A/N: Two smaller chapters instead of one larger one… but onward!

It was surreal how normality snapped back like a rubber band when Carlisle and Esme brought Kaylee home. One minute they were both tense, both still shaken and uncertain, the next Kaylee was bounding through the door with a smile on her face as though nothing was wrong. In her little world, nothing was wrong. She'd had a lovely couple of hours out with her beloved grandparents. She dragged a reusable shopping bag full of goodies behind her as she scampered in their direction, and it likely didn't enter into her conscious thought at all that her parents had done anything in her absence.

"Daddy. Mommy. Look. Grandma and Grandpa bought me things!"

"Grandma and Grandpa bought you more things? Well, imagine my unending surprise," Edward said as he scooped his daughter up into his arms. "Grandma and Grandpa never get you things."

Kaylee giggled, a high pitched, sweet sound that lit Edward's world from the inside out. "You silly, Daddy. They get me things all the time."

"Oh, right. Right. Those grandparents." He peppered Kaylee's face with kisses until she giggled again. "Hmm. You taste like ice cream." Holding her at arm's length, he clucked. "Sugar, you're all sticky. Why don't you ask Mommy to help you change, hmm? I need to talk to Grandma and Grandpa."

"Okay." Kaylee reached her arms out for her mother.

Bella shifted Kaylee easily to one hip and reached a hand out to caress Edward's cheek-her quiet reminder they were on the same team even though the discussion between them had been heated. "Hold on tight to your new treasures, baby bird."

Watching his wife and daughter disappear upstairs, Edward thought back to a time when they weren't his.

Between her injuries and Kaylee's condition, Bella hadn't been able to see the baby with her own eyes for three days after her birth. She hadn't been able to hold the tiny girl, but now, five days later, it was finally time. Bella was practically vibrating with nerves and eagerness. Edward, sitting in his now customary spot by her bedside, reached out automatically to squeeze her arm. It wasn't the first time he'd touched her so casually, but Edward was aware of his mother's sharp eyes following his hand. Edward shifted in his seat and drew his hand back, twisting his fingers instead in the edge of Bella's blanket.

"Same as before, you'll be able to bring one person with you," the doctor said.

Bella took a deep breath. "Okay." She glanced around the room, but her eyes lingered on his. "Edward. Will you come with me?"

Edward's heart skipped a beat. He'd fully expected her to ask his mother. "Is that what you want?"

"Yeah." Emotional as she was, her voice shook when she spoke. She looked again at Carlisle and Esme, her glance furtive. "I'm sorry. I wish I could take all of you, but-"

"It's okay, sweetheart," Carlisle said. He stepped to her side and squeezed her shoulder comfortingly. "Whatever you need. There's time for the rest of us."

"Time," she repeated and sniffled.

Ignoring his mother's sharp gaze, Edward found Bella's hand and twined their fingers together. "She's doing well, Bella. She'll be fine. I'll go. Of course I'll go with you."

Her smile was watery.

"We're ready then?" the doctor asked.

Bella sniffled again and nodded.

A trio of nurses and orderlies came forward then to help Bella out of her bed and into a wheelchair. Edward wasn't at all surprised when his mother pulled him to the furthest corner of the room.

"Edward, I know you're very upset at your brother. We all are, but he'll be back soon."

"Oh, I hope he comes back," Edward said through gritted teeth. He was careful to keep his tone low and even. His fingers flexed at his side. "I have a few things I want to say to him."

Esme sighed. "What I'm trying to say is, there's a lot of wrong in this whole situation. Be careful not to add to it."

"What are you talking about?"

"I know Bella is your friend, and you're hurting for her. She's very vulnerable right now-"

"No kidding. And whose fault is that?"

"No one is downplaying Jasper's part in this. Still, be careful you don't overstep your boundaries." Esme wrapped her fingers around his wrist, her tone still gentle. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

There was a lot Edward could have said. He wanted to deny her subtle accusation outright, but he couldn't. His mother knew him too well. As far as Edward was concerned, Jasper shouldn't have the right to call Bella or the baby his, but that didn't mean they were Edward's by default.

He jerked his head in a nod at his mother. "I would never push her, and I'm not trying to confuse her. She needs all our support right now, and if she wants me with her, I'm not going to argue with that. I'm not leaving her side until she orders me away."

Esme brushed her fingers through his hair. "I know. I know you wouldn't hurt her on purpose. Just be careful, Edward. This is such a complicated situation."

"Coming, Edward?" the nurse asked.

Edward looked away from his mother over to where Bella watched him with an anxious expression. He pushed away everything else in his head and smiled a reassuring smile. "Of course," he said as he stepped to her side.

Edward shook off the memory as he turned to his parents in the present time. They didn't say a word at first. His mother hugged him, and when she let go, his father followed suit. Edward hugged them both back just as fiercely, swallowing down the thickness in his throat as he stepped back. "I need to know." His voice rasped as he spoke, and he couldn't bring himself to look them in the eyes. "I really need to know now. If it came to a fight. If Jasper tried to get his rights to Kaylee back, whose side would you be on?"

Esme gasped, but it was Carlisle who spoke. "Is that what Jasper decided? Is that what he really wants?"

"No." Edward grimaced. "No. He said he doesn't know what he wants except he wants to meet her. But you know what the lawyer said. Under the circumstances he left, if he didn't know the baby survived, he has a chance to get her back." He forced himself to look his parents in the eyes. "And if he had our lawyers-your lawyers, your support-he'd have a damn good chance."

"But he hasn't said he wouldn't do that," Esme said.

"No, Mom, but I need to know. I need to know now. Who would you choose? Me or him?"

"Edward. Don't raise your voice at your mother," his father admonished.

