Summary - "Bella is an average girl, struggling with her homosexuality and her life at home. Can the love of not one, but three vampires help show her that she shouldn't be afraid? A/B/R/V".

Author's Notes – Inspired by my dear friend Hollowgo.

Rating - Older Teen to Mature

By: WDG and Lash_Larue

The Garden of Four - Chapter Seventeen – Mothers and The Unknown

A pale hand reached up to run through short silver blond hair as the moon reached its high point in the sky. Blue eyes took in the forest while her other senses took in the sounds and scents scattered on the wind. Sighing, the figure sat down on a stump and looked at what was left from the scene that happened so many days ago.

The sound of someone heading her way made the stranger turn her cold blue eyes toward them, only for her eyes to soften when she saw who it was, "Alicia, what are you doing out here?" asked the stranger as she stood up, her towering frame even taller then most of her people.

Alicia walked up closer, her hand reaching out to caress the girl's arm, "I should be asking you that." Moving to wrap her arms around the taller girl, Alicia went on, "What is wrong, Shelia?"

Shelia looked over to the mess of blood still left from what had happened "After so many years, I did the unthinkable and changed some unknown girl, I still don't know how she got out here, and I am the one who changed her. I thought for sure she would have come back by now." Shelia let Alicia go and began the trek back to their small village in the woods.

Alicia nodded. "I see, you are worried for her, then." Shelia nodded and spoke.

"Yes, in all my years, I have never changed anyone. I have my mate already, so why did I lose control and change this new girl, and a girl I have never met, at that?" Alicia smiled and looped her arms through Shelia's.

"Awww, you big softy, you better not let Marcus hear you, you know he would never let you live it down if he found out that his great leader was such a mushy person." Shelia paused and grinned.

"That's true I guess," pulling Alicia closer Shelia kissed her on the temple "Thank you, my mate, lord knows how I could stand all these little kids and there attitudes without you.". Alicia giggled.

"You wouldn't make it through the first day." Alicia kissed Shelia once more before heading off to mingle with some of the other women in their little tribe.

Shelia watched her go before sighing and looking skyward once more, 'Where are you?' wondered Shelia as she thought once more of the girl she had attacked in the woods.

Bella rolled over in her sleep and nuzzled into her pillow some more, it smelled a lot like Alice for some reason. Bella's eyes shot open, and she looked at what was supposed to be her pillow and saw Alice's naked skin. She blushed and looked up to meet glowing golden eyes.

Alice smiled and ran her fingers through Bella's hair. "Hey," Alice said softly, watching Bella's brown eyes light up as a few rays of sunlight snuck in through the closed blinds. Bella smiled and shifted under the covers, moving up she brought Alice closer to her.

"Hey there, yourself, beautiful," Bella replied, and she kissed Alice deeply on the lips before pulling back and lying back down beside her. Bella saw their clothes scattered about on the floor and asked, "So we really did that, it wasn't just my over active dreams…" Alice giggled and nodded.

"Yes, my sweet Bella, we really did have a night of passion," nuzzling Bella's neck she kissed her pulse. "It was marvelous and you were so wonderful," Bella blushed at the words.

After a few more minutes of just lying there and cuddling, both of them got up to get dressed. Once Alice was done dressing, she waited on Bella while she made her bed up and opened her windows to let out the smell of sex that was left over. There was no need to give Rose or Victoria any reason to jump Bella's bones and perhaps scare the poor girl.

Bella came back out of the bathroom fresh and clean, and then walked up behind Alice and grabbed her and twirled her about before setting her back down. "I love you," she whispered and kissed Alice once more. Alice giggled and kissed Bella back.

"I love you too." Together they walked down the stairs and sat on the couch, and it wasn't too much longer before the rest of the family began to appear, all with knowing grins on their faces.

Emmett was the first to make a comment, "So Bells, I see you finally got a piece of Alice." Rose smacked him upside the head before moving to stand beside Victoria. Bella laughed and shook her head.

"You always say something to get smacked in the back of the head, Emmett. Aren't you ever going to learn?"

