A/N: Heya all you faithful dudes and dudettes! Thanks for all the reviews and remember the more you review the quicker the chapters come up!

Chapter Five

Missing Bella

It was six thirty and Hannah was about the leave. She had given Edward a cell phone he could reach her by if he had any questions. She also gave him a file filled with recipes Allegra liked and all sorts of other important paper work, like her birth certificate. And she had given him an interesting piece of luggage that she assured him had all of Allegra's things in it. He couldn't see how that was true. It was only a foot and a half tall, two feet wide and three feet long. But Hannah told him that it had all of her toys, all of her cloths, her crib, rocker and chest of drawers in it. Along with all the other little necessity necessary for taking care of a child.

She proved its carrying capacity by pulling out the rocking chair, so that Emmett could take it up to Edward's room. The mouth of the luggage got bigger when it needed to, but the rest of the box stayed roughly the same size. It also seemed to understand when you spoke to it, because, it closed it's lid by itself when Allegra asked it for her toys when it opened again it revealed all of her many toys. Edward noted with pride that Bella might not like receiving presents but she sure liked giving them. Allegra pulled her teddy bear out and reached for Edward to pick her up.

She had spent the afternoon playing Barbies with Alice and letting Rosalie experiment with new styles that would keep her long hair out of her face. Esme and Carlisle went to the grocery store with a very specific list from Alice, who had already seen every meal that Allegra would be eating for the next two weeks. After putting Allegra's crib together, Emmett tried to talk Jasper into a wrestling match, but found that Jasper was too drunk on Edward's happiness to do much of anything.

Hannah left at seven and Edward tried to put Allegra to bed around that time. But she was so riled up that it took him half an hour just to get her in her pajamas. After that Edward didn't even attempt to get her in bed, he called Jasper and had him calm her down so much that she passed out in his arms. He tucked her into bed and hovered over her the whole night, watching her dreams closely for anything unpleasant.

She spent the night dreaming mostly of Edward, but she did spend due time dwelling fondly on the rest of the family. As it turned out Hannah had been wrong about how long she slept. Hannah said that Allegra would be sleeping for eight hours when in truth she slept for about twelve hours. At around six a.m. her dreams shifted, focusing almost solely on Bella. An hour later her dreams started to deteriorate and Edward realized she was about to wake. So, he pulled her into his arms and made his way down to the kitchen where Esme was making her oatmeal with raisins and maple syrup for breakfast.

Once she woke up, Edward tucked her into her height chair and helped her eat, seeing as she was still too tired to feed herself. After she woke up a little bit more she decided that she didn't want the oatmeal in her mouth as much as she wanted it in her and Edward's hair. He laughed along with the rest of the family and handed her off to Rosalie who insisted on giving her a bath.

That morning, Rosalie brushed out each and every one of her curls, braided her hair and pinned it up so it wouldn't get tangled. Allegra spent the rest of the morning sitting on Alice's lap in front of the computer selecting new outfits for her many dolls and a few dresses for herself. She then "helped" Esme and Carlisle prepare her lunch. Her grandparents had been planning on making her some buttered noodles, but ended up making a bologna sandwich after Allegra used all the butter to slip and slide all over the kitchen floor. Once she'd eaten and had her second bath, she insisted on going 'asploring' with her Daddy and her uncles. The rest of the family used that time to clean up the kitchen.

Allegra came back from 'asploring' covered in mud with a frog in her pocket. Rosalie took her upstairs for another bath, while Jasper returned the freaked out frog to the woods around the house. Edward just shook his head when his daughter stuck the hot dogs she was supposed to be eating for dinner up her nose. He'd known that parenting would be hard, but after spending all day trailing after Allegra, he had no idea how Bella managed the little trouble maker on her own. If seven vampires couldn't keep her clean for more than a few hours, how did Bella?

She spent that evening in Edward's arms learning very slowly how to play the piano. He had shared her for most of the day and wanted this to be time spent just between the two of them. Edward could see in her mind that she was concentrating and focusing more than she would have otherwise for his benefit. She wanted to make him happy as much as he wanted to make her happy.

At seven, Edward wrestled her into her pajamas and didn't even attempt to get her to sleep by himself. He just called Jasper and had his brother put her to sleep. She dreamed happily of throwing oatmeal at her Daddy and rubbing bubbles all over Rosalie's face. When her dreams started focusing on Bella, Edward picked her up, knowing that she would be waking soon. And when she did wake up it started all over again.

Instead of giving her oatmeal for breakfast, he gave her Cheerio's with slices of banana that Carlisle had prepared with her health in mind. But of course nothing went smoothly where his daughter was concerned. Every time he stuffed a spoonful of Cheerio's and banana into her mouth, she ate the cereal and spit out the banana whole. After three spoonfuls, Edward got the picture, his baby didn't like bananas. The bowel ended up on her head shortly after.

The rest of her day was spent doing some of the same things she'd done the day before. Rosalie did her hair, Alice played dolls with her, Esme and Carlisle made her lunch- most of which ended up all over her face, Emmett, Jasper and Edward took her a little way into the woods to have a look around. After her third bath and dinner Edward sat down with her at the piano. They practice until seven when he forced her into her pajamas and Jasper put her to sleep.

And when she woke up it started all over again. Most of breakfast ended up on her, rather than in her. The new clothes for her dolls had arrived, so she played with Alice instead of helping with lunch, which saved everyone from cleaning up what ever mess she decided to make that day. And instead of 'asploring' with her uncles she had them play on the swing set with her. Allegra was particularly impressed by Emmett's ability to swing in complete circle over the swing. She asked if she could sit on his lap while he did it, but Edward said 'no.' He trusted Emmett, but he didn't want her getting any ideas about being anymore reckless then she already was.

