Renee's POV
I left Bella and Charlie when Bella was just a tiny little thing. She had just turned 3 months old. She was a beautiful baby, big brown eyes and little wisps of brown hair.
But I never wanted her. Not before I got pregnant, not during and definitely not after. Charlie convinced me to quit school to stay home and take care of her because that's what all our friends did. Except Sue, she always worked and her husband was fine with it. But I quit because everyone said it was just nerves, I would adore my baby after she was born.
I didn't. So one day I wrote Charlie a note telling him I'm leaving, I will send divorce papers soon and then I took Bella to Alison's and asked her to watch her for a couple of hours. Her little boy adored Bella even as a baby. I assume he's the man she came to my house with.
I went back to school, worked my ass off and became a doctor. Every once in a while I would see a little girl who would be about Bella's age and wonder briefly around her but I never regretted leaving and I never considered going back or even calling. I had to see Charlie once for the final divorce hearing but he didn't bring her.
Then I met a man that was everything Charlie wasn't and fell in love. I considered mentioning I had a daughter but decided against it, she was my past.
I was terrified when I got pregnant with Jillian, would I have no feelings for her like I did for Bella? But it was completely different. I love Jillian, I would do anything for her, except give up my career and this time I wasn't asked to. Jillian is taken care of.
But now I can't take care of her by myself. She's sick, extremely sick. She needs a kidney transplant and the severity of her sickness means she needs a more exact match than normal. I'm not a match and neither is her father. Neither of us have much family but they aren't a match either.
And that leaves Bella. She is Jillian's last hope. Now as much as we didn't work together Charlie was a good man and I imagine he raised a good daughter. If she hadn't shown up on my door a while ago and I hadn't told her I never loved her I bet my chances would have been better, even if I did walk out on her.
But I did. And this is why I am now driving my extremely sick daughter to meet my abandoned daughter. Sympathy. No one knows I'm coming; I'll just show up at Charlie's and hope for the best.
Finally I'm here, the same house we lived in together. Pathetic, no one has goals here.
I leave Jillian in the car and knock on the door.
"Renee what the hell are you doing here?" He asks as soon as he opens the door.
"My daughter is sick, she needs a kidney, and Bella is her last hope. Please tell me where she is." I get straight to the point.
"How long does your daughter have without a kidney?" He asks.
"What does it matter? Just tell me where Bella is." I demand.
"She's probably at her house with her husband who is not going to let you anywhere near her. She's pregnant anyways; she can't donate a kidney for at least another 3 months. She's a good person, if she could she would I'm almost positive. Her husband on the other hand would probably fight her on it. He is very protective of her and their son. More so that she's pregnant." He tells me.
"Married… to Sam?" I ask him and he laughs and says no, not to Sam.
"Then I have a good chance of at least getting in with Jillian, she won't tell me no and he won't know who I am." I rationalize to him.
"No promises that she'll let you in, you told her you never loved her and he does know who you are; there is no chance of you getting in if he answers. What is the point anyways, when she's pregnant?"
"How would he know who I am?" I ask him confused. I'm sure there aren't pictures of me lying around.
"Doesn't matter, what matters is while I am very sorry about your sick daughter; you need to leave my daughter alone." Then he slams the door in my face.
Luckily this is a small town. I'll just go to the grocery store and ask someone where she lives. Or the diner, the diner waitresses used to know everything.
And I am right. I get the directions and drive to the house and once again leave Jillian in the car while I knock on the door. I hear a baby screaming and then footsteps.
"What the hell are you doing here Renee?"
What the hell am I doing here? Seriously?
"I'm here to see Bella; this is supposed to be her house. What are you doing here Josh?"
"I live here, hold on for a minute." He closes the door and walks back a minute later with the crying baby. "You're not seeing Bella. So you can just leave now. You told her you never loved her, why are you even here?"
"You're Bella's husband?" I ask him in shock. I'm pretty sure he's older than Charlie and what about Alison?
"What do you want Renee? I have things to do." He's rocking the baby but he's still screaming.
"How did this happen?" I ask him.
"Why are you here Renee?"
"Fine my daughter is sick, she needs a kidney. Bella is her best hope. She's going to die."
"Renee I am sorry, I really am but Bella is pregnant, she can't help even if she wanted to which she probably would. She's amazing like that. But she doesn't even need to know about this, she doesn't need this stress, it's been a really hard pregnancy for her."
"Yeah that tends to happen when you get pregnant so soon after having a baby. Charlie said she's 6 months. The baby could be delivered early, the odds aren't too bad and if it didn't make it then she's young, she has her whole life to have kids, Jillian is it for me. Please just let me see her? Where is she?"
"Go home Renee." He demands.
"Josh please, I'm sorry that was an awful thing to say but I'm desperate. Please just let me see her, and if she agrees I'll wait until the baby is born and just hope that Jillian can hold on that long. There are things they can do if they know she's going to get it. Why is he crying?" I may not love my daughter or her family but I hate when babies cry.
