[Disclaimer] Everything Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer

[A/N] It's been too long. I apologize for that. Thanks to those of you who are still with me. I appreciate your interest in my writing a lot.

FAQ's

Can Bella have kids and be the mom?

You mean like carrying the child herself? No, that's impossible. She doesn't have ovaries and a uterus what be essential for that.

Is her voice a female voice?

Yes, it is. She had some surgery on her larynx, but most of it has to do with simple practicing. If you are curious you can look up "find your female voice" on Youtube. It explains it pretty good.

**18**

I am tensed. My palms won't stop sweating no matter how often I rub my hands on the fabric of my dress. The piece of cake in front of me is still untouched.

"Are you on a diet now?" Edward asks me, when I finally push the plate over to him.

"I'm just not hungry." I tell him, staring nervously at my reflection in the mirror behind me. A guy who is sitting a few tables away from us smiles at me. I quickly lower my gaze.

"You are acting strange. Is something wrong? Don't tell me you and Alice are fighting again."

"We're not." I mumble, lifting the mug with my tea to my mouth to take a sip. Then I clear my throat and speak up. Eventually telling him the reason why I requested this meeting today. Edward is the one part of my past that I don't detest with every fiber of my being.

At first the words come out hesitantly. It's like I'm talking about a stranger and not myself.

"I'm sorry, princess." Edward croaks. "I should have done something. I should have…protected you from him."

"You were just a kid. What could you have done anyway?"

He sighs and hisses through his teeth. "Charlie is a bastard. If he had to live in your shoes for just one fucking day, he'd—"

I can hear him swallow loud when Erica and Andy enter the little café. For a moment I'm irritated by his reaction. Then I see the red-haired figure walking behind them. Vicky is dressed to the nines. The black leather skirt she's wearing makes her leg even longer than usually. I can see that she's put on an extra layer of make-up. It makes her feel secure. Inside of her it probably looks a lot uglier right now.

"Uncle Edward!" Andy calls out, jumping into his arms. "You should have gone to the park with us! It was fun."

"Hey there," Vicky greets barely audible before she sits down on the chair next to me. "We're not disturbing you, are we? Andrea wanted to help me get the rest of my stuff out of James's house."

Something tells me that they didn't succeed with that. I take a closer look at Vicky's face and see that her eyes are red from crying.

"The man was mean to Vicky." Andy states. "He yelled. I don't like when someone yells."

"He was probably just mad." Edward tells him. "Do you want to eat the rest of your mother's cake? It's with caramel."

"Yep. But I need to pee first."

"Fine, come with me." I say, standing up.

"No! I don't want to go with you. I want to go to the boy's room. Uncle Edward?"

He smirks and lifts up the squeaking boy over his shoulder. "Let's go."

"Remember to make him wash his hands." I call after them. Something inside of me cracks, or maybe it just clicks into place. Andy is not like me. He will never have to suffer like me. Relieve spreads through my soul.

"Lucky child," Vicky mutters. "He seems so happy all the time."

"I know." I sigh. "Alice and I are blessed to have him in our life."

Behind us someone snickers. I turn around and notice the guy who had been smiling at me earlier. He licks his lips and his eyes narrow.

"Ladies?" he greets, making the word two syllables. Then he leans over the table and grabs Vicky's wrist. "I know what you are. Do you like tricking men?"

"Please…just leave," she croaks out, trying to pull her hand away from his grip.

"Drop you paws from her right now." Edward snarls at him. The guy chuckles and hisses some profanities. I can't even manage to pull Andy's face against my chest before Edward's fist connects with the guy's nose. There is blood. The man whimpers and falls down to the floor, kicking a chair over with him.

"You broke my nose! I'm going to press charges against you!"

"Take it like a man, if that's what you are. Now, get out of here before I truly forget myself."

The man growls, but decides it's probably better to leave instead of taking another punch.

A loud sob reaches my ear. Vicky is crying. Her entire body is shaking.

"Did he hurt you?" I ask, more concerned about the humiliation the man has caused her than about her wrist. Stuff like this, scenes like these have happened to me too. No matter how careful you try to blend in, there is always something that gives away we're transgender.

"No," she sobs. "It's just…it's just…no one has ever defended me like that."

Andrea takes Andy's hand and tells him that she wants to show him where they decorate the cakes in the background. I hand Vicky a tissue and wrap my arm around her.

"My life is over! I should have stayed with James."

"No, you shouldn't. James doesn't love you. He's a sick bastard who has used you for years."

"But now I'm alone. Erica and Andrea won't let me stay at their place forever. Where am I supposed to go?"

"We'll figure something out. Just don't go back to him this time. You deserve better." I tell her.

"Yeah, sure, I deserve a prince on a white horse or some shit like that."

She stands up from her chair and wipes trails of smeared eyeliner from her cheeks. "Goodbye, Bella. I'll have an appointment with my lawyer now. A lawyer who will tell me that I won't get a dime of the money James made with my movies."

"Good luck," I mumble, shyly waving my hand at her. "You need it."

"How are you getting there?" Edward asks, his eyes wandering down from Vicky's face to the roundness underneath her tight blouse.

"Bus?"

"I can drive you there," he says, "Only if you want to of course."

She nods her head and when she follows him outside a few moments later, I smile. Maybe princes don't always come on white horses. Maybe sometimes they're just come along in too fast Swedish cars. Let's just hope he's not going to get a ticket again today…