A/N: Well, my friends. We come to the end of another tale. You'll be getting a posttake that will include what happens to Jasper and Emmett as well as how our little family is doing. You'll also be getting a pre-take because I really did love writing this Charlie. I just have to SEE what it was like for him, getting a call that his daughter, whom he had no idea existed, was in the hospital. Weee.

Onward.

"Mommy! You're going to fall over."

Bella snapped awake and sat up straight at the table. It took her a few muddled moments to figure out she'd started to doze off. With a groan, Bella rubbed at her eyes, trying to cast off the haze in her mind.

Edward came into the kitchen from where he had been in the living room. "What's going on?"

Katie, homework forgotten, hopped down from her chair and went to Edward. She took his hand, bringing him over to the table. "Mommy was swaying. I thought she was going to fall over on me. You have to take care of her."

"I'm fine," Bella said, tamping down an odd edge of irritation. She put her fingertips to her temples and pressed. "We're almost done, Katie. You're almost caught up from the days you missed. Just settle down a minute, and we can get everything done."

"Are you sure you're okay, Bella?" Edward sat next to her at the table. He tried to put his hand to her forehead, but she shrugged it off.

"I'm fine. It's just a headache." Some distant part of her was horrified at the anger in her tone. "Forget about it. Let's get this done, so we can get on with our lives."

"I can help Katie," Edward said, his tone gentle. "Maybe you should lay down a minute. You do look wiped."

"No," Bella said, the word coming out with a growl. "No. I can do this. This is important."

Bella worried nearly constantly that she couldn't be a good enough mother. Watching her father and Karen had been a revelation in what a good parent looked like, but she'd lived most of her life with her mother. Like she'd told Edward once, there had been a lot of good about her mother, but mostly, Renee shouldn't have ever tried to raise a child. Bella recognized that just like herself, Renee had wanted her baby, wanted to be a good mother. She'd simply been incapable at the end of the day.

Good mothers were patient and fastidious about things like homework. It was first grade, for fuck's sake. She could get through a round of first grade homework.

Bella ran a hand over her eyes, embarrassed. Why the hell did she feel like she was going to cry?

"Is it just your head that hurts?" Edward asked.

She blew out a gust of air, suddenly too tired to snap at him. Besides, his words had made her aware that beyond being tired-and she was exhausted-her whole body ached. "Everything," she said.

Katie gasped. "Oh no. Mommy, you're getting sick."

"Ugh. No. I don't have time to be sick."

"You have to put her to bed," Katie said, tugging on Edward's arm. "And make her take medicine."

Edward put a hand to Bella's forehead, and this time she let him. Now that Katie said it, she knew that was exactly what was happening. "You have a fever."

"I'm sorry, Mommy. I didn't mean to give you my sick."

Despite how rotten she felt, Bella smiled. She reached out to cup her daughter's cheek. "It's okay. I should have taken more vitamin C or something." She sighed and shook her head. "I can still help you finish. Then, I'll lay down."

"Uh oh," Edward said, eyeing Katie with a small smile. "You see, this is where you get your crankypants nature. You're a baby crankypants when you're sick. This is the mommy crankypants."

Bella made a face at Edward, though she knew he was right. She was moody as all hell.

Katie giggled. "Is she a sassy mommy crankypants?"

Edward shook his head. "No. She's a stubborn mommy crankypants. But that's okay. We know what's best for her."

Bella gave a little yelp as she found herself swept up into Edward's arms. "What are you doing?" she asked with a gasp, hanging on to his neck.

"I think Dr. Katie is right," he said, kissing her cheek tenderly as he carried her toward the stairs. "I'm going to put you to bed with some medicine to help you feel better."

"But the homework."

"I've got it tonight, Bella. It's okay." He put his lips close to her ear. "There's going to be a lot of homework. Lots of nights. Let me get this one."

With that, Bella gave up the fight. She sighed, resting her head on his shoulder. "I can walk, you know."

"I know," Edward said, but he still didn't put her down. He carried her to his room-the master bedroom-and asked Katie to turn down the blankets for him. "Take care of Mommy a minute, baby. I'm going to get her medicine."

Bella huffed, somewhat disgruntled at being taken care of, but she had to admit Katie in caretaker mode was adorable. Her daughter pulled the blankets up and tucked her in as best she could. "It's okay. I can rub your back."

"NyQuil knocks me out," Bella said, making a face when Edward came back into the room with water and medicine.

