WARNING: THIS STORY IS NO LONGER BEING EDITED FOR CONTENT. FULL DESCRPTION WILL BE INCLUDED. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED…

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, but then again you knew that! I also own no rights to the songs mentioned in this chapter.

I hadn't initially planned on doing this chapter this way, but inspiration struck at 2 am while I was up with my fussy daughter who I thought was fighting off a cold of some sort, but come to find out was cutting two molars…Poor baby. So, for the first time ever, we are going to see a brand new POV.

As my beta, the lovely Sihaya9, who has returned to us from RL, pointed out, it doesn't seem to advance the story, but I felt like I totally abandoned Tanya and haven't seen anything from her in a while. I thought she could be a fun way to introduce the beginning of the Rock Band contest.

Thanks to Sassenach Wench for her lovely validation skills. I say again, if you haven't checked out her fic Geek Love, you really should!

The Human Incubators

Tanya POV

Up to this point, my life had been a comedy of errors. I was raised by pretentious, moneyed snobs who never saw fit to teach me how to live in the world or be self sufficient in any way. My job was to look pretty, have good manners, and marry well, preferably someone with an impressive pedigree. So yeah, I was basically a very tall, hairless show dog.

Unfortunately, my parents never had the foresight to think they might possibly die, ever. Sure, they had life insurance policies, but they never dreamed that they would die before they had me permanently ensconced in a mansion in somewhere in the Northwest Suburbs with a husband who came from money, one that could take over the estate business when they were gone. So when they died, leaving me alone in the world two months after I graduated high school, I was completely lost.

Being who they were, they had no true friends in their lives willing to lift a finger to help me out at all. I was simply left to sink or swim while trying to sort through massive piles of legal documents that might as well have been written in Latin for all the sense they made, and thick binders full of numbers that meant absolutely nothing to me. I had no clue how to pay bills, or shop for groceries, much less manage a household, or live on my own. I was drowning…and fast.

Then entered Laurent Moreau, my parents' trusted friend and accountant, to sweep in and collect all the crumbled pieces of my once perfect life, reassembling them for me. He helped me pour through the massive legal documents that took care of selling off my father's company, which I had no way of even beginning to run, selling off the vacation properties we had on three continents, and putting my family home on the market. I didn't want to, but I knew that that between no longer owning the company and having no income, my money would disappear far faster than I wanted if I was trying to pay for our massive home and substantial acreage with a matching enormous property tax bill.

Despite Laurent's, who insisted I call him Larry, considerable age difference, I found myself drawn to him as he so sweetly cared for me and helped me make sense of the insanity that my life had become. I was already set up to attend Harvard in the fall, but I felt with all the upheaval, it would be too much strain. Instead, I made a call to Northwestern and U of I Chicago to see if I could make it in with late admission. Northwestern had no openings left for freshman admission, but by some stroke of luck, UIC had an opening for me.

Larry helped me get settled in school, promising to take care of everything and act as my personal accountant so I didn't have to worry about anything except my schooling. He was kind, sweet, and compassionate. He called me every week like clockwork to check in and make sure I was doing well, and if he called on a bad day, he always invited me to have dinner to cheer me up.

That's how it all began. Looking back with more mature eyes of age and experience, I now see how he manipulated everything to get my money. From the beginning, it was always about what was left of my family's fortune.

After my first year, Larry and I were involved in a highly physical relationship. I was head over heels with the man he presented himself to be. I thought that for the first time in my life, everything was going to work out the way it should. I was going to be happy and cared for.

With all of this firmly entrenched in my mind, I didn't bat an eye when Larry informed me that he was going to have to move to Minnesota and asked me to come along. The next day, I walked into the admissions office, placing my drop slip on the registrar's desk. A week later, I had all of my belongings loaded up in a moving truck, driving it toward our new home in Minnesota where Larry had gone ahead to start his new job there.

Warning bells should have begun ringing right away when I reached our new home to find it empty, nobody was there to help me unload our things and settle our home. Larry was gone more than he was home, but promised that after he had made a name for himself at his new job that things would get better. A month later, he came home with a beautiful engagement ring and asked me to marry him. I was so happy that I jumped for joy into his arms and hadn't looked back.

