Author's Note:

Hi everyone. Sorry I haven't been on top of updating this story. I will finish it (everyone's famous last words, right?) but I don't know how often I will be updating. I write to escape reality and to tell stories that dance in my head. As of now, I have a lot of changes in my life going on. One of which my dad was just diagnosed with cancer and given a certain amount of time. I don't know what the future months will hold or how quick I will be at updating but I wanted to let you guys know I do plan on finishing this story.

With that being said, i would love to know what you think of the chapter. There might be typos and I apologize. I've tried to finish this chapter and it morphed into many different versions. I liked this version the best.

Thanks to everyone reading and to those who added me to their favorite lists. It's appreciated!

-Lisa

Chapter Twenty Six

Bella's head felt like someone was drilling into it. She slowly opened her eyes. She was in an unfamiliar room. She heard beeping. She lifted her head and strained to see the IV in her arm reach to the pole that held medication going into her body. She gently rested her head again on the pillow and looked on her other side. Carlisle was sleeping and looked very uncomfortable. Her body ached in ways that she had never felt before. She took a deep breath, which caused her to wince.

"The patient is awake, excellent."

"Edward? Wha-what happened to me?" Bella asked as she closed her eyes before closing them again.

"You don't remember?" Edward questioned as his hands reached into the pockets of his white jacket.

Opening her eyes, she told Edward what she could remember. "I went looking for Charlotte and Peter was driving with me and I asked Peter to get me my phone and- oh my god, is Peter okay? Where is he?" Bella cried as she shot up in bed.

Carlisle slowly opened his eyes and saw that Bella had awaken. "Bella," he said as he stood up. He stood across from Edward and held Bella's hand. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. Tears flowed from his eyes too. "Bella, I'm so glad you woke up."

"Peter, Carlisle. Where is Peter? Is he okay?" Bella continued to cry.

Bending down to kiss her head, Carlisle let the tears fall to her cheek. "He's fine, well he has two bruised ribs and a few broken fingers but he is fine. He's on the pedi ward. They want to make sure he is okay. He'll probably be released tomorrow. They want to make sure he doesn't have any head injuries," Carlisle explained holding onto her hand.

"And Charlotte?"

Edward chimed in. "Is fine too. She is at my house with Alice. Bella, do you remember what happened?"

"Peter and I were going to look for her. I was so worried about Carlisle. He was seeing red and I wanted to make sure he was calm when we had brought Charlotte home. I went to call you and that's all I remember," Bella recalled. "What happened to me?"

Seeing Carlisle was too overwhelmed with emotion to speak, Edward began to explain. "Well Ms. Swan, it would appear that you were on the phone and driving. You swerved onto the other lane of traffic and hit a tree. No one else was involved however you did miss a mack truck. You and Peter both are extremely lucky that this wasn't worse than what it is."

Nodding his head, Carlisle looked at Bella. "You have blue tooth Bella. You yell at me when I use my phone and call you while driving. What would posse you to use the phone and drive?"

"I was worried about you. I didn't want to bring Charlotte back to you being as angry as you were. I wanted Edward to go over to the house and calm you down," Bella reasoned as she squeezed Carlisle's hand.

Carlisle bent down and kissed Bella once more. "It's thoughtful but Bella, things could have been way worse. You or Peter might have been taken away from me. I can't replace you."

Bella sighed. She took a deep breath in and put her hand on her stomach. Immediately she noticed something wasn't right. "Where is she?"

"Where is who?" Edward asked.

Bella struggled to sit up. She looked at Carlisle in the eye. "Where is she Carlisle? Emily, where is she?" She didn't give Carlisle a chance to answer when she looked at him. "Edward where is she? Where is my baby?" Bella finally yelled.

Edward and Carlisle looked at each other. Both were silent. Belle begin to cry. "Carlisle? Edward? Where is she?"

Carlisle placed and arm on Bella's shoulder. "Honey, just-"

"Do not tell me to calm down damn it! What happened because she obviously isn't inside me anymore!" Bella yelled as Edward quickly moved to her side.

"Bella, take a deep breath. Calm-"

"Don't you dare Edward Masen, don't you dare! I just want to know where she is." Silence fell into the room before it was quickly broken by Bella's cries. She took her hand from Carlisle and covered her face. A sob left her mouth before she began again. "I don't think I can survive if I lost another child. Please tell me that I didn't lose her, please?"