"Really, Emmett, I almost think you like getting hit in the head," Victoria commented.

"Too kinky for you?" Emmett asked with a grin.

"No such thing," Rosalie countered.

"I love my new family," Bella thought.

"You slept kind of late, Bella," Alice told her, "why don't we go see if we can take Charlie out to lunch? We'll have to go back to school tomorrow, but we might as well have fun today, and Charlie has been pretty great about all this stuff."

"He certainly has," agreed Jasper, "your father is a remarkable man, Bella."

"I've never seen a mortal be so accepting of our world, Bella," Edward added, "he must love you very much indeed."

Bella's eyes filled with tears as she realized the truth of what Jasper and Edward had said, her Mother could not accept her as she was born, nor could she accept that she was attracted to women. Her father however, had embraced that and so much more. He must love her indeed.

"Mortal," whispered Bella. "My dad is going to die someday…"

"Hands up, Chief!" said Alice as she and Bella barged into his office. "You're being kidnapped, resistance is futile! Bella and I are taking you to lunch, like it or not."

"Well I surely know there is no point in resisting, and if the day ever comes when I don't let two beautiful women buy me lunch I hope they bury me," Charlie replied with his crinkly-eyed smile.

"I can't lose him," Bella told herself.

"Do you like Italian?" Alice asked him.

"Is my daughter named Bella? Who's driving?"

"I will," Alice answered, "I won't get a ticket with the Chief of Police in the car"

"I'll write it myself if you go crazy, kid. I love you, but I'm still a cop," Charlie replied.

"Fair enough," Alice conceded, "but cut me a little slack, it's a good car, and I'm a pretty good driver…"

"Holy shit!" exclaimed Charlie as the Maserati hurtled down the road. "I didn't know cars like this had rear seats."

"It will do," Alice admitted, "but you have to ride in Edward's McLaren."

"Not if it's faster than this thing I don't. How come you still have a license?"

"I can tell if there is a cop around. Oops, like just around the corner coming up," Alice said as she stomped on the brake.

"Could you please remember that I'm not quite as durable as you two are?" Charlie requested. "I'll skip the ticket if you get me there alive, I promise." Alice backed down to a mere twenty above the limit once the speed trap had been cleared. "Okay, I admit it was fun, and I've never gotten to Port Angeles this fast before. But I warn you, your upholstery is in danger if you drive like that after I eat."

"Behave, Alice," Bella scolded.

"You didn't say that last night," Alice countered.

"I don't need to hear this," Charlie told them as he turned scarlet. "I know things are different than when I was your age; well, Bella's age, anyhow. But I want you kids to be careful, STD's and pregnancy aren't a joke you know. Not that I think either one of you is sick, but –"

"I understand, Charlie," Alice promised him, "and until last night I was kind of a virgin, just like Bella. Oh, should I not have said that?"

Charlie hid his face in his hands and heaved a huge sigh. "No, I guess I should be grateful that you two trust me enough to talk about this stuff. But please, no details, and both of you remember that Bella has…"

"It's okay dad, vampires can't get pregnant," Bella told him.

"Oh. Well that's something, but I guess I'll miss being a grandpa. You two would have cute kids. But what about the rest?"

"Neither Bella nor I are susceptible to any disease, Charlie. Immortality has its benefits," Alice explained.

"Besides dad, we aren't interested in anybody else," Bella told him. "Except maybe Roslalie and Victoria, but you don't need to know that, Charlie."

"Here we are," Alice announced, "this is on me Charlie, so go crazy."

"You asked for it, Alice," Charlie told her.

Charlie couldn't quite match Bella for appetite, but between them they managed to clean their plates and what Alice had ordered as well, plus extra bread and salad. Bella was happy to see him eating the salad, she worried about his diet.

"Lunch was great kids, thank you," Charlie said as he got into the back of the Maserati, "try and keep it under a hundred, would you Alice? I need a little nap."

"Sure thing Charlie, you're in good hands with me," Alice assured him.

