Chapter 4: Why do we hate Bella Swan?

A/N: Since everyone AND their mother asked…I thought the title was appropriate. Do read on.

Disclaimer: These lovely characters are property of Stephenie Meyer. I'm just borrowing them for a bit.

"Dad, seriously...this is just a box of rocks," Bella chuckled, amused.

Her father had moved to Los Angeles from the tiny town of Forks, Washington several months previous. Like Bella, Charlie didn't really enjoy change. While he insisted he was happy to be near his only child again, Bella knew that he missed the slower pace and tranquil atmosphere of Forks. It had been hard on him, so Bella tried to do everything she could to make things easier. As he still hadn't finished unpacking, she was spending her weekend trying to help him get everything squared away once and for all.

The collection of stones she'd found in a show-box sized container were very pretty, reflecting many vibrant colors and interesting shapes, but still…they were just rocks.

Charlie looked up from where he was poking half-heartedly through a different box and then his cheeks turned a distinct shade of pink. He looked away quickly, suddenly looking very intrigued in his task. "Those were yours, actually."

Then Bella remembered.

When she was little and visited him during the summer, Charlie would always take her down to First Beach to walk along the shore and then to see the tide pools she so loved. Though she begged repeatedly, he would never let her take home any of the colorful marine life they found there, of course. He would, however, smile patiently as he waited for her to find stones that matched the colors of the anemones and starfish. Since she couldn't take them home with her to Phoenix, he kept them for her and added to the collection every summer.

"Well, I'll tell you what," Bella said, trying to hide the emotion that suddenly welled in her, fucking hormones, "I think you can use them to line a few planters. That way you can have a little bit of Forks here in California."

"Been watching too much Martha Stewart, have you Bells?" Charlie deadpanned, but when Bella looked over at him he was smiling.

Bella set the box of rocks aside and continued to sort through the larger box. She realized that it was full of very un-Charlie like things. "These are all my toys…Dad, why did you keep these?"

Her father shrugged. "They're yours. They're not mine to give or throw away. I didn't know if you'd want any of it for…later," he said vaguely.

Later...as in, if she ever wanted to pass on her old toys to her own kids.

"Anyway, why don't I go pick us up some lunch? My treat for all your help," he said quickly, changing the subject.

Old, old habit kicked in and Bella wanted to protest, but she stopped herself. Not that long ago, Charlie had been very, very sick. Through all of it - all the worry and the terror as his health had continued to deteriorate - the most agonizing thing to Charlie had been the sense of helplessness. He was, like his daughter, fiercely independent, and being unable to do the slightest thing for himself had frustrated him to the point of tears more than once. It had broken Bella's heart to see him that way. Now that he was better, he seemed to be trying to make up for his months of illness and convalescence by doing as much as he could for himself and others around him. The helplessness had left its mark on his psyche. "Sure, Dad. Whatever you want is great."

Once Charlie had left, Bella turned her attention back to the box of her own toys. Nestled amidst stuffed animals, Barbies and an embarrassing New Kids on the Block Jordan doll was a beautiful, classic baby doll.

Feeling ridiculous but somehow unable to help herself, Bella pulled the doll out and cradled it in her arms. She rocked it, experimentally, trying to imagine it was heavy and squirmy and warm.

Trying to imagine it was hers.

A fussing, cooing little creature with her features, Charlie and Renee's features, reflected back on a tiny face. She imagined a baby with wisps of her thick, mahogany hair….

Green eyes.

Bella sighed as a wave of anger and frustration swept over her. She set the baby doll back in the box and closed it a little more aggressively than was necessary.

Her original plan had been to tell Charlie about the baby this weekend. As her father, he would be worried for her, but he would be happy. Bella honestly couldn't wait to see the smile on his face when he found out he was going to be a grandfather.

But then, everything had happened and now she didn't want to tell Charlie yet. Not until she figured out what she was going to do about everything. She hadn't even figured out if she was going to take any action against the clinic, and there was always a more pressing concern.

Edward Cullen had been leaving her voicemails all week.

Without the fury and irritation in it, Edward's voice was alarmingly alluring. He had sounded honestly contrite in his messages, saying he was sorry that they got off on the wrong foot, and that he wanted to speak to her as soon as possible – when she was ready.

