something I planned for, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing, either. It could be okay. But I didn't want to raise it on my own. Since Alistair was out of the picture, you were the obvious choice for the person I would name as the father. I knew you wouldn't back down from your responsibility."

She finally met my gaze. "My plan was fucked though, since you were obviously finished with me, too. You had gone weeks with absolutely no desire to speak with me and then suddenly you were constantly asking me if we could talk. I knew what was coming and I couldn't handle it, so I avoided you. I heard through the grapevine that your parents were in town, so I followed you to the restaurant that night. I figured I could force your hand – I'd announce my pregnancy in front of them and you'd have no choice but to stand beside me."

She paused before continuing. "Obviously, it didn't quite work out that way."

I scoffed. "No, not quite."

A sliver of shame crossed her face, but was quickly replaced by one of indifference. "I went home to re-group. As I thought about it some more, I realized that the baby could only be Alistair's. You had always used condoms and he didn't. You and I weren't even sleeping together when I conceived, actually."

I held up my hand. "You said it was around Thanksgiving." Unfortunately, I did remember having sex with her just before going home to Forks for the holiday.

She shook her head. "I lied; it was actually the beginning of November. You were away at that conference at Johns Hopkins. You weren't even in the state when I conceived."

Tanya lifted her hands in a "there you have it" kind of gesture. "Once I realized who the father was, I tried to get Alistair to talk to me, but he refused to do so much as even look at me. I was desperate and alone, and I didn't know what to do."

She looked at me straight-faced. "You can hate me for it, Edward, but I was trying to make sure my child would have a father and the opportunity to have at least one decent parent. To be honest, I don't know if I have a mothering instinct, so having someone else around to figure shit out is the only way I could do this. I wasn't even sure that if I told Alistair he'd step up to the plate to be a dad, but I knew you would. So, I lied. I showed up at your sister's store to do what I had wanted to do back in January. I wanted to meet your parents and force your hand."

I pulled at my hair in frustration. "Do you know what you've done to me? To Bella? Do you have any remorse at all?"

Tanya didn't say anything, but instead gave me a small shrug. "I had to look out for my child's best interests, Edward, and at the time you were it. I'm sorry that there was collateral damage, but I did what I had to do."

"You're a fucking…" I couldn't even think of a word bad enough to call her. I was so angry that I had to turn my back on her before I picked her up and threw her across the room.

"Call me all the names you want, it's fine. It doesn't matter. You can go on with your life now, and not worry about this child or me. Alistair's willing to be a dad. He says he loves me."

"Good luck to him, because he's going to need it." I turned back to face her. "What made you finally decide to tell him the truth?"

"Alistair returned from his family thing and heard about my pregnancy. He confronted me. I thought about lying, but honestly, I'm exhausted from it. I knew the truth would come out eventually anyway, because I couldn't fake the paternity results."

She paused, considering. "Well, I suppose I could, but that's a lot of work, and really, you'd probably order one on your own anyway. So I told him the truth. He was thrilled. He wants us to be a couple and raise the baby together."

I closed my eyes and shook my head. "Tanya, I just…the truth was always going to come out. Why did you put us all through this?"

My eyes opened to find her staring at me, her head tilted to the side as if she was trying to figure out exactly what I meant. "You hurt me, Edward. You strung me along, you played with my emotions, and then you left me without a backward glance for someone else. I wanted to hurt you like you hurt me."

She smirked. "Did it work?"

BPOV

I really wished I had listened to my inner voice when it told me to cancel class and stay wrapped up warm in Edward's bed.

But being the responsible adult I am, I went to work.

My new motto is going to be, "Screw responsibility. It does nothing but cause problems."

I was absolutely exhausted from the night before – both mentally and physically. Telling Edward even the little bit I had about the accidentwas enough to bring on the nightmares – nightmares even he couldn't keep at bay. I think they scared him as much as they drained me; we were both bleary-eyed and slow moving because of them. Not to mention I had the start of what felt like a killer headache.

The atmosphere between us wasn't tense or uncomfortable, but there was an uneasiness that seemed to be there, as if we were both waiting for the other one to crack, break, or worst of all – reject. That was my biggest and worst fear – that Edward would wake up and realize that he had enough to deal with in his life and didn't need my baggage on top of it. So I waited and prayed that he meant it when he said he wasn't going anywhere.