I had never thought of such things as prenuptial agreements or equal division of assets until five years later. After half a decade of a deadbeat husband who didn't even come home most nights, much less take care of me, he unceremoniously announced that we were broke and he was divorcing me.

I was in shock. I didn't understand first of all, how my family's formidable financial inheritance could be completely depleted in five short years, nor what I had done to warrant me being left behind.

Larry disappeared, I had to find what work I could as a high school graduate cum college dropout in the small town that he had abandoned me in while he went off and did god only knew what in the name of his job. I got a job as a waitress, moved out of our house that I was informed was being foreclosed on shortly after Larry's disappearance, and found a small shoebox of an apartment to try to survive in.

I still hadn't learned my lesson though it seemed. About a year later, he appeared again, begging for forgiveness and promising to give me the life he had vowed when we were married. I was so lonely and scared. Even though I had gained some chops and learned how to stand on my own, it was just barely, but I was surviving. I let him back in though…into my heart and into my bed.

It only took me two weeks to realize what a mistake I had made and that nothing had changed. It was around that same time that I discovered I was pregnant. Larry laughed in my face when I told him, disappearing again. He had no ties this time at all to hold him back. Our divorce had gone through, with the assistance of public aid on my part, six months before. I was trapped.

To add fuel to the fire, it wasn't until after the second time he appeared in my life, leaving me pregnant and alone, that I discovered that he had never had job in Minnesota to begin with. My money had disappeared because we were living solely off my inheritance and quite lavishly at that. Meanwhile, Larry's business trips had been to his mistress in Minneapolis, who he was also keeping in the lap of luxury with the money my parents valued so highly.

I did my best to survive day by day in the one horse shithole Larry had drug me to and fully fucked me over in. It was a depressing life and I struggled daily with thoughts of just ending it all. Then, one day, fortune smiled down on me. Edward Masen arrived looking as fuckable as ever. My mind immediately began to envision the white horse he rode in on to carry me away from the fuckfest that was my life.

I was thankful to have an ace in the hole. During those five lonely years of being Laurent's abandoned housewife, I had made a friend who Edward would value learning more about their situation. Elizabeth had been my godsend and I knew she wanted to see him. It would be my golden ticket.

I was so desperate for a way out, I never considered who I might hurt along the way. Enter the woman who was now probably the most unlikely friend I could ever hope for, Bella Swan. I made a total mess of that whole situation when it first went down, but thankfully, Bella has a very forgiving spirit and a kind heart.

At Bella's suggestion, Edward and the rest of their friends worked together to help me get back to Chicago and find a good job. Even once I was back in Chicago, I still made some bad decisions that nearly got us all killed.

After the psychotic lunatic, who later held me at gunpoint, floated in and out of my life, I realized that even though I was older and a bit more world wise, I was still an ignorant pushover. In the weeks following James' death, I realized that for me to even begin to have a life I would want my child to be raised in, there would have to be no more men in my life at all. I had to support us on my own, because obviously I was horrible at finding someone who might actually care enough about me to take care of us.

The first few weeks after the whole traumatic event, I wasn't thinking clearly enough to even consider the idea, but it wasn't long before I began panicking over what the lunatic may have given me and my child. I was never more relieved when all of my test results came back negative. That was the turning point. I vowed right then and there to make a change.

First order of business, try to figure out a way to make more money to support us that would still allow me to actually raise my child without having to send him or her to a sitter all day and night. Besides the fact that most of my paycheck would go to daycare that way, I didn't want to miss out on the life of my little one.

This was on my mind as I was watching TV one night when I saw the commercial for online courses and noticed they had one for medical transcription. It would be perfect if I could find a work from home position, plus, I already had a rudimentary understanding of what it might take from my day job. I made the call, and a few days later, I began classes.

I worked like a demon for the next two months, working all day and studying all night, coming out the other side with a new marketable skill. I felt immense pride at my accomplishment. No, it wasn't a four year program with a fancy degree, but it was a step in the right direction for my future and the future of my son.

I found out at my twenty week appointment that I was having a son. That made me nervous; my knowledge of men was limited to my father and Larry. I hoped that with Edward, Bella, and the rest of the gang around that he might have at least some positive male role models to learn about how to be a good man.