He perched on the edge of the bed and smirked. "That's the idea," he said, pouring the recommended dosage into the little plastic cup. "Sleep is good."

"Sleep is the best thing when you're sick, because it helps your body get better," Katie said, ever the know-it-all.

"Oh, well. I guess I can't argue with that," Bella said, dutifully swallowing the nasty stuff. She made a face.

"Don't worry, Mommy." Katie clambered into the bed beside her, and hugged her. "We'll take care of you."

The last of Bella's bad mood faded, and she squeezed her daughter's hand. She looked to Edward and saw there a reflection of her adoration. This family of hers was a wonderful, loving family. She extended a hand toward Edward and he took it, letting her pull him into bed. She sighed, feeling better as Katie stroked her hair with clumsy fingers and Edward stroked her back.

"I shouldn't have done that. You're going to get sick too," Bella said. Her eyelids drooped as drowsiness began to kick in. Katie was likely immune, seeing as she'd just been through this, but Edward was vulnerable.

He leaned forward and kissed her, a soft, quick peck. "Worth it."

Between them, Katie grinned. She was used to seeing her parents kiss by now, but it made her happy. "Go to sleep, Mommy," she said, copying Edward's tender kiss.

Bella yawned and let lethargy win. She closed her eyes. "Love you, ducks."

~0~

The next day, Katie got away from her teachers to find Edward several times throughout the day. She fretted about Bella. She'd wanted Edward to stay home to take care of her, but settled for calling her every few hours. It sucked that Bella was sick as much as it had sucked that Katie was sick, but he couldn't regret this new closeness with his daughter. She sat on his lap as she chatted with Bella.

"You need to stop running away from your teacher," Edward said to Katie when she was done talking to her mother. He left his class with the parent who was helping out that day and took his daughter by the hand to lead her back to where her class was playing outside.

"I know, but she won't let me call Mommy," Katie said, fixing him with a pout.

Edward ruffled her hair. "Mommy's fine. I promise she's taking care of herself."

Katie sighed dramatically. "I know, but I get worried."

He sent her off with a kiss on her cheek. His eyes followed her until he caught on that someone was glaring at him. Rosalie Hale, here at the school as one of the parent helpers for the day in the first grade class. He gave her a tightlipped smile and nodded. As he fully expected, she turned away without acknowledging the gesture.

The woman didn't like him. Not that he could blame her. She was a good friend of Emmett's, and the whole situation between all of them, in her estimation, was bullshit. She'd told Edward that to his face often enough. Edward thought it was likely that Emmett vented to her. He wasn't an idiot. He'd read the hate and anger in Emmett and Jasper's eyes more often than not, but they were smart enough not to let Edward or Bella hear it, for the most part. They all knew they had to play nice. Katie would suffer if they couldn't get along. Rosalie had no such qualms. She snipped as often as she was within earshot of Edward.

Thankfully, it wasn't often.

Shaking that off, Edward returned to his classroom. After he set his kids to a new task, he retreated to his desk to ponder a few things.

Katie was an obedient child. Even at the height of her acting out period, when she mistrusted her teacher, she hadn't run off. He wondered if she was like Bella in that way too-that there was still some part of her that thought her life was going to fall apart again. She'd had that one nightmare about losing Bella, after all.

It was natural, or so he'd been told by the therapists. It would be a while before Katie would trust that her world was stable. Probably sometime after everything became normalized-when they all, Emmett and Jasper included, got used to the situation as it was. She was better since Edward and Bella had begun to be demonstrably affectionate toward each other; that fit her definition of how parents should behave. As Emmett and Jasper got over their heartbreak, she would feel better, too. They weren't there yet; it was still too easy to read their agony, and Katie had to pick up on that.

They all had a ways to go, but looking back on where they had come from, Edward had every hope in the world everything would work out. At the start of all this, everything seemed like they were tiptoeing around a minefield of potential ugliness. The four of them and Katie were past that part at least.

The clatter of quick footfalls down the hallway drew Edward's attention. He looked up as one of the oldest kids peeked his head in the classroom. "Are you Mr. Cullen?"

A cold tendril of fear curled in the pit of Edward's stomach. He stood up. "Yes."

"Katie fell. She's hurt."

Edward was already running before the last word was out of the boy's mouth. The second he got out the doors, he could hear Katie crying. His stomach churned, and he ran faster.

A few days before, he'd told Bella that it would be his turn to panic someday. He never would have dreamed that day would come so soon. A million different scenarios played themselves out as he ran. It must have taken only seconds to get across the field, but it felt unforgivably longer.