Disgruntled and confused, Bella lay back on the floor, folding her hands over her stomach and wondering once more about the life beneath her fingers. When she thought about Edward, with his soft, musical voice and his bewilderingly pretty face, she could almost fool herself into thinking that her baby sharing his DNA wasn't a bad thing. The man on the voicemail sounded kind and patient.

Then she remembered that he was Rosalie Hale's brother, her twin brother from what Jasper had found out from Alice.

Even if there wasn't bad blood between them, Bella didn't think she and Rosalie would ever have been friends. They were too different. Rosalie was a prima donna, diva, shallow woman who gave Tyra Banks a run for her money in the outrageous drama department.

But siblings weren't always alike, and Bella knew that. She knew better than to judge Edward based solely on his sister. Still, if Edward was so drastically different than his sister, there was no way any member of Rosalie's family could like Bella. Rosalie hated Bella, and had admittedly good reason to do so.

So, to Bella, Edward's soft, patient voice had to be a ruse, and there weren't a lot of things she hated more than falseness. She didn't trust Edward Cullen as far as she could throw him, and she couldn't see how he would ever trust her given what Rosalie thought she had done.

Her mood shifted again and suddenly Bella felt hot tears rolling down into her hairline. She hated that every emotion she had was so amplified, now more than ever. It was one thing to start crying at home over ridiculous things like Scrubs re-runs, but she wasn't alone at the moment. She hugged her middle tightly, knowing she had to pull herself together before Charlie got back.

How the hell was this ever going to work?

~0~

"I don't know why you expected anything different from her, Edward," Rosalie sneered as the whole family was sitting down for Sunday lunch. Their mother had made the mistake of asking if Bella had returned Edward's phone calls yet and he'd had to say no. "That girl doesn't have a decent bone in her body."

"Rose," Carlisle admonished mildly. "This has been a very big shock for all of us. I realize that you take issue with her, but can't you have a little compassion for her situation? In the scheme of things, two weeks is not a long time to process such a life affecting event. I would think you of all people could be sympathetic to that, given the circumstances."

On the one hand, Edward felt guilty about adding to the poor woman's troubles. Though his messages were non-specific, she could probably guess that he either wanted to convince her to terminate the pregnancy - something he was ashamed he had suggested in the first place - or to talk about his level of involvement in the child's life. But, when he'd decided he couldn't walk away - like she obviously wanted him to - he knew that he could never do for her what he would have done for Rosalie and Alice.

When Jasper had asked him, before all of this had happened, if it would be weird to be the child's father and uncle, it had been easy for Edward to say that it wasn't his baby. But he didn't know Bella. The idea of having no say in this child's life, not knowing what kind of mother Bella would be, was abhorrent to him.

"Okay, I'm lost," Tanya interrupted before Rosalie could snap at her father. "Why do we hate Bella Swan?"

"We don't hate Bella," Edward muttered, but Rosalie ignored him.

"You remember Royce King?" she asked her sister-in-law. Tanya nodded slowly, no doubt wondering what that name as doing in this conversation.

Royce King was an actor – a very handsome, very charming, young actor. In a way, Rosalie owed Royce a lot. She was very young to have made it as far in her modeling career as she did, and she knew that she wouldn't have gotten the public exposure she had if it wasn't for the fact she and Royce were the talk of the town.

It wasn't always good publicity – in fact, it was very rarely good publicity. Together she and Royce had a reputation for partying too hard and not giving a hang about much but themselves. They made Paris and Nicole look like friendly, mild-mannered neighbors in comparison.

For Rosalie's family, that relationship had been distressing to say the least. The snotty, obnoxious girl who frequently made gossip rag magazine headlines was not the Rose they knew. It had taken a fall from grace and finding Alice again to get Rosalie back on the right track privately.

Publicly…well, there was no such thing as bad publicity. The Volturi network wanted to create a show that would be direct competition to Tyra. Rosalie's razor sharp tongue and quick wit had made her a shoe-in for the host position. So, while she had dumped Royce and calmed down considerably, her diva behavior still sold well on television.