Things were finally starting to go right with Edward and Bella. We all had the trial coming up in the early summer. Every single one of us was subpoenaed to testify. Beyond that though, they were doing great.

Once they all returned from their trip downstate for the anniversary of Emmett and Bella's parents' death, everyone seemed to relax quite a bit. Alice was busy gearing up for the big battle of the rock bands, as were all of the teams. I had even managed to form a team with a few of the girls from work. We thought it would be a nice way to have some fun together.

I was lucky, because not only did I have Bella and Edward to support me, I also had made some amazing friends through work. Several of us girls on the office staff were pregnant. We seemed to gravitate to one another since drinking was pretty much out, which was what everyone else always seemed to want to do. They were wonderful and I started feeling like even though I had no blood relations left, I had sisters and brothers all around me.

The girls and I had practiced a few times and played around with band names, finally settling on The Human Incubators. We thought it was cute at least.

Since there was way more interest than Alice and Bella ever thought possible, the setup of the contest was adjusted. To have all the bands perform at one time would make it an all day event with twenty five bands participating, not to mention that having all the bands in the building at once would pretty much take up half of its fire code capacity. Instead, they drew names of the bands and for the first week there would be five bands a night perform, with only two winning the round to pass on to the semi finals.

My girls and I took the stage for the first time, all dressed in our baby on board tee shirts and maternity jeans. We got some pretty funny looks, but we didn't care. We knew what we were up against and would never win the finals. We were doing this for the fun and to help support Dooley's. I also had an inside track and happened to know that if either the Femmes or the Knights won the contest, they were going to be donating their winnings to local charities, so I didn't bat an eye as we all pitched in a ten for our entry fee. My guess was it was going to end up going to greater good when it was all said and done anyway, because they were all amazing!

Irina slid on one of the guitars, adjusting the strap for her seven and a half month bulge while Zafrina settled behind the drums, raising the pads up so she would be able to hit around them without her eight month belly getting in the way. Siobahn smiled at me as she settled her guitar over her tiny little four month baby lump as I waddled up to the microphone stand with a smile at the audience.

"Hey there ladies and gents, we're The Human Incubators and we're just here to have fun."

A few people in the audience gave us half hearted claps as quite a few laughed at us, but we let it roll off our backs…good practice for when we get our epidurals. Irina entered the song we were performing as we settled back and enjoyed our set.

Each band had to play three songs, and then at the end of the night, the scores from the voting ballots placed around the room would be counted and the winners of the round would be announced. We started off with a rousing rendition of Papa Don't Preach by Madonna, followed by Thank You by Dido, and finished off with Arms Wide Open by Creed, making a slight adjustment from "I don't know if I'm ready to be the man I have to be" to woman, but beyond that it worked well.

Thankfully, we won them over in the beginning with cheers as we strutted around the stage playing up our big bellies happily, and after having the crowd on board, they were very supportive with loud clapping and wolf whistles when we wrapped it all up with the more somber, emotionally driven tunes.

It also didn't hurt us any that the first two bands to go on before us were dreadful. One was a Goth group who sang nothing but Marilyn Manson songs, which would have been fine if they had a tone quality somewhat equivalent to the man himself, but when you sing Sweet Dreams with a weak voice and no edge, it just sounds pathetic. After them came a group of girls who tried to sing Taylor Swift songs…not the best choice for a bar full of half drunken adults.

We started actually getting somewhat hopeful when we watched the last two bands. One was a girl band that rocked the house with a sexy twang as they sang Kerosene by Miranda Lambert, Before He Cheats by Carrie Underwood, and slightly twangier version of Kelly Clarkson's Never Again. Okay, so maybe they had a man hating American Idol/Nashville Star theme, but they really were pretty awesome. We assumed that they were a shoe in with the way the women in the room went wild with encouragement and the guys all gawked on, with dribbles of drool draining along their chins.

The final band was the one that we figured might knock us out of the slot to move up to the next level. They were a group of four mild mannered boys with nice voices who sang a trio of gentle ballads that made a few girls swoon, but really didn't garner any male attention, which might be where we would have the advantage. We tickled their funny bones, so maybe we were noticed a bit more.