"He misses her, she almost never leaves him." He tells me.
"Give him something that smells like her that helps sometimes. Look, I know you probably hate me though I have a feeling you don't have much room to judge since you're now married to a girl your ex-wife used to take care of as a baby, but wouldn't you do anything to help one of your kids?" I plead with him.
"I do hate you and I don't have much room to judge. I walked out like you did, Sam was 4. I regretted it every day and when I got the chance to be in Sam's life I took it. I would do anything for one of my kids but that's the thing, my kids and Bella come first always." He walks back into the house with the door open and gets a shirt and hands it to the baby and he calms down.
"Thanks for that. I am very sorry but I can't put this stress on her. I won't. Not because I hate you but because she and the baby she's carrying come first."
Just then Jillian opens the door and says mom, I feel sick then throws up and then collapses onto the ground.
I sigh and then walk to her, she does this often, gets sick and then weak and then sleeps for a few hours.
He asks if she's OK and I tell her she just needs to sleep for a while.
"Please just tell Bella I'm here, if she can just get tested, she might not even be a match. And if she is I promise I won't try to pressure her into anything. I don't want my baby to die. I'm going to take her to the hotel room." I beg him one last time.
"I will think about talking to Bella, but why don't you let her sleep here? We have a guest bed; she doesn't look like she needs to be in the car right now." He offers. He has definitely changed. He used to be an asshole. "I hate you, not her." He adds.
"What if she shows up?" I ask him and he tells me he'll call her friends and tell them she needs to stay with them until he says it's OK.
I follow him upstairs helping Jillian slowly and then get her settled in.
I go back downstairs and watch him with the baby, he's good with him. This is so bizarre. He asks if I want anything to drink.
"Um just water please. So since we have all this time do you want to tell me how you ended up with Bella?" I ask him.
"Do you want to know because you care or because you're curious?" He asks and I tell him because I'm curious honestly.
"We met in the city, didn't ask last names. Once she found out who I was she was she broke it off and moved back here. I found out she was pregnant and I came to find her. She has abandonment issues because of you and because of me leaving Sam. They're close. She wanted nothing to do with me until she came to see you. I wanted Sam back in my life; you told her you never loved her. You convinced her I changed."
Wow. Well at least I could do that for her.
"How can you not love your own daughter?" He asks.
"All I see in her is what I couldn't have with her and Charlie. How is Charlie OK with this?" She asks.
"He just wants her to be happy." He says, that sounds like Charlie. He wanted me to be happy too as long as it was happy at home with no goals.
He gets a message on his phone and says shit.
"She's coming home, I'm not going to make you leave with your poor daughter and I'm not going to stop you from asking her but if you mention anything about her having the baby early you're gone and I will have a restraining order filed against you." He tells me. "Also she's coming with Sam who is very protective of her and she's 6 months pregnant and highly sensitive. Do not upset her."
"I won't. What's his name?" I ask looking at the baby. He's adorable.
"Jason." He tells me as he picks him up and makes him a bottle.
Soon Bella and Sam and some other guy show up. Bella comes through the door in a good mood but her face falls when she sees me.
"Why is she here Josh?" She asks him.
"I'm sorry sweetheart but her daughter is sick and she's sleeping upstairs. I wanted you to stay out until they left what happened?" He asks her and she tells him she really missed Jason. She takes the baby from him and kisses him and he smiles the biggest, sweetest smile.
"Bella?" I try to get her attention and she glares at me and asks Josh why my daughter is sleeping upstairs.
"She needs a kidney sweetheart, Renee came to see if you would donate one if you are a match. Obviously it couldn't be until the baby is born and you don't have to do it but that's why she's here." He tells her.
"What about recovery time? I don't want to be away from Jason or Brooke." She asks him.
"You cannot seriously be considering letting her do this Josh." The other guy tells him.
"It's her decision Jake." He tells her. Sarah's Jake? Probably so.
"There aren't any other options for her?" She finally turns to me.
"No, I wouldn't be asking if there were. Honestly I don't even know if she'll make it long enough for you to have the baby but I have to try Bella. If you could just get tested?"
She looks at Josh, he shakes his head yes.
"I will get tested but even if I'm a match I'm not promising anything. I would need to discuss this with Josh and a doctor. And if I do this I want to know her, not you. Just her." She tells me and I agree. My husband and even Jillian may hate me for it but it's worth it if it saves her life.
"I'm tired; I'm going to take Jason upstairs with me." She tells Josh.
He asks Sam to and Jake to stay here with me so he can go check on her and take the baby back when she falls asleep.
As bizarre as it is and as little I've seen they seem incredibly well matched.
Jillian wakes up a couple of hours later and I leave my # and take her home.
A/N I wanted to say thank you to everyone reviews, especially those who review almost every chapter! They definitely motivate me to write more!
Also, I want opinions... should Renee's daughter die before Bella can help? Should Bella not be a match? Be a match but not help? Or be a match and help?
I have possibilities for all the options and I can't decide.