Edward closed his eyes and took a step backward, forcing himself to take a deep breath. "I'm sorry. That was out of line. I just…"

"Come on. Let's all sit down." Carlisle put his arm around his wife and gestured that Edward should lead the way to the living room. "Then you can tell us what happened from the beginning."

He had just finished summing up their conversation with Jasper when Bella came back downstairs without Kaylee. "I put on The Little Mermaid," she said by way of explanation.

Kaylee would be mesmerized for an hour and a half. The would likely have to put up with her singing for days on end, but she was adequately distracted.

"Regardless of Jasper's intentions, he's right about one thing," Carlisle said. "He's home for good now, and you're going to have to learn how to deal with each other amicably."

Edward laughed, a sound entirely without humor. "So you believe him. You think he's actually going to stick around this time?"

"He wasn't prone to disappearing before. He's only done it the one time," Esme said.

"For three years." Edward closed his eyes and took a deep breath, forcing himself to lower his voice lest he draw Kaylee's attention. "And dependable wasn't exactly on his list of defining characteristics before that."

"What would you have us do?" Carlisle asked. "He asked to stay with us. He asked for our support."

"And you gave it, no questions asked."

"On the contrary, we asked a lot of questions. He gave me, he gave both of us, his word he wouldn't leave again."

"Okay, so he gets to stay. Great. But what about the other thing? The thing none of us is even talking about?"

His father knew where he was going. "He's clean now. That I believe absolutely."

"Now, sure. Everytime he swore he'd get clean, that he'd stay clean,you always believed him; we all did, and he let us down every time. Every single time."

"Edward." Carlisle put both his hands on Edward's shoulders and looked him square in the eyes. "None of us has the luxury of denial anymore. Jasper is going to stumble. He's going to mess up somewhere along the line. And yes, ultimately, he might fail, but I'm not going to expect it to happen. He needs us."

"Tough."

"It's your choice whether or not you can be part of your brother's support system." Carlisle looked to Bella. "You both have the most reason not to forgive him. But he's a part of our family." He gestured between himself and Esme. "He is welcome in our home as long as he's on the straight and narrow. I would hope you can at least listen to him tomorrow night, hear him out, before you make a decision that will affect how all of us can interact."

"And if he decides he wants to play daddy?"

This time it was his mother who answered. She reached past Carlisle to put her hand on Edward's knee. "I honestly don't think it will come to a fight. Your brother was a lot of disappointing things, but he's never been cruel. If you can find it in your heart to listen, I think you'll see he's struggling to start all over. He doesn't know where he fits with us anymore. He's not going to want to upset Kaylee's life."

On his other side, Bella took his hand. "We agreed to listen."

"You agreed to listen," Edward said.

Bella fixed him with a cool stare. "We've talked about this already. There's no point in jumping to conclusions. I'll hear him out even if you won't. If you're so sure he's going to fail, I'd rather let him build his own fire. What's the point of antagonizing him? What's the point of us making it ugly?"

Edward pushed to his feet and began to pace. "You're all so ready to forgive him."

"No. I know I'm not. I'm nowhere close to forgiving him, and I think you know that," Bella said.

"But you want to."

"It's a long way off, but I would prefer it, yes."

Edward shook his head. "Well, I would prefer he went the hell away."

"You don't mean that," Esme said. She sounded heartbroken. As much as Edward hated being the one to put that hurt in her voice, he was also too angry to apologize. "He's still your brother."

"I don't get a choice in that."

"It's the control, isn't it?" Carlisle's tone was still even, calm, though he rubbed Esme's shoulder as he spoke. "It's never comfortable when something is out of your control, and it's all the more terrifying when there's a child involved. Edward, I hope it goes without saying that you have your mother and my full support. No matter what happens, this is never going to be about you versus Jasper. You're Kaylee's father. That's not something Jasper can erase any more than you can erase her biology."

"Think about what you're wishing for, if not for you then for your parents," Bella said. "Jasper is their baby. What if it was Kaylee? What if we lost her and then we got her back?"

Anger and terror chased themselves down Edward's spine. Losing Kaylee was exactly what he was so afraid of. "Our baby is an innocent."

"But she won't always be."

Edward opened his mouth and shut it just as quickly.

"You can't imagine what a struggle it's been to have him back," Esme said. "Even right now, sitting here with you, I'm terrified we're going to go home and find him gone. I don't trust him, Edward. I don't trust my own son. There are so many answers I need, and I want all of them right now. But sweetheart, it's only been a couple of days. Less. None of us really knows what we're doing.

"What I do know is I love you. You, Bella, Kaylee. I love Jasper, too." She sniffled and reached for him. Edward stopped his pacing and held her hand, squeezing probably too tightly. "Our family has always been stronger together. We're going to be okay. Our normal is changing again, that's all." She brushed her thumb over his knuckles. "You remember the last time normal changed. It was so hard, but look how it all turned out."

Edward gave his mother an exasperated look, but his lips twitched upward. He sat down again and rubbed his tired eyes. "I hear you."

"I love you."

"I know, Mom. I love you, too."

"We're here for you. Do you hear that?" Carlisle asked.

Edward took another deep breath. "Yeah."

A new normal.

Edward considered the possibility after his parents left. He thought about it as he played with his little girl, helped Bella give her a bath, and then cuddled with his wife on the couch as they relaxed before the long work week ahead. He kissed the top of Bella's hair and sighed.

Before his brother reappeared, he and Bella were trying to decide if now was too soon to have another baby.

He liked the old normal just fine.

A/N: Many thanks to jessypt and barburella. Jfka06 is my musette. She has caught the plague from me from thousands of miles away. Send get well thoughts toward her! And me too. *hack hack hack*

Okay. Dinner next time. Promise.