Three years ago, Bella had been an office assistant on the Access Entertainment show that taped in a different section of the same studio.

As part of a deal they worked out after their break-up, Royce had been given specific instructions to deliver a very sensitive package directly to Rosalie. He had run into Bella instead and, according to him, the girl had given her his word that she would take the tape that he gave her straight to Rosalie. He had told her it was very important and very, very private - could he trust her with this task. Bella had assured him that she understood the sensitive nature of the package and that he could rely on her.

That night, as Royce no doubt had hoped, the tape lead Access Entertainment's report, and Bella was suddenly promoted to a much more prestigious position.

Tanya whistled. "Why didn't I know about this?"

"It all happened right when the girls were born," Rosalie said slowly. An understanding look came over Tanya's face then. She'd had complications toward the end of her pregnancy and both she and the girls had spent time in the hospital.

"I didn't find out about it until much later," Emmett told his wife, squeezing her knee apologetically. "And by then I didn't see any reason to stress you out. Rosie just wanted to forget about it, you know?"

Tanya nodded, patting Emmett's hand to assure him he wasn't in trouble. Then she looked up at Edward. "Have you thought about what you're going to do legally?"

Edward smiled wanly. "I''m hoping it won't come to that. There's no reason why two logical adults can't come to a mutual understanding, even in this situation."

"Good luck," Rosalie scoffed.

"Do you really think she would try to keep Edward away from his own child?" Esme asked fretfully. "I'm not saying that she didn't wrong you terribly, Rosalie, but that was business. This is something altogether different."

"Jasper's really nice," Alice contributed, watching Rosalie's face carefully as she spoke, "and Bella is his best friend. She can't be all bad."

"You hardly know Jasper," Rosalie muttered, but her tone wasn't as forceful as before. Alice reached over and threaded their fingers together. She knew that Rosalie was having a hard time as both situations affected her deeply.

Not the least of Rosalie's worries was that Bella was going to do the same thing she had done before. After all, Rosalie was a sex symbol for many men and now Bella knew she had a female partner – something that Rosalie had thus far managed to keep out of the press.

It wasn't that she was ashamed of Alice or that she wanted to hide their relationship. Rosalie just didn't want Alice dragged into her public life. It was something they had agreed upon when they got together several years ago. Rosalie knew that she couldn't keep her public and private lives separate for that much longer, especially not after the baby was born, but she certainly didn't want Bella Swan to be the one to break the story, and she wanted just a little more time. She hated that a person she loathed so much held a secret of hers yet again.

"Well, you know if you need representation I'm here to help you," Tanya offered, breaking Rosalie out of her brooding. Rosalie brightened at that suggestion. Tanya was a very successful lawyer. Even if she couldn't personally take the case, family law not being her specialty, she would know someone who could.

"I'm hoping it doesn't get to that point," Edward reiterated.

His sister-in-law chewed slowly. "You need to protect your rights, Edward. Do you know what you want?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, are you going to go after joint custody? And if you want to put any restrictions on Bella, you should think about what those are," Tanya said matter-of-factly.

"Restrictions?" Edward echoed. He had stopped eating completely and looked distinctly pale.

"You know, if you don't want her to take the baby out of the state or the the country without your permission. Things like that."

Aside from Rosalie, who was nodding along, and the girls, who were too busy swapping carrot and celery sticks to find their perfect set, the rest of the family looked a little uncomfortable at Tanya's line of questioning. Alice looked borderline angry. It seemed so unjust. Jasper hadn't been anything but understanding about the whole ordeal. He wasn't making any demands at all and showed no indication that he was even thinking in that direction.

"I don't… I hadn't…," Edward stumbled. He looked so wide-eyed and overwhelmed it would have been comical in other circumstances. Edward was always so carefully controlled.

"Well," Alice said smoothly, "There's still plenty of time."

Taking Alice's queue, Emmett grinned and did what he did best – he changed the subject. "So tell us about this Jasper character."

Alice brightened considerably even while Rosalie's scowl deepened. "I like him. A lot."

"You should hear them," Rosalie said, her voice betraying her irritation. "You'd have thought they've known each other for years."

"But that's a good thing, right?" Esme said gently.