Allegra was so upset that she didn't get to swing on 'Uncle Emem's lap' that she found a puddle to jump in and ruined her pretty new dress.

By the end of the week, Edward was at his wits end. His daughter had at least three bathes a day, only ate food that he tricked into her mouth and seemed to believe that mud was 'outside chocolate.' He might have been mentally exhausted, but he was also thrilled. Allegra seemed to really be happy with him and he could have asked for anything more.

But by Monday of the next week, he noticed something different about his little bottle of sunshine. The day had started like any other. He pulled her out of bed as soon as she started dreaming of Bella and helped Esme make her a breakfast of cheesy scrambled eggs, knowing all the while that he'd probably have to clean off the ceiling by the time she was done with it. He really should have noticed something was off when she ate her morning meal in silence, keeping every morsel of food in her mouth.

Allegra even kept her eyes trained on Edward while Rosalie fixed her hair. She insisted on playing dolls with Edward, instead of Alice. She watched patiently while Esme and Carlisle fixed her lunch, not touching any of the ingredients for her peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She ate quietly and as neatly as any eleven month old could. That afternoon she asked Edward to read to her instead of going outside.

She ate her dinner just as nicely and practiced playing the piano as best she could. When it came time for bed she didn't fight her father off, but helped him. Allegra then cuddled into bed and fell asleep without help from Jasper. Edward would have been suspicious sooner, had her thoughts given her away. But she had already figured out that she didn't need to touch her Daddy for him to see what was going on in her head. The only interesting thing she'd thought all day was, I'll be good, and then I'll get what I want. When Edward asked her what she wanted, she refused to say or even think it.

She dreamt of Bella all that night. Edward was so put off by her strange behavior that he didn't take her down stairs when she started waking up. He just remained leaning over her, looking into her eyes when she woke. In that moment he saw it. He knew exactly what she wanted…. Bella.

His baby wanted her Mommy. The one thing he couldn't give her.

She reached up, pressed her little hand to his cheek and asked him where Bella was.

"I don't where she is, Allegra," Edward whispered. The house fell quiet. Everyone was listening to this exchange.

"Can you get her for me, Daddy?" his baby asked. He could hear to desperation in her voice. She wanted her Mommy. Now.

"Mommy will be back in a few months. You just have to be patient." Jasper started making his way up to Edward's room, followed closely by the rest of the family. Edward was momentarily distracted by the agony coming off of his brother, when he realized that it wasn't Jasper who was in pain, but his daughter.

She didn't want her Mommy, she needed her Mommy.

His family paused outside the door, waiting, frozen for Allegra's response. He saw what was going to happen in Alice's mind, but knew there was no way to stop it. Allegra opened her mouth and let out a heart broken wail. Jasper burst through the door and placed a calming hand on her belly. She stopped wailing instantly, but continued to cry. Edward brushed Jasper aside and picked up his baby.

She continued sobbing into Edward's shoulder as he took her down stairs, to prepare her meal. He stuffed her mouth full of oatmeal every time she attempted to wail. He spent the morning trying to settle her down enough for Rosalie to do her hair, but she wasn't having that. Whenever he tried to put her down she let out terrible sob, making Edward to pull her back to his chest.

Allegra spent most of the day dry bawling and silently begging for her Mommy. All she thought about was Bella. The only thing that seemed to placate her was Edward's assurance that Mommy would be back soon, but that only lasted so long. Eventually Edward took her back to his room, he rocked her slowly back and forth and hummed the lullaby Bella used to use to put her to sleep.

She stopped crying long enough to hear it and starting again as soon as he stopped. Everyone came up in turn and tried anything to make her feel better. Alice and Esme tried to tempt her with her toys, but that only reminded her of the Mommy that got her those toys. Carlisle tried reading her favorite book to her, but that only made her think about the first time her Mommy read that book to her. Rosalie tried to comb out her curls because she liked it when her aunt did that, but it only reminded her of when Mommy would comb her hair. Emmett even went so far as to make funny face at her, but she buried her head in Edward's shirt and refused to look her Uncle Emem's silly faces.

Jasper tried to convince Edward to let him force her into a better mood, but he declined. Anything that Jasper did would only be a stall forcing Allegra to deal with her unhappiness longer, because she had less time to handle it. Edward knew that Jasper knew he was right, his brother just wanted to make her feel better. Edward wanted that too, but he had to think about what would be best in the long run, not what was best in the moment.

Eventually they all trickled out of his room, leaving him alone with his weeping child. Jasper stayed close by, in case Allegra decided to start wailing again. No one wanted that.

Edward hummed what had become Allegra's lullaby over and over again, until she was calm and then started telling her stories. He told her about what he remembered of being human. He whispered happy tales of Carlisle and Esme. The sometimes ridiculous relationship between Rosalie and Emmett and all the silly, stupid things he'd seen her Uncle Emem do over the years. He told her how Alice saw Jasper in her future and found him so that they could fall in love.

And finally he told her about him and Bella. He told his daughter how he'd spied her across the cafeteria and instantly knew she was special because he couldn't read her mind. He whispered about climbing through her window in the dead of night, watching her sleep and realizing that he was in love with her. He talked about their first kiss, the first time he told her he loved her. He smoothed over the bits about wanting to kill her and almost killing her.

"I saved your Mommy's life all those years ago and then I tried to push her away, so that she'd be safe. I thought that leaving her was the only way to protect her from what I am. But I was wrong and she knew that. She was always telling me to quit it with 'I'm so dangerous' business, never believed a word of your mother. And I was always glad that she didn't. I loved her, but I'm glad I left her, Allegra, for one reason and one reason only. Do you know what that reason is?" Allegra shook her, 'no.' "You. If I'd stayed with your Mommy, I'd have never met you."