Carlisle reached out to touch Bella but she quickly moved. "Bella-"

"Stop Bella-ing me! Please, please just tell me she survived. I can't take it if I lost another baby." Sobs were heard as Bella paused. "Carlisle, I can't take loosing another child. I don't want to hold another lifeless baby in my arms and mourn. Please tell me she is okay. Tell me that Emily is alive and she is healthy and well. I promise I'll never drive again. I'll never use a cell phone. Just tell me our baby is alive." After stating her pleads, Bella leaned into Carlisle and cried. She felt a hand on her shoulders rubbing them.

"She is in the nursery," Edward told her as Bella stared at him. He squeezed her hand. "She's all there, all six pounds three ounces and sixteen inches of her. She's healthy and has a set of lungs on her. She's beautiful, probably the most beautiful baby I've ever seen. I might be biased though because she's my goddaughter." Edward paused and pretended to be serious. "You never said anything but I just assumed she'd be my goddaughter."

"Oh Dr. Masen one should never assume. You might make an ass of yourself," Carlisle tried to make a joke which didn't come out the way he planned.

Edward shook his head. "Since when did you become a comedian? You've been hanging out with Bella for too long."

Laughing through her tears, Bella nodded. "Of course she is. There is no one else we'd want to be her godfather." Pausing to look at Carlisle, Bella spoke again. "She's really okay? Have you seen her?"

"She's perfect Bella, absolutely perfect. Here, take a look," Carlisle said taking his hand from her shoulder. He stared at his phone and quickly showed Bella. "She looks like both of us. She has your hair and nose."

"But those cheeks, she's you. You can totally tell that she is yours," Bella said staring at the first images of her healthy baby.

"Did you have any doubts?" Carlisle asked.

Looking at Carlisle, she sat up and reached for him. He reached down and met her lips. She spoke as their lips touched. "Absolutely not. Thank you for dealing with my crazy just a few minutes ago. I- I was just scared and now I want to meet hero. I want to meet our daughter."

"Bella you can't get out of bed," Edward reminded her. "You were in a serious car accident. Your car is totaled and you've been out of it for almost a day and a half. You need to be evaluated and tests need to be ran to make sure you are okay."

Looking at her best friend, she nodded. "Edward, I had a baby! I want to meet her. I am her mother. I want to-"

"I know but you also need to get better or else you won't be of any use to her when you go home," Edward explained. He watched as Bella let go of Carlisle's hand and laid back into her bed. He watched as Bella cried. He took a deep breath and felt bad. "Look, I'll get your doctor to come in here soon and make sure he runs the tests fast and thoroughly. You won't be able to go to the nursery but maybe, just maybe if your doctor gives you the okay, we can see if the baby can come to you." Edward then turned his attention to Carlisle. "I know Peter is here too and he's going to be released today or tomorrow. Will you stay here with Bella or be going home with him? Alice and I don't mind him staying with us for a little while. Charlotte is already there."

"I don't know. I've been going back and forth between the two rooms. I must have crashed here." Carlisle explained as he paused and looked like Bella. She looked scared. He felt bad about leaving Bella but he thought his son might need him too. "I'll check in with him to see what he wants to do and we'll all discuss it."

Nodding, Edward looked at Bella. "I'll go see about those tests and come back."

Carlisle walked over to the bed and pulled the siding down and laid with Bella. He wrapped his arms around her. They laid in silence for just a few seconds. He spoke first. "You scared the shit out of me Bella."

"I didn't mean to. I was really worried about you. I had never seen you that upset before and I wanted to make sure you were okay. Ironic isn't it? I was worried about you and I'm here," Bella sadly said.

"It's all going to be okay now Bella. It's fine."

"And Charlotte? How is she?"

Carlisle turned carefully to look at Bella. "She's okay. She's upset at herself, I think because of this. She hasn't said much."

"Has she seen Emily yet?"

"No. She hasn't said much to me."

Bella turned and looked at Carlisle. "Do you think we are back to square one with her again? Do you think she is going back to being that confused-"

"Bratty girl?" Carlisle interrupted her. Bella raised an eyebrow. Carlisle was never so honest about Charlotte's behavior before. "I don't know but I can't take it. She needs more therapy or maybe a different therapist, I don't know. Maybe family sessions with her and I? I don't know but she really has to change her attitude now. I don't want to talk about her now. I want to concentrate on getting you better and taking you, Peter and Emily home."

"I want to hold her Carlisle. I won't be able to feed her like we talked about," Bella told Carlisle with a sigh.

Knowing she was upset about this, Carlisle smiled. "I already thought about that. Um, your doctor and I spoke about it."