He seemed braced for a fight when he told me that he was dropping me off at school and that Alice would pick me up. I didn't argue with him, even though for a few minutes, it felt as though he was treating me like a child. However, I knew I was in no shape to drive or to deal with a panic attack. For the safety of myself and the other people on the road, I had no business getting behind a wheel of a car.

We were quiet on the drive, but again, it wasn't an uncomfortable silence, just cautious. Traffic was insane and it took twice the normal amount of time for us to reach campus. Edward was tense, knowing that he would be cutting it close to get to work on time. His tension seeped over to me and by the time we got to school, I was a bundle of nerves. I kissed him goodbye and he told me he loved me and would call me later.

The minute I stepped into my office I knew something was wrong. C.C. was standing over my desk, hunched over and moving her hands back and forth rapidly.

"C.C.? What are you doing?" I didn't want to startle her, but she was acting strange – even for her.

Her head snapped up and she turned her head to look at me, a guilty look on her face. "Uh, hey Bella. Um…." She gave me a sheepish look. "I kind of made a mess."

She moved out of the way just enough for me to see dark brown liquid all over the stack of papers lying there. Papers that I had spent two days grading. Papers that I hadn't recorded the grades of yet. Papers that I had promised to hand back today.

Motherfletcher. I knew I should've stayed in bed.

"Oh…" I couldn't get any other words out besides that one.

"I'm so, so, sorry. I came over to turn on the radio." She pointed to the small portable radio I had on a shelf over my desk. "And I didn't realize that my hand had turned…" Gesturing at the mess, she gave me a small smile. "At least they were all graded, right?"

"Uh, yeah. Just not recorded." I could feel the pounding behind my eyes get worse.

C.C. paled and started to apologize again, but I waved her off. "I'll figure something out, don't worry." Giving her a small smile, I made my way toward my desk and the mess.

A half an hour later, I had papers lying on every surface of the office trying to dry and C.C. was doing her best to read the grades on them off to me. Some of them were incredibly smudged and impossible to read, which meant re-reading them would be the only option. I would need at least another day before I handed these papers back, and I knew my students would not be happy. This was one of the few grades they'd get before the college's withdraw period. The longer I held onto them, the longer they would have to wait to see if they needed to drop the class. At some point, they wouldn't be able to do so, and I knew many of them were counting on me getting them their grades today.

It was going to be a rough class.

I did as much work as I could, but was barely able to make a dent in the pile before I had to leave to teach. As predicted, my students were less than pleased to hear of the delay and of the condition their papers would be coming back to them in. I apologized, but it didn't seem to help. Eventually, tired of all the complaining, I snapped at them and told them to grow up. They sat there stunned as I explained that sometimes crappy things happened that were out of people's control and they better learn to accept it now, rather than later, when the circumstances might be worse than waiting an extra day for a grade on a paper.

The rest of the class was tense and not one of them said goodbye as they left. Knowing my luck, one of them would report my behavior to Katherine, or worse, the Provost.

Knowing I was going to be absolutely worthless for the rest of the day, I went back to my office and called the English department's secretary. I asked her to cancel my next class and let Katherine know I wasn't feeling well and going home. Once I hung up with her, I called Alice to come and get me.

C.C. was teaching, so I had the office to myself as I gathered up the almost dried papers and put them in my bag. Glancing around, I tried to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything, feeling my eyes prick with tears.

I was just so damn tired.

At that moment, my phone beeped, alerting me that Alice was outside waiting for me. Picking up my things, I trudged down to her Porsche.

"Hey there! What do you say we…"Alice's voice trailed off as she got a good look at my face. "You okay?"

"I've had the Monday from hell. Can we just go home?" I leaned my head back against the seat and shut my eyes.

"Um, yeah, sure. Do you want to pick up anything for lunch while we're out?" Alice put the car into gear and smoothly moved us forward.

"If you want. I'm not really that hungry." Honestly, I just wanted to go home, crawl into bed and sleep the rest of the day away. I hoped Alice would let me.

Surprisingly, she did. After stopping to pick us up some salads for lunch, Alice drove us home silently. She watched me as I picked at my food – I wasn't hungry, but figured I should eat something since she picked it up – and let me retreat into my room without a word. I knew I should've talked to her, but I didn't have it in me for even the most casual conversation.

I had no idea how long I slept when I woke to the feeling of Edward's arms around me. Rolling over, I looked at him through unfocused eyes.

"Hey." I blinked a few times, trying to clear my vision and wake up.