"I think it's a good thing," Alice confirmed, fixing Rosalie with a look that indicated they'd talked about it before – at great length. Rosalie said nothing, but folded her arms over her chest defensively. "More than just this whole situation, he's a lot of fun. Do you know that he actually knew where to find maternity clothes in my size that aren't all frilly?"

Emmett's eyebrows shot up. "Dude knows where to shop for maternity clothes?"

Alice nodded excitedly. "He knows where to shop for anything you can imagine. You should see him, Emmett. I can't even describe his wardrobe. It's just this bizarre mixture of casual, beat poet and…I don't know, pirate," she giggled. "It should look horrible, but somehow, on him…it works."

"Are you sure you weren't separated at birth?" Emmett laughed. Then he yelped as Tanya elbowed him sharply. "What?"

The rest of the family just shook their heads.

A little later that afternoon, Carlisle went looking for Edward who had quietly disappeared at some point after lunch. He found his son in his room.

It wasn't technically Edward's room of course. Since the family had moved to Los Angeles mainly to keep up with Rosalie, none of the Cullen children had been raised there. Edward had never lived in this house, but when Esme and Carlisle had purchased it, they'd made sure it had room for all of their children to have their own space and then some. Hence, whenever Edward visited, that room was his.

Edward looked completely lost in thought. He was lying on his bed, his arm thrown over his eyes, but Carlisle could tell his son wasn't sleeping. He sat at the window seat and simply waited, knowing Edward would talk only when he was ready and lending his unwavering support until then.

After what seemed like a long time to both men, Edward finally spoke. "I want to believe I'm doing the right thing – insisting on being involved in this child's life."

Carlisle considered this for long enough that Edward moved his arm to see if his father was still there. The older man sighed. "I can't answer that question for you, Edward.

"I've never believed there is a set standard to what a child should have. I've seen good people come from single parent homes, same-sex parent homes, being raised by their grandparents… just as I've seen troubled people come from every situation," Carlisle mused thoughtfully. As a child psychologist, he'd had a lot of time to think this particular topic through.

"But it seems to me that the biggest difference is love. Many of the kids who wind up in my office… one or both of their parents resent them in some way. Raising a child is incredibly difficult and frustrating at times." He smiled fondly and raised an eyebrow at Edward. "Think about your sister's tantrums. Or how many times we found your brother at the top of some impossibly high tree. Or you… when you refused to talk to us for days on end, at four, that was … beyond maddening."

Edward couldn't help but chuckle at that.

Carlisle's smile turned serious. "Of course, for me it was always worth it. I wouldn't have traded you kids for anything, not even on your worst day. Not even when you seemed to coordinate your worst days. But for some, it can seem like a completely thankless ordeal. When that happens the child invariably knows that he is a burden instead of a gift, and the repercussions of that can be devastating.

"I suppose what I'm trying to say is that it depends on your mindset." Carlisle stared at his son steadily, knowing that he needed to hear these things before it was too late. "I know that having a child wasn't what you wanted. If you choose to be in this child's life, then it is a lifetime commitment. And I can't tell you what will happen with Bella, but making this decision also ensures that you will always have to deal with her as well. If she proved to be difficult, you'd be dealing with her for eighteen years at the very least. Could you put up with that and not let the child see your frustration? If you can't get over your resentment that you were put in this situation through no fault of your own, if you can't honestly and truly love a child that you didn't help create…then perhaps it would be better to leave Bella and her baby alone."

"I can't do that," Edward whispered, his voice small and overwhelmed. He understood what his father was saying. Over the last two weeks, it hadn't really sunk in to him that he was talking about a flesh and blood child - another life he would be partially responsible to raise, teach and protect. The idea of a baby had seemed abstract until Tanya started using words like joint custody.

He felt...alarmingly empty when he thought about the baby. He had no attachment to it. When Tanya was pregnant, he remembered a joyful feeling of anticipation. He adored his beautiful nieces, even before they were born.

But he really couldn't tell if he felt nothing for this baby because he never would or because he felt nothing for its mother. After all, Katrina and Irina were his brother's daughters. Part of Edward's joy grew out of Emmett's joy. He had no connection to Bella for that feeling of love to grow from. Right now, his child was just a vaguely baby shaped mass of blood and tissue that he couldn't see. At least, he assumed he couldn't see it... Alice wasn't showing yet and she was slighter than Bella was.