As he got closer, he could hear that her cries weren't wordless. "Dadddddddyyyyy. Daddddy. I want my daddy!" she yelled, twisting in the arms of her teacher.

"I called them, sweetheart. I called your daddies," Rosalie was saying just as Edward pushed through the little crowd that had gathered. Some very small part of him was irritated at the gall she had, but he was too busy being terrified to react to that.

"Katie." He dropped to his knees beside her, relieved to see her in one piece and horrified all at once. Her leg. It was twisted at an odd angle. Broken. "Oh, honey."

"Daddy!" Katie pushed her teacher away and reached for him, winding her arms around his neck. "Daddy, I need you. Daddy, it hurts. Help me."

He gathered her close as carefully as possible, looking up as the school nurse knelt at their side.

"Everyone take a big step back," the nurse said in a booming voice.

"She got her leg caught on the top rung of the rope ladder," her teacher said, nodding at the equipment to the right of them. "She's been moving her head and back okay, I think."

Katie had turned her head into Edward's chest to muffle her cries there. She clung tightly to him when the nurse tried to pry her away.

"Katie, honey. I just need to look at your back, okay?" the nurse said.

"It's okay, baby. There's my brave girl," Edward pried her away from him and stroked her hair back, surreptitiously checking her head for bumps.

Katie whimpered, calming down considerably now. "I tripped on top," she said plaintively. "It hurts, Daddy."

"I know, baby girl. You're so brave. I'm proud of you." He eyed the nurse, watching her examination. Fear made his blood run cold, but he kept his tone steady. "Give us one more minute, and we're going to go to the hospital, okay? We'll get you feeling better."

"Her back and neck are fine, it looks like," the nurse said. She looked to Edward. "You want to drive her to the hospital?"

"Yeah, I've got her."

Katie shivered and huddled against him as soon as the nurse let her go. "Cold," she said.

"Shock," the nurse said, and she frowned. "It's normal, but it'd be better if someone else could drive so you can hold her. Keep her warm."

"If you drive, I can hold Katie," Rosalie said. "Katie, wouldn't you like to come with me?"

Katie knew Rosalie well. The woman had been her primary babysitter almost all her life when Emmett or Jasper had date nights. Rosalie's son Henry was one of Katie's best friends. So both Edward and Rosalie were surprised when Katie turned her head back into his chest and clung to his neck. "Want my daddy. Don't let me go, Daddy."

It struck Edward then that Katie had been calling him Daddy. It was him she'd wanted, him she'd been screaming for when she got hurt. He sucked in a breath, holding his daughter close to him. Rosalie had even told her she'd called Emmett and Jasper-her daddies. Katie still wanted him. "I've got you, baby girl," he said in a whisper near her ear.

Rosalie sighed. "I'll drive."

"Thank you," Edward said, meaning it. There was no part of him that wanted to let go of his baby girl.

~0~

Edward called his parents and asked them to pick Bella up. He knew Rosalie had called Emmett and Jasper. They were held back, of course. Bella was let through, although with a mask on since she was sick.

Katie was in much better spirits after she'd calmed down a bit. Her leg hurt, of course, but she was a brave little kid. She started asking questions quickly. "Emmy said once that he saw a man with his bone sticking out of his leg." She looked up to Edward with wide eyes. "Is that what's going to happen?"

"Oh, honey, no. No." Edward smoothed her hair and kissed her forehead. "It won't just pop out. I promise."

Across from him, holding Katie's other hand, Bella shook her head. She was a lot calmer too than she had been when she'd come running in here. "First sick and first hospital visit on our watch in one week. I'd appreciate it if you'd dial it back a notch, kiddo."

Katie gave her mother a perplexed look. "That mask makes you look funny," she said in the blunt way of children. "It's like in a zombie movie."

Bella pretended to look horrified. "How many zombie movies have you seen?"

"Zombies aren't real, Mommy. It's impossible to live on brains. That's science."

"Oh. That's a relief. What about vampires?"

If anything, Katie's expression became even more skeptical. "I don't know about vampires, but if they get hurt by the sun, wouldn't they be extinct? The sun is everywhere."

Edward cackled. "I always thought vampires were pretty dumb as monsters go."