"Hi. How're you feeling?" He gave me a small smile, but I could see the worry in his gaze.

"I'm okay. Tired, I guess. I had a horrible morning." Reaching over, I ran my hand through his hair. Seconds later, it occurred to me that I shouldn't be seeing him at all.

Pushing him off of me, I struggled to sit up. "What are you doing here? I thought you were on until Wednesday? Is everything okay? Alice didn't bother you at work, did she?"

Edward held up both hands. "Whoa, baby. Slow down. Everything is fine; I'm just home for my break. I have some news that I couldn't wait to tell you, so I decided to come over."

I shook my head, trying to clear it. My nap had left me disoriented and I was still trying to gather my bearings. "What time is it?"

"It's about quarter after five," Edward answered, running a hand over my head.

"Five in the afternoon?" I was shocked I had slept so long; Alice had picked me up just after eleven that morning.

"Yes, and I have to be back by six. Baby, you don't look well." He cupped my cheek in his hand and gazed at me with appraising eyes – doctor's eyes.

I lifted my hand to press against the back of his. I immediately began my standard refrain before I remembered that I'd promised myself I would tell him truth about how I was feeling.

"I'm…tired. Work was awful. After my first class, I just called it quits. I didn't have the energy to try to finish out the day." I scooted forward until I was in his arms.

It was difficult for me to admit just how bad I felt, but I didn't have the energy to hide from him anymore. There were certain topics I wasn't ready to discuss, at least not completely, but knowing I didn't have to hide everything from Edward left me feeling a bit lighter.

"Oh, babe. I wish…" Edward sighed and laid his cheek on top of my head. "I wish I could make this all go away for you."

There was probably an answer I could have – should have – given him, but I didn't have one. I wish he could make it all go away too, but we both knew that wasn't going to happen.

I pulled myself back in his arms a bit so I could see his face. "So, what's this news that couldn't wait?"

All at once a multitude of expressions flashed over his face – elation, anger, giddiness, irritation. I was a little confused by the vast difference of emotions, and he must have been able to tell because he chuckled at me.

"Well, I hope I'm about to make your shit day a whole lot better." He leaned forward and kissed me.

I was pleasantly pulled into the touch of his lips and tongue against mine, forgetting for a minute where we were and what we were talking about. He finally pulled away and chuckled when I tried following him.

"I'll kiss you again when I finish telling you," he said, smiling at me.

"You better get to it then." I shifted a bit in his arms, trying to get comfortable.

"So when I got to work this morning, I walked into the doctors' lounge to find Alistair Matthews kissing Tanya." He paused, waiting for my reaction.

"Wait…Tanya? The Tanya that's claiming to be pregnant with your child Tanya?" I raised an eyebrow, wondering if I had entered an alternate reality or if I was still asleep and dreaming.

"The one and the same. Apparently, she's been cheating on me with Matthews since last October. She told him that we had broken up and when he found out we hadn't, he dumped her. Right around that time, she found out she was pregnant. She wasn't sure who the father was, so she figured she'd just pass it off as mine since we were still technically together."

My jaw had dropped and I sat there staring at Edward, dumbfounded. "You have got to be kidding me."

"Oh, baby, I'm so serious."

"So…what…why did she decide to come clean?" I shook my head, trying to wrap my brain around what Edward was telling me.

"Matthews came back from his family emergency and found out Tanya was pregnant. She apparently just decided to tell the truth. He accepted whatever she told him and they're now together and I'm free of this fucking mess." He gave me a blinding smile.

I could only stare at him, incredulous. "It's over? No more Tanya, no more baby?"

Edward nodded. "It's over – at least it seems to be. I still don't trust the bitch as far as I can throw her, so I'm going to have my lawyer request a paternity test when the baby is born just to be on the safe side. Honestly, though, I believe her. She's got nothing to gain from continuing the lie, especially since she knows it can be so easily disproved. Honestly, baby, I think this is it. We don't have to worry about her anymore."

There was no stopping the smile that crept over my face or the tears of happiness that sprung to my eyes. "For real? It's done?"

"It's done; it's not my baby." Edward's grin was so big it showed nearly all his teeth.

I launched myself at him. With a chuckle, he fell backward on the bed and I landed on top of him, smothering his face with kisses.

"I love you, I love you, I love you!" My words came out muffled against his skin and I could feel him shaking with laughter underneath me. Then suddenly, his laughter stopped and his hands were cupping my face, stilling my movements. I gazed into his beautiful green eyes and saw them shimmering with emotion.