Maybe it was like the saying always said. Women become mothers when they get pregnant. Men become father's when they see their baby. Maybe he would love the child instantly.

But what if he couldn't?

Still, Edward couldn't imagine just letting Bella go. When he had agreed to help Rosalie and Alice, he had not taken the responsibility of bringing a child into this world lightly. He himself would never have had a child with someone he didn't trust. He trusted his sister, of course. He trusted Alice. He had known Alice almost all of his life and knew that she would make a fantastic mother.

Beyond his family, there were very few people that Edward trusted.

Now, that sense of responsibility, and all the reservations he had about bringing a new life into this world remained. Edward was simply not one to shirk his responsibilities. He had no way of knowing if Bella would raise this child in a way he would agree with. He had no way of knowing if she was one of the monsters - like the parents whose children ended up in his father's office.

No, he couldn't imagine letting a life he was, even remotely, responsible for creating just wander off into the abyss.

For a few moments, Carlisle said nothing. Then he stood, making sure that Edward was looking at him before he spoke. "Edward, you have so much love in you. I have no doubts that you'd make an excellent father, if that's what you wanted to be. I think that… a good parent knows that doing what's best for their child isn't necessarily doing what's easier for them."

He patted his son on the shoulder and offered what reassurance he could. "Alice is right. There's plenty of time yet before hard decisions have to be made. Hopefully, Bella will call and you can see where you stand from there."

~0~

It was Tuesday and Bella had not called. That was when Edward decided to try a different tactic. He got Rosalie to let him into the studio, and then set off in search of Bella in the bustling Access Entertainment offices.

He found her on an interview set, following a woman with outrageously curly, fantastically red hair around with a clipboard.

They both stopped short when they spotted Edward. The red-head put on a smile that Edward recognized. He got it frequently when he was out with Rosalie as a lot of people automatically assumed he was a movie star or a model.

Bella's eyes widened in surprise, but then she was scowling.

"Hello, are you looking for someone?" the red-head asked in a high pitched baby-voice. The chick should be doing cartoon voiceovers.

"Actually, I was looking for Bella," Edward said.

Almost instantly the red-head's smile dropped. She whirled on Bella. "You know personal visits aren't allowed on the set," she all but growled.

"He wasn't invited, Ms. Glenn," Bella said through gritted teeth, glaring up at Edward in earnest.

"Ah, you're Victoria Glenn," Edward said smoothly, offering his hand. Obviously caught off guard, and a little flattered, Victoria shook it. "She's right, I apologize. This is completely a surprise visit." His eyes found Bella's again. "I came to see if we might talk. Maybe over lunch?" Edward's eyes darted over to Victoria's. "Unless you're busy of course."

"It's a bad time, Edward," Bella snapped.

Victoria, her eyes narrowing like a snake, looked between the two, taking in the tense atmosphere that flowed between them. This was, she was sure, no friend of Bella's. Then she put on a wide smile - her distinctly predatory feline look. "No, Bella," she said, her voice absolutely reeking with false sweetness. Her breath probably smelled like cotton candy at that moment - all spun sugar and hot air. "Go on ahead. I have this."

Bella's mouth dropped and she started to protest, but Victoria would have none of it, shooing her out to take a 'well-deserved' break.

Seeing that she wasn't going to win this argument, Bella retrieved her purse and walked away from Edward as fast as she could. Of course, he kept up with her easily, his long legs matching her stride as he fell into step beside her.

She waited until they were outside before she even acknowledged his presence. "What do you want?"

Edward had to bite his tongue to keep from snapping at her. When he was sure he was in control of his temper he smiled. "I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have come unannounced, it's just that you haven't returned any of my calls."

"That's probably because I don't want to talk to you," Bella returned.

Biting back his anger, Edward tried again. "I don't blame you," he said honestly.

That caught Bella off guard. She squinted at him and he sighed. "Look Bella, I know we didn't get off on the right foot-"

"Yeah," she scoffed. "That tends to happen when you suggest I should get rid of my baby."