By the time Katie had been examined, x-rayed, and casted, Carlisle and Esme had moved everyone off-site, back to Edward and Bella's house. Everyone who could be was there. Even Charlie had made it down. It was quite a bit more fanfare than a normal childhood injury necessitated, but Katie was precious to all of them. Charlie, Carlisle, and Esme's first grandchild. Emmett and Jasper had expected they would be the ones to hold her hand through something like this, so it made sense they wanted to be there.

Still, Edward couldn't help but wish they could have Katie to themselves just then. He wasn't ready to let her go just yet. He wanted to cuddle and coddle her just a bit. He wanted to be her only daddy for a few more hours.

Katie, somewhat stoned by drugs, was cooperative when Edward lifted her out of the car. Her casted foot hung down heavy, and she wasn't as animated as usual in his arms. But she brightened when the door open, and Emmett and Jasper peered out at her. Edward could see it was taking all their self-control not to run to the little girl, see for themselves that she was okay. He felt a rush of defensiveness, as though he could hear their thoughts. Would this have happened on their watch?

It was a ridiculous question. No parent could keep their child safe a hundred percent of the time. But regardless, Edward had to acknowledge he felt guilty - as though he should have been able to keep his daughter from pain. Emmett and Jasper still intimidated him in that way. They always seemed to know what they were doing as parents; Edward was still stumbling along.

"Hi! Look. I have a cast. The doctor said I could have pink, but I like blue better. You can draw on it," she said by way of greeting, reaching for Emmett and Jasper.

Reluctantly, Edward passed her to Jasper's arms. He and Emmett petted and hugged her, looking her over as if to find other wounds.

Katie was oblivious. She chattered, her eyes half-hooded. "I have crutches. Daddy said I can try them when I'm not stoned. What's that mean?"

Edward coughed into his hand, trying his hardest not to grin like an asshole. He could see Katie calling him Daddy had hurt the other two men. He didn't enjoy their pain, but he couldn't help the rush of glee that went through him.

He was still Daddy. To Emmett and Jasper's face, he was still Daddy.

Jasper smiled tightly at her. "It means you're high as a kite, sugar."

"Oooooh," Katie said as though she understood, though she clearly didn't.

They only visited for a little while. Katie had been near to passing out in the car. She got her second wind with all the attention she received, but that too faded quickly. She zonked out on the couch even as Emmett and Jasper doodled on her cast. Edward, understanding their need to do something for Katie, let them carry her to bed.

When they came back down, the grandparents had all retreated to the kitchen. Edward invited them to stay for dinner-pizza was on the way-but the couple refused. They weren't ready yet to be friends, though Edward very much hoped that was where all of this was heading.

Some day. Eventually.

When they said their goodbyes, Emmett held out his hand to shake Edward's. He held it for a beat, looking straight in his eyes. "You take care of my baby," he said.

Jasper stepped up beside him, threading an arm through his as he looked at both Edward and Bella. "Thank you for being good to her."

A knot rose to Edward's throat. He nodded, knowing instinctively they were letting her go. Not that they wouldn't be there. For the rest of their lives, Katie would be the daughter of their hearts, but they were putting their trust in Edward and Bella now.

Beside him, Bella took his hand and squeezed, leaning against him as she looked at Emmett and Jasper. "Thank you. For her. For everything."

They smiled with sad eyes and left. When they'd backed out of the driveway, Bella turned into Edward's embrace. Edward kissed the top of her head, and rocked her in his arms.

"This is it, isn't it?" she asked, resting her head on his shoulder.

"What?"

"This is the part where I have to believe none of this is a dream." She rasped and coughed. Then she laughed. "This is what happily ever after looks like, huh? There aren't supposed to be broken hearts. Katie isn't supposed to have a broken leg. And I'm not supposed to be all stuffed up and gross."

He chuckled. "Maybe it was my happily ever after. Did you think of that? I'm healthy. I have two gorgeous girls, both of whom I'm fairly certain will recover from their maladies. We're living off our parents more than I'd like, but hey, that means we have loving, supportive parents, right?" He sighed and turned her to face him. He kissed her. "It's never going to be perfect, but I'll take it."

She grinned and kissed the tip of his chin. "Yeah. Me too."

~The End~

A/N: Endless thanks to barburella, songster, MoH, Packy 2.0, and jessypt for their endless support and hand-holding. So many thanks to all of you for coming with me on another journey.

Like I said, we have two very hefty chaps ahead of us, so let's not say goodbye just yet, but let's mark this tale as told.

On a personal note, my latest book, Finding Purgatory, will be free on Amazon tomorrow through the seventeenth. There's a link in my profile.

See you soon, ducks.