"Alice you need to get better" I cried, "You've put me through so much; the least you could do is survive. God, because of you I lost any friends I had and couldn't find it in me to make new ones. You made my life a living hell and when it finally starts to turn around I somehow find myself at the foot of your bed doing what you would never have done for me. I'm going to wait Alice, I want answers and I will wait for as long as I have to."

I'm going to wait, I'm going to wait.

I clenched my fists into tight balls trying not to scream. "You have no idea what you put me through Alice. Did our friendship mean nothing to you? I can't even count how many times I helped you! Did I do something? Was I not there for you and that's why you ran off. Fuck, you should have known better than to lean on me for everything, I was so young!" I cried and couldn't stop.

I looked up at her and shook my head. I must look like a fool sobbing and asking questions to a person in a coma.

I took a deep breath, "God Alice! I just want to know why?" I screamed, "WHY? Why'd you leave? And why wouldn't you talk to me? I just need to know."

Sobs took over me and I couldn't find it in me to form words. I let my head fall to the foot of her bed and cried until I had no more tears.

I let all my emotions show. I had held them in for so many years and I couldn't contain them any longer. I no longer cared if Alice wanted to see me or if she wanted to talk to me. She was going to tell me what happened; it would give me a piece of mind and hopefully the closure that I have been looking for.

The door swung open; I slowly remove my head from her bed, expecting it just to be another nurse checking some monitors or changing an IV bag. But instead I heard a loud gasp and a "MOMMY!"

My head popped up, a little girl with long wavy black hair was clawing at the sheets of Alice's bed, trying to get up. She kept crying, "Mommy, no mommy, I love you. Daddy's gone; you're supposed to be better again. I'll never be bad again, just wake up. Please mommy."

I wanted to cry as I watched this child, cling to her mother. She looked like she was about seven or eight years old. It took me awhile to realize who this was. I started counting back in my head. It had been about eight years since I last tried to see Alice at the hospital.

Could this be her? The baby I had seen in the hospital nursery, the baby I wanted to get to know, but was never able to?

Before I had a chance to ask her, her name a tall lady in a blue suit came in, "Are you Isabella Swan?" she asked sweetly.

It took me a moment to recognize that she was talking to me; I was rarely addressed as Isabella and I've been an official Cullen for a little less than three years. It just seemed weird, I was Bella Cullen now and proud to be. I looked up to the lady, nodding. "But its Cullen now" I corrected.

She nodded and made a couple notes on a piece of paper, "Will you come with me?" she asked pointing towards the door.

I patted Alice's hand and watched her daughter coil up next to her, telling her that everything would get better. I felt for this girl, she shouldn't be the one comforting her mom; it should be the other way around. I guess some things never change.

I followed the lady out into the hallway, unsure of what this was all about. "How is she?" she whispered closing the door so that the girl couldn't hear us.

I shrugged, "The doctors said that she's making progress but so many things could go wrong over the next couple days."

She nodded sympathetically, "I'm Katherine Johnson for social services." Panic took over me, was she going to take Noah? We didn't do anything wrong, did we? I mean Edward and I were doing the best we could, being new parents and all. She sensed my worry and her voice became softer. "You must be very close to Mary Alice."

"Used to" I corrected her.

She seemed set back, "What happened?"

I smiled and shook my head, "I'm still trying to find that out"

She looked me straight in the eye and said, "Well I'm going to get straight to the point. At the moment Alice is incapable of taking care of her daughter, she has no family available to take her and the father has lost custody. In these cases we look to the parents will to see who their child would be left with if they would die."

It made sense, I thought.

The social worker came closer and put a hand on my shoulder, "In the case of Mary Alice Brandon. It's you. Well that is if you are Isabella Swan."

I took a step back to hit the wall and slid down to the ground. So many emotions hit me, how could I be the one that she trusted to take her child, when I had never even met her and she refused to talk to me. She had deliberately ignored me, I tried to contact her, but she never answered. And then she expects me to take her child?

Katherine knelt down beside me, "I need to make a few phone calls, to make sure that you are the Isabella Swan that Alice wanted." She patted my knee and gave me a sincere smile, "I know this is a lot to take in at the moment. Take some time to let it sink it, call your husband, do what you need. I'll be back in about an hour."

I nodded as she gave me a departing smile and went to the nurse's station to make her phone calls.

I was confused and couldn't keep my emotions straight. Was I really supposed to take this girl home with me? Make her part of my family? Just push her into a family that is just forming? It isn't that we can't afford to make her apart of our family. Edward's a surgeon; money would never be an issue. It was if I could handle the emotional baggage that would come with this child. Could I handle taking care of a little Alice? I don't know if I could. What would Edward think? Edward! I thought.