When the night ended, a hired DJ for the contest took the stage to spin tunes during the counting of votes. Half an hour later, the girls and I all huddled around our small table, holding hands excitedly as Mama D went to the microphone.

"It was a great showing tonight ladies and gents, and now it's time to see which two bands from the night will advance to the semi-finals next Thursday."

She paused for dramatic effect as she slowly opened the white paper in her hand. The first place band for the evening who will come back to be on this stage next week is Power To The V!"

The table to the left of us with the collegiate man haters jumped up and screamed as they bounced in a circle, like little kids hopped up on straight sugar after being told that they were going to Chuck E Cheese.

Mama stood at the microphone and clapped, waiting for the squeals to die before she finally continued on. "The second place was a tight race. In the end, this band ended up winning with a ten vote margin. Please come back next week to see the girls who are not afraid to have a little fun at their own expense, The Human Incubators!"

The room clapped for us as we all looked at each other's faces with matching masks of surprise. It took a moment to for the realization to hit as we all jumped up and cheered with small fist bumps before we made a group high five in the middle of the table.

One round down, two more to go…if we're lucky!

I happened to glance at the table next to us that held the other group that we thought might possibly beat us. They smiled over at us warmly and tipped their drinks up in salute as we smiled back with a nod of thanks. The lead singer, who called himself Benjamin, smiled warmly at me with a wink.

I felt my face flush with excitement for a moment before reality set in again. I was largely pregnant and had sworn off men. I was not going to let myself get sucked in again. I had to be strong for me and my son. I looked away from Benjamin's face and studied the table with immense focus as I willed myself to be strong. It wasn't like a guy who would be willing to go after an obviously pregnant woman would be someone that would be looking for any real commitment anyway.

I looked up to see Irina get up to get another juice from the bar. The second she left, Benjamin slid into her seat. I swallowed hard past the lump I my throat. Stay strong Tanya. NO MEN!

"Hey, it's Tanya, right?"

I smiled politely and nodded.

He reached his hand out to shake mine. "Nice to meet you, I'm Benjamin."

I shook his hand and whispered a 'hi' in response. It was a struggle in knowing how to react to him. I didn't want to be rude, but I didn't want to encourage anything either. He actually seemed like a nice guy, from what you could possibly glean from five minutes of conversation at least. I kept reminding myself that I wasn't such a great judge of character, but Benjamin was funny and he had kind eyes that made me want to trust him.

If I were completely honest, there was always something hidden behind both Larry's eyes and James'. If I had been a student of humanity at the time, I would have recognized that they were not being sincere. Benjamin, however, had eyes that seemed wide open and full of genuine curiosity and kindness. There wasn't anything wrong with making a friend right? Everyone could use a few more friends.

Making up my mind that I would just be friends with Benjamin, I relaxed and let the conversation flow. There was nothing that said that we would have any contact beyond this evening anyway. The rest of his band soon joined our table and we all talked comfortably and enjoyed the music being spun by the DJ until we finally separated ways a couple of hours later.

Benjamin hailed a cab for us, wishing us luck in the next round. He said that if it worked out, he and the guys were planning on catching the rest of the contest. Excited at the possibility of seeing my new friend again in the near future, I made my way home to get a few hours rest before I had to be up for work again the next morning.

I completed the story over Christmas. The grand total for this story had the Epilogue ringing in as chapter 60. With any luck we can get the rest of this posted soon. I am also working on a series of one shots featuring the summers at the beach with Bella and her boys.

Most of these final chapters are going to be fun wrap up chapters, with the exception of the trial of course. Next chapter is more lead up to the Rock Band Final Competition, which will take place in chapter 52…

In the meantime, I'm ready for some reviews! I miss your lovely opinions! TTFN and see you soon!

Featured Songs mentioned in this chapter:

Papa Don't Preach by Madonna

Thank You by Dido

Arms Wide Open by Creed

Sweet Dreams by Marilyn Manson

Kerosene by Miranda Lambert

Before He Cheats by Carrie Underwood

Never Again by Kelly Clarkson