"I love you, Isabella. More than I ever thought possible. I love you so much. Thank you for sticking with me through this hell." He ran his thumb over my cheekbone, the look in his eyes tender and adoring. I felt my heart swell with emotion.

"I love you, too. More than anything." I turned my head so I could kiss the palm of his hand. The minute my lips touched his skin, he was pulling me down to his lips. His kisses were full of love and passion and I found myself getting caught up in the emotion of the moment. Eventually though, Edward pulled away, giving me two chaste kisses to help soften the blow.

"I have to go back to work, baby."

I sighed, but for the first time in weeks, it didn't feel quite so heavy. "I know. Thank you for coming home to tell me. I'm glad we got to celebrate in person." I winked at him, still ecstatic over his news.

"Me too. And we're going to celebrate a hell of a lot more when I get home on Wednesday." He raised and lowered his eyebrows in a lecherous manner, which was completely set off by his grin.

"It's a date," I whispered moving down to kiss his lips one more time. We got up off the bed, holding hands as we walked out into the living room. Alice was sitting on the couch watching "Keeping Up with the Kardashians." A dark look crossed her face when she first saw us, but then she smiled brightly, making me think I had seen something that hadn't really been there.

"Everything okay?" she asked, snapping off the TV with a click of the remote.

Edward nodded. "I came home to tell Bella that Tanya has been lying; I'm not the father of her child."

Alice squealed and jumped up off the couch. "Really? That's amazing news!" She ran over, throwing her arms around Edward in a massive hug before turning to do the same thing to me. "I'm so happy for you guys! What happened? Why did she lie? What did she say? Who is the father? Are you going to have a paternity test done just to make sure? Oh my God, Mom and Dad are going to shit themselves with happiness!"

Her words came out in a tumble and I just stared at her for a minute, trying to make sense of everything she just said. Edward laughed before leaning forward to kiss her on the forehead. "Oh, Ali, you have such a way with words.

"I'm going to let Bella explain, because I really need to go back to work. I promise if you need more details, I'll give them to you when I'm home again, but I have to run. Love you!" With one last kiss to me, Edward was out the door and headed back to the hospital.

Alice pulled me over to the couch and we sat down to gossip like two old women. I explained to her everything Edward had told me and we tried to fill in the blanks of the why's and what for's. Neither one of us could wrap our heads around what Tanya thought she was going to accomplish by lying, but maybe it was because doing something like that would have never occurred to either one of us.

"Maybe it was the money." Alice raised an eyebrow at my surprised look when she made her suggestion. "What? You can't tell me that wouldn't be a draw for some women? A rich doctor, who's not just doctor rich, but like seriously rich."

I had never heard Alice be so cavalier about the Cullen fortune before. Sure, she and the rest of her family had never treated it was a big deal, but this was the most candid I'd ever heard from her.

"I guess…but to turn people's lives around like that over money…" I trailed off, unable to comprehend it.

Alice looked wise beyond her years as she answered me. "You'd be surprised what people would do for money, Bella. When any money is involved it gets complicated, but when you add up the dollar amounts that come with being a Cullen…people have no shame. It's actually quite sad the lengths they would go to get their hands on it."

Alice turned her head away from me as she spoke and it occurred to me that she might be speaking from experience – an experience she hadn't told me about. "You want to talk about it?" I asked her quietly, laying my hand on top of hers.

She turned to me with a shrug, but the glimmer of tears in her eyes told me the real story. "It was a year or so ago. I met someone in New York that I really hit it off with. He actually had me considering breaking my 'no boyfriends' rule for a while. Then it became apparent that the only true interest he had in me was how far my family's money would take him." Alice reached up and swiped at the tear that began to fall down her cheek. "I'd really liked him, so it hurt a bit. It was part of the reason I wanted to come home – to get away from the memories and my embarrassment."

"Oh Ali, I'm so sorry." I gripped her hand under mine, trying to lend her my support.

"I've never admitted that to anyone before. I guess I was more ashamed about it than I thought." She sniffled and I reached up to pull her into a hug. She stayed there for a minute before sitting back into the cushions.

"Really, he did me a favor. Can you imagine if I had let things get serious with him and then found out?" She gave me a watery smile. "I suppose in the end it's more my pride hurt than my heart, but…"

"It still hurts," I finished for her.

She nodded. "Yeah, it does. Makes it hard to trust people and put yourself out there, you know?"