"Don't go too fast, babe, let's give him time to sleep," Bella asked, and Alice kept it under 80, although she did complain about crawling.

The traffic bump at the Police Department entrance woke Charlie, and he leaned into the front and kissed both girls on the cheek after Alice had parked.

"It was a pleasure being kidnapped by you two," he said, "I'm not even going to call the FBI. Uh… I know you love each other, and I appreciate the stuff you told me and all, but give me a little time before you get too frisky around me, okay? I'm happy for you both, and I love you both, but I'm still kind of a regular old mortal dad, you see?"

"You're not any kind of a regular dad," Bella told him, "you're the best dad ever, but we'll be cool."

"Right," Alice agreed, "thank you Charlie, for everything."

"You're welcome kids, now I've got to get back to work, and thanks again for lunch."

Charlie exited the Maserati and entered the PD building.

"One out of two isn't bad," Bella said as she watched him go into the building, "Charlie is a damn good dad."

"He sure is, my love. Now what say we go work off that lunch?"

"Carlisle, this is Charlie," Chief Swan said into his phone. "Can I come over to the hospital and talk to you about a couple things?"

"Of course, Charlie, anytime at all," Carlisle assured him, "just as long as there are no emergencies, my time is yours."

"I'll have my cell on," Charlie told the dispatcher as he left, "call me if you need me." Carlisle met Charlie at the hospital entrance and escorted him to his office.

"What's on your mind, Charlie?" Carlisle asked.

"A couple things, first, as one dad to another, is it true that vampires can't get pregnant? Our girls are kind of, well, intimate, and with things being how they are with Bells…" he trailed off.

"That's quite true Charlie," Carlisle assured him, "sometimes we are sorry about it, but that's how it is. As a father I appreciate your concern and I thank you for it as well, I know you care for Alice."

"I'm crazy about her," Charlie admitted, "and I've never seen Bella so happy. Jesus, what a few months this has been. I keep half expecting to wake up and find out it's all been a dream."

"It's certainly no dream; it's just that reality is a bit different than you always believed."

"No shit. Anyway, I might need your help with something pretty soon. Bella's mother has to pay for what she did to my daughter, and that's all there is to it. You're right about not being able to produce Bella's medical history in court, but let's see what you think about this…"

"Okay girls," Charlie said as he checked his watch, "Renee should be here soon, why don't you two go wait in the kitchen so I can have a word with her first?" Alice gave him a wink as she left the room.

"I don't know why Charlie insisted on letting her come," Bella complained, slumping down in a chair, "I never wanted to see her again."

"And after this you won't have to, but she's your mom no matter what. I think Charlie just wants to prove to her that you're better off with him than you ever were with her."

"There's no doubt about that. I'm still scared though, and that's silly, even if she'd dare try and hurt me in front of Charlie there's no way she could. Not unless she has a gun," Bella said.

"That might not help all that much either. But let's get set to shut the door on the past, okay?" Bella nodded, and Alice hopped into her lap. "Let me show you what I see in your future," Alice told her, and she took Bella's face in her hands and kissed her.

The kiss had the usual effect on Bella, and in seconds she was too involved with the tiny girl in her arms to pay any attention to her mother's arrival, lycan hearing or no. Alice, however, knew Renee had arrived, and she squirmed against the growing bulge in Bella's pants.

"Alice, we can't, not here-" Bella's half-hearted protest was cut off by Alice's tongue.

"You look good, Charlie," Renee greeted him.

"You too," he replied, struggling to act friendly when he wanted nothing more than to slap her senseless.

"Is Bella staying out of trouble? You know the kind of trouble I mean, I'm sure. I just hope she hasn't embarrassed you with her perversions like she did me. I was nervous about letting her come back here where I grew up and everybody knows me, but I just couldn't stand it any longer. Has she at least been trying to act normal? Not that Bella will ever be normal, of course. Maybe you can talk her into getting that thing cut off, maybe then she'd act like she should."

Charlie's sight misted red, and he ground his teeth together to keep from saying what he longed to say. Renee apparently thought that his expression meant that Bella had indeed been causing trouble. She sighed.

