You guys are making me abuse my email inbox! LOL But I loved every second of it. Those of you that reviewed last chapter got a little teaser – if you didn't block PMs! – PMed to you. You all seemed to like it, which makes me smile. Heck, you guys really all made me smile and laugh and just love you and updating and this story… Let me know if you didn't get the teaser.

I love you guys.

I really got to talk to a lot of my readers, and had conversations, and…it was absolutely spectacular. Like…wow…I never want to let you guys go. I could emotional here, over this.

Edward was back about two hours later, sweaty and yummy, and I gave him a tight smile from my place on the couch. I watched as his eyes followed Emmett's back up the stairs before he came over to me, leaning against the back of the couch and looking down. "You stink," Melly squeaked, wrinkling her nose. "Go take a bath."

Edward hung his head but I could see the smile on his face. I laughed at my little girl, pinching her nose, pulling her onto my lap and nestling her hair.

I looked up. "I'm sorry, Edward," I said quietly. "I didn't mean to be so rude earlier, but I just—"

"Bella," he groaned, "don't explain this to me. Please, I do get it. You don't want help, you've done this yourself, you don't need help, but you could benefit from it." He watched me expectantly but I said nothing. "I can help you."

I let out something between a snort and a sigh. "I talked to your mom too, and she wouldn't let me forget that you can help me," I told him. "She won't back off either; she comes around and starts playing around with my girls and acts all happy, and then she tells me that her and Carlisle are going to pay for college."

This had been bugging me for hours and it never ended because there was no one to end it. Edward or Carlisle had to; Esme didn't listen to me. I don't why she was so in there with me and the girls when she could just leave us alone. Of course I couldn't say anything, though, for the sake of the girls' residence here.

Edward was quiet for a few moments before he gave me a confused and non-comprehending look. "And that bothers you?"

"What do you mean, bothers me?" I demanded. "It makes me mad and I don't get why she thinks that—"

"Uh, can we may be talk alone?" Edward asked, looking mighty uncomfortable. I scowled when he called for Esme to just keep an eye on the girls so we could talk upstairs in private, and the frown only deepened when she came out of the kitchen to sit on the couch with her laptop.

"What's going on with you two?" she asked casually, turning around to look at us. I hate to look away before I gave her a look I would surely regret.

I saw Edward shrug out of my perpetual vision. "We just need to talk, Mom, it's no big deal."

She nodded with a knowing look in her eyes. "If you guys are going in your room, Edward, I want the door left open, got it?" she asked sternly.

"Yes, ma'am," he laughed in response, pushing my shoulder in the direction of the stairs. I felt my eyebrows knit, my uncertainty swirling in the pit of my stomach. When we neared the stairs I glanced behind me at him and whispered quietly, "Don't touch me like that." I couldn't quite see him but I could feel his bodily tension and him clear his throat nosily.

I stopped at the top of the stairs, unsure of our destination and turned to look at Edward, but he barely even glanced at me when he passed me and I followed him into his room. As soon as I was in he shut the door and nearly ran to his desk, fiddling with papers and things. I carefully sat on the bed to watch him. His desk wasn't cluttered whatsoever but that didn't stop him from stacking papers, sorting them in some kind of order, and making them straight and perfect. Was this some kind of nervous habit? I started chewing on my thumb nail, my own nervous habit.

"I don't know what you want me to say," Edward finally said.

"Well, I was under the impression we came up here for you to lecture me on the wealth that is the Cullen family."

He may have cracked a smile; if he had it was gone instantly. "If that's what you want then okay." Edward pulled down his desk chair and plopped down, resting his elbows on his knees while he watched me. "So the Cullen wealth started way back when," he began with a playful smirk.

I rolled my eyes. "Really, Edward? I was kidding," I said sharply. "I just want to know…what the hell your mother thinks she's doing?"

To my surprise and somewhat anger, he smiled, and not some small smirk. I mean, a huge smile. "My mom thinks she's helping, Bella," he laughed. "And she loves kids to like, no end. As in, if she could zap us back to our baby days, she would in a heartbeat, not even consider the consequences. She likes kids, so what?"

"What do you mean, 'so what?'" I demanded.

"Why is it a big deal?"

For a few seconds I really thought Edward was playing with me. Looking back, I can't even believe I thought he was joking, and at the moment I came to my sense. Well, figuratively speaking of course. I knew I was being completely irrational, reading too much into things, but I couldn't think any way different. I was born to protect these girls and I still wasn't one hundred percent sure of Esme's intentions according to my head, so I guess instinct took over with my not wanting Esme getting all…close to them. Was I seen as the one that would always protect them, while she could be seen as the fun one?

And besides those problems, I had an even bigger one. Caitlyn. My little sister who was MIA. I half wondered if the Cullen's should hire a detective for a more secret approach. Maybe it would better ensure Caitlyn's safety. But really, that was totally far-fetched.

Edward snapped his fingers. "Hello, Bella? You totally went two million miles away."

"What's the next step?" I asked eagerly. "If I let you guys pay for college and whatever shit you guys have on your minds, what's next? When can I get Caitlyn back?"

His eyebrows knit. "We have to call the cops, obviously. You said they didn't listen to you – they will listen to my dad, I promise. They'll probably, like…" I noticed he was really talking with his hands, moving them around and gesturing, like it was explaining things better, when it really wasn't. "They'll talk with the Florida police and connect or something."

"And from there they'll find her, right?" I asked hopefully, leaning forward.

It was his hesitation that hurt. His eyes dropped and his hands wrung in front of him. It was a nervous sign, a sign that something was on his mind, a sign that he did not want to tell me something. My stomach burned, felt empty, almost as empty as my heart had to be. Edward still said nothing, just looking at me with…sympathy.

I lowered my eyes for a second, pretending that the floor was the most interesting thing I've ever seen, and holding in my tears. When I lifted my head with watery eyes, I forced out a rough, awkward laugh. "Wow, I really think my heart has been squeezed too tight," I rasped, holding my chest to fight off the pain. God, it really hurt. "I want you to pick up the phone," I said carefully, "and call your father and tell him to call the cops ASAP."

"Okay," he said slowly, egging me on I guess.

"I want to get this over with, Edward," I snapped. "We've waited long enough; I'm tired of still waiting and having nothing for my knowledge of my sister's safety. She needs to be back here, my parents are sick!"

Even with Edward, someone who already knew what had gone on in my house for years, I hated admitting to my parents' lack of care to their offspring. It felt like a direct reflection to the kind of person I was, even though it really wasn't.

"If I call him now, can we continue our talk afterwards?"

My eyebrows pulled together. "How can you think about that when I just…"

He didn't let me finish as he lazily picked up the closest phone and started dialling numbers. I watched as he started talking quietly and I smiled slightly, thinking this would finally come to an end.

Don't cha wish, Bella?

So I'm so sorry this took so long, but I probably won't be able to update for another two weeks because I have exams this coming Wednesday. And…the next chapter will be a whirlwind and time jump and scattered…. Pleas review for encouraging yours truly to WRITE. Hey, wait, I have Thursday and Friday off so made I can squeeze in an update….

On the side, I just spent $70 on So I will usher you all over there to support Jacob Jost's (Edward Cullen from The Hillywood Show's Twilight parodies) clothing line based from Las Vegas.

Much, much love,

Glitter