He was always my support, my crutch. And right now, that's what I need. I pulled my cell out and dialed Edward's number.

"Hello love" he bubbled, truly in a better mood than the last time I talked to him.

"Edward" I cried, "her, her daught…." It was all I could say, I broke down into full hysteria.

"What's wrong?" He asked worried, "Is everything alright?" I continued to sob, unable to say a word. "Hold on love, I'll be there in ten minutes." The line went dead.

I continued to cry on the floor. As I started to come around; I realized that I needed to be strong, for myself, for Alice and for her daughter.

I thought of what Edward had said, "I'll be there in ten minutes." I immediately became worried; it was a four and a half drive from our home in Portland to Forks. How was he going to make that drive in ten minutes?

No sooner did I become worried, did Edward show up. He came out of the elevator, baby carrier in hand. When he saw me he went into a full sprint.

"Is she okay?" he asked worried.

I shrugged and pointed at the door. He opened it and looked around. Alice's daughter was curled up next to her, one of the saddest sights I have ever seen.

"Is that…" he asked looking at the girl.

I nodded before he finished, "Edward, I'm her…We're her…until Alice is better…Alice left her…with me." I mumbled around, not sure how to word it. "Alice gave me custody of her if anything was ever to happen to her."

Edward gave me a small version of my favorite smile, "What's her name?"

I looked up at him and ran into his arms and cried harder than before, "That's the problem." I sniffled, "I know absolutely nothing about this child. Not even her name, how can we take care of her?"
Edward let out a little musical chuckle, "There's an easy way to fix this" he said grabbing my hand, pulling me back into Alice's room.

The girl stirred as the door slammed shut. She sat up quickly and rubbed her eyes, "Who are you?" she asked in a sweet little voice.

Edward walked forward, "I'm Edward Cullen and this is Bella. We're old friends of your mom" he said with kindness in his voice.

She gave Edward a surprised look when she heard our names. It was the same look that her father had given us eight years earlier.

"Have you ever heard of us before?" Edward continued.

She shrugged and began playing with her hair, "Well, daddy never liked mommy to talk about her friends. He said they were all hillbillies and not worth the time. But your names are my middle name."

"Oh really?" I asked confused, I thought Alice had forgotten about us. "And what would your name be?"
"I'm Paige Isabella Cullen Brandon. Why would I be named after you guys?" she said timidly.

I smiled happily, "I don't know honey, we'll have to ask you're mom that when she gets better."

Maybe Alice didn't forget about us, maybe she couldn't contact us. I began to cry, but this was for a totally different reason. It wasn't the tears of a sad or confused woman, still regretting things from her past. It was tears of a woman, happy to finally have some answers.

"When's mommy going to be better?" Paige cried. I wandered over to her and sat at the foot of the bed. Poor child, having to watch her own mother struggle to survive in a hospital bed, it wasn't fair. "We were supposed to go shopping tomorrow for Kayla's birthday party" she continued.

"It's going to take awhile Paige, she won't be able to take you tomorrow. You just be patient and hopeful." I smiled, "Never give up on hope." It was the same thing I had told Alice all those years ago, but it was true. You must never give up hope because when your hope is gone that's when the problems start.

Just then Noah started to cry; Edward went over and got him out of his car seat, "Baby!" Paige squealed in the same high pitched voice Alice used when she got excited, "Can I hold him?" She begged, "Please?"

I looked to Edward who gave me a shrug, not exactly what I was looking for. "I don't know Paige" I began but she has apparently inherited Alice's signature puppy pout and she's just as good. "Fine, why don't you go sit in that chair" I sighed pointing at the chair next to Alice's bed.

She kissed Alice's forehead and carefully jumped down from the bed. When she was seated Edward placed Noah in her arms. She smiled like a mad woman. Noah seemed to lighten her mood.

"Would you like to feed him?" Edward asked gently. Her face exploded with the size of her smile as she nodded excitedly. Edward handed her a bottle and showed her what to do. She was a natural.

She looked up at us, "What's his name?" she asked.

I grinned and answered, "Noah" as I placed a blanket overtop of my son.

She nodded and looked back down at him and whispered, "Hi Noah" and kissed his forehead.

I laughed and turned to look at Edward. He smiled my favorite crooked grin, picked me up and kissed me on the lips. "I missed you love" he mumbled between kisses.

"Me too" I smiled as he held me in his arms. "How did you get here in ten minutes?" I asked quickly remembering our conversation.

He laughed, "I knew that question was coming." I gave him an angry glare but he just smiled my favorite smile and continued, "This morning at about five I decided I couldn't stand being away from you anymore. But I wanted to give you your space so I went to visit Carlisle and Esme. You know how many times Esme has called, begging us to bring Noah up so she could see him again. So I thought now would be the perfect time."