"I suppose I can try talking some sense into her one more time. Perhaps I can make her understand how bad this makes us look, especially you, since you're the Chief of Police. Is she here?"

"She's in the kitchen," Charlie managed to say.

"Maybe I'd better go alone, have a little girl talk with her. Hah! That's a laugh, but a mother has to do what a mother has to do," Renee headed to the kitchen.

"So does a father, you fucking bitch," thought Charlie as a smile spread across his face.

It was not the eye-crinkling kind of smile, though.

"Bella, I'm going to try one more-" Renee fell silent when she entered the kitchen and saw Bella kissing someone with very short hair. "Well, she's acting like a slut here in her father's kitchen, but at least it's a boy, even if he's a runt-" Alice picked that moment to swivel around to face Renee. There was no way Renee could mistake Alice for a boy head on, and her face flamed red in an instant.

"How dare you carry on like this in front of me! In your father's kitchen no less! Can't you at least take your little whore someplace private? What would people think of me if they knew about this? I grew up in this town!" she raged.

"I don't believe they think of you at all," Alice said in her musical voice as she stood up and moved beside Bella. "Stand up darling, let your mother see how beautiful you are." Bella was still stunned by the outburst, it was nothing new to her of course, but she wasn't used to it any longer.

Renee's eyes grew wide as she took in Bella's size and saw the muscles in her forearms, then they narrowed when she saw the obvious bulge in her pants. "You're even more of a freak than you were. Tell me you don't go out in public."

"She goes anywhere she wants," Alice told her, "we're going to the prom together." That was news to Bella, but she didn't say anything because she saw Charlie silently moving into the doorway, and he had his "Chief" face on.

"I wasn't talking to you, you little slut, I suppose you get off on Bella being a freak, don't you?"

"She's not a freak, she's my beautiful Bella, but you're right, I get off on every bit of her. She's a wonderful lover," Alice told her calmly. A strangled sound came from Renee, and she balled up her fists and took a step towards Bella and Alice. Alice of course was in front of Bella before Renee had moved an inch.

"You'll never hurt her again, do you hear me?" Alice told her. Renee snorted.

"Get out of the way, runt," she hissed, "this is between me and my daughter."

"No, I'm between you and your daughter," Alice corrected her, "and I'm going to stay that way. If you want her you'll have to go through me. Hurry up though, will you? We were kind of in the middle of something and I want to get back to it."

"Bitch!" shrieked Renee, and she punched Alice on the side of her head as hard as she could.

The sound of bones breaking was loud in the kitchen.

"You are under arrest," Charlie said, his voice trembling with rage as he roughly twisted Renee's arms behind her, being sure to squeeze the broken hand as he slapped the cuffs on her. "You have the right to remain silent..." Charlie finished carefully informing her of her rights, and then sat her down in a chair before he reached for the phone. "Send a car to my house, lights and siren the whole way; I have a prisoner for transport. Call the paper too, let them know something's up."

"Why are you doing this?" sobbed Renee.

"Because I can't beat you to death like I want to. Bella, I'm sorry to put you through this, but she has to pay for what she's done. Do you want to go up to your room 'till this is over?"

"No, I'll watch," Bella said calmly, "you can't hurt me any more, mom. I have people who love me for who I am, and I'm no freak. I'm Bella Swan, Charlie Swan's daughter, and I'm strong and beautiful." Renee had no reply, the seriousness of her situation was beginning to sink in, and the sound of the approaching siren underlined the point.

"I'll get the door," Alice said, and she went to greet the arriving officers.

"What's up Chief?" Officer Boone asked as he and his partner entered the kitchen. It was getting a bit crowded in there.

"Take her in and book her for assault and battery, I'll be down soon to handle the paperwork. She needs medical attention; I'll get a doctor to come check her out after she's locked up."

"Sure thing Chief, come on Ma'am - Renee?" gasped Boone. Franklin Boone had been two years behind Charlie and Renee in school, and knew them well.