I could only imagine. If Edward hadn't found me I had no doubt I'd still be alone. After the accident and Joe, I couldn't imagine putting my trust and love in someone else. Edward had made it easy, sweeping me off my feet before I had a chance to think too much about it.

"You'll find someone to trust again, Ali. Someone who is worth it and will be nothing but wonderful to you and for you."

"Says the girl in the most perfect relationship in the world." Alice's tone was bitter and I recoiled a bit from the coldness in her words.

"It's not…" I trailed off because I didn't know how to answer her. Edward and I didn't have the perfect relationship, but even I could admit it was better than most people would ever know in their lifetimes.

"Bella, I know that you didn't mean anything by it, but it's really easy for you to sit there and tell me that I'll find someone. You were in a relationship with Joe for five years. For five years you trusted the fact that he'd be there when you needed him. You slept beside him, you shared your life with him and you loved him. And yes, he turned out to be a dick and broke your heart and that freaking sucked. But without even meaning to or wanting to, you found my brother. It was effortless, it was easy, and you got damn lucky. So don't sit there and tell me that it's easy as finding someone who is trustworthy and worth it, becauseyou don't know just how hard it is."

I bit my lip trying to hold back my tears. On one hand I knew very well that Alice wasn't really lashing out at me. She had been alone for a long time – her choice or not – and she was feeling the pain of that loneliness. I hadn't exactly been waiting around asking her to open up to me and now that I had, some of that frustration and hurt and anger was bound to come out of it.

But it didn't make her words hurt any less.

In the past, I would have let it go and avoided a confrontation, but I couldn't this time. She needed to know that her view of things was a little skewed.

"I may have been lucky for awhile with Joe, but after he dumped me in the hospital, Ali, I wondered if I would find anyone else; if anyone would look at the broken parts of me and love me despite of them. There were months before I met your brother where I would come home from physical therapy or from another doctor's appointment and just want someone to hold me while I cried from the pain I was in…. both the mental and emotional pain. I wanted someone other than my father and Jake to tell me that they loved me and it would be okay. I wanted someone to hold me up when I didn't think I had it in me to go another step. And before I met your brother, I had convinced myself that it just wasn't going to happen and I would have to learn to be okay with that. And then…there he was. And I fought it for a little bit, but ultimately I had no choice once I met him. I know he's it for me and I'm it for him. But it took a lot of tears and pain and heartache to get there, so don't tell me I don't understand, Alice Cullen. I understand better than you think."

We both were crying by the time I finished, tears streaming down our faces and snot running from our noses. It took less than five seconds for Alice to throw her arms around me.

"I'm so, so sorry. I didn't mean it. Well I did, but that's because I wasn't thinking beyond my own selfish issues. I'm so sorry, Bella. I know how much you've been through and I can only imagine how that must have felt. I'm sorry I didn't take that into consideration."

She cried into my shoulder and I wrapped my arms around her. My anger melted away into understanding. I knew that Alice truly hadn't meant anything by what she had said, but I also knew I couldn't let her misconceptions about what I might or might not understand go without a response. "It's okay; we're okay."

We held onto each other for a bit longer until we got our tears under control and I leaned back out of our embrace.

"Ali?" I waited until she looked at me. "I know there's been a lot of stuff going on lately and I haven't been the best friend to you I should have been, but if you want to talk to me, I hope you know you can."

Alice sighed. "Oh, Bella. You've been a good friend to me – always. I'm just…feeling incredibly sorry for myself and acting like a jealous, selfish bitch."

"You can tell me, you know? If you want to…" I didn't want to push her, but I knew I had a lot of making up to do to her in the friend department. I hadn't meant to abandon her when I met Edward, but that's pretty much what had happened. Granted, I had my own issues to deal with, and God knew that Tanya's pregnancy only added to my distraction, but I had known for a while that something was up with Alice. It made me feel like a crappy friend, and I hoped there was some way I could make it up to her.

She was quiet for a moment before she spoke. "It's hard to be around all of you – Em and Rose, you and Edward. You're all so happy and I just…for the first time in a long time, I wish I had someone to share my life with. It probably sounds stupid…" She ran a hand under her nose as she sniffled.