I sighed; he never gave up on the protecting thing. I watched Paige carefully; she was talking to Noah very quietly. I pointed it out to Edward and we listened intently.

"Mommies and daddies fight sometimes. But you have to be brave 'cause it's none of your business. You're lucky; my daddy isn't nice to my mommy but you're mommy and daddy loves each other, I can tell and they love you."

My eyes clouded up, all this from an eight year old. She seemed so wise. "She's been through so much" I mumbled into Edward's chest.

"Exactly why she needs us" he smiled, "She needs someone to show her that things in life can be happy and work out; just like you did for Alice."

"And that worked out great" I said rolling my eyes.

He was placed his hand on my cheek and shook his head. "None of that" he started, "Alice left on her own accord, but it was her bad decisions, not yours. Think about the first time you met her. Think about the first time you guys walked into my house. And everything in-between, she would never have had those opportunities if it wasn't for you."

I smiled slightly and took in Edwards intoxicating sent, "I guess." A small knock on the door made me jump.

"I didn't mean to scare you" Katherine said, seeing me jump. "Will you and your husband come with me; I need you guys to sign a few papers." I looked to my son in Paige's arms and back to her. "We'll only be in the hallway, if they need you" she smiled.

I nodded and Edward gave me a push towards the door. Katherine gave us a weak smile, "I know this must be hard for you" I nodded and Katherine continued, "I can see that you have your hands full with a new baby, but Paige has no one else. Until Alice is well enough to take care of herself and her daughter, you two are Paige's legal guardians."

"No offense, but wouldn't it be better to put her with someone she has at least met before" I asked carefully.

Katherine gave me a shocked look, "You mean you've never met Paige before?'

I shook my head, "No, I mean I saw her once as a baby but it was through a window in the nursery."

"Did you know about this? Did Alice ever ask you to take Paige if something were to happen to her?"

"No" I replied, "Alice and I used to be friends, but that was a long time ago. We haven't spoken to each other in a very long time."

"How long is a long time?" she asked surprised.

I leaned back against Edward and counted back the years. I looked into Edwards emerald green eyes, "Almost ten?" I said as more of a question.

He nodded, "It's been about that."

She looked at us dazed and confused, "This is an unusual case" Katherine whispered, "But it is my job to respect the wishes of the parents and unless you refuse to take responsibility of Paige, I have to place her with you. Otherwise she will go into foster care."

"There will be no need for that" Edward responded quickly. He looked down at me and I nodded. "We'll take her for as long as needed" he continued.

Katherine smiled, "Why such a quick response?"

"I have some personal experience in that area. If it wasn't for my aunt and uncle my brother and I would have been split up and put into foster care. I would never have wanted that, I want to follow my aunt and uncle's example and do what is best for her" Edward said full of emotions.

Katherine nodded, "Alright then, as soon as you sign these papers Paige will be in your care. You will have a mandatory meeting every two weeks to make sure Paige is adjusting properly and because of Paige's past we are recommending that she sees a therapist once a week so that she can get everything off her mind."

Edward and I nodded. "Just wondering, since we will be taking care of her" Edward asked, "What's Paige's past?"

Katherine flipped through many papers until she came to the right one, "Let's see" she began, "Um, her father is big into drug and alcohol and used to beat Alice and occasionally Paige. Alice ended up in the hospital a couple times because of it. We're afraid that because Alice is in the hospital again Paige will think that it was her father again and become frightened."

"Oh" was all I could say. I was slowly learning things about Alice's recent past and I didn't like any of it. I couldn't help but think that if she had never left, none of this would have been a problem or if she would have come to me I could have helped her.

Edward grabbed the pen from Katherine's hand and spoke as he reached down to sign his name, "Meetings every two weeks and have Paige see a therapist once a week, got it."

I smiled and took the pen from his hand and signed my name next to his.

Katherine smiled too, "For just finding out about all this, you two seem very relaxed and ready to take on this challenge."

I let out a small laugh and Edward nodded as he rubbed my shoulders.

"Alright" Katherine continued, "Do you live here in Forks?"

"No" I said quickly, I still couldn't see me living here again, too much pain. She seemed taken back from my quick response.

Edward wrapped his arms around me for support, "We are currently living in Portland so I can do my residency at Legacy Emmanuel Hospital. I'm currently an open heart surgeon, mostly bypasses. But I really want to do heart transplants; I feel it would be more rewarding."

"So will you be bringing Paige back to Portland with you? We encourage that she comes and sees Alice often so she knows that her mom didn't just abandon her" Katherine advised.