"This is all a mistake," Renee mumbled.

"You're damn right it is," Charlie agreed, "and you made it. Get her out of here, Frank. Drive slow, she's injured, and use the lights and siren to let people know you're coming. We wouldn't want to have an accident on the way to jail, would we? Oh, and be sure to let the windows down so she has plenty of air, we don't want her to get faint or anything."

Renee wanted to slump over in the seat on the long and noisy ride through the center of town, but the restraints prevented that. And the open windows assured that all of the curious people lining the street had a clear view of just who had come back to Forks.

"That was my daughter you struck," Carlisle said calmly as he examined Renee's hand in her cell, "that wasn't smart; Alice has very hard bones, it's a family trait. I'm just going to put this in a brace for now; an officer will bring you to the hospital later for x-rays."

"Thank you," Renee muttered numbly.

"Your daughter is an exceptional young woman, I'm astonished that she turned out to be so kind and loving when she has you for a mother. You see, I treated her injuries when she first arrived in Forks. You aren't fit to clean her shoes." Carlisle walked out and the officer shut the door with a clang.

Her court-appointed attorney was also an old acquaintance, and he convinced Renee that her best option was to plead guilty. She had committed assault in full view of the Police Chief, and there were three witnesses that no one had offered her violence of any kind. A trial would only result in even more pictures like the ones she had seen in the paper delivered every morning with her breakfast. Hardly two weeks elapsed before the judge pronounced sentence.

"Six months isn't long enough," Charlie said over dinner at the Cullens that evening, "but they'll be six long months. I'll make sure the other inmates know who she is and what she did. I hope you aren't too upset with me Bells, I might have bent a rule or two here and there, but nobody made her hit Alice, maybe the prison shrink can do her some good."

"I hope so," Bella responded, "but I never want to see her again. I can forgive her, but I can't forget it."

"I don't think that will be a problem. I can't imagine her ever showing her face in Forks again," Charlie said in satisfaction.

"Right then," Emmett declared, "I've got fifty bucks that says Charlie wins the rib-off tonight! Bella's not as hungry as she used to be, any takers?"

Bella was following after them all into the kitchen as Charlie and Emmett started talking about how much more money the bet was going to be, when a soft sound reached the back of her mind… 'Where are you?' Bella flinched and put a hand to her temple before shaking it off. Looking up she met Victoria's glowing golden eyes, and blushed before walking to stand beside Alice.

Shelia sat before the village leaders and listened as they talked about up and coming events for this week. She was about to get up and tell them all to head out for a quick lunch when she felt a small tingle at the back of her mind. Grinning, she focused on it and saw quick flashes of faces and memories, but what stuck with her was a name. "Bella," she whispered. Standing, she clapped her hands. "This would be the perfect time for a quick lunch; we shall continue this meeting afterwards, dismissed."

Getting up she went to find Alicia, and after spotting the bushy curly brown hair she ran up to her and said, "I found her, I found her, Alicia." Pulling Alicia with her over by a tree she went on, "Her name is Bella, I finally found her, but it looks as if she is with the vampires that live here. Why, I don't know, but I finally know a little about who she is. Now all I have to do is set up a meeting with me, you, and her, so we can talk about things." Alicia smiled and hugged her lover.

"That's great, my love, hopefully now your mind will be more at ease." Kissing her lover, she ran her fingers through the short silver blond locks before turning about and walking away a little. "Now why don't you grab some lunch and then get started on that meeting of yours?"

Shelia watched her walk off with a grin on her face.

Bella felt a weird tingling sensation at the back of her mind. That made twice today, but she shrugged it off, running her hand up and down Alice's back as they cuddled on Bella's couch. Charlie would be home soon, he had been called in to the office but would return soon, so Bella thought it best to hold off on anything too intimate, but Alice was making it very hard to resist.

"Mmmmm, you smell so good." Alice kept on making sexy noises and rubbing herself up against Bella. Bella held back a groan as Alice's hands squeezed the crotch of her jeans and gently began to rub. Bella's head rolled back and a moan escaped her mouth but the distant sound of a car pulling up made Bella jump back away from Alice.