I took her hand in mine. "I don't think it sounds stupid at all. I think it sounds very human. I'm sorry if we've made things difficult –"

Alice shook her head and cut me off. "No, no, that's not it. I am happy, Bella." She smirked a bit at the incredulous look on my face. "No, I really am. I'm passionate about what I do and I'm following my dream. I'm surrounded by the most supportive and wonderful friends and family – I know how lucky I am, trust me. But there are times when I've had a particularly long day or something great happened and I just wish I had someone to come home to and talk to about it. And as thrilled and happy as I am with the fact that you and Edward and Emmett and Rose found each other, sometimes I'm jealous as hell of it too. And that makes me feel guilty because…how dare I? Why should I be envious of someone else's happiness? Especially of my brothers' and best friend's? It makes me such a shitty person."

"Oh Ali, it doesn't make you a shitty person. It doesn't make you anything but honest." I wish I knew how to make her feel better about her feelings; I could only imagine how she felt.

"I feel so guilty, Bella. I see how happy you are and it's amazing the difference in you since you and Edward started dating and fell in love. Even with the whole Tanya thing, you guys never faltered; you never even stumbled. I've been in awe watching both of you. I want that. But there are times, like tonight, when I feel sorry for myself and frustrated and wonder if it's ever going to happen for me."

Squeezing her hand, I gave her a small smile. "I can't promise that it will, Ali. I know that I've been lucky when it comes to relationships – even with jerk face Joe. So it's easy for me to sit here and say that it'll happen for you, but I believe with everything I have inside of me that it will. I know you'll find someone who will do for you what Edward did for me – he'll turn your world upside down and make you smile for no reason. I know you don't believe that right now, but I do, so I'll believe enough for you until you can get there."

My words set her off again, but wasn't too long before all her tears dried and she looked at me with a slight smile.

"Thank you. You know, for listening, not judging. I'm sorry to have dumped it all on you with everything you've got going on."

I shook my head. "There's not a thing you need to be sorry for. I love you, Ali, and I'm always here for you – even if I've got craziness in my own life. BFF's remember?"

My words got a genuine smile and laugh out of her this time, and she pulled me into another hug. "Same goes, I hope you know. Anything, anytime, anywhere, Bella; I've got your back."

I nodded and squeezed her tight. Pulling away, I looked over at the clock hanging on the wall. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving."

Alice nodded. "I could eat. Feel like getting out of here for a bit? Maybe wandering around a bit and seeing what we can find?"

"Sounds good. Let me just go wash my face and then we can go."

We ended up eating in a cozy little Irish pub not far from the apartment, with Alice and I starting our meal out with pints of Guinness. It was never my first choice beer, but as they say "when in Rome…"

Well, in this case, Ireland.

Alice seemed happier after her confession and our dinner conversation was easy and carefree. We stayed far away from any heavy topics and the more we drank, the sillier we got. We planned evil and inventive ways to get revenge on Tanya – after she had the baby, of course. I laughed at her grimace when I accidentally blurted out just how good her brother was in bed. She retaliated by telling me about the time she and Jake made out when we were in high school.

"I honestly hope he's gotten to be a better kisser, Bella, because Jesus, he slobbered like a dog! I don't know how Leah could handle it!" Alice was practically snorting into her beer and I was covering my ears with my hands, trying to block out her words. The last thing I needed was the image of my two best friends hooking up.

Alice snorted once more and I decided it would be best if I got us out of there before she was too drunk to walk home. The beers seem to hit her harder than they had me, and while I hadn't kept track, I was also pretty sure that she had one – or three – more than I had.

The walk home was only slightly less enjoyable than the walk to the pub had been, since it was colder and there was a light, misty rain coming down. We arrived at the apartment with no major incidents, although Alice did try talking a guy into giving her the dog that he was walking. Luckily, he just smiled and let me drag Alice on our way.

I had forgotten just how loopy Alice could be after having a few too many drinks.

After I poured her into bed, I went through the apartment making sure the lights were off and that I remembered to lock the front door. My phone buzzed in my pocket just as I was flicking off the hallway light.

I miss you. Wish I was holding you right now. I love you. – E

I couldn't help the sigh that escaped my lips. There were moments that what I felt for Edward overwhelmed me and I thought for sure it would burst out of me. What I felt for him was so intense, so consuming, and so powerful that I couldn't understand how my body could handle the assault on my heart.

I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Wish you were here, too. I love you more than anything. – B

My phone stayed silent and I knew he must be busy. Sighing, this time with a bit of disappointment, I walked into my bedroom. I took my time getting ready for bed, thinking over everything that happened in the last twenty-four hours.