I looked up at Edward; this all came on so fast we didn't even get to talk about the specifics. I didn't know where we would stay or what we would do. "We haven't thought that far yet" I answered truthfully.

"Why don't you talk about it tonight and get back to me tomorrow. Then we'll set up a time for our meetings and I'll have a referral for a therapist" Katherine said, "Assuming that you will still be here tomorrow."

"We'll be here for the rest of the weekend" Edward explained, "We'll meet you here at the hospital at noon tomorrow?"
Katherine nodded, "Sounds good. I didn't have time to tell Paige yet? Do you want to talk to her or should I?"

Edward rubbed my shoulders as he thought, "Maybe we should tell her, but you should stay, since she doesn't really know us. Most kids won't go home with a stranger" he added.

"Of course; good idea, I wait in the doorway" Katherine replied.

Edward let go of my shoulders and grabbed my hand, "You ready?"

I didn't know what to say, I couldn't remember how to move. I didn't know how we were going to do this. How are you supposed to tell a child that their mom wasn't going to wake up and that she had to go stay with two complete strangers?

Edward must have sensed my fear, "She's going to have find out anyway, we might as well be us and get it over with" he whispered in my ear, "It'll be alright."

I nodded and followed Edward back into the room. Noah was fussing and squirming around in Paige's lap.

"I don't know how to make him stop" Paige said with panic in her voice, "I didn't do anything to him, he just started crying."

I smiled and picked Noah up and began patting his back. Paige began to cry, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make him cry. Why do I always mess everything up?"

I turned and gave her a surprised look, "You did nothing wrong, he just has to burp." I continued patting Noah's back until he let out a little burp and he calmed down. "See he's all better. You didn't mess anything up, don't worry about it."

She wiped the tears from her eyes and nodded timidly.

Edward crouched down beside her, "Did someone tell you that you always mess things up?" Paige nodded again. "Who?" Edward continued.

Paige looked around the room like she was checking to make sure no one else would hear. "Daddy" she whispered so quiet that I almost didn't hear it. Then her crying picked up and she ran into Edward's arms. "Don't make me go back to him, please. I don't want to go. Don't make me."

Edward wrapped his arms around and gently stroked her hair, "You won't have to Paige. I won't make you go back."

"But where will I go, every time mommy gets hurt I have to go stay with him again" she sobbed.

I knelt down next to Edward and put my hand on her cheek, "Why don't you come stay with us, until your mom gets better."

She looked up at me and then Edward with shocked eyes. "Really?" she mumbled.

Edward and I both nodded but she wasn't convinced yet. She made eye contact with Katherine who was leaning against the door.

Katherine nodded and walked over to us, "Really Paige. Until your mom is better Bella and Edward are going to take care of you. Does that sound good?" Paige nodded excitedly. "Then it's decided" Katherine said winking at me, "You'll stay with Edward and Bella, but you have to be a good girl. Understood?"

"I will" Paige promised.

"Ok" Katherine smiled, "I'll see you tomorrow. Take care."

"Bye" Edward and I said in unison, waving as she walked out of the room and down the hallway.

"That was easier than I thought" I mumbled under my breath. I heard Edward laugh.

I turned and stared at Edward who still had Paige in his arms and smiled. She had her head nestled on his shoulder and her eyes were drooping with sleep.

"What do we do now?" I asked Edward.

He shrugged and gently got up trying not to move Paige, "Why don't we go back to Esme and Carlisle's. We can talk about all this there, by the looks of it we have two sleepy children" he laughed.

I nodded and placed Noah back in his car seat and headed out the door.

Edward carried Paige over his right shoulder, I carried Noah's car seat with my left and Edward and I were connected in the middle by holding hands.

This was something that I never expected, but most of things in my life I didn't expect. I never expected to marry someone like Edward and furthermore, I never saw myself with children. But here I am and I have both. I never thought that someone could change your life drastically but Alice did and Edward came and helped pick up the pieces to make it better again. But most of all I never thought that I would see Alice again or meet her daughter, but here I am watching Alice fight for her life and taking care of her daughter.

But this was for the best. It will not only help Alice but it will help me. It will help me fill the hole in my chest that has been aching for ten years now. It will help fill the gaps in my memory and hopefully get a better understanding of what happened.

Now Edward and I had many decisions ahead of us. Decisions what would not only affect us but our son, our families, Paige and Alice.

When you become a parent your life changes in an instant, you have another life depending on you and everything you do affects them in some way. But when you're taking care of another person's child you have to make the decisions that would be best for not only you but that child and their parent. You can't mess up because it's not your life to change.

I don't know what we're doing or what we're going to do. All I know is that it's not all about me this time around. I have to stay strong because I have other lives depending on me.