A wave of guilt washed over Edward then and he frowned. "I am truly sorry about my assumption. I spoke without thinking and I regret that. I know it was insensitive. Can you understand that I was in shock about the situation?"

She stared at him again, searching his eyes, but she couldn't see anything but sincerity there. The atmosphere between them seemed to change abruptly. Instead of the charge like angry thunder and lightening, there was a static feel to the air then. There was the sensation that they were standing waist deep in the ocean, the waves trying to gently push them toward the shore – toward each other. Bella's face seemed to soften minutely, unable to keep her anger after his words and through the confusing, unfamiliar sensations she was feeling. "I can understand that," she said finally, grudgingly.

Edward seemed to visibly relax. "Will you let me take you to lunch? I know quite a few great places nearby," he offered.

Bella didn't like that some long forgotten part of her seemed to jump at the thought - like she was some teenager who'd just gotten asked out by the prom king. And she was irrationally annoyed at his subtle boast. From Jasper, she knew that he was a food critic and doubtless knew of all the best places to eat in the city.

On principle, people in Bella's industry were supposed to hate critics. She just needed to keep reminding herself of that. "Why?" she demanded.

He looked perplexed. "I was hoping we could talk…about the baby."

"My baby isn't any of your business," she snapped, glad that the anger was returning of its own volition now.

Edward stared at her incredulously. "How can you say that? It isn't just your baby."

"I didn't get knocked up on some one night stand, okay? I was responsible. I chose this baby, you didn't," she insisted stubbornly.

"Look," Edward said, pinching the bridge of his nose to try to keep his temper in check, "I'm trying to be nice here. Neither of us asked to be put in this situation. I understand that. But the bottom line is that you're carrying my child. I'm not going to walk away. If you try to keep me away, I will involve my lawyer."

Bella's whole face flushed with livid indignation and she opened her mouth to yell, but he was too quick.

"Bella, I don't want to do that," he said in that soft, sincere voice from her voicemails. Added with his eyes - deep and completely earnest - it was hard to not believe him. "I know this isn't what you wanted, but this is what you got. Can't we attempt to be friends first?"

She was still glaring, looking like she was attempting to come up with a bad enough name to call him. Then, suddenly, her lower lip was quavering, and she turned away quickly.

"Are you crying?" he asked, horrified when she brought the backside of her hand up to wipe her eyes. She might have been several shades of pain in the ass, but he didn't want to make her cry. It surprised him how much it made his heart twist.

"No," she insisted. "The baby obviously can't distinguish fury from sorrow," she muttered darkly.

He looked at her and his mouth twitched at the corners - upward, downward, upward, downward - as if he couldn't decide if it was okay to laugh. Bella looked up and saw the conflicting emotions on his face and then she let out a soft chuckle.

Sniffling the last of her tears away, Bella took a deep breath, attempting to see reason in this shitstorm of a situation. "You're right," she admitted quietly. "I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize," Edward said, his voice and eyes soft as he looked at her. He seemed so sincere.

"No, I do. I don't have to make things more difficult. I've been acting like you did this on purpose." She frowned, realizing in retrospect that she'd been rather unfair. This situation had to have been almost as difficult on him.

They were silent for another moment, regarding each other with curiosity, as if they were searching for a hint of falseness, or a catch. "Will you let me take you to lunch?" Edward asked carefully. "Maybe get to know each other a little?"

Again, Bella took a deep, calming breath, shaking off the immediate urge to say no. "Yes, but I'm choosing the place."

Edward opened his mouth to protest - he was a picky bastard about food and he knew it - but then he caught the challenging look in her eye. It was a test, he realized. She obviously knew that food was a control point for him.

He couldn't help but admire her then. For her small stature, she was obviously a tough cookie. He found himself smiling before he realized it. "Alright, Miss Swan," he said easily. "I can compromise."

A/N: Yay. They're talking. Wonder how that will go. ::waggles eyebrows::

Um, huge thank you to josieswan for beta'ing this beast and arguing with me when I needed to be argued with. MWAH.

I'm a sucker for pregnancy stories. Everything about pregnancy fascinates me. How did you tell special people you were pregnant?