"Really? What are we going to do? I'm on god knows what for medication and I don't want her to have it. It takes some medication two weeks to get out of your system."

"Well, for now she is on formula, which she isn't crazy about. We are going to express your milk and throw it away. When it is deemed okay and safe and longer contain medication, you can start to feed her yourself and pump and do whatever you talked about," Carlisle promised.

"Won't it be hard to introduce it to her?"

"Worse case scenario is she won't take and we go back and give her formula."

"You really thought about this, didn't you?" Bella smiled looking at the man she loved.

"I did and I consulted with your doctor. He hasn't given you anything that will be in your system longer than a few days. He made sure before he gave it to you," Carlisle confirmed.

"Knock, knock," Edward said coming through the door. "Hello again. So this is the deal, you'll have your tests within a half hour. They should last maybe forty minutes. We will see if you can walk a little bit, we don't want to push it. You'll have something to eat and if you are feeling up to it, I will personally make sure your daughter is in your room to meet you."

"Really?" Bella beamed. Then she thought. "I might be pushing my luck but can I see Peter too?"

"I have checked on him and he's still sleeping but you can see him as soon as he is awake. It's almost midnight so that might have to wait until the morning, however, Miss Emily is much like her mother. She beats to her own drummer and she is not on anyone's schedule but her own," Edward continued."

"This is great, but when do I get to meet my doctor?"

"Oh, I can introduce you," Edward said as he turned around for just a moment. He turned again wearing his name tag and looked at his friend. He extended his hand. "Hello, I'm Dr. Masen and I am your doctor in charge of your case."

"How? Doesn't the hospital have rules against that?" Bella inquired.

"We were short staff and I was already working when you came in. There was no one else available when you came in and I had to. I think I'm doing a pretty good job," Edward explained to her.

"The best care we could ask for," Carlisle agreed.

Edward's pager went off. "I have to check in with a patient but I will be back. I've also put in a rush order on the test results. If everything is good, you should be able to go home in a day or so. Possibly as early as the day after tomorrow. I'm trying my best to time your release the same time as Peter and Emily's release, but we won't know anything for sure until the test results are back."

"That is great news, thank you Edward," Carlisle told his friend.

Edward soon exited the room. Just a few minutes later, nurses came into the room to get Bella to take her to have her tests done. In that time, Carlisle went to spend time with his new daughter. As Edward had told Bella, at almost twelve thirty in the morning, the baby was wide awake. As he stared into her opened eyes, he cried. He was eternally thankful that his family was safe. Everyone he loved was safe. That was all that mattered to him.

"Are you excited?" Edward asked while he sat with Bella. Carlisle was bringing the baby down to Bella's floor. It wasn't the normal procedure of the hospital, however after Edward and Carlisle both asked for special permission, they made an exception.

"Do you really have to ask?" Bella giggled.

Shaking his head, Edward really looked at Bella. She had bruises on her head and was sore. Her tests had come back normal. She would be able to go home the following day. He was scared because he thought he was going to lose his sister, his best friend and her baby. He had flashbacks and shook his head and got back to reality. "I guess not."
"Are you okay? You were kind of not really here a minute ago."

"I'm fine. I'm tired, I've been here for almost fifty hours. Most of all, I was worried about you."

"But I'm fine now, right?" She waited to see Edward nod his head before continuing in a whisper. "I can't help to think that my carelessness put not only my life at risk by also Peter and Emily."

Edward shook his head. "It's over and done with, move on from it and never do it again, do you understand?"

"Yes, I really do."

Edward pulled the chair close to her. He gripped her hand and felt water come to his eyes. "I mean it Swan. I don't know what I would ever do without you. You have been my little sister, my cheerleader and my best friend for all of my life. I don't think I would know what to do without you."

"Well, let's be thankful that we won't have to find out today. Thank you for taking care of me. Between you and Carlisle, I have the best care anyone could ask for. I know just how much I am loved."

Laughing, Edward stood up. "I need to talk to you about one other thing and let me just say it and please don't interrupt me because, well, because it has to do with you and your girl parts, I don't want to say it again." Bella thought she knew what he was going to tell her and she tried to interrupt him but he continued on. "Just let me say this. I know you want to feed her through your bo-breasts and with your milk. I went through the liberty of checking, double and triple checking to make sure the medication we gave you is okay for nursing mothers, and it is. If you are uncomfortable about that you can pump and dispose of the breast milk with the medication in it. We can test it to make sure it is safe. If you don't feel comfortable with that, you can give her your milk in two weeks. That is how long it takes some times for the medication to leave your system. Any questions?"