Alice grinned and watched Bella try to calm herself down. "Awww, did I get you too worked up?" She smirked a little as Bella gave her a look that promised she would get her back. It was around this time that Charlie came in and said "Hi girls, how is your day going?"

Bella blushed and looked away, Charlie watched his daughter flush, and then turned to see a smirking Alice. "On second thought, never mind, I can already see things went great for the both of you." Charlie had his own smirk when both turned and started to sputter out that nothing had happened.

Bella watched her dad head into the kitchen before turning to Alice, "You know, I don't think I can ever talk with him again with a straight face, with what just happened in here." Alice busted out laughing, moving to sit beside close Bella once more.

"Aww come on Bella, just because your dad knows that me and you go bump in the night doesn't mean you can't talk to him." Bella just grumbled.

"Yeah, well, it's still weird." Bella looked back to Alice and was met with a pout and sad eyes. Looking away and back again she sighed, "Awww, come here, you." Pulling Alice in for a kiss she said, "you know I can't stay mad at you".

Charlie watched them from the kitchen before shaking his head and turning back around to make himself a sandwich. "Kids these days…" but he was still so proud of his daughter and the girl she was dating.

Walking back into the room he saw they were still kissing and coughed into his hands. "As lovely as it is to see young love, how about you two take it somewhere else so this old man can watch his games?" Bella and Alice got up and nodded before heading up the stairs to Bella's room.

Once in the room they didn't go back to kissing, instead they just lay curled up in each others arms. They had been lying there for a hour or so when Bella said, "do you think my dad would survive a change?" Alice jerked in Bella's arms before turning to look at her.

"You mean into a vampire?" Bella shook her head.

"No…into one of me a…lycan."

Alice paused before turning around in Bella's arms completely and looking her in the eye. "Honestly, Bella, I don't know. Maybe as a vampire he might have a slight chance, but your transformation is a lot harder on people then ours."

Bella nodded, "but I have started to think about this, and I also have been feeling some strange things." Bella fidgeted, "I know I want my dad to live on with me forever, Just like you have Carlisle, but something else inside of me is telling me that he will make a great second in command…I don't know what it is that is telling me this but the feeling is there. Just like with the stuff he did with Renee, I am positive of this feeling he would be a great second in command."

Alice cupped Bella's face and silenced her with a kiss. "Hey, how about for now we don't worry about this, and we can talk to your dad and mine together later." Bella nodded and snuggled up closer.

"Stay tonight with me"

Alice giggled. "Well, did you think I would do anything else?" Alice lay there and rubbed Bella's back and sides.

Bella sniffed in Alice's unique scent, and breathed out a sigh before whispering, "you want to know something else? You would make a great queen. A queen to me, the alpha of this family pack." Alice grinned knowingly as Bella pushed up against her, she could feel the hard press of Bella's member against her thigh.

"Oh you think I am queen material, my-my, aren't you smooth?"

Bella grinned and rubbed up against Alice a little more, thinking 'You and your sisters all three would make great queens, and wives…'

Shaking her head Bella crawled to kneel over Alice. "You think Charlie will hear us if we have some fun?" She wiggled her eyebrows up and down as she asked the question.

Alice giggled again. "Hmmm, probably so, but we can give it a try anyway, I guess we will just have to practice, come here you." Alice pulled Bella down to meet her in a searing kiss.

A few minutes later downstairs, Charlie blushed and turned the tv up a little more, mumbling "those two….i so don't need to hear this." Charlie blushed even more when he hear an even louder moan of Bella's name that sounded like Alice's voice floating down the stairs, followed by the slight squeaking of bed springs.

Charlie shook his head and went to grab another beer. "Well, at least the kid can go a few rounds, guess she takes after her dad more then her mom."

"So you're the new meat, huh?" asked the large woman. "I hear you beat your daughter, I have a daughter. Know what I'd do to anybody who laid a hand to her?"

The large woman grinned.

END CHAPTER 17