First and foremost, knowing that Tanya's pregnancy was no longer a concern was a huge weight off my shoulders. While I'd had a few weeks to adjust to the fact that my boyfriend might have fathered a child with his ex, it wasn't something I had allowed myself to think about in great detail. I actually deliberately avoided thinking about it at all if I could help it. I'd had no idea what that baby would have meant for us beyond the fact that I knew it was something we would deal with and get through together. I hadn't allowed my brain to move to the how we were going to get through it.

And now it didn't matter.

I thought Edward was smart for getting a paternity test just in case, but the truth of the matter was I believed him when he said it was truly over. The test would just put the confirmation over into the 100% sure category rather than the 99% sure one.

Knowing that was something off our plates – that we could move on it and past it as if it had never happened – was such a relief that it brought tears to my eyes. It didn't take long before I was full out sobbing into the t-shirt of Edward's that I held in my hands.

I cried in relief that it was over.

I cried for the guilt I felt in relief of knowing I would never have to share him with another woman and a child that wasn't mine.

I cried for how much I loved him and how sometimes I felt so unworthy of how much he loved me.

I sniffled, trying to bring myself back into control. The important part of this debacle with Tanya was that it was now over.

Dropping Edward's shirt on the bed, I moved to slip out of my clothes. In nothing but my underwear, I padded into the bathroom to wash my face. The cold water cooled down my overheated skin and washed the salt from my cheeks.

One look in the mirror was enough to start the tears all over again.

I could see the scars across my stomach and seeing them threw me back into the nightmare of the accident.

Suddenly, I was no longer in my bathroom in the apartment I shared with Alice. Instead, I was standing in the bathroom of the hospital in Jacksonville. My face was still bruised and I was leaning on the sink for support. I could smell the antibacterial soap from the dispenser next to me and it made me want to gag. When I lifted my gown and looked at my abdomen, I vomited.

There were staples and stitches and old, black lines of blood crisscrossing my skin. The pain my vomiting caused brought me to tears and I was gasping for air. I could hear Charlie calling for me through the door, asking me if I was okay.

The memory ended and I woke in the present on the floor covered in puke. It may have been a memory, but the pain of it had followed me.

I was calm by the time I exited the shower, clean and no longer smelling like a garbage can. My body felt heavy, as if I had ridden through a storm being tossed back and forth. It just wanted me to lie down and rest.

However, my mind was still going a million miles an hour when I crawled into bed.

It was the first time I had flashed back to anything having to do withthe accident. I had nightmares of course, and had vague memories of what happened that night – vague memories that I refused to think of unless I couldn't help it.

Like when Edward had asked me about them the night before.

It was the first time since the accident that I deliberately let those memories come to the forefront of my mind.

And now it seemed as though I was paying for it.

I didn't know what to do or how to handle it. Nothing seemed to make sense to me in the moment and part of me wanted to call Edward and beg him to come home. I didn't want to be alone with the memories or the fear that I could have another flashback.

I just wanted to be better.

I thought of Edward's words from the night before. "Have you thought about talking to someone about all of it?"

Rolling over, I opened the drawer in my nightstand. I took out a book my doctor had given me before I left the hospital and opened the cover. Pulling out the small business card tucked inside the book jacket, I shut the book, placing it back in the drawer.

I stared at the card for an eternity, trying to decide if I was actually going to call the man whose name was listed on the front.

There was a ball of fear in my belly as I traced the name with my fingernail. Taking a deep breath, I reached over and grabbed my cell phone. I didn't allow myself to think as I dialed the number.

There were four rings before his voicemail picked up. It gave the standard greeting that he was currently unavailable and to leave a message after the beep. If I had a medical emergency, I should call 911. In a smooth southern drawl, he thanked the caller and said he would return the call as soon as he could. Then there was the beep.

I hesitated briefly before finally speaking.

"Dr. Whitlock, my name is Bella Swan..."

A/N:

I'll stop you before you ask. Yes, the baby is really Alistair's. We're done with Tanya. (Yay!) She won't be popping up again. (Well, unless Browns has her way and I come up with a really good revenge plan.) But as of this moment, we're done with Dr. Jackson and her evil ways, so no worries in that respect.

Thanks to everyone who has read/reviewed/alerted/favorited. I really do appreciate it more than I can tell you.

I do not have one word written for Chapter 23 yet, but for those of you that choose to review, a teaser will arrive once I do.

Twitter: Scorp_112

Again, thank you so much for reading.

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!