"None at all."

"Good then can we not about your boobs?" Edward asked as the door opened.

Carlisle entered rolling the crib. "Why are we talking about Bella's boobs?"

"I was explaining the breast feeding idea we had," Edward explained.

Looking at Bella with a look of confusion on his face, Carlisle stopped. "Didn't you tell him that we already discussed it?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Bella smiled. "I tried but he said no interruptions."

"Swan! Ugh, I can't believe you let me talk about that and you knew!" Edward stated.

"Try being me. It was just as uncomfortable for me as it was for you."

"I doubt that," Edward mumbled under his breath as he stood up and pulled the chair away to make room for the crib. He watched as Bella sat up with anticipation as Carlisle rolled the crib next to Bella's bed. "Here is the princess of the hour."

Smiling, Bella looked at Carlisle. She was tired and exhausted but she wanted nothing more to feel her daughter in her arms. "Give her to me please!"

Carlisle picked the fussy baby up and carried her to her mother. Gingerly, put the baby on Bella's chest.

"Oh my god," Bella said crying. "Well, hello there. You've met your daddy and your Uncle Edward but you haven't met me. I'm your mommy sweet baby. Oh my baby girl," she cried as she picked the baby up and cradled her. Emily snuggled into her mother resting her head on her breast. While she leaned down to kiss the newborn, Bella reflected on Sean. She went through the same motions with her son but he was taken from her. He didn't survive, but Emily was here and in her arms. "You have so many people who love you all ready. Have Esme and Ed been by?"

Edward shook his head. "No. They are on their way home from Alaska visiting my aunt and uncle. They couldn't get a flight, it was a mess but they should be here in time to see you at home."

"Well Miss Emily, you are in for a treat. Wait until you meet Nana and Pa-Pa. They are going to adore you."

"Pa-Pa?" Edward asked grimacing.

"Yes. I can't picture Ed as a grandpa, so I kind of thought Pa-Pa."

"I think he'd like Grampy," Edward added.

Bella laughed. "We'll wait to talk to him when he gets here." Bella paused to gaze at the baby sleeping soundly. She looked at Carlisle once more. "She's really ours, right?"

"Yes, that she is," Carlisle laughed as he kissed both Emily and Bella's heads.

"Can she spend the night in here, with me? I don't want to give her back. I want her near me," Bella asked.

"I think that can be managed, especially if dad here stays with you," Edward replied. "Let me go ask to make sure."

As Edward left the room, Bella noticed Carlisle put his phone down. As she looked at him cock headed, he smiled. "I filmed your first few moments together. Bella," Carlisle said moving to the side of Bella's bed. He sat next to Bella and beamed. He leaned over and kissed her before speaking again. "You did it. She's here, your both healthy and Peter too. I'm so blessed. I love you so much."

Crying, Bella looked into Carlisle's crystal blue eyes. "I love you too very, very much. You are the best thing in my life. You shared your children with me and now you made me a parent of our own child. Love doesn't seem to even start to explain how I feel about you."

Carlisle stroked Emily's back and looked at Bella. "You know, Edward has been bugging me for a while now, well, since we got back together. He's been wondering when I am going to put a ring on your finger and make you my wife." He watched as Bella's tired eyes grew wide. "I want to, but I need to wait for the perfect time to ask you. Our first moments together, the three of us are special enough to hold on to I don't want to overwhelm it." As he started to get nervous and even mumble, he took a breath and continued. "I want you to know Isabella Elizabeth Swan, I plan on asking you to be a Cullen, it just won't be today but sooner than later."

Speaking softly, Bella looked at Carlisle. "And I'll tell you then what I would tell you right now, yes, yes I want to marry you and be your wife. You made me a parent before Emily came along by sharing your children with me. I have never been happier than I am right now. I love you Carlisle."

Carlisle stood up and kissed Bella as the door opened. Edward came back in. "Okay you two, cut it out. There is a child in the room for god's sake. This is the deal. We are going to change your room. There is a postpartum suit available and you will go up there. Carlisle is welcome to stay. There is a couch that folds out. My niece can stay there too. If you need anything there are nurses that can help you. If you don't go home tomorrow you will the following day. The suit is comfortable and a nice place to rest, much better than this floor. There will be a nurse who will take you up momentarily. I will be back tomorrow with Alice and Charlotte. You two get some rest. You'll need it."

Bella leaned into Edward, kissed his cheek and hugged him close. "Thank you for taking care of me big brother. I love you."